𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐓 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒, 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃. Parents rarely ever approved, given that the teenager even fathomed telling their parents about them. They usually couldn't meet under normal circumstances and, sometimes, neither party knew any personal details about the other, even something as simple as their name. But there was a relationship, a connection, an intimate understanding of the others' person, and that was all that really mattered, at least in Phoebe's mind.

Phoebe glanced down at her phone, wincing when she saw that she was almost forty minutes late. She wasn't too far away from where they agreed to convene, but she had found herself getting stuck on the last few problems on her Physics homework and, knowing better than to try and prioritize her night work over her real life—if she could help it—she had finished up everything first, only then getting into her suit and climbing out her window, heading off towards the rooftop where they agreed to meet. 

"You're late," was what she was greeted with as soon as she dropped onto the flat landing of the rooftop.

She sighed softly as she adjusted her bandana, her eyes scanning over the three figures that were shrouded in shadow, her eyes quickly adjusting, allowing her to see them clearly. As clearly as she was allowed anyways, what with all of them similarly dressed and hidden as she was, though she knew one far more personally than the other two.

"Blue said it wasn't urgent and I had some personal matters to attend to, but I'm here now," she reasoned, glancing over towards the only boy in their group who was standing amongst a few computer screens, his hands glowing a faint blue.

"But you told us we had to be here at exactly ten," Dragonfly exclaimed, shooting an accusatory glare at Blue Screen whose gaze barely flickered from where he was concentrating on the screens, his fingers twitching as he focused on controlling whatever technology he deemed of use.

"Yeah, because even if one of us is late, the rest of us can still work," Blue Screen explained, his hands still glowing but his attention fully placed on the scene in front of him, "There was a lot of physical recon that you and Fish did, and it was really helpful and exactly what would've happened even if she was here."

"You're lucky we're good at our jobs, Boss," Infinity Fish called from the edge of the building, looking down at the poorly lit street.

Phoebe hummed as she stepped towards the girl, peering down to see the same empty sidewalk she did, knowing that she was only looking down to buy time, that there wasn't anything of note down there, because that was just what Infinity Fish did.

She had met Dragonfly and Infinity Fish around the same time, months after meeting and befriending Blue Screen. 

Dragonfly had been first, appearing with namesake wings sprouting from a holographic overcoat, her hair the same purple and blue that it was now, large sunglasses obscuring her face. She had been utterly adorable and so, dangerously clueless, but it didn't take her long to catch on to exactly how Phoebe and Blue Screen operated, changing her suit to be easier to fight with, as well as less noticeable, to some degree. The sunglasses were modified into goggles with heat sensors and the overcoat turned into a proper suit, and Blue Screen had been responsible for the goggles, no one knew where she had gotten the uniform.

Speaking of uniforms, Infinity Fish's was much better than her initial one, but she could never truly get away from her first. Phoebe and the rest of the group had found her in the midst of infiltrating a human trafficking ring which, working together, they had successfully disbanded and turned towards the proper authorities in their own, personal way which involved the scrambling of cameras, an anonymous phone call, and disappearing before anyone could catch them.

Unfortunately for Infinity Fish, who was new to the entire operation and poorly disguised, someone had managed to take a picture of the back of her oversized jean jacket which was later revealed to Phoebe to be one of the girl's many attempts at abstract upcycling, the image at the back being of fish bones on top of an infinity sign. It was meant to symbolize the importance of environmentalism and a subtle political statement, but was quickly taken by the media to be her alias, and while some did comment on the environmentalist statement, the alias Infinity Fish was hardly something any could take seriously, and while she had changed her suit as quickly as she could, she was still Infinity Fish, no matter how hard she tried to change it.

Phoebe felt bad for her, she truly did, but she couldn't help but grin at the very thought of the name, mentally praising herself for being so accustomed to the shadows that people had yet to learn of her existence; it was the reason why, unlike the other three, she didn't have an alias.

"What's the plan, Boss?" Dragonfly asked, walking over to Phoebe from where she had been hovering by Blue Screen's shoulder, the boy too busy concentrating to humor her, "Blue said we got a lead."

"She doesn't know about it," Blue called, saving Phoebe the trouble of explaining that, despite the nickname that they had insisted she accept, she wasn't actually the boss of anything, "I got the first alarm about two hours before I texted you all, I had to monitor it and I'm still getting updates as we speak."

"I thought you two knew each other during the day," Infinity Fish said, stepping away from the edge of the building, allowing herself to melt into the shadows as well, crossing her arms.

"Doesn't mean we spend all our time together, I have stuff to do," Blue Screen scoffed, and Phoebe resisted the urge to react; they did know each other when the sun shone, and, as a result, their dynamic was far different than the dynamic she shared with the other two.

Of course, she and Blue Screen often worked together regardless, Dragonfly and Infinity Fish generally stuck to their own territory, keeping watch over whatever was closest to their homes, Infinity Fish unable to branch out as much as the others could. Dragonfly had her wings while Phoebe knew her way underground, Blue Screen providing all the technology they needed, though he was actively working to make Infinity Fish her own tech so he wouldn't need to be with her to get it up and running.

Either way, they weren't a team, and Phoebe would continue to say it until they finally believed her. She cared for them too much to let them be a team.

"You have your whip?" Blue Screen asked, catching her attention, and she raised an eyebrow as she reached towards her side and grabbed the familiar handle, unfurling the whip and letting it crack, the sound echoing into the night.

Blue Screen blinked, unimpressed. "Good job alerting everyone, Boss. Real smart."

Phoebe scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Go drain a battery or something, Blue. Let's try to finish this quick, please, we have school tomorrow."

"Ooh, so she goes to school," Dragonfly drawled, grinning up at Infinity Fish who offered the small girl a twitch of her lips for her troubles, much to Dragonfly's delight.

A running joke between the four, Dragonfly often poked fun at Phoebe's rigid rules and regulations and insistence on anonymity, while the others pretended like there weren't any other reasons why she did so; some were more light than others, and Phoebe tried to ignore all of them.

"So, from what I can tell, they expect a check-in every five minutes and a shipment is supposed to be en route to the docks in the next fifteen, and it takes another ten for them to reach the docks, so you don't have a lot of time. Yes, we would have had to start at this time regardless of whether everyone was here on time or not," Blue explained, holding up a hand when Dragonfly opened her mouth.

"I can handle the check-in, but you need to make sure that we're out of here before the shipment is supposed to reach the docks or the whole thing is a bust, 'cause the police need to get there by that time," Blue explained, glancing towards his monitors, "Boss, you can take it from here. They have some laptops in there so I was able to use the cameras, but I can't really tell how many there are in there, but there are at least ten because they're loading up."

Phoebe cursed softly, taking a deep breath to steady herself, now acutely aware of every second that passed. She closed her eyes, trying to listen in and hear, but while her hearing was better than most, she couldn't hear through the building down to the ground, at least not anymore; she had to get closer.

"You did recon?" she asked, turning to look at Dragonfly and Infinity Fish who nodded in unison.

Dragonfly stepped forward, jerking her head towards the other girl as she spoke, "So it was mostly me since we didn't try to head in without you, but what I saw was that there are a bunch of people, but they're condensed in this one area, and there are just these rows of big containers and some are open and they work inside, but others are closed and probably hold their things? I don't...I guess it doesn't really matter right now, but they're high up so if you play it right, they won't see you, and they won't see you right away depending on where you sneak in."

"So that's where you come in, Fish," Phoebe continued, already forming a plan as she looked at the screens, trying to discern the layout of the room from the low angles, "These are big lights, but they're not using all of them, which is good for us if we play the shadows right. If you can keep the shadows on us and in the edges, we'll have an advantage, but we have to move quick because we're severely outnumbered."

"They all have guns," Blue Screen added, and Phoebe's stomach dropped, stumbling backwards slightly, catching herself immediately after.

"We aren't leaving," Infinity Fish said, before Phoebe could even open her mouth, "I get you're really scared about us getting shot and, trust me, I am too, I don't think any of us want to get shot, but we're here and we have to do this, so don't send us home and just try to do this yourself like those other times."

"I was able to those other times," was all she said, and she would have argued more if the clock wasn't ticking; she wasn't particularly interested in the business of being responsible for the lives of those she could send away.

But there wasn't any time to argue, and she was going to need their help this time, and while she would have rather tackled this a different time where the stakes weren't so high, they were as prepared as they could be and the opportunity was too perfect to miss, so, hoping for the best, she walked towards the edge of the building, looking for a window.

"Here, I found the best one," Dragonfly said, grabbing her arm, already holding Infinity Fish's other arm, the two girls reaching over to hold onto her, tensing as they began to hover, the smallest girl struggling to carry both of them towards the obscured window.

"Here, I got you," Blue Screen called, tossing over a grappling hook to Phoebe who latched onto the edge of the building, letting go of Dragonfly to hang onto the side of the wall, kicking in the window as quietly as she could.

"Nice," Blue Screen couldn't help but hiss, and she reminded herself to smack him once they made it back to safety.

"I got us," Infinity Fish whispered, taking a breath and raising her hands, the three of them engulfed in shadows.

They weren't unlike the shadows found on a regular day, underneath a tree or a building, but it fought against the light, covering them entirely, and if not shrouded amongst other shadows, they were rather obvious, Infinity Fish not strong enough to make the shadows look more natural by making them larger and draw gradually towards them, but it was good enough and Phoebe knew how to adapt.

So she dropped down onto the ground, into the line of fire, while Infinity Fish was lowered onto one of the containers, immediately flattening herself and covering herself in shadows, trying to keep an eye on the others, especially Dragonfly who made her way up to the very edge of the building, trusting to be completely covered by the shadows, Infinity Fish using most of her energy to make a dark cloud that would be impossible to see through, at least enough for her to keep an eye out for them.

"We should've tested the comms beforehand with you, boss, but you ready?" Infinity Fish whispered, barely audible to anyone not on the comms, the noise of the room drowning her out perfectly.

Phoebe removed her whip from its holster, her grip loose enough to be of use, but tight enough to be safe. "Ready when you are. Dragon, any stragglers?"

"Nothing, boss, they're starting to load up, actually, so we've got something for that. If we time it right, I can close the container on the others to buy you some time, at least enough that you can take out the ones on the main floor before you have to deal with them," Dragon explained, and Phoebe nodded to herself, already making her way towards the center where the light was concentrated.

"I can help with that, boss," Blue Screen called through the comms, "They expect another check-in in two minutes, so if you can get into position, once they finish their check-in, I can let you know and turn off all their devices and intercept the check-ins, so all we need is to make sure the cops get to the docks in time."

"Sounds good, Blue, sync up," she said, continuing to make her way towards the area, straining to hear for the sounds of Infinity Fish crawling on top of the containers, "Dragon, be careful, can you watch us?"

"I got you, boss," Dragonfly promised, "This set up is helpful, actually, but I'm gonna come down and get Fish so we can all be in the same area, you're heading towards the container that I'm gonna close."

"Then I'll go around to the other side. Fish, take the shadows off of me, I'll be fine, focus on you and Dragon, you'll be in the line of fire, but I'm gonna try to disarm some beforehand," Phoebe said, moving backwards towards the edge of the room, keeping an eye on where she needed to end up.

"I can help with a distraction, boss. I can't promise it'll work well, but after they finish up their check-in, I'm gonna wait thirty seconds then put the ringer through again. It'll distract them long enough for you to get to some and for the container to close, but it needs to happen all at once and you need to stay on your toes. I'd intercept for this check-in, but we're cutting too close at this point," Blue Screen replied, and Phoebe made a sound, focused on getting to the other area.

"Just give us the signal, Blue," she said, pressed up against the wall, hidden behind one of the containers, "Let me know when the check-in starts so I can get into position."

With nothing left to do, Phoebe just waited. She fought against the sound of blood roaring in her ears, taking deep breaths to try and focus in on the sounds of the room around her, listening for any incriminating statements or something that they could use. She was also able to see enough of the floor to be able to see which individuals she would need to target first, though, considering all of them had guns, there would be no rest until they were all, at the very least, disarmed.

There was a loud alarm that filled the room, far louder than any of them were expecting, and Phoebe, who had been straining to hear in addition to her already heightened hearing, struggled to stay upright, her knees shaking and teeth pounding in tandem to her heart beat, and any hopes of being able to focus thrown out the window.

"Boss. Boss, you good?" Blue Screen called, and from his tone, it was clear he had been asking for some time, and Phoebe struggled to catch her breath.

"Yeah, I'm good," she huffed, hating how it was as if she had gotten all the wind knocked out of her, "I wasn't expecting that. Uh, sync me up, where are we?"

"When they hear the sound, they stop everything and they all pull out these little device things and type into them. They don't take too long, but it takes ten seconds for them all to be finished because some of them take longer, and it's the ones on your end," Dragonfly explained, and she didn't need to say anything more, because while they didn't always work together, she was well used enough to Phoebe's plans to know that she could decipher a plan or take enough charge that all that they needed to do was act.

"I had to wait a little longer than usual, Boss, but it's no big deal, get into position, you have ten seconds...eight...seven...," Blue Screen called, and Phoebe felt her stomach lurch at the countdown.

Taking a steadying breath, she readjusted her grip on her whip, adjusting her bandana, allowing herself a moment to close her eyes, opening them to find colors more vibrant and her vision all the more, focusing on making sure she could hear and see as much movement as possible.

"One."

The loud sound filled the room and Phoebe was ready for it, watching all of them jump, fumbling with their devices, voices ringing out, demanding to know what was happening as they had just done a check-in, clearly buying them more time than initially anticipated.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes, watching as the two closest to her were just able to check their devices, the others still trying to access them and open them, all thanks to Blue Screen who was able to see the scene through the various cameras he had hacked into.

"Go."

With her signal, Phoebe lunged forward, knocking her elbow into the face of the man on her left, her whip snapping and catching the other person's face right in front of her, disarming him enough for her to grab his gun and use it to knock both of them unconscious, diving down to the ground as another man tried to tackle her, too focused on stopping her to have time to reach for his gun, too startled to be fully focused.

The container doors had been closed while she had grabbed the gun initially, and Infinity Fish was able to take down one of the individuals who was just about to shoot at Phoebe, the sounds of shots being fired at the thick metal from the inside of the container, startling all of them momentarily, but not enough to give the others the upper hand; more than they already had.

"Dragon!" Phoebe shouted, charging towards the individual that the girl in question was trying to wrestle a gun from, Phoebe kicking their wrist forward, a shot ringing through, but the bullet winding up grazing the leg of one of their colleagues rather than Dragonfly, who was seconds away of being shot herself.

"You don't do that. Ever. Not if they can point it at you," she instructed, helping the startled girl to her feet, only to shove her to the side, whirling around to kick the individual trying to tackle her to the ground, her foot shouting in pain as it collided painfully with a strong jaw.

"Are you seriously lecturing right now?" Infinity Fish demanded, commanding the shadows to keep her hidden, disarming the rest of the men who still had a hold on theirs, shouting as she received a jab in the ribs.

Phoebe's whip shot out, wrapping around the man's wrist and pulling, firing the gun upwards as he was dragged to the ground, his wrist dislocating in the process, Infinity Fish kicking the gun aside, right into the face of one trying to stand from where they had been kicked down.

"I'm coming down," Blue Screen called, just as the girls were checking to make sure that everyone was down, Phoebe kicking all of the guns into a pile, "I'm bringing the rope and the note, I already alerted the cops so they're gonna be there and at the docks, I'm gonna intercept one more check-in just to keep everything secure, but I instructed them to keep quiet and about the containers, some are heading over here now, they'll arrive in four, so we need to go."

They all struggled to catch their breaths, Phoebe sighing as she felt blood sliding into her mouth from her nose. It wasn't broken, thankfully, but it had been hit, and her jaw was hurting more than usual, but her teeth weren't dislodged, though she was going to need to make a stop at the kitchen before going to sleep if she wanted to make sure they would be fine.

"Boss, you're bleeding," Dragonfly called, her hands rather scratched up, Infinity Fish clutching her ribs, and Phoebe looked down to find that, while her suit had yet to ever be fully pierced—the facility staff had been very thorough—there was a trail of blood seeping down towards her shoes in the exposed part of her ankle, the suit not having grown with her.

"I got shot," she hissed, seeing the wound from where a bullet had grazed her ankle, and she groaned, unsure of how she was supposed to patch herself up; there was a reason that they avoided guns.

"Can you walk?" Blue Screen called, appearing from where he had broken into the front doors of the warehouse, running towards them, pulling the rope out and tossing some of the girls, all of them working to tie up the individuals on the ground.

"Yeah, it barely got me, but I'm gonna have to fix it up, it's not stopping," she sighed, taking the note from him and taping it on the container, jumping at the sound of a few more bullets being fired at the container door, denting it slightly.

She closed her eyes and listened carefully, searching for the voices of the men inside, wincing at the roars of their voices, of the threats and the curses and the explanations that, now, all of their rounds were empty. She smiled to herself at that news; at least no one would get hurt once the doors were opened.

She turned around, finding Blue Screen adjusting his duffel bag full of personal electronics, Infinity Fish and Dragonfly coming to stand next to him, all of them looking at her, waiting for instruction.

Phoebe felt her stomach churn as she fought back a sigh; no matter how many times she had explained it, they would never listen. They didn't always work together, only convening when they caught wind of a large bust like this, but they still looked towards her for leadership, and Phoebe wasn't about to indulge them in their concept of being a team; if they were a team, she would be responsible for them in ways that was more demanding than it already was.

It was hard enough looking out for them as separate individuals, as an entity, all it would get them was hurt, and despite what they believed, they weren't ready and didn't want any part in it; teams didn't work unless someone got hurt.

"Scatter," she said, hearing the sounds of sirens in the distance, "Blue, I thought you said that they were gonna be quiet."

"Yeah, out towards the docks, not over here," he said, glancing towards the various windows, "Where do we go, Boss, we could make take the front doors if we hustle, they're coming from the east."

"Dragon, take to the skies, see if you can drop Fish off closer to her place so she doesn't need to stay underground for too long, Blue's tech is faulty and we don't need her stranded, stay to the shadows, but keep an ear out for the trains," she said, directing the last statement to the girl in question who ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ears, "Blue and I will head back our way. We're gonna keep low after this, if you do your rounds, do it quiet and stay out of sight, this is a big break, we don't want too much attention on this. We'll sync up again if we need something, but—"

"We are not a team," the three finished, though Blue Screen caught Phoebe's eye, the other two girls just rolling theirs or looking away.

Phoebe nodded to herself, sighing softly. "I'm glad we're on the same page. Now scatter."

With that, they rushed out, Dragonfly grabbing Infinity Fish and flying towards the windows, heading towards their boroughs, staying low and hidden behind the buildings, away from the incoming cars and docks, the two dropping onto the tops of buildings every so often to break and to keep an eye out.

While they went their way, Phoebe and Blue Screen made their way towards the aqueducts, grabbing their tech as they lowered themselves down with the ladder, reaching into the shadows of the brick.

"I don't understand how you're so used to this," Blue Screen shuddered, the two balancing on the boards that he made which connected to the edges of the walls without needing actual railings, his hands glowing blue as his powers controlled their movements, propelling them along, "I feel like a ninja turtle."

Phoebe thought back to the TV show that she had watched with her brother through the laptop, him on the space station while her and their father on the couch, her father explaining the original versions while his son shushed him and told him to enjoy the updated animation.

"This is how we would get around back in San Fransisco, it was easier not to get spotted, but there were other ways, ways I didn't learn about. But here, we have to or else someone's gonna see us, this city doesn't sleep," she explained, sighing as she grabbed onto Blue Screen's shoulder for balance at a particularly sharp turn right, causing some of the water to splash around them, much to the boy's disgust.

"Next time we take the tunnels, at least they're dry," he huffed, and she didn't bother with a response; they always took the tunnels, they just didn't when they had to run.

"We were way too close to Hell's Kitchen," she said, standing on the ladder, watching as Blue Screen's hands glowed a bright blue, his eyes closed as he focused on returning the equipment to its original landing dock, the technology calling to him to let him know where it needed to go.

"Okay, I appreciate that guy not beating us up when he caught us, but he's way too territorial," Blue Screen sighed, passing over his duffel bag to tug off his suit—more of a covering, really—opening the bag and switching them out for a hoodie, handing her one for herself, zipping it up and taking it from her, dropping his hat and bandana into the side pockets.

Phoebe hummed as she tugged the hoodie over her suit, obscuring the already plain black piece from view, climbing out of the aqueduct, heading towards the main streets, nearing his home. She dusted off her hands before turning to help him, taking his bag, watching as he groaned, struggling to lift himself out.

Reaching down, she grabbed Gabriel's arm, pulling him up with ease, and he grumbled about her showing off as they headed towards the sidewalk, unable to fight back a smile as he sighed, only looking over his shoulders and in the shadows every so often, as relaxed as he could be considering the circumstances.

"You finish the homework?" she asked him, the two nearing his apartment where the lights were off by his windows, his mother working the graveyard shift at the hospital that night.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you did since you took so long to get to us," he replied, standing on the steps, fishing the key out from his bag.

"Gotta find a balance, Gabe," she said, shoving her hands into his pockets, and he nodded, looking around at the dark night around them.

"You sure I can't walk you home?" he asked, worrying on his bottom lip, "It's not safe for you to be walking by yourself."

"It's not safe for you either," she countered, motioning back towards him, "Unfortunately for us, Gabe, we're not straight cis white men, and my dad would lose his mind if he found out either of us were out by ourselves like this, but at least I've got more of a fighting chance to stay alive if someone tries anything, they don't pull guns out at me."

Gabriel gave her a pursed lipped smile, sighing as he ran a hand over his buzzed hair, groaning and tilting his head up to the sky. "Text me when you get home, okay?"

She nodded, tugging down her bandana to give him a comforting smile. "I'll be fine, Gabriel. Just get some sleep."

With one last sigh, Gabriel nodded, making his way into his apartment, locking the door behind him, giving her one last wave through the glass doors before making his way up the stairs towards his floor, disappearing from view.

Turning on her heel, Phoebe started towards her home, tugging off her bandana and shoving it into her hoodie pocket, pulling her short hair out and running her hand through it, her whip still by her side, a safe weight by her hip.

She continued the short trek back home alone, the sounds of the city still present and roaring, but the comfort of her own person giving her a moment with her thoughts, replaying the night, only then remembering that her ankle still needed to be patched up, glancing down at where Gabriel had wrapped one of his spare bandanas around it, now soaked in blood.

Sighing, she grabbed her own and unwrapped his, balling it into her hand and wrapping her clean one back around her ankle, tying it tighter than he had. She thought about how Dragonfly had wrestled for a gun, how the barrel was aimed directly at her face, how she stared it down, not even realizing that all the man had to do was pull back his finger and it would all be over.

She shuddered at the thought, feeling sick as she continued towards her home, shaking her head as she went along. That was the difference between a double life and internet friends, it seemed; with the internet, she could leave. With a double life, she would just have to die.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

( 07.03.17 ; 07.08.19 )

Listen, you guys, I had way too much fun coming up with the new nicknames, honestly, Infinity Fish was the hardest for me but I find it so funny that I did because it's so dumb and I wanted to write something like that, because it's funny.

I suggest everyone take a look at the cast list again, because I had removed Becky G as she's going to be playing a different character in this series (because this is now a series, please recommend some series names), and I switched the faceclaims of Marcy and Kelly, so if you want to look at who they are to get a better understanding of them beyond the vague descriptions I had to give, you can check them out over there (apologies for not being able to just say their names, but you know how it goes, if you need me to, just comment here and I'll tell you which alias belongs to which character if you're confused)

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!