Billy sat on a wooden chair next to the vigilante's bed, messing around on his phone. Wifi was installed an hour ago and he'd already been badgered by a green owl to practice his Spanish and his French. The first two hours of sitting guard he'd been able to keep himself entertained playing solitaire and juggling, but five hours in and he was starting to really feel the boredom, so he was happy for the internet. Half of his subscribed channels were “unavailable in your region or country” but it was better than nothing. 

 

He'd joined LIT because he was invited and they were nice. They found him through his own video channel because of one clip that went viral - “I HAVE SUPERPOWERS? (NOT CLICKBAIT)” - and they'd contacted him soon after. He'd known the invitation was legitimate because it had been delivered by a small, see-through transformer that had flown in through his open window one day. He’d met them that weekend in an abandoned warehouse, where… He hadn't gotten what he was expecting. He’d been expecting, well, superheroes. These had been…

 

He recalled the way they'd looked when he first met them. Maxine with a short mohawk and black lipstick, torn jeans, plaid shirt and a leather jacket, the epitome of punk. Victoria in simple pride shirt, jeans and boots combo, her wild hair put up, clipboard in one hand and makeup on point. And Rue, in a summer dress and denim jacket. They looked like a magazine cover for a store that catered exclusively to lesbians. They sat down in fold-out chairs and asked him to demonstrate. He did his trick, which he'd also soon done in the video: He threw a ball, and six feet away, he caught it and threw it back, playing catch with himself, his movements impossible to follow with the naked eye. 

 

“So you're fast?” Victoria asked. 

 

“Not quite,” he replied, and set up to do the same thing again but further away. This time, when they saw him throw the ball, he moved at regular speed. The ball, however, moved through the air at a snail’s pace. And after several show seconds, he caught it, and walked back to them. 

 

“It's a bubble”, he added. Victoria took notes. 

 

“How big?” Maxine asked. She'd tried to pretend she wasn't interested but she was already leaning forward.

 

“About five to fifty feet. I think I can go bigger, but then it becomes hard to see, so it's hard to train.”

 

Maxine nodded solemnly. “The bigger it is, the harder it gets.”

 

“Hehehe,” Billy agreed. 

 

“Hehehe,” Maxine added. 

 

“Oh good, there's two of them”, Rue sighed. 

 

“How slow does it go?” Victoria looked at him intensely and he could feel his cheeks burn. Powerful women (and men) made him w e a k. 

 

“Um… As fast or as slow as I have to. I can give myself an edge that people don't notice by slowing them down five percent. I can also slow down a great deal but then everything goes black.”

 

“Are you telling me you can freeze light in mid-air?”

 

“Idunno,” He shrugged. “Never thought of that.”

 

V was visibly distraught and he was hired on the spot. It was good fun and it definitely wasn't boring. Since that day he'd been on more sinking and crashing vehicles than he would care to count. They would also end up doing a bunch of experiments on the edge of his bubble when he froze time and light with it. Victoria published some papers based on her findings, earning her a list of awards and a nomination for the Nobel Physics prize. The prize money from a few of these ended up paying for Big Bird. 

 

He was the first of their new recruits. Ceecee joined a year later. They'd heard of her through a friend of a contact of a friend. He would never forget the sight of her climbing the police truck and turning the water cannon on them, cackling. They had to break her out of jail, obviously, but she'd proven to be every bit as willing to help build better things as she was taking down totalitarian power structures. Billy had been very into her but Ceecee didn't do men, as a general rule. He respected that. 

 

Then Ellie, Rue’s family. She almost treated the whole thing as an internship, but she had her cousin’s optimism and penchant for hard work. Plus, as an engineer, she was good with numbers and a fast learner. It wasn't very long before she was studying to fly Big Bird, too. 

 

Remy was an accidental pickup. V had bumped into her in Seattle four different times. The fourth, Victoria straight up asked her what her deal was. She tended to attract the weird, so it wasn't much of a leap. Remy ended up dating Rue long-distance but didn't join the crew until a year later. Her empathy had proved invaluable. 

 

And they rescued Lisa Westbrooke from Kabul. 

 

It had been a wild ride. 

 

So here he sat, waiting for tall, dark and handsome to wake up, pondering how he got here. There was a soft “merde” from the bed and he glanced over, saw the man touching his mask. 

 

“Don't worry, we didn't take it off,” Billy rambled quickly, ”Wait, I think Maxine saw your face? But don't worry she had no idea who you w- hey!”

 

The man had jumped up onto the bed, scanned the room and failed to notice (or care) he was undressed from the waist up. Billy just stared for a second at the rippling muscles in his chest, which were awe-inspiring even with the massive bruising andvscarring. He hadn't seen Spite in action often but it impressed him that something could do so much damage to such a… fine human specimen. 

 

He got up and the man swiped his leg at Billy's head, who bowed his head with a resigned sigh as time slowed down to a crawl. He ducked underneath the foot, and gently tapped at the man's wrists and ankles. Letting time shuffle its slow march forwards for a bit, the man slowly gained a comically surprised expression on his face as he lost his footing, but Billy could already see his steel cable muscles tightening to twist him in mid-air, and frowned. 

 

“No, you don't.”

 

He grabbed him by the shoulders and moved him down to the bed like a balloon, arms and legs next to him, took two steps back, and resumed time. The man was dumbfounded

 

“Q- quoi? Qu’est-ce Que t-”

 

“Dude. Chill.”

 

“What did you do?” 

 

“I put you back down so you can chill.”

 

The man managed to look both tenser and more resigned and relaxed at the same time. 

 

“I am your prisoner, then. What will you do to me?”

 

“If you were our prisoner we wouldn't have let you keep on the mask.” That shut him up. 

 

“You're not our prisoner, but you were badly hurt. Max did her best but…” He gestured at the deep purple bruising that covered the man's chest. 

 

“You need to rest.”

 

For the first time, the man looked down and noticed his bare chest. Billy winced in his stead when he saw the man test his ribs. 

 

“Healed? Who are you people?”

 

“You first?”

 

“Very well. You can call me… Saint Dimas.”

 

Billy nodded. He got the usefulness of codenames. Dimas didn't look like any saint he'd ever heard of but people do what they gotta, he figured. 

 

“McQueen. Billy. Uh.. William.”

 

The man sat up. He might not have shown it, but now that he felt he wasn't in danger, he seemed to be slightly more aware of his injuries and moved more carefully..

 

“Good to meet you, William,” He said with a slight smirk. Something about the way he said Billy's name, maybe the accent, made him all kinds of giddy. “You're saying I'm free to leave?”

 

Billy chose his words carefully. 

 

“You… Are, but we'd rather you didn't. I think… We're trying to achieve the same thing? Maybe?

 

“Oh?”

 

“You're a vigilante, right? Do justice and so on?”

 

“I bring law to the lawl-”

 

“You can just say yes, it's fine.”

 

“Hah, very well, William. Oui, I am a justicier.”

 

“Well, we're looking into the… Disease… That has been popping up around Paris.”

 

Dimas’ eyes narrowed. 

 

“Corbeau.”

 

“Yes! That. Anyway we cured the existing infected but we're still looking f-”

 

“Je m’excuse, you did what?”

 

“I… think you should meet the rest of the team. If you're good to walk.”

 

“I can walk.”

 

Putting his skintight shirt back on clearly caused him some pain, but it had been washed, at least. He left the cloak off, for now. He had to lean on Billy to go down the stairs. Dimas must have weighed two-hundred pounds at least, all pure, lean muscle. They came down to what they referred to as “the office”, a big shared space on the ground floor where everyone had desks. It was just like a real office but much noisier, and much cosier. There was a bean bag corner where Remy and Ellie were chatting. 

 

“Look who's up, everyone.”

 

Dimas waved limply and smiled.  

 

“Bonjour à tous.”

 

—-

 

They all gathered in the office. Maxine was swaddled in blankets, looking like she'd been hit by a train, her hair was lifeless and her eyes were sunken. Victoria sat next to her and made sure they were okay. 

 

“We'll be fine,” Penny assured her through Max’s mouth. “Food and rest.” They sipped on a cup of hot cocoa. 

 

The others had their attention on Saint Dimas, who sat in a chair in front of them, his back perfectly straight.

 

“So, who are you people?”

 

Rue answered. She was sitting cross-legged on a desk sipping coffee. 

 

“Lux In Tenebris Incorporated. We… Go into dark places and shine a light. Help where we can.”

 

“You are superheroes, then?”

 

Rue grimaced. 

 

“We have people on the team with… Abilities. But we are more of an aid and relief organisation. We don't do the whole… Capes and theatrics thing if we can avoid it.” She paused.”No offence.”

 

“None taken. If that is true you are doing a noble thing. William here,” He motioned to Billy, who went full deer-in-headlights and got a raised eyebrow from Rue and Victoria, “told me you healed myself and the victims of le Corbeau?”

 

Victoria nodded. ”Maxine,” she gently prodded her swaddled other half, “can heal people.”

 

“But… She was also the monster that attacked me, non?”

 

“That was us.”

 

“What the fuck?”

 

“Oh boy,” Rue said. “Shortest version: she and the 'monster’, Penumbra, are one. Sometimes they exist together, sometimes separately. That voice like glass on glass is Penumbra. The big one that probably kicked your ass is Spite, when they merge. The woman who saved your life is Maxine.”

 

“This is a lot to take in.”

 

“You're telling me.”

 

“You get used to it. Your turn.”

 

“Fair is fair.” He stood up. ”I am Saint Dimas. I protect this city and I punish its wicked.”

 

Rue glared at him. Her voice had an almost Penny- like quality to it. “Elaborate.”

 

“I find those who have been taking too much, the rich, those who grow fat on the work of others, and I make them pay. Literally and sometimes figuratively.”

 

Rue visibly relaxed. “Oh, cool. So like, wage thieves.”

 

“Exactement. It is my hope that in a few years there will not be a single millionaire left in Paris. Whether they leave or pay their dues is up to them.”

 

“I take it you're not very popular.”

 

He grinned for the first time, perfect white teeth bare. “I am reviled. But the people love me. If their boss is visited by Saint Dimas, their pay almost doubles.”

 

Ceecee nudged Rue and whispered. “Can we keep him?” Rue suppressed a snicker. 

 

“Alright, Dimas. You're cool. So, do you know anything about this ‘Corbeau’?”

 

“Not much. I don't think the attacks are getting more frequent, but they are getting more desperate.” He walked over to a map that had pins with all the locations of the infected and where they were found. 

 

“These here are more recent, and they're all together. I think that means whatever is causing it is moving around less. Also,” He moved a pin, ”This woman was found here, but she lived here, in the troisième arrondissement, and walked over to the twelfth on foot.”

 

Victoria looked at the map and turned to Ellie. “You've been cross-referencing the maps right? Do you think it might be coming from the Third?”

 

Ellie nodded. “We've mostly been looking in the Eleventh and Twelfth but it's possible, especially if that's where the first patient was infected.”

 

Dimas nodded with determination. ”Bien, I will search there and-”

 

“Tut Tut,” Rue said. “You're staying here and healing. If something is out there infecting people and turning them into rabies-infected vampires, I don't want you being one of them. You need to be in top shape. Besides,” she looked at Max, ”We don't want you going alone.”

 

“Very well,” he said. “One day. Twenty four hours. Then I go.”

 

—-

 

“So what do we think?”

 

Dimas was upstairs again, resting. 

 

“I think he's hot.”

 

“I meant like, as a person, Billy,” Rue said. 

 

“I know what you meant and I stand by it.”

 

“I think he trusts us,” Remy said. “At least he doesn't seem… Threatened by us, even though I think at least two of us could turn him into a carpet stain in a second.”

 

“Good. Good to know.” Rue squeezed her hand. ”I personally think his knowledge of the city is greater than ours. We probably know more about stuff like this but this is, well, his city. And his heart seems to be in the right place.”

 

“All of him does.”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Have you seen him?”

 

“We're lesbians, William.”

 

“Lisa, help me out here!”

 

“Sorry McQueen,” Lisa’s voice came from the coffee machine. “Not my type.”

 

Billy threw his hands up. “That's it. As the only androphile here, I give up.”

 

Maxine spoke up. “I think tomorrow we scout the Third district. Between the two of us we can start at the first patient's house and cover more ground.”

 

“And the rest of us?” Rue asked. 

 

“Rest, maybe? Just be close by.”

 

Remy gently tugged Rue's arm. “Père Lachaise cemetery is close by. I'd like to visit Oscar Wilde's grave. Come with me?”

 

“A moonlit walk with you? Through a cemetery? In a heartbeat.” Small kiss. 

 

Billy stood up. 

 

“Dimas asked me to go up to him. Said he'd never seen someone so fast so maybe we could spar.”

 

“Not a bad idea. He could probably give you some pointers too.”

 

“You think he was flirting?”

 

“What?”

 

“Never mind.” He rolled his eyes as he went up the stairs. “Sapphics.”

 

—-

 

The night and next day passed without much incident. Remy and Rue had a walk down the Tuileries Garden now that the weather had cleared up and fed the birds. It had been long since they'd been able to relax like this. Their last two destinations had left something to be desired. 

 

“Do you miss this?” Rue asked? 

 

“Civilian life? Or France?”

 

“Both, I guess.”

 

Remy wrapped her arm around Rue's and leaned her head against her shoulder as they strolled along. 

 

“The quiet… Sometimes. But it's never very quiet in here.” She tapped her head. Remy was a pretty powerful empath. She could sense distress, any kind, from miles away if she had to. No thoughts but gut feelings and panic and sadness. She had learned how to tone it down considerably at a young age, but turning it off wasn't an option. It was a constant background noise of human misery. Sometimes she would rather be in a disaster area, listening like a bloodhound to find people stuck under rubble, putting her ability to use. Here… She couldn't help someone with a depression three blocks away. She had to endure it. They walked past a man playing Chevalier on an accordeon. 

 

”France… Not so much. Not these days. I've seen so much of the world now. The obsession with French culture, with European history… I'm over it. There's so many things and people I haven't seen that I never learned about in school. The food though. The food I miss.” 

 

“I could eat,” Rue smiled. ”Where would you like to go?”

 

Remy looked at her with love and gratitude and kissed her cheek. It was so hard to resist sometimes. 

 

“I know a lovely bistro just across the Seine. You'll love it.”

 

—-

 

Lisa stayed in, kept examining the medical records trying to separate the medical from the unexplained. She had her own office on the third floor where she could work, and work out, unimpeded. 

 

She was cross-referencing the medical data with the one from last-year's lycanthropy case, and there were some interesting parallels there. She also watched the video footage of Maxine healing the patients, which was decidedly unpleasant but informative nonetheless. It was familiar. She worked out when she needed to think, doing pull-ups or abusing her punching bag, then going back to her notes. It was familiar and she didn't like it. The floors were soundproof so she didn't hear Billy and Dimas actually sparring upstairs. 

 

Both shirtless, Dimas had requested Billy make it hard for him, but suggested he didn't take it easy on either of them. At about ten percent faster, Billy was barely a match for him. His technique was also lacking, and Dimas actually swept the legs out from under him more than once. 

 

“Why am I even doing this?” He grumbled as he was helped up. 

 

“Maybe some day your powers won't work, and then you won't see your opponent coming. Then you have to anticipate. Again.”

 

They tried sparring at different “speeds”, trying to find the cutoff, where Dimas’ incredibly toned body was compared to the average human body. Not that Billy was average, everyone working for Lux In Tenebris trained extensively. They couldn't afford not to. 

 

In the meantime, Dimas also taught him how to jab more accurately, and how to deflect a strike to open up an opponent for a counterattack. Billy was learning much, but he was ever so slightly distracted by the heaving, sweating, muscular chest in front of him, not to mention the vice-like grip Dimas had when he grabbed his wrist to show this or that throw. 

 

They continued like this until every muscle in Billy's body ached and asked him politely yet firmly to knock it the fuck off. He stumbled and fell into Dimas who held him up. Gosh, even his abs were rock hard. 

 

“Perhaps we take a break, yes?”

 

“Yes. Coffee?”

 

“Please.”

 

They took turns showering then went downstairs and sat down in a couple of sofas, steaming cups of coffee in their hands. Billy could hardly lift his. 

 

“That was an impressive workout, William. Perhaps next time you can go even faster, really give me a run for my money, eh?”

 

Billy rubbed his neck. Every part of him was sore. Ellie pretended not to be listening in from a nearby desk. 

 

“Yeah. Let's wait a bit though, I'm spent. My everything hurts.”

 

Dimas chuckled. “That is understandable. You've never had to train like this before.”

 

“Oh, don't worry, V puts me through my paces. But she says she refuses to teach me martial arts until I am more ‘in sync’ with my own body.”

 

Dimas nodded. “Wise woman. Perhaps we can kill two birds with one stone. I can give you a massage later. It will help with the pain in your muscles, and it can help you connect with yourself more.”

 

Billy couldn't say anything. His head was beet red. Dimas did him the courtesy of pretending not to notice. Ellie was grinning so wide she thought the top of her head might fall off. 

 

“I- I eh… I'd like that. I think. Maybe.”

 

“Excellent!” Dimas stood up to his impressive six foot four. 

 

“It's a date!” 

 

Whether or not to chalk that up to Dimas’ grasp of English or a well hidden streak of playfulness, Ellie didn't know, but it had its effect on Billy. As soon as Dimas had disappeared up the stairs, Billy dramatically swooned off the couch and Ellie burst out laughing. 

 

“You're hopeless.”

 

“How would you feel if you just got flirted with like that?”

 

“Um, uncomfortable? Flirting doesn't do it for me.”

 

“Valiiiid,” He groaned from the floor. “But uuuuuugh, he's so hot.”

 

“I don't see it.”

 

“Fine, don't sleep with him then.”

 

“Fine. I won't.”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Great.”

 

They giggled. 

 

Billy sat up and regretted it, and hoisted himself onto the couch with difficulty and finished his coffee. “I'm going to take a nap. Please wake me up when my five o’clock massage appointment is here, miss Quilty.”

 

Ellie stuck a pen behind her ear to look more secretarial. “Of course, Mister McQueen. Enjoy your rest.”

 

—- 

 

Maxine was recovering well, but slowly. She'd never been this tired after healing people, but this wasn't ordinary damage or illness. Like she'd been having to fight every step of the way. 

 

It was like that when we first met 

 

“Oh?”

 

You resisted me. That's why I couldn't shift you permanently.

 

“I remember.” It wasn't a pleasant memory. When Penumbra had first given her the body she needed, her subconscious had pushed her out of it again. The process had been excruciating. Over time, she'd learned appreciate herself more and untangled a lot of self-hate. Her body was hers now. But at first...

 

“You're saying they're resisting us healing them.”

 

Them, or something else 

 

“The disease itself maybe? Something sentient?”

 

Could be. If anyone figures it out, it'll be Westbrooke. 

 

“Yeah, she just might. We're lucky to have her. I worry about her though. She's… High strung.”

 

Can't blame her. Not after Kabul. 

 

“I just wish we could do more to help her.”

 

Remy is doing what she can. 

 

“Yeah, she's a miracle worker.”

 

She'll heal. You did too. 

 

“True. You're full of wisdom today.”

 

Well, I had a lot of time to think while we were practically comatose. 

 

“Like you weren't in that room with me.”

 

I… Yes. Fine. But let's try to avoid doing that again, it was less than pleasant. 

 

“I hear you. Blugh. Plugging into dead flesh like that. Please and no thank you.”

 

At least we got them out. You saved their lives. 

 

“I just told you we did. You were there too.”

 

Just take the compliment you absolute nerd 

 

Just then, Victoria walked in with a tray

 

“How are you two doing? I brought you some soup”.

 

“I'm good.”

 

“Getting there.”

 

“Glad to hear it.” She kissed her once on each cheek, and then on the nose. “One for each of you,” she'd quipped once, ”and one for the both of you.” It was cute and it had stuck.

 

“Think you'll be good to go out tonight?”

 

“Pretty sure, yeah. Penny is almost at full strength again. We just gotta fill up our reserves and we Gucci.”

 

“Alright but try not to strain yourselves too much. Running Lit Inc without you would be a hassle.” She joked but it hid real worry, badly. 

 

Maxine set the tray aside and hugged Victoria. She didn't need to say anything, honestly. V knew she'd do her best to stay out of trouble. That she'd probably fail and get into trouble. But also that she'd not only get out of trouble but would probably help someone while she was at it. It was one of the many reasons she loved her so much. 

 

“I wish I could go out there with you,” Victoria whispered. 

 

“I know, baby. If Penny ever turns out to have a sibling we'll let you know.” She pulled back and smiled, and wiped a tear from Victoria's cheek. 

 

“Until then, I promise I'm coming home to you. Every time.”

 

“You better. Dork.”

 

“I love you.”

 

“I know.”

 

“Every time.”

 

“Every time.”

 

—

 

Billy went to to Dimas’ room with a mixture of fear and excitement. He knocked. 

 

“Come in.”

 

He pushed the door open. Dimas had made the bed so that it could hypothetically be used for massages. Among other things. 

 

“Ah, William. Good to see you. Are you ready?”

 

Billy squinted as he shuffled closer. 

 

“I don't know. Am I?”

 

“Let's find out together, oui?”

 

Billy put his hands on Dimas’ chest. He was almost - but not quite - quivering. 

 

“If you are uncomfortable, just say the word, d’accord? I don't want you t-”

 

They kissed. Of course they did. 

 

“Demis, for the love of all that is holy, shut up.”

 

He sat on the bed. 

 

“But please keep talking.”

 

Downstairs, Ceecee begrudgingly passed Ellie a $10 note. 

 

—-

 

Evening fell and everyone gathered in the office well rested. Billy had had his second shower of the day and was sitting in a bean bag looking incredibly pleased with himself. Remy on Rue’s lap looked like a couple of teenagers. The whole place oozed queer energy and Maxine and Victoria were secretly proud of this weird little family they had created for themselves. They'd done a mental headcount together. 

 

“So we've got three trans women,” Max started. 

 

“That we know of.”

 

“That we know of, right.”

 

“Four lesbians, and Lisa, who is straight as a horseshoe but figuring herself out.”

 

“A disaster bisexual.”

 

“Two nonbinary folks, counting Penny.”

 

“And our Ace baby.”

 

They kissed. 

 

“We did good, babe.”

 

“Heck Yeah.”.

 

But that was half an hour ago. Maxine was herself again and was giving last minute orders. 

 

“To recap: Saint Dimas and I will look through the Third district, and try to find our mystery disease vector. I want our medical team, that means you too, Ceecee, on standby in case any more patients come in. Every hospital in the city knows the exact symptoms they have to send our way. Keep them sedated until I get back. Everyone else be close by, you never know when we might need you. Ellie, stay near your phone just in case.”

 

“On it, chief.”

 

“Lisa, any word on what we're actually dealing with?”

 

Lisa stepped forward, still learning to unlearn her military motions. 

 

“I have… A working theory. It looks like it's a pathogen that is based on rabies, but it's mutated almost beyond recognition. It looks like it forces the infected to take on physical traits of its host, but kills it in the process. Why and how the brain stays intact so long after the heart stops beating is anyone’s guess right now, but we should consider ourselves lucky for that.”

 

“Could this happen naturally?”

 

Lisa shook her head. 

 

“I don't see it.”

 

“Great. So it's either supernatural, a freak science experiment gone wrong or it's a bioweapon. If it's the first, it's not gonna spread fast but it'll be hard to stop. The second is the best case scenario. The third... We'll cross that bridge if and when we get to it."

 

“The good news is that all the patients have recovered and have been sent home. They've lost all memory of the past few weeks but beyond that they'll be fine.”

 

“Silver linings. Good, we need those.”

 

Maxine turned to Dimas. He was fully healed and ready to go, wearing his full cowl and cape again, as well as his utility belt. Ellie had wanted to get a look at it but the first time she'd touched it it had given her a shock. The man was clearly a little paranoid. 

 

“Are you ready for this?” Maxine asked. 

 

“I am always ready. Are you?”

 

She grew in stature until she towered over him, and then her skin became their skin, oily and purple, and Spite grinned him in the face. It was probably taking him every ounce of self control not to start chucking bombs at her again. 

 

“Yes. We are.”