Chapter Text
To Viktor’s mind, there was only one thing worse than having to go into the precinct especially early in the morning for a meeting, and that was doing it after he’d been pulled from his bed and husband in the middle of the night to respond to a Villain attack.
“I made you a triple espresso, Vitya,” Yuuri practically whispered as he handed Viktor his thermos, a sympathetic smile on his sleepy face. Viktor had told him to go back to bed when he’d left the night before, but of course Yuuri had stayed up and watched the news. He supposed he was just lucky Yuuri hadn’t simply appeared down there to see the action for himself as he’d no doubt been tempted to do.
He leaned in, kissing his husband’s cheek softly. “Don’t worry, with cases like these it’s just paperwork for me. I’ll just stay back and let the real Heroes do the heavy lifting.”
Yuuri scowled at that. “You are a real hero. You saved Makkachin when she choked on that steamed bun just last week!”
Viktor couldn’t help but laugh and hug his husband close. “Ah, Yuuri. You’re even better than a cup of coffee.”
“Oh, then give back that thermos! I used up the last of the coffee and I don’t think tea is going to cut it today.”
Viktor danced out of the way, winking at his husband before he turned, gave Makkachin and Vicchan each a pat on the head, and slipped out the door. Yuuri’s soft giggle slipped through the crack in the door as it clicked shut, making Viktor smile, warmth filling his soul.
He wondered how Yuuri managed it, to stay out of things like this when he wasn’t one of the normal ones, like Viktor himself. As a Detective, he could handle murders and robberies (most of the time), but it always seemed that when the people of the city really needed him, he had to step back and let others take over.
Yuuri might have been a ‘Villain’, but he’d never been evil. Viktor had always seen him as a Robin Hood type mixed with a bit of Puck for good measure. As Eros, Yuuri had enjoyed teasing the police, but more often than not his little games led them to something interesting and ultimately improved the lives of ordinary citizens.
Viktor still didn’t know why the Heroes had refused to pursue Eros, but he was grateful they hadn’t as it had led him to discover the truth about the mysterious Villain. Perhaps Eros’ greatest crime was the way he’d stolen Viktor’s heart.
Viktor smiled widely to himself, no doubt looking a bit strange to the people he passed by as he drank his strong coffee with a generous amount of peppermint coffee creamer, just how he liked it. Yuuri hated the creamer, but always made sure they had plenty year-round so Viktor could enjoy it as much as he liked.
Yuuri really was too good for him.
He entered the station and made his way directly to the conference room he swore he spent more time in than his actual desk. Captain Yakov Feltsman and Detective Yuri Plisetsky were waiting for him, the table and some of the walls already covered in reports, photos and maps.
Yuri had worked a double yesterday, so he hadn’t been called to the scene, and he looked pissed to be excluded. Yakov on the other hand just looked annoyed, but that was a pretty standard state for him these days. Yakov didn’t care for the various Supers, and Viktor was one hundred percent sure he’d hired Viktor in hope that he’d never have to deal with the Heroes or Villains again.
Unfortunately for Yakov, that hadn’t been the case.
The door swung open and in walked three Heroes, all in their disguises (or costumes? Viktor was never sure what to call them. He’d always just called Yuuri’s own ‘temptation’). They all looked a mix of grumpy and tired as they filed into the conference room and closed the door behind them.
“So, what do we know?” Yakov asked with no preamble.
The leader of the Heroes, a man named Celestino, sighed. “Not as much as we’d like. We have some theories, of course, but whoever this Villain was, they’ve laid remarkably low over the years.”
Viktor had always wondered what Celestino’s power and Hero name were. As far as Viktor could tell, Celestino just handled organization these days, leaving the Hero work to those under his command.
Yakov grunted and the youngest of the three, a small man with dark skin, stood and pointed at the wall. Several photographs projected upon the flat surface like an old slide show. “We are calling him the Evil Witch for the moment. He doesn’t have a very good brand, so it’s hard for us to guess his name.”
Viktor stared at the close-up of the Villain, taking in the face of the man he’d only seen in silhouette the night before.
“Wow,” Yuri snorted. “He’s just a bit much, isn’t he.”
Yuri wasn’t wrong. He had on a purple Super Suit that was covered in rhinestones, and his face had thick, dramatic makeup covering it. He was cackling in the photo, and Viktor could still hear the sound ringing in his ears as he burned down that building last night. It’d been lucky the Heroes got everyone out alive.
“In more ways than one,” the final man said as he ran his fingers through his curly blond hair. His Hero name was Intoxicated, but Viktor knew him as Chris. They’d worked enough cases together to let their guards down a bit. “His Powers are...strong, to say the least. The problem is that it’s hard to nail them down. He definitely has some sort of sleeping dart, but we don’t know if he caused the fire or simply started it through some other means. And how he escaped, well, that we just don’t know. I’ve never seen anyone move like him.”
“Did he teleport?” Viktor asked, unable to stop himself.
Chris shook his head. “He just moves extremely fast. Even Photo Finish here couldn’t freeze frame him” He pointed to the younger man beside him who nodded.
“As you know, all our power have limitations of sorts. I have to keep my target ‘in frame’ as it were, so people moving really fast I can’t stop. Teleporters I can usually grab, but fast motion I don’t have much chance with unless I can guess where they’ll go.”
“How come?” Yuri asked curiously.
“Teleporters have to stand still for a split second before they teleport. They’re basically stepping from one point to another. It’s very hard to determine your exact point if you’re moving. I’ve only ever seen one person who could do it.”
Eros, Viktor thought, knowing that was who Photo Finish meant. Even if the Heroes hadn’t been chasing him, there was no doubt they kept tabs on him. Just like he knew Yuuri kept an eye on the Heroes in turn, even now.
“So we have nothing,” Yakov said with a huff.
Celestino smiled apologetically. “As I said, we have some theories, but we’ll need to run down a few leads of our own. I trust Detective Nikiforov will be our point person on this?” Yakov nodded. “Excellent. Intoxicated is running the show on our end. They’ve had a lot of history working together so there should be no problems there. We’ll be in touch just as soon as we know more.” He stood, and offered a sort of sad smile. “I know things look grim, but we have everyone on this, and we’ve gotten through worse scrapes before. Keep up the hope, everyone.”
With that, he turned and left. Photo Finish offered a wave as he followed, while Chris shot Viktor a look before he too turned and left.
“Well, that was worthless,” Yakov muttered.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Viktor replied, forehead knotted.
“What are you thinking?”
“They don’t know who he is, but I think they know someone who does.”
“A retired hero maybe?” Yuri asked.
“I’m not sure,” Viktor said thoughtfully. “I’ll see what I can find out. In the meantime, my coffee seems to have run out. I’m going to get some from the shop before I dig too deep into these files.”
“Bring me a pastry!” Yuri demanded, and Viktor chuckled, waving over his shoulder in acknowledgement of the request.
He made his way across the street and ordered a coffee and a small bag of pastries before sitting down. He slowly sipped his drink and chewed on one of the fruit croissants while scrolling through his Instagram feed.
The chair across from him scraped. “I do envy you. A side effect of my Power is that caffeine is sadly useless on me.”
Viktor looked up and smiled at Chris who had changed into his ‘normal’ clothes; round glasses and a thick sweater gave him a bit of a ‘cool professor’ look. Place the images of Chris and Intoxicated side-by-side and you’d never guess they were the same person. The same could be said for Yuuri, now that he thought of it.
“Glad to know being powerless in these situations has its perks,” Viktor said with a smirk.
“Now now, don’t be like that. You stopped Eros – even Photo Finish wouldn’t have been able to do that! How’d you figure him out?”
Viktor tightened his knuckles as he analyzed Chris for a moment before he answered. “He can only teleport every three seconds, and he can ‘jump’ no less than six meters. I simply predicted where he would go and made sure I was within that range so he wouldn’t be able to teleport away from me. I grabbed hold of him and we talked.”
Chris grinned. “Impressive. Not many people know about that limitation of Eros’. Celestino and I might be the only ones beside you. He was always very clever.”
Viktor nodded. “Now, what can’t you officially tell me about this case?”
“We think it’s actually two people.” Viktor’s eye’s went wide and Chris nodded sympathetically. “There are too many Powers at use, and they didn’t seem to all originate from Witch Boy.”
“Do you think the other one can stealth?”
“Maybe,” Chris said, leaning closer. “Villains and Heroes, we’re two sides of the same coin. No matter who we are now, we’ve all run into each other at some point or another, which is why it’s weird we don’t know this guy. It’s really hard for any of us to stay unknown. All of us Supers come into our powers when we’re teens, and we tend to end up hanging out. Friendships are formed, groups are made, ideas are shared, and that’s how people divide themselves.”
“So, someone must know this guy then?”
Chris nodded. “More importantly, his partner. I have an idea of someone who might know them, but I don’t have a way to get in touch with them.”
“Eros.” It took everything for Viktor to keep his expression to a small eyebrow raise. “You think Eros is involved?”
“No, I just think he ran with some of the people who might know who this is. That he still has ways of getting in contact with them; and, if I’m being honest, I think Eros can help us stop them.”
Viktor frowned at that. “He’s a Villain. Why would he help?”
“Like I said, people run in groups before they figure out their deal, and I ran across Eros back then. He’s a good guy, and I think he’d want to stop this, and I think you know how to contact him.”
Viktor laughed at that. “Eros is a ghost, Chris. He and I respect each other and little more. I don’t have a bat signal or anything.”
Chris frowned, staring at Viktor for a long moment before he sighed. “Look, I know you might not want to deal with him, but if you can get a message to him, will you tell him I’m looking for him? If you say we need ‘Agape,’ he might consider it.”
Viktor stared at the Hero for a long moment before shrugging. “I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t have any clue where he is, or if he’s even paying attention to any of this.”
Chris nodded. “That’s all I can ask.” He stood and stole one of the pastries from Viktor’s bag, stuffing it in his mouth. “I’ll be in touch, Viktor.”
Viktor watched as Chris walked down the street, fist clenching. He didn’t trust Chris – as much as he liked him as a friend – around Yuuri. It was clear he knew how Yuuri’s power worked, and with Photo Finish at his side, it would be all too easy to capture Yuuri. Right or wrong, it didn’t matter, there was no way he was allowing Chris to be in the same room as Yuuri.
He stormed back to the precinct and got back to work, moving as if he was possessed, all the way up to the end of his shift when the coffee and spite began to run thin. He slowly gathered his things and headed home. His whole body felt bone weary, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He’d need some tea if he was going to stand a chance of staying awake through dinner.
He slowly entered the apartment, dropping his things on the floor, too tired to bother hanging them. He heard Yuuri come around the corner and gasp. “Viktor! My god, you look awful!”
“Just a little tired, zoloste.”
Yuuri nodded, staring at him with concern. Viktor found it odd that Yuuri was keeping his distance; maybe he worried he was catching a cold? Yuuri had seemed a bit sniffly the other night. His husband really was sweet. “Go take a shower; it’ll help.”
“Good idea. I will,” Viktor said, slowly shuffling to the bathroom and turning on the tap as he shucked off his clothes. The warm steam seemed to have an immediate effect, his mind clearing almost at once. Oh right, tea! He should ask Yuuri to make some so he could have it right when he got out of the shower.
He wrapped a towel around his waist and padded back to the living room calling as he went, “Yuuri, darling, would you mind making me some–“
He stopped dead in his tracks. There in his living room stood Yuuri holding Viktor’s gun in his hands, pointed straight to where Viktor’s belongings lay on the ground and Intoxicated stood, hands outstretched, ready to attack.
“Go back to the bedroom, Viktor!” Yuuri shouted in a panicked voice.
“Now Yuuri, really,” Chris said smoothly. “There’s no need for the gun. You and I both know you don’t need it, and the only person here liable to get hurt by it is your husband. I’m not here to fight. I come in peace.”
“Then why did you hitch a ride on my husband?!”
Viktor gaped. Of course! Intoxicated could turn to mist and slip into people's clothes, following to wherever they were going. The only problem was it left them feeling tired or even a bit hungover from the effort of carrying him around on their backs. He should have known!
“I just want to talk!” Chris shouted.
“About what?” Yuuri said, his voice shaking.
Chris lifted his hands, a clear sign of surrender. “I’m not interested in Eros,” he said softly, “but we need you, Agape.”
Hero Profiles
Photo Finish - Hero
Aka: Phichit Chalunout
Super Power(s): Can freeze anyone in place as long as he can catch them ‘in frame’. Difficult to use on fast moving targets as he must predict and blindly ‘shoot’ to catch them. Has limited ‘shots’ within a set time period before he must ‘reload’. Wanted to be called Selfie-Stick, but the other Heroes vetoed it hard. Can also project images onto walls through his fingertips.
Eros - Villain
Retired
Aka: Yuuri Katsuki
Super Power(s): Teleportation. Max range of around five miles; min range of six meters. Must wait three second between jumps. Also, has been known to produce a whip of shadow creates a physical binding out of pure shadow. No indication of limited uses of either power. Has been largely inactive for the past five years.