I felt guilty. It was a familiar feeling, a slight churning in my stomach that took hours to settle. Despite how often I felt it, it wasn't something I knew how to get rid of. Regardless of the reason, it simply would not go away. I felt anxious, a bubbling sensation that seemed to rise up into my throat. Another familiar feeling, even if it wasn't one that was as omnipresent as the guilt. It wouldn't last as long, the mundanity of life causing it to dry up once some time had passed. I felt excited. That was the strange one, as sad as that is. It'd become more common recently, but the energy that flowed through me had me shifting from foot to foot. It was something I definitely could get used to.
All of these emotions, just because I asked a girl to go to the gym with me. I literally regrow people's intestines, why is this getting to me? It was a stupid question because I knew the answer already. I'm just absolutely shit in most social situations. Running from the party had shown me just how bad I really was when it came to normalcy. Vicky was right to worry about me. There was a difference between being introverted, and just not knowing how to actually act around people.
That didn't even get into the extra things tagged onto me having no idea what I was doing. Carol could get suspicious and that was never good. Vicky would wonder why I was going to Wendy instead of her to exercise. She'd understand, even if it made me feel guilty. My reasons were sound. I would have gone by myself if not for the fact I didn't really know where to start at getting fit.
Wendy was part of the track team at New Acadia. My vague memories of lunchtime conversations between her and Vicky about quads and triceps and squats and cores told me she'd at least know where I should start. The excitement came from just how new this felt. It'd been literal years since she had gone out to do something with someone besides family. Wendy had actually seemed happy to agree to go with me. Though it was hard to tell with text.
So why exactly was I just standing in my room, staring at the door? I was going to be late if I didn't get going soon. To buy me a bit more time, I pulled my backpack off my back and went through it. Actual workout clothes, check. Water bottle, check. Towel, check. Aspirin, check. Wallet, check. Key, check. Phone, check. Wooden orb, check. I had everything, I just needed to get out the door. Quit being a coward Amy, and just do it.
I forced myself to move. The door clicked shut behind me, and suddenly I couldn't get out of the house fast enough. It was loud as I came down the stairs, going too quickly to keep from stomping. It was enough that it drew Mark's attention from the living room and Vicky's attention from the kitchen. Munching on an apple, Vicky was the first to speak with a quirked eyebrow. "Wait, you're going out? Did you sign up for more hospital hours and not tell anyone?."
A blush came over my face at that. It'd been at least a year since I tried that! "No, I am not going to the hospital… I noticed I was starting to gain some weight. So I asked Wendy if she wanted to go to the gym with me."
"Why didn't you just ask to go with me?" Like my previous statement, I had already preplanned my answer. It was the truth, even if it made me feel a little guilty.
"I really rather not have to sit there and endure the stares." She blinked slowly, before blushing and nodding. That was just a simple fact, Glory Girl was way more popular than Panacea. She got attention wherever she went. Especially when she puts on workout clothes and runs on a treadmill.
"And you didn't ask permission?" There was something I had forgotten. Blanching, I turned to look at Mark and gave him a sheepish smile. It was a good thing Carol was at work, or else this would be a serious problem.
"I uh… forgot. I was so busy preparing to go it just slipped my mind. Can I go? She's probably already on the way there, and it's my membership." He must have been able to tell how nervous I was. A small chuckle escaped him as he reached a hand to pat me on the shoulder.
"Just be back before dinner. Carol can't complain about you starting to take your fitness seriously." Something lit up inside of me. Darting forward, I wrapped my arms around Mark in a hug. He seemed just as surprised as I was, even as he patted me on the back.
"Thanks." Letting go after a moment, I blushed a bit and quickly hurried out the door. Followed by Victoria's laughter, which made me blush even more. God that was such a teenager thing to do.
Luckily it was starting to warm up, the traditional Brockton Bay weather reasserting itself after the snowstorm. There were predictions of more cold weather later, but at least for now, it was just chilly. My sweater was more than a match for it.
Avoiding the damp mess the yard had become, I started over towards the bus stop. My phone buzzed in my pocket. Pulling it out, the screen showed there was a text from Wendy.
Wendy (9:42)
Omw should be on time.
For some reason, it hadn't occurred to me that Wendy could be late. She just seemed the kind of person who was always either early or on time. I'm the one who might be late.
Amy (9:43)
I'm heading to the bus stop, I shouldn't be late assuming no traffic.
Wendy (9:43)
It's fine if ur a little late.
Part of me was starting to wonder if Vicky had said something to make Wendy treat me differently. Because seriously, I was the one who invited her out. It was my gym membership as well. She literally couldn't go any further than the lobby without me.
The bus rolled to a stop on time. That was good. On a weekday, at this time, there shouldn't be any serious traffic. If the bus was pretty much on time here, it meant that there was a good driver. Climbing aboard, the older woman at the wheel didn't spare me a second glance after I put in my fare.
Sitting at the front of the bus, a thought occurred to me. What if Wendy thought it was weird that I didn't know a lot about exercising? I was the one who invited her out, would it be weird? My phone came out, and the rest of the ride was spent online. Why are there so many different kinds of exercises? Literally, no one agrees on anything! Why is this the one part of health that I know nothing about?
My stop was about a block from the gym. As the bus rolled to a stop and I climbed off, there was a single fact I had to face. Wendy's going to realize I know nothing about exercise. A loud and frustrated groan escaped me. There was little time to research more during the walk. So, it was just a bullet I was going to have to bite.
It came into view quickly enough. My eyes flicked up to the sign. Sunlight Excercise. The symbol backing the words had an obvious similarity to the symbols on most of the New Wave uniforms. Except of course mine. Something about it left a sour taste in my mouth. At the least, it was a pretty high-end gym.
Pushing the door open, something caught my attention. Wendy standing off to the side, arguing with an employee. The sour taste in my mouth fell into my stomach, as I started over towards the pair. Very soon the argument drifted over to me. "I've told you, I'm waiting for her to show up!"
"Do you know how often people tell me they're friends with New Wave? Get lost, girly." The sour feeling vanished, replaced by anger. This muscle head was harassing Wendy when she was telling the truth. Was it really too much for him to just let her sit in the lobby for like, five minutes?
Wendy finally noticed me. A relieved expression came over her face as she rapidly waved at me. The employee looked over his shoulder, looking at me. He didn't react as Amy spoke up in a smug tone. "See? I told you I was here to meet someone from New Wave."
"Girly, I told you, I deal with New Wave fans every damn day. At least one lingered around the lobby hoping to spot them. I was just doing my job." He didn't even apologize. He just walked away, heading towards an employee-only door. I glared at him until he vanished from sight, glaring some more even after that. Wendy huffed, blowing a strand of red hair from her face.
"Forget about it Amy, the guy was just an asshole. We got a workout to get to!" Her tone went from annoyed to excited quickly enough to make me look. She had a big smile, pressing one fist against her hip. It suddenly occurred to me that Wendy might be way more into exercise than I was.
"Um… Uh, sure? Let me just… sign in." Hurrying over to the counter, the curious look of the desk clerk made me even more nervous. It took a minute of fumbling around in my bag before remembering my membership card was in my wallet. Taking it out and handing it over, the clerk only needed to look at it and type in a few numbers before handing it back.
"Everything's in order, thank you for patronage, Ms. Dallon!" All I gave in return was a nod as I took my card back. Wendy's curious stare sent me hurrying into the gym. The locker rooms were close to the entrance, so it didn't buy me a lot of time.
"So, New Wave got a special deal with this place or something?" It was an innocent question to ask. There was no one else in the locker rooms, the time of day mixed with the day itself making sure there were very few people around.
"They're a sponsor. Part of the deal is that we all get free gold memberships. Makes me surprised that guy didn't even apologize." Wendy just huffed again as we stripped down. Unlike gym class, we weren't on a time crunch.
"Sometimes people are just assholes. Nothing else to it. Anyway… Why did you ask me to come with you?" I glanced over at her, and she realized how that sounded. Holding her hands and desperately waving them. "Not that I don't want to be here! This is one of the best gyms in the city. Just uh… this really isn't a favor you know? You're doing me another favor by getting me in here."
It showed just how little I actually knew about Wendy. I'd assumed she would take the opportunity to be done with the favor. Not just add another one. My workout top came down as it took a bit to respond. "I uh, well… I need your help"
Her eyebrow came up. Despite instantly regretting this entire thing, there was nothing left but to push on. "I need to get in shape. Not just lose weight like I told Vicky. I need to get fit. I don't know anything about this stuff, so…"
My heart dropped into my stomach as she snorted. She's going to refuse. "Well, you definitely couldn't have picked a better person. I want to become a fitness coach when I grow up. it'll be like getting some practice in early!"
A massive sigh of relief escaped me. Meeting her grin with my own thankful smile, I reached a hand out to her. "Thanks, Wendy. You're a lifesaver."
"You're killing me." It was all that I managed to get out. Slumped onto the table, every part of my body hurt. It felt like I had been wrung out like a towel, every drop of energy spent. Even a shower and some aspirin hadn't managed to help. Even now that we'd managed to get to a restaurant. Still sore. "I'm dying because of you."
"Quit being melodramatic. It's not my fault you're a noodle." Shifting just a bit, I fixed Wendy with my best glare. She just gave me a smile, somehow not wiped out after the exercise routine she put me through.
"I could literally turn you into a noodle." That wasn't even a joke, they were made of organic materials so it was possible. She just laughed at me.
"Then who're you going to ask for help? Also, sit up, you're just going to make your sore back even worse." It was the truth, but it didn't stop me from grumbling as I straightened up.
"Seriously. I thought you were going to start me out with something light?" A small sigh escaped her before she responded.
"I needed to figure out exactly what I was working with. You're nowhere near as bad as some of the kids at Arcadia. A lot of them would have quit well before we finished." There was little comfort in that fact. My hands came down to try and rub some of the soreness from my legs.
"Amazing, I'm more athletic than the average nerd. For a hero, it is quite the achievement." Turning my attention to my legs, I didn't get the immediate response I expected from Wendy. It took a few moments.
"Is that why you want to get fit?" My head snapped up to stare at her. She was giving me this curious look. Mental note about Wendy. She pays attention. Her head tilted slightly. "You never actually told me why you want to get fit. Just that you needed to get fit."
"What? Can't someone just want to be healthy?" Snapping at her didn't seem to deter her any. The fact the counter yelled out our order was what stopped her. As she went to grab our food, I put my head in my hand.
"If they're unhealthy, to begin with, sure." There was no hesitation as she sat our tray down. We split our food, my chicken salad and milk, her chicken sandwich and smoothie. "You're not unhealthy though. Vicky's mentioned that you at least do some cardio on the regular. I've only ever seen you eating basic sandwiches or salads. By every standard, you're fine. So there has to be something else."
Despite my best attempt to get her to shut up with my glare, there was no stopping her. "I wondered if you… might be trying to get someone's attention."
I choked on my milk at that. "Exactly, you've literally never shown interest in anyone. So I was pretty stumped why you'd suddenly be interested in getting fit. What changed?"
Suddenly, there was a strong urge to disable her vocal cords. It'd be easy, just disconnect them on one side. At least until we got done eating. That urge got shoved back where I kept the urge to kiss Victoria as I got my coughing under control. "You know you ask a lot of questions?"
"Mhm! You don't have to answer them. I just figured it's a pretty basic question to ask. Considering you're basically asking me to be a fitness coach. Kind of a long-term commitment you know?" An innocent expression came over her face as she took a sip of her smoothie. I struggled with whether or not to answer for a couple of moments. Idly stabbing at my salad with the fork, telling the whole truth wasn't an option. Part of the truth though…
"You're right." The expression faded as she looked at me. "Everyone else in New Wave is… well, they're badasses. Despite the fact most of them don't fight a lot anymore, almost all of them could be a match for any of the city's villains. Vicky's like, the archetypical hero. Meanwhile, I'm… me."
"You can turn people into noodles." I couldn't help it. I snorted. A bit of tension left me. "In all seriousness, Amy, you could easily be a badass. Even Vicky can't take someone out of a fight with a single tap. But like, you're the healer. You do more good than all of New Wave does in a month in a single night at the hospital."
"I've heard that too many times from Vicky, I don't need to hear it from you as well." A bit of food fell off my fork as I pointed it at her. "Doesn't change the fact that a guy in a Halloween costume could hard sell me. A little facet of my power you might not realize, but it doesn't work through clothes. Besides, what if I run into that Sophia bitch again?"
"Oh come on Amy, she's not worth it. Besides, just wait until she runs into Vicky. That'd scare her straight." That just made me frown and shake my head.
"That's the problem! I can't just rely on Vicky for everything… Also, are you seriously trying to talk me out of being healthier?" She shrugged in response to that, taking another sip of her smoothie.
"Nope! I'm just trying to point out that your reason for its kind of dumb. Sophia isn't worth the trouble, and you're plenty scary as a cape. So I'm just going to consider your reason "wanting to improve yourself". Which is a great reason!" Digging into her sandwich after that, she ignored my stare. It was official. Wendy is weird.
"What's your reason?" Her eyes flicked over to me, a bit of pickle sticking out of her mouth. "If you're gonna call my reason stupid, then what's yours?"
The pickle vanished, a slightly thoughtful expression coming over her face for a moment. Then, she just gave me a shrug. "I enjoy it. Runner's high is great, I like seeing the results, and the science behind it is interesting to me. Kind of worried it'll stop being fun if I make it my job, actually."
"It will." The bitter comment came out before I could stop myself. There was no taking it back though. The expression on her face said she was expecting an explanation. "If you make it your job, it'll inevitably wind up not being fun anymore."
"Back… after I got my powers, I was excited. Everyone else in the family had powers, and I finally got mine, you know? Even if I couldn't go and fight with Vicky, I was still a hero! So, I got my powers tested, and went through all the trouble getting approved to go volunteer at the hospitals." A sigh escaped me at the memories. Really it hadn't been all that long ago in the grand scheme of things, yet it felt like a lifetime.
"It took a bit to get used to the blood and gore you'll find in a hospital. Yet… I was excited. I was helping people, really helping people. One gunshot became ten, became one hundred, became one thousand. It used to mean something when someone thanked me for healing them. After hearing it a million times, it's nothing. So yeah, it will stop being fun and eventually just become work." Part of me was cringing internally, knowing full and well that I had said too much.
Several moments of silence passed between us, leaving the ambient noise of the restaurant. I fully expected this to be our last exercise trip. It was way, way too much to put on someone you didn't know. "Well sheesh, how long has that been building up?"
"... What?"
"How long has that been building up? Like, seriously, we're in a restaurant after your first serious workout. How long have you been holding that in for, that you just dump that on the table? What's next, you helped Vicky hide a body or something?" My mouth to give her a response, but nothing came to mind. I'd be helping her hide bodies if I didn't heal her mistake away.
"Wait, have y-"
"NO!" Heads turned at my sudden shout. Ducking down slightly, there was a hiss in my voice. "Of course, Vicky hasn't killed anyone. Don't be ridiculous. She already has that stupid nickname, imagine if people thought she also killed people?"
"Well then, why'd the cat got your tongue?" A groan escaped me, and I slumped my head onto the table. Nearly knocking my salad over. What is wrong with this girl?
"Because you're right. I shouldn't have told you any of that." A yelp escaped me, more from surprise than actual pain. "Did you flick me?"
"Yep." Her lips popped the p as she pointed a finger at me. "Because I never said you shouldn't have said that. Don't try to get out of answering the question by acting all mopey."
"I wasn't, that wasn't, you don't need to know about my personal life!" This was actually starting to make me a little angry. "Did Vicky put you up to this?"
"No, Vicky did not. I'm just smart enough to know that if you were going to talk about this with Vicky you would have. I like to think we're starting to become friends. This sort of thing isn't healthy, you know? So, if you don't talk to me… I'll just have to tell Vicky the way you really feel a-" One hand came up to motion for her to stop. The other pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Fine. But you better not tell Vicky or anyone else, got it?" She gave an enthusiastic grin and nodded. This entire damn day was filled with things I was going to regret. So what was one more?
"It's… been a while. I can't say when exactly. Just after a certain point, I realized… It's a job. One I'll probably be doing for the rest of my life. It's my responsibility, the only thing I can really do for New Wave. I got this power for a reason, right? I gotta pull my weight. What kind of person would I be if I just didn't do what I could to help?" That last question came out sounding more desperate than I had intended.
"A person. I mean, I don't go and spend my free time volunteering. Instead of sitting here talking to you, I could be working in a soup kitchen or something. Does that make me a bad person, for not using what I have to help others?" Yes. That answer wasn't something I could say though.
"Most people don't volunteer." It was a redirection, and from the way she frowned, she could tell. "It's different either way! I'm a cape, and I gotta use my powers. That's just a fact, capes go stir crazy if they don't. If I've gotta use my powers anyway, might as well use them for something good." It didn't make sense why she was so stuck on this point. It wasn't an issue for her, it was something I dealt with.
"But you don't like it, do you?" She just kept pushing, leaning forward onto the table. "There are people who like their jobs. Or at least they're fine with it. Those people don't go mini-rants about how it's not fun anymore."
"I don't… I don't hate it?" It was the best I could offer, even as her eyes bored into me. "I don't! It'd require me actually doing something for me to hate it. It's extremely rare that something takes me more than five minutes at the most to do. It's that easy most of the time. So how could I hate it?"
"Most teenagers hate cleaning their room, despite it being really easy." Her hands came up as I glared at her. "But alright, fine. Hate's a strong word. You dislike having to heal. Who can blame you? It sounds like it'd get boring after a while, doing the same thing day after day. Especially when you could be doing cooler things."
"Oh don't you start on that as well." Both my hands came up to cover my face. "Vicky's tried before. I'm not going to make a dragon, I'm not going to give someone armor plates or anything like that. I'm not going to make crazy monsters, or alter people permanently."
"Well… Why not do more with plants?" That, made me freeze. "You made that flower at the party. Why not just keep doing stuff like that? No one's going to care if you make a fern that smells like bacon, or a bendy bonsai or something. Maybe you could even make like, medicine or something that can handle some of the healing for you?"
"It'd never get approved." The mention of medicine brought a very specific memory to the surface. "I actually talked to Vicky about it once. We brought the idea to Carol, and she explained it. There are some… annoying legalities about someone like me, a parahuman healer volunteering at hospitals. She managed to work them out with the hospitals, but the law gets even worse when it's something like tinkertech. It'd take a literal year, and a lot of money in fees, before anything like that'd get approved for general use."
"So instead of making your life easier, you're just stuck walking into each room and poking them." I nodded in response, and she just sighed. "Gotta admit, I couldn't think that the PRT could be any more useless. Might as well practice right? Give them to Vicky so she can use them on patrols or something. Or even just do you're not so sore after working out. I'll even help. Gotta have someone to test the stuff on, right?"
I opened my mouth to tell her no, then stopped. One of the biggest issues with my power was that I couldn't use it on myself. It meant any injuries, like my bruises, had to heal naturally. They were part of the reason I felt so sore. Power-based medicine would speed that up considerably. Testing it on myself was a bad idea, but testing it on someone else to make sure it did what it was supposed to… It was tempting. "I'll think about it, okay?"
"Good! Now, are you actually going to eat your salad, or just let it sit there?" Glancing down at the uneaten salad, I blushed a bit. She laughed, and strangely enough, so did I. It felt good being able to talk to someone without any of the family drama.
A/N: Casual scenes, are the bane of my existence. Trying to get the interactions between Wendy and Amy right have proven to be very difficult. Hopefully, Wendy comes off as just a smart kid, not older than she actually is. Either way, part of Amy's luggage has been unpacked. If not actually dealt with in any real way. Took about a month to get done, better than it being a year. The next chapter I think will be an interlude, to fit with the 'four main chapters then interlude' of the first go around.