AN: Aaaaand we're done! For now! Probably!
When I'd made the decision to write my own interludes for Hero's story, I'd broadly envisioned writing them as a little trilogy. This marks the end of that little story arc. Whether I do any more of these in the future is wholly up to whether or not I'm inspired to do so. But for the moment, at least, I consider this little story to be complete. Thanks to anyone who's indulged my weird little side project by reading these, and big thanks to Hero, both for writing the story that inspired them, and for validating my need to pervert his cool superhero setting with my nonsense. Hope you guys enjoy the conclusion to this little Ace/Nova/Eclipse saga of mine.
Lincoln McBride crept though the shadows, as quietly as...something extremely quiet.
"Ace Savvy." He admonished himself. "You took the job. You took the responsibility. You need to own it."
This wasn't the first time he'd had this conversation with himself, but it remained ever true. Ever since his little tumble into his hero's secret sanctum, Lincoln had taken it upon himself to carry on the man's great work. Things had gone rough, initially, there was definitely a learning curve to this whole superhero thing, but Lincoln felt like he'd taken a pretty good stab at things, and would only get better as time went on. He just wished he wasn't so prone to dissociating himself from his new persona. He recognized it was a defense mechanism, one to help him deal with the fact that he'd been thrust into shoes that were far too large to be filled at this time, but it bothered him all the same. It bespoke weakness, and Ace Savvy couldn't afford to be weak.
Sensing movement, Ace darted behind a pile of crates. An armed guard made his appearance, presumably on patrol. His path would have led him right to Ace, had it not been for the young hero's quick reaction. As the man inadvertently turned his back to Ace, the boy's fist clenched, instincts urging him to sneak up on the unsuspecting soul and knock him out, quickly and quietly. One less weapon pointing his way once thins got Loud. However, he resisted, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. Normally, this was exactly how he would operate. As a solo act, Ace was often outnumbered and outgunned by his enemies, forcing him to rely on guile to even the odds. In a situation like this; a large number of twitchy thugs, itchy trigger fingers coddling high powered rifles, anything other than the stealthy approach would be tantamount to suicide. Moving among the shadows, picking them off one by one would have been the slowest, but also safest form of engagement. This was not one of those times though. For one, his purpose here was primarily for reconnaissance. Find a suitable vantage point, one from which tempo of battlefield could be properly relegated. Striking too soon risked exposing his presence. For another, well...this was the rare occasion where he wasn't exactly outgunned.
A small grin came unbidden to the young hero's lips. Both at the thought of what was going to be happening all too soon, and because he'd finally spied a clear pathway to his target. A large, armored car. While its perimeter was bristling with guards, they'd left fairly obvious holes in their formation. Moreover, the roof of the car seemed to be unoccupied. Perfect for his needs.
Quickly taking stock of his surroundings once more, Ace began moving with renewed purpose towards his goal. Wouldn't be long before the fireworks started.
"LINKY!"
Lori giggled to herself as her sister's delighted shriek rang throughout their tiny apartment. Truth be told, she wanted nothing more than to rush over and meet their new arrival herself. But these dishes needed washing if they wanted to have anything to eat on that night, to she reined in her excitement and focused on her task.
Things had gotten off to a rocky start with the kid. Leni had taken an interest in the little goober for whatever reason, invited him to their apartment without telling Lori, inadvertently exposing their secret identities, and topped it all off by forcing them to sit through a god awful movie. It hadn't endeared her to Lincoln. At all. She'd spent most of that evening seriously tempted to literally throw him out of the their apartment, preferably into something nice and solid. And yet, through some combination of sheer tenacity and his own...Lincoln-nees(?), she supposed, the kid had somehow managed to win her over. She couldn't quite say when precisely it had happened, but at some point Lincoln had started to feel like a genuine member of their little family, and while she'd never admit it, Lori wouldn't have it any other way.
Wiping off her last plate, Lori nodded at the dry, gleaming pile of dinner accoutrements before her, and hung up her apron. Now she was free to go and greet their impromptu little bro.
"Dishes are done." Lori announced as she strolled into the living area. "Glad you could make it Linc...on..."
Lori trailed off as she took in the status of her companions. Normally, by this point, Leni and Lincoln would have found some way to amuse themselves in her absence. TV, video games, that infuriatingly unfair Dungeons and Whatsits game Lincoln talked them into playing every so often. This time, however, she found her sister and their guest still standing in the doorway, Lincoln suspended in mid-air, clutched in one of Leni's patented Leni-hugs. Which meant that he was plastered against her chest. Thit wasn't too unusual by itself, but the fact that they were standing perfectly still with the door left wide open definitely was.
"Everything okay, guys?" Lori asked warily as she approached the pair, trying to get a better look. She couldn't see Leni's fact, but Lincoln looked mortified. A perfectly reasonable reaction, Linc was a growing boy and Leni had a habit of giving him greetings that were both soft and mammarable.
"F-fine, Lori." Leni said quickly. She turned around and gave Lori what was presumably intended to be a reassuring smile. It wasn't. If anything, it was disconcerting to see just how hard she was trying to appear normal. She also hadn't relinquished her hold on the younger boy.
"...Right." Lori replied, neutrally. "Well close the door and put Lincoln down already, you're going to suffocate the poor kid."
Leni nodded quickly, reached out with one dainty foot, and kicked the door closed.
"...And put Lincoln down already." Lori repeated. To her surprise, Leni only tightened her grip on the boy, and shook her head emphatically.
"Nuh uh." She said.
Lori sighed and stepped forward. "Put him down, Leni."
"N-no!" Leni shouted, taking on tentative step backwards. Suddenly she spun on one heel, as if preparing to sprint away...though...where exactly she was planning on going was beyond Lori. The apartment was small, and its not like a locked door was going to keep Lori at bay. Nevertheless, she dashed forward and got behind Leni, cutting her off. The younger girl's eyes widened, panicked, and she tried to turn around again.
"Put him down, Leni!" Lori roared, reaching out and taking the other girl by the arm. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for just how determined Leni was, and suddenly found herself unbalanced by the girl's sudden change in posture. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Lori topped directly onto the pair, and all three of them ended up crashing to the ground.
Lori reached out with her hands as she fell, trying to lessen the impact. She winced as they finally found purchase, more from annoyance than actual pain. After all, it was going to take more than a little tumble to seriously hurt her.
"Leni!" She shouted prepared to give her sister a good talking to. Then she realized the ground felt considerably more...bumpy, than it should have.
"Uh..." Came a familiar voice, wavering with uncertainty. Distracted, Lori followed the sound with her eyes to it's source. Lincoln, of course, her hand was pressing right into the kid's gut. The poor guy had ended up serving as her landing pad, no wonder he was distressed.
...except, she'd been almost certain that she'd hit the floor. The surface under her hand didn't feel like the pasty nerd-flesh she'd come to associate with her favorite twerp. It was...solid. Like a plank of wood, but...bumpier. Distracted, Lori began to massage her young friend. Lincoln's flesh was rigid, taut and ripply in a way that sent shivers down her spine. It was—
"NOVA!"
With a small gaps of surprise, wrenched herself from her memories and found herself staring into the very nonplussed face of her sister, Leni. Or, Eclipse, she should say. Right, they were on duty.
"Sorry, Eclipse." She said, shaking her head in an attempt to shake off the lingering memory. "Got a little distracted. I'm fine now."
"I'm happy to hear that." The words sounded sincere enough, but even in the low light she could make out the other girl's smug expression.
"So..." She began, her tone surprisingly even in spite of how hard she was grinning. "How do you think Ace is doing?"
Nova quietly groaned. Not again. This was not the time to have this particular conversation. To be frank, there was never going to be a proper time, but now was most certainly not the time! The pair were hovering high above the the site where Ace was currently lurking around. It was a dangerous job, and they were too far off to intervene if things got ugly, but that was by design, all the better to avoid accidentally giving the game away with their much less stealthy powers. Once Ace was in position, he'd give them the signal and they'd charge in. But until then, they were supposed to remain on alert.
"I'm sure he's doing just fine." She growled, desperately praying the conversation would end there.
"I suppose you would know." Eclipse chirped. "I mean, you've been paying a lot of attention to him lately."
To reiterate. They were supposed to be on alert!
"I don't blame you." She continued. "He really makes that costume work, right? I mean, the old Ace looked good in it too, but Liiiii—ahem, Ace really just rocks that look." She waggled her eyebrows at Nova. "Riiiight?"
He did, though Nova would never allow herself to admit as much aloud. And therein lay the problem. Lincoln McBride, the weird, dorky, adorable little twerp who'd wormed his way into their lives so deeply that she genuinely couldn't remember what things had been like before he'd come along...had gotten weirdly hot.
Not just physically, mind you, though his new physique certainly didn't help matters. Lincoln had gone home one night as his usual pasty, doughy self, and the next time they'd seen him he'd been straight up jacked. Like, far beyond what should have been possible for a kid his age. And yes, in the privacy of her mind, Lori was capable of admitting that seeing Lincoln's costume cling to his toned, muscular frame made her want to do terrible, absolutely sinful things to the poor boy. But there was more to it than that.
Even when pressed for details, Lincoln had refused to tell the sisters what exactly had transpired that night he'd ventured onto Ace's now abandoned property. Whatever had happened, however, had clearly changed the boy. The Lincoln she'd known was kind, and well meaning, but all too aware of his own limitations. Perhaps to a fault. She'd watched with amusement when he'd thought he'd insulted her, and desperately backpedaled, often only making matters worse. She'd bit her lip to hold back her smiles whenever he'd tried to introduce her and Leni to one of his nerdy hobbies, often working himself into such an excited frenzy that he'd literally turn red in the face. And when he'd reluctantly confessed that some kid at school had been bullying him, she'd seriously considered paying a visit to the little prick's house and them the error of their ways.
The Lincoln that had emerged from Ace's manor was changed. Still that same, sweet boy, but now...hardened. No, tempered. He still had that irrepressible optimism about him, that desire to put others needs before his own, but now he was so much more. Armed with a hand-me down costume, a hand full of gadgets, and an, admittedly killer physique, Lincoln had taken up the mantle and responsibilities of Ace Savvy, not for his own sake, but for others. And damned if he wasn't making headway.
It wasn't all sunshine, naturally. There was a learning curve to this kind of work, and unlike Eclipse and Herself, the new Ace hadn't had anyone to show him the ropes. Initially, at least. Once this new Ace Savvy started making his rounds on social media, it had taken the sisters little time to put two and two together, and they'd come down upon the boy like a ton of bricks. It had been beyond stupid for him to try and go it alone, Lori had said as much, and even Leni had backed her up on that, the normally cheerful girl uncharacteristically furious at the boy's idiotic decision to try and go it alone. But eventually the trio had reached an accord. Lincoln had agreed to work with the girls while he was getting his footing as a new superhero, and Lori didn't have to break his arms and legs to induce that agreement. Everyone had gotten what they'd wanted.
And in a matter of only a few weeks, the boy had thrived. Even as Ace Savvy, Lincoln wasn't a powerhouse like her, or even Leni. He was very much human, and had to learn to work within those limitations. But once he did, he'd taken off running and never stopped. Deep down, he was still that same kid, but now he was also brave and quick witted. Resourceful, good in a fight, selfless to a fault and...so very, very attractive. It had been a rude awakening Lori had realized she'd stopped seeing Lincoln as their tag along, pseudo-little brother, and instead as a hero in his own right. Albeit, one still very inexperienced. But that only made her want to...teach, him things. So many things...
"You ever notice how snug it gets in some places?" Eclipse added.
And her sister, whose powers so very clearly allowed her to pick up on how flustered she'd begun to feel around their new partner, had pounced on that little chink in her armor.
"Like, his butt?" And had never let up. Not for a single, solitary second.
"You know what?" Nova growled, rounding on her still smiling sister, fully intending to vent her frustrations upon the girl who was so very clearly asking for it—
KSSSH
—But that would have to wait. Immediately, both girls were all business. Nova reached for the communication device lodged in her ear and activated it.
"Nova here." She reported. "That you Ace? Over."
There were several, heart pounding moments as she waited for the other side to pick up, but finally it did, and finally she heard the words she'd been waiting for.
"Ace here. I repeat: cue the sun. Over"
Nova grinned. It was showtime. She turned to Eclipse and motioned for her to put some distance between them. Once in position, Nova activated her energy aura, a sudden shining light against the dark sky, the kind of thing that was guaranteed to draw attention. Then she kept on going, blazing brighter and brighter, her aura growing in intensity as the seconds passed, until finally she unleashed the pent up energy. The resulting burst of power exploded outward, so bright that it lit up the sky, changing night to day, if for only an instant. But that was all they needed. Anyone who'd been unfortunate enough to be watching her little stunt was going to be blind and dazed for a bit. And more importantly, ripe for the picking.
"Still got your vision, Eclipse?" She called over her shoulder.
"Yes." She didn't sound happy. Even fully knowing their plan, and knowing to keep her eyes closed, being this close to the epicenter of that little lightshow was still probably going to hurt. Good.
"Good." Nova replied with a grin, activating her communicator once more. "Hold down the fort just a little longer, Ace. We're coming in hot!"
Lori opened her eyes, then immediately regretted doing so. Sunlight streamed in from every which way. Light! Horrible Horrible light!
"Windows were a mistake!" She groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut again and curled up into a ball.
"Oh good, you're awake." Said a soft voice from beyond the darkness, causing Lori to groan internally. And now she was going to have to deal with this.
Gingerly opening her still sensitive eyes ever so slightly, Lori was able to make out the shadowy form of her visitor. As she gradually adjusted to the light level, more and more details filled in, and she soon found herself staring into the smiling face of Lincoln McBride.
"Put me back to sleep." She wined, eliciting a melodic chuckle from her guest.
"No can do." He said, shaking his head emphatically. Then his smile diminished, just a bit. "You've been out long enough. We were starting to get worried."
Feeling that she was sufficiently equipped to endure the radiance of the foul day-star once more, Lori tentatively sat up. Only partway through the motion did it occur to her to make sure she was dressed, but a quick glance downward revealed that thankfully, she was. He standard sleep-wear, a loose fitting tank top and comfortable shorts. A bit more revealing than she'd prefer when company was over, but it would do.
"We're...in my room?" Lori asked, puzzled, only now able to take in her surroundings. "What happened? I remember the fight, and then..."
"Everything went fine. More or less." Lincoln reassured her. "Except you...uh, you pushed yourself a little too hard."
Right. Memories began to trickle in.
"Operation: Supernova" had mostly gone off without a hitch. Lori's trick had left the crooks dazed and confused, easy pickings for the super trio. She and Leni had swooped in and quickly began cleaning house, Lincoln using his perch to direct them to priority targets, and give them ranged support then needed. Then...
KOOM
A sniper rifle. Someone hadn't been impressed by her light show. Thankfully nobody had gotten hit, but Lori had panicked al the same. With no eyes on the shooter, they were now the ones fighting blind, and it was only a matter of time before their opponent got lucky. They needed to take him down before he got that chance. She needed to protect her team.
"Nova!"
She jerked her head in the direction the voice, just in time to see a small burst of electricity explode against a nearby rooftop. An instant later, she'd worked out what she was seeing. Ace had spied the target, but wasn't in a position where he could neutralize them quickly enough. But she could, so he'd given her a little guiding light.
"Thanks, Ace!" She called out as she rocketed towards the rooftop, her energy aura blazing brightly. She'd closed the distance in a matter of heartbeats, and had the pleasure of seeing the shooter's horrified face, desperately trying to draw a bead on her. Too little too late. Sad for him. Reining in her righteous anger at the last second, she'd snatched the rifle out of his grasp, snapped it with one hand, then gently walloped him with the other. He'd live, though he'd be in for a world of hurt when he woke up. But before she could celebrate her aura began to flicker, growing dimmer and dimmer until it finally went out entirely. Then...she fell.
Terror and frustration warred within her in equal measure as she plummeted Earthward. The ground was getting too close, too fast! Then...everything stopped. Something, someone tackled her from the side, slamming her into the side of the building. It hurt, but nowhere near as much as hitting the ground would have. As her vision began to fade, she caught one last glimpse of her savior before blacking out.
Ace. This time, he'd saved her...
"Right. I...passed out." Lori said, frowning.
"And then we brought you back here." Lincoln concluded, nodding. "But Leni was the one who changed you, honest." He quickly added. Lori bit down on her lower lip keep from smiling. Stupid Lincoln. Then she noticed that the boy was carrying a small, covered plate, and she had to bite down even harder. Stupid, thoughtful Lincoln.
"Is that...for me?" She asked, gingerly indicating the plate.
"Oh, right." Lincoln laughed nervously as he leaned down and deposited the dish on her lap. "Its just toaster waffles. I know you're on a diet, but I wasn't sure how good your condition would be when you woke up, and I figured it'd be best to prepare something that wouldn't make a mess."
"Thanks Linc." She couldn't stop herself from smiling at the boy this time, so she just let it happen. It seemed to make him happy, and that made her happy.
"You just going to stand there?" She asked, one eyebrow arched in amusement.
"Oh, right. Let me to grab a—"
"Oh no you don't." She growled, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him on the bed with her. "There's a perfectly good bed right here. Just sit with me while I ruin my diet."
"S-sounds good." His voice quavered ever so slightly. Then he backed away, just a little. Lori hadn't realized how close he'd been. It took an extreme amount of willpower to avoid scooching over, reclaiming that closeness, but she held firm, instead focusing on the dish in her hands. But she didn't partake, not yet. she sat there, for a time, mastering herself.
"Lori..." Lincoln said at last, though she wasn't entirely certain how much time had actually passed. "Leni and I were really scared."
"Wasn't your fault." She replied, shrugging. "Its like you said, I, just overdid it. Should have watched my energy output."
"But you only overdid it because of my plan." Lincoln insisted. "I should have known that energy burst would tax you. I shouldn't have had you join the fight immediately afterwords."
"Not like you could have stopped me." Lori joked, gently nudging Lincoln with her elbow. "I'm a tough girl, Lincoln. There was no way you were going to convince me to hang back while you and Leni were in danger."
"Well...maybe that's part of the problem."
Now Lori abandoned all pretense of even toying with her food. "Excuse me?"
"It's just...you hold yourself to such high standards." Lincoln gave her a sidelong look. "You're right, it never even crossed my mind to keep you out of the fight, but you would have insisted on joining anyway. It would have been a better play for you to let me and Leni handle things. But you...have a tendency to try and do everything yourself."
"I don't have high standards, Lincoln." Lori growled, trying to keep her emotions in check. "I am the high standard. I'm the strongest hero in the city. I can't afford to not be involved. I don't have that luxury."
"You do! He insisted, scowling at her. "You have Leni! And me now! You don't have to do everything yourself! We can pick up the slack for you!"
"No, you can't! Not now! Not yet! Neither of you are ready yet!"
"Maybe we could be if you'd just give us a chance!"
Lori's body began moving of its own volition. She threw aside the plate, its delicious, fattening contents forgotten as she rounded on the boy next to her. In one smooth motion she flipped herself over and on top of him, straddling her pale haired partner. Then she placed one hand against his chest and pushed, flattening him down on the bed. When her brain finally caught up with the action, she found herself staring upon a neatly incapacitated Lincoln.
'Stop me." She said, softly.
"W-what?"
"You think you're ready for the big time. So prove it. Stop me."
"Lori, I'm not—"
"You're not going to stop me, because you can't stop me." She interrupted, pushing down harder just for an instant. She winced internally at the pained expression that flashed across Lincoln's face, but she held firm. The lesson needed to be learned.
"If a villain had gotten you like this, you'd be done, Lincoln. Wouldn't even need to be a super villain. You're a tough kid, but you're not super tough. This is literally all it takes. No more Ace Savvy, no more Lincoln McBride. You'd just be another casualty."
"I could break out if it mattered." He insisted. He stared at her, unusually cool for the circumstances, not even bothering to struggle.
"It matters, Lincoln!" Lori retorted. "I've got you pinned. I'm stronger than you. How are you not in danger here?"
"Because I know you'd never hurt me." The reply was instantaneous. Lori found herself taken aback.
"I could hurt you." She protested, gripping the boy just a little harder. "I could snap your stupid neck like a twig."
"A lot of people could. It doesn't have the best construction." The twerp was smiling now, that infuriatingly sweet smile of his. "But I know you would never hurt me. Not in a million years."
"I literally just did." She replied, quietly.
"Yeah. But you feel terrible about it."
"I..." She let out a soft, annoyed sigh. "I do. I literally do."
Her lesson forgotten, Lori released her grip on Lincoln and flopped down upon the bed. To her surprise, Lincoln caught her before she could hit the mattress, just as he had the previous night. Not entirely sure what she was doing, Lori slid closer, and before either of them knew what was happening, Lori found herself being held by Lincoln in an awkward sort of embrace.
"I worry about you guys." She said. "If anything happened to you. To either of you, and I could have prevented it, I'd never forgive myself."
"I-I get that." Lincoln stammered, eliciting an amused chuckle from her. The great Ace Savvy, ladies and gentlemen. The World's Savviest Crime fighter. Right up until he gets too close to a pretty girl, and falls to pieces.
"But we're here too, Lori." He continued. "Leni and I...yeah, we're not on your level. We can't replace you. But we can help." Lori felt Lincoln's fingers upon her cheek, and she felt herself leaning into the contact. It was warm, and strangely comforting. A slight bit of pressure. Lori surrendered to it, letting Lincoln guide her, and she soon found herself looking directly into his face.
"Let us help you with the burden." He pleaded. "Let us be there for you."
Lori's mind was awash with emotions and sensations. She wasn't thinking straight, the stress of the previous night was still catching up with her, and this new bit of drama with Lincoln had only added to the load. She wasn't even certain which direction was Up at this particular point in time.
But she did now, that in this moment, with his arms around her, and his soulful eyes boring into hers, Lincoln McBride looked extremely kissable.
Before her brain could step in and calmly explain why this was certain to be a terrible, terrible idea, Lori leaned forward and pressed her lips against Lincoln's. The results were instantaneous. Sparks flew. A very, palpable, electric sensation wracked her body as contact was made. It was vaguely similar to the sensation she felt when she was channeling her energy aura, but so much more pleasurable. She realized she was moaning, and rather loudly at that. Yeah, her powers definitely didn't do that to her.
Lori wasn't certain how much time had passed, her clinging to the younger hero, him holding her tightly against him, the pair of them mutually delighting in the sensations of this all too pleasurable shared contact. But there came a time when her body's needs began to reassert themselves. Even superheroes needed to breathe. And so, it was such much reluctance, that Lori finally pulled away, taking in a deep breath of air as she did so. Precious, life giving oxygen flooding her body once more. Her now functioning brain now conveying to her the full clarity of what she'd just done.
"Oh...crap." She whispered. "Oh god. Lincoln, I'm so—"
She didn't get a chance to finish. Refusing to surrender his grip on her, it was Lincoln,this time, who made contact. Pressing his lips upon hers while she was mid-fret, the initiated was now the initiator. She could have stopped him, easily. Should have, by all rights, but he was upon her once more, and it felt so right...and now he was using his tongue. Lori sank deeper into the bed, only vaguely aware of the fact that it was now Lincoln who was straddling her, and what little part of her remained conscious couldn't find it within her to care. This felt good. This felt right.
"It's about time!"
And then the spell was broken. The little, blissful bubble shattered, and Lori found herself looking up at a wide-eyed, terrified looking Lincoln, caught with one hand pressing her down into the mattress, and the other one cupped around one of her breasts. By unspoken agreement, Lincoln began to withdraw his hands from her person, and slowly began climbing off of her—
"Oh no you don't!"
—Only to suddenly slam down upon her once more, his face lodged firmly in Lori's cleavage. Mortified though she was, now that rationality had taken hold once more, Lori had to acknowledge that Lincoln looked absolutely adorable down there, and so she leaned forward and gave him a chaste peck on his showy white head of hair. Then she turned to their new arrival.
"You probably could have been a little more gentle, Leni."
"Nope." The younger blonde announced as she entered the room proper, and crossed over o the pair. "You two were totes about to back off and make some dumb agreement to never talk about this again. And I couldn't let that happen, because it's been super annoying to see you two mooning over each other all this time!"
Lincoln finally managed to dislodge himself from Lori, much to her displeasure. Blinking, and still somewhat dazed from the telekinetic impact, he looked upward, squinting.
"Le—" He didn't get to finish. Leni promptly leaned forward and kissed him. It was short lived, but it was in no way chaste. The noises the pair made, combined with the way the boy's cheeks puffed out ever so slightly, showed that the older girl was making her intentions abundantly clear. Finally Leni released Lincoln, and he slumped backwards, Lori deftly catching the boy and pulling him close before he could get too far away.
"Scooth over." Leni instructed. Lori complied, and watched with no small amount of amusement as the younger girl climbed into bed alongside her and slide close. Now Lincoln was trapped between the two blondes.
"You too, huh?" She asked, eyeing her younger sister.
"Me first." Leni corrected her. "And I knew Linky liked me back, even though I bet he probably didn't realize it." Right. Stupid empath powers.
"But you two were totes into each other. Like, so obviously! And I knew if I told Linky how I felt before you did, you'd never go through with it. So I had to wait until you guys finally decided to let yourselves be happy."
She snuggled against Lincoln with a happy smile, planting another kiss on his cheek. "So happy you guys finally caved. I don't think I could have lasted much longer."
Lori shook her head in amusement, and no small amount of self-deprecation. "So...what, we're just supposed to share him? You know that can't possibly work, right?"
Rather than answer immediately, Leni raised one hand. By her unspoken command, the discarded plate of waffles rose from the ground and floated into her hand.
"Lori, we're superheroes." She said, taking a waffle and daintily nibbling on its edge. "We do impossible things every day." She turned to her older sister and offered her the plate, a big, radiant smile plastered across her face. "What's one more?"
And so Lori found herself staring at her sister, the barely conscious boy they had taken turns violating, and a single toaster waffle, rapidly cooling into a lukewarm mush. She'd seen many strange and fantastical things in her time as a hero, but this was by far the strangest. And, somehow, the most comforting.
"Fair enough." Lori said, slowly nodding. Then, she reached out...
...and took the waffle.