Chapter Text
Under her treasured position as Scoops’ beta reader for the Daily Rag, Becky had read a lot of disconcerting articles. Absurd tabloid-esque headlines that were a poorly concealed attempt to drive more attention to the school newspaper plagued his first drafts, and Becky often had to be the bearer of the bad news that they would most likely drive the wrong type of attention. She had gotten used to it, for the most part. After the article entitled, ‘Does Canada really exist?’ she had effectively become immune to any shock caused by the articles in her inbox.
Or she had thought she was, anyway. But there she was, sitting in her last class of the school day, as she stared in complete and utter horror at her laptop and the PDF she had just been sent.
The front page, in giant, bold, almost-mocking letters, read, ‘Wordgirl Secretly Dating Rival Tobey McCallister??? This Real Life Enemies to Lovers Story Will Warm Your Heart.’
She gagged.
That would have been bad enough on its own, but surrounding the page were pictures of herself and Tobey doing various leisurely activities together. Nearly all of them seemed to be from the day a few weeks ago when Tobey had lied to her about not having a remote tracker in order to take her out on his own twisted idea of a date. A picture of them getting ice cream together, a photo of them standing next to each other in an art museum, but the worst offender had to be the photo of them holding hands on the swings that took center stage on the cover. She didn’t even want to know how he got those, but she decided to worry about that later. The pictures did look romantic when taken out of context like that, and that was the worst part of it all. None of the images had been photoshopped, and without knowing the full story someone could easily believe that the cover was telling the truth.
This was not real. It couldn’t be. This was not happening to her, this was just some cruel trick her eyes were playing on her. Becky blinked, squeezing her eyes shut for a few seconds, but when she opened them the horrible sight in front of her remained unchanged.
Against her better judgment, she scrolled down to the actual article. Becky couldn’t bring herself to actually read the full thing, which was saying something considering reading was, like, her entire brand. She could only manage to skim the first few sentences before shutting her laptop in horror. Apparently, Scoops had interviewed Tobey about the pictures he had taken, and Tobey had “confirmed” his suspicions that they were a couple. Because of course he had, the little shit. The article further elaborated on what their “relationship” was like, according to Tobey, but she couldn’t bring herself to finish it.
This could not be real.
She supposed there were worse circumstances to be in, Becky convinced herself as she tried to look on the bright side of things. She had never been more grateful for being Scoops’ best friend, because at least she was in a position to tell him not to publish this article. Because if this went up, people would think her alter ego was dating Tobey. Tobey, of all people ! She would rather be burned alive in a pit of acid than even think about such a thing, and to have the entire city under the impression that it was the truth? She couldn’t let that happen.
The bell to end the school day rang, snapping Becky out of her stupor. Thank god , the sooner she could get to Scoops and tell him not to publish this monstrosity the better. She shoved her laptop in her backpack and walked to the door faster than she ever had. She made her way to the exit Scoops always waited for her near, and, as expected, a familiar face greeted her.
“Hey Becky!” He smiled innocently, as if he hadn’t just sent her the worst article she had ever had the displeasure of reading. “Did you see the draft I sent you? Do you think it’s good to print?”
“About that, actually.” How could she put this without using several profanities directed at Tobey? Hm. “I, uh, noticed your article about Wordgirl.”
“Oh, you did?” Scoops beamed. “It’s a breakthrough story, and I’m the first to report on it! This’ll get people to pay attention to The Daily Rag for sure this time!” He seemed so proud of himself that for a split second, Becky almost didn’t want to voice her overwhelming concerns about the article in question.
But then she immediately remembered that if she didn’t, the entire city would think she was dating Tobey, and her sympathy was immediately squashed.
“That’s, uh, great, Scoops. I kind of had an issue with it, though.” ‘An issue’ was certainly underselling it, but she couldn’t risk her identity being discovered by letting her anger get the better of her. If Scoops ended up finding out her identity through something as impossibly stupid as this, she would never live it down.
“Oh? What’s that?” She tried to speak, but Scoops cut her off. “Did I not use enough romantic language? Should I have added more cute art to the side? Since this is the special Valentine’s Issue, after all.” It was ? That made this even worse, somehow.
“No, trust me, you definitely used enough romantic language.” The opening sentence referred to them as a ‘power couple,’ and Becky nearly physically recoiled just thinking about it. “My issue is that mayyybe interviewing a villain isn’t the best source of information? You know Tobey, you know how…” try not to use profanity, try not to use profanity, try not to use profanity. “ Tobey-like he can be.” Scoops looked to be considering her input for a brief moment, but quickly offered his rebuttal.
“I considered that too, but have you seen those pictures? I’m the one who took them, and those two were clearly on a date. It was pretty obvious.” Apparently she hadn’t managed to hold back her disappointed sigh, because Scoops looked at her with concern. “What’s wrong, Becks? I thought the article was pretty good.”
“I’m just saying that you should probably get Wordgirl’s own statement about all of this. We both know her, it couldn’t be too hard to ask her for a quick interview so she can disprove this whole thing.” Trust her, she was more than willing to spend hours giving an interview if that’s what it took to prevent this abomination from getting published.
“I was going to do that.” Really? Becky felt a massive weight lift off her chest. “In next week’s issue.” Oh. Great. “Did you read the bottom where I promised an article on Wordgirl’s perspective next week? That way, people will actually read the paper! Twice!” Scoops smiled once more, clearly proud of his work.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She reasoned, praying that her point would make enough sense for Scoops to reconsider. “What if when you interview her next week, she says that Tobey lied? Then people will feel cheated, and they’ll look down on you as a journalist.” Becky crossed her fingers.
“I guess you’re right.” Thank god. She let out a misguided sigh of relief, before having her hopes crushed. “So I’ll add the word ‘allegedly’ to the title. There, problem solved.” Becky forced a smile to her face, trying (and failing) to hide her frustration. She thought for a moment on how else to reasonably convince him that this was a horrible idea, but her mind fell blank. Scoops tended to be very imperturbable when it came to his articles, and it didn’t seem that they were on the same page in the slightest. But she couldn’t just give up, of course, because her entire dignity was on the line. So what could she do? Delete the file behind his back? No, that was too mean, even for the situation at hand. ‘Coincidentally’ find Scoops as Wordgirl and let him interview her? No, that could risk her identity, and he’d still probably end up publishing it next week. Her mind ran through possible solutions, but only one stuck out to her as having any sort of change of reasonably working.
She would have to go see Tobey.
As much as she didn’t want to, it seemed to be the only way of getting this stupid myth cleared up. She could threaten to call his mom or something equally convincing, get Tobey to tell Scoops that he’d lied for his own gain, and put this all to rest. She could not believe this was how she was going to be spending her Friday afternoon, but at least it was better than being Fair City’s ‘Real Life Enemies to Lovers.’
“This was a very, um… helpful chat, Scoops. But I have to go. I just remembered that I need to finish a history project, and I wanna make sure I have enough time to get it done.” That wasn’t technically a lie— She did have a history project she needed to finish, but she planned on procrastinating it until the last minute like she did with most things.
“Alright, have fun! Thanks again for looking over the paper, I don’t know what I would do without you.” Her either, because if she wasn’t Scoops’ beta reader then this thing would have been printed and distributed without a second thought.
“Seeya, Scoops!” Becky tried her best not to look like she was going to explode as she made her way out of the school and behind her favorite conveniently large enough bush. She hid her backpack in the bush momentarily, so as not to accidentally identify herself, then frustratedly mumbled her catchphrase to herself as took off into the Fair City skyline. She flew towards the McCallister household, a place that she had become unfortunately very familiar with, and waited in the skies for a certain ‘genius’ to arrive home. As much as she wanted to simply fly in through his window and immediately corner him upon entering his room, breaking and entering without an actual crime occurring probably went against what she was supposed to do as a hero. So she waited, very impatiently, until she heard a doorknob turn and a door creak open.
“ Tobey.” She scolded, flying in immediately. Tobey jumped, stumbling backwards and almost falling over. Becky suppressed her laughter.
“Ah! H-Hello, Wordgirl.” Wow, seeing him this caught off-guard was actually somewhat fun. She ought to do this more often. “To what do I, um, owe the pleasure?”
“Do you mind telling me why you told Scoops that we were dating in that interview?” Tobey’s look of pure shock quickly turned to that stupid mischievous grin he wore so often. Becky wasn’t entirely sure where this was going, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.
“I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me, could I?” Yep, just as annoying as she anticipated. As much as she’d love to have another one of their surprisingly common drawn out squabbles, her main priority was to get this whole thing figured out before it was too late. So, she got straight to the point.
“Look, I don’t really have the time or energy to deal with this right now. So either you tell Scoops that you lied, or I could just call your mom and tell her that you’ve been spreading rumors for your own personal gain. It’s your call.” Immediately, Tobey’s expression changed, but not to the one of fear she had anticipated. Instead he just looked dejected, as if she’d just broken his heart. Becky knew she shouldn’t have cared. She knew that this was his own fault, and she knew that he knew that as well. But despite all logic, she couldn’t help feeling empathetic for him.
“We don’t have to be so hasty, do we?” He went back to smiling, but it looked to be forced. “Since you’re already here, would you care for some tea? Or perhaps a sc—”
“ Tobey .”
“Right, sorry.” He looked down in thought for a moment, and Becky preemptively prepared herself for whatever awful thing she was going to have to deal with. A fight, most likely, though that would probably be easier than trying to reason with him. “I suppose you’re right,” he said after a while, looking back up at her with a serious expression.
“Huh?” She couldn't help her knee jerk reaction. Tobey? Admitting that she was right? That didn’t happen often at all. And he didn’t sound like he was being sarcastic, either, which put her a bit on edge.
“Spreading misinformation surely won’t get me the attention I deserve. I’m deeply sorry for not having considered this before.” Okay, who was this and what had he done with Tobey!? As deeply as this unsettled her, she decided not to push it and to quit while she was ahead.
“Uh… thanks?” Tobey smiled at her. Again, a genuine smile without the typical mischievousness that followed him everywhere. Weird. “So you’ll talk to Scoops, then?”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I have another solution.” Ah, there it was. There was her Tobey, always being unimaginably frustrating to deal with. His stupid arrogant smirk returned along with his nature, and Becky knew she was in for a whole world of pain.
Not physical pain, of course. Just the mental and emotional pain of her dealing with him for an extended period of time.
“I’m going to preemptively veto whatever your idea is.” Tobey looked offended, as to be expected.
“Wow, you’re not even willing to hear me out? Some superhero you are.” He huffed, and Becky reluctantly agreed. Not because she actually wanted to hear whatever his stupid plan was, of course, but because she doubted she would get any further with this unless she listened to him.
“ Fine, what’s your idea?” Now that the words had left her mouth, Becky had to admit that she was morbidly curious. She was near certain that it wouldn’t be an idea that she’d accept, of course, but she hoped it would at least be ridiculous enough for her to laugh at.
“So your issue about my interview was that it was spreading misinformation, correct?” Becky nodded, cautiously. She had a sneaking suspicion that she was backing herself into a corner, but she couldn’t think of any other way to respond. “Well, what if we made it so that it wasn’t misinformation anymore?”
“Huh?” The words left her mouth mere seconds before she realized what he had implied.
Oh my god.
Tobey had never been particularly secretive about his crush on her. Well, he tried to be, but he was never any good at it. But he had never been this direct about it, and it caught her more off-guard than she was willing to admit.
“I’m saying that if you were to consent to this article being published and play along, it would no longer be misinformation.” The way Tobey spoke was as if he was deliberately pouring salt in her wound. “Maybe we wouldn’t be the best fit for each other if you can’t even pick up on small implications like that.” Before she had the chance to sigh in relief and agree, Tobey immediately followed himself up. “Ah, nevermind that. I still think we’d be a lovely fake couple.”
“ No. ” Becky’s response was loud and fast. She felt like a kindergartener that was convinced the opposite gender had cooties, but how could she not? It was Tobey, and he had just essentially asked her out. Well, kind of. Fairly directly, as well. She felt an (admittedly, very small) amount of guilt flood through her as she rejected him, but her answer stood firm.
“I see.” He seemed dejected once more, as if he hadn’t actually anticipated that response. Did he actually expect her to accept his offer? Now her slight guilt turned into a moderate amount of guilt. Poor guy.
“Uh, sorry.” It was as if her mouth spoke for her. She shouldn’t have felt bad, he was a villain! Last week he got suspended for trying to burn down the school gymnasium! Why did she feel so much sympathy for him??? “I’m sure you’re a nice guy and all, but, well, you know. That wouldn’t be very good for my public image.” She didn’t want to elaborate any further. In fact, she really didn’t wish to continue this conversation any further at all. Tobey’s sad expression was starting to get to her, and she wanted to get away from him before she started to feel as if it were her fault.
“This is about the whole ‘evil genius’ thing, isn’t it?” Becky nodded, worrying that she was once again backing herself into a corner. “I see.” Tobey shifted his eyes around the room, lost in thought. He froze in place for a worryingly long time, and just when Becky was about to ask if he was okay, he piped up again. “I propose you a deal, then.” His voice sounded much more genuine than it usually did, and there was a look of nervousness on his face. It wasn’t the Tobey she was used to, and truly felt she could trust him just this once.
“What did you have in mind?” Tobey looked her in the eyes, then shifted them back to the ground. It was rare to see him this nervous, and she truly wondered what he had planned.
“I’ll quit being a villain.” What? Her jaw nearly hit the floor. “ If you agree to this.” He didn’t have to explicitly state if; she knew immediately what he was referring to.
Becky was, quite simply, frozen with shock. Over all of this. Over Tobey being that upfront about his crush on her, over Tobey offering to quit his villainous activities all-together, but most of all, over her realization that she would have to make this seemingly impossible choice. This wasn’t like Tobey. She felt unnerved, and could barely believe the situation she found herself in. Her immediate gut reaction was to assume that he was lying. To assume that this was a trap, and that he would go back to being himself immediately after she let the article get published.
But the way he looked at her was too genuine for her to believe that.
Becky had known Tobey for most of her life. And she had, to an extent, learned his facial expressions and mannerisms. And deep in her heart, as hard as it was for her to believe, she could tell that he wasn’t lying.
“That’s…” She took a deep breath in and out. She was still completely baffled by everything that had just occurred, but she had to force something out of her mouth. “That’s very unlike you, Tobey. How can I be sure you’re telling the truth?” Tobey looked offended for a brief moment, before forcing his composure. He took a deep breath in and out, then reached over to grab something from his desk.
“Here.” He held the object out at her, and she noticed it was one of his robot master remotes. “It takes me about a month to build one of these that works well enough to use consistently. I’ll give this to you.” Becky reached out to grab it from his hands, but he quickly pulled it back. “ If you let this article get published.” Pushing aside the question of why he was so desperate to get it published in the first place, and why he was so willing to give up his life’s work over something so trivial, Becky lost herself in her thoughts. She wanted to push further, she wanted to figure out why he was doing all of this, but she forced her mouth shut. She needed to focus on one thing at a time, and worried that overwhelming Tobey with questions would make him change his mind.
Becky weighed her options carefully. She could either sacrifice some of her dignity and let the media think she and Tobey were a thing (ew), or allow him to continue being a criminal. Both options didn’t seem particularly appealing, but she would have to choose one of them regardless. She debated her choices with herself for a long while, almost completely at a loss. She didn’t want the entire city thinking she was dating Tobey, (Tobey! Of all people!) but if that’s all it took to rehabilitate him, then was it worth it? But she didn’t owe him anything at all. So really, she should focus on what was best for her. But the problem was that she didn’t know, and no amount of mental pro/con lists could help her.
“Wordgirl?” Tobey asked her after god knows how long, sounding more polite than usual.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking.” Was this worth it? Would he really go back on all these years of work over something as trivial as a newspaper article? Were there underlying motives to this that she wasn’t aware of? So many questions plagued her mind that it felt impossible to choose an answer. She wished she had a coin to toss, because at least that would stray her in the direction of a choice.
“Have you, uh, decided?” He smiled at her, sheepishly.
“No, I haven’t. You kind of caught me off-guard.” Would anyone really read the newspaper? Would this affect her life as Becky, or just her life as Wordgirl? Why was this such a difficult question???
“Yes, I realize that now. I sincerely apologize for giving you such a sudden dilemma.” Again, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. This was borderline uncanny, and Becky wondered what had caused him to drop his typical persona so quickly. Did he really have that strong of a crush on her? That was kind of cute, actually. After a few more moments of futile attempts at coming to a decision, Becky decided to say what she should’ve from the start.
“I need time. You’ll know what my choice is from the cover of the school newspaper tomorrow.” Although she was only delaying the inevitable decision, Becky still felt a massive weight lift off of her chest.
“Oh. Okay, then.” Tobey didn’t seem to have anticipated that response, but he didn’t necessarily seem too upset. “I'll see you tomorrow, then. Hopefully.”
“Seeya, Tobey.” And Becky flew off back into the sky. She quickly retrieved her belongings and returned back home, and she had a suspicion that this was going to be a long night.
—————
9:47PM.
Becky stared at the clock at the bottom of her illuminated laptop screen.
It was 9:47PM, and she still hadn’t come to a decision. On her desk sat an open notepad document of pros and cons of each choice, starting with the obvious and reasonable, and turning more and more outlandish the further she scrolled down.
She switched tabs. In her files sat the cover Scoops had designed. The one that originally filled her with so much fear now filled her with a strange sense of belonging that she couldn't for the life of her explain. The photos of herself and Tobey together didn’t make her feel disgusted or frustrated as they did before, instead making her feel hopeful. Hopeful that, if she decided to take Tobey’s offer, they could get to know each other as actual friends instead of enemies.
But, for that to happen she’d have to “date” Tobey. Date in quotes, of course, because it wasn’t actually dating. Unfortunately, because if his proposal involved the two of them actually being in a relationship her decision would have been immediate ‘absolutely not.’ But it didn’t, so she had to debate with herself for hours on end.
Buzz. Oh, had someone texted her? She was glad to have something to do unrelated to this stupid situation.
Scoopsy: Hey, so I was thinking and I think you might be right. Publishing this article isn’t worth risking my integrity as a journalist. I’m gonna go ahead and find a new headline.
Oh. Well, she guessed this was just her life now. Becky typed out a vague message supporting his decision, deciding to just go along with Scoops to save herself the agony of drawing out this dilemma any longer, but looked at her laptop screen once more out of the corner of her eye.
Her and Tobey getting ice cream. Her and Tobey at the art museum. Her and Tobey holding hands.
Before she even knew what she was doing, there was a message typed out on her screen.
‘No, it’s okay. Go ahead and publish it.’
She stared at her screen in disbelief. Had those photos really influenced her that much? But she didn’t think for long, pressing the send button as soon as she could. She let out a massive sigh of relief that this was finally over with , and decided to worry about the consequences later.
Scoopsy: Are you sure?
‘Yeah. It’s a great article. I changed my mind.’ Becky didn’t even look at the send button before she pressed it once again. She wasn’t sure if she had made the right decision or not, but she felt she would know in due time.
Scoopsy: Okay thanks beckbecks, I’ll have it published tomorrow.
‘Okay, sounds great.’
Becky shut her laptop and threw her phone on her nightstand, exhausted. She wasn’t sure what the future held, but she was certain it would be interesting, to say the least.