The alarm went off.
Val groaned. The room swam as she slowly opened her eyes. She sat up in her bed and turned the alarm off. It felt like she'd slept for a thousand years. She got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom, tossing her t-shirt and panties on her bedroom floor.
As she got in the shower, she felt like something was strange in some indescribable way. Even though she'd been doing this exact routine every day for years, today it felt off. Like there was something there that shouldn't be, or something missing that should be.
She tried to put it out of mind.
You're just being paranoid. Nothing's wrong.
She got out of the shower and heard her phone ping.
"
Yun-hee sent you a message.
hey! sorry about last night, mustve gotten super drunk and blacked out. hope i didn't embarrass us too much -_-"
Right, last night. We went to a bar, and...
Val frowned.
What
did
happen last night?
She remembered arriving at the bar, and the creepy guy who tried to buy them drinks, and the loud frat boys sitting behind them, and then... nothing.
For a moment, Val panicked.
Why can't I remember? Did something bad happen?
But then, a feeling of calm washed over her. Her whole body went slightly slack, and a peaceful, serene smile formed on her face.
Nothing's wrong, Valerie. You just got drunk and blacked out. Happens to everyone.
She nodded, as if confirming her own thoughts to herself.
Right. I got drunk and blacked out.
She let those thoughts fade into the background and started getting dressed.
* * *
Gibson was always early to Team Rainbow's daily meetings. When Val's portal opened in the meeting room, he was already sitting at the table, idly checking his phone. He saw her and put the phone down. "Val!"
The portal closed behind her. "Hey, Gibson. What's up?"
"How are you? You left in a bit of a hurry yesterday, we were all worried about you."
Val sat down. "Fine, I guess. I don't know what was up yesterday, I was just... on edge."
"It's a lot of pressure, I'm sure. I mean, the whole case against Blanc is riding on you."
"I guess it is. But, it's like you said. We only need one person."
Gibson sighed. "Yeah, I did say that."
"Is something wrong?"
He shrugged. "I dunno, Val, I'm just getting kind of a weird feeling about all this. Like, when Reuben and Yun got into it yesterday. Something about the way he argued with her made it seem like he wants to drop this whole thing."
"Well, I'm sure that's not gonna happen!"
"I hope you're right."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. They turned and saw Yun-hee entering the room. When she saw Val, she blushed and averted her gaze. "...hey."
Gibson flicked his eyes between Yun-hee and Val. "Um... is there something up, here? Because I'm picking up some unresolved tension."
"Oh, no!" Val stammered. "We just, uh, had a big night together." She paused. "Wait, uh, that's not-"
"I mean, look, ladies," Gibson said, holding back a laugh, "I've got no problem with any of that."
"We didn't have sex, Gibson!" Val snapped.
"What's this about Yun-hee and Val having sex?"
Val groaned. Of course Brayden had to show up
right then.
He walked past Yun-hee, who by this point had her head in her hands, and sat next to Gibson.
"Look," Val explained, "Yun and I just went out for drinks last night. That's all."
Yun-hee nodded. "Y-Yeah. We just went out for drinks." She sat between Gibson and Val and avoided looking at anyone else.
"But I thought you didn't drink, Val?" Gibson said.
Val shrugged. "Well, I must've had a few. Because I blacked out at some point. Probably didn't even drink that much, my tolerance has gotta be really low."
"I mean," Yun-hee said, a bit of confidence returning to her voice, "I was pretty persistent about it. That's what I remember, anyway."
"So, neither of you remember what happened last night?" Gibson sounded concerned.
For a moment, Val thought she remembered something. She saw a picture in her head of Yun-hee naked. But that was almost too absurd to consider.
Nothing happened between you and Yun-hee last night, Valerie.
"That sounds bad when you say it out loud, but seriously, Gibson, we're fine!"
"Excuse me," said an unfamiliar voice. "Is this a bad time?"
Val turned around. She blinked. "You're..."
"Mr. Hawthorne!" Reuben entered the room behind Raymond. "Glad you could make it."
Raymond shook Reuben's hand. "Well, I figured it wouldn't be a good look to play hooky on my first day."
Reuben smiled. "I, uh, don't think we have any other chairs."
"Standing's fine," said Raymond. "I don't think this will take very long, anyway."
Reuben and Raymond walked over to the head of the table. Reuben sat down, and Raymond stood over his shoulder. Val stared in confusion.
What the hell is he doing here?
Reuben cleared his throat. "I'm very excited to announce that Team Rainbow has acquired a new sponsor!"
The room was quiet for a moment.
Then Gibson chuckled. "Oh, I fucking
knew
it."
"Knew what?" Reuben glared at him.
"He bought you too, huh?" Gibson pointed at Raymond. "Lemme guess, the Monopoly Man found out we were investigating his so-called-girlfriend, and he wanted to get us off her back?"
"Nothing of the sort!" said Raymond. "I'm merely giving back to our city's beloved guardians. I have no plans to interfere with your operations."
"Why would we believe you?" Yun-hee piped up. "You all but bribed Marvin to stop the PCPD's investigation."
"Did he tell you that?" Raymond chuckled and shook his head. "That guy was
not