Disclaimer: Angela, we adore thee, in this chapter and all those following.
Rating: K+? T? For now.
As/N: That's right, guys. The official start to our years-in-the-making, never-ending story. Y'all can blame me for stalling it this long. Shoosh had this piece up and ready without breaking a sweat while I'm putting off the "first chapter" you guys will see next update like it's a relative asking for money. (She's asking me to add a "You're welcome" here.) I won't be dictating who's written what after this - we'll just assume all credit goes to Shoosh because if she isn't busy writing chapters, she's kicking my colossally slow butt in gear. Sometimes successfully. A huge thanks for checking it out from both of us.
A Family Matter
The Prologue
The sight that greeted her was one for sore eyes…
… Now if only the rest of her wasn't so sore.
The brunette's mouth was practically watering as she watched her girlfriend – wearing nothing but a sports bra and tight training shorts – doing sit-ups. While hanging upside down from a bar. The sheen of sweat that left the blonde's body glistening caused Lucy's eyes to dilate, her mind racing with images of other activities the two of them could engage in to cause Amy to sweat just as much.
If not more…
Lucy's smirk – albeit upside down – caught Amy's attention, causing her to stop her work out and simply hang there, smiling warmly at her girlfriend while she continued to catch her breath. The blond couldn't help her warm smile turning into a flirty smirk when she realized her girlfriend was staring, slightly slack-jawed, at her heaving chest.
"See something you like, Luce?"
"Two things, actually…"
The brunette's smirk softened when she heard Amy laugh at her, admittedly, horny remark. Moving closer to her still-hanging-by-her-legs girlfriend, Lucy inwardly cringed when she realized Amy was a small distance higher than her own level on the ground, and that she'd have to reach up to get to her. She mentally coached herself to keep her face its happy-to-see-my-girlfriend mask as to not show Amy that anything was wrong as she stood on tiptoes and kissed the blond.
"So, Spiderman, what's with this?"
Amy, for her part, went back to her work out as she spoke.
"I woke up with too much energy, I was starting to vibrate before I came down here. Figured it was time to actually use our basement-turned-gym. Can't always burn energy in the bedroom."
Lucy's smirk was back in action and matched the one on Amy's face as she finished her sentence.
"You have to admit though, thatwork out is a lotmore fun than this."
"I don't know… I happen to think the way mywork out gets youall worked up is fun. Have you even looked me in the face at all since you got here?"
This earned Amy eye contact. And boy was she sorry for her remarks then. The fire she saw in Lucy's eyes was enough to sear the memory of this moment into her mind, causing her body to heat up in an entirely different, yet familiar way.
To distract from the overwhelming feelings of want that were currently settling themselves into the room, the blond suddenly had a thought.
"Hey, if this makes me Spiderman, does it also make you MJ?"
This, acting like a bucket of cold water on Lucy's libido, caused the brunette to shiver. If she was being honest with herself, Lucy was secretly pleased. Amy's eyes – which were getting darker by the minute – were almost enough for her to forget about the overpowering aching of her body.
Almost.
"Blergh. Me, as a redhead? Are you kidding?"
Finishing up her set with a flourish, Amy proceeded to maneuver herself down from the bar, landing on her feet with the grace of a gymnast ballerina – too caught up in her landing to notice Lucy swallowing thickly.
Grace of a gymnast ballerina? What the hell kind of person is that? Nice job with the thinking thing, Lucy… Note to self: make Amy wear those shorts more often…
As a result of her train of thought, Lucy missed whatever it was Amy said until she had a face full of sweaty towel.
Sputtering, Lucy pulled the towel down, about to complain before getting side-tracked by Amy's sweaty physique, to which Amy just rolled her eyes.
"So is that a yes to sparring? I've still got a lot more energy to burn."
Lucy paled. That was definitelynot a yes to sparring. Her brain was threatening to shut down her body in order to recover, and it must have shown on her face because next thing she knew, Amy was stepping into her personal space with a concerned frown.
"Hey, you alright? You don't look so hot."
Trying to act tough, the brunette scoffed, busying herself with the boxing bag hanging in one corner of the room.
"Geez, babe, how'd I get so lucky getting a sweet talker like you? I've just had a hard day at the docks, so no to sparring. I can hold the bag for you though if you wanna go a round with the punching bag."
Amy, still narrowing her eyes in assessment of Lucy's condition, nodded slowly. She expertly put on her boxing gloves – smiling faintly at the custom-made, blue plaid sparring gear Lucy had gotten her as a gag gift.
Lucy's eyes were shut tight long before the first blow shook her to her bones. The pain that was screaming throughout her bruised body seemed to be radiating out of her very atoms.
She sure wasn't kidding about the energy… it's okay, not like I liketo breathe anyway…
For the next fifteen minutes, Lucy took it like a soldier. But when minute fifteen looked like it was threatening to become minute sixteen and more, the brunette raised her hand and stepped back from the bag, wheezing as she struggled to make her lungs work.
Amy, frowning with concern, dropped onto her knees next to Lucy as the latter sat leaned against a wall, trying to calm herself enough to breathe normally again.
"Now will you tell me what's wrong?"
"I told you. It's just been a long and hard day at the docks, and my body's kind of now realizing it. I'll be fine, once the burning sensation wears off."
Amy, for her part, just continued to frown.
"You should have told me how bad it was, I would have taken it more easily on you-"
Judging by the look that flashed in Lucy's eyes, that wasn't the right thing for Amy to say.
"It's not that bad for you to think I can't handle myself in a fight!"
"You're out of breath just by keeping the punching bag Iwas working on steady."
Lucy – stubborn, stubborn Lucy – just waved it away, determined not to let weakness show.
"It's just sore muscles, nothing a hot shower can't loosen up."
Noting that Lucy seemed to be breathing normally and there seemed to be no signs of her being in pain, Amy stood up to help the brunette to her feet.
"Yeah, okay. A hot shower sounds wonderful. If you'll wait for me, we can go together after I'm done with my push-ups."
Lucy swallowed. Her mind was screaming for her to get out of this situation, while her privates begged her to stay and watch Amy do push-ups, then let the blond join her in the shower.
It was when Amy – standing pressed against Lucy's entire body – softly, seductively, pressed her lips to that one sweet spot on Lucy's neck that Lucy knew.
This was how she was going to die.
Teasing lips that wordlessly promised more – so much more – at a time when she could not comply was exactly what was going to kill the notorious super villain Lucy Diamond.
The struggle was real for Lucy as Amy lost herself in the sensation of touching the brunette. The former found herself incapable of breath again for an all new reason.
With a frustrated groan, Lucy extracted herself from Amy's embrace as soon as she felt a warm hand slipping under her shirt, knowing that if she didn't move now, she'd get caught.
Kissing the blonde's temple to lessen the annoyance her movement created, Lucy smiled sheepishly.
"You know I would love nothing more than to save water with you while you get all the hard to get places clean, but I'm afraid I'm going to decline the offer, babe, I'm sorry."
If anything, that just annoyed Amy more.
"I'm sorry! I'm just really sore, so I want to hurry up with the shower and maybe take a nap."
That seemed to work as Amy nodded, kissing Lucy again – this time on the cheek as to not start anything.
It was an hour later when Amy jogged her way back up from the basement to their bedroom, noting the lack of Lucy wear littered around their bedroom as she expected. Listening closer, the blond frowned when she didn't hear the water running. Was Lucy done already? If so, where was she?
Checking the bathroom door, Amy's frown deepened. The door was locked. It was an unspoken agreement, one of domestic life's comforts, that permitted Amy to step into the bathroom and join her girlfriend in the shower whenever she wanted to. Jiggling the door knob a little, Amy was thoroughly displeased with being denied of her domestic comfort and was losing her patience with the barrier between them.
"Lucy? Is everything alright in there?"
Lucy stood, dry as the Sahara and rooted to her spot in front of the mirror, her body pale with a cold sweat covering her shaking form. The pain of all of her recently accumulated injuries increasing by the minute, Lucy was left standing stiff as a board, in a bra and her jeans after being unable to remove more than her shirt without feeling like she wanted to die.
Hands gripping the edges of the sink with a white-knuckled grip, and her eyes locked on the black and blue map of bruises covering her torso, Lucy called out with as steady a voice as she could manage, "Yeah, all good. Just need some time to myself, Ames. I'll be out soon."
Whether or not Amy believed her wasn't really a concern of Lucy's at that moment.
No, she was more concerned with keeping her injuries a secret from Amy.
And more importantly, what was she going to do about her problemat the docks?