AN: Okay, so this is definitely the last mainline chapter with Taylor/Lisa/Vicky. There might still be a few loose ends to tie up with others in short epilogue scenes. But as for the primary story, this is it folks!
I'll also be migrating the canon side-stories that were written by anothvortex on SB over to here shortly as I just got permission to do so. So keep a lookout for those tomorrow as well!
Cleanup
Vicky flexed her hands, trying to ignore the urge to clench them into fists. She was Glory Girl! She was a certified badass! She was nearly fully reanimated! She was going into her own home! She certainly did not need to be just this side of fucking terrified to be 100 feet from Taylor for more than 30 seconds.
"I am a strong, independent woman. Everything's cool, everything's fine." She defiantly ignored the tremor in her hand as she reached for the handle of her front door.
She jumped, and almost forgot to come down, as her phone's text notification played from her back pocket. Scowling. Vicky forced her shudders away, and reached for the offending tech.
Stop freaking out. If either Taylor or I were remotely concerned that you'd need a tune-up before you're done, do you really think we'd let you out of our sight? I'm a Thinker 7 and she's the Striker who can beat death at his own game. Stop stalling, stop freaking, make sure your family is okay.
"Reformed villain my ass," Vicky muttered. She looked over her shoulder at the car. Lisa waved at her, her feet already kicked up and resting on the dashboard, while Taylor was fiddling with the hamster cage in the passenger seat beside her.
With her friend's vote of confidence, Vicky squared her shoulders and unlocked the door, walking inside. Her dad was sitting on the couch, reading the paper and from the muffled sounds, Vicky knew her mother was in her office.
"Hey, honey," Mark said, his head lolling back and fixing her with a large, warm smile. "Back permanently or just temporarily?"
"Just for an hour or so, Dad. I'm still not 100%, best we can figure, it'll probably be about another day, maybe two. Until then, I'm going to have another sleepover party. We've just decided to rotate houses."
"Your mother mentioned something like that. I think she has your overnight bag packed in your room already."
"That was nice of her."
He shrugged. "None of us are entirely sure how this, you know, works. She didn't want you to be separated from your friend for too long - just in case. If we could help by saving you time and packing you some clothes and toiletries, it wasn't a problem."
Vicky leaned over the couch and engulfed her father in a hug, fighting not to tear up, only barely managing not to sniffle. "Thanks, Dad. It's…really good to see you…engaged."
"I've talked to your mother," he murmured, squeezing her against him as best he could from the awkward position. "She's going to make sure that I keep taking my medication. Once you're fully healed, I'll talk to your friend. I don't know if she can help for a permanent solution, but if she can't…well it doesn't matter, because I'm not going to stop with the medicine anymore. I don't want to miss out anymore…"
She kissed the crown of his head, before pulling away. "Good."
"Is Amy…?"
"In her room."
Vicky nodded. "Thanks. I'll check in with Mom first."
Heading to her mother's office she knocked and walked in at the muffled response. Her eyebrows rose she caught sight of her mother leaning against her desk, phone in hand, scribbling on a pad next to her.
"Yes, we'll all be there. I don't know about my sister, I'll have to speak with her. This is currently just for my own family. Yes. Thank you for arranging this on short notice. We'll be in touch. Send the bill to my accountant." As her mother hung up, she turned to Vicky, expression carefully neutral. "Hello, Vicky. You're looking…"
"Fit as a fiddle?"
"Yes, actually," Carol said, blinking rapidly. "Are you…okay?"
"Do you mean am I fully reanimated?" She shouldn't be so mean. They didn't always have the best relationship and Carol wasn't the warmest parent, but that was just twisting a knife that Carol didn't deserve to have twisted.
"Victoria…What do you want me to say?" Carol sighed.
"You've never apologized for what you said about my friends. I just want - Taylor literally brought me back from the fucking dead, Mom. She's still bringing me back. I'm not going to be an independent, non-zombie for another few days at minimum. You don't have to stop avoiding her, but can you at least apologize for treating her like she and Lisa were pariahs? They haven't done anything wrong."
"Lisa has -" Carol snapped her jaw shut, shaking her head. "No, I don't want to fight. I know you're just here to pick up a few things and check on your sister. I'm arranging for us to all sit down and discuss our issues. I think that this family needs professional help. Otherwise I worry that we are swiftly approaching a day that not a single one of us will ever speak to the others again. Please let me know when you are healed enough to be able to attend an hour-long meeting."
Vicky could only stare, slack-jawed. "I'm sorry. Did you just say that you are getting us family counseling?"
"More along the lines of group therapy, but yes. Your father and aunt have forced several personal issues to light that I am deeply uncomfortable with and must address. Seeing as Amy has…not handled things well, she needs assistance as well. Our own relationship deteriorated to the point that we were yelling at each other in the middle of a PRT meeting with all the heroes in the city. That's not even getting into how one of my friends called me before everything broke down to ask how I could let my daughter assist with a restraining order on her own for a claim that clearly had merit…I have failed as a mother, and it's time I address that. So we will be going."
"Wow…"
Her mother cracked a small smile and winked. "Just between you and me, I also aim to get ahead of the PRT whenever they inevitably realize I straight up murdered several Nazis. If I can show 'personal growth' and 'remorse' like Kaiser pretended to do for years, I'm sure I can get off with a slap on the wrist too."
Vicky snorted. "Mom, I'm not even going to touch that one, but I could just have Taylor say something. The PRT are falling over themselves to do whatever she wants. Anyway, thanks for packing my bag, I'm going to go check on Amy."
"I love you, sweetheart. Let us know if you need anything."
"I will." Leaving the office, she went to the stairs, trying not to wince as Amy's room came into view. The banister felt cold under her clammy hand. She shouldn't be this worried. It was her sister! Sure they had warned her that Amy had taken her death hard, and yes, Amy hadn't contacted her once in the past few days, nor had Amy accepted her calls. But she was still Vicky's sister!
And weren't those just the oddest thoughts to have. How many people could legitimately say that they seriously contemplated the implications of their interpersonal relations after their death from a first hand perspective and were annoyed with the results? All of two now. And both apparently were frustrated with how the people around them had reacted.
Huh, humans sucked.
"Amy? I'm coming in, okay?" She didn't wait for a response as she pushed open the door to her sister's room.
The light was off and the shades were closed, but it didn't stop the room from being lit up with a blue-green glow. It took Vicky a few seconds to realize that the glow was coming from Amy herself. Along the lengths of both arms, there were two parallel strips of luminescent lines pulsing with light in time with her breathing.
"Hey, sis. I was going to call, but I couldn't figure out whether Dad and Mom were lying about you being alive to make me feel better. I heard on the news that you were up and about though, so I guess it's real? Unless I'm just hallucinating. That's a possibility I suppose." Amy hadn't once looked at her as she spoke, running her fingers along the glowing lines in her arm. As Vicky watched, one of the lines changed from blue to red.
"I'm really alive, Ames. Dad said you weren't taking things well. Are you…Amy can you look at me?"
Amy shook her head. "Can't. It would make it real. Then I'd have ignored you for days. Better to think you're a hallucination. But look! Look what I can do now!"
The lines on her arm pulsed, vanishing an instant later, only for Amy's entire body to light up a dull blue. Her hair lengthened until it was halfway down her back, and glowing gold with sparks passing through it. Her fingers extended, growing an extra knuckle and webbing. The texture of her skin changed, becoming smooth as silk, and bronze, lit from within by the bio-luminescence. The entire effect was decidedly creepy and sent shivers down Vicky's spine.
"Amy, what are you doing?"
"Experimenting! Isn't it awesome! I can become anything I want now! I went for a swim yesterday. It was amazing. I turned my legs into a flipper. My body is my plaything now, Vicky. And the best thing of all?" Vicky didn't have a chance to respond before Amy rushed on, "I can't heal anymore! I don't have to worry about the crushing guilt, I don't have to live up to anyone's expectations, I can just…be me!"
Amy finally looked up, meeting Vicky's gaze. All of the unease that Vicky had been feeling vanished as she looked into her sister's eyes. "Oh, Amy." She took two lunging steps forward and wrapped Amy into her arms, crushing the girl against her chest. "I didn't realize…"
"Vicky," Amy whispered, leaning her head on Vicky's shoulder, her arms wrapping around Vicky's back. The light dimmed, her body shifting back to normal. "I can't feel anyone's biology anymore, only my own. I'm not limited by resources, I can spontaneously generate or vanish mass. I'm only limited by an arbitrary size: I have to stay close to human norms. It's amazing, it's so interesting, the possibilities are literally limitless. No one can tell me not to experiment because all that I'm doing is working on myself. But none of that matters right now because I can't see anything outside of myself! I don't know if you're real or if I'm crazy!"
"I'm real, Ames, I'm right here." Vicky squeezed her sister, biting her lip to keep from sobbing. "I'm not going anywhere. I mean, I am - but it's only for a few nights. Just until I'm healthy again. Then I'll be back for good. You can come with us, if you want. We're crashing at Lisa's apartment tonight. Just pack a bag, and let's go."
"I don't want to leave the house right now. It's too soon. I can't. Not until I've…It's hard to stop changing things…I - How? How is this - I tried. I got to you so fast, but I couldn't - there was nothing I could - I could've brought you back." Amy's voice hitched and her arms spasmed as a full-body shudder rolled through the girl. "It wouldn't have been you! It would have been a frankenstein monster I cobbled together out of memories and what I wanted you to be instead of you! I couldn't - I wanted to - but it wouldn't have been you - and I - for a second I almost - I ran! I ran and I - then I - How are you real?! How are you, you?!"
"Taylor's power breaks a lot of the rules. It has a ton of drawbacks," Vicky murmured. "But she can work miracles in some very specific situations."
Amy pulled back, holding Vicky at arms-length, her eyes running over Vicky from head to toe. "You're really, real?"
"I'm really, real."
Amy sniffled, her eyes squeezing shut. "Victoria…I missed you…"
Vicky squeezed Amy's arms, not letting go as Amy's knees gave out. She floated them both down to kneel on the ground. "I missed you too, Sis."
They both leaned, foreheads resting together. "You'll be home soon?"
"A few days; I promise. We just need to know that I can survive on my own again without being near Taylor 24/7."
"Okay."
The car door closed and Vicky settled into the back seat, resting her forearms on the headrests of the two girls in front of her.
"Went well, I take it." Lisa stated.
"She second-triggered. She's not as good as I'd hoped, but not as bad as Dad made it seem. She'll be okay. We'll make it through it as a family."
"Your mom's not being a bitch?"
Vicky rolled her eyes. "My mom's always a bitch. But she's better at the moment. I don't know what Dad said to her, but it got through to her. She was arranging some sort of group therapy thing. I'll get the details when I'm healed."
Taylor tapped her hand. She hadn't even noticed the tingle in her throat until it was gone. Blinking, she looked at the brunette. "Was I…"
"I was watching you. I would have come in if you took too much longer. Your power is getting better at regulating itself to help you, but it's still doing it wrong." Taylor shrugged. "So…anyone up for lunch?"
Lisa chuckled. "I called Rachel already, we're eating at her place. You two need therapy puppies."
Taylor gasped. "Excuse me! I have a therapy pet! Have you met Mr. Spinster!" As if summoned, the hamster started his morning run, bringing out a snort of amusement from Vicky.
"Babe, the zombie hamster is my therapy pet. He may be your spirit animal, but he's my therapy pet. I'm getting you a puppy. No complaining!"
Vicky laughed, rolling her eyes as she leaned back. "What I'm hearing is you two just need to move in together and share animals!"
"Don't tempt me," Lisa said. "I am the queen of bad ideas! You just watch, Vic, I'll have Taylor begging me to move in by the end of the week!"
Taylor covered her face in her hands. "You both are so bad!"
"Someone's not denying it~"
"Hey, we could make a band too!" Vicky urged. "I mean, the Protectorate is giving Tay a huge settlement, right? So let's use some of that money to make a music room. I can play guitar or drums! Or sing! It'll be fun! We could call ourselves the Revenants! We could call Canary for advice; get a foot into the scene."
"Heh, heheh," Lisa chortled. "Oh Victoria. Great minds do think alike! Taylor, call Missy! See if she can play an instrument! I call dibs on violin! We're going to rock this scene!"
Taylor groaned into her hands. "I hate you both. I hate you both so much. I can't believe I'm considering this. When my dad hears I'm starting a band, he's going to kill me!"
Vicky shrugged. "Hey, just go and eat Leviathan the next time that the fucker shows up. Then Mr. Hebert will be able to work the Docks again and you'll have gotten him like all the Christmases and birthdays for life. A band is a small price for that."
Taylor's hands fell and she squinted. "Do you both really think that I can drain an Endbringer?"
"You drained the powers directly from parahumans, Taylor," Lisa murmured. "The principle is the same. Ramp yourself to max, give them no time to react, drain as fast as possible. By the time they fight back…You'll be strong enough that you can outlast them and finish the drain. I think…I think we have a real shot at maybe…just maybe…fixing this world…"
Taylor was quiet for a long time. Their destination was almost in view by the time she murmured.
"Yeah. Yeah, let's fix Bet. Let's fucking do it."
"That's my girl."