Victoria woke up. There was a thing that whirred and a machine that beeped. She was in the hospital. Max was asleep in a chair next to hers. She looked worse for wear but had refused medical treatment, Victoria remembered. Her physiology would have caused a commotion, maybe even nationwide. Best to heal on her own terms, in her own time. The past day had taken its toll on her, Victoria noticed. She was all scrapes and bruises that were healing at an almost human rate. She and Penny both must have been exhausted. 

 

Victoria sat up and looked at her girlfriend. She was so beautiful. Not that Maxine believed it herself. She didn't see it. But Victoria did, and she sighed. 

 

“Get a room.”

 

She turned to Rue, who had just walked in, wearing a baggy shirt and hoodie. She had already torn off her bracelet. It had the wrong name on it. She looked like she was healing well. Her breathing was labored, but she'd be fine. They smiled at each other. 

 

“I thought that's what this was.”

 

“I… Fair.”

 

Rue stood next to her bed. 

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

“Better. I'm sure I'll be out of here today. You?”

 

“Just got discharged. How is she doing?” She motioned to the sleeping Max.

 

“Wiped. She's been out for most of today and yesterday.”

 

“Poor thing. Big damn hero.”

 

“You're one to talk, robot girl.”

 

“If there's a pilot, it's a mech or a mobile suit.” Rue grinned. 

 

“That was pretty cool, huh?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Victoria squeezed her hand. 

 

“Proud of you, Rue. You've come a long way.”

 

“You really have.” Maxine was sitting upright. 

 

“Max! You should have seen her!” Victoria said excitedly. ”She summoned a robot - sorry, mech - and nearly kicked the guy’s ass.”

 

Max grinned. “What else?”

 

A few hours passed as they caught each other up. The relief of their ordeal being over had lifted and they were light headed from the change in pressure. 

 

“Hey, how did you… Heal me, babe? I'm pretty sure I stabbed myself in the heart.”

 

Max sat for a second. Her eyes grew really wide, then she looked at her hands. 

 

“I… Really did that, huh? I just…fixed… I fixed...”

 

Then her head turned to Rue. “Rue… I think I might be able to…”

 

The offer hung in the air for a second. Rue realised what she'd meant…

 

“I… I… Oh I…” Every conceivable emotion adjacent to ‘stunned’ passed over her face, until it settled on… Determination? Okay, Max thought, weird choice. “No.”

 

“No? Rue, your dysph-” 

 

“Not yet.” She grabbed Max by the wrist and made for the door, dressing her friend asking in a state of severe confusion. 

 

“Where are you going?!” Victoria exclaimed. Rue paused and turned around. 

 

“My mom is five floors up from here.”

 

—-

 

“I think I have it.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Pretty sure. It's easier when I'm not… When I have time, but it's still a difficult process.”

 

“All of it?”

 

Max turned to Rue, removing her hands from Rue’s mothers arm and nodded. There wasn't a mark on her. “You don't want to see this.”

A viscous red liquid ran between her fingers. Rue turned around. Max tossed the clump of cancerous cells in the biological waste disposal and cleaned off her hands with tissue paper. 

 

“All done.”

 

“Are you s-”

 

“You said she has scans tomorrow. We'll know for sure then, okay?”

 

Rue nodded. 

 

—-

 

The next few days were… A lot. The doctors were stumped. From cancerous tissue to a seemingly full remission, overnight. No scars, no damage. Simply a healthy human body. Rue spent the next few days with her family. They'd figure out the medical bills. Right now, they simply gave themselves the permission to be happy. On day three, Rue came out to them. They were confused, at first, but Victoria was with her, answering the questions Rue couldn't. It took them fifteen minutes to start trying to use her real name. After twenty, they simply hugged her. They were proud to see their newfound daughter finally find happiness, and find herself. 

 

For Maxine and Victoria, there was a lot of talking and deliberating. Ethical questions. Maxine was, quite possibly, the cure for cancer. But she could only heal one person at a time, and it was draining. Penumbra made it abundantly clear it could not be replicated via tissue sample. Permanent separation would likely kill them both at this point. But doing nothing felt wrong. Victoria had an idea but it required some big risks. 

 

They proposed it to Rue who was much more enthusiastic about the idea than they'd anticipated. 

 

But Maxine couldn't just… Go into that hospital to visit Rue’s parents every day and do nothing. So they agreed, she'd do something, whatever she could. V got them scarves to cover their faces. 

 

They started at paediatrics, then intensive care, then worked their way up. By the time they were two floors up, there was a crowd following them, parting to let them through each time. Five floors and the media had been called. By the sixth they arrived, three women with covered faces healing the sick, one room at a time prime evening news. 

 

Ten floors up and hospital staff was readying critical patients outside of the elevator doors. 

 

Fifteen and there were cops on site to arrest them for… Something. They all knew sick people. Not a one laid a hand on them. 

 

When they reached the last patient on the top floor, and they got ready to head to head back down to intensive, Max visibly exhausted but being fed a consistent diet of snacks and electrolytes, they were approached by two men in black suits and black sunglasses. 

 

“We'd like you to come with us. “

 

“See, I told you we'd make it to the top.”

 

Rue wobbled her head.

 

”Yeah, yeah.”

 

Suddenly there was a shimmering blue wall between them and the agents. Rue motioned to a nearby stairway, and they made a run for it while the men behind them called for back-up, which they could hear below them as they ran up the stairs to the roof. 

 

Rue led the pack, Maxine close behind her, and Victoria closed ranks behind them, making sure her girlfriend was okay. 

 

“I know there's a helicopter pad up there but are you sure you know how to - what the fuck?!”

 

Maxine stood slack awed. 

 

“Is that the fucking Millenn-”

 

“No time for questions!” Rue giggled as she grabbed them both by the arm and dragged them up the descending ramp. Evening news was… Eventful. 

 

—-

 

Maxine Powers signed the last form and handed it to the man, who yelled behind him in Pashto. Several people came up the ramp to unload the crates as Max shook hands with him. He was businesslike and had a military attitude, but there was genuine gratitude in there, despite his discomfort. Max had gotten good at seeing it. 

 

She looked over to Victoria, hair in a bun, tank top sweaty from the heat, pencil behind her ear. The past five years had been kind to her. What a woman, she thought. 

 

Gay 

 

“You know it. Hey babe?”

 

V turned around. Max caught her with a quick peck on the lips. Honestly, it was too hot for anything else. 

 

“Where to next?”

 

“We've got options in Malaysia, India, Florida, California… It's a long list, sweetie.”

 

“Preferences?”

 

“There's been another quake in Hawaii. Lux could really help there. Give you a chance to work your magic again.”

 

“I like the way you think.” Another kiss. “And to think I just married you for your looks.”

 

“Dork.”

 

Maxine turned around. “I think we're done here.”

 

She picked a radio from her belt. 

 

“Hey Ruecifer, you're a sweetheart but they've got it from here. We're wheels up in ten.”

 

“If you say so, Max! Incoming.”

 

Rue landed on the ramp with grace, and the suit evaporated. Behind her, a hundred translucent blue flying monkeys were loading crates full of vaccines onto trucks. When the last ones were put away, they, too, disappeared. They made their way to the front of the cargo plane. 

 

“Where we going next?”

 

“Hawaii, earthquake. It's pretty urgent.”

 

“It always is,” Rue said thoughtfully as she chewed on a protein bar. She was noticeably shorter than she had been, and has really filled out after her transformation at Maxine's hands. She had compensated for it by having Victoria train her, sparring when they could. She'd buffed up pretty quickly.

 

Victoria sat down in the pilot's seat. 

 

“Alright ladies, strap in. This is gonna be a long flight.” 

 

“Can we make a stop in Washington?”

 

“Why?”

 

“I want to visit to my girlfriend.”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Remy!”

 

“Oh yeah, she sounds nice. See what we can do, babe.”

 

The plane took off as they bantered, the off-white lettering on the side of the dark grey plane catching the evening light. 

 

‘Lux In Tenebris’, it spelled out. Bringing light where they could. 

End of Arc One 

 

 

---

 

 

Hey everyone! I just want to thank you for reading. It's been a lot of fun writing this and I want to address the most important things first. 

 

Yes, this is definitely only the first arc. Maxine, Penumbra, Victoria and Rue are all incredibly fun to write and I'm not done with them yet.

 

No, part two will not be more of the same. I've told their origin stories and to extend that would feel like padding. The second arc will be a departure in both style and substance, focusing on a new chapter in their lives in a world that is changing dramatically. 

 

Finally, thank you again for reading. It's been a blast, and I hope you enjoyed it too. 

 

I'll see you soon in part two, L.I.T. Inc

 

Ela