𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 ~ 𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘴

~ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙀𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣: 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 ~

The longer Astrid stared at that Sparrow uniform, all she could do was wonder if she had just imagined this and was still dreaming, tucked in her lover's arms. But as she pinched herself to make sure, sure enough this was all real. "I can't believe it, Ast! You're gonna be one of us!" Sloane gushed as they returned to her bedroom, Astrid still lost in her thoughts.

Sloane noticed the prolonged silence and crouched beside her. "What's wrong? I thought you'd be happy about this!" She wondered. "I guess I just didn't expect Ben to react this way. I thought he would've grabbed me by his tentacles and thrown me out or something," Astrid sighed. "It's a lot to take in all at once," Sloane nodded at her girlfriend's reply, gently stroking her arm. "Did Ben tell you about this happening?" Astrid questioned.

"No! That's why I was so surprised when he offered you a spot on the Sparrows!" Sloane answered. "Like I said before, Ast. Nowadays we barely talk unless it's about missions," The Shadow Girl reached into the box, finally pulling out the uniform. And as she smoothed out the creases in the leather, she brought the uniform up to her torso and walked towards the mirror. Even with the image of what she looked like in the Sparrow uniform burned into her mind, Astrid couldn't stop and wonder what her siblings would think. Especially Luther and Viktor. Being in love with a Sparrow was one thing, but becoming one of them was on another level.

Astrid was pulled out of her thoughts as Sloane rested her head on her shoulder, staring into the mirror with her. "Come on, let's try it on! I'll even put mine on!" Sloane offered. "Alright, why not?" Astrid sighed. Sloane giddily clapped her hands as she rushed to her closet, and as the Umbrella changed into the uniform, she had a hard time sliding into the leather pants. Hearing the sounds of quiet grunting, Sloane looked over her shoulder and went to help her.

"I know, sliding on the pants is a struggle even for me!" Sloane chuckled, zipping up the multiple zippers on her suit. Almost instantly, the suit formed to Astrid's body, accentuating her curves in all the right places. As Sloane stood in front of her, the Shadow Girl zipped up the rest of her girlfriend's suit, hearing her giggle as she reached the top. They returned to the mirror, and Astrid's hands ran down her body, feeling the leather material cling to her skin. Ben was right, she was just about Jayme's size.

"Does it feel a little more real?" Sloane asked, her arms wrapping around Astrid's waist. "Y-yeah. It does," Astrid smiled nervously. The girl standing in the mirror was not the Astrid she recognized. Every time she stared at herself, she would see the broken Astrid with mascara stains under her eyes or the Umbrella Astrid, who was usually quiet but fought for her family. This version of her was different. In a positive light, it made her feel a little more confident in herself like she could rise above all the chaos they were facing and be the mistress of shadows she was back in the glory days.

She closed her eyes, her black-gloved hands tightening as her palms ignited into black smoke, her shadows ready to do whatever she wanted. The gravity girl stared at her in amazement as Astrid's blonde hair blew wildly and the shadows flew around her from head to toe until they returned to her hands. Now it officially felt so real. This Astrid was powerful, the inner woman that had been screaming to come out of her shell for the longest time.

"Wow..." was all Sloane could say as Astrid turned to face her. She looked just as powerful as Sloane knew she'd was. She just needed to believe in herself to unlock her full potential. And while she knew the other Umbrellas would be surprised, if not a little upset by the switching sides, at least two of them knew Sloane had no ill intentions. "Comfortable, isn't it?" Fei questioned, startling the both of them.