Chapter 4: Sisterly Get-Together
"Vicky, Vicky!"
It wasn't some two-faced harpy screeching my name, just a bunch of kids crowding me the second I entered Brockton General's pediatrics ward.
I beamed like the sun came out after a day of rain.
"Hi, hi!" I said.
Wanna know why most people called me Victoria? Because way too many morons thought they could make fun of my name when I was just a kid who didn't know any better. But these kids weren't being mean. Most of them weren't even ten. The oldest was only eleven, and they were all so sweet, so precious. I could make an exception for them.
Once my little friends settled down, I started asking them how their day was going, if they did anything fun, stuff that let me know where I could help them out. I was only allowed to spend about an hour in the ped ward, so I made the most of it.
Back on Sunday, I got to draw some pretty pictures with them and read some Triumvirate comics as dramatically as possible. I didn't have my own comic line yet, but I drowned my sorrows by teaming up with Armsmaster or Alexandria in Ultimate Super Heroes vs. Capcom and beating everyone 2 vs. 3.
Sometimes, I'd do it solo if I was in my feelings.
Before I arrived, I asked the pediatrician if I could take the healthiest kids on Air Victoria, but she wasn't willing to sign off on that until she was certain it was absolutely safe. Which I totally understood: falling hurt a lot, and it was scary, too. None of these kids should ever have to be scared.
I decided to re-enact a fight I had with those Nazi valkyrie twins last year, asking two of the oldest kids to volunteer. I knew there was gonna be some hurt feelings, but I had to be responsible, and I vowed to play the best Fenja I could... without all the racist bullshit.
At one point, Jane – the eleven year old acting as me – brought me down onto the soft rainbow carpet just like I showed her, and when I lifted her up by her armpits, she squealed from pure joy. My partner in crime, eight-year old Veronica, wrapped her arms around Jane, and together, Fenja and Menja captured 'Glory Girl'. But not for long, as Brockton Bay's most glorious hero broke out of their monstrous grip.
By the end of it, I was grinning so hard, my dimples were showing. When I was in pediatrics, I wasn't one hero of many fighting the storm of Brockton Bay, I wasn't the menace that battered and broke the scum of the earth... I was just me, and I was so happy that Amy set this up for me.
Unfortunately, all good things came to an end, or so that saying went. Parting ways with these adorable kids was tough, but I was definitely coming back before the week ended. I really wanted to make a difference in their lives.
Since Amy was about to wrap up her shift, I took the rare opportunity to watch her work in the hospital. She usually healed patients regular doctors couldn't handle, rarely worked longer than three hours per shift, and didn't work every day. She was doing a lot, more than anyone could ask for, and once she turned eighteen, she'd get mad stacks of cash from her trust and be able to charge whatever she wanted.
I mean, if she wanted to. I doubted she'd ask people to pay for her healing.
When I found her, I didn't see someone ecstatic to save lives or thankful for her patients' profuse gratitude. Amy's eyes were barren as she worked on the next patient, then the next one, then the next, then the next, then the next...
"You can't stop her," a doctor said, next to me. His lips were pressed against each other. "We tried. We can't force her to take a break, either." He scoffed. "She's indispensable."
I thought this old has-been was being bitter, but he looked too concerned for that to be true. Panacea was a machine curing all, and I wanted to go in and remind her that she was human... but she was doing so much good.
Fuck.
None of this was right.
Dad wasn't at dinner today. The dining room's bright lights couldn't hide his absence.
Mom was on her laptop, bringing home work. With her array of tailored brand-name suits, she cut a mean figure in the courtroom, and there wasn't a strand of golden hair out of place on her head.
Amy was chewing her food, staring into her plate. No cellphones allowed at the dinner table. No way to escape Mom's cloying expectations.
As for yours truly? I was almost done with dinner, ready to return to my room. Then I heard Mom's laptop snap shut.
"I heard you've been attending the hospital, Victoria," she said.
"It was Amy's idea."
Mom glanced at Amy, blue eyes appraising her for a moment that passed too quickly. There was something unreadable in them, but Mom's beef with my sister never made sense to me.
"This hasn't been affecting your homework?"
"I finished it before dinner."
I bet Dad would've been happy that Amy wanted to include me in her hobbies, but that would have to wait until he had a good day. Although, he could have good days most days if Amy healed him.
She could do brains, but she wouldn't no matter how many times we argued about it, because she was too afraid that she'd fuck up even though she had a perfect healing record and she was a fucking cure all machine superhero healer that put every other healer on Bet, Aleph and all the other Earths to shame –
"And Parahumans 103?"
I sipped from my glass of grape juice, swirling it in my mouth. Amy probably felt like crap for not doing more. I wasn't going to add to her list of woes. So I pulled myself away from the downward spiral that drained my mood and swallowed my drink.
"I learned a lot." My eyes lit up. "We got to save this college student today. I caught the criminal that assaulted her and Amy healed her up, gave her a treatment like she went to the best nutritionist, spa and personal trainer, but even better."
A small smile twisted her lips. "Good. You'll find opportunities to use your talents where you least expect them, Victoria. Don't squander them."
This wasn't new or anything, but the way Mom was excluding Amy stuck out harder than a nasty zit.
"What about Amy?"
Amy looked up at me, shaking her head. Mom's lip curled.
"What about her?" she asked, like Amy wasn't even there.
I frowned. "She did a lot of good today. Shouldn't she get some props, too?"
Amy was slicing her throat, frantic. Mom noticed, and a single look made her stop.
"Props are for events and theatre."
For fuck's sake.
"I'm talking about praise, Mom. You know, compliments? We all need 'em."
Amy groaned. I was definitely making her uncomfortable, but there was no way I was letting this slide.
Mom turned her stare to me. On the plus side, she wasn't glaring, but the corners around her eyes were pinched. "Amy does her duty, as do all of us."
My mouth opened, slammed shut before the wrong retort escaped. "But Amy's amazing at healing people. You should see her at work: she's never gotten a single job wrong and she's made tons of people happy!"
A slight frown curled Mom's mouth. "Should I patronize Amy by tying my approval to her duty? A job well done is more than sufficient praise."
Amy's chair scraped against the wooden floor. Her food was half-finished.
"Wait, Amy, don't go!" I said.
Amy scowled. "I don't need to hear this."
She grabbed her glass of water and turned her back on Mom.
"Stop."
That one word was an anvil, pinning Amy down. Mom waited until Amy turned around, and for a second, I thought I saw a flicker of doubt cross her face.
"Do you need me to compliment you?"
Amy's fingers tightened around her glass. "No. I wouldn't mind hearing one once in a while, though."
Mom breathed out of her nose. "No one is as capable as you are, Amy... but you know that."
My sister frowned, shoulders slumping. "It isn't easy."
Her face was carved from marble, but I didn't expect Mom to smile.
"It's not supposed to be."
They made eye contact, and it was almost like Mom wanted to say something else. Instead, she returned to her mostly untouched meal.
I thought Amy would've walked away, but she sat back down and downed her glass. We made eye contact and I smiled at her. She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't keep herself from smiling in return.
Healing wasn't easy, and I hated the fact that I took Amy for granted for so long. When tomorrow came around, I was going to make sure she knew just how much she was appreciated.
It was the least Amy deserved.
It took Dean two rings to pick up. Any self-respecting boyfriend of mine would pick up the second I called, morning, afternoon or night.
"Vicky! How are you feeling today?"
"Fantastic! How about you?"
"Can't complain, I'm just glad I get to hear your voice."
"You charmer."
"I try. Is there something I can help you with?"
"There is, actually. I kinda want to cancel our double date on Friday."
"I thought you were looking forward to it."
"You know I love 'em, but between you and me? I don't think Amy likes them. I don't want to drag her to something she doesn't like, y'know?"
"You finally noticed."
"Notice what? I thought she just hated all the guys she got paired with!"
"She did. I'm sure Kevin will be disappointed, but I think I can set him up with another girl. Thanks for the heads-up, Vicky."
"Thank you, Dean. I promise I'll make it up to you."
"No problem. I hope you find a way to make it up to Amy."
Oh, I would. Most girls would give a teenage millionaire a shot, but Amy wasn't like most girls. She barely had any hobbies, isolated herself when she wasn't with me, didn't take care of herself properly...
But she was still the best sister I could ever ask for.
Now that Step 1 of my grand master plan was complete, it was time to begin Step 2. It was a little bit before school, so I knew Amy would be hogging the bathroom. Between that and Mom's fifteen minute hair sessions, this was why I woke up early.
Before long, Amy met me in the kitchen, mostly presentable.
"Ready to go, Vicky?" Amy asked.
"Yep." I flew an inch off the floor. "Good news, Ames: you won't have to go on that double date with me!"
She blinked, taken aback. "Huh?" She reached out to grab my wrist. "You're not sick, are you?"
I waved her off. "I'm fine, I just found a better way to spend our time. You, me, at the mall, after school today. I'll pay for everything."
Amy squinted. "Okay, what's going on? Do you have a concussion or something?"
I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, can't I do something nice for my favourite sister?"
"... tell me this isn't just a ploy to get my hair done."
"It's not." I smiled. "This is all for you."
"Is Dean gonna pay for this?"
"No."
No way I was gonna force him to foot the bill.
"Then where are you gonna get the money, Scion?"
I put my hands on my hips and posed. "Royalties!"
Amy watched me hold my pose, like she expected me to drop it at any moment. But I wouldn't, not until she acknowledged me.
"Royalties?" Her mouth pulled into a cool smirk. "You're serious."
"That's right. I'm your guiding star."
She snorted. Part of me was worried that Amy would refuse. Like, she had a bunch of free time now that she wasn't being dragged to some double date.
"All right, I'll give you a chance."
I swept her up in a big hug. "Thanks, Amy! You won't regret it!"
Technically, my royalty cheques were wrapped up in a trust, but I did have some cash on hand, enough to pay for anything Amy wanted. Well, almost anything; I wasn't made of money. The only thing I pushed for was visiting Janine, a hair stylist I swore by. Other than that, Amy was steering this ship.
Once school ended, we went to Weymouth Shopping Center and gorged ourselves on licorice sticks and jellybeans, chocolate samples in lots of bizarre flavours (who the hell made ghost pepper flavoured chocolate?), wrapping up with a trip to McDonalds: I got an all-American Big Mac meal regular size, Amy ordered an Double Quarter Pounder meal and supersized it.
Girl could eat.
We watched some action comedy where the main guy hired a cape to attack his bullies, which immediately went wrong when the cape started living it up on his dime. They argued about it, then the cape trained the guy to fight his bullies so that neither of them would get arrested. Instead of it making him a badass, he ended up being too good of a punching bag for the bullies to actually beat up.
He had some dream girl pining after him, because of course he did, but he actually admitted that he wasn't ready to accept her feelings. The climax started when the bullies scrounged up cash to hire some super villain, and a big fight ensued, typical over-the-top action, but it had heart.
Overall, it was pretty decent, and Amy came out of the cinema with a big smile on her face. We got to see Parian, a rogue that put on puppet shows with huge cloth animals. I got to shake hands with a cute octopus, and it was pretty strong. Amy didn't want any spotlight, so the octopus bowed and let her go with a dramatic flair.
The only downside was that we got noticed a bunch of times, which led to people asking for autographs or pics. I didn't mind at all, but Amy did, so I did my best to keep things short.
By the time Amy started winding down, she'd burned through most of my money, but I couldn't complain. She wasn't hunched over, she smiled more often, and she was a lot more talkative.
Best of all? Goodbye, rat's nest. The frizz had been tamed and the split ends trimmed, leaving Amy with bouncy, soft curls that weren't a disaster to look at. She couldn't stop feeling them, either. Her wardrobe could still use a bit of work, but Amy went for function instead of style with her cargo pants and hooded jackets.
I could respect that.
As soon as we got home, Amy touched the driveway and let me go. She was smiling widely, and seeing her in such high spirits was worth breaking the bank for her. I bet she could go back to healing people with a bit more pep in her step.
"You really pulled out all the stops today, Vicky."
I smiled back. "Any time, Ames. You deserve this."
Her smile waned. "For what?"
"If I told you all the reasons, we'd be here until midnight."
I was about to list them all off anyway, but Amy shook her head.
"Tell me why you cancelled your date out of the blue."
Since I was still hovering in the air, I landed close to her, looking down at her puzzled face. I knew she'd ask. I was ready to answer.
"You work super hard healing people, and you're so good at it that pretty much everyone's taking you for granted."
She frowned. "It's nothing."
"No, it's not nothing. That's why I set this up. You needed an opportunity to take a break and have some fun."
Amy clicked her tongue. "I knew it. What, did Dr. Bekelstein tell you I was tired? That nosy prick!"
I didn't frown, it'd only make things worse. "I have eyes, Amy, and I used them."
Her jaw clenched, brown eyes hardening as her joyful mood spilled off her face.
"You should've just said so, damn it!"
I scowled. "And let you freeze me out? I don't know why it's so hard for you to talk to me, Amy! But you know what, don't worry, I'm not gonna force you!"
"But you'll trick me, that's totally fine!"
Amy was actually glaring at me, me, and for what, because I cared about her? Because I didn't want her to be miserable? It pissed me off something fierce that Amy wouldn't let me in when I shared everything with her.
Fuck. I didn't want to fight with her, either. It wouldn't help. Neither would coercing her with an outpouring of emotion. She was immune to my sphere of prettiness.
What would Dean do in a situation like this? He'd take a deep breath if he was getting mad. He'd be really nice and considerate.
"I'm sorry if I made you think I was tricking you, Amy," I said, smiling as sincerely as I could. "I just wanted you to know that you're doing a great job, and I appreciate all your hard work. If you ever want to talk, I'll come flying. Promise."
Amy sighed, anger dropping out of her and leaving behind bone-deep fatigue. She wiped her face and when she was done, the mask was back up.
"Let's go inside. Don't want other people to hear us."
There was no need to fight. No need at all.
Amy made a beeline for the living room, taking her part of the black leather couch as she switched on the TV. I sat on the opposite end, and Amy switched to ESPN. My Celtics were playing the Seattle Supersonics, and we were winning.
It was basically an exhibition match since both teams qualified for the playoffs, but with the Sonics' talented young trio stacking up against championship winning vets, this could easily be a Finals series.
"Did you find out anything about that bug girl?" Amy asked, without looking my way.
I frowned. "Not much. I tried looking for her on PHO, CapeWatch, but I have no clue where she might be."
"I just hope that she's okay, wherever she is."
I sighed. "Me too. We'll find her, one day."
Sometimes, her screams haunted my dreams. Other times, it was the sound of her bones snapping like twigs.
"You're doing well, Victoria. You aren't slipping."
My frown disappeared. "It's all thanks to you."
"Give yourself some credit. You're actually changing."
Wasn't like I was going to pat myself on the back. We continued watching the game in silence. Amy was still pensive.
"I'm not ready to talk yet," she said. "But I'm glad you haven't given up on me."
I made eye contact with her and smiled. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I won't let you try."
Being a superhero was everything to me, but I was far from being a superhero worth her salt. That was why I promised to change. I was going to do everything in my power to become the greatest hero I could possibly be.
That way, I would make my dream a reality.
