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

[Dradel]

I do love me some horny gremlin Amy, but she might actually go full crazy-mode if she finds out that Vicky was open to a third person in her relationship, and Tattletale took the spot.

 

[doomlord9]

Ever since I started reading this, even before it was on QQ, I've had this image in my head of where this will go and no ability to bring it to life

Taylor sitting on a couch with a blonde on either side.

Lisa in a nearly pornographic devil costume whispering in one ear to convince her to turn Vicky to the Dark Side so they can all be gay and do crime together.

Vicky is on her other side in a blatantly pornographic angel costume whispering in her other ear to turn Lisa to the Light Side so they can all be gay and fight crime together.

There may be more ear nibbling than whispering.

Taylor: *is suffering*

 

[Gowonzu]

Ever since I started reading this, even before it was on QQ, I've had this image in my head of where this will go and no ability to bring it to life

Taylor sitting on a couch with a blonde on either side.

Lisa in a nearly pornographic devil costume whispering in one ear to convince her to turn Vicky to the Dark Side so they can all be gay and do crime together.

Vicky is on her other side in a blatantly pornographic angel costume whispering in her other ear to turn Lisa to the Light Side so they can all be gay and fight crime together.

There may be more ear nibbling than whispering.

Taylor: *is suffering*

Click to shrink...

Haha, that paints a pretty picture.

What suffering that would be.

 

[Gowonzu]

Ever since I started reading this, even before it was on QQ, I've had this image in my head of where this will go and no ability to bring it to life

Taylor sitting on a couch with a blonde on either side.

Lisa in a nearly pornographic devil costume whispering in one ear to convince her to turn Vicky to the Dark Side so they can all be gay and do crime together.

Vicky is on her other side in a blatantly pornographic angel costume whispering in her other ear to turn Lisa to the Light Side so they can all be gay and fight crime together.

There may be more ear nibbling than whispering.

Taylor: *is suffering*

Click to shrink...

Alright, this idea really struck a cord with me.
Sorry in advanced, it might be too spicy for this thread? Idk, please advise if it is.

---

Lisa's tongue danced around Taylor's left ear. The warm, moist feeling of her lips on the skin there made Taylor want to moan, but she restrained herself. The outfit Lisa wore was already embarrassing enough to be seated next to.

Dressed as the devil on her shoulder. Lisa's red lingerie barely covers anything from her thighs up. Deep red boots came up to her knee, matched with lacy thin underwear of the same colour that didn't even hide the soft skin underneath. A pair of little red wings attached to her back made out of the same leather as the horns on her head. She was beautiful like this, with dark blond hair flowing over her shoulders and down to her bare back. Her green eyes almost glowed in the dimness of the room. She clung to Taylor's left side, one hand caressing Taylor's chest. Licking, kissing and nibbling on Taylor's earlobe.

"It'd be so fun," Lisa cooed into Taylor's ear. A whisper that sent shivers down the girl's spine. "To corrupt that little hero. To turn her into a villain... a bad girl. Like us."
Lisa chuckled before kissing Taylor's neck. "She'd do it, you know. She'd do anything you ask of her. And more." Lisa pulled away for a second and looked at Taylor's face. "Just think how we could help make her feel loved. No one will ever leave her again if we do this."

Lisa leaned in again and kissed Taylor's cheek. Then a finger gently guided Taylor's chin, pulling her closer to Lisa. Taylor's lips met hers. They were gentle, sweet kisses. They come one after another until Lisa began nipping at her bottom lip. Taylor felt herself being dragged closer to Lisa. She tried to resist, but it wasn't easy. She wanted this, too. So much. To finally have someone who made her feel like she mattered. Who cared about what happened to her. Each kiss was soft and chaste. A juxtaposition from the demon who gave them.

Then Taylor was pulled away. Gently hands cupped her cheek as another warmth greeted her right side. Turning to see an angel of all things, welcoming her with an embrace.

Victoria drew close, Long blonde hair flowed out behind her as two blue eyes glimmered like the sky. Dressed in the same amount of fabric as her devilish counterpart. Only she wore the brightest whites. Small feathered angel wings, with a halo to boot. Her silk skirt did nothing to hide what little clothing hid underneath and the sash only served to highlight Vicky's obvious curves.

Another tongue danced around Taylor's ear. Her right ear this time. Just as warm and inviting as the last. Biting down on her earlobe, threatening to pierce the skin but always teasing the edge of pain.

More hands worked their way over Taylor's body. Brushing her hair, holding her close. Victoria was strong, safe and capable. She took care of Taylor, and she knew everything about Taylor and her every move. She knew every dirty detail about Taylor, and Taylor had trusted Victoria with her life. She loved Vicky, despite all odds, despite the fact that they'd been on opposite sides. She clung to Taylor's right side. Licking, kissing and nibbling on Taylor's earlobe.

"You could be so much better," Victoria whispered into her ear. Her voice was as angelic as the outfit she parodied. "We could do so much good together. Including that mischievous villain. All of us. Think of what we could accomplish. How proud I would be of you." Victoria hummed before kissing Taylor's neck. "She wants you to help her. To save her from her life of crime. Ask her to run away with you. I'll protect you. I can protect you both."

Victoria leaned in again and kissed Taylor's cheek. Then three fingers guided Taylor's chin, pulling her closer to Victoria. Taylor's lips met hers. They were fiery, passionate kisses. A relentless assault of lips and tongue that Taylor couldn't get enough off. Each one pulled her in, consuming all her thoughts. She wanted this. So much. To have someone who protected her. Who could stop anything bad from ever happening to her again. Each kiss was rough and hungry. A far cry from the angel who sent them.

Lisa tugged again on Taylor's side, pulling her away from the angelic lips. She wasn't angry or upset. Only wanting to give yet another kiss. Taylor eagerly accepts the devil's gift, surrendering to it completely.

Another tug, as Vicky pulled her right back. Neither jealous nor bitter. Launching into another torrent of sensual smooches. Taylor greedily took the angel's love, falling from heaven like a biblical figure.

The tug of war continued for longer than Taylor could remember. Neither side was content with the amount of attention they gave the girl. It wasn't fair. But neither cared about fairness. What mattered was pleasure. The only thing that mattered was the pleasure. The pure unadulterated happiness. The pure joy that filled them when they kissed Taylor. When they touched each other. Their lips were moving, their tongues, their hands.

It was too much. Too intense, too wild. Taylor couldn't take any more. She pulled away, taking deep breaths to steady her breathing. Neither angel nor devil caring about the bruises and hickeys forming on the young woman's neck.

They were insatiable, unstoppable and incorrigible.

Both worked in unison to drag her back down on the couch they all sat on. Pulling her into their lap. Lisa's arms wrapped around her middle. Kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, and then her mouth again. Victoria's wings fluttered, extending and wrapping around them like a protective shield. Her lips brushed against Taylor's neck.

Individually they were a distraction but now they had teamed up. And Taylor stood no chance of getting free. Not without making a scene, anyway. That wouldn't end well for her.

Truly. Being Taylor 'Two-Hands' Hebert was nothing but suffering.

 

[Delorean08]

You're a fucking monster Amy and I wish I never had you."

Click to shrink...

So did Carol actually say this or is Amy filling in?

 

[Warer]

Poor Taylor, how is she supposed to go to school the next day with a memory of such suffering so freshly hickied on her neck?!

 

[Warer]

So did Carol actually say this or is Amy filling in?

Click to shrink...

That last part might have been exaggerated but Amy had long since stopped listening to whatever the fuck Carol was saying.

Click to shrink...

...Carol did in fact probably not say that.

 

[Delorean08]

...Carol did in fact probably not say that.

Click to shrink...

I thought by exaggerating it was Carol being mad to the point of saying that.

 

[Warer]

I thought by exaggerating it was Carol being mad to the point of saying that.

Click to shrink...

Carol probably said something hurtful, thought we don't know and it isn't really important, but if she did say that to Amy straight up Amy would had a more severe response.

 

[Gowonzu]

So did Carol actually say this or is Amy filling in?

Click to shrink...

No, she didn't.
Sorry if it wasn't clear enough.

Basically the whole
"You have a responsibility to be better. You can't make mistakes like this. We taught you to be careful with your gifts. You're lucky no one is pressing charges. New Wave can't handle the media backlash it might bring. You're a fucking monster Amy and I wish I never had you."

Was made up in Amy's head. You can infer that Carol said something along those lines to her, (Albeit not as confrontational or hurtful) but Amy wasn't paying attention until her coffee was finished.

 

[Gowonzu]

Arcadia High School – Midday

Jessica and Alice squealed with glee as the new couple held their hands up together. Erupting into clapping on the spot while they hopped and down in their seats. Victoria puffed her chest out proudly as she bathed in the acceptance. Smiles all around from her circle of friends.

"Congrats." Amy huffed quickly turning back to her food.

"You and Taylor? Nice." Dennis said while nodding in approvement. Carlos slapped him over the back of his head. "What? I'm happy for them."

"Sure you are," Carlos said sarcastically before turning to Victoria with a smile. "This is an unexpected surprise. I'm very happy for you, Victoria. Although you might want to sit down before poor Taylor dies from embarrassment there."

Victoria tilted her head in confusion at Carlos before following his finger back to Taylor. While Taylor was standing up with her, the girl was looking away from the rest of the table, trying her best to become invisible. Covering her face with her spare hand and resisting the urge to curl up into a ball.

"I thought we were just going to tell them quietly," Taylor grumbled in a shaky voice. "Not stand up and announce it to the world."

Victoria's eyes widened in shock as she realised what she had done. The poor girl was already on edge and now Vicky had shone a spotlight directly onto the two of them. She tried to apologise with a smile, sitting back down in her chair. Taylor sat down with a speed that would've made the Triumvirate look twice, burying her head down into herself, trying to hide away from every eye that was now on her.

Taylor let out a soft whine that made Victoria want to cuddle her. She settled on the handholding they were already doing.

"So, you're… gay now?" Dean asked in as much of a casual manner as the boy could manage. Vicky watched as his eyebrows raised in disapprovement before he actively fought the expression. He looked surprised, somewhat hurt, most likely jealous but he nodded his head anyways. "That's… a nice development. Good for you." His words were chosen carefully, but his tone betrayed how he really felt.

Victoria fought the immediate urge to be upset with him. Dean's obvious reaction to the news wasn't positive but not for any homophobic reasons, Victoria knew Dean well enough to know he wasn't 'that guy.' A part of her felt bad for him, but she wouldn't deny her feelings to save his.

"Yes. Well bisexual, I guess?" Victoria explained to the table. "It's all really new for me."

"Honestly, I called that ages ago." Dennis chuckled. "Pretty sure I made a bet with someone. Yeah, Chris. He owes me money now."

"Dennis, I remember that conversation," Carlos said as he rolled his eyes. "You didn't make a bet, you told him you would 'pay money' to see Victoria-" He stopped talking and looked up to Vicky, she did not look impressed. "Uh, never mind."

Dennis smiled to himself. "Oh yeah. I remember now," He laughed heartily before turning to Taylor. "Congrats on bagging Glory Girly, Tay. You'll be the envy of Arcadia for sure now."

Taylor let out another whine, albeit a little softer now. Victoria shifted her unimpressed look to Dennis, who took it as a compliment.

"Speaking off," Victoria said, not daring to comment on the boy's crassness. "I haven't really told anyone else yet. So, I was hoping to keep it all on the 'DL' for now. This is Brockton Bay after all."

Carlos made a gesture of zipping his lips. Dennis and the girls nodded in understanding.

"Maybe you shouldn't've stood up and announced it to the table if you wanted it to be a secret?" Amy said sarcastically, Vicky detected an unusual hint of bitterness in her tone but chose to ignore it.

"Well, I trust all of you," Victoria said, waving the comment aside. "You're not going to gossip to any-"

"There's already a speculation post on PHO," Amy said bluntly, holding out her phone.

"What?" Vicky and Taylor said in unison. The latter finally pulled her head up from the table. "There's no way that got posted that quickly," Vicky added, looking at Amy's phone in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's a week or so old." Amy explained, scrolling through, "Something about students seeing Glory Girl 'getting cosy' with a mysterious brunette." Amy took her phone back. "I saw the thread a few times, didn't give it much thought till today." Amy's huffed again as she scrolled to the end of the webpage. "Oh, new post. A few seconds ago. Look familiar?"

Amy showed the phone to the table again. It had a photo of Vicky and Taylor from behind, standing up at the table, holding hands.

"How the-," Vicky asked, studying the photo. She was no stranger to finding candid photos of her online, it didn't make them any less creepy when she did come across them. Knowing that someone in the cafeteria had not only taken one but also uploaded it in this short amount of time made her feel extra gross.

Taylor once again retreated back into her 'not quite a ball' of shame. Her hair covered her face as she lay, face down in her arm. Lisa had warned about the pitfalls of dating someone like Victoria, but nothing could prepare you for the reality of dating a celebrity, and it was only the first day.

"I-it's just one speculation thread," Victoria said, trying to allay Taylor's worries. "Probably all posted by the same five creeps who 'ship me' with anyone I make contact with. I wouldn't worry about that." Vicky patted Taylor's hair, hoping to relax the poor girl. "But the rest of you," Victoria said, looking around the table. "Just keep it on the down low for now."

--------------------------------------
Amy watched as the table quickly fell into their usual chatter for the day. Taylor eventually recovered from her periodic bouts of shyness after some coaxing from Vicky.

She watched in disgust as Vicky stroked and scratched through raven hair. It was almost as bad as the days Vicky would do that to Dean. Not stroke his hair, Dean didn't have hair nearly that long. But the casual touching, the closeness of it all. It made Amy sick. She was lucky that she ate a light meal, or else the bile would be coming up inside her now for sure.

How many times over the years did Amy sit here, watching Vicky throw herself all over that idiot boy? And now it was finally for a girl, that wasn't her. Was that better or worse? Amy couldn't yet tell.

When Vicky had been with Dean, it was at least easier to rationalise why she wasn't chosen. It was very hard to imagine herself trading places with Dean in half the stuff he did at school. Being a boy, Dean was prone to doing and saying the dumbest shit imaginable, which against all odds, would cause Vicky to laugh, swoon or whatever the fuck else.

But with Taylor, how would it be different? She didn't come off as an insufferable shit. Not yet at least. Her shyness obviously held her back from doing public displays of affection, that was a plus. Then again, it was only time until Vicky convinced her to be bolder.

Sure, it starts with casual petting today. The next thing they'd be doing is having Vicky sat on her lap. Giggling like idiots until they start to make out. Amy could picture it now, clear as day.

'How would that even work?' Amy asked herself, stupidly. 'With Dean, he always tried to take the lead, being the 'man' and all. Pulling Vicky into his lap, but with Vicky and Taylor…'

A new picture formed in Amy's mind. This time Taylor sitting in Vicky's lap as the two of them cackled over some stupid shit.

'Oh hell no. That's my spot!' Amy roared in her head. The two imaginary girls ignored her in favour of each other.

Worse. It was so much worse. Taylor wasn't even the 'Anti-Amy.' She was more of an… Amy clone, a sister. It's weird. Vicky was dating Amy's freaky clone sister. That's so we-

'What if I dyed my hair black and straighten it?' Amy thought to herself, ignoring the hypocrisy of her previous thought. 'Would Vicky look at me differently? If I started emulating Taylor's looks, could I form some Pavlovian response in Vicky's brain that would make her find me attractive?'

Amy looked back over to Taylor, the real Taylor who was slowly coming out of her shell, not the imaginary Taylor who was slobbering on imaginary Vicky's face. Thin and Tall, Amy couldn't do too much about the height, but if she skipped out on dinner… yeah, she could do that.

And what of her outfits? Taylor never wore anything that flashy. Amy might even have that shirt in her wardrobe, somewhere. It's doable. All she'd had to do now is learn how to talk like Taylor, to walk like Taylor. Really act up the 'injured puppy vibe' she has going on for her.

'Who are you, Taylor Hebert?' Amy asked to the void. 'Tell me all your secrets. What makes you so much better than me.'

If the 'void' could speak, it would probably yell back, "She's not her damn sister, you absolute nutter." But alas, Amy was set in her ways.

A plan formed in her mind, she would befriend Taylor, as Vicky had wanted her to. She would discover everything that made this girl 'special' and then Amy would replace her. On that, Amy would make sure.

"Everything okay, Ames?" An angelic voice asked pulling Amy back from the recesses of her mind.

Amy looked up to Vicky, who was looking between her and Taylor. She had obviously been staring at Taylor too long, but the shy girl was too shy to say anything. The gall of this bitch, using Vicky against her like that.

"Sorry." Amy lied, trying her best to place a fake smile on her face. "I was just thinking." Amy looked towards Taylor, who relaxed in the presence of the 'smile.' "I really like that shirt."

"Oh… Thanks." Taylor replied with a confused half-smile. More of a smile than Amy usually saw from the girl.

Vicky's eyes lit up as she took the bait. "You and Taylor should go to the mall sometime. Maybe you can help Amy find a shirt like that."

'Typical Vicky, wanting to push her girlfriend and her sister to be friends.' Amy thought, imagining herself the villain in an elaborate masterplan, 'You've just played the first move in a long game of chess.'

"Uh, sure…" Taylor said, uncertain of herself. She looked up to Amy and then away again. "I mean if you want to. I don't mind."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Amy said in her usual, nonchalant manner.

Amy laughed wickedly behind her quiet smile. Taylor Hebert, your days are numbered.

--------------------------------------
Outside the Undersiders base – After school

Happy. Yet nervous. General anxiety compounded onto fear of rejection of upcoming news to Undersiders.

"Everything okay, Tay?" Lisa asked as Taylor came into hugging range. A range that Lisa took full advantage of, wrapping her arms around Taylor.

Comforted, relaxing, happy. Enjoys Lisa Wilbourn's affection.

Lisa smiled as Taylor returned the hug in kind. Taylor dug her face into Lisa's shoulder and hummed an affirmative to her question.

"I'm fine," Taylor said, a small smile on her face. "Just trying not to think about what's about to happen."

Lisa patted Taylor on the back a few more times.

"I take it, it didn't go well at school with Victoria's announcement?" Lisa asked, probing what might have gone down.

"No, it went great," Taylor said back, shaking her head into Lisa's neck. She pulled back to look at Lisa properly while she spoke. "Everyone was accepting. Excited, curious. And Amy is even being nicer to me." Her face fell into a small frown after that last sentence.

Taylor Hebert feels guilty for threatening Panacea while acting as Skitter. Wants to form a platonic relationship with Amy Dallon. Worried that Amy Dallon will dislike her.

Lisa thought of several different things she could say that would cheer Taylor up at that moment. But the best and most direct path to happiness was also Lisa's favourite. She leaned in and kissed Taylor's frown away. It curled into a smile before Taylor was even aware of what had happened. Success.

"H-hey," Taylor said, not really doing anything to stop Lisa. "What if one of the others looked outside and saw us. It would ruin our entire plan."

Lisa huffed with a smile. "Oh please. Alec is too busy playing games to look out the window. Brian's been on the phone to his landlord or something for the last forty minutes complaining about mould and Rachel is out walking her dogs. No one is looking at us." She held a hand out to Taylor. "Now come on. Let's go tell everyone the good news."

"I still don't think Brian will see it that way," Taylor grumbled, taking Lisa's hand as she was led into the building.

"He's not gonna bite your head off." Lisa sighed. "He'll just grumble and complain. Tell us what a bad idea it all is and then… he'll be happy for us. You'll see."

"Okay, but wait," Taylor said, pulling on her hand to get Lisa to slow down. Lisa slowed to a walk but didn't stop moving.

"What is it?" Lisa asked with a smile, trying to pull her along.

"Do we have a plan?" Taylor asked, shifting nervously as she spoke. "I didn't really discuss it with Vicky and she kinda took over and it was really embarrassing. I'm hoping to avoid that with the rest of the team."

This caused Lisa to stop.

Very nervous about telling Undersiders about relationship. Doesn't want to be caught off guard again. Wants team to respect her and her choices. Has speech prepared for Brian when he inventively complains. Wants to be able to recite it without distractions.

"Alright, Taylor." Lisa sighed, dramatically. "We'll do this your way. I'll let you take the lead on this one."

Taylor let out a relieved breath. "Thank you."

"So how are we doing this?" Lisa asked a big smile on her face.

"I'm thinking…" Taylor said, composing herself. "We walk in there, act casual. Just say, 'Hey, we have something we want to tell all of you.' Then we announce that we're d-dating."

Still embarrassed to admit it out loud.

Lisa smiled at how cute that was.

Taylor continued, "Explain how we'll always be a team, and that nothing needs to change. Once everyone accepts that bit of news, 'then' we tell them about Vicky."

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

Taylor entered the Undersider's base first. Casually strolling down the hallway and into the main area. Neither member of the team really noticed her as she approached.

Brian was walking back and forth between the kitchen and the living room section of the loft. He was on his mobile and looked increasingly exasperated with whoever he was having a conversation with. Upon entering the living room section for the third time, he looked at Taylor and waved two fingers in recognition before turning back around.

"That's what you said last month." Brian said into the phone, his tone professional but his body language saying 'pissed.' "I've had this problem from the moment I've moved in… Well how hard is it to… Her bedroom is right next to it if it spreads… I'd do it myself but its in the walls-"

A grumpy Brian wasn't going to make this any easier to accomplish. Taylor steadied herself and looked at Alec. To her surprise, the boy was reading a book. He looked up at Taylor and shot her the same look of disbelief in jest.

"What?" Alec asked. "I know how to read. I'm not Rachel."

"I didn't-" Taylor began to defend herself, but Alec only chuckled.

"Dammit." Brian called out over from the kitchen. Flipping his phone shut and moving to chuck it before calming down.

"Didn't go well?" Lisa asked, coming in behind Taylor.

"Another two months." Brian sighed in annoyance. "Which by then, the mould will spread and the quote to fix it will be more."

"And you can't fix it yourself because?" Lisa asked in her typical smug fashion.

"Because I can't remove the drywall without voiding my bond." Brian snapped back sardonically.

"Just punch a hole in the wall." Alec suggested, "You can afford it."

"It's not about the money. It's…" Brian sighed, holding the bridge of his nose.

"It's what I would do." Alec continued, casually flipping a page in his book. "Oh, how about I punch the whole, then it's not even your fault?"

"Thanks but no." Brian declined. He turned to look at Lisa and Taylor, the latter who stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Anyway, what's new with you girls?"

Taylor looked as incriminating as one could in a supervillain's lair, she came up with several excuses in her head to lob at Brian, most of them to the degree of 'Nothing' and 'Shut up, you're the one acting weird.' However, before Taylor could open her mouth to convey this, Lisa pulled her by the shirt and launched herself in for a kiss.

"Woah. Okay." Brian said in surprise. Suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands and having no idea if he should just turn away to give them privacy.

Brian stood in a somewhat defensive posture as the two girls ignored his awkward gesturing as the kiss went on for far too long. At least from Brian's point of view.

Finally, they broke apart, Taylor pulled back from her love-struck stupor to realise what exactly just happened.

"Lisa!" She whined, "You promised that we'd do it my way."

"Yeah, but this was more fun." Lisa giggled through her smug smile. A smile that she then pointed towards Brian. "Yeah, this is a thing now."

"Congratulations," Brian said was a drawl, bouncing back from the initial awkwardness he showed prior. "I'll let HR know."

Lisa chuckled at the joke and then pouted. "Aww, boo. I was looking forward to a bigger reaction."

Brian huffed, "You're not the only one who can read the room." Lisa shot her tongue out at him and he chuckled, "Wouldn't say I saw it coming, but it makes sense, considering how much time you spend with each other." He turned to Taylor and smiled. "I'm happy for you. Both of you."

"T-thanks," Taylor said with a small smile, growing bigger when looking back to Lisa, who gave an 'I told you so' stare.

"Pfft," Alec said, completely uninterested, turning back to his book. "I thought you two were already 'a thing.' Come back when you have something new to tell us."

"In that case," Lisa added, wiggling her eyebrows, and throwing her arm around Taylor. "We're actually part of a throuple." She held up three fingers to Brian to illustrate her point. "Give ya three guesses who the final girl is."

"Lisa, I swear to God, if you've somehow roped Aisha into-" Brian sighed.

"What? No." Lisa barked out with a laugh. "Could you imagine?" She laughed even harder before wiping her eye. Brian relaxed again, obviously not intending to play Lisa's guessing game. Lisa rolled her eyes before simply saying, "It's Glory Girl."

"Yeah, and I'm in a relationship with Gallant," Brian said sarcastically, not believing a word of what Lisa said.

Alec snorted at the mental image. "Always knew you two had chemistry." He chuckled, also not paying much attention to what Lisa had just said.

Brian smirked at his own joke before looking at Taylor, her lack of denial for anything Lisa had said raised several red flags. Taylor struggled to hold eye contact with the boy, flicking between him and Lisa.

"Wait…" Brian said, picking up the signs. "You're serious?"

Taylor looked away before giving a little nod. Lisa held her smile, ever loud and proud.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Brian gasped, his hand reaching for the bridge of his nose. "How? When? How? Was it at the bank?"

"Yeah," Lisa chuckled. "Our game is just that good. Pulled the hero during a bank heist."

"I'm in awe of your skill," Alec added in jest. Lisa bowed in response, as Alec politely clapped.

Taylor stepped out before Lisa could rile up Brian even more.

"Victoria approached me at school," Taylor began to explain. "She knew who I was but didn't want to arrest me for whatever reason. We became… friends. Until a few days ago."

Brian frowned at that and shook his head, "I don't like this. Nothing good can come out of dating a hero."

"Plenty good can come out of it," Lisa argued. Taylor nodded in support.

"Plus, it's not like we can ask her to forget who we are," Taylor added. "Even if we wanted to, which we don't. The only course of action is proceeding forwards."

"Great point, Tay," Lisa said, leaning in on the girl. "Besides, she's already brought something good out of it. She helped us take down Shadow Stalker."

"She did?" Brian asked, stunned at the statement.

"She did?" Taylor asked, mirroring Brian's stunned disbelief.

"Ooop," Lisa said, before placing a hand over her mouth. "Uhh… Forget you heard that."

"Seriously!?" Brian and Taylor asked in unison.

The door jostled for a few seconds then opened. Three dogs and one puppy barrelled through the living room, circling around Taylor, Lisa, and Brian before quickly rushing off to smell the final Undersider on the couch.

Rachel strolled in behind them all and whistled loudly. All three adult dogs lined up and promptly headed into Rachel's room. The puppy however was already scooped up by Alec, who had it resting on his chest while he continued reading.

"What are we all yelling about?" Rachel grumbled, looking between the three standing teammates.

"Those two are hooking up now," Alec explained, pointing between Lisa and Taylor with his free hand, his eyes not leaving the book.

Rachel gave a small nod of approval. "Not a bad catch." She added to her look. Taylor wasn't sure if she directed that at her or Lisa.

"They also bagged Glory Girl into their little 'ménage á trios,' if you catch my drift," Alec added, giggling at his joke. Rachel did not understand the joke, staring back at the boy with a blank expression. She did not know a single word of French and was currently deciding if Alec had somehow offended her by speaking in a different language. Alec sighed and rolled his eyes. "They're also hooking up with Glory Girl."

"Damn," Rachel said, her small nod of approval turning into a full head bob. "Always wanted to tap Glory Girl, any room for one more?" She asked bluntly and unashamed.

For the second time today, Taylor wanted to curl up into a ball and die from embarrassment. Lisa let out another hearty laugh as she elbowed the girl.

"What do you think, Tay?" Lisa chuckled, "Should we add this one to our harem too?"

"Stop," Taylor whined, hiding her face behind her hands. "It's not a-" Her voice disappeared into a grumble as she hid away from both girls' questions.

Rachel huffed and continued walking to her room. Not before taking the puppy from Alec's chest and placing it at Taylor's feet. "Whatever," Rachel said, not really bothered by the rejection. She looked back to Lisa who remembered to not smile directly at Rachel. "You know where to find me."

Taylor continued to descend into her ball of shame, breaking only to welcome the fuzzy embrace of the puppy that met her on the floor. Lisa bent down alongside Taylor, extending a hand to play with the pup.

All in all, everyone took it rather well. Brian still was in stunned disbelief over the whole Glory Girl side of things, but the rest of the team was more than accepting. Taylor hoped that her school friends would also be just as accepting when they finally let them know about Lisa.

In the excitement and awkwardness of it all, Taylor almost forgot that little comment about Vicky helping with the Shadow Stalker. She made a mental note to ask about it later.

 

[Warer]

Truly being Taylor is suffering, why Amy might get it in her head to try and join Taylors harem as a way to be sort of dating Vicky!

 

[Dradel]

Amy and Rachel are now competing for the fourth place in the polycule. Rachel isn't actually trying much at all but she still have better chances that Amy on account of not being a horrible little gremlin.

 

[Vhalidictes]

Yeah, I can see Amy joining the group accidentally after falling for Taylor, and then realizing that she's always hated Vicky.

Truly a huge mess that can only be solved with Sabah's help. With some assistance from Chris.

 

[Gowonzu]

Brockton Bay Streets – Afternoon

Victoria touched down on the street and began walking. The upside to flying everywhere was that it was never much risk to be late for anything. The downside was that you always made a noticeable entrance.

Even dressed in civilian clothes, most Brocktonites would recognise her when she landed. Or at least recognise that the flying blonde girl was a cape for New Wave. Whether they could tell she was Glory Girl, Laserdream or Lady Photon was up for debate. The people would stop and stare regardless, some of the braver citizens would approach for a photo or the like.

After dealing with the initial wave of curious onlookers, Vicky started walking. She didn't want to risk bringing attention to her actual destination, so she walked for another two or so blocks. Victoria checked her phone for directions, she wasn't used to looking for a place on ground level. Fighting the urge to fly up again, she eventually made her way to the building she was searching for.

It was a rather unassuming building. A convenience store on the corner, low-price housing on the higher floors. Neither of those interested Victoria. Walking past the convenience store and down a couple of steps was a door that was badly in need of better signage.

It did have a sign, a broken one that looked like it might have lit up… ten or so years ago. Vicky needed to squint to be able to read the sign now, she doubled checked it against the map on her phone. 'The High Hat.'

Confident that this was the place, she moved through the door and was immediately transported to another world. Not literally, but the change from a quiet, afternoon urban street to a darkly lit, smokey jazz club was night and day.

Victoria walked inside, inspecting the place. It seemed fairly empty. The stage was occupied by a band who looked like she had been there awhile, playing a song Victoria had never heard but fit the general 'jazz vibe'. What few customers that were in the club were all clustered together, chatting animatedly and drinking. A few of them turned to her and shot some odd looks before turning back into their group.

Victoria had tried to dress as 'mature' as she could manage without resorting to borrowing her mother's clothing, but it was still painfully obvious that she was the youngest person in the room. Vicky waited a few seconds to see if anyone would 'tell the kid to leave' but the bartender simply nodded his head into the far corner where another young girl sat.

Lisa waved from the back seat, pointing to the bartender and holding up her glass. Victoria turned back to the bar as two more glasses were placed in front of her. The bartender didn't say anything to her, turning back to talk to the other customers at the bar, Victoria correctly assumed that the drinks were for her and Lisa, taking them as she walked off to meet her date.

"You made it," Lisa said with a smile, taking a drink from Vicky's hand. "Hope you didn't get lost… oh, well hope you didn't get too lost." Victoria was about to mention that this place was a little hard to find but obviously, Lisa's power told her that first.

"Yeah, lucky you sent me a map," Victoria said, trying not to frown at Lisa's casual use of her power. She still didn't understand exactly how it worked and it frustrated Vicky to no end. "Are you sure we're allowed to be here? I can't exactly lie about my age when I'm one internet search away from people knowing it."

Lisa waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. They won't kick us out till eight, we'll be well done by then."

Victoria relaxed a little and sat in her chair. She took a sip of her drink, some concoction of fruit juice and syrups, a virgin cocktail of some kind. A wonderful drink for someone with a sweet tooth like Victoria. Lisa gave her signature smug smile, knowing that she'd chosen the 'perfect' drink for her.

"Besides," Lisa continued, "I come here all the time for work. They wouldn't throw me out, they love me." This made Victoria choke a little on her drink. "And no," Lisa added, holding up her hand. "This isn't some 'shady club' where crime happens in the backrooms. I just come here occasionally for business meetings with… trusted associates from time to time. It's got a good atmosphere, nice drinks and the bartender will never remember we were here. Just how I like it."

"It's a nice place," Victoria said, looking around. "I've never actually been to a jazz club before, but I've seen them in movies and stuff."

"I know it isn't exactly your first pick for a date location," Lisa said, moving her chair closer to Victoria. "But you haven't told your parents about me yet, so I figured it was best to keep this on the low-key."

"I don't 'not' like it…" Vicky mumbled with some embarrassment, taking another sip of her drink. "It just not a place I'd…" She thought about what Lisa just said, "How do you know I haven't told my parents?"

"My powers told me-" Lisa began before being cut off again by Vicky.

"Oh course they did." Victoria frowned. "You know, I still have no idea how you do that."

"One of life's great mysteries I suppose." Lisa chuckled back. Vicky frowned harder. "I already told you, I read minds." She said it like it was no big deal.

"Bullshit. No one can read minds." Victoria said, "True psychics don't exist. There hasn't been a single reported parahuman who's been able to accurately read minds."

"Oh, do you want me to prove it to you again?" Lisa taunted, licking her lips after taking another sip. Victoria didn't say anything, which Lisa took as an excuse to show off. As she did before, she placed two fingers on her temple and acted as if she was focusing 'her mind's eye.' "Let me see… You are, thinking that I'm full of shit, but entertaining enough to not interrupt me."

Victoria huffed a light chuckle before she said. "Right on both counts."

"So I can read your mind," Lisa said.

"You can dramatically state the obvious." Vicky corrected.

Lisa put her hand down from her head and sighed. "Alright then." She said, rising to the challenge. This time she cleared her throat and looked directly at Victoria, to the point where Vicky was slowly becoming self-conscious of the stare.

"What are you?-" Victoria asked before Lisa launched into her 'psychic predictions.'

"You feel awkward. Nervous. This feels like a first date which isn't far from the truth. You don't know how you're supposed to act around me. You thought about kissing me when you sat down but chickened out because we've only done that once. You thought about how if I was Taylor you definitely would've kissed her before sitting down. That made you feel guilty, me saying it now makes you feel embarrassed."

Victoria blushed bright red. "I didn't… I mean, I wasn't sure if you…"

Lisa scooted even closer to Victoria and placed a hand on top of hers. "I honestly felt the same way." She admitted. "A lot of my bravado is from having a power that knows things. But this," Lisa gestured between the two of them. "Relationships in general. I don't really know how it's all supposed to work. And that scares me, it throws me off my game."

Victoria relaxed at Lisa's admission. Turned towards the girl and gently leaned in for a soft kiss. She couldn't help but giggle into the kiss, which Lisa joined in with too.

"Why does that still feel?…" Victoria asked, both to herself and Lisa.

"Weird?" Lisa finished, both girls held their smiles. "Probably because we don't know each other like we both know Taylor. But that's always why I invited you out here. To get to know you better."

"You invited me?" Victoria asked sarcastically. "I seem to remember Taylor being the one who told us to spend more time with each other. In fact, she specifically told both of us that she was busy today and that you should take me out on a date."

"Yeah yeah," Lisa said with a hand wave. "But I still picked the time and place. And sent you the very romantic invitation."

Victoria frowned mildly at that last bit. Lisa had somehow managed to not only find her school locker but broke into it sometime during the night just to place a card and rose to be waiting for her the following morning.

"What did you end up doing with the flower?" Lisa asked, exaggeratedly batting her eyes.

"Trashed it, obviously," Victoria said back with some snark. "And please don't break into my locker in the future."

"I see," Lisa said, her smile not wavering. "You kept the rose and brought it home. It's now… sitting on your desk. No wait, window sill."

"Okay, seriously. How do you know that?" Victoria asked. She held up a hand before Lisa could say she was a mind reader. "Fine, whatever. It was actually really sweet. But also a little weird. Plus I still haven't told my friends about you yet, so everyone assumed that Taylor did it."

It had been a few days since the throuple became a thing. Victoria's friends were still in the dark about Lisa. Her family, Amy excepted, were still in the dark about her being in a relationship at all. Victoria was hesitant to explain to her mother that she was dating women, let alone what a 'throuple' was, and she couldn't risk other family members spilling the news, so that meant she hadn't even told her cousins yet.

"Damn, that girl." Lisa chuckled. "Taking credit for my ideas. What is she even doing today?"

Victoria thought about that question. "Taylor? I believe she's at the mall with my sister."

"Oh?" Lisa said with a mischievous grin. "Taylor's on a date with Panacea?"

Victoria shook her head. "Eww, no. Not like that. I've been trying to get them to become friends for weeks now. I think it's finally paying off. Besides, Amy isn't even into girls."

"You weren't until you met Taylor," Lisa said back smugly.

Victoria waved the comment away. Sharing Taylor with Lisa was one thing, it was a mutual three-way relationship. One of the ground rules the trio had decided on during the throuples formation was that there wouldn't be anyone else added to the relationship. The throuple would forever stay a throuple. Obviously, there were hypotheticals, like if the trio met someone they all connected with. But Amy was her sister, it was too weird to think about that. It was never going to happen.

"Y'know…" Lisa said, thinking out loud. "I don't really know anything about your sister. I only met her the one time, and we didn't even speak. What's she like?"

Victoria ignored the obvious elephant in the room that their meeting was during the bank heist. "Amy's nice…" Vicky said. Then she thought about how Amy is viewed by other people at school. "Well, I know she can come off as a little grumpy. All the hospital work has made her antisocial which is actually really sad. Because she's actually such a sweetheart."

"Ah, the antisocial type. I know them well." Lisa chuckled, probably thinking of Taylor. "I'll keep that in mind when I get around to meeting her for real."

"Trust me," Victoria said, not realising how relaxed she'd become after Lisa 'tricked her' into talking about a positive topic. "She might come off as a little standoffish when you meet her, but give her time to warm up to you and I'm sure you'll get along. Just look at her and Taylor, they're like, the best of friends now."

----------------------------------
Brockton Bay Mall – The same time.

Amy studied every single aspect of how Taylor moved. From her stance as she stood by her side and watched their surroundings, from the look on her face to the amount of movement she was able to make. Everything was in detail in Amy's eye. Her focus was completely on Taylor's body language.

Taylor's movements were odd. The girl walked stiffly like she was uncomfortable in her own skin. Emotionally she was all over the place, easily flustered when given the spotlight, but also had the incredible ability to just 'stop having emotions' whenever she got overwhelmed. As if able to shunt them off and into some void. Amy wondered if it was related to her parahuman abilities.

Her supposed abilities were a question that Amy didn't know how to bring up. She knew that Taylor was a parahuman, but Taylor had never shown any outward signs of being a parahuman. Vicky hadn't mentioned what she could do and Amy knew it was rude to outright ask.

'What if her power had something to do with why Vicky is attracted to her?' Amy thought to herself. 'What if Taylor is a Master? Controlling Vicky with her mind, stealing her away from me!?'

Amy stared even harder at the girl, hoping to somehow recognise the signs of a human master. Taylor looked right back at her, once again acting self-conscious to a point before the emotion on her face dropped away.

Thinking about it again, Amy was confident that she would know if Vicky ever got mastered. She saw Vicky's brain every time she hugged her. If anything was ever done to her, Amy would know immediately. No, Taylor wasn't a Master, but she was still suspicious.

"S-so, what do you wanna do?" Taylor asked, coughing down her nerves as the two girls strolled through the mall.

"Dunno," Amy mumbled with a shrug. "Just do whatever you usually do."

Amy's only purpose here was to study and emulate Taylor. She first tried watching Taylor from afar at school, but somehow the girl always caught on to being seen. Amy chalked it up to her being horrible at spying on people.

So instead she followed Taylor around everywhere. It was all under the pretence of 'getting to know her better.' Taylor didn't seem to mind, much. The foolish girl was actually happy to have a new friend. Taylor eventually asked Amy to spend time with each other outside of school, which Amy accepted without much issue, Victoria was busy today with her own thing, so it wasn't like her research time was eating into her Vicky time.

Without any real plan, both girls decided to head to the mall because 'that's what the kids do, right?' Amy was admittedly hesitant to walk around the mall, it being the same place she triggered some two to three years ago. She quickly discovered, to her dismay, that this was not what Taylor usually did. She was just as antisocial as Amy was and didn't seem to have a life outside of her job unless Vicky was dragging her somewhere.

The constant parallels to her own life were a painful reminder. That it wasn't her depressive personality that kept her from having Vicky, it was something else altogether, something just out of reach.

"Uh, what about here?" Taylor asked, pointing in a random direction of the mall. "This seems… fun?"

Amy hadn't paid any attention to where they were going or where Taylor was pointing. Now Amy stood outside of an arcade, one that she hadn't been to for some years now. A part of her wanted to decline, as it was obvious that Taylor was out of her element, trying to find ways to entertain Amy. But the other half of her felt curious. This was a new environment for Taylor and would show her a side of Taylor that Amy had never seen before, perhaps would show the side that made Vicky fall for her.

Amy felt a small wave of nostalgia as she entered the arcade. Vicky had loved this place as a kid, often dragging Amy here back before either of them had hero duties. There was one game in particular that Vicky loved over all the others.

"Did you want to play that one?" Taylor asked. Amy had been staring at the machine long enough for Taylor to take notice.

Taylor stepped up to the machine before Amy could say otherwise, placing some tokens into it and gesturing for Amy to stand up next to her. Nostalgia mixed with déjà vu as Amy remembered all the times she was pulled into this stupid game by Vicky. Taylor wasn't near as forceful but urged her on all the same.

"I've never actually played this before," Taylor admitted, embarrassment evident across her face. "But it always looked like fun."

"I've played a few times," Amy mumbled, stepping up to the stage.

The machine in question was a very popular, two-player arcade game. Where you tapped specific buttons on the floor in time to a beat. Victoria loved to dance along to whatever music it would play, but Amy, being a more reserved girl, often struggled with the game.

It was an awkward sight, or so Amy imagined. The music started up and Amy quickly found herself out of pace with the beat. She wasn't terrible at the game but she missed the timing more often than she got a perfect. Victoria was always better at this game, Amy only played it as an excuse to watch her dance. There was an embarrassment about being up on the pad and kicking your feet. Even with the arcade as moderately empty as it was, Amy could feel every eye on her as she awkwardly shuffled from side to side.

'How did Vicky use to do this?' Amy thought to herself, 'Would I feel more or less silly if I swung my arms around? God, if I feel this ridiculous, I wonder how Taylor is doing?'

At that last thought, Amy turned her head to watch Taylor's side of the screen. Surprisingly, Taylor was rather talented at the game. She wasn't doing a perfect run, but she had yet to miss a step completely. Amy turned more to watch the girl and yet again, she was doing that 'weird emotion thing'.

'Definitely, a parahuman thing, that cheating cheater.'

Taylor had the most neutral poker face imaginable as if her spirit had left her body entirely. Her lower body moved with the speed and precision required to excel at the dancing game, but with none of the flair, someone who actually enjoyed themselves would give off. Taylor wasn't dancing, she was just pressing buttons with her feet, treating them with the same attention that one would give a treadmill in a gym.

After several minutes the game ended, leaving Amy gasping for breath. Taylor had almost tripled Amy's score, which made her sense of déjà vu flair up even more. This would normally be the point where a competitive Vicky would taunt Amy for being so bad at the game, but Taylor didn't puff up her chest in pride at the score on her screen.

"That was fun," Taylor said in an almost monotone voice that made Amy feel like she was lying. "Want to play something else?"

'Perhaps this is why Vicky likes her so much?' Amy thought, 'Able to try anything without complaining and lying about enjoying it. Maybe Vicky would love me if I stopped complaining about things.'

"Sure," Amy said, forcing a smile on her face. She could pretend to enjoy things. That was easy, she lied all the time. "Lead the way."

-------------------------------------------
The High Hat – An hour later

Lisa and Victoria were giggling up a storm. The bartender had to double-check that he hadn't accidentally served them alcohol. He triple-checked his work before placing two new drinks down on the girl's table.

"-and then the next day, she just brings in a puppy." Lisa laughed as she searched through her phone. "Like, she got super antsy with me as well." Lisa's deepened her voice to an approximation of Rachel's tone. "Where's Taylor? Is she done with that school thing yet? Is she coming into base today? I only have this pup for a week, where is she?"

Lisa eventually found a photo of Taylor holding the puppy in her lap as she sat on the couch. A cute, candid photo that Taylor wasn't even aware that Lisa took.

Victoria's giggles turned into exclamations of adoration. "Aww, that's so damn cute!" She cried as she took the phone from Lisa.

Loves animals. Always wanted a puppy. Never allowed one. Loves picture, thinks it's cute, thinks Taylor looks cute, wants to ask for a copy of photo but doesn't want Lisa Wilbourn to stop talking.

"But then Al- uh, Regent has been so taken with the puppy, that he's demanded-" Lisa said before switching to a pompous-sounding, exaggeration of Alec, "You can't send him back, he's become the very mascot of the Undersiders. Bringing him back to the shelter would be a crime."

Victoria chuckled again, a little softer than before.

Thinks Regent is scary. Knows that Regent is Hijack. Doesn't like thinking about him.

"So anyway, now we have this puppy around the base." Lisa continued, putting the focus of the story back on the dog. "And every time Taylor comes into work, Bitch picks up the dog and hands it to her." Both girls laughed heartily again. "Come to think of it, I don't think she ever gave him a name?"

Lisa shot off a text after she took her phone back. Vicky smiled as she felt her own phone buzz, knowing exactly what photo Lisa had sent her.

"What would you name the dog?" Vicky asked.

Want's to ask you more personal question. Wants to know the real Lisa Wilbourn. Knows you prefer to keep life private. Doesn't want to make you uncomfortable, picking silly question instead.

"I don't know…" Lisa said, thinking aloud. "Uh, Benedict?"

"Benedict?" Vicky chuckled.

"I don't know." Lisa chuckled back. "It was the first name that came to my head."

"It's a little weird, for a dog's name," Victoria said.

"Fine, I won't call him Benedict." Lisa said, "I'd call him…" There was a long pause as Lisa's smile dropped. Her voice went down to a more sombre and serious tone. "Reggie. I'd call him Reggie. I like that name."

She regretted saying the name the second it left her lips. Why did she say that? Because Victoria was looking for some personal connection? Victoria doesn't even understand the context, all Lisa had done was make herself sad. With a quick sigh, Lisa smiled again and opened her mouth to say something, anything that would change the topic.

Lisa Wilbourn planning to deflect uncomfortable topic with humour.

Lisa laughed again, it was very rare for her own power to be used on herself. Fortunately, the laugh was more disarming than whatever shitty joke Lisa was about to use.

"That's a better name." Victoria agreed, looking at the photo on her phone now. "He looks like a Reggie to me."

The name hurt less coming from Victoria's lips. Whether Vicky picked up on Lisa's discomfort or not, she placed her hand back on Lisa. A casual touch that didn't have any hidden agenda.

Likes being close to you. Enjoying your company. Picking up newfound appreciation for Jazz. Wants to kiss you again but waiting for 'the right moment'.

Okay, she had one hidden agenda. One that Lisa had no problem complying with.

She leaned in closer to Vicky and met her lips halfway. It was slow, deliberate, and sweet. They both tasted like fruit cocktails and their lips moved slowly against each other. Both of them tried to convey their intentions through every movement they made. Every kiss, every squeeze, each pull of their body.

Lisa noted how much easier her powers made dating. It was really quite a shame that she found so few people in this world attractive enough to pursue because her powers made her feel like a cheating cheater.

Victoria pulled away as the two girls stared at each other with a smile. Each kiss was getting less and less 'weird.'

"This is actually working," Vicky said. Not as a question, but as a statement to herself.

Was worried that romantic connection to Lisa Wilbourn would be cursory without Taylor around. Happy to know that there is still chemistry. Worried that she has offended Lisa Wilbourn.

Lisa chuckled again. "Apparently so." She added with a smile, letting Vicky know she wasn't alone in her worries.

"Okay, it's decided," Victoria said, gently slamming her fist on the table. "I should have done it the first night. But tonight, I tell my Mother about us, all of us."

"Just leave out the part about… y'know," Lisa said, nodding along with pride in Victoria.

"Right, of course." Victoria chuckled back. "I want her to like you, not kill you."

"Ha, you keep saying that." Lisa giggled, "But your mother wouldn't actually…"

Believes that Carol Dallon would murder any villain who got too close to her daughters.

Victoria didn't give any reply, Lisa suddenly wished she did have an alcoholic drink.

"A-anyway," Vicky said, in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Did I ever tell you why I sometimes call Amy a raccoon?"

------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Mall – Around the same time

Amy was a raccoon. Victoria had mentioned it once as a joke but Taylor never gave it much thought until now. The two sat in the mall's food court, Taylor watched as Amy hunched over her food, nibbling away at a burger with big dark circles under her eyes, tired from whatever the hell it was she got up to at night. Definitely a nocturnal creature.

"What are you looking at?" Amy asked through a mouthful of food.

"N-nothing," Taylor said back, making a small smile before returning to her own food.

Amy was rather rude when she let her guard down, not like Taylor's bullies of old, but more akin to Rachel. Which was a great contrast to her harmless, public appearance. It was yet another comparison to a raccoon for Amy, looks cute from a distance, but will bite if you try to pat it.

Taylor wasn't sure what to make of this day. Amy had taken more interest in her ever since she announced that Taylor was dating her sister. Taylor had caught her watching her several times through her bugs at school. Eventually, she decided to just ask Amy to hang out.

Amy had spent the entire time watching Taylor closely. Victoria had warned that Amy could be a little antisocial at times, but the constant staring was putting Taylor on edge. Taylor hoped that finding a shared activity that they could do would put Amy at ease and the arcade seemed like a fine idea at the time.

But then Amy went immediately to the damn dancing game. Taylor was terrified of it. Dancing? In Public? She must've looked like a total fool. Thankfully she was about to escape into her bugs, a small swarm of roaches and flies were formed nearby in the walls. If anyone had X-ray vision, they might have been able to see the swarm tremble and shake with nerves as Taylor danced away.

The next few games they played were better. It turns out that Amy could become rather competitive when the game they played wasn't a psychically intensive one, with Amy challenging Taylor in all manner of arcade shooters and racing games. That didn't necessarily mean that Amy was good at any of the games, often grumbling whenever Taylor beat her in whatever contest they were having.

Overall, Taylor had fun, and Amy… also had fun? She assumed that she did. Amy was still here, after all, she hadn't excused herself to leave just yet. They had plans to go shopping after this, as Amy was apparently interested in Taylor's 'style.' Taylor herself didn't think she had a style, only wearing the clothes that Lisa had picked out of her, but Amy insisted.

Amy finished scarfing down her food and looked at Taylor expectedly. "We going or what?" Amy asked, still finishing the last few bites of her food.

Taylor was still only halfway done with her meal, she looked back to Amy, confused. "Um, soon. Why? What's the rush?"

"No rush," Amy said, cleaning up her side of the table. Her quick movements betrayed her words.

"Is this a celebrity thing?" Taylor asked, looking around to see if there were any paparazzi or gawkers.

"No. Yes. Maybe?" Amy said, adding to Taylor's confusion. "Most people don't recognise me without the robes. But I still don't like being stuck in the open like this. It can get… annoying when people do recognise me."

Taylor could understand why that would get annoying. She wasn't that hungry, so she decided to throw away the rest of her food in favour of moving on. Amy quickly got up and waited for Taylor to return from the bins before the two headed off.

"Vicky seems to enjoy it when people recognise her," Taylor said, continuing the topic of conversation. "You don't like the spotlight then?"

"Hell no," Amy said, shaking her head. "Vicky deserves- uh, can handle all the attention and love from her fans, but I'm not that interested in that. I get enough of it at the hospital. You can only hear 'thank you for saving my life' enough times before it becomes repetitive, y'know."

Taylor nodded her head.

"And people always come up to me, wanting to shake my hand." Amy continued her rant. "My whole power is on touch, do you know what kind of shit I see every time that happens? I don't need to know every bodies medical history. It's gross. And… ah shit." Amy clicked her teeth.

"It's okay," Taylor said, thinking Amy was worried about her public image now that she was ranting. "I won't tell anyone you said that."

"What? Oh." Amy said, looking back up to Taylor. "There's just a woman coming towards us now. Probably recognised me." Amy turned fully and tried to hide her face.

Taylor was worried that she would have to somehow hide Amy from an adoring fan or the like, that worry was replaced with outright fear when she noticed who it was that was walking towards them.

"Taylor!" Barked a familiar voice as the woman caught up with them. Rachel casually strolled up to the two girls. "Thought that was you."

"R-Rachel!" Taylor said, jumping in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Taylor hadn't expected to run into any of the Undersiders while out with Amy, least of all Rachel, what the hell was she doing in the mall?

Amy poked her head out once she realised that the woman was here for Taylor and not for her. This was about to become really bad if Rachel recognised Amy or vice versa. Rachel probably didn't have a problem with Taylor spending time with a hero in her free time, but the girl was brash and confrontational, Taylor had no way of knowing how this would turn out.

"Shopping run," Rachel said. Taylor knew damn well that Rachel never did the shopping run for the Undersiders. Rachel shot a quick annoyed look before explaining some more. "Fed Brutus some steaks this morning. Alec yelled at me, said they were Brian's. Now, I gotta go replace them before he gets back."

Taylor winced, not only had she just named Rachel out loud, Rachel just named Grue and Regent while Amy was present, not that Amy knew who those names belonged to… yet.

"I got no clue where the fuck the steaks are kept." Rachel continued, "Alec wrote it down on this paper shit but I can't…" Rachel didn't finish her sentence, waving a small torn and crumbled piece of paper before shoving it in Taylor's hand.

2 X Fillet steak – 6 oz each

Amy looked at the paper from behind Taylor before looking up at the butch girl. "The butcher is that direction." She said, pointing the way Rachel had come from. "Left side, keep heading that way."

"Dammit," Rachel grunted, looking back behind her.

"Just hand them the paper, and they'll give you exactly what you need," Taylor added, hoping that Rachel would leave as quickly as she arrived.

Rachel nodded her head, pocketing the paper again. "Alright." She turned to leave, Taylor let out a small sigh of relief but found it was too soon, Rachel turned right back around.

"Also," Rachel said, looking at Taylor and then at Amy. "You one of Taylor's old friends? Who the fuck are you?" There was a threat in her question that made Taylor's heart drop.

"Who the fuck am I?" Amy asked back, offended at the exchange. "Who the 'fuck' are you?"

Rachel growled in response, a very Rachel move but strange to anyone who didn't know her. On one hand, Rachel didn't recognise Panacea, which was good, on the other hand, Rachel was picking a fight with Panacea.

"She's a friend," Taylor said, stepping in between them. "New friend. From School." Taylor turned around to Amy, who Taylor could swear was also growling. "This is Rachel… Uh, friend from work." Taylor looked between both girls. "Amy, this is Rachel. Rachel, meet Amy… please don't fight."

Both girls stared each other down for a hot minute. "Whatever," Rachel said, returning to a more relaxed stance. "You coming round the base this weekend?" She asked.

"Base?" Amy asked, confused by the wording.

"I don't know yet," Taylor said, hiding her annoyance in the casual use of the word base. "I'll drop by 'the office' when I get some time."

Rachel nodded her head. "Whatever," she said again. "Better get these damn steaks before Brian gets pissed with me." Once again, Taylor let out a quick sigh of relief. Rachel would leave, and Amy didn't hear anything damning in the conversation. "He's already annoyed that you and Lisa keep making out on the couch."

Rachel casually walked away after dropping that bombshell, leaving Taylor behind to deal with the mess.

"The fuck!?" Amy gasped.

Taylor smushed her palm into her face. "Goddammit." She sighed under her hand.

"Who the fuck is Lisa?" Amy asked, an edge of anger in her voice that Taylor had never thought possible.

"She's no one." Taylor lied. She wasn't sure if lying outright was the best approach, so she added. "She's a friend from work."

"You're making out with a 'friend from work?'" Amy asked, using finger quotes as she said it.

"No." Taylor said, lying again and unsure what the optimal direction for this conversation to be, "Fuck, I mean, it's complicated."

"Complicated!?" Amy said. "You're… you're…"

"So, it's like this," Taylor said, quickly trying to explain the situation. "I'm dating Vicky, and I'm also dating Lisa."

"Cheater!" Amy said, pointing an accusatory finger at Taylor. "You're a dirty, not good, cheating… cheater!"

Amy went through several different variations of anger but also the occasional smile which was odd. Eventually, she settled on some disturbing middle ground between the two emotions.

"Amy, wait. I'm not explaining it right." Taylor called out as Amy moved away from her.

"No need!" Amy said, "Stay away from my sister you… cheating bitch!" Amy smiled as she said that.

Taylor tried not to be too offended by the insult. She understood where Amy was coming from, and how bad it must look from her perspective. It still hurt, all the same, to have her newest friend call her a bitch. She watched as Amy ran off, Taylor could've given chase and explained it all, but she assumed that Victoria would explain it better.

She could only hope that Amy could forgive her tomorrow and that they could become friends again.

---------------------------------
Dallon Residence – Later

Cheating. Taylor Hebert was cheating.

That bitch, that absolute fucking heartless witch. Did that girl have any idea how good she had it? Did she know that people would kill to be with Vicky? That Amy would kill to be with Vicky?

And she took it all for granted. Because of some slut named Lisa.

Amy wanted to hit her. Wanted to scream at her and yell at her but most of all…
Amy wanted to thank her.

It was perfect. Taylor Hebert was cheating, all Amy had to do was tell Vicky what was happening and then she'd be all hers.

Sure, Victoria would be sad, and that will hurt to watch. She didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, she didn't want Vicky to suffer at all. But Amy would be here to comfort her every step of the way.

Soon, Vicky would forget about that awful, no-good girl. And then maybe, when she was ready for a rebound. She'll notice the similarities Amy had to Taylor. Maybe notice how much better she is than Taylor. And then…

Amy giggled with delight.

Knocking on Vicky's door, Amy slid it open and peeked inside. Vicky was sitting by her window, playing with a rose she had been given today.

"What's up, Ames?" Vicky said with a smile. "Oh, how was your day with Taylor? Did you get that shirt you wanted?"

The poor girl was so love-struck, but Amy had to do this, for Vicky's sake. Amy took in a deep breath and stepped inside.

"About that…" Amy said, putting as much care into her voice as she could. "Vicky? I found out something about Taylor. Something you're not going to like…"

Vicky stiffened. She was taking Amy seriously, that was good. She already prepared a whole speech on why Vicky should believe Amy over her new girlfriend.

"O-oh? Really?" Vicky asked, sweat forming on her forehead. "What kind of things."

"Things about her work. And what she does." Amy said, feeling angry on Vicky's behalf.

Amy could've sworn she heard Vicky mutter, "Oh shit." But her sister held her smile and waited for Amy to continue.

"This girl came right up to us today," Amy explained. "Big butch woman with short hair. Really grumpy bitch." Vicky's eyes looked panicked, though Amy wasn't sure why. "Think her name was Rachel or something, doesn't matter. She and Taylor talked for a bit and when she left, she mentioned that Taylor made out with a 'Lisa' on their couch at work." Amy made a gesture with her hands that said 'Can you believe this shit?'

"Is that all?" Vicky asked, sighing in relief.

"Is that all!?" Amy said, flabbergasted. "Vicky, Taylor's cheating on you!"

Vicky stood to a hover and placed a finger to her own lips. Amy was confused, at both the gesture and Vicky's non-reaction.

"Look… Ames," Vicky said, trying to find the words. "I know about Lisa." Amy looked up in surprise. "I actually met with her today. That's what I was doing."

"You know?" Amy asked, not understanding Vicky's calmness. She'd been jealous over more petty things Dean had done in the past. How could she be so calm right now?

"I've been trying to think of how to tell everyone," Vicky said, nervousness evident in her voice. "I was planning on telling you all tonight, honest."

"Telling us what?" Amy asked.

"Lisa… And Taylor." Vicky said, fighting the urge to smile and failing. "I'm dating them both. We all are. It's a… well Lisa called it a throuple? It's when three people-"

Amy might've blacked out, she wasn't really sure. Vicky kept talking, kept explaining but none of it made sense. The world didn't make any sense. Vicky was dating Taylor, and Vicky was dating Lisa. Who the hell was Lisa? Where did she come from? Was she another girl like Taylor? What made Lisa so special? Why couldn't it be Amy instead?

"-so I'm sorry for any confusion Taylor, Lisa and I caused you." Vicky continued, Amy only catching the end of her explanation. "I know that you were only looking out for me. And I love you for that."

Vicky squeezed Amy in with a hug, and Amy hugged back. For the second time this week, her heart had been pulled from her chest and smashed by another woman.

"Are you okay, Ames?" Vicky asked, pulling back and looking at her stupefied sister.

"Yeah…" Amy lied, trying to find a good excuse for why her eyes might look sad. "I might have said some mean things to Taylor." A pathetic excuse, but one Vicky bought.

"It's okay," Vicky said, giving Amy another squeeze. "We can apologise to her next time we see her. I'm sure she'll understand." Vicky let go and looked Amy over. "Come on, let's help Mom set the table. I've got to tell her and Dad the good news. I'll need the support."

Amy was gently pulled out of the room and down the stairs, transported into a whole new world. A hellish world. A world where Vicky was dating two women and neither of them was her.

 

[Subby]

Gods, on one hand Amy is trying to use the misery of her sister for her own goals, on the other hand I can't stop feeling sorry for her

 

[Radek]

Usually it goes "Being Taylor Is Suffering", this time "Being Amy Is Suffering."

So, what odds do we give on Carol's possible reactions?

 

[Dradel]

Don't ever give up Amy! What you actually gotta do is play up the ''adopted'' angle! It's not incest if you say ''no chromo''!

Or you know, stop being a degenerate and find a more healthy crush, but that's lame.

 

[Delorean08]

Fucking hell, you have to feel sorry for the girl at this point.

 

[Crazael]

Usually it goes "Being Taylor Is Suffering", this time "Being Amy Is Suffering."

So, what odds do we give on Carol's possible reactions?

Click to shrink...

Given that I don't think she's told her about Taylor, let alone Lisa, I could see her being tentatively positive about it, not wanting to seem homophobic or anything, but then she does some background checks and things start to go downhill.

 

[Delorean08]

Usually it goes "Being Taylor Is Suffering", this time "Being Amy Is Suffering."

So, what odds do we give on Carol's possible reactions?

Click to shrink...

Carol is all about being safe and having control so she's safe. I assume she'll impart that lesson to Victoria and talk to her about how dangerous and how quickly these polygamous relationshipss can spiral out of control. I don't think she'll care that much about the yuri thing, especially since Legend is around. She'll also be resistant to Victoria having a relationship with a new person because Dean is familiar, and Dean is safe.

 

[Gowonzu]

Dallon Residence – Dinner

"Victoria, No flying in the house."

"Sorry, Mom," Victoria called back, her feet touching the ground as she sat down. She was the first one in the room, hovering over the dining table to get to her side. Vicky expertly flew into her chair and waited for the rest of the family to join her.

Amy waddled out of the kitchen shortly after carrying her own plate of food. Sitting next to Victoria, she had to walk around the table and pull out her chair like a regular person. Victoria could hear Amy grumbling under her breath about 'being a showoff.'

Carol and Mark entered the dining room together, sitting opposite their daughters. Victoria noted that her father was in a good mood today, which was always a pleasure to see.

The family started to dig into their nightly meal. It didn't take long before Carol said her usual rounds of questions.

"So, girls?" Carol said between bites. "How was school today?"

"Good."

"Fine…"

Both girls said back. Carol nodded along, satisfied with their usual answers. "And I noticed neither of you came home till late? What did you get up to after school?" Victoria shifted in her chair but noted that Carol's eyes focused more on Amy as she said that.

Amy quickly swallowed her food and cleared her throat. "Uh, I went out. To the mall. With friends, uh, a friend. To the mall with a friend, ma'am."

Victoria never liked how tense Amy got whenever she spoke with Mom. She knew that they didn't have the best relationship in the world but the way Amy would speak to her sounded more like she was addressing Director Piggot rather than her own Mother.

"A friend?" Carol asked, Victoria detected a hint of suspicion in that question. Carol was about to say something before Mark pipped up.

"A friend," Mark said with a smile. "That's great Amy. Are they a friend from school?"

Victoria smiled at the question. On the days when their Dad was in a good mood, he tried extra hard to be involved in their lives. As if trying to make up for all the off days by giving 200% more energy.

"Yeah," Amy said, looking between Mark and Victoria. She was still processing everything that had just happened. Amy got home thinking her 'new friend' was a lying, cheating bitch only to discover that it wasn't the case. Vicky was impressed with how quickly she could compartmentalise her prior feelings and go back to calling Taylor her friend. "She's a girl in my class. Hangs out with us at lunch. Vicky…" She didn't know how to explain the connection without outing Victoria so she didn't finish the sentence.

Both parents shared a look with each other the moment Amy said 'She's a girl.' Amy herself was too busy playing with her food to notice but Victoria picked up on the odd moment. She put that away in her brain as an 'ask Dad about it later' moment.

"She's a friend we've been spending time with," Victoria added, knowing that Carol would complain if Amy left a sentence unfinished. "I invited her to sit with us a couple of weeks back now, but she's in Amy's grade."

"And does this young lady have a name?" Carol asked, directing the question at Vicky.

"Taylor," Victoria responded with a smile.

"Taylor?" Carol repeated. Thinking to herself before shifting her gaze back to Amy. Victoria wasn't exactly sure what her mother was asking but Amy seemed to understand, nodding back in confirmation. "I see. Well, I'm glad to hear you girls have a new friend."

Mark nodded in agreement then turned to Victoria. "And what about you, Victoria? What did you get up to today?"

Victoria stiffened again in her seat. She was mentally preparing herself for this moment but now that it arrived, all of Vicky's plans of attack flew away from her.

"Uh, me?" Victoria said, scratching her neck and looking between Amy and her parents. "I was actually… on a… date?"

"Oh?" Carol said, a small smile forming on her face. "That's lovely, Victoria. Where did Dean take you this time?"

Of course, she'd assume that. It was only natural to assume that any date she'd go on would be with Dean, even if the last one was months ago.

"Actually…" Victoria said, clearing her throat and steadying herself. "It wasn't with Dean. We actually broke up. The other week. Officially. We've been apart for months now. But… yeah."

Carol's smile broke back down to her usual, neutral position. Mark looked with worry at his wife before his smile returned.

"Ah, so a new guy," Mark said, pushing forward. "Come on, let's hear it. Who are they? What are they like? Are you seeing them again? Must be pretty serious by the way you're blushing." Mark let out a soft chuckle. Victoria looked away, somewhat embarrassed for being so easily readable. "Do I have to give them the whole 'Shotgun Dad' speech?"

Victoria shook her head with a nervous chuckle. "No, no. No need for that. And you're right. It is serious. We're uh… It's a new, relationship? It started on Monday. I probably should've told you about it then. But uh… The thing is…" She took a deep breath, thinking about how welcoming her friends were at school, and how happy Amy was for her. She could do this, she could tell her parents. "Mom, Dad. I'm gay."

It's an important moment when a child comes out to their family. How everyone reacts can determine the relationship they'll have going forward. Her parents were silent, they both looked at Victoria, at first in shock, perhaps disbelief and then to each other. Neither spoke and yet they both appeared to have some kind of conversation from eye contact alone.

Mark turned back to Victoria, studying her over. Victoria stared back, hoping to convey how serious this statement was for her. It took all of five seconds and yet it felt like an eternity for Vicky's beating heart.

Finally, with a glimmer in his eye that probably meant 'I'm so glad that I have the energy today,' Mark's lips twitched into a smile, as he said the first words that came to mind, the words that every man in his position was supposed to say at this pivotal moment in their child's life.

"Hello, Gay. I'm Dad."

All three women groaned at the joke, Carol lightly slapping the man. Mark chuckled to himself as he rubbed his shoulder, this was the happiest Victoria had seen the man in a long time.

"Dad, this is serious," Victoria whined, a smile held on her face. The bad joke was as welcoming as any hug and she wouldn't trade it for the world. "I was on a date today. With a woman… My girlfriend. I was on a date with my girlfriend."

Amy made some kind of face and turned away, Victoria knew she already accepted her 'coming out,' so she assumed it was more to do with Amy not knowing Lisa and trying to hold off on her judgement.

"That's lovely." Mark said, "What did you get up to?"

"She invited me into this club," Victoria said, relaxing as she spoke. "A jazz club, in the city. We just talked, drank virgin cocktails and shared cute pictures with each other." She noted how high Carol's eyebrow rose when she mentioned a 'club' and 'virgin cocktails.' "Oh, she's around my age. A little younger, I think? Her name's Lisa."

Mark nodded along cheerfully, "And who is this, L-"

"Did anyone see you?" Carol cut in. The upbeat mood was halted in its path.

"What?" Victoria asked, unsure of the question.

"Did anyone see you in this club, with this… Lisa? Was it?" Carol asked again.

"Um… No?" Victoria said, thinking back. "I mean, there were a few people there, but no one really paid us any attention."

"Alright then," Carol said, nodding to herself. "Good."

"Good?" Victoria asked, trying not to sound too offended.

Carol sighed as if she was disappointed in Victoria for sounding upset with her. "I just want you to be safe. You should've come to us the second you knew. Then we could discuss these things. Who else knows about this?" Carol looked to Amy, and the younger girl shank back instinctively. "Did you?"

"Uh, she… on Tuesday," Amy mumbled, shrinking into her seat.

"I already told our friends. Dean, Carlos and the lot." Victoria said, pulling the attention away from Amy. "Discuss what things? And why should I care if people see us." This was as frustrating as when Dean acted sceptical to her announcement, but where Dean had the bitter excuse of jealousy, Carol was doing what? Being dismissive? Overprotective? She never cared this much when Vicky started dating Dean. Hell, Carol wanted them to be seen together.

"I think what your mother means is," Mark said, inserting himself back into the conversation. "That Brockton Bay has some… unsavoury elements, who would look down on this kind of relationship."

"You mean the Empire?" Victoria asked, sardonically. Everyone at the table looked uncomfortable, the Empire wasn't a popular talking point in the Dallon household for good reason.

"Among other people, yes." Mark continued, patting Carol's hand apologetically. "While we're both very proud of you and your life choices, we just want you to be safe." Carol looked intently at Mark, "And we wish that you came to us sooner, so we could discuss… precautions."

"Precautions?"

"Look, your mother and I... no one here ever wants to dictate who you can and can't date," Mark said, both Carol and Amy let out a small huff. "But being a public figure in this city. It can be dangerous. As a family, we're prepared to handle it, but any… outside relations might not be aware, or ready for whatever could happen."

"Plus, what do you really know about this, Lisa?" Carol added. "Hmm? Why is this the first time I'm hearing her name? Is she another new friend at school?"

A sudden fear came into Victoria's mind. Of her mother conducting a deep and thorough background check on both Lisa and Taylor. Finding out all their villainous secrets and deciding to arrest them, or worse.

"No, she's a friend of a friend." Vicky blurted out. "Of Taylor's. Taylor's work friend."

"Work friend?" Carol asked, "And where do they?-"

"Internship. Fortress Construction." Vicky shot back before Carol could finish. Taylor had mentioned her fake job enough time to the rest of the lunch table for Vicky to remember that much about the cover story.

"I see," Carol said. Victoria hoped that whoever ran Fortress Construction looked as clean as possible because Carol Dallon was no doubt about to requisition two employee records as soon as she could.

"Also…" Victoria said, figuring it was time to rip the band-aid off. "I wasn't sure how to bring this up. But since I already mentioned Taylor…" She took another breath, "I'm kinda dating her too…"

This statement caused some obvious confusion among her parents. Mark's smile broke as he tried to compute what was just said, and Vicky swore that her Mother's eyes twitched a little before falling back to her neutral position.

"Explain?" Carol asked, keeping her tone passive but firm.

"Well uh…" Victoria said, feeling very self-conscious. "Originally I was only interested in Taylor, but she had this friend, Lisa who also liked her. We didn't get along that well at first but after spending time with her while planning a… surprise party? Anyway, It turned out that Lisa was an… interesting woman. And then we both asked out Taylor on the same day, purely by chance. But Taylor didn't want to compromise our friendship by picking one of the other. So Lisa introduced us to the idea of a throuple, where all three of us date each other. But then Taylor was worried that Lisa and I didn't like each other the same way we liked her so I went on a date alone with Lisa today."

She sighed after getting all that out of her. Vicky looked to Amy for emotional support, unfortunately, the traitorous sister was casually eating her dinner, staring off into space, acting as if on 'autopilot.'

"So to be clear," Carol said after taking it all in. "You're currently dating two women at the same time. This Taylor, from school. And Lisa, her friend from work?"

"C-correct," Vicky said, trying to stand tall at her mother's possible judgement.

"Taylor… Hebert?" Carol asked, her eyes flicked briefly to Amy who was still spacing out before looking back to Victoria.

"Correct?" Vicky said, unsure of just how her mother knew that name.

"And Lisa?…" Carol asked, expecting a last name.

"Wilbourn," Victoria said, trying not to cringe at revealing Lisa's full name. She knew that she'd have to tell her mother about her, Lisa had consented to be publicly named, but even still, it felt off.

"Well then…" Carol said, looking at Mark. Both parents nodded wordlessly to each other before Carol turn back to Victoria. "Have them come round tomorrow. For lunch. We'd like to meet them. Get to know them."

"Oh.. okay," Victoria said, looking between her parents suspiciously. Mark's smile returned, finding the whole thing humorous while Carol was no doubt burning the name 'Lisa Wilbourn' into her brain to research later tonight.

Amy snapped out of her stupor to speak. "Uh, weren't we doing?… y'know tomorrow." She asked Carol, a tinge of hope in Amy's voice.

"We'll go over medical law in the home office instead," Carol said back, causing Amy to wilt again. "I expect you out of bed bright and early."

"I guess I'll tell them the good news," Victoria said, holding her phone up. Carol held a 'no phones at the dinner table' look until Vicky put her hand back down into her pocket. "After dinner, I mean." She returned to eat a few bites before looking up at her father. "So, what were these precaution thingies?"

"Well," Mark said, swallowing his food. "In the event that one of you turned out to be…" He made a gesture with his hands to Victoria but oddly enough both parents looked at Amy. "We'd invite your partner, or in this case, partners over. And explain this situation and the dangers. Work out strategies for safety, and how we're gonna handle the press and PR. Nothing to worry about really. We'll try not to scare them off or embarrass you too much."

Victoria nodded along, making a mental note to warn both Taylor and Lisa ahead of time. Tomorrow was going to be an awkward day.

"So, these girls. Lisa and Taylor." Mark said, trying to calm Victoria's nerves. "Tell us about them."

Victoria's face lit up as she started to talk about her two favourite people, avoiding mentions of any 'criminal activities.'

------------------------------------------------
Hebert Residence – Night

Taylor looked at the message on her phone. Vicky had told her parents, and Amy, about their relationship. It sounded like they were rather accepting and her parents wanted to meet both girls for a weekend lunch.

Taylor wasn't exactly excited to march right into a superhero family lunch but for Victoria, she would do anything. She confirmed the time and place, telling Victoria that she'd meet her there tomorrow.

"Woah, what's got you in such a good mood," Danny asked with a weak smile. He looked down at the phone in Taylor's hand but didn't say anything about it.

"Uh, just some stuff," Taylor said, unsure of what to tell him, or how.

Her father had been something of an absent parent ever since Mom died. Not that he wasn't there for Taylor, more that he wasn't emotional there anymore. Taylor didn't blame him, she felt the same way for a long time, doubly so after the locker incident. It was only recently, thanks to the help of Lisa and Victoria, that she was learning how to feel 'normal' again.

"Some friends invited me out tomorrow," Taylor explained, putting her phone away. Even if her father didn't say anything about the phone, she felt it was rude to use it in his presence. "I'm having lunch, don't know when I'll be home."

"That's good," Danny said with a half smile. "Be safe. Have fun. Let me know when you're on your way home."

Taylor noted how her father had been smiling more and more recently. Something good must be happening in his life to cause it. She wasn't sure what it was though. Was she a bad daughter for never asking? Could she try reaching out? Extending an olive branch or something?

"What about you?" Taylor asked after much internal deliberation. "Uh, good mood and all. You're smiling… Kinda."

Danny huffed as he looked back at his daughter. "I'm just… happy that you're happy." Usually, that would be the end of their conversation. They exchanged pleasantries, they had no need to talk to each other until tomorrow, Danny would let Taylor go read a book in her room or whatever she got up to. Today, Danny sat down on Taylor's bed and turned to speak again. "Ever since… Winslow… Well, I was worried about how they were treating you in Arcadia. But you seem to be doing better, right?"

Taylor nodded her head, unsure about her father's attempt at conversation but also, not wanting it to stop. "Yeah. It's been… better."

Danny nodded his head again. The conversation quickly died off. Neither Hebert knew what to do, they had spent so long being empty shells of themselves, casual conversation wasn't either of their strong suits.

"I made some new friends." Taylor finally said, cutting through the awkward silence. "At school, not just at work."

"Oh yeah?" Danny said, urging her to speak more about them.

"Yeah. There's Vicky, and her sister Amy," Taylor said, counting off her new friends. "Dennis, Carlos and Dean. Also Alice and Jessica. We all have lunch together. Most of them are in the grade above mine, except for Amy."

"Tell me about them," Danny said, his weak smile building strength.

"Well, Amy can be a little… grumpy." Taylor said, "We got into a fight today over a misunderstanding, so I hope we can get along tomorrow. Alice and Jessica are nice enough, they talk a lot about school gossip which I don't really care for, but they're not mean, just… nosy. Dean is… honestly I don't talk to him too much, but Carlos and Dennis are cool enough. Dennis is funny, though I'd never admit that to his face. And Vicky is-"

Danny's smile grew ever wider as he watched Taylor light up. It was still a weak smile, all things considered but one filled with pride.

"Oh, Vicky, is Victoria. Dallon. The uh, hero. Glory Girl." Taylor added. Taylor broke her own rule about waving phones in her father's face to find a photo of Victoria. She settled on a selfie she took that featured her, Vicky and Lisa. Taken at the end of the date that the throuple was established.

Danny didn't even doubt Taylor but was nonetheless impressed to see a photo of her hanging out with the Glory Girl.

"That's wonderful, little owl," Danny said, reaching out for Taylor but stopping midway.

Taylor could see the awkward hand movement through her bugs, her father's arm hovered behind her for a time. She casually moved her head into her father's shoulder, initiating a clumsy hug for the two.

"And who's this?" Danny asked, pointing to the other blonde girl on Taylor's phone.

"That's Lisa. From work." Taylor said, smiling at the photo before feeling bad about holding the phone. "I've told you about her before."

"You have." Danny agreed. He'd never seen a photo of her, but Taylor had made mentions when she started working for Fortress Construction. Danny wasn't sure how to feel about Taylor getting a job without even mentioning it to him but wouldn't complain when Taylor started chipping in for bills and groceries. "You three look very happy here. I take it those two are your best friends?"

Danny could remember a similar photo of Taylor and Emma that used to sit by Taylor's bedside. A photo that had one day disappeared without a word.

"Yes," Taylor said with a smile, a full smile that Danny hadn't seen for some years. "Actually we're…" Taylor began before cutting herself off. She pulled herself away from the hug and sat up straight. After a few seconds of silence, Taylor finally said, "Dad."

"What is it?" Danny asked, feeling the tension shifting.

"I have something that I should tell you," Taylor said, looking back at him with a powerful purpose. "Something I probably should've said a while ago. I just didn't know how to explain it to you, or what you'd think of me. But it's a part of me, it guides my every thought, my every action. It's at the core of who I am. And I'm sorry that I didn't say anything sooner, and that this will come as a shock to you."

There was another few seconds of silence, Danny didn't dare speak out of fear of interrupting his daughter.

"I…" Taylor said, taking a steadying breath. "Am gay."

Danny looked at his daughter, who didn't shrink away from the statement in the slightest. Then he looked around the room, from the new clothes she bought because Lisa said she 'looked cute,' to the giant posters of Alexandria, Miss Militia and Narwhal on her wall, to the straight-up rainbow pride flag stickers that adorned her study desk.

"Yeah…" Danny said, trying not to make light of what was a serious situation. "Your mother and I had a feeling that you might be." Taylor frowned partially at the statement but relaxed in her stare. "I'm very proud of you, little owl. As would be your mother."

Taylor moved to initiate another hug, this time using both arms. Danny put in the extra effort to properly hug her back. After yet another few seconds of silence, Danny spoke up again.

"I take it this announcement has to do with one of your friends?" Danny said, looking back at the photo on Taylor's phone. "Are you perhaps?…" Taylor nodded into the hug. "So, which one is it? Lisa or Vicky?"

Taylor mumbled her answer, causing Danny to mumble a 'what?' on his own.

Pulling her head free of the hug, Taylor said again. "B-both. I'm dating both of them. We all are. It's this thing c-called a-"

"Like a throuple?" Danny said, looking back at his daughter.

Taylor balked, looking back at her father in amazement. "H-how did you know about those?"

Danny let out a little chuckle, shaking his head as he did. "You really are your Mother's daughter."

"W-what?" Taylor asked. The realisation dawned on her. "Mom? She had… was in… Wait, with you?"

Danny held up his hands in surrender. "Woah, hey." He chuckled disarmingly, "No. Not with me. But she did roll with some pretty interesting people when I first met her. Personally, I prefer my relationships a bit more… traditional, but so long as everyone treats each other with respect, then that's all you really need."

Taylor giggled back softly. The overwhelming acceptance hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd often throw her excess emotions off into her bugs whenever it got too much for her, on top of promising herself never to cry whenever Lisa or Vicky hugged her. But Dad was different, she made no promises, she used no powers.

Danny held her daughter close, stroking her hair as she hid her face. He could feel the trickle of tears on his shirt but knew in his heart that nothing was wrong at this moment. Danny wondered which box held Annette's old diaries and if Taylor would be interested in reading them.

Once Taylor was ready to talk again, Danny turned back to his daughter and wiped her eyes.

"So, these girls. Lisa and Vicky. Tell me about them."

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

Undersiders Base – Late Night

Lisa couldn't sleep. She didn't know why she chose to sleep in her Undersider bedroom over her actual one, yet here she was. She looked over the texts she'd received, one from an overexcited Victoria who thanked her for a fabulous date, told her parents about their relationship and invited both girls over to meet the family.

Then a little later, she got another message from Taylor, who had told her father the same thing and was met with overwhelming acceptance and love.

Both texts made her smile. Both filled her with a warm joy in her heart. To know that both her girlfriends were accepted for who they were, and all the happier for it. They deserved it.

But deep down, both texts also made Lisa a little bit sad.

The Undersiders were a family, of sorts. They were moderate to very accepting of Lisa and Taylor. Brian might still have qualms about Glory Girl, but he accepted the relationship in general without much fanfare.

But there was another family on Lisa's mind. A family that Lisa had sworn to never think of again, and yet here she was. She had no parents to come out to, they were long gone from her life.

Even if they weren't, would they be accepting?

Probably not. Lisa's parents… Sarah's parents were awful people. She could imagine their disappointing looks and invasive questions. They might've been homophobic, Lisa couldn't even remember.

No, there was no love and acceptance to be found there.

Lisa pulled herself up from the bed, moving to leave the bedroom. It wouldn't help to wallow in self-pity, that was more of Taylor's thing.

Lisa walked into the main living space of the base, none of the other members were awake at this hour. Lisa had almost wished to find Alec still up, watching a movie on the couch. His bedroom door was shut, they all were except for one.

Rachel slept with her door open. The dogs would sometimes wake up and trot about the room, and if the door was closed, they would scratch it. Lisa looked into the room to find Rachel passed out with three dogs curled up on her bed.

Only three? Their new mascot was missing.

Lisa walked closer to take a closer peek into the room, not daring to step in. She knew that if Rachel found her watching her sleep, Lisa would get throttled. She couldn't see the puppy anywhere.

Two soft paw pressers into the back of her leg told Lisa exactly where the pup was. Lisa turned around a picked up the dog.

Recently peed on Alec's shoe. Likes Alec, marking territory.

Lisa stifled a giggle at that little titbit of information.

"You're a lil terror, ain't ya boy?" Lisa whispered to the pup. The dog yawned in response. "Right at home here then."

Lisa considered putting the dog down but decided to take it back into her room instead. Rachel didn't seem to mind all the times Alec kidnapped him, it was Lisa's turn to cuddle with him.

The puppy didn't mind at all being carried and placed on Lisa's bed. Lisa laid down beside the dog and gently stroked its fur. The dog looked back at Lisa, too tired to attempt to lick her, but not tired enough to fall asleep just yet.

"We still haven't given you a name yet, have we?" Lisa said, thinking back to her earlier conversation with Victoria. "Vicky was right. You do look like a Reggie."

The puppy- Reggie's ears twitched at the name. "You're a good boy, Reggie," Lisa said, the name feeling better each time she said or thought it.

Likes sound combination. Finds Lisa Wilbourn's voice relaxing

Lisa smiled and gently rubbed Reggie's chin.

It still caused her pain, but a pain that had no one to deflect from. For the first time in a long time, she realised that she could speak to someone and just be herself.

"I miss you," Lisa said, still petting the dog but talking past him. "I still think of you from time to time. I try to imagine how you would look like now... how you'd sound. And I know it's been years… God, has it been that long already?"

Lisa could already feel the emotion in her throat as she spoke. The odd sniffle in her nose, the wetness in her eyes.

"Some days I get scared, I think that I'll… forget what your face looked like, or how you sounded when you laugh. And I don't know if that'll be better or worse for me. Maybe in a few years, I'll hear your name and only think about this dog… Would I still smile then? Or would I?…"

Lisa didn't finish that thought, sniffling her nose before moving on to a happier topic.

"Hey, Reggie. Guess what?… I'm gay. I'm so gay. I'm like… I have two girlfriends, so that's double the amount of gay, right? That's how that works. I know you used to tease me about that. Very rude by the way, calling people gay as an insult. But I guess you were right." Lisa chuckled at her own joke. "I don't know if you'd be proud of me if you were here, or-"

Reggie, the puppy leaned forward and licked Lisa across the nose. A single lick before yawning and curling up again. It was Lisa's breaking point. She pulled Reggie in closer and start weeping. The poor puppy looked a little concerned. Lisa felt bad for crying in front of Reggie, but she couldn't stop the flow of tears anymore. She cried into his fur, the puppy letting it happen for as long as Lisa needed.

Eventually, Lisa pulled away after she ran dry of tears. Her entire body felt heavy and tired.

Weakly, Lisa spoke again. Her voice was on the edge of sleep. "I wish you could meet them. You'd get on so well with Vicky. And Taylor. She's a little shy but… I think I…"

Both girl and dog fell asleep. Comforted by each other's warmth. A smile on both of their faces.

 

[Jiven]

Dawww.

This version of Lisa need cuddles from her girls.

 

[Shard_486]

Good chapter, author person!

 

[doomlord9]

The real question now is who Annette's partners were. Like her daughter, she likely was the middle of a villian/hero pair.

Obviously Lustrum was one, so her Villian was the serious and determined one, so that leaves the Hero as the energetic, smug, and infuriating of the two.

Which would be Mouse Protector. She left the Protectorate because she got to see them from the other side while with Annette and Lustrum.

Now with the omake written we just need Taylor to notice a hidden compartment in her mom's stuff, which has a treasured video of Lustrum and Mouse Protector doing something rather similar to Annette.

 

[space turtle]

Reggie is the bestest boy.
Bitch is gonna be so pleased with herself.

She's gotten both Lisa and Alec to emotionally bond with something.

Even Jessica Yamada would struggle to achieve that kind of progress.
Puppy therapy works yo!

Now to ensure the coming lunch doesn't turn into a running battle through one of the nice neighbourhoods.

"You wicked villain! Stop trying to entice my Daughter to evil!!!"
*Cue the throuple staring in horror as Amy gets chased down the street by Carol*

0.0 o.o 8.8

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This ended up being way longer than I intended it to be, so I split the chapter at just the right moment.

---

Brockton Bay Streets – Late Morning

Taylor felt underdressed, she wore her usual get-up of jeans and a casual green shirt. More accustomed to hiding away, Taylor had very few outfits that didn't include layers. Not ideal with the seasons changing, the late spring heat invalidating all of Taylor's preferred clothing styles.

Lisa had picked out the pants, as Taylor was used to dressing in a manner that hid away from prying eyes. often favouring baggy clothing that would blend into a crowd. She'd much preferred the colder months, where she could have an additional jacket or the like to hide the shape of her body.

Taylor had several jackets and hoodies that would've been fine to wear out, that would've made her feel, perhaps not confident, but comfortable. She didn't know what to wear during the warmer months of the year. She wasn't the type of girl who enjoyed showing skin, so any form of dress or skirt was immediately discarded from potential outfit ideas.

Makeup was another avenue that caused Taylor to worry. Walking now, Taylor wondered if she should've attempted it again. Did this count as a date? Would Victoria's family judge her for dressing so plainly? Did she even know how to correctly apply make-up anymore? She didn't wear any, never had, not seriously anyway. There had been moments in her childhood when she experimented with it. Memories of her and Emma stealing Aunt Zoe's lipstick hit her with the sharp pain of nostalgia. A pleasant memory that was barbed with betrayal, tainted like all her memories with Emma.

Shaking the thoughts off, Taylor focused on her current life. She had enough worries in reality, the ongoing nerves of meeting Victoria's parents and having lunch with a family of heroes, she didn't need to add her depressive nostalgia to the mix.

Walking up to the meeting spot, Taylor had already spotted Lisa waiting for her. The bugs had caught eyes on the girl for some time as Taylor approached, she was sitting on a bench, looking down at her feet. It wasn't until Taylor had her own eyes on the girl did she realised how pretty she was today.

Lisa was wearing a very colourful, sun dress. The purple floral pattern of the dress complimented the bright colour of her hair. Hair that was tied neatly behind her as per Lisa's usual civilian fashion. The dress's short sleeves and flare left plenty for Taylor to gawk at, not that it was too short or risque. It was a far bolder fit than anything Taylor dare wear, but Lisa pulled it off perfectly.

"Taylor!" Lisa said with a wave. She stood up from where she sat and walked over to meet her halfway. As she approached, Taylor could see the light touches of foundation, mascara and lip gloss across Lisa's face. "Good morning," Lisa said with cheer as she embraced Taylor.

"Morning, Lise," Taylor said, hugging her back. Her previous worries about being underdressed were now doubled after seeing Lisa.

She already knew that Lisa was the prettier girl out of the two of them, it wasn't any surprise. But knowing that they were both about to be judged by Victoria's parents, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Taylor didn't want to be jealous, it was an emotion she quickly buried deep down as she enjoyed the hug.

Lisa brought Taylor back to the seat she was waiting on. A bus stop that they would take to get to the Dallon's house. Lisa could drive, however, questions of how Lisa learned to drive and how she could afford the car she had were things that they both agreed should be avoided in today's lunch. Instead, they waited for the bus.

"Don't be so nervous." Lisa chuckled, patting Taylor on the leg. Taylor wasn't aware that she was showing her nerves but then she remembered who she was sitting with. "I'm sure it'll be fine. We get on great with Vicky, you're already friends with Amy. I'm sure her parents are just as nice."

"I know," Taylor said, looking at Lisa's hand. "I just… Want to make a good impression." She turned her head back up to look at Lisa. "Speaking of which, you."

"Me?" Lisa asked, her vulpine grin already aware of what Taylor was going to say.

"I know you only have two modes," Taylor continued, giving Lisa a flat look. "Smug or charming. So I'm hoping that you'll play nice and be on your best behaviour today."

Lisa shot a mock-offended look at Taylor. "I'll have you know, that people find my smugness very charming. It's how I won you over." Taylor held her disproving look at Lisa's grin. Lisa rolled her eyes before speaking again. "Taylor, of course, I'll be on my best behaviour. I'm not looking to start a fight with Brandish." Taylor relaxed and let out a sigh of relief, Lisa chuckled at her girlfriend's reaction. They both fell silent for a short moment before Lisa looked over, smiling gently at Taylor. "Hey, you look cute, you know that right?"

"Oh… thanks," Taylor mumbled into a blush. "You look beautiful today. I mean most days… you always look good. But today especially… you're really pretty." Taylor felt a sudden pang of guilt as she realised she was too busy comparing Lisa's outfit to her own when she first arrived that she didn't even compliment her. Lisa smiled wider, enjoying Taylor's reaction and compliments.
Taylor's eyes flicked up over Lisa's face, she subconsciously trailed her finger over her own lips, wondering if she would look half as pretty as Lisa if she wore lip gloss like hers. She didn't even own anything of the sort back at home, it was a pointless thought experiment. Taylor doubted it would even look good on her anyway. Her eyes moved up to meet Lisa's eyes as she recognised the mischievous sparkle in Lisa's eye.

Before Taylor could ask what Lisa was planning, the girl straddled Taylor on the bench. Every insect in three blocks shook with anxiety as Lisa ignored all of Taylor's wordless protests to the action. The street wasn't entirely empty, as Lisa sat over Taylor in broad daylight. Taylor shied away from the odd looks the occasional passerby gave the two girls.

Lisa fished through her handbag, acting oblivious to Taylor's baffled stare. Taylor thought about pushing Lisa off her but in truth, she enjoyed the feeling of Lisa sitting on her, a fact that Lisa was most likely aware of, judging by the way her lips held in a smile.

"W-what are you?-" Taylor finally squeaked out before Lisa grabbed her by the cheeks.

"Shh,' Lisa hushed, pulling out a small stick of lip gloss. She released Taylor's face to twist the gloss up before looking back to Taylor. "Oh, don't pout… or actually, do. It'll make this easier to apply." It wasn't the exact same colour as Lisa's lips, but a lighter shade that matched Taylor's paler skin tone. "Next time we should meet up at your place first. I don't think I have enough that matches your complexion but I can do the basics. Fair warning, most of my experience comes from disguises and hiding bruises and I've only ever done this on one other person besides myself. But at least I know what to get next time we go shopping at the boardwalk."

Taylor sat in silence as Lisa applied the gloss to her lips, rummaging around her bag to pull out several other items to work on Taylor's face.

Eventually, Lisa leaned away to get a full view of Taylor's face. She nodded to Taylor with a smile and brought out a small mirror for Taylor to inspect. "What do you think?" Lisa asked as Taylor looked at her reflection. "I tried to keep it light, I could try applying some eye shadow if you want, but last time I did that Alec ended up looking like a raccoon, so maybe I'll just stick to what I know."

"Wow…" Taylor said in a quiet gasp. Touching her face as if to confirm that it was indeed real. She wasn't as gussied up as Lisa but her lips and eyes were now more prominent on her face, Taylor could almost believe that she was cute. "Thank you, Lisa." Taylor thought about what might have brought this on, Lisa had obviously picked up on Taylor's jealousy and self-confidence when it came to makeup, taking matters into her own hands. Taylor opened her mouth again to perhaps apologise for being jealous, and for having to rely on Lisa, but Lisa cut her off with her own reply.

"Pfft, I didn't do it for you." Lisa chuckled sarcastically. "Don't you know? I'm a vain and selfish villain. Who just wants to kiss pretty girls." She leaned in and kissed Taylor, who was once again aware that she was being straddled in public.

"Kiss pretty girls?" Taylor asked back, throwing her embarrassment into her bugs so she could match Lisa's confidence.

"Well… just two," Lisa added with another small chuckle. "But they're very pretty."

Taylor smiled back, she might not be able to call herself cute, but to Lisa, she was pretty. She could believe that.

-------------------------------------------------------
Brockton Bay Suburbs – Midday

The bus dropped the girls off a short walk away from Vicky's street. It wasn't that hard to get lost on the way to the Dallons, most Brocktonites knew the general suburbs of where New Wave lived, such local celebrities had their own tour bus that would pass by their house every weekend. Lisa couldn't imagine living such a life but then again, she was a villain. She actively avoided bringing attention to her personal life.

Lisa led the way using one such 'map of the stars' tourist pamphlet that she found at a newsstand in the city. Victoria had texted her the address, but Lisa thought it funny to be using a publicly available resource to find someone's house. Again, who could live like this? Having your home address advertised all over the place. It sent shivers down Lisa's spine.

"Found them," Taylor said, turning in the direction of their destination. "I can see Vicky pacing back and forth, A man, her father I'm guessing, is in the kitchen and-"

"And you have no concept of privacy do you?" Lisa asked with a mischievous smile. Taylor looked back at Lisa but made no outward reaction to her comment. She had a rather neutral face, but Lisa coined it as Taylor's '1000 yard bug stare.'

Nervous, wants to know what she's walking into. Micro-expression indicates embarrassment, hiding reaction in bugs. Didn't consider it spying until pointed out. Worried about being perceived as some kind of stalker and/or pervert.

"That's why you're such an asset to the team," Lisa added with a chuckle. "Lead on, Skitter."

Taylor shot back a worried and annoyed look at Lisa's blatant use of her cape name, even though there was no one around to hear them. Lisa could use a little more Skitter at this time. A cool, calm and collected Taylor would help stabilise the butterflies in her stomach. Lisa wiggled her eyebrows in response to Taylor's annoyed face, gesturing at her to lead.

"Damn…" Lisa said in awe a few minutes later. They came up to the Dallon's house, and she couldn't help noticing the sheer size of the place, the entire building had a gated fence around it. "Guess we should've expected this, being celebrities and all. Puts my little apartment to shame."

Taylor stepped up to the gate and pressed the doorbell. Lisa knew by now that Taylor had already mapped out the premises with her bugs, it would help to not be walking into this place completely blind. Lisa had to convince herself before leaving the base not to bring a smoke grenade on the off-chance this went poorly. It beeped several times but gave no response from the intercom. Lisa shifted around awkwardly, wondering if she should instead call Victoria to let them know they were there, but Taylor's stiff posture and unwavering head movements told her that something was happening inside the house.

The front door of the house swung open as Vicky shot out. She was hovering two inches from the ground as she made her approach to the gate. Skitter broke from her omnipresent '1000 yard stare' and fell into a relaxed half smile as Taylor saw the girl approach.

"Oh, my god. You're here!" Victoria cheered as she zoomed across the front yard. She sped right up to the gate and stopped moments short of slamming into it. While Lisa had no doubt that Vicky had practised and perfected this movement, she couldn't help but flinch at the speed Victoria arrived.

High manoeuvrability and speed, combat trained. Occasionally underestimates raw brute strength. Has broken the gate before. Could cause serious bodily harm to Lisa Wilbourn by accident.

Lisa shook off that idle thought. More than once her power reminded her just how dangerous Victoria could be; something about being anxious brought out the threat analysis side of things.

"Did you find the place okay?" Victoria asked as she tapped away at some buttons on her side. The gate started rolling open.

"Yeah, we had great directions," Lisa said, waving the tourist pamphlet as a fan, hoping her little joke would defuse any awkward tension and act as an icebreaker for the three girls. Victoria frowned briefly as she noticed what Lisa was holding.

Doesn't approve of tourist map. Finds aspects of celebrity fame daunting and invasive.

Lisa scrunched up the pamphlet and put it in her handbag, feeling guilty for her joke. Victoria's frown had already turned back into a smile, greeting Taylor with a hug.

Victoria let out a small gasp as she looked again at Taylor's face, "Taylor, you're looking great. Your lips look so pretty." Victoria said, giving Taylor a quick peck before inspecting her entire outfit. Taylor mumbled some kind of response to the compliment that Lisa couldn't hear but it caused Victoria to laugh.

Moving from Taylor, Victoria hugged Lisa tightly, giving her a small squeeze. "And wow, look at you," Vicky said, standing back and taking in Lisa's outfit. Lisa played up a half twirl to show off.

"Thank you." Lisa chuckled, "You don't look half bad yourself."

Victoria was wearing the dress Taylor had bought her the day she and Lisa first met. As Lisa had said the first time, it was a cute dress that looked great on her.

"This little thing?" Victoria asked, playing with the skirt of her dress. "I just finally found a good excuse to wear it. I took one look at it and instantly knew what I was wearing today."

Lying. Had several outfits picked out. Couldn't decide what to wear. Considered changing outfit the second we arrived. Thinks she's massively overdressed. Feeling self-conscious.

"Seriously, Vicky. You look amazing." Lisa added with a smile. Taylor nodded in agreement.

Victoria's smile got even brighter as she took both girls' hands and gave each of them another quick kiss. Then she led them towards the house. Her feet still refused to touch the ground the entire time.
------------------------------------------------

Victoria opened the door and gestured for both girls to walk inside. She followed shortly after and closed the door. The entrance led right into the hallway that split the living room from the kitchen, leading directly to the stairs. Right by the entrance was a shelf that held several family photos.

Lisa paused by the shelf, inspecting the photos and giving Victoria the occasional glance. Lisa looked like she was about to say something but chose to keep quiet. Taylor walked by inspecting the living room, walking like she had some familiarity with the place but not daring to go too far into the house without any further guidance.

"Mom, Dad! They're here!" Vicky called out before giving both girls an apologetic look. "Mom's up in her office with Ames, they're doing some medical law thing. I don't exactly know why but she'll be down in a second. Otherwise…" She gestured towards the kitchen. "Dad's making lunch, I'll introduce you."

"Something smells good," Lisa said, following her nose as much as she was following Vicky. Mark was stirring a pot on the stove, turning his head to greet the girls, he smiled as he caught sight of them.

"Ah, there they are, just in time," Mark said, wiping his hands on a towel. "You must be… Wait, let me guess." Victoria realised at that moment, that for all her enthusiasm for talking about her girlfriends last night, she didn't once show her father a photo of the girls. "Tay-?"

"Lisa," Victoria corrected, causing Lisa to giggle.

"Lisa, right," Mark said, clicking his fingers before extending the hand to shake hers. "A pleasure to meet you. I'm Mark, Victoria's father, probably better known as Flashbang." With his spare hand, Mark formed a small orb of light in his hand and tossed it gently up and down before reabsorbing it.

"Wow, that's so cool," Lisa said in awe. Acting like a civilian who didn't get to see parahuman theatrics up close daily. Vicky frowned at the blatant lying but knew that it was probably the reaction her father was hoping for. "I'm Lisa, Lisa Wilbourn. The pleasure is all mine."

Lisa shook his hand with enthusiasm, even taking a moment to inspect the part of Mark's palm where the orb was absorbed again. Victoria wasn't sure how much of it was an act and how much of it was Lisa being curious.

"Which makes you Taylor?" Mark continued, looking up to the other girl who stood calmly at the back. Taylor made no attempt to act wowed by his display, she strolled forward with purpose and held her arm out stiffly.

"Taylor Hebert," Taylor said as she introduced herself. Mark adjusted to the more formal personality by giving a firmer handshake to the girl. "It's an honour to meet you, Mr Dallon."

"Please, call me Mark." He said with a smile, breaking from a more heroic persona back to a typical dad. "Hope you girls like Italian. I've got the pasta sauce simmering, should have it all ready in twenty minutes or so…" He slowed his speech and did a double take of Taylor, squinting slightly as his hand hovered near the girl.

Victoria had a brief moment of panic where she imagined her father somehow gained clairvoyance and knew who Taylor was, who Skitter was. Something had obviously caught the man's attention and all Victoria could do was run through her prepared list of excuses and defences of Taylor's character. In an instant, Mark struck out.

"Gotcha!" Mark said, grasping something directly above Taylor. Both Victoria and Taylor jumped slightly at the random movement, Taylor more so. Mark revealed his hand to show what had caught his attention, a dead fly in his palm. "Don't you worry. This kitchen is one-hundred percent insect free. Nothing escapes ole Flashbang's watch." He chuckled as he wiped his hand again.

Taylor and Lisa both gave an awkward chuckle in response. Taylor stared at the dead fly, now on the floor, as Victoria wondered just how attached she was to her bugs, and if that constituted as an insult or an attack against Taylor. Unfortunately, Victoria had no way of asking such questions, so all she could do was offer her hand to hold in apology.

Lisa and Mark both snuck a look at Victoria. Holding up thumbs up to show that the meeting was going well. Taylor quickly recovered from the fly's death and returned her gaze up, turning before the rest of the group heard the sound coming down the stairs.

"The pot is about to boil over, Dear. You might want to take care of that." A casual but authoritative voice said from the kitchen entrance. Carol had just made it down the stairs and was looking over the room. Mark quickly turned his focus back on cooking as Lisa and Vicky joined Taylor in their turn back to greet Victoria's mother.

"Mom," Victoria said with a smile. She gestured to Lisa and Taylor. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriends, Lisa Wilbourn and Taylor-"

"Hebert," Carol finished, looking at the taller of the two girls. "Thank you for coming." She said politely as she shook Taylor's hand, then turned to Lisa and did the same. She started back at Victoria and let out a soft sigh. "Victoria?" She asked a question neither girl understood except for Vicky.

"Sorry, Mom," Victoria said, gently touching the ground, once again becoming the shortest of the three girls. Lisa stifled a giggle, either at Victoria's height or picking up how common of an occurrence that interaction was. Knowing her, probably both.

Victoria could see it in her mother's gaze, she was itching to question both girls. Vicky hoped that her questions wouldn't be too invasive or revealing. It had only been a day, not even a full twenty-four hours, but she had no idea how much information Carol had been able to dig up since learning that Victoria was in a relationship.

Victoria's plan was to run interference on any leading questions about her girlfriends' work or Lisa's personal background. Hoping that what little information Carol did learn about them would be enough to sate her appetite.

Unfortunately, that plan went entirely out the window when Carol said seven little words.

"Can you go check on your sister?"

Victoria stared back at her mother, dumbstruck for a brief moment. Finally, she asked, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Amy," Carol said again in her usual demeanour. "She's in my office, can you make sure she put the books away correctly and bring her down. Thank you." She waved Victoria away with one hand as she turned to the two girls.

Taylor didn't seem to be daunted by the idea of being left alone with her mother but Lisa shot a concerned glance at Vicky. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do without drawing attention, so Victoria could only apologise with her eyes and hope that she would be quick.

"Now," Carol said to the two girls as Victoria floated up the stairs. "I've been looking forward to meeting the two young women who make my daughter so happy. Tell me, how did you all meet?"

Victoria didn't hear the response to that question. Once she was out of view of her mother, she broke into another hover and rushed up the stairs. It didn't take long for her to reach her mother's office, Vicky could already hear muffled grumbling coming from behind the door.

"-stupid ass law books, wasting my goddamn day reading all this bullshit. Waking me up at six in the morning for-" Amy muttered to herself behind the door. Victoria didn't bother knocking as she threw the door open. Amy jumped in surprise, dropping the book she was holding. "V-vicky!" She yelped, "Dammit, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Yeah, sorry," Victoria said in a rushed manner that didn't sound apologetic at all. "Mom said to come down. Taylor and Lisa are here."

Amy rolled her eyes and gestured to the three books on the table. "She also told me to 'make sure I put all theses away properly.' But she didn't tell me what bullshit system she organises her shelf by."

Victoria rolled her eyes this time and grabbed the remaining books, flying up and placing them in the empty portion of the top shelf. That wasn't where they were supposed to go but Victoria didn't have time to explain Mom's book organisation system, nor did she care at this moment.

"Good, done. Let's go." Victoria said, ushering Amy out of the room. Amy tried to argue with her but eventually folded as Vicky picked her up. Amy's feet dangled in the air as Victoria carried her with two hands under her arms. "Oh, and remember to apologise to Taylor when you see her," Victoria added, slowing down as they approached the stairs.

"Apolo- what?" Amy asked, already annoyed at how Vicky was treating her like a plush toy. "Why?"

"You said some 'mean things' to her yesterday, remember?" Victoria explained. "Now's the perfect time to apologise."

"Oh…" Amy said. Vicky assumed that Amy was still upset about what she said but Amy acted as if she only just remembered that. Victoria chalked it up to Mom distracting her with medical law studying. "Right… yeah."

It was barely a minute or three since Victoria left Lisa and Taylor alone with her Mother. She could only hope that nothing incriminating was said while she was away.

"-estly, it's kind of a boring job. Lots of waiting around, looking at screens all day. But hey, it pays the bills." Lisa said, finishing with a soft chuckle. Victoria only caught the end of the sentence as she came down the stairs.

Taylor and Lisa still stood in the kitchen, where Victoria had left them. Taylor looked as neutral as she always did, clearly more comfortable with letting Lisa do all the talking. Lisa on the other hand looked more relaxed than when Vicky first left her there, dialling up the charm as she spoke to Carol. There weren't any fires, fighting or yelling going on, so Victoria relaxed.

Carol turned to Victoria and let out another unamused sigh. "For goodness sake, Victoria. Don't carry your sister like that, you look ridiculous." Lisa let out a chuckle and even Taylor managed to crack a smile at the sight of Amy dangling helplessly from Vicky's arms.

Victoria placed Amy down gently, and her sister shot back a grumpy glare as she brushed herself off. Once Amy composed herself, Vicky nudged her slightly in Taylor's direction, urging her to speak.

Amy looked to Taylor and sighed, before walking closer to her.

"Hey, Taylor," Amy mumbled, neither girl looking the other in the eye. "I'm sorry about… calling you a… you know…" She shot her hand out to Taylor, who didn't quite understand the gesture until Amy spoke again. "Friends? Or… whatever?"

Carol watched the interaction, confused and missing some of the context. She looked like she wanted to say something but chose not to, instead turning to inspect Mark's cooking. Taylor smiled back, more emotion returning to her face as she realised what Amy was doing.

"Friends," Taylor agreed, shaking her hand. Amy looked back at Taylor as a similar smile crept along her face.

"Oh, and also…" Victoria said, sliding up to Lisa, who had gone uncharacteristically silent since she walked in. "Ames, this is my other girlfriend. Lisa. Lisa, this is my sister Amy." She gestured to each girl as Amy moved forward, extending a hand to shake.

"Hey," Amy said casually, her hand holding in the air. Victoria waited for Lisa to respond with her usual brand of charm but was met with… nothing.

Lisa stood unmoving, looking at Amy and then at Victoria. The silence held long enough for even Amy to find it awkward. Lisa's eyes flicked between Amy, Victoria and Taylor before she let out a slow breath. Victoria raised an eyebrow in concern but Lisa snapped out of whatever daze she was in and cracked a smile again.

"Sorry… Hi," Lisa said finally, extending her hand out hesitantly to greet Amy. "I'm Lisa Wilbourn. It's nice to finally meet. Victoria has already told me so much about you, Amy."

 

[space turtle]

But she didn't tell me you were this level of crazy!

 

[Dradel]

Oh, Lisa sussed her out. That's something.

 

[serapheus]

I really do hope this heads in the direction of a foursome, a quaduple(?), because...honestly it feels a little bashy towards Amy otherwise. Not horribly so but it don't feel good, man.