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There were many things about her sister that Victoria Dallon didn't understand: her total unwillingness to do brains, her complete lack of a desire to go to college, her absolute inability to realize that she was objectively pretty, and vehement insistence that she wasn't the best hero in New Wave. Just to name a few.
She is pretty, objectively, and she is the best hero in New Wave. Best hero in the entire city! People who didn't know Vicky, who only knew of 'Glory Girl' - or Polaris, now, since her recent rebrand - from her reputation on certain parts of PHO, or just looked at her and thought they knew her might be surprised to hear that she considered someone else a better hero than her, but...
Well, those people were wrong in general, and especially wrong when it came to her sister.
But one thing she did understand was Amy's desire to move out, away from home, away from Mom. Vicky hadn't exactly been counting down the days until she could move out, go to college and live in a dorm, not have to deal with Mom all the time...
But she hadn't not been counting down either. Amy hadn't said anything but... Victoria did have eyes. She had ears. And she knew that Mom was harder on Amy, harsher with her. Mom was...
She was Mom. And Victoria loved her mother, but she was... a lot. And she was just... more, with Amy. Victoria used to try to tell herself she was seeing things, that Amy was wrong when she would hint that Mom treated her so much differently...
She is wrong that Mom doesn't care about her, doesn't love her! Every time she talked to her mother, every time she visited home, Mom asked about Amy, how she was doing. Amy didn't like letting Mom into her place when she tried to visit, kept distancing herself from Mom...
She did understand her sister's desire for some of that distance. She didn't understand why it had to be living at her own place, why it had to be working as a consultant for the PRT - Amy was still technically a member of New Wave...
Victoria had always imagined that at least for that first year of college, she and Amy would be living together, in the same dorm room.
So much for that. But she did still try to spend time with Amy. No more double dates, though she might have to talk her sister into going back to that lesbian bar again (and try harder this time, because Amy had probably just sat in a corner and mostly ignored people) or start suggesting new double dates...
Amy doesn't deserve to be so lonely all the time. Which was one of the reasons she'd dropped by the hospital around the time of Amy's shift. Brockton Bay University was holding a LGBTQ Book Fair thing, and with her sister catching up on her reading so much more now that she wasn't doing school...
Well, it seemed right up Amy's alley.
The fact that Amy might hit it off with some cute nerdy gay girl who liked reading as much as she did was entirely immaterial to why Victoria wanted her sister to go to the fair.
Entirely.
Victoria approached the door to Amy's small apartment, thinking about what the nurses had said when she'd asked them where Panacea was. She'd been told that her sister had left two hours earlier, two hours earlier than usual. There were no emergencies, and Amy had done all the urgent cases first. Triage was nothing new for Amy, but leaving early? That hadn't sounded at all like her workaholic sister.
Victoria's confusion had been made worse by the additional fact - as revealed by a smiling nurse - that her sister had been actually happy at work. Had been all week. Checking her phone between patients, and even smiling a little when she got a text. Not just that - according to another nurse, Amy had been 'downright peppy, for her' all four days she'd been in the last week, and each day, she'd left at least a little early. And, just over a week ago, she'd canceled a day entirely.
Being 'peppy', leaving early, and cancelling? None of that sounded like Amy. Her sister was a workaholic grump, and had been for years, in one form or another. Her sister liked routines, and tried to stick to them, even when she complained about how everything was always the same, wash, rinse, repeat, it wasn't like she changed things up.
Maybe Amy had just been having a good week? It was possible - but her sister wasn't much of a smiler. And she couldn't imagine any time she'd have ever called Amy 'peppy', even in a relative statement. There could be another explanation, but... Victoria had to be sure. Plus, she still had to tell Amy about the book fair. So she knocked at the door, calling out her sister's name.
"Amy?" she knocked a second time. Nothing. No response. She knocked a third time, calling out Amy again. "It's me, Vicky. Ames?"
She looked at the time on her phone. Even if - miracle of miracles -Amy was using her extra time to catch up on her sleep... she couldn't imagine her sister would be asleep this early. She called her sister, straining to see if she could hear the phone ringing inside the apartment. She didn't hear it, but... it could be on silent? Vibrate? Just low in volume?
Victoria waited until the call went to voicemail before she hung up and pulled out her key to Amy's apartment - her sister had given her the spare, technically for emergencies, but she hadn't protested any time Victoria had used it for not-emergencies.
Plus... this could qualify.
"Amy? You here?" she stepped in, closing the door behind her. Amy's apartment consisted of a combo living-room kitchen area, a bedroom and a bathroom attached to the bedroom. There was no sign of her there, and a quick peek into the open bedroom revealed that her sister hadn't made the bed - no surprise there - and... that she wasn't there. Victoria put her phone on speaker as she dialed Amy again, poking around the apartment some more, looking for signs that anything was out of place, wasn't like it had been before.
When it finally went to voicemail again - with no sound of it anywhere in the apartment - Victoria left a message this time: "Hey Ames, it's Vicky. Just trying to figure out where you are. Give me a call back." If - if the worst was true, she couldn't - she couldn't hint she suspected, right?
At a quick glance, Amy's place was pretty much like it always was - right down to the freezer full of frozen meals and the regular fridge that didn't have much more than creamer and some expired leftover takeout. The only thing that was unusual was the presence of several boxes of black tea in Amy's coffee cupboard.
Amy didn't like tea.
I'm gonna have to drag Amy out to do some more grocery shopping. It wasn't that her sister wasn't capable of cooking, or even that she just refused to cook. She just was really bad about things like stocking up on perishables. Vicky at least had the excuse of being a college student and limited access to the dorm building's kitchen and only a minifridge to work with and all that.
Tea aside, there was nothing out of place. Beyond the fact that her sister just... wasn't there. And there was no sign where she was.
And she hadn't picked up her phone either time. Probably vainly, Victoria dialed her a third time. Unless she was sleeping, her sister was very rarely unreachable. And combine that unusual thing with what the nurses had told her...
Victoria bit her lower lip as the phone went to voicemail a third time.
The truth was that it almost certainly wasn't the worst possibility that was coming to her mind. Maybe her sister had finally found a hobby? Maybe she'd found a girlfriend on her own - she'd have thought Amy would tell her if that was true, but then until her sister had admitted she was gay, she'd have never thought Amy would spend years not telling her that she was in fact, a lesbian.
If Dean hadn't suggested it as a possibility, god knows if she'd have ever told me. She wasn't hurt, anymore, that her sister hadn't come out to her, but she felt like a shitty sister sometimes, when she realized all the obvious signs that she'd missed, in hindsight.
So... maybe it was just that Amy had found someone. Or made a friend. Neither seemed very likely, given how withdrawn her sister tended to be if left to her own devices, but...
But it was possible her worst case scenario was true. And if it was - if Amy had been Mastered or influenced by a Master or something, then - then that was a really bad one. Her sister was one of the most valuable - and whatever her protests - most powerful capes on the East coast. Any gang, any organization of villains would love to get their hands on her. And... having her wind down her presence in hospitals, cutting hours here, skipping a day there, make it seem like she was dating someone...
That would be a great way to hide them eventually taking Amy somewhere else.
Paranoid? Maybe, but people acting out of character was one of the things you had to watch for, that you had to check for when it came to M/S situations. She gave Amy a fourth call, leaving another message. "Amy, I'm really just - just give me a call back ASAP, okay?" Victoria frowned, taking a breath.
She didn't know where her sister was, but there was a way she could find her. She had to find her sister. Maybe nothing was wrong. And that meant...
She dialed a different phone number.
"...Victoria?" Chris asked slowly on the other end of the line, sounding surprised she was calling him.
"Chris, I need a favor." Victoria said quickly. "I need you to track Amy's phone and tell me where it is."
"...is she okay? Did something happen?" Chris asked quickly, sounding worried.
"I'll let you know when I find her. She's not at home, or the Hospital, and she's not answering her phone." She started floating a few inches off the ground.
Chris hesitated for a moment, then: "Vic- Victoria I can't just track someone's phone. I mean, there's laws and rules about it. Just because your sister isn't answering the phone doesn't mean you can - do you - I mean, why are you so worried?"
"Amy's been cutting her hospital visits short this last week and even skipped a visit. And the nurses say she's been acting... different?"
"Different how?"
"Smiling at her phone, being downright peppy, at least by her standards, according to the nurses. Peppy, Chris, peppy! You know Amy. Has anyone ever called her peppy?! And cutting her hours at the hospital short? Cancelling a day entirely? That's not like her!"
"So what - you think she's been mastered? Is that it?" Now Chris sounded worried, but only a little. "That's - I mean, there are protocols to report a possible mastering, especially - especially for someone like Panacea."
"I could be wrong, but even if it's not mastering, Amy's not - this isn't her! My sister isn't acting normal, and I have to find out why before I just - Just fine her phone, Chris!"
"...I'm not a Ward anymore, Vicky, I can't just - you're asking me to break a lot of rules here."
"Isn't she a contractor? Can't you guys track her if you need to?" She clenched her freehand into a fist, hitting it against her forcefield - temporarily shattering it - in lieu of crushing her phone as she inhaled sharply.
"In emergencies, yeah, but-"
"This could be one! Please, I'll owe you! Just tell me where she is, damnit!" If this wasn't a mastering, then her sister would be pissed at her. And if mom found out Amy had been mastered, then -
No. She'd find Amy, and if she had to, find the Master and punch them until they let Amy go. And if it wasn't a master, and her sister was just... having a mid-life crisis twenty years early or whatever else -
Either way, she had to find Amy. Make sure she was alright, master or no master.
"...if I don't hear back from you in a few hours, I'm reporting Amy as possibly mastered," Chris finally said after a moment. "And you too, at that point."
"Fine," Victoria replied as she heard Chris typing, and then a few moments later, he had an address, an apartment building across town, and - thanks to whatever tinkertech bullshit the PRT used for this - he even knew exactly which apartment in the building her phone was in. "Thanks. I'll call you back."
Victoria stared at the door, behind which Amy almost certainly was. At least, her phone was here... probably. She resisted the urge to just break it down now, go in, find Amy, demand answers -
Instead, she knocked on the door, carefully, holding back.
"Amy!" She called out. She knocked again. "Amy!" She held back after that, giving her sister a chance to - she pressed her ear to the door, but she couldn't hear anything behind it. She pulled back, hands balled into fists, floating above the ground again, inhaling and exhaling quickly. She counted the seconds. If Amy didn't answer, if someone didn't answer soon she was doing to break it -
The door opened - Amy was there, standing in the doorway, wearing a white bathrobe, her face flushed, her hair even more disheveled than usual. She was holding the bathrobe closed with one hand at her stomach, she hadn't even tied it.
Behind her, she saw a living room that seemed to be larger than Amy's entire apartment, two of the walls covered in bookshelves. There was another door off to the side.
She looked her sister over quickly, flushing as she realized she must have interrupted something...
Fuck. It really was nothing to-
"Vicky? What the - How are you - what are you doing here?!" Amy demanded, hissing. She pulled her robes even tighter around herself. Victoria noticed her sister wearing a necklace, a black-
"I'm - I - you weren't at the hospital and you weren't answering your phone!" Victoria made sure to be looking at her sister's face, wondering just how red her own cheeks were getting. "I didn't -"
Wait. That - that wasn't a necklace. That was -
That was a collar? Victoria felt her cheeks get even hotter as she realized that was definitely a collar, like you'd see on a dog. Complete with a little bit where someone could attach a leash. Why was her sister -
"How the fuck did you - did you follow me here sometime before?" Amy's question jolted Victoria away from the somewhat mortifying questions she was starting to ask herself.
That means she's been here before? How long had her sister been - who was she even - this wasn't her place so who was-
She looked past her sister, and saw someone come into the living room from the other door. A tall woman, around their age, long, black, absolutely gorgeous, curly hair. Really pale skin. Large, very green eyes. She was wearing a black robe as well - though this one was tied tightly at the waist - and her hair seemed a little mussed and out of place too, though she didn't look flushed at all.
"No! I - I... might have had your phone tracked?" Victoria admitted.
"What?!" Amy stared at her, mouth moving wordlessly.
"I'm sorry?! I was worried! They said you - who is -"
The dark haired girl approached, standing behind Amy, looking Victoria over. "This is your sister then?" She spoke in a pretty... flat tone? Not completely, but there wasn't much inflection to it.
Amy shook her head a moment, taking one breath. "Yeah. This is my - my sister. Taylor, this is Vicky. Vicky, this is Taylor." She reached her free hand down and took one of Taylor's squeezing it tightly. "My girlfriend."
Victoria stared at them, at -
Fuck.
A part of Victoria's brain told her she could still be right that this girl was messing with her sister's brain somehow - she wouldn't call Chris yet, not until she was sure - the fucking collar around her sister's neck needed some - what the fuck was that doing there?! - but -
"I'm sorry, I - I was worried! I didn't mean to -" she gestured at Amy and then her girlfriend wordlessly. She really didn't want to think about what she'd interrupted! It was her sister!
"You're here now, you might as well come in if you can," the girl - Taylor - said after a moment. The phrasing of it was weird. 'If you can'? She emphasized that part, for some reason. Taylor tugged on Amy's hand, pulling her back.
Amy shook her head again, as if to clear her mind. "Right. Right. Fuck - Vicky what the hell are you - okay. No." she took a breath. "Taylor's right, have a seat and I'll be back after I've changed into - something else." She stumbled over the words, then stepped back, hurrying into the other room - the bedroom? Where was the kitchen? Victoria didn't see one, it wasn't like Amy's combined kitchen/living room.
Taylor followed after Amy, and after a moment's hesitation, Victoria went inside, closing the door behind her.
"Oh fuck," Victoria let out a long breath, approaching one of the chairs in the living room. She dropped down into it, mind racing.
Okay. So. Girlfriend. That's why she was smiling at her phone and leaving early and - she's just - and she was - presumably - and then I come barging in and -
Her visit had probably killed whatever mood the two had had going, so that was probably why Taylor had invited her in. She was here now, so... you know, do the inevitable meet the sister thing?
Victoria was just glad she hadn't knocked the door down and then gone further and then -
She made a face.
It could still be that this girl had mastered her sister, but -
And then there was the collar.
Victoria Dallon was many things. A prude was not one of them. She had a very healthy relationship to sex, and her sex life with Dean was active. But she was not an especially kinky woman. And - and - like, she knew that -
I just - Amy's into that weird shit? Collars? What else is she into? Victoria only had a loose idea of the wide world of weird and gross kinks out there, but if Amy was into wearing a collar, like she was - what, like she was some kind of pet? Was that a thing? How did that -
Is that why Amy was so hesitant to come out? Because she didn't want to tell me like - what she wanted from a woman? Is this really what she wants? Is my sister really into - what else could she be into? Other, weird, freaky stuff?
Victoria took another breath. If this really was her sister's choice, she couldn't be judgy. Amy was allowed to like what she liked, and it wasn't like - it wasn't like they were doing... god, like, whips and chains and shit right in front of her and -
Oh fuck Amy's probably into that too. Does she have her girlfriend dress like Elvira: Mistress of the Dark or something?
The girl was probably pale enough to pull it off too...
"Right. Okay. No judging." Victoria told herself. If her sister had a girlfriend she was happy with, that was what mattered, right.
Just as long as it really is her being okay with it. And Taylor wasn't - wasn't pressuring her sister to stop going to the hospital or anything.
After a few minutes, the - bedroom? - door opened again and Amy came back out, wearing a blouse - one of the ones Amy had bought only under pressure from her - and pants. Taylor was wearing a black dress, long and kind of flowing. Between it and her pale skin, the girl had an almost ethereal air.
I'd say she's a goth but she doesn't have the black lipstick or whatever.
Amy wasn't wearing the collar anymore, but now that she had an unobstructed view of her sister's neck, she could see several hickies there, and what looked a hell of a lot like a bite mark.
Victoria pushed down her immediate reaction, once again telling herself she needed to not judge. Consenting adults.
"Okay. So." Amy said after a moment. "You had my phone tracked?! Vicky, what the fuck?"
"I was worried about you, Ames! The nurses at the hospital said you'd left early, that you'd been leaving early in general - that's not like you at all! And then they said you'd been acting differently! Like, peppy! And you weren't home and you weren't picking up and I - I overreacted."
Probably.
Amy took a breath, flushing.
"Okay. I - that - I..." she trailed off, then exhaled. "Okay. fine, I - yeah. That's... well, here's why I've been cutting my time at the hospital a little short for the last week." She gestured at Taylor.
"I can - I can see that. I - I'm really sorry for - you know - interrupting."
"You were worried about her." Taylor said, sitting down on the couch, Amy taking a place next to her, holding onto her hand again. "Thank you for not breaking down my door."
Victoria stared at Taylor for a moment, confused. Was that supposed to be a joke or - she couldn't get a read on Taylor at all. No affect. Almost no inflection. Taylor was leaning against Amy, holding her hand tightly, but she didn't - she didn't seem to have much emotion? She didn't seem bothered that Vicky had interrupted them but - she had to be, right?
"I told her about some of the times you accidentally broke doors back home," Amy said. "So... I - yeah. I get why you'd be... why you'd be worried. If you'd told me more than a week ago I'd be - I'd be cutting my time at the hospital... I wouldn't have believed you." She looked over at Taylor, smiling just a little, in a very un-Amy like way. But it felt real, more real than most smiles Victoria had seen from her.
I don't think I've ever seen Amy smile that - that sincerely apart from when she's with me, and even then... not often.
"Still probably should have waited," Victoria said after letting out a long breath. "But, anyway - so you guys have only been dating a week?" That - that -
Victoria's first instinct was to say that having sex that early in a relationship didn't sound like her sister, but she wasn't actually sure - like, she had no earthly idea if that was true, really. It wasn't really something she'd spent a lot of time thinking about.
But still. To be - cutting hospital time that quick into things?
If Taylor was trying to force Amy to -
"No!" Amy said quickly, too quickly. Then, "yes? Sorta? It's - we've - we've sorta been dating since - since we met six months ago, but-" Her sister was speaking quickly, licking her lips often, eyes darting everywhere but not looking at Victoria directly much.
Okay. So that's not suspicious at all...
"You met at the lesbian bar? You said you didn't meet anyone you were interested in there!"
"It's more like it took us a while to realize we were dating," Taylor said softly. "We were spending time together every week, but - just not really realizing it was dating, or anything like that." She looked over at Amy and actually smiled, just a little - more a curling up of her lip in one corner, a hint of brightness in her eyes. "I didn't realize Amy was as interested in me as I was in her, for a long time."
"And I didn't believe that Taylor was into me either," Amy murmured.
"So... what, you guys met in a gay bar and then danced around each other for months? What did you guys do together?" That her sister wouldn't realize how someone felt about her felt... believable. "What did you guys do? Just..." she looked around at the books on the shelves, spotting a few titles she recognized Amy reading when they were younger, or from the shelves at Amy's place, "...sit around and talk about books?"
"More or less," Taylor said quickly, as Amy started to answer. Taylor's voice was starting to have a little more inflection, more emotion in it, but the girl was still really hard to read. Amy, on the other hand, looked nervous. Worried. Eyes still not looking at her directly.
I need to get Amy away from her and work out what the hell's going on. Amy could just be worried Victoria would scare her girlfriend off or - or not approve of Taylor or -
"We have a lot of similar interests. I grew up reading the Maggie Holt books, and Amy had just started them, so that's where we started talking and then - recommendations and back and forth and all that," Taylor explained.
"Only because I spent years trying to get you to," Victoria teased her sister, watching to see her reaction. "You always insisted you wouldn't like them."
"And I was wrong. I told you that. Yes, fine, they're good," Amy said, rolling her eyes, looking and sounding like herself for a moment. She huffed, and if she wasn't holding Taylor's hand, probably would have crossed her arms in front of her.
"Didn't you call them-" Victoria kept on, smirking, but Amy interrupted.
"Vicky! You were right! Stop -" she flushed, and Victoria laughed.
"It's my right to tease you in front of your girlfriend. Sister privileges, Ames." Victoria grinned. She looked over at Taylor. "So! Taylor. Tell me about yourself. All I know about you is that you like to read, and... clearly like the color black. And you have really nice hair." She looked it over, "Like seriously, Taylor, I'm jealous. How do you keep it that good?"
"...I work hard on maintaining it," Taylor admitted. "It's - it's something my mom did for me, when I was younger, before she - before she died."
"Shit. Sorry, I didn't mean to -"
"It was years ago. It's okay," Taylor said quietly. "I... there's not much to say about me? I live alone, I work remotely, I read. I don't - I don't really go places that often."
"But you met Amy at the lesbian bar?" Had Taylor somehow known Amy would be there? Targeted her? Stop jumping to conclusions! But - something was off about Taylor and Amy was being nervous and definitely hiding something and -
"Vicky!" Amy cut in. "Yes, we met at the bar. And neither of us really were - I only went to shut you up, and Taylor -" she looked over at Taylor and after a moment, Taylor nodded, and Amy looked back to her. "And Taylor had just gotten out of a bad relationship and had to force herself to put herself out there a bit, just to say she could."
"It was just really fortunate we were both there at the same time," Taylor added.
"We talked, we hit it off," Amy was finally meeting her gaze, mostly, "And I didn't really think anything would come of it, but we ended up spending more time together and - it was..." she let out a long breath. "I mean, Vicky, I - I was living my life in this... rut. And Taylor helped break that up. And made me want to break it up."
"She makes you happy?"
"She does."
"That's the important thing." Victoria said. "I mean - I have a lot of questions, like why didn't you tell me, and - I want to know more about the girl that's gotten my sister smiling at her phone at work, but I - I've taken up too much of your time, right?" She still felt embarrassed at interrupting.
I need to know more about this girl. I could - Mom could run a background check on her, she had connections and stuff, but that would mean telling Mom about Amy's new girlfriend and Amy would hate that. And Mom would... probably demand to meet her and refuse to approve of her. It took Mom years to really be okay with Dean.
She wanted to believe that Amy was fine, that this was just... Amy being into a new relationship. But between the collar and the cutting time at the hospital short...
I've tried to get her to do that about a million times and gotten nowhere.
There was a chance that this Taylor wasn't on the up and up, and Victoria had to be sure.
She stood up. "Can I drop by your place tomorrow, Ames?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure," Amy answered.
"See you then," She let out a small sigh of relief once she left and closed the door behind her.
Amy was okay, physically. And...
Is my sister really into that?
A day to think had left Victoria pretty sure that Amy was fine. She'd called Chris after she left the building, letting her know Amy was fine, that it was just Amy finding a new girlfriend. She didn't mention the whole 'interrupting them having sex' thing to him, though she did tell it to Dean. As well as share the fact that she was still just a little worried about mastering.
Because she was. Less worried, but still, worried.
And even if Amy wasn't being mastered, was Taylor taking advantage of her? This was Amy's first girlfriend, and her sister wasn't exactly - what if Taylor had pressured her into something she wasn't actually into?
Dean didn't think Victoria was right to be worried at all, which led to them having a fight - a small fight, by some of their standards, but still.
But she was going to get answers. And if everything seemed okay, then she could get Dean to take a look at Taylor and make sure he didn't pick up anything bad... and then she could just be happy for Amy.
And if something was off... she'd make sure that anyone who messed with her sister paid for it.
"Amy," Vicky once again knocked on Amy's front door. "You in? And - you know - free?"
"Yeah!" She heard her sister's voice, muffled a little by the door, shout back. Then after another moment, her sister opened the door.
The Amy that answered the door this time looked a little more familiar - her hair was just its usual mess, she was wearing her preferred baggy, concealing clothing, and she didn't have a collar or anything. She did have all those bite marks and hickies on her neck though. Amy stepped aside and let her in, closing the door behind her.
"Here to interrogate me about Taylor?" Amy asked, moving over to her couch, closing up a laptop and putting it aside.
"I just have some questions, and - I mean, is it so bad that I want to know more about my sister's girlfriend?" Victoria asked, and Amy sighed.
"No, it's not. I - I -" She let out a breath. "I'm just... tired." She let out a breath. She ran a hand over one side of her neck a moment. "I really do like Taylor though. You're not allowed to try and scare her off with some sort of shovel speech." Despite her rolling her eyes as she said it, Amy's words lacked real heat though, and Victoria laughed.
"I'll try not to," Victoria promised. That sounded more like her sister too. "I just - so -" Victoria let out a breath, trying to figure out where to start. "Taylor says she works remotely. What does she do?"
"Copy editing, grant writing, a bunch of different freelance writing related things," Amy chuckled after a moment. "She can be pretty anal about writing sometimes, actually. She even texts in complete sentences and full words and with punctuation and everything." The small smile there on her sister's face was unusual, but it did feel genuine.
It wasn't that her sister never smiled, it was just rare. And if Taylor really could make her sister smile that often, that much, then maybe she was okay.
Maybe.
"Freelance writing and copyediting pays for that place of hers? The living room is bigger than your entire apartment!" Victoria didn't even try to hide her disbelief at that, eyes wide, mouth falling open a little.
"What? Are you trying to insinuate Taylor's lying to me about her job?" Amy asked, frowning. "She's not, okay? She inherited, and the apartment is rent controlled." Amy stared at Victoria, then let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Oh for - Vicky, what, you think she's a villain or something? She doesn't have powers! She can't even trigger,"
"Well, you were being all nervous when you and Taylor were telling me how you met and started dating," Victoria shot back, crossing her arms in front of her chest, not liking being on the defensive.
"Because you saw me wearing a collar." Amy flushed, "Vicky, you interrupted me and my girlfriend having sex," Victoria felt her own cheeks heat as Amy just up and said it, "and you - the last conversation I want to have with my sister is one about -" she was getting so red she resembled a freckled tomato, "my kinks."
"I didn't exactly want to know what you got up to in bed either!" Victoria looked away, making a face. "I mean, I'm not - I don't want to judge, but - you're into that?!"
Amy looked away herself, covering her face in her hands, "Yes," Amy groaned. "I am. And please, can we stop this conversation before I curl up and die?"
"Yes, please, sorry," Victoria nodded. "I was just - I was worried, okay? That she was like... taking advantage of you or something." Part of Victoria wanted to press, to be sure, to ask why her sister was into wearing a collar. And there was a sort of morbid curiosity about what else Taylor and Amy did, but Victoria really, really didn't want to know.
So... put a line through that whole conversation before it got that far and she didn't find out if Taylor... tied her sister up or God knows what other... weird kinks-
Okay, so... maybe not weird, or even if they are, it's not - it's not bad that it's weird, right? Consenting adults, and Amy was consenting and that - that was what mattered. Her sister was still her sister, whatever she got up to with her girlfriend.
"There's nothing I'm giving Taylor I don't want to," Amy said very clearly. She lowered her hands, still flushed, but not tomato-like anymore, at least. Victoria really didn't want to talk about the details of her sister's sex like, but she did also have a certain sibling obligation to tease her sister about her relationships.
She had years of not being able to do that to catch up on!
"Including the chance to bite you all over your neck?" Victoria said with a smirk, and giggled a little as Amy let out a sound that Victoria could only call an 'eep' and covered her face again.
"Yes. Including that," She said quickly. "Taylor - she likes to leave her mark."
Victoria inhaled, trying not to let her sudden spike of worry show on her face, in her voice, "Sounds possessive."
"Yes, she is. And so am I." Amy said defensively, raising her voice and lowering her hands once more. "Taylor - she... she's one of the best things that's happened to me in a long time. And it took me too long to realize how much she mattered, how much - the list of people I actually like spending time around is pretty short, Vicky. And you and Taylor are at the top."
"You've only been dating for the week, but... when did you realize you liked her?"
Amy looked away, sighing. "I... I don't know. I didn't expect it." Amy admitted, voice quiet. "She - she's just - eventually I realized how much better I felt after spending time with her than just... the normal routine of going to the hospital and coming home and..." she shook her head, "I thought moving out, away from Carol would make me feel better, and it did, but..."
Amy's voice sounded a little choked for a moment and Victoria moved over to sit by her sister, taking and squeezing her hand. For a moment, Amy looked like she was about to pull her hand away from her grip, but then she relaxed and leaned against her a little.
"I hate going to the hospital and healing people," Amy admitted softly.
"...I kind of figured that out years ago," Victoria admitted in turn. Amy turned her head a little, looking at her, eyebrow raised, and Vicky shrugged, going on, "Amy, you're never happier after going to the hospital than before. I like volunteering at children's hospitals and all that... I always feel better after taking kids flying or showing off with my strength. It's fun."
But her sister, proving that whatever she believed about herself, that she was the best hero in the family and probably in the city, kept doing it even when she hated it.
"Why do you think I was always trying to get you to come to parties with me or whatever?"
"...I always figured that it was about trying to find me a boyfriend," Amy said with a sense of weariness in her voice.
"I could have been trying to find you a girlfriend if you'd just told me you were into girls, Amy," Vicky countered. "You do remember that I still hung out with a lot of my old basketball friends through high school, right?" Amy's brow furrowed, but she nodded. "Half the team turned out to be gay or bi by the time we all graduated. I could have set you up with one of them!"
Victoria really hated how her sister had just... let her waste time on all those pointless double dates with guys. She'd just wanted Amy to be happy. She'd hated that every time she tried to find a guy for her, it hadn't worked out and it only ever seemed to make Amy more upset.
Finding out why none of the dates had gone well had at least resolved some of her 'why am I so bad at finding a guy for Amy' guilt, but still!
"I'm not sure it would have worked..." Amy murmured. "Taylor... she - she's special. I didn't - I didn't really see myself being happy with anyone," she admitted. "Just... an endless life of healing and coming home and being alone and... feeling like I could be doing more. Should be doing more."
"Amy..." Victoria pulled her sister into a tight hug. Amy returned it, just as tight after a moment. It was another thing that her sister hadn't straight up said to her, but she had guessed. Her sister always felt like she wasn't doing enough. She tried to hide it, most people wouldn't guess it, but -
Amy felt like she had to heal everyone, all the time. That she took any time for herself was kind of amazing. It was why the idea of her cutting time there was so hard to believe. Hard to believe, but good.
I just - how did Taylor manage what I couldn't?
"I don't... I don't know how or why, but... I realized that spending time with Taylor - I could... forget about things, for a little bit. I don't... I don't feel as bad for taking time for myself when I'm with Taylor."
"Then I owe her a thank you. And maybe a 'how the fuck did you pull that off'? Because it's not like I haven't been trying to convince you you're doing more than enough for years."
"No, you try to convince me that I'm some... amazing hero," Amy muttered. "I'm not. I'm just... me. And it's easier to be that with Taylor." Amy pulled back from the hug now, exhaling slowly.
Victoria let her arms fall to her sides, looking at her sister. "I'm glad you found her then." She looked at Amy, at the way her sister looked drained, exhausted. She couldn't imagine that this was anything but her sister, finally just... with someone she felt like she could feel happy with. "She has the official Victoria Dallon seal of approval."
She wanted to know more about Taylor, to be sure the girl really was good enough for Amy, but - she didn't think she was a Master anymore, at least. This was her sister, all her own. That was the most important thing.
Amy snorted a small laugh, "I... I'm glad you approve," she said in a low murmur. She pulled a hand down over her face. "I was going to order some delivery for dinner. Do you want anything? We... we haven't really spent much time together in a few weeks?"
"Sure," Victoria said after a moment. "I'll have to leave at like... 7ish. I have to meet someone to work on a group project at the campus library at 7:45. Earliest they can do it, since they have a part time job."
"Still enough time for a movie?" Amy suggested, digging her phone out of her pocket. "Chinese?"
Victoria considered for a moment, then shook her head, "Nah. Pizza?"
"Sure. Your usual on your half?"
"Duh." Victoria rolled her eyes. "What else would I pick?" Amy rolled her own eyes and started dialing. Victoria smiled and settled back on the couch, looking for the remote to Amy's TV. She still wanted to bring up the prospect of a double date - her and Dean, Amy and Taylor - but she'd let Amy have a chance to relax before suggesting it.
Maybe they could actually have a good one of those, for a change. I'd be nice.