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

[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!"

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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!"

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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…"

 

[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.

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"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.

 

[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."

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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.

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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."

 

[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

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(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

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(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

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(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

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(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.

 

[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."

 

[Gowonzu]

The Boardwalk – After School

"Forget power couples! Meet Brockton Bay's very own power throuple!" Lisa said, breaking into a fit of giggles before she could even finish the sentence. "New Wave's Glory Girl recently unveiled her bold new relationship to the world, and we couldn't be more excited." The girl struggled to contain her laughter as she read aloud the magazine in her hand.

Victoria and Taylor watched on with a smile, each holding a magazine of their own as they sat at the juice bar. Lisa had bought each and every magazine that featured the throuple on their front cover, interested in what random tabloids and gossip pieces were saying about them after just one day from the announcement.

"New Wave proudly announced the relationship on their website, Glory Girl and her two friends," Victoria said as she read her article aloud. "Friends, jeez. Next thing they'll be calling us gal pals."

"Well at least they called it a relationship," Taylor sighed, dropping the magazine she had in her hand. "I don't even want to read this one out loud. It's nothing rude, just oddly ignoring the two other girls in the photos."

Victoria shook her head, picking up one magazine after another. "Glory Girl and friends, Glory Girl's partners, Glory Girl's Girlfriends," She let out a frustrated sigh. "Why don't any of them just say Victoria Dallon, Taylor Hebert and Lisa Wilbourn. I hate that they treat you both like you're my… accessories." She scrunched her face up and reached for another book in the pile.

"Ah. Here's one," Lisa said, clearing her throat. "While New Wave's article was sparse on information, Victoria Dallon went live on social media to introduce her new girlfriends, Lisa Wilbourn and Taylor Hebert," She waved the magazine she had to Victoria and nodded. "See, there's some grade-A journalism. Actually using our names… And then it goes to paraphrase our PHO Q and A thread for the next two pages… never mind." She threw it back onto the pile.

"It makes sense," Taylor said, looking at Vicky. "You are the celebrity. Most people wouldn't give us a second glance if we weren't connected to you."

"I know, it's just… frustrating," Victoria whined. "I just want people to see us as equals, not just my girlfriends."

Taylor shrugged, reaching over to pat Victoria on the hand. "It's okay. We don't see it that way. And that's what matters, right?"

Victoria smiled back, nodding to Taylor's wise words. She was about to thank her for the positive view on things when Lisa let out a snort of laughter. Both girls turn to her as she reads another random gossip magazine.

"Oh fuck, listen to this," Lisa laughed, trying her hardest to keep a straight face. "The announcement and additional photoshoot show that Glory Girl has not just the support of her team, but the support of her girlfriends to come out in such a spectacular fashion. Congratulations Victoria Dallon, for the strength and courage you have shown. And thank you to Lisa Wilbourn and Taylor Hebert, for showing us that you don't need to be super, to be a hero," Taylor and Victoria groaned at that final line. "Wait, wait. It gets better!" Lisa laughed. "Guess what they called the article?"

"Something equally cheesy, I guess?" Victoria said with a pained smile.

Lisa smiled back, her lips threatening to collapse into another fit of giggle. "Brockton Bay's very own Triumvirate!"

"Seriously?" Taylor balked, placing two fingers on the bridge of her nose.

"Urgh," Victoria sighed. "I really hope that doesn't catch on. It's bad enough people call me Alexandria Jr. If we steal their team name too…" She cringed.

"What? I reckon I could make for a good Eidolon." Lisa chuckled.

"Hey, why do you get to be Eidolon?" Taylor asked.

"Please, you're obviously the Legend of the group," Lisa said back. Victoria thought on that remark briefly and nodded in agreement. "And Vicky is obviously Alexandria, so…" She gestured to herself. "Eidolon."

Taylor frowned to herself, going silent with thought. Victoria looked to Taylor and then back to Lisa.

"Did she want to be?…" Victoria began, looking at Lisa.

"Alexandria, yeah," Lisa smirked, looking back to Taylor as she shook off her frown. "Anyway, to the new Triumvirate," She cheered, holding her cup of juice out.

"We're not calling ourselves that…" Victoria groaned, tapping her cup to Lisa's.

"And I don't want to be Alexandria," Taylor grumbled, adding her cup to the cheers.

"Well good, because Vicky's our Alexandria, Legend." Lisa smiled, taking a sip of her drink.

"No," Victoria said back. "I'm just Glory Girl. You're just Lisa and she's just Taylor. I don't want to step on the actual Alexandria's toes. I'd like to meet the woman one day and I would prefer she didn't hate me when that happens. Contrary to what my fans might think, I can't take match her in a fight."

"Oh, come on," Lisa giggled. "I'm sure you could hold your own against Alexandria."

"Yeah," Victoria said sarcastically. "I might be able to take a single punch from her. Then my shield goes pop, followed by my head a second later."

"That's a lot longer than the rest of us would last against her," Lisa chuckled. "The rest of us mere mortals would die the moment Alexandria chose to fight us."

"I could take her," Taylor said with a straight face. Both girls waited for the punchline to the joke but the girl didn't elaborate.

"You mean in a fight, right?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow.

Taylor shrugged and nodded back. "You?" Victoria asked with a chuckle of her own. "Can take Alexandria? Babe, your bugs are creepy but I think it'll take more than spiders to take down someone like her."

"No, wait," Lisa said, leaning in. "I have to hear this. Tell us, Tay, how would you beat Alexandria in a fight?"

Taylor leaned back and scratched her chin. "Well," Taylor said, gesturing to Victoria. "Obviously you don't want to fight a brute head-on. If she came at me without any warning I'd obviously lose. If I could use my range to my advantage." It became clear to the girls that she had thought about this, a lot.

"Still," Victoria said, "She can move faster than I can, even if you get bugs on her, she's just going to speed off into the sky, and that's assuming that they even hurt her, which they won't."

Taylor shook her head. "Biting Alexandra would be useless, you're right," Taylor explained. "Brutes at her level need to be incapacitated quickly. The optimal strategy would be to fill her throat with as many bugs as I can get and wait for her to pass out from oxygen starvation." Victoria stared back at Taylor in horror, even Lisa blinked in surprise. "That plan however relies on the theory that she still needs to breathe air," Taylor continued, unaware of her girlfriend's reactions. "I noticed that Alexandria has never tried to leave orbit or fly underwater, so it's safe to say that the plan could work. Again, it relies on her either not knowing where I am or expecting me to attack."

"Taylor…" Victoria said, hesitantly reaching out to place a hand on Taylor's. "Please tell me you haven't tried to choke anyone with your bugs?"

Taylor looked up to Victoria, growing red in the face after seeing the concern on her girlfriend's face. "Um, it's just a countermeasure I came up with…" Victoria held her stare, her question still unanswered. "I only tried it once, and it wasn't successful…" Taylor mumbled again, looking away in embarrassment.

"Tried it?" Victoria balked. "On who? Tay? Who did you try to choke with bugs."

Taylor turned back, tilting her head in confusion. "What do you mean? You were there." It was Victoria's turn to be confused. "You're forcefield protected your mouth, I wasn't expecting that…" Taylor added guiltily.

Victoria thought back to the second time she came face to face with Skitter, and how she threw an entire swarm of bugs at her. At the time, Victoria assumed it was just some desperate attempt to distract her, but if her forcefield had broken just before that attack…

"Well, damn. Look at the time," Lisa declared, slapping the table. "We have to get going, else we're gonna be late. And don't you have somewhere else to be, Victoria?"

"Already?" Taylor asked.

"I know," Lisa said sadly. "But Glory Girl starts her first day with the Wards soon,"

Victoria shook out of her horrified thought and looked at Lisa. "It's not like I'm starting a new job. Mom just signed me up for extra Ward duties instead of New Wave stuff," She shrugged. "I've done it plenty of times at this point."

"We'll regardless, have fun at work," Lisa said with a smile. "Hopefully we won't see you during business hours."

"Actually, about that," Victoria said, sitting up straighter in her chair. Both Taylor and Lisa looked at each other, then back to Victoria. "I've been meaning to talk to you both. I know things have been a little hectic lately, but I'm about to graduate high school and while I do plan on continuing my education, eventually. This time next week, I'm going to be a full-time hero."

"Oh, congratulations," Taylor said, unsure where this was going.

"A hero," Victoria said again, stressing the word. "Someone who upholds the law, stops criminals, does the right thing."

"And we're very proud of you for it," Lisa added.

Victoria sighed. "Look, I've been pretty lenient with you two. And I know there were peculiar circumstances that got you each into your life of… questionable moral actives. But I had hoped that since Coil isn't in the picture anymore. That you both wouldn't need to do… that. We could talk to the PRT, explain what Coil did to you, convince them to give you a lighter Ward deal-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Lisa said, raising a hand. "Look, Vic, I get it. You wanna do good, and having a bunch of crooks for girlfriends troubles you. But there's just no easy solution for people like us. Even if the PRT didn't try to throw every single book at us, any Ward deal we got would send us far from home and separated from each other. And before you even suggest it, we both know how your mother would react if you suggested New Wave."

Victoria frowned, unsure what to do with herself.

"I can't promise that I'll stop… skirting the law," Lisa shrugged. "Even if I quit today, I've got commitments to uphold, people that need paying, using money that I don't legally own. If I ran away from that, I'd just make enemies and one of them might end up being ten times worse than Coil ever was."

Victoria nodded, upset but understanding. Lisa was too tangled up in the life of crime to simply slip away. Not in any way that could let her live in Brockton Bay once she did it. Perhaps in a few years, the throuple could move to a new city, and start a new life as heroes. That was Vicky's ideal dream. She turned to Taylor, the girl she originally wanted to 'save' from this awful life of villainy. Did she feel the same way?

"Taylor?" Victoria asked, almost pleading with her eyes. "You once said, that the reason you did this was because it was fun. Is this still fun for you? Taking from people, hurting them?"

Taylor struggled to look at Victoria in the eyes. Guilt was practically Taylor's middle name. Over the course of her time with the Undersiders, her guilt had lessened. But now she had blood on her hands and no valid excuse for being an undercover hero.

"Vicky," Taylor said, upset for her friend. "When I started doing this, I wanted to help people. And I still do. The Undersiders, we're not… we don't…" She went quiet, unable to think of what to say.

"Just..." Victoria said, standing from her table. "Just think about it, okay? Our deal still stands, it always will. I don't want to arrest you. In truth, you already know that I won't. But… I still don't agree." She leaned over and kissed Taylor, then did the same for Lisa. "Have fun at work." She added, before flying off.

"Wow," Lisa whistled as they watched her go. "Kill the mood much?"

"She's just concerned about us," Taylor sighed. "I understand."

"Actually I was talking about you," Lisa said with a smirk. "Explaining how you almost suffocated our girlfriend before we really met her."

"I wouldn't have let her die…" Taylor grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah." Lisa chuckled. "Come on, let's get going."

----------------------------------------
Coil's Base – One Bus Ride Later

The rest of the Undersiders were waiting for the girls to arrive. Mercenaries opened the door for Lisa as the two entered through one of the more inconspicuous side entrances. The girls had changed into their outfits shortly before entering. The mercenaries might know who Tattletale was, but Skitter didn't want anyone to know her face.

"About time you got here," Rachel growled, she was waiting in one of the lobbies with her depowered dogs, her mask was off but she didn't need it. "You said you'd be here at five."

"It is five?" Tattletale said back, looking at her watch to double-check. Rachel just glared at the girl. "What's up?"

"Need to talk to Skitter," Rachel grumbled. Skitter and Tattletale looked at each other, Tattletale gesturing her to go ahead.

"No worries, you too have fun," Tattletale said with a smile. "I have to go quiz Alec anyway. Just remember to report to the meeting room. Important decisions to be made today."

She leaned up and kissed Skitter on the mandible and skipped past Rachel, leaving the two girls alone.

"You wanted to talk?" Skitter asked, acting all business in costume. Rachel nodded her head in the direction of a hallway and started walking, Skitter followed closely behind.

The base still wore the scars of their attack a few days ago. Mercenaries were running around the place, cleaning up debris and patching the bullet holes that littered the walls. Through her bugs, Taylor could see the main front door was still bent and broken in on itself. Only hidden behind a false wall of construction from the outside world.

The police had come to inspect the scene of the assault, but due to a factor of speed, incompetence and some previously established bribes by Coil, the base itself remained undetected to the wider public. The construction site itself was now wrapped up in legal disputes, being considered as a cover for Coil's operation and the site where the Mayor's niece was held for weeks on end, but authorities were looking up, not down. It was a miracle that it hadn't been discovered, and an opportunity that Tattletale lunged on.

Extending her reach, Taylor could see all throughout the base. Her bugs had gone forth and multiplied. Nowhere near the number that she had brought along with her, however, they found their way into every nook and cranny of the base, giving Taylor a real-time layout of the place.

Including the section where she murdered Coil.

The body had been moved, thankfully. But the wall was still stained with blood. The guilt Taylor felt over the dead turned to nausea which threatened to erupt from her stomach like it had a few nights ago. Skitter shoved the feeling down and focused on the here and now. Rachel wanted to speak to her, she'd use her human senses, and find a quiet place to chat.

Settling with a random empty bunk room, Rachel sat down on an empty bed and waited for Skitter to do the same. With the room being closed off and no mercenaries to bother them, Taylor took off her mask and looked Rachel in the eyes.

"What did you need, Rachel?" Taylor asked, smiling but making sure she showed no teeth.

Rachel looked down at Brutus and Angela, then over to Taylor's boot and then back up at her face.

"Where would you like to go on a date?" Rachel asked, bluntly.

Taylor was taken aback. She was expecting a serious talk about business or the like, not… this.

"R-Rachel," Taylor said, stumbling to say words. "I already told you, it's not a ha-harem. I appreciate the invitation, honestly, I do. You're a strong, dependable woman, who's honestly very beautiful in a tough way and in maybe in another life, I'd-"

Rachel shook her head. Taylor had obviously misinterpretation the question and now she felt terribly embarrassed.

"No, I mean you," Rachel said again. "Where would you like to go on a date? Where do you take Lisa and the other one?"

"Victoria," Taylor said, correcting her. "Oh, so you want date ideas?"

"Yeah, her," Rachel shrugged, "And yeah. I need… ideas."

Rachel had the faintest build-up of red on her cheeks. Taylor almost had to squint to see it, but Rachel was blushing. Taylor gasped, genuine delight and excitement in her breath.

"Do you have someone you like?" Taylor asked, fascinated with this side of Rachel.

Rachel looked away, the blush across her cheeks running even redder. "I don't know yet," Rachel almost mumbled, then she turned back and spoke in the usual grumpy voice Taylor was used to. "They asked me, but I don't know what to do. So, what do you do?"

"Oh, well, Taylor began. "Lisa likes to take me shopping. Vicky too, they both like clothing. I'm not that well-versed with fashion, but it's always fun to see them get all dressed up. Really anything along the board… wait, you probably can't go there… okay… well the local library… right, never mind," Taylor went silent, thinking to herself. "The park is always a nice place? I like taking walks through them, especially if they're the larger ones with ponds and the like."

Rachel nodded, mentally taking notes.

"Maybe a picnic? You could make a small basket of food?" Taylor continued. "Sit at a bench and feed the ducks, that's romantic and cute. Or go stargazing? Really any view you find interesting. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, just something you both can talk about."

"Yeah, that sounds easy enough," Rachel said, more to herself. "The park, food, a good view. I can do that." Rachel stood up and patted Taylor on the shoulder in thanks before collecting her dog's leashes.

Taylor nodded back at Rachel, picking up her mask to place on again before the two exited the room. The two kept walking in silence as they headed towards the meeting room, no one was in the room yet, but Taylor picked up something strange a few rooms over. She paused in her step and made a mental note to ask Lisa. Picking up her pace again to meet up with the rest of the team.

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

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Regent cried, raising his hand in surrender. "I know this one, wait, I know it!"

"When were you born?" Tattletale asked back, Grue stood behind the boy, cracking his knuckles.

"Nineteen-sixty-nine!" Regent yelped in fear. "June twelfth."

"And where?" Grue barked.

"Danbury, Connecticut!" Regent yelled back like he was a private in the army. He looked to Tattletale pleading mercy in his eyes. Tattletale nodded as Grue backed off.

"You passed," Tattletale said with a dark smile, "This time. Next, we'll be teaching you the fine arts of carpentry."

Regent let out a relieved sigh, relaxing into his chair as Grue stepped away. With shaky legs, Regent stood up and moved towards the exit. Imp appeared to the side of him, rubbing his back.

"There, there," Imp said. "You did good, you survived. It wasn't so bad." Regent nodded, accepting the support, even if it was just a lighter form of teasing. "Knew you could do it," Imp added, before pushing her mask into his.

Grue coughed loudly, no doubt glaring at the two behind his mask. Regent stood up a little straighter but Imp simply locked arms with the boy and made a 'cocking-a-snook' gesture at her brother as they left the room. Grue took a step forward to say something but Tattletale placed a hand on his chest.

"You know she's only doing it to get a reaction out of you," Tattletale said with a smile.

Grue looked down at Tattletale's hand, she let go and gestured for the door.

"You saying if I stop reacting, she'll dump him?" Grue grunted.

"No, you're not that lucky," Tattletale smirked. "But the more you grumble, the more likely you are to see some unwanted PDA. So take my advice and be happy for your sister."

"But it's Alec…" Grue grumbled, crossing his arms.

"I didn't say stop terrorising him," Tattletale laughed. "He deserves it, but she's smart enough to make her own choices, so learn to respect them. Just keep your Alec beatings private, and it'll be fine. Remember, a public flogging equals a public snogging."

Grue gagged at the mental image, which made Tattletale laugh even harder. The two walked a short distance behind Regent and Imp, the latter would repeatably disappear and reappear looking at various rooms around the base as they walked by. When they finally got to the meeting room, Skitter and Bitch were waiting for them.

"Tattletale?" Skitter asked the second she walked in. "Why is your Uncle lying in the medical ward downstairs?"

"Oh, you saw that?" Tattletale chuckled. "Ask Regent, it was all his idea."

"Hey, Imp had the idea, I just went along with it," Regent said sighing as he fell into a chair. "Yet no one's blaming her."

"No, we blame her too," Grue said, walking in and nodding to Skitter. "But you caused the mess, so you have to deal with it."

Skitter looked between Grue, Tattletale and Regent. Then turned in the direction where Lisa's Uncle was being kept.

"He used a coma patient to fake your Uncle?" Skitter asked as she worked it out. "That's…"

"Fucked up," Grue growled.

"Smart," Skitter said with a nod of approval. Tattletale looked mildly annoyed

"Thank you!" Imp said with a sigh of exasperation. "Finally someone gets our genius."

"Of course, it would've been smarter if you ran it by us first," Skitter continued, "Plus the logistics of it would be a nightmare, were did you even get the body?"

"Brockton General," Tattletale said blankly. "Yes, they're that stupid. And yes, it's already taken care of."

Tattletale took a seat at the meeting table. It was one of those long tables with oversized chairs, and a big fancy chair at the end fit for some Bond villain wannabe. Tattletale gestured to Grue to take the head seat but the boy looked back hesitantly.

"Oh no, I can't take any credit for all of this," Grue said as he gestured around the room. "This whole thing is your operation after all."

"Well, I'm not the leader, and that's the leading chair," Tattletale whined playfully. "You're our fearless leader, so, hop to it."

Grue sighed, and moved to the seat, fitting awkwardly into it before spinning around to the head of the table. The rest of the team took their spots, barely taking up a quarter of the available chairs. The Undersiders had all agreed to meet at Coil's base to discuss one thing. What did they do next?

"So, we all know why we're here," Grue said, looking around the room. "To discuss the future of the Undersiders… if there will be an Undersiders going forward. And what we'll do."

"Why wouldn't there be?" Bitch asked, annoyed at the idea.

"The Undersiders were formed and funded by Coil," Tattletale explained, "Our entire purpose was to be this city's mild nuisance while Coil and his team achieved their goals. Now we have no goal, no overlord, and no grand purpose. If we wanted it, we could retire, all of us. There's enough money to set us up for life. Maybe not a grand life, but a life nonetheless."

The team looked amongst themselves at that. For a lot of villainous teams, that was the goal. Make a lot of money in a short amount of time and then cash that check and live happily ever after.

"Obviously, that option isn't open to everyone," Tattletale continued. "Regent, I know you have personal reasons for being here and need a safety net to cover you. Plus, I need you to play the role of my Uncle for the foreseeable future. Personally, I'm tied down here. I promised these mercenaries a steady job and I can't renege on my deal."

"The point is," Grue said, taking back command. "If anyone wanted to get out, now would be the time. No judgement, we'll pay you a hefty lump sum and set you up with whatever else you need. Bitch, you could stick to running your shelter, we'd get you a safe house just outside the city. Skitter, if you wanted to re-brand with Glory Girl, we'd understand."

Skitter stared back at Grue for a long while. No one said anything while they waited. Tattletale and Regent were locked in at the moment but the rest of the team all had solid reasons to call it quits, Grue included.

"Well I don't want to leave," Imp said, placing her feet up on the table. "It's too much fun, I'd go solo if I have to. But I'm sure Tat's would hire me. And if she wants to"

"And I'm not letting you do that," Grue said. "If Tattletale is staying, then I'll be here too. Whether it's as the Undersiders, or just part of Coil's… uh, Tattletale's mercenary company."

"Skitter?" Tattletale asked, looking at her. "This is your chance," She reached over and grabbed her hand. "If you wanted to be a hero, we can make a plan. Rebrand you, you'd have to stay in a mask and be a vigilante for a while, but I can swing some things with the media, give it all a positive swing."

Skitter looked down at Tattletale's hand, following up her arm to her face. Lisa mouthed the words, 'It's okay.' Skitter didn't say anything, looking over to Bitch to see how she would respond to the offer.

"I don't really care about the money," Bitch grumbled, leaning forward on the table. "Can this place keep supplying my shelter with people?" She asked Grue.

"Yes," Tattletale responded. "We'll keep paying the specialists you already have. And you can ask us for anything else that you need. Always."

"Then I'm staying," Bitch said, leaning back in her chair. "Packs gotta stick together,"

Skitter nodded along to that. "Stick together, yes." She turned back to Tattletale and Grue. "I'm staying. The Undersiders means too much to me to quit now."

"Are you sure?" Tattletale asked, looking right into Skitter's eyes. "No one here will ju-"

"I'm sure, now let's move on," Skitter said, firm with her resolve.

"Alright then," Grue said, nodding to himself as he tapped the table. "The Undersiders stay. Of course, we need to find ourselves a new source of income. And something to do,"

"We still have Coil's assets. We could just take over." Tattletale suggested. It was the obvious suggestion, but one that Grue was hesitant on. "Think about it. We have the money, the power and manpower to hold this place together."

"Do we have the manpower?" Skitter asked. "This place looks to be running with a skeleton crew."

Tattletale waved the comment away. "Alright, so we need to hire a few more people."

"Hire people?" Grue asked, "Like what? Recruits? Sounds like we're starting a gang."

"Oh, we could become the next big gang!" Imp giggled. "The Undersiders! You're in Undersider territory, you're wearing Undersider colours."

"Don't go downtown, that's the Underside now," Regent chuckled.

"I already don't like the sound of that," Grue grumbled.

"It's the logical escalation," Skitter suggested. "With the ABB gone, Coil was the only group keeping this city from being overrun by the Empire."

"Fuck those guys," Bitch growled.

"Other gangs might appear," Grue suggested. "It doesn't have to fall on us,"

"Yeah, maybe we'll get lucky and the Teeth will come back," Tattletale said sarcastically. "Oh, I heard Skidmark's little crew is building up around old ABB territory. Maybe they'll flood the streets with drugs. That'll hold back the Empire."

"Fine, you have a point," Grue said. "We'll reestablish control over Coil's territory with whatever men Tattletale have on hand. Then…"

"Then we'll take as much of the ABB remnants as we can hold," Skitter added. "I'm sure a lot of people don't want to see the Empire march into there, some might be inclined to help us if persuaded."

"So we are recruiting for a gang?" Regent asked. "I wonder if we can make uniforms?"

"We're not calling it a gang," Grue said, "We're an… independent mercenary company. Helping keep the Empire back. We haven't even thought about the PRT response to this? If we do this, they will come for us, much harder than when we were just a small team."

"We'll be the lesser of two evils," Skitter said coldly. "The PRT will see it as their chance to deal with the Empire, and this city will finally be rid of them."

"Or more likely," Imp added. "The Empire will pay the PRT to kick on the underdog like they always do."

"Then we'll break their legs if they do," Skitter said, it was meant to be a joke but only Tattletale knew that.

For the next hour, the team discussed the logistics of even attempting such a task. Turning a hypothetical idea into a multiple-step plan to hold the city. No one noticed when they stopped talking about if they could do this and started talking about how soon could they start. In the end, there was no official deceleration, no celebration just another day at work. The Undersiders would continue, with plans to expand, for the good of the city.

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

"Are you sure about this, Tay?" Lisa asked after the meeting. Everyone had left to do their own thing, leaving the girls in the meeting room alone. "I was serious before, I know you wanted to be a hero. Vicky was right, there are ways to do that if you want."

Taylor shook her head. "Thank you, but yes. I'm sure," Her hand brushed along the table as she walked up to the head seat, eyeing it. "Hero, villain. All I've wanted to do was help people, fight bullies. And I've done that, in my own way. How much crime have we actually done? Who were our victims? No one innocent, not really," Taylor looked away, looking guilty about what she just said. "Vicky though… She won't like this."

"Victoria will understand... Eventually. She's seen how useless the whole bureaucratic process is." Lisa waved her comment away. "Besides, Rome wasn't built in a day. Not like we'll be handing out flyers on the street tomorrow or anything. We'll start small, build some stability in this city."

"We could just quit while we're ahead," Taylor suggested. "I don't mean the Undersiders, but… this," She gestured around the base. "It makes sense, being here, but also… how the hell did we end up here. Victoria asked me once, indirectly, why do I do this? At the time, I said it was fun."

"It was fun," Lisa said softly. "It is fun."

"It is…" Taylor nodded.

"I'm sensing a but," Lisa said with a smirk. Taylor tilted her head towards Lisa.

"Why do you do this? Crime." Taylor asked bluntly, "And don't say Coil, you all but run the Undersiders in name, yet you have no desire to lead. You have more money than any of us yet you claim that you couldn't disappear. I bet you could pay out all these people right now, and they'd thank you and move on to the next city. But you want them here, don't you?" Lisa's smile hesitated, Taylor had seen right through her. Lisa could retire any time she damn well pleased. "You recruited me so hard I ended up dating you, why?"

"Because I did what I had to do," Lisa replied. "That's what I tell myself. That's how I justify it every morning. Recruiting you, I helped you, and I still feel like the stupid, self-obsessed little child that let her big brother die." She sighed and turned away from Taylor, pressing a button on the wall that turned the opaque windows transparent. Looking out onto the rest of the base. "It wasn't conscious, but maybe I felt like I needed to up the stakes. Pull something dramatic. Show that, with these crazy smart capes like Alexandria and Faultline around, I could still be the smartest person in the room."

And do you feel like the smartest person in the room?" Taylor asked, standing beside her.

She sighed and looked over the base, every single unmasked man and woman in this complex would nod at her and call her boss.

"Can you imagine?" Lisa said, with a smile, as wide as it was genuine. "With me and you as the top dogs? The whole city will pay attention to us."

Taylor moved behind her, wrapping her arms around Lisa and holding onto her tightly. Lisa's arms moved up, grabbing Taylor's arm and gently returning the hug.

"Why stop there?" Taylor asked, smiling behind her mask. "We've never shown restraint before. With Vicky, the three of us could have the whole world."

"Plans for world conquest now?" Lisa chucked, looking back at Taylor "And Victoria thought I was the bad influence…" Her smile wavered, only for a second as she sighed. "She's not going to like this, is she?"

"No, she won't," Taylor admitted, looking out over the base and admiring the view. A small army moved around the base, waiting for commands, it tickled a particular spot in Taylor's brain. "But we'll make her see reason."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Life got hectic, plus other writing projects. In totally unrelated news, check out my other new fic on Ao3 'Wallflower' It's college-aged Worm AU Smugbug, currently sitting on 5 chapters.

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Brockton Dog Sanctuary – Afternoon

Amy showed up to work feeling nervous.

It had been two days since she sent her message to Rachel and the girl hadn't replied at all. Amy had spent most of her time at the hospital yesterday stressing about the message. Re-reading it over and over again until it was burned into her mind, every word felt a hundred times more embarrassing than when she originally sent it.

Walking into the shelter, she was greeted by the over-enthusiastic Cassie who jumped up from her desk and waved at Amy. The girl's school was closer to the shelter than Amy's was, so she often met Cassie at the front desk.

"Amy! Hi, how are you?" Cassie cheered with a smile. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in forever! Okay, so it's only been a few days but it feels like forever. What have you been up to? I was just-"

The girl kept talking and talking as Amy made her way through the lobby. At this point, Amy didn't even wave back at the girl. She trotted through the lobby and made her way into the staff room. Amy was honestly surprised that the girl kept talking the same way every time she came in, never dissuaded by Amy's lack of response.

Hanging up her schoolbag on an idle hook, Amy changed her shirt. The shelter didn't have any specific uniform however Amy favoured using some of her older shirts while working as she didn't want her good shirts smelling like dog. Also, the dogs got on better with her when they had a familiar scent rather than whatever brand of washing liquid Carol used during laundry days.

Once dressed, Amy walked back out into the lobby where Cassie was still talking to her. Apparently not even a door would stop that girl from yapping.

"-and Jake used to always say that 'Dogs are our link to paradise.' Which I think was actually a quote from a movie I heard but I don't remember which one. Or maybe it was a book?" Cassie said as Amy returned around the counter.

"Mmhm," Amy grunted, pretending to be part of whatever conversation Cassie was having with her while she picked up the schedule for today.

The work was pretty routine, especially when she was only doing the afternoon shift. Unlike the hospital where there was a new emergency every day, the shelter preferred to work in a structured system. Clear markings for what each dog should be doing at each time. Amy knew her schedule well enough that she didn't need more than a cursory glance to see what she was doing today. But it wasn't her schedule she was interested in.

"Is Rachel in today?" Amy asked, still scanning the clipboard in her hand.

"Not yet," Cassie sighed. "She's been so busy with her other job, I haven't seen her in days either." Cassie slouched onto the desk and let out a soft whine. "I wish I could be out there, helping her."

"Second job?" Amy asked, raising an eyebrow. She knew that Rachel had other business she did outside of the shelter, but she always assumed it was still in relation to the shelter. Now Amy's head was filling with questions that in retrospect, she probably should've asked back when she started this job.

"Yeah, y'know," Cassie said with a coy smile. When it became clear that Amy didn't know what she was talking about, Cassie started to blush. "Never mind then. Ask her about it." For the first time in a long time, Cassie shut up and stuck her head down into her computer. Actually looking like a proper receptionist.

Amy shrugged and moved off to collect her assigned dogs for the day. With any luck, Rachel would come by later and Amy could have a chance to explain her embarrassing text message.

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

PRT HQ Wards Level – Afternoon

Victoria showed up to work feeling nervous.

It had been two days since she started her work with the Wards and today was the session she was dreading. The PRT didn't care about the social drama of any of their teenage heroes and that went double for volunteering New Wave capes. While Victoria was happy to work with her friends, today she had been assigned patrol duty with Gallant. Her ex-boyfriend, just a few days after her current relationship was publicly announced.

It was like the PRT went out of their way to pick the most awkward pairing to patrol the city with. The two were still friends and Victoria knew that she was going to be working with Dean eventually. She just knew that today was going to be awkward, people would often stop Wards on patrol to ask for photos and questions. It was part of the job. When she was out on patrol the other day, every single question she was asked related to her new relationship with Taylor and Lisa.

Victoria waited on the roof of the PRT headquarters, leaning on the railing. Being a public flyer, she arrived far sooner than any of her Ward counterparts. She wished she could travel with her friends to work, but Victoria was far too public of a figure to be seen with them. So she waited on the rooftop, standing away from a handful of office workers and security having a smoke, thinking of what her girlfriends were up to right at this moment.

Crime. They were probably up to crime at this moment.

Victoria sighed. She really had hoped that after Coil, the girls wouldn't have a reason to continue their criminal escapades. It was a fragile hope, one she never actually believed in. Lisa had never once shown interest in swapping sides and Victoria could accept that. But Taylor. The whole reason Victoria got to know Taylor in the first place was to understand the girl's point of view, to help her see that she didn't have to do this.

School was coming to an end. Victoria graduated at the end of the week and after that, she'd become a full-time hero. She thought back on her deal with Taylor, having her take part in the school experience in exchange for not turning her over to the PRT or New Wave.

There was no denying that it worked. Taylor was far happier these days compared to that scared girl she cornered at school. She had friends, she spoke more, she walked taller through the halls and she actually smiled. A lot of that could be chalked up to her relationship with Victoria, but still, her plan was an amazing success. So why has Taylor continued to be a villain?

Because it's fun.

Those words never sat right with Victoria. She understood the idea, anyone with powers could. Letting loose and doing whatever you wanted did sound like fun. But there were consequences, and consequences were never fun. Taylor had killed a man, a terrible man who probably deserved it but still. Victoria thought back on all the pain Taylor was carrying, that guilt in her eyes. Even after all that, Taylor had still chosen to stay.

Victoria shook her head. Her only hope now that Coil was gone, was that Taylor and Lisa would be smart enough to keep their heads down. They weren't tied to any big crime lords in the city. They could disappear into the background of Brockton Bay cape politics and keep being petty thieves. Victoria still wouldn't approve of their life choices, but even she could admit there are enough businesses in the Bay that would be… morally correct, to steal from. The Empire was no doubt about to expand with the ABB collapse and Coil's arrest.

"Glory Girl!" A male voice called out from behind her. Victoria turned around to see Kid Win standing by the door. "Armsmaster sent me to collect you. It's time for briefing."

Victoria pushed herself off the railing and slapped on her best 'Glory Girl Smile' as she jogged over to the Ward. As she headed off to work, she gave a silent prayer for whatever her girlfriends were getting up to right now.

'Don't let it be some big public robbery that I have to show up for. Make it something boring. Whatever Tattletale usually does during the Undersider's downtime. Safe, boring meetings with clients and whatnot.'

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

Brockton Dog Sanctuary – Afternoon

An hour into her work, Amy was interrupted by a knock on the door. She was in the middle of grooming and inspecting a batch of dogs. A job that would normally take far longer to finish, Amy could easily determine the health of each animal with a simple touch. Her entire batch of dogs were as healthy as they were last week, but she still had to tidy them up and fill in the assigned time. Turning towards the door, Amy's eyes widened when she saw Rachel waiting for her.

"Oh, hey," Amy said with a nod.

"You done here?" Rachel asked, less bossy than her usual tone, more asking if Amy was free rather than an order to speed up. That was unusual.

"I still need to brush those three," Amy gestured to the three dogs playing in the corner of the room. "And this one."

"But they're all fine, right?" Rachel asked. Amy wasn't sure if Rachel knew she was Panacea, the girl had never outright asked her to heal anyone or asked her anything cape-related. But Rachel seemed to know that Amy had a knack for judging the animal's health.

"All perfectly healthy," Amy nodded back with a small smile. "Well, Charlie is a bit underweight, but I already noted it down for the feeding crew."

"Come on," Rachel said, gesturing for Amy to follow with her head before walking off. "I'll get Cassie or someone to finish up."

"Alright?" Amy said, somewhat confused as she put down her brush and gave the dog a goodbye head scratch. She quickly caught up to Rachel who surprisingly waited for her instead of walking off to wherever the hell they were going. "What's up?"

Rachel started walking back towards the lobby, making sure that Amy followed beside her. "I'm about to be busy as shit for the next few days. Probably won't be able to come to the shelter as much as I used to. I figured now was as best time as any."

"Best time for what?" Amy asked as they made it to the lobby.

"Rachie!" Cassie cheered. "Do you need something?"

"Find someone to fill in for Amy, I'm taking her out for the day," Rachel grunted back casually. Both Amy and Cassie blinked back at that, Rachel turned to Amy specifically. "Go grab your stuff, I don't think we'll be coming back here today."

"Okay?" Amy said, walking off to grab her things. She had no idea what she was being volunteered for but if the boss wanted to take her someplace on company time, she wasn't going to say no.

"You ready?" Rachel asked as Amy returned with her bag. Amy nodded, no idea what she should be ready for but willing to go along for the ride. "Good, let's go." Rachel gave a lazy wave in Cassie's direction before spinning on her heels and picking up a backpack of her own.

Amy turned back to look at Cassie, silently asking her for any idea of what was going on. The girl simply shrugged with a smile and waved Amy goodbye. Amy followed after Rachel, meeting her by the front sign where her three dogs were tied up and waiting for them.

"Let's go," Rachel said with a vague smile before moving. Amy stepped up beside her and settled in for whatever the hell this was going to be.

"Sorry, what are we doing? Amy asked, watching the shelter disappear behind buildings.

Rachel looked away from Amy, a faint blush building on her face. Amy for her part didn't notice the girl's reaction. "I wanted to…" Rachel started, her words trailing off. That caught Amy's attention, she turned to look up at Rachel and tilted her head inquisitively. Rachel looked positively embarrassed, completely out of her element. The girl growled in frustration and then looked back at Amy intensely. "Your message. I've never had anyone say those things to me before." She barked back at her.

"Oh, sorry," Amy winced.

Rachel shook her head. "No, it was nice," Her tone was still angry, but Amy's ears perked up at the compliment. "I didn't know I made you feel that way. Most people find me… intense. They think I'm just… Whatever, your message was nice, okay? So… thanks."

"You're definitely intense," Amy chuckled dully. "But most people are stupid, so screw them." A smile formed on Amy's face. "I meant what I wrote. This place has really helped me relax. My life before was so hectic and boring at the same time. I never told anyone that, not even my sister. So again, thank you."


Rachel went silent as the two of them kept walking. She looked down at her dogs and pulled on one of the leashes in her hand, untying it from the other two dogs and offered it to Amy. "Do you want to walk Angelica?"

Amy nodded to Rachel's response, accepting the dog's leash. Out of Rachel's three dogs, Angelica liked Amy the most, even after she stopped applying Taylor's scent onto her body. It was obvious now what Rachel wanted. She just needed an employee to help walk her dogs in the park. It was no secret that Rachel favoured her three dogs over the others, even if she would never admit it out loud.

Amy smiled back wider, she could read between the lines. Her text message had obviously had an effect on Rachel and now the girl was trusting her to handle Rachel's personal dogs. It was a giant sign of trust, and a relief to know that Rachel hadn't thought that she was some weird, emotional girl who sent giant texts to everyone they met.

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

Brockton Bay Park – Afternoon

Amy found herself relaxing as she walked alongside Rachel. She still wasn't sure what kind of errands Rachel needed her for but she could admit that the scenery was nice, and Rachel's dogs sure were happy to be out in the park.

Rachel let them off their leads and barked a few orders before letting them loose. Amy smiled as the three dogs started running around on the open field, constantly circling back to check on Rachel before running off to play again. If Amy had to guess, she would say that she's here as a second pair of eyes for Rachel's dogs. Then again, Rachel could summon them all with a whistle, so she was back to being confused about her purpose.

Eventually, Rachel stopped walking. Turning towards a small, man-made lake in the center of the park. Amy noted that Rachel kept looking back at her as if checking on the small girl's well-being every other minute. Maybe this was supposed to be some sort of test? To prove something? Whatever it was, Amy wasn't shaken by Rachel's stare. If anything, it was Rachel who was looking nervous.

"Hey, are you okay?" Amy asked. Rachel paused for a second before looking at Amy again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rachel assured, as she turned back over to the water. "It's a… good view, right? The water. People like looking at water."

Amy had no clue where that came from. She moved a little closer to Rachel to see the same view.

"I guess," Amy mused, looking over the lake. A few birds were floating in the water. "I think people just like looking at nature. It's a strange sight after living in a city all your life."

"Huh," Rachel hummed to herself.

"I like the ducks though," Amy added. "They're cute, but also kinda vicious when they fight each other. Most people like watching or feeding them bread only to be attacked," Rachel let out a snort of a chuckle which caused Amy to giggle in return. "I've seen the aftermath of a duck attack once or twice at the hospital. Usually older people, y'know, someone's grandpa who didn't have enough bread for every angry bird in the park."

"Idiots," Rachel grumbled under her breath. "Shouldn't be feeding them bread in the first place. It's bad for them."

"Really? Where'd you hear that?" Amy asked.

Rachel went silent for a moment, lost deep in a painful memory before simply saying. "Nowhere important." Then she sat down on the grass and reached into her jacket pocket. "Food?" She offered, holding out half a wrapped-up sandwich.

"Oh, thanks?" Amy said, accepting the sandwich and sitting down next to her. The two ate in silence. They enjoyed the company of one another as they watched the ducks swimming along the surface of the lake. The sandwich was nice, even though it was tightly packed into Rachel's jacket. "You make this yourself?" Amy asked before the silence got too awkward.

"Yeah," Rachel said through a mouthful of food. "When I was little, I used to try putting all kinds of food between bread. Meats, fruits, ketchup."

"Eww," Amy chuckled. "At the same time?"

"No…" Rachel said in an embarrassed tone. "First I tried it with leftover chicken. That was always pretty tasty. When I ran out of that, I used apples and oranges. But they tasted better on their own. Eventually, I ran out of that and just put ketchup between two slices of bread."

"Again, eww," Amy chuckled. "Who eats a ketchup sandwich? That must've been a horrible day."

Rachel looked back to Amy and tilted her head slightly. "More like a month," Rachel muttered under her breath. "Ran out of bread before finishing the ketchup bottle. Ending up drinking it. Not as tasty without bread."

"You drank a bottle of ketchup?" Amy baulked. Rachel kept chewing on her sandwich like she didn't just say the weirdest thing today. "Surely you could've put it on something else. Like, I don't know, the meat from earlier. Or hell, even rice?"

"I said I ran out of meat," Rachel growled defensively. Amy didn't flinch at the outburst, and Rachel calmed down again. "And I didn't see the rice till after," She added sombrely. "Fucked that up anyway…"

Amy noted that rice was a sore subject for Rachel and she wasn't willing to probe into why that was. Instead, she turned back to the sandwich, finishing off the last few bites. "Still… good sandwich. Compliments to the chef and all that biz. Uh, thanks for lunch."

Amy still had no clue what was going on. Had Rachel really just pulled her out of volunteer work just to eat a sandwich at the park? Was this what people did? Or was it just something that Rachel did. In truth, she barely knew the girl, she was some grumpy parahuman dog girl, who somehow ran a dog shelter even though she looked barely older than Amy. The only personal details she knew were her name and that she ate weird sandwiches as a kid.

Amy wanted to know more about this mysterious woman. But every question she had died in her throat. Rachel was private, she knew that. Amy wished she could've been more private about her own life. Rachel never asked what Amy did outside of the dog shelter, she never showed any inkling that she was even aware that Amy was Panacea. And Amy loved that. Whether it was out of ignorance or respect, Amy wanted to continue the charade.

So Amy didn't ask about any deep, personal tidbits of information. And Amy didn't get asked any in return. Instead, they sat on the grass, talking about ducks, sandwiches and whatever else caught their attention. It might have been the first time in a long time she had a conversation with someone who didn't bring up cape life, her job, or her family. It felt nice, maybe a little awkward. But it was a conversation where for once, Amy didn't have to worry about any hidden motives. Rachel wasn't asking Panacea for help, she was simply talking to Amy, as friends.

Friends.

Amy had made a real friend. That's what this was. Rachel hadn't taken Amy out to run some random work errands, she'd taken her friend out to lunch in the park. A part of Amy felt stupid for not realising sooner, but another part of Amy was incredibly happy. Amy almost felt warm inside, she had definitive proof that she had made a friend.

Her smile died down a little when she realised that she hadn't been paying attention to whatever Rachel was saying to her. The gruff girl looked back at Amy, expecting a response to some question.

"Sorry?" Amy said, shaking her head quickly. "What was that?"

"I asked you what kind of animal you liked," Rachel repeated.

"Oh! Right, uh," Amy hesitated for a second trying to remember. She could say dogs to get on Rachel's good side, but that just felt like sucking up to her for no reason. "I like big animals, like lions, tigers, elephants… That kinda thing. I wish I could see them in person, but not like a zoo or anything. I never liked the idea of seeing animals in cages. Though I don't think Brockton Bay even has a zoo? Boston maybe? Probably."

Rachel nodded to this like Amy had said something deep and meaningful.

"I'll take a wild guess and say dogs are your favourite animal?" Amy said as a joke. Rachel looked back at her, seeming to take a moment to understand the sarcasm, and then she smiled and looked back to her dogs.

"I like other animals too," Rachel said. "Dogs are special, but everyone assumes that means I hate other animals. But I don't," It was Amy's turn to nod like wise words had been spoken. "Birds are cool. Wish dogs had wings sometimes," Amy chuckled at that. "Yeah, it'd look fucking stupid. But a flying dog…" Rachel watched as some of the ducks took flight, a wistful smile on her face. "And insects are pretty badass."

"Insects?" Amy asked. "Nope, sorry. Bugs gross me out. Especially after… never mind." Amy thought back to her brief encounters with Skitter both at the bank and outside the PRT headquarters. They still creeped her out but she wasn't going to open that discussion when it would eventually lead to her life as Panacea.

"Raccoons," Rachel said after some thought. "They always seemed like smart animals. Before I had these three," Rachel gestured her head towards her dogs. "I had this other dog, Rolo. We travelled around a lot. And this one time, there was this raccoon that kept following us, all day long. I thought Rolo was gonna try kill it but it kept coming back. Woke up one morning next to Rolo, and this raccoon had also cuddled up into us after we'd fallen asleep."

Amy was beginning to pick up a pattern in Rachel's life. Weird food, limited food, travelling a lot, sleeping with her dog and waking up with a raccoon. Amy wasn't sure what to say about the implications. Either Rachel lived a very eccentric life, or more likely, Rachel grew up homeless. In any case, Amy changed the subject.

"My sister always calls me a raccoon," Amy mused. "Though she never explains why. I'm just a little raccoon, or looking at her with my raccoon eyes, whatever that means."

Rachel looked back at Amy and really inspected her body. To the point where Amy was beginning to feel self-conscious. Then Rachel shook her head. "I don't really see it. But families can be weird like that."

"Understatement of the year," Amy giggled. "Speaking of which, I might need to go soon. My sister is working today so she can't pick me up. If I miss the bus, Carol will get pissed."

Rachel went quiet for a bit. Watching the sunset over the park lake, or the low-hanging sun at least. It was summer and the sun would still be up for an hour or two more, to which Amy would need to be home before Carol started to complain. Rachel looked like she had more to say but didn't know how to say it, which was a stark contrast to her usual bossy self.

"Everything good?" Amy asked, as she stood up and brushed off her hands.

Rachel stood up and looked at Amy, seemingly annoyed with something. Not Amy, but something. She ran through a mental checklist of some kind. Looking around the park, then over to the water. Her dogs were all tired out from running, sitting in the shade of a tree away from the two girls.

"Dammit," Rachel huffed under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"I'm not…" Rachel began, her cheeks reddening as she spoke. "I'm not usually good with all this mushy crap. Talking to people. Being sociable and shit… I thought I could wing it but I prefer to just be direct with all this crap. And most people who meet me are either scared chickenshit or weird fans of my job. I got a few people I call my friends, but none of them ever said anything like what was in that message and I can't… respond the same way. I've never, done this before."

Amy chuckled at that, Rachel struggled to make friends. It should've been an obvious revelation in hindsight but the thought never crossed her mind. This was Rachel trying her best to form a connection with her, with Amy. "Relatable," Amy nodded. "I'm the same, usually pretty closed off. Most of my friends are just my sister's friends. In fact, all of them are. It's kinda sad when I say it out loud. My sister is all about being open with her feelings and shit. She's the one who made me send that message-"

Amy paused at her statement. Victoria hadn't made her do anything. All Victoria did was buy her a crappy motivation calendar in the middle of the year. It was Amy who decided to reach out with a 'thank you' note. A new odd feeling of warmth came up into Amy, next to the one that was already there from making a new friend. It was a peculiar sense of self-pride, one she hadn't felt since back when she started healing terminal diseases.

"Anyway," Amy shook herself out of the thought. "The point is, I'm not usually good with all this mushy crap either. I don't talk to people, I hate being sociable and shit," Rachel looked at her, still blushing from something Amy wasn't aware of, but it made Amy blush in return. "So, fuck what everyone else usually does."

Rachel nodded vigorously to that statement.

"Exactly," Rachel added with a smile. "You get it. That's what I thought," Rachel nodded a few more times. "More people just need to cut through the bullshit and say what they mean."

"Fuck, life would be a hundred times easier," Amy agreed.

"Right!?" Rachel said, fired up about something. "No more bullshit. Let's just say and do what we mean."

"Rachel," Amy said, looking up at her with purpose. "I meant what I wrote. Thank you for dragging me to your shelter. I never realised how I… felt until you came along. I like working with the dogs, I enjoy spending time with you. I… tolerate Cassie. I love having this little space to myself that my family doesn't really know about. And you gave that to me." Rachel placed a hand on Amy's shoulder, smiling at the girl while Amy smiled back. "So, yeah… thanks. I'm glad that we can be frie-"

Rachel placed and firm hand on Amy's shirt collar and pulled Amy into a kiss, leaving Amy momentarily stunned. The warmth of Rachel's lips against hers was unexpected, but not unwelcome. It was forceful, passionate and quick enough that Amy could barely catch her breath.

Amy fell back as Rachel let go. The kiss broke as promptly as it came, leaving the girl just as dazed and confused as when it started. Rachel licked her lips and turned away, acting as casually as possible.

"So like I said, I won't be around much after today but thanks… for the message. Call me next time. We'll do this again soon. Outside work." Rachel said.

"Uh, yeah…" Amy said back, still in shock.

"Good, good," Rachel nodded. "Get home safe or whatever…"

Rachel gave Amy a playful punch on her shoulder before walking off to collect her dogs. As she watched Rachel leave, Amy couldn't help but stare as her mind replayed the events that had just happened. Rachel had kissed her. She just grabbed Amy by the shirt and pulled her in for a kiss. No warning, no asking if it was okay, or if Amy was even gay in the first place. Just… cut through the bullshit. Some people might've found that to be insulting or creepy, but Amy…

Amy had never kissed anyone before now, the concept being nothing but a fantasy for a woman she could never have. The idea of her kissing anyone else was… ridiculous. And yet, here she was. The taste of Rachel still on her lips. She didn't hate it. It was a surprise to be sure, but a pleasant one.

Amy came out here looking for friendship and found a little more than she bargained for. Millions of questions were running through Amy's mind. What did the kiss mean? Do this again sometime? Call her next time? Was Rachel into her? Since when? Was she into Rachel?

Rachel waved, her dog's leads in her hand as she walked off, Amy waved back. A confusing concoction of questions without answers. And Amy had a whole bus ride home to think about them.

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

Brockton Bay Streets – Afternoon

Skitter showed up to work feeling nervous.

It had been two days since the Undersiders decided on their newest course of action. After a fair bit of debate, they decided to hold Coil's old territory and expand from there. That in itself excited Skitter in a way she couldn't quite describe. It also came with a buttload of headaches, trying to take over from where Coil left off with only a skeleton crew of a mercenary company on hand, at least, once some of the old staff had been let go. Regent was right, the team needed some recruits.

They expected the Empire to attack soon. News of Coil's arrest would no doubt spur the Empire to try something; they'd been clashing over Downtown for years. The previous day had mostly been about keeping up appearances for everyone involved and getting the lay of the land. Getting men back onto the street and making it look like the Empire couldn't just steamroll into downtown and plant their flag. Not without a fight at least. Between Tattletale's logistical analysis, Grue's general leadership skills and Skitter's knack for multitasking, the Undersiders were able to place enough mercs in just the right places to bluff like the best of them.

It was a short-term band-aid fix, but once the Empire realised that there was no second line of defence, the city would no doubt turn into a war zone. That led the Undersiders to return to Regent's wild idea of recruiting fresh blood. Admittedly, nobody expected Regent to have such a good idea for once, but it made sense. Granted, Grue still didn't want to pick up people off the street like some gang, still determined to call themselves an independent mercenary company. Tattletale had a lead on where she might be able to hire new mercenaries and Grue was interested in reaching out to more unaligned parahumans to see if they could be placed onto the payroll if things got too hot.

Skitter however had her own assignment to do, one she had given herself with a blessing from Grue and Tattletale. It was the first time since joining that Skitter had her own solo mission, which was both a sign of their confidence in her and a sense of worry for her. She had no backup she could call on. Her success or failure depended entirely on herself. This was partially the reason why she was nervous, however, a bigger reason as to why Skitter was nervous, was the target of today's operation.

Skitter arrived at her destination and sighed, wishing she'd taken a longer route in hindsight, to give herself more time to plan this out. Trying to weigh the positives with the negatives of what she was about to do. The Undersiders were in no position to expand, and yet the hole left behind by the ABB meant there was a big section of unclaimed territory that was just waiting for someone to rise up and take. The Empire had been seen probing the edges, and the Archer's Bridge Merchants were growing bolder by the day.

There was only one authority in the territory that was purely neutral. One group of people who lived here, and would even consider taking a stand. A group of people, who if offered the choice between Nazis, Drug dealers or a Mercenary Company, would hopefully reach out to the Undersiders for help. Admittedly, it wasn't gonna be too hard a contest, given the competition, but people could be weird sometimes. It was Skitter's job to get the lay of the land, feel the vibe of the city, and meet face-to-face with the leader of this rogue group.

Skitter walked up to the door of the building she was looking for. Knocking on the metal and glass door three times and waiting for an answer. A large man opened the door and towered over Skitter. He looked the girl up and down, his confused face shifting as he wondered what the hell was even going on.

"H-hey," Skitter said with an awkward wave. Brushing hair out of her face. "Is-"

"Oh shit," The man said, cutting Skitter off as his eyes widened. "I barely recognised ya. He's upstairs." The man pointed a thumb towards the staircase behind him and moved back to allow Skitter to enter.

Skitter faltered only for a second. She had prepared an entire speech as to why the man should let her inside and rehearsed it for the entire bus ride here from school. She wasn't expecting to be recognised immediately, or for them to allow her inside without any questions asked.

Her heart was ready for this confrontation. It made sense coming here, on paper, and after some discussion with her girlfriend and Grue. The alternative was to let the Empire or the Merchants sweep through, with the resulting bloodshed that would follow. That didn't make Skitter any less nervous as she climbed up the stairs. Reaching the head office door, Skitter breathed in another focusing breath before twisting the door knob.

Skitter came face to face with the man in charge. The unofficial leader of the toughest, meanest, strongest community left standing now that the ABB had fallen. A group that was entirely without parahuman support and left to the mercy of the city's gangs, and hung out to dry by the 'heroes'. A group that had been around since Brockton Bay's very beginning and arguably the oldest gang in the city, depending on who you asked. This man was someone worthy of respect, who held a title of honour and even made the great Skitter shrink down in embarrassment for even daring to bother while they were at work.

The man stared up at Skitter, blinking his eyes and doing a double take to be sure his eyes didn't betray him. When the girl remained standing at his door, he stood up from his desk and broke into a smile.

Skitter stared back at the man, willing every morsel of guilt from her body. She had a job to do, it wasn't her fault that the world turned out the way it did, that this man of all people was the best target for Undersider expansion. She wished she was anywhere else at this moment, doing anything else. Fighting Lung would be preferable compared to what she was about to do. She didn't even have the comfort of her mask to hide the anxiety that bubbled within her.

Taylor smiled an awkward smile. All her planning and careful words were being forgotten in the presence of this man. All she could do now was wing it and hope her plan worked.

"H-hey…" Taylor said, with another clumsy wave and a smile that matched her feelings.

Taylor glanced down from the man, silently cursing the title nameplate that sat proudly on his desk. The most trusted man in the territory, holding perhaps one of the most respected positions in Brockton Bay's history and responsible for the livelihoods of everyone in the immediate area.

Danny Hebert, Dockworkers Association, Hiring and Spokesperson

 

[Gowonzu]

Brockton Bay Docks – Afternoon

A finger tapped impatiently on the steering wheel. The van had only been parked for fifteen minutes, but it seemed longer than that, far longer. There was nothing to do but wait and stare across the street.

"Dammit…" He mumbled to himself, swatting at an annoyance before letting out a sigh of boredom.

The driver, a boy no older than seventeen, bounced with impatience. He wanted to get on with it. His finger kept up its incessant tapping and he looked at his watch again and again, as though hoping to find it broken.

"What's she doing?" He asked out, already cursing the words as they left his mouth.

His job wasn't to ask questions, it was to drive the van and obey orders.

The boy was a soldier, fighting on the streets of the city for years now. He didn't know the big picture, but neither did he want to. He knew what he was ordered to do, and that was all that mattered. In a town full of parahumans, capes, heroes and villains, his options were limited.

"How should I fucking know?" Rune growled back. "Just keep watching, moron."

They had followed their target from the school, a dangerous plan on its own knowing Arcadia. They'd been fortunate in their timing, finding the girl waiting at the bus stop alone instead of travelling with her brute-rated bitch of a girlfriend.

The plan was simply to tail her, as they had been doing the last few days. So far their limited surveillance had turned up nothing. She met up with Glory Girl on the first day, so they backed off rather quickly. The second and third day had them losing her in the dense crowd of downtown, not willing to tangle with Coil's mercenaries without backup, they called it a day.

But today, this girl had decided to bus it all the way over to the docks. No New Wave looking over her shoulder, no mercenaries to blend in with the common public.

She was alone, and Rune was practically giddy with anticipation.

"Any idea what that fucking building is yet?" Rune barked out to another man sitting in the back of the van.

"Uh, it's some boring dockworkers shit," The man in the back said, typing away on a laptop. "Dockworkers Association… Think it's like a union thing?"

"A what?" Rune asked.

"A union," The man said again. "Y'know. Legal bullshit for dockworker jobs?"

Rune shook her head. "What jobs? I thought Leviathan tanked the whole shipping, boat industry thing?"

"What?" The boy in the driver's seat asked. "Course there's jobs at the docks. Where the hell do you think we get our fish?"

"I don't fucking know," Rune shrugged as the man in the back laughed. "Shut up! Wait, no. Why the fuck is this bitch going to a union?"

"Maybe she's looking for a job?" The boy shrugged back. "They do more than fishing here. Small freights still pass in and out, plus the warehouses are still used. Not to mention all the other labour jobs that people-"

"Okay, how the fuck do you know this?" Rune sighed.

Bored with waiting for her prey, she could easily force her way in and take the girl, but this job wasn't authorised by Kaiser and Rune wasn't stupid enough to pull this out in the open. She at least had the good sense to wait until Taylor Hebert was alone before trying to grab her.

This was why she was currently paired with two lesser members of the Empire. A new recruit, and some dumb fuck who could drive and apparently tell her how the Brockton Bay docks still made money.

"I learned it in school," The boy said with a smirk. "Plus, my pops used to work in a warehouse around here. Fuck if I know which one though."

"Good for you," Rune said sarcastically. "Do either of you have anything useful to tell me? No? Then shut the fuck up and get ready to drive."

The man in the back closed his laptop and moved to look out the front window.

"Sorry, Boss," He said with a chuckle.

Rune rolled her eyes at the title. Usually, she'd enjoy the respect that came from being one of the Empire's capes, but coming from these two idiots it just grated on her nerves.

"Look, this is the best shot we've had all week," Rune explained. "With the ABB gone, this is basically no man's land. The second we get eyes on her, we'll grab her," Rune jumped up at a brilliant idea to be added to her plan. "Fuck! And make sure you yell something Asian while we do it. We can blame the ABB for this. It'll be perfect!"

"Uh?" The driver boy asked, considering if he should poke holes in Rune's plan. "Neither of us speaks Japanese. And won't people notice you when you do your… thing?"

"You think I need to do my thing to grab one little girl?" Rune growled back. "And you don't gotta speak fucking Japanese, just speak in an accent and yell fucking Nee how or something stupid."

The man in the back cleared his throat. "Actually that's Chinese for-"

"I don't give a fuck!" Rune screamed. Both boys shut up and flinched from the angry parahuman. She sighed, letting go of her frustration before looking back at the Dockworkers Association building. "Just be ready. The plan is simple. The second we see the girl, we drive up. Grab her and bolt. Not even you two chuckle fucks can screw this up. Hell, I don't even need to be here, but I am."

"Don't worry, Boss," The man in the back grinned. "This will be easy."

"Man, don't fucking jinx us like that," The driver said, placing his hands back on the wheel and focusing up.

Rune ignored the comment, leaning forward and looking out the windshield, wishing that this girl would just show herself already. Her thoughts were focused on the fun she would have after they got her into the van.

"Got ya!" The boy at the wheel silently cheered an audible smack of skin across his neck.

"What now?" Rune sighed, looking back at him.

"Nothing…" He said, looking at his hand. A dead fly rolled in his palm, he brushed it off without a second thought. "Just a bug."

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

Dockworkers Association – Afternoon

A smile curved up on Danny's face as he caught sight of his daughter. The girl stood alone outside his office, waiting for him. She wore a loose jacket and her usual jeans, with a backpack slung over her shoulder.

He hadn't expected her to come, or rather, he'd never really thought she'd come to him. It had been years since Taylor last came to his workplace, and never on her own. It was a wonderful distraction from his usual monotony.

"Hey kiddo," Danny greeted. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"H-hey, Dad," Taylor waved back as she walked in and gave him a hug. "I was just… in the neighbourhood."

Danny paused at that statement, considering the current time, Taylor would've only recently gotten out of school today. A school that was a fair way away from the docks.

"Right," He nodded, keeping a neutral face. "Just wanted to come to say hi then?"

"Y-yeah, something like that," Taylor agreed, shifting her weight nervously.

Her anxious body language was obvious, but Danny wasn't brave enough to call his daughter out on it. Taylor had come here for a reason, and he'd let her bring it up when she was ready.

"So… You busy?" She asked, glancing around the office. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Oh, no," Danny waved the comment off. "Just the usual, trying to keep this lot employed. The never-ending battle." He sighed tiredly.

More and more people were dropping off from the labour pool to sign up with 'less than legal' jobs to make ends meet. It wasn't surprising, the pay was usually better than anything the union could offer, but that didn't help him with his job.

Taylor nodded, smiling nervously as she tried to figure out how to continue.

"Anything interesting for them to do?" Taylor asked, looking over Danny's desk. "Whatever happened to that plan about bringing back the ferries?"

Danny stepped forward instinctively to shield Taylor from the three separate resignation letters that sat on his desk. He never spoke much about the specifics of his job with Taylor, not wanting his daughter to worry about the state of the business.

"Dead in the water, I'm afraid," Danny said with a lighthearted chuckle. "No pun intended. Uh, there's not enough money in the city's budget for it. 'Course the Mayor still found room to expand the PRT's budget, but there you have it. It is what it is, right?"

The complaint left his lips before he even realised he made it. Hours of phone calls, emails and meetings with government officials. The promises and smiles shared amongst his fellow dockworkers. All blown up in his face when the bigwigs with the Protectorate decided that they needed to double their anti-gang budget. An honourable idea in theory, however, the reality was that the gangs were still running wild, as they always did.

"That's a shame," Taylor hummed, thankfully not mentioning his slip of frustration. "I remember how excited you were for it."

He had been, Danny smiled at the memory.

It was a plan that could change Brockton Bay. At least, Danny believed so. The ferry was the lifeblood of the city, and it had been gone for years now. Even before Leviathan came, the ferry was suffering from budget cuts. He and several others had fought hard for the ferry, but in the end, they lost.

"How was school?" Danny asked, hoping to change the subject. "How's Vicky? No date today?"

Taylor shook her head. "School's fine. Handed in the last assignment a week ago, so… y'know," She shrugged. Taylor's grades had skyrocketed ever since transferring from Winslow. Danny was so proud of how much better Taylor had been doing this year. "Vicky has worked with the Wards today. Most of this week actually. Think she's patrolling the boardwalk today."

Patrolling the boardwalk. That was a sentence Danny never expected to hear come from Taylor's mouth. But it was to be expected when your daughter was dating an honest-to-god superhero.

"The Wards?" Danny asked, forcing out another chuckle. "I thought Glory Girl was with New Wave?"

"She was," Taylor said, before correcting herself. "Is. I think her mother volunteered her because of… cape politics? She saved the Mayor's niece last week."

Danny nodded and smiled. "Right, I did hear about that. What about Lisa?"

"Also busy," Taylor said, looking out the window. Her eyes seemed locked onto something on the street. "She's got a promotion at work," Taylor added, turning back to Danny before he could follow her eyes to whatever she was looking at. "Management position. I've been helping out where I can."

Danny whistled impressively.

"Management," He said with a smile. "At her age? Must be good at her job. The boss must really like her, though she did seem to be a very charming young woman. Probably schmoozes with the best of them. Gotta admire her ambition."

"Yeah," Taylor smiled warmly. Danny could see the love and admiration in her eyes, it made him smile much the same. "Ambitious describes her perfectly. She's been wanting this for a long time."

"You should've said something earlier," Danny chuckled. "I could've given her some pointers on how to talk to company big-wigs. It's half my job these days, it's all about the pitch."

Taylor let out a forced chuckle in response. "Thanks, Dad. But she had it all handled. Had a plan ready and everything. We all helped her with it."

"That's my girl," Danny cheered with a nod. "Sounds like the pitch went well anyway."

"Oh yeah," Taylor said, her tone dropping into an odd deadpan as she looked away. "We… blew him away."

There was a long silence as neither Hebert knew what to say. Taylor's odd shift in mood put Danny on the defensive. Finally, Taylor shook off whatever thought had a hold on her. She turned back to her father.

"I lied," Taylor said.

It took Danny a second to understand. He paused, then raised his eyebrow.

"I wasn't just in the neighbourhood," Taylor continued. "I've… I was worried. About you."

"Me?" Danny asked with a confused chuckle.

"The ABB's always been active in this area, and for years I tried not to think about it," Taylor said in a monotone as if reciting from a script in her head. "But now that their hold is waning and you have the Empire moving in on one side, and drug dealers coming up on the other."

Danny looked back at his daughter, shocked at the mention of the Empire and drug dealers. The casual mention of the sorry state of Brockton Bay docks. The worries of his job were nothing compared to the worries of the impending gang war on his front door.

The ABB were never the most pleasant neighbours, but the Empire? Danny couldn't deny the fear that crept in at the mention of the neo-nazi gang.

"H-how-" Danny began before changing his tactic. "You don't need to worry about that, Taylor."

"Mrs Dallon gave us an overview of the city gangs and territories," Taylor explained as an answer to the question he didn't finish asking. "Add to that Lung's arrest and Victoria's complaints about how busy she is at work. I'm worried, Dad. Don't tell me everything is fine."

Danny sighed, looking down and scratching his forehead. Taylor didn't need to know the details, this was a matter for grown-ups, not a teenage girl.

"I know the police barely come here," Taylor continued. Danny slowly began to feel like he was at the end of an interrogation. "Let alone the PRT. How did you even put up ABB in the past?"

Danny took a deep breath, he'd been wondering when this conversation would come. He never expected it would be so soon.

"Look, I understand you're concerned, and I appreciate that," Danny said softly. "But trust me, sweetie. We dockworkers are a tough breed. We survived the ABB stalking around for years, we'll survive whatever comes next. Besides, no one is gonna care about the dockworker's union."

"You're literally the middle man between all the general labourers and everyone who runs the docks, Dad." Taylor said very matter-of-factly, "You're telling me that the ABB never once bothered you?"

Danny didn't know how to respond to that. His instinct was to dissuade Taylor's worries and say no. But that was a lie. A lie Danny had held onto for all of Taylor's life. The docks had always been a rough place.

"They've... been a presence," Danny said finally.

Taylor sighed. "And what about the Empire?"

"We haven't had any problems with the Empire," Danny said, and Taylor narrowed her eyes. "...Yet."

"Then what are you going to do if they start harassing you?"

"Taylor," Danny began, holding his hand up, hoping to end this conversation. "We've been managing on our own for years."

"How?"

Danny hesitated. How had he gotten into this conversation, with his daughter of all people? While Danny had never done anything illegal, and he certainly didn't agree with any of the gangs in the city, he had dealings with them in the past. Mostly to the degree of being told where not to be on any given day.

The gangs were the real power behind the city, anyone who lived in Brockton Bay knew that, even the docks had fallen under their thumb. The police and the PRT were as useless as they were a decade ago. But Taylor didn't need to know the specifics. She just needed to know her old man was alright.

"Look," Danny sighed, putting a hand on Taylor's shoulder. "I never wanted you to worry. Things have always been a little rough around the docks, but we always find a way to get by. I promise. We dockworkers, we look after our own, you don't need to worry about us. The ABB knew well enough to leave us alone for the most part."

"Did you ever…" Taylor started to say, her body language shifted again. As if contemplating what she was about to say, then pushing ahead. "Deal with any of the parahumans from the ABB? Oni Lee or Lung?"

Danny tried to laugh the question off, but he choked on the delivery. Eyes unable to meet his daughters. It had been eleven years and the gut-wrenching fear of coming face to face with Lung. Only the once, but the thought still made his handshake.

"Before you were born," Danny started, steeling his resolve. "Back when I first joined the dockworker's association, I asked the same questions you did. Even back then, this city had a crime problem. A man named Marquis ruled the city in everything but name. A violent parahuman, like Lung." Taylor was listening intently, though she had none of the horror on her face that Danny was afraid of seeing, only a cold interest in Danny's tale. Most people with any knowledge of Brockton Bay's history would remember Marquis. "It turns out, Marquis had a deal with the dockworker's association. Every business on the docks had the same deal."

"What was the deal?" Taylor asked with a hushed voice. Leaning in as if Danny was going to whisper a secret.

"It was simple," Danny sighed, ashamed of his story, no matter how small his part in it was. "Turn a blind eye, and no one would be bothered. He even offered us protection from other, would-be gangs. A form of control over us but Marquis already owned half the businesses, so he didn't need to organise shady deals in alleyways. All we had to do was pretend that nothing was happening."

Danny went silent, waiting for Taylor to say something. Cast judgment on him. But she didn't respond. Instead, her eyes seemed to focus on Danny, waiting to hear more.

"Naturally, I hated it," Danny went on. An excuse he told himself for years. "The reason the police don't come here is because no one reported anything. An endless cycle of doing nothing and building a reputation for letting crime run rampant. My bosses were convinced that it was a victimless crime to stay out of their business and keep letting them get away with everything,"

Danny looked down at his desk, the title card that sat at his office. While he did have bosses still, Danny was a boss in his own right. He held far more power than he did in his younger days, and what did he do with it?

"And then it was my turn," Danny sighed guiltily. "Marquis got himself arrested and for a time, I convinced myself that we would turn over a new leaf. But the docks were suffering with Leviathan destroying the major trade networks and mass layoffs had me pulling my hair out. And to put the cherry on top, along came Lung and his bad boyz."

Taylor reached out and placed a hand on top of Danny's. A cold comfort to his admission of guilt at his failure to make any meaningful change.

"That's when I realised that my job wasn't about being a hero and cleaning up the city. It wasn't about standing up to criminals who operated on our streets. It was about keeping my people safe, my family safe. I only met the monster once, but we made a deal. Turn a blind eye, and no one would be bothered. Protection from the other gangs."

"So what will you do now?" Taylor asked, her voice careful and caring. "Do you think the Empire would offer you the same deal?"

Danny chuckled darkly and shook his head. "The Empire are scum," Taylor let out a small smile at that admission but hid it just as fast. "Admiringly, Marquis had an odd sense of respect for the working man, and Lung… well he at least respected traditions enough to leave dockworkers alone." Danny sighed and looked out the window. "Honestly, I've written three letters to the Protectorate this week. Even considered giving New Wave a call, they gave us their emergency number. But there…"

Danny didn't finish his sentence, not wanting to insult the heroes and by extension, Taylor's girlfriend. It didn't matter, as Taylor finished his sentence for him.

"...Useless." Taylor echoed with a sigh of her own. "New Wave don't have the manpower to watch the docks all day. And the Protectorate only care about the big picture, the city, not the people in it. If the capes get involved and start setting things on fire, they'll rush down but the Empire has enough manpower to stroll in here without one. So they won't come."

"That's harsh. I expected you to have more faith in heroes considering your relationship" Danny said, trying to force out another laugh, but failing.

"I love heroes," Taylor said, turning away from Danny again. "Or… I love the idea of them. Vicky, Glory Girl is the ideal hero. A bright and shining beacon in the often grey city. But not every hero is Glory Girl. And while I wish we lived in a world where they were, the reality is often murky and complicated. Sometimes we have to make do with what we've got. And make deals with devil you know." Danny grimaced at the truth in her words, he hated the idea of the Empire walking in and setting up shop, but what the hell was he going to do? Danny was at a hopeless disadvantage. "Still," Taylor spoke up, no doubt picking up on Danny's worried expression. "I can always give Vicky a call, see if we can get you some hero support. I'll talk to her tomorrow. Maybe she had some other parahuman friends who could lend a hand. You never know."

Taylor looked out the window again, Danny could see the worry on her face. This whole conversation was the last thing Danny wanted to have with his daughter. No father should be explaining how often they turned a blind eye to crime, regardless of how unwilling they were to cooperate.

"I-I should get going," Taylor said, stepping away from the window. "Still got homework to do. Uh, walk me out?"

"Sure, sweetie," Danny said, giving Taylor a hug goodbye and a kiss on her forehead.

They walked back down the stairs and towards the front entrance, Taylor's footsteps slowing down as they neared the door. She stopped completely a few steps from the exit and turned to give another hug.

"I'll see you at home," Taylor said softly into his ear. The hug feeling extra tight. Then she spoke again, barely a whisper. "I'm sorry, Dad."

Danny wasn't sure what Taylor was apologising for. She came to check on him because she was worried, it wasn't her fault that he was in this predicament, nor did she know what kind of landmine she stepped on when she first asked her questions.

Taylor pulled away from Danny and walked the rest of the way by herself. Opening the door and turning back to wave goodbye with the same awkward smile she had when she entered. Her eyes seemed somewhat sorrowful, though Danny wasn't sure why he thought that. He took a few steps forward just to get a better look. That was when the unmarked van pulled up behind Taylor.

The girl was grabbed off the street, before his very eyes. One masked man wrapped two arms around Taylor and pulled her in. Taylor herself, folding in on the grab without so much as an attempted kick.

Danny screamed out in horror as the whole thing happened in what felt like slow motion. The van sped away as he ran out the door, desperate to catch up to the vehicle with no real chance on foot. A few more dockworkers who had witnessed the scene also gave chase, some scrambling for keys in their pockets, others pulling out phones.

The van was plain white with no license plate, and the windows tinted. Danny didn't get a good look at the masked man who'd taken Taylor. Their clothes were all black and tactical. He wore a balaclavas, hiding his face and hair. The only other detail he could remember was the sound of an obviously American girl screaming, "Kon'nichiwa bitches!"

------------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Streets – Afternoon

"Kon'nichiwa bitches?" The driving boy asked, chuckling to himself.

"Shut up, keep your eyes on the road," Rune barked. Turning back and smiling at her new prey.

The plan went off without a hitch. That stupid bitch wasn't even watching where she was going when the van rolled up beside her. A snatch'n'grab in the most literal sense.

Taylor was tossed onto the floor, landing with an audible oomph. She had a neutral look on her face, no doubt pissed about being snatched. Rune had expected more of a fight from the girl, some screaming and biting. Any excuse to hit her really, but the girl simply folded like a sack of potatoes and lay on her back in the van.

"That was too easy," The man in the back said, letting go of the girl and waiting for her to move. When she didn't, the man let out a soft breath and started to gag her.

"Quit your fucking complaining," Rune growled, staring daggers into the girl on the floor.

It didn't matter, regardless of how obediently the girl surrendered herself, it wouldn't stop the impending torture that Rune had planned for her. All they had to do was drive to the meet-up spot where Victor would be waiting, transfer this Hebert dyke to the new vehicle, take her back to Rune's safe house where no one would ever find her and then the real fun could begin.

"So we drop her off at the corner of Smith and Westons, then what?" The driving boy asked. Rune didn't bother to reply.

With no powers used, and nothing to link her, or the E88 to the crime, Rune wouldn't even have to worry about the PRT, New Wave or even Kaiser finding out what she did. Of course, she might have to kill the help, Rune had decided that the kid who was driving was far too chatty to keep this a secret.

Hebert's total lack of reaction was starting to get on Rune's nerves. She wanted to see some tears or something. At this point, it was like they had kidnapped a boring zombie. The reason for the lack of reaction was simple enough, shock mixed with that annoying level of hope. Of course, she'd assume that Glory Girl would sweep in and save her in the next few minutes. But Glory Girl was busy playing with paparazzi on the boardwalk, and soon they would ditch this van.

Hebert wasn't getting out of this situation anytime soon.

Rune had the perfect way to break the girl. To make her cry and scream and beg for mercy. The thought of making the girl pay for her disgusting sins brought a twisted smile to her face.

Taylor sucked in a deep breath, the first actual reaction to her situation. Rune watched on with glee, expecting the girl to begin crying and begging for her life. Instead, Taylor curled up into a ball, bracing herself for… something.

A disappointing reaction, freezing up while in danger. It was the coward's tool. Muscles too afraid to move while in danger, too weak to put up a real fight. It just pissed Rune off even more.

"Is that it!?" She groaned. "Seriously!? You're not even going to try fight us? Fucking hell girl, do you let Glory Bitch fight all your battles or were you always this much of a pussy?"

Taylor looked up to Rune as if noticing her for the first time. The girl didn't even glare at her or anything, no panicked pleading eyes, no fucking tears. If anything, her eyes almost looked like they were smiling. The audacity of this Bi-

"What the fuck!" The driving boy screamed out shortly before the car came to a sudden and violent stop. Rune and the man in the back were flung forward, slamming into the car seat and dashboard specifically.

Taylor, in her braced position, suffered the least from the sharp breaking of the vehicle, as the van was simultaneously rear-ended and crashed into a black SUV.

Rune didn't even have a moment to react as the driver's door was wrenched open and the driver himself was ripped out and thrown onto the road. She could hear him scream and then a bang of a gun being fired.

"My leg!" A voice cried out. "What the fuck man, you shot me in the fucking-"

A second gunshot rang out, followed by another scream of pain that died down into a whimper.

"Shit!" Rune hissed, kicking her door open and rolling into a couch on the street. Her hands already moved, attuning a small selection of blades on her attire as well the car door itself.

Rune had seen this brand of car many times before, the telltale signs of Coil Mercenaries. More of them were exiting the two vehicles that boxed in the van. Two men moved up from behind the van, guns at the ready and trained on Rune. Already attuned, Rune ripped the van's door off its hinges and held it up as a shield just in time for a burst of gunfire to be blocked.

She fell back onto the side street, not willing to be flanked by whatever men were still waiting inside the forward SUV. One of her attuned knives flew out and stuck back at the men shooting at her. Impaling into an arm of one. The mercs also fell back, but not before forcing the back door open and pulling Taylor free.

Another gunshot rang out as whatshisname dumbass in the back of the van also got his legs shot. Or maybe his arm, Rune didn't stop to check. Her focus was on the men now pulling Taylor away, and the three other mercenaries exiting the SUV. There was no way to get to Taylor. Even with her telekinesis, she was outnumbered.

With her plan completely fucked, she figured she might as well go for the kill and deal with the stupid consequences later. Another two knives flew up, ready to strike at Hebert when she heard the ominous buzzing.

She turned to see a massive cloud of bugs approaching her from behind. The cloud enveloped her, blocking her vision. In an instant, the bugs were crawling all over her body. She'd heard of Skitter, everyone on the Brockton Bay cape scene had been briefed on the bug bitch who robbed banks and rolled with the Undersiders.

Rune's opinion of the Undersiders was about as detailed as her opinion on dog shit, she really didn't give a fuck unless she accidentally stepped in it. Right at this moment, she wished she gave a little more of a shit, specifically when they went over possible combat strategies against the bug master.

Her knives were all but fucking useless. Killing barely a drop of the bugs that swarmed over her, and she couldn't risk accidentally stabbing herself. The van door was a little better was wiping out large mobs, but ran into the same issue when it came to the particular bugs on her. Short of jumping into the sea or setting herself on fire, Rune could do sweet fuck all to the never-ending parade of bug bites that assaulted her.

With her powers completely fucking useless, and her mind starting to panic and lose focus, Rune tried to run. The swarm seemed to break away and let her go as she started moving. It was only by bullshit luck that Skitter was such a bitch-ass pacifist who couldn't follow through with anything that Rune was spared. But Rune would use this weakness of Skitters to return and get some much-needed revenge.

At least that was the plan before the swarm spoke.

"Clear shot, kneecaps!"

Rune was still processing the idea of a million little bugs speaking the English language that she almost didn't feel the pain when her right knee exploded, almost.

Rune fell forward, her body hitting the ground hard as she cradled her bleeding leg. She rolled onto her back, not bothering to look at the blood and exposed bone. Her focus was on the swarm that was slowly forming together, into the shape of Brockton Bay's infamous insect master.

"Get her to the car, take her back with the Hebert. If she moves, shoot her other leg."

Rune watched as two armed men approached her and lifted her by either arm. The pain of her shattered knee was still fresh and burning hot.

"What about the other two?" One of the mercs asked. Asked Skitter. Like she was their fucking boss.

Skitter, or the disgusting mass of bugs in the shape of Skitter, didn't so much as look back when she said, "Don't care, leave them in the van for the police to deal with."

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

Brockton Bay Docks – Afternoon

It had only been fifteen minutes since Taylor was taken, and yet Danny was an emotional wreck on the side of the street. Dock workers who had witnessed the whole thing were gathering in solidarity. Calls to the police were being sent out. Favours were being called in for anyone who had seen a white van speeding by.

Danny was on the verge of a breakdown. His daughter had been taken and there was nothing he could do.

Taken by some unknown person. Taken by people who wanted to hurt his daughter. Taken, while he stood in the doorway and did nothing. The image of Taylor being grabbed and dragged into the van would forever haunt his dreams.

Currently, he was desperately fishing out cards from his wallet, looking for the particular card given to him by Carol Dallon, the emergency number that he never imagined he'd be needing so soon.

Danny's aversion to all things mobile suddenly seemed like the stupidest decision of his life. Every second that passed was a second that he might never see his daughter again. All because he didn't have a phone number memorised and saved into a digital device.

A car pulled up, and Danny didn't bother to look. There were dozens of cars pulling up and slowing down at the site, and a lot of people were trying to make sense of what just happened or asking him questions, that he wasn't in the mood for answering.

There was a quieting of the crowd, as Danny took a quick look up to see what caused the sudden shift in the air. A very official black SUV parked up as close as it could to the Dockworkers Association building, the car looking like it recently suffered a collision of some kind.

But it wasn't the car itself that caused everyone to pause, but the building mess of bugs that slowly formed on top of the vehicle. A figure emerging out of the mass of insects, one that anyone who watched the news of late would know. Skitter. A parahuman.

Danny's anger flared. This was it, wasn't it? The parahuman supervillain was here to gloat and make demands. A ransom of some kind. Some stupid power play by the gangs. If that was the case, Danny was ready to fight tooth and nail to get his daughter back, if Skitter wanted him to grovel for her life, then he felt no shame in doing so.

The car doors opened all four of them. At each door stood a man or woman in tactical combat gear. Skitter surveyed the area before turning to face Danny directly. The villain pointed at him and Danny sucked in a breath, taking a step forward before any of the other dockworkers attempted to do something stupid on his behalf.

One of the mercenaries leaned into the car and pulled out a Taylor. Danny's heart froze at the sight, his lungs stopping mid-breath. She was alive. Unharmed.

"Dad!" Taylor called out, running out of the mercenary hand without any pushback, allowed free to run back into the arms of Danny.

"Taylor!" Danny called out, meeting her halfway, almost falling to his knees as his daughter hugged back.

Tears started to stream down his cheeks, the overwhelming relief and joy that washed over him was almost too much. He felt his muscles start to relax, his breathing slow, his mind finally calm.
Taylor was safe.

"I truly am sorry for what you just went through, Mr Hebert," Skitter, said after enough time passed, or the swarm that made up Skitter at least. "Please know that the perpetrators of this heinous act have been dealt with. Swiftly."

One of the mercenaries tapped the top of the car and the other reached in to pull out a masked girl. Another cape, that judging by the reactions of the crowd, some of the people recognised, although Danny himself wasn't sure who it was.

"Some of you may recognise her as Rune." Skitter continued, talking more to the crowd rather than Danny directly. "A relatively minor cape from the Empire Eighty-eight." The girl, Rune, made a grunt after being called a minor cape, to which Skitter made a hand movement, followed by the mercenary holding her to punch the cape in the gut. "We've been aware of their surveillance of your daughter for a few days now. Though we never expected her to actually do something so stupid as attacking her, in broad daylight of all places."

Danny wasn't paying much attention. The overwhelming joy of seeing Taylor was starting to fade, and his fatherly instincts were beginning to kick in. He checked Taylor, her eyes and neck for any signs of harm. There was bruising on her wrists, no doubt from being bound. He checked her clothes, a bit dirtied, but not torn or ripped, no bleeding at all, thank god.

Taylor for her part, seemed too distracted looking back at the villain who had apparently saved her life from the Empire. Danny couldn't blame her, he wasn't exactly sure what was going on either, he was still reeling from the fact that his daughter had been taken in the first place.

There was a brief pause before the mass of bugs spoke again.

"We believe that Kaiser is responsible for the attack on your daughter. He has taken issue with her relationship with New Wave's Glory Girl and attempted to shift the blame onto the dying ABB through the use of his… minions." Skitter gestured to the defeated parahuman kneeling by the car.

Skitter was looking towards specific people in the crowd, the ones who had their phones out, recording the unfolding situation in real-time.

"You can expect in the coming days for Kaiser to call this a misunderstanding. That Rune was a stupid girl acting on her own." Skitter moved off the car, the swarm mimicked walking but it had a far more liquid effect. "Do not believe his lies. Kaiser's told them all before."

Skitter had focused in on one particular camera to get her message across, standing closer to a man who didn't shy away from the villain's presence.

"Call me what you will. A thief, a monster. A supervillain." Skitter hesitated on the last word. "But this attack was a direct violation of the rules we in the parahuman community take very seriously."

The mercenaries dragged Rune over to where Skitter was parading. At a non-audible click of her fingers, Rune's mask was ripped off, visible on camera, her young face for the world to see. Some people gasped at how young the girl looked to be, but Skitter didn't waver in the slightest.

"For too long, Nazis have had free reign in this city. This is the second target of New Waves they have publicly attacked. If there willing to go to these lengths over a harmless lesbian relationship. What do you think they'd do to you?"

This was all a performance. Danny could see that clearly now. They even admitted that they knew Taylor was being targeted prior to this and did nothing. Using her suffering and by extension his to forward Skitter's goals. Another despot planted their flag in Brockton Bay, under the guise of the lesser evil.

"We urge, not only the local authorities of the PRT to take the threat of the Empire seriously. But every single parahuman in Brockton Bay and the greater area to take a stand."

Skitter stepped away from the crowd, allowing the mercenaries to shove Rune into the car and close the door.

"Rune will be dropped off with the proper authorities," Skitter explained, turning back to the camera. "Armsmaster. I'm assuming you're watching this, you will find her in the same place we first met."

Even still, despot or not. What alternative did Danny have? The Empire had just tried to kidnap his daughter. Skitter hadn't planned that, simply taken advantage of a horrible opportunity. He looked down to Taylor, who watched the performance with an almost unblinking intensity. Her words from earlier echoed through his head. Make deals with the devil you know.

Danny nodded back to the mass of bugs, a slow bow of the head to show his thanks and support. Skitter returned the gesture with a nod of her own. Far more fluid and unnatural than what should be possible for a human head.

And with that, the swarm broke apart, dissipating into nothing as the mercenaries got back into the car, driving off without another word. People were talking among themselves, the initial shock and tension fading away.

Taylor turned away from the car, burring her face into Danny's shoulder. She whispered some more apologies, but Danny knew that she had nothing to be sorry for. Regardless of what had just happened, how a supervillain had used this tragic moment to publicly unmask a cape and declare war on the largest gang in the city.

His little girl was back. She was safe. That was all that mattered.

-------------------------------------------------------
The Boardwalk – Afternoon

"Yo, Glory Girl!" Kid Win called out as Vicky was in the middle of posing for yet another photo with Gallant.

The two had been awkwardly posing together all day, the general public either not caring or unaware that their relationship was heavily strained. The superhero couple were too photogenic for people to pass up.

At Kid Win's call, Victoria took to the excuse to break free.

"Sorry, everyone. Hero business," Glory Girl said with her best fake smile before floating off over to where Kid Win was sitting.

The guy was taking a short break, half a hotdog in one hand and his phone in the other. Victoria floated over and grabbed the half-eaten hotdog from his hand before he even had time to react.

"What's up?" Victoria asked, taking a bite of his food.

"I think you should call your girlfriend?" Kid Win said, scrolling through his phone. "She just got kidnapped-"

Victoria choked on her food. Pounding on her chest with one hand to free up her airway while yanking Kid Win's phone from his hand.

"-And then saved," Kid Win added, lamenting his now fallen-on-the-floor hotdog.

"W-what!?" Victoria finally choked out. "Kidnapped, by who? What? Which girlfriend!? Who saved her!?" She frantically flicked through the phone but the boy had over one hundred tabs open.

"Empire, well Rune. But Empire," Kid Win said quickly. "Kidnapped her just now. Taylor. The tall one. Saved by Skitter. Who then proceeded to shit talk the Empire and maybe declare war on them?"

Kid Win grabbed his phone back and pulled up the video of a very talkative swarm of bugs crying out for war against the Empire Eighty-eight.

"What the fuck?" Victoria said, looking at the video.

"What the fuck?" She said again, noticing Taylor in the background hugging her dad.

"What the fuck!?" She said a third and final time when she realised where she'd seen that black SUV and tactical combat gear from.

A second later, Victoria's own phone buzzed. A few messages hit at exactly the same time. A number of them were from New Wave and concerned friends, asking if Taylor was all alright. But Vicky's eyes zeroed in on the one message that mattered. Lisa's message, only five words long. Simply saying,

So, we did a thing…

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I don't know how this chapter got so long. But enjoy.

---

The Dallon Household – Late Night

"Kidnapped! In the first bloody weeks of all things." Carol shook her head. "What the hell was Taylor doing alone, anyway?"

"She was visiting her father, she was hardly alone." Sarah countered. "They were in broad daylight, for heaven's sake."

"And yet the Empire felt confident enough to just grab her off the street," Carol snapped. "She shouldn't have been out alone. It was foolish. We made a big show of putting her under New Wave protection and now the public knows that we can't protect her. I can't begin to imagine what that girl must be feeling."

"If it wasn't for Skitter-"

"Don't start with me on that," Carol hissed back. "That monster is only using our suffering for her gang wars."

"And yet, Taylor is safe," Sarah said back. "You know I hate criminals as much as the next hero but I think we should acknowledge-"

"Acknowledge what!? That she saved my daughter's girlfriend. That she's been spying on her for who knows how long and aware that a threat was incoming. Should send her a thank you card and some flowers!?"

"Acknowledge that she had a point," Sarah said softly. "The Empire can't get away with this. Not again. I hate the idea of the people we love being in danger, and I'd never wish that on anyone, especially Vicky. But if we don't do something now, then the Empire is going to get away with this shit all over again. And we all know what that feels like."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Carol said after a long sigh. "We can't honestly give support to a supervillain?"

"We don't have to support her," Sarah said while shaking her head. "We just have to put the focus on the Empire. Denounce them, publicly. Get the people angry on our behalf. Get the PRT to finally do something about this stain of Nazis in our city."

"But that still puts Taylor at risk," Carol said, hesitant to agree. "Lisa too for that matter. We can't use her as some justification…"

"It's too late for that," Sarah said softly. "Taylor was always going to be at risk, just by being the girlfriend of a superhero. Hell, just for being gay in this godforsaken city."

Carol looked away from her sister. Mulling over the thoughts. Sarah's eyes followed her gaze. To the wall covered in newspaper clippings. All the stories about New Wave and the Brockton Bay Brigade. All the change in the city that never amounted to squat.

"Kidnapped..." Carol muttered again to herself. "If those girls... They could've gone through... what I... what we..." Her hand started shaking in her scrunched-up fist. Sarah walked up behind her and rested a comforting squeeze on her sister's shoulder. "Fucking Empire…"

"So you'll call a press conference?" Sarah asked her voice firm, her eyes determined.

Carol stood up straighter. Her hands clenched into a determined fist.

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

Arcadia High – The Following Morning

Surprisingly, the city didn't immediately implode into an all-out gang war as some people had been expecting.

The news was all over the kidnapping of Glory Girl's girlfriend and the subsequent rescue by the Undersider's own Skitter. Her blatant call to war was shown on repeat throughout the local news cycle. While tensions in the city were high, it hadn't yet hit the tipping point, and so, school was still in session.

Vicky was bombarded with questions and comments when she arrived, mainly as support on Taylor's behalf. She could only imagine the type of crowd Taylor was dealing with when she walked into school today. She'd almost felt bad for the girl, except for the slight fact that Taylor had orchestrated the entire thing and Victoria was the only other person in the school who was actually aware of that fact.

Victoria hadn't had time to talk to Taylor since the supposed kidnapping took place. She'd sent a few messages back and forth between Taylor and Lisa, however Taylor was understandably caught up dealing with police statements and then spending time with her distraught father. It made their reunion all the more complicated, because as frustrated as Vicky was with being out of the loop again, she had to play the part of a girlfriend whose girlfriend just had a near brush with kidnapping.

"Honestly, I'm fine," Came the cool, calm and collected words out of Taylor's lying lips. "I was a little shaken up but I'm good now."

Victoria walked closer to her lunch table, wondering exactly how long she would have to keep up the charade before she could deck Taylor over the head with her food tray. Taylor for her part was shying away from Amy's hand as her sister was once again offering to give Taylor a quick, free medical evaluation after her traumatic kidnapping.

"Taylor, I can see the scuff marks on your arm, let me heal you," Amy sighed. "Seriously, it'll take two seconds, just take my hand."

Taylor hesitated, looking at Amy's hand like it might explode. She turned and looked at Vicky as if asking for help.

"Tay, stop being stubborn and accept Amy's healing for once," Vicky said with a little more annoyance in her voice than she intended. When both girls looked up at her with concern, Victoria shook off her feelings and added. "I just want to be sure you're okay. For me? Please?"

"Fine..." Taylor said before finally relenting and holding her hand up. "But just the cosmetic damage, don't change any-"

"Yes, yes," Amy said, grabbing Taylor's hand with both of hers. "Only the recent damage, I won't fix your vision even though I don't understand why," Amy hummed as she took a reading of Taylor's body. The slight bruises and scratches disappeared like dirt being brushed off her. "Geeze, your shins were in pain. Don't even try to lie to me about that. Fixed now, feel better? Want me to do some dental?-"

"Thanks, Amy," Taylor said as she pulled her hand back as soon as Amy loosened her grip, fiddling with her glasses to double-check that her vision hadn't been miraculously fixed.

"No problem. Wait, why do you even have glasses?" Amy asked back. "Isn't your whole thing like... super vision or something?"

"Not with her eyes," Victoria said, sitting down next to Taylor. "Anyway, Tay. I'm glad you're safe," She pulled Taylor into a hug but held a firm, warning grip on the girl's shoulder. "We should really talk about what happened yesterday when we're alone."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Taylor said, smiling a little as she broke the hug. "Sorry for not responding to your messages. Things got pretty crazy yesterday."

"I can imagine," Vicky said coldly. Amy looked over, wondering about the tense mood before Vicky slapped on her usual smile. "I'm just happy you're safe."

"Same," Amy said as she chewed on her food. "Those Empire fucks..." She shook her head. "Only found out what happened when I got home, but no one should go through that."

Amy was oddly more talkative than usual, Victoria didn't notice it at first, but the girl was actually making a conversation with Taylor without any prompting. Vicky could easily guess as to why, everyone in New Wave could relate to the fear of an Empire attack. Even Vicky's frustration over Taylor's manipulation of the event was layered with a thick level of fear over the fact that the kidnapping attempt was genuine. Vicky hated being out of the loop, but she hated the idea of Taylor being taken for real even more.

Her cautious grip over Taylor's shoulder gave way for a far more comforting cuddle as Victoria let her anger go in way for the other emotions she held behind it. Taylor, for her part, was not surprised when Vicky pulled her close and snuggled her a little, which was unusual as the girl usually shied away from public displays of affection. Even Amy, who comically rolled her eyes whenever Victoria got too cuddly with her partners, shared the same look of concern for Taylor, with a comforting hand on Taylor's back while she ate her food.

Eventually, the rest of the table started to gather. Sending their concern and well wishes Taylor's way as they quietly took their seat. No one commented on how Victoria's face was buried into Taylor's shoulder, or how the blonde wordlessly held onto Taylor throughout the lunch hour.

The mood around the table was somber and reflective. Victoria couldn't help but notice that none of the other students in the lunchroom were talking as much either. Giving the couple some much-needed space as Vicky continued to hold Taylor close.

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

Taylor felt genuinely bad for the pain her plan had caused people. The guilt was already eating away at her for what she put her father through, now she had Vicky and Amy holding onto her like Taylor would disappear the moment they let go. The rest of the table wasn't that different. Alice and Jessica were trying their best to comfort her, asking about what happened and what she was feeling. Carlos and Dean had the same, somber silence as they were both lost in their own thoughts. Dennis was the only one at the table trying to keep the mood from dropping to an all-time low and for once, Taylor outwardly appreciated his attempts at jokes.

"-And that's when I said I couldn't play violin," Dennis said, nailing the punchline of his current story.

Taylor let out an audible giggle at the joke. On any other day, that joke would've caused the rest of the table to sigh, however, everyone at the table seemed to lighten up once Taylor started chuckling along to Dennis's jokes. Even Vicky in her silent mood, couldn't help but smile at the sound of Taylor's laugh.

"Alright, That last one was terrible," Taylor said, smiling and wiping a tear from her eye.

"Terrible?" Dennis said, putting a hand over his heart. "Taylor, you wound me. That was a true story."

"That doesn't make it a good joke," Vicky said.

"A good joke is all about timing," Dennis said back. "And I... can't finish that joke here."

Taylor suppressed another chuckle, aware that Dennis was about to make some kind of Clockblocker reference that Taylor shouldn't actually be aware of. Perhaps she should mention one day that she was already aware of who all the boys were, but for now, Taylor simply smiled.

"Thank you," Taylor whispered to Dennis.

Dennis winked back. "Don't worry about it. Just glad you're safe."

The bell rang. Signalling the end of lunch, and the group made their way towards their respective classes. There were only two days left of school for the year, which meant there was only one actual school day left and then graduation for everyone at this table except for Taylor and Amy. Taylor couldn't help but wonder how many of her school friends she would see after this week. Would they all just move on with their lives or would Taylor actually stay in touch with a few of them?

Vicky's hand slipped into Taylor's as the group walked towards the classroom, holding on a little tighter than usual. They walked behind the group, with even the common student knowing to give the two girls a wide berth of space.

"I'm sorry," Taylor whispered, leaning into Victoria. "I didn't... I can explain it later. After school. But I'm sorry. For making you worry."

"It's not your fault," Vicky whispered back, kissing Taylor on the cheek. "Well, I'm still furious about other things, which we will talk about... but you being kidnapped is not one of them."

Taylor turned back and gave Vicky a kiss of her own before the two girls separated for class. There were a lot of things she wanted to discuss with Vicky, and Taylor was determined to stick with her no-secrets policy. Vicky gave a wave and a smile before heading to her locker, Taylor did the same, hoping that her girlfriend wouldn't simply punt her into orbit the second they were alone.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Arcadia High – Afternoon

Skitter's message to the public was still making its rounds. Every second phone Victoria looked at either had someone reading a news article on the topic or just the video itself. The common citizen of Brockton Bay could get behind the idea of all the city's capes banding together and kicking the Empire out once and for all.

Added to that, New Wave's statement on the situation mirrored much of Skitter's points without actually agreeing with the villain. The PRT had released a statement on the matter too, which was much less aggressive, but still denounced the Empire's actions and stated they were taking appropriate action while also asking for Skitter to turn herself in to the authorities before things went too far.

As a whole, the city was still standing and the tension was high. Standing being the optimal word for it. Victoria almost choked on her spit when she caught eyes of the latest social media trend for the Brockton area.

#StandWithSkitter was front and center on PHO threads and related websites. Along with a large assortment of hashtags and comments from the general population of Brockton Bay. Some were clearly from people in the Empire, trying to derail the conversation but the vast majority of the hashtag was from civilians.

By the time the last school bell rang out, Victoria was eager to talk to Taylor about this latest development. Taylor was waiting for her by the school gate standing around with Amy as the wave of students filed out and into the streets. Amy waved goodbye and headed off to the hospital while Taylor and Victoria walked in the other direction.

The two girls stayed silent until they were clear of the crowd.

"Not working with the Wards today?" Taylor asked, nodding her head in the direction of Carlos, Dennis and Dean as they all headed into the city.

Victoria sighed and shook her head. "I suppose this is as good a time as any to tell you that I'm back working with New Wave... As your protection. For the foreseeable future."

"Oh," Taylor said with a nod.

It made sense, she'd just been targeted by the Empire, of course, New Wave would be concerned about a follow-up attack.

"Sorry," Taylor said with a frown. "I know you'd rather be doing actual hero work rather than babysitting me."

Victoria waved the comment off. "Please, it's not like I did anything heroic with the Wards this week. It's been three days of photos along the boardwalk for tourists," Taylor nodded again, a little more confidently. "Besides, if I didn't volunteer for it, they would've sent my cousin and that would've caused you even more trouble."

"Shame," Taylor said with a wry smile. "Always wanted to meet Laserdream."

"Hah," Victoria chuckled. "Actually they almost sent Eric, uh, Shielder. For the protection and all."

"That does make more sense," Taylor said. "And I suppose this is a bad time to tell you that I kinda... have work?"

Victoria stopped in her tracks, looking over at Taylor's guilty smile.

"Oh, no," Victoria said while raising a finger.

"I did promise to explain everything," Taylor added.

"I am not. No. We are not going to see…"

"You can listen to Lisa and our explanation," Taylor said.

"You mean go to your lair?" Victoria hissed. "Your supervillain lair, which I am seventy percent sure is Coil's old base, right?"

"Plus, it's not like your family would tell you to watch over me and not Lisa, right?" Taylor asked, ignoring Victoria's complaint.

"That's not untrue," Vicky admitted hesitantly.

"So come to work with me," Taylor asked with a smile. "Honestly, it's perfect. We're all just having a meeting about our next steps. You want to be part of the loop, you'll have a seat at the table. And I promise, no crime will take place... today.... while you're there."

"Conspiracy to plan a gang war is a crime," Victoria said flatly. "As well as being an accessory."

"It's a grey area." Taylor shrugged.

"It's illegal."

"We can debate the legality later," Taylor said, taking Victoria's hand and guiding her back onto the sidewalk. "Come meet with Lisa. We'll explain everything. And if you don't like what you hear, you can walk right out. Okay?"

Victoria scrunched her face up and rubbed her temple. How had she gotten into this situation again? The world used to be so simple, so black and white. Now her supervillain girlfriend was inviting her back to her evil lair and a part of Victoria did want to go. To understand what the hell had happened in the past week.

"Fine," Victoria said, pulling her hand out of Taylor's. "But if anyone commits a crime in my presence, I'm arresting them."

"Of course," Taylor said in an all too dismissive way.

"I guess we're flying off into downtown then," Victoria asked. "Unless you want to tell me that you haven't taken over Coil's old base?"

There was a slight tinge of hope in her question to which Taylor's expression dashed instantly. Victoria was right on the money, the Undersiders had moved in on the free real estate.

"Sorry," Taylor said apologetically. "Oh, but first we need to drop by the old flat on the way and pick something up."

"The old flat?" Victoria asked. "Wait, so I'm visiting both secret lairs today? Wonderful," She shook her head again, wondering if it wasn't too late to simply put her fingers in her ears and pretend she heard nothing. "What illegal goods are you planning on transporting by air Vicky?"

It was a joke, but one that also served to remind that there were limits to what Victoria was willing to do for her girlfriend. If Skitter needed help moving the evil furniture into her evil lair, then she could take the evil bus like everyone else.

"Nothing illegal," Taylor shook her head. "Figured you'd want to change into your costume first."

Victoria blinked back at Taylor in confusion.

"I'm sorry, my what?"

------------------------------------------------
The Undersider's 'evil' lair – Afternoon

One quick flight over to a relatively run-down-looking studio flat in the middle of nowhere special and Victoria was being handed her new costume by Taylor and offered a spare room to change in.

Judging by the purple eye theme on the door, Taylor had given her Tattletale's bedroom. The room was sparsely decorated, only having the bare minimum furniture and a duffle bag full of ID's and cash in the closet. Victoria resisted the urge to poke around more in favour of looking at the outfit Taylor had given her.

No longer was it a simple spare Skitter costume with some missing accessories. The black body suit now had dark gold lines running across the torso and arms. Upon stepping into the suit, Vicky noted that it fit her body far better than the last time she wore the cursed thing. The limbs had been widened to accommodate her muscular frame, the gloves were fingerless, and the shoes had been converted to much bulkier boots, also the chest didn't cling to her so tightly.

Overall, the design was much more armoured and bulkier compared to the slim and stealthy Skitter. Taking advantage of Victoria's brute strength to manage the extra layers of protection. Taylor had obviously worked on this to fit Victoria's measurements, which raised some questions as to her intentions. The suit was built like Vicky was expected to fight in it, far more durable than her usual Glory Girl getup.

Finally came the mask, which Victoria was still hesitant to place over her head. The eyes had been darkened to match the gold that accented the rest of the suit, less bug-like but just as intimidating as before. The final addition to the suit was a hood at the back that connected to the head of the mask. Victoria could potentially tie her hair up into a tail and hide her blonde locks away, adding another layer of anonymity to her attire.

When the full piece came together, it was hard to believe it was Victoria under that mask, much less a woman in general. The extra armour panels hid away any obvious signs of her femininity, and in turn, her entire identity as Glory Girl.

Of course, that didn't stop Victoria from immediately trying a few general poses to see what she could work with. Between her mixture of horrified and impressed about the outfit Taylor constructed, a sly smile hit Victoria's lips as she held a specific pose. As expected, no amount of insect shells and spider silk could hide all that a-

"Are you ready?" Skitter called out from the other side of the door, startling Vicky.

"Y-yeah!" Vicky called back, quickly gathering her civilian clothes, and throwing them into her school bag.

Skitter stood in the living room portion of the flat with Taylor's schoolbag swung over one shoulder. The buzzing and jittering of her swarm hidden safely away in one of the bag's pockets. Nervously, Vicky walked out and over to the waiting supervillain who promptly welcomed her with a hug.

"Did I get the measurements right?" Skitter asked, looking over Victoria's costume. "I assumed you could handle the extra plating, but I never actually asked if constantly hold it without bother, not to mention the extra heat from all those layers. It is summer after all."

"No it's… oddly perfect," Victoria said, remembering that Skitter was still just the dork she loved. "The measurements I mean, not the whole… Okay, why do I have a new suit?"

"We couldn't have Glory Girl meeting with the Undersiders," Skitter said, tilting her head in confusion.

Vicky shook her head. "No, I mean, when did you even make this? And why? I thought the whole team-up thing was a one-time thing."

"I like to be prepared," Skitter shrugged. "I've been slowly updating all the Undersider's outfits in my spare time. Figured I give Deimos a new look while I was at it… just in case."

Vicky frowned at the name, not that Skitter could see. A villainous name, a villainous costume, standing in a villainous lair with her villainous girlfriend. Vicky didn't like the implications, but she was already this deep, so she couldn't do much except sink or swim.

"Anyway, ready to go?" Skitter asked again, holding out her hand as she nodded to the nearby window.

With a deep sigh, Deimos wrapped one arm around Skitter and took to the sky.

--------------------------------------------------
The Undersider's new 'evil' lair – Fifteen minutes later

The pair landed outside some Chinese laundromat on the edge of the city. The place was empty except for a few running machines and an elderly lady who didn't so bother as to look up when two masked capes walked into the shop.

Skitter took the lead, moving into the backroom and descending into the basement. An ominous metal door waited for them. Knocking twice, a small hatch opened followed by a gruff voice asking, "Password?"

"Tarantula juice," Skitter spoke back bluntly. Deimos looked between the door and Skitter with amusement.

After a few seconds, the door swung open, revealing the most cliché underground casino that Vicky had ever seen. It was like she was transported to some old-timey speakeasy, filled with well-dressed crooks playing cards and craps.

A few eyes caught on Skitter and her new cape friend, however, Skitter ignored them all as she walked through the small crowd of gamblers. Victoria tried hard not to think of how many crimes she was witnessing in this place alone, Taylor obviously didn't consider underground gambling and unlicensed bars to be considered a crime when she made her promise.

Walking into the backrooms, Skitter made a beeline for the head office as security got out of her way. Most of them gave Vicky a quick glance before acting like the girl didn't exist at all, even watching as one of the bar staff froze in place as they caught eyes on the two capes. Victoria hated this feeling. She knew that the outfit was intimidating, but the look of frozen fear this random man shot at them rattled Victoria.

"She's with me," Skitter announced as she marched through the office door.

A large man in a suit sat in the office, watching the security cameras on his desk computer. He gave a curt nod and pressed a button under his desk as Skitter strolled past, the bookshelf behind him giving way to a fake wall.

The nervous beads of sweat ran down his face as the two capes passed through, Victoria could hear how he released his breath as the false wall closed behind her.

"So, you have a secret door, behind a secret casino, behind a secret door… in a Chinese laundromat," Deimos said sarcastically, listing off the rooms with her finger. "Did I miss anything?"

"The casino is a front," Skitter explained as they walked down a hallway. "In the event of any police raids, all they will find is some low-stakes gambling. Owned by minor nobodies."

"I gathered that much," Vicky said as she rolled her eyes. She was feeling uncomfortable, between the blatant crime and the familiar-looking hallways of Coil's base.

Unlike up in the casino, all the men Skitter and Deimos passed treated the pair like they weren't a secret trying to hide, but like royalty. Skitter specifically, every mercenary they walked by stopped to give the villain a quick salute before continuing on with their assignments.

"Ma'am," One man said, opening a door for Skitter.

"Ma'am," another said as he stood at attention in the hall.

"Ma'am," A woman said, holding up a computer tablet. "I have updated Empire movements for Tattletale. I was just about to send them through,"

Skitter took the tablet and inspected its contents. After a short second, she handed them back to the woman. "Tell squads two and six to act more overt, we don't want them thinking our flank is exposed."

"Of course, Ma'am," The woman saluted and walked off.

Vicky watched the woman leave and then slowly turned her head back to Skitter. She stared silently at the back of Skitter as she continued her walk, Skitter for her part stopped shortly once she realised that Vicky wasn't following.

"What?" Skitter asked, tilting her head as she always did.

"Nothing," Vicky sighed under her mask. "Just getting PTSD flashbacks to working with Piggot."

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

The door opened onto a large meeting room, in the center was a table that looked to fit some twenty to thirty people. Two people sat at the end of the table, one of whom smiled brightly as Skitter and Deimos walked in.

"Deimos!" Tattletale called out as she skipped across the room. "I can scarcely believe it. When Skitter said you were coming to join the party, I was sure it was a joke," She threw her arms around Victoria and gave her a friendly squeeze. "Welcome aboard. Please tell me you're here to stay?"

"She's just here to talk," Skitter clarified, earning a pout from Tattletale.

"This is temporary," Victoria quickly added. "I still don't know what the hell I'm doing here, but nobody is joining anything."

"Right, Of course," Tattletale said with an all too knowing grin, she turned to give Skitter a hug of her own, to which Vicky was pulled into again.

Someone cleared their throat loudly. Victoria turned her head towards the sound and took notice of the other man still sitting at the end of the desk. Grue was an intimidating fellow, the dark smoke emanating from his skin and mask didn't help.

"Oh stop that," Tattletale groaned. "We're all friends here."

"Are we though?" Both Grue and Vicky asked at the same time. The question was ignored in favour of Vicky being pulled into a chair next to Skitter.

"Come, come," Tattletale said. "Meeting starts soon, we can get you up to speed before then."

"And yet she says she didn't want to lead," Grue sighed to himself, gesturing to a chair to Vicky. "Make yourself at home, Deimos."

Getting settled in her seat, Vicky put both her hands together and sucked in a long sigh. "Okay, I've been patient so far, but I am really starting to get annoyed, so I'm just going to say my piece clearly... Lisa, Taylor... What the fuck?" She looked over to both girls in question, one smiling at her as they leaned back into their chairs. "Seriously? It was bad enough when you two were just thieves and petty nuisances. But this? What the fuck?"

"Okay," Tattletale raised her finger. "I know that you may have some concerns."

"Some concerns!" Victoria scoffed. "You've taken over from Coil! You're preparing for a gang war with the Empire. You're... warlords! You're literally running the second biggest gang in Brockton Bay."

"Uh, independent mercenary company," Grue interjected.

Deimos's mask locked onto Grue's and stared down the villain, her glare obvious behind the cold, emotionless mask. Grue shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked over to Tattletale.

"It's... semantics," Tattletale admitted with a shrug.

"Coil's operation was the only thing keeping the Empire at bay," Skitter added. "If we let it fall apart, then they would've had free reign of the city."

Vicky couldn't refute that fact, as much as it frustrated her to admit, but there was more to her concern than just the criminal element. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We were going to, honest," Tattletale said with her best smile, Skitter nodded in agreement. "We're still in the process of cleaning house and restructuring. We didn't want you to think that we just took over Coil's operation and continued it as is."

"But then Rune decided to start following me, so we had to plan for her to try something," Skitter said. "Nothing major, just a team to back me up."

"We didn't think Rune was going to actually attack Taylor so soon," Tattletale said. "It really fucked with our plan, moving up our timetable by a few weeks."

"And you didn't think to tell me that Rune was stalking you?" Victoria demanded, looking pointedly at Skitter.

"Vicky, please?" Tattletale chuckled. "What do you think you would've done we told you Taylor was being targeted."

I'd have thrown a fucking bus at that cu-

"I would've handled it!" Victoria growled, ignoring Tattletale's smug smirk.

"Of course, you would," Tattletale said, every so patronisingly. "Skitter and I simply saw an opportunity too good to pass up."

Victoria was about to raise another biting point of contention before the door opened again. Regent walked in with the same casual arrogance that Vicky had expected from such a guy. He stopped midway into the room and looked at the trio, and Grue, seated around the desk.

"Oh dang," He said, snapping his fingers. "Gloom Girl is back and looking badass."

"She's not Gloom Girl, Regent," Tattletale said with an eye-roll.

"Deimos is joining us for this meeting," Skitter added, motioning for a seat opposite Victoria.

"Is she joining!?" An excited squeal of a question jumped Vicky from her seat. The Undersider's mystery Stranger appeared behind her, inspecting the suit. "Please tell me she's joining? She looks so badass!"

"That's what I said," Regent chuckled.

"Skitter! I want a hood!" Imp added, shaking Skitter's chair. "When are you gonna get round to updating my suit? Give it a hood!"

"If I remember," Skitter said back, drily.

"Take a seat, Imp," Grue added, motioning to the chair next to Vicky. Imp made a point of walking all the way around Grue and sitting next to Regent. Victoria got the vibe that those two were an item, and Grue did not like that at all.

"Alright," Grue said, ignoring Imp's seating choice. "Anyone seen Bitch?"

"She's coming," Skitter said. "Walking to us now,"

"Hey, before she gets here," Regent said in a low, conspiratorial tone. "Anyone else notice Bitch acting kinda weird today?"

"Weird how?" Tattletale asked.

"I don't know," Regent shrugged. "Just like, less... Bitchy. I accidentally walked into her this morning and do you know what she said?... Don't worry about it."

Everyone at the table looked up to Regent, Victoria felt like she was missing out on some great revelation.

"Don't worry about it?" Grue repeated with scepticism. "To you?"

"Yeah," Regent said, gesturing to the team. "Those were her exact words. I was ready to be slapped across the face. I guess I was in a way."

"It's been nice knowing you," Imp said, patting Regent on the shoulder. "She's obviously decided to kill you later and granted you one small mercy."

Grue and Tattletale chuckled at the joke while Regent continued to claim that his story was true. Looking around the room, Victoria could see the strange juxtaposition of her reality. The Undersider's were kids, no different from the Wards. They had relationships, squabbles and jokes between each other. Even in their intimidating and oddly varied costumes, these were just a bunch of teens.

A few minutes passed and Bitch walked through the door, the girl wore her trademark jacket and cheap dog mask, but threw the mask off the second she sat down, taking the chair next to Victoria, much to Vicky's displeasure.

"Who's this?" Bitch asked as she shoved a pointed thumb in Vicky's direction.

"Bitch, you remember Deimos?" Tattletale said with a suppressed, closed-lip smile. "She'll be joining us, for today."

"Oh, right," Bitch nodded, looking Vicky over with a side glance. The girl held a contemptuous glare that didn't go away, eventually, Vicky realised that this was just her natural expression.

"H-hello again," Victoria said, holding a hand out to shake. Bitch didn't reciprocate. Victoria was worried that the girl's anger would turn into a problem when Regent spoke up again.

"Seriously? That's it?" Regent sighed out. "You straight up attacked Skitter when she joined the team and Demolition Barbie just gets an 'oh right' and a glare?"

"She never attacked me," Imp said with a chuckle.

"The fuck are you on about?" Bitch grumbled.

"Just... Forget it," Regent sagged into his chair. "Let's just get on with it."

"Right... let's," Grue said, pressing a button on his overpriced chair that dimmed the lights. "Before we start, we have some guests today, so remember not to use names. Bitch, mask on, okay?" Bitch made a confused frown and gestured to the air with her hands, Grue held his stare until the girl sighed and placed her mask back on her face. "Alright, so yesterday's impromptu operation went off without a hitch."

Tattletale pressed some buttons on the table by her seat and a video wall lit up with Skitter's message to the Empire playing in silence.

"Since then," Tattletale took over, pulling up two more videos. "The PRT and New Wave have also sent out similar messages to the public, denouncing the Empire's actions. While the PRT gave a very Swiss stance to the whole thing, New Wave were a lot more vocal about their hatred of the Eighty-eight. So, go Brandish and Lady Photon." She smiled Victoria's way, who simply returned the stare.

"Oh, we should send them, like, flowers," Imp called out. "And a thank you card."

"We've also received word that the E88's leadership has been in an uproar over the incident." Grue took over again, "Stormtiger, Hookwolf and Cricket have all been seen entering private gatherings. And Kaiser himself sent out his own statement of the facts a few hours ago."

Tattletale tapped her screen again and a webpage to an Empire's website popped up, a long page of text ran down the screen.

"It's really a riveting read," Tattletale said sarcastically. "But I'll spare you the details. As predicted, the Empire is putting all the blame on Rune, calling her an independent and denying any involvement, yada yada. Same old bullcrap."

Regent raised his hand. "Yeah, this is great entertainment and all, but wasn't the plan to do all this in like... two to three weeks, when we had more manpower and some extra support? Aren't the Empire just going to steamroll us like a herd of rhinos?"

"No, not at all," Skitter answered, gesturing to a map of Brockton Bay displayed that Tattletale flicked up on the wall. "So far, our bluff has held, we've been able to convince the Empire that Coil's forces are as strong as ever. They're still too cowardly to make the first move."

"But they did make the first move?" Victoria asked. "Rune literally tried to kidnap you, right?"

"Rune was an unexpected opportunity," Skitter explained to her, "But from what we have gathered, Kaiser didn't approve of her plan, at all."

"So all this is true?" Victoria asked, pointing to Kaiser's statement on the wall.

"Yeah, pretty much," Tattletale chuckled. "The public doesn't believe it for shit, and that's what we want."

Imp and Regent laughed at Tattletale's remark. Victoria wasn't amused, but she understood. The Undersiders couldn't fire the first shot, regardless of their manpower, they needed a reason to go to war and to look good doing it, and Rune gave them the perfect reason.

"Since then, support for us has been through the roof," Tattletale continued. "Hashtag, Stand with Skitter has been a major success. I've had teams on social media all morning keeping it running."

"You did that!?" Victoria balked, almost falling from her chair.

"Yeah," Tattletale chuckled. "Coil had a whole social media division, I thought it was a stupid waste of money at first but then I thought... Damn, I could really use that. So we kept it."

"Anyway, back to your question, Regent," Grue spoke up again. "Skitter's micromanaging squads have held off any immediate attacks from the Empire, and thanks to Tattletale and myself, we'll have some more manpower to throw around in the coming days."

"Right, how was the trip to Boston?" Imp asked, looking over to Tattletale. Victoria followed with a questioning look.

"Productive," Tattletale smiled back. "I already knew that Coil had dealings with Accord, we met on neutral ground, through proxies. He agreed not to kill us in retribution for Coil's death so long as we continue to uphold all of his previous deals he had with the snake, mainly a lot of gun running through the Bay down to Boston. It's all set up anyway, we just don't need to touch it," She froze her smile and slowly turned her head around to Deimos's blank glare. "I-I mean, candy and ice cream deliveries..." She let out an awkward chuckle.

Vicky sighed under her mask and elected to simply experience selective hearing for the rest of the day, as that seemed the only way to get through this nightmare she found herself in.

"A-anyway," Tattletale continued after clearing her throat. "Beyond promising not to kill us all, Accord also showed me where all the usual underlords hire boatloads of trained mercenaries from, so we should be replenishing our reserves once I vet them. It's uh... very costly though, so might be a problem in the long term."

"We also have people from the docks asking to volunteer to help out after yesterday's stunt," Skitter added. "Obviously not in any mercenary capacity, but it would be a waste to pass up on volunteers."

Grue didn't look too pleased about that but he didn't say anything to the matter.

"As for the other effect of Skitter's message," Grue said instead. "I've reached out to some of the local parahumans who are willing to stand with us against the Empire," Grue pulled out a handwritten note from his jacket pocket and read down the list. "Uber and Leet are, quote, down to clown so long as we get paid, unquote. Circus seems to think that we're still paying him, we might want to look into that, regardless, they're onboard if needed. And someone called Bakuda showed interest, I wasn't sure if she had any ABB connections, but Tattletale tells me no."

"She's a bomb tinkerer," Tattletale explained to the group. "Was arrested by the New York Protectorate when she tried to blow up her school or something. A little unstable, keep her as a maybe. What about Faultline's crew? Any bites from them?"

Grue let out a chuckle. "Kinda, but you're not going to like it."

"They're not gonna help?" Tattletale sighed.

"Oh, they'll help. They just have some... Conditions." Grue said back.

"Great..." Tattletale whined. "Let's hear them."

Grue pulled out a separate note in his pocket and cleared his throat again.

"One," Grue read aloud. "No suicide missions. They won't risk anyone for our war, any assignment needs a solid plan."

"I always make a solid plan," Tattletale grumbled back.

"Two. Payment is to be made in full before any operation is to commence. No exceptions. They sent us a list of prices, it's more than double of last year's rate."

"That greedy shit," Tattletale muttered.

"And three. Before Faultline even considers working with us again, she expects..." Grue sighed for a moment and tensed for the inevitable outburst. "A genuine apology from Tattletale. In-person, to the entire team."

"What!?" Tattletale balked. "Me? For what?"

"According to her, you know what you did," Grue said, pulling out yet another note from his pocket. "Specifically, she wants you to read this message during open mic night at the Palanquin."
Tattletale snatched the note from Grue's hand and quietly read it over. Vicky watched in amazement as the girl slowly went red in the face. After a short moment, Tattletale scrunched up the note and threw it over her shoulder.

"No. Fuck no. She can go to hell. Who the fuck does she think she is? Fuck that. No, I ain't saying shit!"

"T..." Grue said back to her. "We kinda need them if we wanna take on the Empire."

"Fuck you, we don't need shit," Tattletale snapped back. "We have Deimos, we're invincible."

"She's temporary," Grue said before Vicky could speak up. "And do you really want to throw her at Hookwolf alone?"

Quietly, Tattletale stood up and picked up the paper that she threw. Placing it into her pocket before sitting back down again. Grue nodded and didn't speak any more on the subject. It was up to Tattletale to sort out that deal in her own time.

"So..." Regent spoke up as tensions lifted from the room. "Those dockworkers that we have working for us, or going to have working for us. Do they get cool uniforms too? Cause I keep thinking back to my Underside gang idea, and I was thinking-"

"Not a gang," Grue said blankly.

"Yes, yes," Regent waved the comment away. "But we should give them uniforms, or maybe, something that sets them apart at least, maybe some patches to add to their work clothes so we can identify them. That would be cool, right?

"I drew some emblem ideas at school today," Imp added, pulling out a workbook filled with colourful pictures and doodles. "We could turn one of them into a patch. Anybody know how to sew? Skitter?"

Skitter shook her head. "I'm still busy making up costume adjustments for all of you. I'm not wasting my spider silk on emblems."

"I like that one," Bitch said, pointing to the emblem design that featured her monster dogs. "Put it on my jacket."

Imp giggled proudly and pushed her book towards Bitch, who took it and started to flip through the pages.

"Guys, priorities," Tattletale sighed, looking to Vicky and giving a 'this is what I have to work with' look. "We don't have the time or the skill to make badges for people's jackets."

"Actually," Grue sighed, groaning to himself like he might regret what he said next. "We might have someone who can help with that," Tattletale blinked back in surprise as Imp and Regent collectively gasped. Pulling out a phone, Grue held it up to his mask. "Yes, is she still in the lobby? Send her in." He flipped his phone shut and looked towards the door.

"Who's in the lobby?" Victoria asked the group. Most everyone looked surprised by Grue's revelation, except Skitter who probably was aware of the mystery person the entire time.

"Where is the lobby?" Bitch added, looking up from the book of drawings.

Grue returned his attention to the first list of names he read off earlier. "While I spent most of the day reaching out to Brockton Bay's criminal parahumans as a resource of individuals for us to hire, I did get one person who actually reached out to us after yesterday. She's hesitant to work with the Undersiders, so I didn't want her to feel forced into a meeting unless she was comfortable. Bitch, play nice. If she backs down, let her leave. No arguments."

There was a knock on the door and everyone in the room turned to face it. Skitter was the one who eventually called out.

"Come in."

The door opened as a short woman in a Victorian-style porcelain doll costume walked in. She stopped shortly after entering, not willing to get any closer to the Undersiders. Vicky recognised the woman as Parian, the rogue cape who made dresses and dolls on the boardwalk. Vicky had walked by her store just the previous day while working with the Wards.

"Good evening," Parian said, the nerves evident in her voice.

"Parian?" Victoria said in surprise. Looking between the cape and Grue. "How? What? Parian?"

"Yes," Grue confirmed the obvious with a nod. "Please, take a seat. Make yourself comfortable."

"I'm more comfortable standing," Parian said, not willing to get any closer into the room. Grue nodded again and didn't push the offer.

"She came to us?" Tattletale said with a smile. "Well, I'll be…"

"Oh my god, I love your store!" Imp cheered. Parian jumped slightly, obviously only now noticing the Stranger. "I'm in there every other week."

"T-thank you," Parian said. She relaxed a little around the sight of Imp but still continued to glance cautiously at Vicky and Skitter.

"You wanted to meet with us in person?" Skitter asked, "Aren't you afraid of wandering into our base all by yourself?"

"Skitter," Grue warned.

"She has a point," Bitch grumbled. "It's a stupid idea. Why is she even here?"

"I'm not as frail as I appear to be," Parian spoke up, her confidence didn't match her words. "Also I did my research on your group before reaching out to Grue. You're not as violent as the PRT want people to believe. I wouldn't have come if I thought that you would attack me." The eyes behind her porcelain mask started cautiously at Bitch, but she didn't say any more.

"She wanted to meet in person so she could evaluate us," Tattletale explained to the rest of the team. "She's still considering if she wants to join us in our crusade or not."

"That's right," Parian agreed. Tattletale bowed her head in pride.

"Well then," Grue said, sitting up straighter in his chair. "Why don't you tell us what you're hoping to see and we'll give ourselves a chance to sell ourselves."

"When I watched Skitter drop Coil off at the front out the front of the PRT, my heart broke," Parian explained. "Not because I held any love for the man, no far from it. But because I knew what that meant for the Empire and this city. I was angry, I thought you were all complete idiots who doomed us all for pretty power plays or whatever."

"And then you saw Skitter's message," Tattletale said with a smile.

"And then I saw Skitter's message," Parian echoed. "I've watched this city let me down day after day. My circle of safety slowly chipping away while the Protectorate do nothing. The only thing stopping me from leaving this city is that I don't want to let those people win. So if you're serious about this fight, if you actually mean what you said, then I want in. I want a seat at the table... this table. Whatever." Parian's stance grew bolder as she spoke. "Of course, I'm not a combative cape myself, and I certainly have no intention of taking part in your thievery or the like. But if people are finally taking on the Empire, then I can respect that much. I just want to help, however I can. I can't sit around and hope that things in this city will finally get better, because they won't, they never have."

"So, you wanna join the team, but not be a member of the team?" Bitch asked. "We already got this one here being useless," Bitch nodded her head towards Vicky. "What does she actually bring to this table?"

"Uh, she can make us uniforms, obviously," Imp said, waving her book in Bitch's face.

"Well damn, she has my vote then," Regent chuckled.

"I'm all for it," Tattletale smiled. "We'll find a way for her to fight the good fight. Right, Skitter?"

"I'm not sure," Skitter hummed. "We don't really know anything about her. How do we know she isn't going to betray us later down the line?"

"Projecting much?" Tattletale chuckled under her breath, Vicky barely heard her say it. She spoke again to the rest of the table. "I trust her, everything she's said so far has been the truth. A temporary alliance, while we deal with the Empire. No crime needed. Same deal we have with Deimos here."

"Skitter? Any objections?" Grue asked, looking at her. Skitter looked to Tattletale but quickly shook her head. "Bitch? Any issues?"

"Ehh, I don't really care," Bitch waved Grue off. "Just don't fuck with my dogs."

"Trust me, that won't be a problem," Parian said with a nod.

"Deimos? Thoughts?" Grue called out, everyone turned to her.

Vicky startled in her chair for a moment. "Huh? Why are you asking me?"

"You're part of this team too," Tattletale said with a smile.

"I am..." Vicky trailed off. She was about to say, 'I am certainly not part of this team,' but then she thought about her current predicament. A villainous name, a villainous costume, sitting in a villainous lair with her villainous girlfriends' villainous team, taking part in a villainous meeting. "Oh god, I am..." Vicky placed her head into her hands and apologised to her mother through telepathy she didn't have. "Fine, whatever. Yes. She seems like a lovely choice. Though, Parian, Take my advice and run before these lot drag you down with them."

"N-noted," Parian said, looking at Vicky with a confused stance.

"That's a yes around the room," Grue nodded to all of his teammates, "Parian, we can discuss the specifics of what you're comfortable doing with us, as well as get an update on where we are with our plan. Please, don't feel pressured to unmask-" Bitch pulled her mask off immediately and threw it on the table. "-around us. We'll respect your anonymity."

"Oh, and since we forgot to say it last time," Tattletale jumped up with a smile. "We'll say it together now. Parian, Deimos... Welcome to the Undersiders."

Vicky sank down into her chair and whined.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Writers block is a bitch. Also, I was busy spreading managed democracy across the galaxy Helldivers 2 has consumed all my free time

---

Undersiders Base – Late Afternoon

The bullet was fired from the chamber, striking its target with deadly precision. After several more shots were fired, all landing within close proximity of the bullseye, the gun was lowered and a new marksman took its place.

"And here we have the firing range!" Tattletale called out to the group as bullets were once again let loose. "Here, our mercenaries run through their drills, keeping themselves in top shape and ready for when they're needed. We even have some expert trainers here if you ever want to learn how to fire a gun."

"Yeah… that's never gonna happen," said Deimos, shaking her head along with Parian.

After the meeting and a quick discussion with Grue, the two newest members of the Undersiders were given a complimentary, open-door tour of the base. To allay all fears that their operation was anything more than a bunch of misguided youths with grand ideals, they had decided to show them everything there was. All the training facilities, all the amenities, all the rooms, all the people who worked for them, and all the boring, mundane paperwork.

"You sure?" Skitter asked, looking between the two new girls and the firing range. "I never liked the idea of carrying a firearm, but I have to admit, they have their uses. And it's always nice to have another way to defend yourself if things go wrong."

Deimos hadn't yet made mention of Skitter's latest addition to her costume. A large, black handgun was hidden behind a silk skirt. There was no doubt in her mind that it was the same gun Skitter had used to kill Coil, why the girl would choose to carry a reminder of her guilt was a mystery to Vicky.

"Yeah... still no."

"Pass."

Tattletale chuckled, inspecting her own gun from its holster. "Let 'em be, Skitter. It's best for everyone to stick to their strengths."

The mercenary currently showing off his rifle skills laughed under his breath. Both Tattletale and Skitter turned in his direction, staring the man down.

"Oh, my apologies, Miss Tattletale," The mercenary said in a sarcastic and Russian accent. "But if shooting is your strength, then I worry for the state of this operation."

"Thank you for your helpful contribution, Dimitri," Tattletale sighed with an obvious eye-roll. "I'll be sure to make a note of your opinion. For next week's staff reviews."

Dimitri's smirk held as he fired two more shots at his target.

"This is Major Dimitri... no surname given," Tattletale explained to the group, gesturing to the man. "He's in charge of general security, training, and all-round being an ass."

"Major?" Dimitri chuckled. "Strange, Mr Grue called me Colonel at lunch today."

"As I was saying, Captain Dimitri is our point of call between capes and mercenaries," Tattletale continued, ignoring the remark. "He reports directly to me and Grue. If you ever have a problem with a merc or need to plan a last-minute op and can't reach us, he's the one you go to. The men don't move without his say-so. Dimitri, this is Parian and Deimos. You've met the latter before, they'll be joining the team. Security class 3 dash A."

"Understood, Ma'am," He nodded, with more professional respect in his tone, before returning to his usual grin.

The man mumbled something in Russian that none of the capes understood, judging by his tone and the way Tattletale sighed, it was more of a complaint than a joke. Vicky had only ever taken a passing interest in foreign languages, but recognised the man was grumbling something about 'children.'

"Anyway, the point is. Of all the faceless mooks in this base, this guy is the one you wanna remember," Tattletale thumbed down to Dimitri as the man packed up and cleaned his rifle. "In all seriousness though, you have any questions or need anything, Dimitri is your guy. If he tells you to do something, he usually knows what he's doing. Treat him like the rest of the team."

"Pleasure to meet you," The man bowed his head, slinging the rifle over his shoulder before turning back to Tattletale. "In that case, I suggest you get more practice on the range before you start going after the Empire. Your accuracy is atrocious at longer ranges, and you can't outthink every encounter... Ma'am."

Tattletale sighed again, but this time had more of a smile to it. "Understood Dimitri, Skitter and I will swing by once we finish our tour."

"Oh, Skitter's accuracy is perfect," Dimitri said, nodding respectfully to the villain in question. "If anything, she should be the one teaching you."

Tattletale looked back to Skitter, a look of shock and offence on her face. "But... I... I taught you how to shoot in the first place!"

Skitter didn't reply, only shrugging in response.

"You use your powers to cheat, that's not fair!" Tattletale pointed back to the girl. Again, all Skitter did was shrug wordlessly.

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

Against the wall of the room, Parian slid up closer to Deimos and whispered into her ear. "For a group of villains running the second-largest gang in the city, I was expecting a little more..." She struggled to find the word.

"Menace? Danger?" Deimos suggested.

"Maturity," Parian decided on.

Deimos chuckled. "That's not a word I'd use to describe this lot." Parian looked over the brute with a fresh pair of eyes, reevaluating the mystery villain she had been paired up with for the day. "Yeah, they're childish," Deimos continued with a smile in her voice. "And yeah, they can be reckless, stupid, and a total pain to deal with. But you'll get used to it. They're good people, deep down."

Tattletale was in the middle of arguing how Skitter's accuracy on the made-up scoreboard should be disqualified because she was cheating by using her bugs as targets. Dimitri countered by saying being parahuman, in general, is cheating, and that life isn't fair.

"So you know them?" Parian asked curiously. "Like, outside all this?"

"What?" Deimos stuttered. "What makes you think that?"

"Just a guess," Parian shrugged. "I never heard of you until today, yet they seemed to trust you more than they trust me."

"We worked together..." Deimos said. "Only once, a temporary truce. That's all."

"Right..." Parian said, not believing a word of it. "And the fact that your costume is made from the same material as Skitters. What is that anyway? Looks like silk, but far too durable."

"S-spider silk," Deimos admitted. "Skitter has these special spiders that make... I don't know. Super web, silk… stuff? It can stop a knife. Add to that the insect shell armour and then you're bulletproof. Supposedly."

"Fascinating," Parian said, inspecting the outfit. "I wonder if I can get a sample?" She mumbled to herself before looking back at Deimos, "And she made this for you?"

Deimos nodded hesitantly. "Yeah, it's... my first time wearing it. It's actually really comfortable. Like... weirdly comfortable."

Parian giggled. Deimos was not at all what she was expecting when she first saw that intimidating costume. She'd done her research on the Undersiders before coming here, Grue was professionally respectable enough to make the initial offer worth considering, and she expected to put up with Tattletale's smug bitchiness.

Skitter was something of a wildcard, Parian wasn't sure what to expect from her. The immediate distrust was concerning, but paranoid seemed to fit the profile. Regent seemed far too apathetic to the whole thing and would've been the biggest unknown, if not for the Stranger that appeared during the introductions. Grue himself had pre-warned about Bitch. Parian had decided that she would remain far away from that girl for the duration of this partnership, as much as she liked dogs, it wasn't worth the trouble.

Then the team sprang Deimos on her, a complete and utter unknown cape with a costume that was as terrifying as Skitter's. Not a single clue as to the cape's personality or motives, Parian could only assume that they would be the same brand of paranoid, violent and scary as the bug master herself.

The entire assumption went away the second Deimos opened her mouth. Finding out it was another woman under the mask was a pleasant surprise, learning that the person behind the costume was the exact opposite of a hard-ass supervillain was a relief.

"I'm glad I'm not the only rogue here," Parian admitted to the girl. "Makes falling in with this lot of thieves a slight bit more palatable."

"I still can't believe they recruited Parian," Deimos chuckled to herself. "I'm sorry. But you're the last person I was expecting here today."

"I take it you know my work?" Parian asked, a smile behind her mask.

"I might've gone to a couple of your shows," Deimos chuckled. "I mean... you're pretty famous in Brockton."

"Fame is relative," Parian sighed.

"Everyone knows about your shop," Deimos said back, a little more pep in her tone. "Even my sis- uh, best friend wouldn't stop talking about you when she found out."

Parian chuckled softly. "You know I don't actually own a shop, right? I just do odd jobs around the boardwalk. The shop everybody talks about is owned by a Mr Lee. Hired me to make some stuffed toys for him one winter, and the store got so popular, he keeps bringing me back."

"Huh," Deimos pondered to herself.

With Deimos cleared of being any actual threat, Parian relaxed and enjoyed the superposed tour. She looked back at her 'teammates,' Tattletale and Skitter still debating over who is the better shot, or by this point, Skitter informing Tattletale that holding a gun one-handed is a horrible stance and not at all practical.

She watched the exchange with amusement until a thought entered her mind.

"Do you think those two are an item?"

Deimos shifted in her lean against the wall. "No, what? Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Skitter and Tattletale," Parian said again, nodding towards the two villains. "They seem close. More than teammates, or friends. Makes me wonder if they're dating outside the mask business."

"O-oh," Deimos said, her tone dropping. "I-I don't know. Probably best not to think about what we get up to in our civilian lives, right?"

For a brief moment, Parian felt a knot in her throat, a feeling she was a little too familiar with. She didn't often talk about it, but the subject was a sore spot for her. She had hoped that in a crew fighting against literal Nazis that she wouldn't have to censor her thoughts, but it seemed the idea of a gay couple was discomforting for Deimos.

At least that was Parian's first concern. But the tone Deimos had wasn't one of dismissal out of discomfort or disgust. Looking up at the girl, her gaze was fixed on Skitter and had been for much of the tour. Deimos obviously had some kind of connection to the bug master, perhaps Deimos was the tragic victim of the classic love triangle. Watching her beloved Skitter be hit on by the charming and flirtatious Tattletale. Or perhaps it was the other way round, and Tattletale had a very specific type of woman she liked, and Deimos was trying to fit the part.

In any case, Parian was instantly invested in the unravelling story that she was making in her mind. Parian spent a lot of her free time reading romance novels to make up for the lack of love in her life, and it translated to her often imagining sapphic stories and couples whenever she daydreamed. While she didn't know enough about either cape, the idea of Skitter and Tattletale hooking up and having a secret relationship was far too tantalising for her not to fantasise about, especially with throuples on the brain thanks to New Wave's recent announcement.

"Anyway!" Tattletale said loudly, walking away from her debate with Skitter and Dimitri. "That concludes the tour. Unless you girls have any other questions or concerns."

Parian and Deimos shared a glance, both shrugging at the same time.

"Then that's it!" Tattletale cheered, clapping her hands together. "The exit is this way. I look forward to working with both of you."

"Actually, we still need to talk about that," Deimos spoke with an annoyed tone in her voice. "Privately…

Parian wasn't sure what that was about, but she had seen enough to feel confident with her decision. This could be the start of something new, and while she wasn't going to jump straight to crime, she could at least give this group a chance to make a difference in this city. Skitter motioned for the exit as Parian followed closely behind, the villain was all kinds of odd as Parian couldn't find a solid read on them, besides being intimidating as hell.

The two walked silently through the halls until she was led out of the same lobby she entered from. Parian wasn't sure how Skitter navigated her way through the endless maze of hallways, but she assumed that in time, she'd become familiar with the landscape.

"Thanks for the tour," Parian said, giving a polite curtsy to the tall girl. She really wanted to ask Skitter about the material she used to make her and Deimos's suit, but wasn't sure if today was the best time to bring it up.

"Here," Skitter said, fishing something out of the back of her back. Parian tried her best not to flinch in Skitter's presence, a harder task than she thought it'd be. Skitter held out a small, square of silk. About the size of a folded napkin.

"W-what?" Parian asked, taking the gift and inspecting it.

"You wanted a sample?" Skitter asked, tilting her head. "Let me know if you can work with it, I have some projects that could use your expertise on."

"Oh," Parian said, looking back up. "Thank you... I'm sure I can find a use for it."

Skitter gave a nod and left Parian standing by the doors. A very strange woman, but Parian still smiled at the gift. She was already confident that she could make something great from the material but didn't feel like chasing back after the villain to ask for more. She'd turn this small sample into something she could show the team, a taste of what she could do. Parian tried to remember the open page of emblems that were sitting on the Undersider's meeting table when she walked in. The design seemed simple enough.

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

Tattletale and Deimos watched as Skitter led Parian out of the base. Leaving the two alone to return to the empty briefing room again. Tattletale pressed a button on the head chair, allowing any windows in the room to fade from black and locking the doors.

Annoyed, conflicted. Feels strong-armed into joining the Undersiders. Convincing herself this is only a temporary arrangement. Understands the logic of being here. Agrees that the Empire can't remain unchecked. Wishes Lisa and Taylor had more faith in law enforcement and heroes.

Lisa sat on the desk and looked back to Deimos, shooting a mischievous and playful look at the girl in an attempt to keep things light.

"You can unmask here," Lisa said, motioning to Vicky's mask. "Only three people have access to this room now, and Grue is busy doing admin work. Plus I know how much you hate wearing that."

Deimos's hand moved to her head and then hovered for a moment. Pondering if unmasking in the middle of Coil's base... of Lisa and Taylor's base was a wise idea. In the end, she trusted Lisa. Deimos flicked her hood back and pulled off her mask.

Lisa's smile grew slightly wider upon seeing Victoria's actual face. The girl was pretty. Beautiful to a distracting degree, even wearing the intimidating costume that Taylor had made for her. Lisa didn't know exactly when she stopped viewing Victoria as 'conventionally attractive' and started thinking the blonde was beautiful, but the line had been crossed a while ago and she was stuck firmly on the other side.

It made conversations like this all the more difficult because she knew Victoria was upset with her and seeing that beautiful face frown, knowing that Lisa was the cause of it... that didn't sit right with Lisa.

"So," Lisa said as casually as possible. "Before we start, I want to be as transparent with you as possible. Yes, we wanted you to work with us from the beginning of this whole takeover plan. Yes, Taylor built that suit as a bribe to try and sway you to our side. And yes, I know how you feel about that."

Victoria didn't reply. Only stared back, waiting for Lisa to finish.

"But," Lisa continued. "This is a two-way street. You're not just working for us, we're working with you. We have no intention of forcing you to do anything you're uncomfortable with," Victoria raised a pointed finger and opened her mouth, Lisa cut in again. "Anything you're truly, deeply uncomfortable with. We have a pretty good idea of your hard limits and believe me, Tay and I have no intention of pressing you against them. All this," Lisa waved around the room. "Is an impromptu solution for the current crisis, and once this is all over, we reassess, go back to our usual deal. If you want out, we won't stop you."

Victoria didn't immediately respond. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched, she took a deep breath.

Glad that Lisa Wilbourn is being honest with her. Happy to spend more time with both women she cares for. Still concerned about the morality of her actions. Unsure if she can trust herself to hold to her beliefs while working with the Undersiders.

Victoria sighed. "Why did you have to build such a comfortable fucking costume?" she whined, a small smile appeared on her face.

"Taylor really knows her stuff," Lisa agreed, pulling on the fabric of her own costume. It was cosmetically the same as her previous outfit, but the material was lighter, far more comfortable and offered better protection than the suit Coil had supplied her. "Tay has a whole laundry list of requests for the other Undersider's outfits. Hopefully, Parian can lighten the load."

Victoria chuckled lightly, and it made Lisa smile. Then Victoria's smile wavered again as she fell into deep thought.

Happy to joke around with Lisa. Noticed how quickly Lisa can make her forget concerns. Worried that social Thinker is manipulating her. Guilty that she has to question Lisa Wilbourn's motives.

"You're worried about me manipulating you into accepting all this," Lisa said with a sombre smile. Victoria hesitated, shaking her head to deny the statement. "Psychic remember?" Lisa chuckled, tapping her head.

"My mother always said," Victoria muttered aloud. "Never let a Thinker speak."

Lisa tried not to let it bother her. At least, she showed no outward emotion on her face beyond her usual grin. It was a common concern everyone had with her power. People who knew what she could do would distrust her, they would always assume the worst.

"Would you prefer if I shut up?" Lisa asked, the smile on her face fading.

"No," Victoria said. "I'm rather fond of your voice," Lisa's smile returned to her lips. "It just makes any potential arguments with my Thinker girlfriend a bit of a struggle," Victoria smirked back at her. "Good thing I like challenges."

"Wouldn't be dating both of us if you didn't," Lisa chuckled. She reached out to grab Vicky's hand, interlocking her fingers with her own. "Might I suggest a blatant bribe to ease the tension? A mutual transaction if you will."

Victoria cocked her head, unsure of what Lisa was proposing.

"Well, we could talk about how we railroaded you into an impossible situation. Knowing that you wouldn't try to arrest us in an attempt to spend more quality time with you," Lisa stated casually. "You'll tell me how that makes you feel ignored and disrespected and I'll spend the rest of the day feeling like shit for manipulating the person I care about most even though I honestly believed this was the best course of action. And I could convince you, without a shadow of a doubt, why this is the best course of action..."

"Or?..." Victoria asked.

"Or... you could just kiss me," Lisa smirked. "And never let the Thinker speak?"

-------------------------------------
Skitter typed in the code to the meeting room door. She didn't have any bugs inside and so had no idea what Tattletale and Deimos were discussing. However, she had a good guess.

Taylor had spent the entire tour mentally preparing herself for this next bit. Victoria was going to be pissed, Taylor knew that. It was inevitable. But Taylor had learned long ago that it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, and this was too important to let her fears get in the way.

Victoria was smart, she'd see things for what they were. She knew why the Undersiders did what they did and how the PRT were useless against the coming tide of the Empire. No one wanted a city to be run by criminals of any type, but even Vicky could agree that the Undersiders were the lesser evil here.

Taylor had the speech in her head ready. She'd be concise and firm. Victoria was bound to be emotional, perhaps she would even yell and shout, Taylor would just stand there and take it, allowing her girlfriend to voice all her grievances and worries. Then when Vicky calmed down, hopefully, the trio could come to an understanding.

As Taylor opened the door to the meeting room, she fully expected to be greeted by an ongoing argument between Lisa and Victoria. Taylor's first priority would be to make sure that Victoria didn't feel like she was taking Lisa's side, the last thing she wanted was to trap Vicky in an argument where she felt isolated and backed into a corner.

However, Taylor was surprised to find the room devoid of arguing. Instead, Taylor was met with the sounds of giggling and... kissing?

Lisa lay spread across the oversized table with Victoria on top of her. The two girls were wrapped up in each other's arms, making out in a rather heated fashion.

"O-oh?" Taylor murmured behind her mask. Both girls looked up and towards her direction. Taylor was thankful that the mask was able to hide the sudden redness of her cheeks. She looked at Victoria specifically. "I-I was just going to make sure that your feelings were... heard and whatnot."

Victoria and Lisa shared a look and then laughed, Taylor took a cautious step towards her girlfriends.

"We were just having that conversation," Lisa grinned, still wrapped in Victoria's arms.

"I see," Taylor said, stepping closer.

"Lisa has promised not to speak again, ever," Victoria added.

"That's... that's good?" Taylor asked, missing the context but happy that they weren't fighting.

"Yup," Victoria agreed, popping the 'p' sound.

"And are we... good?" Taylor asked, now standing over the two girls.

Victoria smiled, reaching a hand out to grab onto Taylor's own, pulling the girl close. Taylor was about to offer her support to Vicky, but instead, the heroine grabbed her mask and pulled Taylor in for a kiss. Taylor took that as an affirmative.

After a short while, Taylor pulled herself away from the cuddle pile and looked at Victoria again. She wanted to offer an apology or a condolence of some kind. Victoria shook her head in response to the incoming statement.

"We're good, Tay," Victoria said with a soft smile. "I'm still upset about this whole thing. You both know my feelings. I'm never gonna be comfortable with what you two do. But..." Victoria glanced back at Lisa, the pair smiling at one another. "I trust you, I love you both and I get why you both think this is the best course of action. It's not like I can convince you both to join New Wave or anything. So, we're good."

Taylor let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, that's great."

"Told you I could convince her," Lisa teased, looking up at Taylor. She then winced in pain as Vicky squeezed down on her arm. "Ow! Bad touch, bad touch!"

"Don't push it," Victoria warned, letting go of her brute grip. "I'm still mad at you."

"Better run, Tay," Lisa chuckled as she rubbed her arm. "She's already plotting her revenge."

Taylor and Lisa giggled, which in turn caused Vicky to smirk. It was good that Vicky wasn't overly upset with the two. Taylor decided that whatever revenge plan Victoria cooked up for all this would be well deserved.

Victoria moved to kiss Lisa again, wrapping a spare hand through Taylor's hair to pull her back into the pile, when Taylor looked up and towards the door. Once again, the all-seeing bug master had gotten distracted by her two beautiful girlfriends to notice someone walking up on them. It wasn't the end of the world, things were just about to get somewhat awkward.

The door slid open, Grue standing at the entrance with a small clipboard of paper in his hand.

"Tattletale, do you know where we kept the... ah." Brian froze, mask locked on the two women lying over Lisa, both unmasked and staring back at him. Brian nodded his head twice and walked backwards. "Okay... um, never mind. I'll just uh, look for it later."

Brian left, shutting the door behind him and leaving the three girls alone again. The silence in the room was deafening.

"I can't believe I was just caught in the middle of a threesome," Lisa muttered. "By my boss, no less."

"Oh, shut up," Victoria huffed, snorting a laugh. "Wait... please tell me that's not what he?…"

"He's writing a note to have the table cleaned..." Taylor added, watching through her bugs.

Lisa burst into a fit of giggles, and even Taylor couldn't help but smile a little. Victoria looked horrified at the impression she had left with Grue, which only made the girls laugh harder.

"Shit..." Victoria said with a smile growing on her face. "You think we need to report us to HR?"

"Do we even have an HR department?" Taylor asked Lisa. Lisa was too busy laughing to answer.

"Probably not," Victoria answered in her place. "We are villains after all."

Taylor smiled through her chuckle, leaning in to kiss Victoria one last time. She knew it was a joke, but all the same, Victoria's use of 'we' made her feel a warm, fuzzy feeling.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Shout out to Scapegrace and Clarissa for helping with the ending and Scrapegrace again for letting me use their Omake as a scene in this

---

Arcadia High School – Day

Victoria stood up to the stage, smiling a wide, toothy grin as she accepted her diploma. She shook hands with the principal and posed for the onslaught of photos from both professional photographers the school hired and the many paparazzi that had decided to crash the event. As Victoria's eyes adjusted to the many flashing lights, she spotted her friends and family amongst the crowd.

Most of her school friends were up on stage with her or waiting for their turn to accept a diploma. But Vicky could spot Taylor in the crowd, cheering as Victoria crossed the stage. The rest of her family was there too. Her parents were standing in an attempt to take their own photos, namely her father who had brought along a camera of his own. Amy clapped politely, a smile on her face as she sat down next to Eric and Crystal, who were both shooting two thumbs each at their graduating cousin.

Today was the day, Victoria officially graduated from high school. It all felt so...anticlimactic. As quickly as she marched onto the stage, she walked off it, joining up with the rest of her peers to sit down and watch the last few names called. She was happy, of that there was no doubt, but school had been such a major part of Victoria's life, now she had her paper and handshake, and that was it. She wasn't a student anymore, she was just a full-time hero.

The thought left her feeling strange.

Victoria had pictured this moment for so long, ever since she got her powers, even before then if she was being honest. Finally, she was free to put all her focus on her hero work, helping people and keeping the city safe. Glory Girl was going to be a staple of Brockton Bay, the shining light that kept the darkest hours at bay.

Yet, she spent yesterday in the dark, underground tunnels of the Undersider's base. Dressed in an unfamiliar mask that brought terror to those around it, plotting a war in the very city she vowed to protect.

Even still, she knew the reasons for what she was doing. She agreed with most of them too. If they didn't move against the Empire, eventually they'd strike first, and the heroes wouldn't be able to stop them alone.

It didn't make her feel any better.

Before Victoria knew it, the ceremony had finished. The students were free to disperse and mingle with their families. Taylor was already closer in proximity to her than the rest of her family, so Vicky caught up with her first. Taylor welcomed her with a hug and a kiss as congratulations.
"I'm so proud of you," Taylor whispered into her ear, and Victoria's heart swelled.

"It's just a high school diploma, Tay," Victoria chuckled, trying to laugh off the compliment. "Pretty much everybody gets them."

"Not everybody," Another voice said from behind. Victoria felt the comforting embrace of Lisa's arms wrapping around the already hugging couple.

"L-lisa?" Victoria balked, breaking from her hug to turn around. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" Lisa replied with a smug grin. "I can't drop by to watch my girl graduate?"

Victoria hugged Lisa by the waist and spun her around, giving her a kiss of her own before planting her right next to Taylor.

"Of course, you can," Victoria smiled, letting go of the girl. "I just thought you'd be busy with... y'know?"

Lisa waved off the comment. "Please, I always have time to spare for you two," She pulled Taylor into a shoulder hug as the two girls smiled brightly back at Vicky. "Congrats on being done with the tedium of high school. Now we just have to wait a year for this one," She shook Taylor's shoulder. "Unless you wanna study for your GED?~" She sang out playfully.

Taylor shook her head with a light chuckle. "No thanks, my mom-"

"-would have wanted me to finish high school," Lisa finished for her, rolling her eyes but not prodding the subject any harder. "Fine, fine. We still have the whole summer before you go back."

"We do have the summer, right?" Taylor asked, looking over to Victoria. "You've mentioned your plans about after high school before, they haven't... changed, have they?"

Victoria shook her head. "Don't worry, Tay. I'm not going anywhere just yet. But maybe this time next year, we could talk about universities we could look into... together?" She looked towards Lisa and added. "All three of us, perhaps?"

"Pfft, University?" Lisa chuckled. "That's small time. This time next year, the three of us will be running this- planning a trip across the country!"

Victoria did a double take on Lisa's complete one-eighty sentence before turning back to see her family coming up behind her.

"Planning a trip where?" Carol asked, having caught the last few words.

"A road trip, around the states," Lisa lied with a straight face. "Once Taylor graduates next year. It would be a fun experience."

"Oh, sounds lovely," Aunt Sarah responded, hovering over to give Victoria a hug before turning towards Vicky's two girlfriends. "You must be Lisa and Taylor? A pleasure to meet you both." She held out a hand as both girls shook it. "We've been meaning to meet you properly for some time now. Taylor, I hope you're doing well after that awful business with Rune and Skitter. I hope the experience hasn't shaken your faith in us."

"Not at all, Mrs. Pelham," Taylor gave a respectful nod. "And thank you, It's a pleasure to meet you, and your family as well."

"Wow..." Lisa said, blinking nothing out of her eyes and moving to shake Aunt Sarah's hand. "Lady Photon, it's... an honour."

"Oh please," Aunt Sarah blushed, Vicky fought an eye roll at the blatant schmoozing. "We're not in costume here, you can call me Sarah."

"Congratulations Cuz!" Crystal yelled out as she flew right into Victoria. Her brute strength was the only thing that stopped them both from collapsing to the floor. "Way to go!"

"Crystal, calm down," Eric followed, taking his sister's place as he offered a handshake of his own. "But congratulations. You should be proud."

Vicky smiled back at her two cousins, giving them both a hug. She turned around and gestured towards her two girlfriends. "Eric, Crystal, I'd like you to meet my girlfriends. Taylor and Lisa."

"Hey, nice to meet you," Eric said with a friendly smile, he extended a hand to Taylor.

"Oh my god, I didn't even notice you. Hi! I'm Crystal!" The girl said excitedly as she hovered over towards Lisa.

Lisa backed up slightly at the speed and energy being directed her way but quickly matched it with a similar energy of her own.

"Oh my god, Laserdream!" Lisa said in a higher-than-normal tone. "Vicky has told me so much about you."

"Really!?" Crystal smiled wide. "She talks about you two all the time!"

"Yeah, we've been dying to meet you guys," Lisa nodded.

"I've been telling Vicky that we should-" Crystal started.

"-go on a double date sometime!" Both girls said at the same time, followed by a shared gasp of excitement.

"Careful there, Vic," Eric chuckled. "I think Crystal might steal your girlfriend away."

"I would never!" Crystal laughed, hugging Lisa's shoulders. "But I do approve of this one!"

"And I of this one," Eric smiled, shaking Taylor's hand once more. Vicky couldn't hear what they discussed over Crystal's and Lisa's cackling but Taylor was smiling alongside him.

Both cousins swapped introductory partners, Crystal launching off Lisa to welcome Taylor with a hug while Lisa once again fangirled over the next hero she got to meet. Victoria still couldn't work out how much of Lisa's interest was genuine but regardless, she was happy with how well both girls got along with her family.

"-God, you are wasted here, come up to my university one day and let's grab lunch!" Crystal was saying to Taylor, her eyes wide with glee. "I'll let you drop in on some of my literature electives."

"I-I'd like that," Taylor mumbled with a blush.

Victoria had a brief moment of worry that Crystal was, in fact, stealing her girlfriend away, but then reminded herself that Crystal was just being her usual charming self and that Taylor was just… charmed.

"-Seriously? She hasn't!?" Eric asked in shock to whatever conversation he was having with Lisa. "Yo, Vicky!?"

Victoria turned her head back to Eric and Lisa.

"You're dating one of the biggest cape fans in the city and you haven't introduced her to the Wards yet?" Eric asked sarcastically. "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, Vicky? What are you doing?" Lisa chimed in playfully.

She could see Lisa's smugness and the hidden question within. Why won't you give Tattletale a free tour of the PRT base and access to all their secrets? Victoria knew damn well what Lisa would do if she ever met her Ward friends and as much as she loved the girl, she wasn't going to make it that easy for her.

"I'd love to introduce you girls," Victoria said, trying not to be too obvious with her sarcasm. "But Lisa's always so busy with her work. I just don't think we'll ever have the time."

"Oh right," Eric said, looking back to Lisa. "Vicky did mention that you have a full-time job."

"Aww that's a bummer," Crystal added. "That means only Taylor gets a summer vacation?"

"Actually Taylor works with me," Lisa said with a smile. "But don't worry. We'll make time to have fun too. We've already made some summer plans."

"Really?" Carol perked up, pushing her way into the group conversation. "What do you girls have planned?"

Amy joined in beside Vicky, giving her sister a congratulatory hug but not bothering to add to the discussion. Victoria tried not to stare daggers at Lisa as she proudly smiled back at Carol's question.

"Well...."

----------------------------------------------------
Dallon Household – The First Week of Summer Vacation

As had been Victoria's plan for years, Glory Girl had now transitioned into a full-time member of New Wave. While no major changes were made to the structure of the group, Victoria was now willing and able to take part in the longer patrols, late night missions and weigh in on any major meetings the team might have. Not that there were any of those during her first few days.

In fact, Glory Girl did none of her usual cape-related jobs during her first few days out as a full-time member of New Wave. As Glory Girl, she was still assigned to protecting her girlfriends from any kind of Empire attack.

Her Aunt's exact orders were to 'enjoy the summer break while watching over her girlfriends' and that they'd 'reassess the situation at a later time.'

While on paper, Vicky had no problems spending quality time with her girlfriends over the summer, it gave her villainous girlfriends the perfect excuse for Deimos to continue her work with the Undersiders.

-----------------------------------------------
The Undersider's Base - Weekend

With a heavy conscious, Vicky started her first day of full-time hero work putting on her villainous mask and joining Skitter as they prepared for their next steps against the Empire. Her mind raced over what kind of criminal activity the team would be attempting today. As with the first time Deimos entered the base, Skitter led them to the meeting room where Tattletale was waiting for them.

Tattletale planned to spend her time alternating between information gathering and base administration. Doomed to be in a seemingly never-ending line of interviews for various mercenaries, both old and new. She was still in the process of trimming the fat off Coil's old empire while recruiting to bolster the ranks of her new one. She smiled brightly as Deimos and Skitter entered the room, taking their seats as the other Undersiders filed into the room.

Victoria couldn't help but smile a little as she saw the friendly mask of Parian join with the rest of the team. Taking her seat beside Deimos.

"Looks like everyone is on time, wonderful." Grue nodded to the team as he took his seat.

"Shockingly," Regent yawned before slouching onto Imp's shoulder. "Why do we have to do a morning meeting again?"

"Because regular people are awake by nine," Tattletale said, "And some of those people have better things to do than wait around for you to wake up."

"Oh because you're soooo busy," Regent sighed sarcastically.

"You can't comprehend how busy I am these days," Tattletale spat back behind her smile. "But no, I was talking about Parian here."

Parian bowed politely. "Thank you, Tattletale. Apologize Regent, but I have to be on the Boardwalk by midday to set up for the lunchtime puppet shows."

"You know we pay you, right?" Regent drawled. "You don't have to… that."

"I have obligations with several people to put on shows throughout the summer period," Parian explained, sounding offended by Regent's idea. "Also… I very much enjoy the smiles it brings to children's faces."

Regent sighed. "What happened to this team?" He shook his head and looked over to Grue. "You hired too many women and now I have to listen to th-"

He was simultaneously slap-punched by Imp and Bitch on either side of him.

"Anyway…" Tattletale said, ignoring the boy. "I'll make this quick for all of us," She handed out dossiers on all the Empire capes along with high-ranking associates, far more detailed than what New Wave had on hand. "The information here is incredibly confidential, so I'd appreciate some tact with what we're about to discuss-"

"Max Anders!?" Deimos squawked out during the daily team meeting. "What the fuck!?" A file on Kaiser was open on the screen, a full breakdown of the cape, including civilian identity. "I've... I've been to events where he showed up. I've... I've..." Victoria looked at her hand, remembering when she was at a boring political fundraiser with Dean once, she shook the man's hand…

"I've seen him from time to time on the news," Parian said coldly. "Always gave me the creeps, guess I know why."

"We have to tell the PRT," Deimos snapped. It had been more than a year now, but she felt the need to wash her hands out of disgust.

All the Undersiders turned to look at her.

"Yeah.... no," Tattletale said as gently as she could. "If the greater cape community realised we had this information, they would crucify us. We need everyone firmly on our side here."

"But, but!?" Deimos said.

"If we know who he is, why don't we just?... y'know?" Regent asked he mimed a gun firing.

"Oh, I could go today with my knife!" Imp added in, miming a neck slash.

"No," Both Tattletale and Grue said in unison.

"We're not cold-blooded killers," Grue said holding up a single digit. "And we cannot attack anyone out of costume unless they break the rule first."

"Of course," Skitter added in. "If we can bait them to break the rule first, then all bets are off."

"Let's table that as a plan B, okay Skitter?" Tattletale said with a calming gesture. "The point of this isn't to plan an assassination, either physical or character, it's to know our enemy. This is what we're up against. How powerful the Empire truly is and why certain people in this room shouldn't feel bad when we start hitting the Medhall Corporation."

Tattletale stared directly at Deimos to hammer her point home but quickly turned back to her usual smile.

"Alright, next slide," Tattletale gestured to her screen. "These are the businesses that we have determined to be fronts. The second our war with Empire becomes hot, you can bet we'll be targeting them, so listen up."

Vicky sank into her seat, mentality preparing for the end of the day, when her mother asked what she got up to and she'd have to lie about knowing the public identity of Kaiser.

---------------------------------------------------------
The Boardwalk - Monday

"So, you're actually doing it?" Victoria asked, a smile creeping up on her lips.

While the weekend was spent hidden in the darkness of the Undersiders base, Vicky managed to pull the girls away from their work for a lunch date. Citing that Glory Girl and her girlfriends needed to be seen in the public eye, lest her family might start asking questions.

In truth, Vicky just wanted to spend some time out of the mask and in the sunlight.

"I don't know?" Taylor answered hesitantly. "Maybe? Why? Do you think I shouldn't-"

Lisa joined the table with a smoothie for each girl. Tropical mango for Taylor, mixed berry for herself and chocolate banana for Victoria. She flicked Taylor across the nose as she handed out the drinks.

"Ow!" Taylor squeaked as she rubbed her nose. "What was that for?"

"Stop trying to talk yourself out of it," Lisa sighed as she sipped on her drink.

"I wasn't," Taylor defended, taking a sip of her own smoothie. "I just wanted a second opinion."

"Just give her a call already and say yes," Victoria chimed in.

"But what about?-"

"Just do it already," Lisa snapped playfully.

"Alright, alright," Taylor huffed, reaching for her phone.

Victoria and Lisa watched as Taylor tapped the screen of her phone a few times before bringing the device to her ear. Both eagerly awaited the response from the other side.

"He-hello?" Taylor asked out as her call went through. "Yes, this is Taylor... um, Taylor Hebert. From... Yes... Uhuh... Yes... Alright... Okay... Yes... Thanks... Goodbye." With another shaky huff, she ended the call. Both girlfriends were watching her with bated breath. Taylor tried to play it as straight-faced as she could but the smile broke through. "I... uh, start next week."

"Yaaaaaaaay!" Both Lisa and Victoria cheered, drawing some eyes from the surrounding tables. Both girls ignored the onlookers in favour of giving a congratulatory kiss each.

"Look out Brockton Bay!" Victoria cheered. "America's next top model is on the scene!"

---------------------------------------
The Undersider's Base - Tuesday

Bitch and Skitter spent a lot of their time running through practice drills with the mercenaries. A lot of the attack squads were formed specifically to take on specific classes of parahuman, with a strong emphasis on anti-Brute tactics.

Vicky didn't expect Bitch to have any concept of battle strategies, but the girl proved her wrong. She barked orders at the squad assigned to her like they were her dogs and the men jumped to her every word.

"Don't be a fucking idiot, you think bullets will do shit to someone like Hookwolf!?" Bitch yelled out as her dogs non-lethally tackled one of the men on the ground.

"Your job is to distract and stay out of our way," Bitch continued to yell. "Anyone trying to be a fucking hero is gonna get mauled."

Deimos hovered up next to Skitter as she watched the performance. The mercs were taking turns firing upon one of Bitch's muscled-up dogs and then diving to cover before getting pounced on. Judging by the setup, the drill was a simple capture the flag game, one dog was told to protect a briefcase in the middle of the room and the squad was trying to take it.

"Are they?..." Deimos asked in shock. "Shooting Bitch's dogs?"

"They needed practice against brutes," Skitter shrugged before turning to Deimos. "Actually, do you want to step in for the next drill?"

"How has she not killed every last one of them?" Deimos asked under her breath.

"Rubber bullets," Skitter said back. "And it was Bitch's idea anyway. Besides, so far the dogs have won eight out of ten times."

"Huh…" Deimos mused. "Wait what?"

"Rubber bullets," Skitter said again.

"Not that," Deimos shook her head. "What do you mean, step in?"

Skitter shrugged and then motioned towards the practice field. "Act as a brute and let a squad practice some anti-brute tactics on you. This is D squad, or as Bitch likes to call them. Dog squad."

Deimos turned to look at Skitter.

"Yeah, don't ask," Skitter continued. "But we still have C and E squads needing to be retrained."

"And what would I have to do?" Deimos sighed, forever wondering how she got into this position.

"Same as the dogs really," Skitter motioned to the rampaging beast. "Play keep away while the team comes up with a new tactic. No flying, focus on strength for this one."

"Sounds easy, I guess," Deimos said, pushing herself off the wall. "Which squad am I against? Coyote or what? Eagle Squad?"

Deimos laughed at her own joke while Skitter, as usual, stared back emotionlessly.

"Actually, C and E Squad is just called C and E Squad," Skitter said back. Deimos sighed at the lack of joy in that statement. "Although?" Skitter added, thinking to herself. "Imp did like to call them her Calamities?"

"Ha, so does every member of the Undersiders get a squad?" Deimos chuckled.

"No, Imp and Regent share a squad," Skitter said, shaking her head. "We're too thinly spread for individual squads. We only have squads A to E. Alpha and Bravo alternate between field and base patrol, under Tattletale and Grue specifically. Neither of them has thought up names for them if that's what you're wondering."

"That's a shame…" Deimos sighed. "So am I facing the 'Calamity Squad' then? I shake at whatever tactics Imp and Regent come up with together." She chuckled again, stressing her sarcasm to those words.

"Actually, you'll be good practice for my squad. Which I guess would be… The Entomology Squad?" Skitter mused with a snort of a chuckle. "I've developed a few anti-brute countermeasures I've been meaning to test."

Victoria could feel her blood run cold at that statement. She still climbed into the ring anyway, not willing to back down from a challenge, even if she was up against the brutal tactics of Skitter.

"It's just practice," Deimos muttered to herself. "Rubber bullets. Can't even break my forcefield. How hard could it be?"

Entomology Squad won nine out of ten rounds and Vicky found herself limping the following day.
----------------------------------------------------------

A Rooftop In Brockton Bay - Wednesday

"Ugh, Vicky, I can't believe you're making us—"

Victoria rounded on Lisa. She was smiling ever so sweetly, a sure sign of coming retribution. "I'm not making you do this. Either of you! You're free to leave at any time."

Taylor looked around the deserted rooftop. "Victoria, we really can't—"

"What's that, sweetheart? You've been put in an impossible position because someone else used powers and sweet talk on you? Gosh, that sounds awful!" Victoria smiled. "What could that be like?"

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Look, Vicky, Tori, Vixen, whatever you want me to call you—"

"You seem to like Deimos," Victoria said, as politely as a Southern belle blessing your heart. "But Victoria works too."

"Ugh, Victoria, you're overreacting. I admit, I completely admit, pulling you into the Undersiders as another member was shitty. But it wasn't a plan."

"Oh?" Victoria's gaze was laser-focused. "What makes you say that, dearest?"

"If I'd planned this, you'd be all in by now." Lisa grinned and flicked her hair. "I'm smart like that."

"She is," Taylor grumbled.

"Well, I'm so glad to know that my girlfriend's self-esteem is in such a good place, just like she is." Victoria's voice oozed sugar like a wound oozes blood. "Now then. I've got some new outfits for you both!"

"Wait, what?" Taylor looked confused. "You brought us up here to try on some clothes?"

Victoria just took a couple of dry-cleaning bags out of her backpack and tossed them to the girls. "Put them on."

Lisa blanched. "Hell no. Hell. No."

Victoria flew over. "Come on, sweetie. After all, I dressed up for you. Plus, that's the only way you're getting off this rooftop any time soon."

Taylor was numb. She stood there with the outfit in her hands as if it might explode. "Victoria, I, I'm not sure—"

"I'm not sure I want to moonlight as a villain, Taylor. In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't! But did I get a choice?"

Lisa scoffed. "You could have walked away at any time, Princess."

Victoria whirled around and loomed over Lisa. "You don't walk away from someone who loves you. So no. I didn't have a choice, and I still don't, because I love you both even though I am furious right now."

"Jeez, alright, calm down."

As with every other time someone told their girlfriend to calm down, this elicited a glare that could burn a hole through a wall. Lisa shuddered.

"Okay, lemme try again. I'm… I put you in an impossible position. I'm not sorry that I asked you for help. I'm sorry that I needed to draw you back into the Undersiders after. I don't mean in the sense that it needed to happen, I mean… I needed to do it. I need, I don't know, control over situations, I guess? And I took that control away from you, and that was shitty, and I'm sorry that I did."

Victoria touched down and smiled a real smile. "Thank you, Lisa. I forgive you."

"I'm… sorry too. For going along with it, and for not really thinking about what I was going along with." Taylor's voice was soft, but still clear on the roof. "I never meant to hurt you. I promise."

"I know you didn't, Taylor. It's okay. C'mere, both of you." The two moved in and Victoria hugged them tight.

After a minute, Lisa spoke. "So, now that we're forgiven—"

"Oh no, you don't get out of it that easy, green eyes. Come on, get changed. There's no cameras and nobody to see you, I change here a lot."

There was some mild grumbling from Lisa, but Taylor seemed resigned to her fate.

Victoria admired her handiwork. "Gotta say, you both rock the team aesthetic. Lisa, wow, you look so cute with the white bodysuit and the boots."

Lisa said nothing.

"The cape and the tiara work great on you, Taylor, and the gold goes so well with your hair. You're so pretty."

Taylor smiled but stayed silent.

Victoria clapped her hands. "Well. All that remains is to take you to the photoshoot!"

"The what?" Taylor's eyes widened.

"Not an official one, but I want a picture of the three of us."

"Why?"

"Blackmail," Lisa piped up.

Victoria smiled. "That too."

And so, they clustered together around Victoria, who took a bunch of selfies and saved them in a file. She sent the files to Lisa's phone, who took one look and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Victoria, I love you. But there's a line."

"Come on, it's just a bit of fun—"

"We are not," Taylor said, "the Glory Girlfriends."

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

Undersider's Base - Thursday

"Uh, Tattletale?" Grue asked out, leaning into the door of her office.

Tattletale's desk was piled high with paper, her laptop, a stack of coffee cups and several piles of dossiers. The blonde girl was sitting at the desk tapping away at her keyboard.

"Yes?" She asked back without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Have you spoken to Faultline yet?"

Tattletale stopped typing away but didn't look off from her screen. She let out a long sigh. "Not yet…"

Grue nodded a few times, hesitant to continue the conversation. After a few long seconds, he added. "Are you?-"

"I'll get around to it," Tattletale spat back, typing even harder into her laptop.

"Alright," Grue said, namely to himself as he backed away from her office. "Good talk, gooood talk. Uh... Skitter?" He jogged up beside the bug-controller who was walking in the other direction, Skitter turned to look at Grue with her usual emotionless gaze. "I wanted to talk to you about the defensive measures you submitted the other day."

Skitter stopped her walk and gave Grue her full attention. "Yes? Was there a problem with them?"

"Not a problem per se," Grue said with a tone that implied there was a problem per se. "I asked for a couple of ideas for potential counterattacks the Empire could throw at us…"

"And?" Skitter asked blankly.

"You submitted one-hundred and thirty-seven proposed scenarios."

"And?" Skitter asked again, blankly.

Grue sighed. "And I don't think Kaiser is going to use a GBU-57A/B MOP Bunker buster to blow up our base."

"Well maybe not, but we should be prepared for the possibility."

"You also had plans to attempt to counteract the fallout of a nuclear explosion?" Grue added. Skitter didn't react to the accusation. "Look, just cut the list down to the twenty or so most likely scenarios and work from there. We need to keep a tight budget. I already have a hard time convincing Tattletale to justify half of the measures you're proposing."

"Fine," Skitter answered. "I'll send a shortened list tonight."

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

Undersider's Base - Friday

"No fucking way!" Aisha cheered.

Parian and Skitter had started today's meeting by handing out gifts. Specifically new costumes for the remaining members of the team. Imp, Grue, Regent and Bitch were all given freshly woven spider silk duds.

Grue was given a black bodysuit that would go under his regular costume, overall, he had the least amount of changes which was exactly how he wanted it.

Regent's costume stuck to his theme, however the loose shirt and baggy pants were now more form-fitting, to accommodate the extra layers of protection. His mask was also studier, Parian had used it to experiment with using insect parts to strengthen her clothing.

Bitch had handed in her jacket the previous day, not wishing to replace it. It had been delicately modified and reinforced with the same spider silk that the rest of her clothes were now made from. In addition, Skitter had given her a new mask, one that resembled the look of her modified dogs rather than a simple cheap dog mask. For once, Bitch kept her mask on for the entire meeting. But the detail that she took the most interest in was the patch Parian had sewed into the arm of the jacket, Imp's drawing of Bitch's three dogs displayed proudly on her arm.

"Check this out!" Imp said, jumping up onto the table with her updated costume. "Engaging stealth mode!"

Everybody turned their attention back to Bitch, who continued to run her fingers over the patch on her jacket.

"It feels... better?" Bitch muttered to herself before looking up to Skitter. "How did you?-"

"Parian," Skitter said, nodding to the costume creator. "I could never modify the jacket so finely without destroying it. She did the bulk of the work, I just supplied the material."

Bitch nodded her head in thanks toward Parian, who curtsied back in kind. Imp reappeared, still standing on the table.

"Okay, that would've been so cool if any of you could've remembered it."

Everyone turned their attention back to Imp.

"I'm sorry?" Tattletale blinked. "Were you saying something?"

"I said..." Imp sighed as she prepared another action pose. "Engaging stealth mode!"

This time, Imp didn't activate her power, instead, she tugged on the back of her new suit as her much-requested hood folded out and over her head. Giving the already dark outfit a covert look. She then spent the next few seconds flicking the hood on and off. Regent clapped politely while Tattletale joined in with the mock cheering.

"Very nice," Grue said, giving a golf clap of his own.

---------------------------------
Dallon Household - One week Post Graduation

All in all, Victoria was pretty proud of herself. She spent an entire week with the Undersiders and didn't once do anything that she would consider villainous. Sure, she threw some mercs around while they trained to start a gang war, and she discovered the identities of every major cape in the Empire but Vicky couldn't find herself feeling guilty about it.

She still wished that she could actually be a hero, join her family on patrol or do some good for the community. By this point, she would've even accepted the restrictive patrols of the Wards if it meant she could help the people of Brockton Bay in some small way.

While Victoria enjoyed spending time with Taylor and Lisa, she didn't really view the other Undersiders as anything more than co-workers. At least when Vicky worked with the Wards she was actually friends with the team. Half of them were her closest friends outside of the cape life and they would often hang out during their downtime.

But the Undersiders were... not like the Wards. They had their own group dynamic and Victoria wasn't part of it. She was the odd one out, the 'temporary member'.

Did she even want to hang out with the Undersiders outside of work?

Vicky certainly has no desire to spend time with the likes of Bitch or Regent, the former being an all-round grumpy bitch and the latter creeping the hell out of her. Imp seemed sociable enough, but Victoria couldn't imagine inviting the girl out for lunch or the like. Parian was still an outsider, like her, which made Vicky far more comfortable to talk to however she only came in for two out of the seven days.

And then there was Grue, who admittedly was a far more level-headed and polite man than Vicky had initially assumed based on her first meeting. However, the villain had a clear disinterest in revealing anything about his personal life, treating Vicky like she was still going to turn around and use everything she knew as a secret weapon against his team. There was no doubt he was only putting up with Deimos because of Tattletale and Skitter.

So no, Victoria didn't want or expect to make friends with her 'teammates' and it was probably for the best if they continued to keep the boundaries between themselves.

Just as Victoria prepared herself to spend yet another day in that damn underground base, her phone buzzed in with a text message from Lisa.

Gd mrning, sunshine <3
we hve not much wrk 2 do 2day
i no u getting stir crazi @ base
tke day off. go b hero
ily

Quickly followed up by a second, more legible, text from Taylor.

Hello Victoria, I hope the morning finds you well.
I apologise for monopolising your time with work.
Lisa and I have a few more things to do at the office but feel comfortable that we can achieve our quotas on our own, so feel free to take this day off to do as you please.
If you are interested, we shall be free later in the afternoon, but until then please use this day to relax or see to any personal business you may have. If New Wave is still worried about me, tell them I am working in the Fortress Construction main office, its location in the middle of downtown should allay their concerns.
Sorry again for the imposition,
With love, Taylor.

Victoria smiled at the messages, her girlfriends were giving her and Undersiders a free day without her even needing to bring up the subject. She sent back a quick response of thanks and well wishes before floating off to find her family. She wasn't sure if her mom would buy Taylor's excuse that she wouldn't need protection simply because she was 'working in the heart of the city.' In the end, she didn't get a chance to try as she quickly found out that her Mother was called in early to her work.

The quick note on the fridge explained that much, along with some money on the table for pizza left to imply that she wouldn't be home till late. Added to that, the untouched state of the house implied that Vicky's father hadn't come out of his room and Victoria already knew what that implied. With the hope of any Flashbang and Glory Girl family patrol happening, Vicky fell back on her third option of seeing what her sister was up to.

The answer was, apparently, also busy. Amy rushed out of her room, dressed and ready for the day.
"Hey, Ames," Vicky waved with a smile as Amy jogged down the stairs. "Want to hang out today? It's been a while since we both-"

"Hey Vicky, sorry. I'm late for work, love ya, bye!" Amy said in one long breath as she flew past the living room.

"Wait, you're going out?" Vicky asked as she followed her sister to the door. "I thought you reduced your hospital hours?"

Amy was in the middle of sliding her shoes on, her back facing Vicky as she spoke. "Yeah, I did. Other job. The one with the dogs."

"Need me to give you a lift?" Vicky asked, wanting to feel useful.

Amy perked up from her rushed dressing. "Could you? Otherwise, I gotta run to catch the bus."
"Sure thing," Vicky said, picking her sister up the second her shoes were on. "Where we going again?"

"Near the Trainyard," Amy pointed in the vague direction. "Same place you picked me up that one time."

The sisters took to the air, enjoying the brisk morning winds as they flew over the streets of Brockton Bay. Amy had been doing a lot better this past couple of weeks, at least Vicky had hoped so. Vicky had made sure to check in on her sister more often. And while she had cut down her hours at the hospital, her 'other job' was apparently picking up the slack.

"I know, I know," Amy chuckled, seeing the concerned frown forming on Vicky's face. "You told me to relax and take a break, but this is good. This is fun. I'm helping out animals and I've met some interesting people. I'll be fine, Vicky. It's not like I'm joining a gang and anyt-"

"A gang? Who's joining a gang? I haven't joined a gang!" Victoria blurted out, drawing a suspicious look from her sister. "Uh, I mean. I know that. I just worry... about you."

"I'm fine, Vicky," Amy said with a tired huff. "Honestly, I want to do this. It's not like the hospital where I feel obligated to stick around. This is a hobby, something to keep me occupied when I'm not healing or helping out the family."

"You're sure you're okay with it?" Vicky asked, giving Amy a quick squeeze.

"I'm fine," Amy repeated, giving her sister a quick hug back. "I promise."

"Alright then, just making sure," Vicky smiled, giving her sister one last squeeze. "But, we're long overdue for some quality time together, so remember to save some time in your busy schedule for me. Got it, sis?"

"Hah, you're one to talk," Amy huffed again. "You've barely been home all week."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Victoria said.

"No, I get it," Amy waved her off. "Gotta protect your girlfriends from the Empire." Amy thought to herself for a moment. "Actually, shouldn't you be doing that now? Why are you out flying me around, don't you got hero work or something?"

"Eh, they're fine," Vicky dismissed. "Taylor and Lisa are working in the city. They've... given me the day off?"

Amy didn't question how stupid it sounded to dismiss the threat of the Empire just because Vicky's girlfriends were working in the city. She trusted Victoria to know what she was doing which made the tiny, white lie all the more painful.

Victoria wished she could explain to Amy just how crazy her life had become, but that would mean explaining that she had been lying to her all this time. That she wasn't actually the innocent, upstanding hero the world believed her to be. That her girlfriends were actually two supervillains and that Victoria had wilfully joined them in their gang activities this week.

But that would mean revealing Taylor and Lisa's secrets, putting them at risk. She had no real way of knowing how Amy would react, Skitter had held the girl at knifepoint, and there was a very real possibility that Amy held a grudge and wouldn't hesitate to do the heroic thing and turn Taylor in. The fear for her girlfriends' safety outweighed her guilt of lying, so Victoria didn't speak any more on the subject and Amy didn't ask.

------------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Streets – A Few Hours Later

Today had turned out to be a terrible day to be given off, simply because Victoria had nothing to do. With her mother busy with her law firm and her father holed up in his room, Vicky couldn't join them for an impromptu hero patrol. Crystal still had university classes to attend and couldn't spend time with her. Eric hadn't returned her message, so she could only assume he was preoccupied too.

Victoria supposed she could've gone to Aunt Sarah directly to request some official New Wave work but her Aunt was a stickler for the rules and wouldn't accept Lisa and Taylor's dismissal of their protection. She'd have probably forced Vicky back into watching over Taylor. The PRT was much the same, there was no way for Glory Girl to just waltz on in and ask to work the day without a mountain of paperwork and several phone calls to her mother.

After dropping Amy off and returning home to change into her costume, Glory Girl spent three hours aimlessly patrolling the city, like some common vigilante. She was smart enough to know her limits when it came to solo patrol, she didn't stray too far from the Protectorate HQ and she made sure to keep out of known gang territory and anywhere she could easily find herself outnumbered. This meant that Vicky ended up spending the bulk of her morning floating above quiet neighbourhoods of Downtown.

Victoria got bored pretty quickly. When she patrolled with New Wave or the Wards, she at least had a team to banter with while they kept an eye out for trouble. With no team and no PRT support to inform her of nearby trouble, the only hero work Glory Girl did was pose for a handful of pictures and help an old man with directions.

As the morning faded into the afternoon, Glory Girl finally gave up her fruitless patrol, choosing instead to find something fun for Victoria to do. She changed back into plain clothes and entered the mall, knowing that she still had a few hours to kill before Lisa and Taylor were free for a date.

The Undersiders had paid her for her time with them, much to Vicky's surprise. The villain group had offered her a weekly stipend and despite her protesting, Lisa had forced a new bank card into Vicky's hand the day she and Parian officially joined the team. So far, Victoria hadn't spent a cent of her ill-gotten gains, knowing exactly where the money came from. Her plan was to eventually give it all to a charity once she was finished with her work, an anonymous donation to make up for all the trouble she caused in planning a gang war with the Empire.

That was the plan at least. But as Vicky browsed through the storefronts of the mall, the idea of spending some of the money became more and more tempting. Victoria was a hero, not a saint. And in a way, supporting local businesses was a form of charity, wasn't it?

A few hundred dollars later, Victoria had a handful of new outfits and some nice shoes. Her next stop was to get some food, where she would support the community some more by supporting one of the local eateries. Fugly Bob's to be exact. She'd drop in, grab a burger, give a generous tip, and then maybe check in with her girlfriends to see if they were free for a date.

They hadn't done anything together, non-work related, since the Glory Girlfriends fiasco, and Vicky was itching to see them. She wasn't surprised by how much she missed them, but more so by how many times she caught herself wishing that she did come into 'the office' just to see them. However, Victoria chalked that up to an uneventful day of heroing rather than missing her villainous side job.

Victoria touched down across the street from Fugly Bobs and entered the building without much fanfare. She ordered her meal to go and was preparing to take off shortly after getting her food when she heard a familiar chuckle.

Lisa's chuckle.

Around the corner, sitting in the outdoor section of the restaurant, Vicky almost didn't notice her. She was sitting with a group of people, friends of hers? Victoria didn't actually know who Lisa hung out with outside of her cape life. Fortunately, Vicky wasn't the type of person to shy away from strangers. With a grin, Victoria headed to join the table.

As she got closer, Victoria recognised the back of Taylor's head. Both girls were having lunch here. It wasn't completely unexpected as lunch was the only excuse that got those two out of the base, however, the coincidence of walking into the same Fugly Bob's as them was a pleasant surprise.

Taylor, as expected, noticed Victoria's approach first. Turning in her chair with a soft smile to welcome her. Lisa's eyes lit up with a warm smile of her own once she caught on to what Taylor was staring at.

They weren't alone and Victoria didn't recognise anyone that the girls were sitting with. Her first thought was that the girls had been roped into some fan interactions with the public, they were minor celebrities in the eyes of local Brocktonites. However, Taylor looked far too comfortable to be sitting at a table with complete strangers.

The strangers in question were all kids around the same age as Vicky. There were three of them, two of whom were younger than Taylor by Victoria's best guess. A boy who looked far too pretty for his own good laughed alongside a girl who matched the same description but also had a streak of purple in her hair. They both continued to laugh at whatever joke they were telling as Victoria approached.

"Well damn, lookie who it is!" The boy cackled, looking over to Victoria. The girl he was giggling with spotted Victoria approaching and waves at her in a way that seemed all too familiar.

"Um, Hi," Victoria said as she reached the table. "Sorry, I just saw-," She gestured towards Taylor and Lisa who both stand to embrace her with a hug before offering a chair. "Figured I'd come to say hello."

"We were just about to message you," Lisa said, waving her phone in her hand before putting it away. "Got off work early for the day."

"That's great," Vicky smiled back and looked over to the three other people on the table. "So, Lisa. Who are your friends? I'm Victoria by the way, nice to meet you."

Vicky leaned over the table to extend a hand to the boy. Everyone at the table looked at her hand with amusement.

"Oh my god, she doesn't know." The girl whispered, not so quietly, into the group.

"Doesn't know?" Victoria asked, feeling like the butt of a joke.

She looked around the table, as the boy and girl both looked to be on the verge of laughing again. Lisa had her 'trying not to laugh at you' smile slapped on her face, and even Taylor had an eyebrow raised at Vicky like she was missing something obvious. But it was the third stranger, the handsome older boy who looked to be the girl's older brother and who was currently attempting to hide his face behind his jacket, that made Vicky realise who these people were.

"Yeah…" The boy, Regent, said in his sarcastic tone that Vicky had heard a lot over this week. "I know who you are, Gloom Girl."

"O-oh… you're…" Vicky said hesitantly as Regent leaned forward to shake her hand. "That should've been obvious in hindsight. Welp, I'm just gonna pretend I never-"

"Bah, take a seat, Vicky," Lisa said, tugging on her arm. "We're all friends here."

"Are we though?" Victoria and the boy who was most certainly Grue said at the same time.

"Comrades at least!" Imp cheered, raising her cup at Victoria.

Hesitantly, Vicky took a seat next to Lisa, placing her paper bag full of food on the table. Her plan to leave was dashed as Lisa and Taylor wrapped an arm around her respectively, holding her close.

"So should I call you?-" Victoria started, unsure what to do in this situation.

"Aisha!" Imp, now Aisha, said cheerily as her free hand extended to meet Vicky's. "That's Alec," She nodded toward the boy, who waved back lazily while stealing one of Aisha's chips. "And this shy, grumpy lug is-"

"Brian," The boy formally known as Grue grunted out with a sigh.

"Brian?" Victoria chuckled back. She tried to muffle down her incoming giggle with food but it was too late. Brian raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst of laughter "Sorry, I just... I never would've guessed Brian... The only Brian I know is... uh, never mind."

Victoria thought back to a vague childhood memory of a somewhat lanky boy called Brian who once tried to kiss Victoria back in the third grade. Vicky had promptly kicked him in the shins and caused the boy to cry.

Lisa, ever the mind reader, broke into a fit of giggles. Everyone looked to her to explain what was so funny but Victoria's warning glare prevented Lisa from spilling her secret.

"Anyway…" Victoria said, hoping to move away from the awkward subject. "Aren't you missing a member? I mean, I get why Parian isn't with you but where's Bitch?"

Alex snorted out a laugh. "Oh, the day we get Rachie to come to Fugly Bob's is the day-"

"-She gets arrested," Brian finished for him, he turned to Victoria to explain. "Kinda hard to keep a low profile when the PRT know who you are. Shouldn't you know that? Being a hero and all?"

"Oh, right," Victoria nodded. "Honestly, do you have any idea how many random faces are on wanted lists? The only photo New Wave have of Bitch without a mask is some gas station from like, a year ago? It's not like the capes regularly study the Undersider's file. You're not that high priority."

"Rude," Lisa gasped.

"We really need to try harder then," Alec muttered.

"You? Try harder?" Aisha laughed back. "Who are you and what have you done with Alec?"

"It's better this way," Taylor mused. "Have the heroes treat us like less of a threat gets them off our back and focused on the actual villains. We could actually use this to-"

"Skitter, stop being in work mode for once, and just enjoy lunch with your girlfriends, please," Aisha said, pointing a finger at Taylor. "For the sake of our sanity and this entire table."

"I am enjoying my lunch," Taylor grumbled into her food.

Aisha laughed as Lisa and Alec joined in. Victoria relaxed a bit more and dug into her own burger as the Undersiders fell into an easy conversation. Somehow, meeting the Undersiders in plain clothes wasn't as terrible as she imagined. She wasn't sure what she expected to happen if she ever met them unmasked, a part of Vicky just assumed that it would turn out horribly and the universe would conspire to screw her over.

She felt her initial panic from finding out the truth begin to subside, replaced with a more pleasant sensation. Sitting at a table with friends, or people who could one day become friends, was a refreshing change of pace after the full week of work. Vicky let herself get lost in the conversation. Laughing at the group's jokes and even joining in with her own anecdotes and stories, she was genuinely having fun.

Today was weird. A fun kind of weird, but still weird. And just when Vicky thought that this day could not get any weirder. She heard another familiar voice call out.

"Oh hey, Brian. Is that you? What's up, man?"

Everyone at the table paused to look at the source of the voice. Victoria looked to Taylor to confirm what she was hearing, the girl was blinking back in surprise, just as much as Victoria was.

"Oh, hey Dean," Brian said, turning in his chair to greet the new arrival. "Good to see you, man."

"Dean?" Taylor asked first, turning to look at the boy.

"Taylor?" Dean said back with just as much surprise in his voice.

"Taylor?" Brian asked, also surprised by this revelation.

"Dean!" Victoria cried out in a panic, leaping to her feet.

"Vicky?!" Dean matched with the same energy.

"Taylor?" Another equally shocked voice asked out behind Dean.

"Dennis?" Taylor asked back, looking behind Dean.

"Vicky!" Dennis added with a cheery smile.

"Taylor?" Yet another boy asked out, to Vicky's horror. "Oh, and Vicky!"

"Carlos." Taylor waved awkwardly, nodding at the boy.

"Aisha!" Aisha added, startling everyone. She quietened down into her seat again. "Sorry, I just saw you all having a moment and wanted to join in."

There was an awkward silence amongst the group, save for Lisa who was struggling not to laugh at the whole situation. Alec leaned over to Lisa and whispered obnoxiously loud. Saying the exact thing Victoria, and probably everyone at that table, was thinking at that very moment.

"What the fuck is going on?"

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: The chapter got a lot more Amy/Rachel focused than when I started writing.

---

Brockton Bay Dog Shelter – Morning

After getting dropped off near the bus stop, Amy walked the rest of the way to the shelter. It wasn't too far, but still a noticeable distance.

She still wasn't sure if anyone there knew who she was and didn't want to be flown directly in by her sister. The shelter was hers, a special place where Amy could separate herself from the rest of her busy life. No hospital work, no Carol looking over her shoulder, no New Wave cape nonsense to deal with. Just dogs, needing someone to take care of them.

A smile formed on her face as the building came into view. A far cry from her gut reaction to seeing the hospital on other days of the week. Amy's mind was already making a list of the dogs she was taking care of today, Charlie and Milo, two ex-pit fighting dogs that had gotten into a small scrap during feeding the day before last and Amy was itching to check on them specifically.

Walking into the lobby, she noticed Cassie playing with an unfamiliar puppy. Amy knew every dog in the shelter by name and a puppy was not on their list. A new arrival, perhaps? But from where? None of the dogs were pregnant, and picking up just one puppy felt weird.

Cassie was giggling like the excited girl she was, watching as the puppy tried jumping up on her before she launched back into a spree of tickles and pats. For once, Amy stopped in the lobby instead of beelining it to the changing rooms, as she knelt to inspect the latest addition to the shelter.

"Hello? Who's this?" Amy asked as she extended a hand to the pup. He shied back at first, a bit nervous, but taking his cues from Cassie, carefully moved his head back towards her hand.

"This is Reggie," Cassie said in babytalk, "Reggie is a cute boy, isn't he? Yes, he is. Yes, he is."

"Reggie," Amy echoed, committing the name to memory. The puppy looked over to Amy, inspecting her hand before gently brushing his head into Amy's palm. "Hello, Reggie," Amy added with a smile, avoiding the baby talk approach, unlike Cassie.

The puppy was only two or so months old by her power's estimation. However, it looked slightly too small for his age. Reading his bio-history, Amy determined that the puppy had been born slightly premature but overall was now healthy and happy, which made Amy sigh in relief she didn't realise she even held.

"Last time I saw this little guy, he was this big," Cassie explained, gesturing the size of a tiny, newborn. "His Momma didn't make it. Some sick bastard probably dropped their dog in the street once she got pregnant. She was in a very bad shape when we found her, most of the litter didn't make it either. It was a sad day for all of us here," She added with a sad quiver in her lip. "Rachie slept here, by his side until the docs determined that he'd make it through. Then a few weeks after that, she sent him off somewhere… Didn't even have a name yet."

Amy didn't know how to respond to that. Hearing more of Rachel's lore from the mouth of Cassie only added to the girl's mysterious legend. A legend that Amy wished more and more she could find out about herself.

It had been over a week since Rachel and Amy last spoke. Their last meeting ended with a kiss. Amy still didn't know what the kiss meant. True to her word, Rachel hadn't dropped by the shelter since, nor had she ever sent a message to explain what she was doing. Amy had her phone number, but the idea of calling her felt so impersonal for what she needed to discuss.

The kiss had come out of nowhere. At least, that's how she felt when it first happened. Amy had since played that day over and over in her head, picking up on all the previous misunderstandings and signs that implied Rachel's true intentions that day.

Her feelings for the kiss were complicated. She didn't hate it, Amy knew that much at least. Kissing Rachel had been… well, it had been her first kiss. She really didn't have much to compare it to, beyond her imagination. Out of all the people in Brockton Bay, Rachel wasn't the worst person to be kissed by. She was no Vicky, that much was obvious. And her sudden kiss didn't suddenly undo years of pining for her blonde angel.

But, Vicky was an ideal, not reality. As much as Amy wished she could snap her fingers and have the girl of her dreams love her back, she knew that would never happen. Rachel was real. Someone who objectively proved she liked Amy in that way. Maybe, Amy should give up on her fantasy of the impossible?

And then what? Settle for Rachel because she's the first person besides Vicky to ever give a shit about her? That didn't sit right with Amy. Yet, at the same time, life was short, wouldn't it make more sense to take what chance she had at happiness?

She didn't know what to do and didn't know who to talk to about it. She couldn't tell her sister about it, because that would open Amy to questions about who the 'other' girl was. She certainly couldn't go to her parents. Dad might've had a nugget of fatherly wisdom on a good day, but those were few and far between and the idea of coming out to Carol… No, Amy had no one she could solicit advice from.

So, Amy did what she always did. Bottled up her feelings and put them to work. Between the hospital and the shelter, Amy had enough on her hands that she didn't need to worry about her conflicting and confusing feelings. Not that her habit was as self-destructive as it used to be. Dogs had a way of making her feel better, regardless of the work being done.

Cassie stood up from the floor, breaking away from the puppy to return to her desk. The dog was content to play with Amy, chewing on her pant leg as she stood up. A sudden thought hit Amy. This dog, Reggie, was taken from the shelter by Rachel, and now had returned. That implied that Rachel returned him, meaning that Rachel was…

"Cassie!" Rachel barked from the hallway.

"Yes?~" Cassie sang out, in her usual cheery way.

"What the fuck happened to Charlie while I was gone? Has he been biting Milo again?"

Amy felt her heart flutter at the sound of this woman yelling. It was stupid, just hearing Rachel's voice made her body anticipate… something? But what?

"I'm afraid so," Cassie sighed. She was already sitting at her receptionist's desk, writing down notes on some paper. "But Amy here got on them quick. Didn't even need to get security to help this time." She winked at Amy, nodding her compliment forward.

Rachel walked out into the lobby and her eyes met Amy's. Both girls looked surprised to see each other, various shades of pink forming on their respective faces.

Rachel looked different. Taller maybe? Or maybe it was all in Amy's head, it had only been a week. All of Amy's questions and concerns fled from her mind the second she locked eyes on the muscular girl. All Amy could think of was that kiss. That sudden, unexpected and far too short kiss. Getting pulled in and held in Rachel's comforting arms, the overly romantic atmosphere of the park seemed ripped out of one of Amy's shitty romance novels she'd read during her downtime at the hospital.

But Amy wasn't going to get distracted with all that. She needed to talk to Rachel and explain her mixed feelings. How Rachel had obviously misread her text as some confession of attraction and how Amy didn't not feel that way about her but hadn't considered it and maybe, possibly needed a moment or two to deconstruct how she felt before they took this 'relationship' anywhere.

She didn't want to outright reject Rachel but explained that Amy had a lot of shit going on in her life and that she wasn't the most… stable girl to start a relationship with. Let alone the fact that Rachel still didn't seem to know who Amy was, and the clusterfuck she'd be stepping into by dating a member of New Wave, especially after Vicky's public throuple.

It was just too much. The smart thing to do would be to pull Rachel aside, talk to her alone and explain clearly all the things that were going through her mind. Rachel liked directness. That was the conversation that got her into this mess, she would be direct with her concerns, give Rachel the respect she deserved and talk about this like adults-

It was during this thought that Amy realised that Rachel's tongue was resting rather comfortably in Amy's mouth. The pair wrapped around each other, making out like drunken teens at a drive-in movie.

Amy broke the kiss slowly, feeling Rachel's grip weaken and allowing her to step back. She had no idea what the hell just happened. That was an exaggeration, she knew exactly what happened. She'd moved to welcome Rachel with a hug, which led to a kiss, which led to… that.

No words, no discussion about feelings. Just dropping all pretence of civility and diving into each other's arms. It was direct, messy, and cut through all the bullshit. Just like Rachel. Answering the question of her feelings without uttering a single bloody word. Somehow, it just worked better than any words or minor gestures of comfort.

Rachel smiled. A rare sight that caused Amy's heart to flutter yet again. The taller girl wrapped her arm around Amy, feeling far more confident than the surprised girl who just walked in.

"Hey," Rachel said with a smirk.

Amy didn't know that Rachel could smirk, yet here it was, and it made her feel something crazy in her knees.

"Hey," Amy said back, giving the exact same casual response.

Amy was no stranger to acting cool and calm in stressful situations. Inside, her heart might be doing backflips but she'd be damned if she let this woman walk all over her in whatever this thing was.

They stared at each other, wordlessly for an indeterminate amount of time. The illusion only broken by the feel of the puppy tugging on Amy's shoelaces.

"I should… check in on Charlie, and Milo…" Amy said, more to herself than anyone. Willing herself to look away from Rachel's piercing eyes.

Rachel's eyes flicked down to Amy's lips again. For a moment, Amy was worried, or hoping, that the girl would move in for another kiss. But Rachel's arm slid away from Amy's shoulder, allowing her to move out of the lobby and off to work.

Across the room, unaware to Amy and Rachel, Cassie sat at her desk, A stiff statue of the girl, polite smile plastered on her face as she looked off into the distance. She didn't move, didn't say a word. The girl practically blended into the scenery of the reception lobby as the pair walked off. The only sound that came from her was a rattling that no one in the room picked up on,

The sound of a pencil that snapped in her hand and fell to the floor.

-----------------------------------------
Fugly Bobs – Midday

"What the fuck is going on?"

Alec's question echoed around the awkward and stunned colliding groups. Victoria found herself caught in the middle of the collision, her two worlds coming dangerously close to each other and nothing she could do or say would smoothly push them away from each other.

Dean knew Grue? Brian knew Gallant? Did they know who each other were? How did they know who each other was? How long had this been going on for? So many questions were spinning around in her head and no answer would make her feel any more at ease.

"It's simple, my dear Alec," Lisa said, speaking up over everyone's confused looks. "It appears that Brian has made friends with a seemingly unsuspecting yet connected individual here. Judging by his muscular features for his age and Brian's macho homo-erotic respect for him, I'd wager they met at the gym he frequents during the week."

"What?" Brian said back with a raised eyebrow.

Lisa held up a hand to shush him in a melodramatic fashion and continued with her evaluation. "But little did he know, Brian had unwittingly made friends with the very man who used to date our beloved Victoria. I suspect that poor ole Deany boy here was looking for a distraction to mend his broken heart when he met Brain at that gym, and now Brian has led him into an ambush of emotional turmoil."

"And these other guys?" Alec asked, pointing towards Dean's entourage.

"Ehh, friends of his. Went to the same school as Vicky and Tay," Lisa waved her answer away. "That, or everyone's having a shared hallucinogenic stroke. What kind of herbs does Fuglys use again?"

"I still don't get what's going on..." Alec grumbled.

One of the boys behind Dean snickered at Lisa's deduction but quickly straightened up in support of Dean himself.

Dean took a moment to compose himself and then looked back to Brian, a small, forced smile on his face. "Uh… Hi. This got unexpectedly awkward."

"Yeah," Brian nodded with a forced smile of his own, unsure of what to add to lessen the awkwardness of the meeting.

Dean looked between Brian and Vicky, unsure of who to speak to. With Victoria physically closer, he chose the latter to ask, "I guess the obvious question would be, how do you know Brian?"

Victoria was still recovering from the immediate revelation, her brain hadn't quite yet caught up with her mouth, so her response came as a surprise to even herself when she said, "Work."

Dean, Dennis and Carlos all gave Vicky a questioning look, knowing full well what Victoria's job was and what that implied. It could be as vague as someone Glory Girl met during her patrols to as complex as outing a previously unknown parahuman.

"Taylor's work!" Vicky yelled out once she realised the error she had made. "He's Taylor's bo-buh workmate. And Lisa's. They work… together. Without me. Because I'm Glory Girl."

Lisa let out a long and low whistle, shaking her head at how terrible Victoria truly was at the whole secret identity thing. She stood from her seat and leaned past Vicky to offer her hand to Dean and his friends.

"Heya, I'm Lisa, Vicky's other girlfriend," Lisa said with her charming smile. "Taylor and I work with Brian at Fortress Constructions. Pleasure to meet you."

Dean shook her hand, polite and civil like he would for any citizen he met. Dennis and Carlos were a lot more enthusiastic about meeting Victoria's second girlfriend.

"So, the infamous Lisa Wilbourn," Dennis chuckled. "I'm a fan of your work."

"Oh?" Lisa asked, looking to Victoria briefly for clarification. "And what work would that be?"

"Do you have any idea how many times I've seen Vicky get a text, open it up, roll her eyes and says, dammit Lisa?" Dennis said with a smile. "I don't know what memes you're sending her but keep it up."

"What can I say? Annoying Vicky is my love language," Lisa chuckled back.

"And a healthy relationship needs lots of love," Dennis said back with a mischievous wink.

Victoria rolled her eyes and sighed. Of course, Dennis and Lisa would bond over her misfortune.

"Hey, call me Carlos, pleasure to meet you," Carlos said, offering his hand next. "It's nice to put a face to the name. I mean… I've seen your photoshoot but, y'know. Anyway, heard a lot of good things about you."

"And here I expected Vicky to only say bad things about me," Lisa chuckled, accepting the hand.

"Oh no," Carlos chuckled back. "Victoria calls you an infuriating, smug and a few other choice words I shouldn't repeat here," Lisa laughed at the implication. "But Taylor always seems to sing your praises whenever she talks about you. Just the other day she called you… what was it?" He turned to Taylor and clicked his fingers, jogging his memory, "Ah yes, Brilliant beyond belief."

Taylor shrank down in her chair, shrinking away into her usual emotionless state. A light shade of red formed on her face.

Victoria turned to Taylor, looking somewhat bewildered. "When did you tell him that?"

Taylor shrugged before answering, "We text. Sometimes."

"In any case," Carlos said, turning back to Lisa. "I've been interested in getting to know the other lady in Victoria's life."

"Well then," Lisa smiled back, ignoring Victoria's horrified eyes begging her to shut up. "By all means, grab a seat."

Lisa pushed Alec away and offered his seat to Carlos. Brian sighed with another awkward smile and offered a nearby chair to Dean. Alec walked back around to his original seat, stealing a spare for Dennis to sit between Aisha and Taylor. Before Victoria could come up with a single excuse, her two social circles had merged into one large bubble.

"Sorry, who are you two?" Dennis asked with a smile as he sat down.

"That's Aisha, my sister," Brian introduced on her behalf. "And that's…" He paused, no doubt considering how best to introduce everyone. While Brian and Lisa could get away with full-time work as a cover story, the two youngest members might raise suspicion at being just 'coworkers,' eventually, Brian settled on a more reasonable, albeit more painful explanation. "Alec. My sister's… boyfriend."

Aisha chuckled at the introduction, amused at how her brother squirmed his way through that statement. She shook Dennis's hand with a friendly smile. Alec, for his part, smirked briefly before avoiding Brian's glare.

"Ah, the dreaded sister's boyfriend," Dennis chuckled, giving Alec a nod. "I have some experience with those, myself."

"You don't have a sister?" Carlos scoffed back.

"True," Dennis said with a shrug. "But remember that boy who had a crush on Missy?"

"Oh, don't remind me," Carlos groaned.

"Anyway," Vicky cut in, not wanting anyone to unwittingly name more Wards in the presence of the Undersiders. "This... is a surprise."

"Gym buddies with Vicky's ex," Alec chuckled, turning to Brian. "Small world."

"Apparently so," Brian muttered back, he strained a polite smile on his face but it softened upon looking back to Dean.

"You're telling me," Dean huffed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just came over to say hey, I wasn't planning on..." He waved his hand out in the direction of the table.

"No worries," Brian reassured, though his awkward tone made it sound less than reassuring. "So, uh... all these training sessions and you never mentioned that you dated a celebrity? Most guys would usually brag about that."

"Uh, yeah," Dean chuckled. "Must've slipped my mind."

Victoria could feel the panic rising in her stomach, it was public knowledge that Glory Girl and Gallant used to be a thing. Never officially, but the internet picked up on how the superhero pair always used to flirt. Only by the combined effort of the PRT and New Wave media team had the details been kept out of the public's view. It was an unspoken truth that everyone at school was aware of and the very last topic Victoria wanted Brian to put together.

"I'm surprised to see you three out today," Victoria said to Carlos, her forced smile silently asking why they weren't at 'work.'

"Hah, I know right?" Dennis answered in his stead. "When was the last time all three of us had a break?"

"Yeah. Well, I got a shift in an hour," Carlos sighed, looking at his watch. "Just enough time for lunch."

Aisha giggled about something, no doubt enjoying the awkward tension surrounding the table. When Dennis leaned over to see what was so funny, Aisha merely whispered into the boy's ear, causing him to stifle a laugh of his own.

Victoria didn't have time to question what they were laughing about, her eyes were locked on Lisa who was in the middle of an informative conversation with Carlos.

"A shift?" Lisa asked with a smirk. "So you boys all work together then?" Her eyes flicked towards Dean, no doubt reading the connections.

Carlos didn't catch on, "Oh, no, nothing like that. We all just work part-time. So it's rare that we all have the day off, let alone together."

"Oh, what do you all do then?"

"Oh, a little of this, a little of that," Carlos explained with a shrug. "I work at a hotel in the city. Service industry. Dean works at his father's company and Dennis works at a supermarket." The lie that the PRT drilled into him rolled off the tongue with ease, yet every word only added to Lisa's growing smirk.

"I see," Lisa said. "And you all know Victoria from school?"

Victoria could see Lisa's mind working a mile a minute, piecing together the puzzle. The question wasn't if they were Wards, but which Wards were which? It was only a matter of time before she had her answers. All three Ward boys had no idea that they were sitting in front of a master Thinker.

"Yeah, Dean introduced us," Carlos said, "Been friends ever since."

"Friends," Lisa hummed back, her eyes locking onto Victoria. A smirk was plastered on her face. The blonde knew that Lisa had figured it out, all she could do was wait and pray that Lisa kept it to herself. "Victoria has so many interesting friends. It's a wonder I haven't gotten to meet you sooner."

"Our fault really," Dennis cut in, "Between school and our jobs, we've hardly had any time to ourselves. But now that we've all graduated, we'll have a bit more free time." He looked over to Victoria with a smile.

"Hopefully," Lisa nodded, her smile never breaking.

"Like I said, we were all able to have the morning off today," He turned his smile to Vicky and Taylor. "You should've told us you were free today. We just got done seeing a movie. We would've invited you both. And your friends are always welcome to join, seeing as how we all know each other." He gestured to Brian and Dean who despite the awkward start, were chatting to each other as friends.

"Yeah, we've never even seen Taylor outside of school," Dennis added, looking over to the girl. "We need to make sure we keep in touch, yeah?"

"Sure," Taylor nodded back. Not as enthusiastic as Dennis hoped for but he still smiled.

"Oh, I got it," Dennis perked up. "We still need to celebrate graduation. House party at Dean's next week."

"Wait what?" Dean said back, surprised at the invite. "Why my place?"

"Because you have the best house to party at, duh?" Dennis said while rolling his eyes.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Carlos mused. "Do it after hours when none of us have work."

"Party!" Aisha cheered. "I wanna come! Do you guys have a pool? You look like the type of guy who has a pool."

"A pool?" Brian raised an eyebrow at his sister. "In Brockton Bay? That'd be ridiculous, you'd only be able to use it three times a year."

"Actually, I do have a pool," Dean admitted. "It's uh… heated…" He shied away from the admission.

"Hell yeah!" Aisha cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"Well it's decided," Dennis huffed proudly. "Party at Dean's next week. You're all invited."

"Wait, hang on a minute," Dean said, looking back to his friends. "We never talked about this before."

"We just did, and it's decided," Dennis smiled back.

"Can't argue with that logic," Carlos shrugged.

Victoria's mind went into overdrive, imagining the worst-case scenario of every social interaction. A party at Dean's would mean every Ward, minus probably Missy, making an appearance. And now the Undersiders were given an open invitation.

She locked eyes with Lisa, silently begging her to talk their way out of it but the blonde only smiled. Victoria's shoulders dropped, defeated, knowing Lisa was going to force her through this.

"We're in," Lisa said, speaking for the group.

"Sweet," Dennis said, giving her a thumbs up.

"We don't want to impose," Brian tried to interject. Giving Vicky a momentary burst of hope.

Dean sighed dramatically and then smiled. "It's fine. They do this all the time. I'll organise something. Text you the details when it's sorted. And yes, everyone at this table is invited."

He directed his words at Brian's little sister but his eyes drifted towards Victoria and her girlfriends. A sweet gesture on any other given day, but today, Victoria could only groan internally at the thought of having her two criminal mastermind girlfriends and their supervillain team at a party with a bunch of Wards.

"Awesome!" Aisha cheered, excited for the upcoming party.

"Awesome…" Victoria sighed, a forced smile on her face.

"Awesome," Dennis said, smiling around the table.

"Awesome…" Dean muttered under his breath, no doubt wondering how he was gonna get his parents to accept this.

"Awesome," Lisa added in smugly, for no other reason than to irritate Victoria.

Alec looked between Aisha's and Dennis's happy smiles, Victoria's and Dean's concerned smiles and Lisa's typical smug smile. "Okay, but seriously? What the fuck is going on?"

------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Dog Shelter – Afternoon

Amy was beginning to wonder if this was what her sister felt like all the time.

She had a smile on her face. The sun was shining. A beautiful summer's breeze was gently flowing in through the window and she felt like she was floating.

Even after her unexpected kiss with Rachel this morning, the girl threw her straight to work like every other employee. Gathering her dogs for today's activities. The pair worked closely together, feeding the dogs, cleaning up after them, tidying up their kennels and inspecting their health.

There was nothing outwardly 'romantic' about anything they were doing, just another day at the shelter. And yet, Amy couldn't stop the smile on her face every time her arm brushed up against Rachel's. Every time their hands touched when passing a tool or item. Every time the taller girl gave her a simple glance or a small smile.

The acknowledgement of the kiss changed her mind from "Do I want this?" to "I think I want this."

Just being here, in the same room as Rachel made her happy. Happy in the same way as she felt whenever Vicky was around, but also better, because there wasn't any underlying guilt for why she felt happy.

She still didn't know what to call this feeling. It wasn't love, it was far too early for that to even be considered. Nor was it basic lust, for she enjoyed the company more than anything else. Granted, she wasn't opposed to Rachel pulling her into another kiss again once the work was over.

Both girls were currently in the middle of training Charlie and Milo. Two pit-fighting dogs who still bore a rivalry from their past lives. Rachel was currently standing between the two, staring the dogs down, daring them to take a single step closer to her. Both dogs growled at each other but stayed rooted to their spots.

Amy approached Charlie first, offering her a treat only when she calmed down. Milo moved to bark again but Amy stood her ground, signalling the dog to stay and mimicking Rachel's glare. Milo sat down, quieting down.

"Good," Rachel whispered, praising both dogs and Amy, for listening.

Charlie sniffed the food and took it slowly. Amy rubbed her hand along Charlie's snout, petting the dog softly. The dog wagged her tail in response, and a smile spread across Amy's face. Rachel moved to do the same for Milo.

"We'll do this every day for an hour, but have them sleep on opposite sides of the kennels," Rachel explained. "Get them used to it,"

"Exposure therapy?" Amy mused. "Not a bad idea."

"That's the plan," Rachel said with a shrug.

Rachel took Milo back to his kennel while Amy waited with Charlie. They would return the dogs separately in the hopes of avoiding more infighting. Amy waited an extra minute before walking Charlie back to his kennel, topping up with water and locking up for the day. Rachel joined up with her back in the hallway.

"That's it for the day," Rachel said, turning to the door. "Good job."

"Was that a compliment?" Amy smirked. "You must really like me or something?"'

"I do," Rachel responded in a very matter-of-fact way. Reaching her hand out to pat Amy on the head.

Amy wasn't sure if she should've been offended by the gesture. Instead, she found herself enjoying the gentle petting and leaned in towards the touch.

Rachel pulled her hand back, her fingers briefly brushed through the strands of hair before falling to her side. "You coming back to work tomorrow?"

"I wasn't planning to," Amy admitted. It was asked so simply, yet Amy knew the real question. "But if you'll be here…"

"I will," Rachel nodded. "Got a few days free before I get busy again. Would like to see you some more."

"I guess it's a date then," Amy said. Then she mused on the idea. "Another date? A date a work? Is that a thing?"

"Today felt kinda like a date," Rachel shrugged. "...I think?"

"It did," Amy agreed. "I didn't know if it was or not. But... it was, wasn't it?"

"It felt like one," Rachel nodded back. "At least, it felt like how I was told a date should be like. The last one felt... weird. Until the end."

"Well, I think that was because... well, I..." Amy wondered how to bring this up now that Rachel had started on the topic. "I kinda didn't realise we were on a date till you kissed me..." Rachel looked at her with a confused look, and Amy elaborated. "To be fair, the only other dates I've ever been on have been on awkward double dates with my sister. So I don't really know what a real date is like... or was like."

Amy thought back on the few dates she had gone on, which were less actual dates and more like her sister dragging her out to spend time with someone else. The awkward energy of meeting a complete stranger while watching Vicky and Dean flirt next to her. So far, Amy had been spared the horror of having to sit through a double date with her sister's new girlfriends. However, the idea of showing up to one with Rachel on her arm was an... interesting thought.

Why though? Because she wanted to introduce Rachel to her sister, or was it another ploy in the vain hope that Vicky would somehow get jealous?

A thing that Amy knew as fact would never happen. She knew exactly how Victoria would feel if she showed up to a double date with Rachel. She would smile and tell her how happy she was that her sister had a girlfriend. She would accept Rachel without a moment's hesitation and be as kind, caring and loving as she always was. Because Victoria loved Amy, just not in the same way Amy loved her.

"What's the matter?

The question brought Amy back to reality. Rachel looked at her curiously, her expression unreadable.

"You okay?" Rachel asked again, inspecting Amy closer.

"I-I..." Amy began. She'd gotten through all of today running on the high of that kiss, but the dogs were now gone and her intrusive thoughts were returning.

Amy was a complicated mess of a human. With conflicting feelings about the, now two, women in her life. Was it healthy to keep this... obsession with Victoria? No, Amy always knew that much. Was it fair to use Rachel as an escape from Victoria? Also no. But was that all she was doing? How could she ever be sure? How could she even begin to explain it without sounding like an insane person who had feelings for their own sister?

Rachel continued to stare at her in concern. Her words from their previous date circled in her mind.

More people just need to cut through the bullshit and say what they mean.

"I don't know what to do," Amy admitted, her intrusive thoughts winning over. "I used to think I knew what I wanted. And that nothing could persuade me otherwise. But then you came along and you kissed me and I didn't know how I felt about it. I mean, I liked it. I do, but I don't know if I want this or if I just want someone... anyone. And I don't think it's fair for you if I'm just with you because you're the first person to show me affection."

Amy didn't know why she said that to her. To the point, she was even a little surprised that she managed to say it all without taking a breath. Rachel was probably, the best, healthiest chance of a relationship Amy was ever going to get and she blew it up on the second date.

Amy was expecting a slap in the face, or for the girl to yell at her.

Instead, she did neither. Rachel just looked at her, a frown on her face. Amy was about to apologise and leave when Rachel opened her mouth.

"Do you like me?" Rachel asked, neither accusation nor hurt in her voice.

"Y-yes," Amy said. "But I-"

"So what's the problem?" Rachel asked. More confused than anything.

"I... have had feelings for someone... else," Amy admitted. There was an old mix of shame and relief as she spoke. This was the first time she had ever dared to say the words aloud. "And while I do like you... a lot. I also... still feel things. And that's not fair, right?"

"So you dating someone else?" Rachel asked.

"No!" Amy answered quickly. "Not like that. I just... have had a crush on someone... for a long time now."

"Why don't you tell them that?" Rachel asked, her head tilted to the side.

"Because... I don't think she feels the same way," Amy admitted. She felt a wave of relief at finally being able to say it. "I know, she doesn't feel the same way. And it will only make things between us... weird."

"So you like a girl, and she doesn't like you," Rachel summarised. "But you like me, and I like you. So again, what's the problem?"

"I..." Amy said, bewildered by the simplicity of Rachel's response.

"You're allowed to like people," Rachel continued, looking her in the eye. "And it doesn't mean you can't like someone else. You're allowed to move on."

"You don't... I mean..." Amy tried to put her words in order. "You're not upset? Or disappointed? Or…"

"No," Rachel shrugged.

"How?" Amy asked. "Maybe I'm not explaining this right," She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I am in love with a girl who doesn't love me back. And I like you, and I don't know if I like you because I like you, or because I want to stop being in love with this other girl."

"Yes," Rachel said, expecting Amy to continue.

Amy simply stared back at Rachel and gestured with her hands. Baffled at Rachel's complete non-reaction.

"I'm... I'm..." Amy tried again. "I'm messed up, Rachel. Like, there's probably something actually wrong with me. And I don't want to hurt you while I figure out my own shit."

"We all have our own shit," Rachel said back. "Doesn't mean we can't like each other."

This woman obviously not understanding what Amy was saying. She was completely unaware of what kind of batshit crazy Amy was. How terrible of an idea it was to date her. Yet here she was, not even phased by any of this.

"Why do you even like me?" Amy asked, no longer fighting Rachel's logic.

"You're good with the dogs," Rachel responded, in a statement that was both completely expected and ridiculous.

"The dogs? That's it?" Amy huffed, unsure how to feel about that. "They only liked me because I smelled like Taylor."

Rachel shook her head, thinking about what to say. "At first, maybe," She agreed, not even fazed by Amy's admission of scent-altering. "But you're patient with them, don't treat them like idiots. I watched you today, and previous days you came here, you're careful and focused when you work. You took time to know each dog and learn what they needed. You're reliable, never once have you missed a day, even though you're a volunteer and have other commitments."

"So... you like me, because I'm a good employee?" Amy asked, her turn to be confused.

Rachel shook her head again. "Everyone working here is here either for the money or because of me," She explained. "They work hard because it's their job, or..." She looked in the direction of the lobby. "Because they're trying to impress me," With a small smile, Rachel looked back down to Amy. "You're here because of the dogs. You came back because you liked them. You're good with dogs. That's why I like you."

"I'm not always a good person," Amy said, not believing what Rachel was telling her. "I'm not always nice. I'm not always pleasant to people."

"Most people are stupid," Rachel shrugged. "But you're smart. You don't give a fuck about what others think about you. You're honest, even when you don't mean to be."

I've done things," Amy went on, thinking about how she used her powers in a pathetic attempt to become Taylor and all the worse ways she could've used them. "Thought about doing worse things. I could be helping people right now, but I'm here instead, doing what I like rather than what's right."

"Nothing wrong with taking care of yourself first," Rachel said.

"You know Cassie is crazy about you, right?" Amy asked, pointing her thumb in the direction of the lobby. "She's probably everything you said about me, I'm sure she'd jump at the chance to be with you." Amy wasn't sure why she was telling her this. Why she kept trying to dig herself into this hole of loneliness, or even if Rachel was aware of Cassie's feelings.

"Cassie is nice... but, strange. Also too young," Rachel admitted. "I get a weird vibe from her, but tries her best. Honestly, she reminds me of Angelica when she was a pup. Excitable and always gnawing at my heels. Cassie is..." Rachel thought about her words. "Family. Other family. She's more like a little sister to me, it would feel strange to do things with her."

Amy choked out an awkward laugh. "Yeah... that would be... weird."

"Also you're cute," Rachel stated, causing Amy to blush. "So there, that's why I like you. And you like me?"

"Y-yeah," Amy admitted again for her. "I like you."

"So what's the problem?" Rachel asked one more time.

"I guess..." Amy began, taking a step towards Rachel. "There is... no problem?"

Rachel leaned down and kissed Amy, pulling her into her arms and holding her tightly. "Good," Rachel said once they broke away.

She turned to walk off, wrapping a hand behind Amy and gently pushing her along. Amy allowed herself to be guided, but only for a moment before finding her own footing and walking alongside her.

"So, I guess this makes things... official? Amy asked. "Will all our dates be work dates or are we doing normal date things too?"

"Dunno," Rachel shrugged. "Don't really know how this all works. Not many places in the city allow me though. But we'll figure it out."

Amy assumed that Rachel and her dogs were a packaged deal. That threw out any and all plans that couldn't incorporate her animals. Amy wasn't sure how much of the city was left for someone like Rachel, but at this moment, Amy didn't care. They were walking together, and it was nice.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I'm back. Sorry about the wait. I was on holiday. This chapter was meant to be only half of one but the opening scene got so long. Hope you enjoy!

---

Brockton Bay Streets – Night

Lisa watched the city speed by. The car's headlights cut through the night, and the rain pattered against the window. The back seat of the car was large. Not like a limo, but still comfortable. Lisa had plenty of legroom to stretch out and kick her feet up. Enjoying the view from her tinted, bulletproof glass.

One of the perks of running the second-largest gang in the city was that she got to travel in style. No longer did Lisa have to drive the shittiest car in all of Brockton Bay out of fear of her vehicle either being stolen or traced back to her. Now she had her own personal driver, jet-black windows to obscure the people inside and an interior that screamed luxury.

She couldn't drive like this all the time, people would still question how a teenage girl could afford something like this, but Lisa felt no shame about indulging every so often. Especially when it was for business.

Pressing a button on her door, a small mini-fridge popped open between the two seats. A bottle of champagne and two glasses waited for her, Lisa didn't even know what brand it was, but it was probably expensive.

Given as a gift. Expensive. Imported. Meant to symbolise something personal. Inside joke? Unknown. Two glasses, expected drinking partner? No, also symbolic. Held in car. Planned to drink in car. Watch from car. Victory cheers. Bottle held for personal victory against someone?

Lisa dismissed her power. She could spend the entire ride trying to analyse the bottle, and it'd give her nothing worthwhile. It belonged to Coil, and Coil was dead. Whatever victory he was saving this bottle for would never come.

"Personal victory against someone, ay?" Lisa mused to herself. Grabbing for a glass and uncorking the bottle. "Probably against me, asshole."

She poured a glass and set the bottle down, leaving the other glass empty. She took a sip. Lisa didn't really drink, she didn't at all, to be honest. But it was 'symbolic'.

Drinking Coil's champagne. Second best thing compared to pissing on his grave.

"Having fun there?"

The voice was stern and disproving. Much like a Dad. Better than a Dad, since Lisa's had been a real shithead. But a Dad, nonetheless.

"Yup, I'm enjoying my victory." Lisa smiled, looking to her side. Brian, or more accurately, Grue, sat beside her. Watching her smugly sip on her glass.

The drink was a disgusting sour, carbonated grape juice. Lisa could not for the life of her understand how people drank it on the regular. But in the interest of her 'victory' she managed another sip.

Can see your disgust for the drink. Smiling behind mask. Knows Lisa Wilbourn doesn't enjoy alcoholic beverages. Considering watching Lisa Wilbourn finish entire glass. Willing to let Lisa Wilbourn save face to avoid argument.

Brian sighed softly and removed his helmet. Motioning for Lisa to give him the glass of champagne.

"To our victory," Lisa said, passing him the glass. "And the one still to come."

Brian smiled, graciously accepting her woeful excuse and cheered with the glass before downing it all in one gulp.

"Oh shit," Brian said, looking down into his now-empty glass. "This is the good stuff." He turned back to the mini fridge and inspected the bottle itself.

"Course you're a wine snob," Lisa huffed with a laugh. "Of all the hobbies..."

"I'm not a wine snob," Brian mumbled, reading over the bottle. "I just know what tastes good and what doesn't." Lisa rolled her eyes even harder. "I wonder who TC and EP are?"

"Huh?"

Brian pulled out a small card that had been attached to the bottom of the bottle, waving it around in his finger.

T.C.
For pulling me out of the frying pan.
-E.P.

Lisa shrugged. It wasn't her problem anymore. She turned back over to the window, watching the city fly by.

"So?…" Brian said after a short while.

"So?" Lisa responded, turning back to the boy.

He poured himself another glass, this time sipping it more gently.

"That was a little weird... the other day," He finally said. "Running into Victoria's friends at Fuglys."

"You're still thinking about that?" Lisa laughed. "It's been three days."

"It's just..." He chuckled to himself. "What are the chances? I go off on my own free time and end up making friends with..." He sighed. "And it's not like we don't talk. We usually get breakfast after our workouts. I know he comes from money, I know his dad is some fancy business schmuck. But he didn't once mention that he was dating Victoria freaking Dallon? Isn't that a little weird?"

"He just got dumped a few weeks back," Lisa shrugged. "He probably didn't want to think about Vicky."

"Yeah... maybe," Brian mumbled, not believing it. "Still. I can't help feeling like he's hiding something now." He went quiet in thought. "Wasn't Glory Girl rumoured to be dating Gallant?... So wouldn't that mean-"

"I'm just gonna stop you right there," Lisa said, holding her hand up.

"Why?..." Brian asked, confused.

"Because it doesn't matter," Lisa explained. "And if you really want to know. Just ask your friend. Easy."

"It doesn't matter if I'm spending my free time with a Ward?" Brian asked sarcastically, Lisa held her smile. "Right... Forgot who I was talking to for a second."

Lisa giggled, shaking her head. Brian swirled the Champagne in his glass and took another sip.

"Forget about it for now," Lisa said with a hand wave. "Ask him at the party if it's still bothering you that much. And try not to be a bitch about it when- uh, if, it turns out to be true."

"Bitch..." Brian echoed, pondering to himself as he finished the last of his glass. "Speaking of... I think Alec might be onto something about Bitch."

"Hmm?" Lisa asked, confused about the change of topic.

"Bitch, she's been different lately," Brian explained. "You haven't noticed?"

"We don't really talk much," Lisa shrugged. "Outside of meetings and breakfast at least. Why? What's up with her?"

"I caught her humming..." Brian said. Lisa blinked back in shock. "She was just walking down the hallway, off to do who knows what. And she was humming... an actual tune."

"Did she notice you?" Lisa asked.

"That's the weirdest part," Brian said, a sly smile building on his face. "She did. I thought I'd stumbled into her embarrassing secret or something but we locked eyes on each other and she didn't stop."

"Okay, that's weird..." Lisa agreed, making a mental note to check in on Rachel when she had the time.

"It's almost like she's... happy, about something. But I'm afraid to ask what." Brian wondered aloud.

"Probably excited to take the fight to the Empire," Lisa speculated. "They do run all the dog fighting rings in town, so she has a bone to pick," Brian nodded in agreement. "At least that's one less thing to worry about when the fighting starts. You'll be able to lead an amped-up Bitch straight into Kaiser's face."

Brian sighed and looked away.

"Yeah…"

Lisa's brows knitted together.

"Something wrong?"

"Can I ask something?" Brian said, corking the bottle and placing it back into the mini-fridge.

"I think you just did," Lisa teased. Brian rolled his eyes, and Lisa chuckled to herself. "But yes, go ahead."

"Why am I here?"

Lisa tilted her head at the question. She turned to face him, he looked a little unsure of himself.

"Because I needed support," Lisa said simply. Brian raised an eyebrow. "I can't take Skitter or Deimos because they both have parental assigned bedtimes, plus they'd both just start a fight with Faultline the minute she insults me."

"Yeah," Brian nodded. "I could see Skitter doing that."

"That's why you're here," Lisa explained. "To make sure I act... respectful. Also, you're the best diplomat we have after me."

"Thanks... I think?" Brian chuckled. "But I was actually meaning in general."

"What? Like the Undersiders in general?" Lisa asked, confused and a little worried.

"No... Well kinda. But not like that." Brian said, waving off the notion. "More like why am I still acting as the leader when everyone knows it's your show?"

"What? No? What?" Lisa said in the most forced, shocked voice she could do. "You've always been our leader, Grue. No one could ever-"

"Lisa, please. This entire team was put together by Coil and puppeted by you." Brian said, gesturing around the air. "That's fine. I made my peace with that ages ago. What I don't get, is why even now that he's gone, you still prefer to act over my shoulder?"

"You know I never wanted to be in charge," Lisa said. "I make plans, I organise things. Information in and out. I don't lead, Grue. We stick to our specialities."

"That made sense when we were a team of thieves," Brian explained. "But we've gone way beyond that. We run multiple operations, manage a small, private army and are prepping for a war with the strongest gangs in the city. It makes no sense for you to keep playing second fiddle when you're the only one that actually knows what the fuck we're doing."

"I-," Lisa stammered.

"Sorry..." Brian sighed. "I just... I'm glad that you're free from Coil. I just never planned to be in this position. I wanted to run a small team. Make some quick cash, and support my family. And while I agree with our new mission, I'm not... I've never been this ambitious. T, I'll support you. But this is your show. And it's left me wondering, why am I here, and not sitting in the back chairs with the others?"

Lisa stopped to think. She hadn't realised that it had affected him so much. She'd picked up that Brian was more stressed and in over his head, but she always assumed that he'd pull through like every other time.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Lisa admitted. "The mercs, the territory. The rapid expansion and impending gang war. That's all my show, my ambition. But the Undersiders. That's your team. Always have been."

"Please..." Brian said, leaning forward and looking her in the eye. "You could run the Undersiders with your eyes closed."

"They wouldn't respect me," Lisa waved him away. "Not like they respect you."

"They don't respect me at all," Brian grumbled. "They all know I'm only as effective as I am because I have you whispering in my ear."

"It's more than that."

"And we both know Skitter and Deimos are here for you and not me," Brian added.

"Okay, Deimos, yes," Lisa conceded. "That's obvious. But give yourself some credit Grue. You're not just a figurehead leader. You're like... the team Dad."

Brian almost choked on his spit. "The... what?"

"And why are any of us here?" Lisa sighed with a playful smile. "We all have our reasons for being on the team. Some of them are pretty wild."

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Bitch and Regent already view the team as their family," Lisa explained. "Regent probably wouldn't use the word family exactly, as his negative connotations to it. But emotionally, it's the same. Bitch for sure though. Views you as head honcho to her found family. Ergo, team Dad."

"That's just... weird," Brian mumbled.

Fighting smile on face. Signs of a blush. Re-evaluating connection to friends.

"Parian was pretty upfront with what she wants. The Empire out of her city. And yes, Deimos is here for me and Skitter. That's pretty obvious." Lisa chuckled. "But she isn't 'just' here for that. Deimos, under all that worry and guilt, is a teenage brute who's excited to punch Nazis in the face without restraint. You watch, when everything finally pops off, you won't see someone who's begrudgingly dragged along by her girlfriends. You'll see an Undersider, and it'll be glorious."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Then we have Skitter," Lisa went on, ignoring Brian's scepticism. "She loves me, yes. I seduced her to the dark side, yes." Lisa sighed dramatically. "But at the end of the day, all that girl wanted was some friends. Plural. And no amount of romantic favouritism is going to get in the way of how fiercely loyal that girl can be. Also, you think I have ambition with this whole mercenary company?" Lisa chuckled darkly. "You have no idea what's going through Skitter's mind these days…"

"What do you mean?-"

"And then we have Imp," Lisa continued. "She's easy. She's the most open one of them all. Sure, she loves chaos and mischief. But she's a child, they're all like that. No, Imp is here for only one reason. Attention. She wants to be closer to her beloved big Brother."

"Okay, now I know you're making shit up,"

"Trust me," Lisa said through her smirk. "She likes to talk shit, calls you boring and whatever. But deep down, that girl thinks you're the coolest brother in the world and wants to be just like you." Brian tried to wave it off, but Lisa could see he was flattered. "Just throw her a compliment or two after a job and watch as she tries to hide how happy she is. It'll be cute."

"Alright, maybe," Brian mumbled. "I keep reminding myself not to be so tough on her..."

"And of course, you."

"Me?"

"You like being independent," Lisa explained. "You took a few jobs here and there back when you first got your powers. But you hate working under people. Too many egos. You could've easily signed up for the Wards and had your sister taken care of. But you'd have no control over how. And thus, The Undersiders. A ragtag group of misfits and assholes. Who, despite their best efforts, are your friends. It's why you lead the team in the first place. It's why you're so gung ho on being an 'independent' mercenary company and it's why you're feeling so conflicted about leading now..." Lisa gave a small, guilty smile. "Sorry about that, guess I did push you into a corner with this whole thing..."

Brian stared at her for a long moment. Letting out a slow whistle as he shook his head. "Can't really fault a social thinker for showing off with words, can I?" He chuckled to himself before adding. "It's fine... I never really was in control of anything. But I appreciate the honesty." Brian turned back to look outside his window, the rain wasn't letting up. "Still... You're missing one person."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

Brian looked back over to Lisa. "You," he said with a smile. "You're free from your Coil obligations, yet you obviously don't want to be leader. So, why are you here, T? What do you want?"

The car parked up out of the front of its destination. Grue didn't wait for Lisa's answer, opting to place his helmet back on before their driver opened Lisa's side of the door.

"Your destination, Tattletale," The driver said, holding an Umbrella for the girl.

Lisa looked out the door, towards the flashing lights of the nightclub that stood before her. The Palanquin.

"I want to get this over with," Lisa answered.

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

The Palanquin – Night

Security didn't bat an eye as Tattletale and Grue approached the nightclub. Wordlessly, the pair sidestepped the long line of patrons waiting to get in. They were expected, and while Lisa didn't expect them to roll out the red carpet for them, there was a level of respect afforded to her.

Inside the club was much the same. The dance floor was packed, the music was loud and the smell of booze and sweat hung in the air. No one so much as gave the supervillain duo more than a passing glance as they made their way through the crowd and up towards the VIP lounge.

Faultline and a handful of her crew were waiting for them, spread out across the booth. All eyes were on the two Undersiders.

"Nice of you to show," Faultline greeted. Her tone was passive, but not overly friendly. "Was beginning to think you'd changed your mind."

She spoke to Grue, offering a polite nod towards the man. While she wore her wielding mask, Lisa could tell the woman's polite smile dropped the second she made eye contact with Tattletale.

"We're here now," Tattletale said with a smirk.

"Apparently so," Faultline sighed. "Well, Grue gave me the sales pitch last time he was here, and I very much doubt you'll add anything of interest." She clapped her hand and sat up straighter at her booth, looking back to Grue. "I'm assuming you'd like to get down to business, right?"

Tattletale opened her mouth to say something, but Grue cut her off.

"That's correct," He said, ignoring Tattletale's sideways glance. "We plan to strike the Empire within the next few weeks. We can pay for the sign-on fee today, ensure that you'll remain loyal to the Undersiders for the duration of the conflict."

"Oh please," Tattletale huffed. "They wouldn't do business with the Empire regardless of what they were paid. It's written all over their fa-"

Grue put a hand to Tattletale's mouth and continued.

"We already have three opening operations planned out," Grue explained, ignoring Tattletale's annoyed muffles. "I've prepared the information folios ahead of time, so you can peruse it at your leisure. More details will be available once you've signed on, and obviously, don't share these around."

Grue looked over to the other members of Faultline's crew, trying to judge how seriously they took the meeting. He let out a small huff of appreciation when he saw one of the younger members, Newter, make a show of zipping his mouth shut.

"My team is professional, Grue," Faultline assured, somewhat offended by the accusation. "And you're right, we never would accept jobs from the likes of the Empire. But we're also content to sit back and what you both kill each other. Unless you're paying us."

Grue let his hand drop from Tattletale's mouth. "All we need is your confirmation, and the Undersiders are willing to pay your requested fees."

Faultline nodded and briefly considered the offer. It was all just showmanship, Tattletale knew that Faultline would agree the second they showed up at the club. Case 53's were treated no better by the Empire than any other minority group and they would've jumped at any chance to rid them from the city. But Faultline was a mercenary and never did any job for free.

Grue handed over the folio, which Faultline quickly skimmed through.

"I've got to admit," Faultline said, handing the folio around the table. "When I heard that the Undersiders took over from Coil, I assumed the whole organization would've collapsed overnight. Declaring war on the Empire has always been a pipe dream for everyone in the city, even the Protectorate wouldn't touch them."

"And now?" Grue asked.

Faultline shrugged. "Ehh, better to see this city go down swinging rather than just let them walk over us."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Grue grumbled.

Faultline collected the folio and handed it back to Grue. "The first plan looks solid, the other two might need some adjusting. But it's doable."

"And of course, we'll pay your fee for every future operation required if needed," Grue said, taking his folio back. "I assume that's confirmation. Shall we transfer payment to the usual account?"

He threw his hand out to shake for the deal but Faultline simply chuckled.

"Not so fast..." She said, folding her arms. "There was still one more term we required before agreeing."

Faultline glanced past Grue and finally acknowledged Tattletale's presence in the room. The rest of her crew watched on with interest, more so than the original deal which was just a formality at this point, they were here to see this.

"Well?" Faultline grumbled. "I'm waiting?"

As per the terms of the deal, the Undersiders would be paying Faultline a premium on top of her usual fees, along with one special term.

Tattletale was forced to apologise directly to Faultline, during open mic night at The Palanquin. They had written an actual script of Tattletale to follow, that spoke about how Faultline was a 'smart, beautiful, talented and overall great person' that Tattletale had wronged. It was meant to humiliate Tattletale, a petty display of power over the girl.

One that Lisa had no intention of following.

"Ah," Tattletale smiled, her own hands clapped together. "Yes. Your terms,"

She fished into her own carried folio and pulled out the crumpled note that was to be her script. With an exaggerated flare, she cleared her throat and looked like she was about to read. Faultline's entire crew all leaned forward out of sheer disbelief, which told Lisa exactly what she already suspected.

"Your terms are stupid," Tattletale said. With the same cheerful smile, she scrunched up the note in her hand and let it drop to the floor. "This club doesn't even have an open mic night. Not to mention, the handwriting and tone of this note implies someone childish came up with this apology script. I'm guessing Newter."

"Guilty," Newter chuckled. Raising his hand with a bashful chuckle.

"True," Faultline said with a straight-faced professionalism that spat in the face of Tattletale's smile. "But my terms remain the same. I want a formal apology, from you, in front of my team."

Tattletale's smile dropped for a short moment. Letting out a big sigh before rolling her head.

"I thought this might happen..." She said, smile returning to her face. "So how about we skip the apology and I just give you this instead?"

It was Tattletale's turn to throw down a manila folder in front of Faultline. Grue kept his standard poker face stance, but Lisa could tell he was filled with worry over his deal blowing up because of Lisa's pride. Faultline opened the folder and picked up the first sheet of paper.

"And what's this?" She asked, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Did you know Coil had a body-double?" Tattletale asked rhetorically. "A parahuman with minor Thinker abilities and accelerated healing."

"And?" Faultline asked, still reading through the file.

"You're right, not that important. I almost dismissed it myself if not for needing to run some background checks into him." Tattletale continued. "Turns out though, Coil somehow bought these specific powers from someone. And was extra concerned about possible mutations..." Her eyes flicked over to some of the more visually unique members of Faultline's crew.

Faultline stopped reading, looking up from the file to meet Tattletale's gaze. Tattletale smiled back, knowing full well that Faultline was chomping at the bait.

"That right there is page one of a seven-page email chain," Tattletale explained. "It's encoded and was a bitch to decipher, but it's a pretty interesting read. Naturally, I'm too busy managing our new mercenary company to dig into this rabbit hole. But who knows, maybe you'll find something worthwhile in there. Names, receipts. Contact details and locations?"

Tattletale was looking extra smug as Faultline's body language started to shift into one of fervent interest.

"You still owe me an apology," Faultline grumbled, not giving the folder back.

"You can put it on my tab," Tattletale brushed some hair out of her face and then extended a hand to shake. "So, do we have a deal?"

Faultline was still reading through the single page in her hand as she extended her spare arm out. Her crew all sighed in unison as Faultline and Tattletale shook on the deal. Every member of the crew passed money around each other.

Passing cash? Betting? Betting on odds if Tattletale would apologise. Incorrect, money going to a single pot. Not betting, pooling. Crew pays out anytime Tattletale refuses to apologise. Why? Inside joke? Saving for gift. Plan to give gift to Faultline on day Tattletale apologises. Tattletale has refused apology several times. Prediction, expensive gift.

Tattletale chuckled and looked back to Grue. Grue let out his own sigh, one of relief, as he transferred the payment through his phone.

"Welcome to the Undersiders," Tattletale said teasingly. "Expect an email from me later tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah," Faultline mumbled. "Now get the hell out, I don't see you until it's time. In fact, I don't want to see you at all. Grue will be our point of contact."

Tattletale turned and walked out with her head held high, Grue was quick to follow behind her.

"That went well," Tattletale said with a smile.

"You can never just tell me what your plan is, can you?" Grue sighed.

"If I tell you, It ruins the surprise."

"Because you know how much I love surprises"

Their car was still waiting for them as they exited the club. In and out, just as Tattletale wanted it.

"Don't worry, that's the last one," Tattletale chuckled as they hopped back up into the vehicle. "All objectives are clear. It's going to be smooth sailing right up until we're ready to strike."

Grue sighed again, this time a little more playfully. "Now why did you have to go and say that?"

 

[Gowonzu]

Undersiders' Base – Morning

Coffee.

Brian needed coffee. The poor boy stumbled out of his bed in a tired daze. Lazily, he threw on a shirt and some pants and shuffled his feet towards the door. He managed to silence his alarm a few minutes before it was due to go off, but that didn't make him feel any more awake than usual. He pushed his door open and was immediately greeted with a far too happy face.

"So, we have a problem."

Lisa poked her head into Brian's bedroom the second the boy opened his door. Brian let out a long yawn, still in the middle of waking up. It took him a few seconds to realise Lisa was even there.

"Wha?…" Brian mumbled back. "What time is it?"

"Seven twenty-six," Lisa answered, far too chipper for that hour.

Brian inspected the girl with his tired eyes. She looked to be dressed in exercise gear, sweatpants and a tank top. He guessed that Lisa had been up for some time now, he was aware that Lisa was joining Taylor on her morning jogs but he didn't expect Lisa to become such a morning person.

Brian considered himself to be rather punctual. Always waking up around seven thirty to start his day, regardless of any work that happened at night. Even he thought the idea of waking up every morning to meet Taylor at sunrise was a step too far. Doubly so when Taylor didn't live on base.

"Can't this wait till after breakfast?" Brian grumbled while shuffling out of his room.

"We can walk and talk," Lisa suggested, following alongside him as they moved down the hallway.

The Undersiders' base, formally Coil's, had an entire section dedicated to just the team. A small collection of makeshift rooms that the team had turned into their new second home. It allowed members of the team to sleep, eat and relax at the base without the need to worry about being masked up and professional around the mercenaries.

Not that every member of the team cared too much about that aspect. Rachel and Lisa were more than willing to walk around the base maskless when the mood suited them. Everyone important already knew who Lisa was and Rachel never cared about her secret identity to begin with.

Aisha's power made it easy for her to wander around out of costume, regardless of how many times Brian told her that she still showed up on the cameras. And while Alec did care about his identity, he was hardly the type to act professionally. Taylor continued to act professional and keep her cape life and personal life separate while on base, but Brian had to wonder how many of the mercs had figured her out by association with Lisa.

"So what's the problem?" Brian asked as they headed towards the kitchen. He thought on the words for half a second and sighed. "Smooth sailing. It hasn't even been twelve hours…"

Lisa chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Murphy's Law. It's actually three problems. And they're not that big of a deal."

Brian reached the kitchen counter and pulled out some instant coffee. He started boiling some water while Lisa sat herself down at the counter. To his surprise, Lisa only handed him the one mug, no doubt already had her morning coffee with Taylor… or knowing her, morning tea.

"Alright, let's hear it." Brian yawned as he waited for the coffee to brew.

"First we have Circus," Lisa said, pulling out her phone to read her messages or notes. "They assumed we would be paying them the same as Coil did. But we haven't. We've already paid them for the upcoming job and cover fee, but they want back-pay for… the work they did? I don't know, it sounds like typical extortion to me."

"How much is it?"

"Barely a drop in the bucket. Especially compared to what we're paying Faultline. But it's the principle of the matter."

"Just pay 'em."

"But…"

Brian sighed as he took in his first sip of coffee. His mind was finally kicking into gear, enough to handle Lisa before nine in the morning. He knew the real issue. Lisa was far too prideful and stubborn to just let the extortion slide.

"A one-time payment," Brian said, cutting Lisa's complaint off. "We'll back pay them for that and then all future payment needs to be confirmed. We don't need to start a fight when we can easily pay them off. What's next?"

Lisa huffed a little. She wasn't happy with the compromise, but she was willing to concede for the time being.

"Second," She continued. "Uber and Leet want to know what theme they should use?"

"Their what?"

"Theme," Lisa said again, clarifying nothing. Brian blinked as he drank more coffee. "You know. What game are they gonna parody when they do their job? Their theme."

Brian groaned at the stupidity of the issue.

"I don't know?" He shrugged. "What game does Alec play all the time? Call of Honor?"

"Wow…" Lisa said with a sarcastic chuckle. "Even most Dads know about Call of Duty."

"Shut up," Brian snorted.

"And no," Lisa said, turning back to her phone to read. "They specifically stated, don't give us Call of Duty or any of this modern day trash. We only play retro games around these parts."

"I really don't care…"

"Why don't we ask Alec? He might have some ideas."

"No," Brian shut that down, fast. "I think we both have had enough of Alec's ideas," He thought to himself for a moment. "We just need them to do the job quickly and then get out," He started clicking his fingers, trying to jog his memory. "What's that game Aisha always played on her Gameboy… The blue guy, who runs fast? Mario?"

Lisa stared back at Brian in disbelief.

"Mario?…" She asked slowly. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?"

"You know the one," Brian said, giving up and returning to his coffee. "I don't play video games, Lise. You know that."

"Everyone knows Mario!" She sighed exasperated. "Geeze, I thought you were seventeen going on thirty. But nope. Turns out you're actually seventy years old at heart."

Brian shrugged.

"Whatever…" Lisa muttered under her breath. "Sonic, we'll go with Sonic." She typed out her response into her phone, unaware of the sly smile Brian was giving her.

"And the final thing?" Brian asked.

"Hmm?"

"The final problem?" He clarified. "You said there were three things."

"Oh, right," Lisa nodded. She put her phone away and turned back to Brian. "You remember Bakuda? The bomb tinker we talked about hiring for this."

"I remember you telling me that you handled it," Brian said back, already expecting another stupid request that Lisa was too prideful to complete.

"Well, she got herself arrested."

Brian choked on his coffee.

"What!? When?"

"She got into an argument with a local restaurant last night and bombed it this morning. Protectorate took her down. About an hour ago or so?… Heard the news on the radio."

"What the fuck, why didn't you start with that?"

Lisa shrugged. "There's not much we can do. We're not gonna break her out of prison. She doesn't have any worthwhile info on us. It's just bad timing."

"Why the hell would anyone bomb a restaurant? That's the dumbest thing to go to prison for."

"If it helps, it was in Empire territory. And Bakuda is rumoured to be half-Asian so… do the maths on what happened there."

Brian let out another exasperated sigh.

"Okay… Alright," He rubbed the bridge of his nose before adding. "What are our options?"

"Well," Lisa perked up with a smile. "Bakuda is out of the picture. But we do know where she was staying, part of my deal with her let her use a safe house to tinker in while she got ready. So, I was thinking that you, me and a couple of guys drive over and see if she has any toys left for us to use. Preferably before the PRT work out where she was staying."

"You want us to enter a bomb tinker's safe house, unannounced. And loot around inside it?" Brian asked, with a heavy emphasis on the word 'bomb.'

"Sure," Lisa said with a smile. "What's the worst th-"

Brian put his hand over Lisa's mouth.

"Don't."

------------------------------------
Undersiders' Base – Midday

"We have a problem."

Dimitri knocked on the door, alerting the trio inside. Skitter and Parian were inspecting the latest bundles of silk produced in Skitter's workshop. Deimos was standing at the far wall, not daring to move any closer to the hundreds of spiders that were scuttling along the walls.

Skitter turned back to the door and motioned for Deimos to open it.

"Report," Skitter ordered.

"Sentry teams eight and nine have spotted the Archer Bridge Merchants moving quickly. Heading towards the docks." Dimitri read off a tablet before showing it to Skitter. "Looks like they're preparing for a fight."

Every spider in the room started to vibrate in response. Parian flinched away from the wall in surprise as the hundreds of arachnids started moving erratically.

"What teams do we have in defence? Are the Merchant's capes getting involved?"

"Squealer and Skidmark were confirmed to be leading the charge," Dimitri said back. "It's possible they brought more, but we only have eyes on four trucks," Skitter looked off into nowhere, planning her next move.

"Grue and Tattletale are occupied across town," Skitter said, more to herself. "Bitch is nearby, but busy with personal matters keep her in reserve if needed. I'll bring Regent and Imp with me. Parian-"

"I'm not a fighter," Parian spoke as her hands raised higher in alert. "I'm sorry, but combat isn't my-"

"I know," Skitter said back cooly. "I wasn't going to ask that of you," She glanced back to Dimitri, "Parian can stay here, give her access to my workshop whenever requested," Dimitri nodded back as Skitter turned towards Deimos. "And Deimos, I won't force you. But if you could assist in-"

"I'll do it," Deimos said, nodding back quickly. She knew exactly what had Skitter so rattled. Taylor's father was about to be caught in the crossfire of the Merchant's advance. "Let's go. People need our help."

"We're already prepping your E Squad," Dimitri said, backing away from the room. "A car is ready for you."

Skitter moved quickly out of the room. Deimos was quick to follow behind her, leaving Parian and the spiders behind. Her body language held the usual cool, calm and intimidating aura, but Deimos could sense the underlying emotions of panic in Taylor's pace.

Victoria herself was worried on two fronts. One, for Taylor's sake. The girl would be devastated if something happened to her father. But there was a second more selfish reason. This would be Deimos' first public appearance. No longer fighting in the dead of night or hiding in underground bases. Deimos was about to unveil on the streets in broad daylight, and all the implications that came with it.

A public villain…

Victoria shook that thought away. It wasn't like she was about to rob a bank or anything. She was responding to an attack on civilians. This was her job, this was textbook heroism. No mask or false name would change the fact that she was just doing what she did best. Being a hero.

"Deimos."

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Skitter said, barely slowing down to look over her shoulder.

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

Docks, Midday

Skitter's bugs continued to vibrate and squirm in nervous anticipation. Even the ones hidden in her hair would move, dispelling the illusion they were just harmless strands of hair. None of the other Undersiders said a word beyond "Yes Ma'am" and "No Ma'am." More afraid of Skitter's disposition rather than the upcoming fight.

Regent and Imp in particular were uncharacteristically quiet after noting the mood Skitter was in. Something Skitter herself was very grateful for. She didn't need any additional comments or remarks right now. Not when the Merchants had started their assault on the docks.

"They just parked up on 43rd," Dimitri reported. He was back at base, feeding intel directly into the Undersiders' earpieces. "They made no demands, started kicking doors down and sending men inside. No casualties reported yet."

"Seems overly aggressive," Deimos noted. "Any idea what they want?"

"Which buildings did they enter?" Skitter asked on top. 43rd Street was on the edge of the docks, far enough away from her father's place that she could relax, albeit slightly.

"Looks like a couple of small warehouses, mostly commercial businesses. Offices and such," Dimitri said. "One warehouse in the area was an old ABB stash-house. Tattletale and Grue had the contents removed and destroyed shortly after we annexed the territory."

"So they're raiding old ABB sites," Skitter thought aloud. "They won't find anything of value but they don't know that..." Taylor recalled the map in Lisa's office that marked all the buildings controlled by the ABB prior to their collapse. She remembered one in particular stood alone in a rather rundown section of the docks, a perfect place to avoid civilians. "Have our men gather around the building on the corner of 37th, the big one. Looks like it was a factory once. Give the order on an unsecured radio, and have them repeat the command verbally. We'll have the Merchants think it's the valuable stash."

"That's a gamble," Deimos argued. "Do you really think they'd fall for that?"

"Skidmark," Skitter replied. Her disproving tone said all she needed on the matter.

The rest of the Undersiders nodded in agreement.

--------------------------------------
"It worked," Dimitri reported a short time later. "Three out of four trucks are moving towards the targeted site. Should we defend the factory or prep an ambush along the streets?"

"Negative," Skitter said back. "Let them raid the factory. Set an ambush there instead," She considered to herself for a moment before adding. "Do we have any explosives? We could gather the assault inside and drop the building on them-"

"Skitter!" Deimos gasped.

"Unsure if we have that kind of firepower on hand, but I can ask-"

"Belay that order," Skitter said, looking back to Deimos. "Let them inside. Have them see that there are no drugs, no money and no valuables. Then open fire, chase them out of the territory. Minimal to no casualties if possible."

"Understood Ma'am."

"Give us an update on the fourth truck, send someone to intercept," Skitter ordered.

"Wait one," Dimitri said before a long pause. "Fourth truck is Squealer's personal vehicle. Skidmark confirmed to be in passenger. Both driving off towards center docks." That sent Skitter's bugs on edge again. The heart of the docks was exactly where she wanted to avoid fighting. "Suggest Undersiders intercept that one. Suspected third cape in back."

"Confirmed," Skitter said, tapping the window between the back seats and the driver, signalling them to change direction. "We'll head them off."

"Should we call in Bitch?" Imp asked.

Skitter shook her head. "No need. They're here for a hit-and-run. No a long siege. Deimos can take out the truck. Regent will assist me in subduing Skidmark and Squealer if their still fighting. Imp, focus on the men they brought with them. Disarm and disable. Keep them from attacking civilians."

"Disable?" Imp asked herself before fishing into her pocket. She pulled out a pocket knife from her suit. "Ah, the ole leg stabber. I got this."

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

Squeeler's truck was a monster of a vehicle. A huge tank-like frame with six wheels that were each three times the size of the average car. A pair of large pipes sat at the rear of the vehicle, spewing smoke into the air, while the front was fitted with a plough made from solid steel.

The Undersiders' SUV caught up to the vehicle in no time, parking at the end of the street that Squealer was turning onto. A small mass of bugs had already formed and was attempting to attack the truck, Skitter eventually settling for blocking the front windshield entirely and blinding the driver. All four Undersiders exited their car, standing in defiance of the incoming vehicle, even as its horn blared down the street.

Civilians were running for cover. Many already taking shelter off the street. Regent and Imp stepped aside, giving way to Skitter and Deimos who took up the centre of the road.

"You have this," Skitter said, stepping aside for Deimos as the truck sped up to meet them. It wasn't a question or an order. Skitter had absolute faith in Deimos' ability.

She watched as Deimos stretched out her neck and arms, taking a few steps forward towards the oncoming vehicle. While Victoria could've easily flown up and pulled the truck to a stop from behind, her powers were far too recognisable. Taylor, Lisa and Vicky had already talked about potential Deimos' reveals and agreed that flying and using strength would be a dead giveaway. The Alexandria package was just too distinct to hide.

Thankfully, Deimos had spent her time with the Undersiders practising for such an occasion. It was a common practice among the PRT to hide a cape's true power, usually by pretending they were a different type of cape or handicapping capes with overly destructive abilities. No one was in favour of handicapping Deimos, but she could pretend that she wasn't a flyer.

The truck barrelled towards them, its horn blaring and lights flashing, threatening the Undersiders to get out of the way. Deimos made the effort to crouch slowly, readying herself. She didn't need to do this, but it did help sell the act to the handful of bystanders who were no doubt filming this.

With a mighty leap, Deimos jumped straight into the path of the incoming vehicle, planting a fist on the hood and stopping the truck dead in its track. From the Skitter's perspective, and everyone else, it looked like Deimos launched herself through an act of strength, rather than the gentle glide of Glory Girl.

The glass of the truck shattered, as a man and a woman came crashing out. Skidmark and Squealer, both covered in cuts and shards of glass from the impact. They rolled onto the ground and began groaning in pain.

"Shit. Was that too much?" Deimos muttered, Skitter only hearing it through her bugs.

"Damn," Regent chuckled. "Why the fuck are we even here?" The three remaining Undersiders approached the Merchant couple who were bleeding across the asphalt. Regent poked Skidmark with his sceptre, confirming that the cape was still alive. "Hey Skidmark, wakey wakey," He nudged the man gently, eliciting another groan.

Surprisingly, most of their wounds were cosmetic. There were no arms twisted in the wrong direction, no punctured ribs or horrifyingly mangled faces. It seemed Deimos had managed to control her impact enough to leave the Merchants in one piece. They were still in a lot of pain, however.

Skitter couldn't find the empathy for either cape, they were two streets over from where her Dad worked and looked to be heading directly for the building. While she had no idea what their goal was, hers was the defence and protection of her father.

Her bugs alerted her to movement in the back of the truck. Several armed men were wobbling out, no doubt in shock from the sudden crash, but that wasn't the movement that alerted her. The rubble and debris of random metal shifted in the back of the truck, forming onto one person in particular.

"Deimos, watch out!" Skitter warned.

A metal fist formed and struck Deimos from the side. The blow launched her across the street and onto the nearby sidewalk. Skitter, Regent and Imp readied themselves for battle, the latter disappearing to chase after the straggling gang members.

Mush, a cape covered in, what Skitter assumed to be, a tiny mech suit of trash. He climbed out of the truck and taunted Deimos to hit him back. His entire body was encased in a pile of rusted metal and junk. Seemingly at home with the swarm of bugs that tried and failed to crawl up his armour.

Deimos stood up and launched herself at the cape, however, her fighting style wasn't as refined as Glory Girl's. Narrowly missing the cape in favour of slamming into the building across from him.

"I need a bigger swarm," Skitter growled. "Regent, can you help?"

"Working on it," Regent said, "His legs twitching but it doesn't affect his movements, I think his body is too dense."

Deimos struck again, this time landing a blow on Mush's arm. It exploded, sending junk scattering across the street. But the human arm was unharmed and already in the process of redistributing the remaining mash of junk. Skitter knew that Deimos could easily beat Mush with a solid hit to the chest or head, but the girl was holding back, probing Mush's strength before making a decisive blow.

"Never mind, help Imp then," Skitter ordered, letting her swarm run interference until Deimos was confident enough to finish this. Regent nodded, running off to chase after the handful of fleeing gang members who hadn't been stabbed in the leg yet.

"Fu... hn... ooot."

Skitter looked down to see Skidmark, trying his hardest to lift his head and say something. He was trying to shake Squealer awake, but the woman was probably concussed.

"Skidmark," Skitter said, crouching down and meeting the man's eyes. "You came into my territory and attacked civilians, unprovoked," She stared him down, her tone as serious as ever. "If you don't want me to make an example of you, tell me why."

"D... fckr..." He struggled to say. "Gn... nghh."

"Speak up," She ordered, leaning closer and picking the man up by his shirt collar.

Skidmark spat on her face, a mix of blood and saliva. "Fu...ck you."

Skitter let go, dropping Skidmark to the floor. She wasn't too sure what to do with the pair, or trio, once Deimos was finished with him. Tying them up and leaving them for the authorities ran too many risks of them getting away. As well as handing them over to the PRT directly. It was a problem.

The problem.

Not just for Skidmark and his gang. But the Empire. None of the Undersiders had yet made a clear plan on what they would do to their enemies. Victoria obviously had a strong preference for prison, and it wasn't like they had anything better that they could do with them. Relying on the PRT or the police to do the job they constantly failed to do over decades just didn't fill Skitter with a lot of hope. But then what else was the alternative?

'Shoot them.'

A stray thought. Intrusive. Skitter hadn't meant to consider that. Didn't want to consider it.

'They're down and out. End the threat.'

A major gang leader lay at her feet. The Merchants were only just getting their footing and now Skitter had the chance to cripple them.

'You've done it before. Remove the head of the snake.'

She shook the thought away, trying to focus on the task at hand. She needed solutions, not violent fantasies.

'You already have blood on your hands. What's a little more going to do?'

Skitter's hand reached for the gun hidden behind her. If only to double-check that the safety was still flicked on. Deimos ripped the junk arms off Mush and pushed the man away before his remaining debris reformed. The cape slammed into the crashed truck and decided not to stand up again.

'She knows you're a monster. Prove it to her.'

Hesitantly, Skitter removed her hand from the gun and walked away from Skidmark. She wasn't going to make any rash decisions. Not when Victoria could see.

'You'll live to regret this.'

"Report," Skitter called out into her radio. Deimos was no doubt smiling under her mask as she fist-pumped towards Skitter.

"Ambush was a success, minor injuries and no casualties," Dimitri said back over the comms. "Merchants are fleeing as we speak. Some may be heading your way to check in on Skidmark."

"Copy, we'll stay alert," Skitter said, before looking towards her team. "Deimos, put Mush with the others. We might have some stragglers attempt a rescue. Regent, Imp? You good?"

"All good, Boss!" Imp said sarcastically as she appeared beside her. "All weapons disarmed. No injuries... For me. There's a lot of bleeding legs, but they'll live."

Skitter nodded before doing a quick survey of the area. Deimos was throwing Mush on top of Skidmark and Squealer. Regent was tasering a man with his sceptre, mostly for laughs. No civilians were injured, still content to hide inside the various buildings. Even further out, Skitter could see her Dad, on a cell phone of all things. He'd given in and bought one shortly after Taylor's kidnapping attempt, there had been a long talk about how he needed a faster way to contact her in case of emergencies and had spent half an hour promising Taylor that he'd never use it in the car. She still felt the guilt over what she had done to him back then, she always would.

"Yes, yes. I called the PRT, and the police," Skitter heard her Dad say through her bugs. "But we both know how reliable they can be. How far out are you? Two minutes? Thank you."

There was only one person who Taylor could imagine her father calling in this kind of situation that wasn't the police or the PRT, and hearing that they were two minutes out did not fill her with joy.

"We need to leave," Skitter said to her team. "Now. Dimitri, send the car. Tell the rest to fall back. Do not engage."

"Understood."

Skitter motioned to the team to wrap up whatever they were doing. Namely Imp and Regent who were rifling around inside everyone's pockets for whatever they could find. Deimos was trying to find the optimal spot to leave the three beaten capes as Skitter tugged on her arm to get her to leave.

"Wait," Deimos said, looking back to Skitter. "We can't just leave? We should at least clean up around her. Make sure everyone's alright."

"The civilians are fine. Now move," Skitter ordered, pointing towards the approaching SUV.

"They're terrified," Deimos countered. "And we have this huge ass truck blocking this street."

"We'll pay for the damages and repair later then. Just go." Skitter snapped.

The cars had already parked up next to them. Some members of E Squad got out and secured the area, ushering Imp and Regent into a vehicle while waiting for Skitter and Deimos to finish their little argument.

"No," Deimos said, firmly planting herself in front of Skitter. "We should help. We can do more than beat up some people and pay off the rest. What about the first few locations the Merchants attacked? Surely they need our help too?"

"We did help," Skitter said back, trying to push the brute into a car. "We can talk about it later."

"People need help now, they need to know that we'll protect them."

"Shit..." Skitter groaned. They ran out of time. Even if Deimos didn't complain, there wasn't enough time. Skitter placed a finger over Deimos' mask and shushed her. "Don't say anything. Just get into the car. I'll handle it."

Deimos was about to argue back once more but picked up the seriousness in Skitter's change of tone. Skitter turned back towards the wreck of the truck as Lady Photon and Brandish dropped down from the sky, the latter being carried. Deimos let out a small gasp as her family touched down.

"I knew we'd find you here, Skitter," Brandish sneered as energy blades formed in her hand. "Haven't you and your kind done enough to the people around here?"

All the mercenaries still on the street turned their guns towards New Wave.

"Don't-" Deimos almost cried out.

"Stand down!" Skitter barked to her squad. Her hand extended out to stop Deimos from doing something. "I said do not engage. Everyone get in a car. Now!"

A few mercenaries were hesitant to put their rifles down, but the squad quickly obeyed and shuffled into their vehicles. Skitter stared down Regent and Imp who also complied and sat back inside.

"Surrender, Undersiders," Brandish called out from her end of the street.

"We have no intention of fighting you," Skitter called back. "Squealer, Skidmark and Mush are here. Taken down. You can have them."

The Lady Photon looked to Brandish, discussing something between themselves. Brandish didn't take her eyes off Skitter for a second.

"What game are you playing, Skitter?" Lady Photon asked out.

"No games," Skitter shook her head. "This isn't worth it. Take the villains and go."

Brandish didn't trust the situation, Skitter could tell by the look in her eyes. There was anger there, a rage that was building inside the woman. Brandish hated the Undersiders for whatever reason and the very act of letting them walk off was like spitting in her face.

"You think we'd just let you go, Skitter?" Brandish called back. "We both know the Merchants are small fish compared to you and your ilk."

Skitter could see the fight coming. The Pelhams might've taken the deal but Brandish was stubborn and out of blood. There was no way that Brandish was just going to let them leave. Her mind flipped from de-escalation to damage control. The Pelhams could fire energy beams. How much damage could they do to the cars? Could they get away? Would they need a distraction? How large a swarm did she need to build?

"We can still do this the easy way," Skitter warned, her swarm already gathering in the corners of the street. "Is this really what you want?"

"What we want," Brandish growled back. "Is for you and your team to come with us and face justice."

"Um!" Deimos tried to say. Skitter looked back in concern as Vicky debated on how obvious her voice sounded in the muffled mask. Her fear of fighting New Wave beat out as she stepped forward. "I think what you really want... what we all want, is the safety of everyone here. Right? No one needs to fight. Let us go so you can focus on the people in need."

Of course, New Wave were heroes, they needed to focus on public safety, over the fighting capes. Brandish thought on it for a moment. Her scowl moved from Skitter to Deimos, taking notice of Deimos for the first time. Lady Photon whispered something in Brandish's ear that the woman didn't like.

"How dare you..." Brandish finally growled back to Deimos. "You dare pretend to care about these people when you are the cause of their suffering?"

"N-no," Deimos weakly denied. "We were protecting them."

"You're new," Brandish stated, pointing her blade towards Deimos "I don't know if you've naively bought into Skitter's bullcrap or if you're just as corrupt as the rest of them. But villains like you don't protect anyone. Villains like you don't help anyone. And villains like you all face justice in the end."

Deimos took a step back towards Skitter, the girl was trembling. Brandish was completely unaware of who Deimos was. Unaware that she was berating her daughter, threatening her, and condemning her.

Skitter turned towards the sound of engines running. Her bugs could tell that it was the Merchant's truck. One that fled from the mercenary ambush to check on Skidmark. Lady Photon picked up on the incoming sound too, alerting Brandish to the presence.

"Reinforcements are coming to back up Skidmark," Skitter said. "One truck. Two motorcycles. Maybe more. I suggest you deal with them first. Or you can try and capture us and risk a fight on two fronts. Your choice."

New Wave stared her down, there was no doubt in Skitter's mind that Brandish would've chosen to fight. But it was Lady Photon's team, and she had the good sense to recognise prioritises.

"Get out of here..." Lady Photon spat with a similar, but less intense anger. "We have people to help."

Skitter took a protective step forward, grabbing Deimos and leading her towards the car. They drove off the second she was in, speeding away from the scene as New Wave began their search for any civilians needing aid.

Victoria was a mess in the car, hyperventilating and tearing at her face to get her mask off and breathe. Skitter made sure that they had privacy in the back seat before helping Vicky with her mask.

"I can't..." Victoria whimpered out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm not a... I'm not…"

Taylor didn't know what to say. Didn't know what she could say to make Victoria feel better. So she hugged the girl tightly, hoping that she could offer at least a bit of comfort.

"I'm a hero..." Vicky said, burying her head in Taylor's chest.

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

Squealer's workshop – Night

Today was fucked.

It was supposed to be a simple in-and-out job. Steal a few bits and bobs and then get the hell out. That had all gone to shit thanks to those damn mercs. And then there was the fucking Undersiders. They brought in some new guy who completely fucked up any chance of salvaging the situation.

The truck was totalled, Squealer was knocked the fuck out, Skidmark had more cuts and bruises than the tweakers he sold to. And Mush ended up getting arrested by goddamn New Wave of all people.

In truth, all three of them were arrested by the cape team. But quick thinking of Squealer's part when she finally came to and back up from Skidmark's men meant that the couple lived to see another day.

"Who the fuck thought that this would be a good idea?" Skidmark groaned out as he collapsed onto a couch.

"Y-you did, Sir," The man who carried him off the bike and onto the couch answered back. Trying hard not to sound smug about it.

"Did we at least find fucking anything at that place they were defending?" Skidmark asked, ignoring the smart-ass comment.

"Besides a shit load of guys waiting for us with guns?" The man asked, still being a smartass. Skidmark punched him in the balls for that.

"Fuuuuuck...." He groaned, noting how his hand had a long rash from sliding across the pavement.

"I fucking told you..." Squealer moaned as she walked over and threw a beer into Skidmark's lap. "Coil's crew already moved the shit. We have reports of them fucking burning it. There are no more drug staches in the docks. Alright?"

"And I told you," Skidmark moaned back as he opened the beer. "There ain't no way in hell, an operation as large as that motherfucker don't have drugs in it. Whoever 'eard of organised crime that doesn't do drugs? That burning all the shit is just that, shit."

"Well it ain't fucking there," Squealer growled back, pointing at the map. It had all the known ABB safe houses circled, the plan they used today. "So either they burnt it, or it's magically disappeared some other fucking way."

Skidmark sat up and motioned for Squealer to hand him the map. She dropped down and sat in his lap before passing the map back to him. The man drank his beer as he inspected the map.

"We've already searched a dozen or so locations," Skidmark noted. "Let's assume that it's not in the docks... Where would they move it? Not into the city. Too hot, police would find it. Can't be too close to Empire. No one's that stupid. What about…"

He needed to find the perfect place. One that wasn't obvious. Or so obvious, everyone was stupid for never even considering it. The docks weren't the only way to transport illegal contraband. Trains would work fine. A stash in the train yard made too much sense. There weren't too many buildings one could house a pile of drugs, especially if it was a collection from several smaller stashes. Either you'd need one really big warehouse and risk law enforcement. Or you'd hide it in a large business. Especially one that would be expected to house legal drugs in any way. Like a clinic, a vet or…

"There," Skidmark grinned as he pointed the map towards Squealer. "That's where our drugs are."

What better place to house a bunch of drugs, than some random ass dog shelter at the edge of the city.

 

[Gowonzu]

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.

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

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."