Discovery by milleniumrex

"Hey, do we have any cheez whiz?"

As Chase Stein burst into the bedroom, consumed with worry over the dairy-like products supply, the visual that greeted him was literally worth a thousand words: Two of his female teammates, Nico Minoru and Karolina Dean, clad only in their underwear, in a position that he had only had the occasional fantasy about. Karolina was glowing with alien energy, the result of the neutralizing bracelet she had tossed on the floor in the passion. Nico's foot, which looked black and blue and rather swollen, was resting in Karolina's lap, but neither of them seemed focused on the injured limb.

"Chase, get out!" Nico screamed, tossing a shoe at Chase. The noise attracted their two teammates, Molly Hayes and Gertrude Yorkes, to the doorway.

Eleven year-old Molly stared at the scene, puzzled. Turning to Gert, she asked "Why are they doing that? They're both girls!"

Gert just snickered. "Kid, remind me to introduce you to a little program called "The L word".

As Chase commented that he needed a camera and the two girls continued screaming at their teammates to get out, but all it seemed to do was attract Gert's raptor, which started sniffing around the room for food. Nico supposed she couldn't blame her teammates for being too shocked to leave. After all, she could barely believe she was in this position herself, as she flashed back to the events that had led her into the arms of the girl she had only thought of as a friend.
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When you packed 5 teenagers and one hyperactive 11 year-old in the same underground lair, the place was bound to be pretty messy. And Nico knew she was responsible for at least part of it. This, however, was very little comfort to her as her foot made contact with Molly's skateboard and she felt herself start to tumble down the stairs.

"OW!"

"Nico!" Karolina yelled as she flew out of her room, her alien skin illuminating the stairwell. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. Remind me to make Molly eat this skateboard later."

Nico tried to get up, but as she put weight on her left foot, a searing pain shot through her ankle and she fell back and let out a stream of curses.

Karolina flew down and helped Nico off the ground, letting the pretty japanese girl lean on her shoulder. She hoped that she wasn't blushing. Her alien skin made it hard to hide, and having Nico this close to her certainly made her a little....excited. But she could never tell her friend how she really felt. It wasn't worth jeopardizing their friendship.

"I'm fine. I probably just need to ice it or something." Nico grumbled. There were few things she hated more than depending on anyone. After suffering two betrayals in the last year, first from her parents, who turned out to be supervillains, and then from her boyfriend Alex, who had betrayed the team and been killed in the process, she didn't feel like letting anyone see her when she was weak, no matter how much she trusted them.

"You're not fine. You can barely walk. Let me take a look at it. I know some first aid." Karolina sat down on the bed and Nico reluctantly offered her the injured foot. Unlacing her boot, Karolina gently rested Nico's foot in her lap. Yeah, it was swelling up and developing a nasty bruise, but for a second all Karolina could focus on was Nico's toes, painted black and just begging to be played with. She put those thought aside and began checking the injury. As she touched the spot of the bruise, she felt Nico's grip on her hand tighten as the other girl hissed in pain. She wanted to comfort her, to make the pain go away.

"It's broken, isn't it?" Nico moaned.

"Might be. I can't be sure. Can you move it?"

Nico winced in pain and shook her head. "And it's not like we can just head to the hospital. The Avengers will be on our tails in a minute if we get sighted. This is so typical of me. I'm going to screw up everything."

As Nico started crying softly, Karolina whispered in her ear "You didn't screw anything up. You're the bravest one here. Without you, we never would have made it this far. Who else here has stood up to vampires, demon sorcerers, and washed up superheroes? You've pulled our asses out of the fire enough times. We'll think of something." Karolina began gently massaging Nico's foot, and the girl moaned with pleasure.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"My parents had a masseuse who would come in weekly. I picked up a few tricks. Does it feel better?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. You're a miracle worker."

There was an awkward silence, and Nico whispered "For what it's worth, Kar, I'm really glad you were here."

"Me too."

Before Karolina knew what she was doing, she had leaned over and gently kissed Nico on the lips. As she pulled back, Nico was staring at her, eyes wide.

"Oh, God." Karolina muttered. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm really sorry."

"Whoa." Nico said "Where did that come from?"

"To be honest, it's kind of been there for a long time. I just didn't know how you'd react. That's why I didn't tell anyone I was......."

"Gay?"

"Yeah, I guess that's one way of putting it."

"No wonder you would always threaten Chase everytime he called something 'gay'. "

"Yeah. So.......what about you? Am I just completely barking up the wrong tree here? I'll understand if......."

Nico shook her head "If you asked me a few months ago, I would have told you that I'm straight, and that I would never date another girl. But my last boyfriend betrayed us and nearly got us killed by an ancient race of demons. I've learned not to assume anything anymore."

"Does that mean......"

"It means that I'm tired of talking. Let's see what the hell happens."

With that, Nico kissed Karolina back, and they allowed themselves to become lost in the other's lips. It was funny, Nico thought to herself, but her ankle didn't seem to hurt all that much anymore.

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Several hours later, after the crowds had been dispersed and Nico, armed with one of Chase's fake ID's, had paid a visit to the hospital, the two girls sat in front of the TV.

"This is going to be a really sucky month" Nico muttered as she pointed to the black cast covering her lower leg.

"Hey, at least I'll be here to keep you company. Besides, it turns out a cast and crutches is a pretty good look for you. It makes you look kind of cute and vulnerable."

"Always the fashionista."

"So.......much as I'd like to believe I'm just that sexy that I managed to spontaneously turn you gay, what made you give us a try?"

"It's actually kind of simple. I want to be with someone I can trust, someone I'm comfortable with. And you're the only person who's really been there for me through everything. I kind of think we were soul mates for a long time. Just in a different way. And if we're meant for each other, who should we let anything get in the way of that?"

Karolina's cheeks turned a bright, glowing shade of red. "I've been waiting almost a year to hear you say that."

As they leaned in to share another kiss, Molly burst into the room.

"Gert just explained to me what you guys were doing! It rocks! Boys are totally yucky anyway!"

Nico and Karolina laughed. Their experience had sort of shown that that was true, but it didn't matter. They had each other, and as long as that was true, nothing else mattered.