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The best thing about living with roommates instead of her father and her little brother was that Vanessa could leave the house in something short and sassy without someone wondering where the hell she was going in that outfit. When she'd told the boys that she planned to participate in a number of Halloween costume contests that season, all three of them had agreed that that was such a fantastic idea.

BJ and Ducky had both volunteered to be her date for this evening. Because she hadn't had the heart to pick one over the other, Vanessa had chosen them both. The three of them, and Jack, had enjoyed pre-drinks of beer and spiced rum back at the house that they shared and at 10:00pm they struck out on the town- a pirate, Spiderman, Abe Lincoln and Wonder Woman all squished into the back of a taxi cab.



Vanessa's silly little suit accented the curve of her butt and the length of her legs. Her hair hung long and loose and wild around her shoulders. She knew that she looked good- had, in fact, received several compliments from friendly gentlemen (and a couple of ladies!) that made her heart do somersaults. And oh, the dancing. There was so much dancing. So many hot, half-naked bodies. Vanessa was slightly beside herself with joy, heart light and bursting- free of the pain, and the memories, that had kept her from being herself for far too long. She bounced with the crowd, fist raised in the air, moving her hips the way that Colin had taught her.



She turned on the spot, pretty face screwed up into a look of concentration as she tried to make her body match the rhythm of the song. Somebody knocked into her from behind. Vanessa made a startled sound, stumbled into the wall not five feet from where Jarias stood guard, and started laughing.

"Jack!" She shouted at the only Abe Lincoln on the dance floor, stooping to collect her empty solo cup. "I spilled my drink!"

Jack shouted that she should go get another.

--

•song is I Love it, by Icona Pop.

One moment Vanessa was laughing down at her red solo cup and the next-- the next moment there was a voice at her ear and a hand at the small of her back, pushing with a gentle authority. She recognized Jarias as one of the bouncers who had let her into the bar and was confused, for an instant, about why there was touching at all. She opened her mouth to insist that she'd done nothing wrong, and then gasped in horror, hands flying to cover her mouth, when a fist connected with the other woman's face.

Battle was not strange to Vanessa. As a girl at Meadowview she had broken Dylan Maury's nose for yanking her shorts down in the middle of PE. As Super Van she had embarked on a journey to save the world, and had not really saved anyone, but she'd killed at least one youma and that counted for something.

As Sailor Vulcan she had become a warrior. She was as strong and fierce and hot headed as the volcano.

But that didn't mean she was numb to the plight of the bouncer who had so sweetly nudged her out of harm's way. Vanessa chucked her solo cup at the floor. She was gonna get in the middle, she was gonna punch that guy right back, she was gonna... just watch, eyes shining brighter with every heartbeat, while Jarias kicked some serious a**.

"Holy s**t!" She shouted at a man who had approached her from the side. He was young and good looking with dark hair and a strong jaw. Dressed up as Ron Burgundy. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah that was crazy. Can I buy you a drink?"

"If you want!" Vanessa said, grinning wide, attention turning to her empty hands. Her costume was damp. A little stream of vodka and cranberry juice dissappeared down the front of her bodice. "I spilled mine."

It was then that Jarias returned to the bar. Vanessa was on the lookout now, and the other woman was hard to miss- she spotted her at once and took off. Ron Burgundy trailed behind, looking pleased with himself.

"Hey!" Vanessa was all smiles for Jarias. Her blood was rich with alcohol and adrenaline. She could not help her excitement, pressed close without meaning to, half-shouted in the bouncer's ear. "That was really awesome you know. The way you slammed that guy to the floor."

She eased off, rested her elbow on the bar, put her chin in her hands. "I thought you broke his back. He didn't stand a chance."

Ron Burgundy ordered himself a rye with coke, looked at Vanessa, who seemed to have forgotten he existed, and then requested a second drink.

'Boyfriend?'

"Hmmm?" Vanessa blinked at Jarias, and then looked over her shoulder at Ron Burgundy. He held out the cup of rye. She took it gratefully, smile returning to her face. "Thanks."

He grinned back, hovered near Vanessa's elbow.

"He isn't my boyfriend, no," she said to Jarias, sipping from her cup. And then she laughed. "I don't even know his name."

"It's Dennis," said Dennis.

"Alright then," Vanessa offered Dennis her hand, without turning away from Jarias. He cocked an eyebrow at her, slipped his fingers inside hers. His hand was much larger than Vanessa's, but her arms were strong. They shook. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Vanessa."

She let him go, and then traced the lip of her cup with her fingertip. The drink was not as sweet as she typically liked, but it wasn't in Vanessa to tell him so. She thought that he was sweet for wanting to buy her a drink at all. Just like Jarias had been sweet to nudge her out of harm's way on the dance floor earlier. Vanessa could not remember the last time she had taken a hit from a civilian. She had forgotten that violence was not specific to sailor scouts, or to knights, or to the Negaverse- and felt humbled by Jarias' heroism. As Sailor Vulcan, Vanessa had more power than Super Van could ever have dreamed of. Jarias was only a bouncer at a club, but Vanessa recognized a kindred spirit in the woman who sat before her, pressing a pack of ice to her face.

"That looks like it hurts," she murmured. She returned her drink to Dennis to hold, and then reached slowly for Jarias's face. "May I?"

But Vanessa was already taking hold of the ice pack with tender fingers, peeling it away so that she could assess the damage underneath. She searched Jarias's face with her bright eyes, offered the other woman a lopsided smile. "I'm so sorry this happened."

Inside Vanessa's chest her heart was swelling with a desire to turn this brave woman into a knight. She bit her lip, reapplied the ice with a gentle pressure. Nobody had ever been able to tell her how or why the senshi had come to be. The Negaverse selected their officers from a healthy civilian crop. The soldiers for Order were born, not made. It was unfair, that Jarias could possess so much strength and that Vulcan could not wield it for war.

Dennis said that he was going to dance. Vanessa said goodbye to him absently, did not notice that he took her drink with him.

"I have earned some claw marks before." Vanessa's tone was light and happy. The suggestion of Jarias' statement was, for the moment, completely over her head. She had fought youma, and been clawed by them.

'Gorgeous.'

'Warrior sister.'

'Red.'

Jarias had an ease and a gift for compliments. Vanessa had, so far, missed most of the other woman's signals. She was aware that she looked good, but generally not one to presume upon another person's intentions. It was kind of Dennis to buy her a drink. Kind of BJ and Ducky to want to be her dates. It didn't have to be anything more than that.

She started to wonder when Jarias reached for a lock of her hair, but was not certain. And then there was a finger at Vanessa's chest, drawing her attention, for the first time, to the little stream of cranberry juice drying against her caramel skin. She touched the spot gingerly with her fingertips, felt her heartbeat quicken underneath.

"I guess I am a little bit sticky," she said, voice a soft and breathy laugh.

Vanessa had never been shy with strangers. When she was a little girl Mr. and Mrs. Rae had struggled, and never succeeded, to impress upon their daughter the importance of caution. She would have walked home with anyone. Not that Jarias was just anyone. No, the other woman was much more than that-- tall, and lovely, and so bad a**. She should have been a knight. Vanessa felt the tragedy of her powerlessness to change that deep in her bones.

"Yeah," she breathed, "I wanna see VIP."

It seemed selfish to go without inviting Jack and BJ and Ducky too. Of the three of them, BJ was the only one she could see from where she sat with Jarias. And he had his hands all over a leggy brunette. Vanessa smiled softly, and then told her new friend to lead the way.

On their way up the stairs Vanessa spotted Jack in the crowd, Abe Lincoln hat tucked under his arm. He gazed after Vanessa as she walked by with Jarias, cocked an eyebrow at their conjoined hands. He had a drink pressed to his lips, but Vanessa could still see that he was smirking. She knew what he was thinking- had been wondering about it herself, since the moment Jarias had touched her hair.

She lifted a finger to her smiling lips, told him to 'shhhhh.'

And then they were upstairs, separated from the heat and the sweat and the noise. There were no Ron Burgundys up here. No Spidermans. No angry bar jerks for Jarias to knock out. But Vanessa's adrenaline was still up. She could feel it pulsing in her veins. Like a drug. It put her on edge- made her feel just a little bit anxious, but in a way that also felt good.

She took the tee and the shorts from Jarias, tested the fabric with her fingertips, but did not put them on.

"No." She did not need Jarias to turn away.

Vanessa put the fresh set of clothes down on a chair, and then tilted her chin to look Jarias in the eye. She might have missed the other woman's signals before, but Vanessa knew that the sickly good feeling in the pit of her belly had nothing to do with the brawl from earlier, and more to do with the fact that they were alone.

She was still a tad uncertain- too used to being wrong about these things to seek the destruction of the butterflies in her stomach the way that she wanted to. But she stepped closer in that silly little Wonder Woman suit. Steadied herself with a breath. Fingers hooked -slowly, almost shyly- in two of Jarias's belt loops.

Vanessa pulled their hips together on an exhale.

"Jarias is good," she agreed on a murmur, rising on her toes just slightly, so that she could press a kiss to the bruise that was starting to darken the other woman's jaw.

The space of time between the kiss that Vanessa pressed to Jarias's jaw and the moment the other woman smiled down at her was tiny. There was only enough room for one or two heartbeats, really- but Vanessa felt them sharply, fingers loosening in Jarias's belt loops. She swallowed. Searched Jarias's face with her bright eyes.

And then there was a hand cupping the side of her face. Guiding her.

A soft, pleased sound slipped from between Vanessa's lips moments before Jarias found her pretty mouth. The sickly sweet feeling in her stomach blazed into a gentle burn. Vanesas could feel Jarias's fingers in her hair, and then at the back of her neck. Holding her in place.

Yes. That was what she liked.

Vanessa yielded underneath Jarias's mouth, heart thrumming a shy rhythm inside her chest. Her hands came up to twine in the other woman's hair- were prevented from doing so by the elastic that held it up. She made another sound, pressed closer.

"I've never kissed another woman before," Vanessa murmured when it was time to come up for air. She bit her lip, started to smile. "I'd do it again."

Vanessa was not interested in remembering the kisses of her past- was grateful when, instead of pushing the issue, Jarias caught her lips again. Harder, this time. With the sort of pressure that demanded some kind of response. Jarias earned herself a sweet, surprised gasp. Vanessa tensed in the other woman's arms, but it was only for a moment. And then she was melting, fingers curling gently in the fabric of Jarias's shirt.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Jarias's kisses were wonderful. She did not want them to stop, and was delighted when it seemd as though they would not.

'I want you in my bed.'

It took a lot to rob Vanessa of her voice. Jarias managed to do it with only a handful of words.

'Naked and writhing under me.'

She tried to think. Tried to speak, but her tongue still tingled in her mouth. Vanessa was not inexperienced, but there was so much about this specifically that was new territory for her. Jarias was a woman. Vanessa had never really considered going home with someone she'd met at a bar. And nobody had ever spoken to her like that before. She could not help the way that she flushed, took the shot glass that Jarias had poured for her with a tender thanks.

"My name is Vanessa," she said, smiling, touching a hand to her own cheek. "God, my face feels so hot."

And then she was laughing softly, clinking their shot glasses together.

"What should we cheers to?" Vanessa asked, bright eyes shining up into Jarias's gray ones. She reached for Jarias's belt loops again with her free hand, tugged the taller woman just a little bit closer. "New friendships?"

Vanessa inched forwards, near but not near enough. Her gaze flickered over Jarias's face, lingered on the softness of her lips.

"Opportunity?"

She exhaled, smirked playfully up at Jarias. Teased, but did not kiss her.

"Nurses, maybe?"