Whiteout Ch. 07

The alarm went off.

Val groaned. The room swam as she slowly opened her eyes. She sat up in her bed and turned the alarm off. It felt like she'd slept for a thousand years. She got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom, tossing her t-shirt and panties on her bedroom floor.

As she got in the shower, she felt like something was strange in some indescribable way. Even though she'd been doing this exact routine every day for years, today it felt off. Like there was something there that shouldn't be, or something missing that should be.

She tried to put it out of mind. You're just being paranoid. Nothing's wrong.

She got out of the shower and heard her phone ping.

"Yun-hee sent you a message.

hey! sorry about last night, mustve gotten super drunk and blacked out. hope i didn't embarrass us too much -_-"

Right, last night. We went to a bar, and...

Val frowned. What did happen last night?

She remembered arriving at the bar, and the creepy guy who tried to buy them drinks, and the loud frat boys sitting behind them, and then... nothing.

For a moment, Val panicked. Why can't I remember? Did something bad happen? But then, a feeling of calm washed over her. Her whole body went slightly slack, and a peaceful, serene smile formed on her face. Nothing's wrong, Valerie. You just got drunk and blacked out. Happens to everyone.

She nodded, as if confirming her own thoughts to herself. Right. I got drunk and blacked out.

She let those thoughts fade into the background and started getting dressed.

* * *

Gibson was always early to Team Rainbow's daily meetings. When Val's portal opened in the meeting room, he was already sitting at the table, idly checking his phone. He saw her and put the phone down. "Val!"

The portal closed behind her. "Hey, Gibson. What's up?"

"How are you? You left in a bit of a hurry yesterday, we were all worried about you."

Val sat down. "Fine, I guess. I don't know what was up yesterday, I was just... on edge."

"It's a lot of pressure, I'm sure. I mean, the whole case against Blanc is riding on you."

"I guess it is. But, it's like you said. We only need one person."

Gibson sighed. "Yeah, I did say that."

"Is something wrong?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, Val, I'm just getting kind of a weird feeling about all this. Like, when Reuben and Yun got into it yesterday. Something about the way he argued with her made it seem like he wants to drop this whole thing."

"Well, I'm sure that's not gonna happen!"

"I hope you're right."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. They turned and saw Yun-hee entering the room. When she saw Val, she blushed and averted her gaze. "...hey."

Gibson flicked his eyes between Yun-hee and Val. "Um... is there something up, here? Because I'm picking up some unresolved tension."

"Oh, no!" Val stammered. "We just, uh, had a big night together." She paused. "Wait, uh, that's not-"

"I mean, look, ladies," Gibson said, holding back a laugh, "I've got no problem with any of that."

"We didn't have sex, Gibson!" Val snapped.

"What's this about Yun-hee and Val having sex?"

Val groaned. Of course Brayden had to show up right then. He walked past Yun-hee, who by this point had her head in her hands, and sat next to Gibson.

"Look," Val explained, "Yun and I just went out for drinks last night. That's all."

Yun-hee nodded. "Y-Yeah. We just went out for drinks." She sat between Gibson and Val and avoided looking at anyone else.

"But I thought you didn't drink, Val?" Gibson said.

Val shrugged. "Well, I must've had a few. Because I blacked out at some point. Probably didn't even drink that much, my tolerance has gotta be really low."

"I mean," Yun-hee said, a bit of confidence returning to her voice, "I was pretty persistent about it. That's what I remember, anyway."

"So, neither of you remember what happened last night?" Gibson sounded concerned.

For a moment, Val thought she remembered something. She saw a picture in her head of Yun-hee naked. But that was almost too absurd to consider. Nothing happened between you and Yun-hee last night, Valerie. "That sounds bad when you say it out loud, but seriously, Gibson, we're fine!"

"Excuse me," said an unfamiliar voice. "Is this a bad time?"

Val turned around. She blinked. "You're..."

"Mr. Hawthorne!" Reuben entered the room behind Raymond. "Glad you could make it."

Raymond shook Reuben's hand. "Well, I figured it wouldn't be a good look to play hooky on my first day."

Reuben smiled. "I, uh, don't think we have any other chairs."

"Standing's fine," said Raymond. "I don't think this will take very long, anyway."

Reuben and Raymond walked over to the head of the table. Reuben sat down, and Raymond stood over his shoulder. Val stared in confusion. What the hell is he doing here?

Reuben cleared his throat. "I'm very excited to announce that Team Rainbow has acquired a new sponsor!"

The room was quiet for a moment.

Then Gibson chuckled. "Oh, I fucking knew it."

"Knew what?" Reuben glared at him.

"He bought you too, huh?" Gibson pointed at Raymond. "Lemme guess, the Monopoly Man found out we were investigating his so-called-girlfriend, and he wanted to get us off her back?"

"Nothing of the sort!" said Raymond. "I'm merely giving back to our city's beloved guardians. I have no plans to interfere with your operations."

"Why would we believe you?" Yun-hee piped up. "You all but bribed Marvin to stop the PCPD's investigation."

"Did he tell you that?" Raymond chuckled and shook his head. "That guy was not happy when I told him I wasn't pressing charges. You know cops, always chomping at the bit to get their man, even when there's no actual crime."

"I'm pretty sure there is one, actually." Gibson turned his head towards Val.

Raymond looked over at Val. "So you're the one." He walked over to her, a serious look on his face. "Listen, I'm sorry about whatever happened to you. It must've been awful."

"But you still support Blanc," Val replied. "You still think she's a good person?" And I don't? Val could feel her cheeks burning red, but tried to maintain her composure.

Raymond smiled warmly. It didn't reach his eyes. "Tell you what, Violet. Let's you and I have a meeting tomorrow." He extended his hand. "I'm sure we can work all this out."

She glared at him. Something about him seemed unnatural. His slicked-back hair, immaculately-tailored suit, and unsubtle spray-tan made him look like he came off a businessman assembly line. But, if he was gonna be adding to her paycheck, she might as well hear him out. "Alright."

Val shook his hand and felt something. It wasn't unpleasant - far from it. It was like a gentle, subtle buzz at the back of her head. She smiled. She couldn't really describe it, but this handshake felt right, somehow. She felt totally at ease.

Raymond let go of her hand. "How about after the daily meeting tomorrow? Does that sound good?"

Val blinked. "Uh. Y-Yeah. Sure, sounds good."

"Great!" He checked his watch. "Ah. Got a meeting coming up. I think we're good here? Reuben, what do you think?"

"If you have somewhere to be, Mr. Hawthorne, then by all means." Reuben looked like a teacher's pet, sucking up to Raymond for brownie points. Maybe he's trying to get a raise.

"Right," Raymond said. "Well, I'll be off. Great meeting all of you!" He walked out of the room, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.

"Douchebag," muttered Brayden.

Gibson scowled. "My thoughts exactly."

"Gibson and Brayden actually agreeing on something?" Reuben chuckled. "Christ, what is the world coming to."

Val stood up. "I need to take a walk." She walked briskly out of the meeting room.

Gibson ran after her. "Val!"

Val stormed down the hallway, her eyes pointed down at the floor. Gibson darted towards her. "Val, wait up!"

"Leave me alone, Gibson."

He ran in front of her and blocked her path. "Val, c'mon, talk to me."

"I just need some fresh air," she sighed.

"Look, Val, I get it. You're pissed about Raymond coming in and-"

"That's not it," Val snapped. "Why do you always think you know what I'm thinking?"

Gibson shrugged. "Well, I'd be pissed in your shoes. Fuck, I'm pretty pissed already."

Val glared at him. "I don't need you to be angry on my behalf."

"I'm just trying to help you."

She pushed past him. "I don't need help."

"Val, listen!" He grabbed her wrist. "You don't think it's weird that you've been clean and sober for years, and all of a sudden you get blackout drunk? And you're not even hungover the next morning?"

"Let me go!" She wrestled her arm away from his grip. "I already told you, I'm fine!"

"But-"

"Just leave me alone, Green!"

Val opened a portal down to the ground floor and stepped through.

* * *

It had been a while since Val actually walked around downtown. She usually just took a portal for her morning commute out of convenience. Instant transportation meant not taking the bus, which meant not dealing with traffic or bus stops or the often uncomfortably bizarre people you meet on the bus early in the morning.

But despite the convenience, a part of her missed the atmosphere of the city streets. At this point in the morning, most people were already at work, so it wasn't quite as crowded as it was back when Val still rode the bus. But it wasn't empty by any means. Tourists outside the Team Rainbow building were falling over themselves to take selfies, proudly showing off to their friends that they visited the headquarters of one of the most famous superhero teams in the country. Val chuckled. They had no idea how close they came to actually snagging a photo with an actual member of Team Rainbow.

She passed through the crowds anonymously, walking a wide berth around the people in fake Team Rainbow costumes posing for pictures. Today there was even someone dressed as Violet Angel. The fake Violet smiled and signed autographs and worked the crowd like a pro.

There was something faintly disturbing about seeing a duplicate of herself. It was like looking at the Violet she wished she could be. She was never comfortable with the idea of being a celebrity, which is why she counted herself lucky to be more of a supporting member of the team. Not much use for portals in fighting supervillains, after all. She got everyone from point A to point B, maybe threw some punches, and then got everyone back to A. It was her teammates who got their pictures posted online and on the news, while she hung out in the background. When she was thrust into the spotlight, she always felt so awkward and unnatural. The crowds of fans and cops were overwhelming. She had to force herself to smile in pictures.

She pushed those thoughts aside.

Right now she needed somewhere quiet.

She went down a couple blocks to a coffee shop she hadn't been to in some time. She used to frequent this place a lot, before she joined Team Rainbow. It was one of the few shops in Prism City that hadn't been swallowed up by a big chain, and though it was a bit pricey, it was worth it for the atmosphere alone. The walls were a three-way mixture of peeling floral wallpaper, green carpeting, and wood paneling. Half the chairs were held together with duct tape and prayers. They clearly hadn't redecorated since the early 1980s, and it gave the place an appealingly retro charm.

Today there were only a couple other people inside: one guy on a Macbook who looked like the picture they'd use in a dictionary next to the word "hipster," and a woman working behind the counter. She had a lot of tattoos and a black mohawk that stood at odds with her light brown uniform. She was looking down at her phone, but with how dead the place was, Val couldn't exactly blame her.

Val walked up to the counter. "Hi, could I get a cinnamon cappuccino?"

The woman behind the counter looked up. "We don't have that syrup stuff here."

"Oh. Well, I guess that's fine. Just a regular cappuccino, then."

"Uh-huh."

Something about the woman behind the counter seemed familiar. Val looked at the woman's nametag. She didn't know anyone named "Marie." Where have I seen her before? She doesn't really look like a criminal, even with the punk aesthetic.

"That'll be $5.30," Marie said.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Val handed Marie her card.

When Marie handed it back, she said, "So you're Weiss' new side piece, right?"

WHAT. Val froze. She tried to ask "What are you talking about?" but it came out in a halting stammer.

Marie chuckled. "You probably don't remember. I saw you at the munch a few days ago. I was wearing the dress?"

Val blinked. "Oh, y-yeah. Lilith, right? You had that guy with you."

"Mhm." Marie got to work on Val's drink, letting the espresso machine slowly drip coffee into the cup. "He's a doll, honestly. Really sweet. And he can rock a dress better than most chicks I know."

"Honestly, I didn't even realize he was a guy until I saw the cage."

"Yeah, he's been locked up tight for a couple months now." Marie pulled out a handheld mixer and stirred up the milk, letting it get nice and foamy.

"I don't think I could handle that," Val giggled.

"Neither did he. But he learned restraint pretty quick. I'm a good teacher." She swirled the milk around a bit before pouring it into the cup. She handed it to Val. "There you go."

"Thanks." Val looked down and noticed the spiral pattern Marie had left in the cappuccino. "Cute."

"Careful, don't stare at it too long," Marie chuckled. "Hey, have you talked to Patti recently?"

Val took a sip. "Not since the munch, why?"

"She sent out a big email earlier. Said Weiss is banned from the Pink Mansion until further notice."

"Really?" Val's eyes widened. "Why?"

"Beats me. They seemed really close. Has Weiss said anything?"

"No." Val shrugged. "It's probably between them."

"Well, it'll suck not seeing her around anymore. Hope they can patch things up."

"Yeah." Val felt someone watching her. She turned around and saw the hipster guy staring at them. He quickly glanced away and pretended to be looking out the window. "Well," Val continued, "it was fun talking with you. I'll see you around."

"Yep." Marie was already looking at her phone again.

Val sighed and took a seat by the window. Weird running into a Pink Mansion regular here of all places. But today's been pretty weird already, guess I can't be too surprised. She took a sip of her drink and smiled. Yep. Just as good as I remember it.

She looked out the window of the coffee shop. The Team Rainbow tower loomed over the city streets. Even though its design was similar to any other anonymous glass skyscraper you'd find in a big city like Prism, it somehow seemed to stand apart from the rest. The building was so lacking in personality that it could only have been designed by a committee. When Team Rainbow was first founded, each of its sponsor corporations had equal say in how it would be presented, which meant three different boards of directors calling the shots on every aspect of its "brand identity." So they ended up with an eyesore of a skyscraper and generic names like "Violet Angel."

Wonder what all the suits are thinking about this Blanc stuff. Oh, who am I kidding? They probably don't even check in on our day-to-day operations. They just cash the checks when we make the news. Probably won't be too happy when I end up in court against Blanc, though. Val took another sip. ...Shit. I'm gonna have to go to court against Blanc. Weiss. God, that's gonna be a nightmare.

She could picture Weiss' face, staring at her as she gave her testimony. The pain in her eyes. The feeling of utter betrayal she'd feel in that moment. Would Val have to detail their relationship beyond that one night in the recording studio? Her civilian identity was secured under the law, but would she have to publicly out her kinks for the rest of the world? What would that mean for the team? For Val?

The cup shook in her hand. It was too much. Part of her wanted to see Blanc brought to justice, but another part of her wanted to protect Weiss, and yet another part of her just wanted to belong to Madame. She was in way, way too deep now, and she couldn't tell if she wanted out of it anymore.

Val felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a new message.

"Mistress Weiss sent you a private message.

Hey.

..."Hey?" Just "hey?" Val fired off a message of her own.

"Hey yourself :P How are you?"

She took another sip of her coffee just as another message came in.

"Mistress Weiss sent you a private message.

Surviving. Patricia and I had a fight."

Val winced. Shit. I knew that.

"Yeah, I heard. Ran into Lilith at a coffee shop, she told me you're banned from the Mansion?"

Weiss didn't get back to her right away. All Val saw was the three little dots telling her she was typing something. The anxiety of not knowing what Weiss would say was agonizing. Finally, Val got another message.

"Mistress Weiss sent you a private message.

Yeah. Don't wanna talk about that, if that's okay."

Dammit. Knew I shouldn't have probed.

"That's totally fine!"

Neither of them sent any messages for a few minutes after that. Val's coffee started to get cold. She's probably hurting right now. I should do something to help her take her mind off stuff.

"Do you wanna do anything tonight?"

The three dots came back. Whoever came up with that idea is a monster.

"Mistress Weiss sent you a private message.

I don't wanna do any hypnosis right now."

Val sighed. I wasn't even asking about that! She took another sip of her drink. ...Okay, I might have been asking about that. She drummed her fingers on the table, trying to think of something to say. I mean... I do care about her. I don't think we need to only interact through kinky stuff. We can be regular girlfriends sometimes. She smiled at the mental image - her and her leather-clad goth girlfriend, out doing mundane stuff like grocery shopping and getting ice cream. Yeah... I think I'd like that a lot.

"We don't have to do any of that. We can just do a normal, boring, totally non-kinky date."

Rather than wait around for the three dots to stop taunting her, Val decided to head back home. She knew better than to risk a portal in this part of the city, so she ducked out of the coffee shop and hailed a cab. When she got back to her apartment, she finally heard back from Weiss.

"Mistress Weiss sent you a private message.

Movie?"

Val smiled. Movie it is.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Weiss muttered.

Val was taken aback at how downtrodden Weiss looked. The other woman approached her without the confidence she usually showed; her shoulders were slumped, and she kept her head pointed down at the floor. She even wore dark sunglasses, even though the sun was practically set by this point in the evening.

Val walked up to her and smiled. "Hey!" She embraced Weiss, and the other woman tensed up and froze.

"H-Hey, Valerie," Weiss said.

Val pulled away. Weiss wouldn't look at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Weiss tried to move past her, but Val blocked her path. "Weiss, c'mon. Tell me."

"Really, it's nothing. Let's just go inside, okay?"

Val opened her mouth to speak, but Weiss grabbed her hand and dragged her into the building. That feeling of anticipation and excitement that Val felt back at the munch came rushing back to her, but it was now mixed with concern. What's up with her today? Is she upset about Patti?

The two women made their way to the back of the line. Val tried to ease some of the tension she felt. "So, what movie are we gonna see?"