Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Morgan groaned, blearily opening their eyes and immediately squinting at the bright lights of the room. There was a consistent throbbing in their head, matching their heartbeat. They closed their eyes again, moving their hands to press into them, before realizing that they couldn’t move. Their eyes shot back open, adjusting to the bright lights as they glanced around themself. They were bound to a simple dining chair by hand cuffs, on both wrists and both ankles. Morgan groaned again, louder this time, in annoyance.

It wasn’t the first time some hot shot villain had thought to kidnap them to get a one-up on their brother, Chad (Morgan honestly couldn’t care enough to remember his hero name, not with the heavy thumping in his head), so Morgan was hardly surprised to see that they had once again been kidnapped and held hostage. It was becoming sort of routine for some random evil doer to kidnap them, hold them for ransom, rough them up a bit, and let them go when their brother got there. “Hey-“ Morgan coughed, their throat was seriously dry from not having any ear for who knows how long. They cleared their throat, trying again to shout, “Hey! I’m awake now! Can I at least see who kidnapped me?” 

Nothing.

Morgan wasn’t sure what exactly they were expecting. That the villain would just come out and introduce themself, no problemo? They sighed, slumping down in the chair as much as they could. The edge of the seat dug uncomfortably into their spine, causing them to grimace and sit back up. The creaking of an camouflaged door catches their attention, their eyes darting to the growing pool of light. Morgan follows the shadow breaking up the light, catching the edges of heeled boots.

Now, there were a few villains out there that wore heeled boots in their costume. Madam Mayhem, Atropa Belladonna, etc. But there was only one villain that wore those boots . The palms of Morgan’s hands became sweaty.

S.

Looking up, Morgan only saw the outline of the villain, xeir eyes glowing slightly. They shot the supervillain a crooked grin, “h-hey.” S stepped into the light, a single eyebrow raised, looking confused. 

“You see the most dangerous supervillain in the world ,” xey emphasize, “and your response, instead of screaming or struggling, is simply ‘hEy’??” Xey sighed, putting xeir head in xeir hand and shaking it. 

Morgan laughed nervously, “I panicked okay?”

“If that is your panic response then I have no clue how you’re still alive,” S snorted, walking into the light of the room, and closing the hidden door behind xem. Xey step in front of Morgan, making their hands slightly sweatier than before. “Look, I don’t plan to hurt you, I’m honestly just tired of dealing with your brother walking around my land like he owns the place, so I need to rough him up a little,” S stated, and Morgan visibly relaxed, leaning back in the chair before perking up again.

“Wait, are you gonna kill him?” They frowned slightly. Their brother may have been a dick, but Morgan still loved him. Even if he misgendered them all the time, and used them as a meat shield, and beat the shit out of them for his own amusement… they still loved him, unfortunately. 

S shook xeir head, “Nah, just gonna like, steal a limb or something.” 

Morgan still wasn’t psyched about that, but they accepted it anyway. Their brother losing a limb was better than death, and it’s not like he didn’t have the money to pay for it. “Alright, I guess,” They reluctantly agreed, as if they had any sway over S’ decisions. S chuckled, stalking closer to Morgan once again, until xey were right in front of them, slightly less than a foot away. 

“In the meantime, I have a few questions for you.”

Sighing, Morgan shuffled themself around in their chair. They were tired, but the chair was dreadfully uncomfortable, digging into their spine and the skin of their wrists and ankles where they were handcuffed. They sat up again, their head drooping from exhaustion. The door slid open, a disgruntled S on the other side. Morgan shot up, straightening their spine and sitting up in the chair.

“You were making me uncomfortable, so I’m gonna unclip your handcuffs. They’ll be reclipped on your wrists, but you’ll be able to move around. I hope you’re aware that there’s not a point in attempting to escape,” S spoke, Morgan nodding attentively as xey explained. The supervillain unlocked the cuffs on their ankles and wrists, quickly locking their wrists together again. Morgan stood up as S stepped back, stretching and popping their joints with a groan. S stands by where the invisible door is, watching as Morgan moves around the room, stretching and moving their legs.

“Thank you,” Morgan says suddenly, a little embarrassed. 

“Huh-? For what?” S tilts xeir head a little, clearly confused.

“For letting me move?” Morgan sounded just as confused, though that was from the fact that S was confused.

S nodded, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed, then walked out of the room and sealed the door behind xem. 

Alex was… confused, to say the least.

When xey had originally walked into the room xey we’re keeping them, the A Tier Hero “the Chadster”’s (why anyone would choose a name of that sort was beyond xem, but the hero seemed to have the intelligence of a cinder block and was incredibly full of himself, so Alex wasn’t entirely surprised) sidekick was originally scared of xem, they had quickly adapted. They even seemed to be bored, accustomed to this sort of scenario. Just how many times had they been kidnapped before? Previous kidnappers must not have been high ranking villains, as Alex had never heard wind about this sidekick in particular, and xeir minions kept them up to date on the happenings of other villains. The sidekick (Alex honestly wasn’t sure if they had a hero name) was clearly still intimidated by xem, meaning they understood the danger they were in, but also seemed generally tired and exasperated with the entire situation. Not to mention, it had been 24 hours, and ‘the Chadster’ still hadn’t rescued his precious sidekick. 

Alex sighed, running a hand through xeir hair. Xey flopped on the couch in xeir living room, only slightly further down the hallway from the room the sidekick was being held in. I should ask if they have a hero name… I’ve never heard one before. That prick of a hero just refers to them as ‘sidekick!’. There was a part of Alex that felt like the sidekick was safer with xem, especially since Chad didn’t treat them well. He was prone to simply push the sidekick out of his way, throwing them into a nearby structure from his super strength. Alex rolled xeir eyes, motherfucker could use some humbling. Xeir eyes flicked to the monitor that was set up, watching the sidekick wander around the room, settling in a corner and curling up, their knees against their chest. Alex furrowed xeir brows out how fast the sidekick fell asleep, that should NOT have been as easy for them as it was. Xey sighed, rolling off the couch and grabbing the throw blanket from the arm. 

If Morgan woke up with a soft, maroon blanket draped carefully over them, that was between Alex and xemself

Chapter Text

Morgan had begun taking the time to stretch throughout the day. They spent a lot of time just walking the room, thinking and running their fingers over the walls. They knew they had completed a lap when they felt the slight groove of the camouflaged door, although it was so minuscule that they knew there wasn’t a chance of escape. Even with my knowledge of technology, this is S we’re talking about. And even if I did escape, S could stop me without a problem except for the slight annoyance it would cause. God, how long has it been? I’ve slept three times, so it has to be around 3 days… I’ll try and ask S when xey come in with food. 

S had been bringing in two, relatively healthy, meals a day for Morgan. It was very simple, usually a sandwich and some fruit, as well as a bottle of water. It was enough for them to get their needed nutrients. It was admittedly very (uncharacteristically) kind for S, the monster that flattened cities and killed heroes with a flick of xeir wrist . But when Morgan thought back on it, part of that was only rumors. They can’t remember a single time that S fought anywhere near a city, seemingly very aware of xeir own powers and the destruction that was caused from them. Morgan’s brows furrowed as they shook their head, flinging out any thought of S being redeemable. Thinking of xem as anything less than a God was foolish, but to think that xey could possibly have any sort of empathetic factor, a good quality, was unheard of. Morgan pinched themself a few times, the decade of lessons drilled into their skull echoing in their mind. 

Suddenly the door opened, startling Morgan and making them jump, before they realized S was just bringing them food. They thanked the supervillain, and when S turned to leave, Morgan quickly called out, “Wait?”

S turned, an amused look on xeir face, “Was that a question?” Xey raised a brow, clearly amused by Morgan’s fumbling. 

“Yes? I just want to know how long I’ve been here? I know it’s been at least 3 days-“ 

Alex cut them off, “It’s been 5 days.” 

Morgan faltered, any words that were falling out of their mouth immediately lost. 5 days? That’s… Chad is cutting this one close, huh? I mean, I think the longest time he’s taken before was 8 days, so there’s still time, right? S looked slightly concerned, but xey handed Morgan their food, Morgan absentmindedly thanking xem again, looking almost like they were about to cry. 

S frowned, before exiting the room and sealing the door. Xeir mouth flattened into a line, before xey sighed heavily, pressing a button to flip one of the wall panels, allowing Morgan access to the time and date via an embedded screen, about the size of a PC monitor. Morgan’s eyes quickly flicked over, and Alex watched as their face sunk. Xey couldn’t exactly pin down why they had grown weirdly attached to the hostage they had taken. Maybe it was the treatment from their brother, maybe it was the fact that they were so unbothered by Alex’s presence. Xey just… didn’t know. Morgan was some kind of weird puzzle for xem to solve, but the pieces weren’t fitting together. Alex couldn’t quite remember the sidekick’s power, but xey did remember that they were the sibling of the hero they sidekicked for. 

Morgan had told Alex their name fairly easily when asked as well, which xey found curious. All xey had to do was ask, and the sidekick responded with, “Morgan.” 

“No- do you not have a hero name?” Alex was confused.

“Nope,” The sidekick- Morgan replied, popping the P. 

Alex’s brows furrowed, which seemed to be happening a lot more after taking in this hostage, “What, did you not want one? I figure anyone working in the hero industry would want some self-righteous name to go with their amazing power.”

Morgan chuckled nervously, pinching themselves slightly, “Yeah uh- well, my parents didn’t think I needed one, and Chad already referred to me as just ‘sidekick’ anyway, so, yeah.” 

If Alex’s expression could get any more creased at this point, it would have. Xey were baffled at the blatant mistreatment that Morgan was being put through- and seemed fine with? Xey nodded, like xey had the day before, exiting the room and sealing the door. 

It began a weird pattern, where S would ask Morgan a question every time xey came in. “What’s your name?” “How old are you?” “Why are you a sidekick and not a hero?” Always very basic, ‘getting to know you’ question. Morgan didn’t ask any in return, not until what was apparently the fifth day. After that, when the clock appeared, Morgan spent their days thinking, wandering, and keeping their eyes on the clock. Their back hurt from sleeping on the floor every night for the past 6 days, their head had a dull ache that was always present from the bright lights and the lack of proper sleep, and they were becoming extremely restless. Morgan is a decently patient person, more than most people, but even they had their limits. There was nothing to do. They had resorted to taking apart the chair that was still in the center of the room and putting it back together, only supplied with the material they had on them, which was not much. Because while Morgan was a decently patient person, they also couldn’t stand not having some sort of use. Maybe that’s why they hated being a sidekick so much. They had circled the room a thousand times (and counting), found every hidden ridge and seam on the walls, hell, they even spent a day moving the chair around and standing on it purely to find anything interesting in the ceiling, and then spent the next day doing the same on the floor. 

Alex was beginning to get restless just watching them. Xey had been planning missions and attacks still, although most of the attacks just came to xem, not the other way around, but xey kept a constant eye on Morgan. Xey sighed heavily, teleporting a stack of paperback books into the room with Morgan in it. Morgan jumped when they noticed the stack, making Alex chuckle under xeir breath as xey continued to work. The sidekick quickly ran over, eagerly sorting through the books they had been given, and Alex allowed xemself a tiny smile. 

Morgan sat, slouched against the wall, and watched the clock tick. 23:55:32 Monday 17, March, 20XX is what it read.

Morgan felt dread.

It had been sitting in a pool in their stomach all day, sloshing around, and they felt sick. Maybe it was because they hadn’t eaten today, despite S’ off character insistence, but it was also from the fact that today was 8 days since they had been kidnapped. Once the clock passed midnight, it will have officially been the longest amount of time they had ever been kidnapped.

They heard the door slide open, and S popped xeir head in, “What are you doing?” 

Morgan raised a brow, “Does it matter? Am I doing something wrong?”

“No, you’ve just never done this before.”

Morgan was quiet for a moment, their face blank as they considered how to word their situation to S. “Once it hits midnight, it’ll be the longest Chad’s ever taken to rescue me,” They say carefully after a moment, letting out a sigh. 

S slumped down on the wall next to them, “Well, we can wait together then.”

Morgan looked shocked for only a split second before recovering, their poker face glued back on tightly. Alex found it a little amusing, but pushed back any laughter. Morgan clearly wasn’t doing great, and it was obvious they still held some hope in their brother, that he would show up and ‘save them’. Alex felt bad for them, which was something very rare for xem. It was rare that xey felt anything about anyone else, let alone sympathy. Concerning…

23:58:52

“Do you know what’s taking him so long? This base isn’t exactly hidden, I’ve been attacked here before and he clearly knows it’s my land,” Alex asked, biting xeir tongue when Morgan shrinks down against the wall even more.

Morgan is quiet for a moment, “No, I don’t know. Usually it only takes a few days.” They look solemn, but the spark of hope that sits in their eyes is even more depressing than the fact that they seem to have mostly accepted it. Alex felt rage bubbling in xeir stomach. From xeir interactions with them so far, Morgan was pretty easy-going and funny, even under situations like this where they’re being held hostage. Did Chad just fucking abandon them?

23:59:56

23:59:57

23:59:58

23:59:59

00:00:00 Tuesday 18, March, 20XX

Morgan’s head dropped, bangs curtaining their face to hid their expression. They took a shaky breath, repeating the mantra of ‘don’t cry don’t cry don’t cry’ in their head as they gripped at their hair. It was becoming really frizzy- they hadn’t taken a shower in over a week now, and they felt disgusting. They carefully made their face look as apathetic as possible, lifting their head up to look at S. The supervillain’s eyebrows were tightly knit together and they were frowning, staring at the clock, almost like they were trying to summon Chad. They’re probably also tired of dealing with my shit. Morgan sighed once again, slowly standing up and grabbing the blanket they tossed on the chair, “Well uh- I'm gonna sleep, so you can go do whatever you need to do. Uhm, thanks for sitting with me.” S nodded wordlessly, still looking upset, and left the room. 

When the door sealed shut, Morgan collapsed. 

They knew there were cameras, but they couldn’t give less of a shit at that point. Tears quickly gathered in their eyes, the stress and wondering of the last 9 days building up and finally releasing. They shook, a hand clutched over their mouth to try and muffle the sound of their sobs. God, what is wrong with me? I’m hardly surprised Chad got sick of me, everyone always does. Their thoughts spiraled, only becoming worse and worse as they cried, eventually losing enough energy that they had fallen asleep.

01:28:32 Tuesday 18, March, 20XX

The day Morgan began to lose hope. 

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, things started appearing around the room Morgan was in. S had removed the handcuffs at this point, seeing that there was no use for them, since it would honestly be more impressive than anything if Morgan managed to escape. First of all, a bathroom randomly appeared overnight, well- more a door appeared, and when Morgan opened it, there was a bathroom. They turned around, looking in the direction of the hidden door and shouting, “Thank you!” They rushed in quickly, happily using the toothbrush and toothpaste resting on the edge of the sink. They didn’t really question S’ acts of kindness at this point, no matter how much it confused them. It didn’t help that they were fucking ecstatic to be able to shower again. S had been letting them use a different bathroom for… basic needs, but now they had this! Then, the next morning, Morgan woke up feeling surprisingly well rested, only to open their eyes and find themself in a whole ass bed. They were startled, to say the least, but still shouted another incredibly grateful, “Thank you!” to the door. 

S had begun talking to them more as well, striking up a conversation whenever xey came to bring Morgan’s food. “Do you treat all your hostages this nicely?” Morgan asked teasingly one day.

S’ hands began to fiddle, and xey looked away from Morgan, “I don’t usually take hostages. It’s not really my style. More of a ‘one and done’ kind of villain.” 

Morgan nodded, “I figured. But then… why are you treating me like this? I’m still your… prisoner, for lack of a better word. You got me a bed,” They gestured to the bed and the bathroom door, “and a bathroom, and while at this point I’m not gonna question where they came from… why?” 

“Why am I treating you with basic human decency? Almost like you’re a person or something?” S responded, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Morgan was silent, their eyes flitting back and forth. “I mean, you’ve been here for what, 10 days now? I think it’s fair that I supply the things you need to make your life a bit more comfortable. Watching you sleep on the floor like that was awful, and hygiene is a human need.”

Morgan was still quiet, their eyes had stopped moving, simply looking at S. Their face still showed a perfect passive expression, completely apathetic, but their breathing had hitched slightly. It was like they were astounded at the mere thought of being treated like a living thing. They nodded suddenly, swallowing roughly and continuing to eat. 

Alex stepped out of the room, xeir hand covering xeir mouth. Xey carefully sealed the door behind xem, before they lost their shit. Xey paced back and forth, yelling to xemself, gesturing madly and wishing desperately that xey had just taken the fight to Chad rather than kidnapping Morgan. Xey itched for a reason to disassemble his fucking molecules, but unfortunately, Morgan still cared about the bastard. 

Clenching and unclenching xeir hands, Alex stormed around xeir hideout, minions carefully avoiding xeir path. They were used to seeing xeir boss annoyed at a hero, but the supervillain tended to… handle any annoyances fairly quickly. It was very rare that they saw their boss act like this, brooding and pacing around the base. 

Among the cacophony of thoughts rushing and spilling through Alex’s mind, there was a single thought that stood strong:

If he can’t die, Morgan has to get their revenge.

Morgan sat motionless for almost the rest of the day, only moving to eat dinner, which they only ate a few bites of before going back to sitting still. They were stuck in one spot, thinking of all the things Chad or their parents had threatened to take away from them if they continued to ‘misbehave’. Their right to privacy, food, open access to the fucking bathroom, access to entertainment, the list went on and on. Morgan didn’t have many friends, mainly due to the fact that their parents were insanely strict about their schedule and made them spend 90% of their time training to be Chad’s sidekick. So, they didn’t really have a frame of reference for this stuff. They knew it wasn’t normal, but they didn’t realize just how bad it was. 

So they sat there, knees to their chest, hand covering their mouth, staring at the wall, as they realized that for the past 22 years of their life, they had been mistreated and abused. They knew it wasn’t good, they knew it wasn’t normal, but thinking on what S had said, this is in NO way normal. Morgan bit their lip, choking on the sob that forced its way out through their clenched teeth. Their hands cupped their mouth tightly, tears freeing themselves as Morgan cried, quickly turning into a full-blown panic attack. They clutched at their hair desperately, hyperventilating, their thoughts racing and darting through their mind. They didn’t register the door opening, or S rushing in, until S attempted to gently take their hands away from their hair. Morgan scrambled back desperately at the touch, breathing becoming even worse, their mind going back to the times of their brother using them as a punching bag, beating them until they were a bruised mess crumpled on the floor. 

Their hands clawed at their arms, scratching, desperately trying to find some sort of purchase, some surface to grip to avoid the crashing waves of their mind, pulling them to the riptide, pushing them, drowning them-

Soft, calm music filled their head, drowning out the discord of their thoughts. They reached up a shaking hand, carefully touching the bulky headphones that now sat on their ears. S looked panicked as well, although severely less than Morgan, who now took deep breaths, a hand pressed on the noise cancelling headphones. They breathed carefully, calming their thoughts as best they could. S gave them a thumbs up and tilted xeir head, causing Morgan to furrow their brows, “Wh-“ 

S slowly reached over, lifting the headphones from their ears, “Are you okay?”

Morgan tilted their hand, “Meh, I’m doing better, but now I feel like shit.” The two sat in silence for a bit, S eventually standing up and leaving, only to come back with some water and an apple for Morgan, setting it down on the bed. Morgan grabbed it carefully, gulping down the water and biting into the apple. 

“I’m sorry that your brother hasn’t come back,” S spoke, looking at the ground when Morgan glanced up. 

“It’s… this wasn’t because of him,” Morgan started, laughing sadly, “this was because I realized that I’ve been abused my entire life.” 

S faltered, xeir hand hallway to reaching out to Morgan. “What?” Xeir voice was unusually quiet.”

“Yeah uh, all this stuff you’ve been doing for me is stuff that’s been taken from me,” Morgan said, and every part of them screamed ‘solemn’. They had basically accepted the truth. 

18 days.

It had been 18 days since Morgan was kidnapped.

They stared apathetically at the clock in their room, barely blinking, breathing shallow. “I give up,” they spoke to the empty room. “They’re not coming back. At this point, I don’t want them too,” Morgan had been feeling angry at their family since they realized that they had been mistreated ever since their power was discovered. They had given it time. It was double the longest amount of time they’ve ever been kidnapped, and Morgan was fucking done. Their family finally stopped pretending to give a shit, and abandoned them when they were kidnapped by the strongest supervillain, figuring ‘yeah, he’ll probably kill her” (cause god fucking knows his family can’t even properly gender someone), and leaving it as is. It’s sad when a supervillain who kidnapped you treats you better for the last half a month than your family has ever treated you. Morgan sighed, their head falling back and hitting the wall. Part of them felt like crying, and the other part wanting to blow up their family’s house.

S walked in, plopping down next to them. Xey stayed quiet, sighing softly as well. “Did you mean it?”

“Hm?”

“Did you mean it? About… giving up?”

Morgan rested their head on their arm, “Yeah. I think at this point, even if they showed up, I wouldn’t go back. I can’t handle going back to that. It’s been nice if you to keep me around, but I can go find a different job or something, get an apartment.”

“I don’t mind keeping you here until you have somewhere to stay,” S stated softly, placing a hand on Morgan’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to do that,” Morgan looked away, being certain to keep their face away from S’ line of sight.

S was silent, leaving time for both of them to think. “I would appreciate it though,” Morgan said quietly.

S hummed, quiet again before saying, “Alex.”

Morgan’s head whipped around, allowing S to see that their eyes were red and puffy, eyes still wet from tears. 

“My name is Alex,” S- or Alex, said quietly, xeir eyes trained on the ground, “you won’t get anything from knowing that but, you don’t have to keep thinking of me as just ‘S’. You’ve earned enough of my trust to know it.” 

Alex stood up, walking out of the room, still sealing the door behind xem. With Alex’s exit, Morgan slumped onto the bed, sighing heavily for what had to be the 40th time that day. “It would be kinda funny if I became a villain. Maybe they’d actually respect me,” Morgan spoke into the covers, blankets muffling their words as they fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Once Alex realized that Morgan was serious and actually wasn’t going to go running for the hills, xey started to carefully open up parts of xeir home to them. First was the kitchen, allowing Morgan to make their own food. Next was the living room, letting them see the news and the happenings of their family. Alex was careful to keep barricades on any exits (windows, doors to the outside), and xey kept a magic lock on xeir bedroom. Xey were very hesitant to trust Morgan, since they could turn any time. It wasn’t until about a week in that Alex felt comfortable letting them out of xeir sight. Xey let out a sigh, slumping back in xeir seat and running a hand through xeir hair. Xey had been looking for any information on Morgan for hours now, but there wasn’t much. They were from a family of superheroes, they were 22, and that was about it. It seemed that Morgan’s family was careful to keep anything and everything about them out of public records, and honestly, Alex didn’t care enough to search through private records. Xey’ll ask one of the minions to do it, paid, of course. 

Xeir eyes glanced to the monitors that showed Morgan’s cameras. They were contentedly reading a book on their bed, seemingly just vibing. Alex smiled softly before whacking xemself in the back of the head. We can’t get attached to the ex-sidekick that could betray us at any moment, Alex.

Alex thought it was a bit late for that.

Xey stood up, stretching and heading out to the kitchen. Xey heard shuffling and quick footsteps, and when xey stepped out of xeir room, Morgan was standing in the living room, looking slightly rushed.

 “Can I make you lunch?” Morgan asked quickly, before scrunching up their face, realizing that it probably sounded like they want to poison Alex.

“You know poison won’t work on me, right?” Alex said teasingly, leaning against the wall of the hallway. 

“Well- I wasn’t going to poison you, for the record. I wanted to do it as thanks! And also you can’t cook for shit, and I got a little scared when I heard you come out and saw it was lunch time.”

Alex’s face fell, xeir mouth a straight line, which made Morgan wheeze in laughter. 

“Besides, how often do you get authentic Cuban food?” Morgan shimmied their hips a bit, smiling at Alex. 

Alex raised an eyebrow, “You’re Cuban?”

“Yeah! And like, 12 other things, but mainly also African American. First generation as well, on the Cuban side,” Their smile only grew, their eyes sparkling, “Remind me to tell you about my family history some time, it’s really cool- despite my direct family being total dickheads.” 

Alex nodded, amused, and walked into the living room, plopping xemself on the couch. Morgan quickly got to work, and while Alex could see them in xeir peripheral, xey had no clue what Morgan was making. 

Morgan suddenly shouted from the kitchen, “You don’t have any food allergies, right?”

Alex laughed, “No- do you really think food could take me out?”

“No, I just wanted to make sure!”

After a while (and a fuck ton of amazing smells that had Alex’s mouth watering), Morgan called for Alex to come to the kitchen, and xey didn’t even both walking, simply teleporting xemself into a seat at the kitchen island. Morgan jumped, still not used to Alex’s teleporting, before setting two dishes down in front of them. 

They pointed to a dish that held what just looked like a mixture of vegetables, “This is yuca con mojo,it’s made of boiled yuca, which is a root vegetable, similar to a potato, mojo sauce, and some naranja agria juice, which roughly translates to ‘sour orange’. It’s simply, but it’s just an appetizer.” 

Alex took a forkful to try, and then quickly took another.

Morgan laughed, “I assume that means you like it?”

Alex nodded, another forkful already in xeir mouth. 

“Hold on! There’s still something else, don’t stuff yourself full,” Morgan chuckled, Alex peeking up. “The other dish is picadillo a la habanera, which is made of seasoned beef, tomato sauce, potatoes, and olives, and it’s served with rice!” They carefully handed one of the plates to Alex, who took the hot plate with no issue. 

Alex smiled softly, “This is really cool Morgan, I might have to pay you to cook for me.” Xey took a bite of the second dish, immediately melting at the flavor of it. “Shit- this is really good,” Xey scarfed down xeir food, confused when Morgan looked at xem with an amused expression. Xey understood when xey quickly felt heat rise to xeir face, xeir entire mouth burning. Morgan cackled, bent over laughing in their seat as Alex rushed around to grab a glass of milk, chugging it desperately. 

“Your white person taste buds can’t handle it Alex~” Morgan teased, still laughing. “A person with god-like powers and a beef habanero dish is what takes xem down!” They wheezed, falling out of their seat and laughing on the floor. 

Alex whined, flopping horizontally on top of Morgan on the floor, earning an ‘oof’ and making the two of them form a sort of plus symbol, “You’re so meeeaaaannnn.” They pouted as Morgan laughed again.

“Your taste buds are just weak man, it’s not my fault!”

Alex let out a long-suffering sigh, completely ragdolling on top of Morgan. Morgan gasped dramatically, wheezing and coughing as if they couldn’t breath, but it still worried Alex enough to where xey got off of them. Morgan grinned and bolted, rushing across the small space into their room. Alex stayed on the floor, huffing and pouting when the TV suddenly xeir eye. “Morgan?”

A head of curly hair popped out from behind the door frame, “Hm?” 

Alex pointed at the TV, and Morgan followed the line of xeir arm, their expression darkening when they saw the screen. “Fucking hell,” Morgan ran a hand through their hair. 

“A TIER HERO “THE CHADSTER”S SIDEKICK KILLED TRAGICALLY BY SUPERVILLAIN ‘S’”

Morgan was beyond done with their family at this point. 1) They abuse Morgan their entire fucking life, both physically and mentally, especially once their power manifested. 2) They abandon them once they got kidnapped by S, which Morgan is beginning to think was something their family set up in the first place. 3) They LIE and say that S killed Morgan when in fact, S is the first person to ever treat Morgan with kindness, aside from their sister and a few teachers they’ve had. Was it bad that Morgan wasn’t even surprised at this point? They press the base of their hands into their eyes, heaving out a sigh and walking back to their room to flop on the bed. “Hey Alex?” They hear a hum of acknowledgment from the villain. “Can you seal the door real quick?” 

After a moment, Morgan hears the door slide shut, and they lift their head up, taking a deep breath, before slamming their head back down and screaming into the pillow as loud as they can. They scream until they run out of breath, and then do that one more time. Morgan lifts their head up, their voice hoarse, and calls out, “Kay you can open the door again now.” Alex looked concerned, to say the least. Morgan honestly finds it a little funny that a supervillain with as strong of powers as xey have, has no control over xeir facial expressions. Morgan had long since mastered a poker face, one that was necessary in order to survive in their family. Any emotion could be targeted and used against you. Guess that’s another thing they did to abuse me… Morgan’s mental tally list was getting much longer than they’d like it to. 

They stand up, dragging a hand down their face and groaning before moving to grab a glass of water. After chugging a few, Alex comes up to them, “Are you okay?” 

Morgan shrugs, their tone light, “Not really, but I’ve kinda gotten used to it, as fucked up as that is. I’ve definitely gotten used to this kind of two-faced behavior from my family.” They swear they could hear Alex let out a growl, but chose to ignore it. Their mind went back to the thought that has been going through their head since they officially gave up on ‘rescue’, what if I became a villain? Might as well take the title of ‘family disappointment’ and run with it, right? At least that way I can garner some respect from other people. What type of villain would I even be? Morgan, once their power developed and they learned they were going to be a sidekick, studied code and engineering so they could at least create support items for Chad. Give themself some kind of purpose and use. I don’t think I’d want to be the kind of villain Alex is. The whole ‘killing heroes’ and ‘world domination’ thing isn’t exactly what I want. Being a villain is mainly just something that allows me to do shit that’s actually fun while also possibly gaining respect. I could use that knowledge of coding and engineering that never had a use, that would be cool. I wouldn’t want to deal with big heroes though, so it’s probably best to stay in the lower ranks… they stared off into space, distantly focused on the windows of the living room as they thought. 

They pursed their lips, I should probably get a ‘costume’ of sorts, or at least something stealthy. With the ideas I have in mind, something stealth-centered would probably be best. It’s hard to go through with a bank heist when you’re dressed in some gaudy outfit. A name would be cool too.

I mean, I like mechanics and engineering, from the little bit that I’ve done, and I do kind of ‘generate’ people out of thin air… Morgan’s eyes widen, the sudden thought they had was absolutely perfect. “Generator,” They whisper to themself, eyes still wide, and they glance over at Alex.

 “Hey Alex?” They said somewhat quietly, causing the other villain to perk up. They look at Alex, making direct eye contact with xem. “I think I wanna be a villain,” A wicked smile grows on Alex’s face, matching Morgan’s smirk.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?”

Chapter Text

Morgan was not good at decisions, and this was shown in their everyday life quite frequently. Outfit for the day? Might as well set aside an hour. Deciding on food? No way in hell. Plans? Nope. So, when they face themselves with the dilemma of deciding on an outfit for villain-ing, they end up spending hours trying to figure out what they wanted before giving up. They were typically one for less saturated clothes, more of a casual/lounge/almost hipstery style to their wardrobe, but that doesn’t really work when you’re doing heists, which requires a lot of movement. TLDR: very baggy clothing is bad because it’ll get caught on everything and get in your way. Some slightly loose pants would probably be best, since that allows (almost) full range of movement, but also provides basic protection and cover for smaller weapons or objects that need to be hidden. A tight shirt- a tank top or something- would likely be best. Gotta have a lot of pockets too, for a bunch of little stuff-

“Morgan?” They startle when they hear Alex’s voice, jumping a little but quickly recovering. 

“Hm?” Morgan turns their head, eyes flickering over to where Alex stands, and xey stare at them for a minute, pursing xeir lips but clearly deciding to drop whatever question xey had. Xey walked forward into the kitchen, where Morgan had been standing and staring into a cup of water, grabbing a container from the fridge and pouring a glass of the dark, somewhat thick liquid. Morgan furrowed their brows, “What is that?” 

Alex glances up, xeir eyes making contact with Morgan’s for a second before xey look away, “The blood of my enemies.” 

This only served to confuse Morgan further than before, “Could I… try some?” 

Alex quirked an eyebrow, gently handing the mug over to Morgan without saying a word. Morgan took it, squinting with slight suspicion, but shrugged, figuring that if Alex wanted to kill them, xey would’ve done it by now. Figuring it was some sort of homemade wine, they took a careful sip of the drink before quickly choking a little when the taste of iron filled their mouth. Alex looked very amused, much to Morgan’s chagrin. They quickly swallowed the small amount of blood, clearing their throat and coughing. “Ah,” They said simply. Alex lost it, wheezing and bending over, slapping xeir hand on the counter repeatedly. Attempting to salvage the small amount of dignity they had left, they tried to hold the glare in their eyes, before also giving up and laughing; starting with soft giggles, floating into loud, boisterous laughter. Anyone walking in would surely be baffled at the scene, some random person and the strongest villain in the world, doubled over laughing at something that really wasn’t even that funny. Morgan let out a breath slowly, “Wheeeww, oh my god my cheeks hurt-“

“It wasn’t even that funny,” Despite the statement, Alex was still snickering quietly.

Morgan laughed a little as well, having to stop themselves from once again devolving into hysterics, “It really wasn’t.”

As they lay in bed on their back, staring at the ceiling, Morgan realized that they had grown fond of the supervillain. Their first worry was that they were developing Stockholm syndrome, but it’s not like they are in love with Alex, they just felt positively towards xem. Morgan hummed, the tips of their mouth curling downwards ever so slightly into a small frown. I need to start working on getting my own shit sorted out. I’m lucky that this is the base closest to civilization- if we were in the one in Antarctica, I would be fucked. I should be able to get a job, although I might have to ask a favor from Alex. God, I hate asking them for even more stuff, I’ve burdened them enough already. They sigh, covering their eyes with their arm, but I can’t go out in public looking like this, not right now. Everything is still too sensitive. I need something big to happen so people forget about me as a sidekick. Groaning, they kicked their feet, throwing a tiny tantrum over the fact that they had to request something else from the friend that they had gained, who had given them a chance to change their fate. They pressed the base of their hands into their eyes, soothing the strain headache that was already building up. Lets just ask for a glamour; hopefully that won’t be too tolling on them to keep up. It doesn’t have to be much either, just something small enough to stop me from getting recognized.

Morgan heaved out a sigh for what had to be the thirtieth time in the past 4 hours. Becoming a villain is way too much work. “Wait,” They say out loud to themselves, shuffling out of bed and padding over to their bathroom. They look at the mirror, messing with the- now fairly longer- hair that reached almost to their shoulders. Inspiration sparked in their eyes as they rushed out into the living room, skidding to a stop and panting in front of Alex. The supervillain looked incredibly concerned as Morgan held up a finger, signaling for xem to wait as Morgan caught their breath. Puffing out air, Morgan started, “So I know we can’t really go out in public because people would recognize me and then call the police or something BUT, I figured that if we change my appearance enough, it shouldn’t be a problem-“

“Yeah, I can put a glamour over you whenever you wanna go out-“

“Wait wait, so, I originally thought about that, but if you ever forget to do it or something happens and it wears off, we’d be screwed. And, we’re just waiting until something else big happens anyway, so I thought we could just actually change stuff. A haircut, wardrobe change, and some piercings does more than you think it would. I figure you could just like… magic it? We can’t go anywhere to get it done, and this is stuff I’ve been wanting to do for a while anyway,” Morgan left out the part about how they didn’t do it before now so they weren’t disowned by their family. 

Alex nodded, resting xeir chin in xeir hand, “I just need to know what you want to do, I don’t mind doing it.” 

Morgan nodded, explaining the ideas they had been wanting to act on for years now, and when they said they were sure with it, Alex snapped them into existence. “I won’t do the piercings, mainly because I worry that they’ll get infected,” Xey stated. 

“Couldn’t you just make it so they can’t get infected-“ Alex cut them off, shushing them with dramatic hand motions.

Laughing, Morgan swatted Alex’s hand away, “Seriously though, thank you, I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.” 

Alex smiled at them, xeir pupils expanding. That was something Morgan hadn’t noticed before, maybe they just weren’t comfortable enough to look Alex in the eyes before now. The excessive and excitable had grown on them quite a bit, although Morgan couldn’t help but to compare xem to a puppy, despite xeir cat-like pupils. If anything, it made xem even more endearing- endearing?? The fuck- this is a SUPER VILLAIN that has leveled cities before and I’m calling them endearing? Morgan’s eyes flickered from the floor to Alex, and if the villain had a tail, xeir entire body would be swaying with the movement of xeir wagging. They held a smile behind their hand, though Morgan wondered what had made them so happy.

Alex was genuinely shocked that nothing big enough had happened at this point. Maybe it was because xey were hiding away with Morgan, but even then, it almost seemed like the entire world of villainy had come to a halt. An idea sparked in xeir head, a smile growing on xeir face as they called out, “Morgan!” 

It had been a few days since xey changed Morgan’s appearance, and Alex would be lying if xey said xey found them absolutely adorable. Xey had long since given up not thinking about Morgan, accepting that the ex-sidekick had wormed their way into xeir heart somehow. Xey watched as Morgan’s head popped out from around the corner, an eyebrow raised, and plopped themself down on the couch next to Alex. “How do you feel about planning your first heist?” 

Morgan’s eyes immediately lit up and Alex could practically see the energy pumping through them. Alex snapped xeir fingers, teleporting a journal and pencil to xem. Xey handed it over to Morgan, who took a moment to look at the intricate design on the front before opening it and excitedly scribbling their ideas on the pages. Smiling softly, Alex watched them, having barely ever seen Morgan this excited before. It’s nice to see that spark in their eyes. Xey stood up, moving to head to xeir room and take a nap before Morgan stopped xem. 

“Can I tell you about what I have down so far?” Morgan asked happily, and any protests xey had died in xeir throat as xey saw the two full pages of notes in the journals. Xey nodded, settling down to the couch again, stiffening up when Morgan scooched close to xem. As Morgan talked, Alex slowly relaxed, listening intently to everything Morgan was saying. It was a solid plan so far, and xey assumed that Morgan had seen the flaws with these kinds of plans since they were a sidekick for their brother for so long. Their brother was, unfortunately, high in ranking, an A tier hero, so Morgan would have seen a lot of failed heists working with him. Alex tuned back in to Morgan talking about an army of rats, and Alex decided xey needed to remind them that rats would be messy and uncooperative. Morgan looked bummed before they stated that they were going to train a rat to heist with them. Alex nodded, deciding that simply agreeing was a better option. If anything, xey could bail Morgan out of jail.

It wasn’t until a few hours later, after dinner and while the two of them were watching a movie that Alex noticed something. Morgan had fallen asleep on their shoulder. They had stayed close, even after eating dinner, and while Alex wasn’t sure why, xey certain weren’t complaining. They talked more while setting up the movie, and Alex didn’t entirely notice (with half xeir attention on the movie, a fourth of xeir attention on Morgan, and the other fourth focusing on calming down despite Morgan being so close) that Morgan had fallen asleep in the first place. Alex felt a familiar heat crawl up the back of xeir neck, settling on the tips of xeir ears, and xey allowed it, considering Morgan clearly wasn’t awake to see it and make fun of xem. It was when xey gazed down softly at Morgan (taking in their long eyelashes, the bridge of their nose, their hair), that Alex realized something. Xey settled into Morgan, resting xeir head on the shorter’s and while, yes, xey could just teleport Morgan to bed, why would xey? Instead, Alex took in a deep breath, letting it out after a moment and relaxing completely, bringing a hand up to rest in Morgan’s hair. Xey smiled gently, and despite the fact that xey didn’t need sleep, xey felt the grasp of sleep gently pulling xem in. 

A last fluttering thought, the realization, stayed at the forefront of xeir mind,

Oh god, I’m down bad, aren’t I?

Chapter Text

Morgan cackled as they hopped into the getaway van, flipping off the building that was slowly becoming smaller with distance. Another perfectly successful heist. Ohhhh, Chad is gonna hate me for this one. They laughed again, flopping down onto the seats of the van and breathing heavily. The heists were all about stealth, but, if anything, that really only made it more exciting. Morgan could still feel the adrenaline pumping through their veins, forcing them to fight the urge to move around in the vehicle going 60 mph. Unfortunately, the longer they sat still, the more the need to move grew. When they finally reached Morgan’s apartment, the aforementioned apartment building owner hopped out of the van as fast as possible, sprinting to the room they knew Alex was waiting in. Morgan smiled, bursting through the door and effectively startling the S-tier, causing a mug to be telepathically thrown into a wall. The pieces quickly disappeared with the sound of a snap, Alex smiling sheepishly when Morgan frowned at xem. 

“Look-“

“Dude, that was my favorite mug.”

Alex’s eyes widened and xey quickly began rambling, “Was it really? I’m so sorry Morgan, you just startled me but I should’ve had better control over my powers- I would’ve been more careful if I knew-“ 

The D-Tier finally broke, laughing lightly, “I’m just kidding, although I’m not happy about the mug.” They watched red work its way up Alex’s neck, the villain rubbing a hand on the back of xeir neck, avoiding Morgan’s eyes. Morgan’s laughter died down, leaving a small, fond smile on their face. They walked from the living room into their bedroom, shutting and locking the door (because Alex, because the dumbass xey are, had no concept of privacy and tended to barge into rooms without even knocking) before they moved to change, pulling the black turtleneck over their head and changing into comfier clothes (a.k.a. Basically the same thing as before: baggy pants, but with a black muscle shirt instead of a turtleneck [wow, such good fashion sense]). Morgan’s ears twitch at the sound of quiet shuffling and a nearly silent thump outside of their door. Immediately, their shoulders tensed on reflex, before Morgan took a moment to rationalize and remind themself that they were no longer living with their family. Quickly afterward, a smirk grew on their face as they silently unlocked the door, turning the handles and pulling the door open as fast as they could, causing the S-tier behind the door to flail xeir arms as xey fell. 

Alex fell, a thud resounding through the apartment as xey landed on xeir ass. Xey huffed, looking at Morgan (who was bent over laughing) with a pout. The expression left almost as fast as it came, an affectionate, but incredibly goofy, moving to rest on xeir face instead. Alex’s eyes were practically heart shaped as xey watched Morgan snort with laughter, making sure to correct xeir expression when Morgan looked up, finally calming down. 

Morgan giggled a bit, still expelling the bout of laughter, and smiled at Alex, missing the way xeir face flushed, “The heist went really well, so I’m kinda in a good mood.”

Alex nodded, “Should I have a minion grab takeout?”

The question only served to make Morgan’s smile grow as they nodded excitedly, reminding Alex of a happy dog. Xey could easily imagine a wagging tail behind Morgan’s expression. Xey sent a thumbs up to Morgan, texting the head minion to have someone grab Chinese takeout. 

Morgan watched as Alex walked out of the room, likely going to do something stupid, and grimaced as they looked around their bedroom. Their room was the one thing they didn’t allow Alex to clean when xey were at Morgan’s apartment. For multiple reasons, mainly because, despite the fact that it had been… almost a year? Holy shit it’s almost been a year- since Morgan officially decided to become a villain, they were still working on the whole ‘trust’ thing, and not letting Alex clean their room was a boundary that they insisted on keeping. There were a lot of personal things from their old life in this room. Diaries, pictures, objects that held sentimental value. Alex was allowed in their room, obviously, but Morgan was honestly a little terrified that the villain would be a bit too careless and accidentally poof away something special to them. While they seriously doubted it would happen, since Alex seemed to always be so careful with anything involving Morgan, it was still a fear they had, one they felt wasn’t entirely irrational. 

So, instead of having Alex do it, Morgan set to cleaning their room, gathering all the dirty clothes tossed around their room and shoving them into the washing machine, hoping they would be done by the time Morgan was done cleaning. Having to hold back a grimace the entire time, they picked up the trash in their room (mainly food related), and gathered the pile of dirty dishes, placing them in the sink for Alex to magically clean. Morgan huffed, resting against a wall, their elbow propping them up, entirely unaware of Alex staring at them, looking like the spitting image of a tomato. 

Fuck I am such a simp holy shit why do they have to be so attractive- Thoughts rushed through Alex’s head at the speed of light as xey stared at the D-Tier villain, head drooped, propped up against the wall by their elbow, showing off their muscles (and the slight sheen of sweat that covered them) due to the muscle shirt they wore. I am so lucky that Morgan doesn’t have a telepathy power, I would be so screwed. Alex ignored the part of their brain that was absolutely frothing at the mouth of being trapped in between those arms- NO- WE ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE HORNY THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR BEST FRIEND, NO. I can deal with a crush (ok maybe more than a crush), but NOT THAT. 

“Alex?” Morgan stared at the villain, standing in the living room, completely frozen where they stood. 

The S-Tier’s eyes snapped up to them, quickly flicking away as xey answered, “Yeah?”

“I’m gonna grab a quick shower, just knock whenever the takeout gets here if I’m not out yet. Please be careful to not destroy my bathroom door,” Morgan stated, turning to grab a towel and shove the load of laundry into the dryer. 

Alex almost died at the image that xeir mind supplied at the sentence.

To say that Alex is having a crisis is… an understatement. See, xey had long since come to terms with xeir feelings for Morgan, but there was a part of xem that felt that xey were going to either explode or implode if xey didn’t say something to Morgan. So here xey are, slamming xeir head into two layers of shakanium xey had summoned for this exact purpose. Upon hearing the doorbell ring, xey stopped, going to the door and quickly pulling on the ‘inconspicuous roommate’ glamor xey held in xeir arsenal at all times. Alex opened the door, being met with a dead looking teenager. Felt that. The ‘roommate’ fished the money Morgan gave them out of xeir pocket (the D-Tier had insisted that it would ‘help the economy [ the fucker literally robbed banks and stole precious jewels like, every two seconds- wha-] or something), handing over the however-much-dollar-bill to the teenager, who’s face lit up at the sight. They thanked Alex profusely and rushed off, and Alex, having long since stopped questioning the antics of normal people, shrugged and closed the door, setting the bag of takeout on the island in the kitchen. Luckily, the minions had gotten their own, and Morgan had a bit of a routine after a heist. Come home, talk to Alex about it, change, clean up any mess from the past weeks that piled up in their room, shower, and then takeout. 

While Alex would never admit it out loud, these little things were something xey absolutely adored about Morgan (though, to be fair, they adored almost everything about Morgan) . They had these little rituals and traditions- even during Christmas, the first one in a while that Alex spent away from xeir parents- xey didn’t want to leave Morgan alone and xey didn’t trust them quite enough to have them meet xeir parents yet-, Morgan insisted that they do certain things. The two of them tried out the holiday coffee from the family owned cafe around the corner, spending 2 or 3 hours tasting coffee and different items from the bakery. The owners knew them at this point, or, at least, knew their disguises, so they were happy to see the two in the cafe. Two nights later, Morgan stated that they had to go see some kind of Christmas light thing, and when Alex asked if they had an idea in mind, they positively brightened, smiling widely and showing Alex the walk-through light show. It was fairly simple, but cute, and pretty. Seeing Morgan buried in a coat, sweater, hat, gloves, and scarf made any sort of discomfort from the amount of people instantly go away. And if xey used the excuse that they could heat up xeir hands as a way to hold Morgan’s hand, then that’s between Alex and xemself. About a week before Christmas, Morgan pulled xem to a small city full of home-owned shops selling Christmas items. The two villains bought multiple things, Morgan stating they were buying stuff for their sister and her dog, and Alex needed something for xeir parents and Morgan. They stayed together, mainly because potentially losing the other could be really dangerous (even though they both had glamours). Alex had to sneak around to grab xeir present for Morgan, and it didn’t help that they were incredibly observant- whether that was due to training or them being raised in an abusive household, Alex wasn’t sure. Xey figured it was both. It didn’t matter much anyway, because either way xey wanted to mutilate Morgan’s family. 

A few days later, the two of them set up a Christmas tree in Morgan’s new apartment and piled any presents they bought under the tree, the boxes wrapped and sitting happily on top of the tree skirt, eagerly awaiting their new owners. On the night of Christmas Eve, they both had a nice dinner together, Morgan making Cuban food again (and also completely astounding Alex, again and fueling Alex’s list of reasons as to why xey’re a simp for Morgan), and Morgan left in the morning to get breakfast with their sister and give her their present. Needless to say, with how cheery they looked when they left, Alex was shocked to see Morgan run into the apartment and practically throw themself on Alex. Xey were very confused for a second before taking up xeir best friend duties and gently placing a hand on Morgan’s back, pulling them closer and resting xeir chin on top of their head. Xey couldn’t hear it, but Alex knew based off of Morgan’s harsh, erratic breathing that they were crying. The knowledge only made Alex pull them closer, xeir gaze becoming dark as xey stared at the wall, simultaneously soothing Morgan as well as plotting the torture and excruciatingly slow death of their family. It has to be their family, what else would it be?

It took a bit, but Morgan eventually calmed down, their breathing more stable than before, at the very least. They were shaking against Alex, and when they tried to pull away, Alex only held them against xeir chest. “If you actually don’t want any more contact I’ll let you go, but you’re not making me uncomfortable. If it provides you comfort, you’re fine where you are,” Alex said softly, loosening xeir grip around Morgan so they could actually leave if they wanted. Xey didn’t make xemself fight back the smile that found its way onto xeir face when Morgan didn’t pull away (they actually moved even closer to Alex), seeing as Morgan was still buried in the crook of xeir neck, breathing softly and steadily by now, being unable to see the goofy, lovestruck smile adorning Alex’s face. 

Morgan takes in a shuddering breath as they speak, “Chad followed my sister for some reason- and when he saw me he immediately ran off and told our family, and they all stormed us, screaming and misgendering me and-“

Alex shushed them gently, running a hand over their back and pulling them closer, the D-Tier practically in Alex’s lap. Xey would be panicking if xey weren’t more worried about Morgan’s well-being.

“It feels stupid to be so upset about it, but I guess I had grown used to people using the wrong terms and name for me because of them, and then I came to live with you and you actually respected me and-“ They sobbed, “It’s been so long since I’ve felt this horrible about myself.”

It was with that sentence that Alex both realized and decided on two things. 1) Xey would tear the world apart for Morgan without hesitance, all they had to do is ask. 2) Alex hates Morgan’s family more than anything else, for multiple reasons, one of which being the fact that they hurt Morgan. And 3) No matter what, Alex would make Morgan realize their worth and the fact that they are worthy of love and respect.

Now, a few months later, Alex could tell as xey watched Morgan dance around their room, singing along to music, that xey had accomplished the most important thing on that list. 

Chapter Text

Morgan was still adjusting to the fact that they were happy . Before they met Alex, happiness had been such a foreign emotion to them, only lasting for a fleeting moment before slipping through their fingers. They could claw and scratch and scream as much as they wanted, but never did it yield. Until Morgan met Alex, that is. Alex, who showed them that they were worth something. Alex, who gave them somewhere to live when Morgan realized their family abandoned them. Alex had been there since day 1, even if it was initially as a scary, incredibly hot villain. Look, while Alex was their best friend, Morgan was not afraid to admit that their bestie was the hottest person alive (at least to them), especially when xey were decked out in full villain gear. Those boots made Morgan feel a kind of way-

“Morgaaaaannnnnnnn,” They heard a whine from Alex’s room, huffing out a sigh and a groan, throwing their arm over their eyes. After what couldn’t have been more than 5 seconds, Alex whined again, and Morgan groaned loudly this time, knowing Alex could hear them. A thud sounded out through the apartment as Morgan rolled off their bed, glaring at the wall they shared with Alex’s bedroom. Xey better have a good fucking reason for waking me up when xey KNOW I don’t sleep- Their train of thought quickly came to a stop when they walked into Alex’s room and saw their friend looking horrible . Morgan immediately panicked, racing to Alex’s bed and fluttering around, “Are you poisoned? Hurt? I thought your regen ability was insane what-“ 

“Calm down, I’m just sick, dumbass,” Once Alex spoke properly, Morgan could see what xey meant. Xeir voice was very nasally and xey sounded heavily congested, and now that they were looking for it, Morgan noticed the light dust of pink across Alex’s cheeks (and the way their eyes looked. They had learned from taking care of their sister as a kid what a person’s eyes look like when they’re sick, and Alex was sick).  

“I thought you couldn’t get sick?”

“Me too,” Alex pouted, slinking further into xeir blankets. Xey sniffed, “I feel horrible- I’m hot and cold at the same time, and my head feels like it’s full of cotton-“ 

Morgan cut them off, “Yeah you just have a fever, you big baby.” 

“Well excuse me I’ve neVER BEEN SICK BEFO-“ Xeir voice grew louder as Morgan left the room, suddenly cutting off, transitioning into a coughing fit. Morgan grimaced, pulling down the skull mug. They filled their kettle, turning it on and placing it on its stand before they turned to grab some saltine crackers, immediately sighing upon hearing Alex whine again from the other room. 

“I’m coming, gods,” Morgan shouted back, rolling their eyes and grabbing the saltines off the shelf of the cabinet. Once they made Alex’s tea, they walked back to Alex’s room, throwing the package of saltines as the pouty S-Tier.

“Owwwwwww,” Alex voice trailed off and Morgan huffed.

“There is no way in hell that actually hurt you.”

“It hurt me so much, Morgan. I am in tremendous amounts of pain.”

“Package of saltine crackers defeats S-Tier supervillain, 20XX, colorized,” Morgan stated in a deadpan voice, placing the mug of hot tea on the nightstand. Alex rolled over lazily, pushing xemself up and opening the package of crackers, taking small bites of them. Xey shoved half a cracker in xeir mouth, making grabby hands at Morgan, who promptly rolled their eyes and handed it over. Xey munched on the rest of the cracker and hummed as xey sipped at the tea.

Alex continued to whine and complain for a few days, grumbling through every conversation. Morgan was still honestly baffled at how Alex managed to get sick, but it seemed the S-Tier didn’t know how it happened either. Ah yes, some random virus downs the supervillain that caused an entire new ranking to be made. They snickered to themself again, Alex would never hear the end of it once xey were feeling better. I

“Morrrggaaaaannnnnn,” Alex whined, flopping around dramatically on the couch.

“I am. Right here. You dumbass,” Morgan was completely deadpan, which only made Alex have to hold back a laugh. If xey were being completely honest, xey hadn’t felt bad since the first day when xey actually got sick, but having Morgan dote on xem and take care of xem was really nice and made the butterflies- that had now permanently settled in xeir stomach- begin to desperately flap around. Alex couldn’t help but feel a little jolt every time Morgan expressed some sort of concern for xem, although xey were starting to feel just a little bit guilty. Xey grimaced, turning to Morgan with a guilty smile, causing the D-Tier to squint, “What did you do.”

“I feel better now,” Alex smiled, deciding that xey wanted to live today.

Morgan’s eyebrows shot up, “For how long?”

“…”

“I am going to fucking kill you.”

“Wait wait wait-“ Alex scrambled on the couch as Morgan stepped toward xem, “I’ll do anything you want- please- just not that!”

Morgan only drew in closer, launching at Alex and tickling the hell out of them. Alex was cackling, unable to breathe due to laughing so hard and the hands at xeir sides, “pLEASE MORGAN ILL DO ANYTHING-“

“Aaaannnyything?” Grinning sharply, Morgan simply continued to tickle Alex definitely not relishing in the fact that they were the only person aside from Alex’s parents that could get that close and live. 

“yeS PLEASE-“ Alex’s voice was cracking, and xey panted harshly as Morgan pulled their hands away. 

“Hmmm,” Morgan tapped their foot, propping their head up in their hand and squinting at the wall. They grinned sharply again, holding out a hand (which definitely didn’t cause Alex to flinch), “Dance with me.”

Alex felt heat creep up xeir neck, “What?” 

“Did you not hear me or are you confused?”

“No no I heard you just- you are looking at the most powerful being in the world-“

“Real humble, Alex”

“-shut the fuck up- and you ask for me to dance with you? ”

“Yep. I’m surprised you don’t expect my bullshittery at this point,” Morgan laughed, and Alex felt the heat reach xeir ears. 

Xey sighed, groaning, and acted like xey weren’t in love with xeir best friend and xey definitely weren’t dying inside at the thought of being so close to them, “Fiiiinnneeee.”

Morgan smiled, “It doesn’t have to be right now, I was gonna make dinner anyway.”

Alex nodded, not trusting xemself to speak (lest xey end up confessing to the friend that is now walking happily into the kitchen). Xey resign xemself to mindlessly ‘watching’ TV, although a better description would be: thinking about Morgan and how attractive they are and Alex is such a simp holy dhit they would literally do anything for Morgan- These thoughts only continued, and the only thing that snapped Alex out of it was Morgan calling out, “Dinner!” Has it really been that long? Woops.

Morgan glances up at xem as xey turn the corner, a slight furrow to their brow. Setting the plates down, they turn to Alex with a hand on their hip cute , “Are you sure you’re feeling better? Cause you were just… staring off for a while there.” They wave their hand around in a circle, and a flush once again found its way to the back of Alex’s neck as xey remembered that Morgan could see xem from the kitchen, and while Morgan couldn’t see xeir simping, they were still watching xem go through a combination gay panic and crisis. 

Alex chose to ignore the thought.

Xey sat down, humming lightly to xemself as Morgan did the same. “It’s hot,” Morgan stated simply, as if Alex’s mouth wouldn’t just instantly heal if xey got hurt, and Alex huffed out a laugh. Blowing lightly on the food, Alex took a tentative bite of what Morgan had set in front of xem. Xey hummed again, this time appreciatively and in reaction to the taste of the food, quickly reaching to eat more. Morgan laughed softly, and at this point Alex should honestly start a tally list of how many times in a day xey blush because Jesus Christ this is not good. One would think that after knowing Morgan for-

“Oh my god we’ve been friends for a year,” Alex looked ag Morgan, wide-eyed, as xeir friend choked on the bite of food they had been eating. Xey quickly rushed to the other side of the table, but only stopped xemself from touching Morgan when the D-Tier held out a finger, coughing and thudding a fist against their chest. 

It took a minute for Morgan to be able to breathe again, but once they could they stared at Alex, “First of all, holy shit has it been that long? Oh my god. Second of all, I would have let you help if I didn’t think that you would’ve forgotten to lower your strength before touching me, because you were panicking and probably would have killed me.”

Alex nodded dumbly, slightly mortified at the thought of Morgan potentially dying at xeir hands. Xey didn’t realize that xey were spiraling until Morgan placed a hand on xeir cheek, causing Alex to flinch before desperately clutching Morgan’s hand to xeir face when they tried to pull it away. 

“Hey, it’s okay, nothing happened, it’s just that I know you, and sometimes that stuff happens, which is why I stopped you. I know you would never hurt me,” Morgan looked concerned, their brows furrowed as they frowned. 

Alex had to restrain xemself from raising a hand to smooth away the expression, but instead smiled, “Okay.”

Morgan’s expression eased up, and Alex saw their eyes light up. They stood up (when had they both started kneeling on the floor?) , offering a hand to Alex. Xey almost pushed it away before Morgan spoke, “C’mon, let’s dance.”

Alex reddened for what had to be the millionth time that day, “What about dinner?”

Xey got a smile in return (god how xey loved Morgan’s smile, it had to be the most beautiful thing in the universe) , and Morgan shook their hand in the air, “Dinner will be there when we’re done.”

Alex smiled back and took Morgan’s hand. 

The D-Tier’s expression only lit up further, pulling Alex along as they grabbed their phone, opening up Spotify and turning the volume to max. They scavenged through their playlists for a minute, adding a few songs to their queue, before pressing play and pulling Alex close (Alex’s blush really hadn’t gone away at this point, so it persisted through this as well). Waltz music filled the air, and Morgan looked up at Alex, “Do you know how to waltz?” They only smiled more when Alex shook xeir head, “I honestly kinda figured-“

“Rude.”

“-shut up- so I’ll show you, okay? First, I’ll be leading, so we hold these two hands, and my hand goes here,” Morgan kept their hold of Alex’s right hand, and placed their other hand right under Alex’s shoulder, “And then your other hand goes right here,” They carefully guided Alex’s hand to rest on top of their shoulder. “Just follow my lead from here, okay?” Morgan’s voice was uncharacteristically soft, and Alex refrained from looking down at them, trying to lessen the red that decorated xeir neck and ears. 

The first song was messy, but Alex had always been a quick learner, and the two of them got into the swing of it by the second song. Xey closed xeir eyes, letting xemself be led by Morgan, handing over complete control, and followed the steps xey learned. Xey allowed xemself to picture a formal setting, a smile making its way on xeir face as xey pictured Morgan in a suit, waltzing with xem under the stars. When xey opened xeir eyes, the image of the two of xem made Alex chuckle. Morgan, a D-Tier villain, leading Alex, the proud owner of the only S-Tier ranking, who was 16 inches taller than them. Alex snickered at the thought, “We must be a sight, huh? Two villains, with drastically different heights and rankings, waltzing around some random apartment in their pajamas.” 

Morgan laughed, tilting their head back slightly, giving Alex a perfect view of their smile and their expression, with their nose scrunched up and their eyes shut, and Alex could feel xemself fall deeper in love with Morgan than xey already had, “I guess so.” 

A sort of waltz-rock song came on, making Morgan smile more, leading Alex through the energetic song. Surprisingly, the waltz format still worked, despite most of the song not having an obvious waltz pattern. It was the only song with words, and Alex found xemself listening closely to the lyrics, especially when Morgan started singing along. Their eyes were still shut, but they managed to lead Alex around the apartment perfectly, the two of them spinning around the apartment. At this point, Morgan had introduced some more complicated moves, and it seems this song was the culmination of it all. Alex watched as Morgan lost themself in the song, singing along with slightly furrowed at the lyrics, “A wise woman said I’m alive, nobody’s ever told her she’s wrong. A paella of space-talking jive; I’m as alive as her beard is long!” 

Alex leaned down, “You trust me, right?”

Morgan answered without hesitation, “Of course.”

“Well, don’t stop now.”

“What-“ 

Alex briefly lifted xeir hand to snap, and Morgan became wide-eyed as the two of them (and Morgan’s phone) were transported to the moon in a bubble of oxygen. Xey continued to waltz, taking the lead as Morgan looked around owlishly. 

“I’ll see you on the moon, where we’re throwing a party, and as you’re gasping for the last of air you’ll tra-la-la-la-la. Turning moon dust abound, lung destruction is starting, take your suit off and swim in Maria!”

Morgan turned their gaze back to Alex, who simply hummed along with the song. Xey didn’t know the words, but Morgan did, singing the final verse, “I’ll see you on the moon, there’s already a party, and as you’re gasping for the last of air you’ll tra-la-la-la-la. No es la locura, en realidad es el amor - now that you’ve heard it all, there is the door!” 

Morgan looked at Alex fondly as the song finished, and the two of them plopped down, that song being the last in the queue. It was silent for a while, comfortably so, before Morgan spoke, “This is beautiful.”

Alex looked over at them, and xey had seen the view a thousand times before, but xey still answered, xeir gazed locked on Morgan, “Yeah, it is.” 

Chapter Text

Honestly, this was completely ridiculous.

Morgan was in awe of their utter stupidity. It’s not everyday that they go around catching feelings for dangerous supervillains, but when they do, apparently they don’t fucking half-ass it. Gods… this is a disaster. Morgan tried desperately to soothe the rapid beating of their heart, breathing deeply and counting the breaths themselves to calm themself down. In for four…. hold for seven… out for four… it’s okay, you can handle this. “Morgan!” They heard Alex’s voice call from the foyer as xey got home, and as Morgan’s mind drifted to the reason for the panic in the first place, they promptly dropped their head into their pillow and screamed. They could not handle this.

The panic that Morgan was currently experiencing couldn’t exactly be traced back to one single event, but it was definitely spurred on by an event that had just happened. They had been simply sitting in the living room, plotting heists, as they do, listening to some random cooking show, when the cooking show suddenly cut to a live news broadcast. A broadcast that just so happened to be Morgan’s best friend turning some shitty heroes into a modern art installment (if you wanted to call it that, which Morgan did. The sheer surface area that Alex managed to cover in blood was honestly impressive). Now, maybe it says something about Morgan, but they also know they aren’t alone in the fact that they find their best friend incredibly attractive, and that fact is only made worse when they catch a broadcast of Alex doing xeir thing, dressed in a sharp suit and knee high boots, a cape whipping around with xeir every movement (high collar and all). Again, Morgan never claimed to be mentally stable, but they did admit, only to themself, that watching Alex murder the shit out of some heroes that Morgan knew were secretly horrible people was simultaneously satisfying and remarkably hot. 

In case it needs to be stated a third time, Morgan has problems. Clearly. 

So, when they fight comes to a close, Morgan realizes that Alex will be home very quickly, and that they are fucking flushed- the red staining their cheeks will NOT go away. So, as any questionably sane person would do, they ran into their bedroom, locked the door, and proceeded to have a gay panic. 

So here we are in the present. Alex is home, and Morgan has just been reminded as to why they’re hiding in their room in the first place, causing them to become a blushing mess all over again. Normally, due to their darker complexion, it’s not obvious. But, as previously stated, Morgan finds Alex insanely attractive and, because of this, is blushing like a a fucking sun ripe tomato (look their brain has been short circuited by the Gay™ right now, don’t expect some kind of amazing comparison). They take in a deep breath, steeling themself as they stand up and walk to their bedroom door, shoving the part of themself that cuffs their jeans and refuses to let them discard a pair of worn out, red, high-top Converse into the closet that they crawled out of, schooled their features and opened their door. As soon as they step into the doorway of the kitchen and see Alex, standing at well over 7 feet with xeir boots (gods those boots make xeir legs look fucking amazing), dripping with blood and sporting an animalistic grin (all sharp teeth and canines), they feel the blush crawl back up their neck and the part of themself that they just previously shoved back into the closet kicking the closet door down and screaming as they run in circles. 

Morgan takes a deep breath, swallowing both the red flush that threatens their cheeks and the lump in their throat, and coughs lightly, alerting Alex of their presence. Alex smiles- sincerely this time, instead of the sadistic, crazed look that xey were previously wearing, making Morgan’s stomach flip and their knees just a little bit weak. It’s unfair that my best friend is this hot. How am I supposed to NOT catch feelings?? The smile turns sheepish as xey realize xey’re dripping blood all over Morgan’s kitchen tiles, resulting in the standard procedure of Morgan grabbing clothes from Alex’s room, placing them on the counter with a deadpan glance in Alex’s direction, and standing in the hallway with their back turned until they hear the bathroom door close and Alex calls out that xey’re good. Morgan sighs, staring at the pile of bloody clothes in the sink, and while Alex will just snap them clean later, they still let the clothes soak in some cold water. It’ll make xeir life a little easier. It had become a routine for the two of them. Alex always snaps xeir clothes clean, and Morgan always lets them soak in cold water despite this. They set to work mopping up the still wet blood, going back over the spot Alex was standing in with bleach after soaking up the initial blood. Again, they were used to it. They run a hand through their hair after this, still smiling softly at the cropped haircut they’ve been sporting for a while now. 

It’s weird, but times like this, when one of them comes home from some kind of mission, and the other tidies up, Morgan tends to take time to just soak in how happy they are. For every year they lived with their parents, they couldn’t cut their hair. They were forced to bruise their ribs and breathe worse because they couldn’t get top surgery, instead having to wear a binder for too long despite constant physical activity. But ever since they met Alex, and the S-Tier decided to sympathize with them (for some reason Morgan still doesn’t know), life has gotten better. They’re on the up and up, and Gods help anyone who steps between them and their happiness- 

And then Morgan was promptly knocked out.

Morgan woke up with a groan, and from that combined with the fact that they were currently tied to a chair, it felt awfully reminiscent of how they met Alex. They cocked an eyebrow, observing their surroundings as they shouted, “Alex! If this is some weird joke then you can come out now!” Morgan frowned slightly at the lack of response, as well as the room they were in. It wasn’t anything like the room they had been kidnapped by Alex in, the only similarity being that both rooms are completely empty. This room has a visible door, and it’s shaped differently that the rectangular room that Morgan was kept in by Alex. Their frown only deepened as the door was unlocked and their mother stepped through the door. Quickly, Morgan made their expression completely apathetic, a carefully blank mask that they used to be accustomed to wearing at all times. Morgan didn’t think about how they didn’t remember the last time they had to use it. “Oh honey, I’m sorry that we had to do it this way, but once we found out you were alive we had to get you back!” Morgan’s mother stepped forward, gently wrapping her arms around Morgan for a second before backing off, a placating smile plastered on her face. “We had to do it like this sweetie, we know you wouldn’t have come willingly, especially since you’ve convinced yourself that you’re capable enough to be a villain! What has that S-Tier done to you?” She pouted and placed a hand on Morgan’s cheek, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you back to normal in no time! I think some time away from that monster is just what you need to get you back to your old self- to get you back as my daughter.” 

Morgan tensed, fighting every instinct and every bone in their body to not lash out at their mother. If they could have slapped her hand away, they would have. This whole situation was absolutely absurd. Not only did their parents believe that Alex had, what? Brainwashed them? But they kidnapped Morgan from the safety of their own fucking home and then have the audacity to not only imply that Morgan is incapable, but to also misgender them? Heat steadily climbed their neck, and their face flushed with anger. 

“Theres no need to be embarrassed, we just hope that this little… phase of yours has passed, and you can be our little girl again. Once we get this all sorted out, I’ll make sure that you’re able to be Chad’s sidekick again, don’t worry,” Their mother smiled sweetly at them, her hand still placed on their cheek, and Morgan couldn’t take it anymore. So what did they do? They pushed aside any maturity that they had been maintaining and bit their mother’s hand. Hard. 

She screamed, and Morgan only bit down harder when she tried to pull away. The only thing that made them stop was the sound of footsteps, and they released their mother’s (now bleeding) hand just as their father walked into the room. Fine, if they’re just going to see me as a pet, I’ll be a fucking pet. They growled at their father, glaring at him and their mother sharply. Their father glared back, heat behind his eyes, but still placed a hand on their mother’s back and led her out of the room. Morgan spoke just before the door shut, “Good luck hiding that one from the press, mom. ” The nickname for their mother had never sounded more venomous, and Morgan smiled ferally as they licked the blood from their teeth. Thank god, they’re finally gone. Morgan looked around again, noticing the simple handcuffs that they had been strapped to the chair with. Only on my hands… god they really don’t think I’m able to do anything, huh. They leaned down, twisting their arm where it was cuffed to the chair so they could grab one of the pins they kept on them at all times, just in case of situations like these. After bending it out with their teeth, they carefully picked the lock of the handcuffs, keeping quiet when they heard the telltale soft click of the cuffs unlocking. Just as they were about to get up, the door opened again to show Chad. Morgan kept their face neutral, as any emotion could possibly influence Chad in one way or another. 

He looked conflicted, which was a strange look for him, considering most of the time he looked ignorantly confident in himself. “Morgan I-“ Chad cut himself off, making Morgan raise an eyebrow at him. His voice still held the fake bravado he always spoke with, and he still puffed his chest, but he spoke carefully, “I know it’s much too late, and this is long overdue but,” Chad suddenly seemed to almost deflate, dropping the act, “I’m sorry, Morgan.” He sounded completely and entirely sincere. 

“…What?” Morgan silently cursed themself for sounding so weak.

“I’m sorry, for everything I did to you. For how much I beat you up and pushed you around- you didn’t deserve it. For some reason, it took losing you to realize that.” 

As shocked as Morgan was, they were still a little pissed, though they felt they had the right to be. “I don’t forgive you, Chad. It’s gonna take a lot more than a simple apology to make up for all that shit,” Morgan spoke sternly, and they were suddenly reminded that they weren’t speaking to some random hero, they were speaking to their little brother. It didn’t excuse him at all, but Morgan was caught off guard by how much their tone reminded them of how they used to act towards Chad. Before they got their powers, and Chad was just their baby brother. Morgan missed that. 

“W-what?” It seemed it was now Chad’s turn to be confused, “But I said-“

“I know what you said. But I don’t forgive you. I know you’re not stupid, Chad. Remember the phrase, actions speak louder than words? I’m gonna need some kind of proof that you mean what you’re saying,” They spoke carefully, “Without that, your words are just empty. You really hurt me, so I need you to understand that and understand that a few words aren’t enough.” 

Morgan knew their self worth. They knew that they deserved more. It was something that they had learned through their time with Alex. And while it hadn’t been long, and they knew it would take longer for them to be better about their worth, they were already improving. Shockingly, Chad nodded, “I see. Well, as much as I don’t approve of you being a villain, you’ve yet to actually hurt anyone, so I think I should be able to do this without feeling too bad.” Morgan looked curiously as Chad spun around and carefully pulled a wire from a box.

“What are you doing?”

“Plausible deniability,” Morgan could practically hear the stupid smile in Chad’s voice, making them roll their eyes. They stood up, dropping the handcuffs and walking to the door. There weren’t any windows in the room they were in, so they would have to be much more careful. They punched Chad in the arm as they walked out, and switched their brain into what they called ‘stealth mode’. If Alex were here, Morgan knew how much the other villain would make fun of them, but they chose to ignore that thought and instead listened out for approaching footsteps. Silently, they moved throughout the halls, chest aching at being in their childhood home again. Not in the ‘wow I miss this’ way, but in a ‘thank god I’m never coming back’ kind of way. Their eye caught on the door to their sister’s room, and they slowly opened the door and entered the room, turning to see their sister staring at them, wide-eyed. Morgan held a finger to their lips, indicating she stay quiet, and she nodded, clearly confused but remaining silent. Morgan unlocked and opened the window to her room, slipping out and thanking every god that a) their parents still maintained the windows and b) their sister’s room was on the ground floor. 

They were also incredibly lucky that they remembered the location of their parents house, and they booked it for a while before they felt they could slow down. Panting, Morgan considered if they had used their powers this month. They furrowed their brows, thinking back to the past week or so and trying to figure out if they had teleported anyone to themself. At the realization that they hadn’t they sighed, again thanking the gods for the luck that they bestowed upon them today. Morgan snapped, and a frantic looking Alex appeared before them. Alex noticed them immediately, and they were quickly crushed in a hug from the S-Tier.

“What the fuck happened?” Alex pulled back, and Morgan had to hold back the instinctual whine at the loss of contact. Their day had been rough and they wanted some affection, okay?

“My parents,” They stated simply, and Alex’s gaze darkened. “Hey,” They pointed sternly at Alex, “Do Not Kill list.” Alex sighed, but xey still teleported the two to xeir Antarctic base. Morgan shivered at the change of temperature, “Why here?” 

“Morgan. You got kidnapped in your own apartment. We should probably not go back there, considering it’s the first place your family would look,” Alex stated simply. 

Morgan sighed, still shivering at the cold. I guess I really should’ve known better than to just have simple security systems. I honestly thought that I wasn’t ranked high enough for people to bother me, but I also didn’t think my parents would kidnap me, so I guess I’m just double stupid. As if xey could sense Morgan’s self loathing, Alex shrugged off xeir robe that xey had been wearing and draped it over Morgan. The shorter jumped in surprise, before slotting their arms through the sleeves. When they looked up, Alex was already walking off towards xeir living room. Morgan smiled softly, allowing themself to relax, and checked once again before slowly raising the robe to their face. It was soft, and clean, and it smelled exactly like Alex. 

Chapter Text

“JUST THROW THE FUCKING SHOES AWAY-“

“NO!” Morgan yelled at Alex, clutching their pair of ratty, red converse to their chest desperately. The S-Tier had been practically begging Morgan to trash the shoes for months, but they absolutely refused to get rid of them. It was the most comfortable pair of shoes they owned, and they had a weird emotional attachment to them. These were the only shoes that they ever wore outside of sidekick work for… god knows how long. These shoes (and Morgan) had been through some shit. If only Alex would understand that. 

“What if I get you a pair of the same kind? Huh-?” 

Morgan cuts xem off, “IT’S NOT THE SAAAMMMEEE!!” They pouted, feeling tears behind their eyes. Why can’t xey understand where I’m coming from? Even if xey don’t understand, can’t xey respect my choices? Frustrated tears began pooling in the corners of Morgan’s eyes, making Alex pause. Morgan took in a shaky breath, hoping that it would force back the tears. Please, I hate crying, this is so dumb to cry over- 

“Look, I don’t know why in hell you want to hold on to those shoes, but I’m not going to stop you. Do you genuinely not want to throw them out?” Alex’s voice was soft and gentle, backing away from Morgan at the sign of them becoming overwhelmed and frustrated. **Morgan took in a breath, shaking their head before curling up into a tight ball on the couch, arms holding their knees as close to their chest as possible. They kept their head tucked, trying to breathe and get rid of the tightness in their chest by taking in deep breaths. The tightness wouldn’t relent, and Morgan missed the shuffling of fabric as Alex settled down on the floor, in front of them but not close. Their hands gripped their sleeves, fiddling with the fabric as they kept trying to breathe, their shirt collar suddenly feeling too tight and the waist of their pants too high, as they could feel it on their skin, and they quickly pulled their collar away, shuffling their pants further down so they couldn’t feel the fabric on their stomach. A little of the tightness retreated, but they still felt as though someone was sitting on their chest. Gods I hate this. What was that-? Morgan’s head almost shot up, almost looking around frantically to decipher what the rustling noise they heard was, but they couldn’t bring themself to move at all, much less do all that. So they resigned themself to whatever stranger was in their apartment, before quickly reminding themself that they were in Alex’s lair. Meaning: they were completely safe. It’s so dumb that I get so worked up over something so stupid. I hate my brain. A heavy weight fell across Morgan’s shoulders, causing them to jump before they heard the sound of beads falling softly and realize that the pressure is their weighted blanket. Sighing, they wrap the blanket around themself the best they can while staying curled up, though the heavy weight does help to disperse more of the tightness in their chest. They lean to the side, falling horizontally onto the couch, and the weight of the blanket spreads more evenly over them.** Morgan can finally breathe, and while the tight feeling is still a little bit there, it’s not nearly as overpowering and consuming as it was before. Still sitting on the floor, Alex holds a concerned look on xeir face, brows furrowed and mouth pinched downwards as xey scan Morgan’s face. 

With their face buried in the blanket and the soft pillow on their couch, Morgan mumbles, “‘M okay now, ‘lex. Tea?” Alex hums in response, silently getting up and moving to the kitchen to boil water for tea. Clinking accompanied the soft noise of the stove being on, and Morgan buried themself deeper into the weighted blanket, curling up into a ball and breathing deeply. They could still feel their chest constricting, having the sense that something heavy sat on their chest, but it had lessened significantly since Alex plopped the blanket on them. Those meltdowns fucking suck- gods, my head hurts like a bitch from crying. Morgan heard Alex’s soft footsteps approaching the couch, and they heard the ding of a teacup set on the wooden coffee table, as well as another light noise of something set down. They cracked an eye open, noticing that Alex had drawn the curtains and turned off any sources of noise, making Morgan smile softly, especially when they noticed the cold water bottle sitting next to the cup of black tea that Alex made for them. Humming softly, they sat up, carefully reaching for the teacup and blowing on the surface lightly before taking a tentative sip. As soon as they tasted the tea and didn’t burn their tongue, Morgan breathed a sigh of contentment, snuggling further into the blanket. “Thanks Alex,” They mutter softly, voice only audible due to the combination of the silent lair and Alex’s superhearing, and Alex nods in response. Morgan missed the fond look etched across the S-Tier’s face as they take a sip of tea. 

The next day, Morgan felt utterly drained. The combination of the recent kidnapping orchestrated by their parents and the meltdown they held yesterday mixed into a solution of pure exhaustion towards Morgan. And unfortunately, with said pure exhaustion chasing Morgan down, the negative thoughts follow dutifully. While it’s not perfect, their mental health and general wellbeing have improved vastly since they escaped their abusive household, strict training regiment (if you can call it that; torture is more accurate), and constant self-deprecating thoughts. Now, they were doing something that they genuinely loved, something they found fun in and was able to be passionate about. But a changing circumstance and environment to be better isn’t going to get rid of Morgan’s mental illnesses. It took them a long time to get where they are, and that’s only with the help of Alex being as supportive as xey are. It’s not like Morgan can properly be diagnosed and medicated, or in therapy, since they’re a villain. Even if they’re a low ranking one, any psychiatrist within their right mind would call the cops instantly (though it wouldn’t do much, Alex could just bust them out).

So, while their general mental well-being is much better than before, Morgan still tends to have bad days (as everyone does). It’s just that the recent events have created a particularly bad day. A day bad enough to find them huddled under the weighted blanket on the couch in Alex’s lair, completely hidden from the world except for the top of their head and a small part of the blanket held up so they could breathe. A day that found them in comfy clothes, only because they couldn’t muster the energy to find anything else, so they simply rolled out of bed, seeking the stress relief that was the weighted blanket. **A day that found the scars on their hips and stomach aching, leaving them constantly aware of the clean lines that ran from their high-mid thigh to their waist. It had been a long time since it had been this bad, but Morgan couldn’t find it in themself to care. So instead they laid on the couch, hiding under a blanket, listening to the echoing repeat of self-loathing and suicidal thoughts.**

Alex was worried, to say the very least. Xey had watched as, after they were kidnapped and had a meltdown the next day, Morgan completely shut down. It wasn’t like xey hadn’t witnessed something similar before- xey had, multiple times. Sometimes, not frequently but it was by no means rare, Morgan would end up in a state similar to how they were now. Usually it wasn’t nearly as bad as this. They would usually grab the weighted blanket off the couch and stay in their room all day, only eating if Alex brought them something small, and they usually didn’t finish the entire meal. But… this was worse than Alex had ever seen. Morgan was completely unresponsive, and they were buried under the weighted blanket on the couch, the only visible part of them being the curly hair on the top of their head. They stayed like that for the entire day, and even the next morning, they were quiet. At least they’re eating and moving around now, Alex thought, humming under xeir breath. A quick snap of xeir fingers left the lair spotless, and Alex slumped onto the couch next to where Morgan was sitting, doing something that was likely heist related on their laptop. 

Suddenly, their hands stopped moving, though their fingers twitched slightly as they squinted at the wall in front of them, clearly thinking, “Alex.” 

Alex did not jump, thank you very much, but xey also were not expecting Morgan to speak, especially since they had been silent for over 24 hours. “Yeah?” Xey responded, cursing the slight crack in xeir voice.

“Do you happen to have a punching bag and a large room somewhere,” They said the sentence not as a question, but as a statement. 

Alex raised a perfectly shaped brow, “Uh… yeah, I think I have a room for my minions to train in. Why?”

“No reason,” Morgan said, their face and voice flat and completely apathetic, making Alex’s eyebrows bring xeir face from an amused expression to one of concern. The furrow in xeir brows only deepened as Morgan shut their laptop and stood, almost robotically, moving to do god knows what (probably find one of Alex’s minions to see where that room is).

Alex didn’t see them for the rest of the day, though xey saw one of xeir minions grab some water bottles from the kitchen and bring them to the room that Alex assumed held the workout equipment. After it had been a few hours, Alex asked one of the minions (there were really too many to remember their names, Alex didn’t know how Morgan did it) where the room was, following the directions and ending up outside a door that matched every other door in the lair. Xey stood there for a minute (or five), wondering about what Morgan had been doing there all day. Maybe they aren’t even in there anymore, it has been hours, after all. Shrugging, xey opened the door, and immediately realized that a) Morgan was still in there, b) Morgan had indeed spent the whole day in there, and c) holy shit Alex thought xey couldn’t fall any harder for Morgan but here xey are. A hand immediately shot to xeir face, covering the blush that was now covering xeir cheeks, though it did nothing to hide the red tips of xeir ears or the flush creeping down xeir neck. Morgan stood in only joggers, showing off their top surgery scars (something that only served to make them more attractive to Alex, but it also filled xem with a sense of happiness when xey remembered that xey were the reason Morgan could get it done in the first place), their hands wrapped in boxing tape as they jabbed at the punching bag, sweat rolling down their body. Their gaze was heavy, focused solely on the bag, and Alex could hear the heavy metal blasting from their headphones from where xey stood in the doorway. Xey continued to stand there, waiting for Morgan to notice xem, as they would rather not walk up to Morgan, startle them, and then have them break their hand trying to punch Alex. Morgan did jump when they noticed Alex, though they relaxed fairly quickly. They paused their music, and Alex noticed as they seemed taken aback by the silence of the room.

“Hey, what’s up?” They settled a hand on their hip, pulling their earbuds out and wiping their forehead.

Oh my god what fucking god allowed this shit, “Well, first of all, I wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“Oh, I’m doing good, feeling much better compared to yesterday,” Morgan said happily, throwing Alex off completely. It’s true, they did look a lot better already. Alex could see that the flush had come back to their skin (though that was probably a result of their working out), and the smile on their face didn’t seem forced. Xey raised a brow again subconsciously, “While that’s good, I also came in because you’ve been in here all day and it’s like, 7 pm.” 

Seemingly shocked, Morgan pulled their phone out of their pocket, almost flinching when they saw the time, “Holy shit it is- I genuinely thought it had only been an hour or two. Okay- lemme take a shower and I’ll make some dinner for us.” 

Morgan began to walk towards Alex, as xey were still standing in the doorway, but Alex caught their wrist as they moved to leave, “Hey, are you really okay?”

Morgan’s head turned towards them, their own eyebrow raised in an expression that screamed, ‘are you seriously asking me this question right now?’ “Fair enough- well I guess I more was wondering if you wanted to talk about whatever you’ve been thinking about?”

Xey watched as Morgan’s walls went up, their eyes turning cold and steely, the tension returning to their shoulders, but they still tried to play it off, “Nah, I’m good.”

Their arm tugged lightly, but Alex’s hand stayed in place, though xey knew xey couldn’t make xeir grip any tighter right now without crushing Morgan’s wrist, “Morgan, please, I've never seen you like that before, please talk to me.”

If someone were to tell Alex in this moment that Morgan’s power was turning to stone, xey would believe them wholeheartedly. Morgan’s face had gone completely still, flooded with apathy to the point where not even their eyes betrayed whatever they were thinking about, “Alex, I really don't feel like it-“

“Are you talking to anyone? Because I really don’t think it’s good for your mental health to isolate yourself after-“

“Yeah? My mental health? You’re one to fucking talk, huh?” Alex had to suppress a flinch at the tone of Morgan’s voice, cold and cruel to a point that Alex had never heard before. “Sure yeah, let’s talk about my mental health, Mx. I kill heroes on a daily basis in increasingly brutal ways because I have such a fucking god complex that I can’t find entertainment in anything else, even though killing heroes is just as boring to me. Real fucking funny coming from you huh?”

“Morgan-“

“Just fucking drop it, Alex. I don’t want you to preach to me about my mental health and coping strategies when you haven’t experienced anything I’ve gone through. You grew up with great parents who love you and supported you, you never had to face backlash from the people you care about because of your gender, you didn’t have to go through fucking 21 years of abuse from the people who were supposed to keep you safe from that, only to be saved when you were kidnapped by THE ONLY S-TIER VILLAIN!”

Having never heard this level of anger from Morgan, Alex was completely stunned silent, xeir mouth agape as xey stared at Morgan in shock. The D-Tier’s brows were furrowed, a grimace painting their face, and Alex couldn’t tell if it was from anger or regret over something they’d said. Though, Alex didn’t know why they’d regret it, because everything they said was true, so it was likely that Alex had just completely pissed them off. 

“Just- leave it alone.”

Alex ended up ordering takeout.