The Astonishing Adventures of Golden Girl- Part Two
The Astonishing Adventures of Golden Girl
Character(s) and Band(s): Greta Salpeter (The Hush Sound), Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), Vickyt (Cobra Starship), mentions Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), with occasional cameos by other FBR/DD bands if you squint.
Pairing(s): Greta/Vickyt, past Pete/Patrick
Word Count: 10,288
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for language
Summary: A Greta superhero!AU. When Greta was found in a crater in the suburbs of Chicago,the couple that took her in decided to raise her as a human girl. When she became a teenager, strange things began happening to her like an ability to fly and super strength. When Patrick came into her life as a mentor, she takes up the role as a vigilante known as Golden Girl, a quirky heroine with a gold sports car and found herself in love with a music columnist known as Victoria. While she loved saving Chicago when it needed her, she really just needed someone to love her and her spandex outfits. It's a love story and an origin tale for a super hero all at the same time.
Part One
Part 2
Within a month, Greta was in a routine. She would dress up in the ridiculous outfit, jump into the ridiculous car, blast ridiculous music and attack some bad guys when necessary. All was well, aside from the fact that she couldn’t get Victoria out of her head.
She began avidly reading the newspaper. While she got a thrill seeing her name in print, she always got a bigger thrill flipping to the music section. She became addicted to Victoria’s two inch photograph next to the album and concert reviews she wrote up. It was strange. Of all the emotions she was able to feel being raised by humans, the sensation of attraction never quite happened until this woman yelled fire in a dark alleyway.
She didn’t tell anyone about it, though. While she knew that her parents wouldn’t care, and she definitely knew that Patrick would want her to talk it out with him, she didn’t discuss it until she found herself in Patrick’s lab watching the security cameras. Patrick was tinkering with his computer when Greta said, “So I think I might actually be attracted toward someone.”
Patrick turned his head, bringing his hands away from the keyboard. “Oh? Who? Can I know?”
“Uh... it’s complicated.” She leaned back on her chair and twirled her finger around a lock of her hair.
“How is it complicated? It’s just a crush,” he said, “I mean, I don’t know how your alien race works as far as attraction is concerned, but as long as you don’t have feelings for your neighbor’s dog...”
“Ew! No! I have a crush on a human!” Greta stopped playing with her hair and laughed nervously.
Patrick smirked. He crossed his legs and leaned back on the chair, still smirking.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Greta asked.
He just kept his face frozen into the smirk.
“Seriously, why are you looking at me like that?”
Patrick stopped making the face and said, “You said person. I used to, I still do that. Greta, is this a girl you’re talking about?”
Greta groaned. “Yes.”
Patrick grinned. “Who is she?”
Greta cleared her throat. “Uh, well, you know the girl from the first night I was out on patrol? The one that got attacked by the same guy I did?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“She’s a music columnist. I’ve kind of been following her articles in the paper... and her blog... and I may have changed up the security camera for sector B-3 so that the area she was attacked is in focus.”
“...I was wondering why that screen looked a little off.”
“Well, I’m the reason why.” Greta looked down at her feet. It wasn’t that she felt ashamed... there really wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. However, she did feel a little strange talking to anyone about this new feeling she just developed over a girl that she highly doubted she’d ever meet as herself, as opposed to her vigilante self, which consisted of a domino mask, thigh high boots, and a gold lame cape.
Patrick rolled his chair next to hers. “There’s nothing wrong with having a crush, Greta.”
“Even though it’s on a journalist that probably meets way cooler people every weekend than some crime fighter in a ridiculous outfit?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I personally think being a vigilante in a ridiculous outfit is pretty cool.”
*
Greta didn’t anticipate that Victoria and she would cross paths on a weekend in which Victoria was at a club, doing her job. Apparently, there was some sort of gang interaction, most likely connected to the last remnants of The Dandy, going on at the side of the building. Patrick gave Greta the coordinates and she drove over to check it out.
When she entered the alleyway, she noticed a woman with long blonde hair and an accent trying to lead some sort of meeting amongst various people in dark clothing. Greta waited until there was a moment in which she could walk into the conversation.
What she didn’t expect was that the emergency exit would open up and would release the one and only Victoria.
Greta nearly flew back in shock. There was no way that her life was that convenient.
The blonde with an accent stopped mid-sentence to turn her head and stare at Victoria. Victoria put her hands on her hips and said, “Why are you guys here? This is where an interview is supposed to take place.”
The blonde stamped her foot, her heel crunching on a small pile of cigarette butts. “Sorry, honey. Business is taking place here.”
“Okay, look, I don’t really care what you guys are up to, but I have a pass and all that. So please, for all our sakes, move.”
“But, sweetie, we’re just here for the music just like you.”
Greta noticed the guys and girls that were surrounding the woman’s hands twitch. They slowly began to inch closer to Victoria.
Victoria pulled out her recorder and a writing tablet. “I’m not moving.”
The woman looked at a taller guy and snapped her fingers. “Get him, Travis.”
The man nodded obediently and said, “Of course, Maja.” He lunged forward and grabbed Victoria by the wrists. Victoria dropped her recorder and writing tablet, yellling, “Hey! I paid good money for that!”
Maja leaned in toward her face and said, “Let me be frank, dear: You don’t own us. Go take your little interview somewhere else.”
It was Greta’s cue to come out of the shadows. “What is going on here?” Greta asked, “A party I wasn’t invited to?” Hokey as hell. She didn’t quite perfect the heroic introduction, yet.
Maja turned toward her and frowned. “Oh no, it’s that Golden Girl.”
“Oh my God! It’s you again!” Victoria exclaimed. “Hey, how’s it going?”
Greta looked around the alley, noticing the guys inching closer to the two of them. “Uh, ma’am...”
Victoria noticed the crowd surrounding them. “Oh God, this is pretty bad.”
Greta swung her foot out and made a slightly more triumphant pose. “Okay, I’m going to try and not lift a hand during this. Please leave this woman alone and go take your business elsewhere. All right?”
“What makes you think we’re going to listen to some girl in spandex?” Maja asked. “Get her, Travis.”
Travis didn’t reply, he just swung his arms at Greta. Greta quickly brought her hands to her head and blocked his slapping motions. He yelled out a loud battle cry as he began to kick her. Greta braced for his kick several times before she finally was able to catch his leg and throw him into the wall. When she turned around she noticed a line of people ready to attack her as well. She sighed and decided that it was time to use her powers.
Aside from the occasional launching a person into a brick wall, Greta didn’t use her powers. She didn’t need to fly- she had a car. She didn’t need super strength- while Chicago was full of crime, there was certainly a lack of powerful criminals aside from the organized sections of it. However, Victoria deserved to see the possible victimizers get their asses kicked.
Greta was beginning to realize that whole “love makes you do crazy things” expression was definitely true.
She took Travis’ body and threw him across a line of guys. The guys flew back, hitting a girl or two. One girl jumped on her back, digging her heels into her hips. She gasped and tossed the girl off her back and into another one. She continued tossing people left and right until she finally realized that the only people standing were Maja, Victoria, and the band that Victoria was supposed to be interviewing.
Maja stamped her feet. “What the hell?!” she exclaimed, “Are you some kind of Amazon woman? That was some of the most fearsome fighters in Chicago you just beat up! How am I supposed to replace them?”
“Maybe you should consider avoiding a life of crime,” Greta suggested. Ew. Hokey. She really needed to work on that.
Maja shot daggers at her and ran off, her heels clip clopping away until she faded into the city streets. Greta decided that she probably wasn’t worth chasing, particularly because she didn’t throw a punch.
The band watched in awe. Finally, the front woman said, “Oh my God! Golden Girl! I’m such a fan! This is so exciting!”
Greta looked at her handiwork, which consisted of pulled hair, blood, and a couple of moans of pain. “Hey, thanks. Uh, can you please call 911 or something?”
The front woman nodded, pushing her red hair back. “Of course!” she chirped. She turned to one of her band mates and said, “Oh my God, do you think we can ask for a picture with her?!”
Victoria walked over to Golden Girl and shifted her feet awkwardly. “Hey, can I just say before the cops come and everything gets kinda crazy, thanks for saving my ass a second time?”
Greta felt her heart flutter. Victoria up close was infinitely better than Victoria smiling in a two inch photograph that graced her paper every day. “It’s no problem, Victoria.”
Victoria gasped. “How do you know my name?”
“Uh, you’re a music reporter. What can I say, I’m a big fan of your writing.”
For once, the notoriously calm Victoria appeared shocked. “Oh my God. Thank you.”
“Hey, Golden Girl?” one of the members of the band asked.
Greta turned toward them and fixed her cape so it lay across her shoulders. “Yeah?”
“Can we please get a picture with you?! We need to Twitpic this. Like right now.”
Greta laughed. “Of course, guys! Before the cops show up.”
“You need to pose in front of all the people you knocked out,” Victoria added.
“That’s a great idea!” the front woman shrieked. She began to ramble about how no one was going to believe her, but hopefully the photo would help. One of her band mates uncovered a camera and gave it to Victoria. She shuffled everyone accordingly, Greta in the middle. “You better do a triumphant pose,” Victoria whispered into her ear, and Greta obeyed, placing her hands on her hips. Victoria snapped a picture and gave it back to the band. She gave Greta a smile, emotions unreadable, even though they seemed positive, and went into business mode. “Okay, guys, we need to get this interview done or my boss is going to kick my ass. Why don’t we meet at the diner a few blocks from here and have the interview there?”
“You’re going to mention this happening in it, right?” a band mate requested.
“Yes, of course,” Victoria said, waving her hand. She looked at Greta one last look, breaking her business mode to say, “I would say that I hope to see you again, but I guess you only appear when I’m in trouble.”
Greta found herself unable to even string a hokey monologue to give to Victoria as a reply. “Uh, well, you know. I live here. When I’m not Golden Girl. Just an average girl that reads a really nice music columnist’s articles. Maybe you’ll meet me without this ridiculous outfit on. You just never know.”
Victoria touched Greta’s wrist. “I hope so. I think I can tell you’re a beautiful person with the ridiculous outfit and without.” She scrunched her nose. “Well, that came out suggestive.”
Greta laughed nervously. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. Stay out of trouble, everyone.”
They waved as she walked to her car. She drove away, trying to keep the butterflies in her stomach from rising out of her mouth in the form of loud, teenagery squeals.
*
Patrick decided to bother Greta about the incident when she got back from patrol. “So Victoria was attacked again,” he announced.
“Did you watch the video, you creepy old man?” Greta teased.
Patrick went to the sink to fill up a teakettle for celebratory tea time. “Well, of course I watched. I have to. It’s part of my mentor role. Your technique was flawless tonight, Greta. I’m so proud. Maybe you should have a crush on every person you save.”
“Will you stop teasing me about that? I’m sure your creepy old man mentor didn’t bother you about the guys you wanted to do while on patrol.”
“Well, you know, the only guy I ever really loved in my whole entire existence was my partner, so. You know how that goes.”
Greta watched him light the burner of his stove and said, “You really loved him, didn’t you?”
“Pete? Yeah. I did. But that’s the past, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“Have you ever thought about calling him? Or, like, just saying you’re sorry for whatever you did, even if it wasn’t your fault? Isn’t admitting defeat the basis of most relationships working long term, anyway?”
“You’re such an observant little alien girl. But, in all honesty, I wouldn’t know what to say. We just left on bad terms that I don’t think can be repaired with me just admitting defeat, as you put it.”
“What happened, exactly? Be honest. I can handle it. I may read a girl’s articles obsessively and will admit to feeling like I had a greenhouse of butterflies in my stomach when I got back in the car after I saved her, but tell me, Patrick: Why did you and Pete stop working?”
Patrick sighed. “Well, Pete and I didn’t always work together. I want to say that I started the whole thing as Golden Boy. Then Pete began doing things as Captain Clandestine a year or two after me. He was one of those rich boys that had too much time on his hands after making money in the clothing business and decided to solve crime on the side. Anyway, after a few months of us working on our separate cases, we crossed paths one night. I’ll never forget it.”
Greta looked into Patrick’s eyes. They looked lost in the memory he was trying to pull from his mind to further the story. She could feel her heart ache for him.
“Well, anyway, we were fighting this guy... he was going under the name Santi at the time. He was a total and complete nut job, but it was kind of humorous. Anyway, I ran over to the park that he was at, and I went to lunge at him, and for whatever reason, I ended up lunging into Pete.” He laughed. “We sort of stared at each other and jumped as far away as possible.”
“But you knew who you were, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course we knew who the other was. We were in uniform.”
“Go on.”
“So after the awkward moment, Santi kind of looked at us and said, ‘Are you going to make out or are you going to fight me?!’ and it snapped us back into the real world and we, oh my God, Greta, I don’t even know how to describe it, we just worked. We knew each other’s moves. We had both studied each other, and when we finally met it just worked. We pretty much knocked him out cold in five minutes flat.”
Greta watched his eyes get glassy and a smile form on his lips. No matter how he felt about Pete at that moment, the memory was stirring something inside of him that was positive.
“And then what happened?” Greta asked, feeling compelled to keep her voice very soft.
“Well... we decided to reveal our identities to each other... then realized we’d make a great team. That led to patrolling together... talking to each other about everything when we had some time between missions... and then. I don’t really know. I think that’s what can be considered falling in love. Sure, it was in spandex half the time, but we just worked, Greta. We began getting so worried about each other when we were fighting, our emotions ran so high we became stronger because of it, eventually we moved our things into each other’s apartments and at one point I honestly didn’t go to my apartment, just The Vault most of the time, because most of my Patrick things were in Pete’s apartment. If it was legal, we would have gotten married. We pretty much were. We sure acted like it.”
“But what happened?”
Patrick sighed. “Pete wanted to market Captain Clandestine. He wanted us to reveal our identities and make appearances and all that. He said that if we revealed that we were people, we could show that everyone could be a hero and make a buck off of it. I just couldn’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated. I mean, now that I’m a civilian, it’s different, but at that time I just couldn’t bear to have the pressure. People going up to me and telling me to save them if they were in trouble while I was in uniform. Stuff like that. And it caused a huge riff between us. He said that I wasn’t being fair to him, that I was ashamed of us... it was horrible. Immature. Could have been prevented. But it wasn’t.” He looked up at the ceiling, trying to resist crying. “That’s why I haven’t really told you either way about your identity and whether or not you should reveal it. Because there really isn’t a right way or a wrong way. Just because I’m some middle aged guy that lives alone in his apartment doesn’t mean you have to be in a similar situation, you know?”
Greta walked over to him and hugged him tightly. She didn’t say anything, just burrowed her head into his chest. He hugged back, rubbing her shoulder.
When they got out of the embrace Greta knew what she had to do.
*
As Greta viewed the security cameras a weekend later, she realized that being a vigilante was one step below being a stalker. She found Victoria leaving her apartment. She was going to be at another concert for some indie band that Greta downloaded the night before and decided was decent enough to put up with to meet her. Granted, she would have listened to cat howling for the girl, but she tried to appear a little less creepy than she knew she was.
Patrick watched, amused. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going as myself to meet her and pretty much say I’m in love with her. Then I’m going to say that I’m Golden Girl and hopefully she’ll date me, we’ll fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after while I save Chicago whenever it needs me.”
“I like that story. Especially because up until a year ago you were a mess.”
Greta turned to him. “Was I really a mess?”
“Oh, yeah. You were. But I loved you, nonetheless.”
She smiled. “How should I dress?”
“Wear your boots so she knows that it’s you.”
Greta blushed. While it sounded mortifying at first, she knew it wasn’t a terrible idea.
*
Greta got strange looks when she walked into the club. She wore a black top that showed off just enough of her cleavage, a tiny skirt, and her thigh high boots. She walked around, searching for Victoria as a girl with a guitar and a straight bang sang into the mic. Greta found her sitting on a bar stool, taking notes as she watched. She waited until the set was over and she walked to Victoria as a mix CD started.
Victoria turned her head and looked at her, not noticing her boots. “May I help you?” she asked.
“Possibly?” Greta asked. “Uh, I noticed you. A few times. And I know you write for the local paper. I’m a big fan.”
Victoria smiled. “Oh, thank you! That means a lot.”
“...I’ve told you this before, though.”
“You did? I don’t think I remember you.”
Greta looked down at her boots and wiggled her feet a little. Victoria looked down and gasped. “Are you?...” she whispered.
“Yeah. I am.”
“Should you be revealing your identity?!”
“Well, you see, I decided a long time ago I would keep it as a secret, you know, for enemy’s sake and all that. But. Then I met you and I realized that you’d never know it was me in real life if I didn’t do something to let you know I existed. Besides, I have more than enough secrets.”
Victoria smirked. “You’re so cute.”
“Told you I’m pretty awesome without the ridiculous outfit.”
“Well, technically, you’re still wearing a little bit of it.”
“What can I say, it’s a part of me.”
Victoria looked around, her eyes widening for a moment. “Pull up a chair! Are you free after this? I need to finish up watching this show and put up a quick blog post, but then I’m willing to do anything you can think of.”
“As a date?”
“Oh my God, Golden Girl, you’re killing me with cute. Yes, as a date. Hey, what’s your name, anyway?”
“Oh, I’m Greta,” she replied.
“Greta,” Victoria repeated. “I like it. And you’re gorgeous without the mask, by the way.”
Greta blushed as the next kid with an acoustic guitar took to the stage. Victoria grabbed her hand and hooked her fingers with hers, not saying a word. She looked around for a moment and tried to make sure she wouldn’t randomly float to the ceiling.
She didn’t.
And she couldn’t be happier.
end
Character(s) and Band(s): Greta Salpeter (The Hush Sound), Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy), Vickyt (Cobra Starship), mentions Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), with occasional cameos by other FBR/DD bands if you squint.
Pairing(s): Greta/Vickyt, past Pete/Patrick
Word Count: 10,288
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for language
Summary: A Greta superhero!AU. When Greta was found in a crater in the suburbs of Chicago,the couple that took her in decided to raise her as a human girl. When she became a teenager, strange things began happening to her like an ability to fly and super strength. When Patrick came into her life as a mentor, she takes up the role as a vigilante known as Golden Girl, a quirky heroine with a gold sports car and found herself in love with a music columnist known as Victoria. While she loved saving Chicago when it needed her, she really just needed someone to love her and her spandex outfits. It's a love story and an origin tale for a super hero all at the same time.
Part One
Part 2
Within a month, Greta was in a routine. She would dress up in the ridiculous outfit, jump into the ridiculous car, blast ridiculous music and attack some bad guys when necessary. All was well, aside from the fact that she couldn’t get Victoria out of her head.
She began avidly reading the newspaper. While she got a thrill seeing her name in print, she always got a bigger thrill flipping to the music section. She became addicted to Victoria’s two inch photograph next to the album and concert reviews she wrote up. It was strange. Of all the emotions she was able to feel being raised by humans, the sensation of attraction never quite happened until this woman yelled fire in a dark alleyway.
She didn’t tell anyone about it, though. While she knew that her parents wouldn’t care, and she definitely knew that Patrick would want her to talk it out with him, she didn’t discuss it until she found herself in Patrick’s lab watching the security cameras. Patrick was tinkering with his computer when Greta said, “So I think I might actually be attracted toward someone.”
Patrick turned his head, bringing his hands away from the keyboard. “Oh? Who? Can I know?”
“Uh... it’s complicated.” She leaned back on her chair and twirled her finger around a lock of her hair.
“How is it complicated? It’s just a crush,” he said, “I mean, I don’t know how your alien race works as far as attraction is concerned, but as long as you don’t have feelings for your neighbor’s dog...”
“Ew! No! I have a crush on a human!” Greta stopped playing with her hair and laughed nervously.
Patrick smirked. He crossed his legs and leaned back on the chair, still smirking.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Greta asked.
He just kept his face frozen into the smirk.
“Seriously, why are you looking at me like that?”
Patrick stopped making the face and said, “You said person. I used to, I still do that. Greta, is this a girl you’re talking about?”
Greta groaned. “Yes.”
Patrick grinned. “Who is she?”
Greta cleared her throat. “Uh, well, you know the girl from the first night I was out on patrol? The one that got attacked by the same guy I did?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“She’s a music columnist. I’ve kind of been following her articles in the paper... and her blog... and I may have changed up the security camera for sector B-3 so that the area she was attacked is in focus.”
“...I was wondering why that screen looked a little off.”
“Well, I’m the reason why.” Greta looked down at her feet. It wasn’t that she felt ashamed... there really wasn’t anything to be ashamed of. However, she did feel a little strange talking to anyone about this new feeling she just developed over a girl that she highly doubted she’d ever meet as herself, as opposed to her vigilante self, which consisted of a domino mask, thigh high boots, and a gold lame cape.
Patrick rolled his chair next to hers. “There’s nothing wrong with having a crush, Greta.”
“Even though it’s on a journalist that probably meets way cooler people every weekend than some crime fighter in a ridiculous outfit?”
Patrick shrugged. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I personally think being a vigilante in a ridiculous outfit is pretty cool.”
*
Greta didn’t anticipate that Victoria and she would cross paths on a weekend in which Victoria was at a club, doing her job. Apparently, there was some sort of gang interaction, most likely connected to the last remnants of The Dandy, going on at the side of the building. Patrick gave Greta the coordinates and she drove over to check it out.
When she entered the alleyway, she noticed a woman with long blonde hair and an accent trying to lead some sort of meeting amongst various people in dark clothing. Greta waited until there was a moment in which she could walk into the conversation.
What she didn’t expect was that the emergency exit would open up and would release the one and only Victoria.
Greta nearly flew back in shock. There was no way that her life was that convenient.
The blonde with an accent stopped mid-sentence to turn her head and stare at Victoria. Victoria put her hands on her hips and said, “Why are you guys here? This is where an interview is supposed to take place.”
The blonde stamped her foot, her heel crunching on a small pile of cigarette butts. “Sorry, honey. Business is taking place here.”
“Okay, look, I don’t really care what you guys are up to, but I have a pass and all that. So please, for all our sakes, move.”
“But, sweetie, we’re just here for the music just like you.”
Greta noticed the guys and girls that were surrounding the woman’s hands twitch. They slowly began to inch closer to Victoria.
Victoria pulled out her recorder and a writing tablet. “I’m not moving.”
The woman looked at a taller guy and snapped her fingers. “Get him, Travis.”
The man nodded obediently and said, “Of course, Maja.” He lunged forward and grabbed Victoria by the wrists. Victoria dropped her recorder and writing tablet, yellling, “Hey! I paid good money for that!”
Maja leaned in toward her face and said, “Let me be frank, dear: You don’t own us. Go take your little interview somewhere else.”
It was Greta’s cue to come out of the shadows. “What is going on here?” Greta asked, “A party I wasn’t invited to?” Hokey as hell. She didn’t quite perfect the heroic introduction, yet.
Maja turned toward her and frowned. “Oh no, it’s that Golden Girl.”
“Oh my God! It’s you again!” Victoria exclaimed. “Hey, how’s it going?”
Greta looked around the alley, noticing the guys inching closer to the two of them. “Uh, ma’am...”
Victoria noticed the crowd surrounding them. “Oh God, this is pretty bad.”
Greta swung her foot out and made a slightly more triumphant pose. “Okay, I’m going to try and not lift a hand during this. Please leave this woman alone and go take your business elsewhere. All right?”
“What makes you think we’re going to listen to some girl in spandex?” Maja asked. “Get her, Travis.”
Travis didn’t reply, he just swung his arms at Greta. Greta quickly brought her hands to her head and blocked his slapping motions. He yelled out a loud battle cry as he began to kick her. Greta braced for his kick several times before she finally was able to catch his leg and throw him into the wall. When she turned around she noticed a line of people ready to attack her as well. She sighed and decided that it was time to use her powers.
Aside from the occasional launching a person into a brick wall, Greta didn’t use her powers. She didn’t need to fly- she had a car. She didn’t need super strength- while Chicago was full of crime, there was certainly a lack of powerful criminals aside from the organized sections of it. However, Victoria deserved to see the possible victimizers get their asses kicked.
Greta was beginning to realize that whole “love makes you do crazy things” expression was definitely true.
She took Travis’ body and threw him across a line of guys. The guys flew back, hitting a girl or two. One girl jumped on her back, digging her heels into her hips. She gasped and tossed the girl off her back and into another one. She continued tossing people left and right until she finally realized that the only people standing were Maja, Victoria, and the band that Victoria was supposed to be interviewing.
Maja stamped her feet. “What the hell?!” she exclaimed, “Are you some kind of Amazon woman? That was some of the most fearsome fighters in Chicago you just beat up! How am I supposed to replace them?”
“Maybe you should consider avoiding a life of crime,” Greta suggested. Ew. Hokey. She really needed to work on that.
Maja shot daggers at her and ran off, her heels clip clopping away until she faded into the city streets. Greta decided that she probably wasn’t worth chasing, particularly because she didn’t throw a punch.
The band watched in awe. Finally, the front woman said, “Oh my God! Golden Girl! I’m such a fan! This is so exciting!”
Greta looked at her handiwork, which consisted of pulled hair, blood, and a couple of moans of pain. “Hey, thanks. Uh, can you please call 911 or something?”
The front woman nodded, pushing her red hair back. “Of course!” she chirped. She turned to one of her band mates and said, “Oh my God, do you think we can ask for a picture with her?!”
Victoria walked over to Golden Girl and shifted her feet awkwardly. “Hey, can I just say before the cops come and everything gets kinda crazy, thanks for saving my ass a second time?”
Greta felt her heart flutter. Victoria up close was infinitely better than Victoria smiling in a two inch photograph that graced her paper every day. “It’s no problem, Victoria.”
Victoria gasped. “How do you know my name?”
“Uh, you’re a music reporter. What can I say, I’m a big fan of your writing.”
For once, the notoriously calm Victoria appeared shocked. “Oh my God. Thank you.”
“Hey, Golden Girl?” one of the members of the band asked.
Greta turned toward them and fixed her cape so it lay across her shoulders. “Yeah?”
“Can we please get a picture with you?! We need to Twitpic this. Like right now.”
Greta laughed. “Of course, guys! Before the cops show up.”
“You need to pose in front of all the people you knocked out,” Victoria added.
“That’s a great idea!” the front woman shrieked. She began to ramble about how no one was going to believe her, but hopefully the photo would help. One of her band mates uncovered a camera and gave it to Victoria. She shuffled everyone accordingly, Greta in the middle. “You better do a triumphant pose,” Victoria whispered into her ear, and Greta obeyed, placing her hands on her hips. Victoria snapped a picture and gave it back to the band. She gave Greta a smile, emotions unreadable, even though they seemed positive, and went into business mode. “Okay, guys, we need to get this interview done or my boss is going to kick my ass. Why don’t we meet at the diner a few blocks from here and have the interview there?”
“You’re going to mention this happening in it, right?” a band mate requested.
“Yes, of course,” Victoria said, waving her hand. She looked at Greta one last look, breaking her business mode to say, “I would say that I hope to see you again, but I guess you only appear when I’m in trouble.”
Greta found herself unable to even string a hokey monologue to give to Victoria as a reply. “Uh, well, you know. I live here. When I’m not Golden Girl. Just an average girl that reads a really nice music columnist’s articles. Maybe you’ll meet me without this ridiculous outfit on. You just never know.”
Victoria touched Greta’s wrist. “I hope so. I think I can tell you’re a beautiful person with the ridiculous outfit and without.” She scrunched her nose. “Well, that came out suggestive.”
Greta laughed nervously. “I think I get what you’re trying to say. Stay out of trouble, everyone.”
They waved as she walked to her car. She drove away, trying to keep the butterflies in her stomach from rising out of her mouth in the form of loud, teenagery squeals.
*
Patrick decided to bother Greta about the incident when she got back from patrol. “So Victoria was attacked again,” he announced.
“Did you watch the video, you creepy old man?” Greta teased.
Patrick went to the sink to fill up a teakettle for celebratory tea time. “Well, of course I watched. I have to. It’s part of my mentor role. Your technique was flawless tonight, Greta. I’m so proud. Maybe you should have a crush on every person you save.”
“Will you stop teasing me about that? I’m sure your creepy old man mentor didn’t bother you about the guys you wanted to do while on patrol.”
“Well, you know, the only guy I ever really loved in my whole entire existence was my partner, so. You know how that goes.”
Greta watched him light the burner of his stove and said, “You really loved him, didn’t you?”
“Pete? Yeah. I did. But that’s the past, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”
“Have you ever thought about calling him? Or, like, just saying you’re sorry for whatever you did, even if it wasn’t your fault? Isn’t admitting defeat the basis of most relationships working long term, anyway?”
“You’re such an observant little alien girl. But, in all honesty, I wouldn’t know what to say. We just left on bad terms that I don’t think can be repaired with me just admitting defeat, as you put it.”
“What happened, exactly? Be honest. I can handle it. I may read a girl’s articles obsessively and will admit to feeling like I had a greenhouse of butterflies in my stomach when I got back in the car after I saved her, but tell me, Patrick: Why did you and Pete stop working?”
Patrick sighed. “Well, Pete and I didn’t always work together. I want to say that I started the whole thing as Golden Boy. Then Pete began doing things as Captain Clandestine a year or two after me. He was one of those rich boys that had too much time on his hands after making money in the clothing business and decided to solve crime on the side. Anyway, after a few months of us working on our separate cases, we crossed paths one night. I’ll never forget it.”
Greta looked into Patrick’s eyes. They looked lost in the memory he was trying to pull from his mind to further the story. She could feel her heart ache for him.
“Well, anyway, we were fighting this guy... he was going under the name Santi at the time. He was a total and complete nut job, but it was kind of humorous. Anyway, I ran over to the park that he was at, and I went to lunge at him, and for whatever reason, I ended up lunging into Pete.” He laughed. “We sort of stared at each other and jumped as far away as possible.”
“But you knew who you were, right?”
“Oh, yes, of course we knew who the other was. We were in uniform.”
“Go on.”
“So after the awkward moment, Santi kind of looked at us and said, ‘Are you going to make out or are you going to fight me?!’ and it snapped us back into the real world and we, oh my God, Greta, I don’t even know how to describe it, we just worked. We knew each other’s moves. We had both studied each other, and when we finally met it just worked. We pretty much knocked him out cold in five minutes flat.”
Greta watched his eyes get glassy and a smile form on his lips. No matter how he felt about Pete at that moment, the memory was stirring something inside of him that was positive.
“And then what happened?” Greta asked, feeling compelled to keep her voice very soft.
“Well... we decided to reveal our identities to each other... then realized we’d make a great team. That led to patrolling together... talking to each other about everything when we had some time between missions... and then. I don’t really know. I think that’s what can be considered falling in love. Sure, it was in spandex half the time, but we just worked, Greta. We began getting so worried about each other when we were fighting, our emotions ran so high we became stronger because of it, eventually we moved our things into each other’s apartments and at one point I honestly didn’t go to my apartment, just The Vault most of the time, because most of my Patrick things were in Pete’s apartment. If it was legal, we would have gotten married. We pretty much were. We sure acted like it.”
“But what happened?”
Patrick sighed. “Pete wanted to market Captain Clandestine. He wanted us to reveal our identities and make appearances and all that. He said that if we revealed that we were people, we could show that everyone could be a hero and make a buck off of it. I just couldn’t do it.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated. I mean, now that I’m a civilian, it’s different, but at that time I just couldn’t bear to have the pressure. People going up to me and telling me to save them if they were in trouble while I was in uniform. Stuff like that. And it caused a huge riff between us. He said that I wasn’t being fair to him, that I was ashamed of us... it was horrible. Immature. Could have been prevented. But it wasn’t.” He looked up at the ceiling, trying to resist crying. “That’s why I haven’t really told you either way about your identity and whether or not you should reveal it. Because there really isn’t a right way or a wrong way. Just because I’m some middle aged guy that lives alone in his apartment doesn’t mean you have to be in a similar situation, you know?”
Greta walked over to him and hugged him tightly. She didn’t say anything, just burrowed her head into his chest. He hugged back, rubbing her shoulder.
When they got out of the embrace Greta knew what she had to do.
*
As Greta viewed the security cameras a weekend later, she realized that being a vigilante was one step below being a stalker. She found Victoria leaving her apartment. She was going to be at another concert for some indie band that Greta downloaded the night before and decided was decent enough to put up with to meet her. Granted, she would have listened to cat howling for the girl, but she tried to appear a little less creepy than she knew she was.
Patrick watched, amused. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going as myself to meet her and pretty much say I’m in love with her. Then I’m going to say that I’m Golden Girl and hopefully she’ll date me, we’ll fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after while I save Chicago whenever it needs me.”
“I like that story. Especially because up until a year ago you were a mess.”
Greta turned to him. “Was I really a mess?”
“Oh, yeah. You were. But I loved you, nonetheless.”
She smiled. “How should I dress?”
“Wear your boots so she knows that it’s you.”
Greta blushed. While it sounded mortifying at first, she knew it wasn’t a terrible idea.
*
Greta got strange looks when she walked into the club. She wore a black top that showed off just enough of her cleavage, a tiny skirt, and her thigh high boots. She walked around, searching for Victoria as a girl with a guitar and a straight bang sang into the mic. Greta found her sitting on a bar stool, taking notes as she watched. She waited until the set was over and she walked to Victoria as a mix CD started.
Victoria turned her head and looked at her, not noticing her boots. “May I help you?” she asked.
“Possibly?” Greta asked. “Uh, I noticed you. A few times. And I know you write for the local paper. I’m a big fan.”
Victoria smiled. “Oh, thank you! That means a lot.”
“...I’ve told you this before, though.”
“You did? I don’t think I remember you.”
Greta looked down at her boots and wiggled her feet a little. Victoria looked down and gasped. “Are you?...” she whispered.
“Yeah. I am.”
“Should you be revealing your identity?!”
“Well, you see, I decided a long time ago I would keep it as a secret, you know, for enemy’s sake and all that. But. Then I met you and I realized that you’d never know it was me in real life if I didn’t do something to let you know I existed. Besides, I have more than enough secrets.”
Victoria smirked. “You’re so cute.”
“Told you I’m pretty awesome without the ridiculous outfit.”
“Well, technically, you’re still wearing a little bit of it.”
“What can I say, it’s a part of me.”
Victoria looked around, her eyes widening for a moment. “Pull up a chair! Are you free after this? I need to finish up watching this show and put up a quick blog post, but then I’m willing to do anything you can think of.”
“As a date?”
“Oh my God, Golden Girl, you’re killing me with cute. Yes, as a date. Hey, what’s your name, anyway?”
“Oh, I’m Greta,” she replied.
“Greta,” Victoria repeated. “I like it. And you’re gorgeous without the mask, by the way.”
Greta blushed as the next kid with an acoustic guitar took to the stage. Victoria grabbed her hand and hooked her fingers with hers, not saying a word. She looked around for a moment and tried to make sure she wouldn’t randomly float to the ceiling.
She didn’t.
And she couldn’t be happier.
end