A/N: Another long one. I procrastinated so much writing this. Hope ya'll enjoy.
Dallon Household – Late Morning
"Victoria! Team meeting in twenty! Chop, chop, Sweetie!"
Amy scooted past her mother on her way to grab a slice of bread from the kitchen pantry. Listening as Carol called out into the stairway and sighed in frustration when she was met with silence.
"Where is that girl?" Carol muttered to herself, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Maybe she's in the bathroom?" Mark suggested with a shrug. "You know how teenagers are?"
Carol looked unamused at that comment, choosing to ignore it in favour of tapping her foot even faster. Amy had learned to keep her head down and stay invisible whenever Carol had that look on her face, something Amy was a master at in this house.
It helped that she was dressed in casual clothes while her parents both donned their New Wave costumes. Amy could've rolled her eyes at the hypocrisy of yet another New Wave team meeting taking place that excluded Panacea, but in all honesty, Amy was glad that she could skip them.
For now, Amy played the role of the background NPC in her own kitchen. Idly gathering breakfast for herself while the idyllic superhero family gathered to leave. In the past, such thoughts would have served to dampen her mood. Reminding Amy how much of an outcast she was in her own family. Today, she was too busy looking forward to her own day to have such petty ideas sour her.
She looked at her phone, calculating the time she would need to leave the house and walk to the bus stop. As much as she loved the shelter, it was right out on the edge of the city and the commute made her trips to the hospital laughable by comparison.
It was worth it though. Not only because the dogs were a delight to work with, but also because Rachel was there. Her girlfriend. The very thought of calling her made Amy's cheeks blush red. A smile formed on her face.
"Amy?" Carol spoke again, causing the girl to jump. Her smile dropped immediately, an unconscious effort to appear 'normal' in the face of her mother. Even if normal for Amy was a tired, monotone scowl. "Have you seen your sister?"
Amy shook her head. She hadn't seen Vicky since dinner last night. Her sister had seemed less energetic then. Not depressed or upset, but something set her off balance. She had something weighing on her last night, Amy could tell that much.
"Team meeting?" Carol continued to mutter to herself. "What part of team meeting doesn't she get?"
Even being out of the cape loop, Amy could guess at what the New Wave meeting was about. Brandish and Lady Photon had another run-in with Skitter and her team the other day. And it did not go in New Wave's favour.
The Undersiders handed them three parahuman crooks on a silver platter, and Brandish's pride and anger led to two of them getting away. The two heroes were too busy arguing over the morality of letting Skitter go to notice that one of the captured parahumans had her own makeshift flashbang that aided in her escape.
The irony of Brandish losing to a flashbang wasn't lost on the many denizens of the internet. The entire encounter had been filmed from multiple angles and only served to humiliate New Wave even further. The more outspoken of the discussions even going so far as calling the Undersiders the real heroes of the day for their swift retaliation on Squealer's rampage through the docks.
Amy never gave online cape discussion any merit, outside of several Glory Girl appreciation threads that she was anonymously a part of and a handful of 'thank you' posts directed towards Panacea herself. The idea that a small, but vocal minority of people were actually praising the bug villain and her team was incredibly distasteful. Amy still remembered the fear she felt when Skitter held a knife to her throat back at the bank, and now people were calling her a hero?
"Amy?" Carol sighed again, her tapping foot kicking down one last time. "Can you run upstairs and get your sister? We're going to be late."
'Why don't you go up there yourself?' Is what Amy thought but didn't dare say as she turned away from her half-prepared breakfast and moved towards the stairs.
"Vicky?" Amy called out, knocking on her bedroom door. "Are you in there?" She was answered with a low whine coming from the other side of the door. "Vicky? Are you alright?"
Opening the door slowly, Amy spotted her sister, dressed in her Glory Girl outfit but face down in her hands for some reason. She sat at her desk; laptop open to the same handful of cape threads that Amy had read on her phone earlier today.
Victoria didn't seem to take notice of Amy as she slowly entered the room. Looking over Vicky's shoulder, Amy could see the PHO thread she was on was a speculation thread about the Undersiders' latest member. In particular, it had a photo of the masked villain stopping an oversized truck with their bare hands.
Strength like that put her on equal footing with Glory Girl, Vicky was no doubt researching the latest villain in preparation for a future battle. Amy was filled with both pride and worry for her sister. Then she was filled with confusion as she spied the PHO thread's name.
Skitter got herself a boyfriend!?! And he can lift!
Vicky groaned into her hands. No doubt also perplexed by the stupidity of villain worship. The whole thread wasn't so much of a discussion on the new, terrifying brute and how much damage they could potentially cause, it was about how this new cape's outfit matched with Skitters and all the implications of what that meant.
"Vicky?" Amy asked once again, her hand reaching out to shake her sister's shoulder.
Victoria gasped in surprise and slammed her laptop down with a force that almost shattered the screen.
"Amy!" She jumped up, turning to face her. "It's not what it, um, I mean. What are you doing?"
"Mom's been calling out for you," Amy said, backing away from Victoria's panicked response and feeling bad for scaring her. "She's getting impatient…"
"Oh, right," Vicky said. She stood up and lightly slapped her face. "Alright, it's go time."
"Are you… okay?" Amy asked, noting the fake smile that Vicky was trying to keep slapped on her face.
"What? Yes. Of course," Vicky said, shaking out her obvious nerves about something. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Amy shrugged. "I don't know. You seemed kinda down when you got home last night. And now you're…" She gestured towards the laptop that looked like it was one bad tap away from falling apart.
"I'm fine," Victoria said in a way that Amy hardly believed. "Honestly, I'm fine. I just had a bumpy day yesterday. I'll bounce back. What about you, how's you? Good? You good? Yeah?"
"Yeah… I'm good," Amy said back, considering if she should investigate whatever 'bump' Victoria had yesterday or if she should just drop it for Vicky's sake. She chose the latter option. "Great actually."
"That's great!" Victoria smiled; this time was much more genuine. "I can see it, you're smiling more. It's nice." Amy wasn't aware of the soft grin on her face, but she felt embarrassed having her sister point it out to her. "Oh! I forgot to tell you. Dean's having another one of his house parties next week."
"Oh yeah?" Amy asked curiously. She didn't realise that Vicky and Dean were back to speaking to each other again. She had enjoyed watching the boy mope around in the final days of high school.
"Everyone's invited," Vicky explained. "You should come. We've been meaning to find time to hang out more. This would be perfect."
"Ehh… I don't know," Amy sighed. She didn't enjoy Dean's house parties in the past, namely because of Dean and his relationship with Vicky.
"Come on!" Victoria shook Amy by the shoulders. "You love Dean's house. You're always out by the pool when we come over."
Love was a strong word. The Stansfield house was impressive, and Amy was fond of swimming in heated pools. But that wasn't the reason she always stuck around the pool whenever she was over. It was simply a rare opportunity to admire Vicky in a swimsuit. An even rarer opportunity now that Dean was out of the dating picture, unless Taylor owned a pool; that seemed unlikely.
"Everyone's invited," Vicky said again, stressing the everyone part. "Who knows? Maybe you might meet a cute guy there?"
At that, Amy rolled her eyes. It had been months since Vicky tried to set her up with another guy. She hadn't been forced into a shitty double date since early February, and enjoyed that fact.
"Ehh…" Amy said again, waving the comment away with a polite smile. She always froze up when Victoria tried to introduce her to other guys. It was an awkward song and dance that Amy would much rather avoid. She'd fall back on her lame excuses and Vicky would smash right through them all. "I already have a girlfriend."
"…"
It took Amy a solid twenty seconds to realise when Victoria went dead silent, as well as a further five seconds to remember what just came out of her mouth. Hesitantly, she turned back to face Vicky as her shocked face slowly broke wider and wider into a smile.
"Ah, shit-"
"You have a girlfriend!" Victoria beamed at the top of her voice, jumping into a hover, and shaking Amy even harder. "What? When? How? When? Who? When!?"
Amy tried shushing her sister, but her excited shakes cut through any attempt to quiet the blonde.
"Oh my god, Ames!" Victoria cheered. "Wait? You're gay too!? Oh my god, Ames!"
"I uh," Amy sighed as her sister lifted her into the air with a hug. "I guess. Yeah."
Amy hadn't planned to just admit it out loud, especially not to Vicky of all people. It was just on her mind and the first viable excuse to come to her.
"I want to know everything!" Vicky declared, placing Amy back down in the chair Vicky was originally sitting in.
"I don't know," Amy mumbled. "It's new. It's… I don't know."
"New?" Vicky mused. "So, someone at the dog shelter you go to? No wonder you keep going back there!" Amy could only blush at Victoria's deduction. "Is she cute? Oh, you're blushing. She must be cute. I have to meet her!"
"Wait! Woah, woah, wait a minute." Amy finally spoke up. "Please don't fly up into my workplace or anything stupid like that."
"I wasn't going to do it right now," Victoria chuckled.
"I mean, don't do it at all," Amy said with a slight growl. "And don't tell Mom… Or Dad. But especially Mom."
"What? Why?"
"Because…" Amy said, waving her hands about like that explained everything. Victoria looked down at her with a confused expression. "Look, this thing I have is new, and I don't want… She doesn't even know I'm Panacea, alright?"
"Your girlfriend doesn't know who you are?" Victoria asked, even more confused.
"No," Amy said back with a frustrated sigh. "She knows me. I just haven't gotten around to telling her about that side of my life yet. And I don't want Mom to go all… New Wavey on her. I don't want to be forced to do a photo shoot and have her thrust into the public eye. That's why I didn't say anything sooner. Can we just… please?"
Victoria thought on her words and then nodded. Amy let out a long sigh of relief.
"Alright, I'll keep your secret. That's fair."
"Thank you."
"But I still wanna meet them!" Victoria's bright grin got dangerously close to Amy's face. "Invite them to Dean's party at least."
"I don't think she's the type who'll-" Amy began but cut herself off with a thought. A thought of what Rachel might look like in a swimsuit of her own. Amy raised an eyebrow in consideration. "…I'll ask her."
"Great!" Vicky beamed. "Know tell me everything you know about them. Starting with their name."
"R-Rachel," Amy said, leaning away from Victoria's overexcited Vicky-ness.
"Rachel?" Victoria said, rolling the name over her tongue. "Rachel?…" She pondered on the name for longer than Amy was expecting. "That's… such a cute name! I don't think I've actually met any Rachel's before. Not personally. What's she like? Got a photo?"
"She's-"
"VICTORIA DALLON!" Carol's voice echoed down the halls. "GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT, WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!"
"Oh shit." Victoria gasped, jumping back from Amy. "Gotta go," She hovered back and moved out of her room. Amy only just stood up again when Victoria returned to add. "And when you get home tonight, you're telling me-"
"-Everything. I know, I know." Amy chuckled, shaking her head at the mess she landed herself in. She'd have to explain to Rachel about New Wave and how her overly excited older sister now wants to meet her.
"Have fun!" Victoria giggled as she hovered away again. If Amy was worried about her mood when she walked into the room, she could at least take heart in knowing that her slip of the tongue lifted Vicky's spirit. "So proud of you. Love you. Byyye!"
"Love you too," Amy smiled back. Already listening to the sound of Carol's signature 'Don't fly in the house' as Vicky made it to the stairs.
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Brockton Dog Shelter – Midday
"Down, Girl. Down. Stop. Good, now roll over."
Amy held out the treat in her hand, and the terrier obediently followed the command. Her tail wagged happily, and she took the treat from Amy's hands and then sat down, awaiting her next command.
"Okay now... Heel"
She motioned with her hand as she announced clearly, then watched as the small dog ran over to her side and stood next to her. She offered the dog another treat, which she took.
"Good girl." Amy smiled and then leaned down to rub her hand across the dog's short fur. The small creature panted in joy and licked her hand. "And now..." She looked up over to Rachel who was standing in the doorway watching her. Amy wasn't sure of this last command but Rachel had told her to try it. "Guard!"
At that, the small terrier barked once and then followed Amy in a defensive circle around her, growling playfully. Amy couldn't imagine why Rachel would teach such a small dog the command but it was cute to see.
"Great. Now, stop." Amy once again commanded, the dog froze in place and waited. Rachel's smile was soft as she watched Amy train the dog. "Good girl. Good girl, Angelica."
Amy had some experience with training dogs since she started working at the shelter. Most of it usually boiled down to telling the animals to stop fighting and wait. In comparison, Rachel's personal dogs were well-trained, to an advanced degree. Able to recognise a wide variety of commands, and were incredibly obedient to boot.
Rachel had suggested getting Amy to practise more advanced manoeuvres on Angelica because that dog had taken a liking to Amy out of her three. Plus it gave Amy a better chance to practise her commands on a dog that wouldn't ignore her immediately.
It was a sweet gesture, and one Amy was sure meant more coming from Rachel than the woman would openly admit. Judging by the rest of the shelter staff's reaction, notably Cassie, Rachel never allowed anyone to order her dogs around.
Rachel stepped forward and let out a sharp whistle. Angelica broke from her previous stance and stood next to Rachel, her other two dogs already sitting by her feet. With another, different whistle, the dogs followed behind as Rachel stepped over to Amy.
Without saying a word, she reached out and brushed Amy's hair the same way she petted her dogs.
"Thanks," Amy blushed as Rachel's hand left her.
"For what?" Rachel asked.
"For letting me train her. Or I guess, letting me practise training on her." Amy smiled. "And for trusting me. With her."
"It's not about me trusting you," Rachel shrugged.
"Huh?"
"She trusts you," Rachel explained, her hand rubbing across Angelica's back. "If I didn't, she wouldn't have listened to you."
"Oh," Amy nodded, understanding the sentiment.
Rachel turned away from her and began moving towards the front entrance of the shelter. Amy quickly moved to follow beside her, and the two of them moved down the rows of kennels.
"So..." Amy began, finally feeling like she had the chance to bring up her sister, her family, and who she really was.
"Hmm?" Rachel grunted curiously.
"I have this sister, and I told her about you... today," Amy said, already questioning her choice of words.
"What about me?" Rachel asked, glancing down at her.
"She just knows that I have a girlfriend," Amy explained, feeling a spike of anxiety forming in her chest. "You. She knows that I'm dating you. Or someone at least. I didn't tell her much. She wanted to meet you."
"Oh?" Rachel mused. They both reached the lobby area, Cassie was reading a magazine while glaring daggers into Amy from over the top of it. Rachel didn't seem to notice the girl's expression as she continued.
"And there's this party that her ex is throwing," Amy said quickly, concerned with Rachel's reaction. "It's a whole thing, she's dating someone else now. It's complicated. Anyway, it's a pool party, I think. It's lame, and I wouldn't usually go, but my sister is really pushy about these things, and she wants me to go and- and, I think, bring you. And if you wanted to go, we could go together?"
Rachel frowned even harder at her. Amy couldn't tell if it was confusion or annoyance on her face.
"Sorry... It's a lot," Amy said. "And totally up to you."
"Pools..." Rachel growled under her breath. Amy was confused. "Don't like them. Can't swim."
"Oh!" Amy blinked. She didn't even consider the fact that Rachel didn't know how to swim, her dream of seeing Rachel in a swimsuit was dashed away. "Well, that's okay, we don't have to swim in the pool. It's a house party, with a pool. We could just stay in the house part... and chill?"
She didn't know why she was pushing the idea so hard. Maybe it was the excitement of Vicky meeting her girlfriend that made Amy feel happy. Maybe it was the prospect of spending time outside the shelter with Rachel. Or maybe it was just a little bit of excitement at the idea of showing Rachel off to the rest of her 'friends'. In any case, the idea was appealing.
Rachel looked up at her and nodded. "Okay,"
"O-okay?..." Amy blinked back, surprised by her easy acceptance.
"Can I bring my dogs?"
"I... don't know?" Amy said, looking down at Angelica. "Maybe, I guess. I could ask Dean."
"Okay," Rachel said again. Amy was surprised that she had agreed so easily. She wasn't expecting Rachel to say yes, let alone ask about bringing her dogs.
With one hurdle down, all Amy had to do now was admit to being Panacea and prepping Rachel with the knowledge of who her family is. While she never intended it to be a secret, she did lament on her two worlds now forming back into one. A part of her was worried that when Rachel learned the truth, she would immediately try to use Amy's powers. Another part of her worried that she'd be told to return to the hospital and make sure she's not 'wasting her gift.'
She knew Rachel wasn't the type of person to do either. But the worry caught in her throat. Amy could feel her heart beating a million miles a minute. Even her ears felt like they were buzzing, like a constant truck horn blaring all around her.
"So, you know how I have this sister?" Amy began, once again questioning her choice of words. "Well, she-"
As the buzzing in her ear got even louder, Rachel shoved Amy across the room. Away just in time for her to realise that the horn-like buzzing in her ear wasn't her imagination. It was an actual, loud, blaring, horn.
A monster of a truck slammed through the front entrance. Glass shattered and wooden panels buckled as the massive vehicle smashed its way inside.
------------------------------------
Rachel reacted before her brain even had time to process what was going on. Her feet kicked off the ground and her hands pushed against Amy, forcing the girl out of harm's way. As the truck smashed through the building, its bumper clipped Rachel's shoulder. Her body spun out from the force, and her head bounced against the reception desk before falling to the ground.
The pain was immediate. Her shoulder was the worst of it, with a sharp, shooting pain radiating out. The headache wasn't new, but it was worse than the usual throb of her concussion. Her vision was blurred. She couldn't hear anything except the ringing in her ears.
But Rachel could still move.
She pushed herself up from the ground and looked around. The dogs had moved faster than Rachel, jumping away from the wreckage and circling around the truck. With them safe, she looked back to Amy and Cassie. The former was lying flat on her back, frozen in a state of shock but otherwise unharmed, the latter, hiding behind her desk.
"Woo!" A woman cheered out from the truck's cabin. "That was a rush! Now everybody, out!"
Rachel zoned in on the woman's voice, her vision clearing enough to recognise the familiar figure. Tattletale had briefly mentioned the Merchants during some of their boring meetings, Skitter and her team had taken them down in a fight only yesterday. Squealer still had the telltale signs of bandages and gauze wrapping around her body, though the white patches were covered in dirt and filth.
"Come on, get a move on. We ain't got all day!" Skidmark's voice yelled out from the other seat. "Coil's goons should be on us any second," He stuck his head out the window and looked around. "Wait, shouldn't this place 'ave more security?"
"Guess I was right then," Squealer chuckled. "We're not gonna find dick-"
"Shut the fuck up," The man growled back, armed men were climbing out the back of the truck. "Spread out and search the building. Find me my drugs!"
Rachel moved to Amy and pulled her up from the ground, pushing her towards Cassie.
"M-my phone..." Amy groaned, reaching in the direction of the staff lockers.
"Forget it," Rachel growled back, looking at Cassie. "You two get in the back. Stay safe, protect the dogs."
She pushed the girls through one of the back doors and followed behind. Urging them to run further into the building while Rachel waited in the backroom.
"Let's go," Cassie cried, pulling Amy along. The older girl was hesitant to leave Rachel behind, but Rachel wasn't going anywhere without her dogs.
Rachel gave a sharp whistle, summoning her three dogs back to her side. The handful of armed men were finally taking notice of the trio and had raised their weapons. They ignored the women as they turned to track the dogs instead, taking potshots at the animals. Luckily, they were moving fast as they all made it through the door before anyone hit their mark.
"Forget the damn dogs!" Skidmark roared from the truck. "Start looting already!"
Once the dogs were back by her side, Rachel rushed down the hall with them. She urged Amy to keep moving as she Cassie led her down the halls and deeper into the shelter. The kennels were filled with barking, scared dogs. Some of the braver workers were in the middle of opening cages and funnelling the dogs away from the approaching violence. Rachel turned off and found a random empty kennel to crouch down in, still motioning for Cassie and Amy to move further in and hopefully escape.
"Wait!" Amy cried out, pulling against Cassie's pull. "What are you doing?" She'd shaken off her stupor and replaced it with concern as she looked back at Rachel.
"Nobody hurts my dogs." Bitch scowled.
Bitch needed time to use her power. Placing a hand on Brutus and Judas, they began growing and transforming, shifting from large canines to hulking monsters. She didn't need to touch them, as Angelica was doing much the same, but found her power was stronger when she did. Rachel kept a tight grip on the dogs as their muscles swelled and fur grew.
She didn't have the time or the space to transform them into their full hulking size. Instead, the monstrous dogs were only the size of a small person. They still had the same thick hides and powerful jaws that looked like they would rip through a man like a paper bag.
"H-hellhound..." Amy gasped. Bitch was too busy to notice the shock in her word, nor recognise the name.
Armed men were pouring through the hallway, trashing each room they entered and yelling for everyone to get down on the floor. As they made it to the back kennels, their eyes were focused on the larger, transformed dogs.
"Brutus, Judas. Attack!" Bitch barked, pointing to the men who were running towards them. The large beasts growled and leapt forward, smashing out of the lightly fenced kennel and pouncing on the closest targets. The men didn't have the time to raise their guns or defend themselves. Bullets fired widely across the wall as the dogs tore into their legs.
Bitch whistled sharply as the dogs pulled away from their 'almost' lethal attack. With their opponents now unable to stand or fight back, the dogs returned to her side and waited for their next order. She stepped over them and moved back towards the lobby. Anger bubbling inside her, there were a handful of men still moving from room to room, but Bitch's rage focused on the two fucks who just drove a truck into her shelter.
She pointed down the hallway, directly at Skidmark who was climbing out of the truck.
"Hurt!"
All three dogs snarled and ran down the hall towards the Merchants. She didn't simply want to kill these people. She wanted them to suffer, and regret ever setting foot here.
Turning to see the monstrous dogs charging at them, Skidmark smiled instead of fearing his approaching pain.
"Hah!" Skidmark laughed, pointing out the approaching dogs to Squealer. "See that. Undersiders! I fucking told you s-"
Brutus reached the man first, teeth clamping down on the Merchant's leg. Judas and Angelica took the man's arms and threw him to the ground. The man barely had time to react, only realising at the last moment that they were going for him and not the few armed men in front of him.
Bitch would've loved to sit back and watch as her dogs tore him apart, but the rest of the lobby was filled with armed men and Squealer. She was more than confident in her dogs' ability to fight, but they couldn't sit on a single opponent for too long. With another whistle, the dogs let Skidmark go and pounced on the nearest thug.
In the past, Bitch would've avoided putting her dogs in this scenario. Close range encounter, not much movement space, a lot of armed men, some with automatic weapons. Her empowered dogs could take a beating and bullets, even at half-sized, but it was still a disadvantage that put her dogs at risk.
At least, it used to be.
She'd been running drills with the mercenaries almost every other day now. The mercs were under the impression that they were training on how to handle brutes and other parahuman monsters, but in reality, Bitch had seen it as the perfect training ground to work on her dog's close-quarters combat.
The Undersiders' mercenaries were a mix of hardened, experienced, soldiers. Suited out with some of the most up-to-date equipment money could buy. The Archer's Bridge Merchants, by comparison, were a bunch of coked-out gangbangers with cheap, illegal, weapons.
In short, her dogs were winning.
Bitch ran through a handful of new whistles and commands, each one specific to dealing with groups of armed people. Herding them into the open, using their own allies as shields, and inciting panic in the merchant's numbers.
Squealer was calling the remaining Merchants back into the lobby to deal with Bitch's dogs. However the reinforcements only added more bodies to the pile, and not a single one was able to put a scratch on the beasts.
With her dogs busy dealing with the mob, Bitch's focus turned to Squealer herself. She didn't care about the others, all she wanted was Squealer.
"Fucking hell," Squealer growled, her attention stuck on Skidmark's mangled and bleeding body. "This is worse than yesterday."
She was too busy dodging dogs and stray gunfire, she didn't even expect Bitch to simply walk up to her and punch her in the face. Squealer stumbled back, a hand pressed against her jaw as she hissed in pain.
"You bitch," She growled. Her free hand grabbed at the gun hanging from her hip, but Bitch wasn't going to give her a chance.
Bitch tackled Squealer to the floor and began wailing on her, fists pounding against the woman's face and head. Squealer's hands reached up and tried blocking, but Bitch was relentless. She wasn't planning on stopping until she was sure that Squealer wasn't going to get back up again. Every punch was a response to Squealer driving a fucking truck through Bitch's shelter.
Eventually, Squealer's arms started to falter. Giving in and accepting the beating. Or so Bitch had assumed. Face bloody and halfway beaten to a pulp, Squealer managed to pull the gun from her hip and press it into Bitch's ribs.
A single shot rang out, hidden in all the chaos.
------------------------------------------
Rachel was Hellhound?
Amy couldn't believe her eyes. One second she was kneeling down with her sweet, playful Angelica. The next, some monster dog was charging down the hall, maiming and biting its way through a bunch of gang members.
"Amy, we have to go!" Cassie cried, pulling on her arm as dogs and shelter workers ran through the backrooms.
There were several small trucks at the back of the shelter, usually for transporting supplies for the shelter. Some workers were busy clearing the room to fit the rush of fleeing dogs.
Amy pulled away and watched as Rachel marched back down towards the lobby. Commanding her beastly dogs to attack anyone in her way.
Rachel was Hellhound. But how?
She'd come to that conclusion back when she first met Rachel but the girl had no idea who Hellhound even was. It didn't make sense. Amy knew Rachel was a parahuman, she knew it had something to do with dogs. She just assumed that Rachel had a better connection to dogs than most humans. But here she was, taking on a band of gangsters like it was her job.
Amy was upset. Rachel was Hellhound, she was a monster, she was at the bank when Amy was held hostage. She's a villain, a murderer, and…
More gunfire erupted, this time from the lobby. The sounds of barking, biting and screams echoed through the halls. Rachel charged into the room without a second's hesitation. And all Amy could feel now was worry.
She was in trouble.
"Where are you going!?" Cassie called out as Amy ran back towards the lobby.
Amy couldn't explain it. She needed to see. Either witness Hellhound with her own eyes or check to see if Rachel made it out alright.
Amy wasn't a hero in the traditional sense. She wasn't used to seeing combat like her family. Each step towards danger made her heart beat even faster. She could feel her knees buckling as her body screamed at her to turn around. But her mind was set.
"Fuck," Amy swore, peeking through the back entrance. The dogs were running circles around the room. They were even bigger now. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
She didn't know what she was even doing. There was no doubt it was Hellhound. A man lay on the floor, arms and legs bleeding heavily as he groaned in pain. Slightly off to the side of him was Rachel, on top of another woman and beating the living shit out of her with her own two hands. It was violent, brutal and bloody.
Then the gun went off.
Rachel collapsed onto her side. The woman under her pushed her off and climbed to her feet. Amy yelled out, a panicked cry of alarm that surprised even her. She had to reach Rachel and now. But bullets continued to fly as the dogs tore into the gangsters.
Crawling on her hands and knees, Amy tried to find a clear path to the fallen girl. Tears were building in her eyes. She could hear her own sobs, muffled by the sounds of gunfire.
"Please be ok, please be ok," Amy mumbled to herself.
Amy felt numb and alert at the same time. She'd done all this before, once. Years ago in a shopping mall. Crawling in fear towards her dying sister. It wasn't a memory she liked to dwell on, much less reenact under an even more stressful situation.
The dogs had gone into a frenzy. Barking, snarling, and charging. They had some level of organisation to their attacks when Amy first looked in, but after Rachel was shot, they seemed to go into a mad scramble. As if unsure of what to do next. They fell back into a simple 'attack the nearest person' plan.
And while it was working, it was working too well. The dogs attacked everyone in sight without any regard for prior tactics. They showed no signs of stopping, even as the Merchant's pitifully attempted to flee. Bullets ricocheted off their hides, as a spray of bullets narrowly missed Amy and she froze up in panic. The girl wasn't even halfway to Rachel.
To make matters worse, one of the dogs took notice of Amy and moved to intercept her.
Amy remained frozen in place. Staring wide-eyed at the monstrous dog as it stood between her and Rachel. She didn't know what worried her more, that the dog might attack her or that Rachel would bleed out and die without her help. She felt tears stream down her cheeks as she waited for the dog to rip her apart.
The dog was large, with a disgusting layer of muscles and bone that looked to be bursting from their skin. Teeth that were as sharp as blades. Its eyes, which even under all its monstrous form, looked oddly recognisable
"A-Angelica?" Amy asked, her hand shakily extended like she would to a normal dog. She considered mimicking Rachel's scent on her hand but didn't want to risk confusing the animal.
"Ruff!"
Angelica's bark was deep, powerful, and angry. But the dog didn't move to attack. Amy took a breath, then another. She slowly moved forward, her hand shaking with every inch. Her fingers reached out and touched the dog's snout. Angelica remained still.
"I need to get to her, I can save her," Amy spoke in a calming tone. Her fingers stroked the dog's head. She couldn't see Rachel's condition from where she was, and her nerves were getting the best of her. More bullets shot passed her, causing her to duck down and flinch. She couldn't reach Rachel on her own. With one last breath for her nerves, she looked back to the dog and tried making eye contact.
"Angelica... Guard!"
Amy had no idea if it would work, but the word had an effect. Angelica's ears perked up and her stance changed. She moved towards Amy, allowing the girl to hide behind her. Amy yelped as Angelica nudged her along, closer to Rachel and towards the hallway. Squealer recovered from her face beating enough to spot Amy moving towards her, she raised her gun. Amy gasped again as the gun fired, but Angelica pounced, breaking from Amy to maul the woman.
Rachel was panting weakly on the floor. Her hand was clutching her side. Blood oozed through her fingers and stained her clothes. She was still breathing, Amy let out a sigh of relief at that small miracle. She moved up to Rachel and rolled her onto her back, looking over Rachel's wound.
A bullet had passed right through Rachel's lower rib, tearing right through her kidney and stomach. She'd lost a lot of blood and her vitals were dropping. She would've died long before any ambulances could arrive if Amy hadn't reached her.
"W-what are... you doing... here?" Rachel groaned, looking up at Amy. Amy was already in the process of gathering biomass from Rachel's body. "Are you... hurt?"
"What?" Amy asked, momentarily stunned by the question. She wasn't the one bleeding out and near death. "N-no, I'm not hurt. Shut up. You're the one who's hurt. What the fuck?" She couldn't believe how stupid the question was. Hellhound was bleeding out in her arms and had the gall to ask if Amy was hurt.
The bullet made its way out of the wound before it healed up itself. With the bleeding stopped Amy could focus on repairing the internal damage. Her power worked at an accelerated rate, the damaged organs were repaired and replaced far faster and more efficiently than when she worked in the hospital. Victoria had mentioned that some parahuman abilities work better when they were exposed to their trigger event, Amy made a note to tell her that they were right.
Rachel looked at her bloody hand, then felt along where the bullet had torn through her clothes. There wasn't even a scar left on her skin. Picking up the discarded bullet and looking at it with interest.
"Huh..." She mused, no doubt confused by the sudden feeling of pain, followed by the lack of it.
"Why'd you have to be so damn reckless," Amy grumbled. She could see the dogs starting to calm down. The gunshots had stopped. Most of the men had fled, were unconscious or possibly even dead. Amy didn't have the stomach to check just yet.
She helped Rachel to her feet as the taller girl looked around the wreckage of the lobby. With a sharp whistle, she called all three of her dogs back to her. Petting each of them before looking back to Amy.
"Did they hurt the dogs?" She asked, motioning towards the backrooms.
"Dogs are fine," Amy confirmed. "I think..." She added, placing a hand on Angelica. She didn't notice it during the chaos of gunfire, but she couldn't read the dog's biology while it was altered by their transformation.
Rachel gave her a nod, still looking at the bullet Amy had pulled out of her. Amy could only imagine how confused Rachel must be. As equal to how confused Amy was about her being Hellhound.
"I'm... Panacea," Amy explained. Feeling like she was introducing herself for the first time. "From New Wave."
"I know," Rachel nodded. She wiped the blood off the bullet and put it into her jacket pocket. "Thanks."
For the second time in less than an hour, Amy was bewildered.
"You know?" Amy asked. Rachel nodded again as she patted Amy on the head. "Wait. What do you mean you know? You've known I've been Panacea this whole time? Since when?"
"Cassie told me," Rachel said back bluntly. She thought to herself for a moment. "Back when we had you playing with the dogs. She was concerned you might try arrest me or something but I told her she was being stupid."
"Wait, you knew I was New Wave and you let me stay?"
Rachel shrugged. "The dogs liked you." She looked back over the rubble, including the truck that was still parked inside the lobby. "Fuck this..." A few groans came out of the recently mauled men on the floor, along with the bloody gurgles of Skidmark and Squealer. "God dammit," Rachel sighed, fishing in her jean pocket for a flip phone.
Adding to the already confusing mystery that was Rachel, Amy noticed that all of Rachel's phone contacts were a list of emojis. She moved down the 'grinning smile' emoji contact and hit call.
"Hey, Uh. Tomato R" Rachel grumbled into the phone. She winced as whoever was speaking on the other end appeared to annoy her. "I'm fine. Shut up already. Merchants shot up my fucking shelter. I need help cleaning this shit up." Amy didn't know who she was calling but could guess based on the Hellhound connection. "No, I don't need backup. The fights already done. They drove a fucking truck into my shelter. Oh really? Who the fuck is calling the cops around here? Just send someone. Yeah, Skidmark and the other cunt. They're right here. Yes, they're alive, fuck you. No, we don't need..." She stopped and looked at Amy. "Are you hurt?"
"I-I'm fine?" Amy said. She didn't have any physical damage. Emotionally, she was probably still in shock.
"No. We don't need medical," Rachel barked back into the phone. "Well yeah, they're bleeding but who gives a shit? Fine. Just hurry up." She slapped the phone shut and turned back to Amy. "Well, today is fucked. Can you tell Cassie and the others it's safe to bring the dogs back into their kennels?"
Amy was still trying to process everything that happened, but she nodded and headed to the backrooms.
-----------------------------------------
An Hour Later
Several black sedans and a small construction crew showed up shortly after the call. Amy kept her head down and focused on calming down the scared and confused dogs as the Undersiders' mercs cleaned up the mess. If she wasn't already positive that Rachel was Hellhound, this was the final nail in the coffin.
There were whispers amongst the staff that some of the other Undersiders were spotted out the front. Namely Tattletale and Grue. Amy didn't dare peek her head out to check, partly out of fear, but mostly because she was still deciding. She sat on a stool in the kennels. Her dogs already calmed and fed. In her hand was her phone, thumb hovering over the contact from her Mother.
She could call it in. Tell New Wave where she was, what had just happened. The Undersiders were in the lobby, and New Wave were all together for a family strategy meeting. They'd be able to take them down if Amy just called them.
But then what would happen?
More fighting, more chaos. What would happen to the dogs, to Rachel?
That thought kept Amy's thumb away from the call button.
When she woke up today, the world felt so simple. Her family were the heroes, they took care of bad guys and Amy got her day far away from it. Where she got to play with her dogs and her girlfriend. Now her girlfriend was the supposed bad guy, and her family were the heroes. Heroes, that wouldn't hesitate to take care of the bad guys, regardless of the circumstances.
Her thumb hovered over her mother's name, ready to press. But it didn't.
She wasn't a hero. Not like the rest of her family. The world wasn't as black and white as it was yesterday. She was just a girl, who wanted to hang out with her girlfriend and play with her dogs. To have her own life away from the never-ending rush of cape shit.
With a conflicted sigh, she put away her phone. Instead watching as Cassie approached her holding a drink in her hand.
"How you doing?" Cassie asked, handing Amy a bottle of water.
"Fine," Amy lied, chugging the water.
"Did you want to talk about it?"
"Did you know?" Amy asked in return. Cassie looked back towards the direction of the lobby and sighed.
"Yeah..." Cassie admitted. "That's why I signed up here in the first place."
"Who else knows?"
She looked around at her fellow shelter workers with fresh eyes. All of them were unfazed by Rachel's sudden change or the fact that they were currently working for an honest-to-good supervillain. It appeared that Amy was the only person who was out of the loop. Most of the team didn't seem the realise that Amy was in the dark, chalking up her shock as the aftermath of the fight. Only Cassie watched Amy with concern.
"Honestly..." Cassie started. "We all assumed you knew too. And when I found out that you didn't... well. It wasn't my place to say."
"So..." Amy continued. "She's Hellhound. Like, full-on cape. Not a rogue."
"Yep," Cassie confirmed. "Or, well. She goes by Bitch. Hellhound is just what the PRT named her. Cool name, but not hers."
Cassie smiled in her typical Rachel admiring ways and Amy noticed that Cassie was being gentle with her. The girl had started being a little catty ever since Amy and Rachel got together, Amy had expected Cassie to continue being jealous of her, regardless. But in a way it made sense. Amy's aggressive view of Taylor had lessened after hearing about her kidnapping attempt. It's hard to hate someone after they go through something traumatic like that.
Taylor…
Taylor was Rachel's friend. Her work friend. But she'd never seen Taylor at the shelter. At the time, Amy didn't give it much thought. Rachel had a second job, whatever that was, was the one she knew Taylor from. But if Rachel's second job was being an Undersider, that meant…
Amy stood up from her dazed stupor and moved back towards the lobby. Rachel was in the middle of talking to a handful of people, mainly barking orders at them. It was there, that Amy finally put all the pieces together.
"I knew it," Amy said as she marched into the lobby.
The destroyed lobby had been transformed into an impromptu construction site. The gang members that had survived the initial attack were cleared out and the place looked like it was in the middle of a control demolition instead of a recent attack. At the forefront of it, all were the large machines with their company logo on it.
"The Undersiders control Fortress Construction."
It all fell into place. Naive, nerdy Taylor was working for Fortress Construction, completely unaware that they did business with the Undersiders. It also explained how Skitter knew that the Empire was following her. She'd probably been tipped off by Tattletale or Hellhound.
The idea that Taylor possibly lied about her powers and might've been a member of the Undersiders didn't even enter Amy's head. For starters, she knew Vicky's opinion on villains and knew that there was no way her sister would ever date a villain. Amy couldn't conceive of a world where Victoria 'Glory Girl' Dallon was dating one, or even two, villains. That made her next realisation all the more painful.
Vicky wanted to meet Amy's girlfriend. Amy's girlfriend was Hellhound- uh, Bitch. The Undersider. Someone who no doubt that Vicky despised. And Amy had just invited her to a house party with Vicky and all her Ward friends.
The revelation hit Amy like a ton of bricks. She could just imagine her sister and her girlfriend arguing. Maybe even coming to blows. She imagined her mother's reaction to Rachel. The disappointment, the anger, the inevitable fight. It would ruin everything.
But what was she to do?
She didn't want her family to fight Rachel. She didn't want Rachel to go away. They were just starting to have fun, to get closer. She wasn't ready for her world to come crashing down yet.
"You good?" Rachel's words cut through Amy's spiralling panic, a hand wrapping around her waist and pulling her in.
"What?"
"You look pale," Rachel continued. "Now that the dogs are taken care of, you can go home if you want. I get that today was a lot." She pulled Amy in for a kiss, which she didn't object to. "Thanks again. That bullet was a close one."
A million questions were still buzzing around Amy's head. She could take the offer and leave. Find a safe place to collect her thoughts. Perhaps rethink her decision to call her family once she was away from this emotional distraction.
But she didn't want to leave. She'd almost lost Rachel today, and she needed to see her now. To be held by her, comforted by her. To have a reminder that they were both still there.
"No," Amy decided. "I want to stay. There's still an hour or so on my shift."
Rachel nodded with a small smile and hugged her a little tighter.
-------------------------------------------
Dallon Household – Late Afternoon
Amy was completely drained by the time she got home. Both emotionally and physically. The long bus ride home didn't feel long enough. She spent the last hour or so helping organise how the shelter would operate while under 'reconstruction.'
Apparently, the shelter was now getting a total renovation, with approved paperwork and everything. It was a little scary how quickly they were able to mobilise. When Amy asked how it was all possible, Rachel simply shrugged and said, "Tattletale did it."
The blatant admission aside, Amy had a whole new set of questions about how the Undersiders operated. It was clear that they were no longer petty, small-time thieves. Which made Amy's relationship with Rachel all the more stressful. This wasn't some Aleph comic book where the hero flirted with a cat burglar. Amy was dating a full-on super-criminal from the second-biggest gang in the city.
She needed time to think and get her story straight. At least before-
"Amy, you're home!" Victoria cheered before pulling Amy up into a floating hug. "Today has been soooo boring. I hate PR meetings with Aunt Sarah." She whined softly before putting Amy back down.
"H-hey Vicky," Amy muttered, patting Victoria on the back.
"Don't hey Vicky, me," Victoria said with a smile before leaning in with a hushed conspiratorial tone. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Panic spiked in Amy's chest, but she played it cool. "You made me wait a whole day to find out about your mystery girlfriend! Ah, I've been dying to find out more. So spill. Tell me about Rachel. Tell me about your girlfriend."
"M-my girlfriend?" Amy echoed, stalling for time. "Right, yes…"
What could she say?
She could lie and say that Rachel was a really sweet girl. She could make up stories about how wonderful and what a good person she was.
But Amy didn't even need to think of any lies. Rachel was a good person. At least from Amy's perspective. She cared for her dogs and the people who worked under her. She was brave, strong and kind. She was pretty, in that butch way that made Amy's heart beat a little faster. She was patient. She was a great listener and an even better kisser.
"Well?" Vicky egged her on.
She was grumpy. An angry brute who could beat someone's face in like it was nothing. She trained her dogs to hurt, maim and even kill people. She could turn them into vicious monsters. A villain.
"My girlfriend…"
"Yeah! What's she like?" Vicky asked, a smile wide on her face.
She had connections to even scarier people. Worked on the same team as god damn Skitter. Could clean up a crime scene and turn it into a construction site within an hour.
"My girlfriend is..." Amy didn't know what to say. How did one summarise the enigma that was Rachel Lindt? What would that word even be?
"Is?" Vicky asked back, trying to coax the words out from Amy's mouth.
Amy looked back to Vicky and said the first word that came to mind.
"Terrifying."
