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“I’m sorry, you hired who ?”
“I couldn’t exactly say no, could I?” For once in their life, Morgan’s employer - in all her six-foot tall, fists-balled, scowling glory - actually looked terrified.
“Okay, but they’re the fucking S-Tier villain. We’re both going to be dead by the end of the day!”
“As far as we’re concerned, they’re Alex. And don’t forget, you’re a villain too, and I hired you anyway,” Morgan’s boss glared. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you, okay? I’m not thrilled about this either, but-” her expression froze, replaced quickly with an too-big smile. “Alex! Um, welcome to your first day! So nice to have you!” Morgan had never heard their employer sound anything remotely resembling cheery , and hearing this faux-excitement from her was disturbing to say the least.
The S-tier villain - sorry, Alex - entered the thrift store. They weren’t exactly making a point to be subtle, Morgan noticed, what with the perfectly tailored suit, fresh scars adorning their face, and their signature catlike yellow eyes. Lazily, their eyes wandered over to Morgan, tilting their head and smirking a bit. “Nice to be here,” they drawled, running their gaze over Morgan before stepping closer. “Who are you?”
Morgan choked. “Uh, I- I’m, that is, I-”
Alex smirked. “Cat got your tongue?”
“Morgan. My name is Morgan! It’s a pretty cool name - Alex, that is, not Morgan. I don’t really like my name? But that’s more because of family stuff - but anyway, yeah! Your name is Alex. At least, that’s what the boss told me. She’s really cool, by the way! I like her a lot. But your name! It’s Alex. I like that name.”
“I appreciate it.” Alex winked - actually winked - then turned toward Morgan’s boss. “So where should I start?”
Alex ended up quite enjoying their first day at the thrift store. And their second, and their third, and their fourth, and even their fifth. By the time that the weekend appeared, they already missed that dimly-lit place, even despite the two-centuries-too-late music and odor that smelled faintly of rotting wood.
There weren’t very many customers, and even fewer once Alex’s yellow eyes made an appearance, but that didn’t seem to bother the store’s owner much. She made only rare appearances, coming around every few days to gossip with Morgan or to make tea for them. She was incredibly uncomfortable around Alex (not that they could blame her) but they’d done a background check and she wasn’t a hero or anything, just a normal enough civilian with enough money to run a thrift store that sold very good quality clothes at an alarmingly low price. She was getting older, almost seventy, and had decided that she would rather aid society than exploit it. Her age didn’t stop her from having a sharp tongue, however, and she and Morgan bickered frequently. They always seemed to stop once Alex made an appearance, though.
That made them a bit sad, although Alex would never admit it. The entire point of this endeavor hadn’t been the money - god knows they had enough of that - but simply to see if they really were too far removed from society to ever participate in anything other than it’s destruction.
As reluctant as they were to admit it, the answer seemed that there was no place for them beyond the role of the all-mighty villain. But they returned on Monday nevertheless, some little bit of them still hoping to find something like a home.
The boss wasn’t here today.
In other words, Morgan was alone with Alex.
In other words, Morgan was fucked.
It wasn’t actually that bad - there had been days last week where their employer hadn’t come to the store - but those days had been awkward as hell. Not to mention the fact that Morgan was in a shitty mood because of the failed heist over the weekend (apparently, a little robbery was important enough for their entire family, sans their sister, decided to interfere), and they really wanted to punch something.
And that would probably be a bad idea.
“So.” Alex leaned over the desk, grinning. Morgan, heart beating frantically in their chest (out of fear. Obviously. No other reason whatsoever), backed away. “So, Morgan , enjoy your weekend?”
“I mean, no, not really,” Morgan said, then turned away. They returned their attention to the single customer, who was staring at Alex as though they were a bomb waiting to be set off.
“Shit, why not?” Alex almost sounded concerned.
“Whatever, it isn’t important.” Morgan rolled their eyes, freezing as soon as they realized what, precisely, they had just done.
They had rolled their eyes at Alex . The S-tier villain who every single person on the surface of this earth was fucking terrified of.
“ Whatever , it isn’t important ,” Alex mocked under their breath, still very much loud enough for Morgan to hear. “Aren’t we supposed to be all, I don’t know, close? ‘Cause of the whole coworkers thing? Aren’t you supposed to like, complain to me?”
“I- that- I’m sorry, did you get this job because you were lonely ?” Morgan started laughing, almost hysterically, head thrown back. “You. I can’t- I can’t believe this. You want friends!”
Now, Morgan had made a lot of bad decisions in their life. Significantly bad decisions. Laughing at the strongest, most bloodthirsty, god-like villain? Probably the worst decision they’d ever made. But it was funny , and to be honest, if Alex was going to kill them, there wasn’t much Morgan could do.
So they laughed.
And Alex smiled back at them.
Alex wanted to protest. They weren’t lonely, not exactly - they just wanted to meet people. To see what it was like, to be… normal.
They weren’t lonely! Well, they hadn’t been lonely before they came here. But there was something about Morgan, and suddenly Alex didn’t want to leave them.
And right now? Alex didn’t want Morgan to stop laughing. They didn’t want to be angry or upset or annoyed, because then Morgan would be scared and then Alex might never hear that beautiful sound of their laughter ever again. So Alex smiled at them, but their expression quickly shifted to a suspicious scowl. They had a reputation to keep up, after all. “Okay, okay, ha-ha-ha. Very funny. Now why the fuck was your weekend so bad?”
“Oh, it wasn’t really-”
Alex stared Morgan down, not saying a word.
“Fine! Okay, I was working on this- this project. And my family were kinda upset and they stopped me. It isn’t a big deal.”
“Why the fuck would they-”
“Look, I don’t want to talk about, ‘kay? It happens a lot. Even if we are friends -” Alex cringed at how awkward the word sounded on Morgan’s tongue - “it doesn’t matter. Shit happens. You can’t do any-” Morgan faltered, realization hitting their face “I don’t want you to do anything.”
“Okay,” Alex agreed. “Because we’re… friends.” The word was unfamiliar, but not entirely unwelcome.
“Excuse me?” The indignant customer - oh shit, they must have been standing there for a while - interrupted. “I’m looking to check out, unless it’s too much of a bother .”
Alex wasn’t like anyone Morgan had met before. That was only to be expected, but even so- how someone could be so powerful and yet so desperate for the slightest hint of affection was a mystery to Morgan. Not that they minded - it was quite nice, having someone less than sixty years old to talk to and joke around with. Someone who was frightening, sure, but also protective. And “protective” was an understatement. Alex had yelled at thirty customers this week alone (it was only Tuesday) for so much as grumbling under their breath or sighing at Morgan. It was a strange feeling, having someone who was almost… devoted. Morgan had never had that with anyone before, not even their family.
They quite liked the feeling.
They didn’t like how they had to hide things, though. Like the fact that they were a villain (albeit not a very good one). Or the fact that their entire family was made up of prominent super heroes. But Alex couldn’t know that, because Morgan actually liked them and if Alex found out, they might think that Morgan was trying to hurt them or plot against them. Morgan had seen Alex angry, and they never wanted to see that emotion directed at themselves.
So they didn’t say a word.
“Moooorgaaan?”
“Alex?”
“Just thought I should warn you, there’s a hero coming into the shop. You might want to hide in the backroom for a bit. I’ll be done in a few minutes.”
Morgan sighed. Again ? This was the third time today. Those god damn heroes couldn’t give it a rest for even a few hours. “Who is it?”
“I don’t know his name! Why would I care? It’s the… the blue one. With all the dots.”
Shit .
Morgan came sprinting out of the backroom with a speed that would have surprised a cheetah, eyes wide.
“Morgan? You okay?” Alex could hear their frantic breathing and erratic heartbeat from here.
“Yeah. Fine. Um, I don’t really think we need anymore property damage today-” Alex looked guiltily at the broken door frame and shattered windows - “So why don’t you just go into the backroom? I can get rid of them.”
“But they might hurt you-”
“I’m a civilian. I’ll be fine.” With that final, breathless reassurance, Morgan practically pushed Alex into the backroom.
“Morgan, what’s going on?”
Morgan looked away, guiltily, but didn’t say anything before the front door slammed open. They managed a half-hearted smile at Alex before closing the door.
“Morgan. So nice to see you,” their older brother smirked, glancing around the thrift store in disdain. “Look, I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to, so mind telling me where your friend is?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you going to buy something?”
“At this shitty place? Please .”
“Then just fuck off. I don’t want to see you.”
“I’ll leave. You just need to tell me where the S-Tier villain went. Then I’ll be on my merry way.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You know, there’s a very nice old woman who runs this store. If she was discovered hiring villains? She’d be in jail for the rest of her pathetic life. And you would too. I mean, working with S-Tier? Really? That’s incriminating . Sure, your petty crime endeavors might have landed you behind bars for a few months here and there, but this? You’d never leave.”
“You’re threatening me.” It hurt, a bit. They’d never particularly liked their brother, but this? This was just betrayal. It was cruel.
“What, are you just realizing that now?”
“I- they aren’t here.”
“Where did they go ?”
“I don’t know! I don’t exactly keep track of them!”
“If you don’t tell me where they are by tomorrow, I’m leaving a little tip at the police station, got it? So unless you’re a really big fan of prison food, I’d advise you drop this stupid act and tell me where they are.”
“Not here.”
“Stubborn as always. Well, you have my number. Call me. Or face the consequences.”
Morgan’s brother sauntered out of the shop, unbothered. Morgan leaned against the wall, sliding down slowly until they were curled into a ball. Sobs racked their body, quiet enough no one would hear. They’d gotten good at that by the time they were three, being able to cry so quietly that no one would be bothered. But Alex was still there, waiting in the back room, so they wiped away their tears and pulled the door open.
“Morgan? Are you okay?” Alex’s voice was frantic, their eyes wide and worried. “I heard shouting and- are you crying ? If that bastard did anything, I swear to god-”
“I’m fine. Taking the rest of the day off. Be back tomorrow.” With that, Morgan spun on their heel, their brother’s words still pounding into their skull, and left.
Lonely.
That’s what Alex was, now. This stupid feeling that they’d never had before they’d met Morgan. Customers came and went and Alex could do nothing but mindlessly check them out, waiting helplessly for the clock to tick to closing time.
They didn’t know what had happened, when they were locked in the backroom, but they knew that whatever it was had left Morgan to fall to pieces. They knew that whatever had happened, they couldn’t do shit until Morgan came back.
No, that wasn’t entirely true.
That hero had done something to Morgan. It was only customary to return the favor.
And it was ten o’clock p.m. already. Time to close the shop, time to get a little revenge.
Morgan was usually quite responsible, but general annoyance from a long day of work combined with absolute fury was never a good mix. And so, they didn’t spend any time planning or worrying or plotting. No data, no schematics. Just reckless anger.
Blowing up your childhood home is never a good idea, and even less so when your entire family consists of A- and B- tier superheroes who could easily kill you.
But Morgan’s sister wasn’t home, and their parents and brother deserved to burn in hell, so the bomb went off all the same.
Their family didn’t die. Of course they didn’t, they were superheroes. They were injured, certainly, but strong enough to kick the shit out of Morgan with indignation (his mother), disinterest, (his father), and absolute utter fury (his brother) plastered on their faces.
Morgan’s legs broke easily, their nose did too. Their arms took longer, people kicking at them on all sides until that viscous crack sounded through the air. They barely felt it at this point, their body numb, their fading in and out of consciousness.
They weren’t sure if it was blood loss or the pain, but they passed out all the same, their final sight a pair of yellow eyes.
“Morgan? Jesus fucking christ, Morgan, wake up!” Alex had been shaking Morgan for the better half of the day, pleading with their limp body. They were alive, that much was true, but their breath was weak and the blood loss was severe.
The two of them were at the thrift store, seeing as the both of them would be arrested the moment they made any appearance at a hospital. Alex could care for Morgan well enough, and their boss would be here any second with warm cups of tea and blankets for Morgan and more bandages.
A lot more bandages.
Alex had a decently good idea of what was going on - Morgan was a villain, but not a very strong one, and their fucked up, asshole family members were heroes.
Ex-heroes, rather. They weren’t much of anything anymore.
Morgan woke up with Alex holding their hand, staring so intently at them that they almost passed out again. “Alex?”
“Morgan!” Alex’s eyes lit up.
“I- what happened?” But by the time they asked, their mind had already cleared to remember enough of it. “Oh god, Alex- I didn’t- I’m sorry.”
“Why on earth would you be sorry?” Alex’s hand moved to Morgan’s face. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I- I should have told you, I know, I wanted to-”
“After meeting those assholes? I think I understand why you didn’t.”
“You-” Morgan’s words froze in their mouth, pain spiking through their entire body. They were still bleeding, they noticed. Bleeding heavily, and their limbs were pointing in all sorts of strange directions.
“Morgan?” Alex’s voice was desperate. “Stay awake, okay? Stay awake. You’re okay. You’re going to be okay. Don’t- please, Morgan. Be okay. You have to be.”
The pain didn’t subside, Morgan still writhing in agony, but their head cleared just enough for realization to strike. “Am I dying?”
“No. I won’t let you.”
It’s not exactly something you can prevent, Morgan wanted to say, but they stared up at Alex’s face and realized that they trusted them. Every last word, they trusted them.
“Alex?”
“Morgan.”
“I think I might love you.”
“I love you, too.”