Deviated Desires (Worm: Victoria Amy Reversal)

[Nyx -Nyx-Nyx]

Deviated Desires

|||​

I'd thrown a barrage of punches and kicks, each of which would have crumpled pavement like styrofoam, and yet the geodesic, glimmering green dome that stood before me was still untouched… along with the two D-Listers who resided safely within it.

"Ooh, don't know what to do now that you're facing an actual challenge in your life, Glory Girl?"

Always the fucking surface-level assumptions. I couldn't help but clench my fists and glare, even as I flew back and away from the glowing dome and stared down the two villains within, Uber standing and posing like he was in some action movie, while Leet was shaking like a leaf in the wind, quiet.

"We're capes, Uber; there's nothing easy about it, and don't pretend you actually care for the less fortunate given what you're pulling here." Short and sweet, to not provide anything for the basement dwellers who actually watched these assholes whose idea of fun was to torment the homeless out here in the train yard.

"Do you hear that chat? Blondie is trying to say she had it hard when she got her powers because she was fouled in basketball! Don't try and play the victim when you literally get superpowers handed to you because of your parents!" Uber's voice was still that composed, annoying sports announcer baritone despite the sheer amount of terror I was hitting him with.

I wanted to snap, to tell them there was more to it than that, that the idea second-gen's got powers easier was bullshit. But then they might ask, others might ask, might wonder what that 'more' might be, get curious about what was eating away beneath the shining exterior of Glory Girl, what had been so awful she got powers.

No, I kept the mask up of cool, controlled indifference, that mask I'd gotten from my family. Both from careful training and instruction on how to interact in public from Mom and Aunt Sarah… and that I'd learned from hiding from my family, from hiding the ugly truth.

I was rewarded for my silence, as the two of them must have been getting bored from not getting a rise out of me, and watched as they pulled out a pair of cartoony ray guns, sticking the tips out from the inside of their shield dome so they could pepper me with lasers. Despite the seemingly rather lackluster force behind them, my own forcefield, and Leet's aim having been entirely compromised by my aura, and how much I frankly wanted to punch the both of them, I pulled back and away to evaluate.

Caution, evaluation, and never ever act on my base emotions. It was the mantra I'd adopted ever since I'd gotten powers, ever since I realized. It served me well so far in my career as Glory Girl. And yet it still didn't solve it, solve the fundamental problem that had spurned that outlook into existence.

But… but I realized as I watched Uber quickly fire another snapshot at me… it might have given me a solution to this little problem at the very least. The shield blocked my punches perfectly and yet allowed their weapons to pass through freely… but they only ever pushed the ends of their weapons out, never their whole hands. A Manton Limitation of their shield, perhaps? Luckily, the location gave me plenty of materials to work with.

I dove low to the ground, feigning a maneuver away from their fire even as I grabbed a small chunk of gravel. I eyed up my target, the rather clunky-looking piece of Tinker Tech they'd set on the ground as soon as I'd arrived, likely based on some old game or another. I gave the little chunk of gravel a nice, easy toss, no super strength involved, and it soared, smacking right into its target… and with a loud and very angry-sounding rattle, the glowing dome flickered out and died.

I… hadn't been expecting it to be that easy. On the other hand, immediately following it up by punching Uber's teeth out? Just as easy and as satisfying as I'd been expecting.

|||​

I couldn't help but grin as I saw the sunset shimmer across the bay's water, the fluffy clouds overhead rimmed by rays of light, and how it turned the glass towers in the approaching downtown a beautiful glowing orange.

I could have made a beeline for Brockton General once I'd finally finished giving my statement to the PRT and made sure the two villains had been processed, but I would have missed out on the scenic route… and more importantly, as much as I wanted to make my way to the hospital at top speed it would have been suspicious.

After all, everyone knew I loved flying, showing off, and letting people see me, flying the proverbial flag for New Wave and letting the city know we were there for them. I tended only to make a straight shot to a location when the situation was urgent, someone was flying Air Victoria, or I'd be late.

As it was now, if I made that straight shot to Bay General, I'd be early enough before the scheduled pickup time that it would come off as overeager and weird instead of just the normal punctuality Mom had drilled into me. Suspicious was bad, especially when my family was always hyper-vigilant for suspicious behavior and changing schedules, things that could indicate some sort of Master-Stranger threat,

And thus, the scenic route it was, and I dove towards the boardwalk below, giving an almost instructive, excited whoop as I did so, stopping once I was likely only forty or so feet above the ground. I couldn't help but smile at the ocean of waving, smiling, and gawking residents and tourists below me as I passed over the long strip of commercialized oceanfront.

As much as this was to burn time, I genuinely did love flying. The adrenaline rush, the beauty of a true bird's eye view, and that ability to disconnect from everything and just be me. Even this small distance from everyone below meant I didn't have to put on that mask, and I could just allow them to see me, to just be Victoria Dallon, to be free of the ugliness.

Eventually, the strip of boardwalk finally began to peter out, and I quickly began my ascent, the view of people, buildings, and the bay replaced by the orange-blue vastness of the sky above. I'd passed the hospital by now, and while I could simply stop, spin around, and make my way there, it would look both suspicious and embarrassing, like I'd suddenly realized I'd overshot. Instead, I made a graceful, rising turn back towards downtown, just low enough that I weaved around and past the tallest few buildings. Despite making some variation of this flight lord knows how many times, it never stopped being enjoyable.

Eventually Bay General came into view, and I smiled as I already could spot the figure of my wonderful sister on the roof waving to me. If anyone had told me before that someone could pull off the robed look in a way that didn't leave them looking generic, I'd have given them a raised eyebrow, but even from a distance, Amy was striking in a way that always drew the eye.

I gave her my own jaunty midair wave as I continued down and forward until I gently touched down before her, the landing as picture-perfect as always was.

I wanted to immediately pull her into a hug and ask how her day was to make sure she was okay, but instead, I simply said, "Hey, Ames. Everything good?"

Rich amber eyes locked with mine made all the more vivid by the way the freckles smattering her face framed them. She shrugged in that oh-so-Amy way, "Same as usual, nothing exciting like you were doing."

"Given it was Uber and Leet, annoying is a better word for it, and besides, I think making miracles happen with a snap of your fingers is at least a bit exciting." I groused, my hand raising to ruffle her frizzy hair, stopping midway and instead moving to play with a stray lock of my own.

Amy made a flippant gesture, "Spend one day hanging around me while I do my rounds, and I'm sure I can finally break that interest."

The fact that I'd be more than fine to just spend a day with her while she healed ended up getting caught in my throat, my eyes instead drawing themselves to the way she ran her hands through her hair after the wind blew it into her eyes annnnd I was fucking staring.

"So you ended up wearing the new merch?" I asked, praying the silence hadn't turned awkward and that would sufficiently explain my staring.

"I swore you saw it earlier but yeah," she said waving her right arm, the official Panacea pride wristband prominently on display, a white wristband with a stylized 'Panacea' and caduceus on display, both in bright rainbow colors compared to their normal red.

"It looks cute on you, and uh, it's nice to see you're doing this, that you went public with it all and stuff, it's brave…." I trailed off, looking away from her and to the city surrounding us.

She snorted, "Not like I had much choice in the matter. I'm a public cape, and I wanted to kiss girls, so that means I get to be the city's 'big famous gay cape.' At the very least, I get to make some people feel welcome, annnd," a mischievous smile split across her freckled face, "with this, it's also funny seeing the folks who insist it's just a 'lifestyle choice' have a little aneurysm as I heal them and-"

Amy was cut off by an involuntary shiver as a particularly strong gust passed over us, and I cringed, "Shit, I'm blabbing with you while you're freezing your butt off. Do you wanna go now?"

"I'm ready, but also don't feel bad about asking about my day," she said even as she got into position for our classic bridal carry.

I steeled myself as I floated into a kneeling position so as to allow Amy to nestle into my arms, all the while keeping my eyes firmly locked elsewhere, pretending I was just looking to make sure I knew where I was going.

It didn't allow me to escape the feeling of cradling her, of freckled arms wrapped around me, the heat of her body pressed against me, of having her under my protection. Nor was I able to escape the smell of hospital that permeated her, which signified a long day of selfless heroism, of saving more people in a day than I probably did in an entire month.

I took a deep breath. No point in faffing around after all, and I lifted off and away towards home, towards the place where I-

I heard Amy clear her throat, and my head whipped to her with rapt attention. Her eyes looked away from mine, guilty, and if her hands were free, I'm sure they'd be fidgeting. "Hey Victoria, I uh… thanks for doing this. I know you don't like playing air taxi, sooo… yeah...."

"Seriously, I'm cool anytime you need me. I just worry about having you so high up and in my arms like this, with super strength and all. Besides, it's not like I'm going not to fly you while the Panacea-mobile is out for repairs." God, was I thankful I wore gloves and her costume covered so much so she couldn't catch my ridiculous lie.

"My moped is a dignified steed, not… that." She pouted, though as per usual, all it really made me want to do was-

I thoroughly cut that train of thought off, eyes darting away from my sister, even as I reeled to come up with a quick response, so I could continue to pretend I wasn't a fucking freak.

"I mean…" My eyes bounced to and fro between my sister and anywhere else, "everyone calls Armsmaster's bike the Armscycle, I don't see why your moped would be any different. I mean it's even red and white just like your costume?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. Ok, nailed it, still-

Her voice carried a dangerous, teasing lilt, "Well, if it's just because it carries me around, then I guess instead of Glory Girl, I should call you the Panacea-mobile."

I bit my lip, breathing heavy, face stiff, peering off in the direction of home. I… didn't have a good response, a way to cover up and continue, and I could see from the look on her face she knew something was up. That she'd crossed some invisible tripwire that she didn't know could even exist.

I saw Amy about to start talking, about to start questioning, potentially realizing. Either way, I cut her off, "We're about to speed up, okay?"

The sound of wind flowing past my ears blissfully kept the conversation down. It was immature and horribly shitty of me, but I couldn't have a conversion now. Not up here while I was embracing her, still rattled. It was far too dangerous, too much of a threat. I was willing to risk the greater guilt from her, the hurt from her, all to avoid an even worse pain for us, for our family.

Dammit, why couldn't I just be normal, be able to have normal sisterly banter without that disgusting root at the shining facade of Glory Girl beginning to creep out. This was why I avoided flying her around, even as I was terrified every day she drove around on that stupid, vulnerable death trap that she adored for some goddamn reason. The best part of having powers and, yet again, something I couldn't share with Amy, something ruined because I was sick.

Thankfully, it wasn't too long until we reached home, the benefits of being able to hit over a hundred miles while flying over everything, and I set down in our backyard as usual, letting Amy clamber off me. I was glad it was finally over, even as that treacherous part of me mourned the loss of contact.

I turned to enter the house, not looking at my sister. I couldn't, not now; there was too much risk I-

A soft hand rested on my shoulder, and I stopped, rigid, even as I was hyperaware of the contact and of the way she squeezed ever so gently to try to get my attention.

"Vicky, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. I was just poking fun, and I should have known better. I know how seriously you take your cape stuff, and I didn't mean to imply anything about your name. Glory Girl is perfectly cool and um, yeah…."

She… thought it was because I was sensitive over my cape name, and I could hear the guilt and self-blame in her voice, and I knew if I turned around, I'd see it streaked across her face. Even when I was being a lying bitch and ended up hurting her, she blamed herself, still thought she was the problem. It was something I'd never truly noticed until after I got powers. After I'd realized. After I'd become hyper-aware with everything Amy.

I wanted to turn around, to look her in the eye while I apologized, but I could see it. I could see it turning into groveling, where she'd inevitably hug me and finally piece together what I felt, how it'd destroy her to realize her older sister was a disgusting freak all along, the type of person I was supposed to keep her safe from.

So, instead, I remained facing forward, fishing out my keys to unlock the back door. "It's no big deal, Ames. I'm just the overly sensitive one. Sorry about being a brat about it."

I held the door open for her, eyes dancing away from her at every opportunity. I could tell she wanted to say more as we both entered the house, and went upstairs to our rooms, but instead, she just remained silent until we went to separate, when she finally sighed, "I'll be hopping in the shower as usual, I'll just… give you a text when I'm done."

It was her standard post-hospital routine… even if she normally informed me the shower was available with a knock on the door and yelling to let me know. Even if she wasn't in danger of bringing home anything, most everyone else, including Amy, weren't exactly keen on the unique aroma of hospital she picked up after a day of volunteering, and thus, Amy always had shower privileges.

I entered my room, closed the door, and batted away the tantalizingly putrid thoughts that inevitably arose at the mere mention of those damning two words in the same fucking sentence. Instead, I sat my tiara on top of my dresser before haphazardly flinging pieces of costume off one by one, slapping on my bathrobe, before grabbing my trusty pillow, which I promptly screamed into.

"Can't just be fucking normal, can you, Victoria? Not for one fucking flight, gotta be a freak and make it weird fucking fuck!"

It felt good being able to do that. To indulge in the rare opportunity to lash and spew hate at that part of myself, as even with the pillow to muffle myself, I only ever dared risk it when Mom was out of the house and Amy or Dad were at least occupied.

It may have been tempting to just fly up to altitude and let my thoughts free there, but It was always noticeable when I went to fly because I was in a bad mood. I couldn't arouse any more suspicion, especially when there were enough fliers to chase me down if they were worried about my airborne sulking or, god forbid, Crystal accidentally catching me while she was doing some of her own random late-night joy rides.

It was a small chance, but that's just how it was. In a fight, I had to account for that one small chance my forcefield takes a fraction of a second too long to come back up, of a bullet slipping through. It was the same principle, the same overwhelming threat that would shatter my life if I even slipped up once, got unlucky once, and unlike with a bullet, Amy wouldn't be able to fix it.

I sighed, finally rolling onto my back, the pillow falling to the floor. Even if it was cathartic, ultimately, moping was useless. I may be cautious, but I was never the type to take a problem lying down, especially one that could and would destroy the team, my career, my Amy. It's not who I was, who Glory Girl was, to simply fall on my sword without even trying to fix it—even if that problem was me.

And thus, after a few more seconds, I flew off my bed, flipping upright before I settled down in my desk chair, firing up my computer, impatiently tapping my foot as I waited for the damn thing to finish logging in. Any second… any second… any-

Showtime.

I opened the browser application I used for this lone process, watching as tab after tab opened up, each with a different search query followed by a list of search strings to help hone my results and filter out the heaps of trash and questionable content that catered to the sickos who liked this shit rather than trying to find a solution.

'Limerence,' 'getting rid of limerence, 'unrequited feelings,' 'moving past unrequited feelings', 'unrequited lov-

Those were the first searches, ones I primarily looked at when I'd been too scared even to put my shame into words, to type it into existence. I still checked, still looked for new solutions just in case, but the rot went further than that; it was a deeper sickness, an emotional cancer that had metastasized, erupting from the relationship I'd held dearest.

'Incest', 'causes of incest,' 'causes of incestuous feelings', causes of incestuous feelings 'towards siblings,' 'how to cure incest,' 'how to get rid of incestuous feelings,' 'how-

The list went on and on for hundreds of tabs, tabs that I opened and searched daily for something new I could use, some solution, some mental exercise, some strategy, something I could use to center myself, cure myself. Information, papers, and studies that would allow me to piece together something on my own, make a gameplan I could implement to fix me, to make me fucking normal again, make me like the rest of the family that didn't involve going to a shrink, that didn't involve revealing myself and fucking everything up anyways, that didn't ruin everything, that wasn't fucking temporary like every other victory I-

I breathed. In and out. In and out and over again. This was just like any other fight. I couldn't let my base emotions defeat me. Not with my obsession with Amy nor my frustration, as I came no closer to victory, as it only seemed to deepen its roots every year, as I risked the other shoe would drop every day. I could beat it; I would beat it.

I had no other choice.

I had to do it for New Wave, for my family, for Mom and Dad.

I had to do it for me, for Glory Girl, for the Victoria Dallon who'd wanted to be a heroine ever since she was a kid.

Most of all, I had to do it for Panacea, for my little sister, for Amy.

Even with this, it always came back to her, didn't it?

|||​

Hello! Me again with yet another fic focusing on these two. This time, focusing on 'how the hell would Victoria deal with having Amy's canonical obsession with her sister?' after I had a few discussions with folks on Discord/Tumblr about the concept and how it could feasibly happen and subsequently play out. Victoria is fundamentally such a different person than Amy and has a different set of baggage than Amy (including a different set of baggage involving issues with parental/familial love), and how she would handle a secret incestuous crush/obsession is really fascinating.

And while it doesn't come up in this chapter a ton here seeing an Amy who still has her massive amounts of issues (and some new ones) but without the ultimate, crowning obsession that broke the camel's proverbial back in canon is really really fascinating as an exercise, partially because its so defining in canon and we BARELY see 'Amy without incest' explored in fanfic, and I'm really excited to show/write more of her here.

I have a plan for more updates, but I also wanted to make sure this really was able to stand on its own two feet as well, given a lack of a clear schedule and some other works like ARBA I wanna focus on finishing up. As always, feedback and discussion are appreciated!

 

[TechBlade9000]

Damn Gallant (not Dean, no dating) would be even more useless here because her emotional state may look like big sib glomping

 

[Nyx -Nyx-Nyx]

Amy was nervous. She tried to hide it as the two of us sat, sipping on orange juice and picking at the last remnants of breakfast. Dad cleaned the kitchen and cookware while Mom flipped through the day's paper. Amy probably would have done a good job at hiding it from anyone else, even our parents, but it was pointless with me.

I could tell by the way amber eyes flicked between Mom and I, the way her lips parted ever so softly as if to speak only to stop, the way freckled cheeks shifted as she bit the inside of her mouth, the way her fingers rapped over soft thighs. All of it indicated she had something she had to tell us, to say to us, and was stressing over it hard.

But what exactly was it? Amy and anxiety were not an exactly uncommon combination, unfortunately, so it could be a reaction to a literal plethora of things, big or small.

The most damning option was, thankfully, already out of the question. She would have confronted me first rather than blow it up to the whole family because Amy was just too nice for that, and she'd be looking at me with far more than just nervousness. Was it her grades? I know they haven't been exactly stellar, and Mom had gotten on her case hard, so if some test had come back poorly, I could see why she'd get nervous… But why look at me then? I certainly tried to encourage her to do better. I wanted her to get into a good college, but I never got on her about it like Mom did.

I'd hoped it wasn't yet another request to up her hours at the hospital, to put even more of a self-imposed burden on herself when she already was the greatest hero in the city… but luckily, that one was also off the table. She'd already asked to up her hours at this week's team meeting and had gotten thoroughly rebuffed. It'd be at least one or two months until she openly asked the team about it again.

Reasons continued to flash through my mind, only to be summarily picked apart. I almost considered just asking her if she was okay rather than keeping her in this hellish limbo, but no, that would be for my sake more than Amy's; she needed her time to work her way for stuff, and breaching that would only leave her flat-footed and panicking.

Amy eventually found her courage, nodding to herself ever so slightly before clearing her throat, "I um… Sorry," She withered at the now undivided attention she held before taking a deep breath, her words practically tumbling over one another. "I'm dating Flechette, Lily, s-she's my Girlfriend now."

I immediately choked on my orange juice, sputtering and coughing, waving off my sister, who'd been ready to launch herself to my side, and the concern of my parents with a croak of, "Wrong pipe. I'm fine."

I was, in fact, very much not fine because where in the flying fuck had this come from? Flechette had only moved into Brockton two weeks ago, and I was sure I'd been the only one in the family who'd met her yet. She'd gone out on an introductory patrol, and I'd talked to her briefly. Officially it was to reaffirm New Wave's solidarity with the Protectorate, but I also did it because new heroes always interested me, and frankly, I just liked meeting people.

So when the hell did my introverted sister even find the time to get to even know her, let alone date her and kiss her and-!?

Mom, thankfully, seemed to be on the same wavelength as I was, "The girl only just transferred in. You barely know her, and yet you're already together?"

She'd raised an appraising eyebrow like always she did whenever she was sure we'd screwed up but was holding back final judgment until she'd let us provide some explanation as to our reasoning.

For once, however, Amy didn't flinch or verbally stumble, "We met during the event in New York, started messaging one another, and well, she had to transfer after some local villain in NYC who had it out for her put her in the hospital, so she decided to request it be Brockton."

I remembered that. It was the event Legend held in New York to celebrate the anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act. Amy had been invited to go, and she went with Aunt Sarah, who'd played chaperone and team representative.

What I wanted to know was why she hadn't told me. Outside my secret and the things it polluted, I shared everything with her, so would she hide this? What had I done-

"Amelia Claire Dallon." Mom's tone was sharp, "Do not tell me you cajoled this young woman into making such a major life decision as this, especially when she's an Asian-American lesbian, and this is Brockton Bay."

Amy's eyes were wide, lips opening and closing to try and find some footing after she'd been verbally swept off her feet. I could tell the accusation had caught her off guard, genuinely hurt her, and I couldn't help but grimace.

I looked to Dad, hoping to see if he would offer anything, but beyond looking like he wanted to interject, there was nothing but silence from him. As per usual, it ended up being up to me.

"Mom," I interjected, "Amy's always been cautious, and I don't think it's unreasonable that Flechette would want to go to a place where she has at least one friend."

She passed me a thankful smile, and despite the subject matter of the conversation, I couldn't help but pass a grin of my own. Making Amy happy made me happy, after all.

Amy'd finally regained her mental footing, jumping off where I left off, "Lily was the one who broached the idea to transfer here, and the first thing I did when she brought it up was to brief her on everything she'd be dealing with. She's my friend, and I don't want her to get hurt. I'm just bringing it up now because we were planning on a date, and I knew you'd want to know…"

"You should have told us beforehand, and we will be discussing this with the team along with the proper way to go about this in the future…" Mom's tone softened ever so slightly, "But I'm glad you're clearly being more responsible about it this time around."

I could see the tension slowly seep away from Amy, soft lips shifting into a smile at having won Mom over. Even if there would be plenty more talks, interrogations, and nagging to be had, it was still ultimately a blessing from Mom that, for now at least, she had the go-ahead.

"Well," Dad said, clearing his voice and finally entering the conversation, "As long as she makes you happy, I'm happy, Amy-bear."

"Dad, please don't call me that when she comes over for dinner." The look she gave was positively mortified, and I couldn't help but empathize, even if I may have also had to suppress a laugh.

"We will need to make plans for you to bring her over sometime,-" Mom started, and the conversation quickly veered into the same talk Mom gave to me back when I'd begun seeing Dean about the various things to keep in mind when it came to dating, specifically dating capes in the Protectorate, but with an added emphasis on safety given Amy's status.

It was one of the few times I agreed with Mom's heightened nagging of my sister. Outside my membership with New Wave, I was pretty inoffensive and had my forcefield, strength, and flight to protect me. Amy, meanwhile, was not only a beacon of tolerance and goodness but also so delicate, so vulnerable to any of the scum that blighted this city deciding they'd want to crush the hope she brought to everyone else.

I gave Amy a small thumbs up, and I received a slight nod of the head and a smile in return before I raced up to my room. I'd give Amy a proper congratulations later when she wasn't getting micromanaged by Mom, when I was more up to it, and when my horrid jealousy wouldn't fucking sabotage me because fuck me, this came out of nowhere!

Goddamnit, and I'd liked Flechette too! Our conversation hadn't been too long and had partially been for the cameras, but I could tell she was professional and really took the cape stuff seriously like I did, and I'd been looking forward to maybe getting to know her better, and now it would be all weird and-

I shook my head. Think positive, Victoria! She seemed like a good person after all and Dean so far had only kind things to say, though I would definitely bug him for more information. It wouldn't be nearly as weird as the other times I'd done so, given he would already know her and probably seen her talk about Amy rather than me bugging him to essentially snoop on some random girl he hadn't even met to vet them…

But if it were some 'random girl,' I'd have time to prepare time because Amy had always told me when she was interested in someone, she'd never just sprung that she was dating onto me, sowhy was this different? What had I done wrong? Why hadn't she-!?

I stopped my frantic pacing as a familiar soft three knocks came from the door, courteous and gentle just like she always- No, I couldn't be in that headspace right now when she was coming to talk!

"Everything good, Ames?" I called out, quickly straightening my hair and flattening any imperfections from the t-shirt I'd chosen to wear today.

"Can we talk, Vicky?" Before I asked for a few minutes the next words out of her mouth shot it down, "It's important, I mean, I can give you however much time but-"

"I'm good Ames, I'll let you in." I said, going to unlock the door. Always trying to accommodate, to be nice, even when it was clear it was super dire.

I held the door open, closing and locking it behind us, and my guts squirmed as I watched her go to my bed, sitting down and awkwardly patting beside her. An imitation of what I did whenever there was something bothering her.

I sat down beside her, hoping she'd buy the smile I'd contorted my face into, even as the pit of dread within me continued to grow. Was this it? We were alone, after all. Did she know and was only now using the opportunity, having baited out a reaction from me earlier, affirming her worst fears about me while not alerting me via a more obvious attempt to read me with her power? Was she going to confirm it with her power now that she had me alone, I didn't know I-

"So ummm…" she paused, hands clenching together before she continued, "I know you're feeling bad because I didn't tell you about Lily for so long, and I'm really, really sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I wanted to talk to you and just… explain why I didn't say anything?"

I stared into beautiful amber eyes even as I quickly readjusted to the fact this situation wasn't an impending trainwreck but merely a car crash that could turn into a trainwreck if the car careened onto the tracks at just the wrong moment.

"I'm fine, Amy, seriously." I kept my easy smile, giving her a false shrug to sell that this was no big deal and that we really, really didn't need to talk about it.

The soft, hopeful smile on her face dropped into a frown, "Victoria, please don't lie to me. Down there, you looked like you just saw someone kick a puppy after I broke the news."

I bit my lip, averting my eyes from her as I looked away. What could I even think when our entire relationship was only kept together because of one big lie and all the little ones that helped keep it upright?

I breathed, looking back at her, "I'm sorry, Ames, I just… didn't want to spoil your big announcement, and it's totally within your rights to keep stuff like that from me. You shouldn't ever apologize for that."

Even if it did hurt that she didn't want to tell me, that she'd felt the need to hide it from me, that she felt like she couldn't be honest with me. Even when I immediately wanted to get into every single detail about what made this new girl tick and how she'd gotten so close to my sister without me fucking knowing!

"Thanks, Victoria, you haven't spoiled anything. I…" She sighed, "I mean, I honestly kinda expected this to happen about as much as I expected Mom to interrogate me?"

"What do you mean?" I said, leaning ever so closer.

"What I mean is…" She crossed her arms, shifting away from mine, "Anytime I've ever expressed even the slightest bit of interest in someone or god forbid they express interest in me, you get really, really, overprotective."

I raised a singular eyebrow. "Yes? There are too many people out there who'd want to take advantage of you, and I also just want to make sure they're up to the task of being your girlfriend."

She huffed, "And that's what I mean. Yes, me and Alex may not have been the best, but I was the one causing the issues. She couldn't handle the cape and celeb stuff, and also, we were each other's first girlfriends, yet you and Mom both think she was some delinquent!"

I fired back, glaring, "I was totally supportive of the two of you then, and I remember how sad you were when it didn't work out! I'm just making sure any new girlfriends know what they're getting into!"

Amy, for her part, gave me an unimpressed look. "And instead, you give the 'do you know what a responsibility it is to date Panacea?' speech to anyone I have a shred of interest in." Her tone raised just a pitch into outright frustration. "That's a part of why I waited so long to tell you about Lily. Don't tell me you wouldn't have immediately messaged her to give her the rundown and an interrogation!"

I went to speak before I immediately choked on my words because… she wasn't wrong. I absolutely would have messaged Flechette on PHO to check her over and let her realize what she might be getting into…

I slumped, looking away from my sister, as the oh-so-familiar feeling of shame coiled its way around my heart; I'd only just wanted to make sure she was okay, to make sure she wouldn't get hurt again like the first time…

When Amy had first announced she was gay and she'd had interest in some girl from school, it had only been a few months since I'd triggered, and I was still grappling with my career as Glory Girl taking off alongside finding out that about myself. Hearing that from Amy on top of everything else was a cruel joke, like someone dangling a forbidden fruit right in front of my face.

I didn't want to inadvertently sabotage them out of some latent, sick jealousy, so I'd mostly separated myself from the situation entirely. Instead, I focused on keeping her and her new girlfriend safe from the all too real danger of an Empire wannabe going after them, all the while giving the two of them my unconditional support. I was a biased party and thus knew I shouldn't comment… which left me blindsided when the issues came from inside the relationship.

At the time, I hadn't realized what the hell had gone wrong other than that it was clearly Alex's fault because, after all, it was Amy. It was only after some reflection I realized, ultimately, that Amy was hard to date. Not because there was anything wrong with her, of course. It was just that Alex and every other girl Amy had shown interest in, despite being perfectly fine people on their own, failed by simple virtue of not being good enough.

Even beyond the various issues of dating a local celebrity and the very real target it brought, Amy simply gave so much of herself into her work, into making literal miracles happen. She needed someone who could love her unconditionally while also understanding she couldn't always return it. Someone who loved her like I did.

"Hey, I'm not mad or anything. I just wanted to explain why I waited so long to tell you." I felt myself being pulled into a hug, and I leaned into it, luxuriating in the contact and admission of trust even as I closed my eyes, taking deep, slow breaths to try and center myself, to ensure I only enjoyed this as a sister should.

Eventually, I slowly pulled away, looking my sister in the eyes. "She makes you happy, that she'd be good for you?"

"She does, and she already has been."

There wasn't a hint of doubt in her face or tone, not a single hint of that typical Amy hesitance when it came to far, far too many things. Instead, there was only a surety born from genuine, honest truth.

"Good. No one deserves that more than you, and" I gave her my best Glory Girl smile. "If you need help getting ready for your dates, relationship advice, or anything else, I'll be more than happy to help."

As much as it rankled that horrid, jealous part of me, when the only realistic options were Amy being happy with someone else or being alone, I'd pick the former every time.

"Thanks… I'm glad you're giving her a chance and I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up becoming friends. You and Lily have a lot more in common than me and Dean, and well, me and Dean are friends now, so…" She trailed off.

I nodded. She wasn't wrong after all. Despite its sanitized nature, I enjoyed our conversation, and having yet another person to talk shop with who took being a hero so seriously was never a bad thing.

Plus, being friends with the person who was dating my sister rather than keeping them at arms length would be the better option as well. I could catch any potential relationship issues before they exploded, actually help this time around, spot any red flags with Lily…

I couldn't help but smile. Given how I thought this talk would go, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask about, or are you cool with just hanging out for a bit before I get on my homework for this weekend?"

Coming directly off an emotionally charged conversation wasn't exactly conducive to focusing on calculus after all.

"I…" She bit her lip for a second before shaking her head, "I'm good," She lied in that way I just knew it meant she wanted to ask for something but wouldn't because in her mind, it would be some sort of grand imposition on me.

I rolled my eyes but let her have her silence and stew on it for a few seconds before talking, and for my patience, all I got out of her was a crossing of her arms and her lips pursing tight.

I sighed, "I asked if you wanted to talk about anything else and told you I'm more than happy to help; you don't need to feel guilty for taking me up on the offer I made you."

Her lips opened. And closed. All the while, the space between my sister's freckles turned a delectable red, and I couldn't help but be reminded of a strawberry, a comparison not helped by the shampoo she'd taken to wearing recently.

I knew my sister far too well for her to pull that kind of evasiveness on me, and yet she still got flustered every time I caught her out on it!

"I-I was just-" She took a breath before continuing, "I… wanted to ask if you and Dean would be cool with a double date? People are gonna wag their tongues when I go out with her out in public for the first time, and it'll be easier for me and her and take some of that attention and first real date jitters from me, and you and her can meet-"

"Amy," my voice cut through her half-baked burbling, and I rested a very light hand on her shoulder, "I'll need to ask Dean, but I'm more than sure he'll be fine with it."

A double date with my sister…

And to think I thought this conversation had ended well.

///
​

And Chapter Two is finally here, and we finally get a disruption to the careful status quo. Namely, Amy getting a girlfriend, and how Victoria is going to handle that compared to canon Amy. As always, thoughts, critique, and discussion are appreciated.