Team Reforged; Power and Overpower
Copyright© 2026 by FozzieBare
Chapter 2: Mama’s Special
Amy yelled into her pillow. It did not solve anything. She had not expected it to. It helped. A little. She yelled again. Then she turned over, stared at the ceiling, and discovered that apparently anger had decided to invite sadness over. That was rude. Her eyes burned. She scrubbed at them.
“No.”
The tears came anyway.
“Fuck.”
She hated crying when she was angry. Crying when sad was bad enough. Crying because she was angry felt like her own body betraying the point she was trying to make. She sat up. The room was quiet. Too quiet. Her phone sat on the bedside table. She looked at it.
For one terrible second, she imagined searching for The Reinforcements.
Looking for more pictures. Articles. Fan discussion. People already trying to figure out which fictional character matched which real person. She picked up the phone. Opened the browser. Stopped. Closed it.
“No.”
That, at least, was something she could control. She put the phone down. Ten seconds later, she picked it up again. Not to search. She messaged Adrian.
Can you come over?
The reply came almost immediately.
Yes.
Amy sat on the edge of the bed. She tried to decide what she wanted to say. That was not difficult. She wanted to say a thousand things. The difficult part was deciding which one came first. The knock came.
“Come in.”
Adrian opened the door. He stopped just inside. Amy knew what he saw. Red eyes. Hair somewhat less organized than it had been earlier. The pillow behind her bearing evidence of having recently been assaulted. Adrian closed the door. He did not say anything.
Adrian, I need a hug.
The words rose immediately.
Please.
She couldn’t say them. Not yet. She didn’t know how he felt. He had been there. He had seen the same photograph. He had his own fictional copy. Maybe he thought she had overreacted. Maybe he was angry that she had threatened to quit. Maybe he was angry at Marcus. Maybe he was angry at her.
Probably not. But probably was not enough. Adrian pulled the chair away from her desk and sat facing her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Me neither.”
That helped. Amy looked down at her hands.
“I made a scene.”
“You made less of one than I would’ve.”
She looked up.
“You?”
“Probably.”
“Adrian.”
“Amy.”
She almost smiled. Almost.
“What happened after I left?”
His expression changed. There it was. Something had happened. Amy straightened.
“What?”
“I talked to Marcus.”
“About?”
“You.”
Her stomach tightened.
“That’s not ominous at all.”
“It wasn’t bad.”
“Adrian.”
He leaned forward, forearms on his knees.
“I asked him whether we were back to square one.”
Amy frowned.
“I asked whether he was missing things in contracts again. Whether this happened because he got careless.”
“And?”
“He didn’t.”
Amy let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“He says he specifically put the restrictions in there. No names. No exact likenesses. No direct representation.”
Amy stared at the carpet.
“Exact.”
“Yeah.”
“They’re hiding behind exact.”
“Looks like it.”
Her hands curled. Adrian continued. “I told him something else.”
Amy looked up.
“I told him if you want legal representation, we’re getting it.”
She blinked.
“You did what?”
“I told him if you decide we need lawyers to tell the production company they’re too close, then the team hires lawyers.”
“Adrian...”
“I told him if the team wasn’t willing to stand behind you, he wasn’t going to have a team anymore.”
Amy stared at him. Her first reaction was anger. Not at Adrian. At the scale of it. At what he had put on the table. Her second reaction was fear. Her third was something warm and dangerous behind her eyes.
“You threatened to quit?”
“I told him what would happen.”
“That’s threatening to quit.”
“Technically.”
“Do not technically me right now.”
“Sorry.”
Amy stood. She walked to the window. Turned around. Walked back. Stopped.
“Breathe.”
Adrian said nothing. Amy closed her eyes. One. Slow inhale. Slow exhale. Two. Adrian had put the team on the line. Three. Marcus had apparently not betrayed her. Four. That did not make what happened hurt less. Five. She opened her eyes.
“Okay.”
Adrian waited.
“What did Marcus say?”
“If you want lawyers, you get lawyers.”
Amy nodded slowly.
“He didn’t fight it?”
“No.”
“Didn’t tell you how much money this deal is worth?”
“No.”
“Didn’t tell you I was overreacting?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
Adrian thought.
“He said you should have had that protection in the first place. And that he’s pretty fucking angry too.”
Amy sat down again.
“Oh.”
That one hurt differently. Not badly. Just...
She didn’t know. She had wanted Marcus to understand. Apparently he did. She stared at the wall.
“Do you think I’m making a fool out of myself?”
“No.”
The answer came so quickly that she looked at him.
“You didn’t even think.”
“I already thought about it.”
“When?”
“After you left.”
Amy waited. Adrian leaned back.
“I looked at the picture again.”
His mouth tightened.
“I saw mine too.”
Amy looked away.
“I know.”
“I didn’t like it.”
“No.”
“I don’t like that somebody gets to take the parts of us they find interesting and turn them into somebody else.”
Amy said nothing. Adrian rubbed his thumb along the side of his hand.
“I don’t like that if their version of me turns out to be an asshole, people who know about us might decide that’s based on something real.”
Amy’s head came up. That was it. Not all of it. But part of it.
“Yes.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I don’t like that if their version of you does something stupid, people are going to wonder whether you did it.”
“Yes.”
“And I really don’t like that we don’t know how close they’re going to keep getting.”
Amy stood again. This time she stayed still.
“That’s what scares me.”
“I know.”
“No. I don’t think you do.”
Adrian did not argue. Amy searched for the words.
“I spent years trying to figure out who the hell I was supposed to be.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Too loud. Too angry. Too competitive. Too much.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
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