“There goes the bravest girl in the world,” Dean sighed as the elevator began ascending.

“What?” Victoria sounded confused, and he quickly looked around.

“Not here,” he replied. “Let me change and...maybe lunch?” She sighed.

“Dean, come on.” She put her hands on her excellent hips. “What's gotten into you about this girl? If I didn't know better I'd--”

“Please don't finish that thought,” Dean groaned. “I just became leader of the Wards, I don't need illicit rumours floating around.”

“Illicit rumours? Can do, boss.” Dennis chuckled as he headed towards the connection to the building over. Dean just rolled his eyes.

“And that's why I don't want to talk here,” he said under his breath. “So, lunch?” She hesitated, but nodded after a moment.

“Sure, you still keep a change here for me?”

Dean nodded and led the way to his little room. He went in first and changed as quickly as he could, then stepped out and let Vicky do the same. Sure, he'd love to stay for the view, but he just wasn't feeling it right now. His thoughts were on Amaranth, on Lia, the kid who saved his life despite being the most terrified person he'd ever met.

As Gallant, he regularly saw people literally pissing themselves in fear, at least when he was patrolling with Shadow Stalker. But they didn't have the awful, cancer-black dread that seemed to shoot through Lia's aura. She was hard to read at the best of times, but that feeling was never far from the surface.

He hated to break her confidence, really, but he had to ask Vicky. For all Dean's power told him, it didn't give a lick of help towards actually helping people with their issues. That didn't mean he wouldn't try, he wouldn't be a hero otherwise. It made things...tough, though. He trusted Vicky though, she'd keep a lid on things. Maybe the one person he could trust to do so.

“Okay, let's go,” Victoria said tersely, taking long strides towards the connector.

He strode after her, quickly catching up. She hooked her arm in his and he felt a little relieved. Vicky was great, but she could hold a hell of a grudge. She still brought up Vanessa, who he'd gone on one date with when he and Vicky were on a break. Well, a small price to pay for dating the coolest girl on the planet.

They headed up and out of the building just over from the headquarters. Dean led them a couple blocks over, further uphill from the downtown. A small line of people waited at a food truck, kebabs just like he'd overheard. Vicky's eyes widened and she gave his cheek a kiss. He smiled. Thank god for office gossip. They ordered and headed further up the road, to a little green space between a couple houses. They sat on the bench and slowly began eating their lunch.

“So,” Vicky said, swallowing a bite of her lunch. “Lia?” He grimaced and swallowed his own food.

“Okay, so.” He took a deep breath. “Remember in school I said she was...hurting, lonely?” She nodded. “That was only part of it. Lia is...weird, not in a bad way but like...to my powers.”

“Like with how her aura looks?” He nodded.

Exactly.” Dean pointed at her. “Yours is odd too, remember? But hers was different it was, hmm.” He took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. He gulped and waggled his hand. “Like I'm looking through another layer, if that makes sense? Everyone's emotions are layered but it's like hers are doubled up. I can't make heads or tails of it sometimes, and some things just don't add up. Like a generalized discomfort that seems vaguely directed at her body but only indirectly? Like it's her body but doesn't feel like it.”

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“That doesn't even scratch the surface, that girl is always afraid. No,” Dean paused, shaking his head. “Afraid isn't the right word. She's terrified, like a sense of impending doom is weighing her down. She's lonely too, crushingly so, and...guilt.” He shook his head again. “I don't know what she did, to any of us, but anytime she looks at you, or Amy, or hell sometimes at me, it's just...there.” He sighed and scratched his head. “I'm sorry, I don't mean to dump all this on you, but you're good at approaching people, and I need all the help I can get.”

She considered as they ate, her aura flickering as she thought. He couldn't read Vicky too well, something that led to more than one of their breaks. At the same time, he was grateful in a way. Not being constantly bombarded with knowing her feelings meant he had to ask, something he was definitely out of practice doing.

“What have you been doing so far?” Vicky asked after a few minutes of silent eating and contemplation.

“The usual,” Dean replied with a shrug. “Be friendly, open, understanding. Invite her to the team but don't force it. Uhh, I asked your sister to see her a couple times...”

“Annoyed as I am about you using Amy as a therapy dog,” she said sharply, before softening her tone. “Lia seems...a little better than back at school. Less on edge, maybe, which is saying something considering...” Another pause, another bite. “Amy talked about her a couple times, but not too much beyond watching a show and baking bread, apparently.”

“She bakes, huh?” He briefly recalled his mom baking sugar cookies when he was...god, eight? Long before the business of heroes and villains. “So, what, stay the course?” She shrugged and nodded.

“You should be a bit more confident in yourself,” Vicky said with a smile, leaning against him. “If she's ever open to talking, find out what's eating her, but don't push it; girls are delicate. And keep being the handsome, kind, amazing you you are.” He smiled and leaned in, pressing his lips briefly against her.

He frowned, thinking about the bizarre wash of feelings that coloured Lia's aura whenever she was around Amy. Some looked like guilt-infatuation, like the healer, but it was tinged with premature grief and a spark of fiery passion. He'd call it a crush, if Lia didn't act like she did. Then again, Amy acted the same way so... He sighed.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Vicky asked. Could he...no, that felt like a step too far.

“Thinking about how she saved me.” Not quite the truth, but it was why his thoughts had ever turned to Amaranth. “It um, I never told you about it did I?” She shook her head and he took a breath. “It was...it's pretty bad, so if you don't want me to share please just--”

“Dean,” Vicky interrupted, pecking his lips. “I can handle it, trust me?” He nodded and sighed.

“I wasn't on the front line even,” he began hesitantly. "They weren't sure how, or if, my power would actually work on Leviathan. Long story short, it didn't, but it sure distracted him for a second.” Dean clenched his fists. “One second he was duking it out with Dauntless and Termigaunt, the next he had jumped over them and laid into us.”

“I think it was his tail,” he said, swallowing hard. “Or a hind leg. It smashed me into the ground, trashed my armour and...and fucked me up bad.” He took a deep breath. “Amy never told me how bad it was, afterwards. I think she...almost lost me though.” He squeezed his fingers together, remembering the mysterious cape who'd somehow dragged him to safety. “We almost didn't make it at all.”

“In the fight?” He nodded silently. “Do you want to talk about it?” He shook his head. “Alright.”

They sat there in comfortable silence for a while, just leaning against each other. A rare treat in the hectic weeks after a major disaster. Even now he heard sirens in the distance as an overwhelmed police force responded to a mugging, a looting, a shooting, who could say? It wouldn't be long before Dean was back in the thick of it, Vicky too.

“Hey,” she said quietly, after a while. “We're gonna be okay, right?” He shut his eyes and considered it for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Yeah,” Dean said at last, wrapping his arm around Vicky's shoulders. “I think we are. Even if it might not seem like it, the worse is past. The rest...it's up to us.”

“Us,” she repeated, reaching up and squeezing his hand. “Thanks Dean. I...I love you.” His heart leaped and he squeezed her hand right back.

“I love you too, Vicky.”