“So,” Trinity asked reluctantly, “what happens now?”

She didn’t want to ask, she really didn’t, but the question had been swelling and swelling inside her, and she was just about ready to burst.  She and Radiance had been hunkered down in her safe house for two days now. They’d agreed it was best if they stayed off the streets for a little while; the smart move was to wait and see exactly what Quinn had planned for them. The billionaire was going to retaliate. Trinity was certain of that. Someone like her didn’t just let things go. The bimbo treatment Trinity had hit her with wasn’t going to last more than a day or so without further reinforcement, given how quickly she’d had to work. Conversely, Radiance wasn’t safe from Quinn’s control. Not yet. You couldn’t heal from something like that overnight, not even with Trinity’s help.

She and Radiance had a few things going for them, though. Firstly, now that Radiance knew what was going on, Quinn needed to worry about getting her head punched off before she could speak a single word. And secondly, judging from what Quinn had said, things weren’t going too hot with her whole Future City domination scheme. ‘Over-leveraged’ was the word she’d used. Maybe, with a little luck, it would all unravel and she’d run into the bad kind of trouble with her ominous backers.

Admittedly, Trinity wasn’t going to hold her breath on that. Rich people always seemed to enjoy a nice, soft landing no matter how hard they fell.

“What happens now?” Radiance repeated. She was sitting on the bed, next to Trinity. “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. And I think I have an answer, even if it feels a little crazy.”

Trinity turned towards her. “Yeah?”

The two of them had been doing plenty of talking over the past couple of days, mostly for want of anything more interesting to do. Trinity felt amazingly comfortable in the superhero’s presence. More so than she ever had with anyone, really. However, they had studiously avoided saying much in detail about everything that had happened in Quinn’s penthouse. It was a little too much and too messy - for both of them, Trinity thought. Fortunately, even when they weren’t talking, the silences were pleasant.

“I’m going to go vigilante,” Radiance announced. “Maybe I’ll still be Radiance. Maybe I’ll get a new name and a new suit. Not sure yet. But I know I can’t go on like nothing’s happened. From now on, no cops, no superhero teams, and no doing anyone else’s bidding. I can do more good that way.”

“Wow,” Trinity replied, with a raised eyebrow. Heroes did turn vigilante from time to time, which put them in all kinds of dicey territory as far as their relationship with the law was concerned. They usually didn’t last long, one way or another. Radiance was different, though. No one on her level had ever even tried it. “That would’ve been my last guess. I actually wondered if you were just going to walk away from it all.”

Radiance shook her head. “I couldn’t. Saving people, beating up bad guys - this is who I am. For better or for worse. It’s what I always wanted to do. And now, I can do it with a clean conscience.”

Trinity nodded. “That makes a lot of sense. I… I honestly really admire it.”

“Well, you deserve some of the credit.” Radiance smiled ruefully at her. “I’ve been turning over some of what you’ve said to me. You weren’t wrong about me losing touch with what it’s like down in the streets. I never thought…” She paused for a moment, thinking. “I was never worried about that. I came from the same poor neighborhood as you. I was always the gifted kid. I wanted to make people proud. To make a difference. I thought if I was the best of the best, then things would change for the better. As it turned out, I was just doing Eleanor Quinn’s dirty work.”

Trinity shifted in her seat. She felt more than a little embarrassed about all the abuse she’d hurled in Radiance’s direction, knowing what she did now.

“How about you?” Radiance asked. “What’s next for you?”

“Oh boy.” Trinity sighed. “Well, I was planning on leaving town. Figured I could start over somewhere new. But with how things have turned out, there’s no money. So, uh, your guess is as good as mine, honestly. Maybe I’ll give it a shot anyway. Sticking around in Future City doesn’t seem particularly smart. But starting over isn’t so easy when you’re flat broke. So… maybe I’m just going back to the same old petty villain routine.” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Saying that out loud sounded all the less impressive for Radiance’s grand resolution. There was no judgment in the superhero’s eyes when she looked at Trinity, though.

“Would you be interested in a partnership?” she asked.

“A partnership?” Trinity barked a laugh. “You breaking bad too, Radiance?”

Radiance scoffed good-naturedly. “No, no. I meant as a vigilante.”

Even though she wasn’t drinking anything, Trinity choked and did a kind of spit-take. “Me? A vigilante? Are you fucking kidding?” Radiance patted her back. Once she’d stopped spluttering, Trinity added: “C’mon. Where’s the money in that?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” Radiance admitted. “But you’d be good at it. We’d be good at it.”

Trinity thought it wasn’t fair at all how weak her legs suddenly felt upon hearing that. “Alright, that’s it,” she said. “I’m hauling your ass to a therapist. You’ve still got a few screws loose.”

Radiance didn’t rise to it. “I’m serious,” she insisted. “You know the city better than anymore. You know what’s hurting people - what’s actually hurting people. You can handle yourself, and you’re quick on your feet. You can keep me grounded and watch my back. Plus, you know how dangerous so-called superheroes can truly be. I’m sure Quinn won’t go down without a fight. She’ll try something sooner or later. You know how she operates, and you can get the satisfaction of ruining her day all over again. Why not?”

“You’re crazy.” Trinity shook her head and tried not to think about it. “I’m not the hero type. Anyone can see that.”

“Then you’re, what, the villain type?” Radiance raised an eyebrow. “Do we believe in villain types now?”

Trinity rolled her eyes. “I’m the self-interested type. Like most people.”

“The self-interested type, huh?” Radiance seemed to chew that over for a moment. “Well, that still works. There’s more to self-interest than just money, right? And I think there’s a pretty major perk to being a vigilante that you’re simply not considering.”

“Is that so?” Now it was Trinity’s turn to scoff. “And what would that be?”

At that moment, Radiance did something truly unfair. She adopted a devastating, lop-sided smile, and showed Trinity big, round, sparking eyes as she delivered a stupidly confident and ruinously well-chosen: “you’d get to be my by side every day.”

That was it for Trinity. It was all over. She completely short-circuited. There was absolutely nothing she could think of to say in reply, and the series of looks that passed over her face made it painfully clear exactly what was going on in her head (nothing) and her heart (everything). Radiance’s eyes sparkled just a little brighter, and there was no doubt that she was thinking about what Trinity had said about her whilst under Eleanor Quinn’s hypnotic influence.

“That’s… man, c’mon,” Trinity eventually managed in a distinctly strained voice. “You can’t just throw that at me. Not like that.”

“No?” Radiance wasn’t through having fun. “I figured it had been long enough. You deserve an answer to that bold, heartwarming confession from the other night.”

Trinity’s cheeks were burning so hot she thought she was going to explode. “T-that wasn’t… c’mon…”

“It was very romantic!” Radiance was all guileless, heroic smiles that were only undermined by the mirth in her eyes. “It takes a lot of courage to just throw out all your feelings like that. To a girl you’ve only known for a couple of days, too. You sure move fast, huh?”

“Not this.” Trinity covered her face. “Anything but this.”

“I was a little confused, though,” Radiance added, content to twist the knife just a little further. “What part of our relationship made you catch feelings? Was it the spanking? The degradation? Was it when I tied you up with a chain that made you do whatever you’re told? It’s important to get an idea of these things. Compatibility, y’know?”

“OK hold the fuck up!” Trinity lifted her face out of her hands as she broke in, in a great huff. “I don’t have to take this from you! You… you, Miss ‘Cares About Me!’”

Radiance tilted her head and looked like she was about to burst out laughing.

“T-that was embarrassing!” Trinity insisted defensively. “And… wait, you said that first, too! Why aren’t you the one blushing?”

“What’s there for me to be embarrassed about?” Radiance made her face look serious. “I do care about you.”

Trinity was so flustered she could barely speak. This wasn’t fair. How could she just say that like that? “Y-you went down on me!” she complained. “You ate me out!”

“Sure did,” Radiance replied happily. “It was great, circumstances notwithstanding. I’ve gotta say though, it was a pretty bold move of you to tell a girl you love her and then spread your legs before you’ve even heard what she had to say in response. Is that a signature  Shimmer supervillain power play?”

Trinity’s face went back into her hands. It was a crushing defeat. Radiance was invincible. At this point, nothing Trinity said would sound like anything more than an excuse. She’d never felt so completely, disarmingly tongue-tied by another woman. And the worst part was that she was more than a little turned on by it. Trinity was shocked by how far she’d fallen in such a short amount of time. A week ago, she’d have laughed at the thought that she could ever become so hopelessly undignified. Perhaps the saying was true: you either died a top, or lived long enough to see yourself become a bottom.

She shuddered.

In the end, mercy came when Radiance let out a long sigh and deflated slightly. “What am I doing?” she groaned.

Trinity looked up at her and blinked. “Uh… I mean, look, if you’re having second thoughts about the whole ‘partner’ thing-”

“No!” Radiance interrupted urgently. “No. No way. I’m just frustrated, that’s all. With myself. Gotta start doing things a little differently from now on, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

Radiance smiled ruefully. “I have a girl I care about right here, and instead of just telling her how I feel, I’m dancing around it and trying to make her blush so I can avoid actually saying it. You know?”

“Oh.” Trinity’s blush was renewed, but this time the heat felt different.

“Let me try this again.” Radiance looked at Trinity evenly. “I like you, Trinity. I’m not exactly sure what that means yet, but I want to stick together with you. I want to be a vigilante and I want you to be by my side. Not just because you’d be good at it, but because I like you.”

This was even more unfair than the teasing, Trinity decided. Completely and monstrously unfair. So unfair, she was too stunned to hide her face and stop Radiance from seeing the stupid, goofy smile she was wearing. To her immense credit, though, Radiance didn’t make anything of it. She just waited.

“Damn it,” Trinity muttered, fighting to keep her voice even. “I can’t exactly say ‘no’ when you ask like that, can I?”

“You can, you know,” Radiance reminded her. “You can say whatever you want. Including ‘no’.”

“Right.” Trinity could tell what Radiance wanted from her. It was only right that she give it, given the effort Radiance was making. “OK. Well, I’m gonna say ‘yes’. I’ll be your partner. Sidekick. Whatever you want to call it. Wait, no, not ‘sidekick’. That’s way too-”

Trinity shut up. The pure, happy smile that came to Radiance’s face was a joy to look upon, and made her want to stop talking and simply bask in the moment. A few seconds later, Radiance reached for Trinity and pulled her into a huge hug that threatened to squeeze the life out of Trinity. She didn’t mind. Radiance’s hugs felt pretty great. As Radiance squeezed her, she reflected on how truly content with her own decision she felt. She had barely taken more than a moment to consider it, but she knew it was right. She was going to stay here. With Radiance.

There was only one niggling question left. “So… you said you don’t know exactly what your feelings about me mean,” Trinity said as they broke off the hug. Her words were stilted and hesitant. She had always been bad at the sappy stuff. “And that’s, like, fine. Obviously. But I figured, maybe, uh, we should get on the same page about what we wanna do with that?”

“Right. That’s a good idea.” Trinity was a little gratified to see that Radiance was blushing too. “I… did have one idea about that.”

“Yeah?” Trinity prompted.

“I…” Suddenly Radiance’s blush deepened, and she looked deeply, deeply embarrassed. That only helped to arouse Trinity’s curiosity. “I think there’s something we both enjoy. And that we could keep trying together, maybe. If you wanted.”

Trinity tilted her head to one side.

“This.” With a small flourish, Radiance pulled her supernatural, golden chain out of thin air. The sight of it still made Trinity shiver as it gleamed with a faint, unearthly light. That strange glow conjured up visceral memories of exactly how it felt wrapped around her neck. 

Wait. What was Radiance proposing exactly?

“Not just that,” Radiance added quickly, as she caught the look of faint alarm on Trinity’s face. “Your thing too, if that’s what you want. I… I do, if you do.”

Trinity must still have been looking truly confused, because after waiting for a reply for a few seconds, Radiance hastened to explain even further.

“I just think we’re both that kind of girl,” Radiance said. “Kinky, or twisted, or perverted, or whatever you want to call it. Maybe I’m just crazy, but I think you got something out of it. I know I did. On, uh, both ends. So I was thinking that instead of denying it, we should just enjoy it.” She flashed a nervous smile. “I think we could get up to a lot of pretty wild stuff together.”

Trinity had no doubts about that, but she was still looking at Radiance warily. “You did those things to me because of Eleanor Quinn. She told me that. Her mind control, it’s been destabilizing you. For a long time, probably. And you didn’t even know what was happening. I’m sure that didn’t help. That stuff wasn’t you, Violet.”

Radiance shook her head adamantly. “I’d like to think that, Trinity. I really would. It would be nice and neat. But I don’t think that’s true. I’ve always had urges, and I’ve definitely always been kinky. The reason I did those things to you was because deep down, on some level, I wanted to. Quinn isn’t responsible for that. I am. I’m responsible for all of it. Whatever she did to me, I can’t let myself off the hook. That’s part of why I want to do this. I want to figure myself out, not just hide. And…”

“And?” Trinity’s heart was starting to pound.

“And if you do want this, and if someone is going to make you feel good that way, I want it to be me,” Radiance finished quietly.

Trinity was left newly speechless. She’d wondered about some of it, of course. But this was more than she would ever have dared to imagine.

“Oh, god,” Radiance whispered. Trinity abruptly realized that she was taking her silence for revulsion. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone there, I should never have-”

“No, no!” Trinity interrupted quickly. “I… I want it too.”

Radiance’s eyes flew wide. “You do.”

“Yeah.” Trinity took a deep breath. “Yeah. Yes.”

Radiance looked stunned. It was obvious that she had no idea what to say or do next.

Trinity looked down to one side, and let out an awkward half-giggle. “Look, to be totally honest I’ve been going a little crazy just being here and thinking about it.”

“Wow.” Radiance’s composure was slowly returning to her. A faint smirk came to her face. “Good to know.”

It was a little lucky for Trinity that she physically couldn’t blush anymore. A crazy idea had just popped into her head. “Do you want to make it official right now?”

Radiance’s brow furrowed. “Official?”

Trinity almost didn’t do it. She was this close to holding back and blowing it off as some dumb joke. Once, that was exactly what she would have done. But after the events of the past few days, that seemed oddly pointless. So, she went with her heart instead. Trinity slipped off the edge of Radiance’s bed and composed herself into a neat, submissive, kneeling position in front of the superhero.

It was nice to see Radiance truly speechless, for once.

Placing her hands on her knees, palms turned upwards, Trinity straightened her spine and raised her head, pointedly extending her bared neck up towards Radiance.

“I’m ready,” she prompted.

It took Radiance a few moments to overcome her sheer disbelief, but once she did she knew exactly what to do. She took it slow, though, savoring the moment as she carefully placed her golden collar around Trinity’s neck. Trinity gasped as she felt it form into a single, unbroken loop, and her body thrummed with pleasure when she saw Radiance fasten the other end around her own wrist.

Nothing was forcing them this time. It was simply where each of them wanted to be. They were connected, and Trinity was placing herself in Radiance’s hands. She knew she could trust her with that. Her conviction only grew as Radiance used the chain to pull Trinity in for a kiss. This was where they both belonged

Together, shackled.