The One Girl is really, really important to the team, okay? She holds them together. She's not anyone's mother or anything, but she picks up socks and does the dishes because no one else is going to do them in the clubhouse, which is actually 'headquarters,' but she calls it 'clubhouse' in her head the way she calls herself 'The One Girl.' It happens when you live with so many dudes, even though the dudes all have individual quirks like one is too neat and prissy (the Geek), one is reckless (the Daredevil), or one is just super stoic (the Jock). One Girl doesn't really need any of that. She's just One Girl, and that's enough. Her uniform is pink because no one else is going to be the one to wear it. She's content. Mostly.
       Since the Leader (who's a little less neat and prissy than the Geek, a little less reckless than the Daredevil, a little less stoic than the Jock) formed the team to fight crime, she's worn pink. She liked pink well enough before but not, like, to the exclusion of all colors. Now she wears it all the time like the way she now always wears eyeliner and lipstick. It's become a signature.
       She's the voice of reason for the team. She tells the Leader not to head into danger without making a plan first. She helps the Geek talk to the alien women from Pluto. She cautions the Daredevil against driving his car into a gorge.
       She just has intuition, you know? The idea it's a thing innate to all women is pretty insulting, though, because somehow, for guys, it's called 'gut feeling,' but she's the One Girl. She's willing to make some sacrifices if it means stopping an intergalactic crime syndicate from infiltrating the Atlantic Ocean.
       She and the Leader are probably going to get together. Not her and the Geek or the Jock or the Daredevil. That's a given. One Girl and the Leader are awkward around each other sometimes and would do anything for each other except when he acts like an asshole. Then she's like, "Nevermind," and he's like, "What did I do, babe?" and she's all, "If you have to ask, do you need to know?" And everyone else in the clubhouse is like, "It's a girl thing. Don't bother her," which bothers her on its own because it isn't a girl thing; it's her thing. It's One Girl's thing.
       Except then, one day, she isn't actually One Girl anymore. The team gains Other Girl, the daughter of the dead boss of the intergalactic crime syndicate. One Girl doesn't see her as competition, exactly, but she throws things into perspective. One Girl didn't think of herself as obstinately girly or loud until Other Girl was tomboyish and quiet. One Girl didn't realize she always made the clubhouse meals for away missions until Other Girl helped but asked why she was the only one doing it. Then everyone felt weird that, of the team, the two girls were the ones making sandwiches and running the dishwasher. Suddenly, the Leader assigned chores.
       One Girl and Other Girl hang out, even though they seem opposite in every way. They define each other in their opposition. One Girl likes wearing pink pumps and fixing engines--once, memorably, at the same time--and Other Girl likes wearing blue hoodies and watching figure skating on television.
       "Does it bother you?" Other Girl asks when they go to the theater to see movies. It's 'movies,' plural, rather than 'movie' because they really don't like to see the same ones. They just each pick a film that's about the same run time, see it, and talk about what they saw as they walk around the park near the clubhouse.
       "Does what bother me?" One Girl got a yogurt cup with berries and granola.
       "You're as good as them." Other Girl takes a bite from her hot dog. "They treat you like you're The Girl, though."
       "What's wrong with being a girl?"
       "Nothing," says Other Girl. "But how are you just a girl when you're The Girl?"
       "But by that logic, I'm not The Girl anymore," says One Girl. "You're here."
       Other Girl smiles hesitantly. Her smiles are very pretty and very shy. "I know. I'm glad I'm here. There could be more of us on the team, is what I'm saying."
       "What do you mean by 'us'? We're different; we're just both girls. I think everyone on the team has valuable skills, too."
       "Both things can be true," says Other Girl. "Everyone can have valuable skills and be cool and brave and awesome like the Leader or the Geek or the Jock, but we can also be weakened by the fact many of us are a lot alike."
       "I don't know. Our team is pretty great and amazing."
       "I'm not saying it isn't, just, you know, nothing's perfect."
       One Girl thinks this over as she finishes her yogurt. Like many things she and Other Girl discuss, they agree to disagree. Afterward, she goes to the gym, and Other Girl goes to take a nap.
       The Geek decides to go back to school for his Ph.D. and leaves the clubhouse. His replacement has darker skin than he does, and One Girl makes a fool of herself one day by calling him 'The Black Guy.' She apologizes profusely, but The Geek's replacement forgives her. She's grateful for that, though the shame stays with her for a long time. The shame is lessened by the fact she isn't the only girl on the team anymore--she doesn't represent every single woman. Other Girl is also there and doesn't put her foot in her mouth the way One Girl does.
       Then the Jock decides to live on another planet with his green, humanoid boyfriend. One Girl is relieved she never screwed up and called him the Gay Guy.
       His replacement is Another Girl. She's bigger and stronger than One Girl and more of a tomboy than Other Girl, but she also calculates starship trajectories faster than the Geek ever did. She drinks lots of beer and tells really bad jokes, and also reserves the gym in the clubhouse for 'aligning her chi.' She's really flirtatious, but when she actually talks to a man she sincerely likes, really shy.
       "I don't know how to categorize anyone anymore," One Girl says as she brings Another Girl a towel in the gym.
       "Then don't bother." Another Girl shrugs. "Just call me Lynn."
       "Lynn," says One Girl. "And I'm Una."
       Lynn bursts out laughing. "I know your name! I used to watch you on television with the rest of the team. You were so cool! I mean, you were cool then and you're cool now. Sorry."
       Una laughs.
       Slowly, Una starts thinking of the guy who replaced the Geek as Leon. Other Girl is, and always has been, Ivy. The mechanic they add to the team isn't a kind of person; he's just Muhammed, the mechanic who listens to metal really loud and won't let anyone drink in the garage.
       Over a long period of time, the world seems to shift as Una looks at it. Things don't feel as flat, in some ways. Colors look different. The bad guys they fight have complex motivations, and the people they save have their own agenda.
       The Leader is still the Leader. He's kind of headstrong but not that headstrong, dickish without always being a dick, and really good at his job. Una really does love him.
       One day, he gets caught in a bomb blast. It sucks because it's not just a broken arm; it's traction. He needs physical therapy for the next year and a half. Una goes to visit him. She's not very good with being around sick people, actually, but she brings flowers and a teddy bear holding a heart. He probably doesn't have use for either of these things, but he takes both gratefully when she comes in.
       "I'm leaving the team," says the Leader. "There's really no way I can continue being on it like this. Can you replace me?"
       Una is shocked. "I can never do that. I'll be your substitute until you come back, though."
       He looks so exhausted with his legs and arms elevated. "Or I can retire."
       Una stands up. "No! No, you're good at this! No one else can be the Leader."
       "You'd be better. Everyone knows you would be."
       "Of course, I would be," she says. "I used to be the Girl, so I had to be perfect."
       "You say that like it's capitalized. 'The Girl.'" He laughs until his eyes get wet. The Leader doesn't cry, really, not unless it's a moment where he's really vulnerable and noble about it. Right now, he just looks like he wants a nap. "Why do we keep doing this 'Jack and Diane' thing? I've been breaking my heart over you for years. It's fine, though. It's okay if you don't want it. Just say so."
       "I do," she says. "Of course I do. Let's be in love. Let's date. We can be main characters together."
       "What? Main characters? Seriously?" says the Leader. "I don't understand what you mean, sometimes. I do, once in a while, but mostly, I think you're somewhere else. I don't always know if I want to follow."
       She realizes that there's another reason why they haven't gotten together yet. He's never just been the Leader. He's been a complicated person all this time.
       So has she. "Okay. I'll be in charge if you're retiring, Alan."
       Alan gives her a grin and winks. "I'm a charmer. I knew I'd convince you."
       "Sure. Get well, soon." Una leaves him in the antiseptic, quiet room.
       As the Leader, Una's all the things she was when she was One Girl, just more so. She's practical, mostly, and she's here to do her job. She has, after all, always been really, really important to the team.
       The Jock--okay, David, comes back to the team with his green boyfriend, Xjaukvi. "I miss it," says David. "I miss adventuring and fighting crime. The clubhouse is getting crowded, though."
       Una gives him his old uniform. Even when Lynn joined the team, they didn't clear out his locker. "Everyone's allowed in who earns it."