Work Text:
"You can't be serious," Alex said, looking between the several other people lounging around the room. "All of you?"
Alex- an alternate Alex, don't get confused. Alex called this one Married Alex- nodded with a smirk. "Yup," They said, the 'p' popping.
Alex shook their head in disbelief at the other versions of themself scattered around the replica of their living room. Now, since viewers and proclaimed fans of this series- both canon and non-canon content alike- tend to get a little confused at times, Alex decided to pause time at this exact second for a bit of warranted exposition.
Yeah, that's right. They know who you are. They’re power is yes, after all.
Alex- or, Canon Alex- had a small (yet getting bigger) get together twice a year with the other Alexes across the multiverse, taking place in a small dimension that only held a copy of Canon Alex’s living room. The only ones that tend to show up are Canon Alex themself and the ones that have made an appearance in the, quote, ‘non-canon drafts’. Any other ‘Canon-Alex’ in the Multiverse that may be upset at their lack of appearance will have to take it up to Gibbles, and not the author of this fic, as they are merely a messenger.
This is the third semi-annual meeting of the Alexes of the multiverse, with nine total Alexes present and accounted for. Alex would have the author take the time to explain which one is which, but this somewhat pointless exposition is already taking too long, so you can figure it out yourselves. It should be explanatory enough to comprehend. The only thing you need to know is that out of all nine of the Alexes in the room, only two had been with Morgan in the romantic sense at the last meeting, both married, at that. (One of them had been somewhat of a misunderstanding, which hadn't been fully resolved at the time of the last meeting). Now, all of them were. Except for Canon Alex. Which was so unfair.
Are we all caught up now? Good.
Alex pushed play on the metaphorical remote of time.
“I honestly can’t believe you and your Morgan aren't together,” quipped Hero Alex, sitting somewhat rudely on the coffee table. “I mean, my Morgan and are technically enemies, and we went on our third date last week.”
“Same here,” said the ‘back from the dead’ Superior Alex from behind them on the couch, between Married Alex and Meet-Cute Alex. “Morgan was Chad’s sidekick and we’re still together.”
Canon Alex scoffed. “That doesn’t count as enemies,” they started, Hero Alex nodding at them in agreement. “You didn’t start dating until after you made your re-debut as a hero and Morgan became your sidekick instead.”
“I still think its dumb that Morgans your sidekick-” Shouted Flustered Alex, looking up at Canon-Alex from the floor between the couch and the chair Canon Alex had claimed for themself. While no one responded vocally, several Alexes nodded.
“Semantics,” Superior Alex waved them off. “At least I actually have a partner.”
Most of the Alexes gave an ooooohh of mockery, while Confession Alex gave them a sympathetic look from their spot on the floor in front of the couch. Damn, maybe Alex should have planned for more couch space. Oh well, they’ll fix it for next time.
“That’s a little unfair,” said Tax-Benefits Alex, sitting on the chair across the room, with Chad-Disarmer Alex somewhat uncomfortably on the arm of said chair. “Besides, I have no doubt that Morgan loves them back.”
Canon Alex opened their mouth to retort, but Flustered Alex spoke first. “They have a point. If all of our Morgans' return our feelings, it makes no sense that they wouldn’t return yours.”
“Tell that to Lighthouse,” Muttered Chad-Disarmer Alex. Tax-Benefits Alex whacked them in the arm. Disarmer Alex gave them an offended look, raising their arm in bruh motion. The movement caught them off balance, and Disarmer Alex had to catch themselves before falling off. Which didn't end up too well, as they accidentally ripped the arm off the chair instead and landed in a pile on the floor. Canon Alex would be mad, but they found the unintentional pun hilarious.
“Yeah,” Said Meet-Cute Alex, ignoring the small commotion Disarmer Alex had been making. “Even my Morgan didn’t deny it when I confessed, though it did take a few months of being friends first.”
This was Meet-Cute Alex’s first time coming to this little meeting, largely because they’re story didn’t technically begin until they had met Morgan, which happened only five months ago for them.
“That’s because you confessed to them the first day you met,” Hero Alex deadpanned. “In their living room. Naked.”
“That’s not my fault-”
“See, Alex?” Tax-Benefits Alex interrupted. “It took all of us a different amount of time. Even I had to wait two years for-”
“-For Morgan to admit that they ‘tricked’ you into signing those marriage certificates. We get it.” Disarmer Alex rolled their eyes, already having repaired the arm rest and lounging back on it once again. “I swear, you tell this story every time.”
Tax-Benefits Alex hit them in the arm again. They didn't fall off this time, luckily.
“Okay,” Canon Alex somewhat conceded, “Even if Morgan does love me back, which I seriously doubt they do-” They held up their arm to quiet the voices of protest before they started. “How do I confess?”
The silence that followed was a little concerning. Canon Alex raised an eyebrow. “None of you have any idea?” They turned to glance at Confessed Alex. “Not even you?”
Confessed Alex grimaced. “The only reason I confessed was because they practically forced it out of me. They could tell something was up after-” They cut themselves off, looking up at Alex with wide eyes.
Suspicious. Canon Alex, an empath, sensed there was something Confessed Alex wasn't mentioning.
“After what?”
They cleared their throat. “Um. I don’t want to tell you. Our time lines are pretty similar. Don’t want to spoil it.”
Canon Alex frowned, eyebrows furrowing in consideration. “Worse than when they kissed me during the stake out? ‘Coz that was pretty bad-”
Confessed Alex nodded grimly. “Enough that I had acted so ‘out of character’ that I let it slip I had been in love with some mystery person for two years.” Well, fuck. Canon Alex prayed nothing bad like that happened in their universe, because Confessed Alex looked somewhat shaken to their core.
“Though,” Confessed relaxed, smiled a bit, “After that they went on a protective rant, and I told them who it was. We’ve been together since.”
Married Alex put their hand to their heart. “I love it when they get all protective.”
Every single Alex in the room smiled and nodded at that.
“Wait-” Alex broke the fond silence that was dubbed ‘Thinking About Morgan’™ (a frequent occurrence at these meetings.) “So how did the rest of you get with them?”
“You all know my story,” Tax-Benefits said, glaring a little at Disarmer Alex. No one objected though, even Meet-Cute, who did not in fact know the story and looked like they really wanted to know the story.
But Tax-Benefits tells the story at every opportunity they get, so Meet-Cute wouldn’t be missing out eventually.
Hero Alex spoke up. "I tried to ask them to dinner, but then they flirted with me so I arrested them. They gave me their number, though, so I asked them out for real when they broke out."
"Literally what even is your life."
"I mean same," Flustered Alex said, cutting in for the first time in a few minutes. "Morgan is so flirty. For me, they asked me out by saying our friendship was a long con and they were stealing my heart. Been together since-" Flustered sighed. "They keep flirting though. Once I flirted with them and they just swung it right back at me. No, because you caught me." They put their face in their hands. "Ahhhhh."
Most of the other Alexes nodded in understanding. "As soon as we started cleared up the tricking-me-into-getting-married fiasco and made it clear how we actually feel about each other, they turned the flirting way up." Tax-Benefits groaned. "It doesn't help that we get flustered so easily."
"True that," muttered Disarmer Alex.
"I still have to pretend that I don't get flustered." Canon Alex groaned, dropping their head on the back of the chair. "And then they'll do shit like put their finger to my mouth and tell me they'll protect me, or call us 'partners', or kiss me for a stakeout and fuck-" it was their turn to put their face in their hands, trying to hide their now red face.
"Damn." Superior Alex said, almost without an ounce of sympathy. "With our poker face? Your Morgan must be the most oblivious out of all of ours."
"Ughhh" Canon Alex groaned again, still buried in their hands.
"Shut up, Superior, you un-faked your death just ‘coz Morgan said they had a crush on your hero self."
Superior only shrugged in response.
"Just do what I did," Disarmer said. "Rip off their brother's arm. They think it's hot."
"I did that already," Canon Alex pouted. "Twice."
Disarmer nodded, impressed.
"Weren't you guys already dating, though?" Said Tax-Benefits. "I don't think that counts."
"Shut up."
"So none of you have any ideas?" Canon Alex asked, somewhat over all the others shoving their relationships in their face.
They looked at the others, one by one. All of them shook their heads with varying degrees of sympathy.
Canon Alex sighed again.
"I think for all of us," Married Alex said, with an air of wisdom. "Morgan made the real first step. Just be patient, wait for them to realize their own feelings."
Canon Alex nodded, taking it to heart. Maybe they were right. Maybe Morgan would feel the same way, someday.
Alex could wait until then.
"Yeah, ‘coz we're all cowards." Disarmer quipped, destroying any attempt at seriousness.
"Shut up, Alex."
"There's no way." Morgan said, in their own dimensional replica of their apartment. "I'm not buying it."
Don't ask how several of the Morgans of the multiverse, including Canon Morgan, were there. Trust them, you don't want to know. When there's a will, there's a way.
Let's just say Morgan knew full well of Alex's little get-togethers, but Alex knew nothing of theirs.
"You better believe it, Morgan." Said Married Morgan. "Every single one of us. Including you."
Canon Morgan shook their head. "I'm not in love with my best friend-"
"Yes, you are," Literally every other Morgan in the room said.
"Stop denying it," Tax-Benefits Morgan walked up to them, gripping their shoulders with surprising intensity. "I've- we've all been there."
"Not me!" Meet-Cute Morgan said, a weird mix of cocky and genuinely happy. "I knew from the start."
"That's because you teleported them into your living room naked."
Meet-Cute Morgan shrugged, somewhat embarrassed. “That’s just how my power works..”
"Listen," Confessed-To Morgan shoved Tax-Benefits Morgan a bit to the side, speaking with such hardness that everyone quieted down. "You love them. And the longer you wait to admit that to yourself, the worse it gets. Because if your Alex loves you- and I promise you they do- the longer it takes, the more you break their heart."
The air around Canon Morgan was thick with tension as they looked at each of the other Morgans, all of them having that same unreadable expression of their eyes.
Morgan let out an awkward chuckle. "But I don't love them. Well, I love them, of course I do." They conceded, Alex was their best friend. "But I'm not in love with them. And there's no way they're in love with me. I'm pretty sure they're not even romantically interested in people-"
Tax-Benefits cut them off with a HA! So abrupt that if Canon Morgan had been sitting down, they would have jumped out of their seat.
"...Anyway. We're best friends. That's it."
Confessed-To Morgan stared at them incredulously for a few very awkward seconds before throwing their hands up in exasperation and stepping to the side. "I give up. Someone else try."
Flirty Morgan cleared their throat. "Okay. First to prove that Alex is the biggest simp alive."
"What-"
"Think." Said Flirty Morgan. "Alex has the worst poker face known to man, right?"
Canon Morgan nodded slowly.
"Think about every time they have acted even remotely flustered around you. Why were they so flustered like that?"
Morgan scoffed. "They don't-"
"Yes they do. Okay, don't think flustered, think… how to explain it.. if they are trying to hide it, they'll usually start to talk in a higher pitch. They're eyes go all wide and they act like they're trying to control their breathing."
"Or-!" Confessed-To Morgan cut in. "Sometimes you can tell when they're hurt because you do something with romantic connotations and then brush it off. They don't have the best poker face."
Canon Morgan shook their head. "They don't-"
But wait. The stakeout kiss. Woo indeed. Them acting weird about being 'Partners'. How weirdly high their voice got when Morgan accidentally went on a date with their nemesis. Even as far back as the look in their eyes when Morgan shushed them and promised to protect them both. For that long…
"Holy shit," Morgan said, eyes wide and voice tinted with something like awe. "Alex is in love with me."
Several cheers exploded around the room.
“But- I, I don’t think I love them back,” Fuck. What were they supposed to do now? Turn Alex down? Pretend they don’t know? They can’t hurt Alex, and if what Confessed-To Morgan said had any ounce of truth, they already have hurt them. Fuck.
Cheers turned to groans. Then all of them spoke at once.
“What would you do if they got hurt?” Spoke up Hero-Alex’s Morgan for the first time in the conversation.
Superior-Sidekick Morgan jumped in as well. “Or if they sacrificed themselves for you? Or changed their whole life for you?”
“Ripped off your brother's arm for you?”
“They actually did that-” Canon Morgan said, though a little dazed. “Twice.”
Disarmer-Alex’s Morgan smirked. “Admit it. It was kind of hot.”
Before Morgan could even begin to comprehend that statement, Meet-Cute Morgan slapped Disarmer-Alex’s Morgan upside the head. “Shut up. They’re already overwhelmed enough.”
Married Morgan shook their head at the two before turning back to Canon Morgan. “Look. Think about it this way. What would you do if Alex got with anyone else? Would you be happy for them?”
Morgan frowned that, because of course they would, right? They would support Alex if they wanted a relationship, because that's what friends do, right?
But something inside them screamed at the idea. Some dark feeling shot up their spine and resonated in their chest, something shockingly angry and almost possessive. Because not only was the idea of Alex with anyone else so absurd and out of place that Morgan physically couldn’t imagine it, but they were right, Morgan wouldn’t be happy. Alex was theirs. Just like they were Alex’s. And- oh.
“Oh,” Morgan echoed their thought, barely looking before stumbling into the chair that was behind them. “Oh.”
“Halle-fuckin-lujah” Sighed Tax-Benefits Morgan. “I thought they’d never get it.”
The other Morgans nodded in response. Canon Morgan, however, was completely in their own head and shocked to the core because holy shit. It was like the final piece of the puzzle had slotted into place, because the more they thought about it, the more it just made sense. It was always supposed to be Alex and Morgan, together against the world. In any universe.
“Now what?” They asked, so quietly that the others barely heard them.
Flirty Morgan scoffed. “You confess. Obviously.”
“What?! No way, I can’t just-”
“Yes, you can, dumbass.” Married Morgan sighed, and Canon Morgan turned to look at them. “You and I both know full well Alex is too shy to do it.”
Morgan opened their mouth to retort but- no, yeah, that tracks. They couldn’t help but laugh a little, however fondly. “They can be such a coward sometimes.”
They stood up suddenly, inhaled deeply, and conceded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
A second round of cheers.
“Ten bucks Alex will be too flustered to get through a proper response.”
“Literally no one with a brain would take that bet. Didn’t most of our Alexes do that? Like, come on.”
Morgan shook their head with a smile as they walked through the door leading to their dimension. (long story.) They could do this. They loved Alex, they had probably loved Alex the whole damn time, and Alex loved them back. With that knowledge, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
“Good luck! Not that you’ll need it.”
____________
“Woo indeed,”
“Shut up.”
“...”
“Sorry I took so long.”
“Love, I could wait an eternity for you.”
“...”
“...”
“Thank fuck I didn’t have to, though, I am a shit liar. Luckily for me it turned out you were the most oblivious person on the planet.”
“If I had the ability to kill you, I would.”
“You know you love me.”
“Yeah,” Morgan said so softly, and the only reason Alex could hear was because their foreheads were touching, both with no intention to move away any time soon. “Yeah, I do.”
And if the way Morgan's eyes softened and their voice spoke with such fond surety caused Alex to almost melt into a flustered puddle, neither of them mentioned it.