Still a work in progress; more chapters coming Ao3 Export

Dividers by: @/ saradika

Crawling Back to You

Chapter six

“What?”

“It’s nothing, I am glad you were able to figure it out.”

“Figure it out? Cecil, you sent me into the Guardians Headquarters never having fought a fuckin’ fly and winning. You don’t think that will raise suspicions?” You could feel the anger rising in you, maybe it was not directly at Cecil, but he was not helping. You could still feel the sting on your pride of Rex refusing your help. Even worse you could see the hurt in his eyes as he backed away from you. Just when you thought you were making progress. “You’re the one who is asking me to keep all these secrets and telling me it’s to their benefit! Where is the proof of that Cecil?”

“Look, kid, calm down. I promise it was good for you-”

“I am sorry I messed up Cecil, I should not have said those things to them the other night, but why would this be your go-to punishment?” You exclaimed, holding a few fingers to your temple.

“Kid. This wasn’t a punishment.” His face was extremely serious at this. “I wanted to make sure you could work well with the Guardians before putting you on the field with them. I noticed Rex was giving you the most trouble, and I figured if you could make it work, then I would know.”

“Putting me on the field?” You ran a hand through your hair, you were in too deep. “Cecil I hardly know how to fight, I hardly have more strength than the average person-”

“Approximately 6.7 times the strength of the average person-”

“That’s nothing compared to these other heroes who are twenty or one hundred times stronger-” You quickly turned to look at the new voice. “Donald, why are you even here?”

“God.” Cecil ran a hand over his face, then continued once you turned back to him. “You have to learn how to utilize your powers when you are in the field.”

“But you said-”

“Not to let the others know, I know what I said. You can be discrete about it Killdeer. You just punched Rex and left a fuckin’ crater in his chest. I want to see you do more like that.” He nods at Donald, who leaves the room. “Lights.”

The white room around you dissipates and you’re in your study area. The ReAnimen is still on the gurney at the back wall, and the blood bag filled with Viltrumite blood remains near it.

“I want you to practice what you learned on this guy.” Cecil stepped towards it, holding out some sort of device that with a click of a button caused it to sit up on its own volition. It slid off the edge in a clunky fashion that made your skin crawl. If it had nerve endings that would have felt quite painful. It stood at the other wall adjacent to the gurney, swaying in an unnatural way. You looked at it with a furrowed brow before stepping forward to look at the blood bag closer again. It could not be good to leave this out at room temperature. Did Cecil have it taken out every time you left the room, and returned every time you came back?

“Do I ever get to meet Invincible- Mark Grayson?” The question was sudden and uncalled for, a direct contrast to the conversation you were having. It was something you had been stewing on for a bit, and looking at his blood bag brought it back to the surface. You knew he worked closely with the Guardians and Cecil at several points, so it was bound to happen. But you would be lying if you said you weren’t feeling a little impatient.

“Mark?” Cecil slowly turned back to you; his head cocked ever so slightly.

“Well, I just was thinking about it. I have met all the Guardians, and I have been able to keep fairly good connections there-” Rex flashed in your mind, and you winced at the wound you had left him with “Well… mostly.” You looked at the ReAnimen and ran a hand over the blood bag. “And…I think” You paused again, debating on if you wanted to tell Cecil this new discovery. “Well, I noticed when I was training with Rex that the longer I spend in combat with him the more of a grip I got on his life source.” You tried to put it lightly. “It almost became difficult not to use my abilities on Rex, I wonder if it’s a defense mechanism of some sort.” You looked back at Cecil “But I wonder if being around Mark would help me get that mental connection with his blood.”

“His blood,” Cecil repeated, walking towards you and looking at the blood bag. His eyes quietly ran over it as you removed your hand. Maybe he didn’t know you knew whose blood it was? He knew you had access to the files though, why is he so hesitant? “If what you are saying is true, why would being around him help you? Rex was fighting you, ideally Invincible will not be.”

“I figure if I concentrate on it then maybe it still would be better? Cecil, not that long ago I was struggling to make ripples in blood bags, and yesterday I just caused one of the most severe hematomas I have ever seen. You said it yourself.” Shaking the recurring image of Rex from your mind, you put a hand on your hip straightening up to look him fully in the eye. “I am able to learn better from live subjects.” You gestured to the ReAnimen. “There might be blood in that, but it’s not flowing, it not…alive. Merely biological matter, I do not have that strong of a connection to it-”

“Invincible is a lot different than the Guardians, there are a lot higher stakes-”

“I know!” You said with mild frustration but took a breath as Cecil narrowed his eyes at you. “I know.” You repeated. “But as far as Viltrumite blood goes, I am making zero progress sitting here with the bag. Maybe once I can feel the live thing I can come back and connect to this.” You gesture vaguely to the blood bag. “And…”

You pause for a moment debating whether to ask. You had drastically better results on Rex than you did on the ReAnimen, you should be practicing with live people. But the ethics on that gets very muddy, very quickly. Sure, Cecil had his own agenda for you, one he was not letting you in on, but now you wanted to get better. You were motivated by it. When Cecil found you there was no doubt in your mind that you knew exactly what you wanted and who you wanted to be. You considered becoming a nurse originally, helping one patient at a time. That turned out well.

After your training with Rex, you fully started to grasp the world that you might be able to enter now. You did not have to be some kind of mutant among humans. You could work in alliance with a team. You weren’t stupid though. Cecil saw you as an asset, and it was not because of your personality. When you thought about it, you wondered if Cecil had bad intentions, but after working with him so long you genuinely believed he wanted what was best for the people. The question was, as you grow your abilities, how long until he sees you as not what is best for the people?

You saw Mark Grayson as the epitome of what a hero should try to be, fighting his own father for the safety of the planet. And now that that was done you were here. And Cecil obviously was hoping you could be backup if Mark changed his mind and decided he agreed with his father’s past sentiment. Did he have a backup for you? Had he thought that far ahead? This is Cecil, of course he had.

You closed your mouth rewording what you were going to say. “Next time the Guardians go out I want to be told. I want to go. Not sometime off in the future.”

“Out of the question, I want you to be combat-ready, you’ve made good progress kid, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“What do you want me to do Cecil? You just said you wanted me out with the Guardians on the field. Now I am agreeing with you what changed?”

“Nothing changed, you will be combat-ready, and you will be discrete. But you simply are not ready yet.”

“Every time they answer one of your calls and I am not at the scene to meet them it must be more and more suspicious. How long until the Guardians call this bullshit? I am happy to be somewhat in the dark Cecil-” happy was a bit too enthusiastic of a word for it “because I trust you, but that’s because I know I am doing good. Do the Guardians trust you that much? Does Rudy?” You pause pressing the heel of your hand to your forehead, then slowly look back up at Cecil. “Does Rex?”

Cecil stops for a breath, his eyes drilling holes into you.

“Next small infraction I’ll send you. But you alone. If you want to practice then practice, we’ll watch from here. Make sure you make it.”

Sweet!

…

Make sure you make it?

“Okay, that’s- that’ll work.” You nod quickly, a little surprised. You were half expecting that Cecil would just say no and leave.

Cecil goes back to leave again and hesitates, “Try not to lose your brains this time hm?” He gestures to the ReAnimen still waiting for you to initiate practice.

“Sorry-” You gave an awkward smile, rubbing your neck, but before you could finish what must have been your millionth apology to Cecil in the past week he was gone. Guess he was not trying to reduce his teleportation uses. The blue static remained in the air after his passing for a moment.

This was good, you were going to be able to engage in real practice. Not just play in the kiddy pool. You ran your hand over your scalp, fingers tangling in your hair. Well, you had real practice yesterday… and look how that turned out. You sighed quietly, feeling yourself fall into the position Rex had shown you, as you took your first swing you knew that you were going to have to apologize. But how do you make someone who already hated you forgive you for giving them such a blow?

__

The answer was alcohol. At least you hoped.

You twisted the cheap plastic bow on the neck of the bottle nervously in your hand as you waited for the elevator to take you up to the dormitory section of Headquarters. It crinkled obnoxiously to the point you considered ripping it off. Your head ached. But you didn’t go so far you were admitted to the hospital again, so that was a win in your mind.

Rae was the first to see you when you walked in, which you were very glad for. She was the friendliest and most helpful face to you in headquarters. Bulletproof and Shapesmith did not seem bad, but they were less inclined to naturally want to help you. Or in the case of Shapesmith, they did not seem to know they were breathing.

After a very quick conversation with Rae, she told you Rex had been held up in his room, he had not come down for training or any meals. She shrugged it off though, saying this was not uncommon. With which you tried to make yourself feel better. And it did not seem like Rae knew why you were looking for him. Which hopefully meant he was not spreading around your mistake. But it might also just be because he did not want to come across as weak, sporting that big of a bruise after your first training session.

An uncomfortable pit started to develop in your stomach. It was not the usual one when you knew you had to interact with him, usually dread fed by annoyance.

No, you were nervous. It was not backed by anger or even your knowledge that Rex on some level probably deserved this a little bit. You were nervous he would turn you away, refuse to look at you.

Would it really be that bad for Rex Splode to decide to ignore you? A little awkward maybe, especially if Cecil pulled a stunt like that again. But it definitely would not be the end of the world, right? You couldn’t stand the guy.

You could not stand him.

You straightened your back, looking at the door in front of you, it had a very handy plaque that let you know you were at the right room. You held your hand out, fist clenched, ready to knock, and you…hesitated.

You rolled your neck, frustration rising, this really was not that hard. Just knock. Just knock on the damn door come on-

“Hello?”

Your gaze snapped to the sound of the voice. It was feminine and unfamiliar. You quickly realized why. It was Duplikate, a member you had only talked to once so far with your slow integration into the team.

Suddenly you were holding the bottle down behind your leg, which as soon as you did this her eyes trailed down to follow it. Why did you just do that? Way to make yourself look as suspicious as possible.

“I’m just here to see Rex.” You say dryly. WHY DOES THIS FEEL SO WEIRD?

It’s because you do not want anyone looking into Rex further, knowing more about the extent of your powers. Cecil was getting into your head, goddamn it.

But what if that wasn’t the only reason you didn’t like being caught outside his door?

“Quick house call?” She said, her eyes narrowing slightly. Okay actually, why does she care? You were starting to get annoyed, maybe because you had already hit the peak of how awkward you could feel today, and your head was still killing you from practice earlier.

“Something like that.”

“In his room?”

Hello?

You shifted a little uncomfortably. “He hasn’t been down yet, Rae told me he was up here.”

Kate stood there several moments too long staring you down, and for a moment you considered just leaving. Maybe that would be better than whatever this pathetic attempt at forgiveness was.

Finally, she not-so-subtly rolled her eyes and passed you to the elevator. You watched as the light above the elevators frame lit up to indicate it was going down and finally turned your attention back to the door. You deciding to knock before you got in your head about it again.

There was no response.

You waited a few moments then knocked again to which you heard an annoyed groan, “One day off dickhead!”

Well at least he doesn’t sound like he’s dying.

With that confirmation, you slowly open the door. It is dim inside the room; he had probably been lounging in bed. It was surprisingly not as messy as you thought it would be. There were some drink remnants on a desk and random magazines around with houses on the front. The kind you see elderly people read at bus stops. Rex was sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“I said-! Oh shit.” His gaze immediately landed on you once he lifted his head slightly off his hands, and then it trailed down to your attempt at peace that you held tightly in your hands. He did not say anything, but he did straighten up a little as it seemed to fully dawn on him that you were standing in the doorway.

“Hi.” That’s it? All that freaking out and intense grappling with guilt and that’s all you start with.

“Hi.” Promising. That’s not a ‘get out dickhead, I helped you and you did that to me, GET OUT’ so you’ll take it. His expression was surprisingly soft, was he already drinking?

“I feel really bad about yesterday and I don’t want it to be a whole thing, you know?” Oh, very sympathetic. You winced at your accidental nonchalant tone.

“A whole thing?” He raised an eyebrow at you, straightening all the way up, his hands landing on the mattress to lean on. He still was wearing that grey tank top, and in the dim light, you could see the bruise that was very prevalent over the collar of it. It looked worse than yesterday.

“That’s not what I meant.” You close the door behind you and immediately Rex perks up. You hold out the bottle to him, hoping it portrays your intentions better than your words are.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” He gives you a snarky smile and just like that your anxiety dries up a little. He seems less pathetic now, so you don’t feel the need to tip-toe around his feelings.

“I’m saying sorry.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“I know.”

“Multiple times.”

“I know.”

“I said to leave it be.”

“I know.”

“Yet here you are, alone in my room, offering me a drink?” Ah. Kate’s reaction was feeling a lot more valid now.

“Don’t let it go to your head, it’s cheap.” You nudge it towards him again, and he takes it with a sigh, probably directed at you not taking part in his banter.

“Nice bow.” He said dryly, his fingers brushing over the twisted plastic you had forgotten about during your interaction outside his door.

“Thanks, it cost extra.” You decided to look around his room a bit, even though you knew he probably did not want you to.

There were a few pictures on the wall, some of Teen Team, and a few just of him. Which you thought screamed how huge his ego was. Narcissism must run strong with him. Your eyes paused on a picture of him and a redhead, she was the one taking it, and his arm was over her shoulder. You definitely recognized her; she had been in the files, but you could not place her. She was in several of the photographs, wearing a pink suit in the one of the Teen Team.

“So, was there anything else you wanted?” Rex’s low voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned around to look at him again.

He had just been drinking straight out of the bottle. Now his was hand clenched loosely around it as it hung just a few inches above the floor. You debated for a moment reiterating your offer from yesterday.

“I-”

Rex winced slightly, his free hand immediately reaching up to his chest. It would have been missable if you were still looking at the wall.

“I want to fix that.” You said shortly, folding your arms over your chest.

“No.”

“Why?”

“How do I know you’re not going to make it worse? You did the fuckin’ thing in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes walking up to him. “Rex, be serious for five seconds, I was brought on as a healer. Why not let me do my one purpose huh?”

“One purpose my balls.”

“Very mature.”

“Look, I just don’t want it okay? Back off.”

“It obviously hurts; you’ve been in your room all day-”

“No I haven’t, who said that?”

“Rae.”

“Ugh.”

You’re losing your patience, and he is acting like a child. You step towards him, and he has to strain his neck back slightly to look up at you.

“Let me help you and I’ll leave, you won’t have to hear from me until the next time Cecil makes me come to Headquarters. Don’t let me help you and I’ll be back every day, and I’m taking that with me.” You gesture to the liquor in his hand.

He sighs. “Every day?”

You nod, and he looks to the side, obviously debating.

“Will it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Are you lying?”

“A little.”

He grumbles but finally gives a small nod. You grab the chair from his desk and pull it in front of him.

“Woah, can’t you just heal it from over there or some shit?” He has his hand on the front of the chair and is pushing it away.

“No.”

“No, you can’t or no you won’t?” God this guy never shuts up.

“I have to have direct contact with the skin to heal.”

“Are you just trying to get me to take my shirt off?” He gives you a cheesy smile which you respond to with an exceedingly unimpressed look. “Fine. Jeez.” He lets go of the chair and you sit down. He puts down the bottle and moves gingerly to take off the tank top. A slight groan left him at the movement.

It looks a lot worse today, the edges are yellowing, and you can still see the blood pooling under his skin. It is honestly a little grotesque to look at.

You scoot the chair closer, sitting directly between his legs. He doesn’t say anything, but he leaned back slightly as you got closer. You look at him, silently telling him you are going to start. Your dominant hand cautiously reached out and your fingertips made tender contact with his skin. He was practically radiating heat. His body was desperately trying to heal this, and quickly.

After closing your eyes you felt the connection click, the healing process beginning.

“The fuck?” Rex tensed, closing his eyes tightly.

“I warned you.”

“Hardly!”

“You should feel what it’s like with a broken bone, it’s so much weirder.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Why are you assuming I’m trying to make you feel better?”

Rex doesn’t respond. He is sitting quietly now, it’s almost too quiet. You can hear his breathing, the slight hitches as the pain ebbs and flows. You could feel the pace of his heart under your hand. Elevated. Pain will do that.

You could feel something else now, his eyes on your face. He was watching you. It almost made you dig your fingers in. Determined to make him look away. Instead, you pretended you could not feel his gaze and returned your focus to your job.

All of this bullshit just for him to give in at the chance of you taking back cheap liquor. You almost rolled your eyes. He was so aggravating. But even you knew that you didn’t like the idea of him hating you. Sure, he could dislike you, he had no problem making that clear. But why did he have to vehemently hate you? It would be easier if you thought he was no one of consequence. But he was one of the good guys. You knew his file, the kind of work he did, especially after Omniman and Invincible’s big fight.

Maybe it just bothered you that an ass could still do good things. That was it. You were jealous even. You couldn’t imagine being carefree enough to just be rude to whoever.

That’s not entirely true, you did not find it particularly hard to be mostly nice, but still. It was really getting under your skin.

Suddenly you’re vocalizing it.

“Why do you hate me?” You asked softly, you could still feel his gaze watching you. Your hand gently pressed against the brunt of the wound. You could feel it mending but you had to move slowly, especially with how close you came with the ReAnimen earlier.

“Who said I hated you, Joy?”

“You have been rude to me since the day we met. You don’t even call me my real name.” You shifted your gaze up to his for a moment, his eyes were half-lidded, staring into yours.

After a moment he looked away and took a swig of the drink. “You don’t deserve to be on the Guardians.” Stale, old, overused.

“And that’s it? Something completely out of my control and you use that to hate me?”

“You could tell Cecil you don’t want to be a part of it.”

You gritted your teeth and focused on his chest again, the bruise was shrinking in diameter, a minute or so and he’d be good as new. It was back to the tense silence, but now there was a buzz of irritation. Maybe it was coming from both of you, but it was definitely coming from you.

One minute and you could just leave, or maybe you could just leave it partially healed, it’s not like he deserves much more than that. Pompous, arrogant-

“I don’t hate you.”

You didn’t respond. The remaining time moved extremely slow. With every second that passed you could almost swear you could feel the rhythmic thumping of his heart more.

And then you were done. The ugly purple and yellow coloring was gone and with it the pain. You absent-mindedly trailed your fingers over his skin, making sure you were done. He stiffened slightly and you pulled your hand back. Rex lets out a slow, shaky, exhale. And you’re putting the chair back at the desk.

“I don’t hate you.” He repeats as you are pulling his door open to leave.

Your eyes linger on his face, he’s giving a sad excuse of a slight smile. It almost irks you.

“You have a funny way of showing it.” You retort, leaving him behind you and closing the door.

Author's Note: I am trying out using a fic specific tag at the request of @kittymeowmrow but I am really new to Tumblr so let me know if I am doing it wrong?

BOJANGLE NO DONT TAKE THE JOB DONT TAKE THE JOB

Crawling Back to You

Chapter five

“I knew I was good, but I didn’t realize I was quite this good.”

Rex was completely destroying you, last you checked this was a “training session”, not a fighting tournament. He obviously did not have that same memo though. As you looked over at him, he was shifting his weight back and forth from leg to leg, his fists clenched in front of him. There is no way this is actually boosting his ego more. The cocky grin on his face told you it definitely was. You cursed Cecil in your head, putting you directly in a metaphorical arena with someone who has enhanced strength and durability. As far as you know you do not have either of those to the extent most people with powers did. And just because your body can heal the bruise forming on your ribs extremely quickly, does not mean you cannot feel it.

When you had walked in earlier you were met with complete silence. Rex was sitting, no, he was lounging, in the training room. Waiting. Cecil must have told him the plan for today, which you were secretly grateful for. You could feel the tantrum that would have come if you had walked up to him and said “Hey! I know you hate my guts, but that old guy with the receding hairline-? What am I saying? That hairline is no longer receding, it’s receded. Yeah, you know the one, he wants us to train together. What was that? You think I don’t deserve to be here? What was that? You think I am making a fool of myself? What was that? Die, die, die? Well, I hear you, Rex! And guess what, I agree full-heartedly! Thank you for blessing me with a fragment of your precious, and I mean precious, time!”

Ugh.

Instead, you had given him a polite smile, opened your mouth to speak, and were immediately interrupted with: “Yeah-Yeah I know, let’s get started.” Which is the most amicable interaction you have ever shared up to this point.

He was wearing a grey tank top, and his hair was pulled back loosely. As much as you disliked him, you had eyes. He was surprisingly toned without the suit on, it almost made you feel self-conscious. But then it made you feel a little panicked. You have supposedly been “training” with Cecil the past few months, or did they not know that? They did not have your records the way you had theirs. So maybe you could get away with saying that you had not been training for as long, and that’s why…you were completely and utterly inexperienced? All of a sudden it was starting to feel like Cecil jumped the gun in introducing you to the Guardians. If you were able to use your other abilities you could completely freeze Rex in place, but then what? You had no idea what you would do that could truly give you the upper hand. Although after keeping him in place for a while, you would eventually heel over and become a personal blood sprinkler.

But you can’t use your other abilities, to these people you were just a healer. And Cecil had reiterated to you last night that you cannot let them even get an inkling that you can do more. So here you are, holding your ribs with one hand, and sweat dripping down your brow.

“You know, I am not sure how effective this is if you’re landing every punch as hard as you can.” You winced standing up straighter.

“I’m not hitting you as hard as I can.”

You glared at him, taking a breath so that you did not immediately snap back. Be the bigger person and all that, nonsense. “Well, how about just not hitting me at all while you’re still showing me the basics. I feel like that should be implied actually.”

“The basics?” He put his hands down. “Do you not know anything about hand-to-hand combat?”

A very telling silence fell between them. You almost wished he would make fun of you, instead he just stared at you.

“Shit, so you really are just a healer huh?”

Basically yeah. “I mean, loose on the ‘just’ okay buddy.”

“So, I’m your babysitter for the day.” There it is, the familiar snark.

“Well usually babysitters are paid, so not even that.” You gave him an almost apologetic look to try and cover your sarcasm. You straightened all the way up, your ribs fully healed from his earlier hit.

“Goddamn it.” Rex ran a hand over the back of his neck looking at the ground in thought. “No chance I can just go fuck off and we tell Cecil we trained anyways is there?”

“Don’t think so, no.”

“Right… yeah no I figured.” The look of sheer disappointment on his face was a very telling sign he in fact, did not figure.

You put your hands on your hips now at a loss for how to progress this forward.

“Basics then?”  A hand ran over his face in surprisingly quiet frustration.

“Basics.” You echoed.

Rex stepped forward then hesitated, “Wait, if I teach you any of this will it even do you any good? Or would you get immediately torn apart or some shit?” Strong vote of confidence. But he had a point. If you were up against the likes of people like the Mauler Twins, were you expected to try hand-to-hand combat? There was no way you would win, even with support. And if the likes of which you were up against did not have human blood there was no controlling them either. At least for now, you still were getting nowhere with the Viltrumite blood and that was only one species.

“Uh, I’m not sure.” You said honestly, straightening up a bit. “At least then I will be dead, and you don’t have to worry about it I suppose.”

“Hey, I wasn’t worried about you I was worried about my own wasted time.”

“Glad for the clarification.”

Rex finally fully made his way over to you, standing at your side. He was quiet for a bit, seemingly in thought about what to start with. Which you had a hard time believing he could deeply think about anything.

“So- uh… I guess always be aware of your surroundings, you can get backed into corners quickly in combat-” There was a much more awkward tension in the room now as he obviously recited what could have been textbook self-defense 101.

“Let’s assume I know that much, how about some actual techniques.”

“God, nothing makes you happy, does it?” You raise your hands at his outburst, trying not to laugh. “Are you left or right-handed?”

“I don’t see how this is-”

“Left or right.” He cut in, gritting his teeth. After telling him, he gestured for you to have the corresponding foot forward. You bit the inside of your lip in irritation but followed.

“Your stance is important, if you don’t do it right-”

“I’ll be unbalanced.”

“You’ll look like a dumbass.” His lip twinged slightly, and he moved behind you. Using his foot, he pushed your feet apart for a wider stance. A little close for your liking. “Your feet should be a little wider than shoulder-length apart, shift your weight to your toes. You’ll be able to move faster.”

You do as he says, testing your weight from side to side with a slight bounce.

“Stop fucking moving.”

“Sorry-”

“You have to hold your arms up like this.” Before you knew it, he was positioning your arms. His fingertips felt oddly warm on your skin. If he wanted to, could he make your entire body explode from this contact? That’s one way to die. You bit back any argument and let him pose you to his liking. You clenched your fists loosely (after he got on you about using up spare energy for nothing, but he did not seem to have a problem with using up spare energy to yell at you, so who really needed training).

“Hold your elbows in, you have to protect your sides, vital organs… blah blah” He quickly slipped back into his indifferent attitude but for a second he seemed to be enjoying this. Maybe it felt good for him to impose his superior knowledge on others, you can’t imagine it happens often. “Anyways, basically this is how I was able to get you earlier.” You subconsciously rubbed your side, and he hesitated for a split second.

“Okay, keep your shoulders somewhat up.” He stepped out from behind you and quickly took his place in front of you. “Hit me.”

“What?”

He sighed, dramatically throwing his head back, “I didn’t say it that quietly, hit me.”

You hesitated, not because you thought you might hurt him, but because you knew he was doing this so you would make a fool of yourself. “Why don’t you just quickly show me-”

“Goddamn it, HIT ME!”

Your dominant hand came crashing into his nose surprisingly hard. So hard you wondered for a moment if you just broke your knuckles. Losing your form, you immediately stepped back, holding your hand in your secondary hand. The pain of your body immediately trying to heal it striking through you. “Fuck!”

“FUCK!” Rex echoed, holding his hand to his nose and tilting his head back. “Why did you go for the face first you dick!”

“You told me to punch you!” God your hand hurt.

“I said to hit me not fucking punch me in the face!”

“Well, I’m sorry! Your face is just too irresistible for me to miss the opportunity!” You hissed back, feeling your middle finger pop back into place. After a few seconds more, the pain subsided, and you stood straight up again, turning to face him.

Rex was glaring at you, blood trickling from his nose down his face. If you were feeling nicer you might have offered to heal it for him, but his dark look was not making you feel generous.

“Back to it then?” You gave a fake smile and returned to your earlier position. He ran his tongue over his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment before sniffling and also returning to his position.

You went to hit him on his chest, and he quickly deflected you, a little harsher than necessary. What a baby.

“Again.” He spat.

You went again, and he deflected it just as easily. “Why weren’t you this good at blocking when I hit you earlier?”

“Shut up. Again.”

You used your non-dominant hand to try faking Rex out, which worked. He went to block it, and you nailed him in the side. Not as hard as before, not that it would matter, since he can definitely take a punch much better with his torso than his face. Rex simply nodded, returning his eyes to your stance.

“You should twist your leg with the punch, it adds much more force.” He walked to your side, his hands brushing over your thigh to your calf. His touch was surprisingly gentle for how bad this entire interaction seemed to be going. After twisting your leg, he stood up straight and gave you a demonstration.

“You have to twist it as you punch, use the brute of your force from your back.”

“Okay.” His nose was still bleeding and now you were starting to feel bad. He was still training you even after you did that to him. It was almost sweet. Or he was just too full of himself to be the first to give in, either could be true. Most likely the latter.

“And I want you to try this after you land that hit.” He demonstrates another move, his arm making a hook-like motion in front of him. “Okay?”

“Okay.” You steadied up your stance again, bouncing back and forth on your toes. He returned in front of you and posed himself. He did not say anything this time. No ‘hit me’, no annoyance at your moving, he just watched and waited. His eyes trailing over you. He must be checking your stance.

You repeated your fake-out move from earlier, then went to hit him with the new move he showed you.

“Keep your arm closer to your body, or you’ll dislocate your elbow.”

You nodded, not having the concentration to come up with a quip to throw at him. You repeated the move again but with a second fake-out. Rex winced slightly as your fist made contact with his elbow. Ideally, this move would probably work better if you were aiming for his face.

“That was fuckin’ good!” He exclaimed with a smile, genuine excitement generating off of him. You did not know he was capable of smiling in a way that did not reflect cynicism and sarcasm. It was almost alarming.

“Thanks?”

“Do that again.” He returns to position, and you follow suit.

__

After several more demonstrations and Rex purposely tripping you to ‘show you that your stance was bad’, you were both working up quite the sweat. And worse you were starting to become aware of his blood. You could feel it beneath his skin with every punch. This was not something you usually experienced, but from all the excretion and fighting it was starting to feel like you were actually needing to win.

Rex was talking about something now, but you were struggling to pay attention, your body willing you to get back into formation.

“With your size, a tackle could be good to know. You’ve got some dick who’s towering over you-”

“Some dick meaning you?”

He ignored you and continued. “You have to be able to bring them down to your level if you are able.”

He stops for a moment to fix his hair, stray pieces had been slowly falling out throughout the session and limiting his visibility. Your eyes trailed down to his face, the blood had dried now, and you were tempted to get him a wet cloth or something. But your body was still screaming at you to fight. So, you stayed put.

He looked at you out of the corner of his eye as he finished putting his hair back up and you found yourself looking forward to where he usually stood. Now you were overthinking it, did you look away too fast? Was he thinking you were weird for staring at him? Weird for looking away outside of the set time for it not to be weird? God, can he please just stand in front of you so you can punch him? You really needed to punch something.

Which felt a little redundant since that was all you had been doing for what must have been nothing short of ages.

Finally, he was back in front of you, and you immediately took a swing.

“Woah, the fuck are you doing?” He gave you a quizzical look, after taking a step back from your attempted hit.

“Practicing.”

“Were you not just listening? I want you to try out tackling.”

“Oh, okay.” You lowered your hands feeling a bit embarrassed. You wiped the sweat off of your brow with the back of your hand, then tunneled your focus on Rex.

He gave you an odd look but continued forward with his demonstration.

“Okay, you have to stand tall up until one of the last moments, or they’ll know what you’re trying to do, and the whole maneuver will be spoiled.” He stood up straight, stretching his back, preparing himself for the inevitable. “I’m going to come at you, you have to go for my knees and try to take me down.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? You sure you got that?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” That came out a lot harsher than you meant it to, you just really needed to hit something.

He furrowed his brow at you but did not say anything. Almost immediately he headed towards you. You jumped back, somehow a little startled even though he just told you what was going to happen. You missed your window; he was going in for punches now. Trying to deflect the best you could, you got yourself into position to tackle him.

Rex’s fist collided with your shoulder and knocked you off balance. “Fuck!” Without leaving any time to waste you were back on your feet. Sweat was dripping down your brow. And Rex was looking very concentrated. You went in to hit him, he deflected, you went to tackle, he hit. This was not even training anymore; he was trying to wear you out.

Your lip curled slightly with frustration. And you finally took a deep breath, focusing your thoughts. Rex leaned in the way he was going to hit, even with cop-outs. You had started to notice the pattern, if you used it against him, you could break his balance.

He leaned slightly to the left, swung left, left, left, right, right.

You swung left, hitting his ribs. He grimaced, taking a step back. And then you sprung forward, grabbing his legs and pushing him down,

You were both panting.

His face was flushed, and from how hot it was you were sure yours was too. His mouth was slightly agape, and his eyes you were not able to be read. You could feel his chest heaving underneath you. As much as he was trying to wear you out, he must have been wearing himself out too.

“I got you.” You said between breaths, what you needed more than anything right now was some water. Have you ever realized Rex had green eyes? You did not see green eyes much anymore.

He did not immediately respond, the rise and fall of his chest still apparent to you. He was very firm; he probably had a lot of muscle from years of being a professional hero. Your hands were digging into his shoulders. You could feel him tense slightly under you, feel the shift in his blood.

For a millisecond his eyes slid down your face, and you wondered…

“You’re not meant to stay on top of the person once you’ve taken them down.” His voice rang out dryly. His eyes met yours with half-lidded mild annoyance.

“Ugh. Nothing’s good enough.”

“Plenty is good enough. Just do shit right.”

You got off him, offering him a hand up which he briskly refused. He stood for a moment with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. He walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed something; it looked like a belt.

“One more go.”

“Seriously?” You almost whined, you needed a break badly.

“Yes, fucking seriously.” You missed that one moment of actual happiness he portrayed earlier, wondering if you would see that ever again.

“Fine.” For hopefully a final time for the day, you fell into place. Rex immediately went back into action; this time he was keeping his distance. Every time you caught up with him, he quickly got away. “Dude, what is this?” You said unimpressed, and then you saw it fly out of his hand. He was throwing small discs at you. There was no way-

Before you could even finish the thought, it ignited in a small explosion, sending you back.

“Rex, what the fuck are you doing!”

“This is actual combat training Nurse Joy. Catch up.” You grit your teeth, you had already learned a lot for one day, did you really need to have mini-explosives thrown at you too? You did your best to avoid them, a few singed your shirt, and you could definitely smell burnt hair. How many of those did he have? Should you wait him out?

Each explosion left a little cloud of smoke. You just needed to get close enough that it would affect his sight. Slowly you made your way closer, still trying not to get hit. Even with the smoke in front of you, you knew exactly where he was. You already had that neural connection.

After bidding your time on the last one you finally jumped forward through the smoke. His arms immediately came up to shield his face, but you weren’t going for his face. Your fist made direct contact with the left side of his chest. A mild headache immediately irrupts in your head. He should have let you at least have a water break, before pulling all of this.

With a groan, suddenly Rex was backing away, a confused, and angry look on his face. One of his hands was over the place where you punched. You almost wanted to call him a wimp, say something mean, and then you saw the bruise. It was reaching above his tank top.

Fuck. You had manipulated his blood. Not to heal.

You had made it burst in his blood vessels. That’s why your head started to hurt.

You blinked, trying to regulate your breathing at what you had done as you watched him pull his shirt up. Your hand quickly came up to cover your mouth. The immediate impact zone looked horrible; you could practically see the blood pooling under his skin. The wound, although under the skin, was spread out like ripples. The top of it reached up to his collarbone, and the bottom two or three inches above his navel.

“Rex, oh my god.” You took a step towards him. He did not seem to be registering your voice, his hand ghosting over the wound.

He finally looked at you and lowered his tank. “Well, seems like you’ve had enough training to me.” His voice was much more fridged than before. You did not even know you could be doing worse than you were this morning when it came to him.

“Please, just let me heal it, that’s what I am here for right?” You desperately wanted to fix this. Not just because it was unexplainable and was sure to raise more eyebrows about you, but because you wanted to help him. As much of an asshole as he was, you did not want to actually hurt him, he just taught you a lot of valuable things. Hell of a thank you!

“It’s fine Nurse, I’ve got it.” He looked at you with an unclear expression. It felt a lot like disgust.

“It’ll be quick-”

“Just fucking-!”

“I’m so sorry! Please just let me-”

“Just stop!” Rex held his hands out in front of him and backed away, you did not follow this time. Everyone at the hospital whoever refused your help flashed in your mind. It almost made you want to cry, even around other people with powers you were not trusted. It was easy for people to put faith in superheroes when there was nothing they could do about the situation. If they do not see you as a necessity, you’re just a freak. You just did not realize that those of your own kind would see you that way too.

Rex stormed off to the exit of the training area just as Rae was walking in, bumping into her. She exclaimed but he unambiguously gave her a glare and continued out.

“What was all of that about?” Rae glanced over to where Rex had been standing moments ago.

You sighed, rubbing your neck and looking over at her. “I think I’m just going to ask Cecil for a gun or something if I have to fight.”

Author's Note: I might need to slow down soon with releasing chapters, finals are coming up and I don't think my professors will take "I had to write fanfiction" as an excuse for late assignments 💔. But then I will have a lot of time with summer. I want to get this out as fast as possible cause I hate waiting for updates as much as the next person. I hardly plan ahead so were experiencing this at the same time haha

Little something I drew while brainstorming for how to continue the fifth chapter of the fic. This is what I’m imagining he looks like in that chapter hehe 😼

Crawling Back to You

Chapter four

“Fuck, another one?” In what felt like either a week, or a century to Rex, there had been three additions to the team. Immortal as leader, Bulletproof as…whatever Bulletproof does, and the surprise addition of Shapesmith quite literally yesterday. Rex angled his head to the side, looking at the newcomer up and down. Cecil pinched the bridge of his nose but continued talking. Something about working with the Guardians but not really being a Guardian- whatever he was saying, Rex did not care. “Sure, why not just add her to the team, apparently it is a free-for-all around here anyways!” He snapped a glance at Shapesmith who just smiled, which made him more irritated.

Cecil continued to talk as he walked away, but he did not care. The Guardians of the Globe was such a highly respected group before the original team was…massacred. Part of him wondered if that was an ending that all of them were headed towards. With how often their asses were kicked it was starting to feel like it. Maybe that was why Cecil kept putting more and more suboptimal members on the team. He was still angry over the addition of Shapesmith. They did not even know who he was and yet he is on the team? Bullshit.

Robot had even been replaced, and he had been with Rex since he was on the Teen Team. As much as Rex was annoyed by the person who stole his DNA, he liked The Immortal much less. Rex grumbled a bit to himself in annoyance over the whole situation, leaving the common area.

Maybe Eve had made the right decision in leaving the Guardians. Rex considered the idea of trying to team up with her for about two seconds before fully remembering why she left the Guardians. His fresh interaction with Duplikate was still on his mind from earlier. He had gone into the gym and turned tail almost immediately when seeing her. Now that he was standing in here alone a few hours later it was all coming back.

Maybe he wasn’t in love with her, but it still stung that she had cheated on him with Immortal. Geriatric fuck. For a moment he started to feel a sliver of guilt for cheating on Eve in the first place, but he quickly pushed that feeling away to focus on the bigger problem. Cecil. Admittedly he did not know exactly what he was going to do about this particular problem, but he was definitely going to give it a good fester.

His eyes trailed over the barbell that he had seen Kate using earlier. “Fuck.” He whispered to himself aloud, rubbing his temple. Maybe he could fester elsewhere. Exiting the gym he considered his options. No doubt, the newbie was still making her rounds in the common area. He could not deny a part of him was curious as to how she handled the other members. His first interaction with Monster Girl flashed in his mind. God he was good at bad first impressions. But of course, none of this was truly his fault, after all, some people are just born dicks. He could not help it. And look how it turned out now, he and Amanda were…friends? Fuck did he consider any of these people friends? Glorified coworkers? He started to grumble to himself at this realization. There was mutual respect with Rudy up to a certain point, but he also stole Rex’s DNA so that’ll cause a hell of a drift.

He reentered the common area still lost in thought; you were talking to Shapesmith. Leaning against the wall by the door he took in where everyone was, but his eyes quickly returned to you after hearing Shapesmith exclaim something. You immediately went ridged and glanced around, your eyes landing on him for just a split second. After an awkward smile, you turned back to Shapesmith. Figures. Of course, she’s all buddy-buddy with the newest addition. She basically was Shapesmith. Rex let out a huff, his attention landing on the group that contained Rae, Immortal, Kate and, Black Samson.

Kate and Immortal were standing side by side, just a fraction too close while discussing something with the other two people in their group. Disgusting. For a moment he considered talking to Cecil about discouraging romantic relationships on the team, but somehow he knew Cecil did not care.

Bulletproof walked through the door Rex was leaning next to, catching his attention.

“Hey-”

Bulletproof stopped and turned, already seeming not very enthused at the fresh opportunity to have one-on-one time talking to Rex. “What?”

“Can you believe this shit?” Rex was not sure if he was talking about the new arrival or about Kate and Immortal, or if Bulletproof even knew about Kate and Immortal. Why would he? He just joined. Ugh, Rex was suddenly reminded that Bulletproof was for all, intents and purposes, barely less of a newbie than that person talking to Shapesmith.

Bulletproof didn’t say anything, looking over at the scene in front of them for a few moments before looking at Rex again. “I don’t know man, I don’t really see the big deal.”

“Seriously? This is a complete fucking joke! Shapesmith? We don’t even know who he is! And now some new Cecil hire? When I first joined, I had to go through trials and prove myself worth of this.” Rex ran a hand down his face at the memory of Moster Girl just about beating him to a pulp. “What can she even do?”

“Why don’t you just ask her instead of standing over here and staring like a creep?”

“I don’t look like a creep-!”

“And I am not sure that I am the right person for you to try rallying with. Because I am also a ‘Cecil hire’ as you say. Or did you forget?” Oh right. “I just want some coffee; you got any other insults you want to throw my way first though? I’d hate to leave before you’ve finished.” Bulletproof said, taking a few steps away from Rex.

“No, I think that’s all I got for now, don’t linger on my behalf.” Rex deadpanned, folding his arms as Bulletproof walked away. He wanted to make a joke about finishing but none of them seemed to enter his mind fast enough. All this change was throwing him off his rhythm in the ways of sarcasm.

Bulletproof walked up to them, and they conversed for a few moments before Bulletproof continued walking in another direction without getting any coffee. Damn, fifteen seconds talking to the girl and he was already turning away without what he went to get. A small sliver of satisfaction filled Rex at the thought that he was justified in his dislike for the person. That sliver quickly vanished though as he watched her say a few words to Shapesmith and then follow Bulletproof. He turned around and now they were talking- Okay why do I care? Rex turned his head back to the group with Immortal and Duplikate and groaned. Why couldn’t there be some emergency right now? Villians only seemed to try leveling cities when he was sitting down to relax or go to bed. He was sure Cecil would call them to action the moment he decided to just go sit in his room. No choice but to stay.

Rex pushed himself off the wall with a sigh, walking over to Shapesmith. As he got closer, he fully took in the scene. The coffee pot was hanging off the counter and there was a sizable mess on the floor. “What happened here?”

Shapesmith turned to look at him with a smile, “I believe it is what they call brewing, it’ll be ready momentarily, have no fear.”

“Where the fuck are you from?”

__

Rex ended up cleaning up the mess. Not without complaint, but after watching Shapesmith try to pick up shards of glass with his bare hands he figured this was about to be a safety hazard. And he did not want to deal with getting someone to come and take care of his new teammate. Cleaning up a mess of glass and water is much more complicated than it would seem, and there was a second where Rex genuinely considered just igniting the pieces and seeing if they would simply disappear in a chain explosion. But he also already got told off for blowing up garbage in the base. So, the traditional method would have to do.

It reminded him of the blood streak that used to provide such an eyesore in the early days of being in the Guardians. A reminder of those who had died in the very place he was standing. These new additions did not earn the right to get rid of that in the same way the rest of them had. It was a simple thought that slowly started to eat away at Rex. The Guardians of the Globe had been through so much, Bulletproof, Shapesmith, the new girl, they knew nothing about the trials they had gone through. Immortal, unfortunately, had to be excluded from this, since he was killed with the other previous Guardians. Rex still did not like him though. Does someone who technically died with the others still get the same amount of respect if they did not stay dead?

After dropping the broom and trash off in the kitchen Rex headed a little further down the hallway. The sound of Rudy and Amanda talking lured him in as he heard the familiar sound of small talk.

“Killdeer?” Must be her alias.

“A type of bird, correct?”

“Yes. The bird.”

“They are known for pretending to be injured to draw away predators. So they are notable for being unassuming, is that what you are?” Rex started to think about his earlier annoyance at her not having earned her spot. Fester. Rot.

“Notable? Well, I hope so-”

“Unassuming.” Unassuming? She did not deserve to be a Guardian, but was Rudy really implying what Rex thought he was? He entered the room and immediately interjected himself into the situation. Fester.

“Birds don’t have superpowers.” Real clever. He almost wanted to roll his eyes at the non-statement.

“Your point being, Rex?” Taking a few moments to come up to the group, Rex took Killdeer in. Her height and stature, she was remarkably ordinary almost. And was wearing civilian clothes rather than a suit. It really was like just anyone walked in off the street.

“My point is just that it’s a stupid name.” He crossed his arms and looked at her more closely. She did not return the scolding glare but instead glanced over at Robot a few times. Did she think he was going to help her? Irritation started to form at the fact she seemed determined not to speak for herself.

“Seriously? What do you want man?” Amanda said.

“What do you even fuckin’ do anyways?” He muttered with disdain, it had better be good if she was being granted membership without being screened by the other members. His gaze did not leave her.

“I, uh, heal.”

Oh, that is rich. A glorified nurse. Just what the team needed. No telepathy, or the ability to create illusions, you know useful things. She was here to do what most of the people’s bodies here do already at an accelerated rate. Unless she is able to regrow other’s teeth, Rex was still a little jealous that Mark could do that.

“Oh, you ‘uh heal’. I am glad we got that covered! I mean come on! Don’t you guys see how ridiculous this is? I feel like I am going crazy! What is Cecil thinking?” Rex returned his gaze to you and was met immediately by a very unimpressed look. Not even the flat anger that he is used to, just instantaneous disinterest. Harsh. But Rex decided to double down, the festering getting to him. “We already have all kinds of high-tech what’s-its here that we can get treated with after battles. I should know, I have had to be put together plenty of times after fights.” He looked at the other two who were listening in, and the look on Amanda’s face told him he was not making the good argument he thought he was. “We do not need Nurse Joy over here.” He said this to Rudy and Amanda, trying to reiterate his initial point. “You are pointless.” He said this directly to you. His brow furrowed tightly.

You proceed to tell him how your powers save the GDA in funding, but it still does not seem like a good reason. Cecil never seemed concerned about funding before, and he had not gotten on them directly about cutting costs. Or maybe he had, and Rex had not been paying attention. Maybe this makes more sense than he would like to admit. She finishes by clarifying that she is not able to regrow limbs and how she accelerates the healing process- whatever.

“You hear that, Rex? No regrowing limbs, I am guessing that means she can’t change your micro either.” Rex cocked his head slightly at Amanda, getting major déjà vu from their first meeting.

Running out of good reasons to dislike her addition, he started to throw out the basest complaint there is when it comes to government-run operations. Wasting tax dollars.

“You pay taxes?” The joke does not fit the tone of the current conversation. Rex cannot help but purse his lips together and look at Rudy as he begins to speak. If anyone else had said that he probably would have exhaled a short laugh. But it was not anyone else, and she did not get to get out of this by simply making a joke.

Rudy reiterated basically what she had already said. Rex gave him an incredulous look and Rudy gave a halfhearted shrug. Guess there was not much left to be said. Rex did not have another good argument to come up with, but he still was not convinced of her necessity to the team. “Well, I do not like it.”

After a brief few moments of silence, she glanced to the side, looking like she was listening to something. She probably had an earpiece in. And like clockwork, she began to say her goodbyes.

She addressed Rudy and Amanda and then turned to the last person who was standing in the group. “Rex.” She said with a kind smile. For a moment Rex almost felt bad, he had been giving her a ridiculously hard time all morning. She had pretty eyes. He noticed rather begrudgingly how they crinkled slightly with the smile. Rex could feel his face scrunch slightly in concentration, he was not entirely sure why but at this very moment he felt the need to study her face. Commit it to memory. Maybe if he knew her face well, he could avoid it more quickly after seeing it. Right? Logically his brain should register her in a crowd quicker the better he knows the curve of her lips. Definitely an important detail.

And with that, she walked away. Leaving Rudy, Amanda, and Rex standing around like idiots. Before Rex could come up with something to fill the silence, maybe another grumble about not liking the situation, Rudy spoke.

“This is odd.” Rex’s gaze snapped onto Rudy.

“Why do you think?” Amanda asked.

“It just is very sudden. Like Rex said.” Ha, it was a good point to make, he knew it. “And she’s not particularly… extraordinary. Her explanation makes sense, but with Cecil is never that simple. Or at least it never has been.” He trailed off a bit and put a hand up to his chin. “Just a healer…”

“Do you think Cecil has ulterior motives?” Amanda asked, tilting her head. “She seemed kind of, well, nice. To be honest. If he does do you think she knows?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Well glad we figured that one out,” Rex interjected starting to feel frustrated.

“I will have to learn more about her. We just do not know enough right now.”

“So what? We watch her?” Rex questioned.

“We watch her.” Rudy repeated.

__

Several days passed with hardly any mention of the newest addition. A few minor altercations with some lower-league villains occurred, but no one experienced any injuries, so she was not called in. Rex also learned that she technically was not part of the Guardians, but was contracted, kind of like Mark. It put him mildly at ease, for more reasons than the fact that he did not think she deserved to be there. It was also starting to feel just a little crowded on base. Between avoiding Immortal and Kate and dealing with the awkward silences when Shapesmith was around, it was almost too much to bear.

Originally planning on showering, Rex now found himself entering the common room where he saw Rae. When he had entered the shower-room he heard all too familiar giggles coming from the closest stall and immediately turned tail.

Rae was tiredly rubbing her neck will discussing something with Amanda. Her gaze landing on Rex as he got closer, she then hurriedly beckoned him over.

“Rex, we’re thinking about drinking tonight, some of the team has already said they aren’t interested, but you think you’ll come?”

Drinks sounded amazing. Nothing like the embrace of alcohol to take your mind off every individual problem of the Guardians. But if everyone was invited, then the likelihood was, that so was Kate. And he was not in the mood to deal with her. “Uh, no I don’t think so.”

“What? I have never seen you refuse drinks before.” Amanda jeered, arching one of her brows.

“Come on it’s just going to be a simple relaxing evening, Rex.” Rae pulled the headpiece of her suit back, smoothing out her hair. “You deserve it, I deserve it, the whole team deserves it.” She returned her gaze to Rex and sighed after a moment. “Kate won’t be there.” Rae rolled her eyes.

“Well, who said that’s why I didn’t want to come?” Rex frowned.

“Just come for drinks Rex. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Fine, but it had better be something strong.” Rex spoke with an edge of reluctance to his tone.

__

“Are you shitting me?” Shit, he had been so concerned with the potential presence of Kate he forgot about you. You tensed as he entered the room and looked back at him, eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Hey Rex.” Rae squints at him and gives him a ‘shut up’ look, before mouthing ‘sorry’ at Killdeer.

Did Rae do this intentionally? God leave it to her to try and bridge gaps in the team. This does not even have anything to do with her. He repeated her words from earlier back to her, parroting her tone. “What is this bullshit, Rae?”

Rae gave him a guilty shrug and opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the cool tone of Rudy’s voice. He was asking you more about your abilities, Rex could recognize what he was doing a mile away. He was not just interested in you, he was checking off boxes, collecting more information. Rudy was probably analyzing everything you said, debating whether you was lying or not. This was something Rex wanted to know more about, his attention left Rae and turned to the newly blossoming conversation.

“-would your stab wound begin to heal as soon as the sharp object was removed?”

“You trying to plan ahead?” Deflecting, not a great sign as far as innocence goes.

“I think? I have not really had to try. But if I have ever cut myself while cooking or anything like that, it’s healed basically before my eyes. But couldn’t you just learn that from my file?”

Rudy and Rex’s gaze immediately met; this was the first bit of incriminating evidence that they physically had. More than hunches.

“What?” She said, looking around at the other teammates.

“We don’t have access to each other files-”

__

An awkward confrontation followed but eventually was somewhat explained away. Something they would revisit later. Towards the end of the evening, Rex was starting to actually enjoy himself somewhat. Rae had returned to the Cecil and Donald debate, which Rudy refused to participate in it. He just gave them all incredulous looks and continued to cut in occasionally, to ask Killdeer questions. Shapesmith eventually returned too, but in Rex’s opinion, he did not add anything of consequence to the conversation and was easily ignored.

The more drinks he had the more he felt his gaze rest on the newcomer. He still felt that earlier determination to memorize her face, assuredly just to avoid her. The first few times she caught him he quickly looked away, but eventually, he just stared. If he had drank a little less maybe he would feel how awkward this was, but he could not quite rip his eyes away.

A small thought popped into his mind. A quiet one, hardly audible. She was pretty. She did not just have pretty eyes or a pleasing curve of the lip. But she was actually pretty.

Now he looked away. His gaze landed on the table in front of them. Somehow this had to be related to Rudy’s suspicions. Maybe her powers encompassed drawing people in. Making them comfortable. If Rex thought about it long enough it made sense. She was still a worthless addition, even if she just so happened to be easy to look at for…twenty minutes straight? Was that really the time?

Rex was drawn out of his thoughts at the sound of her saying goodbye. By the time he looked up he hardly caught a glance before she was gone. He turned to see Rae giving him a knowing look, which he immediately scoffed at. But his gaze quickly returned to the door.

Side effects of her powers or not, this was not ideal.

Author's Note: I started to get writer's block pretty hard midchapter. So I worked on Chapter 5 when I did not know what to do in this chapter. So chapter five is about a third done, and there's a nice amount of forced proximity hehe

Crawling Back to You

Chapter three

It’s only been a few days since you officially introduced yourself to the other guardians. But with how much training you have been doing it felt like weeks had passed. You still had not made a single dent in manipulating the Viltrumite blood, which you could not help but feel was a huge failure on your part. Cecil assured you that you would be able to get the hang of it, but part of you was afraid that it might just not be encompassed within your power range. One hospital visit later and you’re back on your way to the training room again. An agent turns quickly to you as you open the door, and they do not say anything. There helmet making their expression completely unreadable.

“What are you-” You look at the ground behind them. Pools of dark blood streaked over the floor, surprisingly spread out. There were even some specks on the gurney wheels.

Ah, they had not finished clean up yet from earlier. You had pushed yourself too far again and that was the remnants. You had never seen what it looked like after, and you purposely never looked at the ground when it started, you were too occupied with the excruciating pain of your brain splintering inside your skull.

“Oh, sorry.” You mumbled, giving an awkward half bow, half curtesy thing that would definitely keep you up the next few nights. It was getting late anyway, maybe you should just head back to your apartment and come back early tomorrow. As you left the training room and decided what you were going to do your phone vibrated. A text message from an unknown number illuminates your screen.

You read the message and smile to yourself at the fact she felt the need the clarify who she was. You look back at the training room door behind you. Cecil would probably want you back fairly early in the morning. But on the other hand, he wanted you to build good connections within the Guardians-

Can Amanda even drink alcohol? You knew she was much older internally than she looked but she still had the body of a much younger person. Would that stunt her growth? All you knew was you were definitely not going to ask. If you had two people on the team who were not actively wishing for you to cease existing that was a win in your book. You messaged Rae back telling her that you would be there. A shower was still in high demand first though, you were sure if you tried to run a hand through your hair there would be an excess amount of dried blood. Well, any amount of dried blood is an excess amount, to be honest.

__

Your apartment still felt so barren to you. After living there for a few months now you still had not personalized it in any way to your specific interests, but at least the landlord had an okay sense of style. There was a green couch in the living room with a dark oak table in front of it. The TV had shelving units around it that were mostly empty, minus some books that were yours and some that were purely meant as decoration from the landlord.

You walked past the living room into your bedroom. The bed was not made, even though you had not slept here in a few days. You practically had your own designated room in the hospital section of the GDA at this point, so some nights you just stayed there. If the doctors and nurses were becoming overwhelmed, you would try to assist in anyway you could. But a lot of the patients refused your help, and even some of the workers seemed on edge around you. You tried not to let it get to you, but you couldn’t deny it made you feel like an abomination sometimes.

Cecil had an innumerable number of tests done after finding you. He wanted to be sure your powers actually did heal, and that once healed the receiver of your care stayed healed. He had said that it was just to be cautious, because “anyone can make something, but not everyone has the experience to make sure it stays that way”. You heard later that another hero, Atom Eve, who had the ability to change matter and atoms into anything she wanted, had tried to repair some of the damage after Omniman. And that repair ended up being completely structurally unsound, it completely fell apart. So, in turn, it made sense that Cecil would want to be sure your powers did what they were supposed to. Out of all the tests, not a single one came back with poor results. But you had more patients than not who told you they trusted their own body to heal them more than you.

Most of the time you decided to not even try wasting your breath in an attempt to convince them. It was completely their choice. Even still, it was frustrating how little it felt like you could actively help.

The warm shower water rushed over you. Causing reddish-brown after wash to pooled at your feet, a reminder you saw often. When you were taken to the hospital they did some cleanup, but with each visit, it seemed like they cleaned up less and less. You could feel the dried blood that had originally traveled from your ear down your neck. Closing your eyes you focused on scrubbing it away, hoping no remnants were left. After feeling satisfied you got everything, you got out of the shower, grabbing a towel. It felt coarse under your fingertips, scratchy like the hospital bed blankets.

With a shake of your head at the frequent memory, you looked in the mirror. You studied your face for a moment before heavy breathing began to fill your ears. A familiar trickling ghosted over your top lip. A quick wipe with your knuckles revealed you were not having a nosebleed. Curious. Why could you still hear the rushing of blood inside your head? You glanced back at your reflection. Blood was trailing down the left side of your neck again. Shit. You grabbed a towel and tried to wipe it up, but now there was blood running down from your other ear too. Your hands squelched with the sound of the wet fluid coating your hands and soaking the towel. You looked in the mirror again and your nose was bleeding, it was rushing down your chin, dripping down and staining the white sink. Shit, why is this happening? You weren’t even trying to use your powers right now.

Panic started to set in, were you about to die? You had finally done it; you had overextended yourself and your abilities and your body was giving up on you. The taste of iron filled your mouth, and you looked up again at the mirror. Your tear ducts were overflowing now, crimson streaks sliding down your face. No one would find you for hours here, for once in your life you were praying Cecil was watching, as unethical as that always felt.

You looked down at your hands again, the blood was already starting to oxidize. Piercing pain caused you to put the heel of your palm to your head. Your mind fell completely blank; you did not even have someone to think about in your last moments. Not even able to think of anything to regret, all you could think as you shrunk down to the floor was “Please”.

And just like that it stopped. The pain disappeared, but still you sat with your eyes closed and your palms to your head for a few seconds longer. Waiting. After a while of the pain not returning you opened your eyes. Your gaze trailed up to the sink above you, and there was a surprising lack of blood dripping down the bowl of it. As you slowly stood up you looked back at your hands. They were a little pruney from your shower but other than that they were completely clean. A reluctant glance in the mirror revealed that your face was also surprisingly unbloodied. You were losing it. You blinked a few times and focused on slowing down your breathing. You quickly wiped away a few streaks of moisture on your cheeks. Phantom dull pain sounding off for a few moments from within the confines of your head.

You should tell Rae you are not coming. Get extra sleep tonight. You were obviously slipping a bit, but you just needed to sleep in your own bed. Then you would be fine.

Stepping out of the bathroom you went to grab your phone off the bedstand. But the sight of something on top of your phone stopped you in your tracks. A small, folded piece of paper. You looked around the room, pulling your towel up slightly, and then you picked it up.

Go.

-C Stedman

A man of many words. You bit the inside of your lip, tapping the paper against the wood of the bedside table.

So, Cecil was somehow surveying your apartment. It felt less relieving now that you weren’t convinced that you were about to die on your bathroom floor.

__

“Finally, I need you to be the tiebreaker for this question-” Rae grabbed your arm and pulled you into the kitchen area. Bulletproof, Amanda, and Shapesmith were sitting around the table already. A reasonable crowd, none of these people hated you yet as far as you knew. You waived at the group and sat down, feeling a little awkward still, but Rae jumped right back into their conversation. “Cecil and Donald, do you think anything is going on there?”

You blinked a few times. Cecil and Donald.

“I just don’t think so.” Bulletproof shook his head before sipping his drink. “I mean there’s no way, right?”

“Come on! There’s no way both of them haven’t at least thought about it!” Amanda responded, “And they’ve worked together for how long? Like 80 years?”

“I don’t think Cecil is that old-” You interjected, “And Donald is-” Wait, how old is Donald?

“Cecil’s a workaholic! There’s no way he’s ever even considered it!” Rae said throwing her hands up.

“Oh, but Cecil is always considering!” Shapesmith interrupted, obviously not following but wanting to be part of the conversation.

“See? This is what I mean, you got to break the tie Killdeer.” Rae got up to get you a drink and suddenly the other three’s gazes were on you.

And to think an hour ago you thought you were going to die.

“Well, the romantic in me wants to think yes.” Rae and Bulletproof groaned, “but I agree with Rae. I think he’s married to his work.”

“Oh, come on!” Amanda exclaimed.

“As for Cecil never considering it, I am sure someone is relaying our conversation to him as we speak. So, it has to cross his mind for at least a second, right?” You thought back to the paper on your bedside table, how does Cecil ever get anything done is he’s constantly spying on people.

“Ha!” Amanda exclaimed, then pointed at Rae. “She has a point! He has no choice but to consider!”

“Oh, come on that’s such an impartial take!” Rae put your drink in front of you and you sipped without looking. Holy shit what is in this? You squinted your eyes a bit, trying not to appear like you cannot take the taste of alcohol. But whatever this was had to be the most horrid thing you had ever tasted.

“Do you actually think Cecil is watching right now?” Bulletproof raised an eyebrow while glancing between the group members.

“Yes.” You say sharply, and when everyone looks at you it suddenly feels like maybe this is not common knowledge. “Well, I mean,” You take a sip grimacing again, “He’s got all those invisible agents that just show up, don’t you ever think they might just… I don’t know, hang around?” You gave them all a downturned smile. “But that’s just what I think, I could be wrong.” Hopefully Cecil is not listening in, or you might be in a bit of trouble right now.

There was a look shared between the three of them that made you want to shrink into your chair. Shapesmith, who you did not think was paying attention, all of a sudden looked extra nervous. “I, uh, have to go stand in the bathroom as a means of relieving myself, like I am sure you fellow humans do throughout the day-” He stood up, knocking the table causing you grabbed hold of your drink, so it did not spill.

“Are you shitting me?” A voice sounded out, and you looked up to see Rex standing over you. Rudy was standing a few paces behind him, his head turned to watch Shapesmith exit the kitchen. You gave Rudy a wave and he gave you a polite nod. You turned your attention back to Rex who was frowning deeply.

“Hey Rex.” You turn to look at Rae as she speaks, in turn, she grimaces a bit at you. ‘Sorry,’ she mouths. Oh.

He was not told you were coming.

Rex glared at Rae, “Come on it’s going to be a relaxing evening! You deserve it, the whole team has been working so hard lately” He talks in a mocking voice, his hands clasped together with a fake smile plastered on his face. “What is this bullshit, Rae?” He exclaims, his attention fully on her.

This is fine, better her than you, you supposed. But it was weird to be so openly chided to your face, or you supposed, in front of your face. Since he was not saying it to you directly.

“Do you have regenerative healing abilities?” Rudy asked, you had not noticed he had taken a place at the table.

“What?”

“If you got physically harmed, would you heal just like how you are able to heal others? If you were stabbed, or an internal organ started to rupture, or say your drink was poisoned-” Yep, okay, not finishing that. You subtly push it a few millimeters away from you and Rudy continues. “Would you be able to regenerate that organ, and stop the poison? Would your stab wound begin to heal as soon as the sharp object was removed?”

“You trying to plan ahead?” You gave an awkward smile, and once again no one laughed. Maybe its time to give the jokes a break. After a few more seconds of silence you realized everyone who was there was paying attention. Even Rex who was standing over you still seemed to be waiting for your response.

Considering that you have been able to relatively quickly and multiple times in a day regrow your brain, you figured that was probably a yes. As far as poison goes, you had to admit you had not tried it. Your eyes glanced down at the drink again, wondering if the team would really poison you. Clearing your throat you answered, “I think? I have not really had to try-” Lie. Cecil would be proud. “But if I have ever cut myself while cooking or anything like that, it’s healed basically before my eyes.” You shrugged and looked at Rudy with your head cocked. “But couldn’t you just learn that from my file?”

“What?” Several voices said at once.

“What?” You echoed back, glancing between everyone, confusion clear in your voice.

“We don’t have access to each other’s files,” Rae said with an unnerved smile, her eyebrows furrowed.

Shit. Cecil would be less proud of this.

“Oh.”

“The fuck do you mean ‘oh’?” Rex shakes his head, moving next to Rae so that he’s in front of you. “You’ve read our files?”

If you lie, they will most likely call your bullshit. You might never be trusted by any of these people again. If you just tell the truth, Cecil is going to get quite a bit of pushback. Which he assuredly would not be happy about. Then again Cecil encouraged you to come to this. Or maybe you misunderstood the message on the paper. Maybe Cecil wanted you to go to bed. Go to the hospital, go… jump off a bridge? You mentally cursed your supervisor for being so cryptic all the time. If he was just flat out with everything you were not supposed to mention you would not have royally screwed up twice already tonight. Maybe Cecil did not tell you how much you should not repeat because then you would start to realize how slimy this is all feeling. These people all seemed very genuine, maybe too genuine in the case of Rex. But none of them seemed evil to you. The amount of secrets you were knowingly asked to keep was already starting to weigh on you. Maybe Cecil was worried you would grow a conscience.

“Yes-” You admitted slowly, immediately drowned out by a litany of what’s and seriously’s.

“Fuck.” Rex drawled out in a long breath.

“That’s messed up,” Bulletproof finally spoke up.

Rudy caught your eye; he did not seem to be as surprised as everyone else. He simply looked at you. He was not squinting or making any expression. Just staring. And that unnerved you more than anything else that was happening around you.

“You pretended not to know anything about us to our faces!” Rex crossed his arms, leaning against the back of Rae’s chair.

“Yeah, that’s kind of… messed up.” Amanda spoke up, she did not have as much anger on her face, but she definitely seemed more guarded now.

“I’m sorry, I did not know that it was unusual to get access to the files.” None of them looked like they believed you. “And I wanted to hear what you guys had to say about yourselves, not just rely on a piece of paper.” Rae looked a bit more put at ease by this. “And I am pretty sure they withheld parts from me because there was nothing about Rex and Rudy being brothers, or cousins or whatever you are.” You bit the inside of your lip, hoping that would put the rest of them at ease.

“What the fuck, he’s not my brother.” Rex’s anger turned to confusion.

Okay, that’s it, you are going to walk off that bridge. That is strike three. If you could die of discomfort, you would have died a few minutes ago. Instead, you’re squirming in your chair, and you do not have nearly enough alcohol in you to blame for being this stupid.

Amanda and Rae sit in silence for a moment, and then there is an irruption of laughter. You were not laughing with them. Bulletproof was also not laughing, his gaze flashing from Rudy to Rex and vice versa.

“Wait she has a point actually; you guys look almost exactly the same.” He squinted, taking a sip of his drink.

“That’s because he stole my DNA!” Rex holds his hands out in exasperation. “He literally is me; he’s not my fucking brother!”

Bulletproof makes a face at this, clearly now more confused, and Rex slams his palm to his forehead. They start loudly talking over each other, and Rae scoots a little closer to talk to you.

“Did it at least say something nice about me?” She took your drink from in front of you and drank it in one go. Man, it must not have been poisoned.

“It?”

“My file.”

“I mean, it really just had a broad overview of your powers. Maybe some back story, but honestly, I did not read that closely.” You admitted a little sheepishly. “I figured I would learn the important stuff when I met you guys in person.”

“You’re totally lying, but that’s okay, I probably would too.” She got up to get another drink, and you stood up to follow her. The argument was getting more rowdy, and Amanda had started to place bets on whether it was going to turn into a full-blown fight or not.

“Unfortunately, I really mean it.” You tried to sound as genuine as possible, leaning against the counter next to her. “I did not even know Rudy’s name when I came for the first time the other day. I just sort of waited until Amanda said it.”

“No shot.” Rae laughed and tried to hand you another drink to which you politely held your hand out to decline her.

“Rudy got in my head about the poison thing.” You admit.

“Well drink it anyways.” She shrugs. “A sign of trust after you read all that stuff about us.”

You hesitated, looking back at the table. Rex is pushing his finger into Bulletproof’s chest and gesturing at Rudy with his other hand. This “display” of trust meant nothing to anyone sitting over there. But at least it would assure Rae in your corner. You took the drink and threw it back, shuddering as you gulped it down. “What the fuck is that?” You put a hand over your mouth trying to decipher if you were going to throw up from it or not.

“I honestly have no idea, it’s from Immortal’s stash. Apparently, a few centuries old.”

You blink at her a few times, “so you did poison me?” There is no way that is safe to drink.

“I mean kind of…maybe? But we’ve all been drinking it, so at least we’ll all die.” That did not make you feel better. These people were awful at reassuring others. She laughed and put an arm over your shoulder, leading the way back to the table.

__

After that one drink, you refused to have anymore, not just because it probably had lead or arsenic in it, but because you still wanted to drive back to your apartment. For a moment you considered sleeping in the hospital again, but after what happened earlier you were not seeing that as a viable option. Rex spent the rest of the evening drinking that rat poison which made him easier to deal with in the way that, he just did not talk to you. Watched you a few times, but did not say anything. He probably did not want to ruin the bettering mood of the group by starting another fight.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, you were finally at your car. With a click the driver door opened, but something distracted you.

You froze. Someone was watching you; you could feel the thrumming connection with their blood. Without much further thought you turned around sharply and froze whoever it was in place, the twinge at the base of your skull starting immediately.

Cecil gave you an unimpressed look. “Are you going to let me move?” Letting out a long exhale you let him go. He shifted his shoulders slightly, “That does not feel as weird as I thought it would.” He admitted. “It almost feels like I am just deciding not to move, interesting. We should look into the psychological effects of your powers.” He seems to lose his train of thought for a second and then returns his gaze to you.

“I am so sorry-” You started, feeling mortified after every other mistake you made tonight.

“Just don’t do that again. If I had been one of the Guardians, I would have a lot more to explain than just your access to their files.” He raised an eyebrow at you, as he straightened his coat. “You are a very sensitive secret at this moment in time.” He admits, softly. “Do not let them find out about your other abilities.”

You nod and open your mouth to respond.

“And maybe just don’t bring so much attention, in general, to the work I do next time, Huh?” Cecil finishes, and you give him a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t-”

“I want you to take a break from the blood bags and ReAnimen. Tomorrow, I want you to train with Rex Splode, practice some physical combat.”

The reasonable part of your brain told you he was doing this because he saw your meltdown earlier after your shower. He knew you needed a break from hospital visits. But another part of your brain suspiciously considered the idea that he was punishing you.

“Okay Cecil.” You responded dryly.

And if he was, he knew the perfect way to get to you. You were already dreading the idea of one-on-one time with the not-brother of Rudy.

Author's Note: I hope you guys are intrigued by the story I am trying to set up. I am trying to put a lot of thought into it :)

I have a soft spot for Bulletproof as of right now, he just seems like a chill guy. Hoping he stays chill in the next season.

My addition to all the redraws everyone is doing of this shot

It’ll pass

This took me over 17 hours a few months ago 😭💔

Crawling Back to You

Chapter Two

What an asshole. Your first day in an actual team and you were already regretting it.

“Ignore him, I want you to go and familiarize yourself with the other members. Keep your earpiece on. I want you to continue training afterwards.” Cecil’s gaze swept over the Guardian’s headquarters. With a nod to you, he turned and walked away, surprisingly he actually walked and did not just teleport. Maybe the GDA is trying to save money.

From what Cecil had been telling you the Guardians of the Globe is an embarrassing mess right now. The Immortal recently had taken over the leadership position from Robot who could not seem to get his head in the game. You had spent an ample amount of time reading over their individual files, but your eyes stopped on someone who you had not gotten the file of. He was wearing an orange and blue suit and just sort of…poking something over in the corner?

You scanned the large area one last time, taking note of where everyone was, mentally ordering them all in your head. You would definitely save the one you knew as Rex-Splode for last. After his piercing glare and a very annoyed “Fuck, another one? Sure, why not just add her to the team, apparently it is a free-for-all around here anyways!” He had turned away throwing his hands in the air “Christ, four newbies in a row.” And some other unpleasant grumbling.

With a subtle curl of the lip at the memory of the very fresh experience you walked over to the first member you decided you would introduce yourself to. As you got closer you could hear him muttering to himself, “Very perplexing…”

“Hello-” He was poking a coffee machine it seems, and you apparently activated his fight or flight unknowingly because he just chucked it at you. But it was plugged in… so it just kind of slid off the counter and hung there. The glass pot shattered on the ground and water washed over the front from the water reservoir. If you were not determined to make the best impression anyone has ever seen, you would have just let out a sigh so long your lungs would have completely depleted.

 “Oh, I’m sorry I did not mean to startle you!” You said apologetically, scanning the area for a broom or something to help clean up, but you were extremely unfamiliar with your surroundings here, so you just decided to ignore it.

“Oh, no harm done fellow human!” Oh boy, so he’s one of those. “Rest assured it is meant to do that!”

You stood in silence and looked down at the mess between the two of you.

“Indeed.”

You looked around hoping too many eyes were not on you but as far as you could tell there were none. Too busy with what they were all individually doing, a few of them had left the common space, probably to go to different rooms for training. Cecil told you they were staggering training schedules so that they could all “become the best they could be” and then rather melodramatically he continued “If not, we could all be fucked.”

Theatrical as always, but you knew after the months you had spent training with Cecil there was no reason to inquire about his cryptic statements. If he wanted you to know, he would tell you.

“Well, I just thought I would introduce myself. I have not heard anything about you, are you some kind of secret?” It was meant to be a light joke to ease tensions. But the man froze and for a second you considered just walking away. There must be something wrong with him.

“Secret?!” He laughed obnoxiously loud, and you found yourself snapping your head to look around once again for judgmental looks. “You will find no secrets here! I am just as human as everyone here! And having secrets from human teammates is bad for morale!”

“Okay… I’m Killdeer by the way, or that’s my alias or whatever,” You told him your actual name as well and held your hand out for him to shake. It was like you could hear the gears grinding inside his head. After several more moments he awkwardly did a crouching sort of movement and high-fived your outstretched hand.

Around right now is when you are wishing you had someone you could talk to about this exact moment. Your eyes trailed up from your hand to his face which held maybe the largest, cheesiest grin you have ever seen. You bit the inside of your lip trying to stop a violent snort from escaping you. What the fuck.

“I am Shapesmith!” He put his knuckles to his hips and puffed out his chest, a very generic hero pose. “I was born a baby human right here on the planet of Earth! I got my superpowers from a random…industrial accident-”

“What happened to the coffeepot?” A very unenthused voice spoke from a few paces behind you. This face you knew from the files, Bulletproof, who is also very new to the Guardians of the Globe. Within the past few days even.

You gave him a shrug while glancing at Shapesmith out of the corner of your eye. Who was, at this point unsurprisingly, still smiling larger than life and holding his pointer finger up.

“Great.” Bulletproof sighed and started to walk away. Target number two.

“I have to go, but it was good meeting you Shapesmith and I look forward to working with you!” You winced at your business email sounding goodbye, but it did not seem to bother him any. He just returned to looking at the glass and water conversation piece on the floor.

With a few quick strides you were caught up again with Bulletproof, who slowed to a stop when he realized you were following them.

“I wanted to introduce myself, but first-” you glanced back at Shapesmith “What exactly is going on…there?”

Bulletproof shrugged and glanced at Shapesmith for a few moments. “I honestly have no idea; he was found impersonation Rex-” ugh. A subtle reminder that eventually, you had to formally introduce yourself to him. Your attention returned as quickly as it left. “I don’t think anyone knows exactly what or who he is. But Cecil probably likes the opportunity of keeping an eye on him here.” He looked back at you again. “I cannot imagine he’s much danger to us; he’s kind of…”

“Eccentric?” You interjected.

“I was going to say idiotic, but sure.” Shapesmith was now trying to pick up the glass shards with his bare hands. Idiotic felt a little too mean in your opinion. He seemed nice enough.

“Well anyways,” you held your hand out again and gave your name “you’re Bulletproof, right?” After a nod, he took your hand and actually shook it rather than what ever it was Shapesmith did. Thank god. “Pleasure,” this is all very formal and as the conversation goes on your mind wanders a little.

Shapesmith, Bulletproof, Monster Girl, Robot, Duplikate, Immortal, Black Samson, Shrinking Rae, Rex Splode. Shapesmith, Bulletproof-

Where did Rex Splode get off? He didn’t even know you or anything about you. You were not sure why this was bothering you so much. Sometimes people just suck, this was nothing new to you. An immature part of your brain imagined exploding him with your mind. Which is a little drastic for the fact he really had not committed that high of an offense. You were just a little nervous to be around other superheroes and he immediately took your ego and, well you guess, exploded it. Also, you could not explode him with your mind if you wanted to. But maybe he would accidentally self-combust later. A small smile appeared on your face at the thought of it.

Okay now this is just mean, how is this productive?

You look up and nod at what Bulletproof is saying, having no idea what he was just talking about the last few minutes. If it was important, you would find out later you supposed. After a formal and quick goodbye, you headed over to another corner where Immortal, Duplikate, Black Samson and Shrinking Rae were standing and talking. Again, a quick introduction, and polite conversation. No one seemed to take much interest in you, which you figured might be the case when you had to start making your rounds around the headquarters.

Cecil said that he had told Immortal about you in passing, but while talking to him you realized he knew nothing about you. Not to his disappointment though, you doubted he would remember your name without being reminded a few times. He seemed to have a bit of a superiority complex which, maybe you would too if you were alive that long. But still, you did not much care for him. Shrinking Rae, who assured you that you could call her “just Rae” seemed very down to earth out of the three of them. After filling that information away in your brain for later you headed out of the main area in search of the last three members.

While you were at it you tried to familiarize yourself with the different passageways, one room led to a gym, another to a kitchen, and…another kitchen? Or were you turned around? Well now you know where the broom is, maybe on the way back to the common area you would bring it with you for Shapesmith.

Finally, you found yourself in a circular, expansive room. Robot sat in the middle, a large hologram of what you imagined must have been a brain above his head. Common sense leads you to believe it is probably his. Is he still called Robot if he’s not in the suit? Crap, you had read his name in the files, but you could not remember what it was.

In a chair nearby sat Monster Girl, they seemed to have been talking about something before you walked in but once your presence was noticed they both were looking at you.

There’s a certain uncanny feeling to being stared at by two people with the appearance of essentially children. Like walking by a middle school and hearing the most creative insults you have ever heard, which will also subsequently keep you up for several days going forward. Luckily these two were not actually children or you would be feeling much more apprehensive being viewed under such scrutiny.

“Hello-” How many more times are you going to have to introduce yourself? You would much rather be training with Cecil than working your way through small talk with these people who think you are unnecessary at your core.

“Killdeer?” Monster Girl, who assured you that you can call her Amanda and Robot, Rudy, asked quizzically.

“A type of bird, correct?” Rudy said in a dry tone, which you could not tell was just due to the way he naturally was, or if he was extremely unimpressed. Hopefully the former.

“Yes. The bird.” You give a tight smile.

“They are known for pretending to be injured to draw away predators.” Rudy tells Amanda, “So they are notable for being unassuming, is that what you are?” Wow straight to the important questions.

“Notable? Well, I hope so-” You tried to joke.

“Unassuming.” He spoke again in that dry, robotic tone. Oh, Robot, robotic, that makes sense.

“Birds don’t have superpowers.” Said a voice from behind you, one you recognized the fastest out of all the Guardians because of his memorable first appearance. You did not bother looking back.

“Your point being, Rex?” Amanda said with a level of exhaustion that mirrored yours, but she was probably much more licensed to her exhaustion having known him longer than a morning.

Sure enough, Rex stepped up next to you, his arms crossed, a firm crease in his brow. “My point is just that it’s a stupid name.”

“Seriously? What do you want man?” Amanda mirrored him, crossing her own arms, while Rudy simply cycled through looking at them.

Rex ignored her and looked directly at you. Well at least you did not have to do another introduction. At this very moment, looking between him and Rudy you started to wonder if they were somehow related. You read in Robot’s file that he only recently started fronting as a physical person, but there was not much else provided about it for you. Something to look into later.

“What do you even fuckin’ do anyways?” Rex tilted his head at you, squinting slightly. An expression that almost looked suspicious of you.

“I, uh, heal.”

“Oh, you ‘uh heal’. I am so glad we got that covered!” Rex said with a big sarcastic smile, looking to both Rudy and Amanda for backup. “I mean come on! Don’t you guys see how ridiculous this is? I feel like I am going crazy! What is Cecil thinking?”

You raise an eyebrow at him and wait, trying to see if he will just wear himself out and go away. Your original aspiration to try and maintain good standings with everyone on the team faded more with every syllable he uttered.

“We already have all kinds of high-tech what’s-its here that we can get treated with after battles. I should know, I have had to be put together plenty of times after fights. We do not need Nurse Joy over here. You are pointless.” Nurse Joy?

“If you have ‘had to be put together plenty of times after fights’ then-” you made air quotes “I think that speaks for why Cecil thought I was necessary. My powers also run based on biological components, so it is less resources for the GDA to provide.” You looked at Rudy and Amanda while saying this. “Less Band-Aids for your boo-boos. Or I suppose less expensive bioengineered replacement parts.” You shrugged. “I cannot make you regrow a limb, but I am able to speed up your body’s natural healing process so that you guys are down for shorter amounts of time.”

“You hear that, Rex? No regrowing limbs, I am guessing that means she can’t change your micro either.” Amanda laughed; Rex did not look amused.

“Oh great, I will make sure to give you a call when I get a fucking papercut.” Rex rolls his eyes, his arms coming unfolded. “I feel like there is something that could be said about taxpayer dollars and you wasting them by being on the team, somehow, am I right?” He looked to Rudy for support.

“You pay taxes?” The joke slips out before you have enough time to think about how childish it is to sink to his level. He obviously has no intention of listening.

“Technically Rex, if Killdeer can do the things she is stating, it would save on taxpayer money because of fewer hospital visits, and in theory less damage to property. If we are all field-ready quicker after fights, then we can be much more effective. In turn, less damage all around.” Rudy says, his hand resting against his chin. He had practically just repeated and reworded what you just said, but if that’s what it took to get to Rex then whatever.

Rex grumbles a bit but seems to not have an argument against Rudy’s point. “Well, I do not like it.” 

Noted.

An awkward silence fell over your small group, but Rex did not seem like he had any intentions of walking away. Like a true savior, you heard Cecil over your earpiece.

“Okay, meet and greets over, head back.” Short and simple but in that brief sentence you were freed from this conversation.

“Well, it was nice to meet you Rudy and Amanda-” You gave them a polite smile, then glanced at the third participant “Rex.” You offered him the smile as well, to which his lip curled slightly, but he did not say anything, and he did not look away.

And just like that you turned around and headed back, having a bit more of a concept of how to get around without getting confused. You grabbed the broom while heading back to the common area only to see that there was no mess anymore. In fact, there’s a whole new machine from the looks of it. That was fast. You would never get used to the amount of invisible agents that Cecil keeps around, sometimes you could swear you felt them around you.

__

“Alright I want you to practice on this”

“What the fuck is that?”

“It’s called a ReAnimen,” Donald interjected between you and Cecil.

“Does that thing even have…blood?” You looked at it with a clear repulsion on your face. It looked like a corpse. Come to find out later, that was exactly what it was. It looked evil, with defined teeth and a large red eye in the center of a golden headpiece. The red was not illuminated so you desperately hoped that meant that it was powered off.

“Usually not really,” Cecil admitted with a shrug, “but this was specially engineered for you.” He walked up to it, cocking his head slightly. “And it is disconnected from any power source, so don’t worry about it waking up.”

Waking up, like it was alive? You felt very uneasy at this. Cecil had employed you several months ago, but what you had mostly been working with had been blood bags. Causing ripples that sort of thing. This was a whole body.

“Okay.” You finally said, which in turn led to Donald and Cecil gearing to leave you alone in the room with it. “Wait-”

They both paused.

“Why do you want the Guardian’s to think I am just a healer?” You asked, the question had been ripping you up all day. Cecil paused and gave a glance to Donald who nodded back and left the room.

“You are a healer kid.” Cecil says simply.

“But I am not just a healer.” You squinted at him. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

“After everything that has happened, with Nolan, Omniman, and how instable everything has been, I think it is good to have it not publicized.”

“Even to the Guardians of the Globe? Didn’t you approve of each member yourself?”

“I approved of Nolan too.”

Right…

You nodded and turned your focus to the ReAnimen, the sound of the door alerting you that Cecil had left.

Closing your eyes you took a slow breath, trying to clear your mind.

Shapesmith, Bulletproof, Monster Girl, Robot, Duplikate, Immortal, Black Samson, Shrinking Rae, Rex Splode. Shapesmith, Bulletproof, Monster Girl-

God, what was Rex’s deal? You opened your eyes and tried to feel the blood within the subject in front of you. It’s easy, like a blood bag. You thought to yourself, which did not make it easy.

All you wanted was to make a good impression today and all together you were pretty satisfied with the general outcome. Why was it bothering you so much that one single member did not like you and told you to your face? Get over it.

You could feel a slight twinge starting at the base of your brain. A side effect of overusing your powers in this way. It was very mild right now, but if you overexert yourself too much, your brain would begin to deteriorate. You were able to do much more now because of Cecil’s help and some intense training. But you had woken up in the GDA hospital several times yourself. Luckily it did not take even an afternoon for you to be back on your feet because of accelerated healing. That didn’t change that it hurt like a bitch to feel your brain matter dripping out of every orifice of your head.

This thought process caused you to remember Rex mentioning earlier his frequent visits to the GDA hospital himself. You almost wondered how often you were probably both there at the same time.

Finally, you felt it click, you had a mental hold on the blood inside this over-armored corpse body. Unease filled you as you watched its arm move up and down. This was the first time you had ever manipulated blood within a body. It was unnatural and unsettling to look at. It made quick jagged movements, jolting every time you wanted to test moving it a different way.

“Very good.” You would never get used to how quick Cecil learned things even if you knew about the cameras and invisible agents. Cecil walked up next to you and watched quietly for a moment as you focused on making the ReAnimen sit up.

With severe effort and a piercing pain filling your mind, it sat up. Cecil seemed satisfied.

“I want you to see if you can do anything with this once you have taken a break. And do take a break, it’s inconvenient to constantly clean your blood off the floors.” Fair enough. You took your focus off the ReAnimen, and it landed with a thud back in a resting position. Cecil stepped forward and placed a blood bag near the ReAnimen’s head on the gurney.

“I thought I was done with blood bags.”

“I just want to cover all of our bases.” He says briskly, walking out once again.

You stepped forward and took the blood bag in your hand. Just by holding it you could feel the lack of neural connection you had to it. Was it synthetic blood? You were only able to connect with biological matter, what was Cecil doing?

You flipped the bag over and read the label, usually, the name was some rando. A GDA employee, or just some donator who probably thought this was going to be used for much more good than this.

M. Grayson.

Now that was a file you had read top to bottom.

This was Viltrumite blood.

Author's Note: Yes the Nurse Joy nickname is because of Pokémon. I hate the use of Y/N so I am determined to completely avoid it with either the use of her superhero name or nicknames courtesy of Rex.

Also I love Shapesmith so much he's so silly.

Guys I need him so bad