i am light

It wasn’t as if racing was the only job Johnny could have, but it was pretty damn close. He’d never finished college and, these days, there was only so much you could do with a high school diploma. He figured he could go into modeling – he had a few agencies numbers, even! – and there was always the whole ‘rockstar’ option, but none of them spoke to him like racing did. Not only was it fun, but it left him plenty of free time to run with the FF, hang out with his friends, and make trouble elsewhere. It was pretty much the ideal career path for him, especially when he was winning! And tonight, he’d won big. 

So he was already in a damn good mood, even before he saw that Tandy had come to watch him race. Knowing that he was supported always made him ride a little faster and feel a little lighter. “The finish is always the best part.” He grinned, obviously pleased as she continued. “Thanks, Tands! I’m glad you made it, seriously.” He returned her laugh with one of his own, shrugging a shoulder lightly. “Sure, but I wouldn’t go announcing that to people around the church! I mean, at least if some undercover cop rolls up I can pretend I had no idea street racing isn’t legal, right?” He’d actually tried that defense in the past with a few different things; it never worked. Cops figured Johnny knew what he was doing, and that might’ve been fair, to an extent. “Fuck, I hope so. Could you imagine some doughnut-loving beat cop trying to slap a pair of cuffs on a demon? God, I hope someone’s recording it somewhere. Not sure if YouTube works in whatever sector of space they’ve got us locked up in, but I can still get texts, so I’d see it eventually!” He continued speaking animatedly as the crowd thinned around them, providing them with a little more privacy just in case they needed it. Johnny’s identity was very public, but Tandy’s wasn’t. If one of them let something crime fighter-related slip, he’d rather it not lead to her identity being revealed to a bunch of mostly petty criminals. “Not really,” he shrugged. He wasn’t exactly telling people about Wanda’s pregnancy and their decision to terminate it, had only really shared it with his close inner circle. It wasn’t the sort of thing you made small talk about. When she continued, announcing that she was dating Ty, he couldn’t help but grin. “Holy shit, Tands, that’s awesome! What’s his dick look like?”

Johnny seemed like he was in the best mood in the world, and honestly, it was contagious. She found her smile widening and when one of the losers scowled at them, Tandy waved. “The finish is always the best part,” Tandy agreed, waggling her eyebrows. “I’m glad I made it, too,” she replied, although technically, she had invited herself. Tandy had always preferred things to be last minute, surprising Johnny was way better than showing up when he’d expected her to. “I appreciate that,” she replied, snorting. “I think the cops in our neighbourhood probably know, but whatever. They haven’t done anything.” As Johnny explained his plan to get out off an arrest, she rose her eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. “I don’t think anyone’s stupid enough to believe that you’re clueless.” Johnny definitely knew what he was doing while he raced, that was one of the reasons why he kicked so much ass! “We need to convince a cop to try to arrest a demon right now,” she said seriously. “I’ll do the sweet talking, you record! YouTube probably works. If it doesn’t, can’t you ask your genius friend to fix it?” Johnny was speaking animatedly even as the crowd thinned, and while Tandy knew he wasn’t always like that, she didn’t question it. Johnny’s image was one that he’d worked really hard to maintain. If anything, she was a little more exuberant than normal, too, trying to help her friend. “That sucks… or is that good? I can never tell,” she said, shrugging a shoulder. Either way, if Johnny was doing well, she supported his ‘nothing new.’ “It is awesome! I mean, I don’t know for sure that we’re together. I asked him to make out and he professed his love for me. Is that together?” Tandy’s relationship experience were typically casual, and they also typically lead to a lot of disappointment and heartbreak. When Johnny asked about Ty’s dick, she snorted. “What do Wanda’s boobs look like?”

The displacement of New York had set everyone on edge, and the increase in violent activity from the demons made things infinitely worse. This was hardly what Eros had been expecting when he had arrived on Earth, but that only proved that he was needed there, to help keep the Terrans safe. The demons seemed to be mainly targeting those with powers and skills above the norm, which made Eros a prime target and had him looking over his shoulder more than he would have liked. Which was sadly a futile exercise to begin with, for the demons were now essentially invisible, making their attacks all the more dangerous. 

Being on his guard constantly, however, had its drawbacks, and Eros sometimes found himself more preoccupied with looking for demons than with watching where he was going. So when he thought he felt the soft hiss of a demon lurking nearby, he whirled around, ready to fight. This was a rather inadvisable course of action on a crowded street, however, and as it turned out, there was no demon, just a passer-by with whom he promptly collided due to his sudden movement.

“Oh! Oh I’m sorry! I did not look where I was going!” Eros exclaimed. “Which, I assure you, is definitely not some strange alien custom. I promise I do not make a habit of crashing into unsuspecting people. I hope I’ve not hurt you?”

With light powers, Tandy was absolutely not someone that the demons enjoyed in the slightest. Her powers worked extremely well against them while Ty’s were essentially useless. It was a strange thing to think about, how light force and dark force worked, and something she rarely dwelled on. Her powers were her own, inexplicable and wholly unpredictable, and hey, she was just trying to make them work! With her father’s teachings, they only seemed to be getting more powerful, too, and unfortunately, her civilian clothes and a little concealer on the crescent moon around her eye didn’t seem to fool like the demons like it did civilians. They must have been tracking people by scent, Tandy reckoned, but without proof, it was another blind guess.

Walking through the busy New York streets, Tandy couldn’t help but look around, searching for demons. They patrolled nearly every block and before long, she spotted a few of them, studying the crowd. Luckily, they didn’t move to pursue her, and she wasn’t being attacked so it was safe to assume that no invisible demons were nearby either. As she focused back on moving through the crowd, someone knocked into her, and she took a step back, prepared to defend herself. When she realized it was a completely normal… alien man (a new Avenger, according to the news), Tandy breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you sure it’s not an alien custom?” She questioned, though the smile on her face made it clear she was joking. “No, I’m fine. Are you okay? I’m pretty powerful y’know.”

It wasn’t rare for Ty to come home and find the church empty. He and Tandy lived busy lives, after all, and neither of them stayed home constantly. The pit of worry in his stomach, too, was normal, and given the situation, he found it justified. They were separated from Earth and their enemies had suddenly been granted the power of invisibility. It seemed only natural to worry about his best friend (girlfriend?) when she was away. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry for long. Tandy rushed into the church in her costume, signifying that she’d been out patrolling, but she seemed relatively uninjured. (In her costume, it was easy to tell; that was one of the reasons why Ty liked it. It was not, of course, the only reason.)

She seemed excited about something, a sight that made it impossible not to smile. When she wrapped her arms around him, the feat became even more impossible, and an easy grin spread over his features. “Hi,” he replied fondly, listening as she spoke. “I’m still not entirely sure you actually met the Rock, Tandy. There was no picture! None!” It was a common subject of teasing between them, though Ty’s joke was far from serious; there was nothing Tandy could ever say that Ty wouldn’t trust instinctively. Not even, apparently, that she’d run into her estranged father in the city. “What?” Ty’s brow furrowed as she went on. “Tandy, slow down. Lord of Light? What does that mean?” Selfishly, he felt his heart sink at the revelation. He should be happy for her, he knew, should be just as excited as she was, but something didn’t sit right. It was undoubtedly coming from a terrible place, and he knew it. He had no one else in the world but Tandy, and now, she had someone else. He still knew nothing about his abilities and where they came from, and now, she knew a little something more about hers. “I’m happy for you, Tandy,” he lied carefully, “but are you sure we can trust him? Like you said, he abandoned you.”

Ty was obviously stressed when Tandy came home, but given the fact that she was out alone and they were surrounded by demons, stranded on an unknown planet, Tandy believed that was more than fair. With the demons being basically impossible for Ty to fight, she honestly preferred that he stayed in the church while she was out patrolling, although she was aware that wasn’t a fair request to make. That was absolutely why she hand't voiced it, but the idea of Ty fighting a demon alone while Tandy couldn't give him her light afterwards was seriously terrifying. “I’m good, I’m fine,” she assured Ty as he looked her over. After a pause, she smiled at him, “Unless you’re checking me out for other reasons!” Now that he was her boyfriend(?), Tandy could hit on him as much as she wanted, right? She really needed to celebrate that.

There was a hundred reasons for Tandy to be wary about meeting her father, but she couldn’t bring herself to be paranoid about any of them. She had waited to be reunited with the self-proclaimed Lord of Light her entire life, had missed him that entire time, and now he was back. He was willing to train her in her light powers, and honestly, Tandy couldn’t believe how happy that made her. “I did meet the Rock,” she insisted. “I have pictures, I just haven’t shown you!” Tandy definitely did not actually have pictures, but she would continue claiming that she did until Ty finally agreed that she had met the Rock. Unfortunately, unlike Tandy, Ty didn’t seem ecstatic about the news that she had been reunited with her father. If anything, he looked a little concerned. “Yeah, I met my father again!” She repeated, hoping that her excitement would rub off on Ty. He’d always been distrustful, but she had hoped that Ty wouldn’t let that affect her relationship with her admittedly estranged father. “It means that he has light powers, too, and I guess they run in my family?” She explained, sounding a little unsure. Honestly, Tandy didn’t completely understand the specifics. “He said he would help me learn more about my light powers. Hey, you know how I can cure addictions? Apparently I can heal people, too! Just… not yet,” Tandy explained, still hoping to make Ty match her enthusiasm. As he went on, it became abundantly clear that Ty wasn’t prepared to do that. “Are you sure?” She challenged him. “Yeah, of course we can trust him, Ty. He’s my dad. Why would you ask that?”

Her missing memory was little more than a mystery to Karolina, but she knew it must have been scarier for Tandy. Karolina would sure hate to think that somebody had messed with her mind, even if it was just to remove one small, specific memory. It seemed like a particular gap in her memory, since she still lived in New York and fought alongside Cloak, and everything else Karolina had known about her held true. The most logical explanation seemed to be the Pride, though she couldn’t be sure which set of parents to suspect most. She had no idea what kinds of things Gert’s parents had acquired in the future, and Chase’s father was often hailed as the West Coast’s answer to Tony Stark, although much more nefarious. Then there were Nico’s parents, who probably didn’t struggle to think of synonyms when casting spells the way her friend did. There were not many things Karolina wished to ask her parents, preferring things the way they were, as cruel as that may have sounded. If given the chance, this might be her only question.

“Right!” She said immediately, worried that she had sounded as if she assumed otherwise. Tandy was a few years older than Karolina, but certainly not too old to be a student. “I actually really like this kind of atmosphere – I’d rather work on school stuff here than at home or in the library.” The library was too quiet and the apartment was too…not quiet. And Karolina felt bad asking for silence because they were cramped in a small space and she was doing nothing to change that and she was the only one going to school instead of working full-time. It was easier to keep school and home (and superhero-ing) separate. “You did?” Karolina had not yet had the chance to talk to Cloak, though his story would no doubt match his partner’s, and she hadn’t brought it up with her team, either. Now that Tandy knew there was a group of teenagers who thought they’d already met, she would be better prepared on the off-chance she ran into any of the others. “Yes, I’m interested, of course! I’m an open book.” Although, whether she should have been one or not was up for debate. “And I agree. I’m the only other person like me on Earth, possibly in the galaxy, and I never meet anyone with powers like mine. It’s nice to know that I’m not a complete anomaly.”

The idea of missing memories was not one that Tandy liked in the slightest, but it was unfortunately what she was stuck with. After the experiments she’d suffered at the hands of Marshall and Maggia, her mind being pried open once more completely disgusted her, but she supposed that in the long run, it was better to be grateful that she was only missing a few rather than all of them. It was super difficult to look at it that way, of course, but she was doing her best. Besides, Xavin promised to help her find the answers, and Tandy was willing to put money on the fact that Karolina would be, too, if she asked. The Runaways that she had met were incredible, and as long as she hadn't hurt them... Yeah, there was no answer that Tandy would be completely satisfied with where her missing memories were concerned. On the bright side, Tandy got two amazing friends out of it.

As Karolina replied without hesitation, Tandy grinned at her, amused by her reaction. “I’m a history major,” she offered. Not many people would guess that about her, but she had always loved learning about the past, and believed that ultimately, the worlds problems would be answered if they examined it enough. “I wanted to be an archeologist,” she added. It was a fun fact about Tandy, though with Dagger, she doubted she would ever finish her schooling. “Yeah, I like this atmosphere too! Being surrounded by people when it’s kind of like quiet chatter always helps me focus.” She also hated being alone, but she couldn’t admit that to someone she was in the beginning phases of friendship with. “Yeah, I met Xavin,” she explained awkwardly. “They agreed to help me find out what happened.” Karolina deserved to know, especially with how well they had gotten along during their last encounter. It was still a little bit awkward to talk about, like revealing a really personal part of herself. “I’m an open book for you, too,” Tandy promised. “Tell me about your daily life? Superhero stuff included since we both know each other and I don’t think anyone’s listening.” Everyone around them looked very engrossed in their studies, it was perfect. She nodded in agreement with that, “I get what that’s like kind of. It’s isolating, right? Like… I always feel like I’m half a person around everyone, either a superhero or a regular person.”

The situation that was currently facing New York was a unique one. The city had been in dire straits before, had turned to the X-Men in times of crisis and then failed to mention them as the heroes that had saved them from near death, but this was something else. The president seemed incapable of providing a suitable response to the situation, keeping mum about the demons when they first appeared, Emma had noticed that there were memories missing from a grand majority of the population concerning the election, there were rapidly adapting armies of demons beyond their borders, and they were in another dimension. Paranoia and fear was widespread, and that meant that, true to form, people were going absolutely insane in the criminal underworld. There was always an uptake in drug trafficking in times such as this, Emma knew a little about it considering her time in the Hellfire Club where their pleasure taking activities were far from above board, and that meant that the streets were even more dangerous than they should’ve been.

In many ways, Doom had assisted in this matter by implementing the curfew, though of course as with any law there were always those who decided to forgo listening to it and did their own thing instead. The streets after eleven o’clock at night were dangerous, they were a place that only the most powerful could go and hope to make it through safely. That was part of the reason why Emma had gone out tonight. She had always been something of an adrenaline seeker, and practicing her talents on living humans rather than the robots down in the Danger Room was something she had always welcomed. Recruiting new talent to the cause, or at least laying down the foundations of a relationship, was a welcome bonus. What better way to bond with someone than by fighting low lifes with them, after all?

As Dagger worked her magic (was it magic, was it genetic, was it biological?) Emma raised her hand, encouraging the homeless to move on from the streets, implanting an address for one of her many safehouses that were unaffiliated with the Brotherhood or the X-Men. Every woman, after all, had to have her fair share of backup plans. “You did not hold back,” Emma commented, looking down with distaste at the Yakuza member currently lying on the ground. “I appreciate that. So many think that they can solve issues such as this with a bust nose and calling the cops. Truly, the NYPD hardly strike fear in the hearts of people like this.” There were times when bad guys even scoffed at the idea of the younger students in Emma’s care. They soon learned. “Well, they always say when you find a creature, you should go to the head rather than battling the tail. You speak as if you have experience in this matter. If you can point me in a direction, I can do some scouting and find us a place to start.” She paused for a moment before smiling warmly at the young girl, holding out her hand. “How rude of me. I was proposing a partnership without even introducing myself. Emma Frost.”

If there was one thing Tandy hated most in this situation, it was the fact that she was essentially powerless to help people. No matter how many gang members she killed, more seemed to pop up before long, poisoning the streets. If she wasn’t healing the addicts, they immediately went to find new dealers, addiction completely intact. It was tragic and frustrating, but this was the life that she had chosen. The homeless, including the addicts, needed someone to protect them. They were innocent people dealt a bad hand, and the others, the veterans without work, the disabled, deserved someone to defend them until their last breath. Honestly, Ty fit the mould much better than Tandy did, considering his passion for saving lives, but she absolutely did her part. After all, Tandy was out here, killing every single member of Yakuza she managed to find.

With all of the Yakuza members successfully handled, Tandy looked around the alleyway, ensuring that there was no one that needed to be healed. Unfortunately, her powers still only worked on addictions, but her father, the freakin’ Lord of Light had assured Tandy that with time and practice, she would be able to heal wounds. His guidance would make all the difference, and honestly, she hoped that he could reignite her passion for vigilantism. Though she was happy with the X-Men, and even happier defending the homeless and underprivileged, she had never loved her role as Dagger like Ty loved his as Cloak. She was a hero to keep her best friend happy, and because her powers meant that it was her job to defend the world. If she were more unstoppable like her dad, using light like it was made specifically for him, Tandy truly believed she would better into the superhero world.

For now, those weren’t thoughts she wanted to entertain. There were more Yakuza to stop, and Emma Frost was currently standing behind her, prepared to help. Honestly, Tandy was shocked, and luckily, years of being a socialite’s daughter helped her to hide it (at least externally). “I never hold back when it comes to scum like this,” she said, curling her lip. The X-Men did not condone killing, Tandy was expecting to be reamed out for it, but instead, Emma sounded impressed. A smile crossed her at that, pleased that Emma Frost, the White Queen, was praising her. “These kind of people don’t deserve the mercy of our justice system,” she said honestly. “Once they’re out, they’re just going to keep hurting people, and honestly, we’re gonna have to pay for their comfort. What’s the point?” Most of time, high profile gang members were let out within a few hours anyway. The Yakuza especially had those kind of connections, it was revolting. “That is a good point,” Tandy admitted. When Emma offered to help her, she didn’t hesitate in agreeing. “I have a lot of experience, trust me, and I’d love to finally end this.” She returned Emma’s smile, obviously pleased and said, “I’m Tandy Bowen, but Dagger works, too. If you want to follow me, I can introduce you to more gang members.”

Without hesitation, Tandy set off down the alleyway, and within minutes, found another group of Yakuza members speaking to some young men. “They really like to plague the area,” she muttered. “What did you have in mind?”

Life had been unpredictable since Bucky was a kid. To say that his life before the war, or at least the parts that he could remember which were far more detailed than he could have imagined, had been simple would be nothing short of a lie. He had lived in Depression-era Brooklyn, in a time when people hated those like him, when they wanted nothing more than to see his family fail. Meals had always been provided, but they were shared out between six people in a cramped apartment, and that meant often Bucky went to bed with an empty stomach. As he grew older, that became the case more and more. Bucky became an adult, he needed to protect his sisters rather than his own interests, and so often he and his parents went hungry while Becca, Delilah and Mary tore their way through bread and butter, dunking it into soup that his mother had tried her damndest to make substantial. School had been a constant, but even that lasted far too short a time, with Bucky being forced out at sixteen to go work on the docks. It had been dangerous, unpredictable work as well, though nowhere near as much as the army had been, especially when he joined the Howlies and basically made going into bad situations his magnum opus.

New York, though, was really something else. “One of them dropped down into my shot,” Bucky called back, figuring that the girl was handling this plenty well herself. Still, he felt somewhat guilty if he didn’t assist in the slightest, and so he attempted to shoot one of the demons in front of him before the bullet pinged off its armour. The second shot went through, though, and Bucky capitalised on the fact that it seemed only capable of blocking one bullet at a time. The others were far more difficult to predict, so he settled for good old fashioned fisticuffs for them, deciding not to waste his ammo. Considering Doom’s ban on weapons on the streets, shooting at all had been a danger, but so was letting demons get their way.

“Bucky,” he said in response to her name, wondering if he should shake her hand or wave. He settled for standing there instead. “I am pretty damn sure you did, honestly. Thanks again. You, um, you do this often?” It certainly seemed like she did, if her control over those … light things was anything to go by. “You’ve probably heard this before, but I swear I’m telling the truth when I say I wasn’t going to use it on anyone who didn’t deserve it.”

Honestly, Tandy’s life had been thrown a real curveball. She honestly never expected to see her father again, it had been years, but being reunited with him finally… it was amazing. Ty seemed doubtful about him, a fact that did genuinely upset her a little bit, but they would work through it. After Ty met the self-proclaimed Lord of Light, he would understand how amazing he was. Not only did it change her perspective on New York, making it a little more homier, but Tandy’s father was prepared to teach her more about her abilities. Before long, the quick work that she made of demons would be even more effortless, and she would be capable of healing actual injuries! It was incredible. Never before had Tandy genuinely been excited about her powers, they always felt more like a burden, but now they connected her to someone she had loved and missed for decades. The only negative was that Ty did not seem overly enthusiastic. If anything, he was very distrusting of her father's reappearance, and that definitely did not sit well with Tandy. Obviously, the Lord of Light (why did he insist on being called that?) and Ty would have to meet for that to change.

As she returned her attention to the man whose life she had just saved, Tandy raised her eyebrows at his gun. Yeah, getting in that shot definitely wouldn’t have felt good. “Did it kill the demon immediately?” She asked curiously. Thus far, it had taken a lot of fire power to get rid of the demons, but maybe bullets really did do the trick. Without owning a sniper rifle herself, Tandy would never know for sure. (And being able to use said sniper rifle, semantics!) “Who were you trying to shoot?” She added, a little concerned that she had just saved the life of an assassin. That definitely wouldn’t sit well on her conscience.

As a black kid who’d grown up in a poor area, Ty had never really trusted the government and law enforcement. Any minuscule faith he might have had in them was ultimately lost when Billy died. The torture he and Tandy had sustained, the way no one had ever come to help them, the things they’d witnessed on the streets, with the homeless… It all served only to drive the message home, only to reinforce what he already knew. There was no trusting the people in charge, not ever. It was a lot better if they knew that straight up, a lot better if they agreed on it. Thankfully, they always had. Offering Tandy a small smile, he nodded. “I can’t imagine who’d want to keep a name like that,” he agreed.

Though he’d had significant others in the past, Ty had never really been serious with anyone. Truthfully, Tandy was a big part of the reason why. He wasn’t sure how long he’d felt the way he felt about her, but he knew it’d been a while. Some days, it seemed he’d always loved her, even during the time they hadn’t known one another at all. Others, it seemed so fresh, so new, as if it had only just happened. Love was weird like that, he figured, demanded to be felt in whatever way someone might feel it. With Tandy, there’d never been any doubt. What he felt for her was there when he didn’t have a name for it, and now that he understood what it was – love had never been something Ty was familiar with at all – the word seemed to echo endlessly through his head in time with the beating of his heart. Love, love, love. Some days, it seemed like it was the only thought his mind was capable of having. He nodded when she spoke, a little shocked because in all the times he’d imagined this moment, he’d never once thought she might feel similarly. He’d figured what he had with Tandy was always meant to be one-sided, and he’d been fine with it. As long as he got her in his life somehow, he’d been fine. “I don’t want the world,” he said quietly, “I just want you.” It was all he’d ever wanted, all he’d ever needed. He’d known it since the first day he met her; as long as Tandy was at his side, he’d be all right. She made everything all right. He let out a surprised laugh, somewhat shell-shocked at the statement. I do love you, she said, and it sounded unreal. Good things never stuck around long for Ty, but he’d always known that Tandy wasn’t leaving. He knew it now, too. “I can — I can pretend I didn’t hear,” he offered, though he wasn’t entirely sure that was possible. He couldn’t easily forget the best thing she’d ever said to him, but he loved her enough to try. “If you want me to. I’ll just pretend you didn’t say it, and you can tell me again when you’re ready.”

Honestly, Ty could sway Tandy’s opinion easily. As long as he distrusted the government, she would, but if that suddenly changed (which she doubted would ever happen), Tandy would seriously consider altering her perspective, too. They were a team, an unbreakable unit, and where Ty went, Tandy did, too. If that meant signing the Registration, she would in a heartbeat, and if that meant following Doom himself into battle, Tandy wouldn’t hesitate. It was an intense devotion to have towards someone, but with Ty, she couldn’t bring herself to change it. “It’s a serious red flag,” Tandy agreed, touching Ty’s shoulder lightly. He wasn’t quite on the same page with humour, but she was relieved that they ultimately agreed. “I can’t imagine anyone would take his last name if someone managed to be attracted to him to begin with either. Maybe that’s why he’s so sketch!”

Before meeting Ty and falling for him very, very hard, Tandy could never imagine meeting anyone that would genuinely be well suited for her. All the people she fell for hard and fast had been all wrong, too serious, too lighthearted, too impulsive, etc, etc, no one had ever seemed right. It wasn’t unusual, she knew, finding someone that you loved wholeheartedly was as rare as a precious gem, but that didn’t mean that Tandy didn’t want it. All her life she had been craving love, and though she looked, love seemed to evade her, and not just in the romantic sense. It had been isolating, genuinely difficult to cope with, and then suddenly, Tandy had met Ty. She never believed in love at first sight, but she did believe in fate, and something had brought them together. Even after the experiments, Ty and Tandy had not separated, and while they were technically unable to, Tandy liked to think that they stuck together for more reason than their powers. Now that Ty confessed that he loved her, Tandy was even more positive that they were brought together for a reason (super-heroism, probably, which she still resented), and she could feel her heart soar in her chest. This was exactly what she had wanted for all her life, and while she was still shocked, she refused to take Ty for granted. She still believed that he deserved better than her, but if he didn’t want it, well, who was she to deny Ty her affection? “You already got me,” Tandy replied honestly. She had been with other people, but never seriously, and Ty was largely the reason why. When Ty offered to pretend not to hear it, Tandy shook her head, “No, no, I don’t want you to do that.” Ty deserved to hear it, even if in the beginning, Tandy hadn’t believed that she could say it so easily. “I do love you, you deserve to know so let’s just… I don’t know, be in love or whatever. What do people normally do in this situation?” Her relationships in the past had definitely never gotten this far.

(✉ → sunshine): I don’t know! We’re good people, aren’t we? We’re superheroes! We don’t deserve a mouse. (✉ → sunshine): I’m doing it. The mouse belongs in Hell.

Racing had always been one of Johnny’s go-tos when he needed to take his mind off something. The monetary aspect was something that hadn’t come into play until later, but now, it was his primary source of income. He didn’t exactly advertise the hobby considering the less-than-legal aspects of it, but there were a few people who always knew where to find him and when. Wanda, of course, and Peter and MJ. Somehow, Tandy had become one of them. He couldn’t remember when, couldn’t remember if he’d told her before they slept together in order to impress her or after when they’d just been making conversation. It didn’t matter much either way. What mattered was that, these days,Tandy was one more person he had in his corner.

He saw a glimpse of her just before he crossed the finish, and he gripped his wheel tighter with a grin. Unsurprisingly, he came across the line first. He’d always been better at this when he had someone to impress, after all. He kept the conversations with some of the regular spectators short before making a beeline for Tandy, flashing her a smile. “You see that finish?” He asked, throwing an easy arm around her shoulder. “Pretty kickass, huh? Hey, c’mon, keep it down with the illegal stuff. It’s, like, barely a crime. The cops have way bigger things to worry about.” He walked her away from the crowd, preferring privacy for a conversation with a genuine friend. “I’m all right. I mean, trapped in space or something with a bunch of invisible demons but, you know. Hanging in there. How are you?”

Honestly, Tandy had never given much thought to Johnny’s career as a street racer. Technically, it was illegal, but technically, so was squatting in an abandoned church. As long as people were happy and healthy with their chosen lifestyles, she honestly didn’t care how they were occupying their time. Well, she did care about the guy that could have potentially beaten Johnny and stolen money that Tandy belonged to her friend, but that was just plain offensive! Especially when she knew for a fact that Johnny's primary source of income came from his races. (If the other guy's did, too, she frankly did not care. He wasn't her friend and therefore he could find another job, thank you!)

As Johnny met her halfway, Tandy grinned at him, pleased that Johnny was more interested in talking to her than the other spectators. Honestly, sometimes she couldn’t tell whether she was as close with people as she expected, a side effect of her constant insecurity, most likely. “Yeah, I saw that finish,” she replied excitedly. “It was amazing! You kicked ass, Johnny. I’m proud of you.” When he spoke about the illegal stuff, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You know I live illegally, right? Like, every night I literally squat in a church. Hey, you think the cops are trying to arrest demons?” God, that would be hilarious, and probably dangerous. As Johnny lead her away from the crowd, Tandy listened to his explanation closely. “Yeah, it’s not exactly ideal, but I’m glad you’re hanging in there. Anything new?” She always liked rummaging through the normal conversation options whilst catching up with her friends. “I’m fine, uh.. hey! Guess what? I’m finally dating Ty, I think. It’s unclear, but progress.” Johnny had been invested in their relationship once! It seemed more courteous than mentioning her father, too.

After meeting her father again, the first person that Tandy wanted to tell was Ty. Naturally, the first person she wanted to tell any minute change in her life was Ty, but this one was especially important. All her life she had been waiting to be reunited with her father and now that it was happening, it hardly seemed real. Not only was she ecstatic, but the whole situation was a little confusing, and she was definitely still in shock. Not only had he come specifically to see her, but light powers ran in her veins, and her father had assured her that she was a mutant. (Unfortunately, her status as a mutant was ‘inconclusive.’) After the dinner she shared with Nathan, Tandy had left her father with a big hug, promising to see him again in the morning when they would be begin her lessons. Honestly, she was incredibly nervous, not wanting to let him down, but hopefully Ty would comfort her in that respect. Ty believed in her more than she could imagine believing in herself, though in time, Tandy hoped that would change.

Once she left her father, Tandy immediately rushed to the church, and was relieved to see that Ty was home. He was still in cloak, but he looked uninjured, something that she was in a routine of checking the second that she saw him. Without hesitation, she jogged to his side, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. “Hi,” she greeted with a grin, kissing his cheek. “The craziest thing just happened to me! It’s way crazier than the time I met the Rock in Times Square, Ty.” Meeting Dwayne Johnson was something that Tandy had not shut up about for weeks, but he was the Rock! “I just met my father. Well, re-met my father. Whatever, my dad’s here, Ty! And he’s the Lord of Light! He’s a mutant with his own like… city.” As she pulled away, she sighed, the enthusiasm fading quickly. “I know it doesn’t change that he abandoned me, but... I don’t know, I’m kinda happy about it.”

Johnny Storm wasn’t exactly hard to track down. As soon as a street race was all set up, something that Tandy paid attention to mostly to see Johnny, he wasn’t that far behind. As one of the few friends she had, she made a point of cheering him on every now and again, and tonight was no different. Tandy waited for Johnny to zoom by at the finish line, thinking about her father the majority of the time. Nathan was never someone she expected to emerge in her life, and given the crazy shit she informed her, Tandy had no idea how to respond. She was incredibly excited, wary, and confused. Idly, she wondered whether she should tell Johnny the news after what had happened with his dad. Though Johnny had never spoken about it to her, Storm Senior’s fate had been published in every major newspaper.

As the rev of engines grew louder, Tandy pushed her way to the front of the crowd and spotted Johnny’s car. Roughly a second behind him, a purple car was attempting to ram into Johnny, and Tandy responded by shining a small light in the drivers eyes, solidifying Johnny’s win. Patiently, she waited for all of the fans to finish with him and then she stepped forward, grinning. “Congrats,” she said to grab Johnny’s attention. “Besides being an all star illegal driver, how’s life going?”

@lightfcrce

Emma, as far as she was concerned, had been born to be an educator, to take children under her wing and lovingly manipulate them to her image of perfection. She was in a unique place in that she had insanely powerful children at her disposal every day in both Xavier’s and the Brotherhood, but that didn’t mean that she was satisfied. If anything, the more children she trained to the full extent of their powers, the more hungry she was to get more to mentor, to expand her strength also. If she was to pin down the source of that determination, she assumed that it would turn right back around to the blood that flowed through her veins. The Frosts were dangerous in their dedication to a specific cause, and Emma had long ago chosen hers.

Cloak and Dagger had come up on the Brotherhood’s radar before, but they had quickly discarded the duo due to the question of their mutant heritage. Emma was not so close minded. Power was power - the Phoenix, after all, had not been of mutant origin, but it was capable of great feats. (It was the entity who had the potential, not the sad creature that it had used as a host.) Meeting them was not something that Emma was willing to leave up to chance, and from her brief research into the vigilantes, she assumed that the girl was an easier target to approach.

On normal nights, Emma would have died before stepping into a dirty alleyway, but tonight she did just that. The Yakuza were attempting to take homeless off the streets, use them as their drug mules, and true to form, Dagger was there fighting back. Emma stood for a moment, watching the girl as she worked, and then raised her hand. “Sleep,” she said, and the Yakuza immediately dropped to the ground in a heap, snoring deeply. Emma stepped over their bodies and walked towards the girl. “Such simple creatures,” she commented, looking down at them, “yet they think they have the power to terrorise others. It is fitting that we show them what true power really is, don’t you think?”

The X-Men had originally been exactly what Tandy wanted. She had always craved to belonging, and for years, she had strived to be her best in order to fit in. Unfortunately, that never seemed to be in the cards for her. While she was raised fairly normally, her mother called her down every single chance that she got. It didn’t exactly fill Tandy with the confidence she needed to succeed and ultimately, she had ended up running away. Once someone was rejected enough, they fled, and Tandy did exactly that, and then came the experimentation. She had felt especially abnormal then, but the X-Men finally gave her people aside from Ty that genuinely cared. Emma Frost especially seemed to be fond of her, and Tandy, true to form, did anything in order to gain Emma’s affection.

Tonight, Tandy wasn’t working with the X-Men, but was instead doing her usual patrol of the streets in New York. Despite dedicating herself to a team, saving the homeless was a cause that she had pledged herself wholeheartedly to, and if it came down to it, it was what Tandy would choose a hundred times over. Years ago, she had been among them, terrified and struggling just the same. Now that she had the power to keep them safe, absolutely nothing could stop her from doing just that. As Tandy entered an alleyway, having heard the telltale signs of a struggle, she sent a dagger soaring towards one of the Yakuza’s heads. She had heard rumours that the gang was removing the homeless from the streets and now she finally had her confirmation.

“You’re going to be just fine,” Tandy informed the woman as she grappled with one of the Yakuza. Truthfully, with her light powers, fights like these never lasted long. Despite skill, she bested the Yakuza using her advantages. As she blasted him with blinding light, he screamed, a burn forming on her chest. Suddenly, the man dropped to the ground, and she recognized the voice. Whirling around, she saw Emma Frost standing there, and she smiled at Emma warmly. “Nice to see you,” she called out as she strode towards her. “They definitely take advantage of their… position,” she agreed, her lip curling in disgust. “I think that sounds like a great plan. What display did you have in mind? These guys on the street are just small time members.”

When he’d discovered his powers, Ty had felt a sense of responsibility came along with them. Unlike some heroes, he’d never believed that that responsibility should be extended towards villains and criminals, never thought that he ought to waste his time ensuring that the people he fought walked away safe and sound. No, in Ty’s opinion, his responsibility was towards people like him. The people who were forgotten by the rest of the world, the homeless men and women that the government and heroes would leave to suffer on the streets if given half the chance. Telling the president about what he could do wasn’t responsible in that sense. If anything, it was the opposite. The government would surely want to exploit the powers Ty and Tandy had, and as long as that was happening, they would be unable to protect the people they’d sworn to keep safe. Glancing down as Tandy intertwined her fingers with his own, Ty smiled. He knew she agreed with him entirely, just as she always did. “I’m always happy keeping people in the dark,” he replied, smiling at the private joke between them. He knew why Tandy had asked; she was good at avoiding conversations when she was afraid they might end unpleasantly, though Ty hoped she knew that was a concern she never needed to have with him.

Since he’d realized his feelings for Tandy were there, Ty had assumed them to be largely unrequited. He’d always avoided telling her for the simple fact that he didn’t want to pressure her into thinking she had to feel the same way when she didn’t. Tandy, he knew, was terrified of being left, and if she thought Ty might leave her, she’d pretend to love him and make herself miserable. It was the last thing he wanted for her. Ty’s feelings were his own problem, nothing that she should be burdened with. But here and now, with her bringing the subject up, with her confessing her feelings first… It seemed only fair for him to do the same. Not telling her the true extent of his feelings for her in this moment would be too much like lying, and Ty had always been adamant that he’d never lie to her. Truthfully, he wasn’t even sure he could. Even if their connection hadn’t been as strong as it was, Ty cared too much for Tandy to tell her anything other than the truth. When she replied, questioning not his feelings but the reason for them, Ty felt his heart sink a little. “Why? Tandy, you’re… You’re incredible. You’re the best person I’ve ever known. I’m not sure how anyone could know you and not feel the way I do.” Falling in love with her had been natural, as easy as drawing a breath. Just like breathing, it seemed to happen from one moment to the next, over and over again in constant repeat. Loving Tandy was the easiest thing Ty had ever done. “You don’t have to,” he told her gently, shaking his head. “I’m not telling you because I think you ought to feel the same way, or because I expect you to return my feelings. I’m telling you because you deserve to know.” If she didn’t love him back, it would be entirely understandable. Ty had been a mess of broken parts long before Marshall turned him into a science experiment, and Tandy had always deserved someone whole. If she didn’t love him, he wouldn’t pretend not to understand, and he’d never attempt to sway her feelings or opinion. 

After being so disappointed with the government, Tandy genuinely couldn’t imagine trusting them enough to reveal the full scope of her powers. Realistically speaking, she knew  she couldn’t blame them for what had happened to her and Ty, but she couldn’t help it. Growing up, she’d been taught to trust law enforcement and to trust heroes. She was privileged, white and wealthy, and her neighbourhood had never even had a robbery. Never in her life could she imagine the horrific treatment she’d receive during the experiments with Maggia when they had been abandoned and at Marshall’s mercy. Wholeheartedly, Tandy believed that if they were aware of what she and Ty could do, the government would betray her in the same way. She had heard horror stories about the experimentations they were complicit in and aware of, primarily HYDRA run, and if Doom was asking for a list, surely he wanted to know what the heroes were capable of. With demons running around, it seemed like war was inevitable, and without knowing who was in his arsenal, what was he realistically going to do? “Not everyone needs to be in the light,” Tandy replied, wrinkling her nose playfully. “Especially a guy like Doom. Ty, seriously, who doesn’t change that last name the second they’re legal?”

In relationships, Tandy tended to go one of two ways. Either she fell head over heels for the person she was with or treated them more like a friend. She’d always needed attention, was so used to neglect that she desired nothing more than to be acknowledged, and romantic ties gave her what she craved so much readily. That being said, there were few people she fell head over heels for, one was her ex-boyfriend, Todd, whom like her father had abandoned her wordlessly, there was Angela who she went to college with briefly and fell out of contact with, and there was Ty, who above everyone else, she never doubted that she loved. Just because she wasn’t ready to confess it didn’t mean she didn’t feel it, but her feelings on love had always been a little murky. Her mother never uttered the words, her significant others most likely had never felt that way, and she could barely remember her father saying them. Love was like a door that kept slamming shut in Tandy’s face the second she got close it, despite how badly she wanted to experience it. Now that she was in a position where Ty was saying it and she believed it, Tandy was a little shocked, and she genuinely couldn’t understand why someone as incredible as Ty had chosen to fall in love with her. He’d argue that point until he was blue in the face, but it was the truth. Ty deserved the entire world and she couldn’t even provide him with a livable apartment. “Thanks,” she said quietly after Ty had answered her question about why. Honestly, when he spoke that sincerely, it was impossible to doubt and impossible to question. “I think you’re the best person I’ve ever known and I really want to give you the world.” She was unable to, but Ty deserved to hear her intentions. Maybe in time, once she graduated and they weren’t actively fighting every person on the streets, Tandy could offer him more (not that he ever asked for it). “No, no, no,” she said quickly. “I do love you, I definitely love you, I’m just — “ she broke off abruptly and bursted out laughing, though it sounded a little hysterical. “I was going to say that I wasn’t ready to tell you that I love you, but I guess I just did, huh?”

The abandoned church Tandy lived in wasn’t a place Lorna had been often. When she hung out with her friend, it was typically at the mansion or during some battle. The church wasn’t the sort of place you sat around gossiping in, and Lorna had always known it. It was a necessity, a roof over Tandy’s head, a place to sleep. Lorna wondered, sometimes, why Tandy didn’t sleep in the mansion instead, but now she sort of understood. When she’d been walking up to the church, no one had stared at her or whispered behind her back. The homeless that lived in the area had bigger things to worry about than gossip, and that wasn’t always something that could be said of the mutants at Xavier’s.

She glanced up as Tandy sat beside her, offering her friend the closest thing to a smile she could muster. It wasn’t much, but it was an attempt. It was more than she would’ve done for most people. “I’ve been, uh… Dealing with some stuff,” she said quietly, considering for a moment. Tandy wasn’t like the other mutants at Xavier’s, who’d been fighting Magneto all their lives, and she wasn’t like the ones in the Brotherhood who saw him as a hero. Truthfully, Lorna didn’t know Tandy’s views on the man, on her father. Maybe now was the time to ask. “You ever hear of, uh, of Magneto?” Her voice was small when she spoke.

Nathan knew where the church was, but he had only stopped by one time as far as Tandy knew. Honestly, her living situation made her feel a little awkward when her dad seemed shock by her daughter living in a church. Too awkward to explain that she’d run away from home, Tandy just commented that she didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment in New York. Unlike with her father, she wasn’t self conscious about showing Lorna her home. Her friend didn’t seem remotely judgmental, and if anything, seemed a little less tense in the church than she had been recently at Xavier’s. Given how nosy the mutants were, including their beloved teachers, Tandy did not blame her in the slightest.

Lorna seemed seriously upset, and suddenly, she felt guilty about the fact that she’d just assumed that Lorna had no interest in continuing their friendship. Tandy’s insecurities weren’t something she could magically change — although she was working on them — but Lorna deserved more credit than that. “Are you okay?” She asked immediately, looking at her friend closely. She didn’t look like she was okay, but hopefully Lorna was managing. At the question about Magneto, she furrowed her brow and nodded. “Yeah, he’s a fanatic, right? For mutant rights? Why?”

@lightfcrce

(✉ → sunshine): There’s a mouse in the church, Tandy. (✉ → sunshine): Is it too dramatic to kill it with the darkforce?

@lightfcrce

Bucky was pretty sure that the last time someone had saved his ass was during the war. Before that, from what he could recall, he had been the protector, the one who defended his younger sisters and his best friend in equal measure, and afterwards, well, that was when he realised that if he was going to rely on anyone, it would have to be himself. (Not that he resented the fact that no one had imagined he survived, that he had been warped and changed into whatever he was now, but it was hard to trust people when not one of them had even gone back to attempt looking for him.) Now, though, he was watching a girl in white throw light (?) daggers at the demons that he had managed to piss off.

In his defence, he had not intended to shoot one of their kind. He had been aiming to send a bullet through the window, a warning shot for the senator that he knew hadn’t gone down with the ship when HYDRA was ousted from SHIELD, but then the demon had moved down onto the fire escape and messed with his calibration. After that, he had all but been set upon, fallen down into a dumpster and rolled out into an alleyway, trying to work out which line to go for first when said girl appeared out of seemingly nowhere and started kicking ass.

When the final demon dropped to the ground, Bucky let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, though it must’ve been for a considerable length of time considering the ache in his chest. “Um,” he began, rather eloquently. “I’m gonna say thanks, but I also gotta ask - what the hell just happened?”

The demons had never been a presence that Tandy welcomed in her life. Honestly, Dagger was hardly a presence that she was happy about. She wasn’t a superhero for noble reasons like Ty or Marvel Girl, she was a superhero because Ty felt passionately about it. Well, and because it seemed like the right thing to do. Not everyone had light powers that could wreck the demons plaguing New York fairly easily, and honestly, she was pretty proud of that fact. While she was decent at many things throughout her life, she had never been incredible at anything. She got good grades, but was never valedictorian. She was a great swimmer, but she never got passed the state team. Her mother never let her forget it, but suddenly, Tandy was amazing at something! It was meaningful, and clearly, the random man that she had saved agreed. He looked startled as she hurled daggers towards the demons, but not ungrateful like some civilians were. (Was he a civilian despite the big gun?)

As she continued hurling her light daggers towards the demons, dodging them artfully, Tandy asked, “So, how’d you piss them off?” Honestly, she was grateful that they weren’t the invisible demons. Although she could kick their asses, too, it took a lot more effort to pinpoint their location and Tandy ended up with a lot of bruising as a result. The man still looked a little shocked and confused to see her, but Tandy had adjusted to that particular reaction. “One left!” She called out contentedly, her work pretty impressive if she did say so herself.