Whiteout Ch 13

"Factum est."

There was a pause. For a moment, she held her breath.

Then the man on the other end of the line spoke up. "It is done."

He hung up.

Weiss sighed and tossed the phone beside her on the bed. When she decided to cut off the monthly "donations" she'd previously arranged, she hadn't expected it to be this anxiety-inducing. She had the good sense to install a cancellation trigger in everyone she visited as Blanc, but she never actually tested it. So every time she called someone up, there was always that moment of panic where she didn't know whether it would actually work or not.

She crossed another name off the list.

Halfway through. I think that's enough for the moment.

She glanced over at the TV and drummed her fingers on her knee.

How much longer is this gonna take?

The TV had been muted for a couple hours now. Weiss didn't want the talking heads distracting her when she was working through the list. And until the press conference actually started, she knew they wouldn't have anything useful to say anyway.

All anyone had been able to talk about for the past week was the situation with Team Rainbow. Since Raymond turned himself in, speculation went wild about what actually happened behind the scenes. How had Raymond evaded registration for so long? Why did he decide to take control of Team Rainbow? And, perhaps most crucially, what drove him to give it all up and surrender? No one actually knew the real story, which to Weiss was both a comfort and a concern.

On the one hand, it meant no one in the media was prying into her life. There weren't news vans parked outside the bar, or harassing the regulars at the Pink Mansion. No one was focusing on Valerie, either. The actual members of Team Rainbow rarely did public interviews or appearances, and their real identities were classified information, so all most people had to go on were the brief glimpses they got while the team was on the job. Which meant that no one was connecting the shy, nervous sub who recently made Weiss' acquaintance with the nationally-renowned superhero Violet Angel.

But on the other hand, it made Weiss more and more afraid of what would happen if people

did

find out. What would people think if one of the saviors of Team Rainbow was herself a would-be-supervillain? If she was an active presence in the local kink scene on top of that? It wouldn't just jeopardize her own livelihood, it would impact Patricia too, and likely anyone who ever set foot in the Pink Mansion.

And as much as Valerie tried to tell her - as much as she tried to tell herself - that it wasn't her fault, Weiss couldn't shake her guilt. Even though she couldn't possibly have known what Raymond was really capable of, she was the one who set him loose on the team. She felt like an idiot. She was really going to fashion herself as a supervillain and then act

surprised

when she actually caught the attention of a superhero? If she hadn't been so greedy, so careless, none of this would have-

"No!" Weiss shouted to the empty bedroom. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "You are not gonna let yourself spiral like this," she muttered. The domme part of her brain started to formulate a pun about that choice of words, but she shut it down. She slowly opened her eyes and searched for the remote.

Conference probably isn't gonna start for another hour at best. I don't need to keep torturing myself waiting for it.

She found the remote and turned the TV off, then picked her phone up and scrolled through her contacts.

We haven't talked much since all that craziness... I wonder if she's still mad at me.

The line rang for a moment, and then she picked up.

"Hey, Patricia," Weiss said. "Are you busy right now?"

* * *

Val was tapping her foot again.

The meeting room was completely empty, something which normally wouldn't have bothered her so much. But now, it made her feel like a rat in a cage. Half her brain was wondering where the rest of the team was, and the other half was paranoid that any minute a swarm of BPHA agents would descend from the ceiling and arrest her.

She thought back to the hours and hours of questioning she endured over the past week. It was tough trying to keep her narrative straight; obviously, she didn't want the Bureau kicking down Weiss' door, but since there were four other people who would all mostly tell the truth, she couldn't completely fabricate the events that occurred in the tower.

So she concocted a new relationship. Madame Blanc wasn't anyone Val knew; she was just the sinister hypnotist she appeared to be back when Violet Angel first encountered her. When Blanc heard what Raymond had done, she activated Val and used her as a puppet to take him down. Val kept some parts, like how Raymond's power grab was an accidental outcome of Blanc's suggestions, but the rest was all new.

She realized how dangerous that was. She never thought of herself as a

great

liar, and she didn't know whether the agents she talked to were post-humans like herself. For all she knew, she got stuck with someone who could literally smell lying.

The door clicked open. Val's head snapped towards it as her other teammates all entered together.

Gibson rolled his eyes when he saw her alone at the table. "See, I

told

you we shouldn't have waited around for her!"

Reuben sighed. "Honestly, yeah, I should've seen that coming. Val, didn't you get the text?"

"What text?" Val pulled out her phone and scrolled through her messages. It only took her a couple seconds before she found it.

"

Reuben sent the group a message.

Bureau is sending a car for us tomorrow morning. I'll brief everyone on the way to the tower. See you then."

"...oh." Val felt her cheeks burning. "Sorry, I've just been really... scattered. Did I miss the briefing?"

Reuben walked over to his chair and sat down. "I wanted to tell everyone at once, so no, you haven't missed anything."

Val nodded. The rest of the group sat down in the same chairs they always sat in, but today the air felt different. Not only had they not been back in this room in a week, they hadn't even gotten to talk to each other since then either. Val had gotten used to seeing everyone every morning, and having an entire week without contact made her actually miss their boring meetings. She'd even missed Brayden, a fact which made her start half-seriously searching for a therapist.

Yun-hee sat next to her and gently squeezed Val's hand. The intimacy of the gesture was initially a bit startling, but Val supposed it wasn't entirely unprecedented. It

had

only been slightly over a week since they were both naked and hypnotized together, after all. Val squeezed back and smiled at Yun-hee.

"So before we start," Reuben said, "I want to, uh..." He paused, and Val noticed how tired he looked. His voice quavered. "I want to say I'm sorry. For letting this happen. I should've realized what he was doing to me, but then it got worse, and then he got Val and-"

"Dude, it's alright," Brayden said. "None of us blame you for this. You got tricked just like the rest of us."

"Yeah, but..." Reuben sighed. "I should've known better," he said bitterly. "I let all of you down."

"We got through it in the end," Yun-hee interjected.

Reuben stayed silent for a moment, thinking intently. "On that note, I think there's a question we've all been wondering about for the past week." He turned his gaze directly at Val. "If you're comfortable answering it, that is."

It took Val a moment to realize what he was talking about. "O-Oh, right. The, uh, the Blanc thing." She felt the eyes of the entire team burning into her, shame boiling up inside her body.

"We don't have to talk about it right now," Yun-hee interjected. "We can wait until-"

"No, no," Val sighed, "it's fine. You deserve an explanation anyway." She took a deep breath and steeled herself, taking a moment to organize her thoughts as best she could. "So, after I lost to Madame Blanc in the record studio, I started searching for what might've happened to me. Hypnosis sounded like a good starting point, and I went digging, and I found out I... liked it."

She paused, expecting someone else to say something. But the group stayed silent; even Brayden, who never missed an opportunity to make a crude remark, was instead completely serious. So Val continued. "I stumbled across this hypnotist called Mistress Weiss, started checking out her content, and it just clicked for me. She was gonna have a meet-up at..." Val frowned.

Should I tell them about Patti? Hm. She was there when we fought the team, so...

"At this, uh, kink dungeon, run by one of her partners. That's who was with us when we came here. When I went to the meet-up, that's when I found out that Weiss was actually Blanc."

"And you didn't think to tell us?" Gibson asked. He tried to keep a stoic expression, but Val could feel the judgment in his eyes.

"I did- I thought about it," Val replied, fighting back the defensiveness in her voice. "But I didn't know how you'd react. It was like, after I lost, you all looked at me differently. I knew everyone already thought I'd been compromised, and I didn't want to confirm those suspicions."

Brayden and Reuben winced. Yun-hee looked away from Val. Only Gibson didn't react. "So then what happened?" he said.

"We basically hit it off," Val continued. "We started chatting online, met up in person a couple times, and she hypnotized me. A lot. And that was..." Her mind recalled those past sessions with Weiss, and for a brief moment Val felt herself get lost in them. How good Weiss made her feel, how much she enjoyed surrendering her mind. She pulled herself back, though, and tried to ignore the heat between her thighs. "Good."

"Is that why you went to her after what Raymond did?" Gibson said. "Because it felt good?"

"I went to her because I thought she could fix me," Val replied, indignation creeping into her voice. "After Raymond got Reuben, he went after me, because he thought I hated Blanc. Raymond said that the device Blanc used - the flashes you all experienced - it was so powerful that he couldn't fight her suggestions. So if it could do that, maybe it could rid me of his commands."

"So you're saying all of this is her fault?"

"It's not."

"Yeah?" Gibson leaned forward, raising his voice slightly. "You

just

said that she did something to Raymond. She put something in his head, and then turns around and goes after us? You can't tell me that's a coincidence."

"She didn't plan any of this!" Val shouted, balling her hands into fists. "She didn't know he had powers, and she never told him to take over the team! She just wanted to keep us and the cops off her back."

"And that makes it any better? She was only looking out for herself, and-"

"That's

enough

, Gibson," Reuben said firmly. He didn't shout, but the message was clearly received. Gibson leaned back and sighed.

"...For what it's worth," Yun-hee said quietly, "I don't think she's a bad person. I talked with her while the rest of you were out, and it seemed like her heart was in the right place."

"And if she was actually evil," Brayden added, "she wouldn't have bothered to save us at all. She would've just kept Val for herself."

Gibson folded his arms and sighed. "I don't trust her. But if Val does, then I guess I that's good enough."

Val furrowed her brow.

Why is

Brayden

one of the nice ones now? I thought for sure he'd make some sort of creepy comment when he found out about the kinky stuff.

"Thank you, everyone. I'm sorry for not telling you earlier."

"Honestly?" Reuben said. "If I were in your position? I probably wouldn't have said anything either. But, now we have to move on to the main event."

Everyone sat up straight in their chairs.

"So, as you all know," Reuben began, "the BPHA has been investigating everything that went down here. They've questioned all of us, as well as Raymond and all the board members - former board members, I should say. And now they've come to their conclusion."

Val waited with bated breath.

"Effective immediately," Reuben said, sounding almost like it pained him to say it, "Team Rainbow is... disbanded. Indefinitely."

"...Are you fucking kidding me?" Brayden said, in disbelief.

"Sadly, no." Reuben sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Teams like ours are only allowed to operate as long as the Bureau finds no serious concern, and according to them, the entire team and a majority of the shareholders getting mind-controlled by one guy in the span of under 48 hours is a

very

serious concern."

"B-But..." Yun-hee tried to pick her jaw up off the floor. "This couldn't have even happened if the Bureau found Raymond before he could do anything. I mean, they're supposed to get us when we're kids, right? How the hell did they not pick him up until now?"

Reuben shrugged. "It could be any number of reasons. Maybe his power's invisible or subtle enough that he was able to evade suspicion, or maybe his wealthy family was able to shield him from anyone finding out. Point is, there's a

lot

of post-humans who slip through the cracks, we just got involved with one who meant to do us harm."

"So what about our contracts?" Gibson asked. "We got paid for this, what do we do now?"

"The Bureau's agreed to buy us out. We're still gonna get paid the same rate as before, but we're not gonna have the company cards, so no more writing everything off as a business expense. And we have to give up the apartments, too."

"Aw, c'mon!" Brayden whined. "I just bought a new couch like a week ago!"

"You're not gonna get thrown out onto the street," Reuben said sternly. "There's a car out back that's gonna take us to a hotel. We'll all stay there until we get new places. And if it's any consolation, the Bureau's footing the bill for the moving vans." He paused. "Any other questions?"

Val's mind raced, struggling to wrap itself around the new information. Almost without even realizing it, she blurted out, "Do we get to keep the costumes?"

Reuben raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I-I don't know, I..." Val ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know! I'm just stunned, I guess. I spent years with you guys, and now it's just... over."

"But it's not like we're never gonna see each other again," Yun-hee said. "I know I'm gonna keep in touch with all of you." She glanced over at Brayden and scowled. "Most of you."

"Gee, thanks," Brayden smirked.

Val chuckled softly, but didn't smile. "...Is it bad I actually

do

wanna keep the costume?"

"Y'know," Reuben said, "I didn't really ask about that, but if you want it, I won't tell if you don't."

"Alright, then!" Val replied. "Anyone want a free ride down to the locker rooms?"

Yun-hee raised her hand, and Val suddenly grabbed it and pulled her friend close. She kicked the both of them off the table, and in a flash of purple, they rolled into the locker room, the wheels of their office chairs rattling on the tiled floor.

"Whoa..." Yun-hee blinked and shook her head. "Warn me next time, please?"

Val rose off the chair and kicked it away, watching it bounce off the empty lockers. "You should be used to it."

"And

you

should know to warn people before abruptly sending them somewhere else."

"Give me a break," Val said, "I'm not gonna get to do this so often anymore." She made her way over to her locker and opened it, her uniform hanging inside. She remembered the first time she put it on, the sense of giddiness and excitement running through her as she saw herself in the mirror. The sense that she'd finally

made it

, at last living up to all the years of training she'd had to go through. Team Rainbow was the pride of Prism City, a brand-new group that would help revitalize a city that had fallen on hard times. Back then, she felt like she was on top of the world.

That feeling passed, of course. Even though the city was in a better spot now than it had been before, even though crime had been on the decline ever since the team was founded, it never made Val feel any better. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? She spent her whole life planning to become a superhero, so why didn't that make her happy?

As Val lifted the costume up, she thought about the last time she wore it. It wasn't exactly her choice; she was following Raymond's orders, and he clearly had a

thing

about having everyone in uniform. And in the rush to free everyone from his control, she didn't have time to change out of it. As she replayed the fight through the halls of the tower in her mind, it dawned on her just how much she enjoyed it. It was just like her early days on the team, the joy of being a superhero rushing back even though it was her own teammates she had to fight.

The idea disturbed her for a moment, but then she realized something. She wasn't fighting against them, she was fighting

for

them. She wasn't fighting for some nebulous idea of "justice," she was freeing her friends from the grasp of an evil person. And on top of that, she was doing it alongside someone she loved.

Val's thoughts were interrupted by shouting coming from outside. She and Yun-hee rushed into the hallway just in time to see Brayden swinging off the ceiling from a fluorescent light fixture, with Reuben looking mortified behind him.

"Brayden," Reuben said sternly, "get down from there. You're going to hurt-"

And then Brayden fell to the floor, the light fixture landing on top of him in a sea of sparks.

"...yourself." Reuben sighed and rubbed his temples. "Why do I even bother?"

Yun-hee rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "So, ready to head down?"

Val paused. "Actually... no, I don't think I'm going. Not with you guys, anyway."

"Wait, what?" Yun-hee's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

Val smiled and held Yun-hee tight. "I know where I need to be right now."

"And where's that?"

* * *

Weiss' face lit up as soon as Val stepped into the room. "Welcome back!"

The portal shut behind Val and her hair returned to its normal shade. "Sorry for dropping by unannounced." She noticed Patti at the barstool and raised an eyebrow. "Am I interrupting, or...?"

"Nah," Patti said, "we were just chatting."

"Oh, good." Val stood silent for a moment, unsure what to say next. "So... are you two, like... good now?"

Patti nodded. "Yeah, we're good."

"We actually wanted to talk to you about that," Weiss added, before furrowing her brow. "Oh, wait a minute. Isn't there gonna be a press conference or-"

"It'll probably start soon," Val replied. "Want me to spoil it?"

"Is it good news or bad news?" asked Patti.

"It's... news." Val sat down on a stool and sighed, throwing her old uniform on the countertop. "Short answer is, Team Rainbow's been disbanded."

"Oh my God," Weiss gasped.

"Val, I'm so sorry," said Patti.

Before Val could respond, she felt two pairs of arms wrap around her, Weiss and Patti embracing her tightly. Val was taken aback, but then reciprocated the hug. "It's okay," Val whispered, soaking in the warmth and affection. "There's nothing we can do about it, so I'll just have to live with it."

Weiss and Patti pulled away. "So, what does this mean for you?" asked Weiss.

"The Bureau's gonna give all of us a pension, at least. But I have to give up my apartment and find somewhere else to live." Val idly rubbed the fabric of her uniform and blushed, unable to meet Weiss' gaze. "And, uh... well, it's kinda awkward asking while Patti's here, but..."

"Yes."

Val looked up and saw Weiss smiling warmly. "Y-You mean it?"

Weiss cupped Val's chin. "Valerie, it would be an honor." She leaned in and kissed Val on the lips, eliciting a soft, quiet whimper from Val.