writere.

How much would you guys despise me if I told you I also did not like that character? 😬 To be fair, I haven’t watched Spider-Man 2 since a was a wee child, but…

Ask and you shall receive! And thank you very much, dearest <3

P11 Darling, I Did It For You

Part 10 here

@silverwhisperer1 @whump-me-all-night-long @whatwhumpcomments

******

Villain's hand hovered in front of Hero's door, ready, but terrified, to knock. It'd been several days, almost a week, since the Garden Runaway. Hero had come out of her room a few times, but only to grab a quick drink, or a box of crackers. She rarely ate a full meal because that would mean cooking it herself- which meant a prolonged amount of time to run into villain. If Brother or Sister brought a meal to her then okay, but there was a stronger chance that Villain would bring a plate to her than the others.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." It was Brother, walking down the hall from his so called 'Lab'. Villain rolled his eyes at the thought.

With a falling arm, Villain said, "What would you know? You're twelve."

"Thirteen," Brother corrected. "And I don't have to know anything except what I've been told. She doesn't want to see you yet. Just give her time. She'll come to you when she's ready."

Villain knew his younger sibling was right. He agreed fully, so he couldn't say anything. Villain was impatient was all. It was something he was working on. "You missed the stairs." Did Brother only come this far down the hall to bother Villain?

"No." Brother held up two blue-gloved hands, which were holding another pair of gloves. Only the gloves he held were a silver, yet brownish colour. "I meant to come here. Hero said she's tired of having others pour her drinks. So I made her these."

"Gloves?"

"Stariculum gloves," he said. Seeing the blank expression on Villain, Brother continued. "It's a highly classified element due to its unique properties. You can do a lot of things with that stuff. One such thing being the ability to camouflage. Hero puts these on, the element implanted in the material- and there's a ton of it- will match the solid state- her hands- on which it lay."

Still, Villain gave no expression, but he asked, "Why would Hero want camouflage gloves?"

"Because, it distracts from the fact that she's wearing gloves at all."

"Why does that matter? If the gloves help her pour a can of soda then they do and she'll use them. What need is there to hide the gloves? And how does a pair of gloves help anyway? Why not just give her regular clear gloves?"

"Do you really want another science explanation?"

The villain shrugged. He looked at Hero's door then turned back to his sibling. "It'll occupy my brain from wanting to check on Hero, so why not?"

Brother smiled. "You asked for it."

After a lengthy explanation, Villain understood that Brother managed to create a new compound, crossing atoms of starcal- or whatever it was called- with various other elements. In the end, he made a pair of gloves that matched skin tones and was thick- but not heavy- enough that Hero could touch anything, metal or not, and it would be like touching it normally- no loss of control in her powers. The only downfall, Brother said, was that since they were thick enough to prevent direct contact, they also prevented any amount of feeling besides a tiny, or 'minuscule', bit of pressure, so Hero couldn't feel much. She would be able to touch cans and garden poles without bolts of electricity sparking out, but she wouldn't feel it.

"Chances are she'll always keep them on just for a state of normalcy. Imagine she gets used to wearing her gloves to open a car door, and then at night she takes them off, forgets to put them on the next morning. Next thing you know, she's on the news for accidentally destroying her entire apartment complex because she touched the heating-cooling system."

"You still never said why she needs to hide the fact that she's wearing gloves," Villain stated.

"Ask her yourself if it's so important you know." Brother added, "When she's ready, of course. She tells me you have some things to clarify before she'll ever let you ask her anything."

Villain's raised his brows. "And how often do you talk to Hero?"

"More often than you." Brother gave a small smirk that softened like butter in the next few moments. "She'll come around. Until then, stay patient. I know that's hard for you, but you've done good enough at it this week."

Villain was speechless. His brother must have been joking or something. He was never kind, encouraging, or anything similar with Villain. Maybe Hero meant something to Brother just as much as she did Villain.

Villain sat at the kitchen island, head in his hands. It'd been several more days since Brother gave Hero the special gloves. She'd come downstairs once herself to get a can of strawberry soda. Villain noticed she was drinking an unhealthy amount of it, but he didn't question her about it. He assumed she was just happy to be able to touch the can it was in.

She got into cabinets on her own when she did come downstairs. Hero seemed to thoroughly enjoy the snack cabinet, and the freezer. Villain caught her stealing whole tubs of ice scream just to bring them back later. Hero eventually did begin eating meals once Brother offered to take them to her room.

Blowing out a long breath, Villain debated what to do. He didn't want to bother Hero, but at the same time, it was time to get back to work, and he didn't just want to up and leave Hero. He had to tell her he'd be gone, right? Or would that just make her feel even more trapped than she already felt? Great! he imagined her thinking. Now I'm stuck here while he's not even around. How did she feel when he left to visit her apartment?

He nearly cursed himself at the last thought. He'd been so angry with Caretaker that he forgot to even give Hero what he went to the apartment for!

That's what I'll do, Villain thought. I'll take them to her and tell her that I'm going back to work.

Villain started away from the table by going to his room, to get Hero's...gifts? He didn't know what to consider them. They were simply decorations from her own home so it wasn't a gift. But it sounded inconsiderate to just call them decorations when they might- hopefully- mean so much for her to have. Whatever they were, they were in his room, in a drawer. He had to collect them before taking them to Hero, and so he did.

Then, he approached Hero's door. He knocked, lightly, hesitantly.

He coughed. "Uh, Hero? I...I brought you something from home. Will you take it or should I just leave it outside the door?"

To his surprise, she answered. Hero opened the door, immediately looking from his face to his hands to see what he brought.

Villain had to control the smile trying to steal away his other emotions.

"You did go to my apartment," she said softly. Hero must not have believed him before when he said he did, when he said he ran across Caretaker.

"Yeah, I-I did. I just thought you might, you know, appreciate having something from home."

Hero only nodded in return, holding out her hands to take the two ghost decorations. She laughed a little, thinking of her apartment, of the fact that she'd already had ghosts and pumpkins and whatnot set out. In truth, summer had just began to come to an end when she set her autumn and Halloween decorations out. She always decorated early for fall. It was her favourite season. "Thank you," she finally muttered.

"There's another reason I came to you. I- well I know you needed space and I didn't want to intrude, but I wanted to let you know that I'll be going back to work at the cafe."

"The Milk Bowl?" she asked, and Villain could see the way she perked up. She was almost on her tippy toes.

He nodded.

"Can I come?"

Villain sucked in a breath. "Hero, I don't- I don't know if that's a good idea..."

It wasn't that he wanted her to stay in his home for fear of her running off, though maybe that played into it a little bit. It was that Villain was unsure if Caretaker would be there. Tomorrow was Monday after all, and Caretaker went there every Monday. Truthfully, he was there everyday. The only days he didn't go was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. "Game night, party, recovery," Caretaker had said once. Villain would hate if he actually took Hero and that dirtbag was there.

Even worse, knowing Hero, she would want to reconnect with him. He was the only person she was familiar with besides Villain and she obviously wouldn't want to be at Villain's hip the whole time. She'd want to be far away from him.

"Please. Don't take the cafe away from-"

He sighed. "It's not- urgh!" He took a moment. "It's never been my intention to take things away from you, Hero. I'm willing to let you go to the cafe, just...just not during the week, okay?"

"Why not? Why does it matter which day I-" she cut herself off short. "I get it." A huff of air. "You don't want me to see him."

"It's for your own good. I promise. I know I seem awful. I know I have things to work on, but I promise, Hero, that everything I have done or haven't done has been to benefit you. You don't know Caretaker the way I do. He's not a good person. I swear it, Hero."

"You're jealous."

Villain's jaw dropped. "Jealous?" he repeated, completely struck by the word. "No. No, no, no. I'm not jealous of him. I just despise him. He's simply despicable." He wanted so badly to tell Hero what Caretaker did, what he and his friends bet on. Villain wanted to tell her how many hearts he'd seen Caretaker and his crew break. But he wouldn't do that. Hero would only think he was trying to trick her like she always thought. It was better that she see it for herself. Villain trusted her own senses wouldn't deceive her. "You know what?" he asked without the intention of waiting for an answer. "I'll take you."

******

Part 12 here

Think this is more fluff than anything, but hopefully it satisfies your cravings a little bit!

(TWs: Needles (briefly at beginning), stitches (briefly at beginning), mentioned past captivity, self doubt, disassociation )

******

"Do you even understand how much trouble you're in?"

Hero winced, a sharp prick of pain in her arm. "Yeah, I think I- ah! I think I get it."

Leader shook his head, pushing the thin bit of metal through his lover's skin once again. "I don't think you do, Hero. Because if you did, I wouldn't be-" He was interrupted by another of Hero's quick gasps of pain. "Just one more," he said. "I wouldn't be patching you up right now. I know you think you can handle these things on your own, but," His voice cracked. Hero thought is she opened her eyes, she would see Leader tearing up. "Hero, I need you to be okay. Because if you're not okay, then I'm not okay, and then the whole team falls apart."

"But I can do it," she promised. "I know I can. Leader, I didn't used to be on a team. I used to be my own operation, under the radar. This is just all so new and I-"

Leader stood from his stool and turned to the medicine cabinet. His love cringed as he pulled out a brown-amber bottle. "I know this is difficult for you, but you're here now, and you can't go off fighting every threat. They're prepared now, dear. They know who you are and anyone who thinks of committing any atrocity now knows to expect you. They train based off of your capabilities." As he spoke, he reached into another cabinet and pulled out a bag of cotton balls. "I know this is harsh to say, but you don't have much of a chance without someone by your side, even just as backup. I'd feel worse saying this if you weren't a pile of evidence to prove my point."

"I know you think that, but I- What if I quit the team? You guys would be good on your own. And maybe that way, crime is diminished at least a little faster since I'd-" She hissed as the cotton ball touched her cheek.

"If you quit the team, that doesn't fix the fact that every crook in the world knows your name, your face, your capabilities."

Hero bit her cheek, holding back words she knew would be hurtful. She loved Leader. She could never imagine not loving him, but she regretted letting him talk her into joining this stupid team of heroes. Before them, Hero fought crime, fought whole organizations, and won before they even knew she was there, with the exception of her last operation. Still, and she hated blaming anyone, the opponent always knew the team of heroes was there. There was always an ambush, a surprise attack. Nothing was easy like it was when she was solo, even if she was captured just the one time.

The burning cotton touched her skin again. "Can we just...can we stop? I feel fine."

"You'll get an infection if I don't clean you up. Trust me, you don't want that."

Hero repeated a little differently, "I can take care of myself."

Leader shook his head, a soft frown crossing his features. "Here, then." He spun and grabbed the amber bottle, along with the bag of cotton balls, and handed them to Hero. "Take care of yourself. I won't step in the way anymore if that's what you want."

She stared at his hands, at the objects in them before finding his face again. "I'm frustrated," she admitted, suddenly softer than she was before. "I'm not used to anyone being there to help me. I'm not used to having to rely on others. Everything was so much easier when I just did things on my own." Hero kept her hands on her lap. She looked at them now, pondering. It was such an odd question she came up with, but she thought, Are these really my hands?

The world felt oddly away from her. There was a time where she could reach out and feel every bit of Earth, of life, but things were different now. Her body didn't feel like her own, and it wasn't from the pain Villain caused on her last runoff. It was...it was something deeper than that.

Leader must have sensed her fall of emotion because he set the medical supplies on the counter, lightly grabbed one of Hero's hands, and brought it to his lips, kissing it just as gently as he held hold of it. Then, he pulled her close to him. "I love you," he told her. "You know that, right?"

"I know," she said quietly, letting herself be held. No one was this careful with her. It was why she spited Leader sometimes, but also the reason she loved him more than anything. "I've ready said it, but I regret letting you save me sometimes. I think that I should have been stronger and I should have saved myself."

"Darling, you-"

"Let me finish," she said. "I have thoughts like that often and they're miserable and the world feels unreal, but," Hero pulled away from Leader's hug. "You make me realize that it's okay to have a crutch. Without them, you can't heal. I'm still adapting to the idea, but I've acknowledged it and I think that's a good first step."

Leader hummed in agreement. "I know times aren't easy for you, love, but after everything you've been through, I don't think I could even stand anymore. You amaze me every day, my dear."

A tear glimmered in her eye before she swatted it away with an unbruised hand. "I love you, Leader. I really do." She smiled, not kindly, but mischievously. "Now how about a little race to the kitchen? I can hear Teammate sizzling some bacon."

******

Part 2 here

Nony, you sent this forever ago! School occupies a lot of my time, but cheers to Christmas break, right?! And, cheers to royalty .

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The queen swirled the wine in her cup impatiently. The liquid inside changed colour with every singular revolution. It was still wine in taste and matter, of course, but the constant change in appearance was alarming to anyone non-magical. As for the queen, the colour change was the only thing keeping her from walking out of the dining room due to pure boredom.

"Interaction? Never heard of it," the queen sighed. She was awfully miserable. Usually her prey begged to be released. Or at least spared of death. Of course, they always walked in already dying. The dying were the queen's toy things. The already dying came often enough that the little bit of life essence they had to offer went a long way between victims.

"Does it hurt?" The man spoke in fear, putting no effort in hiding it. She would have been able to sense it anyhow. Nothing hid from the queen. It could try, but according to the people, she was a goddess. She. Knew. Everything.

"Of course it does, darling. Have you heard otherwise?" The man, named Callisto, pushed his food around the plate with his fork. He swallowed down his anxiety several times, but never succeeded in making it go fully away. "You realize that no man, woman, child, or pet walks into my rooms and leaves, yes?"

"I have acknowledged that fact, yes." He coughed a few times, letting his silverware clash together as he dropped them. Once his fit was over, and to much of the queen's surprise, he spoke again. "I have also acknowledged the fact that you only take the barely living. It's part of the pact, isn't it?"

"Close. I applaud you for trying." And she did. She set her glass down and began clapping until the wine returned to it's original colour. "I take the dying. Never the dead, never the fully living. You are part of my lands. You know this and yet you question it."

"I am not quest-" He coughed three or four times and the queen raised an eyebrow. He continued, "I am not questioning anything although maybe you should question yourself. The pact you made- If you kill me, you'll be breaking that pact. You'll be sought after."

"Me?" she laughed viciously. She threw back her head, taking an impossibly large gulp of wine. "The Sorceress Queen of Scarsius? Being sought after by a kingdom of mortal nothings? Tell me, Callisto, who do you think would win that fight? If you're not sure, I will tell you." Callisto bit his tongue. He was already scared of the own words coming out of his mouth. When when the queen finally decide to strike? "I do have a question for you, daring man."

"And it is?" He barely got through the phrase without breaking into another fit.

"I want to hear who says you're not dying," she explained and before Callisto even had the chance to mutter the first letter of his words, she explored a bit more. "You have a small sickness, yes. One that everyone seems to survive; you have a cold. However, does that change the fact that your body is battling some sort of germs, bacteria, disease? In this moment, you are alive, but you are fighting death. Does that not make you dying?"

"You said it yourself though. You said it. People survive it. It's a cold, my queen. A cold is all!"

"You. Are still. Dying. Get that through your sickened brain, will you? I will give you until tomorrow to prove your cleanliness. Sound fair? Good."

Something in the air changed then, something that could be detected by any living, or dying, creature. Everything simply felt heavier, like there was a thick blanket hovering over everyone's heads, stripping the air and smothering everyone with its humidity beneath.

"You'll spare me if I prove myself?"

"Of course! That's what I said, isn't it?" The Queen stood then, and walked with long strides, heels clicking lightly, as she made her way to Callisto. "And I'll do you one better," she said, touching his chin ever so lightly and guiding it up until he was looking directly into the sorceress' eyes. "I'll spare you even if you don't." Only she could know what was in store for poor Callisto, the man who only suffered a cold.

*****

I'm not sure if this is quite what you wanted and hopefully you still see it after all this time! If anyone has anymore asks, I'm more than willing to write it! Much love ♡♡