Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Fernando’s never been like other boys. His parents always told him he was special, their miracle baby when they thought having a child of their own was impossible. most children hear that storks brought them when they ask where they came from, but Fernando heard tales of the stars gifting his parents with him, of finding him in a burning field, abandoned by fate to be taken in by a couple who wanted nothing more than a child of their own. He had always been strong and fast, golden blond in the sunlight. When he got to school and other kids teased him about his freckles, his mother always reminded him of how he came to be theirs, how the stars looked like they were falling that night and brought him into their lives. He was special and other people wouldn't always understand that, but one day he would do great things and they would all love him then. Fernando didn't understand but he accepted her words and her love, her comforting fingers in his hair and the way she would look at him like there was no one else in the world like him. Fernando learned when he was a teenager why that was true, why he was always different from other children. The stories his parents told him were true, he had actually arrived from the stars. The exaggeration of the story didn't exist; there was no adoption agency, just a burning field and shooting stars signaling the arrival of a child not of earth. His parents have no answers of where he came from or why he can run faster than the speed of light, or lift his father's truck over his head with one hand, how he can float in the air if he just thinks about being lighter than it, or how he can move things with his mind. He’s just special to them, their miracle child that came from the stars.

--

The first time they meet, Fernando hates him. The thing is, the entire country knows Sergio Ramos. His story was infamous, a tale of caution for adults and children alike when traveling abroad. He was fourteen when his parents left him alone while they went on holiday, two idle rich trust fund children who never held jobs sightseeing around the world thinking they were invincible, leaving their only child home with only the household staff to care for him. it was sailing off the African coast that their yacht was taken over by Somali pirates, and while ransom was demanded, Sergio’s father had refused to pay, putting too much faith that the government would send help, that he wasn't going to fund terrorism in the time it would take for his country's intervention. It was then that the world fell in love with Sergio, taking pity on the poor child with baby fat still left in his cheeks and awkward braces, crying into the microphones shoved in his face for someone to bring his parents back home. They were murdered before anyone could help them, the gruesome photos spread about the news like a wildfire and he became a celebrity overnight, the rich boy with the dead parents and a huge inheritance coming his way. People seemed to come out of the woodwork all over to try and take a claim over his guardianship, but custody was given to the family's butler, and it seemed that his life had reclaimed a sense of normalcy, at least for awhile. At sixteen, he started pulling in headlines again, this time tabloids too interested in those with money, especially the young ones. He threw money around like water, on sports cars, on expensive dates with older women, on jet setting summer vacations and spring breaks. the papers never reported despite all those things he still managed a 4.0 gpa or that all the money he earned from his name appearing in those papers and the lawsuits against the papers went to charity, people wanted to see the boy they had pitied crash and burn, and Sergio seemed more than willing to give them all a show.

Its university when they first met, Fernando’s third year and Sergio’s first. The class is sociology 101, the study of human behaviors and interactions. It’s humorous to Fernando, humans studying humans while having no idea there was an actual alien amongst them studying them as well, but he had no intentions of ever actually alerting anyone to that fact. Instead, it’s easier to just sit in the back of the class, to wait for the room to fill and the teacher to begin. The room is buzzing, excited chatter of the students and fans on full blast to keep the late summer heat from boiling them all alive. After checking her watch a few times, the professor jumps right into the lesson, looking around the classroom and trying to make the students interact, passing out the first work sheets and asking them to answer the questions before they would go around the room to discuss their answers. It’s all fairly simple, but Fernando pauses at the question to draw his personal symbol. He knows this was bound to come up from the first time he saved someone in the city, back in his first year at university. All the characters in the comic books he reads have symbols, something that even the smallest child could use to identify them with. He thinks, chews his bottom lip, moves his pencil between his fingers at a slightly inhuman speed, just staring at that blank sheet on the paper, trying to decide if this is going to be a moment that defines him. His concentration is broken when the boy walks in, flashbulbs going off in the hallway behind him, catching onto that brilliant smile, capturing his every movement.

"Sorry I’m late." He throws out like it matters, only lifting his sunglasses off his eyes as he takes the seat in front of Fernando, and he's sure he hates the boy immediately; his expensive clothes, his perfectly straightened hair, the fact that he interrupted Fernando’s moment of possible self discovery. He hates the way the boy sits like he owns the classroom, like the eyes on him and excited whispers of the girls in the classroom are something he's already earned just for being rich and the poor orphan everyone fell in love with. Fernando hates him because he smells like too much expensive cologne, enough to overpower someone without a super human sense of smell, enough to give Fernando a headache with his own. He hates him for turning his blinding white smile on him and his perfectly shaved down nose and for his warm chocolate brown eyes that remind Fernando of home and his mother and being safe and loved. He hates Sergio for choosing him to speak to, for making everyone look at him during their interaction, for making Fernando visible when all he wants to do is be invisible. "Do you have a pencil I could borrow?"

He hates that Sergio’s voice is like warm honey, smooth and seductive when it has no right being so, not in a classroom and certainly not to Fernando. Still, he grabs his backpack from next to his feet and roots around in the front pocket and hands one over, his cheeks tinged pink behind the mass of freckles at Sergio’s word of "thanks" before the boy turns back around to get to work on his sheet, and Fernando is staring at the nape of his neck like he's never seen anything like it before, all warm tan skin covered mostly by the boy's long hair, revealing only bits and pieces of skin when he moves. Fernando finds himself entranced by a scar on his neck, barely visible to most people, just a thin line of light discoloration. Fernando hates himself for being so interested in the boy in front of him, hates himself for forgetting to work on his symbol as the professor goes around the room asking them to read aloud the answers they had written down. Sergio goes before him, says his name, that he's a freshman, that he's taking the class because he finds human behavior very interesting, and that his symbol is money "because I have loads of it". His answers are greeted by laughter and some cheers from the more rowdy boys, from everyone trying to get on the good side of Madrid’s favorite playboy. Fernando hates him for being so effortlessly popular, for having to follow him. He mumbles his own answers and grimaces when forced to repeat them again, to speak loud enough for the entire classroom to hear. He reads off his paper and hopes that he's not too flushed with embarrassment. He changes his answer for the question about why he's taking the class, scribbles out the "because I’m an alien and human brains confuse me sometimes" answer and simply says "because it seems interesting" and tries to hope he can ignore the symbol question. He can't, the professor calls him out on it and he sighs, shaking his head.

"I couldn't think of one." And the older woman smiles at him, like she knows what he is, what he could one day be for the world.

"I’m sure you'll think of something, Fernando." She moves on, and Sergio turns around to give him a sympathetic smile, but Fernando glowers. He hates everything about Sergio Ramos and the last thing he wants is the boy's pity.

--

They meet again later that night. Fernando is on his usual rooftop, just listening, scanning the area for something to do, for something he could do to just make the city a better place for everyone living there. The air is hot and the sun is only just setting when he hears someone approaching the rooftop, phasing to invisible to hide himself in case of danger. It’s his favorite of his abilities, mostly because Fernando hates to be seen most of the time. He likes the ability to hide, and while he knows better than to abuse the things he can do most of the time, it saves him a lot of trouble when he's trying to save the world and not get caught on camera. He stays where he is, sitting on the ledge of the roof and ignores the new presence until he can smell him. He smells like sweat now, more human and less chemical, but Fernando knows, he memorized the smell in the classroom, underneath all his cologne and deodorant and hair products he smells sweet and spicy, like cinnamon mixed in with other spices, like a boy who spent his life in the kitchen. Fernando doesn't turn to look at him, he's not spying on Sergio if he came for some alone time, no matter how much he doesn't like the boy.

"Are you going to jump?" His voice is rougher than it had been in the classroom and it's only then that Fernando turns around to face him, surprised by what he sees. Rather than the well dressed boy he expected, he's standing there almost hidden in the shadows. His clothes aren't clothes so much as a costume, all tight and black but Fernando can see the kevlar on his chest piece, can see that everything is made to keep from hindering his ability to win a fight. The only color in the costume are the thick white lines across the span of his chest, meeting in the middle to form some kind of bird, the lines probably symbolizing spread wings. His head is covered by a hood, tight on his head and molded smoothly into the mask keeping his face obscured to just his mouth, but Fernando isn't fooled by the frown on his lips. He’s got a cape, which almost makes Fernando laugh but he knows it helps, he can see already that is made from a thick material that can act like a shield in certain close fights.

"I know Atleti has no chance of winning the league this season, but they never do, that's no reason to jump." There's almost laughter in his voice, still gruff and Fernando wonders how he can see him, when he knows he phased to invisible, and that turns his clothes too. He’s done it before; it's why he gets away with jeans and t-shirts when he's trying to save people in the city. If it was anyone but Sergio, anyone else playing the hero, Fernando would phase back to visible, would pretend to be nothing but a normal college student looking for some air, but there's something about him that irks Fernando to his core, makes him want to fuck with the younger boy. So he lifts himself off the ledge, making it look like he's trying hard to balance, just teetering on the ledge.

"I’m gonna do it." He makes his voice shaky, which is easy when he's trying to control his laughter and he feels the change in Sergio’s demeanor behind his back, feels him tense up and ready to stop Fernando, but Fernando is quicker, makes the swan dive off the roof before Sergio can grab hold of him. It's not the first building he's ever jumped off of but Fernando sells it for Sergio, enjoys the freefall before he's about to hit the ground and lets himself float down easily, a smirk on his lips as he just walks down the street, off to find another rooftop to scan the city for any danger. It's only when he hears a commotion of people that he stops and turns around, phases back to visible in the crowd that's gathered to watch him stand on the rooftop, cape billowing in the wind against the backdrop of the darkening night sky.

"It’s The Eagle!" A child cries out from in front of Fernando, and they watch until he disappears, and Fernando knows he definitely hates Sergio Ramos.

--

He's at a bar one night with his friends. The shitty thing is, Fernando has never been able to get drunk. Something to do with having alien dna. Things that fuck up most people have never really bothered him, which is why people love going out with Fernando; he always made the best designated driver. It’s a Thursday night and the bar is packed, everyone ready to start the weekend after the first week back at classes and meet up with new people to spend the semester with. Fernando’s group is in a booth in the back, waiting on him to get their next pitcher of beer at the bar. He’s only just paid for the two pitchers when he feels someone bump into him, feels his senses overwhelmed by the smell of Sergio’s cologne, rolling his eyes at the visibly drunk younger man.

"You’re alive!" he exclaims, bright eyes actually surprised to see him and Fernando almost feels bad for the cruel trick he played. Looking at him up close, he sees the sadness in Sergio’s eyes, that everything about him is so fake and masking the kind of internal pain that Fernando can only imagine. Fernando has always had two parents who love him and care more about him than anything else in the world and Sergio got left home alone while his parents saw the world, was left to raise himself after their love of expensive things and money meant more to them than their own lives. Fernando isn't entirely bitter when he feels Sergio’s arms wrap around his chest, because he knows that Sergio is sad and drunk and really only acting out because despite having money his life has been kind of terrible. He knows the kid shouldn't be mixing the business of saving people with his real life, but he's too drunk to know the difference, too drunk to keep his mouth shut. And people are looking at them, and Fernando is incredibly uncomfortable being stared at, at people taking cell phone pictures of Sergio Ramos hugging him, burying his face into his neck.

"Uh yeah, I’m alive. You saw me in class on Monday, what do you think would happen in that period of time?" He's playing a game now, the game they both need to be playing, that he's sober enough to play. And Sergio lets go of him, looks at him like Fernando is the strangest creature he has ever seen in his life. And Fernando probably is, but he just smiles at the boy in spite of himself, squirming out of his grip to grab the pitchers. "I should get back to my friends, but take care of yourself alright? You should head home; I think you had enough to drink." And he slips away from him, he heads back to his friends and their laughter, to Pepe's teasing about the boy that hugged him at the bar. "Shut up and drink your beer" is all Fernando says, ignoring their laughter and the eyes he feels on him, on the fact that his ears are burning hot with embarrassment and Sergio keeps looking back at him like a sad puppy at the pound that just wants to come home with him. Fernando wonders how conspicuous it would be to turn invisible at that moment.

--

Sergio tends to gravitate towards Fernando. When they're forced to work in groups or pairs, Sergio ignores the girls wanting to pair up with him and flirt and claims Fernando for his partner before anyone else can. Fernando has never complained, the more he comes to know Sergio, the more he understands and the more he likes the younger man. He’s just looking for affection, for attention, being the lost boy that he'd always been. He can count the people that actually care about him for who he is on one hand, while Fernando’s got more than he knows what to do with. Its pity, and he hates himself for showing that to the boy, but Sergio takes whatever he can get from Fernando, for reasons the older boy has yet to deduce. It’s possible it comes from knowing one another's secrets, although they don't really, they keep that section of their lives closed. They hang out outside of class sometimes, Sergio joins in with Fernando’s friends and when an emergency comes up they both make excuses, both see each other at the scene, Sergio as The Eagle and Fernando in his jeans and trainers and his favorite Atletico jersey. They fight together and they don't question one another, round up the criminals and leave them for the police, and split up without saying a word to the other. The Eagle gets the glory and Fernando is alright with that, he doesn't want to be recognized as a hero, he just wants to make the world a better place.

It begins to happen so often that they begin to let their guards slip around one another, they find themselves talking about fights when they're on their own, actually hanging out by themselves. They never actually train together, they never actually admit to anything, but they speak of things only they would both know. They find each other on rooftops together, The Eagle and the boy, listening and waiting for something to happen, for a reason to be out for the night that isn't just to be with one another. It comes some nights, some nights it doesn't, some nights they just spend the night moving from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes getting bored enough into a game of tag, with Fernando using his considerable abilities against his opponent. There are no rules in their games, just that they stop when they are needed to stop crime, just that it comes first. Fernando wonders if he should push Sergio into doing his homework more, but his papers seem to always come back as A's, and Fernando doesn't worry too much. It’s how the semester passes, fighting crime at night and going to class during the day, finding time to be normal kids in the time in-between. During mid terms, neither of them meets up on the roof, for the first time study groups come before beating up thugs. On the Thursday after their last mid term they meet up on the roof again, Sergio in full costume and Fernando in his usual jeans and Atleti jersey. They’re both tense from too much pressure, too ready to take on everything after the long week they just had.

"You really need to stop wearing that." Fernando looks over at Sergio, his eyes hidden behind the lenses of the mask. He figured out a long time ago that there was some kind of special lens in there that allowed Sergio to see everything, maybe heat sensors that picked up Fernando when he went invisible. He isn't sure and he isn't about to ask, doesn’t really question Sergio and his suit just like he doesn’t question the things Fernando can do. He rolls his eyes and goes back to trying to listen to the city, looking for someone to rough up and relieve some of the pent up tension he'd been building up since the week before.

"I don't tell you what to wear, don't tell me what to wear." he retorts back and it's slightly childish, but it's annoying that Sergio with his cliché superhero costume is giving him advice on what to wear. It's not like his street clothes are much better, everything he wears is designer and made to be attention grabbing, the kind of things that Fernando hates and would never be caught dead in.

"It's just… Atletico? Really?" And that's when Fernando looks back, eyes narrowed at the younger boy.

"And what's wrong with Atletico? Let me guess, you're a Real fan." And it's just like that that the weeks of good will he's been building up for Sergio dissolve. They’ve been a decent team in the few weeks together, but it was when they didn't talk about things outside of fighting strategies. Sports rivalries were enough to break up any relationship, especially one that was shaky to begin with.

"At least real wins games." Sergio shrugs and Fernando wants to punch him, restrains himself as much as he possibly can, but his hands are balling into fists as he watches the boy's face, the way his plump lips twitch at the corners, fighting a smirk. He’s picking a fight, not bothering to wait for the criminals; they're too ready for it now.

"Because if anyone has a modicum of talent, they try and buy them and leave their own home grown players to rot. There’s no loyalty there." Fernando shoots back, still trying to keep his temper in check, still trying to remember that they had a rough week and that Sergio has just never been in college before, that he doesn't get how they need to calm down and work on getting their stress out some way that isn't destroying one another. Sergio just moves in closer, pressing a gloved finger into Fernando’s chest, hard enough for it to hurt even him. They're too close, Fernando’s senses are overwhelmed, he can taste Sergio’s breath, can smell that cinnamon spice scent he hates to admit that he's come to enjoy, can hear his heart beating loudly.

"I wouldn't expect anything less than a second rate argument from a fan of a second rate team." And Fernando’s had it, fire in his eyes as he feels the adrenaline flow through his veins, nostrils flared and ready to strike if Sergio doesn't stop running his mouth.

"You don't want to do this, shut your mouth." He warns him, wants him to be aware that Fernando’s being pushed to his breaking point and he doesn't really want to hurt him, not when the kid is doing something good to benefit the city, maybe one day the world. Besides, fighting normal humans is one thing, he knows Sergio can handle himself with those people, but Fernando isn't human, Fernando has super strength and could probably break his skull with a couple of hate filled punches. But he's not backing down, instead, Fernando feels a slap across his cheek, enough to turn his head and he's almost laughing, because Sergio tested the waters with a slap of all things. It’s the punch that comes next that irritates the shit out of Fernando, returning the rage to his body. "Sergio, I’m warning you." It's the first time he's used his name, that he's admitted to him that he knows who he is underneath that mask. Sergio punches him again and Fernando loses it, pushes him back, and hard. It’s the first time he's actually used his strength on the other man, watching him fly back on the roof towards the stairs, knocking into the bricks with a loud noise, hard enough to make them shift. Fernando’s there in milliseconds, feet hovering off the ground to be ever taller than the other boy, pounding his fist into the bricks beside his head. His mouth is open in surprise that this is what Fernando can do when he's pushed to his limit, movements slowed by the daze of hitting his head so hard against the wall. The bricks where Fernando’s fist had gone into are cracked, pushed back and dissolving to dust from the force of the punch and Sergio’s gloved fingers are gripping Fernando’s shirt, not pushing him back, but bringing him in closer, pulling him back down to the ground and chest to chest, moving a hand from his shirt to his neck to force their lips together.

Fernando is surprised by the move, unresponsive at first but Sergio’s mouth is unrelenting, refusing to take no for an answer. He’s never been kissed like that before, by someone who knows the things he can do and isn't scared by him, who wants him for everything he is even if it's not human. The younger boy curls a gloved finger into Fernando’s blond hair and it hurts, but Fernando’s kissing him back now, just as hard, keeping him pinned against the wall. The kiss is brutal, fighting for dominance over the other. The truth is, Fernando’s not sure if it's just the frustration of everything he's dealt with lately and the kind of fury Sergio ignites in him, or the fact that they've had this tension since that first day in the classroom, that Sergio’s wanted him from that first second and Fernando’s never been wanted so much before. They kiss until Sergio is forced to push Fernando back to breathe, pulling back his mask and exposing his face for the first time, wild eyed and long hair pulled back, a few unruly strands sweat slicked to his face and neck.

"What are you?" It's the first time he's ever asked, the first time anyone's actually ever asked Fernando that question and he's taken aback, eyes wide and anger dissolving, unable to meet the brown eyes that are begging to stare into his soul.

"I don't know." Fernando mumbles and it's the truth, he doesn't know who or what he is, but Sergio’s just pulling off his gloves to run his fingers through Fernando’s hair carefully, pulling him back in to kiss him again.

"You're mine." It's a whisper that Sergio think goes unheard but Fernando hears it clearly, and just kisses Sergio again, doesn't argue, just accepts it. After all, he's always thought Sergio was the kind of spoiled brat who got everything he wanted, who was he to deny him this too?

Chapter Text

There are things in the world that scare Fernando. Being found out for what he is, being alone for the rest of his life for being what he is. Pretty much just being himself scares the living shit out of him. He doesn't hate his life, not by any means, but it's hard. Not being normal in a world where so much depends on it, where he can't explain to his friends exactly why he doesn't fit in, why he doesn't hook up with the girls that are interested in him. He doesn't tell anyone he's a virgin still, when he's asked he makes up some story about the girl he was in love with in high school. It's not entirely a story, there was a girl and he thought she was perfect, but he never really got a second glance from her, not shy quiet Fernando who did everything to not stick out in a crowd. But as many opportunities for nailing drunk and desperate college girls popped up, he always had an excuse to get out of it. There were things that scared him like what was going to happen if he lost control of his powers in the middle of everything, if used his super strength and super speed and wound up killing a girl while fucking her? The thought was enough to keep him from doing anything about it, keeping him a virgin at 20.

It's the reason why he leaves Sergio alone on the rooftop, why once he feels the boy's fingers on his belt he immediately pulls away, floating a few feet off the ground with wide eyes, staring down at the younger boy. He can't look away from Sergio's eyes, those wide brown orbs trying to understand what he did wrong, why Fernando pulled away when things were just getting good.

"I have to go." He mumbles before he pushes himself up in the air, up in the night sky towards the thinner atmosphere, his breathing getting shallow until he pops up through the clouds, just getting his bearings back. Fernando feels like he's about to cry, his body isn't under his control and he needs to be, he needs to calm down. Sergio made him feel like he was on fire, made his skin burn with want and need and everything uncontrollable. He stays there, floating up in the night sky hidden by the clouds, until he's calm, until he can handle being around people without being a mess of tight nerves and tense muscles. Fernando wonders sometimes if repression is his greatest superpower of all.

He's exhausted by the time he finally puts his feet back on the ground, touching down outside the dorms and finding a spot behind a tree to turn visible once more, so he can walk in without having the other students think the dorm is haunted. Mostly he just wants to lie down, to shut down his brain so he can stop thinking about Sergio, so he can stop feeling like he has a lead brick in his stomach. He expects to come in to an empty room, to darkness that he can seclude himself in. What he doesn't expect is Sergio sitting on his bed, still in all his gear but the cowl off his face and hanging back behind his head like a hood, Fernando's abused copy of A Separate Peace in his hands. How he can read in the dark, Fernando doesn't ask, just stares at him opened mouthed, trying to figure out how Sergio found out where he lived, how he got in his room.

Sergio finally looks up at him, looking completely nonplussed by the entire thing, just pointing to the open window.

"You should lock that, you know. You never know what kind of asshole can break in." Fernando doesn't point out that he lives on the third floor. Or that anyone could have seen him come in. Or that this is a total invasion of privacy and that just because they kind of made out on the roof doesn't mean Sergio can be a weird little stalker and sit on his bed and read his books.

"How did you..." He starts, but Sergio is quick to interrupt.

"I called Pepe and asked... Jesus, Fernando, it's not like I stalk you or anything; I just called and asked because I think I kind of deserve an explanation for what happened up there. That was kind of rude of you." It's the same Sergio he hated that first week, the one that's hiding behind the facade of someone more confident because he's too scared of this rejection, so he refuses to allow it. Fernando understands this, but it doesn't stop his blood from boiling, because this kid is invading his privacy and thinking he has some sort of claim to Fernando just because of some misguided anger fueled kiss.

He's kind of glad he doesn't have heat vision because if he did, Sergio's head would be exploding with the way he's glaring daggers at the younger boy.

Sergio is unflinching despite Fernando's glare. He just moves to stand up and come closer, grabs hold of the older boy's shirt so he can't move away, not without ripping it. He knows this is his favorite, that Fernando doesn't come from the kind of money that he can afford to ruin something he loves so much and just replace it with another. Sergio doesn't know that his father gave it to him before going away to college, that he saved some extra money they really didn't have so they could go to a game together, that he wears it to fight people because thinking about his father and mother gives him strength, makes him remember why he does it in the first place. Fernando stays put and Sergio lifts it off him, tosses it onto the desk chair so carelessly because he doesn't know, doesn't understand what it means to have a parent sacrifice for you. He opens his mouth to tell him off, to make him stop, but Sergio beats him, Sergio knows Fernando's movements better than he does himself. His mouth is on Fernando's again, tongue invading his mouth and he's both spicy and sweet, kissing him like he needs this, he needs Fernando to not reject him again. The feeling is flooding through Fernando again, the burning under his skin and he knows he's in trouble.

He pulls back and tries to fight for control again, trying to pretend Sergio's hands roaming over his naked torso aren't completely distracting him from the fact that this needs to stop because Fernando really doesn't want to hurt him, at least not in that way. Sergio's annoying, but he's still young and doesn't know any better, he never really had anyone teach him to be any better.

"Sergio." His voice warns. Fernando shakes his head as he slips out of the younger man's grasp, reaches for his shirt again. "We're not doing this. So just go home and forget about this, because it's not going to happen. Ever. Up there, it was a mistake, this, right here, is a mistake, so just." Fernando sighs, pushing his fingers through his hair, trying to curb the thoughts of breaking something. "Go home." The anger is gone from his words, instead it's a more pleading tone, because he needs him to, he needs to be alone with his thoughts and Sergio just can't be around him, can't keep kissing him and trying to undress him and break through his walls.

He doesn't meet Sergio's eyes, keeps focused on the bed beside him instead, and this time Sergio gives in, pulls his cowl back up so all Fernando sees is his full lips turned down in a frown. They don't say goodbye and Sergio is out the window in a flash, leaving Fernando alone like he wanted. The air feels thick and heavy around him and Fernando just shuts the window and locks it this time. He makes his way back to the bed and just collapses on it, frustration and want and anger and loneliness piling up on him, weighing him down so much he can't support it anymore. He's so tired, so massively drained, he can't take it anymore, but he can't fall asleep, can't fully relax.

His sheets smell like Sergio.

--

They don't pair up after that night. Fernando avoids their rooftop and tries to make his mark silently and invisibly, stopping various small crimes here and there. The Eagle doesn't show up if Fernando's there and he has a feeling Sergio sees him through his lenses and stays away, that he's avoiding Fernando just as much. In class, they split apart, Sergio moves to the other side of the room and no one complains because he's Sergio Ramos and everyone is happy to sit with him. No one really wants to work with Fernando anymore, because if he's not good enough for Sergio obviously something must be wrong with him, and Fernando goes back to resenting every little detail he can think of about the younger boy.

Fernando sees Sergio at the bar one Friday night. He's with a girl and Fernando feels like he's going to throw up, watching him flirt and touch her hair and her face, watches as she shamelessly kisses him like some kind of sucker fish. He stares, glares even, and everyone at the table notices.

"Fer?" Iker's got an eyebrow raised at him, because well, this is weird. They're used to broody quiet Fernando, but this new glaring angry Fernando is just kind of scary. And he's sober, which just makes the anger even weirder.

"He just thinks he can do whatever he wants, doesn't he? Like oh boo hoo, he's rich, his mom and dad are dead, cry me a fucking river. It doesn't mean you can walk around like you own every place you walk into or that just because you think you're better than everyone else you can go all pda with some skank. He's such a gigantic fucking asshole, I hate him so much." It comes out before Fernando can stop himself, but it feels good to finally verbalize how much he hates Sergio, how much this stupid kid affects him. Still, his cheeks flush red with embarrassment once he realizes how fucked up and childish that all came out, and he rises out of the booth. "I'm gonna go get some air." He throws back because he needs to, and walks towards the door. He doesn't stop but he keeps his eyes trained on the waitress walking around trying to serve the tables their pitchers of beer. He hates using his powers for shit like this, but it gives him a kind of satisfaction when he makes the pitcher she's carrying wobble on the tray as she passes Sergio and his date, just gives it a little extra nudge with his telekinesis and grins to himself when he hears the yell from the two of them as it spills all over them.

He goes out to look for a fight and finds this sleazy older guy trying to force himself on a drunken girl behind a bar across town. He doesn't bother to turn invisible when he pushes the man across the parking lot and beats the shit out of him, flying away before anyone sees him. He leaves the man lying there, broken and bloody and lets someone else call the cops.

Sometimes Fernando questions just how good he really is.

--

The guy winds up with most of his ribs fractured, his jaw and nose broken, and a whole lot of bruises. He sells his story to the papers, that he was minding his own business when this kid flew out of nowhere and attacked him. He describes how the hits came too fast "like he had super speed or something" and how he flew off in the night sky afterward, leaving him there to die, if his buddies in the bar hadn't come out and seen him and called for an ambulance. He can't really describe his attacker, just that he looked real young, "no older than 16" and the papers start to call him El Nino, the kid. Fernando resents that, because he's 20 fucking years old and he doesn't look like he's 16, but then again it could be he ages differently than humans. He hates this asshole for selling his story, that it makes him look like he's a bad guy for beating him up, no matter how the papers tried to discredit the guy by pointing out his blood alcohol content was off the wall and he had a rap sheet a mile long filled with drug charges and various sexual assaults on young girls. It's more about the sensationalism, the fact that there might be a super human living amongst us, and wouldn't it be cool if The Eagle had some kind of super powered arch nemesis?

Sergio passes him on his way to his seat in class the next Monday morning and gives him a sarcastic thumbs up, mouths "good job" at him. Fernando gives him the finger. Sergio's taunting isn't caught by the teacher, but Fernando's is, and he gets called out on being disrespectful, and the lecture half winds up being on why people feel the need to be rude to one another. Most of it's directed at Fernando, where he winds up mumbling out answers and having to repeat them again, where he just wants to turn invisible because his cheeks are burning hot with embarrassment. Why can't Sergio ever get called out on his bullshit, why is it Fernando always pays the price?

They're still not talking, but Fernando gets a note slipped under his dorm room door, knows the scrawled handwriting right away.

my sources tell me the government is trying to get a hold of your dna. careful who you fuck over.

Fernando thinks his wall would look nice with a giant hole in it. Instead, he flies back home and has a panic attack in his mother's kitchen, that he's going to be found out and he's never going to pay them back for the money they spent on sending him to college and that he's going to ruin their lives even more than he already has. She bakes him cookies and tells him everything will be alright but for the first time Fernando has a hard time believing her.

--

The issue with having masked vigilantes and aliens that read comic books and think they can do good for a city, is that there are always people who are evil and crazier than those who get dressed up to fight them. Fernando, being well versed in the world of comics, knows that one day he'd be fighting an evil greater than bank robbers and purse snatchers and rapists (although those guys were pretty evil in his book). He doesn't expect the day to come while he was still in college. Nor does he expect them to come after Sergio first.

By mid December, the mystery of El Nino is picking up more headlines than The Eagle was. The city of Madrid knows that The Eagle is looking out for them, at least when Sergio isn't in class or studying in the library (or, Fernando likes to note, fucking random slutty girls in public places and looking completely unashamed of the sleazy paparazzi photos that wind up all over the internet at least once a week). Fernando is doing his best to avoid the younger boy, staying invisible most of the time or avoiding fights where he sees Sergio already involved. He misses it sometimes, misses how they would hang out together and just talk, misses keeping each other busy on the early autumn nights when it was just the two of them and crime in the city was at an all time low. He misses how easily they fought with one another; how fighting with Sergio made him control his strength and how Sergio could take all the credit. The way things turned out kind of sucks, because now everyone knows about Fernando, now he needs to be more careful and cover his tracks so people don't actually find out about him, about who he really is.

Sergio doesn't show up to class one Monday morning. There's something wrong, Fernando knows it in his gut, but he tries to ignore it. He tries to think like the rest of his classmates, that oh, Sergio's just home sleeping off a hangover, because he's Sergio Ramos and nothing about his life isn't glamorous. Fernando has a hard time concentrating in class and heads back to his dorm instead of his Chemistry class, because something just isn't right. He just needs to find out where Sergio lives, drop by and see him, something to make himself feel better about the fact that Sergio's gone missing.

He's about to call Iker when his phone rings, the name unknown and the number blocked. He's afraid as he mumbles out a hello, and he's not sure why.

"Meet me at the rooftop." It's The Eagle's voice, an octave lower than Sergio's, more bravado so he can seem more like a man and less like an eighteen year old boy. But there's something different about it, fear, Fernando pinpoints, definitely fear. The call ends abruptly and Fernando's out the door in a flash, too fast to be seen by the naked eye. He doesn't worry about a costume, no mask to hide his face, Sergio's in trouble and it's all he can think about. He's racing up the stairs of the building they had always met up at, a light snow beginning to fall as he opens the door, sees Sergio's back facing him, head hung low in his costume. His cape is blowing towards his body in the light wind, and Fernando wants to rush to him, but he knows something is wrong.

"Eagle?" He offers out quietly, stepping onto the rooftop cautiously. He turns and even though his mouth is all Fernando sees, he knows something is wrong.

"I am so sorry." His head shakes and Fernando finally notices they're not alone, sees a small group of men step out of the shadows. They're all in suits, the classic black and white, with sunglasses covering their eyes, ear pieces in, guns in their hands. The only thing not uniform for the three men is their hairstyles, one dark and slick, one bald, one closely cropped. A final man steps out of the shadows, different from the rest, carrying himself less like a soldier and more like a man with an immense amount of self confidence. His suit is gray and blue, hair salt and pepper gray, and he's wearing a smile like this is the most natural place in the world for him to be.

"Ah, you must be the famous El Nino, correct?" His accent isn't Spanish, but something Fernando can't place, making his skin crawl. He's scared and confused, backing away from the man and his bodyguards, but keeping his face confident and steely, because he needs to be brave, he needs to face this danger head on.

"What do you want?" He moves to stand next to Sergio, but Sergio's not looking at him, just at the floor and it's scaring him more than the rest of the situation.

"Just you. I don't think that's too much to ask. The Eagle here tells me you don't know what you are either and we'd all like to find out. Come with me and I'll take you back to my labs, have my doctors investigate you, and we can see if you can save the world." The smile on his face is sly and Fernando thinks the man looks somewhat familiar, like he's seen him before but can't place him just yet. Mostly he's just thinking about how weird this is, how this man is making this proposition on the rooftop, how Sergio looks so defeated in all of this.

"Did you..." He furrows his eyebrows as he turns to look at Sergio, swallowing thickly as Sergio shakes his head no.

"I am so sorry, I had to..." He's broken, he's not The Eagle anymore, just a scared boy in a costume and Fernando knows he's in trouble, that this man isn't going to use him to save the world, he's going to put him in a lab and study him like some disease, he's going to use Fernando's dna to make an army of super soldiers or something, make him some kind of weapon.

"No." He turns back to the man and the way the smile slips from his face makes him remember who he is. Jose Mourinho, president and founder of a medical company that's been plagued with scandal since its inception, from shady back room political dealings to testing on both humans and animals to disastrous results, there is nothing good that can come from this man. But Fernando stays strong; stares him down and holds his ground as the snowflakes begin to come down thicker, melting against the burning hot skin of his cheeks.

"I would rethink that answer if I were you, boy." His words are threatening like he knows something Fernando doesn't, but he's not backing down, he's not going to be some lab rat, not going to be anyone's experiment.

"There's nothing to rethink, I'm not going to be used for your profit, Mourinho." Fernando spits out the words and the older man just smirks that Fernando knows who he is, that he's still not afraid. He shrugs and walks towards the door, like there's still another trick up his sleeve despite Fernando's refusal.

"Take him by force then." His words are directed towards the three men as he opens the door and everyone is springing to action in an instant, the three men lifting their guns and firing directly at Fernando, Sergio ducking out of the way, his mouth open in horror at the scene in front of him. The bullets hit Fernando but don't penetrate his skin, it's just the sheer force of so many coming out at once at him that pushes him back, makes him fall backward over the lip of the roof. He doesn't have time to right himself in the fall; he's just hitting the concrete with a loud boom, knowing his body made an impact. He hears screams in the background, the sounds of horrified onlookers at his fall off the twenty story building. He hears a woman screaming into her phone that a boy fell from the roof of a building, that someone needs to come immediately. With a grunt, Fernando pulls himself out of the hole his body made, ignoring the people staring at him now from both the street and out the windows of the building. With a rush he's up in the air, floating above the rooftop, and he knows he has seconds before they turn their guns on Sergio. He's quick to get to them first, taking on the suited man with the slicked hair first before Sergio can get in on the fight. The anger and adrenaline make Fernando feel completely invincible, taking the quick gun shots to the chest before he grabs the man's gun and bends the barrel, leaving him defenseless now. He's Sergio's problem now that he's unarmed, Fernando decides, and moves on to the other two, disarming them in the same fashion before it turns out to an all out brawl, the three suited men against the boy in a costume and an alien with super powers. Its chaos and Fernando barely knows who he's hitting anymore until he hears Sergio cry out in pain, finally looking to see it was him he hit, the other three men down, bloody and barely conscious. There's blood coming out of Sergio’s nose, down over his full upper lip and Fernando just wants to kiss him, to thank whatever god there is that he's alive and not dead, that things are going to be alright.

He doesn't get a chance to; they're just standing there looking at one another when the rooftop door bursts open, people with cameras and microphones rushing at the two of them, cops following in after them to try and get a handle on the situation. Sergio says nothing, just runs to the edge of the roof and jumps off, spreading his arms so he can use his cape to glide on the wind and out of the spotlight, leaving Fernando to be blinded by flashbulbs and microphones until he finally pushes himself skyward seconds later.

--

They call him El Nino and they publish the picture of him on the rooftop with The Eagle, covered in blood that isn't his. In the picture they are looking at one another. In the picture they are both smiling as the snow falls around them.