Fic: Truth Will Out (Black Lightning)
Title: Truth Will Out
Fandom: Black Lightning (TV)
Characters/Pairings: Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi, Lynn Stewart, Jennifer Pierce
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,949
Summary: Three times Anissa thought about telling Grace and one time she actually did.
Read on AO3 or
1.
“How did you take it when Dad told you he was Black Lightning?” Anissa asked her mother as they worked together on the evening’s salad.
Next to her, Lynn’s steady chopping faltered, sputtered, and died. “You want to tell Grace,” she said flatly. It wasn’t disappointment in her voice, nor sadness or even disapproval, but some combination of the three.
Anissa’s heart sank. “You don’t think I should.”
So far, Grace had been beyond accommodating, not asking about Anissa’s crazy hours or her habit of running off every time her phone rang. Lately though, she’d been getting this tight-lipped look, like she was just about done with it. And frankly, so was Anissa. Being Thunder was a huge part of her life. Keeping it a secret was like being back in the closet and she’d sworn to herself she was never hiding who she was like that again.
Lynn pursed her lips. “I think you need to think long and hard before tell her anything.”
“You don’t trust her.” Anissa threw the lettuce she’d been tearing up into the salad bowl.
“I don’t know her,” Lynn said tartly, scraping the cucumbers she’d been chopping off the board onto Anissa’s lettuce.
Anissa winced at the implied rebuke. She been meaning to introduce Grace to her parents, she really had. But then Uncle Gambi had faked his own death and then there was all that craziness with the twins and Jen running away and on and on. It was just non-stop drama lately and there was never a good time do the introduction thing.
“Well, I do know her,” she said, grabbing a pepper and slamming it down on her cutting board, “and I trust her.”
“Glad to hear it, but this isn’t about trust. It’s about-” She broke off, grabbing a tomato and rushing to the sink to rinse it even though everything had already been washed. “When your father told me, I was terrified.” Her shoulders curled up defensively as she spoke. “I kept imagining him out there, hurt, killed. And after you and Jen were born, it got worse. I’d be up all night, worrying about how I’d raise you girls if he never came back or worse, what might happen if someone figured out who he was. It was a lot and it pretty much destroyed our marriage.”
Anissa leaned back against the counter as she listened to her mom talk. That explained a lot. All the quiet arguments. Mom’s issues with Uncle Gambi. All of it. Back when the divorce was going through, her parents had been so cagey about it. Everyone with eyes could see they still loved each other, but they kept insisting they’d just grown apart. Black Lightning made everything make sense.
“Lies can destroy a relationship too.”
“They can,” Lynn agreed, returning to the counter with her extra-clean tomato. “I’m not saying don’t tell her. Just…be mindful of the burden you’ll be placing on her.”
A burden. The truth was a burden. She hadn’t really thought of it that way, but it was, wasn’t it? Right now she was baring it alone. Sharing the load had seemed like a good idea, but who knew if Grace could take it?
“Yeah, okay,” Anissa agreed with a slow nod. She’d waited this long to tell. The truth could at least wait until after she introduced Grace to her parents.
2.
“Grace? You home?” Anissa called out she let herself into her girlfriend’s apartment. She needed her to be home. There was nothing like a good fight to get her blood pumping and nothing like almost getting her asked kicked to leave her craving something life affirming.
“That you, Anissa?” Grace stepped out of the bathroom, toweling off her hair. A second towel barely covered the swell of her breasts, her skin still flush from the heat of her shower. A line of water snaked down the dragon tattoo on her arm to drip on the floor. As sights went, she was pretty damn life affirming.
“Hmmm, baby.” Anissa went in for a kiss. “What do you say to getting sweaty all over again?” she asked, tugging gently at the towel.
“I think I can be persuaded,” Grace said, dropping it to the floor and drawing Anissa in.
They stumbled back towards the bedroom, kissing and shedding Anissa’s clothes as they went. Blouse on the floor. Bra flung across the back of the couch. Grace was working on the belt when she managed hit the bruise across Anissa’s stomach hard enough to leave her gasping.
Grace broke off mid-kiss. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Anissa said, wrapping her arms around her waist and wishing she still had a shirt to pull down over it.
Grace gently pulled Anissa’s arm’s clear to study the bruise. It was shaping up to be a doozy. Half her stomach was already turning purple. “Jesus! What happened?”
“I-”
This was a perfect segue fort revealing the whole Thunder thing. It was practically on the tip of her tongue, but her mother’s words stopped her. The truth was a burden and here was incontrovertible proof that being a superhero was dangerous as hell. She could tell the truth and ruin everyone’s night, or lie and hope Grace would forgive her later.
“Some asshole tried to grab my purse. I know it looks bad, but you should see the other guy,” she said with a chuckle. That part was the truth anyway. He’d hit her with a bat. She’d put him through a wall. Sucked to be the other guy.
Grace still looked upset though. “Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, taking a step back. “We should-”
Anissa grabbed her hands and pulled them back onto her hips. “We should keep going,” she purred, drawing Grace into a kiss. After a moment’s hesitation, she started kissing back and it was off to the races.
3.
Anissa gently touched Grace’s face in the photo of her with her foster parents. She’d been doing that a lot lately, like it would somehow bring her back or keep them connected or something. Honestly though, after what Uncle Gambi told her about Grace’s past, she was starting to wonder if they’d ever really connected at all. There was so much Grace hadn’t told her and so much she hadn’t told Grace. Secrets all around. They really were a matched set.
Jen flopped down on the couch next to her. “That Grace?” she asked, peering over Anissa’s shoulder to study the picture. “They seem like a nice family.”
Anissa let out a slightly hysterical laugh as she hurriedly tucked the photo away. Maybe they had been a nice family. Maybe they’d been terrible. Too bad Grace had never trusted her enough to say either way.
“Look,” Jen said, awkwardly pushing her hair behind her ear, “what I said about her not wanting to be with you? I was way out of line. I was hurting and-”
“No, no, it’s cool.” Anissa waved off the apology. “I just can’t help thinking you’re right. I took her for granted and kept so much from her. Why would she want to stick with me?”
Mom had said the truth was a burden that kept her up at night and Anissa had heeded that. Every time there’d been a moment when she could have come clean, she’d chosen to keep her mouth shut, thinking she was protecting Grace from worry. But what if the truth could have set them free? What if telling Grace about Thunder would have helped her open up about the whole human trafficking thing and whatever those pills were for?
“I’m not even gonna pretend I can give advice on that,” Jen said, throwing up her hands in surrender. “Khalil and I had our issues, but secrets weren’t one of them.” She shook her head. “What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Anissa whispered, helplessly shaking her head. She had to find Grace first, assuming she even wanted to be found. And then, well, and then they needed to talk. About Thunder. About who Grace Choi really was and whether either of them could live with each other’s truest self.
Jen gave her a side hug with an extra squeeze. “This sucks, but I know you’ll figure something out if she really means that much to you.”
“Yeah,” Anissa breathed, resting her head on her sister’s shoulder. The problem was, Grace had a say in this relationship too. Did Anissa mean all that much to her and would she still after the Thunder reveal? That was the question.
+1
After weeks of searching and some pretty weird encounters, Uncle Gamib’s latest lead had lead Anissa to this apartment. The latest resident had paid for it using money from Grace’s account, but she clearly wasn’t Grace. They were both Asian, but this woman’s face was rounder, her nose smaller, and her lips thinner. As she answered the door, strange splotches of color rippled across her skin like oil across water.
Great, another meta. Just what Freeland needed. In any other circumstances, Anissa would be worrying about where she came from. Was she one of Tobias’ flunkies? A Green Light baby? One of the missing pod kids? Right now though, she just didn’t care. If she came between Anissa and finding Grace, she was going down. Thunder pushed her way into the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
“Go away,” the other woman growled. She raised her fists, but knew better than to attack a superhero.
“Look, I don’t want to fight you,” Anissa said, raising her hands in front of her. It was a move that looked peaceable enough, but put her in a position to block or punch if need be. Just because she didn’t want to start something didn’t mean she was going to be stupid. “I’m just trying to find someone. Her name’s Grace, Grace Choi. Maybe you’ve heard of her? You paid for this place with her money.”
The meta’s lips twisted in a snarl. “I said, go away,” she roared, and lashed out.
Anissa easily caught her arm and used it to yank her around and into a bear hug. The woman bucked and squirmed against her. “Calm down,” Anissa said, squeezing tighter. “I don’t care about the money. I just need to know if Grace is alright.”
She could feel the woman’s skin ripple and move under her hand. Glancing down, she saw the splotches swirl together to form a familiar dragon tattoo. “Grace!” Anissa gasped. “Grace is that you?”
She spun the woman around, keeping a grip on her shoulders. Her eyes were the same strange, crystalline sort of blue Grace’s eyes had turned that day at the park, but, even as she stared into them, they morphed into Grace’s usual warm brown. It was her. It had to be.
“Let go of me!” the woman, the meta, Grace yelled, pulling free from Anissa’s grasp. The splotches rippled across her face, rearranging the features into something more familiar. With Thunder blocking the door, she darted across the room and made for the fire escape.
“Grace, wait! It’s me, Anissa.”
Grace froze half-way out the window. “Anissa?”
“Yeah, baby.” Anissa pulled off her mask. Her own father hadn’t recognized her in her original costume. Between the braids and the goggles, it was no surprise Grace didn’t either. “It’s me.”
“You’re Thunder,” she said flatly, pulling back into the room. “That explains a lot.” “I’m Thunder and you’re a-” a what? A meta? A shapeshifter? Anissa gestured helplessly. “Guess we both had our secrets.” At least now that they knew, they could finally have that talk.
Fandom: Black Lightning (TV)
Characters/Pairings: Anissa Pierce/Grace Choi, Lynn Stewart, Jennifer Pierce
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,949
Summary: Three times Anissa thought about telling Grace and one time she actually did.
Read on AO3 or
1.
“How did you take it when Dad told you he was Black Lightning?” Anissa asked her mother as they worked together on the evening’s salad.
Next to her, Lynn’s steady chopping faltered, sputtered, and died. “You want to tell Grace,” she said flatly. It wasn’t disappointment in her voice, nor sadness or even disapproval, but some combination of the three.
Anissa’s heart sank. “You don’t think I should.”
So far, Grace had been beyond accommodating, not asking about Anissa’s crazy hours or her habit of running off every time her phone rang. Lately though, she’d been getting this tight-lipped look, like she was just about done with it. And frankly, so was Anissa. Being Thunder was a huge part of her life. Keeping it a secret was like being back in the closet and she’d sworn to herself she was never hiding who she was like that again.
Lynn pursed her lips. “I think you need to think long and hard before tell her anything.”
“You don’t trust her.” Anissa threw the lettuce she’d been tearing up into the salad bowl.
“I don’t know her,” Lynn said tartly, scraping the cucumbers she’d been chopping off the board onto Anissa’s lettuce.
Anissa winced at the implied rebuke. She been meaning to introduce Grace to her parents, she really had. But then Uncle Gambi had faked his own death and then there was all that craziness with the twins and Jen running away and on and on. It was just non-stop drama lately and there was never a good time do the introduction thing.
“Well, I do know her,” she said, grabbing a pepper and slamming it down on her cutting board, “and I trust her.”
“Glad to hear it, but this isn’t about trust. It’s about-” She broke off, grabbing a tomato and rushing to the sink to rinse it even though everything had already been washed. “When your father told me, I was terrified.” Her shoulders curled up defensively as she spoke. “I kept imagining him out there, hurt, killed. And after you and Jen were born, it got worse. I’d be up all night, worrying about how I’d raise you girls if he never came back or worse, what might happen if someone figured out who he was. It was a lot and it pretty much destroyed our marriage.”
Anissa leaned back against the counter as she listened to her mom talk. That explained a lot. All the quiet arguments. Mom’s issues with Uncle Gambi. All of it. Back when the divorce was going through, her parents had been so cagey about it. Everyone with eyes could see they still loved each other, but they kept insisting they’d just grown apart. Black Lightning made everything make sense.
“Lies can destroy a relationship too.”
“They can,” Lynn agreed, returning to the counter with her extra-clean tomato. “I’m not saying don’t tell her. Just…be mindful of the burden you’ll be placing on her.”
A burden. The truth was a burden. She hadn’t really thought of it that way, but it was, wasn’t it? Right now she was baring it alone. Sharing the load had seemed like a good idea, but who knew if Grace could take it?
“Yeah, okay,” Anissa agreed with a slow nod. She’d waited this long to tell. The truth could at least wait until after she introduced Grace to her parents.
2.
“Grace? You home?” Anissa called out she let herself into her girlfriend’s apartment. She needed her to be home. There was nothing like a good fight to get her blood pumping and nothing like almost getting her asked kicked to leave her craving something life affirming.
“That you, Anissa?” Grace stepped out of the bathroom, toweling off her hair. A second towel barely covered the swell of her breasts, her skin still flush from the heat of her shower. A line of water snaked down the dragon tattoo on her arm to drip on the floor. As sights went, she was pretty damn life affirming.
“Hmmm, baby.” Anissa went in for a kiss. “What do you say to getting sweaty all over again?” she asked, tugging gently at the towel.
“I think I can be persuaded,” Grace said, dropping it to the floor and drawing Anissa in.
They stumbled back towards the bedroom, kissing and shedding Anissa’s clothes as they went. Blouse on the floor. Bra flung across the back of the couch. Grace was working on the belt when she managed hit the bruise across Anissa’s stomach hard enough to leave her gasping.
Grace broke off mid-kiss. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Anissa said, wrapping her arms around her waist and wishing she still had a shirt to pull down over it.
Grace gently pulled Anissa’s arm’s clear to study the bruise. It was shaping up to be a doozy. Half her stomach was already turning purple. “Jesus! What happened?”
“I-”
This was a perfect segue fort revealing the whole Thunder thing. It was practically on the tip of her tongue, but her mother’s words stopped her. The truth was a burden and here was incontrovertible proof that being a superhero was dangerous as hell. She could tell the truth and ruin everyone’s night, or lie and hope Grace would forgive her later.
“Some asshole tried to grab my purse. I know it looks bad, but you should see the other guy,” she said with a chuckle. That part was the truth anyway. He’d hit her with a bat. She’d put him through a wall. Sucked to be the other guy.
Grace still looked upset though. “Are you sure you’re alright?” she asked, taking a step back. “We should-”
Anissa grabbed her hands and pulled them back onto her hips. “We should keep going,” she purred, drawing Grace into a kiss. After a moment’s hesitation, she started kissing back and it was off to the races.
3.
Anissa gently touched Grace’s face in the photo of her with her foster parents. She’d been doing that a lot lately, like it would somehow bring her back or keep them connected or something. Honestly though, after what Uncle Gambi told her about Grace’s past, she was starting to wonder if they’d ever really connected at all. There was so much Grace hadn’t told her and so much she hadn’t told Grace. Secrets all around. They really were a matched set.
Jen flopped down on the couch next to her. “That Grace?” she asked, peering over Anissa’s shoulder to study the picture. “They seem like a nice family.”
Anissa let out a slightly hysterical laugh as she hurriedly tucked the photo away. Maybe they had been a nice family. Maybe they’d been terrible. Too bad Grace had never trusted her enough to say either way.
“Look,” Jen said, awkwardly pushing her hair behind her ear, “what I said about her not wanting to be with you? I was way out of line. I was hurting and-”
“No, no, it’s cool.” Anissa waved off the apology. “I just can’t help thinking you’re right. I took her for granted and kept so much from her. Why would she want to stick with me?”
Mom had said the truth was a burden that kept her up at night and Anissa had heeded that. Every time there’d been a moment when she could have come clean, she’d chosen to keep her mouth shut, thinking she was protecting Grace from worry. But what if the truth could have set them free? What if telling Grace about Thunder would have helped her open up about the whole human trafficking thing and whatever those pills were for?
“I’m not even gonna pretend I can give advice on that,” Jen said, throwing up her hands in surrender. “Khalil and I had our issues, but secrets weren’t one of them.” She shook her head. “What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Anissa whispered, helplessly shaking her head. She had to find Grace first, assuming she even wanted to be found. And then, well, and then they needed to talk. About Thunder. About who Grace Choi really was and whether either of them could live with each other’s truest self.
Jen gave her a side hug with an extra squeeze. “This sucks, but I know you’ll figure something out if she really means that much to you.”
“Yeah,” Anissa breathed, resting her head on her sister’s shoulder. The problem was, Grace had a say in this relationship too. Did Anissa mean all that much to her and would she still after the Thunder reveal? That was the question.
+1
After weeks of searching and some pretty weird encounters, Uncle Gamib’s latest lead had lead Anissa to this apartment. The latest resident had paid for it using money from Grace’s account, but she clearly wasn’t Grace. They were both Asian, but this woman’s face was rounder, her nose smaller, and her lips thinner. As she answered the door, strange splotches of color rippled across her skin like oil across water.
Great, another meta. Just what Freeland needed. In any other circumstances, Anissa would be worrying about where she came from. Was she one of Tobias’ flunkies? A Green Light baby? One of the missing pod kids? Right now though, she just didn’t care. If she came between Anissa and finding Grace, she was going down. Thunder pushed her way into the apartment and slammed the door behind her.
“Go away,” the other woman growled. She raised her fists, but knew better than to attack a superhero.
“Look, I don’t want to fight you,” Anissa said, raising her hands in front of her. It was a move that looked peaceable enough, but put her in a position to block or punch if need be. Just because she didn’t want to start something didn’t mean she was going to be stupid. “I’m just trying to find someone. Her name’s Grace, Grace Choi. Maybe you’ve heard of her? You paid for this place with her money.”
The meta’s lips twisted in a snarl. “I said, go away,” she roared, and lashed out.
Anissa easily caught her arm and used it to yank her around and into a bear hug. The woman bucked and squirmed against her. “Calm down,” Anissa said, squeezing tighter. “I don’t care about the money. I just need to know if Grace is alright.”
She could feel the woman’s skin ripple and move under her hand. Glancing down, she saw the splotches swirl together to form a familiar dragon tattoo. “Grace!” Anissa gasped. “Grace is that you?”
She spun the woman around, keeping a grip on her shoulders. Her eyes were the same strange, crystalline sort of blue Grace’s eyes had turned that day at the park, but, even as she stared into them, they morphed into Grace’s usual warm brown. It was her. It had to be.
“Let go of me!” the woman, the meta, Grace yelled, pulling free from Anissa’s grasp. The splotches rippled across her face, rearranging the features into something more familiar. With Thunder blocking the door, she darted across the room and made for the fire escape.
“Grace, wait! It’s me, Anissa.”
Grace froze half-way out the window. “Anissa?”
“Yeah, baby.” Anissa pulled off her mask. Her own father hadn’t recognized her in her original costume. Between the braids and the goggles, it was no surprise Grace didn’t either. “It’s me.”
“You’re Thunder,” she said flatly, pulling back into the room. “That explains a lot.” “I’m Thunder and you’re a-” a what? A meta? A shapeshifter? Anissa gestured helplessly. “Guess we both had our secrets.” At least now that they knew, they could finally have that talk.