A Birthday to Remember

by Cori_Cat21

Summary:

What I think could have - and should have - happened on/for Austin's birthday.

Chapter 1

After her chat with Morgana, Tori actually did do some research regarding Thrill Max Park and all it had to offer. Less than two minutes into said research, the genius young woman suddenly felt like a reeeaaaalllllyyy big jerk for making that phone call to the busy guild council member before even looking at a picture of the place.

Especially because, according to their tickets and pricing, the ten tickets were all what the website called, “Chronozomium Level” - which roughly translated to “Two day inclusive trip with all ride, no line access, unlimited food and drink, special area access, complimentary stay at the penthouse of the six star elite tower hotel, free spa and sauna access, and a free michelin three star dinner on the rooftop of said hotel: All for the low low price of…. THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS PER TICKET!!!!”

Luckily, so far as anyone was concerned, this was a gift from Wade Wyatt himself to Tori Rivas, the only young inventor he had personally welcomed and campaigned with in the last decade. 

But still… This was a bit more extravagant than what Tori had originally intended to receive when she and Beverly asked for any “connected assistance” at the guild.

Though… if she were being honest, Tori felt that all of her cape friends truly did deserve a respite from their near non-stop training, patrols, and breach watch. Even through their limited contact the last few weeks, Tori could tell it was wearing on Donald and his team. Not to mention the almost tangible waves of exhaustion that had been rolling off the New Science Sentries since their new team mate had been added to the group.

So, on the day before Austin’s birthday - conveniently a Friday - Tori knocked on the door of the New Science Sentries and waited nearly three seconds before Kyle opened the door in a rush with deep bruises under his eyes.

His gaze widened slightly at the sight of her, “Tori? What are you doing here this early? Is something wrong?” A fair question and concern, seeing as how it was no secret at all that Tori was an avid devotee to the state of unconsciousness. Still, with his voice so clearly groggy and rough and slurred with sleep, Tori felt a pang of guilt for definitely having woken up the speedster. She shook off the tinge of sadness, though, and let a teasing smile tug onto her lips, “Yes, something is very wrong.”

At her words, Kyle tensed, his brown eyes clearing of sleep to focus entirely on her as he asked, “What happened?” The drowsiness disappeared from his words.

A twinge of… something vibrated through her at the shift. At the way he so swiftly went from sleepy neighbor to attentive friend and hero.

Something a little like pride, close to sadness, and far from the disgust a villain might usually feel in the presence of such pure… goodness.

But she had learned from Ivan - from Fornax - first hand, that not all villains had to hate the capes. That it was okay to like, and even admire the sense of justice and goodwill and hope in humanity so few of them held within their hearts.

Her gaze softened slightly as her grin bloomed to a real smile and said, “You guys were late.”

“Late?” Kyle echoed, confusion knitting his brows together, “Late for what?”

“For Austin’s party, of course.” Tori explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “Really, I go through all the trouble of coordinating three days off for you guys and book an entire weekend getaway for the whole group, and you three have the gall to be late.”

Okay, so all she really had to do to get both the New Science Sentries and Cybergeeks team three days off patrol and breach duty was shoot Helen a quick text and receive an efficient thumbs up emoji to convey her agreement and assistance, but it’s not like anyone else needed to know that.

Especially when Kyle’s expression fell even further into complete befuddlement, blinking at near super speed levels of rapid as he fumbled for any coherent recollection of the plans Tori had just mentioned before settling on the oh so eloquent, “What?”

Letting out a single, shoulder shaking, breath of a laugh, Tori shook her head and gently pushed past the stupefied Superhero to enter his apartment, telling him without looking over her shoulder, “You have thirty minutes to get ready before our ride is here, pack a set of pajamas, your toothbrush, and whatever other hygiene products you deem necessary, along with clothes for tomorrow. Clothes for both today and tomorrow should be comfortable and wear good shoes - though, I doubt you’ll have any problem with that.”

Making her way to Ellie’s door and raising her voice slightly, Tori used both hands to sound off an unruly wave of knocks as she called out, “Ellie! Elenore! Wake up!”

It took all of a minute before Austin came barrelling out of his room, and Ellie’s door flung open, both capes wide-eyed and frazzled from the sudden bombardment of sound.

“Tori? What’s going on?” Ellie asked sleepily.

“Is everything alright? Did something happen?” Austin added, worry evident in his tone.

Just as Tori opened her mouth to answer, Kyle chimed in from behind her, “Apparently we’re late for Austin’s party and I need a toothbrush and good shoes.” With the problem she’d brought to him soundly not a life threatening emergency, the exhaustion had once more infiltrated his words, and Tori suddenly understood why it was that so many girls gushed about the sound of a guys tired voice first thing in the morning.

A thought she quickly shoved aside as she corrected, “No, all of you guys need to pack a toothbrush and wear good walking shoes. As well as pack some sleepwear and comfy clothes for tomorrow too. You’ve got thirty minutes to get ready and meet us at our place before we have to go.”

Bewildered looks of confusion surrounded Tori as she spoke, but she paid it little mind, “If you guys check your inboxes, you should see a schedule change for your patrols, training, and breach watches - and Kyle, you’re slaughts for assisting in the Mightathon Games and at the children’s hospital were switched with a Rough Houser and Gloobsten, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“What- but how could yo-” Kyle tried to ask, but Tori cut him off.

“Shush. Thirty minutes. My apartment. See you then.” With that, the brunette villainess turned on her sneaker clad heel, maneuvered around the stunned silent speedster who still standing in the entryway, and left the trio of capes in their stunned states while processing her words.

As soon as she closed the door behind her, Tori heard the tell-tale sounds of scurrying confusion and panic, and smirked.

Afterall, so far as she knew, there was little else more villainous in this world than springing a last minute trip, and shift of schedule to those who needed a full three weeks notice to plan a barbeque.

Chapter 2

Summary:

I just added a lot of info dumping on what I think Tori's past could be, and Beverly being a fiend.

All things considered, Beverly had to admit that Tori’s method of entrapping the trio of capes who lived down the hall with nothing but the power of surprise and guilt was… diabolically genius.

And somewhat abnormal, given the latina’s usual socially inept nature.

When the brunette returned to their apartment, a victorious grin affixed to her features, Tori declared, “Success!!! They will be here shortly!”

Cheers rung out around the living room of their apartment - as the team under Cybergeeks lead had all arrived with beaming smiles moments before Tori’s return - Their eyes shown with relief; A feat only made possible by the trio of girls reiterating time and again to the capes that this was a celebration of their friend's birth, and the only way to guarantee the New Science Sentries would allow themselves time off to recover from their ruthless new training regiment.

With that handled, Beverly shook her head with a chuckle before hurling an incredulous question into the room as she flung an arm over Tori’s shoulders, “Okay, not to sound like a bitch, but you usually suck at any interaction not involving tech or tech based conversation, so… how on earth did you come up with a socially manipulative plan that brilliant?”

Tori scoffed, raising her hand to tick off the reasons with her fingers, “One, diabolical genius.”

“Obviously.” Beverly agreed with a nod.

The latina ignored the green eyed fashion fiend as she continued, “Two, it was the path of least resistance. And three, quickest results and lower chance of guilt making them back out.”

“Sooo…” Beverly began, “Less about social awareness and more about final results?”

Tori snapped both hands into finger guns, “Bingo.”

“That checks out.” Chole chimed in from her place in the kitchen, “Honestly, I’m surprised someone as socially inept as you hasn’t invented some… I don’t know, automatic response system? So you never actually have to talk to anyone?”

Scoffing, the genius woman sent Chloe a look of pure incredulity, “Who says I haven’t? Just cause it’s not tech based doesn’t mean I don’t have automatic responses primed for the torment known as ‘small talk’ .” Tori pointed a thumb to Donald, “In fact, if that dork hadn’t been my cubicle mate and the guy my Uncle told me to ask for help when I was just an intern at Vendallia… I don’t think I’d have given him a second thought. No offense.”

“None taken.” Donald assured her. Then his green eyes widened a bit, “Wow… weird to think that just a year ago I was a nerdy office drone and you were- uh… an intern.”

“A recovering drug addict, you mean.” Tori corrected, laughing lightly at the sight of the curly haired hero flushing brightly, “It’s okay, Donald, I’ve been clean for nearly two years now. I don’t have any shame for recovering from something like that. Besides, look at me now!” Tori flung her arms out, showing off the outfit Beverly had painstakingly forced her into, “Two awesome roommates, heading my own division of tech in Indigo Technologies, training personally under the Wade Wyatt, and getting to hire my own personal staff  including design, meaning I get to be poked and prodded by the Fashion Guru, otherwise known as Beverly.”

“And you look fantastic because of said poking and prodding.” Beverly pointed out with a proud smirk.

She did, too.

Beverly felt that she had outdone herself when assembling Tori’s new wardrobe. While most of it now consisted of a variety of pantsuits and slacks in every shade of black known to man, as well as a few charcoal and ash grey, many nicer blouses in varying values of red, grey, white and - surprise surprise - black, the dragon shifter had also gotten Tori a decent selection of nice dresses, and heels. As well as a very broad spectrum of accessories.

Though getting Tori to pierce her ears turned out to be the easties of the hurdles Beverly had been forced to jump through in the five days it took to assemble such a collection of clothes, the final product was well worth the pain.

With the help of ‘Alexis’, Beverly had managed to snag seventeen of twenty-three limited edition Esvin DeNoir Red Sneakers of that year to be Tori’s signature statement piece - hopefully for the next few decades.

Beverly had, of course, considered that Tori being seen in the same style of shoe for years might be viewed as lazy or some such nonsense, but rationalized that if Tori sold it as an ‘Ode to her first major purchase and reminder of the year her life changed for the better by empowering the people to protect themselves.’ Then the signature shoes would come off as more down to earth or humble than just wearing comfy shoes.

Even if that was a big part of the reason Beverly decided to make those specific sneakers Tori’s signature accessory.

Esvin DeNoir was known for creating comfortable, long-lasting, luxury clothing and accessories, all of which Tori desperately needed as an up-and-coming creator and executive of a new designer brand of self-defense tech. Even every pair of heels Beverly had talked Tori into were part of EDN’s line; which resulted in Beverly having the brilliant idea to collaborate with Esvin DeNoir officially once Tori starts making more notable appearances in the larger corporate world.

Even today, Tori was sporting what would soon be her signature red sneakers, with an otherwise low key, but high end outfit consisting of black wash skinny jeans, a skin tight maroon cami, which was mostly covered by a cropped, light grey hoodie, all topped off with a red crossbody fanny pack from EDN made to match the sneakers perfectly.

It had taken Beverly nearly half an hour to wrangle the tech-head into submitting to light makeup and actually styling her hair into a simple wavy ponytail, as well as adding a black EDN choker; but it was well worth it.

The light smokey eye with a golden shimmer and flared mascara, paired with a mauve lip stain and delicate contouring and blush made her already comely features even more apparent.

Not that Tori would ever truly understand and appreciate such attention to detail.

But that was what she’d hired Beverly for, and the biggest of the perks that came with the position of Tori’s fashion consultant was all the clothes she got to purchase for herself and Chloe on Tori’s ever-increasing dime.

Including the outrageously expensive grey denim, high waisted shorts, skin tight, emerald green long sleeve shirt, with a slight cleavage cut. And, as a way to mark her as part of Tori’s “pack” - as ‘Alexis’ called it - comfortable EDN black sneakers and matching crossbody fanny pack, and a black EDN choker with a much simpler design than Tori’s.

Chloe had taken significantly less effort to cajole into cooperation, and the end results for the gentle soul was something Beverly took personal pride in.

With Chloe being hired on as Tori’s personal assistant a month or so after the launch of the Rivas Line of Defense, Beverly found it all too appealing to coordinate outfits with the blonde woman, so Chloe was wearing essentially the same outfit as her, just with a few tweaks here and there.

With the same high waisted grey shorts, black EDN sneakers, crossbody fanny pack and choker, the main difference was her top. A black cami overlaid with a loose, lavender, crop top - which had what Chloe liked to call, “floppy sleeves” , roughly translated to “So long they hide your hands, but in a cute way.”

Both women also took on the soft makeup look Beverly had chosen for Tori, and had hair accessories to match their respective tops.

Beverly’s waist length main had been pulled into twin dutch braids with emerald ribbon added in for a bit of flare, whereas Chloe tied her shoulder length blonde hair back into a simple low ponytail with a lavender ribbon clipped on just above the hair tie.

Which meant the trio of roommates were looking hot as hell and photoshoot ready for when they walked into Thrill Max Park today through the C-VIP entrance.

Not that the capes on Cybergeeks team were looking too shabby themselves, just nowhere near their level of glamorous - exactly as Beverly had intended.

A wicked smile pulled on the dragon shifter's lips as she envisioned all the wonderful ways she was about to simultaneously launch Tori’s image back onto the front cover, and torment the tech-head in doing so. A brilliant bit of payback for the thirteen hours of whining Beverly had endured while curating a generous supply of comfortable options for her fashion-failure of a friend.

Revenge truly was sweet.

With Donald being a public hero, and most media sources quickly puzzling out who his usual out-of-cape company was most likely to be, Tori and her team being decked out in casual couture beside “lazily” dressed capes would undoubtedly bolster her image as a whole.

Not that they really looked lazy. It was just that the light blue skinny jeans and black halter top Irene wore and the fray cut jean shorts, white tank top and pink butterfly cardigan Lucy sported were far from the elegant, ‘effortless’ appearance of Beverly, Chloe, and Tori.

Ren’s body-building human form was an illusion, of course, but one that wore well-known, nicer designer clothing in the form of a white polo and dark jeans, even a golden chain around his thick neck to match the vision of a bespoke, golden watch.

The only real contender for attention, though, was Donald.

Not only was he an outed cape, but the AHC had definitely put a lot of time and effort into his PR campaign. Not that they needed to do much. Seriously, the red haired, freckle faced hero was practically a strawberry blonde golden retriever with a pension for inspiring every civilian he came in contact with.

His clothes were all top of the line, and clearly tailored, but - thankfully - still bland.

Though… that could easily paint him as a still “down to earth” kind of guy. Make him out to be human-adjacent rather than something entirely other . And since Tori was going to hopefully be photographed with him at least once or twice today, the high end but casually cute outfit she wore could be seen as… trying too hard.

Next to a confirmed cape in what could be perceived as regular blue-jeans, a white t-shirt, and white and blue plaid flannel - rather than the extremely high quality and very exclusive clothing it was… Tori really could be viewed as… well… someone who flaunted her new monetary status - to put it nicely.

While her outfit was easily a casual sort, the EDN items were intentionally labeled to be noticed at a glance.

Gnawing her bottom lip, Beverly completely checked out of the conversations revolving around her. Considering that the last bit she caught was concerning some sort of breach monster with five heads, two mouths and a gooey body, she didn’t think she was missing much anyway.

It wasn’t until the sound of knocking cut off her endless spiral of contemplation, and Chloe bounded over to the door to let their clearly frazzled neighbors inside that Beverly had a stroke of brilliance.

Forcing her eyes to glaze over Austin, in fear of her mind drifting dangerously far from where she needed to focus, Beverly’s gaze took in and silently appreciated the stylish pink jeans and white tank top Ellie wore, white running shoes, a black leather mini-backpack, and cropped jacket, completing the ensemble.

But it was only at the sight of Kyle, otherwise known as Tachionic, who was oh-so- conveniently clad in an outfit consisting of red running shoes, black jeans, and a red sweater that Beverly let out an audible gasp as an idea struck.

Ignoring the instant tensing and awareness every cape in the room exposed at the sound, Beverly focused on Tori, walking up to her and slamming her hands down on the latina’s shoulder, “Tori, this is serious, do you remember that golden ankle bracelet with the charms on it?”

Wide eyed and startled, Tori tilted her head to process Beverly’s question, brows furrowing as she asked, “The one with the red hearts and ‘T’ on it?”

“That’s the one.” Beverly confirmed with a mad grin, “Where is it?”

“Inside that closet mirror thing; second to last row on the bottom, fourth over from the left - Why?”

Turning around, Beverly ignored the looks of confusion on everyone’s faces and headed for the accessory, “You’re wearing it.”

From behind, Beverly could hear Tori’s footsteps as she asked an exasperated, “What! But I thought you said I wouldn’t be able to wear it until the- the Tori-onic stuff cooled down since people might think the ‘T’ was for Tachionic instead of Tori?”

“Change of plans!”

“Why!”

Whirling around, Beverly was unsurprised to see Tori barley more than a foot behind her as she asked, “Do you trust me?”

Giving the dragon shifter a suspicious, deadpanned look before stating dryly, “You want to mix up the rumor mill to make me a hot topic again with the ‘T’ charm and an exposed cape in the same photo - don’t you?”

A wicked grin spread on Beverly’s lips, “Which you can later clear up easily in the interview with Lacey Lorain scheduled for next Tuesday when you announce your new product line.”

Tori let out a long groan, “But you know people aren’t gonna believe me!”

“Some will.” Chloe - ever the optimist - offered with a chipper tone from the common room, “A lot of people in various media platforms have already been discussing which cape you’re romantically involved with, and the self appointed ‘Tori-nators’ have been avidly defending your claims of being happily single and successful.”

Going into Tori’s room to finish her task, Beverly could vaguely hear Tori stomp off with a huff as a tired sounding Ellie asked, “Wait, what’s been going on with the media stuff?”

“You haven’t heard?” Lucy’s question was muffled by distance, but even in her human form, Beverly’s hearing was nowhere near human levels anymore, so she could still make out the astonished syllables with ease, “After Tori was kidnapped, I guess a photographer got a picture of her and Donald talking when she got home late at night and ever since, there have been spurts of rumors about her - uh- well…”

“Hero-Hopping. There has been lots of talk about me hero-hopping.” Tori deadpanned, just as Beverly found the ankle bracelet.

“What!?” Donald cried out, and even before walking back into the living room, Beverly knew there was shock and horror written on his freckled face, “But- We’re not- We’ve never- I don’t even- What!”

“Chill, Donald.” Tori said blandly, “I’ve made a few small mentions of us being old co-workers before your cape days, and most of that crap is from people writing weird fanfiction or strange, way out of context video edits.”

Beverly motioned for Tori to sit on the couch as she shooed Irene and Donald off of the leather sectional and added, “And it’s not just her with Tachionic or Cybergeek, either.”

“That’s true, my FYP brought up some edits of Tori with lots of people. Capes like Nyx, Ranger, and Sir Silver, and even a few of her with villains too. Dr. Mechiniacle, Fornax-” Chloe’s commentary was cut off by Tori and Beverly violently gagging.

“Oh- Ewwww!” Tori cried, “Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew!”

“Someone cut off my ears! I need to burn the sound of that out of my brain with pain!” Beverly screamed.

Chloe laughed at their - admittedly dramatic - reactions. But given what they knew and she didn’t…. It wasn’t like Chloe could be blamed for not knowing what exactly she’d just unveiled to them.

Meanwhile, the capes seemed utterly befuddled at the news, giving Chloe the perfect opportunity to chide the wailing girls, “Oh, calm down!”

Tori glared at Chloe, prompting the blonde to add, “There is one that I think you’d really like though, Tori.” If the mischievous grin and sly tone hadn’t tipped the pair off to Chloe’s shenanigans, then the swift way she pulled out her phone and began quickly typing definitely had.

“Ah! Found it!” Chloe declared, before flipping her phone around for everyone to see… an edit of Tori Rivas and… Hephaestus. A fairly good one too, all things considered. Images of Tori and Hephaestus were made to follow the rhythm of ‘Shameless’ in snippets of photo and video. All in all, the edit was actually really well made.

“What… the…” Tori breathed, then shook her head, eyes focusing on Chloe, “Okay, seriously, what? Tachionic and Cybergeek, I can kind of understand - even if it’s wildly inaccurate and out of context - but… what?”

It was Irene who offered up an answer, “I’ve seen some too, honestly. Looked into some of the reasoning behind it, apparently some people found your old yearbook photos and stuff and found out you went to the same schools as some capes did at the same time. Didn’t know about the villains though.”

Ren gagged, “People seriously want a civilian - especially one in her twenties - to be romantically involved with- with super villains in their… what? Forties? Fifties?”

Lucy shuddered, “Yeah, that is super creepy.”

Donald, finally shaking himself free of his shock, narrowed his eyes, “And what’s with the Hephaestus ones? That makes zero sense!”

“Yeah… that one is… strange.” Tori murmured dazedly.

A fact Beverly made excellent use of by casually grabbing her right ankle and lifting her leg to rest on Beverly’s thighs, quickly clasping the ankle bracelet and then dropping Tori’s leg back onto the floor before asking, “Anyone have an idea on how that one started?”

Chloe was looking at her phone, and excitedly raised her hand, “Oh! Oh! I found it! Okay, so it says here that the ‘Metal-clad anti-hero, who saved more than three-thousand kids lives the day of the Ridge City Riots by evacuating Kensington Prep upon learning a bomb was planted there, has also been spotted and recorded leaving up-and-coming technological visionary, Tori Rivas’s current and previous housing area’s. Some reports mention the suit wearing meta destroying her old place of residence and others-”

“Okay! Thank you! I get it!” Tori groaned, “Seriously, that’s why? Because the dude destroyed my old place?”

“And was here fighting Alfred Setler.” Chloe added, “Oh! And I guess some speculate that the grudge Cybergeek and Tachionic both have for him is because you’re already in a secret relationship with him - which is why you almost always wear black and red.”

Tori blanched at that, “Seriously? Red is my favorite color and black hides stains well, where do people come up with this stuff?”

Ellie rubbed her eyes and raised her hand slowly, “I’m sorry, are we just gonna glaze over the bit about that guy saving more than three thousand children?”

“I’d like to know more about that as well.” Austin added shyly, his deep, adorably sleepy voice making Beverly tense as she finally allowed her gaze to roam over his spectacular, unfairly delectable body.

And, by the Gods, she was served a sight on par with a slice of heaven.

His 6 '5 frame was all well-honed bulk and real muscle, the pristine, white, long sleeve shirt clinging to every last vein in his defined arms, the light grey jeans perfectly accentuating his ass and thighs as thick as tree trunks. His shoe choice could use a bit of work, but simple black running shoes were never a bad option, just maybe not always the best.

Though, if she were being honest, the cohesive color palette of white, pink, red, grey, and black between all three of the New Science Sentries was pretty impressive. All things considered.

Briefly, Beverly wondered what Ike would have worn.

Shoving the sad thought far from her mind, the dragon shifter stood from her seat and said with as much blase’ energy as possible, “The guy fought some weird lizard dude at Tori’s Uncle’s house the day of the Ridge City Riots and completely wrecked the place. Which is why she needed a new apartment and how she, Chloe, and I became roommates. After that though-”

“Oh my gosh!” Chloe interrupted excitedly, “I love Hephaestus for that, then! Cause you two are the best roommates ever!”

“Hey!” Tori barked, “All my stuff I was ruined and no one found me for six hours cause I was buried under the rubble”

“You were?”

It was hard to tell who asked the question, but Tori just shrugged, “It was fine, no real injuries or anything. The lizard guy just wanted to try and kidnap me to force my Uncle into giving him some code at Vendallia that supposedly accesses their private vaults.”

“Mr. Garehardt has that kind of information?” Donald asked, simultaneously shocked and awed.

Tori snorted a laugh, “Of course not, he’s middle management! But some guy named Ian Garehardt does, which makes sense because he’s a high end executive. Some reps from the company explained the misunderstanding to us and our neighbors after everything calmed down. That’s also when they told us that it was their, ‘Professional opinion’ that the hostage thing at the office where Cybergeek had his unofficial debut was also a result of my uncle having a name extremely similar to that guy.”

“Oh.” Donald murmured, then his green eyes blew wide, “Oh! That’s why they shot him?”

Before Tori could reply, he stepped closer, his eyes stretching even further open, “That’s why they shot you!!!”

Tori sent a glance to Chloe as she asked, “Uhh… did you never tell him what actually happened?”

At Chloe's answering shake of the head, the blonde met Donalds gaze, “I appreciate you keeping my secret, but I trust everyone here, so I don’t mind them knowing I’m a meta.” 

Gasps filled the room, and a few people took a step or two back, Irene and Ren even took up slightly defensive positions, but it was Ellie who asked, voice barely a breath, “What- Why- Why haven’t you told us before? What’s your power?”

Chloe sighed, looking to the floor, “Well, it’s a little strange… but I’m able to basically convert pain to power for other people. Like… the more hurt you are, the stronger you’ll be. As for why I didn’t tell you guys, well- uh… well it’s just that I have no interest in being a hero. I like my life, and I like people treating me normally; and I was worried that you all might try to pressure me into joining the AHC.”

Austin stepped towards the blonde and kept his voice gentle and genuine as he said, “I am so sorry if we- if I made you feel that way. A hero's life isn’t for everyone, it’s dangerous and taxing, and definitely not a choice you should be pushed into or feel pressured to join. I know I will respect your decision, and swear to keep your meta ability a secret from anyone outside of this room.”

“Me too.” Ellie echoed, voice raw, “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you to keep quiet about this around us, I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, I can see why you’d want to hide it from the world at large, some people treat meta’s like… like we’re monsters if we’re not in the mask and risking our lives. So your secret is safe with us.” Kyle added, his smile soft as he spoke.

“Yeah, yeah, no pressure or spilling secrets, whatever,” Irene said with a wave of her hand, “My question is… why exactly did you tell us this after Donald mentioned Tori getting sh- Oh. Oooh!”

Beverly watched as Tori oh-so-subtly blushed, and looked out the sliding doors leading to the balcony, and answered the unfinished question with a narrowed gaze pointed to the latina at her side, “Because someone decided it was a fan-fucking-tastic idea to shoot herself in the arm four times to get super strength and punch the meta who broke into her work place.”

“What!”

Again, Beverly couldn’t really tell who spoke first, but Donald’s voice was most definitely the loudest.

“Why would you do that! That- That’s- I mean…”

“It’s seriously not a big deal. Your gun wasn’t hurting him, he was throwing things hard enough to kill, I made an educated, well-thought out plan and executed it. Besides, punching that asswipe in the face was well worth every bit of pain before I passed out five seconds later, and woke up the next day with no injuries in sight.” Tori defended with a shrug.

“I’m sorry…” Austin started, “You- you shot yourself in the arm four times to get super strength for a handful of seconds? And- And you- you-”

“Were completely fine the next day thanks to some meta healers Wade has employed for those exact hostage situations. Yes.” Tori finished for him.

Kyle shook his head at near super speed levels, “Hold on, how was that well-educated? You could have passed out from pain before landing that hit!”

“Eh, I was shot twice in the stomach once, and stayed awake and aware for five minutes - long enough to get back to my shelter and hide safely.” For someone so brilliant… Beverly really needed to teach this girl that her life - even before the guild - was not normal by any means; and thus, resulted in a whole lot of shocked stares in the silence growing around them.

When Tori noticed the quiet, she peered around her and asked, “What?”

Lucy’s lip quivered with the question, “You- You were shot… twice? And couldn’t even get help?”

“Well… not really. I was a runaway sixteen year old with no health insurance who’d been caught stealing food from a gang with multiple meta’s in the slums of Ridge City. Best casinario was they’d send me back to foster care, where most of the possible homes were cramped, and the foster parents were borderline abusive or neglectful. Worst case, I would have ended up in juvie and graduated to jail because of all the crap that was in my system at the time.”

Again, a long stretch of silence spread out in the room, and Tori asked, truly befuddled, “What?”

Chloe fielded this one with a cough, “Uh… it’s just that not everyone here was aware of what your life was like before Ivan took you in.”

Tori tilted her head and blinked, “Buuuut… it’s all on my file?” She turned to the New Science Sentries, “Didn’t you guys read my file after being put on babysitting duty?”

Kyle flushed, looking away, “We didn’t think it was appropriate to look at more than your workplace and- and- uh… no. No, we did not read your whole file.”

“Huh. Ooookay, but Donald-” She turned to look at the red headed hero, “You know that I’m a recovering drug addict and that I was homeless before Uncle Ivan came along and helped me out-”

“Uh, I thought you like… just lost your home before reaching out to him or something. That his stipulation for helping was you staying clean. Not- Not-”

“Not her being a runaway who lived on the streets since she was fourteen years old?” Beverly supplied.

“Fourteen?” Ren asked, horror evident in his illusionary human features.

“Yep.” Tori confirmed casually.

“I feel like we maybe should have read that file a bit more now.” Ellie muttered.

Austin and Kyle nodded mutely in agreement.

Just then, an alarm began blaring all around them, and the capes were all readying for a fight when Chloe stepped forward and plucked her phone from the kitchen table, tapping twice to end the obnoxious noise. With a timid laugh, the blonde told the group, “Sorry that was the alarm to head downstairs for our ride. Time to get this birthday weekend started?” She tried with a shrug and small smile.

Almost in a daze, all of the heroes grabbed their respective bags and luggage - Tori bringing her red coated suitcase holding both her meta suit and mundane attire.

Well, if one thing was for sure, it was that this weekend would surely be anything but boring.

As Beverly - the last person out of the apartment - turned to lock the door behind her, the dragon shifter let a small smirk tug onto her lips. Because in all the chaos of edits and meta reveals and an unintentional trauma dump… everyone had forgotten about the ankle bracelet she’d clasped on Tori’s ankle, and all of the wonderful press, publicity, and rumors it was sure to stir up.

Chapter 3

Chloe stood in awe as she stood outside her apartment building, looking up at the absurdly monumental party bus before her and her friends,  a small twinge of horror creeping in as she considered how much money it cost, gas it used, and space it took up on the eternally traffic-ridden streets of Ridge City.

Taking a breath, the blonde woman mentally paused and reminded herself that her friends were both secret villains with a lot more cash to burn than they let on. And that Tori was a certified millionaire in the making as her self-defense products continued to fly off the shelves at break-neck speed. Even now, she, Tori, and Beverly were all wearing cross-body fanny packs that had been filled to the brim with the arsenal of self-defense weapons Tori had been tinkering with for months now.

While Beverly was in charge of the style, design, and overall aesthetics of both Tori and her inventions, Chloe took her role as the latina’s personal assistant very seriously. After all, who else would work to ensure that both of her - admittedly narrow minded roommates - actually wore and utilized the products they made?

After being decked out in an adorable, floppy-sleeved crop top and nearly identical outfit to Beverly’s, Chloe had been the one to get the earrings Tori made - which recorded both visual and audio at the press of a three specific buttons, and filled the fanny’s to the brim with products already for sale, in their final rounds of being tested, and even a few gadgets Tori seemed to work on in random intervals when she hit a wall in her Heaphestus rebuilds, and needed a productive way to get her brain “To just fucking work already!” and was on route to be the next series of accessories for the Rivas Defense Line up for corporate testing - such as the ‘hero watch’ and ‘survival satchel’ .

Well… one was in the fanny packs.

The ‘hero watch’ , a piece of basic, but brilliant tech designed to both look like and act as a regular, antique stopwatch on a day to day basis, while also outfitted with a second layer of tech beneath the time-keeps surface level function. This second layer - as Tori told it - had a simple web of coding paired with an obscenely intricate set of cybernetic defenses that had one, sole function: Allow citizens to notify local authorities and members of the AHC/Registered Independent Hero Networks of any threat, using a traffic light system to offer brief detail on the threats severity.

The ‘survival satchel’ , however, was not small enough to fit the supplies within it, the bag itself, and the extremely cute strap it would come with inside of the fanny packs Chole and her roommates were wearing. Meaning the blonde woman had packed one of each item from the three weeks worth of survival supplies within the satchel.

Inspired from her time trapped in Cobble Lord's orb, Tori had apparently learned from the kids in her Star Scout Cluster that the biggest issue when the Star Scouts were trapped, was the lack of food, water, and defense.

Meaning Tori was on a hellblazing mission to ensure no one ever endured what those children did ever again.

While the tech-head hadn’t gone into too much detail, Chloe still retained some bit of understanding from the only time Tori had asked for the blonde to use her cliche phrase, “Whatever you can do, I can do better.” in an effort to create the best product possible to save civilians - but especially children - from facing that level of danger and starvation.

Essentially, all the items in the ‘survival satchel’ were highly advanced dehydrated cubes of supplies, food, and location devices. Now, how on earth a tent and raft and assortment of other items that should soundly not be able to shrink down to the size of an ice cube, did - in fact - shrink down to the size of an ice cube, Chloe had no clue.

What she did know, however, was that all the items inside the satchel were activated and reached full size with just a few drops of water each, and it came with three bottles with a fingerprint seal - designed so that the water won’t be used to simply quench thirst, and will notify the closest AHC unit and officer with the users exact location.

Well… that, and the fact that it was going to rocket Tori’s success into the stratosphere.

Honestly, given the products she made and the willingness to protect civilians, it would be easy for some to see Tori fit into the guild Chloe knew her to be affiliated with. For Chloe though, it was clear why Tori - and even Beverly - would never really fit in an AHC environment: They did not pull punches, and they lived for the fight.

 

Lived to get stronger, to improve every aspect of themselves without hesitation. Without reproach. Without fear .

It was something Chloe envied, really.

She knew, better than anyone, how much her power had the potential to do. What she could be capable of.

An image of a malformed figure in a metallic chair with tentacle-like appendages flashed unbidden in her mind, and Chloe felt sick at the reminder of what she allowed to remain.

But… But the only way to heal Wispy… was to use the power of Edict. To become the master of reality and all within it - save for, perhaps, Loadstar. And how easy would it be to allow that power, that ability to corrupt her?

The version of Edict she’d met hadn’t seemed evil. Hadn’t been cruel, or hateful, or mad with power.

But… How many versions of herself were out there, utterly unbound by the laws of nature and free from remorse? How many might be subjugating untold masses, turning them into little more than mindless minions for their entertainment?

“-ey…” 

What if that power corrupted her? Ruined everything she was and turned her into a monster to be put down? Hurt hundreds- thousands- millions of people withou- “Llo? Chlo-” t feeling or compassion?

How many cities, worlds, universes could fall to Chloe’s feet, to her power, to her ?

Panic swirled and twisted and- “What’s wro-” curdled in her heart as the nightmare future she might bring about, one with Tori and Beverly standing at her side as cruel enforcers without will of their own as she sat on a bloodied throne of rusted blades and broken bones filled her mind. “-loe!” Trembling terror bubbled in her throat, the sensation souring her tongue as the vision spanned outwards, revealing a city seared with flames and ruin, rivers of blood and, “-nap out of i-” divots of devastation filling her vision while millions marched before her with empty, lifeless eyes.

“CHLOE!!!”

The swirling sound of Beverly and Tori’s voices crashed into her, their concern palpable in the air between them, causing Chloe to blink back… when had she started crying?

Whe- What- She didn’t remember… How was she on the ground? Why was she gasping for air and what- how was she supposed to stand? Her brain fuzzed as she tried to force her legs to move, her body to cooperate while nothing, nothing, nothing seemed to click in her nerves.

She couldn’t move.

She couldn’t speak.

She couldn’t even breathe.

Distantly, the blonde could hear Beverly speaking to the crowd of worrying faces around her, telling them to get on the bus while she and Tori helped Chloe calm down. Vaguely, she could feel Tori’s firm hold and careful grip gently guide her to stand once more. Felt the earth shift as the latina braced the majority of Chloe’s weight on her own shoulder as she silently brought them inside the apartment building once more.

As soon as they reached a metal bench in the complex, Chloe’s legs gave out and she collapsed against the iron bars seconds before the tears returned full-force, dragging the blonde back into the depths of her terror as Tori sat beside her, and pulled the blonde into a tight, truly comforting embrace.

Swept Chloe into a storm of memories summoned by the sensation, the blonde began to sob even harder against the brunette beside her.

The one Chloe had so quickly felt safe around, so soundly sank into a sense of familiarity, and had - admittedly - begun to see as her sister. 

Guttural cries echoed louder around them at the thought, because Chloe had a sister once, and lost her to the whims of fate, long before Tori came stumbling into Ridge City Grinders with the same bruises of sleep deprivation her sister once wore with concerning frequency, before a robotic pterodactyl came crashing into their home five years ago, cursing Chloe’s sister - Tessa - to a fate of being frozen in time, connected to tubes and wires to keep her alive.

A fate… that with the power of Edict… Chloe could end with ease.

Chapter 4

Overall, Ellie felt like she usually had a firm grasp on social dynamics, conversational cues, and empathy. That being said, learning that one of her - admittedly very few - friends had been keeping the fact that she was a meta hidden from her for nearly a year out of fear that Ellie and/or any of her other cape friends would try to force or badger her into becoming a hero… hurt.

And the phantom of Ike sitting beside her on the lavish party bus Tori arranged, out of the mask and still covered in blood, was only all too happy to rub salt in the wound.

“I mean, really- really, that sweet little barista didn’t even think she could trust you not to make her a cape and get her killed too! Way better judgment than the real Ike, that’s for damn sure.” The mangled, malformed figure decided with a nod of appreciation.

Only being surrounded by her other friends, who were already frazzled, and scared -or downright panicked, in Lucy’s case - kept Ellie from biting back at the false ghost of her friend to shut the hell up.

“Do- Do you think Chloe is going to be alright?” Donald asked cautiously, dragging Ellie’s attention from Ike’s false phantom.

Ren scratched the back of his head, “Hard to say, I can pick up bits and pieces of their conversation right now. I could listen in if I focused on it, but that building is an old one, with thicker walls. Not to mention… well…”

“It’d be disrespectful of our friends' privacy and a violation of trust to even attempt such a thing.” Austin finished for him.

Giving a slight nod in thanks, Ren agreed, “Right.”

Irene let out a long, low whistle, “Well, if we aren’t going to pseudo eavesdrop, why don’t we take this time without those three to discuss all the shit we learned about Tori and Chloe today?”

“Oh, thank the Gods!” Lucy nearly shouted in a single, hurried breath, “Like… that stuff was crazy, right? It’s not just me?”

“Well,” Donald began, hands clasped in his lap, thumbs circling each other, “I kind of already knew that Chloe was a meta, and I told Ren a while back that I had help from another meta when I saved my old office during a hostage situation. And after seeing how quick everything changed for me at my old job, in my old life, with my old friends… yeah… I definitely get why Chloe wouldn’t want to share it with anyone she didn't completely trust.”

Austin nodded from his seat in the corner, “I agree, it was a very personal secret, and given how we’ve seen some other heroes act at the AHC, and how a lot of human feel about non-cape meta’s, I honestly only feel honored that it took us less than a year for her to share such an important piece of information.”

Ellie nodded, a breath of relief escaping her as the ghost of Ike - and his ever irksome voice - faded away. If Chloe had kept it only from Ellie, then that was on the plasma user for being someone the barista couldn’t trust. But she had kept it from everyone!

Well, everyone but Donald and Tori, and Beverly definitely seemed to know already; which all made perfect sense, given the circumstances described about the hostage situation at Tori and Donald’s old office, and the fact that Chloe would have felt the need to inform Beverly of her ability before becoming roommates.

“Alright, but… Tori’s stuff?” Lucy prompted carefully.

Everyone let out a variation of a long, silence filling, responding readying breath at that.

Tori’s casual information drop about her… less than idyllic past was… less than ideal for the start of a celebratory weekend.

Kyle snorted from his seat between Ellie and Austin, “Remember when we first got assigned to guard duty and Ike joked about how they were the most boring people to ever have to babysit?”

Austin chuckled, “Yeah, he wasn’t wrong often, but man, did he miss the mark on that one.”

“Seriously,” Ren agreed, “I mean… A runaway at fourteen? Shot twice and forced to recover with no medical attention at sixteen? I mean, I knew Tori was tough, and after that video of her fighting off the people who kidnapped her, figured she had some basic training, but still…”

“I can’t even imagine what it was like for her.” Lucy whispered, eyes fixed to the floor of the party bus.

“Terrifying?” Irene suggested, “But what I’m having trouble with, is how she just assumed we knew so much of it!”

“That was… strange.” Ellie agreed, then turned her eyes down the row to her left to ask her teammates, “Would that sort of thing even be on her file?”

“I… don’t think so?” Donald offered, “I mean, the rehab and types of drugs that were in her system, yeah. And her being a foster runaway would definitely be in there, but… I have no clue about the rest.”

Kyle nodded in agreement, “I know that there are only four people on Tori’s emergency contacts. Chloe, Beverly, her uncle, and some doctor named Lynn.” 

Ellie watched Donald's face scrunch at the last name mentioned, his lips form it silently over and over. Eventually, Ellie rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and asked, “What’s so special about this Lynn lady, Donald?”

The ginger tensed, head snapping up at the sound of his name as he began blinking rapidly, a flush coloring his cheeks at her question, “Oh- Uh- sorry, it just… It sounds a little familiar.”

“Oh! I remember!” Ren declared, “The night I first met Tori and Beverly was at the bar Cyber Geek, and I saved from an interloper summoned by Nexus a few weeks before the Ridge City Riots. They were there with a rehab group, and one of the girls was Dr. Lynn.”

“Oooh, you’re right! Gah, I feel like an idiot for not getting that.” Donald grumbled, crossing his arms in a slight pout.

Ellie, on the other hand, had a much more pressing concern as she leaned forward in interest and asked Ren, “Wait, Beverly was part of this rehab group?”

“Yeah,” Irene commented from her corner, “I was wondering about that, too, actually.”

Austin squirmed a bit in his seat, “I’ll admit, I’m a bit curious myself, but if Beverly hasn’t brought up that information of her own accord, we shouldn’t pry. It’s rude, and frankly, I feel it’s wrong of us to even be discussing this when only two of us were privy to the information. Just like Chloe came to trust us not to pressure her into joining the AHC or expose her as a meta, I believe Beverly will share her reasons for being part of the rehabilitation group when she is comfortable doing so. Moreover, even if such a time never comes, we should respect her decision to keep it to herself.”

A blush of shame bloomed on the illusion of Ren’s cheeks, Donald also noticeably shrank back in guilt at the call out of their mistake, and everyone else seemed to be subdued by the small speech.

Well… almost everyone else.

A slow clap of applause echoed in the lavish space of the party bus, jolting the seated passengers to attention, their instincts from endless hero training rising to the surface as they all turned to the bus door and found… Tori.

Tori was leaning against the side of the party bus.

And not a single one of them had noticed; thus… none of them knew how much the very blunt, very brutal, very protective woman had heard them talking about.

With that in mind, it wasn’t all too surprising when the short latina tilted her head with a smile like sinful wrath dripping with honeyed sweetness and announced, “Nice speech, Austin. But, why don’t you all tell me exactly what was being said too… require such a show of chivalry?

 Ellie let out a long sigh, turned to her left where a mini bar lay untouched and popped open a bottle of champagne as she asked, “Who else needs a drink for this?”

Every single cape in the car - Austin sheepishly included - raised their hands, as Tori gave them a cheshire grin, and crossed her arms.

Yeah… Ellie was really starting to regret accepting Beverly’s offer of help.

And the weekend had only just started.

Chapter 5

All things considered, Tori felt she was a logical, understanding person.

She could understand and appreciate empathy, even occasionally partook in the dreadful sensation; In this particular circumstance, though, as her cabal of cape acquaintances paled at the sight of her supposedly mortal form and accepted Ellie’s offer of alcohol with quiet thanks, no such sensation rose within her.

Only amusement at their foolishness and impossibly predictable train of thought bubbled up, and Tori was utterly ill-equipped to handle the scoff of laughter that escaped her lips once her friends finished explaining.

Currently, Beverly was with Chloe, taking care of her emotional distress and disarming the barista’s building fear and panic in a way that Tori was woefully unable to imitate in any sort of functional fashion. Meaning Tori was the one who would have to cover for her friend, and while that was usually akin to an insurmountable task for the socially inept tech head, the situation in question had one very obvious, very logical, very plausible answer.

“Beverly wasn’t part of the rehab group, she was just the only person who could get me to go out with the group, and she took full advantage so she’d be invited to an ultra-exclusive club to get more intel on the shift of fashion trends or something.” The understanding, and acceptance at Tori’s explanation was instantaneous.

“That… makes a lot more sense.” Donald muttered, causing a wave of nodding heads to move in agreement.

“Gee, thanks.” Tori muttered, both her voice and expression dead-panned.

“Sorry, that’s not- I mean- I’m not saying you being in- wait- I just-”

“Dude,” Kyle interrupted, “Just stop now.”

The ginger flushed an even brighter red than he’d been upon being called out for talking about the trio of female roommates behind their back, and slunk down in his seat. The speedster coughed lightly, his leg bounce-bounce-bouncing as he met Tori’s gaze with his warm brown eyes and took on the task of navigating a seemingly tenuous topic to the apathetic tech-head, “You’ve never been shy about your past, so it’s not surprising to anyone that you have been in rehab; Beverly though, with her family background and morals, is difficult to see as someone who needed to go to rehab while living with her family.”

Tori shrugged, “Fair enough.”

This was met by instant, visible relaxation by every cape in the car, and Tori pushed off the side of the door she’d been leaning on, and looked over her shoulder to the sidewalk by the party bus, “Alright you two, come on in, we have a birthday weekend to get to.”

“Damn.” Beverly muttered, stepping on to the first step of the party bus, “How did you notice me?”

“Us.” A shy, quiet voice corrected from the ground.

The dragon shifter nodded, “Yeah, us. We were super quiet.”

Tori grinned, “Trade secret.”

While she’d been amping up the capes level of stress for a few seconds, her roommates must have decided Chloe was calm enough to join the group. A choice that was most likely influenced by the fact that they'd left Tori - a person unabashedly uninterested in navigating chit-chat - to take the reins of an already frayed social situation.

Sure, she’d been given a half-assed script of an explanation to follow - something about Chloe being more overwhelmed with telling all their hero friends at once that she was meta.

But… based on that characteristically apathetic thought… yeah, Tori was glad the two of them had decided to follow behind her sooner rather than later.

With that in mind, Tori plopped down next to Ellie with the elegance of an elephant and leaned her head back with a sigh, “Ugh, we haven’t even left yet and this weekend is already hitting my meter of patience for social complications.”

Beverly and Chloe climbed in, the barista closing the door behind her as Bev moved to the back of the rectangular space and sat between Donald and a bashful Austin, a smirk of triumph taking hold of her expertly accentuated features. Tori may despise make-up and the way it somehow always made her sleepy, but damn did that girl have a gift for bringing out the best of someone's appearance.

Across from Tori, her blonde roommate meekly took the final seat next to Lucy, a flush of embarrassment painting her pale cheeks, “Sorry.”

Scoffing, the tech-head raised a brow at the barista and asked, “For what? Panicking a little after revealing one of your biggest secrets?” Rolling her eyes, Tori continued, “Yeah, how rude.” 

“Well- I just-” Chloe tried, but Tori cut her off, “Seriously, I may not react the same way most people do in emotional distressing situations, but I can at least understand the basic principles of the human body enduring a sudden influx of chemicals due to fear, relief, panic, and whatever else. I’m not mad, I doubt anyone here is. You are a person and you needing a minute to get your thoughts and feelings together after telling everyone you’re a meta is normal, understandable, and not your fault. Kay?”

Blue green eyes blinked back at Tori rapidly from across the space between them, then narrowed, “Who are you and what have you done with Victoria - I don’t deal with emotions - Rivas?”

“I second that question.” Beverly commented, raising her hand, “First there was trapping the birthday boy and his team with societal convention and guilting them all into having a fun weekend trip. Then there was the attempt at consoling everyone about the fact that you shot yourself in the arm four times. And now you’re comforting Chloe! You hate comforting people! You think it’s a tedious waste of time. So yeah, who are you and what have you done with Tori - empathy is a waste of energy - Rivas?”

Shooting both of her roommates a deadpanned look, Tori answered, “A fire demon trapped in human skin who needs a beer right now before I bite someone’s head off.”

Ellie, ever the competent one, quickly grabbed the already opened bottle of beer Kyle was holding, and passed it to Tori as she asked, “So, I know you’re probably kidding, but with the interdimensional rifts and everything, I feel the need to double check: That was a joke, right?”

Taking a long drink at the ripe hour of eleven, Tori contemplated how best to answer that. When she decided on a response, a smile tickled her lips, “I have no intention of biting someone’s head off.”

A few people actually let out a breath of relief at that, and for the first time, Tori wondered how much these last few weeks of non-stop alertness was really affecting her cape friends.

As Chloe murmured a soft thank you, and conversation broke the silence of the party bus, Tori turned slightly to tap the button signaling the driver to begin their trip to Thrill Max Point, and decided that maybe - just a little part of her - wouldn't just start helping with the rifts in reality for money.

Possibly, just a fragment of her reasoning… would be for the seven sapling superheroes in this very vehicle, whose names and faces had somehow wriggled their way into her heart.

When the bus began to move, Tori looked around at the people in the space with her, a song about a takedown from some demon hunting, k pop movie playing quietly over the speakers that were now connected to Irene’s phone as her friends all comforted Chloe and assured her that they would never betray her secret.

Her thoughts drifted to how she’d given Ivan a hard time about how few people he trusted in the world, Tori was all too aware of how almost all the people she cared about were right here with her. How she only trusted two of them.

But it didn’t matter if she trusted her cape friends or not, it didn’t matter that they would all hate her- blame her- abandon her when they inevitably learned the truth of who she really was; they were hers.

Because no matter what Loadstar may like to believe, Tori was a villain.

And a villain - as Nexus so succinctly put it - protected what was their’s. No matter the cost.

Chapter 6

Summary:

Austin is a simp and definitely a sub. Have fun.

If someone had asked Austin what it was that he actually wanted to do for his birthday, the cape known as Agent Quantum would have politely suggested a small dinner on the roof top of his apartment with his team, his neighbors, and a few other heroes he’d gotten to know in the months since joining the AHC. A barbecue with friends, perhaps a few small gifts from his teammates and new acquaintances - if they saw fit to purchase one - sounded like a perfectly fine evening to him.

Small, quiet, comfortable. The perfect, ideal celebration for a cape to have.

Unfortunately, no one had been concerned with actually asking Austin what he wanted to do, and so he was now left growing all too aware of how absurdly boring and mundane such an evening would have been compared to this pseudo-kidnapping with all of his remaining close friends. A weekend filled with fun and mundanity in the only the most logistical of senses, that would have left Ike giddy and grinning like a cheshire cat.

A fact that managed to simultaneously warm Austin’s heart, and send a sad chill through his bones, as he watched Ellie, Lucy, and Chloe belt their hearts out to some song from a recently released multiverse K-Pop movie for the tenth time since getting into the party bus. Even he had to admit, for a song about soda pop, it really was very catchy.

And seeing Ellie smile and dance - albeit strangely, with some rhythmic motion of her shoulders - made Austin so relieved and at ease, the cape felt a bit guilty.

While he was taking time off to celebrate something as silly as his anniversary of birth, people could be out there, calling for help, with seven superheroes unable to heed their pleas because they’d been dragged into this hairbrained scheme along with him. 

Austin was grateful, of course. So incredibly surprised and genuinely happy to have friends who cared so much about him and arranged such an amazing event; But he was also… not sad. But… a little guilty.

A bit on edge.

And so… so very hurt, to feel the absence of Ike in the bus.

To miss the teleporter’s babbling and easy way of navigating social interactions and crowds. Ike had been… he’d been so integral to the team, to their life, and somehow, Austin celebrating his birthday felt… wrong.

An ache of ice spread through his bones, seeped into his blood, as he thought of all the times Ike had belittled himself, written his own place in the team, in the world, as little more than a scapegoat for blame; and no one had stopped him.

Corrected him.

Consoled him.

Ike was… he was an amazing hero. An irreplaceable friend. A person Austin would forever be indebted to. A friend, a brother, he would never get the chance to help, to thank, to appreciate.

A slight pressure on his right arm brought Austin back to the moment, and his head jerked slightly towards the sensation, finding Beverly’s glimmering emerald eyes shining with concern. Swallowing back a tidal wave of emotions, Austin truly tried - and failed - to channel his confident sense of calm he gained when he wore the mask of Agent Quantum.

A tingling heat crawled onto his cheeks as he fumbled for words, a garbled mess of incoherence spewing from his lips before he finally managed, “I-Uh- Yes? Did you need something? Or- Oh! I should move over a bit, sorry, I didn’t even think of how cramped you must be, and that was incredibly inconsiderate. Especially since you and Tori went through so much trouble t-”

A warm hand placed atop his as Austin tried to covertly moved to the left to give the truly ethereal woman more room in her cramped space between the two most physically powerful meta’s in the bus.

Sound died on his lips, every ounce of attention focused on the gentle fingers and slight press of nails from Bervely’s hand as he swallowed audibly and tried to keep his terrible, corrupted, uncouth, and utterly debilitating thoughts of how good those nails would feel sliding down his spine as he cradled her curvaceous form close and slowly made love to the goddess beside him.

Austin contracted every muscle, willing his traitorous mind to allow his body to obey his desire and keep his wants far from physical manifestation as he focused on breathing and maintaining eye contact with Beverly.

Shamed by his lack of mental control, Austin kept his attention on her green eyes, fighting back the desire to declare his attraction to her and beg the woman to allow him to give her even an ounce of pleasure.

To allow him to taste her sweet skin and kiss even just the tips of her fingers.

But thinking of placing his lips on Berverly’s fingers caused the man to imagine all the things he would crave afterwards.

Entwinging their fingers, pressing a kiss to her palms, and tracing every inch of her strong, muscled body with his tongue, nipping lightly on her pulse point, and absolutely drunk on the taste of her skin as he kneeled before her and begged for her permission to have the privilege of seeing her bare form.

As Austin asked to suck a mark of remembrance upon her flesh and have the honor of even placing his lips against her breasts.

Breathing became a feat of pure necessity as his mind wandered to the unforgivable depths of how divine her pleasure might taste on his tongue. How heavenly her moans of pleasure could be as he lay her on his bed and sank to his knees as he slowly teased and stretched her core with his fingers before-

A shudder of shameful desire ratcheted through him as he imagined the most terribly inescapable dream of how it might feel to have- for Beverly to allow him the precious gift of feeling her body stretch around his cock.

To know the sensation of her letting him gently rock into her, fill her, be one with her as he gently held her close and lost himself to the edge of inescapable want.

He had - unforgivably - taken his cock in hand and brought himself to completion time and again over the months he’d gotten to know the beauty beside him.

Just the thought of her had him shuddering, falling to the floor, and mind numb with pleasure. How good would. It feel to have her hands trace a path up his chest? Her flesh envelope his cock as they became one?

Part of him wondered if she- If Beverly might-

An image of her dark skin glowing in the moonlight as she rode him with her expressions of pure control finally snapped him out of his thoughts and to the present.

Beverly was not an object of sexual or physical or even emotional relief.

She is a brilliant, intelligent, absolutely stunning and strong woman with no conceivable romantic interest in Austin and he was waiting until marriage to know the feel of a woman’s skin against his in such a way.

It was an oath he’d made to his nanny - the only person Austin could have called family aside from Kyle for nearly the entire first twenty years of his life.

Austin would not give in.

He refused to even attempt to use a woman for personal pleasure or- or to give over such an intimate experience with a woman he didn’t love.

Well… that wasn’t entirely true.

Austin was emotionally aware enough to know how easy it would be for him to hopelessly fall in love with a woman like Beverly.

A woman with a strength beyond her well toned muscles and combat ability instilled in her from a childhood spent training in a family with a military background. A person who valued her family and cared for her friends and knew what she wanted and how to attain it with a confident gate, her head held high as she sauntered through life with an intimidating air.

A woman he had seen interacting with her nieces and nephews and cousins every now and then, and couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to create a family her with one day. To envision the dark skinned beauty holding a bundle of wriggling cries, or tucking in a sweet little girl with her green eyes and Austin’s shy smile.

But it could never happen. He knew that.

Beverly was not subtle in showing how little interest she had in heroes as a whole, so what hope did a clueless, socially awkward, oaf like Austin have at offering such an amazing person something worthy of wanting?

What hope did Austin - an unnaturally created spawn of that horrible, heartless man - have at convincing anyone that he was worthy of loving?

So… So even if Austin did, maybe, feel a trace of romantic emotion for the woman beside him, he was nothing but a pretty face and muscle. Both of which Beverly already had in her right.

He didn’t have Ike’s jovial charm or Kyle’s sense of cool calculation when it came to assessing social situations.

He wasn’t smart or clever or enough to be more than a mere shadow in the presence of Professor Quantum. Heck, he didn’t even have any hobbies outside of training!

He was hardly a person.

He was an invention, a bi-product of his genetic father’s desire to ensure the Quantum legacy lived on. 

He wasn’t even- he couldn’t even keep his teammates- his friends from dying. Dying. And here he was, imagining the most wonderful woman he’d met letting his blood stained hands to touch her supple skin, envisioning a family with her - one he knew he’d never be strong enough to protect.

He was worthless and undeserving and nothing but a fai- “Hey.” A calm voice whispered from his right, snapping Ausin from his mental self-fladulation and coaxing his blue eyes to meet her emerald green gaze.

Blinking away tears he hadn’t even realized had formed, Austin tore his eyes from hers, muttering a pathetic, “Sorry, I- I don’t- I’m not…” He let out a collapsing breath and curled in on himself slightly, an ever increasing burn of shame coloring his cheeks as he murmured, “I’m sorry.”

The soft, singular breath of a laugh escaping her lips had Austin trying to shrink in his spot even more, until her soft fingers grasped his wrist and she whispered, low enough that only he - and perhaps Ren - could hear Beverly as she asked, “Sorry for…?”

Heat singed his ears as Austin whispered back, “For uh- For crying and um-” How exactly did one go about telling a woman as stunning as Beverly that he was sorry for thinking of her in an inappropriate manner without sounding like a complete creep?

With a sigh, Austin admitted to himself that no such slew of words existed, because no matter how it was said, the fact remained that he had essentially just thought of her as an object of pleasure and he deserved to be scorned and hated and loathed by the woman he’d mentally demeaned in such a way.

Licking his lips, readying himself for the response of rage that was sure to come, Austin found himself at a bit of a loss when the beauty beside him scooted closer, lowering her voice even more as her words warmed the already flushed skin of his neck, “Never apologize for feeling. Good, bad, any emotion is valid in its own right, and just because your occupation is to be a hero inspiring others to do their best, doesn’t mean you - Austin, you - aren’t a person with valid, negative emotions sometimes. Okay?”

Gulping, Austin nodded his head, shaggy blonde waves falling in front of his eyes.

Before his hand reached the fallen wisps of hair, Beverly had turned towards him slightly and lifted her fingers to move the blonde strands from his eyes. The carefully cut tips of her nails tracing a delicate, undeniably divine line across his brow and behind his ear, making the six foot seven hero shudder with another shameful wave of pure want.

A few trembling breaths later, Austin opened his eyes - unaware he had even closed them to begin with - finding himself leaning his cheek into the warmth of Beverly’s palm.

Startled by the realization, Austin quickly pulled away, a slew of apologies burning his tongue as he tried to find a somewhat reasonable explanation to offer the emerald eyed beauty that didn’t make him sound like a touch starved, emotionally immature mess.

There was little point, though, because that’s exactly what Austin was.

A mess.

A weeping boy trapped eternally in the form of a man made to protect the world.

Even though he couldn’t protect his friend.

A new wave of grief crashed into the cape’s consciousness, and Austin was too weak to fight against it. To overcome it. To do anything but let silent trickles of tears sear the skin of his cheeks as he kept his eyes locked on Beverly’s; awaiting the disappointment. The disgust. The disinterest.

It never came though.

Instead, care and concern coated her ethereal features as she pulled him into a warm embrace, arms wrapping around Austin’s shoulders as he shook with silent sobs, and fought to keep his hands from wrapping around her; a human body far too frail to withstand even a second of Austin’s unrestrained strength.

And hurting her - hurting any of his friends in any way was… it was too unbearable a thought to even entertain.

So he sat, arms forcibly clenched to his sides as Beverly pressed one hand against the nape of his neck, while the other strained to enclose the entirety of his broad shoulders.

It was only when she pulled away, and his mind was not beguiled by the sweet, cinnamon and sugar scent of her skin that Austin noticed they were the only ones left inside the bus she and Tori had procured for this trip.

Somewhat startled, Austin struggled a bit before managing to ask, “I- Uh- How long- When did everyo- When did we get here?”

Beverly chuckled, the sound so intoxicating, Austin had to fight to keep his mind on the situation before she murmured, “We got to the park about ten minutes ago. Everyone else got off about three minutes after that, once Lucy and Irene got done singing ‘Free’ and it was clear you weren’t really here with us.”

He tilted his head, a crease of confusion forming between his brows, “What do you mean? I was sitting right here the whole time?”

A melody of laughter escaped her lips, plural instead of singular this time, as she explained, “You weren’t mentally. As in, your mind was somewhere else entirely, and you couldn’t really pay attention.”

At her words, Austin tore his eyes away in embarrassment, “Oh.”

How long exactly had he been sitting there, staring at Beverly and losing his train of thought to libido driven dreams?

”You’re fine, really. No one else saw you crying, if that’s what you’re worried about. I told them you were probably overwhelmed by having us all together for so long.” She offered, and Austin gave a small, weak smile.

She put a hand on his cheek, turning his face till their eyes were locked together, “But… do you want to talk about what’s really going on?”

Fear froze his entire body.

She knew.

Of course she knew! How could she not know he was unreasonably attracted to her when he dropped a gosh darned couch upon first seeing her? When he lost sense and semblance of coordination around her and-

“Is it Ike? Ellie mentioned that he was the one to do this sort of stuff before…” Her voice faded a bit, but he knew what she meant, and it made Austin feel all the more despicable.

Voice choked with disgust and raw, ruined grief, he admitted, “That’s- That’s part of it. But- I- I really am- I’m not-” Taking a breath to gather his thoughts, and steel his nerves for the impending wrath, Austin closed his eyes and blurted out, “I miss him, I do. And yes, it started that way, just me thinking of how much he would have loved all this, but then- then I- I’m sorry, I really am, but my mind- I started to think of- of you in- in a um… in an inappropriate fashion and then all I could think of was how disrespectful and awful that was for me to do, and I really am so sorry. I understand if you don’t want to speak to me again - ever. Or if you want to yell, because you clearly have every right to be upset with me after I thought about making love to you and marrying you and having a family together. Especially because I am so- so weak. Too weak to even protect one of my best friends and who would want to marry or have children with someone that useless and pathetic and-”

“Okay! Slooooow down there, big guy.” Beverly interrupted, her eyes blown wide, “First off, it’s okay that you find me attractive. I think you’re pretty appealing yourself.”

A choked, pterodactyl-esque squeaked out of Austin at that, but Beverly continued, “Second, why would I be angry or upset just because you had a few inappropriate thoughts? It happens, it’s not like you decided to just feel me up or something. I get it, we all have inappropriate thoughts sometimes, it happens. What’s important is that you didn’t try to touch me without my permission or drug me or verbally demean me.”

Horror covered Austin’s face as he stumbled out, “I-I would never even dream of-”

“I know.” Beverly assured, “You aren’t the type. But a lot of guys are, so you just thinking of ‘making love to me’ isn’t nearly as bad as you seem to thing it is.”

Austin flushed, looking down at his hands clasping each other in his lap, next to the bulge of desire he’d tried to ignore for the past several minutes before he admitted, “It’s… it’s more than that though.”

“Oh?” Beverly asked, “Care to elaborate?”

Red tinged his cheeks, “I-I think of- I just- I want to kiss you. And- and well- I want to- I don’t-”

“Hey,” she said softly, “You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t comfortable with it. But, if it makes you feel any better, sometimes I think of you while I use my dildo.”

This time, the sound that escaped Austin sounded like a hyena and a goat had a hybrid child and was attempting to chirp like a bird.

“Now then,” She started, “We can - and definitely should talk about this more later, but it’s your birthday weekend, and our friends are waiting for us. So, for now, just know that I am not at all offended by you being attracted to me, I am very much attracted to you - both your body and personality - and when this weekend is over, we should get breakfast together to discuss things. Okay?”

Mutely, Austin nodded his agreement, then processed everything she’d told him and decided that his compliance to the offer should be verbalized, so he choked back a rush of embarrassment as he said, “Yes Ma’am.”

A stain of red tinged Beverly’s cheeks as she stood and pulled Austin to his feet; His height making him slump slightly as he let her pull him out of the bus.

Before reaching the door though, Beverly looked at him from over her shoulder, her emerald gaze searing into his soul as she whispered, “One thing, though, maybe don’t call me that in front of the others?”

A look of confusion scrunched his features as he clarified, “Ma’am?” At her nod he asked, very careful with his tone, “May I ask why?”

He regretted the question as soon as it left his lips and Beverly shot him a wicked grin, lust darkening her eyes as she answered, “Because I’d rather you call me that while I have you laying beneath me in your bed with my legs on either side of you.”

Austin could have sworn his brain actually short circuited at the admission, as he dazedly followed her out of the bus, mind flooding with every wonderful, horrible situation he might find to call her such a term with his length buried deep inside of her or kneeling at the foot of his bed, tongue lapping at her skin with fervor and he decided that - yes, it was most definitely a very bad idea to call Beverly Ma’am in front of anyone, ever again.

 

Chapter 7: Chapter 7

Sometimes, Ren really, truly, absolutely hated being able to hear so far and smell so well.

Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Sinking further down into the massive hot tub on the balcony of their suite, soaking in the scent of sandalwood, cinnamon, and maple as she basked under the moonlight, Tori made a mental note to never - ever - doubt Morgana Le Fae ever again.

After enjoying a party bus jam session, a good chat with Ren about his apparent interest in looking into his genetic profile and figuring out the bounds of his abilities, and being given the royal treatment from the staff of automatons the instant she set foot outside the theme parks gilded gates; Tori was ready to never leave what must be the true version of heaven on earth.

Aside from the brief moment of bombarding voices calling out to her and Donald, accompanied by a trillion flashing camera’s, this day had turned out to be quite possibly the best day of her life.

Including the day the small latina had first finished building her Hephaestus proto-type.

As soon as Tori and her friends entered the park, they were guided to a pair of unnecessarily extravagant shuttles, and taken to the penthouse of the park's five star hotel, which looked like it had been plucked straight out of a sci-fi movie from before the meta-elements had been introduced to their world. A spiraling tower at least two hundred stories tall, with water and light and glass coming together to create a marvelous piece of architecture even Annabeth Chase from some fantasy book Tori loved as a kid would be envious of.

The penthouse suite was divided into five floors, each one more elegant and exquisite than the last.

The first and bottom-most level was a communal, recreational, and lounging area. A wide array of video games and competitive activities - such as air hockey, foosball, pool, etc…  - filled half the space, while an in-home theatre with spa level massage chairs and cooler compartments filled another. The second level above it was the biggest kitchen Tori had ever seen.

All 101 dalmatians could have fit in the room, and they’d still have room for all the ghosts Danny Phantom had ever caught.

The third and fourth levels were where they found the bedrooms. Both had a circular common area at the center, with five doors equally spaced apart, and each room had its own private balcony, lavish bathroom, and Princess Diaries style closet - according to Beverly.

The fifth, and upper most level of the entire towering hotel, was what Tori imagined to be a stargazer's dream. A massive pool with glittering black stone flooring, and lights strung over and across, as a dome of glass enclosed the space while still allowing a fully uninhibited view of the sky above. 

There was also a massively wide balcony on the fifth level, with a hot tub carved in the same dark stone as the pool inside taking up at least a fourth of the space, and a wide array of flowers and other foliage filling the rest, with a fully stocked bar somewhere in the mix.

But honestly?

Tori was happy just enjoying the sensation of hot water seeping into her body and washing away all the worries that had been clouding her mind as she laid back and floated in the steaming pool of inky darkness under the starfilled sky.

The only other light came from the lanterns of false flames flickering around her as Tori let her mind wander to the events of the day.

The shy birthday boy timidly picked out rides at random as the rest of their group gently pushed him into it. Tori scoffed at the memory as she also recalled how decisive and quick and sure he was under his mask of Agent Quantum. It was so… strange.

How a mask could change so much about a person.

It was a habit for some, she supposed, like the New Science Sentries. People who had been all but groomed for their roles as capes to carry on the first meta’s fastly fading legacy.

For others… well… maybe it was anonymity. 

After all, Beverly was never as vulgar or violently brutal in her civilian form as she was under the guise of a masked dragon. Though, maybe it was the dragon forms bringing out the more primal parts of her personality? That didn’t really explain cases like her, though.

Tori was… well, she didn’t really know any more.

Looking up at the sky, she felt a hollow, bitter, chill fill her bones as she lay in the ripping hot water. A new sort of burn stung her cheeks, nipped at her nose, and clawed up her throat.

All her life, Tori Rivas had been a fighter.

A survivor.

Someone who did whatever it took to come out alive, even if she wasn’t unscathed. Even if she killed others in the process. So far as she was concerned, if someone made themselves her enemy, then Tori had every right to take their lives.

But there was this niggling, nagging voice chittering in the back of her mind, saying that wasn’t who she’d always been. Maybe not even who she really was.

And, begrudgingly, Tori knew that was true.

Sure, as a child she’d been difficult, and bull-headed, and so brilliant no one knew what to do with her, but she wasn’t a fighter. She was just… a child. One with independence and ingenuity few regular humans could ever hope to achieve. 

“What makes you a villain?”

Ivan’s question had been echoing in Tori’s mind, revolving and growing more and more each passing day since he first asked it. Even more so after Lodestar of all people flat out told Tori she wasn’t a villain.

But… she was. Wasn’t she?

Sure, in her suit Hephaestus had helped more often than harmed, but that really had more to do with the fact that she didn’t want Ivan to get himself killed or slaughter half the fucking world in the process because he thought his kids were dead. And that fucking alien invasion was all apart of some creeps scheme to hurt her friends - who happened to be capes.

But proximity breeds either contempt or contentment, and Tori had way too much going on in her life when her body guards started poking their noses into her life. And then Ike died to protect them.

A heat of bile swelled in her throat, vision blurring from anger as she shook- trembled at the rage the thought summoned.

At the memories she was too weak to keep at bay.

Beeping monitors. Buzzing voice. The hopelessness filling her soul and swallowing her whole. The cruel smiles of the people who’d stolen her parents' research.

The first time she’d ever felt the heat of her rage bubble to the surface.

Taking a gasp of a breath Tori tore her mind from the suffocating memories, and dragged her mind back to the day of genuine fun she’d had with her friends. The laughter and teasing. The easy flow of things as they played bumper cars and watched the New Science Sentries try an array of greasy, sugary, deep fried foods.

The ache in the small gaps of conversation, whenever someone remembered Ike.

The silence no one tried to fill because of it.

The question rotating in her mind over and over again, “What makes you a villain?”

Because she liked her cape friends.

She would do anything to protect Chloe and Beverly. She’d been fully prepared to die to keep VRX77 from hurting her team.

So… what made her villain?

She enjoyed stealing. The rush of adrenaline, the risk, the reward, the feeling of accomplishment. But she didn’t… chase it. Tori never hungered for it. Never craved it so much her sanity would splinter to bits if there was no way to feel that high of excitement again.

She liked fighting. Beating her opponent, out maneuvering them, out pacing, out smarting them. She loved the secret smiles she could feel tugging on her lips each time a cape complained about her or her accomplices. But there was no unbridled desire for it. No hunger for bloodshed. No unbound inhibitions that demanded she ruin anyone who dared to defy her.

Hollowville and her kidnapper were the closest she’d ever come to that sort of brutality, and even then, Tori felt… off.

Lizora was not a life she regretted taking, but… lack of remorse for killing someone so decisively after they threatened the lives of children - of her mentor’s daughter? That wasn’t evil, or villainous, it was just… human.

Revenge wasn’t something that really fueled Tori either - save for VRX77 and Alfred Setler. But those were two other outliers in the equation of who Tori was. One had come into her home and ruined her sense of self and safety. The other had tormented her friends and been hell bent on killing them all.

So… “What makes you a villain?”

Blinking up at the bleary stars, Tori swallowed back the confusion and grief and… fear, she’d been neglecting for so long, and finally gave into the sadness that had been eating away at her heart for weeks. Months.

Years.

Ever since she’d been abandoned on her own a world this cruel and untamed.

But she wasn’t alone anymore. Which somehow made everything so. Much. Worse.

What if Ivan chose to leave her behind if she wasn’t… villainous enough? What if her cape friends learned what - who she was and tossed her aside like the waste of breath she tried so hard not to be. What if Beverly turned cape and revealed her identity? What if Chloe decided being friends with Tori was too much of a risk, a hassle, a- “Tori?”

Tori bolted up and spun around, seeing a shadowed silhouette in the flickering firelight, and she hurriedly wiped her tears away, damming the raw brokenness in her voice as she asked, “Kyle? What are you doing here?”

The speedsters outline moved closer, taking the first step into the steaming water, “I was… I needed some space from everyone, and they’re all watching some movie Ellie likes, and- well- I know how much you like to swim, and figured I’d see if you were here and if were… if you’d mind some company.”

As he talked, Kyle slowly waded into the massive hot tub and started making his way towards her, “But if- if you need space, or want to be alone, I can leave.”

Tori watched him with wary, watery eyes, trying - and failing - to hide her sniffled as she wiped her tears, fighting to keep her words unruined as she told him, “You’re fine, I was just- I should- I should get to bed, long day and all that- uh, you just- have fun. It’s- It’s nice up here, good for um, taking time and stuff. I’ll just-” She started to turn away from his approaching form, moving towards the other set of stairs, before a hand gently grasped her arm, and a trembling, terrified voice filled the rippingly quiet, “Tori.”

She turned to face him, and saw the burning intensity and concern in Kyle’s warm brown eyes. The sight of his emotions so openly worn on his face caused something to squeeze in her chest, and she had to hold back shaking sobs as she imagined just how fast the speedster before her would begin to hate her if he- when he found out the truth.

One way or another, she knew it was only a matter of Professor Quantum or Lodestar deciding the New Science Sentries needed to know just who they were guarding - befriending, and all the careful lies and half truths woven together to create the lie of what she was came tumbling down and shattering around.

Fracturing the frail remains of her beaten heart, as the few friends she made realized just how worthless and conniving she was.

Tori felt her body begin to tremble, choked sobs burning her body from the inside out as images of her friends turning on her with murderous vengeance in their eyes and she whispered, “Sorry- I-I don’t-”

Warm arms wrapped around her, stilling her shaking head as they pulled her to his chest, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat soothing the ache as Kyle held her close and assured her quietly, “Don’t ever apologize for needing time to just… feel. It’s okay to not be strong all the time, Tori, it’s okay to need help. It’s okay to not want to be alone.”

How the stupid speedster had figured out what she’d meant, what she’d been avoiding, hiding from, running from-  Tori didn’t know.

All she knew was that with Kyle’s handful of perfectly chosen words, every false pretense she forced herself to be came crashing down, and Tori started sobbing uncontrollably. Vaguely aware of her arms wrapping around his back, nails digging into his shoulders as she clung to him and for the first time in more than a decade, let someone truly see the broken mess she was beneath her bravado.

Hours later, after Tori had gone numb from crying for so long, and barely been coherent as Kyle carefully, attentively lifted her from the steaming water of the hot tub, and brought her to the room she’d picked after they first arrived - pausing only to wrap a blanket around her under the misconception that she was shivering from the chilled autumn breeze.

He was so gentle as he set her on the lounging chair of her room, and asked where her pajamas were before handing them to her. After she just sat there, unmoving, and stared at the clothes, he offered to help her change, and she nodded mutely like some hapless child. His eyes never wandered, his hands never strayed, Kyle was careful and considerate with each movement as he slipped her favorite oversized, grease stained white shirt over her body before slipping the one piece swim suit off of her, and kneeling - eyes trained on the ground so she could step into a pair of loose black shorts.

Then Kyle helped Tori dry and brush her tangled mess of wavy hair, before bringing her to the hotel’s massive bed, and helping her under the covers.

It was only when he turned off the lights, and whispered a quiet, “Goodnight, Tori.” that the brunette finally had the sense to use her voice.

The sound of it was raw in a way that seemed almost unnatural as she latched onto his wrist and breathed a plea into the night, “Stay?”

Kyle looked at her for a long moment, before kneeling beside her bed, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before agreeing, “Let me change, and I’ll be right back. Okay?”

At her nod, Kyle was gone in a blur of motion, and back in a matter of seconds, wearing what looked like sweatpants and a t-shirt. Tori almost asked why he was wearing a shirt, since he hadn’t been wearing one when she’d woken him up that morning, but decided the question required too much effort from her wary lips.

Kyle walked from her bedroom door to her bedside, crouching down again so they were eye level as he asked, “Do- Do you want me to stay in the bed with you? Or on the couch?”

In answer, Tori rolled slightly and patted the vast empty space beside her and whispered, “Here. Please?”

A sweet smile curved his lips as he told her, “Of course.”

He made his way to the other side of the bed, and Tori watched him with careful eyes as he moved to lift the blanket, and paused to ask, “Is it- Can I- Should I go grab my own blanket?”

Tori shook her head, and he nodded, gulping slightly, for a reason Tori’s foggy mind couldn’t quite comprehend, as he slipped under the covers and laid down.

A good two and half feet rested between them, before Tori grabbed his wrist and pulled slightly, glad he got the cue as he scooted closer.

Closer.

Close enough for her to shift even closer to him, and wrap her arms around Kyle’s lean build, placing her head on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat once more.

The steady sound of it making Tori relax into him, closing her eyes, and letting all of her thoughts and doubts and fears drift away on a phantom wind.

Well… all but one.

In the hazy limbo between sleep and awareness, Tori realized, that for the first time since her parents past, that neverending, bone deep chill in the hollow of her heart, finally felt a flicker of warmth, as Kyle held her close, and the rhythm of his heartbeat carried her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Kyle was about 99.999999999% certain he was trapped in his own personal hell.

The speedster had known for nearly a year now that he was… romantically interested in the ever growing enigma known as Tori Rivas.

She was brilliant and bold and beautiful in ways his simple mortal mind had no way to coherently describe. Today, he had felt a trickle of joy at seeing that stupid ‘T’ charm on her ankle, felt a rush each time she’d turned to him - him -  whispered a quippy retort or witty commentary to whatever main conversation the more verbally inclined peers of their friend group were having. 

And the outfits she’d begun sporting in public lately were… far from unappealing. To the point that Kyle sometimes cursed Beverly’s own brand of brilliance as he caught himself staring at the latina with what could only be described as ‘heart eyes’ . Honestly, though, those outfits were far easier to look over than the messy, wrinkled clothes Tori always preferred on their weekly “Neighbors Night” where they would take turns hosting each other with food, games, conversation, and whatever else had caught their fancy for the week.

Tori was always pretty, her lean muscle and luscious espresso brown hair were stunning, and her dark amber eyes seemed to gleam like fire whenever she happened upon a topic she was passionate about - which was how Kyle attained at least eighteen of his latest hyper-obsessions to learn about and master in his rare down time.

Being a meta with augmented speed meant staying slow or still for too long made him jittery, unnerved, and borderline anxious; so picking up topics to read on or delve into via an accidental rabbit-hole into various topics of information. After all, how was he to know the history and development of coffee in all of its various forms and evolutions would be so- so vast and extensive?

Seriously, the tragic trade history and extensive experimentation in numerous cultures to create what was now such a readily available commodity was insane!

And a discussion Tori was all too enamored with when Kyle casually brought up the tid-bits he’d learned during one of their Neighbor Nights, when she was wearing an oversized grey t-shirt and messy black sweatpants that never failed to make the speedster’s heart stutter whenever he got the chance to see her so at peace.

Because in those unkempt - often greasy - clothes, Tori was just… Tori.

No business to represent or pretense of false pleasantries to keep up after the snarky woman settled into the ease of friendly conversation. Just a person who loved coffee, cheap beer, and spending hours upon hours inventing in her lab.

A woman who adored multiarian and classic sci-fi movies, and preferred espresso with a bit of honey and small splash of milk to regular coffee, but would down a freshly made cup of what she called “Liquid Life” in less than a minute any chance she got.

Who got squeamish at the mention of doctors and hospitals, but had apparently survived being shot at sixteen completely untreated.

Who got all heart eyed at the sight of massive - borderline gargantuan - dogs, and occasionally started baby-talking to them whenever she passed one in the park. Who hated most people, but still wanted to use her brilliant mind to create ways to help as many people as she could so that no one ever had to feel the pain and helplessness she’d endured when she’d been kidnapped.

A woman who probably had no idea just how many lives those inventions had saved.

How many people she had saved because of them.

And Kyle hated himself for ever feeling miffed about the fact that she’d made something and used the AHC’s weak points as a selling tactic. Sure, it had taken less than a month for him and his team to see just how effective and genuinely helpful her purses were, and he tried to comment on her Defense Line every now and then, offering small bits of praise and recognition when he could; but she… Tori seemed almost ashamed of her inventions.

Hiding the embarrassment she felt whenever some heroes openly sneered her name behind veils of obsidian indifference.

But Kyle could see it.

Hear the way Tori had started shrugging off any mention of her work or inventions. Switched topics or evaded unnecessary attention whenever they were brought up.

And Kyle hated it.

She was so- so incredible!

And she had no meta genius to thank for her ideas and creations and- and-

Kyle sighed heavily, then froze, as the weight of a warm body shifted slightly, curling further into him, holding him closer, making his heart race a million miles a mili-second as he tried to contain the urge to rub soothing circles on her back.

Play with her damp tangles of brunette hair.

Press a soft kiss to her temple, and vow to never let her be alone again. Assure the woman he had helplessly fallen in love with that everything would be okay. That she was safe. He was there. He would never leave her alone, unless she got sick of him.

An endless ache settled in his soul as Kyle fought back another heavy sigh, because this was most definitely his own personal hell.

Here he was, in the same bed as the woman he loved - at her trembling, tentative request - with her holding him impossibly close, his arms wrapped around her in silent promise, and he was terrified that if he closed his eyes for even a moment longer than a blink, then he’d wake up in his own bed.

Alone.

Without the scent of coffee and cinnamon and smoke invading his senses.

Without the warmth of her in his arms.

Kyle truly had no idea why he’d felt the urge to find her this evening, after a long day of trying the most exquisitely egregious foods known to man and enjoying the leisure pace of the roller coasters and death drop rides. But something inside of him had started to physically feel the absence of her in the theater room on the first level of their penthouse suite.

Then he figured she might be enjoying the pool, since in the summer months, Tori could often be found enjoying a dip in the cool waters of their apartment's pool roof.

Most likely gazing at the stars.

She was always at her most lovely when she looked at the stars.

A look of hope and longing tangled together on her sharp features as she softened ever-so-slightly, and studied the constellations.

Tonight, Kyle had planned on bringing up the history of those constellations, and the legends behind them. The stories woven together from millions of minds over the millennia they’d existed.

Instead, he’d found her silently crying up at the glittering sky, in a steaming pool of inky darkness.

And her voice - Gods above the utterly ruined sound of her words were so serrated and sharp, Kyle was certain they’d carved a place into his soul as the most devastating thing he’d ever heard. The way she’d tried to hide, to pull away, to keep him and everyone else at a distance… So far she likely hoped no one could see the timid, terrified creature lurking beneath the bravado she’d curated over the years she’d lived alone.

Kyle had approached her like she was a wild animal, ready to run at the slightest sense of danger, as she tried to turn away and hide every broken piece of herself from the world.

But he couldn’t- wouldn’t let her do it.

Not after she came to Ike’s funeral, and offered a shard of bitter truth when he couldn’t hide the tears. Not when she’d sat beside him in Hollowville - with onyx eyes blazing with bloody runes - and somehow turned his bout of self pity into a pretense of understanding and empathy.

Not after she’d helped Ellie find her own brand of rebellion, and offered what little support she could to the trio of heroes left raw and unprepared for a world without Ike in it.

Kyle had no idea why she looked at him with such terror and pain, when he grabbed her wrist as delicately as he could and refused to let her leave, but he’d done everything he could to assure the woman that he was there. For her.

That she wasn’t alone.

That it was okay to not be strong all the time.

Then, just like that, she’d shattered into a mess of tears and brokenness.

And Kyle was so honored to be the one to help her hold the pieces together. He’d thought about getting Beverly or Chloe, so they could help her the same way Tori and Beverly had helped the barista earlier in the day, but she was so… fragile.

Kyle was terrified that if he let go for even a moment, then there might be no way to help her rebuild those fractured bits of herself, and any trust between them would be ruined forever.

So he held her.

For hours.

Until the moon was high above them, and the lights of the theme park dimmed from their neon hues to hushed pastels illuminating Thrill Max Park and reaching out to miles beyond.

Then he’d painstakingly helped dry her off with a blanket like towel and wrapped her in the warm fabric as she shivered from what he pretended was the cool breeze, rather than the resounding emotions still filling her mind, before taking her up to the room she’d selected earlier in the day, and tried to leave her to change and climb into her bed.

His whole body burned with rage at the memory of seeing her stare at those clothes with such a distinct lack of coherence. 

Kyle had seen that reaction before; to civilians after an attack or near death experience, when emotions ran high and adrenaline mixed with fear and tangled into a mess of motionlessness. He’d recalled Tori’s words from the bus, when she’d comforted Chloe in the only way she knew how - with logic.

The way she’d so plainly explained emotions as nothing but chemical reactions had been a bit unsettling.

But after seeing the fragile brokenness behind the mask of strength Tori always wore; as soon as someone told her it was okay to not be strong… It made the speedster wonder how long she’d been trying to mitigate her emotions, control the chemical reactions within her body to contain the trauma she’d lived through.

It made Kyle want to learn the names and faces of each person who’d hurt her in any way, and show them just how ruthless Tachyonic could be when it came to protecting his friends and family.

Clenching the fist on his side that was not currently being weighed down by Tori, Kyle tried to keep his breathing steady as he remembered the grotesque, final image of Presto, impaled by a gleaming black, skeletal hand, blood dripping from his lips as he made his final ‘Big Finish’. Tears of rage, and a choking burn in his throat clogged Kyle’s senses as he tried to drag his mind from the even worse pictures his nightmares had begun to conjure over the last few months.

Chloe ripped in half with chortling laughter behind her corpse. Austin and Ren turned to ash on the wind as Kyle clawed his way towards the echo of their screams. Lucy and Beverly on the ground, gaping holes where their hearts had been moments before. Donald and Ellie torn to pieces one excruciating limb ripped off of them at a time. Tori on the ground in her comfortable clothes with her skull caved in from a single punch to the face. 

The AHC reduced to ruble.

Ridge City turned to dust.

A hospital, filled with children fighting for hope, engulfed entirely in the decay of Alfred Setler.

A slight squeeze on his ribs, and a shifting form halfway on top of his shook Kyle from the darkness, and the scent of cinnamon and ash filled his nose, calmed his heart.

Giving in to the temptation, Kyle let himself wrap Tori’s sleeping form in his arms, and pulled her ever-so-slightly closer, basking in the warmth she radiated.

He was so- so utterly grateful she’d asked him to stay with her, then.

Kyle was terrified to accept at first, his mind racing through trillions of worst-case scenarios at super speed before nodding, and racing off to change - and maybe dash to the roof and scream to the stars and universe in his augmented state of speed for being so damn cruel and so confoundingly wonderful all at once - before returning, and timidly climbing into her bed.

Where Tori promptly demanded he get closer, and then wrapped herself around him like Kyle was her own personal teddy bear, and latched on with astounding strength for someone so small.

It was ridiculous, really, that Kyle was nigh unfazed by helping her change out of her swimsuit and into sleepwear, but turned into a blushing mess of mushyness as soon as she started cuddling him!

Sure, one was a task he had been trained to help civilians complete when they were in shock and needed to get out of clothes with any sort of physical evidence, and the other was completely unfamiliar territory that made Kyle curse that damned professor for never at least briefing them on a course for how to deal with fluttering emotions and the inability to close his eyes in fear of a moment being a dream!

Seriously, this should have been discussed when Kyle and Austin were given their sex education talks!

Yeah, there was an occasional moment Kyle felt the desire to be… intimately involved with the quippy-tech head, but that was easy enough to ignore or distract himself from and he would never even dream of acting on those urges without being in a relationship with Tori; which was likely to happen the fifth of Never at Not Gonna Happen O’Clock.’

But these… damn… urges and feelings to hug her all the time, and get her drinks, and hear her laugh, see her smile, fall into the easy conversation they always somehow found themselves in.

It was ridiculous!

It was a distraction!

Kyle was a cape, he needed to focus on getting stronger, faster, better!

Not on the cranky, coffee-addicted inventor with a pension for punching people who pissed her off and twisting her tangled curls into sloppy ponytails.

Even if he found the glare she gave everyone she encountered before at least one cup of coffee confoundingly adorable. And the scent of coffee in any capacity somehow always managed to put a bit of pep in his speedy steps. And the little shoves of her fist against a friend when they were annoying her always brought a grin on his lips, while the full scale attacks made him smile in pride at the sight of her breaking the nose of a kidnapper.

And those fucking curls and waves of brunette essentially brought Kyle to his knees, while her messy buns made him sometimes imagine being given permission to press gentle kisses the exposed, tanned skin of her throat.

Letting out an endless sigh, Kyle reluctantly admitted to himself that he was truly, utterly, royal fucked.

And hopelessly in love with the woman who fidgeted slightly in his arms as he moved so she could hold him closer, making him unable to fight back the waves of exhaustion tugging at his consciousness as Tori’s body heat enveloped him, and carried Kyle off to a night of blissful, dreamless sleep.

Somehow at ease, and no longer terrified of waking up to a world where the press of her head against his heart was nothing more than a dream.

Chapter 10: Chapter 10

“Soooo….” Beverly drawled, “Who wants to place bets on those two idiots finally pulling their heads out of their asses and getting together?” She asked, after nearly two hours had passed since Kyle left the main group to watch the strange movie about a law student who wore pink and won her case by knowing some crap about chemicals in the hair that Ellie liked.

Austin coughed slightly, “Guys, you know we shouldn’t bet on our friends and their feelings towards one another.” At the dragon shifter’s pointed raise of a brow, the buff brute with the persona of a bunny sighed, mumbling, “Twenty says Kyle will chicken out and not even go up there.”

“That’s the spirit!” Irene encouraged, “Any takers?”

“He’ll go up there.” Ren assured, shrugging at nearly everyone’s incredulous expressions, “They actually spend a lot of time alone together when we all hang out.”

Lucy nodded, “That’s true. Tori’s pretty introverted, so it makes sense that she has constants in social situations she’s comfortable with. And Kyle’s pretty mellow, and seems to have a really good grasp on how to navigate her moo- uh… pers- I mean-”

“Tori’s whiplash personality?” Beverly offered with a grin, before sharing a slight, secret smile with Chloe, as the magician nodded bashbully, “Yeah, Tori is great on the whole, but I swear, that girl is so… moody whenever she’s forced to deal with people.”

Chloe snickered, “Remember that time she cursed out a table of drunks a few booths down from us at the thai restaurant a few weeks ago?”

Chuckling, Beverly nodded, “Oh Gods, the look on those assholes faces will live in my mind rent free until the end of time!”

Chloe snorted, “And Tori’s face when the staff of the restaurant came over and thanked her and insisted on comping our meal to show their gratitude!”

“Wait, that’s happened with you guys, too?” Donald asked, looking between the two roommates.

Beverly looked at the red haired hero, and assessed him slightly as Chloe leaned forward in her seat, “What do you mean?”

Donald flushed, “Well, we occasionally meet up and chat, and there have been like… five times that she’s either lost her temper with rude customers and gotten free meals as thanks, or people just walk up to her and thank her for her purses or something.”

A coy smile slipped onto Beverly’s lips. That was very good information to have.

When a hero in civvies and an up and coming inventor stand side by side, most would think the people would flock to the hometown hero with a heart of gold; but Tori was an unaware idol of the people now.

Beverly had witnessed it a few times these last few months, the way people seemed to gravitate towards her, flock to her side once it was confirmed who she was, and the awkward way the tech-head tried to navigate the bombardment of gratitude and praise. Somehow, Tori still had no clue just how beloved she was by the masses.

Refused to acknowledge how much good her invention has done in less than a year. Part of Beverly wondered if a big part of that was because Tori was so insistent that she was a villain, even though a villain was just as capable of saving the world as a cape.

Even setting aside the show Fornax put on with the aliens, after doing a bit of a deep dive into Dr. Mechaniacle’s true identity, Beverly had learned that Indigo Tech. was the sole reason people now had access to free clean water and electricity, and hundreds of life saving products. And he was Dr.-fucking-Mechaniacle!

If he could save millions of people from death and poverty, and still be the leader of the Guild, then Tori could sure as shit protect people from being overly reliant on heroes by giving them the power to protect themselves, and still enjoy tearing through her enemies.

They never really talked about it, the finer points of their alter-ego’s and how they both loved the rush of battle and lived for the chance to get stronger. Strong enough to never lose another person they loved and cared for.

The way they loved tearing through the underlings of that douche, Count Trint-omere. The feeling of flesh splitting under her claws, the taste of blood on her tongue, the exhilaration of defying odds and being the one to come out on top.

An unquenchable desire to hunt down those who bested them and rip them apart piece by piece.

Beverly shook her head, returning to the conversation and pushing her more primal instincts far far into the back of her mind. Trying so very hard not to remember the battle she’d had with Agent Quantum. The feel of fighting alongside him, ready to make those hard choices when he faltered in taking a life.

She wasn’t… bloodthirsty.

Not really.

She didn’t enjoy murdering innocent people or actively went looking for people to kill; but… when she happened upon them, well… who was Beverly to leave a monster or mongrel left in the land of the living?

The topic in the room had somehow moved to Kyle’s crush on Tori, as Austin quietly filled them in on the gift he’d gotten her for Christmas - and completely whimped out on actually giving to her.

“Hold on.” Lucy ordered, silencing Austin mid-sentence, “You’re telling me Kyle got Tori - our Tori - a- a-”

“A mother fucking prototype of one of Professor Quantum’s spacial reduction reactors?” Irene finished for the magician.

Austin flushed bright red, nodding.

The room gaped at him, but it was Ellie who asked, “How did he even get that?”

Shrugging, Austin mumbled, “Professor Quantum never told Kyle to give him back the broken stellium brace after it was temporarily repaired to assist him in keeping the space around him from reacting to his super speed in volatile ways.”

“So, just to make sure I’m understanding this correctly,” Beverly began, “That guy was just gonna… hand over top of the line tech to Tori for a present? And the reason he didn’t wasn’t because it could potentially be extremely dangerous, but because he was embarrassed?"

Austin nodded.

Chloe whistled, “Thank the seven stars for nerves, then. We have a hard enough time dragging her out the lair and into real life as it is. If she got a piece of tech like that?”

Beverly nodded, “She’d forget to eat for a freaking month.”

“And then she’d take over the world.” Chloe added.

The rest of the room laughed, but Beverly met the barista’s gaze, a small smile of secrecy passing between them.

That level of tech may not actually give Tori the power to take over the world, but it would sure as shit help Hephaestus get to the top of this world's meta food chain.

A task Beverly was honestly struggling to claw her way toward.

As the conversation spun around her, Beverly let her mind drift to all the things she;d already tried to unlock a new dragon form or even just improve the strength of the ones she already had. But no matter what she did, Beverly couldn’t get stronger. It was all slowing down, coming to a head.

It was made even worse by having roommates and friends who could shift reality with a whisper or constantly improve a suit. There was a terrified, tragic piece of her heart that wondered how long it would be, until she was no longer needed.

And as the night wore on, everyone laughing and chatting, and placing their bets on Kyle and Tori - or as Lucy liked to call them, Kyri - finally getting together tonight, Beverly did her best to stay present.

Tried to keep her mind focused on the commentary and conversation and cute quips between Ellie and Irene so she could interrogate the ice user about her impending crush on the beautiful blonde hero later; as payback for the day of the pool party.

Forced herself to keep a smile on her lips after she yawned, and Beverly tried to casually head off to bed alone.

Chloe had joined her though, and while the chipper blonde was clearly still stressed and strained from a day of activity after a near full-forced panic attack, she did her best to stay positive.

It was only after they parted ways, and Beverly went off to her enormous, suffocating room, that the tears began to flow.

Only in the molten hot shower, where she sat naked and raw and bare for herself to see, and salty tears mixed with boiling water, that Beverly stopped shoving away the most painful truth of all.

That if she didn’t get stronger, nobody would stay.

If she couldn’t keep up, she would no longer be wanted.

And after facing the fear filled eyes of her family the night this power awakened within her, Beverly honestly didn’t know if she could survive losing another.