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Being an “adult” was such a drag sometimes, with work and obligations taking up so much of the day. Admittedly, people who knew Rebecca as a vlogger would feel bitter listening to her complain, but she was a teacher as well, so she had plenty on her plate, even if no one believed her. College felt like so long ago, and in a weird way, the redhead missed it.

Luckily for her, one of her recently rediscovered best friends was going through one of the most important college-age rituals a girl could enjoy: a twenty-first birthday. Now that Gina and Rebecca followed each other everywhere on social media, she was able to notice that the gargoyle girl was enjoying a week of celebrating her birthday, (as she should.) Excited at the prospect of celebrating with Gina and rolling the clock back a few years, she proposed a girls’ night out that Saturday, and her friend gladly accepted.

Of course, rolling the clock back meant it was only right to invite the third member of their old band of musketeers, Agnes. The violinist was Gina’s sister, and it would mean the world to her if all three could make it out. It had been… maybe a few weeks now since their relapse. As they agreed when Rebecca left, they were giving each other space. Rebecca did check in so she could find out Agnes and River were giving things another try. (And good for them, honestly. Really. Truly.) On Rebecca’s end, she and Nessa talked things out, and Rebecca admitted that she was working on feelings she still had for Agnes, but that did not mean she did not want to give her relationship with Nessa a fair shot. Things were still tense, but they were trying to be better, even if Rebecca occasionally caught Nessa’s side-eyed looks when she was texting someone.

Rebecca called Agnes and invited her out, giving her the heads up that Nessa would be coming along for the night as well. River was, of course, invited if she was free and wanted to come. It was not an invite Rebecca was excited to extend, but she did not want to be a hypocrite; she was already too good at it lately.

Saturday evening rolled around quickly, and Rebecca and Nessa were in the backseat of an Uber. The driver was a bearded man in his mid-twenties looking to make a buck on a busy Saturday night. He was content to remain quiet as the planner of the evening reassuring her girlfriend things would be fine.

”Are you sure your friend doesn’t mind me coming along?”

”Ah’m sure! Gina knows abit ye an' she is a’ays interested in new friends,” Rebecca promised, playing with a loose ringlet of her girlfriend’s brown hair not kept in a bun. ”Yer gonna totally loove her.”

Nessa ran her hand down Rebecca’s lacy green sheath dress. ”If you’re sure.” She paused before asking her next question. ”So… did Agnes say she’d be able to make it?”

Rebecca replied nonchalantly with, ”Ah think sae. Ah mean, Gina is her sister.” It was not a blood relation, but no one ever questioned that Agnes and Gina were true sisters.

”Good. Good.” Nessa fidgeted a little, straightening the sleeves of her own light blue dress. Both women were simultaneously excited for a night out and dreading the ways it might go wrong.

The Uber driver dropped them right off at the venue and Rebecca promised to leave him a good review for dealing with them. She had chosen The Ivory Keys for its flexibility and class. The location consisted of two floors; the Piano Bar and the Dance Floor. The first-floor Piano Bar had pianists playing, sometimes even “dueling” since there were two large pianos on elevated platforms, along with a band on other instruments to provide accompaniment. There were multiple bars, plenty of tables, and there was always a full crowd for a great “show” atmosphere.

The second-floor housed a more traditional “club” space, with a DJ, a large dance floor, and a several more bars. The way the building was designed, there was surprisingly little cross-contamination of the music, and the only place one could really hear the DJ and pianos simultaneously was the spiral staircase in the back corner connecting the two floors. The way Rebecca saw it, if they wanted to sit and enjoy a show, they could do that, but if Gina was in the mood for some dancing, (and knowing Gina, that was a safe bet,) they could wander up to the second floor.

They made their way toward the entrance when Rebecca caught a glimpse of her unmistakable friend in a gorgeous cocktail dress that suited her unique complexion. ”Gina! Happy belated birthday!” Rebecca called out, her heels clacking on the sidewalk as she ran over to give her friend a hug. Once that necessary greeting was out of the way, she turned and gestured to her girlfriend and smiled. ”Gina, thes is Nessa. Babe,” she said, turning her attention to Nessa, ”Thes is one ay mah best an’ oldest friends.”

Nessa smiled warmly, offering the lovely winged woman a hand in greeting. ”Glad to finally meet you, Gina. And happy birthday!”

While Nessa was making her greeting, Rebecca was (nervously) keeping an eye out for the last addition to their party for the night.

Rebecca followed Juliette and the volunteer into the backroom where they could wait on a bench for Bijou to be brought out to meet them. Juliette had mentioned in the past that she had no pets of her own, which was surprising since it seemed like the lightmancer was ready to burst with excitement being surrounded by kittens in need.

Still, Jules was a good friend and made sure to ask if she was handling things okay. ”Ah think Ah’m fine, bit thenk ye, Jules. Really.” She was still unsure if she would really be ready to bring a cat home with her today, but she was open to meeting Bijou, at least.

The volunteer woman returned to the room, as happy to present Bijou as Jules was to see him. All eyes were on the precious brown tabby, and no one caught a quick blur enter the room behind the woman.

There was no denying it; Bijou was adorable. He took his time making his way over to the girls, interested in the space around him. She wondered if this was the first time anyone asked to meet Bijou. The idea that they were the first did hit her heart, but she was still unsure if she felt the young cat was the right choice for her. She was not ready to rush herself unless a cat truly called out to her.

Mew?

Rebecca felt a tug on the sleeve of her jacket, like someone was trying to get her attention. Turning to the offender, she found a small Bengal kitten with a tan and black coat marked with a collection of stripes and spots. The tugging was actually the little creature’s attempt to get a firm hold of her so his hind legs could struggle up to the bench. Once he made it to his goal, he was ready to climb more, and he found a perfectly good arm. Rebecca watched wordlessly, ignoring the tiny claws pricking through her sleeve as the kitten crawled up her arm, finally finding a perch on her shoulder.

The kitten purred happily, meowing loudly and finally getting the attention of the volunteer. “Oh, I’m so sorry! That’s Gavin; he can be a troublemaker sometimes—he must have slipped out… I can take him if you—”

”Nae!” she replied, a little too defensively. She corrected her tone. ”Ah mean, nah, tha’s fine.” Clearly the woman did not speak cat, because that loud meow clearly translated to, “I have selected my human. She can start on the required paperwork now.” Gavin was not Domino, and there was no replacing the cat she essentially grew up with. They had been friends, but Domino was always more her mother’s baby. Maybe Gavin could be Becca’s baby.

Rebecca turned her attention to her friend, trying to control the excited wibbling of her lip. ”Jules… Ah hae a shoulder kitty…”

Bijou had been busy as well, finding a spot on Juliette’s lap, where he seemed quite content. Rebecca felt bad, because she came to the room to possibly give the tabby a new home, only to find a different cat that was trying to claim her heart. She scratched behind the tabby’s ear and frowned. ”Ah’m… Ah’m sorry, boy. Ah dornt think Ah can brin’ tois kitties haem…” Was she really going to let those beautiful green eyes stay unloved, though?

Almost simultaneously, Rebecca and Bijou looked to Juliette with pleading eyes.

Rebecca was conflicted between what she thought was the right thing and what she felt was the right thing. Her feelings were wrapped up in the perfect morning she wished she could return to, but her mind reminded her that they were sadly not the only people in the world to consider. River wanted to talk to Agnes and Nessa wanted to talk to Rebecca, and those conversations had to happen. Rebecca could not let Agnes leave things with her fiancée unresolved, wondering if the redhead seduced her into giving up a future she wanted.

They were both hesitant. After their night together, of course they were; it felt like slipping back into an old dress that hugged your curves and made you feel comfortable and sexy.

But now they were both going to have to wrestle with the decision to either tell their significant others about what happened or try to leave the fling in the past. Rebecca knew the right thing to do would be to tell Nessa what happened and hope her girlfriend was more forgiving than she deserved. It was right, and in line with the virtues of “honesty and communication” she had gone on about the night before, but Rebecca knew she would not bring herself to do it. Nessa might leave her, which she deserved, but she could also forgive her and ask her to stop seeing Agnes.

For all the reasons cutting those ties made sense, Rebecca did not want to do it. She did not want to leave Agnes’s apartment. Hell, when Agnes started for her washroom and turned to look at her, Rebecca wanted to work up the courage to stay. To tell Agnes she did not want to leave, and to run into the tender embrace she was already missing.

But she would not ask Agnes to end things with River for her. And Agnes would not force Rebecca’s hand and ask her to leave Nessa. They were both going to find out if there was something worth fighting for in their relationships, and if that was the case, Rebecca had to bring up the ultimatum she intended to use the night before, until she got caught in those sapphire eyes.

”We’ll see.” It was all she could say to the well-wishing for her relationship. “I hope so” would have shown more commitment, but Rebecca could still not say for certain what she hoped would happen next. ”But Ah hink... we shoods tak' a small break frae hangin' out, jist tae calm things doon. Especially if we decide tae make things wark.” Her last comment left the “we” ambiguous, but it held true regardless. If they were going to patch up their separate relationships, or if they were going to eventually work toward something new together, time and distance would help. They needed to take stock and figure out what they wanted, and lingering feelings and hormones would not help that.

Rebecca walked toward the door of Agnes’s apartment, but turned around one last time. She quieted the voice telling her to stay one last time. ”Whatever happens… guid luck today.” And with that, Rebecca walked away, feeling tears rolling down her freckled cheeks. She had to get back to her apartment and clean up so she could reach out to her girlfriend after a night with the woman she loved.

Finding out one of her own best friends was going to be volunteering at the Mansion was exciting news, because it meant Gina would be a bigger part of her life again. She smiled from ear to ear, realizing just how happy she was to have her friend back. ”’At place is really hard tae walk awa' frae,” she joked, before more sincerely adding, ”Ah cannae wait tae see ye aroond mair.”

While Rebecca looked over Gina’s life documented in photos along her wall, Gina was looking through the digital gallery of Rebecca’s blossoming relationship. Given Gina’s sisterly relationship with Agnes, it was appreciated to hear her genuine support for her friend’s attempt to move on from her former love. Rebecca was trying to establish a new normal for herself, and that meant believing her and Nessa could work. Gina’s disapproval would have been a hard mental barrier to work through. ”Pft, jealoos. Ah’m sure yoo’ve got plenty ay lads an’ lasses admirin’ ye.” Gina had really grown into her gorgeous figure since she was younger, and anyone who was shying away from the grey skin and wings was a short-sighted idiot.

Gina was still in school, still pursuing her dreams of fashion. She even tossed Rebecca her phone, loaded up to her fashion blog, as she explained her business idea. Just like the bohemian room, the business idea was so Gina. She wanted to run a clothing business that specialized in accommodating the needs of physical mutants. It facilitated a need, but more importantly, it helped a group who was often left to struggle on their own.

The idea was socially-conscious, and from what Rebecca was seeing of sketches and live examples, the clothes ranged from cute to practical, suiting different needs and tastes. Gina was trying to downplay her idea, seemingly still hearing the voice of her mother looking for her to be realistic, but Rebecca barely heard it. She was seeing all the ways this was an idea the world needed. ”Gina, thes is brilliant. Ye can really dae great things wi’ thes!”

An idea sparked alive in the redhead’s mind, and she hit the “share” button on Gina’s browser, sending the URL of her blog to Rebecca’s FaceSpace messenger. ”’Scuse me,” she apologized, grabbing her phone back and opening up to her most recent message. Before Gina could question what she was up to, Rebecca had already opened up her Chirpr to send out the link along with a message.



Smirking, she tossed her phone back over to Gina with the Chirp still on the screen. ”Ah hope ye dornt min’. Ah loch givin’ free press tae wondeful businesses.” Having a global presence online meant occasionally, Rebecca could use her popularity for good.

Rebecca could be accused of being “hard” at times to the people around her, and not only was that true, often it was intentional. Survival and getting things done were her motivating factors, and in a world where mutants were still looked at with caution and even hate, it did her no favors to be kind-hearted. Still, if those accusers could see her in her private moments with Jesse and Astrid, they would understand that she was softer than the persona she wore in public.

As a responsible adult, it was on Rebecca to figure out how to explain to her daughter why they could not keep a cat. It may have sounded easy in theory, but saying no to Astrid was not easy. She already had to keep the girl homeschooled because her wings would only make her a target in a public school, and that also made her more protective when Astrid left the apartment in general. The girl was important to her, and she took on the responsibility of being her mother, so if anything happened to her… well, Rebecca would never be able to cope with that.

But this was a small thing, and when she heard Astrid’s non-verbal reply to the reminder of their apartment policy, it seemed like the best choice to find some way to keep Bijou. The cat was named, after all, and she was not heartless. Jules would kill her once she realized Rebecca let an animal into the building, but she was sure there was some combination of persuasion and free drinks that could get her gruff friend to look the other way one more time.

Jesse agreed with the idea, pointing out what they already brought into the building, which prompted Rebecca to make the necessary comment under her breath, ”We do let Agnes in, after all.” She had to remind herself that a Team Leader should not be petty, but after a long day and in the presence of her wife, little comments were bound to slide.

The idea was accepted wholeheartedly by her daughter, who was already naming Bijou the team mascot. This was the kind of enthusiasm she was going to have to get used to, because once the team met Bijou, she would be receiving a lot more of this.

Bijou was set down so she could explore Rebecca and Jesse’s room, indulging in her kitty curiosity. Astrid was coming up with the next steps they had to take, which made Rebecca smile. She was a lister, just like her mother. The idea of Tristan and Agnes watching the cat overnight did earn a laugh from her as she tried to picture the kitten curling up next to Agnes on her borrowed hospital bed. ”I’m sure they’ll love that. And I’ll bring Bijou to the vet, first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, you, young lady, have Violin and Music Theory lessons tomorrow. Do you even know what time it is?” she teased, doubting Astrid was checking a watch when she was off flying and rescuing cats.

”I’ll be out most of the day tomorrow, between the vet and the office and the pub,” she advised her daughter, running through her tight schedule in her head. ”Your other mom or dad will be around, so if you would like to visit Bijou at the hospital, just ask, and hopefully they can accompany you. Would you mind, dear?” It was not ideal, since Jesse was stuck in the Mirror World, but New York had plenty of reflective surfaces, so keeping an eye on their daughter was still something her trapped spouse could do. Even with the challenges they were working through, Jesse was a godsend as a partner in parenting, especially with the hectic schedule Rebecca often found herself balancing.

Rebecca grabbed Bijou from a hamper of her dirty laundry and scratched behind the little beast’s ear, earning a purr before she offered the pet back to Astrid. ”Why don’t you take tonight to cuddle with Bijou and get some sleep.” She pulled her daughter close and got on her tiptoes to kiss the girl on the forehead, making up for the fact that her fifteen-year-old had already outgrown her. ”I love you, sweetie,” she reminded her daughter. On a night like this, she wanted to make that sentiment clear to both the people she loved in the world, even if getting sappy might go against her hardened reputation.

Kendra’s idea of sleeping with a rocket launcher had a somewhat tired Rebecca laughing, imagining how helpful invisible rockets would be in a fight. The thought did make her think of the possible dangers of the dreamwalker’s abilities, because going down the path of a hero was only one option for her. As an assassin, the ability to sneak around invisibly wielding an invisible knife, or heaving forbid an invisible gun, would put a great many people at risk.

Maybe that was why Rebecca was taking the girl through the Danger Room, and maybe even flaunting her powers to an extent. Being an X-Man felt like the right use for her powers from the moment she joined the team, and it was a thrill and a moral comfort being a defender of New York, mutantkind, and at times, the world. She hoped maybe she could show that side of being a powered person to her new friend.

Of course, it was not perfect, as Kendra pointed out by exaggeratedly pointing out Rebecca’s wound. ”Huh?” she replied initially, looking over her body before noticing the cut on her shoulder. ”Och reit. Ah guess Ah cooldnae teel wi' aw th' adrenaline,” she admitted. In the heat of battle, a scratch from a knife was easy to ignore when she had more pressing matters to care about, (like not being stabbed again.)

Suddenly, Rebecca felt Kendra’s thumb lightly brushing blood away from her minor cut. A shiver ran from her arm and down her back as she was not expecting to be touched by the other woman. If she was not already flushed by all the physical exertion, she might have blushed. Being invisible made everything Kendra did inherently unexpected, after all. Looking to play the moment off, she joked, ”Tis but a flesh woond!” before chuckling to her own reference.

Kendra inquired about what was coming next in their journey, but Rebecca only shook her head, knowing the large red doors in front of them would lead to the final room of the maze. ”Sorry, but Ah’m nae gonnae spoil th’ End Boss.” Smirking, she pushed the large door open with a loud creak. She offered Kendra her hand and asked, ”Shall we?”

The two adventurers entered into a large room unlike any they had wandered through up to that point. At this point in the “game,” Rebecca was supposed to be geared out, and as such, the room was going to do her and her powers no favors. The walls, floors, and ceiling were all made from large stone blocks, and the room itself felt dark and dank as they walked in. Rebecca led Kendra several steps into the empty room before the door sealed behind them with (non-ferrous) metal bars.

Suddenly, the torches around the room ignited one at a time, starting from the ones closest to the door they entered from, lighting the large space until they reached the final two torches positioned next to a large gate. Slowly, the gate rose into the ceiling, and from the darkness behind it, a roar was heard, followed quickly by a deeper roar in response. It was at this point that music rang out, seemingly from the walls, because Rebecca was a firm believer that a final climax should be accompanied by boss music.

From the darkness emerged a dragon, not made of metal, but rather skin and scales and tough muscle. The beast had two heads, on two long necks. Both emerged from the same large black body, but one was red and the other was blue, each clearly having independent thought. Rebecca knew this particular enemy (and video game tropes) well enough to know that one head could spit scalding hot air while the other would breath bitterly cold air. (She was talked down from fire and ice when she was reminded that she could not respawn if she screwed up.)

Rebecca braced her mighty sword and looked, at her invisible friend and her less invisible axe, grinning in the face of their last challenge.