Chapter Text
Like the time that Shadowy took me over to talk to TKO, I wasn’t fully gone. I actually had a slightly clearer view; blurred outlines of trees moved past me at blinding speeds.
The ways my body twisted through the air made me feel as though I was on some carnival ride. I wished I could close my eyes, but I was forced to watch, to try and make sense of the dizzying world spinning around me.
Foxtail’s voice was unmistakable, if unintelligible. Shadowy turned to her, lowering my body down to bring us face to face.
I could feel his words rumbling through me, only catching a few of them through the deep fogginess in my brain.
“You’ll regret…”
“POINT will…”
“What do you mean…”
The more I tried to focus, the bigger of a headache I got, threatening me into submission when my view started to flicker.
It was only when another person walked up that my resolve to regain autonomy returned.
I wasn’t sure how, but I was able to choke out a single word before she came running up to me. “Sparks…”
I was able to grip onto her, as if she was my lifeline from a raging ocean. It didn’t matter what Shadowy was planning, if I had actually broken through his control, or if he was simply letting me out. I didn’t care much when I was scared out of my mind.
When I fully came to, I was sitting cuddled against her, my head resting on her shoulder.
“Laser, can you tell me what you were doing out here?”
“John...he has a cabin, we were…” On instinct, I sat up, desperate for any sign of his vacation house. When hands were put on my shoulders, I set wild eyes on Carol. “He doesn’t know where I am, I need to-”
“What you need to do is calm down. Do you have your phone on you?”
I felt my pockets, nodding when I found it, but using it was a whole other issue. She was right; I did need to relax…I was shaking like a leaf. “Can you go to my GPS app? It should be the most recent location.”
While she did that, I glanced back at Foxtail, who’s stare had been burning a hole in the back of my head ever since I woke up. “I know this looks bad; I swear I didn’t know about him until recently.”
“Carol told me all about that.”
“What about POINT?”
“Lucky for you; I was doing this mission under the radar. No one there really trusts me anymore since...well, it doesn’t matter. We have bigger things to worry about.”
“Like what?” I joked, deadpan and snarky.
She only narrowed her eyes in response. It was actually Eugene, who I hadn’t noticed until that moment, that spoke up. “Should’ve stayed a hero, then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
I thought back to my life as Laserblast, how I always felt inferior, and what drove me to ruin it all. It was such a stark contrast to my life as a villain, especially since I had moved to Boxmore. But any answer I could gleam from that seemed way too mushy for the situation, so I instead ignored him. “Did you find it, Sparks?”
“It’s about ten miles down the road. We can all pile into my car.”
“I don’t see why we can’t talk here.” Foxtail muttered, raising her eyebrows at Carol’s cross expression. “What?”
“Fox...look at him. He’s a mess, not to mention it’s freezing out here.”
“You expect me to feel bad for a- are you sure that’s Laserblast?”
I felt a bitter smile growing as I finally decided to answer Eugene. “You know what? You’re right. Sure, I’d still be struggling, but at least you would believe me.”
My words brought the group to silence; I hadn’t realized how heavy they were until they left my mouth. All eyes were on me with pity and reconsideration...I needed to escape, if only temporarily.
After grabbing my phone back, I rose to shaky legs and tried to ignore my exhaustion as I powered ahead to the nearby car. “Come on; I’ll let Boxman know we’re on the way.”
“Wait, Boxman?” Foxtail sounded quite surprised as she repeated the name. “Like the guy we used to fight?”
“Yeah, I’m dating him; it’s pretty serious.” I muttered, casual and dismissive as I shook the nerves from my hands and managed to get to his contact.
What even was I going to say? I didn’t want to shock him, or make him worried, but-
“Professor?” He sounded half asleep; he must’ve been out considering I had to call a couple of times before he picked up. “Why are you...oh, are you in the bedroom? I’m sorry; I haven’t been wearing my headgear.”
I was now in the car. Carol insisted that I’d get the passenger’s seat, much to the others" chagrin. “You’ll want to put that on; I’ll be there in a few minutes. Something came up.”
“What? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thankfully Sparks was able to...well, I didn’t see it, but I heard she talked down Foxtail. From uh...from capturing Shadowy.”
He was silent for a long few seconds; I almost started wondering if the line had died. “Does POINT know?”
“No.”
“Why was Foxtail even there in the first place?”
“I’m not sure.” In actuality, I knew that Shadowy suspected her following us, but I wasn’t about to talk about that in her earshot. “All I know is that I was in bed, and then I woke up here.”
“And where’s that?”
“About ten miles from your cabin, apparently. That’s what the GPS says anyway.” I could hear a deep sigh, along with general busy work noises. “Hey...it’s gonna be alright.”
“I should be the one telling you that! I’m just...I’m not that excited about hanging out with a bunch of heroes.”
I huffed a laugh. “I know, but in this instance, I’d rather be talking than fighting.”
“I’d rather bring a bomb to a debate, but that’s just me.”
Feeling more laughter, I hid my giddy smile behind a lax hand as I stared absentmindedly out the window. “Not when it’s against POINT.”
“I personally would blow them up if it came to it, but hey, what do I know?”
“John…” I felt an awkward blush at the way that Foxtail was once again glaring at me. “I know we’re villains, but please…”
There was that sigh again, pensive and nervous. “So Foxtail’s on our side, then?”
“Seems so.”
“Alright. Long as that’s the case.”
“Hon, I know this is weird for you-”
“Just get back safely, that’s all I care about.”
I thought back to when I’d go on some secret mission, when Sparks would send me off with well wishes and make me promise that I’d come back in one piece. Pushing aside the irony of the eight years it took me to do so after my last blunder, John’s worry held a similar weight.
“I will.” I said, knowing it wasn’t the time or place to discuss how deeply I was starting to feel for him. “We’ll be right there.”
Carol had her eyes on the dirt that barely formed a road, but she still gave me a little side glance as I hung up the phone. “Who knew you’d be sweet on one of our old villains?”
I blushed, lightly hitting her shoulder as she laughed at me. “What’s sweet is that he apparently always had a crush on me, even as Laserblast. Guess this is just fate.”
“Oh, so he-”
“Course he knows.” I answered bluntly to the woman sitting behind me. “Funnily enough, I told him even before we started dating; it just sorta came up.”
She didn’t have a response to that, only tense, quiet disapproval. Sure, it was considered taboo for a hero to be so flippant about their identity that they would discuss with villains, but was the same to be said when the hero had become a villain themselves? I honestly wasn’t so sure.
Not much was said on the rest of the car ride, and without small talk we were all forced to sit and dwell on everything that had happened.
“There you are!” John was at the door before I could ever knock, leading me over to his recliner with a hand securely on my back. “I made you some tea while I was waiting.”
There was, in fact, a small end table pushed next to the chair he was leading me to, with a mug set upon it that was warm to the touch. “Did you make anything for our guests?”
He looked over at the group, his talon placed gently, if protectively, on my arm.
I lightly frowned, seeing him turn into a deer in headlights before sheepishly averting his eyes. “Hey. You wanna go to the other room? I can handle this.”
When he shook his head, but still looked so unsure, I wrapped my hands around my cup, hoping I could keep it steady long enough to get to the nearby couch. And, when I sat down, I offered a side hug that he was eager to hide in.
After taking a long sip of my drink, I spoke up to everyone else. “Sit down; you’re making me nervous.”
Foxtail took the armchair, while Carol sat next to me, with Eugene at the other end.
“How are you feeling? Any better?”
I turned to the woman beside me, offering the best smile I could muster. “I’m managing.”
“So is it true?” Foxtail interjected. “That you didn’t know you were Shadowy when I first asked?”
“First time I had even heard the name.” John piped up. “We thought it was the serum that was causing these things to happen to him.”
She looked at me with heightened curiosity. “Serum?”
Having to explain the same thing multiple times was starting to feel draining. And I could tell that Sparks could see that, I was relieved when she took the reins and explained instead.
“Remember the sandwich incident? He lost his powers…”
“Like Doc?”
“Yeah, I imagine it happened in a very similar way. The serum was something he drank to try to regain them, I think?”
I nodded, both curious about how a sandwich could have anything to do with it, and guilty over the reminder of how much harm I had done. “Apparently he’s actually been inside me for quite awhile. My daughter, she…she tried to keep it from me.
“That would be a good place to start. We could-”
“She’s already had to go through so much; I am not getting her involved in this.”
“Laser…”
“What?” My eyes darted over to Carol’s, my forceful tone quickly dissipating when I saw her soft expression and Eugene’s protective glare.
I opened my mouth to speak, to ask a hypothetical about how she’d feel if our son kept something as dangerous and emotionally heavy from her, but then I remembered TKO and felt my voice waver. “I have to protect my daughter, Sparks…and our son, for that matter.”
“Oh, hon.” She sighed, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “I know. It’s gonna be okay. We’re not going to do anything crazy…right, Fox?”
“We have to do something.”
John had been pretty quiet, but that gruff, no nonsense answer from Foxtail was enough to get him protective and vocal. “Maybe you wanna do something useful then? All you’ve done is stress him out.”
“Oh, well I’m sorry I’m trying to keep this town safe.”
“By bringing out Shadowy? Geez, great job you did there.”
‘How typical, to be stuck in some has been hero with a bunch of drama...yawn, the last thing I wanted was to be in some dumb sitcom.’
I would’ve answered him out loud to him if John’s cabin wasn’t filled with people, so instead, I thought what I wanted to say. ‘Why don"t you leave then?’
‘Wish I could, really do. Sadly I don"t think I"ll ever find such a pathetically easy to bond to host. Good villains usually have strong turbos, after all.’
“Laserblast? Does that sound good?”
My eyes darted over to Foxtail; I tried to maintain my composure and ignore the voice in my head for the time being. “Does what?”
“The medication? I can get some from POINT that should help with some of the worst of your issues.” She muttered, busy on her phone before a text lit up on mine. “Hopefully anyway; it’s a start.
I checked the now lit up screen, it was filled with dosage information and the like. “Oh. Yes. that’s a good place to start, thank you.”
“Professor, maybe we should get you laid down.” John looked as worried as ever, even though he was trying in vain to hide it behind a smile. “Let me go grab your wheelchair, hold on.”
I froze up, feeling instant self pity at the idea of rolling away on it. Especially when I caught Carol’s eye, it made me stumble out a hurried excuse. “It’s a temporary thing, not that big of a deal…”
But my voice trailed off as she stayed as kind as ever, standing up to give me a helping hand, which kept me balanced while I transferred over. “Thank you. For uh…for everything. Without you I’d probably be trapped in some integration room.”
“Just be glad Fox called me first. You couldn’t believe how shocked she was; I was surprised I was able to talk her down.”
“Frankly, I am too.”
Carol leaned in closer, speaking in a low tone. “I think telling her that I would overturn POINT for you got her to rethink her plans.”
“Didn’t think you’d care so much about a villain.”
“You know you’ll always be a hero to me, Laser.”
We shared a knowing glance and an awkward hug, considering she had to bend down to make it work.
“You just gotta promise me you’ll be okay. And not break it like last time.”
I let out a hollow, yet bittersweet laugh. “I have to be, got no choice. Already let everyone down once; I couldn’t bear to do that again.”
“Nonsense!” John butted in, staring to wheel me away once the embrace between me and Carol broke. “You’re doing just fine, you just need rest!”
He didn’t know the half of it, all of the nuance and everything…but I still appreciated the sentiment. “Yes, hon. I know.”
I let my eyes flutter closed, Shadowy’s feedback ringing through my ears a few moments later. ‘Hey, she might think you’re weak, but at least she’s nice. Got that going for you.’
Wasn’t that the truth? I ignored the sarcastic laughter that came after as John picked me up now that we were at the bed.
I melted into his arms, cuddling up to his chest and already feeling myself dozing off. I was too tired to think about how crazy it was to have the majority of my old team back together, how lucky I was to still be safe and sound with my partner. No, I just needed sleep. I could figure out the rest later.