Page 145 of Velveteen vs. The Consequences of Her Actions

“Hmmm, Pol?” Victory Anna looked around. She must have seen something in Polychrome’s expression, because she put down her unfinished gun and pushed herself to her feet, moving to wrap her arms around the taller woman. “What happened?”

“Firecracker thought we were here so I could come back to the team and take back my old position, which she’s partially filling these days.”

Victory Anna frowned. “I thought Firecracker was one of the casualties of the fight against Supermodel?”

“The original Firecracker was. Firefly changed her name after the fight. She’s Firecracker now.”

“You mean the girl with the light-up buttocks?” Victory Anna’s frown deepened. “You were threatened by a woman with an illuminated bum?”

Polychrome snickered, too taken aback to do anything else. “Yes, I mean that one. But she doesn’t like it when people talk about her butt.”

“Well, I don’t like it when she threatens my beloved, so I suppose we’re even,” said Victory Anna. “Are you all right?”

“Part of me was tempted,” said Polychrome. “Things were so easy when I was here, when this was everything I wanted. I didn’t have to make decisions, I didn’t have to worry about making mistakes. I just did what I was told, and everything was fine.”

“If you could somehow recreate my original dimension long enough to open a doorway there, I would be tempted,” said Victory Anna. “Your world is still a jarring experience. Everything is wrong, from the timeline to the faith. I miss the mysteries of Epona, and knowing the people around me understood what I was talking about when I invoked them. I would be hard-pressed not to grab your hand and drag you through the passage with me.”

“I can understand that,” said Polychrome.

“But I am a woman of science, and I understand far better than I desire that my original world is lost forever. This is my home now, here, with you, and I adore you.”

“I love you too,” said Polychrome carefully. “But what are you trying to say?”

“I am fond of the home we’ve made in Portland. I’ve even learned to be fond of Velveteen, much as her presence clashes with my memories of her. She is a ridiculous creature, and I’m not sure how she ever survived without us. But were you to call me back here, I would follow you.”

“Really?”

“My rainbow-hued beloved, I would follow you to the ends of this world, as I followed you to the ends of my last one,” said Victory Anna. “If you wanted to stay here, you would have me by your side.”

“If you’re sure,” said Polychrome.

“I’m sure,” Victory Anna affirmed, and kissed her, and everything was simple, for a while.

* * *

Like Velveteen before him, Tag was lying on his too-hard bed, eyes on the ceiling, trying to figure out why he’d allowed himself to be isolated from his team and his girlfriend, when there was a knock on his temporary door. Rolling out of the bed, he moved to answer it.

Velma stepped inside immediately, pushing past him to storm across the room and sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Vel?” Tag closed the door and turned toward her, pausing as he took in her pajamas and general state of dishabille. It wasn’t until he reached her face, and the lack of mask, that he reached up and removed his own mask, blinking at her. “Babe? You okay?”

“Aaron just came to my room and tried to convince me to come back.”

“To the team? Or to him?”

“Both. He seemed genuinely surprised when I refused his generous offers.”

“Really?”

“Really-really.” She smiled at him, lopsided, strained, and genuinely loving.

“Too bad for him,” said Tag, and moved to sit beside her. She leaned into him, and after that, neither of them cared much about how uncomfortable the beds were.

* * *

“I’m sorry, what do you mean, you made it all go away?” asked Velveteen, folding her arms as she glared at the American Dream. “There was a Black Ops team on my front lawn. That sort of thing doesn’t just go away.”

“It does when you Christmas Carol the crap out of the people paying the lobbyists to push their legislature through,” said the American Dream. “I roped the Princess and Night Shift in, and we had a lovely evening convincing rich assholes of the error of their ways. Not the most subtle approach, maybe, but they’ve pulled their support, and they’ve pulled their funding, and if I’m not wrong, they’ll be pulling their lobbyists as soon as they finish convincing the people they’d been pushing their ideas on to drop the whole thing.”