LUKE HAD killed Brink.

Then, Luke killed himself in front of a group of people.

They all had cameras. They all watched Luke fly into the sky and kill himself.

He used everything in him to explode. Body parts laying around and blood splattering on everyone who was around.

Jordan was quick to come to, their masculine form taking a look at the giant hole in the ground of the school.

They knew good and well that they and Luke hadn't done that.

They stood up slowly, taking jagged steps towards the hole and seeing Corinna, naked, bruised, and bloody inside.

"Shit." They muttered, "Shit!"

Jordan carefully made their way down into the hole, slipping their jacket off to cover Corinna's nude body.

They could only imagine that Corinna had somehow to grab Luke's powers in time before he hit her. They had no idea that Corinna had also used their powers in the fight with Luke.

Jordan carefully lifted Corinna's body up to place their jacket around her. Her breathing seemed to be steady to let them know that she wasn't dead, but was only beaten up pretty badly.

Though Corinna had Luke's powers, he was still stronger. He had the training that she never had and that's why he was able to win in their fight.

Plus, she was using two powers at once, it was all just jumbled up knowledge in her brain and she was only focused on trying to make Luke weak enough to explain why he was so upset.

It wasn't until nightfall want the police and ambulance came to God U.

Jordan wouldn't let their soft hold on Corinna go until they brought the girl a nightgown or something to cover herself up.

The paramedic finally brought over a nightgown for the girl and a pair of disposable shorts.

Once Jordan put that over her, they carefully passed her over to the paramedics.

With the help of the paramedics, Corinna soon woke up. She zipped Jordan's jacket up and pulled at the hem of the disposable hospital shorts as she stepped out the ambulance.

Her bare feet touched the pavement and was soon wrapped in a tight hug from Jordan in their feminine form.

Corinna quickly reciprocated and tightly hugged them back. She shut her eyes as her chin rested on their shoulder and took in a deep breath.

She had heard about Luke and Brink while being check up on. She didn't think that this was Luke.

She knew that this wasn't something Luke would do.

"I told you to run." Jordan said, pulling from the hug.

"I wasn't going to let you fight him by yourself." Corinna paused.

She took her hand and pressed it gently against the cut on Jordan's forehead, getting rid of it all together with her powers.

Corinna sighed. "I was able to use his powers in the fight... but I, um, also used yours."

Jordan titled their head, "You used both of our powers in the fight?"

She nodded, "Luke was able to knock them right out of me. I've never had that happen to me before."

Jordan sighed, looking over at the carnage that was Luke's body parts.

"I was really weak." Corinna said, her voice cracking. "He was so angry, Jordan."

They looked back over to see tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

Jordan quickly took the girl back into their arms.

And all Corinna did was cry.

She was scared.

Her best friend was dead.

And everything was going to hell.

JUST BECAUSE someone died, didn't mean the day would stop. You had to get up and go and pretend that everything was fine even if it wasn't.

And Corinna's day wasn't going to get much better when her parents bombarded her messages about how she dropped out of the top 5.

Every Monday or so, the ranking would be updated and it would rarely change within the top 5, but since Luke and Brink's death, which was only a day ago, not even 24 hours, things has drastically changed.

Andre was now number one, Marie broke the top 10 as a freshman, Jordan dropped down to number five, and of course, Corinna was now sitting at number six.

Corinna had no idea how Marie broke the top 10 as a freshman, though, she did have some idea on why she was there.

But she had absolutely nothing to do with Luke other than running from the fight rather than fighting to possibly save herself and not having Luke kill himself in front of everyone in the way that he had.

Corinna sighed, locking her phone and putting on do not disturb in order to get her parents off her back for the time being.

She shoved her phone into her back pocket and made her way into the building where her class would be held.

It was officially settling in that this would be her life. She was a full time student whose parents wanted nothing more than for her to be a the top of the rankings and becoming the best superhero that she could possibly be.

Where the fuck was the fun?

There wouldn't be any. Definitely not now or anytime soon.

Corinna was so into her own thoughts that she hadn't recognized that she had bumped into someone in the halls.

"I'm sorry— Oh," Corinna paused, "Cate."

The last Corinna saw Cate was when she was walking back to Jordan's dorm and seeing the girl crying and the sight of Luke's blood on the ground.

Cate looked up at the girl, a saddened smile on her face. Of course she was taking everything in and trust, the way Cate felt would never be understood by others, let alone herself, but she knew she had to get up and go because her life didn't stop just because Luke's had.

Cara heavily sighed. "Hey, Corinna."

Cate and Corinna had known each other since their freshman year and they would always consider themselves close.

Through Jordan, Cate had found out that Corinna had also been in the fight with Luke before his own demise.

She wasn't mad or upset. Cate knew that if it was the other way around, she would've done the same the to protect her boyfriend.

But she couldn't do that anymore.

"I'm really sorry about Luke." Corinna softly spoke. "I know you two were very committed to each other and... I know he loved you so fucking much."

Cate gave the girl a small nod and a small, pulling her into quick hug that she wished she could've held on to for a moment longer.

Corinna gave the girl a squeeze back and smiling to herself in the comfort she received.

With a heavy sigh, she pulled from the hug, Corinna eyes shining their brown color as she looked at Cate, looping her arm with the girl.

"As much as we may dread it, our presence is needed in class." Corinna softly smiled.

That class was normally held by Brink and now he was gone.

Corinna entered the class with Cate, reluctantly pulling away from her to take her seat across the room, and no, that she wasn't even close to Jordan, though, they probably wanted and/or needed some sort of comfort... or maybe they wanted to be alone.

For the time being, Dean Shetty would be taking over his class.

"Professor Brinkerhoff died the same way he taught: a hero." She began, "He molded the Lamplighter School of Crimefighting into the shining exemplar it is today. Nobody could possibly replace him, so... I will. Or at least I'll try. We will cover everything Brink would cover, but we'll also get into the intersection of superpowers and mental health, which was my dissertation—"

Dean Shetty cut herself off once she heard the door of the classroom open and in walked Marie. All eyes on the freshman girl.

"Sorry I'm late." She spoke.

Shetty only smiled, introducing herself and telling Marie to take a seat in one of the empty desk.

"We're letting Ms. Moreau audit the junior-year classes." Shetty explained. She smiled looking down at Marie who sat in front of her, "What you and Andre did, well, it's obvious you belong here."

This was the first time that Corinna had heard anything about Andre and Marie doing anything.

And she would soon get her answer when class ended and she jogged through the halls to catch up to Jordan.

And there they stood in their masculine form outside of the school.

Corinna pulled her tote bag up on her shoulder and jogging over to them before they could get further away.

"Hey," She called, causing Jordan to turn. "I didn't see you when I woke up this morning."

She spent the night in Jordan's dorm. She was practically too weak to stand on her own, let alone to process what the hell even happened.

"I didn't want to bother you this morning." They answered.

Corinna only looked up them with soft eyes, gently taking their hand and making their way back to the dorms for the day.

"Do you know what Shetty was talking about? With Marie and Andre?"

Jordan sighed, bowing their head and give Corinna's hand a squeeze. "They're saying that Marie and Andre are the ones who... saved everyone from Luke."

Corinna furrowed her brows in confusion. "And they're just... going with it?"

"After we saved her fucking ass." Jordan muttered. "They have an interview tonight and I asked Marie to tell the truth."

"And if she doesn't?"

Jordan paused, taking a deep breath. Their hand still gripped with Corinna's.

The girl sighed, looking up at them. "I don't want you to be upset about the ranking if this is what the truth is about." She said.

Jordan sighed, tearing their eyes away from her. "I was number 2 and now I'm 5. It's only going to go down because Brink was the only person who saw me as me."

"The only person?"

Jordan closed their eyes. "That's not what I meant—"

Corinna only nodded and let go of Jordan's hand. She shook her head with a sigh and began to turn, making her way over to her dorm.

"Corinna, wait—"

Jordan quickly grabbed on to her wrist, trying to get the girl to stop.

But she turned, her eyes glowing. "I want you to leave me alone until it's dark."

"I will leave you alone."

It wasn't until Jordan let go of her wrist and turned that Corinna remember that she had grabbed Cate's powers earlier.

She watched Jordan walk off, going God's knows where. She watched until they were out of sight and turned, making her way back to her dorm alone... because that's what she asked for.

CORINNA SAT on her bed with her legs pressed against her chest as a random movie played on her screen.

She knew Jordan was coming, they really didn't have much of a choice.

Then the grateful knock came.

Corinna sprang to her feet and quickly opened the door to see Jordan and their female form standing on the other side of the door.

Jordan took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just- I know you care about me. You care about me more than anyone I know." They sighed, finally looking Corinna in her eyes. "It's just... Brink... he was like the dad who cared for me, but nothing and no one can replace, Rin, and I'm sorry that I felt like someone could."

Jordan had never been very vulnerable with Corinna in the either time they've know each other.

It was rare that she saw Jordan cry, it was rare for Jordan to show PDA, it was rare for Jordan to tell the girl they loved her.

They never really fought, petty arguments here and there, but nothing majored.

Neither one of them had said "I love you" yet even though they felt it for each other.

And maybe this time, this apology from Jordan was them say they loved Corinna in some way.

That's how Corinna saw it at least.

"I don't want to replace anyone. I just want to be here for you, Jordan. Whatever you need."

Jordan's breath caught in their throat as they looked back at her, their heart racing with desire.

Without another word, they leaned in and captured her lips in a heated kiss, their hands sliding around her waist to pull her closer to him.

They stepped back into the room, almost falling over the shoes Corinna left in the middle of the floor as Jordan shut the door with their foot.

Corinna's hands slipped lower, teasing the waistband of Jordan's jeans. She could feel the heat of their desire against her, and it only fueled her own passion.

She looked up at him, her eyes slit as Jordan switched from feminine to masculine. They now looked down at her, their eyes hungry.

Jordan growled low in their throat as Corinna pulled them closer, her fingers expertly sliding down the zipper of their jeans. They shuddered as she wrapped her hand around their hardness, squeezing gently.

"Fuck," Jordan moaned, their hips bucking into the touch. They grabbed Corinna's shirt, pulling her close and kissing her deeply once more.

They ran their hands up her body, fumbling with the ends of her shirt.

Jordan lifted Corinna up, their hands gripping her ass as she wrapped her legs around their waist.

They made their way over to the bed where Jordan gently laid her down.

Corinna's hands found Jordan's shirt, pulling it off them forcefully as she gazed hungrily at their toned chest.

In one smooth motion, Jordan flipped Corinna onto her back, their lips never breaking apart as they ground their hips into hers. They moaned, pleasure coursing through their bodies as they wrapped an arm around Corinna's waist, pulling her tight against them.

Corinna tangled her fingers in Jordan's hair, arching her back as their lips traveled down her neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses along her collarbone.

They clasped hands, their fingers intertwining as they moved together, each brush and thrust sending waves upon waves of pleasure coursing through their bodies.

"Jordan," She panted, her grip on their hands tightening. "I'm close."

Jordan stilled, their breath coming in ragged gasps. They peppered Corinna's face with kisses, their movements slow and gentle now as their bodies came down from their high.

They finished just in time to watch Marie's interview.

Just in time to hear her take the credit for defeating Golden Boy.

It seemed so easy for her to do.

So easy for her to take something that wasn't hers.

— lucy has something to say !!

updated a day early because why not

derek luh is tatted the fuck up

slight smut in the next chapter

bye :))))