Valentina shifted, trying to sneakily wipe her hands on her dress. She was sweating like crazy; this was a huge deal for her. Her heart felt like a kick drum, and she was more twitchy than she felt she should have been. A hand slipped into her own on the left; she turned to see her wife smiling at her. "You've got this," Katya whispered. She squeezed Valentina's hand.

The gallery owner turned a little bit towards the pair of them. He stood at the front of the room, before a crowd of people in clothes Valentina would never have been able to afford when she was in art school.. "Well, I suppose I'd better welcome our guest of honor, shouldn't I?" he said, getting a laugh from the guests. "Here she is: please welcome Valentina Hargreeves!"

Katya squeezed her hand again, and Valentina stepped forward, smiling. She hoped it didn't look weird. "Thank you," she said, "And thank you all for being here!" She turned to face the crowd of guests - there were a surprising lot of them. The fact that they were all here to see her art seemed absolutely crazy. "I'm very glad to see all of you here tonight, supporting me and this wonderful gallery. I'm not going to take up too much time talking, but if you have any questions, feel free to find me. Now go and enjoy yourselves! I hope you like my paintings." She backed away, spreading her hands to indicate that the crowds could move about freely. They clapped, and she beamed.

As the gathered group dispersed throughout the room, Valentina stepped back to Katya's side. The blonde grinned at her. "You did great, Vallie," she said, wrapping her arms around Valentina. "I'm proud of you."

Valentina laughed, "Thanks, Katydid," she said, "I hope no one is disappointed..." She turned away, looking around at the people moving around the room. Looking at her art. It was amazing, to see it.

Valentina's method of creating art was painting, pouring her soul onto a canvas with color and shading. It suited her, and she often had paint smeared on her hands. One painting, her favorite, took nearly an entire wall. It stretched almost to the ceiling, a study of the skyline of New York from her childhood bedroom. It took her years to complete, and liberal use of her hovering power. She didn't use her ability much anymore, besides in painting and teasing Katya. She wasn't a hero anymore, she was just a woman, a wife, and an artist.

Soon enough, Valentina got sucked into a conversation with a wealthy heiress she'd never heard of before, talking about art and Valentina's technique. The woman seemed to be interested in buying a piece, but Valentina couldn't be sure. She never got to find out, though, because Kayta tapped her on the shoulder, her face grim.

Valentina turned back to the heiress. "I'm sorry, I have to step away for a minute." She smiled, then turned, following her wife to a small space in the back of the room where the owner stood by a wall phone. "What's going on?" she asked, reaching for Katya's hand.

The gallery owner looked up at her, pulling his face away from the phone. "I'm sorry, Miss Hargreeves," he said, "I just got word from your family's...butler. Your father has passed away."

Valentina's mouth dropped open a little. It was like the breath was sucked out of her, and like time slowed down to an utter crawl. Katya wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close.

Saying that Valentina was close to her father would be totally incorrect. She avoided him for most of her childhood, and he didn't seem to care much about her outside of how she could be used to fight people. When he did pay attention to her, he was belittling her. He didn't seem to like the fact that she had...feelings. Anytime she expressed any amount of care for her siblings, he punished her.

Even with all that, though, knowing he was dead... She didn't know what to do with it. It was like her brain couldn't process the information. Dad was always old, somehow. He never changed, throughout her entire life, like he was immortal or something. She had been starting to think he was. With her life the way it was, she wouldn't be surprised.

She blinked. "What?" she whispered, surprised at how soft and weak her own voice sounded.

The owner nodded. "I'm sorry." He looked like he meant it, too.

Valentina took a deep breath, reaching over with one hand to grab the one Katya had put around her. "Thank you," she said. "Um. I think...I think we have to go."

She felt more than saw Katya nod. "Probably for the best," she said. Valentina could hear the vibrations in Katya's chest when she spoke. "I'm sorry. Could you tell everyone that we have a family emergency?"

He nodded, "Of course. Go, go. It's not a problem." He moved to the center of the room, clapping his hands together.

Valentina let Katya take the lead as they moved to the back exit of the gallery, grabbing coats and purses before stepping out into the chilly March evening. Valentina pulled her coat tight around her. Rain was starting to fall around them softly, making marks on Valentina's face that tears couldn't produce. She felt like she should cry, but...

Dad sucked. He hurt her, from the moment she could express her own thoughts and opinions, and let her believe she was nothing and did not matter. It took years for her to have any kind of self-confidence again. She hated Sir Reginald Hargreeves. But he was still her father, adopted or not. He took her in, gave her a home, and kept her alive and mostly healthy for seventeen years. That counted for something, right?

Maybe. Maybe it did.

—

Their home phone was ringing when Katya and Valentina walked through the door. Katya went to answer it, but Valentina stopped her. It's probably for me," she said, "I got it."

She picked up the phone. Before she even had the chance to say hello, the voice of her twin brother poured into her ear. "Val, have you heard?"

Valentina sighed. "Yeah, Diego, I did. Got a call at the gallery." She shook her head, though she knew that Diego couldn't see her. "I was doing so well not thinking about him and that house."

"Oh, that was tonight?" Diego said. "Man, Val, I'm sorry to miss it. There was a call-"

"I know, Diego," Valentina said, "It's okay. As long as you don't miss all of them. Assuming there are more."

"I'm sure there will be, you're an amazing artist." Diego sighed. Valentina wished this wasn't a phone conversations - she wanted to hug him. "Are you going to the house? For a funeral?"

Valentina snorted a laugh. "Do I have a choice? Even if I thought I could get away with not going, Luther won't let any of us miss it, you know he won't."

"He's on the moon, he doesn't get a say!"

"And you don't think he won't come back? I mean, Dad had to have some way to talk to him."

Diego sighed again. "Yeah, you're right. I wish you weren't." There was a pause for a moment, the kind of pause that comes between siblings that can never seem charged or awkward, then Diego said: "I guess I'll see you there. Katya coming too?"

Valentina hadn't even thought of it. Half of her siblings hadn't even met Katya, and Pogo and Mom hadn't either. But she needed Katya. She needed her strength by her side to help her deal with the madness that was her family. "Yeah. Yeah, I think she's going to come. We'll see you, Diego. Be safe." This was the way she ended every conversation with her twin. She knew Diego well enough to know that he would never stop this vigilante thing of his; and in a way she was proud of him. That he was so dedicated to eradicating crime in the city was something to be proud of, in her opinion. But she also wanted her brother to stay around. So, she reminded him at every chance to be as safe as he possibly could.

Diego laughed a little. "Of course Val. Of course. You too, okay? Say hi to Katya for me."

"Of course. Bye, Diego. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, Val." The call disconnected, ended, and Valentina held the smooth plastic of the phone in her hand. Her thumb absently rubbed along the side of it, and she sighed. The last thing she wanted was to go back "home", but it looked like she was going to, whether she wanted it or not.

—

1481 words. Longer than I thought!

Sorry for going such a long time without an update; I took a break from writing over my spring break! Anyway, here we meet Katya, Valentina's lovely wife, and learn of dear old dad's death. I'm holding for this fic to be fairly fast-paced, and I won't be trying to cram entire episodes into one chapter, but instead break chapters off where it seems right.

So, what did you think of grown-up Valentina? Of Katya? Of Diego? Anything you'd especially like to see in future chapters? Let me know! Thanks for reading!
Gif header made my soulofstaars

💛 Elspeth