Fanfic For Two

The coven had been improving significantly and with the help of superstars such as the Bellweather Unit, M had gotten much more attention and praise than they had initially received as a first year. They turned the corner to their final stretch and everyone picked up the pace. M felt Gregorio and a few others catch up to their heels, so they dug deeper to hold the lead. They felt a hand nudge their shoulder.

“Slow up a bit,” Gregorio requested.

With a quick glance back, they spotted Tally fall back with Raelle, so M held a slower pace until they caught up again and finally completed the run. They waited by the door to Sekhmet as their peers filed in, gasping and sweaty in time for breakfast. M checked their watch and as the final two joined the coven.

“Not bad, Craven, that’s five seconds faster than last week,” they complimented. Raelle slipped past them and jogged up the steps to get cleaned up. “Still had some energy.” M closed the door behind themself and joined a few of their comrades by the hearth. “We have one and a half hours left before the first session.”

They acknowledged M and continued about their business while their coven leader headed up to get cleaned up and changed. With their toiletries in hand, they jogged back down the steps past the telephones where Raelle spoke with her father again. M curiously studied her as she calmly spoke with him, despite her tense stance. She ended the call and caught their glance before heading up to join her old unit.

M busied themself with their usual routine which ended with using an electric razor to freshen up their hairstyle.

“Oh, you’re the one leaving hair in the drain,” Collar mentioned. “I thought it was just Abigail.”

M brushed the stray hairs from their head. “Yeah yeah yeah. It takes work to look this good though.”

“You’re just shaving your head, can’t be that hard.”

“I also don’t want the Barracks Special, so,” they laid out the different-sized additions. “I have the whole set to give me the perfect fade, like this one-”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t need to know your routine.”

“Yeah, of course.” M packed the additions away again. “You doing alright?”

“I’m fine,” she dismissed

They grabbed their belongings, “Okay.”

“How often do you, ya know,” Raelle mimed shaving her head with her hand.

“Um,” M began rubbing their freshly cut hair. “Once a week, but I’m letting the top grow out a little.”

“Good, makes you look less like a skinhead.”

M merely smirked at the joke.

“Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?”

“I’ve smiled at you before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” they continued to grin.

Raelle chuckled and peeked at them on their way into the showers. She hadn’t really noticed her Sekhmet leader, and honestly didn’t think much about them at first with all of the tests performed on her along with the constant classes. Looking at it now, Raelle wouldn’t mind a distraction with someone as alluring as them.

As she went about her routine, she began to notice what M had admitted to her. When they passed each other by, Raelle caught them looking at her. She must have just never realized it when they were first paired up, but now that’s all she paid attention to. She found herself increasingly distracted by M’s warm gaze in class as well. She would feel their eyes at her back or otherwise on her and now she met theirs.

As the day came to a close, Raelle stopped her superior while everyone else went to dinner.

“I see what you mean now,” she explained.

“What do you mean?”

Raelle shrugged, “I can see why you keep your hair short.”

“Because I like it that way?”

“Yeah. Are you trying to get me to shave your head, too?”

“Why not?”

“Okay, how about after dinner, then? I’m starving.”

“Deal.”

Again, M kindly smiled at her as they squeezed past them to the cafeteria. Even as they ate, they couldn’t stop stealing glances at one another, even when a soldier sat between them. Abigail even slid in her eye line and was still looked through. Once they finally returned to Sekhmet, Raelle caught up with her leader.

“We should go outside,” M recommended. “Don’t want you to get blamed for stray hair.” They stole a chair from the entranceway and carried it into a well-lit area. “So, what are we thinking about?”

“I don’t know. I like your style, but I don’t know if it’ll look good on me.”

As M took out her braids, they suggested, “I could go five or seven millimeters around the sides and leave your hair, like, four inches long so you can style it.” They showed the length with their fingers." I'll use seven right now and shorten it up if you’d like?”

“Yeah, just as long as it’s not a pixie cut. I don’t know if I could pull it off.”

M nodded and began combing through the unraveled braids. “Okay, are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry, my dad taught me how to cut hair, so you’re in good hands,” they tried to comfort her as they took the first cut.

Once the sides of her head were cut, they sheared down the remaining hair and began working on the top. M wetted then combed out her hair and cut back a few more inches. They then stood in front of Raelle to style her hair.

“Okay,” they pulled out a hand mirror. “What do you think?”

“My head feels lighter,” she immediately noted as she ran her hand through her hair. “Oh my god, I look so gay, I love it,” she smiled.

“Perfect. Thoughts on the sides? Shorter or fine?”

“You can go shorter.”

M turned the shears back on and began trimming down her hair. They brushed out the stray hairs again. “Okay, how about now?”

“Perf, thank you.”

They whistled the chair clean and brought it inside. “Let’s go blow dry your hair.” M took a blow dryer to her hair and combed the stray hairs back in place. “Okay. I think you’re all set. Now, are you gonna tell me what’s up?”

“My dad’s been worrying about me since the initial update about the mission.”

“I get that, when only one of you returned in the helicopter, we all thought you were dead, too.”

“Yeah, so I’ve been checking in on him and he keeps asking about, you know… her.”

“Oh, yeah the Spree Cell.”

“Scylla, she wasn’t a ‘Spree Cell’.”

M kept their mouth shut about that and began putting everything away. “Well, don’t let the calls distract you from class.”

“Yeah, that’s not what’s really distracting me, to be honest,” Raelle huffed. She messed with her new hairstyle again and looked at herself from various angles in the mirror. “I look good, thank you!”

“No problem. Just let me know when you want to get another trim.”

Raelle nodded and looked at M through their reflection. “So what do I owe you?”

“How about B average by the end of the semester.”

She chuckled and turned around to face them. “Yeah, sure thing, Lieutenant.” As she passed them, Raelle pulled M down to press a peck against their cheek.

“Now’s not the time to get sentimental,” she joked, getting help as she sat up. “Thank you for saving me. Where’s our little ray of sunshine?”

“She’s still stuck as one of Alder’s biddies, but they’re trying to replace her, last I heard. You know, I’m glad you’re alive, we thought we lost you. You stopped breathing when we left, and it took all of Alder’s Biddies to keep you alive until you were at base camp.”

“I’m glad I’m not that disposable.”

“You’re irreplaceable, Raelle,” she tried to convince her.

“How long have I been out?”

“About a week, they weren’t sure you’d ever wake up-”

“But you stayed, thank you.”

“And Scylla,” she noted, “Cute brand you have.”

Raelle glanced down at her palm, seeing a new S carve into her hand. A flood of overwhelming sorrow tore at her heartstrings, the pain making her dizzy. It ate away at her, the memory of condemning her being the final memory they shared. Tears filled her eyes and an incessant beeping from her monitor filled the room. Abi slid in beside her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, trying to do what their other sister would do. She rushed her hands through her hair, holding her as the sobering minutes passed. Raelle brushed the tears from her eyes and pulled out of her embrace, the door suddenly opening.

“She’s awake, how are you feeling, Private Collar?” a doctor inquired.

“I’ve felt better.”

“Could I get a moment alone with your friend, I just need to perform some cognitive tests,” she told Abigail.

“Wait, can she stay?”

“Of course, if that’s what you wish.” She stood by the other side of the hospital cot and set her clipboard down to begin.

Raelle felt weak, the light from the doctor’s pen dizzied her, her strength seemed shot, even her reflexes were slightly off. It wasn’t until she was asked to stand that she felt useless after almost vomiting from the sudden vertical change. Even though the medical woman explained to her that she lost massive amounts of blood, nothing could take away how utterly frail she felt, only exacerbated when she learned about the circular scar carved over her heart.

“I will inform General Alder that you have woken up. I know she’s been thinking about how to reward you and restate your duties now that the mission has been accomplished,” the doctor stated with a smile. She gathered her belongings and left the room.

“Talking about reassignments,” Abigail began, “I was assigned to become a Blaster here. I’m the first Bellweather in three generations to attend Fort Salem!”

“Where has your family been accepted to in the past?” Raelle inquired.

“Kyteler. I hope we all stay here, I really don’t know how I’d get by without you all,” she admitted.

“Well, I’m not sure we‘ll have any classes together unless Tall and I become Blasters, too.” Raelle leaned against the wall, tilting her head back to look at the water-stained ceiling. “Thank you for saving me. I was such an asshole when we first met and I apologize for that.”

“I was told that the rebellious cadets make the most courageous soldiers, and that couldn’t be truer with you. I hope this isn’t overstepping any boundaries, but from what you’ve said about your mom, it seems that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Raelle smirked at her statement, wondering herself how well Petra and her mom knew each other. “Thank you, Abi.”

“I’m gonna go to the caf, do you want any real food?”

“Yeah, surprise me!” Raelle smiled, waiting until the door closed to reflect on her thoughts.

She looked up at the mirror by the door, slowly standing up and grabbing a cart at the end of her bed to hobble over to it. Raelle mulled overlooking at herself, finally pulling down her gown to get a better look at her injury. From the reflection in the glass, there was deep uneven tissue that didn’t look like it would fully heal. All soldiers had scars, but Raelle couldn’t even look at herself. She endangered her unit by leaving the helicopter, her impulsive words caused them all to fall behind their peers and damage Abigail’s name, preventing her mother from moving up and possibly increasing the issues in the military. Raelle felt the incessant itching in her palm, finally looking down at the S her love had given her. It was all too much to bear, the guilt of condemning her friends and love to possibly deadly fates. Being accepted into Fort Salem meant that Abigail would be assigned to special operations, increasing her chances of death at the hands of the Camarilla. Tally was stuck as a mindless minion to Alder, and Scylla was alone in prison, possibly scared out of her mind. She may have been Spree, but she wasn’t like those other war criminals and traitors. Her heart began to ache again, her head pulsing and her limbs feeling heavy before she made her way back to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Another attack by the Terrorist group known as the Camarilla has shaken the United States. In Kansas City, of the Cession, twelve more Witches have been killed. With a new group on the rise and the Spree no longer attacking, one wonders if there is a possible ceasefire for these senseless acts of…”

Scylla listened to the report from the ratty couch that faced the fireplace. The radio was always on when they attacked as if her sisters wanted to revel in their actions, but with the Camarilla’s return, meetings were held over the droning journalists. Scylla looked at the charred bricks, index finger drawing the swirling letter in her palm while she repeated the incantation. She had wished she taught the work to Raelle before everything fell apart, now more than ever as she felt an emptiness from the other side, a coldness as if she was no longer connecting to it. She had failed her mission, but the thought of such a powerful woman beating out purebred witches warmed her heart.

“Come here, Ramshorn,” Willa called to her from her office on the second landing. Scylla instantly got up, joining their leader and her generals. “MacNamara has informed me that your cover was completely blown, so we dug up an old alias for you. What do you think, can you handle a new assignment?”

“Yes ma’am,” Scylla quickly affirmed, “What is my assignment?”

Their leader pulled out an envelope, presenting it to her, “Euryale Kiran, civilian from Missoula, Montana. You’ll have to visit Williamson for a bit of a change. Everyone is dismissed, save for you,” she directed to Scylla. “I will need you to research our next attack. I’m looking for response times from the military, foot traffic, and any security details we might run into. You’ll be working under General Murare.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Depends, what’s it about?”

“Raelle and Edwin.”

“Close the door,” she commanded. “What did you think when you found out Raelle wasn’t fully a witch?”

Scylla followed her orders and stood before her. “... I was already in love with her when she told me about her dad. Why would you lead the front against civilians if you married one?”

Willa pondered for a moment, deciding how trustworthy this witch was. “I do believe we’re better than those civilians. We can manipulate minds, heal one another, and speak to the dead. I also know that the witches Alder has bred are far weaker than herself and I believe she knows that. She lives on life forces, not power. If she truly cared about making fearsome soldiers, she would have told our witches to engage with civilians, too.”

“Wait, are you talking about-”

“Inbreeding, yes. Raelle is as strong as she is because she isn’t bogged down by imperfections. I knew from the moment she was born that she would be practically invincible.” Willa glanced down at her coffee, a smirk appearing on her lips, “I’m sure you’re aware of her power.”

“She took out a room of cadets with her Christo-Pagan work,” Scylla recalled being told. “Aren’t you afraid one of your attacks might kill Edwin, though?”

“That’s why I moved us to the Cession. It’s the sanctuary between the civilian world and witches.”

“Why attack civilians instead of the military?”

“We needed to provoke them. Full attacks against our own would be regressive, they would fail to make the point that groups like the Camarilla persisted past the Accord. Witches live their lives being tracked by these bigots whether or not they know they’re special. We needed to force Alder to break free from that Civilian President.”

“Wouldn’t that make civilians hate us more?”

“Yes, it would, but the Camarilla must be weeded out.”

“Why-”

“Look, Scylla, you had one job, to bring back my daughter, and I am finding it in the goodness of my heart to give you another chance to do something for us until the Military stops looking for you. Go find Williamson and give her the green slip in your envelope, then review your new identity.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she quickly nodded. “May I step outside, for some air, I feel… a little sick,” she sighed, holding a hand over her heart.

“Don’t take too long,” Collar agreed.

Scylla took the envelope and walked downstairs, a hand still clenched over her heart when a sharp pain tore through her chest, like bad heartburn or the feeling after sprinting a mile. She clung onto the door frame as the feeling escalated to the point where it seemed her heart might explode. Spots formed in her vision until as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, the only thing left being the remaining aching in her chest. She grabbed her cup of coffee and walked out of the Spree’s hideout, the gate closing behind her as she wandered the city.

“I expected a bit more out of you, Ramshorn,” a slithering voice berated.

Scylla whipped around on her heels, shoving the envelope in her back pocket as she came face to face with Anacostia. She cooled her temper, halting the biting questions on her tongue. “I have nowhere else to go, what do you expect?” She smirked a tad at the taught silence between them, avoiding Quartermaine’s dark sharp eyes. “How’s Raelle doing, kicking ass in College, I assume?”

“I doubt it, her unit was deployed last night.”

Her heart suddenly sank, hand back over her aching chest. “They’re fine, right? Are they after the Spree?”

“No, our ancient enemy has returned.” Scylla’s chest began to ache again, her stomach churned at the possible reason behind her sudden pain. “She is being led by the General herself.”

“We are disposable to her,” she spat. “I have a feeling Raelle is in great danger, I know she’s in danger; hurt or…” Scylla couldn’t even verbalize the possibility. “What are you doing here?”

“If the Camarilla are attacking us again, we need your help to bring them down for good. I need you to figure out what the Spree wants and their next moves. We cannot persist in these senseless acts of violence when we have a far greater threat looming in the near future.”

“Is there any way I could see Raelle again?”

“Is that what you want?”

“More than anything in the world,” she mindlessly confirmed.

“Give me what I want and I will find a way to get you two reconnected, I’ll let you know when I’ve seen enough to repay you.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“How the hell did you get a picture?” Raelle chuckled, looking at a photo of them after the Pageant.

Abigail roared with laughter, flicking the polaroid of her friend asleep on the ride back. “Dude, you were passed the fuck out.” She reached into Collar’s duffle, searching through the bottom to pull out a combat charm Tally had made. It was an off blue ribbon pleated and formed in a circle with some black thread, a bead sewn to the middle. “Oh, my goddess.”

“Yeah, I feel bad that I didn’t wear it.”

“It probably lost its charm when Garrett… yeah.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.

The door opened again, so Abigail began to replace her belongings back in the bag. She instantly stood at attention at the sight of General Alder and her Biddies filing into the room, forming a semi-circle around them. Tally stood behind the others, respectfully watching her old unit.

“At ease,” the ancient general nodded. “Fellthorn told me you woke up, Private Collar. You did a great thing, saving the Tarim boy. So, I thought it would be important for you to know that next semester, we plan to keep you here in Salem to join our Special Operations Medical Institute for further training, of course, that is if you have recovered in time.”

“Thank you, General,” Raelle begrudgingly nodded.

“Private Craven,” she addressed the now greyed soldier, “we will leave you five minutes to speak with your unit.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” she respectfully bowed, watching from the corner of her eye as they left the room. Once alone, she rushed to Raelle’s side, tightly embracing her old sisters. “Oh my goddess, I thought you were- but when they said you weren’t, I was praying you would wake up, then Fellthorn told us and I could barely contain my- you’re alive!”

“I missed you, Tal,” Collar tried to comfort her

“How is it as a biddie?” Abigail inquired.

“Well, we do everything together. It’s fun. You know, most of those women are only at most five years older than us?”

“My god, she really sucks the life out of them,” Raelle muttered under her breath. “Do you know when you’ll be normal again?”

“No, but I know that I’m not anywhere near as skilled as them. Even the works Alder knows, I just can’t seem to perform yet?”

“Have you been getting private lessons?”

“Well, no, but I can… nevermind.”

“No, what is it?”

“I can see her memories,” she whispered, the door instantly swinging open.

“Craven, your time’s up,” they heard Alder bark.

“Yes, ma’am! I’m sorry, I miss you guys!” Tally quickly added on her way out.

~~~~~~~~~~

~10 Months Later~

“Eighty-three dead in less than a year,” Quartermaine informed Scylla over coffee. “I expected more to be done.”

“It’s a slow process, but we agreed upon a ceasefire.”

“That’s not enough. Look, I appreciate your information, but with no help from your people, I can’t give you what you want until we have a conversation with one of your superiors.”

“Only if you promise to leave them be.”

“I can’t promise that.”

Scylla took her cup and rose to her feet, pulling her hair over her shoulder, “Then we’re done here. A safe meeting is all I ask. Goodbye until then.”

“You really don’t have the upper hand, Ramshorn. I know where the home base is.”

“But I highly doubt you are willing to threaten your next home.” Eliciting the wanted response from her, Scylla smirks, “I know more than you think I do, Quartermaine.”

“Collar still asks about you.”

Scylla felt her heart drop, and her head went fuzzy. She turned back around, both hands wrapped around the paper cup. “How is she?”

“She has a unit she’s of her own now, I guess Bellweather was a greater influence than I had originally thought.”

“I know I shouldn’t ask, but… has she found someone else?”

Anacostia cocked her head to the side. “I wouldn’t know, I can only say how she’s fairing from an academic perspective.”

Ramshorn placed a few bills on the table and left for a long stroll around the city before returning to the base of operations. She sat in the cramped back yard, the hustle and bustle of the house’s occupants, and the pedestrians on the sidewalk filled the otherwise peaceful midmorning air. She hated the monotonous life she was leading now. Bootleg classes more bent on teaching their history than works and recon missions filled her hours, but while she was leagues ahead of her instructors, Scylla remained on thin ice with their generals. She sat at the small picnic table, tracing the S into her palm as usual. She pined after her love, hope slowly leaving her thoughts as the days lingered since they last reconnected. With all of her heart, she couldn’t explain Raelle’s siren-like draw, why every time she thought of the young soldier she felt so elated, even with the possibility that she had moved on.

“Ramshorn.”

Scylla placed her hands flat against the table at the sound of Willa’s voice. “Yes, ma’am?”

General Collar sat across from her, turning her hand over to study the lightly embedded S. “How is my daughter doing?”

“She’s leading a unit. I was told she’s performing quite well and may go on to graduate in the top ten soldiers if she continues this.”

Willa nodded, a small grin appearing over her naturally impartial features. She recomposed herself, folding her hands on the table to begin her proposal. “Ramshorn, would you be capable of bringing Raelle to our side? I would want you to keep a close eye on her for when she next leaves the fort.”

“Of course, ma’am, er yes, ma’am.”

“Good. I can get you some intel from our current contact on the inside, but it will be solely up to you to bring her here. I am relying on you to tell me everything you know, any hiccups or intel you pick up from her. You are going to report straight to me, no longer General Murare.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she nodded, keeping an eye on Willa until she disappeared behind the sliding door.

Scylla bit the inside of her cheek and continued to draw her initial into her hand, tracing the curve over and over again with all of her heart.

~~~~~~~~~~

A breath between classes and on her way to the helipad to prepare for a mock drop, Raelle caught up with her old unit. Tally and Abigail waited patiently by their barracks with a sandwich for her. Collar took it from her hands, unwrapping the cling wrap while Tally updated them on her class.

“Oh my gosh, Lieutenant General Richester is on my ass.”

“I feel like all of our instructors are like that. I’m always pulled up for examples,” Raelle muttered through her lunch. “I miss being allowed to screw up, not gonna lie.”

“Ditto,” their High Atlantic amie admitted.

“Richester wants me to lead not only my unit, which isn’t my job but to be a teacher’s aide. I have no idea what I’m doing? I feel like sometimes I have it and other times I’m just missing the mark.”

Raelle finished off the meager food and tossed the balled-up plastic wrap in a bin. “Shit, at least Wick lets me screw up and follow her lead.”

“I just need a break, I miss the Pageant.”

“Me, too, but with all of this Camarilla shit,” Abigail piped in, “I don’t blame Alder for canceling our participation. I feel like things haven’t been this bad with Civilians since the Accord.”

Raelle got sucked into her thoughts, her partner’s mark itching under her glove, as they meandered down the main road. Their ball of energy rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“I miss training with you guys. It was fun at first, but now I fear we’re going to get in deeper than we can even fathom.”

“Poetic way of saying we’re fucked, Tal.” Her eyes wandered the greenbelt where they had all danced almost a year prior, not a care in the world with no ancient enemy at their throats. She felt like an idiot, though, for not connecting Porter’s death to Scylla being Spree. “Would you guys want to go to Beltane this year?”

“If they still hold it,” Bellweather noted.

“They’re not going to cancel that, too? We need Beltane to release tension, especially now.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’ll be going, though.”

“What? I thought you of all people would want to join in?” Collar chuckled, prodding her friend in the side. “Come on, join us, Abigail, join us,” she creepily droned.

The bell tolled for their next class, to the High Atlantic’s relief, “Thank goddess, go to your emergency drop, shitbird.”

“Bye guys,” Raelle cackled, jogging to the helipad.

Out by in the flatlands on the lonely trail, she called out to her unit sister, Josephine, an American-Indonesian private three years older than her. Leviolet turned around, talking with her usual swagger backward, only slowing down slightly. Her scourge lazily wrapped against her leg.

“Welcome to the plains, Cession,” she chuckled, spinning around with her arms outstretched. “You ready to fly?”

“Always,” she grinned, getting pulled into a side hug. “Frickin’ stoner.”

“Hey, sometimes Salva just doesn’t do it for me.”

“Better weed than Salva,” she muttered. “Hey, have you seen Lauri, today?”

“No, but I know she’s somewhere.”

“Here!” they heard a voice breathlessly echo. “I’m here.”

Graeae sprinted up to them, stumbling to a walk to stay in stride with her sisters. Her black hair was pulled back into a loose bun, which she quickly put up again. Raelle fixed her sisters’ uniforms, making sure they were presentable to their instructor. They found their way to the open field where a helicopter was packed for an emergency airlift, Colonel Wick was intently talking to the pilot in her drop uniform. Raelle stood at attention with her unit as they waited to be acknowledged. The Colonel approached them with a dreaded brown box in her hands.

“Today you will be practicing a drop with the Camarilla’s current silencer seed. Use your Salva and scourge wisely. Get in and get out as quickly as you can to recover the wounded before they need work. Gear up, ladies,”

Raelle let her unit on first and geared up, checking their satchels before giving their pilot the go-ahead. She then sat down with her team, messing with the tin to her Salva. She knew her unit well. Josephine needed to meditate, Laurielle had to pray, and Raelle needed to look at her military issued Salva tin. It wasn’t really hers though, it was Scylla’s. After she went missing, Collar broke into her room and took the altoid looking tin from her footlocker along with a few other objects. She closed her eyes, feeling the S scar under her glove, it gave her a sense of relief to have her in constant contact.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted the light switch from red to green. She placed her hands on her sister’s shoulders, placing the Salva patch on her neck and leading the drop. She plummeted to the earth, landing by the dummy and looking around while the silencer seed echoed in the valley.

“Jo, set up the board, Grae check her vitals,” she commanded. Raelle jumped into action with Josephine and rolled the dummy onto the board, standing on it. “We’re set!” she called through the headset and they were lifted off the ground.

While her unit sisters cranked them up, a painful shot hit Collar in the arm, looking down at the white powder. She dropped her head back in annoyance, waiting until they were safely in the chopper before brushing it off. Wick sat in the co-pilot’s spot, marking down their grade. She climbed through and sat down next to their unit leader.

“Perfect time, Private Collar, under a minute and currently the record. I’m taking points off for the wound, though. It should take two soldiers to strap up the wounded and one to defend them. Your final score is 40 out of 50”

“Thank you, ma’am,” she nodded.

In a hushed tone, she asked, “Hey, Collar, where’s your head at? You’re usually a bit quicker on the mark.”

“I apologize that I seem off, I’ll be sure to defend my unit while they work.”

Wick furrowed her brows and went back to the cockpit, leaving the unit alone. Raelle massaged her palm, then held it to her lips, resting until they landed. The unit removed their gear then made their way back to the fort.

“So, how did we do?” Josephine asked.

“40, but I should have defended you two while you worked. She said though, that we had the fastest time, so I believe we’ll finish very well for the real test. How did you guys feel?”

“I’m glad you fixed my knot, the rope slipped and the board would have failed,” she admitted.

“I honestly feel weird doing it on a dummy still, I want to perform it under real circumstances,” Graeae added.

“That’s a lot of pressure,” Raelle corrected her. “I think we did a great job, we’ll regroup after and have a little celebration, how does that sound?”

“I got the kush if any of you want to dip into it?”

“Okay,” Laurielle chuckled.

“Awesome, come over to my room then!”

Raelle shook her head and continued down the road to the Shipton Barracks, departing to their various floors, Collar being the last on the fourth floor in an all too familiar room. Once her get-away during basic, the dorm was now a reminder of the love she lost to Alder and her goons. Memories still flashed of her first night with Scylla. She went over the moments, wondering why she was so keen on seeing her specifically. Raelle dressed down to her casual dress, a ratty black shirt with rolled-up sleeves and her colorless tactical pants. She approached the mirror and began to fix her cornrows, unbraiding them, and threading her hands through the strained strands.

A fog appeared over the mirror. Her name was scrawled in capital letters into the steam. Raelle wiped her hand across it to erase the letters, but another fresh layer of steam appeared and her name was redrawn onto it. She backed away from the glass, waiting for the mist to disappear, soon slipping back behind the door to join her old unit for supper. She massaged her forehead, thinning it to be some sort of bizarre fever dream or hallucination from the Salva. Raelle tossed her black tactical gloves on her bed and jogged down to the mess hall where her old unit was currently sitting, an open spot next to them.

“Thank goddess you’re here, I have some bad news,” Tally morbidly began. “Beltane’s probably going to be canceled.”

“Wait, I thought it was just going to be off base this year?” Abigail inquired. “Who said it was canceled?”

“General Clary told me in [class]-”

“Something was written on my mirror,” Raelle interrupted.

“Nothing about what happened in basic, that was so long ago.”

“No, nothing like that. Tally, you said that when you saw Scylla at the wedding, she was talking to a balloon in a mirror and it wrote on the mirror.”

“Yes, do you think Scylla’s mirror was a portal?”

“I don’t know maybe… I’m just tired.”

“Rae, you need to report it to your superior, to Wick.”

“Yeah, I will, I’m gonna go to bed,” she nodded.

“You didn’t eat anything.”

Abigail took the foil-wrapped subway, pushing it into her sister’s hands. “Hey, you have to be careful, but if you need anything, we’re here for you. We need to stick together, no matter what, okay?”

“Of course, I never forget,” she smiled. “I’m gonna take down the mirror and report it. Thanks,” Collar finished with a simple cheer with her food before heading back to her dorm.

Her heart pounded in her chest, it was a connection to the Spree, maybe they could get her in contact with Scylla again, or better yet, break her out. A week in that high-security prison was dangerous, ten months, and Raelle was just glad that the S in her palm kept appearing, but with the possibility to seek out help from her former leaders, maybe Collar could broker a deal with them.

With the door tightly locked, she stood before the mirror, hands outstretched while she jimmied it from its position on the wall. The mist appeared again which shocked her enough to drop the mirror, the glass shattering in its frame. One would think the army would have durable metal mirrors rather than these ratchet reflections.

“Son of a bitch,” she muttered.

A message was still being scrawled across the shards, so Raelle bent down and began to carefully arrange the fractured pieces until the words were in order, a small smear of blood across the reflection.

“I hope you’re still… oh my god,” she choked out. Raelle covered her mouth, hand on the sarcastic phrase before tears began to stream down her face, “Yeah, I’m still sexy weird. Scylla?”

‘The 1 & only’

“Oh my god,” Collar sobbed, a giddy laugh between gasps of air. “Are you safe?”

‘Yes,’ they responded after a minute.

“I’m so sorry for what I said,” she fervently apologized. “I love you, I still do. I don’t know why I said the things I said-”

‘It’s ok, I understand.’

“I never stopped thinking about you, Scyl,” Raelle dabbed the tears from her eyes then smiled at her partner’s response.

‘Have you been kicking ass in class?’

“Yeah, my unit’s doing well, despite the circumstances.”

‘Camarilla?’

“Mmhm, but I know everything will work itself out.”

‘I have 3 min. left do you have another mirror?’

“I can get something.”

‘Good, I can teach this to you.’

“God, I was so scared you were hurt or worse, but when I saw your mark… sometimes it was the only thing getting me through the day. After I got injured, I thought I’d be better off dead, but… I love you.”

‘I love you, too.’

Raelle picked up the pieces, scrounging around for a box to hide the mirror. Once all tucked away, she pulled her gloves on and made her way to Leviolet’s room.

~

Searching through her belongings, Raelle finally happened upon a small mirror on a stand. She went to the box of glass and arranged the pieces once more, awaiting Scylla’s next message. It took a few more minutes, but as the second supper bell rang through the fort, words finally appeared in the mirror. Raelle kneeled over it with a bright smile.

“Hey, Scyl.”

‘Hey, did you find a mirror?’

“Yup, so how do I do this?”

‘Stacc. Sd. 13 & Sd. 15. Draw 🝰.’

“Okay.”

Raelle cleared her throat and began to rapidly switch between the two seed sounds, watching the mirror warp and bend to her voice until it seemed to melt and Scylla appeared on the other side. She couldn’t believe her eyes. With long titian hair pulled back in a tucked french braid, the young dodger seemed to lose her composure and tear up at the sight of her love.

“I’m not gonna lie, I forgot how beautiful you were,” she admitted with a slightly ashamed smile.

“You have red hair, how’d that happen?”

“A long and boring story, but I’m so glad to see you again.”

A startling knock broke their reunion, Raelle hid the mirror under her bed and opened the door, saluting Colonel Wick who stood across the threshold.

“Private Collar, I heard you discovered Spree contraband.”

“Oh, yes,” she nodded, going to her closet to retrieve the shattered mirror. “I accidentally broke it and didn’t know what to do with it.”

The instructor nodded, taking the box of glass, “Thank you, Private. You should go eat something before it’s all gone, I heard they’re serving a specialty tonight.”

“Oh, okay.” She followed her teacher out of her room and down to the first landing.

“I must say that I am quite proud of how far you’ve come. When I initially met you, I had only heard of your powers, but you have proven yourself to be a more than capable witch and competent leader. One day you may become a general alongside the great Sarah Alder. You’re truly a natural first responder. You have a bright future ahead of you if you stay the course. Have you figured out what’s got you in your funk?”

“It’s just… I’m still dealing with the loss of my mother and a dear loved one.”

“I suggest you use that loss next unit as you will be paired with a Necro unit to learn how to deal with major injuries.”

“I’ll figure out how to fix it,” she agreed, tearing away to join the other witches in the cafeteria. She found her spot by Tally and Abigail, instantly earning an arm slap from Craven. “Ow, why?”

“Why are you so late, I have more news about Beltane.”

“News or rumors?”

“We’re having Beltane on Pageant ground this year, so we get to leave! You know what that means!”

“You can have sex for the first time in a year?”

“Shut up… and yes, Biddies don’t get to have fun. We can dress up for the occasion! So, I have some magazines we can choose our outfits from. Bring over your best clothes and we’ll make the decision.”

“Does this mean we’re going to be matching?”

“Yeah!”

“As long as I don’t have to wear a dress or skirt.”

“We should wear High Atlantic fashion, umbacos are all the rage... like, Xhosa dresses?” Abigail suggested.

“Oh, eh, I don’t know, sounds a bit boring,” Tally shrugged off. “Okay, scarf down your food and meet in my dorm in fifteen.”

They finished off their meals, Raelle going to her room and ripping out her suit from the previous Beltane along with a few dress shirts. She raced to the second floor to Craven’s place, the door instantly opening.

“You Know everything, don’t you?”

“Funny pun,” she responded, sticking her tongue out. Once inside, Tally awkwardly phrased, “Hey, if you go to Beltane, do you think you’ll find another partner?”

She hadn’t thought about the slim chance, but it gave her pause before confirming, “I don’t think so. I know Scylla was troubled, but I could never love another person nearly as much as I loved her. I’ll just have fun, hopefully Byron’ll be there, I haven’t seen him in a hot second.”

“Yo,” Abigail greeted with an armful of dresses. “I got the goods, what did you bring?”

Their High Atlantic Princess tutted their clothes and displayed her outfits for them both to look upon. Tally pulled out a knee-length blue-grey Xhosan style dress with black and white lines. It garnered a simple design, but when worn, hugged her chest and waist before elegantly flaring out over her hips. They continued to search through the catalogs, pointing at various dresses, going through the mini-committee until they all agreed upon a modern dark muted blue dress that had long lace sleeves and a collar that came up around her neck. Finally, the unit went through the blazer section, finding civilian suits decorated with gold and silver decals over pastel bases. Raelle flipped through the section, really not wanting to spend any money until an ornate sports suit caught her eye. Zigzagged in gold, the muted blue suit was marked down from $219.99 to $150 and even less with a military discount.

“Ooh, I love it!” Tally exclaimed. “I can put the orders in and hopefully we’ll get them soon!”

“I frickin’ hope so, these are fucking sexy,” Bellweather agreed.

~

“So, if you don’t wanna see me dancin with somebody,” the witches chanted at the back of the bus, definitely annoying their driver. Raelle played with the lapel of her suit, swinging her hips standing on her seat while Tally steadied her. Abigail joined her at the bridge, singing, “Aren’t you the guy who tried to hurt me with the word ‘goodbye’? Though it took some time to survive you. I’m better on the other side!” On the side, Josephine was passing around her edibles, looking up at her unit leader while Laurielle danced in her seat. They collectively squealed at the next song that came up.

“Wake up in the mornin’ feelin’ like P Diddy grab my glasses, I’m out the door, I’m ‘bout to hit the city. Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of jack ‘cause when I leave for the night I ain’t coming back!”

To the driver’s delight, they finally arrived at the Pageant grounds in time for the song to end. The excited witches filed off of the bus, Raelle and her sisters being last. Abigail kept the speaker on while they waited.

They danced their way to the entrance, where she sarcastically remarked, “I like girls, can I still take sausage?”

Abigail pinched the bridge of her nose at her words, responding, “Sa-sa-sa-sa-sausage.”

“This is gonna be the best Beltane ever!” Tally giggled.

They split ways before the festivities. Being older, the witches got sloppy seconds from their sisters in basic. Some of the boys seemed completely wiped out while most others gave their subjects their full attention. As if drawn together by some other force, she felt a cold glass prod her in the back, turning to Byron who towered over her with a watermelon daiquiri. She accepted his offering and immediately hugged him.

“My beard!”

“My… My beard!”

“I’m so glad you’re here! How have you been?”

“Great, better now that I found another person with my taste,” he joked, taking a sip of his drink. “So this time I take it I won’t have to push you to dance?”

“You might have to catch up with me,” Raelle smirked as Tansey took her spot to officially announce Beltane for Fort Salem’s students. She quickly finished off her drink and dragged Byron to the dance floor for the Reel. “Mm, come on!”

“I’m not finished!” he chortled, tossing the remainder of his cocktail back, kicking off his shoes as the pagan music began.

The pulsing drums and mystical woodwinds struck a chord within the young witches’ primal urges. They all let go, and danced, switching partners in controlled chaos. Raelle released her grip on Byron’s hand, then found Josephine in the mess and had a turn with her, her vibrant gunne sax dress fluttering with every twist and leap. The bagpipes formed a tidal wave of energy, every breath they took in line with his own while the drums encouraged their hearts to run rampant on the dance floor. A young man in scarlet took her waist, spinning her around and dipping her, his hand traveling up her chest and neck before releasing her to find another partner. She caught another witch in red, letting her grind up on her for a quick second, then taking her hand to spin her into Abigail’s arms.

The music’s once elegant melody took on a darker tone when the bass drummer took over, a moment for everyone to regain their senses and find another partner. The bass increased in tempo and intensity letting the anticipation build-up for their next partner. A hand crept across her hips in the soothing seconds. Instinct overpowered her senses, leaning into the stranger’s grasp and whirling around, captivated by a set of mesmerizing blue eyes. Raelle instantly backed away from the trick. ‘The hallucination,’ she thought, and out of the mystical draw of the dance floor. She must have taken too much from Josephine’s stash to be seeing Scylla before her.

A bell tolled from the stage as the band struck up with a jolly tone again, this time a cornett leading them. Raelle found herself getting dragged back out of the fray and to the center where her gloves were torn from her hands and tossed aside to finally make contact with the mirage. The bagpipes blared again to signal another tonal change, and thus a new partner. Raelle clung onto her, tugging her in by her hips to kiss her. Electricity tore through her core when their lips connected, but she soon released her hold only to be whisked away by another witch in yellow. Raelle kept searching the crowd, catching a glimpse of wild red hair through the openings. Raelle tore through the crowd to find her again. Crushed and shoved by her peers, she dove through small openings, wide eyes searching across the dance floor for her familiar features. A vice grip wrapped around her lapel and twirled her around, making her slip and land flat on her ass.

Raelle looked up again into those intense irises she had fallen for a year prior. Breathless, she gazed upon her partner’s valiant pose, her short black dress swaying with the breeze under the afternoon sun. She quickly scrambled to her feet, attacking Scylla with another passionate kiss. Ramshorn stumbled back, taking a moment to draw her into the dark forest, away from the prying eyes of the military.

Collar gasped for air once again from the relentless assault of pecks and kisses against a dense tree in the oak grove. She felt pleasantly overwhelmed by her presence, trying to entrap her lips anytime she pulled away. Her heart pounded in her chest, blood pulsing through her body enough to stave off the cool weather.

Raelle finally relented and wrapped her arms around her waist then tucked her forehead against her neck, inhaling the slightly floral scent that sent a wave of relief through her buzzing head. Once she found her footing, she loosened her grip to regard Scylla’s new look in the dark.

“Good God,” she whispered as her partner attacked her once more with a series of breathtaking kisses.

Scylla wrapped her hands around her hips digging her fingers into her pelvis as she shoved her against the oak again. With deft fingers, she flicked open her partner’s blazer and reached underneath to feel her delicate pale skin in her palm. Her heart fluttered with excitement at how putty Collar became in her hands with soft sighs against her lips at her actions. With her free hand, Scylla tugged open her black military issued tactical belt, struggling with the buckle until she loosened it enough to unbutton and unzip her trousers.

“Fuck,” she chuckled in frustration.

Dipping beneath her suit pants, a nervous ball wadded up in Scylla’s stomach at the instant contact with her partner’s wet briefs. Fingers drenched even through the layer of clothing, she tracked them through her slick center, circling around her clit before rushing back through the grool.

The young soldier gripped tightly onto her shoulder, letting her girlfriend tip her head back against the tree for access to her neck. Soft nips and kisses against her neck intensified her arousal and once Scylla slipped her hand underneath her briefs, Raelle felt embarrassingly close to finishing. She groaned softly into the night air, her pounding heart making it harder to stand.

Ramshorn couldn’t fend off the overwhelming power her partner exuded as every increasingly sensitive groan made the air between them electric. Her fingers slipped over Raelle’s clit, rolling around the bundle of nerves still slick with grool. Collar gritted her teeth, her eyes squeezing shut at her teasing motion, a sharp flood of arousal overtaking her emotions when her partner pushed against her harder. She broke their kiss to tip her head back against the tree, her breath becoming steam in the chilled air around them.

Irrepressible passion boiled over into her orgasm, making her fingers dig deep into Scylla’s shoulder blades and neck. Through pursed lips, the young witch let out a long low groan, her hips rolling against her hand, even though she was still sensitive.

Raelle relaxed against the tree, sliding down the rough bark. She looked up at her girlfriend and watched her kneel before her. Reaching out, the months of composure finally gave way to the mixed sorrow and relief she felt at seeing her. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and dropped to her bare chest. Scylla wrapped her arms around her, her own emotions getting to her, too. She chuckled through the tears and buried her face in her girlfriend’s pale blonde hair, her floral perfume only slightly tainted by their sweaty Reel. They clung onto one another, shaking sobs and huffs cycled through their dwindling moments together.

Ramshorn finally pulled away, still holding her hands to soothe her as she explained, “It’s confusing, but please believe me when I say that I was released by one of Alder’s right hands. I’ve been the liaison between the Spree and one of your own.”

“You’re back with the Spree?”

“I’m trying to get my people to join Alder against the Camarilla,” she mindlessly noted, occupied by Raelle’s longer than usual fingernails. Her eyes drifted up to the scar over her heart and gently brushed her fingers over the uneven tissue.”Did they do this to you?” Raelle pulled her hand away. Scylla pursed her lips through worried eyes, “They’ll pay for what they did.”

“Don’t say that, don’t say that. I’m tired of revenge, it festers and kills innocent people,” she whispered.

“Don’t you feel any bit of anger because of it?”

“Of course, but if we focus on revenge, we only fuel the Camarilla’s anger,” Raelle explained. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Scylla respectfully nodded in response and brushed her lips against her scar before kissing her. Her partner responded in kind and unzipped her dress, letting it fall from her shoulders. In a controlled manifestation of passion, Collar bit her lip, pulling away when the dodger tried to nip her back. She stood up, hand held out for her partner to take, then pressed her against the tree. Raelle sank to her knees to tug the dress and spanx over her hips, letting them collect around her ankles.

She pushed herself back up, gawking at her pale skin under the moonlight as she recalled every freckle she kissed or traced in curious boredom after class. Her shimmering birthmark at the back of her neck that trickled sparse freckles across her scapula to her shoulders, stomach, then thighs. Raelle rubbed soothing circles over her witch mark and kissed her again. She missed these tender moments between them, cooling off in a moment of clarity before delving back into their intimacy.

“You’re so beautiful,” she murmured against her lips.

Collar kicked her feet further apart and sank to her knees. She glanced up at Scylla, carefully regarding her apprehensive glance. Her heart pounded in her chest with every inch closer to her, letting her hands glide up her thighs then track around her hips to relieve her nerves. Raelle firmly held onto the back of her legs and scooted close enough to wrap her mouth around her core.

The young Fixer sucked and rolled her tongue over her clit, glancing up when Scylla threaded her hand through her pale blonde hair. She pulled her girlfriend’s leg over her shoulder and went deeper, evoking light moans from her. Raelle kept her balance with a firm hand gripping the bark and another keeping Scylla up as her knees began to lock up in anticipation.

“Rae,” she gasped into the night, no request trailing after it.

Collar rubbed her hand up Scylla’s spine, feeling the heaving gasps that reverberated through her body. A sudden bolt of energy charged through her as she heard her partner’s lustful urgings over the ecstatic moans that wove and echoed in the dark forest.

Scylla ground against her tongue, the itching pleasure peeling away any sentiment of fear she harbored from their sudden rencontre. She reached down and clasped her hand over her partner’s vice grip on her leg. Her heart pounded like a drum beneath her ribs, sucking in air through her teeth. Seething moans vibrated through her lips until she finally came, squeezing Raelle’s hand as she tried to regain her balance.

“I love you,” Collar admitted with chaste pecks against her thigh. She stood up again, leaning back against her again, pulling away at the warning toll of bells. “No,” she choked out. “I don’t want to lose you again.” Raelle pulled Scylla into a vice embrace.

Ramshorn crossed her arms across her chest and tucked her head into the crook of her neck. “You don’t have to, Rae.”

“What do you mean?”

“... Come with me. Join the Spree and be free.”

“No, I can’t abandon my unit,” she instantly answered. “But stay in contact with me, please. Keep trying for peace so I can see you again before I graduate.” Raelle passionately kissed her again until the second tolling of the bell, commanding them to get dressed. “God, I love you more than I can even describe.”

“Please, come with me then.”

“I can’t, Scyl.”

“Okay,” she whispered through a dashed tone. She dug through her dress pockets and pulled out a wooden combat charm, pinning it to her blazer. Scylla whispered a protective work over it. “Just promise me you’ll come out on the other side. Go, Rae.”

Their other friend shrugged in agreement, “I’m sure as hell not it.”

“We know,” Delphine joked. “Come on, before we lose a spot.”

They ran through Platform 9¾, Lauren shot through the portal but not before Root had a chance to slap her ass when she passed by. On the other side, Root greeted her friend with a mischievous grin. Waverly vaulted towards the train in search of an open compartment before they were forced to share one. She quickly found one and pushed her cart to the edge then took out her linguistics book while Lewis helped the others.

Root struggled to pull her dolly onto the train, jumping slightly when a hand reached out to hoist her belongings off the platform. She looked over to the still face of a peer. “Thank you, Shaw.”

She responded with the most words she had ever heard her utter, “Was nothing.”

Shaw spent her time either with the other three queer kids she was currently standing by or her exclusive friends in Slytherin. To Root, she seemed nice enough, save for her resting murder face, yet fit in perfectly with her cunning and ambitious tactics. Her kind gesture did surprise her, being under the notion that Shaw found her annoying. Shaw glanced back at her friends then returned to their beck and call. Root cocked her head to the side and grinned wider as she watch the flabbergasted student speak with them before rejoining her own peers.

Sam watched her fellow Slytherin from the corner of her eye, something quite noticeable by her friends.

“What a hero,” Bo jibed.

“Shut your face, Dennis,” she retorted in annoyance.

Cosima stifled her laughter. “Come on, let’s grab a seat.”

Bo and Nicole snickered as Shaw stomped to the train, leaving her friends behind. Haught was quick to snag her belongings and rushed after her, while Dennis helped Cosima, dragging them to their seating arrangement. Shaw got caught on a door and left behind. Once she finally tugged it out, she stumbled backward into Root’s compartment. Lying flat on her back, she caught the stare from three sets of unfamiliar eyes and another pair of adoring ones.

“Hey, sweetie, you need help?” Groves flirted. Shaw scrambled to her feet then caught up with her friends.

“A little short on words,” Lauren pointed out.

“Yeah, didn’t say much earlier.”

They continued their previous conversations, Delphine getting immersed in her book while Lauren nerded out about biology with whoever would listen. Waverly debated the merits of anthropology with Root between factoids, although the latter truly couldn’t care less about the subjects but entertained them all the same until they grew bored of the bumpy train ride. Cormier eventually took a look around the old train while she read, dodging students and employees on her shaky promenade. The brief flashes of the British countryside made her think of the flatlands back home. She peered through the crack of a compartment before the train rushed through a tunnel. Continuing on her trek, a student poked their head out of a doorway, getting smacked by the hardcover of her novel.

She slammed the book closed to diligently apologize. “Oh my, I am so sorry.”

“Hey, no sweat, dude. It’s okay,” Cosima tried to console her. Noticing her pristine blue and bronze trim sweater, she asked, “You look new, what’s your name?”

“Delphine, and you?”

“Cosima… Niehaus,” she greeted, partially closing the door to the compartment.

“Enchantée.”

“Enchantée. So, what, uh, what are you- year wise?”

“This is my Fifth year, yourself?”

“Fifth, too. You’ve got blue, so I assume you’re in Ravenclaw, so how’d you end up here?”

“I just transferred from Beauxbatons.”

“Wow, you’re a long way from home,” Niehaus commented, earning a slight shrug. “Cool- uh, so, what’re you reading?”

“Just a book.”

“About what?”

“Darwin’s finches. It’s a log of all of the birds he encountered.”

“Really, dude, that’s awesome. I thought I was the only one who was obsessed with Darwin.”

“Have you read his books?”

“Only, like, all of them a hundred times,” she tried to impress her. She heard her friends snicker and gossip from behind the sliding door.

Delphine glanced over her shoulder, “I guess I should go.”

“Oh, okay. So, see you in the commons, then.”

“Yes, au plus tard.”

“Bye,” Cosima blushed, ducking back into the room.

“Wow,” Bo noted, “you got game.”

Cosima nodded and rubbed her forehead. “Yeah but my head hurts a bit.”

“She must have been flying down the corridor?”

“That’s for sure, she had some speed on her.”

“Don’t let your injury prevent you from getting us snacks, Niehaus,” Shaw jibed.

“Pfft, you got arms too, why don’t you help?”

Sameen raised an eyebrow but was interrupted by their resident Hufflepuff. “I’ll join you.” Nicole hoisted herself up by the tarnished gold rail and followed her to find something to eat.

“Hey, when you get back, you guys wanna play BS?” Bo offered with a deck of cards in her hand.

“Yeah.”

Shaw pulled up the table and offered, “Knock-rummy while they’re out?”

Bo cut and shuffled the deck a few times before putting out the cards.

~

Lauren looked at her watch then stood up to stretch. “We have about an hour and a half. I’m gonna go walk around, anyone wanna join me?”

“No,” Root answered, too distracted by her current task of gazing out the window to be polite.

“Why not, maybe we’ll find Delph,” Waverly offered.

They walked out and made their way to the bistro cart. Waverly’s shirt got caught on a bolt, sighing in frustration as she tried to reach the thread. “Hey, Lauren, can you help me?”

“Here, let me,” another student broke in, swiftly releasing the thread from the screw. She had haphazardly shoved three boxes of chocolate frogs and a bag of jelly slugs into her pockets.

Waverly swept her hair over her shoulder and turned around. She smiled at the taller woman and then glanced back at Lauren. “Thanks… um, Haught, right?”

“Yeah, Nicole works though.”

“Hey, nice work last season,” Waverly proceeded to congratulate, “I know we didn’t place well, but you were a force to be reckoned with.”

“Oh, thank you,” she shyly accepted.

“Um- sorry, I should go, you know my friend…” she began, turning around to see that Lauren had already continued down to the bistro without her. “We… yeah. It was nice to see you. Thank you for helping with my shirt, they really should fix the bolts and screws. One of your lot fell into our compartment earlier.”

“Shaw?”

“The angry one?”

“That’d be her.”

“Just curious, does she talk?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s just a woman of few words.”

Waverly nodded with a pleasant smile and watched Nicole make her way to her compartment. Once inside, Haught tossed the boxes at her friends, keeping the Jelly Slugs for herself. Cosima caught the frog as it hopped out of the box. She smiled and popped it into her mouth then checked her card.

“Awesome, I got Bowman Wright.”

“Indira Choudry,” Shaw shared with a frog hanging out of her mouth by the leg.

“Cliodna,” Bo interjected.

Nicole opened up the bag and sat next to Cosima who was tucked up into the corner close to the door.

“So, Cos, who was that girl you were talking to?” Sameen asked, biting off the head of her frog.

“Just a transfer, she’s kinda nerdy.”

“Really, must be a complete bore, what’s her name?”

“Delphine. She’s a Ravenclaw like me.”

“Perfect if you want to get to know her better,” Bo nodded, playfully hitting Cosima’s knee.

Niehaus rolled her eyes in response then drew her attention to her dreamy-eyed friend. “What about you? You look like a love-sick puppy.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Nicole tried to cover up.

“Mhm, and it has nothing to do with that girl you ‘Helped’?”

“Piss off, that was Waverly.”

“Wait, Earp, that Waverly?”

“Yeah, she’s a lot nicer than her sister.”

“Yeah, she was a shocker. She got you guys in second and is dating a douche,” Sameen informed with a cocky smirk.

“Yeah, I know,” Nicole quickly stated. Sameen smirked and threw the box at her, but soon had it tossed back at her. “Haha, nice shot.” They got caught up in a brief kicking match before they mutually conceded. “Fucker.”

“I gotta keep you on your toes somehow? So, what about you Bo, it seems like everyone else has found their soulmate?” she sarcastically remarked.

“What? No, not yet,” Bo responded, resting against the wall and back of her seat. “Besides, why should we be finding our wives here? There are so many other wizards out there who are less annoying than the MoM ones here.”

“Really? I would have thought that the boys’d be all over you.”

“I was under the impression that we were at school to learn.”

They all burst out laughing, Cosima chuckling in the corner while Nicole completely doubled over. Sameen only shook her head in amusement. Haught leaned on her shoulder, earning a brief pat on the head before Sameen decided to practice some spells on their trash. She then retrieved her Dark Arts book and began to study.

Bo finally took a moment to stretch and stood between the sliding door and its frame. “Alright, I need to take a break from you lot, peace.”

“Keep your eye out for the one,” Shaw forebodingly warned.

Bo affectionately flipped her off then went off to explore the train, sliding out of her peer’s way. She spotted three students a few paces down beside a compartment. Two of them she recognized as Lauren and Waverly, the other she couldn’t quite place yet. Lauren shrugged her shoulders and peeked inside, then Earp and the curly-haired blonde slipped past her, leaving Lewis alone in the walkway.

“Lewis, that you?” Dennis inquired.

The other Gryffindor student furrowed her brows to study her. “Dennis?”

“The one and only.”

“I thought you transferred back to the states.”

“No, I was just visiting for the summer. Wow, I almost didn’t recognize you, what happened to your princess curls?”

“Oh, well, it always took too long to do, so I kind of stopped. You’re definitely different, in a good way, though.”

“Really, how?”

“I mean, you don’t have a trail of boys behind you like last time. Must be nice to have a breath of fresh air?”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll come by like usual, I’m just enjoying the peace and quiet. I’m just taking a cruise, glad I caught you,” she flirted.

“Ah, back at it again,” Lauren awkwardly teased.

“I got to try.” After a brief moment of silence, she sighed, “Would you like to join me?”

“Oh, no thank you. I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“It wouldn’t be intruding if I invited you.”

“It’s okay, we’re about to start a round of chess in here, so I’m interested in how it will go.”

“Who’s playing?”

“The Delph and Waves.”

“Okay, well good luck, I’d love to see you again.”

“That’d be great, Dennis.”

“Please, call me Bo, I get into too much trouble to let my mates call me that.”

As Bo left, Lauren slipped back in to watch the game take place. Already within the first minute of the game, there were white fragments on the board from Waverly’s minor victories. Root was completely invested in the proceedings, adding in audience sound effects like gasps and cheers when a smart move was made. Delphine quickly got the upper hand when she took away her opponent’s knight and pawn, but quickly lost ground when her rook was cornered.

“You are a sneaky little brit,” she taunted.

“Pfft, you’d know about that, Frenchie.”

She only shook her head and proceeded to take away five more pawns. “Bam, what do you have to say now?”

“Shit,” she muttered, “that was good.”

“Yeah, I think she’s got you cornered there, Waves,” Root added.

“Do you want to commentate this entire game?”

“Don’t mind if I do!”

“No, that’s-”

“Will Earp be able to get back on her feet and make her country proud?”

“Root-”

“Oh, seems not,” she cut off when another black piece shattered. “Cormier takes out yet another pawn, but would you look at that! Rook to E5 takes out Cormier’s knight, deadly move.” Root proceeded to commentate on their brutal game, never growing tired of her jokes and jibes, but went silent when Delphine found herself down to three pieces.

“I sense a distraction coming this way,” Lauren finally interrupted as she spotted a familiar student tromp his way in their direction. They knocked on the sliding door, so she glanced in Waverly’s direction. “It’s the boy.”

“Let him in.”

She rolled her eyes and opened the door. “Hey, James.”

“Ladies, m’lady,” he greeted them then his girlfriend. “I’m here to steal you away.”

“Just a sec, I’m gonna crush Delph.”

“You’re so sure of that?” she taunted back.

“Checkmate.”

“Merde,” she muttered.

“And the Brits win again,” Root cheered.

Waverly grabbed a few belongings and joined Hardy and his goons back to their compartment, “I’ll be back to grab my stuff.”

Lauren closed the door right behind them and rolled her eyes. “What a jag-off.”

“I can’t believe she’s still with him,” Root agreed.

“Who is he?” Delphine inquired.

“Hardy James, aka Champ. He’s a beater for the Hufflepuffs.”

“And a lunk,” Lauren added. “I thought she would have switched it up by now, joined the dark side.”

Root chuckled in response, but their other peer only looked on in confusion. “Dark side?”

“You know, accepted her gayness,” the Slytherin explained. “I mean it’s pretty obvious he’s a beard, whether or not she realizes it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lauren glanced to the side for a moment then further described, “Basically, a beard is someone a gay person dates to appear straight.”

“How do you know, though?”

“It’s a feeling, pretty strong one, too.”

Delphine crooked an eyebrow at her forward explanation, then considered her own ‘gayness’ before pushing the thought aside. “Are you two gay?”

“Yeah, birds of a feather flock together.”

Root began to pack away the chessboard, “It’s just a matter of time.”

“That can’t be true,” the transfer student bargained.

“Well, it can happen,” Lauren pondered, “but most people tend to enjoy the company of people they are akin to.”

Root peaked out of the window and nodded in agreement, “We just passed the hutch, so we’re not that far away. Have you been on the train before?”

“Not this one, no.”

“It’s old, so hold on tight or you’ll go flying, this one still hasn’t learned her lesson,” she jibed to Lewis.

“Fuck off.”

“What, every year you’ve been here you hit the deck.”

“This is only my second year,”

“That is every year you’ve been here.”

Collar looked at her watch and patiently stood before the red brick and white trim dorm. A few students emerged before she spotted one of her teammates and friends. Her hair tied back in a loose ponytail, Korra had on nice but casual clothes for their orientation which was a necessary evil in her eyes. They had been emailed and sent letters from both the Magical Congress of North America, the Wizarding bodies from their respective countries, and the campus about the current climate between their Maj community and humans.

She pulled out the latest note that had been stuck in her door. “Did you get this too?”

“Yeah, the RAs are on it this year.”

“I mean, it does mention class trips and overall access to the grounds this semester.” Korra glanced over her shoulder. “I swear Adora was right behind me.”

“This always happens, she probably got caught up with her siblings.”

“And Maya?”

“I don’t know, fucking around as usual,” she joked.

They heard the rhythmic thud of people running. They glanced down the road where Maya was leading her friends on their morning run.

“Speak of the devil,” Raelle smirked.

“I don’t know how she does it. We literally just got back in the dorms yesterday.”

“I’m not all that surprised. You know, she just has impeccable timing.”

Maya came to a halt at her friends’ feet and breathlessly nodded to them. A few of her teammates greeted them on their way to their respective dorms. Bishop waved them off and glanced at the paper in Raelle’s hand. “What’s that?”

“Last minute info before tomorrow. A reminder of conduct and reassuring students and parents that we will be safe here.”

“This really could have been an email,” she huffed, jogging in place a bit. “I’m gonna rinse off and join you guys by the ISU. When is it again?”

“It’s in fifteen minutes,” Korra called after her.

“I’ll be quick.”

“Hey, can you tell Adora to join us?”

Bishop swiped her card and gave them a thumbs up on her way inside. She spotted the Senior sitting in the lobby with her siblings. She peaked her head into the room and informed her, “The crew’s waiting outside for you.”

“Okay, thank you, Maya.”

Bishop continued to her room, shared with Andy Herrera, and gathered her toiletries. Hearing their personal shower in use, she slipped on her slides and jogged down the hall to the communal bathrooms before the early birds got to it. For her second year in university, Maya was starting to take classes towards her certificates and degree. Balancing school and athletics were difficult enough, but with the current threat of hate groups on their tails, she found herself relying more on her activities to stay sane.

She finished up quickly and grabbed her belongings, tossing her toiletries and towel on her bed and taking off to the front steps where Korra and Raelle were sitting.

“How long?”

“Five minutes, well done,” Collar commented. “And Adora?”

“You didn’t see her?”

“Skoden, she’ll find us,” Korra assured them.

The three students walked along the road to the student union. They stood near the back so Adora could find them easier and waited for the announcements to begin. On time, their Dean of Students stood before the mic.

“I’m glad to see everyone here, I’ll let the stragglers make their way over before we begin.”

“No,” Maya sighed, “Let’s get on with it.”

Raelle shoulder checked her as the Dean continued.

“First thing’s first. As we are well aware, the Covenant of the Sword and Arm of the Lord has been much more active in the past year. We have lost many lives this summer.” Raelle earned some gazes in her direction from Korra and her dorm mates. “I am glad that we have been given permission to continue learning. We have Aurors from Congress here to make sure that everything is going well and no breaches have been made. You are still adults, so access to leave campus will be given between six a.m. and eight p.m. Know that we are trying to make accommodations to the situation while letting you all feel like you’re not in Azkaban. If you have any questions, feel free to talk to your counselors. We also have a hotline you can call if anything arises. You can find the number both online and on the student resources corkboard in the Student Union.

“Now, for the next most important announcement. I know you are all interested in the students we have coming here this semester. As hosts, we must make them feel as at home as possible. In order to help them get acclimated to the States, we must resist any urge to be nationalist, racist, or sexist to these students. If a report is made, you will face suspension if not expulsion. Think about the things you say and do while you are around them. This is a fantastic opportunity to show the other Wizarding communities that we are inviting and respectful individuals.”

Adora jogged up to them, wrapped her arm around Maya’s shoulder to slow herself down. “What’d I miss?”

“The usual announcements. We need to be nice to the exchange students.”

The Dean organized his notes, crossing something off the paper before he continued. “As for our Athletics, we will not be competing with other teams this year as we have in the past. Instead, we are going to have the Exchange students team up and host our own tournaments and games. Any further questions will be answered by your coaches. Now, that is all I have, any questions will be answered by Counselors. You are all dismissed.”

The students began speaking as they dispersed, the Dean speaking with some faculty while the guards tried to fend off students from approaching him.

Maya looked up to the sky, “What the fuck.”

“Yeah, I heard about that from Pruitt yesterday.”

“Is it going to affect our eligibility?” Korra asked.

“No, they’re writing off this year and having us be the Snallygaster Club rather than Ilvermorny University.”

“Oh, good. Well, I guess we’re going to have a lot of scrimmages, then?”

“I don’t know. The Footy coach for the Exchange club is going to be Dick Wcinski.”

“Wait, no, like the Dick Wcinski of the Narguns?”

“That exact one. He coaches Uni in the off-season.”

“Wow, that’s insane. Hopefully, we can learn a thing or two from him?”

“Or you’ll have to question the players?” Raelle inquired. She earned a few weird glances including an oblivious one from Maya. “Oh, come on, I can’t be the only one who thought about that?”

“About what?” Bishop inquired. She quickly realized what her friend was insinuating and shook her head. “In times like this that is the last thing we need. You and I alone have to give up so much time for our EMT class, we don’t have time to mess around with Exchange students.”

“It’s good to relax from time to time, Maya.”

As she was going to rebuttal Collar’s plan, she and the others received a text from their Captain, Robert. “Crap,” Adora began. “We have to go. A few updates and recruits. We’ll see you around, though.”

Raelle nodded as her friends left but she quickly prodded Maya in the ribs, earning a groan. “How’s the healing?”

Bishop waved her teammates along and shook her head. “I’m fine. Don’t give me that look. It’s much better.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. Did you rest at all this summer?”

“Yeah,” she tried turning away, getting yanked back.

“Let me do my thing.”

“Fine, make it quick,” she begrudgingly agreed. She pulled up the side of her shirt for Raelle to lay hands upon her to investigate the problem.

“How does that feel?”

“Not great, Rae.”

“Okay, you did not rest at all, then.” She pulled out her wand and cast a bone mending work on her.

After a few moments, Maya took a deep breath in and nodded. “Thanks.”

“I offered the first time. Your ribs have healed over the damage, so they won’t be perfect.”

“It’s fine,” she jogged after the others.

Collar put her wand in her back pocket and meandered around campus. It was her first Sunday back, so she decided to skip out on church, she could always make it up later, it was her father’s tradition anyway. Raelle really only attended so he wouldn’t be alone. She had debated staying with him or leaving for her sophomore year, but Edwin insisted she put her schooling over doting for him.

Lost in her thoughts, she nearly ran into a group of Durmstrang students on their way to their orientation.

“I’m sorry,” one of the girls chuckled. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Raelle nodded then quickly apologized, “I should be apologizing.”

“Do you know where the Student Union is?” she asked.

“Yeah, just continue down this road, you’ll see a large building with those words on it.”

Another student looked around then asked, “Do you know where the Lewis dorms are?”

“It’s easier to show than describe.” She began to lead them down the main road near the main academic buildings. After weaving through the mass of exchange students departing from their buses, Raelle pointed to a large building. “Here, Lewis dorms.”

“Se, jag sa det till dig, Scylla.” she jokingly berated her. “Thank you.”

They began to their dorms, the girl she guessed named Scylla glancing back before one of the dark-haired students pulled her to the front of the pack. Someone came up behind Raelle, sliding into view quickly with a wide grin. Byron towered over her with an inviting embrace.

“A whole summer back in Montana and I didn’t even get to see you, Rae!”

“I know, I meant to write, but you know.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about your mom, I know you two had a complicated relationship.”

“It’s fine. I’m just glad that my dad’s functioning,” she tried to reassure him. Byron nodded and hugged her. “I’m fine, I swear. What have you been up to?”

“Well, I have been checking out the men since they arrived. Those Durmstrang kids are no joke. I don’t know what they’re feeding them, but they are intimidating. Watch out for stickball season.”

“It’s an American sport, we’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but don’t come calling from your bed when one of those girls body slams you.”

“If one did, I’d probably say thank you… or sorry.”

“The brave Raelle Collar kneeling for someone.”

“Come on, I almost ran into some a few seconds ago and they were all attractive… even the boy.”

“My my my, more fluid than we thought.”

“He was very pretty, but not enough to change my mind.”

“Good.”

“Yeah yeah, be gay do crime.”

“Oh, did you already read my pin?”

“No, but you say it all the time,” she commented, taking note of the enamel pin on his satchel. “Very gay, I like it.”

“Thank you. I try,” he joked. “I know you were wanting to go into EMT, how’s that? Did you get the classes you needed?”

“Yeah, that’s the upside of being an athlete and a veteran’s child.”

“Good.”

“What about your desire to leave the Wizarding world entirely?”

“I decided to stay until this blows over, I’m not inclined to be hunted down at Culinary school.”

“I know what you mean. I could have gone to a school in Boston or even one back in the midwest, but they’re all No-Maj. Besides, I like playing Stickball, it’s the one social thing that doesn’t irritate me.”

~

Asami had already received a letter from her moms since they left Hogwarts. It was nice to see that they were already on top of their classes and invested in the host school’s activities. She signaled her brother to meet her in the quad before their orientation. She took their parents’ letter to the greenbelt while Mako pulled himself out of bed.

“Hey, why do we need to have the orientation right now? It’s nearly nine-thirty,” he complained.

“I’d rather get this out of the way now than later in the day.”

“Is that from mom?”

“Yeah. Both this time but it looks like mama wrote most of it. Bolin seems to be doing well according to them… and they’re worried for our safety.”

“Well, not surprising.”

“We’re probably just as safe here as we would be back home.”

Mako shrugged and read the letter. “Cool, I miss them already.”

“Who’s your roommate?”

“Noatak. He’s nice enough, annoying though,”

“At least you can speak with yours. Mine’s some Durmstrang student named Nessa. She's very nice, but spends most of her time with her friends. Let’s go.”

They followed the signs to the Student Union where they spotted their Dean with the one from Ilvermorny as well as their MoM of Education, ready to set the rules for them this semester. Everything they were being told had already been stated in the letters they had been sent when they were signing up for the program. Longbottom and Hedgeflower were just there for formalities. Asami lolled her head back in boredom before tapping on her brother’s shoulder.

“Hey,” she whispered, “do you want to leave?”

“Yeah.”

“Crab crawl?”

“Yup.”

They slowly slid away from the meeting, going around back and walking around the grounds. They approached the more forested area of the campus, the sound of yelling and cheering echoing from a field.

“Want to check it out?” Mako offered.

“Why not?” she agreed.

The Lewis siblings approached a massive field where they saw students running and playing what looked like rugby. It was hard to tell what the rules were, but there wasn’t much else they could get until they drew closer. They clung to the sidelines and sat by a pair of students.

“So, what’s this?” she asked the students.

“Footy,” one of them explained. “It’s based on Aussie rules football, but way more intense and we’ve added a few tricks to make it a bit more interesting.”

“Like what?”

Raelle pulled out her wand and cast a harmless jinx on an athlete. “They have to avoid the jinx barriers in the stadium.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it makes the game fun!”

“So, who’s playing?”

“Our college team and the highschoolers.”

“What’s the point of it?”

“They’re trying to figure out who’s ready to be pulled up and who needs to transition to the club team. We do it with all of our sports.”

“That’s smart.”

“Do you guys do that with your sports?”

“We don’t have sports at University. Once you finish at Hogwarts, you either continue to play rec or pro. We have some small clubs, but they’re more for pick-up games.”

Asami noticed the reserves casting jinxes as well, one nearly hitting the sideline. Another caught an athlete in a blue jersey, sending her flying into one of her teammates and pushing them across the grass and into Raelle.

“Sorry, Maya,” she gasped. “Oh, hey, Rae.”

“Korra,” Collar acknowledged.

“Jeoff, you’re in!” she called out to one of her teammates. Maya pushed her teammate away and jogged back onto the field. Korra rolled between her friend and the English students. “So, who are you two?”

“Asami and Mako Lewis,” the older sibling introduced. She reached her hand out getting an awkward handshake in return. “What, do you only fist bump or high five here?”

“I just hate handshakes, very colonizer.”

“I get it,” Mako agreed.

“So, you play, what are the rules?” Asami asked.

“Each team has eighteen players, with four on the bench. We play in twenty-minute quarters. Because it’s a high-scoring game, they divide the points up by half then add them together for the final score. As for playing, you can grab, tackle between the shoulders and knees, push, pull… anything really, as long as you don’t attack your opponent. If you have the ball, you must dribble it every fifteen yards or you can pass by hitting or kicking it to your team. There are two markers denoting the number of points you get, if you punt it between the middle posts you get more points.”

“What about the lines, I see people running out of bounds?”

“Soccer rules, as long as the ball doesn’t leave the boundaries, you're fine.”

“Is it big here in the states?”

“Yeah, there are about thirty teams in North America and twenty in Oceania for colleges alone. At the pro level, there’s only forty and we compete internationally.”

A player in red jumped onto one of Korra’s teammates, vaulting off of her to grab the ball. “Oh my god! Is that allowed?”

“Yeah.” Her teammate fell to the ground. “Oof, Bellwether’s gonna be pissed!”

“Something else Abs can taunt her about, then,” Raelle mentioned.

“Ama, you’re in for Beifong!” Sullivan called out to her.

“Well, that’s my queue,” she noted and jumped back into the match.

Byron glanced over to ask, “What are the sports you guys play?”

“Mostly gobstones, quidditch.”

“How boring, nothing that really gets the blood pumping?”

“Quidditch is a great sport to stay in shape with.”

“Did you play for the school?” Raelle inquired.

“No, but Mako did.”

“Really?”

Her younger brother nodded and explained, “I played Chaser for Slytherin.”

“We have a team that plays during the winter season, do you think you’ll join the Exchange team?”

“I mean, this looks so much more interesting.”

“I know right, and you’re a good size to play. You’d probably get midfielder if you tried out,” Byron took note.

“Maybe I’ll try this out, too,” Asami noted.

“I’m sure you will,” he insinuated, earning an elbow to the side from his friend. “Really?”

“Not here, dude,” she chuckled, earning weird glances from the English siblings.

~

The Durstrang students followed their Dean and the education board member around campus, Dean Balodis pointed to the gym and out to a building for the zoologist students. She steered the group to the sports fields.

“This is the practice field, there’s another on the other side of their competition field. If you want to play Australian Rules Football, Quidditch, or Stickball,” she read from the list, “Ask us and we will connect you to the coaches.”

“Do you think you’ll play?” Nessa asked her peers.

“I don’t even know what their other sports are,” Scylla shrugged.

“I’m not sure I’ll play either,” Porter agreed. “I might join a club, though?”

“Not even Quidditch? You might give them a run for their money?”

“I only ever played to be with my friends, so if none of you are playing, then I’m not sure I’m going to. I also kind of want to focus on my studies. Now that all of my general ed is out of the way, I have more hours in a workshop than normal.” His classmates nodded in agreement while they continued to follow Balodis past the fields.

Balodis pointed to the practice field in use and explained, “Right now, their High School and College teams are playing Australian Rules Football. It’s an interesting game and one we were hoping to put into play at Durmastrang Institute this year.”

Scylla glanced over at the brutal game, watching as the mixed gender teams scrimmage. She slowed down, her friends continuing on as she watched. Porter looked back at her, so she reassured him, “I’ll catch up in a few.”

Searching the grounds, she spotted the blonde student they had run into earlier. She wished Izadora hadn’t pulled her ahead when they were walking away, she wanted to speak to her more. It was Izadora who had told them to make friends here anyway. Scylla walked back around the field and sat between the Ilvermorny and Hogwarts students.

“Oh, you?” Raelle nodded.

“Yeah, we were getting shown around and I thought I’d come watch this. Australian Football?”

“Footy,” Byron corrected. “More people call it that here.”

“Makes it sound more American I assume?” she guessed. “I never got to introduce myself, Scylla Vädurshorn.”

“I’m Raelle,” the student introduced, “This is Byron and these are the Lewis siblings.”

“Asami, I’m in the Lewis dorms, funnily enough. I think Longbottom had too much fun with that one.”

“Me, too,” Scylla informed her. “That’s great.”

“I have this girl Nessa Clary as my roommate, do you know her?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. She’s one of my friends. She roped me into coming over here. I have to say, I enjoy how open your campus is. Our Tredje Riga is very small, but it is also surrounded by a town.”

“Sounds nice, though,” Byron commented, “We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere.”

“So, do you play?” Asami inquired their latest addition.

“No, I’m more on the academic side of things. I used to be on the Dueling squad but I like studying Dark Magic and Alchemy more.” She then noted, “Had Karkaroff not been arrested, I could have studied under him.”

“Oh,” Asami nodded, recalling that she was only one contact away from the person who investigated his anti-muggle ideologies. “I mean, I’m sure there’s another person you could learn from who isn’t as… well racist.”

Silence fell upon the group quickly, but Raelle tried to pull them out of their funk as they nearly got hit again by two high schoolers. “What kind of sports does your… Trey Riga have?”

“Um, we have Qudditch, Orienteering, Dueling, and Competitive Potions.”

“Why didn’t you do Competitive Potions?”

“I was more interested in the research and creation than making the strongest potion the fastest. It is interesting watching them, though. I had some friends on the Dueling team. Nessa and the others were on it before we graduated.”

“Oh shit, I forgot I have an RA meeting like, right now.” Byron hopped up and jogged to the dorms.

“Lewis and Lewis. Come here,” they heard their dean call out. Asami’s blood went cold and she sprinted out to him.

Scylla looked around with a satisfied smirk. “So, Raelle, what do you do in your free time?”

“I normally just chill unless I have practice for stickball. It’s like Lacrosse but we play by Native rules.”

“Interesting? Does your school have a lot of roots to your Native population?”

“No, this is really the only thing we have here other than the Indigenous People’s Club.”

“What else do you do?

“I like to play Dungeons and Dragons? Do you know what that is?”

“No, I’ve never played.”

“It’s a really nerdy roleplaying game. It’s open world and the Dungeon Master or narrator uses the rules of the game to create situations for us to play in. It sounds complicated, but once you get into it, it’s a lot of fun!”

“Sounds like fun. What else interests you?”

“Music. I grew up in the midwest, so of course country and folk, but being out here I’ve gained an appreciation for alternative music?” she tried to slyly hint.

“Like Green Day?” Scylla played along.

“Yeah, but I relate to Shura and Kiyoko more, yourself?”

“I like Gaga, Sinead O’Connor, Debbie Harry. They have a unique style.”

Raelle couldn’t help but grin at her confirmation. “Your English is so detailed.”

“It’s the primary language class we have at the Institute.” Scylla relaxed and continued to watch the match. “So how long is this game?”

“They’re playing fifteen-minute halves today, but normally it’s twenty-minute quarters. But it goes by quickly.”

Scylla nodded from her position. “So I’m guessing you know the others on this team?”

“Yeah, we all play DnD, so that’s why I’m friends with them. We’re also all queer athletes, so that’s another reason why.”

“Really.”

“Well that and we all happen to be half-bloods… except Maya, she’s Civ-born.”

“Civ?”

“Civilian born. Her parents are not Wizards.”

Scylla furrowed her brows at the reveal, somehow, despite her upbringing, she couldn’t help but feel drawn to Raelle’s calm demeanor. “How are her parents?”

“Her mom’s nice, she makes killer brownies. Her dad however is an asshole, but she’s too blind to see that,” Raelle finished in a whisper. “He’s just horrible. This is the only magical thing he lets her do outside of attending this college.”

“People like him annoy me.”

“I know right? I just wish she could meet my dad, I think then she’d be able to see what a civ-parent should be like.”

They continued to watch the ething Scylla could tell her new friend enjoyed, but their budding morals was something she had some trouble figuring out. She could see that despite the tense battle between the humans and wizard there were kids like Raelle and her friends who believed that they weren’t all immoral. Scylla had been born to two wizard parents who had been murdered by their own community of human neighbors. She was soon adopted by anti-human parents who brought her up in a strictly Wizard community. Seeing this campus, she could see how weird the relationship between the Americans really were, but nothing could take away from the atrocities committed against Wizards by the CSA.

“Hey,” Raelle asked as the match came to a close. “My team is planning on meeting up and playing tomorrow around three if you’re interested in stickball?”

“Are you inviting me to watch?”

“Yeah, and learn the game?”

“Okay, I’ll come by,” she agreed.

“Perfect.”

~

Maya needed to pass basic anatomy this semester. She was lucky to have gotten into the EMT program, but now she needed to really pay attention to pass those classes. Prepared to go over the syllabus and hopefully their first lesson for the class. She was excited for the semester, though, as they were going to work with a cadaver. Their professor stood before the class with a chart.

“Welcome to Bio 5 or Anatomy. I am Professor Collins. To help our exchange students get to know us and to help with any language barriers, I’ve paired you all up. This will be your lab partner. I recommend swapping information for studying. They will also be with you for the exams and cadaver days.” She went through the list quickly, pointing to the numbered tables. “Deluca Andrea, Bishop.”

Herrera blew her a sarcastic kiss as they parted. Bishop went to their table, taking the spot on the right while her partner got settled. She reached her hand out to greet the student. “Maya,” she introduced.

“Andrea.”

“You’re a Batons student?”

“Yes, so why are you taking this class?”

“I want to be a firefighter, but I need an EMT certification to join. You?”

“Doctor, so, I need to know the human body.”

They pulled out their notebooks as their teacher went through the syllabus, her boredom quite clear as it only took five minutes. She pulled up the Histology unit and began her profession. It was easy to tell just how passionate Collins was about Anatomy, popping in her own jokes and mnemonic devices to help her students. After forty-five minutes, they took a break. Maya stretched and joined Herrera outside.

“Sorry, we couldn’t pair up this semester,” Andy apologized.

“It’s fine, Andrea is really funny. How’s your partner?”

“Fine, kind of serious, but fine.”

Maya glanced at her watch while Andy went back inside. She poked a bruise from her collision the day before, wincing instantly. “Goddammit,” she huffed. A student tapped her shoulder, drawing Maya’s attention.

“Bishop?” an exchange student asked.

“Maya Bishop, yeah.”

“Carina, I’m Andrea’s sister.”

“Oh, are you twins?”

“No, I’m just starting a different career.”

“Oh, what’s your new focus?”

“Medicine you?”

“Emergency medical services.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you, I hope Andrea isn’t too annoying,” she joked.

“He’s unbearable,” Maya played back on their way to their seats, then reassured, “Only joking.”

She found her place beside Andrea and waited for the class to resume. For the remaining forty-five minutes of class, she got to see her partner’s more annoying side, but she culminated it up to being his only descent American-English. Some of the slang and idioms he had trouble understanding, but nothing she couldn’t break down for him. As for the content, Maya felt fairly satisfied with how her notes were looking and confident in her current comprehension. She packed up her belongings then was accosted by Beaux Batons students.

“How may I help you all? To warn you, I do not know French, I took Chinese.”

“Nothing like that,” Adrea tried to reassure her. “We were shown around campus by our Dean, but we were wondering if there were any shortcuts or cool secrets on campus?”

“Oh, of course, um… I’m only a sophomore, so I’m actually not very familiar with that stuff yet, also, if I share it, they wouldn’t be secrets anymore, would they?” She grabbed the remainder of her belongings and tossed her backpack over her shoulder, “Besides, I have track practice soon.”

“My sister runs, do you think she could join your friends?”

“We run four to five miles every morning at six a.m. So, if she’s willing to get up at that time, then sure,” she begrudgingly agreed.

“That sounds good to me,” Carina confirmed. “These are my teammates, Arizona and Amelia.”

“Nice to meet you all. We meet outside of Newton Hall every morning. Sorry to leave you all behind.”

Maya slipped out of the class before she was late to the locker room. Jogging with her backpack strapped on, she almost felt like it would have been a good workout had she not already been rushing to lead the group as per usual, and Swythe wouldn’t let her live that down. She slid into the locker room and rushed to get dressed. Andy was already by her locker with the youngest Beifong, Opal. Libba strolled in last with her goons who quickly dispersed at the sight of Maya. One thing she enjoyed about being outwardly intimidating. Bishop stretched a bit and counted the team.

“All right, Libba, take Beifong and Dixon, I’ll take Adil and Andy,” she instructed her.

“Oh, we have a freshman who wants to join the team, Dixon let her on and wants you to figure out where she would best fit in.”

“So, distance then first, okay.”

“She should be on her way.”

“Alright, I’m going to grab Adil, meet us outside of the weight room.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she sarcastically agreed.

Maya rolled her eyes and waited for her teammates who arrived not much later. The new student was of an athletic build, so that was good. She was tall and dressed properly for running, so Maya guessed she was a runner before she came here.

“Victoria Hughes, meet Maya, she’s our unofficial captain,” Andy introduced.

“Hey, Vic or Hughes works for me. It’s faster to say and easier to cheer,” she joked, earning a slight smirk from Bishop. “So, when do we start?”

“Right now. Normally we jog lightly for a few minutes then stretch and do interval running.”

“Cool.”

Maya led them off, around the campus, a light jog to get warmed up. Hughes seemed to keep up with them easily, passing Andy a few times.

“So, who’s the French boy?” Herrera asked.

“I don’t think he’s French, they had a weird accent.”

“Probably Italian,” Adil guessed.

“DeLuca, so I agree.”

“He seems cute, has he surpassed your crush on little Ms. Collar?”

“Andy,” Maya corrected her. She rolled her eyes and slowed down so they could stretch.

“What? You two got along so famously.”

“One, I’m not interested in dating. Two, I had to translate everything for him. And three, how’s it going with Sullivan, still pining over him?”

“Brought out the big guns.”

“Is this a common topic,” Hughes asked the other athlete.

“Sometimes,” he admitted.

“No, not often,” Maya offered. “Adil, can you lead us through some stretches?”

“I’m just saying,” Andy began, “You have so many options.”

“Andy, later.”

They continued to go through some dynamic stretches until Maya led them along their usual path. They passed the practice fields where their stickball team was practicing, a coincidence which always raised eyebrows, then they rounded the academic buildings and through the main road. There, they spotted the various international groups and faculty. Maya took them around the back of the faculty quarters and to a wooded area that was mostly surrounded by old oaks. She could see Vic starting the lag behind.

“Let’s go, just another mile, Hughes.”

There was no response, but Maya was glad to see the recruit’s determination when Vic returned to her position a few strides behind Bishop. The beautiful scenery distracted from the difficult pace they kept up the remaining mile until they got back to the locker room. Maya stretched a bit and stood with her team while they cooled down.

“Not too bad, Vic,” Andy complimented. “How long have you done track?”

“Since middle school.”

“Nice job,” Maya nodded in her direction before disappearing into the locker room.

“Bishop!” a student called after her.

Maya took note of the Beaux Batons student who flagged her down. She nodded in her direction as well in greeting as she stood by the locker room door. A blonde student approached her and reached her hand out.

“Arizona, we met earlier.”

“Again, perfect English, I’m impressed.”

She only chuckled in response and inquired, “Where would you like us to meet you?”

“Here works. Just make sure you’re early. We like to do some static stretches before.”

“Wonderful.”

“Hi, Maya,” Andrea’s sister waved, joining their conversation. “Avery wants to talk with you.” Robbins nodded and went back to their group. “Thank you for letting us join you.”

“It’s nice to meet new people,” she disingenuously agreed. “Besides, we split people by their events. I do distance.”

“Me, too!”

“Great,” she nodded, tapping her hand on the door. “I’m going to get cleaned up, I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, before you go, I just wanted to talk about my brother.”

“Oh, so that’s why you sent your friend away?”

“Yes. I’m just hoping that you can keep him focused during labs, he gets distracted easily.”

Maya furrowed her brows and nodded, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well… he likes to do things his own way which can get him lower scores.”

“Aw, so it’s in my best interest. Does your brother have ADHD, by chance?”

“No, he just really loves science classes.”

“I would love to continue this conversation, but I have a DnD appointment.”

“DnD?”

“Dungeons and Dragons, it’s an RPG with dice. I can tell you more about it next time I see you.”

Carina nodded at her plan and let her go, taking note of a student sprinting past her to the wooded area. Figuring there was nothing for her to do, she followed the student, keeping a large space between them. Once they had broken through the glades, the student whipped around to face Carina. Her eyes were unnaturally bright in the low light of the dark woods, an effect she deemed similar to that of the Forbidden Forest in Scotland.

“Who are you?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, why are you following me?”

“You were running into the woods.”

“You were following me.”

“You ran before I followed you?” Carina cocked her head to the side and studied her. “Are you a lycanthrope?”

“Ailuranthrope,” she corrected her. “Like it even matters to you.”

“Aconitum, Decapoda Crustacean Magis, Granum Infernus,” DeLuca quickly spouted out. “The therianthropic cure.”

“Do you have the items?”

“No, but I might know how to acquire them if we do research.”

“Fine.”

The walk back from their dramatic meeting was much calmer. It allowed her to study her subject a bit closer. She sounded like one of the exchange students and seemed to be only slightly smaller than Carina, had she not been slouching so much, and had a lean possibly underweight physique.

“Do you have a name?”

“Catra.”

“I’m Carina DeLuca.”

“Good for you.”

DeLuca only gave her a closed-mouth chuckle as they came upon the campus. “How long have you had this?”

“As long as I can remember. My name is just a pun. Cat-ra Miāomiāo.” Carina couldn’t keep her laughter in once she got the joke. Her subject’s hair stood on end as she glared at her. “Hey!”

“I’m sorry, it’s perfect, no wait, purr-fect.”

“Let’s just get to the library,” Catra sulked.

“But no memory of the incident?”

“No. They couldn’t even find a mark on me, but I follow the same pattern and signs.”

Finally meandering to the library, they glanced around at the signs and directions for the proper section. Carina spotted her new friend at a table with three other students, their dice clattering in a fabric box. She wanted to watch their game a bit but instead ascended the staircase to the book portion of the library on the top floor. They looked down the aisles, reading the Dewey Decimal System to find anything that might help them in their research.

“Hey,” a student whispered to them. Catra whipped around first, quickly sizing them up. “Do you guys want help?”

“No-”

“That would be wonderful,” Carina interrupted. “We’re looking for a book on plants.”

“Okay, follow me,” the student invited. She pulled out a small notebook and skimmed the pages until she found the section. “580 is botany. Was there any specific book you were looking for?”

“Magical plants.”

“Okay,” she looked down the aisles and pulled a few books. “You guys have a good grasp on English, right?”

“For reading, mostly,” Catra admitted.

Adora replaced a book and pulled out another. “Here’s a good start. There’s a bin by the tables you can put these in when you’re done. Some of these are in Common script, so that should help a bit.”

“Common?”

“Yeah, you know, the language everything thing magical is based in or at least translate into.” Earning a confused look from the students, she further explained, “I can always translate it for you?”

“Not necessary,” Catra assured her.

“Are you sure,” DeLuca inquired. “This could be helpful?”

“I won’t ask any questions,” the student assured them.

They all glanced at one another before Catra finally conceded. “That’s fine.”

“I have to let my friends know to end the session, so pick a table and I’ll be back soon.”

They took the books and sat at a private table in the mostly empty study area. Carina looked over the titles while her partner’s eyes glazed over at the sheer amount of reading material before them.

“Did you really have to invite her?”

“She could be of use. My English reading isn’t the best, either, so I’m hoping her translations will be of use unless you don’t want to get cured?”

“Fine. So, what do these mean?”

“Well,” Carina began, flipping to the index. “I’m going to see if the plants we need are even mentioned in this book. Once we find what we need on the flora, we need a book on fauna to find the Decapoda.” She quickly filtered through the book, discarding some in the bin beside them while she left the others on the table. “Okay, this book is in that common writing that girl was talking about, but the other one has the Granum Infernus. So, it looks like these can be found all over North America, it grows best in the tundra and flowers in Autumn.”

“Autumn?”

“Fall, this time of year,” Carina further explained.

“Hey, I’m back,” the student cut in. “So, did you find what you were looking for?”

“Partially. I still need some help with this paragraph.”

She glanced over her shoulder to read the passage, cocking her head to the side. “Um… so, this is about the Aconitum. It’s also known as Monkshood here. Why do you need- nevermind. It says that they are indigineous to the northern hemisphere, so here, Europe, and north Asia. It is a poison, so whatever you need it for, I would be oh so very careful. They grow in damp soil in sunny but cool areas. They come in a ton of colours, look,” she showed them the book which had swatches of the known colours. They could also take note of what the plant looked like. “So, yeah.”

“How do you read this?” Catra asked, trying to comprehend the calligraphy.

“Top to bottom and Right to left. It’s a lot like Japanese and Hebrew in that way, but it is complicated.”

“How do you know it so well?”

“I-I don’t know, it just makes sense to me?”

“Does it have a spoken language?”

“No, it’s just written. It’s like in science or math how there’s a universal language that goes with it so others can make sense of it, this is the same way. You know, this language is interesting because while most of the world considers it dead-”

“Thank you very much, student, for you help.”

“It’s Adora, actually.”

“Great.” Catra stood up from the table and placed the books in the bin beside them. “Hopefully, we can get what we were looking for. Have fun with your friends.”

Adora nodded and glanced between the two students then inquired, “You two aren’t doing anything illegal, right?”

“No,” Carina reassured her, “we’re just doing something for a research program. Thank you again for your help, Adora.”

“If you need any help, I know someone who’s really great with potions?”

"Come here, come on," he nearly pleaded.

Barbara scoffed and joined him, holding their opponent still while he finished.

"Really shaken aren't you, Robin 3.0," Harley mocked through tears.

"What's going on, she doesn't cry nearly this much," Gordon tried to read.

"I lost contact with Batman," he explained.

"Yeah, me, too. You know, this is why you're still Robin, can't get a simple takedown," she snapped. "I was busy in the Diamond District and had to haul ass all the way here."

"Not now," Tim muttered as he summoned the batmobile. It came tearing down the road and drifted up to them with a screeching halt. He hoisted Quinn over his shoulder and placed her in the back, jumping when she feigned biting at him. "Ugh!"

"She's harmless. We'll see you in a bit, Harles." She closed the passenger side while contacting Alfred, "Any sign of him?"

"No verbal contact, but he's in the Amusement Mile," he replied.

Barbara looked around, "Yeah, so are we. How far away?"

"His tracker reads a half-mile north of your current location."

She looked ahead to the creepy building. "Is he in Joker's HQ?"

"It would appear so."

"Gah, okay. I hate clowns."

"Mister J's more than a clown!" Harley yelled from the trunk.

"His nickname's literally the Clown Prince," Gordon corrected her. "Let's go."

They raced to the building, Barabara taking the shortcut with her grappling gun while Drake vaulted himself up the stairs. They burst through the doors to a scene already dealt with. They carefully passed through the piles of dead and unconscious bodies until they passed the fiery mess of a boiler room. In the distance, they could see two men brawling. Scrappy swipes and strikes were traded until the caped figure held their lanky adversary against the ground.

Batgirl and Robin make a break for his aid but were immediately struck with batarangs.

"Go!" Bruce commanded them.

Tim ripped the weapon from his cape and raced to his mentor, much against his better judgment.

"Tim, go!"

"What-"

Barabara sprinted at Drake, lifting him over her shoulder with ease, and raced to the door.

"Cover!" they heard him shout.

She dove into an alcove with a blasted wall and dragged Tim with her until they were safely outside. Immediately once their feet touched the ground, an ear-shattering explosion shook the ground as shrapnel splattered and tore through the air until it collided with the other buildings on Amusement Mile. Barbara clung onto her comrade as they took poor cover from the raining ashes.

Drake pushed her away and stumbled back to the remains of the building.

Barbara shouted at him, yet couldn't hear herself. She mouthed the words, even though she felt the air push through her throat. Even screaming, she couldn't hear her voice. Barbara took another breath as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. After coming to her senses, she scrambled to her feet and tackled Tim again.

He shoved her and mouthed some words angrily.

"I can't hear you, Tim!"

He mouthed some more words and gestured at the building.

"I'm deaf, I'm frickin' deaf!" she yelled while pantomiming.

He slowly mouthed along with his charades, "Bat-Man we get him!"

"No!"

"Others," he gestured, "Will know his identity!"

She covered her face with her hands and finally nodded. "Yes."

She climbed over the rubble until they found the remains of the boilers. They tore through the remnants until Joker and Bruce's bodies, crushed nearly to bits, were found. They continued removing the bricks and debris until their mentor's body was freed. They felt his chest compress with the slightest touch and his arms and legs moved as if there were no bones. Barbara slowly began removing the bricks over Joker. His head was a bloodied mess, completely flattened by the building's old materials, yet he still had that painted grin over his sinister face. She pulled him out of the pile and they trudged back to the batmobile.

All at once, everything hit her. The sounds echoed and amplified until she could hear the burning of nearby refuse and the calamity of Gotham and Arkham.

"Tim, can you hear me?" she asked.

He continued on without saying a word, so she only followed him. Once at the vehicle, Tim buckled Batman's body in place while Barbara inputted the Bat Cave.

"Hey, I'm going to wait here with Joker, okay?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll join you guys once he's taken care of."

"My Mister J's out there?" Harley called.

Neither hero responded as she tried to elicit a response from the corpse even when the car disappeared in the distance. Barbara waited patiently until emergency services arrived. Police flooded the scene while the medical professionals performed a triage of the area. After a few more minutes, James Gordon arrived on the scene. Barbara held herself together as she produced Joker's lifeless form.

"Is he dead? Is that really him?"

"Yes."

"Where's Batman?"

"He had another emergency."

"Where's Harley Quinn?"

"Currently on her way to GCPD."

"Good. Did-uh- did he do this to Joker?"

"No, he did it to himself, had a detonator."

"A little permanent if you ask me."

"Can someone take his body for the autopsy, I have a job to do," Barbara finished.

"Of course, thank you, Batgirl."

She quickly fled the scene and went to the Batcave. Tim hadn't returned quite yet, but Bruce's body was on the exam table. Barbara removed her cowl and slowly approached his corpse. She almost felt like if she touched him, he'd gasp for air again, but when she placed a hand on his soft shoulder, it sunk in. Gordon ripped her hand away and her breath grew short and panicked.

"Babs," she heard someone call to her from a corner.

She wheeled around to see Alfred, Lucius and Dick gathered around a box. Barbara quickly wiped her eyes and approached them.

"What happened?" Fox asked.

She took a deep breath, "Joker detonated a bomb and Bruce stayed. What's this?"

"His final will and testament. When Mr. Drake returns, we'll go over his personal effects and get everything sorted."

"Good, good," she whispered.

Alfred went back to his master, "No need to raise any questions when they find him."

"How are we doing this?"

"Car accident. He has everything set, we just need to execute it." He first placed the weapons and tools on a table and slowly began removing his armor. With each reveal of his body, they saw just how frail he looked after the disaster. Once everything was off, Alfred placed them on the mannequin, temporarily retiring the mantle. A tempered glass door sealed over the suit and it sunk into the darkness.

"My people should be here momentarily," Lucius finally spoke up. They all turned to him, sorrow reflected on their faces. "You don't have to be here when they take him, I'll call you all down when he's gone."

"No, I want to be here," Dick defiantly stated.

"Okay, wear your masks then."

They waited in silence until Tim finally joined them and Bruce's body was taken away. Drake ripped his mask off once they were alone again, tears streaking the black makeup down his face. He roughly wiped his face clean and finally broke. He silently cried while his older peers watched on, unwilling to process what happened.

Lucius finally stated, "Let's revisit this tomorrow, Mr. Grayson, can you stay for a while?"

"Sure."

Alfred placed a replica of his master's cowl in Dick's hands.

He immediately rebuffed the gesture, "No."

"Master Grayson, this is not a request, this is an order from Master Wayne."

Dick looked over the replica with a slight grimace. They were then released, however, none of them knew what to do anymore. Barbara returned to her apartment through the fire escape as usual to a livid partner.

"Where were you? Where'd you go, and why do you smell like a bonfire?" Renee was immediately interrogated.

"I'm not really in the mood," she responded. "I got horrible news from work."

"Oh, I'm sorry, is that where you got the news, at Wayne Enterprises?"

"Yeah." Barbara sat on the couch, setting the throw pillows to one side, and pulled the blanket over her body, "I'm gonna sleep out here tonight,"

"Okay," Renee nodded, only leaving after kissing her forehead. Her question still hadn't been completely answered, but Barbara didn't look ready to delve into what exactly happened.

Gordon never returned to bed and in the early morning hours, she turned the news on in anticipation of Wayne Enterprise's announcement. Around 8:30, once she had some food in her system and before taking the bus to work, a formal obituary was made with vague promises about the future of the company. Renee looked over at her partner, unsure of how to comfort her. Barbara knew him, she was his secretary after all, but she seemed so numb to the words even as she feigned interest in the report. According to the syndicate, Bruce hydroplaned off of a cliff late last night. His body was recovered however he was pronounced unresponsive on site and later dead at the county hospital.

As the reporters responded to his passing, the couple left for a new era in Gotham. They took their separate lines to work, each coming upon similar scenes. GCPD was in complete chaos as everyone reacted and processed the millionaire's death. Mixed emotions about Gotham's thirty-year-old Playboy, yet everyone was somber no matter how they viewed his world-changing level of wealth. From her desk, Renee watched as people gathered with their friends to talk about their personal accounts of Bruce. She did notice, however, her boss watching from her office, arms crossed as she game-planned the future of Gotham. Once their gaze crossed paths, Maggie nodded to her and beckoned her over.

Montoya collected her phone and carefully walked through the calamity. "Morning, Mags."

"Morning," she returned. Maggie pulled out a few papers, "I'm putting you back in the field."

"Can I ask why I haven't been out?"

Maggie finished signing her sections and turned the form to her detective. "Gordon was directed by Batman to have you on desk duty until further notice. I thought he knew something I didn't, so I didn't question him. With the death of Bruce Wayne, there's bound to be more crime as someone tries to become the new millionaire of the city, so I'm putting you back out there."

"I can't- I'm not involved in anything."

"I know, but I wasn't sure if someone had your number."

"And no one thought it was convenient to tell me?"

"I wasn't about to argue with Batman or Jim."

"Thank you, Mags."

"Hey, while you get that through, can you check on the drunk tank?"

"Of course."

She descended the building by the art nouveau-style elevator and took her forms to admin. Once they began processing her work, Renee went to the holding cell and stopped at the one that reeked of alcohol. She pulled out their files and read through the names.

"Warren Darhk, Quentin Xolo, and Katherine Kane, you're released, fill these out at the front desk," she informed them as she passed them their paperwork. Montoya paused as Kane passed her. "Hey, didn't you used to date-"

"Probably, thank you."

While Renne found her place again at work, her partner was going through the PR crisis of her mentor's death. The moment she walked in, she found that Lucius had made quick work of Bruce's office. The floor and desk were littered with file boxes as he went through every document. The shredder worked overtime as she walked in.

"What can I do?"

Fox glanced in her general direction and beckoned her over. "I have a press hearing soon, and I'd like you to be there. No one else here knew him like us."

"You want a familiar face?"

"Yes."

"Do I need to be in view of the cameras? I don't want my dad worrying about me, you know."

"Of course, I understand."

"When's the meeting?"

"In fifteen," he informed her with a check of his watch. "Grayson and Drake will be at his estate as we go over his will, I hope you'll be there."

"I need to do my patrol anyway."

"We'll try to keep it brief then."

"Who's taking over?"

"We're not sure yet, that's kind of what I'm looking for now. I know I went over it with him, but I let Bruce decide until the last moment who he wanted to take over. We had a list, which included a few trusted friends, but he stated that his personal wealth and the business would become separate entities after his death." He shrugged in temporary defeat. "I can finish this later, let's go."

She followed Fox to the press room where reporters crowded the podium as close as security would allow. The bulk of them, she could see, poured out of the room and into the neighboring lobby. Barbara squeezed her way to the side of the room as Lucius took the stand. The room went from bustling to deathly silent in moments.

He recited the press statement in a somber tone and revealed the information he had told Barbara. The room grew unsettled as they processed the company's future. Fox then collected his papers and ended the briefing, refusing to answer any questions. Barbara bolted for the door and flashed her employee badge to the security guard before they sealed the passage.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought press briefings included answering the public's questions?"

"We're a private company, Ms. Gordon," he firmly stated. "And that's as much as I know. I'm not going to give anyone false hopes or baseless predictions. I'll give them the facts."

She took a moment as they walked in silence. "You didn't want to hear the dirt they had on Bruce?"

Fox shrugged, "Nobody's perfect, the world doesn't need to know that just yet."

"Isn't the point of the briefing to get ahead of controversies?"

"That's an impossible goal, never hire anyone who makes that kind of promise to you." Once they made it to the safety of the office, Fox began sorting through Bruce's illustrious life. "What are your thoughts on leading the Bat Family?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I'm not in the mood, kid."

"I don't think I'm ready just yet. Besides, Dick would be a better fit. He's worked with Bruce the longest, not to mention he knows how to take care of a city."

"Then he can mentor you until you're ready to lead the Family."

"The Family, I always thought it was so sweet that Bruce called it that."

"Yeah, he was such a sentimental guy."

"I know, so soft on the inside," she laughed. She found herself tearing up again and quickly brushed it off. "Man, I'll miss him."

"Me, too."

"I feel so bad."

"Why?"

"I was such a dick to Tim last night. I said there's a reason he's still Robin. I didn't know what was happening. Has he said what led up to that?"

"No."

"I want to go over the footage before I go out. Do you think you could collect that for me?"

"I'll see what I can do, but most of those cameras on Amusement Mile are out."

"I'll ask around then. Someone must have seen something."

Barbara began contacting her father through Bruce's mantle while Fox finished boxing and shredding the various items. The day closed out solemnly, but it felt unfinished especially as she left her desk. Her routine of checking in with Bruce and maybe having an argument about her status as a hero was over. Her mentor was gone and whatever she had learned from him would have to carry on as awkwardly as it may come through. Barbara logged out of her desktop and took a taxi to Wayne Manor after messaging Renee about her absence.

Somehow, the lonesome Wayne Manor seemed gloomier than usual. The rooms were left unlit as they were led to Bruce's study. It was a private room they had each seen on two occasions, the presentation of their suit and their first major mistake. Barbara recalled being brought to his estate after a run-in during her time foolishly investigating her father's cases like she had some stupid point to prove, he seemed so inviting despite his intimidating alter-ego. He promised to teach her how to defend herself and in return, she would represent Batgirl. Looking back, she thought he was so old but it was just the way he carried himself as he was no more than twenty-four at the time. The second time she saw the room was during her third year as Batgirl after she killed Blacksun. It was a mistake, no doubt about it, but Bruce was only trying to check in, not intimidate or deride her. He cared so deeply for each of them that even when they got cocky or had a bad night, he was always there in and out of his alter-ego.

It sunk in again how gone he was as they stood around like students in the principal's office.

Lucius stood beside his boss's chair and played a video on his laptop. Bruce sat center frame in a formal suit as he greeted everyone he assumed would be present.

"I know this is sudden, but Alfred and Lucius will handle my finances and estate. Gotham is still counting on you to function as a family, so please do not fight. If I die, it's not anyone's fault and there was nothing to prevent it. I only hope that no one else went with me." He took a deep breath as he read the paper before him. "I was hoping to omit these parts, but if you're seeing this, it means I didn't get the chance to tell you. Dick, I always saw you as my little brother and I couldn't be prouder of the man you have become. It was my plan to give you Batman when I was older, but I know you are prepared now to take on the mantle of Gotham's Protector. Tim, you will become Red Robin. A suit has already been fitted for you. I planned to reveal it after your third year, but the city will need to fear you now." He took another breath and smiled, "Barbara, I know how much the company means to you and with me gone, I want you to advance your career, so upon my death, you will become the Chief Brand Officer of Wayne Enterprises, a new position you told me about to get me into the 21st century. On another note, I want you to get in contact with my cousin, Kate Kane. She knows about everything, but I need her to get into fighting shape again." Alfred handed her an envelope. "As for my wealth, a trust fund has been set up for each of you to be accessed once you turn twenty-five and the rest is going to good causes across the globe. The Manor will remain with Alfred so you may have access to the cave. Thank you for everything. Really, you are my family and I don't use that term lightly."

"Except at company gatherings," Barbara predicted.

"Except at company gatherings," he confirmed as the video ended.

Gordon began laughing even as the others turned to her with concern. Tears started tracking down her face as her laughs turned to sobs. Tim tightly embraced her and joined in her moment too as he cried into her shoulder. Dick wiped away a few tears as he tried to hold himself together until his brother yanked him into the hug, too. After a long cry, Barbara let go of her brothers.

"I'm sorry, Tim," she immediately said.

"You're fine, I'm surprised we didn't cry earlier."

"No, not about that, about what I said last night. That was completely out of line. I shouldn't have said that to you."

"You're not wrong, though. Last night, I did deserve to be a Robin," he tearfully admitted.

"No, you deserve to be the one who promotes Robin."

"Gee, thanks," Dick jibed.

"As if you'd want to be Robin again, red doesn't really suit you."

"You're right, blue goes with my eyes."

"Ugh," she laughed. "We should probably go back to our jobs." She tapped the letter against her hand, "I'm going to check out Kane, can you guys take over for me until I get back?"

"Yeah."

Barbara gathered herself and took Wayne's private car to the address. It took her to the darker corner of Gotham where she used to live before Renee's promotion. She left the chauffeur in the car and approached the derelict building. She rang the bell beside Kate's placard, but when no one buzzed her in, she looked at the address beside her name and went in search of the fire escape. Once spotted, Barbara scaled the building to her flat's level and discreetly looked in each window until she saw someone who matched Kate's picture.

She found a woman with striking red hair sprawled across the couch. Barbara harshly knocked on the window to no avail and yanked open the window to slip through. She then went through her cupboards to find a large enough container to fill with cold water which she threw on Kane. Katherine nearly jumped out of her skin at the rude awakening.

"Kate?" Gordon interrogated her.

Immediately, Kate tried to tackle her guest in a clumsy display of self-defensive instincts but landed face-first on the hard linoleum when Barbara successfully evaded her attack. "What do you want with me?"

"Do you have coffee?" she casually asked as she searched her pantry.

"Bottom shelf for the pot, don't use the tap, I have water in the fridge. The grounds are next to the thing, microwave." Kate decided to try again, "What do you want?"

"Bruce is dead."

She began to laugh mockingly, "No, really, what do you want."

Once she finished pouring water into the pot, Barbara faced her, "Bruce is dead and he sent me to you."

"What?"

"He wants me to reactivate Batwoman, but I don't know if that's really possible."

Kate only scoffed in agreement as she went to her closet. Hidden behind the broken panel was a tattered red and black suit with a binder on a shelf. "Do you know much about her?"

"I remember her when I was a kid, but I no, not much."

"She was Bruce or Batman's other half before Robin." Kate tossed the binder to her guest. "But Batwoman has been a disgrace to Gotham."

Barbara started flipping through the pages. As she said, the first page was a newspaper clipping revealing the late exoneration of a man who was put on death row. The next page details a villain let go by Batwoman named Alice, lambasting her after the high number of casualties. The next clipping was eerily similar as it described a villain named Nocturna who terrorized the Gotham borough they were currently in.

"I don't want to return to her," Kate suddenly voiced. "The innocent man was enough to turn me away, but Nocturna was something else. That was it for me, I couldn't continue on knowing that I was the reason all of those people died." She took the cup of coffee offered to her. "Before Dick, I was Bruce's emotional compass, but that also got me into trouble. And now, here I am. You know, Batwoman saved me from me so many times, but after that night, I had nothing left to give her."

"So you abandoned her?"

"Gotham didn't need or want me, they had Batman and Robin." Kate took the binder back and pulled out the suit. "Here, find someone more worthy."

Barbara folded the tattered suit up and looked at the dark emblem. "I'm sorry we had to meet like this."

"You wouldn't have met me otherwise."

Gordon left the apartment and took the car back home. She was greeted by the inviting scent of chili and cornbread as her partner watched some show on the couch.

"Oh, you waited for me?" Barbara sentimentally stated.

"No, but the cornbread's in the oven and chili's on the stove."

"Thank you."

"How was everything today?"

"Weird without Bruce. Reporters are vultures, though," she added.

"I could have told you that. Do you know what's going to become of the company?"

"It's going to be business as usual as far as I'm concerned. Lucius Fox is taking over until they can figure out who will take Bruce's place if anyone will take his place." She sat beside her with her meal, breaking up the cornbread to mix with her stew. "I got a promotion. Nothing's been officially announced, but Bruce is making me Chief Brand Officer."

"What's that?"

"It's like a CMO, but I'm in charge of things like the company's philosophy and direction."

"So, well paying?"

"I won't know yet, I'd assume so, you know being a secretary and all, but Bruce did pay me very well. Honestly, I hadn't even thought of the pay/"

"This deserves a celebration, Babs!" Renee vaulted over the couch for the fridge where she pulled out a chilled bottle of sangria. She pulled out their mugs and rejoined her partner. "Well, congratulations on the promotion!"

"Thanks. What about your day?" she asked as she poured their drinks. "Anything interesting?"

"I'm off desk duty, apparently that was a thing I was unaware of. The big man himself did it."

"The big man?"

"You know, Batman. He asked that I be put on desk duty for the past, like three months. Since Bruce passed away, Maggie thinks we'll need all hands on deck, so I'm back in the field."

"So that means you may get called away at night?"

"Yeah, hopefully, that means we'll come home at the same time," she jibed.

"Yeah."

"Not funny?"

"Not really, no, but very true."

Renee's phone began to buzz, "Like right now. Should I tell them I'm already drunk?"

"Probably shouldn't push your luck on the first night back?"

"Save it for me?" she requested before answering the phone.

Barbara placed the mug and bottle in the fridge while she started packing away the chili. As much as she wanted to spend quality time with Renee, she had another job to do, so once Renee excused herself from the apartment, Barbara suited up and began her patrol of Gotham.

She messed with her comm a little before she was connected to the Batcave, "Batgirl checking in, do you read me, over?"

Alfred immediately responded, "We read you, over."

"Good, I'm going to start my round at Amusement Mile, how has the activity been?"

"Busy. I'll send Red Robin and Batman to your location. What's your ETA?"

"Fifteen minutes," she gauged as she soared through the sky.

The night seemed exceptionally quiet in Gotham despite the constant sirens and conversations, there was a sense of loss across the city that was felt even in the dark alleyways. Even Arkham City felt off as she crossed the open ocean. She finally arrived at Amusement mile to an odd scene. She spotted Harley Quinn in the distance speaking hysterically with Poison Ivy, not that Barbara could blame her for her current state. Around her were goons dressed in the Sionis Crime Family's colors. From her vantage point, she could see the back of Black Mask's head as he stood cockily by. Soon, however, he became livid and angrily approached Harley before dropping to his knees and presenting a badge to her. Barbara whipped her bat-niculars out to peer at it, but Quinn swiped it before she got a good look.

Over her ear, Dick began to speak, "Batgirl, we're just southeast of your location, be there in a few seconds."

"Copy you. Black Mask, Quinn, and Ivy are at the location. They have backup, no illegal activity."

"Copy you, Batgirl, we'll use caution."

She continued to watch on as closely as she could until the boys reached her. She pointed to Harley, "Black Mask gave her some badge, but I didn't catch what it was. He also gave it to her on his knees."

Dick pulled out his binoculars to peer at the scene as well. "Well, the only illegal thing I see here is Harley, I didn't realize she got out again."

"I think record time, too," Tim joked.

"So how do we plan to take them out?"

Dick quickly played out the various routes in his head. "I'll go ahead and distract them. Batgirl, you take Poison Ivy and Tim I want you to get Harley. Once they're distracted, I can get Black Mask and his men. Regroup after you've handled your person. We ready?"

When he received an affirmative nod from both heroes, he jumped from the rooftop and landed just like his mentor behind the villain. He decided it best to stay quiet and instead waited for them to react to him. Harley was the first to announce his arrival and Poison Ivy immediately reacted by pushing two large plants up from the ground as her defense.

"What are you doing here B-Man, I thought you'd be dead?" Quinn demanded.

Dick cocked his head to the side and continued to watch them carefully.

"Short on words tonight?" Black Mask inquired.

Dick looked directly at him, too.

"Okay, now I'm getting freaked out, freak bat," Ivy hissed at him.

He looked at the gadgets on his forearm and summoned the Bat drone to take out Black Mask's goons. In a mess of smoke and shots, the gang members were subdued and Dick disappeared into the night again. Suddenly, Batgirl and Red Robin pounced from the shadows to take their opponents by surprise.

Barbara used the blades on her forearm to slice through the plants before she swept Ivy up over her shoulder. With a swift drop, she slammed her opponent to the ground. Poison Ivy viciously cursed at her before regaining her composure enough to trap Barbara in the vice grip of her vines. They wrapped around her arms and core and slammed her against a wall that crumbled after the impact.

Ivy approached her swiftly and assessed her. "You're definitely you, but that is not Batman."

Barbara quickly headbutted her and ripped the vines off with all of her might. Since she only managed to break one arm free, she tossed a few distracting explosives in her direction and managed to burst out of the vines. They searched frantically for her as she disappeared from Ivy's vision. Batgirl flanked her from the left and quickly clamped a dampening collar around her neck. After the device was locked, the vines receded back into the cracked cement.

Poison Ivy resorted to melee attacks, swinging well-placed strikes to her opponent's face and liver, but Batgirl stunned her with her cape before sweeping her legs out from under her. Barbara straddled her lower back as she handcuffed her. Swiftly, she carried Ivy over her shoulder to the batmobile. Once she was dealt with, Barbara joined Dick in dealing with Black Mask.

"Roman's a dangerous opponent, Batgirl," she heard someone crackle through her comm.

She tried to decipher the voice and ultimately asked, "Kate, what are you up to?"

"I needed to be sure you weren't fucking with me. Thank you by the way."

"I didn't do anything."

"No, you did, so thank you," Kane sincerely stated. "Roman's mask makes it hard for him to see peripheral objects. He's also obsessed with his face, you remove the mask, you remove his power."

"So how do I do that? He'll hear a Batarang from a mile away?" she asked as she dodged a few bullets.

"Make fun of him," she advised. "Talk about his stupid tie."

"Okay," she chuckled. "Um, Batman, when Roman turns around, I want you to knock his mask off of his face."

"Got it," he agreed.

"Hey Roman," she called out to him, "what's with the tie? Makes your head look like a balloon!"

Black Mask whipped around to face her and fired his gun so Barbara dove behind the batmobile. Dick whipped a Batarang at his head, sending him flying to the ground. Batgirl quickly went back to him and removed his mask before handcuffing him. When he was roused again, Roman began kicking and squirming around. Barbara dragged him by his feet until he was under an awning. She tied his feet together and hung him upside down from the roof.

She began detaining his goons until the police arrived with the help of Arkham Asylum and the Bat Family began helping load up the criminals.

"Hey, can we get your statement," Renee Montoya approached the trio with a pad of paper.

"We don't give statements," Tim informed her.

"Just anything you saw, we're building a case to put these three away."

"Roman gave Quinn a badge but we didn't see what it was. Poison Ivy was mostly not involved until we came," Dick explained.

"Perfect, we'll try to find it on her, then. Thank you." The three heroes disappeared into the night again to find a place to speak. Dick was the first to talk, "I'll watch over the city and make sure the handoff goes smoothly. You two are free to return to the cave."

"Thank you, I need to talk with Kate anyway, so I'll watch from mission control," she promised.

"I think I'll watch over Arkham a bit more, I'll let you know if I need help," Tim explained.

Barbara took off, "Hey Kate, can you meet me at the Panessa Studios Location?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in fifteen," she confirmed.

Barbara waited patiently from a vantage point until she spotted her lost family member by the entrance. She swooped down to greet her and brought her to the proper level to enter the cave.

"Thank you for coming out here," she graciously nodded.

"This is new, I like it," she commented as he walked around the small control center. "Are we connected to home base?"

"Yeah, this is an emergency location. So, you decided to join?"

"I did. Not gonna lie, I kind of missed it, but I think I prefer helping you guys over fighting."

"Nothing says I still couldn't get you into fighting shape?"

"We'll take it one step at a time, Little Gordon."

"Well, thank you, you made Roman an easy adversary."

"No need to use big words, I'm a civ," she joked.

"Since this isn't too far from your current place, you can stay here, I'll get you the proper access codes, and…" Barbara trailed off as she typed away on the computer. "You'll also have easier access to us when we're in the field. Dick's Heading to Arkham Asylum and Tim's patrolling in A.C., so I'll let them know- or you could with…" she searched the field of buttons for the correct switch. "This notifies everyone suited up. And this one notifies us individually."

"It's so weird being back, last time I saw Dick, he was still in high school."

Barbara glanced at the computer's clock, "I should get going, but Panessa, the clocktower on Bleake, and of course Bruce's Office are the closest locations to Arkham City and Asylum."

"Okay, thanks, Gordon."

"Call me Barbara, Gordon makes me feel like my dad."

She left the cave for her apartment. Once she was on the fire escape, Barbara changed out of her uniform to civilian clothes and entered through the window. She had luckily arrived well before her partner so cleaned up a little. After an hour, Renee returned exhausted.

"I'm surprised you're still up?"

"I went to sleep, but I kept waking up."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, you're good. Gave me a chance to tidy up the apartment. How'd work go, what'd they need you for?"

"Oh, a major update on a case. We had to track them down and wait for Batman to deal with it."

"You got to see Batman?"

"Yeah, I saw Batgirl, too and it looked like Robin got a new suit."

"Good, He looked so awkward in that old one," Barbara commented.

"Weird question, but have you ever hidden anything big from me? The whole desk duty thing's got me thinking over some stuff."

"Only if it's a surprise like after that major bust you had."

"That was really nice. I was curious, I just don't understand why Batman and your dad would put me on desk duty?"

"I can always as him, but he's always hush-hush about his business with that guy."

"It's like they're dating," she joked.

Barbara laughed along with her before they ended the night. Renee stayed up even after her partner went to bed to finish up a few notes. As she sat at the dining room table, she noticed a bizarre question mark spotlight shine in the air. Initially, she mistook it for the Riddler's insignia, but after it traced her initials in the sky, Montoya grew worried. She closed the blinds and joined her partner in bed, placing her badge and items on her nightstand. Placed neatly at the front was a letter addressed to her in unfamiliar handwriting.

Barbara woke up later than usual as Renee already left for work, leaving behind a meager breakfast for her partner. After finishing up, she had a moment of pause. Her new promotion meant having to learn on the job and Lucius insinuated that she'd become the leader of the Bat Family, something else she felt extremely underqualified for. Barbara arrived at work and immediately went to her normal spot, as usual, entering the office to greet whoever would be there. At Bruce's desk, she found Lucius speaking with Kate. She'd cleaned up a bit but still looked disheveled, in a sleek business suit that made her look like a real Wayne.

She nodded at Barbara as a greeting, "Did Bruce assign anyone to you after his death?"

"Not that I know of. I assumed Dick would take on most of his enemies and we'd pick up the slack. So, are you going to take over for Bruce here?"

"No, I'm only here for that reason. While I'm here though, can I show her to her new office?" she asked Fox. Once she earned a nod, Kate preceded by grabbing a few empty file boxes, "Come on, I'll help you pack your stuff."

They started placing her knick-knacks and supplies before scanning through her official papers. Once everything was sorted, they carried her box down the hallway until they came upon a door with a placard of her name. Kate moved out of the way to let in. It was a nice office, not like Bruce's, and it had a view of Arkham and the surrounding ocean.

Kate passed her and placed the boxes on her long desk. "Close the door, please." She retrieved a letter from her inner jacket pocket. "You are no longer one of Bruce's disciples, you are your own person. Inside are two candidates he was researching to replace you."

"Replace me?"

She approached the computer to set up her account and mess with a few settings. "Yes, not to worry, he was planning to give you Batwoman when he thought you were ready. There's Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain." She beckoned her over, "Come here." Kate moved out of her way, "So this is set up just like Bruce's office. In this room, Lucius and I have put in a spare suit and gadgets. Just as a warning, now that you have your own office, people are going to be curious."

"So, be aware of those around me?"

"Exactly."

"I'm going to leave you be, so just let me or Lucius know if you have any questions."

"Okay, thank you, Kate."

"No problem, again, you saved me," she reminded her on her way out.

Now alone, Barbara took a minute to take in the view. She opened the windows and looked out at Arkham. Her gaze traveled around the beautiful landscape as it fell to the monstrous buildings of Gotham. She wondered if this is how Bruce felt every time he looked upon the city if he felt the immense pressure of the people's hopes and fears on his shoulders. Barbara looked over the letter again as she considered the two candidates.

“She’s not, like, a homophobe, right?”

“No,” she vehemently denied, “that’s the thing. It was when she found out it was Mags. That’s when it began.”

Lena sat on the coffee table as she nibbled on her sweet. “How’s her love life been?”

“What love life?”

She perked an eyebrow at the statement, “Mhm, well when was the last time she dated or even had sex?”

“Ugh, I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that last little bit there.”

“Don’t you ever wonder, like, for her health?”

“Stop!” she protested covering her ears. “Do you think about your brother like that?”

“I don’t need to. That incel hasn’t been laid since college, that’s why he’s such a prick. So, boy or girl?”

“Last person she showed off to the family was when she was twenty-three? A boy, fuckboy by today’s standards. He had a diamond ring, bleached tips,” she laughed during her recollection, “and a gold necklace. I don’t think she even liked him. Wait, did you say girl?”

“What if she doesn’t like men? Maybe she’s worried that she’s gay? Maybe she still thinks she’s straight and thinks she’s, well, broken?” Lena suggested. “What if she envies you and Maggie?”

“I don’t know. I also wouldn’t want to put her in a weird position if she wasn’t queer.”

“Then wait until something happens, I don’t know. What made you think about that?”

“Nothing, really. Or everything. It doesn’t matter. What about your night?”

“Other than the usual press release about my brother’s whereabouts, not too bad. I even got an hour in my lab.”

“Careful, people might think you’re shady.”

“Oh, that, yeah. You saw it?”

“It was released by Catco, of course, I saw it.”

“I know I can’t ask, but I really want to know who the dog whistler is. I swear I’m not doing anything weird down there. I haven’t bought any Kryptonite, I still have my hair,” she poorly joked.

Kara rolled her eyes, “I’m not worried about that. In my opinion, even though you didn’t ask, I would stay out of the lab for a while, maybe work on your stuff up here and go there after hours.”

“And that’s not shady?”

“Once you’re off the clock, it’s your personal time and- oh, no, I see now.”

“No way to win in this situation. I’ll just stay out of my not-so-secret lair.”

Kara chuckled at the dramatic line and cheered her donut with her friend’s. “I will not break code, but it wasn’t someone who works here.”

“What?”

“That’s all I know. It wasn’t a very reputable source, but they were vetted by the journalist.’

“Why did you tell me? Now I want to dig into it.”

Kara’s pager went off, so she shoved another donut in her mouth on her way out. “Sorry, I have to go.”

“Maggie?”

“Yup,” she confirmed through a mouthful.

“I hope you get luckier than me,” Lena called after her.

Once out of the line of sight of the public, Kara blasted off to DEO, still munching her treat as she walked into the building. She spotted her sister on the bridge, speaking with her superior. Once she noticed Kara, she wiped her thumb across the corner of her mouth. Kara copied her as she approached the situation.

“What’s going on?”

“Just an update, Director Henshaw,” she segued to him.

As he gave the long-winded update, Alex watched her sister closely. She couldn’t help but worry about how much time she was spending with Lena. She’d seen what happened when lark became an investigative reporter. He had already been such a target as his alter-ego, he had to be selective with who he contacted for his stories. Clark would rarely meet people in public and never took on large stories for fear of being outed. It made her worry about what Lena knew, then again if Kara trusted her, maybe she should let her go. Maggie turned out to be better than she initially thought, however, the time spent between Luthor and her sister was inappropriate for someone so high-profile. After a moment to gather herself, Alex chose to confront her sister about Lena rather than let it fester.

Once Henshaw left, she pulled her sister to the side. “I saw you were at Luthor Corp again.”

“You know that’s not the name anymore, Alex.”

“You’re spending too much time with Lena.”

“Well Cat assigned me to her, so I have to spend a little time getting some juicy stories?”

“Does she know about you?”

“No, no,” she tried to assure her. “Only that you’re DEO and Sawyer of course. Although, if she’s smart like her brother… but if so, she hasn’t mentioned it. I trust her Alex, so don’t intervene, like you like to do.”

“I don’t intervene.”

Kara only shot her an astonished smirk, “Look, if you’re so worried, we can all meet up at a cafe this weekend. Wear something kick ass.”

“I know how to dress.”

“Okay, well I have someone waiting for me, so if I’m not needed, I’m off.”

“I’ll see you around.”

“Loosen up, Danvers,” she mockingly called to her sister on her way to the elevator.

Alex sucked her teeth as the doors closed, prying eyes searching to read her well-hidden emotions. She went back to her office to gather the last of her belongings before she could get saddled with any more paperwork. Once everything was filed and locked away, she went out to her bike and slipped through the commute traffic until she arrived at Al’s trusted E.T.-friendly bar. The quaint establishment housed highly-trusted and low-threat aliens. Alex sat at the bar, soon served by M’gann.

“What should I start you off with?”

“You can read, right?”

“Yes,” she curtly began, “I just hoped to hear your beautiful outside voice.”

“Outside voice?”

“Yes, your internal soundtrack is so monotone.”

Alex shrugged off the slight. “How’ve you been?”

“Good, lazy crowd as usual and the others,” she stated as she set down her Jack & Coke.

“What do I owe you?”

“Only one drink?”

“I’m not staying long.”

“$9, then.”

Alex placed down a sawbuck, “Keep the change.”

“You seem stressed, deeper than your conscious brain.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well on top of this being your fourth time here in the week, not that I’m complaining, you’re internal voice isn’t really finishing its sentences.”

“I just- I’m having some trouble. I feel like I’m being childish, though,” she explained in frustration.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, I just want to drink here and start the next day. Thank you, though, M’gann.”

She politely smiled and went to attend to a new customer. Alex finished her drink and headed for the door, doubling back for her jacket before accidentally getting body checked by another patron.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot my jacket,” Alex quickly apologized.

“It’s okay, my fault,” she returned.

She regarded her a little, “Luth- Lena?”

“Yes, you don’t need to be weird about it. The others aren’t,” she casually stated.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make you feel weird.”

“What’s your name?”

“Alex.”

Lena studied her carefully until she caught her badge glint off a blinking light. “Danvers, would you happen to know or be related to Kara Danvers from Catco?”

“Yes, she’s my sister.”

“She’s very nice, she’s actually one of my closest friends out here.”

“She’s mentioned you before.”

“By your tone, I can tell you’re a little suspicious. I understand.”

“It’s not you-”

“It’s Lex, yeah.”

“But, I’m sure you’re nice enough.”

Lena couldn’t help but have fun at Alex’s expense.

“You know, Kara wanted us to meet over coffee this weekend-”

“Do you want to meet over a drink now?”

Alex was held aback slightly by her forward question, “Sure, why not?”

“Okay,” Lena smiled. “Why don’t you find a spot for us while I get drinks? What’s your poison?”

“I’ll just take a domestic.”

She returned with their drinks to one of the standing tables in the center of the room. “You really want to be this seen with a Luthor,” she jested.

“I just don’t mind standing is all,” she blundered through.

Lena continued to assess the older Danvers sister before her making her next statement. “You know, Kara says great things about you. She talks about the amazing work you do, taking out gangs to protect the world.”

“She does more important things than me,” she honestly stated.

“So, how did you find out about this place?”

“Maggie told me about it. She’s human, but was kind of adopted by the community.”

“And so were you.”

“I could ask the same about you. You said you can be yourself, what did you mean by that?”

“Well, Lex is a xenophobe, but I see this place as a spot for outcasts. People don’t judge me here.”

“I understand. I’m also human, but being here lets me gain their trust.”

“I can see why Kara looks up to you.”

Alex scoffed at her statement, “I doubt that’s true.”

“No, really,” Lena assured her before finishing her drink. “I’m glad I had a chance to meet you before the coffee date.”

Alex blushed as she furrowed her brows at the phrase, but returned the statement, “Yeah, me, too. I should probably get going as well, workday tomorrow, as you know.”

“Goodbye, Alex,” she chuckled, watching on as she left the bar. With a giddy shake of her head, she whipped out her phone and shot Kara a quick text, “I was right.” She triumphantly grinned on her way out of the establishment, catching the older Danvers sibling mount her ride and disappear into the night.

~

Alex looked in the mirror in defeat. How did she let Kara talk her into drinking coffee with a Luthor? Years of being warned about the family and now she was playing nice with one. She pulled on her thin blue long-sleeved shirt and grabbed her keys. Alex found her wallet in the cushions and took a final glance sound her flat before heading to the bus stop. Her phone buzzed during the commute.

“L said you 2 talked, trust her now?” her sister texted.

“She’s very polite.”

“U there yet?”

“No, just got on bus, you?”

“W/ Mags @ front.”

“Kk, see you there.”

Once at her stop, Alex walked two blocks to the cafe and immediately spotted her sister outside of the storefront.

“Hey, how are you?” Kara greeted her with a hug.

“Great,” she followed her sister to the table where Maggie and Lena were already seated. “How are you, three?”

“Mags was offered a promotion as lead detective.”

“Oh, wow, congrats!” she enthusiastically said. “What about you, Kara?”

“The usual. I was assigned an ‘important’ story and finished it, but it’s not good enough, so I’m going to meet up with Lena to check out some toys she’s planning to release.”

“What are they?”

Lena explained, “Well, to combat my brother’s technology, I’ve been tinkering with an anti-kryptonite box. It’s like a black hole. I’m still trying to expand it because it only works at a fifteen-meter radius. I’m also working on a kinetic car battery that should extend the life by about 25%, I just have to find a way to make it out of more abundant resources.”

“You’ll have to show me the Supergirl plans.”

“Of course.”

“So, what are we gonna to get?” Alex addressed the table.

“I’m starving, so I’m getting a sandwich,” Maggie started off.

“I’ll just get coffee,” her partner declared.

“I’m feeling like hot cider,” Luthor decided. “What about you, Alex?”

“I might get the mocha, I love coffee-hot cocoa blends.”

Maggie offered, “I’ll get the order in, you guys can pay me back later.”

“No, let me get it,” Lena offered. “My treat.”

“No, you stay there.” She stood up to approach the counter.

“So Kara says you work with Supergirl?”

“You could say that,” she responded, shooting a glare at her sister.

“What’s it like?”

“Well, she’s just as nice as she seems, but cannot keep a secret despite how dangerous the truth would be for her.”

Kara only guffawed at her statement and excused herself. “I’m gonna help Mags with the drinks.”

While they were busy getting the orders, Lena leaned over the table, “I have to say, I’m very glad I met you.” She pulled away as their orders arrived and carefully gauged Alex’s reaction.

They silently sipped away as the couple beside them briefly discussed their living situation.

“Oh,” Maggie suddenly segued, “Kara told me you two already met?”

Alex awkwardly confirmed, “Yeah, we- uh- yeah, at Al’s after work Thursday night.”

“Danvers in Al’s Bar with the domestic beer.” Lena joked. “I’m glad we got to feel each other out without the fear of losing face.”

“What’d you guys talk about?” Sawyer inquired.

“Work and Al’s, mostly.” Alex clarified.

Lena excused herself near the restrooms when her phone started buzzing. Once she left, Maggie stated, “So, we and I were walking about possibly refurbishing the apartment.”

“Nice, what theme?”

“Eclectic style?” her sister suggested.

“Oh, so what you have now but a bit more adult.”

“Yeah,” she mockingly agreed. “So, thoughts on Lena?”

“She’s funny, I can see why you like hanging out with her.”

“Good because I’m inviting her to game nights now.”

“Am I really the last of your friends to meet her?”

“Yes, you are really good at avoiding people when you want to. Speaking of which, what do you have going on in your personal life?”

“Normally when you say that it relates to whatever you previously said.”

“It does, though. You’re so invested in work and that’s really all we talk about, so what’s going on in your personal life?”

“I don’t really have time for that, Kara, you know that. I mean, it’s why you’re with Mags, you see each other all the time.”

“And no one at work gives you any feelings?’

“No, all the guys who work there are either childish or I don’t trust them with all of this,” she grandly gestured. “Why are you so interested anyway? We never talk about my personal life.”

“Well, now we are.”

“You know I don’t really have much going on ever, so sorry to burst your bubble,” she finished with a defiant sip of her scalding drink.

Kara slumped in her chair a little and kissed the back of Maggie’s hand. “So, you’re fine with Lena joining game night?”

“Of course, she’s chill enough, I just worry when she meets Supergirl irl, you know?”

“I know. I’ve only been in contact with her once and it was very dark. Look, I trust her. She’s nothing like her brother,” she finished in a hushed tone.

Alex slid her cup around a little before placing her hands flat on the table, “I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” her sister nonchalantly scoffed.

She meandered to the restroom, hoping that maybe her sister would forget about the conversation quickly. On her way, she spotted Lena in the distance having an intense conversation on the phone. As she approached her, Lena ended the call.

“Hey, sorry. Did Kara send you?”

“No, I just had to escape her questions. What happened?”

Lena shoved her phone into her pocket. “Lex wants me to defend him on the stand.”

“What’d you say?”

“Fuck no. He’s tainted any shot I had at being a normal person. But I’ll be back soon, just need to decompress. What’d she ask you to make you leave, if I may ask?”

“Just super personal stuff.”

“Too personal to share with me just yet?”

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

Alex took a moment to organize her thoughts. “I feel like I can tell you, but I don’t think I should.”

“Is it the Luthor thing,” Lena inquired, her tone turning sour.

She denied the notion with a quick shake of her head. ‘I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well, I’m going back to join your sister before they get concerned.” She passed Alex and went back to her spot.

Kara asked, “Hey, what happened?”

“Family affairs as usual.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“Pfft, not your fault, I blame Lex. So, what’d I miss?”

“We were just talking about redesigning our place.”

“I love the style you currently have, what are you going to do?”

Alex returned to her seat, “Less teenage dream, more adult.”

“Hey, you helped me decorate it,”

“Maybe we’ll host a game night and redecorate?” Maggie offered.

“Sounds like a good idea. What sort of games do you have?” Lena inquired.

“Cards, scrabble, we have this one we’ve been meaning to play called Rivals. It’s like Monopoly on steroids according to some reviews.”

“Sounds interesting, I’m game,” she jibed.

“Alex?” Kara directed to her sister.

“Sure.”

“I hate to cut this short, but since I got a fun call from the boy, I need to get in contact with some of my people. Thank you so much for lunch, just text me the time and place and I’ll be there,” Lena promised her friend.

“So, soon?”

“Yeah, if I don’t get on this soon, he’s going to try to implode the company.”

“Literally?” Alex guessed.

“No, worse. Socially,” she clarified.

“I’ll make a group chat for game night,” Kara promised, pulling out her phone and getting to work. Soon after, their phones buzzed with the first message.

Alex pulled her jacket on, “I should go, too.”

“What do you have?”

“I was going to the gym and possibly the rage depending on how much more time I have.”

“Oh, I’ll join you. The one in the precinct pails in comparison to you guys,” Maggie noted.

When Alex went to grab her phone, she felt an odd folded piece of paper grace her fingertips. Unraveling it revealed curly flowing script which read: “Just in case ~372-555-4610”. Unfamiliar calligraphy led Alex to believe it must have been Lena’s handwriting. She shoved it back into her pocket, declaring it to be an old note.

“Are you going right now?” the detective asked.

“Yeah, I have a spare set in my locker.”

“Can you wait up for me?”

“Sure, but you’d better be quick,” she teased.

Once they parted ways, Alex took the bus to her work and after flashing her badge went to the changing room. She sat in front of her locker and reached into her jacket pocket, mulling over whether or not to call Lena. Ultimately, she unfolded the paper again and called the number. At first, it went straight to voice mail, to Alex’s relief, but within a minute, her phone rang. She debated answering, but since she made the first call, it was only polite to return the favor.

“Hello,” she heard Lena greet.

“Hey, it’s Alex, this is Lena, right?”

“Yes,” she confirmed, her voice immediately relaxing.

“You gave me your number, just in case,” she referenced. “Can you elaborate?”

“I was talking about our conversation Saturday.”

“Yeah, yes. Sorry if I came off a little abrasive.”

“No, it’s okay, Alex,” Lena tried to reassure her. “While I have you, I want your input on something.”

“If it’s with your inventions, I doubt I can help.”

“No, humor me, please,” she chuckled.

“Fine.”

Lena looked at the broken box in her hand and put Alex on speaker while she paced around the object. “Let’s say you wanted to fit something that just didn’t into a box. It was important to you, but not the project.”

“I feel like I need a bit more context, Luthor.”

“Okay, I have the Anti-Kryptonite box here and it’s ready to go, but I want to give Supergirl the ability to use it almost as a weapon to destroy whatever’s being targetted at her.”

“Okay, well, I would say for your current prototype, as is would be perfect for her since we don’t have the technology to protect her. If you want to improve upon it, we can always get some of our technicians to help you?”

“Okay, sounds like a plan, so how does three sound?”

“Excuse me?”

“Meet up around 3 tomorrow so I can give you the box and schematics?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Do you want to meet at my place or the bar?”

“The bar works for me.”

“Perfect, thanks, Alex.”

In slight shock, the call ended and Alex placed her phone in her locker. She nodded slightly and continued waiting until Maggie joined her ten minutes later.

“So, what are we hittin’ today? Legs, pump some iron,” Maggie joked by flexing her biceps. “You good?”

“Yeah, just going to meet up with Lena tomorrow for that box.”

“Ah, I wasn’t tuned in for that convo, so tell me more.”

“Oh, anti-kryptonite,” she briefly explained as they went to work out. “We can do full body. What’s your experience with gyms?”

“You okay?” she sincerely asked.

“Yeah, just a long day, you know?”

“I do.” She extended her hand. “I’m Maggie.” Kara accepted her invitation and introduced herself as well. “May I sit with you?”

“I won’t stop you. So, what’s your day job?”

“Detective for NCPD, you?”

“Impressive, I work at Catco.”

“Ah, yeah. I love their tabloids, well ones on page fourteen, the celeb stuff, eh.”

“Yeah, if I had known that being a journalist meant selling your soul for candids, I’d have been an English teacher. I should have realized after I had a whole unit on baiting readers.”

“They actually have a unit on that?”

She nodded and jibed, “Telling you all the secrets, they might revoke my degree.”

Maggie beckoned Fiona to take her order. Once she received her drink, she continued, “You look new, how’d you find this place?”

“You come here that often?”

“I do more than drink.”

Kara scoffed at her witty remark. “My friend, a martian, brought me here. I like it, it’s the only place I can actually get drunk and not feel like an alien. So, what’s your story?”

“When I first dropped down in National City, I got into some trouble. Luckily, one of the bartenders found me and brought me in, so now it’s sort of my safe space, you know, even if I’m not one of them.”

Kara shifted in her seat at the reveal and whispered, “You’re human?”

“Yeah, it’s not a secret. The regulars know me, part of what I do is get these guys the glimmer and reps they need to live out here. This is the perfect discrete place for me to offer that service.”

“How noble,” she beamed.

“I wish it weren’t something I had to hide, but this is just how it is for any alien, E.T. or not.”

“Well, I know I can speak for everyone when I say that it’s nice to see people on our side.”

“I don’t see the difference, like, on a moral level. When it comes down to it, so all the fear-mongering. Well, you know. I’m sure you don’t need some ‘Human Savior’ coming in to tell you how dangerous or unfair life is.”

“It’s nice to meet someone else fighting on our side. You’re like,” she chuckled, “like a knight in shining armor.”

Maggie ruefully grinned, “How are those?”

She swirled the glass around, “Really good, might be a bit strong for a human.”

“How many of those have you had?”

“Just this one so far.”

Maggie nodded, clasping her hands under the table as she leaned in, “Not to be rude, but where are you from?”

“Here, kind of.”

“Explains why I haven’t seen you before. Why kind of?”

“I was born on a dying planet then shot out into space and voile la. Now your turn.”

“I’m second generation, my parents were from Cuba,” she began. “They met after they got to the states, though, and made a life here, not here here. I’m actually a fish out of water if I’m being honest.” When she earned a curious looked, Maggie further explained, “I’m from Georgia.”

“So, why did you pick me from the crowd?”

She glanced around, “What crowd? I didn’t recognize you, so I thought maybe you’d like to know about my services. Docs, jobs, whatever else peaks your fancy?”

Danvers leaned in as she finished off the first drink. “So, what do you get out of this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, do you get paid, do you keep info on the aliens?”

Maggie suddenly pulled away, palms flat on the table, “I make no profit, I only want to give back to the people who saved me. I feel like it’s the only way I can repay them.”

“I’m sorry if I-”

“Don’t,” she relaxed a little again, “it’s a touchy subject and not something I get asked about often.”

“Since I don’t need your services, what else do you have that I’d be interested in?”

“If I’m being honest, you’re gorgeous and I thought I’d try to brighten your night.”

“With flirtatious banter?”

“Yeah.”

“That might not be enough?” she tried to clue her in.

Maggie willingly took the bait, “Oh?”

“Do you wanna get out of here?”

“Yeah.”

Maggie paid their tab and brought around her bike for a quick lift to her apartment. On the ride, Kara kept a firm grip around her lay’s waist. They cruised through the oddly lit streets until they got to her flat. Up the stairwell, they chased each other, pausing to make out when one caught up to the other. Halfway up the third floor, Kara pushed her against the wall, her knee pushing its way between Sawyer’s legs until her thigh ground against her. Maggie jumped a little at the contact but ground against her. Kara tore herself away, leaving them both wound up. Sawyer groaned out a laugh and jogged up the last few steps and opened the door to her apartment.

~

The weekend passed and Sawyer hadn’t seen the alien since. When Monday morning came around, she received an email from her latest partner for a ‘Special Case’. As she entered her office, she found Agent Danvers pacing the room.

“Woah there Danvers, you might leave marks on the carpet. You wanted something?”

“Yes, good morning, by the way,” she said on her way out. “I’m taking you to the office.”

“Okay?”

She followed her from the station to a black car. They sat in silence for a moment while Alex answered a few messages.

“There’s a lot you need to know,” the agent began. “I’m not FBI and neither is Henshaw.” As Maggie reached for her firearm, Alex quickly unlatched and removed it from her reach. She quickly proceeded, “Don’t worry, still government, just not the FBI. We’re from DEO where we handle alien cases and our site works with Supergirl.”

“You mean the one who scares half of the public and demeans my peers?”

“She’s willing to help, she’s not like other aliens.”

“Yeah, I know. She risks the lives- well she just causes too much damage to the city.”

“I hope those are all of your grievances because you’re meeting her.”

“Great,” Maggie huffed. “Can I have my piece back?”

“Yes.”

They pulled into a subterranean structure. Badges were flashed and Alex gave Maggie a fob.

“That was quick.’

“The paperwork you signed with the city gave you access, we just blocked it until we needed your help. Since you proved more than capable of handling the E.T. cases in the field, I thought you’d be interested in what we do here.”

They entered the high-tech bunker fitted with massive LED screens showing trackers and rows upon rows of agents pouring over information at their desks placed perfectly so their supperiors could watch their work from a vantage point.

“This is very interesting.”

She watched on as aliens were paraded from elevator to elevator as they were interrogated and inevitably locked up. Across the room, was a row of monitors and an agent in casual clothes standing next to a caped crusader. Maggie couldn’t help but groan as she looked at the back of the woman’s head.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting Supergirl,” she said in an exasperated tone.

“Usually people sound happier when they say that.”

Maggie merely grimaced as they approached the group. Alex cleared her throat to introduce her, “Everyone, this is Detective Margaret Sawyer of the NCPD.” When they turned around, Maggie immediately locked eyes with Kara, she tried her best to stay composed and politely shook her hand while they went down the line. “Supergirl, as you know,” Alex’s pager went off, so she finished up, “Winn Schott and Hank Henshaw. Sorry, I have to go.”

“Ah, so you’re Sawyer,” Kara connected. “You’re not nearly as harsh as my sister makes you out to be.”

Maggie scoffed, “So, not too many good things?” Kara stayed silent on the response. “So, what is my job here, why suddenly show me all of this?”

“Alex should be returning with your pager soon, but we don’t have an open case for you yet,” Henshaw explained. “This is mostly for formalities and giving you access to and contact with the DEO.”

“Sorry Sawyer, here’s your stuff,” Alex huffed as she jogged back with an envelope of items.

“Thanks.” She looked in and retrieved the aforementioned pager, a badge, and a computer fob. “What’s on this?”

“This is how you get access to the computers here,” she looked at her watch, “I should get you back before your captain gets suspicious.”

“He doesn’t know I’m here?”

“No.”

“It was nice to meet you all. We should go before I lose my bonus.”

Alex promptly dropped her off at the department for another few bureaucratic-filled days. A week passed before she received a 212 in the middle of the day. So she collected her belongings and went down to the black car waiting for her. A random agent met her inside.

“You’re a new face,” Maggie commented. After she didn’t receive a response, she continued, “Are you just here to make sure I don’t commandeer the vehicle? … Are you mute?” She was handed a manilla folder. “Ooh, is this my first case?” Inside were details of a foreign entity they found at a construction site. “Thank you.”

“You can head back inside.”

“I’m not going to DEO?”

“No, we’re dropping you off in the parking garage.”

“Cool, not suspicious at all,” she huffed on her way back inside.

As the day closed out, Maggie drove to Al’s. She spotted Kara in the same booth, so she joined her.

“How’d you know I’d be here?” Kara asked.

“Lucky guess. Also, I got a page in the middle of the day, so figured you were busy.”

“Life of the heroes.”

“We signed up for it. So, big reveal, what else don’t I know?”

“Alex is my sister. Other than that, you’ll just have to wait and see,” she teased.

“So much juicy info.”

“Not that I don’t like your company, but don’t you think you should be selling your services?”

“Well, I wanted to spend some time with you and have a drink, but I see you’re ahead of me.”

“Only by one, you got time to catch up.”

“You look like something’s bothering you?”

“Do you know how many people tell me to go home on a daily basis?”

She was held aback by her honest remark. “No.”

“Too many, way too many for the work my cousin and I do.” Maggie held her tongue as Kara opened up. “I wish I could believe me, but there is no home for me to go to.”

Sawyer reached across the table, “If I wanted you to ‘go home’ it’d be my place.”

“Really was not smooth at all.”

“Who said I was trying? What if I was just being honest?”

“Then I’d still think that was a schlocky setup, but I have nothing else to do.” Kara left her drink unfinished and led the way out of the bar. “Have you ever wanted to fly?”

“I’d be happy to try it out?”

Kara briskly pulled her in, hands gently placed at the back of her neck. She placed a few sweet pecks on her lips and then her forehead. “Okay, just remember to breathe, I’ll try to stay low.”

She swiftly lifted Maggie and ascended over the streets, weaving between skyscrapers until they landed on Kara’s balcony. The moment the doors were opened, they collided again attacking with fervent kisses and considerably less apprehension than their first night.

The following day when Maggie’s alarm woke her up, she found herself face to face with the Girl of Steel, her soft features wrapped in the early morning hue. Her hair fell in a curly mess but she looked calm, like Sleeping Beauty. She slipped out of the warm comfort of her bed and started collecting her clothes. When she turned back to check on her hostess, she found a set of tired eyes staring at her.

“Leaving so soon?” Kara inquired.

“Yeah, I need to get to work, but I might need some different clothes. No need for ‘Stride of Pride’ questions,” she joked.

“Okay, you want a lift?”

“No thank you, I don’t want to start any rumors.”

When Danvers stood up out of bed, Maggie could have sworn she had forgotten how to breathe. There in the gleaming light of her cheap curtains was the valiant protector of the city. She almost couldn’t believe that one day she’d be shit-talking her and the next week, she’d be waking up next to her.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go while I can still will myself.”

Kara swift-stepped to her in a flash and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “I hate to see you go.”

“You can always page me.”

“No phone number yet?”

Maggie looked her up and down, “Third time’s a charm?”

“Okay, I’ll see you around, Sawyer.”

“Hopefully soon,” she called on her way out of the apartment.

Kara watched her leave, soon aware of her current state of undress in the doorway, so she hid in her apartment again as she got ready for work. After a brisk shower and meal, she took the subway on her way to Catco, quickly ascending the stairs with Grant’s breakfast. Finally, at her desk, Kara spotted Winn slowly making his way over.

“Early as usual, but something looks different about you?” he hinted.

“More sleep, no night cases.”

“Hm, really? That can’t be it.”

“Sleep does wonders for a Kryptonian,” she brushed away as she logged in.

“Do I have to ask Alex?”

“I wouldn’t if I were you. Remember when she threatened to break your fingers.”

“That was when she was trying to interrogate me,” he whispered.

“Trying, I mean, she succeeded pretty well. Besides, Danvers women keep secrets well.”

When the elevator next opened, Kara immediately recognized her boss’s distinct gait. She quickly grabbed the coffee and pastry and waited to greet her in her office. She followed her quickly and placed the meager meal before her.

Without making eye contact, her boss stated, “Well someone’s extra chipper today.”

“Finally got some sleep.”

“That can’t be it.” Cat put on her glasses as she assessed her assistant. “You look like you had a good night. It’s the glow.,” she explained. “What’s their name?”

“It was just a one-night stand.”

“No name?”

“Not yet.”

“Yet, sounds like it was more than a one-nighter.” She created a stack of folders and pushed them to her assistant. “Can you take these to Olsen, and tell him to save them for another month until he can get more information? At this point, they’re only images, no context.”

“Of course, ma’am. Anything else I should know before I give these to him?”

“When you get back, I need you to update my calendar for January and set up a meeting with Dani and Erin. I have all of the dates attached to an email I sent last night.”

“Okay, thank you, ma’am.”

She was able to work her nine-to-five without interruption, but her time off soon ended when her pager beeped at her with a 504, so she responded with 214 and suited up. She jetted to DEO and quickly descended to the main floor. Swiftly stepping, she found her way through the busy agents until she got to her sister. Winn was typing away while Maggie organized her file.

“You need to look him up,” Alex commanded Schott.

“I told you, no name, face, or prints, no info. It’s like looking up a ghost.”

“Winn, come on, work your magic.”

“Okay,” he began in annoyance, “it’s deduction and second, I can’t.”

“He looks like this.”

“Okay, that’s a start, but does he have a name? Is that his actual face?”

“Guys, stop. Alex, go get someone to trick him into telling you something. Winn, go through facial recognition in the DEO and CIA databases,” Kara interrupted. Winn took the laptop and carried it to the floor while Alex paged someone on her way to the holding cell. She slid beside the detective and looked down at the file. “How are you, Sawyer?”

Maggie reached back for her hand. “I was hoping for a quiet night but I’m glad I get to see you.”

She let out a quick scoff and brushed her thumb across the back of her hand. “So, what’s all of this about?”

“A lead has a list of gang members but he isn’t talking.”

“Why was I paged, then?”

“If they get the list, they’ll need you to retrieve the people.”

“Okay, but why am I here right now?”

“He keeps mentioning you, so we weren’t sure if you knew him.”

“I guess I should go check in with Alex then.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing?”

“Um, I’m trying to see if he’s shown up on any cameras, but no luck. There’s one that has the front door of a possible money laundering scheme. Alex had me look into it and it’s this whole IRS loophole thing, but the main point is that I don’t know how he’s connected.”

Alex approached her sister, “Hey, he’s asking for you.”

“Good luck, Mags.” As they proceeded through the building, Kara asked, “What do we know about him?”

“He doesn’t talk much, but he’s not from Earth.”

Alex closed the door behind them as they interrogated the young alien. He studied them both from his position cuffed to a table. After a minute, he scoffed and leaned back in his chair.

“She is happy, no?” he asked in a thick accent.

“No, because I have to be here looking at your smug ass face,” Kara snapped.

“Non, non. Vous vous sentez bonheur. C’est quelque chose… quelq’un différent,” he finished with a low hiss. “Il y a une nouvelle personne, qui?”

“I don’t speak French.”

“Ils sont spécial, yes? Who is it, her?” he directed at Alex. “That boy at the computers? No, c’est le flic. The girl who is a cop.” Kara held herself still during his soliloquy. “Lequel, hmm… ah, la personne dernière. Votre cœur, c’est plus rapide, vous avez peur. Vous devez l’avoir.”

Alex briskly pulled her sister out of the room. “Kara,” she tried. “Kara,” she tried again a little more urgently. “Snap out of it. You need to get him out of your head.”

“Sorry, what is he?”

“White martian, I should have told you. Just wait here,” she apologized on her way back in.

Kara waited for her to return, surprised when only five minutes passed and she emerged triumphant.

“Let’s update the others.”

“Okay. Hey, I’m-”

“Don’t, you’re fine, just a little shook up. What’s going on? You can tell me.”

“...I love her,” she began.

“Who, Sawyer? Does she know?”

“I don’t know. I mean, we’ve been together, but we aren’t together.”

“Oh, okay, well that’s great. Sorry, I’m trying not to process you getting laid in general, but I am happy for you. Anyway, we need a plan, so down the hallway we go.”

“Hey, wait. Thanks, Alex,” Kara said as she pulled her in for a tight embrace. “So, what’d he tell you? Why’d he wait until he saw me.”

Alex stopped in her steps, “I think he wanted to know what you loved most.”

“She’s not who I love the most.”

“Be real, Kara.”

“She’s new, so she’s the freshest in my mind.”

“Well, we’ll keep an eye on Detective Sawyer, but until then, we got some good names.” Alex pulled the interrogation footage while Kara called everyone to the bridge. “Hopefully we can figure out how they’re bringing E.T.s here so discreetly.”

“You don’t really think he can communicate with anyone about Mags, right?”

“Not for another twenty-three hours. What do we tell her?”

“I’m going to distract the boys with the update, you take a moment to talk to her.”

“Okay, give me strength.”

“Sending you good vibes,” she stated as they approached the group.

“Hey, Sawyer, can I speak with you?” Kara discreetly requested.

Maggie backed away from Henshaw and Winn but was soon led to an area with less traffic. “What’s up?”

“The guy in there, he knows um… that I care about you and that’s dangerous for both of us. I freakin’ I knew I should have kept my distance from you.”

“Woah, what the hell are you talking about?”

“I don’t want you to live like Lois. She gets kidnapped so often that no matter what kind of precautions we take, bad stuff happens because people know that Superman cares about her. I don’t want that for you.”

“Can you just rewind a little? How does he know and why does that matter? He’s just going to be sent back to Mars.”

“We don’t know how he got here nor his connections, so we just need to be vigilant about our surroundings, especially with unfamiliar aliens.”

“I can’t exactly do that Kara. I’m the only one helping at Al’s,” she finished in a whisper. “Thank you for caring, you know, thanks for the tips, but can we just get back to the case?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry for putting you in danger.”

“That’s a little- it’s okay,” she politely dismissed as they rejoined the group.

Alex immediately began, “Here’s the list. Five of them already have open cases. We’ll go through and see how many are legal.”

Maggie looked over the list as well, “What about the others? Who are they?”

“Not sure, there isn’t a lot of information, mostly documents dating back a few years.”

Kara glanced over at the detective.

“What?” Alex read them. “Do you know these people?”

“No,” Maggie assured her. “I don’t recognize them.

“Supergirl?”

“No, I haven’t seen them before. I-I don’t remember them at the last bust.”

“Okay, we’ll assign agents to watch them before we do the tests, be sure they’re the correct targets.”

“What about the Martian?”

“We’re putting together the paperwork to deport him.”

“Am I good to leave?” Maggie asked as she looked at her watch. “I have a ton of paperwork at my real job.”

“Yes, in fact, you can all leave, we’ll handle it from here and give you updates.”

“Oh hey, next time you send over a suit, can you make it less obvious, people at work think I’m a fed.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Hank reassured her.

The three unofficial agents filed into the elevator in awkward silence. Kara stood in front as she game-planned how to prepare for Maggie’s imminent danger. The elevator doors opened to two parked cars. Silently, the two humans went to their cars while Supergirl watched on. She blasted through the garage to Catco to get get back to work. Once she landed on the roof, she pulled out her pager until Winn came up to let her in.

To Maggie, she typed in the codes for, “Your place this evening?” A minute passed before Maggie accepted her invitation.

~

As night fell, Kara patrolled from the sky until she found Sawyer’s apartment. From what she recalled her place was on the third floor so looked for her minimally decorated fire escape. She carefully landed on the shaky structure and knocked on her window. She watched Maggie jump and warily approach the window with a knife. After a pleasant wave, she was let in.

“You don’t have to scare the crap out of me. Besides, don’t you think it’s a little dangerous coming here suited up?”

“And instead people see some random woman in the sky? At a certain point, they ignore the red cape. Can I add my number to your phone?”

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed, handing over her device.

As Kara input her contact information, she stated a few ground rules. “When you text or call me, only use my Earth name. Supergirl stuff is for the pagers, they’re more reliable anyway, and tracked,” she finished as she handed back the phone. “How was your day?”

“Not bad, I do love working at DEO despite not really being all that useful.”

“You’ve always worked for DEO, now you just know they exist.” At Maggie’s confused reaction, Kara explained, “You’re a subdivision that’s really the only reason why Alex didn’t kick you off the case.”

“Fun fact, thanks.” she draped her arms over her guest’s shoulders. “Can we switch topics?”

“Oh, yeah, anything in mind?”

“Well, I have one thing, but there isn’t a lot of talking involved. Once you get this tight suit off, of course.”

Kara pulled her arms away and closed the blinds as she disrobed.

~

Danvers sat up out of her partner’s warm embrace. She could spot the green rays of the morning light creep through the uncovered cracks between the blinds and window. Maggie was still asleep shortly before her alarm was supposed to go off. Too awake to pretend to sleep, Kara went through her host’s cabinet to make coffee. As the machine went through its loud process, Maggie appeared in the doorway, a pleasant smile across her face.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked.

“Well, yourself?”

“Great, as usual.” She placed a brief peck on her cheek and began to make her meager breakfast.

“You have one of the best views of the city, even better than my place,” Kara complimented.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t believe my rate.”

She slid over a cup of coffee. “Do you have any plans tonight?”

“Nothing unless Alex calls.”

“Great, drinks after work?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“I should probably head out, right?”

“You should, but I’ll see you tonight. You can head out through the fire escape when you’re ready.”

“When I’m ready?” she teased as she placed her hands on Maggie’s waist.

Sawyer however pushed her away, “Morning breathe, Kara.”

“I don’t care.”

She playfully pushed her away by the shoulder and poured the remaining coffee into her thermos. “Have a good day.”

Kara kissed her fingers and pressed them against Sawyer’s temple. “See you around.” She ducked through the window and dramatically fell before swooping off into the low-lit sky.

She watched on as she disappeared behind a building and finished getting ready. As per usual, there wasn’t much she could do with DEO cases until she got an update from Danvers, and no new cases on her desk, so Maggie was left pouring over old files. She even got to the point where she placed her pager in eyesight so she’d be sure to see it. She sat at her desk, watching officers and detectives walk around in a frenzy as they went through their procedures. She envied how busy they were to the point she had a tab open for a standing desk.

Suddenly, everything went silent as if the entire department held its breath. Maggie looked around, everyone looked normal, just preoccupied. A few younger officers were gathered around a detective’s computer while the more senior workers listened in on their radios. Sawyer stood and watched as a task board was switched around by their head negotiator. Everything moved slowly as she led the pack that would soon descend upon the new update.

“We have a situation currently developing at the National City Bank. Big surprise,” their chief began. “We have enough reinforcements on site, but there have been no casualties so far.”

“What do you need us to do?” an officer asked.

“Nothing, I’ll let you know if we need extra hands, but we have twelve officers and a negotiator down there. That’s all.”

Maggie watched alongside her peers as the board was finished up. She began to sweat as tension rose in the room. She hated situations like this, they nearly always ended up messy whether or not the perpetrator brought down others with them. Luckily the main suspects had been identified and a profile was already being put together about them, two culprits named Ward Kennedy and Garrett Haymitch. Two hours elapsed since the crime was reported and not much progress had been made.

Maggie sat at the desk of one of her subordinates as they listened in on the radio.

“Come on Kennedy,” the negotiator could be heard saying, “How long can you keep this up?”

“As long as the bathrooms work.” A few officers snickered at his retort much to their superior's chagrin.

“What’s that?” a sniper asked over the radio.

“Is that- of course. Snipers, watch exits closely. All units on the ground back away from the scene.”

“If it’s Supergirl,” a young cadet in the office stated. “I win the pot.”

Maggie shot her a side eye and focused back on the updates. Again, to her dismay, the cadet was proven correct as the radios went crazy with various officers voicing their disdain for the extraterrestrial heroine.

“For fuck’s sake,” Maggie seethed. She went off to her office and pulled out her pager to contact Alex yet ultimately decided against it. Instead, she felt like it would be best to voice her grievances with the guilty party in person.

Like the other officers, Maggie despised it when Kara broke in without first consulting the proper emergency services. It was fine for disasters but help on simple arrests was unnecessary. If the damage was caused by her, the government would have to help pay for reconstruction, not to mention if anyone got injured in the process.

The remainder of her day was filled with mixed annoyance and excitement at Supergirl’s interception. The officers on site described the carnage, yet complimented her on leaving the criminals free of injury. She did, however, have a pretty heated argument with the negotiator, ending with a bit of undermining on her part. Maggie hid in her office, unwilling to hear all of the shit-talk about someone she cared for deeply.

Once she clocked out, Sawyer slipped through the street on her bike to Al’s and patiently waited to be joined. She bought their regular drinks as she went over how to address the issue. Without a verbal greeting, Kara slid up with a quick kiss and took the spot across from her.

“What’s wrong, you’re making a face.”

“Kara, you need to stop worming your way into police business. You’re perfect for disasters but when it comes to hostage situations, arrests, and robberies, you have to let us do our job unless we contact you.”

“Is this about the bank?”

“Yes! Sorry, yes. Now that that happened, the department has to pay thousands in damages just for the buildings. Luckily the criminals are fine or they could have used the ‘Supergirl Defense’.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s when you use harsh tactics against humans, it’s like police brutality except for those cases usually win. So, please, when it comes to this kind of stuff, just confirm with us before you go all gung ho.”

“It took you guys forever to fix the situation. Obviously, you need help if you can’t close a deal within two hours. Isn’t it just a waste of resources? Can you imagine all of the crime you could have missed if you were there for any longer?”

“Then we would have handled it or called you, but you need to wait. Look, there’s a time for a scalpel and time for a hammer. Just let us do our job and we’ll let you do yours,” Maggie bitterly concluded.

Kara let out an annoyed grunt, “Fine, next time I’ll ask.”