In The Showers

For one terrible moment, the whole world seemed to come crashing to a stop, and Lilly felt the thundering of the water against her body was replaced by the frantic hammering of her heart from within it. She stared at Dark Angel, not even knowing what to say. A frantic denial rose to her mouth, but she realised that if she blurted it out in panic, it would be as good as admitting that she was who Angel thought. On the other hand, staying silent was also a bad idea, since it would be a tact admission that she could say nothing without giving herself away.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." Lilly said, "I'm just someone that Dusklord hired for the role, that's all. Maybe what you're sensing is the fact that I have my own powers?"

Angel tilted her head to the side, pale blond hair streaming with water as she did. For a moment, she looked like she was considering it. Lilly felt her heart in her mouth, a frantic desperation had come over her. She couldn't be found out! If word got out that she had willingly done something like this, her career as a hero would be over! No one would ever take her seriously again, and everyone would know her as the heroine who had given everything up to be a villain's ****! Adrenaline rushed through her body, and her fight or flight instinct started to kick in, but she restrained herself. It wasn't like Angel was actually trying to hurt her, so even now she couldn't justify any sort of real attack.

She'd have to try to talk her out of it.

"I doubt it's that simple." Angel said, "Like I said, I can sense someone's body when I heal them. It's how I revert everything. I see what they are _now, _and I also see what they're _supposed _to be. Then I switch one for the other. I don't know exactly what sort of powers you have, but your energy reserves were massive compared to an average person. Even a normal super wouldn't be half what you were at."

As she spoke, Angel folded down a finger for each point she made, listing them one by one.

"Secondly, Dusklord let you keep your mask, which is odd considering he stripped you totally naked otherwise. I suppose he could have been doing it to let you act the role as Redwing, but given your body type and hair colour match hers exactly, he didn't need the mask to do that. Now, I admit this is only slight evidence, but then you combine it with point number three."

She folded down another finger.

"Dusklord had no interest at all in hiring any prostitute before this. He showed no sign of it. it's not even that he didn't do it - he wasn't interested in the slightest. Like I said, I actually thought he was asexual. So I am not going to buy that some random woman happened to catch his eye who just also happened to look exactly like his nemesis, whose identity was important enough that he let her keep her mask, AND who was able to impersonate Redwing perfectly, even down to having absurdly powerful abilities.

"Then, there's the fact that your hair, voice, and body language all are perfectly suited to Redwing's. Again, that's not suspicious since you're supposed to be intentionally mimicking her, but it does add up when you combine it with the other points. You have to admit, it looks awfully naughty. A hero and a villain doing this sort of thing together? If anyone knew, you'd both be in trouble. I mean, Dusklord could just kill people until they stopped teasing him about it. But I'm guessing you don't have that option, Miss Goody Two-Shoes.

"I'm not her," Lilly protested as strongly as she could, "I mean, you're right that I look and sound like her, but that's part of my job! I've spent years practising it and making so I can match her as closely as possible, even down to body language! And I do have a ton of energy, but that's because of my own powers, they're not Redwing's!"

"Then show me them."

"What?" Lilly blinked.

"If your powers aren't Redwing's, then you just have to show me them and I will know for sure. Her powers are public knowledge after all. She's got fire manipulation, flight, superior strength and agility, and enhanced toughness. If you can show me anything that isn't one of those, I'd have to admit you weren't Redwing."

Lilly bit her lower lip, Angel stood grinning, her arms spread as if inviting her to do it.

"I can't," Lilly says, "My powers are like hers-"

"A-ha!"

"Like hers but not the same! I have super strength and endurance and flight! But I can't do anything with fire!"

"Hmmm." Angel seemed to consider it again, once more, Redwing was caught desperately hoping she'd buy it.

"Super strength and endurance are usually low energy powers," Angel said, "And flight is mid level at best. Even if you had a high cost version of all of them, there's no way you'd need as much energy as you have."

"Know that for sure, do you?" Redwing grunted.

"Pretty sure. Been doing this for a while, got a general sense for what powers require how much energy. Every version is slightly different, of course, but after a while, you start to be able to make basic deductions and guesses. So no matter what you say, I know that you _are _Redwing! Which means that you and the boss... are you two a couple?"

"N-no!" Lilly spluttered, "It's nothing like that!"

"So you admit you're Redwing!"

"No!"

"Too late! You cracked! You totally just admitted that you were!"

Angel rubbed her hands together gleefully, shaking her head to send water droplets cascading.

"I am going to have _so _much fun with this!"

"P-please don't tell anyone!" Lilly squeaked, "It would be really bad."

Her heart was beating faster, a frantic need to do something, to escape was rushing through her body. Dark Angel still hadn't actually tried to hurt her, so it wasn't like Lilly felt able to fight her or anything like that, but she could be through the wall and away in mere moments if she choose. After that, no one would believe Angel even if she told the world - there would be no proof, and villains lied all the time about things like that. It would be a real shame to dip out on Dusklord like that, she felt actual regret, but this was going to threaten her career, and the good she could do as a hero. Between her own personal pleasure and the people she could be helping, there really was **** even if that lack of choice stung like a bitch.

Angel must have read her body language, because before Lilly could act on her intentions, she raised a hand.

"Hang on there, I don't intend to tell anyone. Before you do something silly, your secret is safe with me."

Lilly blinked.

"What, really?"

"Of course, dumbass. Didn't we say before that if word got out, Dusklord would lose respect as well? He's my boss, I don't exactly want to make him look bad. I mean, he _could _recover, but it's better not to take damage than to heal from it, you know? So you really are Redwing then?"

Lilly nodded, her heart was still beating fast, and she felt faint.

"Y-yes..." She said in a quiet voice. "That's me. Dusklord made a proposal to me and..."

"And you accepted it." Angel said. "Wow. Holy shit. I didn't think stuff like that actually happened. So all of this... the chains and the punishments, it's your kink, isn't it?"

"Um..." Lilly flushed bright red, feeling the heat rising to her upper chest and face. There wasn't much point in denying it, though, so she nodded.

"A little bit..."

"A little bit?" Angel raised an eyebrow, "Just a little bit of light being paraded around the castle naked, and tied to a sex machine all night? Just a small, reasonable amount of that?"

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds silly," Lilly protested, "But that was how I thought of it. Um. But you're right, I do sort of enjoy that kind of thing. A-as a hero, I was always too powerful to be able to actually enjoy it. I mean, ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be kidnapped by a villain, but no one ever could. And of course, it was serious most of the time, so I had to fight properly or people might die or get really badly hurt."

Lilly shrugged.

"Duty before pleasure and all of that. I like being a hero, I like helping people, saving others is what I do, and I am good at it. Very good, in fact."

"A little bit too good," Angel nodded. "So Dusklord comes to you and makes this proposal, he says that you can live your fantasy for a little, and no one is at risk, no one is going to be harmed if you don't act like a proper hero, so for the first time, you get a chance to actually live it out. And I guess the boss has always carried a bit of a flame for you anyway, so he gets to have fun too. So long as the two of you are willing, I don't really have any say in the matter even if I didn't approve, which I totally do."

"So you're just going to let it be?" Lilly asked. "You just wanted to know for your own curiosity?"

"Pretty much. Plus if you weren't actually Redwing, then I would have had to make sure that the boss realised how powerful you actually were. You could easily have been an assassin or somesuch sent by one of the other big name villains."

"So you were actually looking out for him?"

"And I was curious, don't forget that." Angel grinned. "Man, to think that I am getting to see the actual Redwing stark naked right now. Do you know how many lonely guys and girls on the internet would kill to be standing here with us?"

"Far too many," Lilly said, suddenly feeling shy about her body, the urge to cover herself up was countered only by the twin facts that one, Angel had already seen a lot worse, so hiding her bare self at this point was kind of useless, and two, Angel would probably laugh at her if she tried it.

Angel smirked, running her hands through her hair to wring out the water, the shower continued to pour down around them, steam snaking around their legs. Lilly felt at least a little bit better now, she had the sense that Angel would keep her word. Her loyalty to Dusklord seemed to be real enough, and his reputation would take a hit too if the news got out.

"So, I've got just one more question for you." Angel said, "Did you really mean what you said back in the hallway? That you wanted everyone to join in and punish you? To show you what a slut you really were?"

"Ah." Redwing felt her face heat up, a thrill ran through her body, awakened by the memories of her walk of shame.

She swallowed, working her throat for a moment so as to get some time to think of a response.

"It's um," she hesitated, and then plunged onwards before she could have second thoughts, "It's part of my fetish. I always wanted to be captured and....and used by the villain and their minions. pleasedonttellanyoneaboutthis."

Angel laughed, shaking her head. "I'll tell no one. But you'd seriously do anything that anyone here asked you so long as they worked for the boss?"

"Well," Redwing considered, "Not anything. Obviously. Nothing illegal, or that would hurt someone else. But being used like that turns me on... it's um, kind of humiliating to admit that out loud."

She gave a nervous laugh.

"You get turned on by being used? I've heard of crazier stuff." Dark Angel threw a sideways looks at Redwing, "Though, it does raise an interesting point."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Well, I work for Dusklord, right? So would you obey any orders that I gave you so long as they didn't break any of those rules?"

"I mean..." Lilly looked downwards, seeing the warm waters of the shower eddying as they flowed along the floor to the central drain, the sound of the sucking was almost covered by the pattering of the drops of water which hammered into the two of them.