Hero whimpered at the fresh agony lancing through their wounds as they were roughly slung over a shoulder and carried off to the medbay, their pitiful attempts to fight back only evident from the shaking that overtook their body. They clenched their jaw tight, tears leaking steadily from their eyes. They didn’t dare say a word.
Not as they were laid on a hard cot, as a heavy power-suppressing collar was tightened around their neck, as their wrists were shackled to the bedrails with cold iron chains.
Yet they broke their silence when a knife entered their pain-blurred field of vision, tugging helplessly against their restraints and crying out desperately.
Supervillain wants me alive, they’re not gonna kill me— they reassured themself. But that didn’t cease the rapid, terrified beating of their heart; nor did it stop Henchman from leaning over them with the blade.
Yet the tip was just stuck under their bloodstained uniform, ripping through fabric in a clean motion and leaving their torso exposed.
They tensed instinctively at the cold air hitting their chest, straining against the cuffs once again.
“Stop fighting,” they heard Supervillain murmur silkily from somewhere out of their view. “I said I wanted you alive, not unharmed, hm? Don’t test my kindness.”
Hero bit their lip and just nodded weakly, forcing themself still other than the slight trembling they couldn’t control. Right.
Healer entered the medbay moments later, a roll of bandages slung over their arm. “Boss, d’ you want them up and at it or just stable enough?” They asked as they glanced over Hero’s battered body. They had a stab wound in their side, bruises covering nearly every inch of them, and blood dripping over their face from a gash in their head— and when Healer ran a hand over their torso, they felt what could only be broken ribs.
Supervillain strode to the bedside and ran a hand through Hero’s hair, contemplating for a moment. The poor thing was too dizzy with pain to even react to the touch that they’d normally fight so vehemently. “Heal any open wounds and anything major, but don’t bother with cleaning them up,” they instructed. “I just want not to bleed all over me.”
“So the broken ribs, stab wound, and whatever happened to their head?” Healer mused as their hands began to hum with the power they’d soon use on Hero.
Supervillain nodded nonchalantly.
“I don’t envy them,” Healer muttered as they pressed their glowing hands over Hero’s chest. Ribs snapped back into place with a sickening crack, and Hero howled in agony— it felt as if the bones were being broken all over again. The stab was sealed next, the flesh knitting together from the inside out in a terrible burning sensation— as if it was being burnt back together with molten metal. They managed to keep their jaw clenched shut, their eyes glassy with tears and agony.
“Deep breaths, you’re almost done,” Healer assured them. “Just one more.” Their head erupted with splitting pain as the gash was closed, but faded into the vague throbbing of an old wound in mere seconds.
With the worst of their injuries gone and their energy drained from the healing, Hero was out like a light.
They awoke to the sound of footsteps against tile and groaned softly, their body ached terribly and their bruises throbbed. “Superhero?” They murmured weakly, their sleep-muddled mind assuming they were back at their own base.
“Superhero left you, darling,” Supervillain replied coolly, a smirk alighting their countenance as Hero flinched at the realization of where they were. They were flanked by a pair of henchmen, both stoic and holding intimidating looking guns. “They abandoned you to succumb to your injuries and bleed out, and if not for my mercy, you would have.” They leaned over Hero’s bed and unlocked the cuffs around their wrists. The poor thing was too weak to be a threat as long as the power suppressor stayed firmly locked around their neck.
“Come with me,” they continued, slipping a hand into Hero’s and helping them out of bed. Hero hesitated for a moment, rubbing their chafed wrists and pushing themself upright on wobbly legs. They stumbled even with the effort of standing, flailing about with a jolt of panic seizing their heart.
Supervillain caught them with ease, placing a hand behind their back to support them. “The weakness should be gone by tomorrow, it’s common after being healed,” they explained simply. “Although it’s not as if you know that, hm? Even though your little team supposedly has a healer?”
Hero shook their head. “No, I— I hadn’t been healed before—“ they stammered, their voice shaky and timid. They leaned as heavily on Supervillain as they could without clinging to them. Why they hadn’t been tortured yet was beyond them, but it wasn’t as if they’d bring that up. Instead they just punctuated their response with a little shrug.
Supervillain hefted Hero into their arms, carrying them bridal-style from the medbay to a smaller, colder cement room. An interrogation cell, from the looks of it. They were haphazardly dumped into the chair bolted to the center of the floor, their wrists and ankles locked into the shackles hanging off of it by Supervillain’s henchmen.
“Now, I’m sure you have some questions for me,” Supervillain started. “But those will have to wait. There’s no time to waste, now. You’ll find we both have something the other wants, after all.”
Hero cleared their throat, taking a deep breath in effort to center themself back firmly to the arrogant persona they were so used to inhabiting. “And what would that be?” They asked, although they sounded less like a negotiator and more like the desperate prisoner they were.
Supervillain stepped closer to Hero, looking them close in the eye and studying them for a moment. “You want to be taken care of, don’t you? You want to be sure you have someone there for you and someone who will help you instead of hurt you when you fuck up, yes? And I suppose you might want revenge on those who betrayed you?”
Hero clenched their hands into fists, tensing more and more as Supervillain continued. “I do,” they near-whispered.
“And I have the power to get that revenge for you, don’t I?” The criminal suggested. “All I would need is your complete cooperation and any information you know. Not just about your heroes, but any of them.”
Supervillain took Hero’s hand in theirs once more, gripping their fingers tight and sensing the power running through their veins like a shark searching for blood.
“They’ve kept you weak on purpose, you know,” they continued. “They’re scared of what you can do. Obey me, and I can make you what you’ve dreamed to be. After all, I’ve been meaning to take on a sidekick.”
Hero flinched at the touch but didn’t pull away, unable to keep from imagining the look on their once-allies’ faces when they came back to punish them for their betrayal.
