Work Text:
The lock clicked loudly in the quiet room before the safe swung open to reveal an abundance of glittering jewels. Morgan grinned to themselves as they carefully placed the treasures into their heist bag. Careful to keep in mind the alarm which was currently resetting and would sound in 3 minutes 27 seconds and counting. They finished collecting the loot and replaced it with a glitter bomb before closing the safe, leaving no other trace of their presence.
1 minute 15 seconds left.
Morgan sat in the middle of the dark office and waited.
They were impressed when time finally ran out and no loud alarm sounded, no bright lights flashed, absolutely nothing noticeable happened. Most places liked to have some loud obnoxious alarm that scared off any would-be thief, but a quiet alarm is what actually caught criminals. They set another mental timer for 2 minutes. This was the property of an influential politician, so they would send out at least a C tier hero instead of the cops. That meant it would take between 2 and a half to 3 minutes for them to get here. It was no fun if they didn’t have a chance to catch up.
Exactly 2 minutes later, they launched themselves out of the office and rushed towards the front door. Nothing like the excitement of a good chase to get the blood flowing. When they ripped open the door however, they came face to face with an angry looking hero who had arrived 20 seconds earlier than expected.
“Woah, you got here fast,” they laughed, “what, do you have some kinda speed power?” Morgan turned quickly on their heel and ran straight back into the hero. They looked back at the doorway and realized he now surrounded them on both sides.
“Ha, a duplication power, huh?” Morgan tried to stall as they began to plan their escape, “that’s pretty cool!”
Both versions of the hero reached for Morgan at the same time forcing them into action. It seemed that although he could duplicate, both versions had to move in the same direction. Morgan ducked under his arms and back into the house, hoping to get to the back door and escape. They were quickly stopped as clones of the hero filled the house and surrounded them.
As the hero closed in, Morgan lifted their hand to snap Alex into existence next to them. Like a cheat code in life, Morgan failed to escape but they always had an out. Alex constantly emphasized how happy they were to take care of any threat to defend Morgan. But a flood of doubt and self-loathing stopped them. How could they prove themselves as a villain, as a person if they can’t even escape a C tier hero with a lame duplication power. It would be better to get caught and earn their escape than to take the easy way out. They lowered their hand just in time to be tackled by the hero.
The hero was surprisingly quiet as he restrained them with power suppressing cuffs, usually this was a great time to give a spiel about justice and how this was for their better good. A familiar emptiness settled in their gut as they were led from the house to be escorted to prison. Worthlessness wasn’t a new feeling to them. They’d fought against self-loathing their entire life, fought their parent’s expectations of greatness, fought the disappointment in their “useless” power, fought to get recognition as a villain when everyone thought it was some rebellious phase, and even now they were only respected because Alex stood behind them.
Alex tried to insist it wasn’t true. That they had earned respect as an inventor and criminal because of their talents. But none of that mattered. Death traps that didn’t kill and puzzles and a little theft didn’t prove anything. Not when the scariest guard dog was a snap away and everyone pulled their punches to escape Alex’s wrath.
Morgan was escorted outside and shoved in the back of an unmarked van. They looked around to see the inside completely empty with only a small window looking into the cab. The door was latched behind them, and the hero jumped into the front seat without a word. They were struck with the realization that he hadn’t said a single thing the entire time. His costume, if you could even call it that, was flexible black armor and one of those stupid masks that only covered your eyes. An unmarked van also wasn’t standard police procedure, even if you were being sent directly to a high security place.
“So, I haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?” Morgan liked to get the heros talking, it helped when the person arresting you didn’t hate your guts. It had also been a huge benefit in several of their past escapes.
He glanced at Morgan through the rearview mirror before focusing back on the road without a word.
“Come on, you already caught me. You can drop this mysterious masked man bit,” something wasn’t right, and they were beginning to regret their decision not to summon Alex.
The hero slammed on the breaks throwing Morgan into the wall of the van before continuing on without even looking back.
“Right, okay, message received,” they shifted themselves so they were sitting back up and spent the rest of the drive planning escape options and cursing the man under their breath.
An hour later and Morgan was still sitting in the back of the van with seemingly no end in sight. This wasn’t an arrest. If Morgan was honest with themselves the clues were there since the beginning. He never announced his hero name or rank, didn’t actually arrest them or read their rights, they had basically been kidnapped directly from their robbery. Most likely, the owner of the house had hired some kind of private security and were taking care of things on their own. Morgan had come up with a decent escape plan during the ride, but they had to wait until the van doors opened.
When they finally stopped, Morgan prepared themselves to surprise their kidnapper and attempt an escape. The man finally turned in his seat to stare at Morgan, holding eye contact, he pushed an unseen button on the dashboard. Morgan began to panic as white gas filled the back of the van. They tried to hold their breath and activate their power through the cuffs, but it was pointless. They eventually had to take a breath and, as their vision clouded and blurred, the masked man finally smiled as Morgan collapsed to the floor.
Morgan jolted awake in a panic.
They were in a dark room handcuffed to a metal pole.
Their head was pounding, and they couldn’t think straight.
The last thing they remembered was a training session with Chad. Their parents had been testing their powers, trying to see if they could trigger another power to manifest or at least enhance the one Morgan had. Chad had been eager at first; he was thrilled at the prospect of Morgan gaining a power worthy of the Sterling family name.
Hours.
For hours Chad beat them to the brink of death.
Then mom would walk over, lay her hand on them, and heal all their wounds. Their dad stood quietly in the corner. Watching. As he had been the entire time.
Chad’s conscience had kicked in sometime during the second hour. Dad had made it clear this wouldn’t stop until Morgan became useful or died. The only difference would be if it was at Chad’s hand or his. In Morgan’s opinion it was an easy choice, but they respected Chad for continuing in spite of how much he didn’t want to.
It wasn’t working.
Chad was exhausted, Morgan was broken, and their dad was furious. He was growing tired of their weakness and now even Chad had failed him. Chad couldn’t, wouldn’t do enough to “fix” Morgan.
Another grueling round of beating and Chad finally broke, collapsing next to them, sobbing. Their dad had said nothing, simply walked over and shoved Chad out of the way.
Morgan looked up as their father finally unleashed hell upon them. Flames consumed them and all they could process was the sound of screams.
A wave of pain washed over Morgan, and they almost blacked out again.
Their mother must have healed their wounds, but she couldn’t remove the memory of the pain.
Looking around again, they struggled to understand where they were. Usually, they were confined to their bedroom when not in training or at a PR meeting, not some basement. Their failure in the training was likely the final straw. How long would they be kept down here, to rot alone?
Worthless.
Morgan stared ahead, trying to focus through the pounding in their head and numbness that had settled over them. Suddenly, the events of the past couple hours washed over them. They felt almost embarrassed by the memory and loosing themselves in the past. This wasn’t the time to reminisce. Morgan had let some unknown individual capture them and now they had to get out of this mess.
Morgan easily picked the handcuff and was now wandering around the room considering escape options. They had been unable to remove the power suppressing cuff on their ankle and the disorientating effects of whatever gas had been used were finally wearing off. Looking around, the room was almost completely empty except for the pipe they had been handcuffed to, a bucket, a light hanging from the ceiling, and a small, barred window in the heavy door. Honestly, that was more than enough to get out of this room so they were currently trying to find any monitoring devices to make sure their captor couldn’t hear them escape.
It wasn’t until they took off the light cover that they found the camera and microphone.
“Oh, there you are. Are you bringing food anytime soon? I’m hungry,” they were frustrated to get confirmation that they were being monitored, but it was to be expected.
Moments later their captor stepped in front of the window.
“Mr. Sterling. Welcome. My,” he paused, seeming to debate his next words, “employers are pleased to know you are settling in. And, apparently are as skilled an escape artist as your reputation implies.” His face showed no emotion, but Morgan got the impression that he was irritated at this discovery.
“Unfortunately, escape is not acceptable. We already had to limit your amenities, please, do not make me lock you in a dark empty room.”
“I’m not really seein’ any good ways out anyway,” they said already having decided on their escape route, “so these employers, I assume you have a reason for capturing me. What do you want?”
The man grinned, sinister and cold, “You have caused a lot of trouble for my employers. They have hired me to make sure you come to regret your actions. Rest up, Mr. Sterling.” He moved out of the view of the window and left them in silence.
That wasn’t the answer they’d been expecting. Usually, people captured them because Alex had murdered someone they cared about, or to manipulate their parents, or it was vigilantes taking on any low-level villains they could find, but this sounded like something different. They decided to hold off on an escape attempt for the moment, he was likely watching closely and would catch them instantly.
They weren’t sure how long it had been, but it was days before the man returned. Morgan was beginning to think they had been abandoned. Left to die of thirst or hunger. They had finally decided to try an escape when footsteps begin to echo down the long hallway.
It wasn’t long before he stood in the window, staring at Morgan with contempt.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Sterling. It is time for our first session. I understand you will be resistant, but I assure you, your cooperation will benefit you in the long term.” He tossed in a pair of restraints; a set Morgan knew would be impossible to escape quickly. “Put these on. Resistance will be punished.”
Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. Sure, they were at the mercy of this asshole, but they definitely weren’t going to cuff themselves.
“Very well,” he said before Morgan could even reply, and pulled a glass screen across the window before gas was pumped into the room. Morgan quickly sat down so they didn’t collapse and glared at the man as they were dragged into darkness.
They woke up feeling like they were forgetting something very important. Their head was pounding, and it felt like they were being suffocated under the weight of the pain and dizziness. They tried to sit up but quickly realized they were being held in a large chair, with solid cuffs restraining them. Morgan panicked. Had they been captured by some villain? Their parents would be so angry. They couldn’t just be a disappointment, they also had to be weak. They were debating what to do when a man moved in front of them.
“I told you that cooperation was in your best interest. The gas I use has unfortunate side effects, which I’m sure you are experiencing now. The physical symptoms are enough to ruin anyone’s day, but it really is the mental effects that get to people. I do hope in the future you will learn to be cooperative,” his professionalism was off putting.
“Do you know where you are?” He crouched in front of Morgan staring intently in their eyes.
Morgan glared back, refusing to cooperate. They were sure their parents were on their way, or maybe giving a press conference about how they would never let whoever took their dear, sweet Morgan get away with this. Whatever, they would show up to save the day soon enough.
The man rolled his eyes, reached to the table behind him, and spun back around to stab a knife in Morgan’s leg.
The pain was unexpected. Sharp and overwhelming. They were just able to hold in a scream as they forced themselves to look back at their captor.
“Impressive,” the man said as he pulled the knife from Morgan’s leg. They both looked down to the wound. Morgan was about to point out that this would be a short-lived means of interrogation. Instead, the man ran his finger over the wound and the bleeding stopped. The cut itself didn’t go away, the pain was fierce, but the bleeding was gone.
He smiled at Morgan again. “I am quite good at what I do. You needn’t worry about dying too soon. Now, do you remember me?”
“No,” they whispered between gritted teeth, “should I?”
“Hmm, I see. Well, worry not, you’ll remember me soon enough. Out of curiosity, how old are you?”
They sighed, resisting the urge to roll their eyes, but their mom had once told them that the best way to stay alive was to get their enemy talking. Humor them.
“I’m twelve,” as they said it, something felt off. “Twelve?” They asked themselves.
“Give it a couple of minutes, you’ll remember yourself. Unfortunately, I need to wait until then for us to proceed.” He stepped away and moved around the room cleaning, organizing, and every so often glancing over to Morgan, assessing them. He refused to answer any of their questions and so, they was forced to sit and wait.
Eventually their memories did return to them. Morgan hated that their captor could put them in such a vulnerable state. Return them to their childhood and the immense fear that came with it.
He noticed almost immediately that Morgan had recovered and strode over, checking over the stab wound he had inflicted.
“You handled that well, especially considering your mental state at the time. Makes one wonder what kind of home life leaves a child able to withstand that kind of pain,” He brought himself level with Morgan and stared in their eyes. They returned with a glare, refusing to show further weakness. Unfortunately, he flinched, when the man jammed the knife deep into Morgan’s side.
“You are here because of the trouble you have caused my employers. You have stolen from them, ruined numerous business dealings, and simply been a nuisance. They want you, let’s say, out of the picture,” He selected a small mallet off the table next to him. “Luckily for me they are vindictive and would like you to suffer before your departure. I will be providing that service until they are satisfied.”
“You seem awful certain of yourself. I’m not gonna to sit around and let you do what you want,” Morgan was angry and couldn’t help the fear that grew every moment they were in this man’s presence.
The man laughed, “Ahh yes, Morgan Sterling, D tier villain. Relatively untouched by heroes and fellow villains alike. Not because of their own prowess, but to avoid the attention of Alex. No one takes you seriously except in the context of them. You are an escape artist and a tinkerer, but you are no threat,” He grabbed Morgan’s chin and pulled them close. “I’m sorry to inform you that the S tier is uninterested in your disappearance. I have been observing them closely for months. You are a plaything to them, not worth even the energy it would take to look for you.”
He brought the mallet down hard on each of Morgan’s fingers. The snap audible in the quiet room as Morgan held in their screams and the man worked with a professional efficiency. Snap. They knew what he had said was wrong. Alex had shown up for them time and time again, saving them from numerous situations, making clear how important they were. Snap. But in this moment, the feeling of intense agony consuming them, it became harder and harder to hold onto that knowledge. Why would they care? Snap. Why expend even the slightest amount of energy on someone so pathetic? Snap. Snap. Snap.
They were brought back to reality when their captor finally pulled the knife out of their side with a twist. He quickly used his power to prevent Morgan from bleeding out but did nothing for the pain.
“Breaking of the hands is a fairly traditional punishment for thieves. I find it quite fitting.”
Morgan was moved back into their prison to sit with the reality of their situation. This man had at least two powers they had seen and who knows how many more. Their hands were now broken. Both times they were moved, no escape could be seen. Doubt had sunk in. They were skilled, but also realistic. They weren’t escaping alone unless he got careless.
He didn’t get careless. The man was a professional, sadistic and creative, but professional.
Morgan had trouble keeping track of time down here. They were getting fed regularly now, but a combination of whatever they were being drugged with and constant torture meant they had no idea how long it had been.
Their only pleasure came from the fact that their captor never got the response he wanted out of them. Morgan was used to it. The pain was a familiar companion, and it was easy enough to compartmentalize.
It was getting on their captor’s nerves. This was a job to him, and they were just holding things up. They had to get wins wherever they could. They heard a familiar hissing sound above them in their prison. It was the gas getting pumped into their room. They waited for darkness to consume them.
Morgan awoke strapped to a chair. Something felt familiar about it, but everything was still foggy in their mind. Pain radiated from every identifiable point on their body. It was almost overwhelming.
They looked around, wondering if this was another experiment of their father’s. He had tried so many different things to “uncover Morgan’s true power.” Unable to accept that there was nothing else to them. It wouldn’t be unreasonable, whatever this was.
They were left to sit there, until their memories finally came back, and they remembered their plight. Their captor returned.
“You really do have the timing on that down to a science, huh?” As always trying to get some conversation going. At this rate they were going to die of boredom before anything else.
“We are going to do something a little different today. Experiment with something I believe will have a more impactful effect,” he pulled over a TV on a metal cart and began to set up a video.
“Finally, I’ve been gettin’ bored with the same ol’ same ol’ stuff you’ve had going,” they weren’t sure what was happening, but watching some TV sounded better than getting stabbed, or burned, or waterboarded, or any of the other things he’d done.
“You know, I really had expected someone to come looking for you at some point. I knew Alex would be too distracted by their own interests, but you have other friends. Those heroes, both pretty low tier if I’m not mistaken. I thought they would come searching,” he played the video and Morgan saw camera feed of the familiar apartment of their best friend. “Turned out I had to go find them myself.”
Morgan wanted to retort, find some sassy response that would hide all the pain, exhaustion, and fear they felt, but they couldn’t do anything but stare. Barnaby was sitting on the couch working on some puzzle in his book. There was no sound, but Ohio kept walking into and out of the shot and whatever he was saying was making Barnaby’s face light up with joy. Finally, Ohio settled on the couch next to Barnaby, handing him a cup of what they assumed was tea and leaning his head on Barnaby’s shoulder.
Dread was filling their heart. They doubted this man would go out of his way to record a pleasant scene of their friends as some kind of reprieve. The peace didn’t last long.
Barnaby and Ohio startled, glancing off screen at something. Barnaby stood quickly, positioning himself in front of Ohio, yelling at whatever had caught their attention. They were quickly surrounded, much the same way Morgan had been when they were captured, and subdued with some kind of injection before Barnaby could take action.
The screen flashed and now the living room was cleared except for two chairs facing each other with Barnaby and Ohio just regaining consciousness. He addressed Ohio first. Unlike during Morgan’s “sessions,” he didn’t stop the bleeding. He carved into Ohio, ignoring Barnaby’s cries.
It didn’t take long. It took entirely too long.
When he turned to Barnaby, bloody and ravenous, Morgan began to scream.
They emptied their lungs and shredded their throat screaming in rage and guilt.
They knew it was too late, far too late.
Morgan wanted to look away, turn away from the gory scene, but they couldn’t. It felt like they owed this to Barnaby and Ohio. A witness to the horror they experienced. Finally, Barnaby stilled, and he stepped away.
The murderous rage that filled them was almost too much to bear as they turned towards their captor. Whatever they were going to say was lost when the man opened his hand to show two gold rings.
The ceremony had been simple, just their families and some close friends. Morgan had been Barnaby’s best man; they had cried together with joy as Barnaby prepared to marry the love of his life. Listening to their vows, watching Alex hold back happy tears as they stood next to Ohio, it was one of the best days of their life.
“It’s quite unfortunate, I don’t particularly like killing outside the job. But you were a tough one to break, though apparently quite sentimental,” he slid the rings onto two of Morgan’s shattered fingers. “Maybe if you had been less of a nuisance. Maybe if you had some actual power. Maybe if you had actually summoned Alex that day I captured you, they would still be alive.”
Morgan gasped and pulled their eyes away from the rings to stare.
“Yes, I know you could have summoned them that day. What was it? Did you think you could handle it on your own? Whatever it was, it was a mistake.”
He walked out of the room, leaving Morgan alone with the rings and the now paused image of the aftermath on the screen.
“They’re dead. Everyone’s dead. They’re dead because of me.”
If questioned, they couldn’t have told you what happened next. They sat in that room for hours, staring at the screen, willing them to wake up. They didn’t.
Eventually, Morgan was moved back to their room and left there.
It was an impossible amount of time later when Morgan pulled themselves from their stupor. They felt listless. Nothing else mattered now. Not when they were the reason Barnaby and Ohio were dead. He was right. Morgan had given themselves up, a ridiculous mix of self-loathing and arrogance convincing them to surrender.
And now they were dead.
Their captor should just kill them now. There was nothing else they could do that would hurt and their wounds hadn’t been properly healed last time. It wouldn’t be long now. Besides, Alex wasn’t a target as it was clear by now that he was too scared of Alex to get close. Probably a good call.
Alex. Where were they? Morgan could admit that they were a little hurt that Alex didn’t even notice they were gone. Alex was always going on about how they would be there if Morgan needed, that they would protect them. The thought that Barnaby and Ohio would still be alive if they had bothered to check flickered through their mind, and was promptly discarded. Only two people held blame for that. Their kidnapper who had committed the act and Morgan.
Speak of the devil.
They heard footsteps coming towards them. Perhaps for another session, hopefully to just end it. It didn’t really matter. All the torture and stress and pain was catching up to them. Their vision was swimming and realistically they wouldn’t be able to take much more.
When the shadow appeared in the window, they sunk into the pain and oblivion.
Morgan found themselves being dragged back into consciousness by someone muttering in their ear. They couldn’t focus on the words through the haze and was pulled back into darkness before they could resist.
The next time they found themselves awake it was quiet. The only thing they could feel through the numbness in their body was a heavy weight on their arm. It took some effort, but they were able to force their eyes open to look.
They nearly flung themselves out of the bed they were laying on, startling their guest. Barnaby sat up in shock, clearly having been awoken by Morgan’s quick movement.
“M- M- Morgan,” he whispered, breathing out the tension he’d been holding. “Oh, what a r- relief. Do y- you need any anything? Some water?” He had already stood up and walked across the room to grab a cup when he noticed the fear in Morgan’s eyes.
“You. You. Are. Dead.” Morgan had dragged themselves the rest of the way out of bed and was watching him intently.
“I- uh, I a- assure y- you, you I am n- n- not,” Barnaby struggled as he carefully moved towards Morgan.
“NO!” their eyes filled with tears, “stay back, please.” They couldn’t help the whine that escaped them as they watched Barnaby take a step back. The urge to hold Barnaby and never let him go overpowered by the knowledge that this couldn’t be real.
“O- Okay. Do y- you want me to call A- Alex?” he seemed sincere, but this was some kind of trick. A trap. Make them hope only to rip it away again. On the other hand, their power suppressing cuffs were finally off.
They snapped.
“Ahh! Morgan! Th- they were in th- the k- kitchen since O- Ohio, Ohio finally convinced them to e- eat, you di- did- didn’t need to do that,” Barnaby had turned bright red and quickly handed Alex a blanket.
Morgan didn’t register anything he had said, only staring at Alex in shock. They hadn’t expected that to work for some reason. But there was Alex, looking at them with a frantic concern they had never seen before. They were saying something Morgan couldn’t hear over the blood rushing in their ears. They blacked out before their body even hit the floor.
Morgan was growing tired of waking up with their head in a fog, unaware of their surroundings, roused by growing pain in their body. They tried to force themselves up but moving was hard and they were drifting.
“O- oh! Okay. Y- you’re waking u- up, up again. I’ll get A- Alex,” Morgan barely processed the words before hearing a door shut gently, and then it was quiet.
For a moment, Morgan lay basking in the silence as they tried to focus on their surroundings. Their memories were a jumble, and it was a struggle to work through their thoughts. They were pulled into the present when they heard the door slowly open, and someone step inside.
“Morgan? Barnaby said you were waking up,” Alex sounded quieter and more subdued than they had ever heard. As much as they wanted to answer, a weight had settled into their bones, and it was too hard to move.
“I-,” there was a deep sigh and they heard Alex slump heavily into a chair near them. “You need to be okay. You need to wake up.”
And Morgan tried, they really did. It felt like they were trapped inside their exhaustion and mind.
“Barnaby said that yesterday when you woke up, you looked afraid and were insisting he wasn’t alive. That when he mentioned Ohio, your face went white. And then you summoned me and collapsed. You must be so angry at me, that I didn’t,” their words were cut off by a choked sob. “That I didn’t save you in time. I let that man torture you for a month before Barnaby finally came looking for you. I just. I just thought you had disappeared on some adventure, or heist, or something. That you would send me some encoded postcard in a month and reappear at some point.”
Morgan felt Alex grab their hand, holding on even as they continued to cry. It took so much effort, but they managed to squeeze their hand back and force their eyes open.
“Alex, are you really here?” It was hard to get the words out, but this was important.
“Morgan! Yes, I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Barnaby is he, and Ohio?”
“They’re somewhere in the apartment, I can go get them if you want?” Alex was looking at them with such concern and the safe warmth of Alex’s company was a relief.
“He didn’t kill them?”
A look of understanding and rage passed over Alex’s face even as they replied gently.
“No. I promise you that what he showed you was a lie. When I found you, I had to understand what he had done. You know me, normally I would have just obliterated him, but not without knowing what you had gone through. I found the tape,” Alex stood releasing their grip and began pacing around the room. Morgan recognized the way they fidgeted as what they did when their emotions got the best of them and their powers felt uncontrollable.
“That bastard! He spent a lot of time making it look convincing, but I swear to you he never went anywhere near Barnaby and Ohio,” Alex looked back at them and grabbed the gold rings off the nightstand that the man had given them. “Even these are just really good replicas of their rings. He was dedicated to tricking you, but he didn’t hurt them.”
The relief that flowed through Morgan was overwhelming and they couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Alex took a tentative step towards them before stopping, obviously unsure.
“Alex, thank you,” after everything that happened, they were finally safe.
Their face darkened, “I failed you. I let you get hurt. Thank Barnaby for being the one to notice.” They hesitated before continuing. “He recorded all of your ‘sessions.’ You let yourself be captured because you were tired of me always being there. Tired of me not letting you handle all your battles and people not giving you the respect you deserve because of me. And now,” they cut themselves off as another sob escaped.
“Alex,” they almost wanted to laugh at how absurdly wrong they had gotten this. “I let myself be captured because I felt like a failure. Like I couldn’t handle my own shit and you had to waste your energy on some stupid D Tier. Clearly, I can’t handle it. I was captured and helpless and that’s not your fault, it’s mine.” Morgan felt shame wash over themselves at the admission. Barnaby and Ohio may be safe, but if something had happened it would have been their fault. The only reason that asshole hadn’t done anything was because they feared Alex. They didn’t deserve to have everyone worrying over them, not when they had done this to themselves.
“Don’t you dare,” Alex’s face flashed with anger and sadness and something else Morgan couldn’t identify. “Don’t you dare suggest my friendship with you is a waste.”
Alex began pacing the room again, trying to reign in their emotions.
“You! You matter to me so much and none of it has anything to do with your rank or powers or anything other than you. Morgan, when have you ever known me to put up with someone I didn’t want to be around? I choose to be here, and you know what, so do Barnaby and Ohio,” Alex finally stopped pacing, facing away from them.
“I- Alex, he,” they couldn’t seem to get the words out. All that time they had been captured, he had spent the entire time tearing down Morgan’s confidence and convincing them they were useless. They looked around the room trying to think. Their room had been transformed into a makeshift hospital, filled with all kinds of quietly beeping machines. They could feel the effects of whatever painkillers they were on and every part of their body they could see was covered in scars from the torture.
“He tortured me every day. Told me no one was ever coming for me and that you didn’t care I was gone,” they were struggling to hold back tears. “I don’t deserve any of you.”
“Morgan. You need to listen to me! Morgan, look at me! I love you. I love you more than anything else in this universe. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Every time I look at you- I, you remind me that I’m human,” Alex had closed the distance between them, their expression unreadable. “I can never apologize enough that I took so long to get to you. But I will do whatever it takes to show you that you are loved and worth it.”
“You, love me?” the pain killers must be messing with their head. Maybe all the times they were drugged caused some permanent damage. Maybe they were in a coma, and this was some crazed dream.
Alex’s hand on their cheek grounded them. They were sitting in the chair next to their bed, looking softly at them.
“I love you more than anything. It shouldn’t have taken almost losing you to find the courage to tell you. And, to be honest, I’m not expecting you to feel the same way, but I can’t have you thinking I don’t want to be here.”
“Are you serious? Alex, how could you not know,” Morgan almost laughed at the idea that Alex could have missed it. They smiled as they pulled Alex into a kiss. It didn’t fix everything, but Alex was hope to them.