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

[Gowonzu]

Art by Mikezzzzz

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Nice!

 

[DeathShade]

Amazing art!

 

[Gowonzu]

Stanfield Household – Backyard

"Wait, don't you three work together?"

Amy's question caused Lisa's already tight smile to stiffly freeze on her face for a good half second. It wasn't often that Victoria got to see her girlfriend so wordless, but the hole Amy was unwittingly digging into was getting deeper by the second.

"Lisa works in admin, she doesn't work directly with freelance hires like Rachel," Taylor lied expertly, keeping a far cooler head than either of her two girlfriends.

Thankfully Amy accepted the answer, and Rachel didn't speak up in opposition. One minor emergency was dealt with while Vicky defused the larger threat of the four Wards ready to pounce on the unsuspecting Undersider.

With a slow and careful shake of the head, Victoria silently told Dean to stand down and not cause a scene. Letting out a long breath as the Wards blended back in with the rest of the party. Eyes were on them, that much wasn't going to change, but it did buy them time to think.

"Right, exactly," Lisa added, returning to her senses. She looked off in the same direction as Vicky, noting the concern on her face and more than likely picking up on the Wards in the crowd. "Admin and stuff. We've never met, properly until today."

Brutus, who had spent most of the conversation firmly by Rachel's side, stood up to rub along Taylor's leg, silently demanding a pat from the girl, which Taylor idly handed out. Lisa shook her head silently as the dog then turned to her and demanded the same.

"Huh," Amy pondered, looking down at the dog. "Brutus really likes you two. That's rare to see, right?" She looked up to Rachel for confirmation. "Only other person I've seen him do that to is Cassie."

"Oh, y'know," Lisa waved the comment off while briefly glaring at the dog. "Dogs just love me, what can I say?"

"What? No they don't." Rachel cut in, offended by the notion that all dogs would love Lisa.

"How would you know? We've never met before…" Lisa deadpanned, stressing the word.

Rachel stared the girl down for a solid two seconds before rolling her eyes. "Whatever."

"Jesus fucking Christ…" Lisa muttered under her breath as she gave Brutus a hesitant pat.

Victoria felt the need to also attempt, in the hope that it made her girlfriends look less suspicious. Unfortunately, her plan backfired, as Brutus responded to Victoria's offered hand with a growl and a snap.

"Look out!" Amy chuckled cautiously as she pulled Brutus back. Vicky watched as dog teeth scraped along her forcefield. "He still needs time to get to know you better."

"Y-yeah…" Vicky said, pulling her hand back with a forced smile. Obviously, her time in the Undersiders so far hadn't warmed her towards the animals.

"Um, so. We're just gonna find a spot to chill. Rachel doesn't want her dogs near the pool," Amy explained, pointing towards the open yard. Don't let us interrupt your swimming time." She chuckled awkwardly, still pulling on Brutus' collar.

While Victoria was originally looking forward to spending the party with her sister and their girlfriends, she was more than happy to take the excuse.

"R-right, of course," Vicky smiled. "We'll see you, later then. Have fun, Ames. And nice you meet you, Rachel."

Rachel gave a solemn head nod, mainly towards herself and Taylor, while Lisa received something of a scowl. Then they turned and moved off towards the less crowded section of the yard. Amy looked exceptionally stiff with her movement as she dragged Rachel away.

There were three long seconds of silence as the girls watched Amy and Rachel disappear into the crowd before Lisa turned back to the group.

"Well, I'm only going to say this once," Lisa hissed. "I fucking told you so. I told each and every one of you and you all thought I was crazy. Next time, listen to the fucking thinker!"

"Enough gloating," Victoria said quietly. "What the hell are we going to do?"

"I'm going to find my phone and make a call," Lisa said, already turning to the changing rooms. "I suggest you come up with a good excuse for your Ward friends."

"The hell am I meant to tell them?" Vicky asked. Lisa didn't bother with a reply, power walking off to take care of whatever she needed to do. Victoria turned to Taylor to ask the same question, but Taylor alerted her to the approaching Ex-boyfriend who was also powerwalking in her direction.

"Vicky, can I talk to you for a quick second?" Dean asked, grabbing her by the arm. "Hey, Taylor. Hope you're having a fun party. Mind if I borrow Vicky for a moment, thanks."

Taylor stepped back and allowed Victoria to be pulled aside, giving her an apologetic wave as the two found someplace relatively quiet to discuss Amy's plus one.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Dean asked, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Are you okay? Is Amy okay? What is Hellhound doing here? What threats has she made? Should we call for backup?"

"No!" Victoria panicked. The last thing they needed was the entire Protectorate to show up. "I mean… It's not. She didn't… Amy's just… Just…"

Her mind was spinning. A million little thoughts in her head and not a single reasonable excuse as to why Amy would bring Bitch to a public party filled with Wards. The Wards obviously feared a hostage scenario, which needed to be put to rest before anyone escalated. But what other excuse was there?

"Amy was just…" Victoria began again, her mind falling back on the truth. Not Amy's truth. No, she had no clue what the hell Amy was thinking, but Victoria's own truth was the best excuse she could think of. "Amy has taken it upon herself to show Bi-, uh, Hellhound. I mean… Rachel, that there are better ways to live than being a villain. She hopes that by showing her an open hand of kindness and love, well. She could maybe turn Rachel away from a life of crime if she had a better support network, and friends. Y'know?"

Dean stared back at Vicky, completely dumbfounded.

"So, you're telling me, that your sister is trying to… seduce Hellhound, out of villainy?" He asked.

"Yeah, you get it!"

"Vicky, no offence to your sister, but that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Dean shook his head. "We have protocols for handling villains. When did she even meet Hellhound? She should've come to the PRT immediately. Do you know how many young capes end up roped into gangs? Amy is five times more likely to wind up entrapped in the Undersiders than convert a Hellhound to the Wards."

"What? No. It's not that stupid…" Victoria defended. "It's… honourable. It's a noble goal. Five times more likely to… that's not… likely…" Her voice died out as she thought about what had happened to herself.

"God, could you imagine what the Undersiders could do if they got their hands on Panacea?" Dean added. Unaware of Vicky's internal struggle. "Okay, first thing we need to do is separate Amy. We could get a Ward to follow each dog around, time a coordinated strike to take Hellhound down," Vicky sputtered at the idea. "But that'll only work if Hellhound is acting alone. We're pretty sure the other Undersiders are here too."

"What!?" Victoria blanched, looking back over to Taylor who also turned in her direction. "The Undersiders? H-here? No, they're not- not here. W-why would you think that?"

"There's no way a Thinker like Tattletale wasn't aware of Amy's ill-informed plan," Dean deduced, mistaking Victoria's horror at the idea for acceptance. "We suspect that the entire team is somewhere among the crowd. The rest of the Wards are keeping an eye out."

At that, Victoria broke into a choked laugh. Her eyes flicked to Taylor, who casually leaned against a wall, waiting for Dean to leave. Then to Lisa, whom she could see pacing back and forth on her phone through a window. Alec and Aisha, splashing each other in the pool, blissfully unaware that Bitch had just walked by moments ago. And then to the rest of the party, where Brian was no doubt schmoozing with Dean's Ward friends.

"Oh good god…"

"Don't worry," Dean said, placing a firm hand on Victoria's shoulder. "We won't let anything happen to Amy. Now if we can somehow get Hellhound alone, we-"

"No," Victoria shook her head. Dean looked puzzled at her attempt to shut down any plan of attack. "I mean, uh. A-amy is really serious about this, uh, helping Rachel thing… I'm not going to, ruin it for her. I mean, we don't even know if the other Undersiders are even here? That would be pretty ballsy to show up out of costume. I bet Tattletale had- has, no idea what Hellhound is doing here. And isn't that a total overreaction to just assume the worst?"

"Then what?" Dean asked. "Are we just supposed to let Amy parade around with a wanted parahuman and act like nothing is wrong? There are a hundred people at this party, I'm responsible for their wellbeing and I can't in good conscience let a known murderer mingle about them."

"Just let me handle Amy. Okay?" Victoria asked, practically begging. "I'll keep an eye on Hellhound, make sure she doesn't do anything… illegal. And then when the party is over, I'll have a stern talking to her about this stunt of hers," Dean held his gaze at Victoria, she could feel her heart pounding in her head. He wasn't buying it. "Look, do your thing. Amy and Hellhound. What do you see from them?"

"Hellhound is neurodivergent. I don't see anything from her," Dean said back flatly. No doubt adding to his distrust of the situation.

"Okay, and what about Amy?"

Dean sighed and took a good long look at Amy and Rachel. The girls found a spot on the lawn to sit down and relax. Neither of them looked particularly interested in socialising with anyone else, but also, they smiled. They cheered cups and watched as Brutus ran circles around them. Even now, Amy and Rachel were still holding hands.

"She's happy," Dean admitted. "Nervous, anxious as all hell. But definitely happy."

"I haven't seen Amy this happy in, forever," Victoria said quietly, a small smile building on her face. "Not really. It's like, realising all the other times I've seen her smile have been forced and this week. She's been, different. Better," Dean opened his mouth to rebuttal, but Vicky pushed on. "Just one day. Please. Give me- give her, just one day to be happy. And then I'll talk to her, figure this all out."

Dean opened and closed his mouth several times, raising a finger and letting it drop. "This is a terrible idea… but fine. We'll keep an eye on Hellhound."

"Thank you," Vicky said, letting out a long-held sigh of relief. "Oh, and don't tell my Mom about it. She would flip her shit if she found out. Or the PRT. Basically, keep it a secret entirely."

Dean scoffed. "Vicky, I have no intention of bringing this shitstorm to your mother, but if you think for a second Carlos isn't going to report this to Piggot tomorrow, then you're more deluded than Amy is."

"I'll talk to him after," Victoria nodded, making a mental note to plead for Amy's life to every Ward in attendance today. "I'm sorry, for everything going on. It's your party, you should be relaxing."

"It's not your fault," Dean chuckled dryly. "You didn't invite any Undersiders into my life," They both laughed awkwardly at the situation. "How the fuck am I meant to relax?" He asked, more at himself.

Victoria reached over to Dean's blue cup and took it from his hand, finishing the drink herself. "Maybe time for a colour swap? I got things from here."

Dean shook his head, but walked away, heading back towards the drinks table. Victoria watched as each Ward slowly crowded around him, looking toward Vicky with a face of shock and confusion and more specifically, how Dean reached for a red cup.

The crisis was averted, at least for now. Victoria knew she'd have to have a serious talk with each and every Ward before the day was over, and even then, there was no assurance that word wouldn't get out about Amy's new girlfriend.

She turned back to Amy, wondering what in the world the girl was thinking about.

-------------------------------------
Stanfield Household – Backyard, Lawn

All things considered, everything was going well.

Amy watched as more make-up fell from Rachel's face as drops of sweat wiped away on the girl's sleeve. But the overall disguise had held. No Wards had started screaming bloody murder, and her own sister had a face-to-face conversation with Rachel.

It had worked. They'd been introduced without a fight. Amy had proved to Victoria that Rachel was a real, normal, decent girl that in no way could ever be considered a violent Undersider.

The dogs were also a hit, as expected. Everyone loved dogs, Angelica and Judas were busy being smothered in affection by whomever they chose to receive it from. Lapping up the attention, much to Rachel's worry.

Granted, it wasn't perfect. Rachel was still as stiff and anti-social as Amy knew she could be. Her meeting with Vicky and her girlfriends was about as awkward as Amy imagined it could be. Thankfully Taylor was there to break the ice. She wasn't sure if Taylor was going to recognise Rachel behind her disguise, but everything had worked itself out.

There was some tension between Rachel and Victoria's other girlfriend. But Amy was too busy trying to read every little micro expression of Vicky's face during the meeting to really focus on anything else.

It didn't matter. In the end, Rachel was being civil, and Victoria was accepting and nice. The plan had been pulled off perfectly. At least until Victoria asked to see Rachel again, or even invite her over to the house. But Amy had plenty of time to think about plans for that in the future.

Now that the stressful part of the day was over, she could relax and enjoy Dean's party for the first time in her life. Cuddled up on the lawn with her girlfriend, talking about random nonsense.

Rachel and Amy were in the middle of a playful argument over the preferred taste of beer over cider. Amy could not fathom how Rachel could choose it over what was basically alcoholic apple juice. When an inflatable volleyball landed nearby and rolled past the two girls.

Brutus immediately gave chase, giving in to his base playful instincts to hunt down a giant ball. The girls were too enrapt in their discussion to notice the approaching partygoer attempting to recover the volleyball.

"Oh, hey Brutus! Give me the ball boy, give me the- Wait? The fuck?" Both girls looked up as Amy saw a young, African-American girl petting Rachel's dog. "The hell are you doing here, B-dawg? Did you follow Brian again? Did you?-"

The girl looked up as her eyes met with Amy's and Rachel's. Blinking in as much surprise as Amy was as someone casually petting Brutus and calling him 'B-dawg.'

"Ho-ly, shit," The girl said, a slow smile of amazement forming across her face. "R-Rachel? And- Holy shit," She looked at Amy specifically and started giggling involuntarily. "The fucking patron saint of curing cancer…" She wheezed, Amy blinked again at the nickname. "She was right, she was fucking…"

The girl broke into a fit of laughter, unaware or ignoring the scowling look Rachel was giving back to the mystery girl.

"Um, do we?-" Amy began before the girl moved towards them.

"Rachel, what the fuck?" The girl asked, still smiling wide. "When did this happen? What? Oh my god. Wait I have to find Brian? Does he know? Oh god, he's gonna flip his shit! Wait, oh wait! Lisa! Did I miss it? Please tell me I didn't miss it. Fuck I missed it. Okay, wait. I need to find my phone. This needs a photo!"

Brian? Lisa? Amy didn't know who the hell Brian was, but she was certain that the Lisa this girl was referring to was the same Lisa that Victoria was dating. But why would she know? And why would she care, unless…

"Rachel?" Amy asked in concern. "Who is this?"

She looked the girl over again. She knew Rachel well enough to approach Brutus and pat him. She didn't work at the shelter and seemed too young to work at a construction company like Taylor. She wasn't afraid of Rachel in the slightest, seeming to take pleasure in her scowling look. What if this girl somehow worked for Rachel? Amy couldn't think of who it could be though. There were only three female Undersiders and one was Rachel, the other was blonde. So that left… It couldn't be.

"Rachel?" Amy asked again. Unsure if she wanted an answer to this question. "Is that? Is she?..."

"What?" Rachel asked, looking back at her. Her scowl dropped in favour of another confused furrowing of the brow that Amy was beginning to find adorable.

"What?" Amy asked back. Shaking off the conflicted feeling of adoration for her girlfriend's face and confusion over... What were they talking about again?

"I just like the taste, what's the problem?" Rachel said again, referring to the drink in her hand. She looked over to Brutus and let out a sharp whistle, calling the dog back to them. "Can't stand sweet drinks," She added, shaking her head at the dog.

Amy swirled her own cup in her hand, looking back at the contents in thought. Something bugged her about this moment, but it was most likely the fact that she'd have to endure Rachel's beer breath all day. A small price to pay for getting to kiss her girlfriend in public.

She ignored the feeling. Changing the topic of conversation to the music playing throughout the party. Trying to find out more about her confusing yet wonderful girlfriend, but more importantly, an excuse to snuggle up even closer to her and kiss her again.

-------------------------------------
Stansfield House, Inside

Dean had been gone for some time now. Brian was beginning to think the boy had forgotten about him entirely. He couldn't blame him though, this party had grown far larger than he had expected and Dean was obviously stressed about it.

Brian had spent the last half an hour stuck in the middle of a tense conversation with two girls from Dean's school. He could tell both women were trying to one-up each other and impress him, and honestly, a part of him could enjoy the attention. To a point.

However, Brian hadn't come to this party looking to hook up with anyone, least of all with anyone Dean knew personally. Women and relationships had taken a backseat in his life ever since he first put on a mask and it wasn't worth the effort in his eyes to get entangled with anyone that could put him or the team in danger.

He was still dealing with the stress that Lisa and Taylor brought in thanks to their relationship with Victoria Dallon. Sure, she'd turned out to be willing to overlook their villainous activities for the sake of their romance. And Deimos was a rather helpful addition to the team, albeit risky as all hell. Brian didn't want to imagine the type of clusterfuck the team would land in if the girls ever split up.

Aisha and Alec's relationship stressed him out just as much, if not more so. She'd wormed her way into every part of his criminal life, much to his frustration, and chosen Alec of all people to latch onto. He had no real beef with the boy, he and Alec were actually rather close friends. He liked Alec, he respected the boy. He understood that the boy was his own person and the trials he'd overcome to get where he was today. He'd never even joke about comparing him to his father.

But if someone had gone up to Brian a year ago and said that his little sister would end up in a relationship with one of Heartbreaker's kids, he probably would've punched them.

So no, relationships and hook-ups and women were not a thing on his mind. Getting stuck in the middle of two women, no matter how beautiful or attractive they were, was not something he wanted right now.

He needed an out.

"Excuse me," He said, nodding to the women. "I'm going to go get another drink."

He put on his best and brightest smile. Not promising to return but also not saying that he wouldn't. They seemed satisfied enough by his comment, giving him enough time to walk away.

Brian sighed and took in the party once more. The music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and the guests were all happy. And Dean was huddled up around the drinks table with several friends from the prior group. Including the little blonde girl who had raised a number of unanswered questions. Like, who is this sassy lost child? And why is she here?

"Brian!" Someone yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He jumped as Aisha appeared in front of him, no doubt using her powers in the middle of a crowded room full of civilians. He flinched hard and did a little hop-skip backward, his hands reflexively balling into fists.

"Goddammit, Aisha!" He growled through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice low and not draw attention. "Don't do that in-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Aisha waved him off. "You can lecture me later. Right now, you gotta check this out," She grabbed Brian by the hand and yanked him past the crowd, leading him out into the backyard.

"What the hell are you-?" He asked, his annoyance at the girl building as he turned back to Dean. He was still distracted by the group around him and didn't notice Brian passing.

"Just check it out," Aisha insisted, pointing him towards the back fence. "You're gonna want to see this," She kept dragging him, weaving through the crowds of people. They passed the pool, where Brian could see Taylor and Victoria chatting conspiratorially amongst themselves. Interestingly, Lisa wasn't with them. "Hold up, just here," Aisha announced, stopping at the edge of the crowd and turning back to him, a mischievous smile on her face.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked, not understanding the reason he was dragged to the edge of the crowd. He knew his sister was up to something, but would put up with whatever prank she was pulling out of a desire to be a good older brother.

"Just want to get the lighting right," Aisha announced, pulling out her phone and posing for a selfie. Brian looked at her screen, unamused at the wasted time, but then huffed a smile. If Aisha wanted to take a photo with him, he'd play along. "Lisa was right, by the way," Aisha hummed, shooting her phone's camera a duck face.

"What?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow at the ridiculous face his sister was making.

"On your left," Aisha answered, still posing for the incoming photo. Brian's eyes scanned left to see what the hell his sister was talking about.

He felt his stomach drop.

It was Rachel. Rachel 'Bitch' Lindt. Dressed in the worst amalgamation of fashion Brian had ever seen. With Brutus trotting in circles around the yard. Swapping spit with a mousy-looking brunette girl who could easily be described as the fucking patron saint of curing cancer.

He froze, his mouth hanging open in disbelief, as Aisha took her favourite selfie for the year.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[The_Motarp]

These last two chapters have been flat out hysterical. I look forwards to the next one.

 

[Crazael]

"Just want to get the lighting right," Aisha announced, pulling out her phone and posing for a selfie. Brian looked at her screen, unamused at the wasted time, but then huffed a smile. If Aisha wanted to take a photo with him, he'd play along. "Lisa was right, by the way," Aisha hummed, shooting her phone's camera a duck face.

"What?" Brian asked, raising an eyebrow at the ridiculous face his sister was making.

"On your left," Aisha answered, still posing for the incoming photo. Brian's eyes scanned left to see what the hell his sister was talking about.

He felt his stomach drop.

It was Rachel. Rachel 'Bitch' Lindt. Dressed in the worst amalgamation of fashion Brian had ever seen. With Brutus trotting in circles around the yard. Swapping spit with a mousy-looking brunette girl who could easily be described as the fucking patron saint of curing cancer.

He froze, his mouth hanging open in disbelief, as Aisha took her favourite selfie for the year.

Click to shrink...

Oh Aisha... never change.

 

[Gowonzu]

Art by Mikezzzzz

 

[Josiador]

Finally someone drawing Rachel who knows what butch means. Hell yeah.

 

[Vhalidictes]

Finally someone drawing Rachel who knows what butch means. Hell yeah.

Click to shrink...

From Amy's face in that pic, we have both 'bitch' and 'butch'....

 

[Crazael]

I usually picture Rachel as having shorter hair, but this looks good. Also, I'm amused that the dog's leash is wrapped around Amy several times, clearly showing that it had excitedly run circles around her a few times before she caught it and began petting it.

 

[Gowonzu]

Stanfield Household – Backyard, Lawn

"Oh my god? Is that Panacea?"

"I didn't know she was gay."

"Who's she with?"

"Ugh, Is all of New Wave gay?"

"Fuck, I hope so. Is Laserdream at this party?"

"Seriously, who's the girl who's sucking on her face? And what is she wearing?"

"I don't know, she does kinda look familiar…"

"Brian? Yo? You still in there?

Fingers clicked in front of Brian's eye and he snapped back to reality. Unfortunately, he wasn't experiencing a hallucination. Nor had he suffered an aneurysm and gone into a coma. He didn't know how long he'd been standing there, slack-jawed, staring. But he was slowly realising that he wasn't the only one.

There were more than a few couples that throughout the party, had found quiet secluded places to be alone. Brian had walked past several of them while being dragged through the party by Aisha. But no other couple turned heads more than Panacea's very public outing and the ensuing makeout session with Rachel Lindt.

To most, the shock was in the fact that the second Dallon sister, notoriously media-shy, had brought the most conspicuous girl in the world, marched her through the entire party and planted herself on a lawn chair where she was currently sucking face like a Hoover.

To Brian, he watched as his teammate, notoriously anti-social and publicly known member of the Undersiders, sit in the middle of the single most crowded party in Brockton Bay. With Panacea in her lap.

People were staring. People were gossiping. People were taking photos.

What could he do? Brian's leg twitched as he briefly considered his options. He could shroud the area in darkness and march over there. Drag the stupid girl away and berate her for pulling such a stupid stunt. But that would risk blowing his cover.

No, he couldn't do anything, not without revealing that he was Grue. He couldn't even send a secret message because the Bitch couldn't read. He couldn't warn her off, couldn't call her over. Couldn't tell her off.

He couldn't do a damn thing.

Aisha had already ghosted him, disappearing into the crowd and causing him to question why he even walked over here. He needed to leave, find Lisa, come up with some semblance of a plan. Mostly he needed to not spiral into a panic attack.

He needed a drink…

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

Somewhere in Brockton Bay

Colin stepped out of the shower, reaching for his towel. He didn't know what to do with himself on his off days, he could only train and clean his gear for so long. Exercise of the body would help whenever he got himself worked up into a Tinker fatigued state, a warm shower would ease the aches and pains.

But after the shower, nothing. There was nothing else he could do, there were no more tasks.

Ethan often mocked him for his lack of 'life' outside the Protectorate. Standing alone in his apartment, he was beginning to think the man had a point.

But what did people do in their free time? He had no close friends to meet at a bar. He'd read every book in his apartment, twice over. Television was filled with mindless junk or depressing news and the internet was just as bad.

Considering wasting the day on the internet, he supposed he could message Tess and see if he could assist her in whatever project she was working on. She was a friend. An online-only one, but a friend nonetheless.

Of course, any project she was working on would involve Tinkering and Colin still needed to recover from his last bout of Tinker Fatigue. Plus Tess would message him if she was looking for his input.

With a sigh, he moved into his bedroom to change. After dressing, he looked around, his apartment was spotless. He couldn't even waste an hour cleaning. But he did note his phone was flashing. He'd received a message.

Not a serious message, the Protectorate would have alerted him if he was needed. Picking it up, he saw a notification from one of the Wards.

Chris would often message him during all hours of the day, usually asking about his thoughts or advice on something or another. Usually, he would ignore it and respond later. But the kid was nice enough.

This message wasn't from Chris. It was from the newest member of the Wards. Browbeat.

He hesitated on reading the message, he didn't want any more Wards thinking they could message him whenever they felt like it. But the message had been sent over an hour ago when Colin was finishing up his workout.

Colin knew that most of the Wards were at Dean's house party. It wasn't a secret, everyone knew about a Stansfield party. He'd only hope that those kids didn't do anything stupid with the alcohol, like giving any to Missy. Piggot held a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy about underage drinking, it wasn't taking place on PRT property, and no one but their parents would police those kids.

There was a not, zero per cent chance, that this message was nothing but an intoxicated minor taking advantage that they had a real hero's phone number and making an idiot out of themselves.

Sighing, Colin tapped his phone and opened the message.

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

Stanfield Household – Around the Drinks Table

Lisa found Brian hunched over the table, sculling a red cup, looking as stressed as Lisa felt. She walked up beside the boy and refilled her blue cup with lemonade.

"Too soon to say I told you so?" Lisa smirked. Brian held up a finger as he finished off his drink. Lisa handed him the bottle in her hand and held her somewhat forced smile.

"Don't. Just…" Brian sighed, refilling his cup with lemonade and however much vodka was left in the bottle he grabbed. "What the fuck as we going to do?" He asked in a hushed whisper.

"I'm already on damage control," Lisa explained, eyeing the concerning lemonade to vodka ratio the boy was pouring. "Got a car coming by to collect. We just need to somehow convince Rachel to leave when it gets here."

"And the hundred or so witnesses that watched her mash faces with Panacea?" Brian asked.

Lisa sighed, looking out at the partygoers. "One problem at a time. I've got the social media teams scrubbing through every post Amy and Rachel show up in. With luck, we can get every photo taken down before anyone realises. Main issue right now is the Wards…"

"The Wards are here?" Brian asked before taking another long sip. "Of course, the Wards are here. Everyone is here," He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Do we have any idea who we should be avoiding?"

Lisa looked at Brian like he had asked her the most stupid question she'd ever heard. It took him all of two seconds to realise what her look meant.

"Seriously?"

Lisa shrugged, sipping on her own drink. "You already knew, you just didn't want to admit it."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

Lisa shrugged again. "It was funny. And painfully obvious."

"Alright, so Deans… What about the rest of them?"

Lisa gave Brian yet another look as she took a sip.

"Seriously? All of them!? What? Even the little girl? That's… Oh, that tracks… Oh, damn. That's kinda obvious now that I think about it…"

Lisa nodded along, patting the older teen on the shoulder. Brian proceeded to scull his drink for the second time just as Taylor and Victoria came over to join them.

"So, do we have a plan in place yet?" Victoria asked. "Or are we still just winging it?" She looked between Lisa and Brian, raising an eyebrow at his drinking. "What's with him?"

"Ignore him, having a midlife crisis," Lisa waved him off. "I have our people doing digital scrubbing and a van will be out front in the next twenty minutes to pick up Rachel. We just need to... convince her. Til then, keep an eye on the Wards and make sure they don't do anything stupid."

Victoria nodded. "I've already talked to..." She froze, looking at Brian.

"Oh, he knows," Lisa waved again.

"Dean," Victoria finished hesitantly. "Gave him a valid and reasonable explanation for Amy's actions," She stressed the words, willing her statement to be true. "He's told the rest of the Wards by now, but I'll go around the room and give them all a one-on-one. Not sure yet on how to split Amy and Rachel."

"Why bother?" Asked Taylor, oddly calm. It was normal for her to act emotionless in times of high stress, but this felt less like that and more like Taylor's natural reaction.

Everyone turned to her, giving a questioning look in response.

"The Wards already know," Taylor explained, gesturing to where Amy and Rachel were still sitting. "No amount of cover-up is going to invalidate the word of several official heroes. I highly doubt our team can capture and scrub every photo and video taking place right now and as bad as it is for New Wave's perception, it isn't that big of a deal for us specifically… Uh, no offence, Vicky."

"Not a big deal?" Lisa and Brian parroted.

Taylor sighed, rubbing her temples. "Rachel is already a known parahuman. It's not like she's gotten unmasked. It couldn't be that hard for the PRT to track her down if they really cared enough about her in the first place. And Amy is Panacea, the girl who cures cancer on a weekly basis and heals half of the Protectorate when things go south. She's too important to the public image for the PRT to let her go. Neither side wants to rock the boat and Bitch is the wildcard here. It'd be smarter to take the diplomatic route, so that's what they'll likely do."

"Yeah, in theory?" Lisa countered. "But you realise that most people don't think as… logically as you do right? The Wards see a villain in public and suddenly it's their duty to stop her, even if it puts them at risk. The PRT are just as likely to turn this party into a warzone when they find out Bitch is here."

"Which they won't," Victoria added. "Because I will make sure that no one says anything today."

"And what do the rest of us do while you handle the Wards?" Brian asked.

"Blend in?" Lisa suggested. "Avoid the Wards and Rachel, we've already made contact with Rachel and established our cover. For now, just don't draw any attention to yourself and try to relax."

"Relax…" Brian huffed, looking at the empty bottle of vodka on the table. "Yeah, sure… Easy. Can do. No problem. No problemo…" He pushed off the table and wandered away.

Lisa shook her head and turned back to Vicky. "Are we sure none of the Wards have already contacted the PRT?"

Victoria shook her head but shrugged. "No way to be sure, but it's not like any of them have a habit of calling on their day off. Wards are more likely to try to handle it themselves. Well, besides Chris… but he's not even at this party."

"Chris?"

"Shit," Victoria swore under her breath. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Lisa. "Uh, Kidwin… He messages Armsmaster a lot, but it doesn't matter. He never comes to these things. And I can't think of another Ward who would."

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

Somewhere in Brockton Bay

Hello Mr Armsmaster sir. I am at Dean's party (Gallant) and have possibly discovered a villain hiding in plain sight. Not sure what to do. Please advise?

-George (Browbeat)

Colin suppressed an eye roll at the boy's blatant name-dropping of himself and his fellow teammate. If anyone got a hold of his phone, it was obvious who his contact was and who his friends were. He'd have to let the PRT know that George required some serious confidential information training.

Still, the point of the message concerned him. A possible villain at the Stansfield party? It wasn't improbable, everyone did have a habit of showing up to those things. But it was still unlikely. The Stansfields had been very public with their support of the PRT, any villain of the Bay would know that going to one of their parties was a bad idea.

Plus, George was still new, he'd only been heroing for a few months now and it was easy to get caught up in the 'villain hiding behind every corner' mentality that came when you were still fresh. Added to that, the blatant drinking at a teenage house party, and it would be easy to imagine that George had mistaken someone's behaviour as villainous.

But the possibility that a villain was attending this party and the consequences, if George was right, did put him on edge.

Colin tapped his phone, selecting a reply. He asked for more details but didn't get any response in return. If there was a villain at the party, George would've been waiting on his phone, or even outright called him. And he had heard no word from the Protectorate of any indecent.

He considered if it was worth investigating. He had no desire to drive over there and inspect a teenage house party, nor was he going to bother the PRT with one random message. But Colin supposed he could do his due diligence and check in with a more respectable Ward.

Scrolling through his contacts, he looked at the Wards he had on his phone. Logically, Dean would have the best understanding of the party and its participants, but he'd also be the one most likely to lie and pretend nothing was wrong if something was wrong. He chose the second best option, Carlos, leader of the Wards.

It took a short while before the call was picked up. Immediately, Colin's ears were assaulted by the background noise of a house party. The sound of music and a hundred people talking filled the airways.

"Hello?" Carlos' voice broke through the noise, just barely.

"Carlos, hey," Colin said, trying to sound casual.

"Hello, Sir," Carlos said again, "Can I help you with anything?" The boy was shouting into the phone to get over the noise.

"I'm just calling to check in on you."

"What?"

"I said, I'm calling to check in on-"

"What!? Sorry, one second…" The mess of party noise slowly muted as Carlos moved somewhere slightly more private. "Sorry about that. Um, what did you, um, need?"

A distraction. Colin didn't say as he sighed, rubbing his temple. He didn't know what the hell he was doing.

"Just calling to check in on you kids," Colin said, trying to sound authoritative yet casual. "Is everything alright over there? Nothing... untoward is happening, is there?"

There was a pause, a very telling pause, as Carlos thought over what to say.

"N-no… nothing like that… Sir," Carlos said. "We're just all… drinking punch and swimming…"

Colin rolled his eyes. "Oh, no, I don't mean like that. Is there anyone at the party who shouldn't be there?"

There was another long pause as Colin figured he'd gone about this all the wrong way.

"Who shouldn't be? What- what do you mean? I mean, uh. No. No…. We're all good. Uh, everything's under control. Situation normal. Y'know." Carlos said, very stiffly.

Of course, this was a waste of time. The kids just wanted to drink in peace without an authoritative figure looking over their shoulders. He'd finish his check and move on with his day.

"Is George there?"

"Who?" Carlos asked, confused.

"George?" Colin said again. "Uh, Browbeat."

"Oh right, what about him?"

"Is he there? How does he seem?"

"He's around here somewhere. He's fine, we're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"

Colin was a little taken aback by the question. It was awkward, he'd made things uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I'm fine too…" He sighed, scratching his head. "Look, sorry about taking up your time. I'll let you get back to your fun. If you see George, tell him to stop messaging me while doing… whatever it is you kids do. Okay?"

"Of course Sir, thank you, Sir. Goodbye, Sir."

The phone hung up before Carlos could say 'Sir' even more times and Colin dropped the phone onto his table, right next to his helmet. He sat down on his couch and sighed into his hands, Ethan was right, he really needed to get a hobby. Or some friends. Maybe get himself invited to parties.

He couldn't imagine himself fitting in at a party like the Wards were at. The number of people at the party alone gave him social anxiety just thinking about it. Too much chaos, too many people. It even sounded like someone had brought their dogs to it…

That thought gave Colin pause. Dogs. Who brought dogs to a party? He knew Dean didn't have any dogs, so somebody brought them. Dogs, a known villain. Teenagers. His mind went to the obvious. Hellhound, the Undersiders.

Of course, that was ridiculous, and a giant leap in logic. Everyone knew what Hellhound looked like. All the Wards were up to date on her file. Colin could possibly imagine someone like Tattletale having to gall to sneak into a Stansfield party, but Hellhound… No. That was just stupid.

Then again. Carlos did sound weird on his phone call. The boy was usually more confident. Not saying Sir a hundred times. And asking how Colin was? That was not a smooth conversation.

His mind raced, what if, hypothetically, the Undersiders crashed Dean's party and were using Hellhound's dogs as an open threat to the civilians. Maybe Carlos was stiff, not because he was worried about the banality of underage drinking, but because the Wards are stuck in a high-stress hostage scenario. What if their conversation had a secret message in it, asking for help?

Colin laughed at his brief indulgence of fantasy. He had seen too many movies, he knew it.

He knew, in all likelihood that nothing was wrong, the kids were just nervous because he was calling to check up on them and he was bored, paranoid and looking for a distraction.

But Colin was bored, paranoid and looking for a distraction.

"Computer," He barked, placing his helmet over his head and inserting a cord that connected it to his phone. "Analyse the last phone call, let's see if we can make sense of this background noise..."

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

Stanfield Household – Backyard, Lawn

Rachel was confused.

She was also happy and content and had been enjoying the party so far, but she was still confused.

Her interaction with Lisa and Taylor had brought into focus some questions that she never bothered to consider before today. She knew that Victoria Dallon was both Glory Girl and Deimos, dating both women and a temporary member of the Undersiders. She knew that Amy Dallon was both Panacea and Rachel's girlfriend and that she had no issues with Rachel's work.

She knew the girls were sisters long before today and knew that in most families, sisters often found themselves to be close confidants with each other. Even with the sparse interaction, she'd overheard Victoria brag about her sister enough to know that this was true. And Amy had spoken about her sister with enough reverence to form its own religion, even without ever uttering her name at the shelter.

So why then, if both sisters were so close with each other, did it appear that neither of them were aware of the others' activities?

It made no sense to Rachel.

She knew she wasn't the most social person in the world. Rachel often found socialising with people confusing and difficult, people often spoke with more than one meaning and got upset when she didn't pick up on it. She knew her teammates spoke to each other a lot more than they spoke to her, and she was fine with this. But it created issues like today, where Rachel would assume that everyone in the know, knew the same amount of information. Because they should, they speak to each other, all the time.

Yet Lisa had stressed that she and Rachel had never met each other, and Amy had believed it. Meaning Amy wasn't aware that Lisa was Tattletale, even though she knew that Taylor worked with Rachel. And so, Amy didn't know that Victoria worked with them, which meant that Amy didn't know that Taylor was Skitter.

Secret identities were confusing and bullshit. Rachel understood why other people did them, she wasn't blind to the help they offered. Given the chance, she probably would've kept hers in retrospect. But fuck, were they annoying to keep track of. Who knew who, who's allowed to know what and how much? This was precisely the reason Rachel never bothered to socialise.

What could Rachel say? She wasn't going to unmask her teammates on purpose. She wasn't going to spill Victoria's secrets to her own sister, even if the idea of not telling her made Rachel feel some kind of way. Usually, she'd defer to Brian on what to do, but he looked to be actively avoiding Rachel.

Instead, Rachel fell back into her comfort place. Not talking, not asking pointless questions, not worrying about saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. She'd stick to her girlfriend like glue and just watch the rest of the party unfold around her.

And so far the plan had been a pretty great one. Blissfully ignorant and uncaring, Rachel had been able to avoid all the drama that seemed to follow her team wherever they went. She had Amy in her lap, a drink in her hand and the taste of apple cider on her lips. Today was a good day, everyone else can figure out the rest.

"Well god damn, I didn't think it was true…"

An annoying voice cut through the calm and Rachel glared up at its owner. Alec smiled down at the two girls, sipping on a red cup of his own.

"Um, can we help you?" Amy asked, just as annoyed as Rachel was for the interruption.

"Oh, don't mind me," Alec waved away. "I just needed to see this train before it crashed. Good for you, Rache, You got a Dallon of your own. I didn't even know you had it in you."

"Shut up."

"I'm not judging, just impressed."

"Shut. Up."

Alec grinned, holding his cup out for a toast. Amy frowned at the statement and looked up at the boy. "What does that mean?"

"Don't worry about it, kid," Alec shrugged.

"Wait, Rache?" Amy asked again, looking at Rachel and back up. "Do you know her? Wait, do you work with her?"

Alec went quiet for a short moment before his eyes glazed over and he took a deep breath. "Nope, never met her in my life." To contrast his statement, Brutus ran right up to him and rubbed across his legs. "Heya Brut Butt, see ya, Rachel."

They watched as Alec walked away, handing his empty cup to a random kid before diving back into the pool where Aisha was waiting. The pair looked back to gossip about something, earning another scowl from Rachel.

"So… was that? Was he, an… Undersider?" Amy asked, looking shy and adorable in Rachel's lap.

Rachel didn't know how to answer that question. Don't reveal secret identities, one of the golden rules. To anyone else, Rachel would've simply said no and willed it to be true, but again, the thought of telling Amy something untrue made her feel, odd.

Instead, Rachel fell back into her comfort place. Tasting the apple cider on Amy's lips.

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

Somewhere in Brockton Bay

Colin had done it.

Extracting his recent call audio into his suit, the computer had isolated and separated the background noises and identified them. There were dogs, three of them to be exact. Each individual bark could be identified to specific breeds and those breeds could be compared to the DNA evidence in Hellhound's file, matching the three breeds of dogs to the suspected breeds of Hellhound's monsters.

Damning evidence in it's own right, but that wasn't even the smoking gun.

A conversation, too quiet to hear under all that noise through human ears, had revealed itself. Victoria Dallon, talking to Carlos off to the side, pleading with the boy to stay quiet.

"Don't say anything. Please, I'll handle it. Don't let him know. Do it for me, please. Tell him everything's fine. Don't mention Amy. I'll handle Rachel. Please…"

Curious. Now why would Victoria want to hide the existence of Hellhound and what did it have to do with Amy Dallon?

That took a little more effort for Colin to work out. Using the Protectorate database, he checked the records and found a curious pattern. Amy Dallon had reduced her hospital hours as of late, sticking to a far stricter schedule of Sundays and Wednesdays only. In the few weeks, she hadn't shown up for a single impromptu healing session, like she had done so many times in the past.

Carol Dallon had gone on record to state that Panacea's mental health and well-being came first and that it was her decision to curve Amy's responsibilities for her own good. But that still left the question of what Panacea did with her free time.

Accessing some more data, data that Colin probably shouldn't be using on his days off, he learned that Amy Dallon was occasionally sighted on busses heading to the north of Brockton Bay. The bus route ran through several suburbs that might've raised alarms, but it was its final stop that had the most significance.

The train-yard.

Hellhound's file mentioned it several times. Numerous sightings had her estimated to be living in the area. It was too convenient. Colin tried to rationalise another explanation, but the pieces just didn't add up.

Panacea was going out to the train yards, visiting Hellhound. Hellhound had invited herself to Dean's house party. And Victoria was trying to keep the Wards from reporting, for whatever reason. He never expected to find anything when he called, but this was a discovery worth reporting in.

"Computer," Armsmaster commanded, activating his helmet. "Call Director Piggot."

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

Stanfield Household – Kitchen

Brian stumbled into the kitchen, looking for something a little stronger than vodka or beer. Something rich, smooth and full-bodied. Something like a sixteen-year-old Single Malt.

He found Dean nursing a bottle of just that.

"Hey," Dean nodded, cheering with a glass instead of a red cup.

"Hey," Brian answered, freezing in place.

All day, Brian wanted to ask this boy a question. And now he knew. Dean was Gallant. Gallant was Dean. Gallant was pouring a glass of $400 whisky and offering it to Brian.

"Want some?" Dean asked, pushing his cup along the kitchen bench.

The kitchen wasn't as packed as the rest of the party. Most people preferred to gather around the music, pool or cooked food. The handful of people in here were either looking for a quiet place to take a phone call or getting water from the tap.

"Sure," Brian said, accepting the glass and inspecting it. He took a sip and coughed. "Oh, wow, that's strong."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, usually I'd mix it with cola but-"

"You can't mix this with anything," Brian interrupted. "This is good stuff."

Dean laughed even harder, earning a confused look from Brian. "My dad would love you. Although, aren't you a little young to know what the good stuff is?"

Brian took another, far more careful, sip of the scotch. "I used to work as a bouncer, at a club," It was Dean's turn to look confused, Brian shrugged. "I used a fake ID to get the job. Spent most of the time out on the freezing street. But the manager always gave us a free drink at the end of the night."

"Oh, that sounds fun?" Dean asked, grabbing a second glass to pour for himself again.

"I hated every second of it," Brian huffed. "But I needed the money. Anyway, when the manager realised my inexperience with drinks, he told me to stop mixing gold with shit and to appreciate the finer things. I rolled my eyes at it, but he did start pouring me top-shelf drinks from then on. If only to educate me or whatever."

"Looks like it stuck." Dean cheered with his own glass.

"To your health," Brian cheered back before they both took a sip, Brian took it down better than Dean did.

"Sorry about before," Dean said after a short pause. "Leaving you with the girls. Some stuff happened, uh, party host stuff."

"Oh, that's alright, I get it," Brian said. "You have responsibilities… as a host." And a Ward, he added to his unspoken thought. "Did you need help? With your party?"

"No, it's all handled," Dean said, dismissively. "For now… Just have to, relax and get into the party mood again."

"The stress of being a host," Brian said, wishing he could outright ask how Dean had things handled, and if that was a good or a bad thing. "I know it well."

"You do house parties also?"

"Never as glamorous as this," Brian chuckled. "I prefer smaller parties but I can see the appeal. I usually host things for my friends."

Dean looked up from his drink, holding his gaze on Brian for a little too long. "You okay, you seem… stressed?"

"God, am I that obvious?" Brian groaned into his cup.

"Don't take it personally," Dean smiled, "I have a knack for reading people."

Brian sighed again. "It's nothing… I just…"

Brian didn't know where to begin. He couldn't outright say that his villainous teammate had decided to show up with fucking Panacea and throw everything into chaos.

"Dealing with a… frustrating situation at work," Brian admitted. "Need to clear my head… Or cloud it."

"Oh, I can relate," Dean grumbled into his drink. They both went quiet for a moment, finishing their drinks before putting the cups down. "You know what you need?" Dean finally said, perking up with a sly smile.

"What?"

"A bottle of the good stuff," He said, putting the lid back on the whisky.

"This isn't the good stuff?" Brian asked, not understanding whatever he was on about but willing to humour him.

"Nah, this stuff?" Dean waved the comment off. "Some bottles left in the cupboards. My Dad keeps all the real drinks in his office."

"Won't he, like, kill you if you drink his good stuff?" Brian asked, both afraid and excited to see what Mr Stansfield considered a real drink.

"Dad only cares if the drink is appreciated," Dean smiled, putting the bottle back but keeping the two glasses. He moved towards the door and motioned for Brian to follow after him. "Like I said, he'd like you."

"Where's the office?" Brian asked, following behind as Dean led him to the stairs.

"Top floor, second door," Dean smiled, moving past the line of people waiting for the toilet. "I also preferred quieter parties too."

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

Somewhere in Brockton Bay

"This is Director Piggot speaking. What can I do for you today, Colin?"

Armsmaster paced around his apartment. It was an awkward position to hold a conversation, he'd prefer to give a presentation to Piggot directly but time was a factor.

"Piggot, I'm sending you an email," He said, signalling his helmet to do so. "It lists out everything I've discovered but we have to move fast. The Undersiders are tricky and most likely have contingencies-"

"Colin, it's your day off. I'm already privy to the latest Undersider reports and they're nothing out of the ordinary. What are you going on about?"

Colin sighed, rubbing his face. "Just read the email. Hellhound is at Dean Stanfield's house party, I have strong reason to believe she has made contact with Panacea for some time and that Victoria Dallon is trying to cover for her.

The call went silent, but Colin could hear Piggot clicking through her emails in the background.

"Ma'am?" He asked after a long enough period had passed.

"God dammit," Piggot swore under her breath. "What do the Wards on site say?"

"Nothing, Ma'am," Armsmaster sighed in relief for being taken seriously. "As I said, Victoria Dallon appears to be begging for their silence."

"Any signs of duress? Demands being made?"

"None so far, but-"

"So no active crime is occurring on their premises?" Piggot asked, "And do we have any confirmed proof that Hellhound is on the scene, besides your computer analysis of dog barks?

"Well, no," Colin admitted. "But we could send a squad to-"

"Absolutely not," Piggot spat back. "I am not sending a squad van to raid a teenage party on a hunch, no matter how valid it appears."

"But Hellhound-"

"Unless there's a clear and present threat on the field, we will not engage," Piggot stressed. "It's private property, not to mention the house of one of our biggest supporters in this city. The backlash we'd face…"

"So we do nothing then?" Armsmaster asked, confused.

"I didn't say that," Piggot grumbled. "It's clear that Amy Dallon and Hellhound have some connection, however implausible. This needs to be investigated, cohesively and carefully. We're not causing a scene at a Stansfield house and I'm certainly not calling Carol Dallon until I have the utmost evidence of something going on. Panacea is too valuable a resource to risk alienating and Hellhound is already known factor."

Colin went silent. Piggot was right, there wasn't a direct threat, not yet at least. This needed a delicate hand, not a hammer.

"Armsmaster, do I make myself clear. Do not escalate the situation."

"Yes, Ma'am," Colin said, sitting back down on his couch.

"Honestly, causing a scene at a party would be a disaster. Too many civilians unmasked Wards. And for what?" Piggot muttered, more for herself as she worked through a plan. "Better to confront Ms Dallon privately en-route to the hospital, or on this bus if the report is accurate. Not to mention, antagonising the Undersiders, now?

Colin had to concede to that. Piggot was a strategist. She was strict and hard on crime, held little love for parahumans who committed them. But Colin knew that a part of her would just as easily shake hands with the Undersiders for their work against Coil, not that Piggot would ever admit it out loud.

Both Colin and the PRT had run the numbers. Crime was down throughout the city, reduced by 13% since Skitter's appearance. It wasn't a coincidence that the rest of the team had gotten bolder since hiring her. A lot of that could be antiquated to the fall of the ABB and Coil, but the Undersiders were at the center of both those events.

"So, what do I… do then?" Colin asked, falling back to square one.

"For now, nothing," Piggot said, already tired of the call. "I'll take it from here, Colin. Just relax, take the day off for once."

The call ended and Colin was left with his thoughts.

"I need a life..."

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

Stanfield Household – Backyard

Victoria had a lot of awkward conversations today.

Begging the Wards to keep a secret. Weaving a tale of Amy's courage and self-sacrifice to domesticate the wild Hellhound. Tugging on the heartstrings of her fellow heroes and getting odd, confused looks of pity back at her.

Apparently, Victoria was the only teen hero in existence to think it was noble to try and personally redeem a villain, while all the Wards had it drilled into them that there was a protocol to follow when dealing with villains, and it didn't involve befriending them.

At least they'd agreed to her wishes, Victoria could live with some awkwardness.

But now came the most awkward conversation of all. Telling Amy that everyone already knew who her girlfriend was and just how much of a mess she had just put everyone in.

Vicky would've preferred to wait until after the party, but Taylor raised a good point of 'Why not tell Amy now? There's literally no reason to keep it a secret from her if everyone else knows and it'll only make extracting Rachel that much harder at this point'.

There were benefits to dating a girl who could easily regulate her emotions and make logical decisions during a crisis, Victoria realised.

She walked towards her sister, feeling both Lisa and Taylor's support from behind. The news would be best delivered without Amy feeling like she was being cornered. Watching the girl now, Victoria could see just how happy Rachel made her sister.

The pair spent most of the party alone, but they weren't being outright antisocial. Amy spoke to the odd person who drifted into her space, even Rachel shared words beyond 'don't touch my dog.' Lisa had commented on how strangely sociable Rachel was when she got up to get another drink. Not just tolerating, but engaging with someone who asked about her and Amy's relationship.

Watching her sister mindlessly mash faces with someone was a bit weird. But Vicky had displayed affection in public, both with her girlfriends and with Dean before them. She couldn't fault her sister for wanting to show her own love.

Love.

Victoria knew that this conversation wasn't going to be the end of their problem. Amy wasn't the type to just give up on something she loved. Hell, she knew how adorably clinging she was to Vicky, imagine how she acted with someone she was actually in love with. The thought made Victoria chuckle, then sigh.

Whatever happened, whatever consequences Amy would face, Vicky would be by her side. If they had to fight Wards, or the PRT, or even their own mother... that last idea scared her the most. But Victoria would do that, for Amy. Somehow.

The pair didn't notice Victoria's approach, still too enamoured with each other's lips. Vicky would've coughed but the dog nearby started growling at her.

"For the last time, you can't pat-" Amy growled, turning back and stopping when she saw who it was. "Oh! Vicky!" Her face blushed as she climbed off Rachel's lap and stood up. Wiping whatever makeup had smudged off from Rachel's badly disguised face. "Um, what's up?" She clicked her fingers as Brutus dropped his defence stance and returned towards the two girls.

"Heyyy, Ames," Victoria smiled awkwardly. Even though Amy had carved out a space for herself, the backyard wasn't the most private place for this kind of conversation. "Can I, uh, talk to you? Upstairs?"

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

Somewhere else in Brockton Bay

Her work was never done. Meetings and reports and emails. The sun was coming down but there were no plans to leave the office until everything was done.

At least she didn't have to cook tonight. Takeaway in the office sounded nice. An excuse to indulge in the food she didn't eat at home, her diet had gone to shit anyway. Another mental note to fix it, tomorrow.

The door opened as her secretary walked in. Silently, he placed a pile of mail and files on the corner of her desk, offering an apologetic smile.

"Anything important?" She asked, briefly flicking through the top few pages.

"Nothing that can't wait till tomorrow, Ma'am" The secretary chuckled, an ongoing joke to poke at her self-imposed workload. "But I've arranged it for you." The top sheets of paper were pamphlets from two restaurants. "Chinese or Indian?" The secretary smiled, reading her so well.

She picked up the pamphlets and handed back the Indian one. "Just get my usual."

"Of course Ma'am," The secretary said, bowing his head before leaving. The door opened again shortly after.

"What is it?" She asked out, not looking away from her pile of notes.

Another woman spoke up, instead of the secretary she was expecting. A coworker in the building.

"Hiya," The woman said with a bright smile. "Was just heading off, wanted to pop in before I did. Wanted to say, I didn't know your daughter was gay, but that's great!"

Carol looked back at the woman, Susan was another paralegal in the office, a mother herself. Carol was on somewhat good terms with her, if only because she was more interested in discussing parenthood over heroism.

"Yes?" Carol nodded, confused as the enthusiasm. "We had a whole announcement about it…"

"Oh!" Susan laughed. "Oh, no. I knew that. Of course," She giggled at whatever was so funny as she shook her head. "I mean little Amy. You must be so proud, two gay daughters."

"Amy?" Carol asked, feeling more confused.

"Yeah, my daughter just posted it to Facebook, such a cute photo, here I'll find it…" Susan pulled out her phone and started scrolling. Before her face scrunched up into confusion. "Well, that's strange? It was just here? She must have deleted the post?"

While confused, it hadn't been the first time fake images or news had popped up online about New Wave. Carol made a note to check in with Sarah to see if any rumours about Amelia's sexuality were circulating the web.

Not that she didn't doubt that Amelia would end up gay, Carol and Mark had already made that bet a long time ago. She watched as Susan fiddled around with her phone, before giving up trying to find the aforementioned post. It was a silly distraction, but Carol had other work to do, so she made another mental note to question Amelia the next time they spoke.

"Oh, never mind," Susan said, waving the comment away with a chuckle. "I took a screenshot of it, cause it was so cute." Carol's own phone beeped twice. "Just sent it to ya. You should frame that one."

Susan waved goodbye before Carol could respond. Her confusion had turned to worry as she reached across her desk, flipping up her phone. With a frown, she opened the message.

 

[Dradel]

Secrecy, foiled by cuteness and shippers.

 

[DeathShade]

Welp. If you can hear that, I believe it might be Mount Carol blowing its top.

 

[Crazael]

The call ended and Colin was left with his thoughts.

"I need a life..."

Click to shrink...

Yes you do, Colin... Yes you do.

 

[SnappingTurt3ls2]

Thanks for the chapter!