From the sound of it, Becca had been deep, deep into toxic relationship territory.

Maya's stomach sank further. How did she not notice any of it? How could her... friend be in such a dark place with her evil ex, and get away with never giving a sign? Or maybe she did? Maybe Maya was just not paying enough attention?
That thought made her feel like a pit opened up right under her feet. They were not a couple, sure, but they were best friends. She should have seen something. She should have known.

Becca went on, telling her that she was the reason she didn't let Agnes keep mistreating her. Maya winced, looking at her, confused. How could she possibly? "I'm sorry Becca. I should have noticed. Why didn't you say something?...." It was not a fair question, but she could not help it.

It was odd talking about everything that happened with Agnes. It was their own little secret for so long, coming clean to Maya felt odd, like the words on her tongue were taboo. Now that she was sharing what happened, it was not like a weight off her shoulders or a step toward normalcy. It just made Becca feel shameful and dirty.

There was a twinge of guilt when Maya threw blame on herself for not noticing what was happening, but part of her was still upset that she did not. Her guilt only got worse when she was asked why she was silent for so long, and once again, part of her was upset that Maya was questioning her.

"Ah guess thaur waur a lot ay reasons. Ah was in denial? Ah'm nae exactly well-versed in th' dynamics ay a BDSM domme-sub relationship, Maya," she admitted flatly. "Ah convinced myself 'at whit Agnes was daein' micht hae bin within healthy limits an' Ah jist didne know enaw tae recognize 'at." She went into the whole thing too blind and ignorant, and that lack of knowledge let her pretend abuse was not abuse.

"An' Ah guess Ah was woriat if Ah tauld ye... ur anyain, really, yoo'd judge me fur it." Or, if she was honest with herself, that she would get the judgment she deserved. "Fur hoo weak Ah've bin. Fur hoo Ah've lit Agnes control me an' compromise mah ain self-worth."

Rebecca shrank back into herself, closing her eyes and recalling the night at the club. "Ah almost gae up sae much lest nicht, Maya. Almost everythin'. Pretty much everythin' except..." her voice trailed off. She should not put that on Maya, right? Or was this the right time to bring it all up? Was there ever going to be a right time?

"Thes aw still barely feels real..." She was unsure if she meant everything that happened with Agnes or the fact that it was all over.

Becca looked ashamed. She looked tired and guilty and broken. Maya's eyes narrowed as she kept talking, half explaining and half justifying why she went on with the secret relationship with Evil Agnes for so long without letting her know anything about it. She felt some bitterness too, something that mirrored her own feeling of guilt over not catching a sign sooner.
From what she could already tell, Becca had been through a lot. Leave benefits out of the question, they were still friends, and right now Maya felt like a shitty friend. She reached out to put a hand on Becca's hand as she admitted to being in a bad relationship where Agnes could manipulate her.

"Wait... BDSM?" she blinked. She had made jokes about it, back when Becca got her flying gear from Cafas. But she didn't really... that was new. And probably not at all what it should have been like, given that Agnes was manipulating Becca into things she did not want. Maya's eyes narrowed again. "What did she want you to give up?"

There was a new awkwardness between Becca and Maya, which was disconcerting. It bothered Becca because things were usually so easy and natural between them. It was one of her favorite things about their relationship; they just worked. In whatever capacity they were together, they worked.

Now she could feel Maya trying not to question or judge her, and to Becca, it felt like she was failing. Her surprise when BDSM came up was genuine, and really, Becca could not blame her. "Ah dinnae want tae gie tay intae it aw. Ah let her take control, an' Ah'd dae as Ah was told an' be rewarded ur punished fer it." She looked back to Maya, sure the judgment would be cranked up to eleven, so she added, "It's th' kind ay thing tha' requires a lot ay trust an' respect. Except Ah trusted Agnes tay much an' she didnae respect me. She jist wanted tae betray mah trust an' leave me hurt."

Rebecca took a steadying breath, shaking her head at her memories and the weak person she was. "Her demands became mair itlandish, and punishments were nae cheeky an' teasin; she was jist neglecting me. Makin' sure Ah felt loch Ah was nae guid enaf ur Ah was abandonin' her. She pushed me an' made me promise Ah'd drop anything tae fer th' approval she conditioned me tae need.

"She wanted me tae leave wark whene'er she asked, an' Ah was gonna. She said Ah woods ignore a call fer X-Men if she needed me, an' Ah was gonna." There were other X-Men, right?

"An' then... ye came up, an' she told me tae stop seein’ ye. An' Ah didnae hessitate. Ah said no. Ah coodsnae gie ye up." Rebecca looked away again, not sure how to look at the one woman she could not give up, and the one woman she hid an abusive, kinky relationship from for months. She had no right. "An' it turned bad frae there. An' she had tae rub it in mah face that she had th' ain woman Ah cared abit tae herself awready."

Becca was finally at the point where she was resenting Agnes. Some of it was for how she was treated for months, but for the moment, she was more frustrated that Agnes was still winning. Becca was asked to give up one person, she refused, and yet she found herself with the feeling in her gut that things were not going to end well anyway.

Maya felt like she badly needed a shower. The memories of her encounter with Abigail replayed in her head in fast forward, trying to pinpoint clues, reactions, hints that she was dealing with some evil, manipulative bitch that was trying to get her to bed to hurt Becca. And damn, Agnes was good. Maya was not sue if this made things better or worse, but the winged woman really did not give her identity away. And yet, she really wanted to go and take a shower and possibly never get out of it. Ew.

But this was not the major issue here. The major issue was Becca, in a horrible, hurtful, toxic relationship. One that tried to take away her work, her home, her friends. And Mirror.

Maya was not sure what to say as Becca confessed she could not give her up. It was good, that she finally found a line she would not cross, someone that checked her free fall of a relationship... but the magnitude of knowing something like that, of being that line, took Maya's words away. And Agnes had counted on that. She did the whole rescue-and-encounter dance so that she could bring it up when the time was right, and cut Becca's lifeline.

"That bitch." Maya said with utter conviction, before she could even sort through all her emotions. She really just wanted to go and punch Agnes' face in... except she was evil, and she had creepy bug powers. The punching would require some planning. and it was not the priority right now anyway.
Maya mentally kicked herself out of the tail spin of emotions. Focus.

"Okay, Becca, look." she turned on the couch so that she could look at her face to face "Whatever happened with Ab... Agnes, that was nothing. It doesn't matter. She did not take me, or... mark me, or whatever. We had sex. That's it. It's not some big freaking magical thing that she can use against anyone. She's a bad person, and she can go f**** herself. You won't lose me over this."

It felt wrong confessing anything to Maya now. Rebecca had let her ex-girlfriend seduce and manipulate her, warping her mind and convincing her that she needed Agnes. Rebecca kept that lie from Maya and she kept her feelings to herself. They were just friends who slept together and Maya deserved someone better than her.

Even after everything that happened, Maya was still fiercely protective of Rebecca; it was clear in her eyes and her tone. It was an aspect of the heroic, noble nature she always adored in the mirrorwalker. Maya turned to face her, so Rebecca followed suit.

Maya knew the right things to say. Agnes meant nothing and their sexual encounter did not take her away from Rebecca. It was the kind of reassurance Rebecca wanted and it did send a wave of relief through her followed immediately by a sense of dread. ”Tha’s a problem though, isn’ it? Ah’m ‘at scared tae lose ye, Maya. Everything abit Agnes aside, Ah dinnae think we can keep gang wi’ this.”

Becca looked away at the floor where Gavin was balled up, staring at her. Maybe he was judging her, too. ”Ah loch ye, Maya. Mair 'an a friend ur whatever we've been. Ye heard my rules in th’ video. ‘If ye want mair, rin away.’ I want mair than friends wi’ benefits. Ye deserve better than me, sae... it’s better off if we end this here. Ah'm nae draggin' ye further intae mah mess.” They could cut things off and go back to just being friends. Rebecca would eventually work past how she felt about Maya, and she could swear of dating and prevent further collateral damage.

Maya hoped that her message was getting through the noise. Becca needed to understand that Agnes did not have the power to keep them away from each other. F*** the insect queen and her issues. She might have an influence on Becca, but she sure as hell did not have anything on Mirror.

>>”Tha’s th’ problem though, isn’ it? Ah’m ‘at scared tae lose ye, Maya. Everything abit Agnes aside, Ah dinnae think we can keep gang wi’ this.”

Maya blinked. She did not expect... that turn in the conversation. She fell still as she watched Becca struggle with her words.

>>”Ah loch ye, Maya. Mair 'an a friend ur whatever we've been. Ye heard my rules in th’ video. ‘If ye want mair, rin away.’ I want mair than friends wi’ benefits. Ye deserve better than me, sae... it’s better off if we end this here. Ah'm nae draggin' ye further intae mah mess.”

Maya looked at Becca silently for a very long time, her brain completely rebooting at the admission. The whole conversation took a screeching, unexpected turn, and suddenly it was not about Evil Agnes, it was about... Becca breaking up with her?...
Because she wanted to be more than friends with benefits.

The revelation was a bit of a shock. Maya opened and closed her mouth a couple of times. Finally, she let out a deep sigh.

"At the risk of losing track of my priorities... Can we get back for a moment to how Agnes is somehow Forty Nine Shades of Creepy now? You are not... going back to her, are you?... That's not what this is about?"

She'd been told by Agnes to leave Mirror. And it seemed like that was just what she was about to do.

Rebecca was not sure what she was hoping for from Maya after what she said. Did she want Maya to change her mind or look crestfallen? Whatever she hoped for, what she got was a shocked, dumbfounded expression.

She was confused about where Rebecca’s admission came from and how it was tied to Agnes. Her real concern was Rebecca going back to Agnes, which was a reminder that Maya cared about her enough to not want her to make that choice. Becca shook her head. ”Ah willnae gae back. Ur at least… Ah dinnae want tae. Ah guess Ah jist worry ‘at this is aw my fault, Maya. Ah kept leavin’ her. Ah kept pushin’ her away. Mebbe Ah pushed her tae become what she is noo…” Maybe there was some logic to returning to Agnes; at least then, she could atone.

”Nessa hates me, an’ Ah’ve warped a sweet girl loch Agnes. Ah shouldnae gae back tae Agnes, but Ah still dinnae deserve th’ chance tae ruin someain else Ah care abit.” She said once she was going to swear off love because it was complicated and let people get hurt, but now she was just ready to accept the truth Agnes quietly drilled in her head: she was the problem and she did not deserve love.

If Becca decided to end their friends with benefits arrangement, that was her right. She didn't even owe an explanation, and yet she gave one anyway. Maya was still shocked to hear that she wanted more than friends. There was a confusion of emotions that she'd have to sort out. Later. For now she had to make sure Becca would be okay.

>>”Ah willnae gae back. Ur at least… Ah dinnae want tae. Ah guess Ah jist worry ‘at this is aw my fault, Maya. Ah kept leavin’ her. Ah kept pushin’ her away. Mebbe Ah pushed her tae become what she is noo…”

"Oh no. You stop right there." Maya said, raising a hand "Whatever Agnes is now, is not your fault. Breaking up with someone does not give anyone an excuse to be a freaking supervillain."

She would know. She would be the baddest in town if that was true.

>>”Nessa hates me, an’ Ah’ve warped a sweet girl loch Agnes. Ah shouldnae gae back tae Agnes, but Ah still dinnae deserve th’ chance tae ruin someain else Ah care abit.”

Maya sighed, the words hitting with a painful pang. She felt helpless in helping Becca.

"Becca, you don't... you can't ruin me. You can't ruin anyone. You're awesome, and you do your best. Relationships suck more often than not." she looked her in the eyes "You might be able to manipulate metal, but you can't warp people. Agnes does that, not you."

She paused, waiting for the message to seep in before she went on.

"We are still friends, right?"

It still hurt that Agnes used the power she still wielded with Rebecca as a weapon to control and hurt her. Once upon a time, Agnes was the person Rebecca trusted to lift her up and never mistreat her. Realizing Agnes’s intentions were to cause Rebecca pain was a betrayal that was hard to process. If she could bend Agnes into this malicious woman, was there anyone she could let close to her?

Rebecca was ready to self-pity and self-deprecate because she was left to feel pitiful. Maya, to her credit, immediately dismissed Rebecca’s concerns. She reminded Becca that she was not just a force that ruined people, and that it was just the nature of relationships that sometimes, as she put it so eloquently, they sucked.

It lifted Rebecca for a moment, but her heart sank right back to its previous position. ”Ah dinnae… maybe relationships suck mair if yer selfish an’ take yer love fer granted o’er and o’er,” she muttered Rebecca was not a good girlfriend to Agnes or Nessa. It was a hard truth she confronted looking back on her love life. Maybe she was not entirely responsible for the turn Agnes took, but she could not shake her claim to at least some of the accountability.

Maya eventually asked the question Rebecca knew would be coming after her sudden and abrupt declaration. Were they still friends. Could Rebecca step away and leave Maya’s life? If she truly believed she was toxic, it might have been selfless to give Maya distance. If she was smart, she would step away, knowing how much it would still hurt being around Maya and never quite having what she wanted with the genderbender. At the end of the day, Rebecca was probably selfish and stupid, or maybe she just knew her life would feel incomplete without Maya in some way. ”We’ll still be friends, Maya. Ah jist think… Ah dinnae, Ah need saim time richt noo.” Maybe with a little time and distance, it would all feel easier and she could accept everything that happened to her and the decisions she made.

Making a clear effort to keep her eyes avoidant, Rebecca slowly got to her feet. ”Thank ye fer coming, Maya. Ah’ll see ye…” When? Eventually? In a few weeks? ”Soon.” Hopefully.