Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Brink was in his office less than ten feet away, probably jacking off to the number of books he sold— he could probably hear the two of you, too and that was the exciting part. The part that made Jordan press you harder against their desk. 

You’re happily lying under them, sliding your hands below their sweater while they kiss along your neck. You can feel the sting from the previous harsh kisses, the collar of your shirt stretched out and the hem raised to your chest. Jordan loves you like that, breathless and under them.

“For someone who doesn’t want to get caught,” Jordan whispers, glancing up at you. “You sure love doing this in front of the window.” It’s the middle of the day, morning really. The sun hasn’t even reached its peak and you’re certain you’re running late for plans. Someone is bound to come looking for you if you’re too late. They’ll check with Jordan first— you’re usually with them anyway— and have to pass by the window, catching the two of you. Especially when you’re lying parallel to the window, the sun casting down on your face. The thin curtain Brink insists on using can only block so much. So little, in fact, you can see the leaves blowing in the gentle wind. 

“You’re dry humping me in front of Brinks' office,” You remind while tugging at the edge of their jeans with the heels of your shoes before you pinch their nipples. Jordan hisses and bites your neck, a small warning not to do that again. Hissing a laugh, you massage their breast as a small apology, pushing and squeezing them in ways that make Jordan moan softly in your ear. “Seems like you want him to catch you.” 

“Guess we’re just two freaks , huh?” They grin, lifting your leg up and grinding down. Cloth meets cloth and you groan, tilting your head back as the friction goes straight to your core. Their lips find yours and as your eyes close, you can feel Jordan growing; shifting. The hands that were once squeezing breasts now scratch against their pecs and the friction between your legs grows as their bulge presses against you. 

Rolling your hips into theirs, Jordan moans into your mouth, their hands gripping and squeezing your hips as the table creaks. Not a lot, but enough that Brinks definitely heard it. The two of you pause, startled, and Jordan looks behind them, waiting for a sound from his office. It’s a painful five seconds of cautious listening, your heart hammering because— shit, are you actually about to be caught dry humping Brink’s T.A. in front of Brink’s office by Brink himself? How much trouble would you be in— how much trouble would Jordan be in?

“I better go anyway,” You huff, slowly sitting up and Jordan’s head snaps back to you. “Andre’s gonna chase me down if I’m not at the stupid workout thing.” You explain while staring at Jordan’s lips. Pink, swollen, and wet with your spit. 

“You always leave when things are getting good,” They groan but lean down and kiss you. When your eyes open again, you see they’ve shifted back to their female presenting form. 

“We have tonight,” You smooth their hair out with your right hand, and the other creates a new hair tie for them. It’s no use, though; they’ll definitely need to fix that with a brush, some gel, and a mirror. “Here,” With a small wave of your hand, those exact products appear on the desk. 

Once it’s there, you start walking away, still fixing your clothes and hair. “Sure. Just leave me to clean up your mess!” Jordan calls and you blow a kiss, leaving a box of chocolates as a thank you. As you’re walking down the hallway, you can hear them laughing while opening the hair products. 

—

The campus gym was fucking sick— probably one of the best features of the place. It’s normally packed with fuck-ass gym rats and influencers but late at night, it’s typically empty. Or, at the very least, wasn’t filled with obnoxious people. This time, though, you had the entire gym to yourselves. 

You were there with Luke and Jordan, decompressing from the bullshit of the upcoming events you’ll have to chore through. Cate and Andre never really join, she says she hates the smell of the gym and he says he has better things to do than work out at almost midnight. He usually then calls the three of you gym rats and you take it personally, denying him whatever he wants you to make for the following week. You usually end up caving when he buys you food.

Luke and you were telling Jordan about his fight with The Incredible Steve from the morning, seeing as they were still doing their whole Brinks thing, and all that jazz they hadn’t seen. You almost hadn’t, truth be told. “You gotta stop lying to him,” You laugh from the leg curl machine. “That dude is not making it, sorry.” 

Luke laughs while shaking his head. “I don’t wanna crush his dreams,” He reasons to which you scoff. 

“He couldn’t fight Popclaw,” Jordan hisses from their spot in the gym and you laugh, covering your mouth. “Sorry, too soon?” You snort. 

“ God, you’re fucked. You’re going to hell,” Jordan shakes their head, looking at you through the mirror. Luke agrees but you can tell he’s snickering. 

Shaking your head, you get up from the machine and grab your water bottle. The gym falls into a blanket of quiet, only broken by the music, machines, and more importantly, the occasional grunts. You don’t focus on Luke, your ears naturally tuning into whatever noises Jordan is making. 

Glancing over at Luke, you find his back is still to you and look over at Jordan. They’re on a chair, lifting hand-held weights, groaning slightly with each raise. Their focus is on the mirror in front of them, checking their form and admiring their muscles. So they don’t notice you slowly walking over, wiping the sweat from your neck with their towel. 

“Looks like you need help,” You grin, sliding onto their lap, rubbing your hands up their stomach. “You always need a spotter at the gym.” 

Jordan licks their lips as their eyes drag up and down your figure. “You’re annoying,” They chuckle, checking to see if Luke was looking. After confirming he wasn’t, they set the weights down on the floor and grabbed your face, pulling you in for a kiss. Their right hand slides down, holding your hip and presses you into their slowly growing bulge while you slowly rock back and forth. “Fuck,” They groan, tossing their head back. “Don’t stop,”

“Yo, (Y/n)!” Luke calls and you quickly stand up, much to Jordan’s dismay. “Can you check my form?” He peers back at you, giving you his Golden Boy grin. 

“Sure,” Patting Jordan’s pecs, you walk away, adjusting your basketball shorts that had risen up. 

Now, it wasn’t a secret relationship as much as it was a let’s fool around in front of others while trying not to get caught. Maybe it was a little fucked, but it was a fun game. If they’d ask, you’d both agree, yes you’re dating. Have been for nearly nine months now. And yes, you’ve definitely fooled around a couple of feet away from them. More than once. You started dating the previous school year, obviously, but the… you guess the kinky side of the relationship didn’t start for a couple of weeks, maybe two or three months into dating. It was some time around the holidays, you know that much. 

You think it started as a way to piss off your parents, even though they weren’t around or even aware. At least, Jordan’s parents weren’t. You knew your mom had professors keeping tabs on you, telling her how you’re doing in class or if there’s gossip around you. There’s only been one time that she’s caught wind of your actions. Once, a theater professor caught you and Jordan hiding behind some seats. They didn’t catch that you both were naked but could definitely tell that something was up. She’d texted you to never step foot inside of the theater building unless it was for an interview or a class. 

Whoops. 

You think Andre knew, though. Or at the very least, had a sneaking suspicion that you and Jordan were fooling around in some capacity. But he just knows those sorts of things. Like it’s a secret power he’s been hiding; it’s a bit freaky. 

After helping Luke you actually continue doing your workout routine, it lasts nearly an hour before everyone agrees to go to bed. It’s super late and god forbid one of your RAs is in a shitty mood and writes you up for being out of your rooms for something other than the bathroom so late. 

Luke’s dorm is on the same floor as yours, so you have to actually get off at your floor and then take the stairs downstairs. Just one floor, though. Your dorms are stacked on each other, which is a wild coincidence. Jordan’s dorm is next to Cate’s so you’re usually quiet in the hallways, just in case she was awake and as you were entering Jordan’s dorm, her door opened. They yank you inside, eyes wide and place a hand over your mouth. You grin behind their hand, dipping your hand into their boxers and start stroking them to try and get a reaction until Jordan pulls their hand away. 

“Continue this in the showers?” They pant, running their hand through their hair, trying to ignore the flush on their face. You happily agree, kicking your shoes off. 

Jordan heads to the showers first while you plug your phones in to charge and put your water bottles into the mini fridge. You head to the showers as soon as you’re done, sneaking into the same one as Jordan who prays that no one has to use the bathroom. You definitely didn’t fuck and you both totally just took a shower together and the two of you head back to your dorms. It was so normal. 

Jordan lies down first, arms open for you and you laugh at the sight, crawling on the bed before collapsing onto their chest with an exaggerated huff. Immediately, they wrap their arms around you, keeping you secure on them and the two of you scroll through your phones, trying to get tired enough to sleep. 

“Can you make some Olive Garden breadsticks?” They asked after a minute had gone by. Snorting, you wave your hand and a plate forms on your bed, a pile of breadsticks quickly piling on top of it. “You’re the fucking best.” They lean over immediately, grabbing the top breadstick that you quickly replace. 

“Mhmm, feed me, too.” Opening your mouth, you patiently wait until Jordan feeds you. They do, with an exaggerated groan before wiping the crumbs from the corner of your lip. “Wake me up when we’re meeting the others,” Jordan hums while grabbing a new breadstick. 

—

Leaning against the pole next to the group, you mindlessly scroll through your phone while waiting for Andre’s new friend. Some freshmen that desperately wanted to get into the crime unit but Jordan turned her away, so now they were sworn enemies or something. You bet that she’d show— Jordan disagreed. So, you naturally placed a lovely bet that you fully intended on winning. But damn, you were getting tired of waiting. 

Admittedly, you were also a little cold in your outfit which was just a cropped, sleeveless red turtleneck and a pair of black pants. The ones that hug your ass real nice. The ones that Jordan has ripped at the seams more than once. The whole outfit was something you knew drove them crazy. 

“Oh! Told you,” Andre says, clapping his hands once and everyone’s attention is pulled from their phones. “This is Marie.” You look over at Jordan and make a blow job motion that they roll their eyes at. Jordan moves closer to you without anyone realizing it, too busy talking to Marie, and you know that look in their eyes. Staring up at them, they grab the back of your neck subtly, forcing your head to keep its position. They don’t say anything, the two of you just hold eye contact until someone breaks your concentration.

“And that’s (Y/n).” Andre points at you, Jordan’s hand drops immediately, instead draping loosely over your shoulders and you give Marie a two-finger wave. She gives a shy wave back before they get into their cars. Jordan had forced you into Andre’s shiny yellow car; Marie had gone with Luke and Cate. You didn’t know who had it worse, Marie or Andre. 

Andre pulls out of the parking lot, blasting music while you and Jordan sit in the back, smelling that stupid blueberry vape Andre loves so much. Not that you mind the vaping; lord knows you’ve done far worse than a stupid vape. With Andre occupied with driving and vaping, your hands travel across Jordan’s pants and they do the same, rubbing up and down. Just teasing, something to get the blood rushing and your adrenaline up. You weren’t going to give handjobs in the same car as Andre. That would be insane. And rude. 

Or he’d be totally into it, actually. 

—

At the top of the Seven Towers, you laugh as Andre cheers while you make drugs for them. It’s usually the same; some blow, Beam, Molly, or weed. Shrooms only for Luke, though. Occasionally, they’d ask for some harder shit and you’re glad you took crime chemistry and watched a shit ton of videos to know what’s in the shit they ask for. Sometimes it’s some new market shit you haven’t heard of before. 

“It's pure shit only!” Andre laughs in your ear, shaking your shoulders. Sometimes you wondered how much money you could make selling your drugs but then you’d hear your mother's voice in the back of your head. Yelling at you for ruining her reputation. Some stupid nagging shit you definitely don’t feel like hearing, again. 

Picking up a spoon, you scoop some of the cocaine and quickly snort it before handing it over to Jordan. Sniffing, you make another spoon and do another line, faintly hearing Jordan snickering at your side. The spoon you made turns back into air and you playfully shove them with your shoulder before subtly leaning into their touch.

Sometime later, after mindless chatter and laughing about nothing and everything, you find the group is still missing two people. “Fuck are they talking about?” Jordan asks, nodding towards Marie and Luke. They’re at the edge, leaning against the railing. By that point you’ve each done your fair share of drugs but you needed another.

“Probably something boring,” You huff, reaching over for the spoon. Jordan picks it up before you can and looks down at you, holding the spoon out of your reach. 

“Slow down,” They chuckle but you know Jordan, there’s concern behind the laugh. “There’s more than enough. This is just a pre-game.” Their hand settles on your upper thigh and you give in, watching as they pass the spoon to Cate who’s more than happy to do another. 

“Yeah,” Cate laughs. “Don’t want you getting so high you fuck up our drugs.” The four of you chuckle and you shake your head, leaning back until you can only see the night sky. 

The pre-game doesn’t last much longer and you’re all back in the cars, heading towards a club. It’s one of the regular clubs you all frequent, close enough to campus that you could rush back if need be but far enough you wouldn’t run into teachers. Good music and more importantly dark enough lighting for deniability if anything ever came out. 

Cate uses her powers on the host, letting the group into the club without a reservation and you’re all eventually taken to a private area. Well, as private as the club could manage. 

“Yo,” Andre leans over to you, an empty baggy in his hand. You scoff and take it, creating a handful of powder. 

“Is that cocaine?” Marie asks while Jordan takes the bag from you, digging their finger in the bag and takes a small lick before dipping their finger back in.

“We finished all the coke. It’s molly,” Jordan corrects. Luke starts talking, getting everyone’s attention and Jordan quickly opens your mouth with one hand on your jaw, their other hand is busy shoving their index finger in your mouth. Quickly sucking their finger, Jordan pulls away before anyone can notice and you lean back, licking your lips. Luke is still explaining his drugs, that he doesn’t do powder but shrooms and Marie says no thanks to the drugs but ends up taking some of the molly from Andre. 

“Fucking love (Y/n)’s powers, man,” Andre grins, looping his arm over your shoulder. 

The attention shifts back to you. “You make drugs…?” Marie tentatively asks. She’s heard of you before, you’re in the top ten but she doesn’t really know powers. 

“I create, period.” You shrug. “They only use it for drugs and food, though.” You add through a laugh. 

“And condoms!” Andre unhelpfully adds. 

“As long as I know what something is made of, I can make it.” You explain. “But enough about fucking powers.” You groan, this was supposed to get your mind away from the supe shit. 

“Yeah, let’s dance!” Cate grins, taking Marie after her. Andre takes Cate’s spot and you move closer to Jordan. Making some drinks for the four of you, Jordan shifts to the female presenting them and you all talk about Luke’s upcoming Seven promotion and how someone is going to take his number one spot. 

“Nah—“ Andre shakes his head after Jordan said he’d take it. “(Y/n) definitely will. You’re the ultimate nepotism hire with some cool ass powers.” You laugh but don’t say anything, not wanting to get into a conversation about rankings. Thankfully, the conversation dies pretty soon when Luke has to take a piss. Andre gets up with him, something about finding someone to hit on, leaving just you and Jordan. 

“You okay?” They ask and you hum, leaning against the couch. Pulling their legs up over your thighs, you squeeze along their calves like a stress ball. “You seem kinda out of it. And you did most of the coke.” Sometimes you really dislike how well they can read you. But you guess you weren’t hiding it that well, either. 

“My mom's being a bitch,” You admit, trailing your eyes from their legs to their face. “She got wind about Luke and she’s been pressuring me to do better. She hates that I’m not number one yet and that he’s getting into the Seven before I do.” Shrugging, you create another drink and down it. “So fucking tired of her.” 

“Man, fuck her,” Jordan moves closer, their fingers gliding across the side of your face. “She's just upset she’s past her glory days and you haven’t even peaked yet.” 

“I fucking love you,” You grin, chasing their lips. 

“You better,” They mumble against your lips, pulling you down on the couch. The two of you make out, Jordan’s hands roaming your skin before their hands settle on your ass. They grip and squeeze your flesh while you rub them through their pants with one hand while the other keeps you propped up with just enough room to run your fingers through their hair. 

At least, until there’s shouting. And not the good kind. The music stops and the two of you run to the noise. You’re the last of the group to get there, finding Andre next to a woman who’s bleeding out. Jordan picks up Andre, telling him that they need to leave as soon as possible but Marie pulls the woman’s blood back into her body. 

You grit as you close the wound before Jordan pulls you away too. “What the fuck, Jordan?” You hiss, tripping over your feet before catching your balance. 

“What if they caught you on camera?” They hiss back. “You would’ve been fucked. It’s bad enough that the freshmen is still in there!” As much as you’d hate to admit it, they’re right. Lord knows the trouble you would’ve gotten in had someone uploaded a video of you there. Pupils blown from the drugs and clearly a little tipsy. Nodding, you get back into Andre’s car as Marie comes out of the club soon after. Cate quickly pulls her into Luke’s car and everyone takes off back to GodU. 

You get there first, watching as Luke hurriedly pulls into his usual parking spot and everyone rushes back into the dorms. 

You’re all thankfully in the same building so no one is scrambling to get to separate dorms. Marie is the first to get off of the elevator. Freshmen are always on the lower levels and with roommates. Feeling bad, you walk Marie to her door with a bottle of water and an apple, apologizing for her first clubbing experience going so shitty. She doesn’t say much, just a thank you before the door closes and you hear her roommate go ‘ was that (Y/n)?’ You don’t wait to hear her response. 

Jordan had held the elevator for you, waiting somewhat impatiently, their eyes shifting up and down the hallways because the RA is fucking invisible on this floor. Getting back in the elevator, Jordan and Cate get off next. You send them off with a water bottle and a bag of chips before the doors close. You get off with Luke and Andre, doing the same with the two of them before you get into your dorm. Flashing yourself into night clothes, you try to sober up with bread and water before lying down. 

Tossing and turning for a while, you eventually give up and stand, looking at the door. You don’t want to risk Andre or Luke hearing you leave, you can hear his music still playing through the walls. Staring down at the floor, you huff and make a hole in it before floating down into Jordan’s room. 

They’re half-asleep but lucid enough to open the blanket up to you and you close the hole in their ceiling before taking the empty space. “I’m sorry,” They mumble, eyes still closed. “For pulling you so hard.” They curl into you, resting their head on your chest and you play with their hair.

“You’re fine, but thank you,” They nod and you kiss the top of their head before closing your eyes. 

—

You’re on your way to meet Jordan with your breakfast slash lunch for the day when Marie runs out of the building. Truth be told you’d been busy on your phone, watching some news about Starlight and Vought— it was getting messy over there. But you quite literally crash into her, nearly dropping your phone and the food while she pants, her eyes wide and shifty. “Fuck is wrong with you?” You ask, holding her arms to keep her steady. Maybe the molly she took did a bigger number on her than you thought. 

Narcan was easy enough to make. 

“Uh— Luke killed Professor Brinks. He’s fighting Jordan,” She quickly spits out and your eyes narrow before you run into the building. If this was her version of a prank, you swear to god. Entering the building as Luke throws Jordan into a wall, you come to a halt and quickly create a dome over them while caging Luke into a box. He’s still on fire and he looks downright furious. 

You pocket your phone and toss the food to the side, trying to find some explanation in this mess. “Fuck are you doing?” You shout, dropping the dome on Jordan once you find that they’ve recovered. With them being okay you focus back on Luke. He’s calmed down a little, but his shoulders are tense and he’s looking at the bars of the cage you’d gotten him inside of, trying to guess if he could break them if he tried. 

“You too?” He asks, shoulders slumping as his eyes shift over to you. 

“Me too, what?”

“He’s on something, I think,” Jordan quickly explains. That’s no issue, you’ve helped supes on bad trips before. Nodding, you drop the cage, creating a blanket for him instead but keep an eye on Luke, ready to fight or restrain him again. Still on fire, he walks in front of the two of you. Jordan pushes you behind them on instinct just as Luke grabs their neck and pins them against a support beam. 

Running behind him, you create armor around your body and wrap one arm around his neck and the other on top of his head. He chokes, clawing at your hands with his free hand. “Luke, buddy, stop,” You urge as he staggers back, dropping Jordan who falls to their knees, coughing. The heat from his body isn’t horrible with the armor but you’re sweating and you think it’s starting to melt. He’s getting hotter, you quickly realize. Luke elbows you in the chest and you’re sent flying back into the stairs just as Jordan body slams him. You land with a thud, parts of the concrete stairs breaking off as you tumble down.

“(Y/n)!” Jordan calls, still looking at Luke. “You okay?” Standing up, you nod. You’re sure nothing's broken, maybe a little bruised if anything. 

“I’m fine,” You call back, dropping the armor and walking over to the two of them as Luke stands up. He looks around before looking back at the two of you before he blinks and starts walking. Luke walks away, ignoring both of you. Jordan takes a moment to look at you and you pause too before nodding at each other. 

The two of you rush outside after a minute, watching as Luke hugs Andre before he stops and looks around. People are recording, watching him and he slowly ignites again before shooting into the air before he explodes. Creating a large umbrella over the people, you watch as his blood and guts fall on top of it, sliding onto the turf and building. 

“What the fuck?” You breathe.

Chapter Text

The sun had long since set across the campus, and the warm morning morphed into the chilly night. Everyone had gotten a change of clothes when the cops showed up. Some stupid campus merch from the building because you weren’t allowed to leave the area to get anything else and they didn’t let you use your powers. They just wanted you in anything other than your clothes that were slightly stained with blood— Luke’s blood. Taken in for evidence. Clothes you’d never get back, clothes you don’t think you want back. 

None of your friends had been allowed to leave the area. Instead everyone else that wasn’t involved in the fight was allowed to leave while they had you sit scattered around as cops asked questions and eventually, a clean-up crew came. You guess the forced distance was so none of you could create some kind of cover story. The area was sectioned off, gates with tarps lined all around you, the only entrance was covered by two cops but you could still see the crowd. Phones out, flashes on, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. 

You watched with red and puffy eyes as they cleaned up Luke’s blood and guts. Dressed in yellow hazmat suits, holding either brooms or pressure washers. Jordan was at your side, still getting checked out by the EMT, their hand held tightly in yours. They hadn’t looked away from the school in hours, silent aside from when someone asked them questions. Even then it’s really just yes or no responses. 

You’ve been crying on and off— worried that you’d gotten your formulas mixed up and somehow made Luke trip out so hard he ended up killing himself and Brink. 

At some point in the night Cate runs past the barriers and you watch as she takes in the scene. Her eyes flicker to the blood, the organs, the suits, and the general carelessness they’re handling her boyfriend's death with . It’s too much and she falls to her knees and Andre quickly helps her. He holds her, stroking the back of her head and you lay yours on Jordan’s shoulder, inhaling. Jordan lets go of your hand, wrapping it around your midsection and slowly strokes your skin.

Soon enough, you’re allowed to go back to your dorms and you don’t give a fuck that Andre notices that you’d gotten off on Jordan’s stop. Especially not when Cate stayed on the elevator. You also don’t care if the RA gets word that you spent the night with each other and that you’ll get written up if they do. It’s clear that Jordan feels the same way as their hand never leaves yours and even has you lie down first. 

You crawl into their bed, wrap your arms tightly around them and try your best to fall asleep. To pretend like one of your closest friends didn’t just kill himself in front of you after fighting you and your partner after killing their mentor before the first day of classes officially started. Instead, you try and focus on Jordan’s breathing to lull you to sleep. 

You notice fairly quickly that they’re in a similar boat, tears pricking their eyes and their hands fist your shirt. They’re trying so desperately not to cry that when you start stroking their back, they can’t hold it in anymore and you hold them throughout the night until they cry themselves to sleep. 

—

When you wake up the next morning, you find that you’re still tangled with Jordan and carefully turn around, trying to ignore the sun peaking through the curtains. Jordan mumbles against the back of your neck, getting used to the new position fairly easily and you smile, just a little. Your phone buzzes from the nightstand and you check it, groaning when you see it’s a text from your mother. As your phone unlocks, sensing your face, the message turns from just a blank notification to her text. 

I knew you could do it. 

That was all it read: no picture, no emoji, no I love you. Your stomach sinks because you know what she’s talking about without having to give it a second thought. Swiping to unlock your phone, you rush to your Godolkin app to check the student rankings. It takes a painfully long time to load and when it does, your breath hitches. 

1. (Y/N) (L/N)

2. ANDRE ANDERSON

3. MASON PHINISTER

4, VANESSA HAYCRAFT III

5. JORDAN LI

Shifting in Jordan’s bed, you feel a bitter taste rising in your mouth. Like you’re about to vomit. You’d taken Luke’s spot, he’d been replaced in less than a full day— they were acting as if he wasn’t this school’s celebrity. As if everyone didn’t worship the ground he stood on and Jordan got pushed down, without Brink’s to vouch for them, the school no longer needed to fake their support as much. 

You don’t mean to, but you sit up from the bed fast. Inhaling and exhaling as you scroll back up to your name and picture. You’d seen Luke up there for so long, seen yourself at number four for so long that none of this— absolutely none of this felt real. 

“Babe?” Jordan groans, feeling that you weren’t there anymore. “What’s wrong?” Their hand travels across your back, silently telling you to lie back down. 

“New rankings came out.” You dryly tell them while handing your phone over. Jordan sits up and you can feel the bed shifting as they switch to their feminine form. 

“Fucking number fucking five?” They toss the phone to bed before slumping down. 

“It’s fucking bullshit,” You mutter, grabbing your phone and staring at the rankings again. They make a noise in agreement, shuffling to the edge of the bed next to you. 

“You still remember how to make a bong?” Another text comes in as you make a bong, this time it’s your mother’s assistant. 

Get dressed. Nicely. None of that crap you wear and go to the media room. Photos are being taken. — Diamond Crest

You’re about to make a suicide joke before you stop, the images of Luke exploding come rushing back and you pocket your phone instead. “I gotta go,” You mutter. “I’ll see you later, Jordan.”

Jordan nods, watching as you stand up. “Text me,” They say before holding your hand when you don’t respond. “Okay?” Their eyes chase yours before you give in, nodding. 

“I will,” You smile, kissing the top of their head before heading to your dorm. 

—

In front of your dorm was a new outfit inside of a dress bag, and a card from Lancôme was pinned to the zipper. There was also a note from your mother on the inside, written in her signature blue ink with her stupid stamp of approval. You didn’t read it, you know it was something about not ripping it, or getting dirt on it. Something about keeping it nice. You just wore it, along with the shoes, socks, and even underwear it came with. 

You did your hair, not putting in a lot of effort because she’d just get her assistant to fix your hair into the style she wanted anyway. She always does. 

And you were right, of course. Her assistant, a pushover of a man named Tony, pulls you into a side room and does your hair to her liking. He’s worked with your mother for longer than you’ve been alive, so he knows her likes well. 

“You’ll be doing a national interview,” Your mother says as you walk over to the small circle stage with a golden backdrop, stage lights, and a camera crew in front of it. There are already people there and you can see Andre and his dad entering the room, neither of them notices you at first. “You will smile and the smile we rehearsed. None of that weird smile you do, shoulders straight and fix your posture.” You nod, almost flinching when Tony brings a beauty blender to your face. 

“You have imperfections,” She sighs as if it were obvious. “It's clear you’ve been crying. It’s a shame about what happened to Luke, honey. But look at where it got you! Number one— you’re the junior who saved Godolkin. I saw the footage, you saved your friend with the weird gender issues and trapped Golden Boy in a cage,” She smiles, holding your jaw with a sickly sweet grin. “His death is a blessing, honey.”

“Chop-chop!” Courtenay shouts and you’re ushered to the stage before you can reply. They take some photos, and a short looped video. Once you’re done, you’re given a script and your mother sends you off to read to the side while she talks to Andre’s dad. Marie shows up soon after, she gets sent away to costume and then hair and makeup- along with her script. 

“You read this shit?” You scoff once Andre is free. The two of you stand to the side while they adjust the lighting and stuff. 

“Fucking bullshit, I know,” He sniffs, wiping his nose. “Thank god I got high before I left.”

“I didn’t get the chance,” You grumble, folding the paper into a small square and tucking it behind your phone case. “Woke up to this shit.” He sharply inhales and you roll your eyes, but agree that you definitely could’ve— should’ve done this not sober. 

Eventually, you’re called back for more photos and this time it’s group photos. Marie is awkward to say the least, meanwhile you and Andre have done this a million times. You know what pictures they like, what poses you need to do and how to look. After the group photos, she does her own set and then you’re sent off outside to go about your day. 

Instead of immediately going back to your or Jordan's dorm, you spend your time lingering around. Not by choice, you’re forced into taking photos with random people who ask because you never actually have a choice with them and your mother joins in soon enough and then the photos just pile on from there. You’d wanted to talk to Andre but by the time you were able to breathe, he was gone. 

With him gone, you go and change into some clothes you actually like wearing before heading to your first class of the day. You’re not surprised that the building is still open for lectures, the blood and guts are washed away and nothing was actually damaged so it’s okay for everyone to return to normal- right ? Thankfully, you’re not alone. 

Andre is there with Cate and you spot Jordan not too far away— they immediately hand you an edible once you’re close enough. And you waste no time taking it. “You’re a lifesaver,” You whisper, stuffing the brownie in your mouth. 

“Figured when you weren’t answering my text, you’d need it,” They responded, not looking at you while walking down the hallway to the classroom where you can tell they’re working to get rid of the name plate. 

Brink was supposed to be your teacher this semester, he always teaches this class. But…clearly he isn’t able to anymore. Rather than canceling his classes, Dean Shetty is in the center of the room instead, watching and counting each person who walks inside. Jordan takes a seat and you sit to their left, next to Andre who’s next to Cate. 

Shetty waits until an appropriate time before she starts talking. “Professor Brinkerhoff died the same way he taught: a hero.” Bold way to start, but whatever, you guess. “He molded the Lamplighter School of Crimefighting into the shining exemplar it is today. Nobody could possibly replace him, so… I will. Or at least I’ll try. We will cover everything Brink would cover, but we’ll also get into the intersection of superpowers and mental health, which was my dissertation.” The door opens and the attention shifts as Marie walks inside. 

“We’re letting Ms. Moreau audit the junior-year classes.” She carefully explains and you lean back in your seat, covering your mouth to hide your expression. “What you, (Y/n), and Andre did,” Her eyes flicker between the three of you. “Well, it’s obvious you belong here.” 

When the class ends, you see Jordan following Marie out and you sigh. You're not going to follow them, not when they’re angry because you know it can turn on you. More so than ever in this situation. After all, you’d surpassed them. They’ve been 2nd and you’d been 4th— but Jordan doesn’t exactly mind that. It’s just, when they’re angry they tend to say things they don’t mean. And you get it, you’re like that sometimes. 

Eventually, you met them in front of the building. Marie has since left but Jordan seems frozen in place, their eyes lingering on where she once stood. 

“Jordan,” You calmly call out, waiting for a response. 

“You’ll tell them the truth, right?” They softly ask, looking down at you. “That I helped, right?”

“Of course,” You nod firmly. “You’d think I’d let them sly you like that? Fuck outta here,” Nudging their shoulder, they crack a small smile before it falls back into that small frown.

“Even if your mom goes psycho on you?” Their voice gets quiet again, their uncertainty creeping back in. You shake your head, reaching to squeeze their shoulder.

“All the more reason, right? Come on, let's get high and do some stupid shit like make a sex tape or make corny prank calls to Vought.”

—

The campus library was one of Jordan’s favorite places to fool around in. There was always some type of student life in there and the place was so big, there were multiple blind spots in the cameras and students' gazes. You had a specific area you’d do it in too; on the second floor, in between the memoir and historical fiction section— the least used section. It had taken two weeks to find it, some trial and error but you probably had a dozen spots hidden around the entire campus where you could do shit like this without getting caught. 

“Shit,” You drag out, on your hands and knees with Jordan behind you. They’re setting a brutal pace, hips slapping against your ass with each full thrust. Their phone is propped on a bookshelf, getting the perfect angle of the two of you. You catch yourself looking every so often, getting more turned on at the sight each time.

Quickly their hands make messy work of bringing your shirt up before finding home at the top of your waist, near the middle of your ribcage. “Fucking take it,” The grit, their fingers pressing harshly on your skin and you moan at the pain. Jordan leans down, biting your shoulder hard enough that your arms cave in under you and you drop, now ass up, face down. Thankfully, you’re not getting a face full of the nasty library floor, instead your face meets the soft fabric of Jordan’s jacket. “ Beg.” They say, slipping out from you and tapping their dick on your ass. 

Panting, you wiggle back, trying to make them slip back inside but Jordan laughs and pushes your head down, making you stop. “Jordan, please,” You whine, fisting their jacket. “I need you, baby. Please, I want you in me.” Jordan lifts their hand from your head, trailing it down your back before it curves back to your hip.

You know what this is about. You understand well enough that Jordan’s using you to fuel their ego that’s been bruised. Their ego that’s tied to their self-worth and image— and at the moment all three of them are in the absolute dumps. You know exactly what they want to hear, how they want to hear it— how Jordan wants you. 

They stifled a moan, bottoming out inside of you with one fluid motion and your mouth drops open, a strained sound coming from you. “Keep going,” The groan, head tossed back and both of their hands now sit on your lower hips, using the flesh as a grip to smash you back into them. 

“Please, Jordan. Make me feel good— ah , you make me feel so good.” You close your eyes, focusing on their dick dragging in and out of you. “You’re the best— fuck, I’m gonna cum.” 

“Good,” Jordan grabs you by the neck, lifting you up so you’re chest-to-back and starts sucking on your exposed skin. “Cum for me, fucking slut.” Moaning, you feel yourself coming undone and slump down against their body. Jordan doesn’t last much longer, spilling inside of you with a couple of shallow thrusts. 

Slowly, you pull yourself off of them and grab their phone, about to end the video but Jordan snatches it and pushes you onto your back. Catching yourself, you watch as they drag the phone down to your hole, watching as their cum drips out, clenching around nothing before they stick their dick back in you. 

“ Shit!” Covering your mouth, you quickly look past the books to see if someone was around. If anyone heard you. But the gloss in your eyes is making it impossibly hard to see anything aside from Jordan’s blurry figure pounding into you. Back arched, you struggle for air as Jordan picks back up to that brutal pace from before, snatching your hand from your mouth. 

“I can’t believe I have to read some stupid ass book about Swatto,” Someone says, their voice getting closer with each word and you still, eyes wide but Jordan doesn’t stop. “Who even gives a fuck about PayBack?” Jordan still has your hand and quickly snatches your other hand with the same hand, stopping you from covering your mouth again.

“Let them hear us, yeah?” They grin, feeling you clench around them at the thought. “Bet you’d fucking like that. Number one getting caught being fucked in the library, huh?” Whimpering, you try and see who was around but you can’t. Fuck. 

“I know right?” Another one giggles. “Unless it’s Soldier Boy, I do not give a flying fuck.” The sounds, you realize, god the sounds are so loud— so raunchy there’s no way they’re not about to hear. You could only imagine the smell, too. 

Without realizing you were close again, you cum and Jordan grins at the sight. Their dick twitching inside of you as you can’t fully hold back your moan, eyes rolling back to the back of your head.

“Do you hear that?” One of them asks and Jordan makes a point of slowing down, watching as the frothy base of their dick disappears inside of you. A white ring around your hole makes it hard for them to slow down. “Aw shit, it went away.”

“Oh my fucking god, that reminds me! Remember when I was telling you about the noises in my wall over the summer?” Jordan turns the camera towards your face as they cum again, capturing how you bite your bottom lip as they fill you again. How your neck strains because you just feel so good. Jordan slowly stops thrusting, pointing the camera back down as they pull out, recording your hole for a solid five seconds before they end the video. 

You’re panting on the floor as the two friends continue to talk, unaware that the two of you are slowly putting your clothes back on. Jordan’s helping you, giving you encouraging kisses because despite this— you definitely don’t want to get caught. And certainly not right now. 

Once you’ve gotten the area cleaned, you rush past them as they’re scanning the shelves. As soon as you’re in the clear, you exhale and laugh, creating two water bottles for the both of you. 

“Send me that video.”

—

Back at your dorm, the two of you were passing a bong back and forth, your coffee table covered with junk food and drinks that your mother would flip over. Jordan’s lying on your bed while you’re walking back from grabbing your buzzing phone. “Andre wants to meet up,” You tell Jordan while skimming through the texts you’d missed. Kneeling on the bed, you lay next to them, waiting for a response. 

“Go without me,” They huff, messing with the hair at the nape of your neck. “I’m beat.” It’s a lie, you can tell but you guess they don’t want to hang around too many reminders of Luke. Especially his girlfriend and his best friend. Which is completely understandable. 

“You sure?” You ask, sitting up. Before you can say anything else, they nod and you slowly nod back. “I’ll be back later, okay?” Climbing down from the bed, waiting for a beat.

Jordan hums, grabbing your hand as you fix your hair. “As long as you make some burgers when you come back, and I’ll just crash here. I don’t feel like getting up.” Grabbing their hand back, you kiss the back of it and nod before leaving. 

Flying from the dorms, you meet Andre and Cate near Brink’s memorial site. Cate gives you a small smile and Andre nods in acknowledgment, his eyes looking a little distant. As you’re landing, you pass by a melted camera and point it out. It’s not even close to where Luke had flown by, so it’s odd that it was melted. 

When you do point it out. Andre looks towards his father's statue, something clicking in his mind. “ Your dad has it,” He breathes after a beat of silence and heads in the direction of the statue. “It was the last thing that Luke said to me!” He hurriedly explains, the three of you are jogging on the turf to get to the statue faster. 

“You never told me the last thing Luke ever said,” Cate replies. 

“Didn’t make sense. I thought he was fucking crazy. But I think he hid something in here,” Andre climbs up to the platform and looks around before he points at the crotch of the statue. He takes a moment before bending the metal outwards and reaching inside. 

“That is really Freudian,” Cate mutters before Andre pulls out something and jumps down. He looks at it for a second before holding it up; Luke’s phone. 

“Can you maybe fill me in?” You ask, your eyes flickering between their gazes, something unspoken going on between the two. 

“We went to Luke’s room and it was cleared out,” Cate starts, holding herself. “Like everything was gone and it smelled like bleach.”

“Cleared out? It’s been a day,” You scoff and Andre nods, clutching the phone tighter. 

“There must be something on this, come on.” Silently, you groan and follow them back to the dorms. 

It’s not hard getting into his phone, he left it unlocked but even so, everyone in the group knew his password. It was the date his brother was born. Once unlocked it opens to Luke’s last used app; his gallery. The latest thing is a video paused of Luke staring down at the camera. 

When it plays, he’s breathing heavily, shuddering and a little jittery. “Okay,” His eyes are red and watery but not in a high type of way. “If you’re watching this, I guess things got fucked. Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but they have my brother. He’s not dead. He’s underneath the school. It’s like this fucked-up hospital or something. They did messed-up things to him and to me. And Brink…” He shudders and you glance at the wall, wiping a tear away. “Brink is a part of this. I’m gonna go in there right now. I’m gonna make him give me my brother back. If you’re seeing this, I guess things got pretty fucked. I’m sorry. Help Sam if you can, please. I love you, Andre. Tel Cate I love her, too.” The video ends and you’re left listening to their shaky voices as they talk about Sam. 

“Oh shit,” Andre looks at the clock, stopping their conversation. You look at the time and quickly stand up. 

“The fucking interview, let’s go!” After some pushing, Andre agrees and you flash your clothes from earlier onto the two of you before flying to the media building. Andre declines the lift, says he wants a little more fresh air and you don’t argue. You don’t have any time to argue if you want to make it to the interview at a somewhat decent time. 

Once you’re there, you’re ushered away by Tony and he fixes your hair, ‘corrects’ the ‘imperfections’ on your face again while your mother scolds you for being late. 

You and Marie are taken to the stage where they’ve removed Andre’s chair. He’s also been removed from the promotional photos, you can see some of the airbrush strokes the editor left. You can see his dad is frantically calling him and you wonder if he had a change of heart and gone back to Cate. Or, fuck, maybe he’d gone to investigate. Shit, you shouldn’t have left him behind. He was going to get himself killed going after something so dangerous that Luke died for it. 

In truth, you don’t know how to feel about this information. You never met Sam, no one has, if you’re being honest. Just Cate; she’s known Luke the longest. But then with the whole Compound V stuff, you wouldn’t be— well you would be surprised but you’d definitely wouldn’t have expected Vought to be so dark. 

“Marie, (Y/n)!” The two of you look up as your interviewer walks over. “Hailey Miller,” She shakes Marie’s hand and then your own before she sits down and her glam squad fixes her up. “I just wanted to say hi, you’ve got the script. I think we’ll have a teleprompter.”

Miller says something about Marie’s sister, that she wants nothing to do with Marie and it takes her off focus but she promises not to mention it during the interview. It was easy for Miller to get into Marie’s head; you guess her family was a sore subject. Sitting on your hands, you stare at the door as if that’ll make Andre appear faster. Or at all. 

Unfortunately, the interview starts and you sit up straight, hands folded neatly on your lap and a calm, practiced smile on your face. “Golden boy, the most powerful superhuman on campus in a murderous frenzy. Charging, and it was just the two of you.” She starts, having to repeat the question. Your heart hammers as you imagine Jordan, how you’d promised to set the story straight. Marie’s prompt was first, you were the face of the event and to keep people watching, you were going to be last. You expected Marie to say something different when she didn’t read the teleprompter immediately, but she followed it and your heart sank. 

Your prompt was up, you’d known Golden Boy more than Marie did so you were supposed to say more. Your script was to say that it was hard, you felt like you were betraying your best friend but you had to save the innocent lives he wanted to take. That you and Marie sprang into action like heroes would.

Your mother stared at you, expecting you to go with the script. Needing you to do what she says- what Vought says. 

“All I knew was that my friend was in trouble,” You start, voice shaking, following the script until you pinch your hand. “I’d run inside of the building where Jordan Li was holding off Golden Boy. He’d thrown them into the wall and I stopped him from doing more damage with Jordan’s help. They kept Luke from leaving the building and causing more damage. I wanted to talk to him down,” You blink, your eyes stinging before you shift in your seat, sitting taller. “Jordan Li was the first line of defense, they held off Golden Boy for longer than I could’ve alone.” 

Your mother scowls from her spot in the room and you slowly exhale. Just like Brink said about interviews; if you’re live, they’ll have to roll with whatever you say. And you’d just changed the story that they wanted to push, the story that Vought was fighting for. 

“But you and Marie did most of the work,” Miller says, smiling as if she’s undoing what you just did. And the worst part was that she was. You knew she could sweet-talk people, she’s done it time and time again. “Jordan Li wasn’t enough to stop Golden Boy, like you said. You stopped him from doing more damage.”

“No—“ You strain. “Jordan was doing—“

“The best they could, you and Marie finished the job. Saved lives,” She cuts you off. 

“ You're twisting—“

“So modest,” Miller smiles. “And I understand that you were close friends with Golden boy, that you’d want to preserve your friendship with Jordan Li and the memory of Golden boy but…” She trails. “Let’s celebrate you and Marie. And call Golden Boy what he was, a murderer. Who killed Jordan’s mentor, no less.” Your face scrunches in an unnatural way before she turns her attention back to Marie. 

—

You’re more than angry as you enter Jordan’s dorm, your clothes and hair a mess, face clearly twisted and eyes frantic. “It’s fucking bullshit!” You shout, slamming Jordan’s door closed. “She-she just kept bulldozing me and twisting my words like I didn’t know what I was talking about!” Hastily, you remove your clothes, swapping them for some of Jordan’s. 

“They really fucking hate me,” They mumble, head on their wall while scrolling through their phone, you pause as you’re fixing the shirt over yourself. “Some Bi-gender freak— this one says I was probably fucking Brink.” They laugh and your eyebrows cross before you snatch their phone away. There’s no fight as you do, they just huff and bury their face in their hands while you scroll through Twitter. The search bar was their name and they’d been reading mean tweets for what seemed like hours. 

“Fuck are you reading this shit for?” You ask, closing the app and tossing the phone to their nightstand. “Who gives a fuck what people have to say about you? You know the truth.”

“Cause public opinion is one of the most important things about being a supe!” They groan. “You know ranking takes popularity so fucking seriously. There are entire majors for this shit! Public appearances are ranked higher than actual fucking achievements. And currently, I’m ranked below fucking Mason Phinister! You saw it today, you told them what really happened and they acted like you were just… stupid. Being humble and letting the poor little gender freak get some recognition.”

Frowning, you sit on the edge of the bed and pick at your nails. 

They laugh this bitter laugh that you’ve never heard them do before. “Y’know, I thought Marie would actually tell the truth,” Looking at Jordan, they shake their head while looking out the window. “She didn’t even help. She just ran. I got tossed into a wall! I fought him! But somehow, she’s the hero. Somehow, Andre who just gave him a hug is the hero.” 

“And he fucking flaked,” You grumble and then shake your head. “I found out some fucked shit, hanging with him and Cate, though.”

“What shit?” Jordan sighs, also wanting to change to a different topic. 

“Luke said something about there being a hidden hospital under the school. That Sam is being held under there. It was fucked. He was manic as shit in the video. He called it The Woods. That they had him and Sam there but, apparently, only let him out.”

“And you think it’s true?”

“I think, whatever Andre was doing when he ditched that interview, has to do with The Woods. He said…” You trail, looking away from them. How do you mention that Luke thinks Brink was in on this? That Brink, who’d been the only adult to watch over Jordan, was this evil man who kidnapped kids with powers and tortured them. 

“He said what?” Jordan presses. Your phone buzzes and you make the mistake of checking it. It’s your mother. 

Fuck up an interview like that again and there’s going to be rumors that you laced the drugs that you gave to Luke. 

Licking your lips, you shake your head and turn your phone face down before looking at Jordan. “He said he was going to get Sam back.”

Chapter Text

August 28th marked the first day of the Fall semester, and now, September 1st, they announced that there’s going to be a gala to honor Brink and his legacy the next day. So to say it’s been an eventful four days— not even a whole school week, holy fucking shit— would be an understatement. Honestly, you’re amazed no one’s dropped out yet. 

Whatever. 

You have better things to focus on. 

“If she’s ahead of me when tomorrow's rankings come out,” Jordan says while you’re between their legs, they have one hand in your hair, gripping and pulling, and the other holding their bed frame. “I’m gonna lose my fucking shit.” Humming, you continue to suck their clit, moving your fingers in and out of them. They clench around your fingers, a soft moan coming from them as they cum. Slowly pulling your fingers out from inside of them, you slowly lick them while climbing on top of Jordan. Knowing it drives them crazy when you do. 

“Stop fucking worrying about her,” You groan. “They’re probably gonna get tired of her, she has like no media training, and she’s in the vintage age. She doesn’t know how to work a fucking phone,” Jordan laughs, running their hand down your body before there’s a knock at the door. 

“Go away!” They shout. 

“Jordan, is that you?” Both your eyes widen and you scramble off of them, hurriedly tossing clothes on. 

“Honey?”

“Uh, just a second!” They respond, changing their voice as the two of you continue to make the room look clean. They push their makeup into a dresser while you fix the bedsheets and get rid of the wet stains. Sniffing, you groan and create a Febreze can that fills the room with a lavender and honey smell. Making the bong and beer cans disappear, you give Jordan a fleeting kiss before turning a part of the wall into a door and walking into their neighbor's dorm.

“Hey, what the fuck?” He shouts as you change the door back into a wall. 

“Calm your tits,” You groan, heading to the door. Opening the door, you make it a point not to look at their parents as Jordan hurriedly talks to them. Thankfully, they don’t see you as you rush to the elevator, chewing on a piece of gum until you are able to get to your toothbrush. 

When you get to your door, you pause and curse yourself. 

“Finally,” Your mother huffs. “We’ve been waiting.” She takes a step and you see your father standing with his hands in his pockets, trying to look diplomatic, but he falls short. As he often does. 

“Where were you?” Your dad asks, carefully taking in your appearance. Wiping your face, you trail your hand up to your hair, trying to fix it because Jordan definitely messed it up. “You look a mess.” He adds, nose scrunched. 

“Get dressed. We’re going to lunch and you need to pick an outfit for the gala tonight.” Your mother smiles, one of those genuine smiles you don’t see all too often. Nodding, you enter your room and put on a pair of brown baggy pants with beige stars on them, a white button-down. Your mother sees the outfit and sighs, adding a black vest and a pair of black fancy shoes she makes you keep. She doesn’t say much about the pants, hoping the top will compensate for it.

Your mother isn’t dressed any more casually; a red cardigan overtop an off-white milkmaid dress. How she found out about those dresses is beyond you, but you’d also rather not think about it. Your dad is just in slacks and a white button-down. He’s always been that tech guy who doesn’t really know how to dress, something your mother struggled to accept for years, until his tech company got a giant deal with Vought and then later, GodU. 

While the three of you walked across campus, you weren’t surprised that it took nearly an hour to get to the family car. With the pictures and your parents stopping to talk to faculty and other famous parents. But you at least managed to pass by Cate. She was sitting alone, and you quickly joined her while your parents took some pre-pictures in front of a backdrop a couple of feet away.

You didn’t get to talk for long, just a couple of words and she thanked you for trying to tell the truth about what happened with Luke before your parents dragged you away. “Try and limit how much you talk to her,” Your dad tells you. “Don’t want people thinking you’re getting close with a murderer's ex-girlfriend,” Inhaling, you create a xanax and quickly take it without them noticing. 

—

That night, your mother dresses in a pale blue silk off-the-shoulder mermaid dress with pearls on her neck, and black heels. Your dad wears a typical navy blue tuxedo, and you’re dressed fancy. It’s not clothes you like, they’re in a color that you dislike and tailored too much to your body for your liking. But, it’ll look good for the photos and it gets your parents to shut up about what you’re wearing. 

So, you put up with it and enter the red carpet area. Once again, you put on your practiced smile, pretending to soak in the photographs and people shouting your name. You pretend you don’t hear a paparazzi asking about Luke, glancing as security ushers him away before others could join in on his antics. Thankfully, the two-minute long photo shoot was over and you went inside of the building. 

Only to be met with more pictures. People now freely gather around the three of you. Touching shoulders, asking invasive questions, before someone- either them or your parents- bring the conversation to something they could profit off of. 

After the pictures and the dick-stroking conversations you mull through, you find a reason to leave the conversation. It was hardly a valid reason but a good enough one that your parents don’t give a flying fuck. Now, of course, you’ll let people stroke your ego. Who doesn’t like hearing the endless praise that comes with this? But not when it feels like you’re selling yourself for some votes. Not even for something good, just a popularity contest that you’re already winning. 

It’s fucking humiliating. 

As you’re walking through the gala, you spot Jordan and head over, glad to have finally seen a familiar face. You find that they’re with their parents and some investor talking. “He was a holy terror as a boy,” Their dad playfully punches Jordan’s shoulder before he finds a reason to leave with the investor. 

“Hey, babe,” You grin, snaking your hand over their shoulder and gently squeezing it. “Drink?” You ask, slowly looking them up and down.

“Fuck, yes, please,” They groan and you make two champagne glasses that definitely aren’t filled with champagne for the both of you. “I gotta follow them, though.” Their eyes drag to their mom and dad, and you follow before looking at your parents. 

“Want me to join you?” You immediately offer. Jordan takes a second, looking you up and down. With you being around and people seeing, their social standing will definitely go up and being around you is nice, comforting— needed . But then your parents would probably be upset with you and you’d get an earful. And your social standing could go down. 

“It’s okay. I’ll be fine,” They shake their head, hesitating but squeezing your hand before walking away. They’re not giving you a chance to try and sway them into letting you comfort them because Jordan knows damn well that you could change their mind in an instant. Downing the rest of your drink, you go back to find your parents. On the way you pass by Marie’s roommate talking with her mom and Courtenay who gives you a two-finger wave as you pass by. 

While looking for your parents, you catch Andre and some blonde girl leaving the gala but it doesn’t look like they were leaving together. It takes you a second but you recall the dress being the same one Marie’s roommate was wearing and realize they’re leaving together— how long had you been looking for your parents?-. Well, it looked more like Andre was following her, looking a bit nervous because he’s doing his nervous tic—wiping his nose. You decide not to dwell on it, you’d seen the girl sneaking a blunt from her bag and reasoned that Andre just wanted to get high. 

Finding your parents, you see that your mother is with some Vought executives, talking about your future and how Vought fits into it. That, since you’re number one and clearly capable of fighting, you’ll definitely get into the Seven. There should be merch of your face and name— a hero name they’d yet to decide on—, and maybe a little mini series with eight episodes that people will eventually want more of. That part was your father’s idea. 

Business-wise, you figure you can hold your own weight so you smile and make a joke but you’re not sure it lands how you want. “Don’t worry, honey,” Your mother smiles as she leans to your ear. “Go have fun, butter some people and send them our way, okay?” Nodding, you excuse yourself and leave. Sometimes, your mother isn’t terrible. She really only gets super bad when your dad isn’t there because when he’s there —you look at him as he tries to hold the conversation but fails and she picks up the slack—  he pretends to be someone he’s not. 

They’re still usually insufferable together but it’s not always so… do this again and I’m going to ruin your career. You take what you can get. And right now, she gave you the freedom you were craving from this horrible gala. 

Finding Jordan again, you see they’re having some conversation with their parents. You wait, just barely hearing the conversation about their gender. A topic that often comes up with their father. Jordan blinks, eyes teary and looks down before responding and leaving. Meeting them halfway, they lean into you and you hold them, rubbing their shoulders. 

“Fucking hate him,” They grit. 

You drift about for a while, ignoring the speech— until the shoutout Dean Shetty gives you, where you have to stop and smile until the spotlight is off of you— before settling against a banister next to Cate.

“What happened to you?” She asks Jordan. 

“Parents.” They respond. 

“Say no more,” She uses her powers for a bottle of vodka and three glasses, never mind the fact that you could’ve done it. But who cares? The three of you could definitely use a fucking drink or ten.

You find an empty table in a corner that you had been eyeing for a minute, quickly pouring the glasses to the brim and sitting in silence. Eventually, Jordan spots Marie and you finish your glass when they call her over. You don’t know why you expected them not to bump into each other tonight. 

“I’m not in the mood, okay? You can attack me in the morning,” Marie walks past the table— or, she tries to.

“I’m surprised you can walk straight with everyone’s tongue lodged up your ass.” Jordan presses, ignoring how you’re glaring at them. 

Marie doesn’t take the bait, not fully and you have to feel a little proud that she’s not clamming up like she normally does. It’s crazy how much changes in a week. “Leave me alone. You don’t know shit about me.”

“Brownnoser, one-upper. Mommy and Daddy’s perfect little hero.” Softly, you exhale and finish the rest of your drink before refilling it. 

“Yeah, well, that’s definitely not me because my parents are dead.” Marie spins to face Jordan as she talks. “Because I killed them.” She adds. 

“Bullshit,” Jordan smirks, leaning forward in their seat. 

“I didn’t know I had powers until my first period. I couldn’t control the blood, and it sliced through my mom's body. Dad came in. Same deal,” Marie says, her voice growing more shaky the more she talks. 

“Fuck,” Cate blinks. 

“Yeah. I’m the last person who thinks they’re a hero. I fucking hate myself half the time. And I just spent the entire night being dragged around like a show pony, so I’m not in the mood for your shit.” She turns again, ready to talk away when Cate calls for her, offering a seat. Surprisingly, she takes it. With big confessions like that, you’ve learned it’ll make the person more comfortable if you say something back. Or maybe it’s the wrong thing to do— you can’t remember. But you think Marie could use comfort in similar stories right now. 

“I was eight,” You start, blinking twice while circling your cup with your nail. “My older brother's girlfriend had tried to extort my mom for hush money. It was something about my mom faking one of her latest rescues or something. She was yelling— we were at this rooftop pool in LA, mom rented it out for something. I forgot. The girlfriend was scaring me, I tried to separate her and my mom when she accidentally knocked me over and when my hands hit the ground, it changed around her. A perfect slope and she fell from the roof to the pavement. A hundred stories, headfirst. My brother killed himself the next day in the family house— I found him hanging. Turns out she was pregnant.”

Downing your cup, you shake your head at the burn. “Holy shit,” Marie breathes and you nod, filling your cup up again. Jordan swaps your cups out and you don’t question it. Sipping on their half-empty glass.

Cate speaks up next, her gaze held on Marie. “I was nine. My parents were setting up the tent. My little brother kept kicking at my shins, so I grabbed him by the arm and told him to go away and never come back. So he did. He just walked right into the woods. That was the first time my powers showed up. I didn’t know. There was a… search party. Dogs. You know? It went on for weeks. But… nothing. My mom never touched me again. Neither did my dad.”

“I had no idea,” Marie’s eyes trail between the two of you. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Cate reassures in a stern voice.

“Your parents shot you up with a fucking drug when you were an infant to make some money off of you.” You add. 

“No, my parents weren’t like that,” Marie shakes her head, hurt crossing her face when you give her that pitying look. 

“Yes, they were. They did this. You didn’t,” Cate softly says. “Don’t spend a fucking minute crying over them.” A blanket of silence falls over the table as Marie mulls over the fact that, yes, her parents did sell her out for some fucking drug. 

“I killed my grandpa with my powers.” Jordan says, breaking the silence. Turning to them, you squint. 

“No, you didn’t.” 

“Yeah, I know. I was just feeling left out.” They admit with a small smile. Shaking your head, you catch Andre rushing over. 

“Hey! Guys, uh…” He leans down, whispering now. “I fucked up.” Shit. This night was going fine, why not fuck it up with some bullshit? God, please don’t let it be something with the girl you’d seen him walking out with. 

“What did you do?” Cate asks. 

“It’s about her roommate.” He avoids her question on purpose. You groan, it totally has something to do with them. 

“Emma?”

“Who the fuck is Emma?” Jordan asks. 

“Marie’s roommate, keep up.” You roll your eyes to which Jordan pinches your side. 

“I-is she okay?” Marie asks. 

“I think she’s stuck.”

“Stuck?” Marie blinks. “Wh… where?” Softly, you exhale while Cate shakes her head. Andre takes a shallow breath before explaining and you’re staring to think his good grades are because he’s cheating. He’d sent some fucking freshman to investigate the Woods and now she’s probably fucked. Maybe dead or locked up somewhere. 

The four of you agree that you need to go and find Emma. There wasn’t really room to say no, not when Andre got a freshmen caught up in issues she was never supposed to be involved in. 

So, you all quickly sneak out and you change everyone’s Gala clothes into something more comfortable, not wanting to waste time by going to your dorms and changing. Andre had put a tracker on Emma before she went into the Woods, thank fuck for that, so you followed it. It was stationary, which was a little more concerning— even more so when you only found a bloody tracker in the middle of a crater that wasn’t there before. 

“Maybe Sam can jump like Maeve does. He landed here with Emma and then jumped again.” Andre offers an explanation to the hole. Your phones buzz at the same time while Andre and Marie talk— she’s upset that he wanted to do something and used Emma instead of doing something himself. Checking your phone, you sigh. New rankings. Right now is so not the time for this shit.

“(Y/n)’s number one. Andrew’s two, you’re three.” Jordan tells Marie when she asked. “And I’m still five.” That sparks an argument about the rankings and then about the situation at hand. They walk away and you look between Andre and them. You want to help, really, you do. This is fucked but…

“Jordan,” You sigh, following them through the grass. 

Jordan suddenly stops, whipping around to face you with this accusing glare. “Did you know?” They demand and you pause, squinting. 

“Yeah, I told you about it.” You slowly nod but they inhale, taking a step closer to you. 

“No.” They grit. “Did you know that Luke killed Brink because he thought he was in on this shit?” Looking between their eyes, you hold yourself before nodding. You’re not going to lie to them. You can’t. “Jesus fucking christ.” They exhale, turning away from you. 

“And you just decided to leave that out?” Jordan looks back at you. 

“You didn’t need to know!” You defend, taking a step closer to them. “You were struggling with the rankings and his death and I didn’t want to add anything else onto it!” 

“Y’know,” Jordan licks their lips and you just know, you know whatever they’re about to say is going to be something cruel. Something they know is going to hurt your feelings. “You always want to be the one to save me. To make me feel better like I’m some stupid person who needs the oh-so famous (Y/n) to help them. All because you can’t stand up to your parents, that they make you feel small and you can never stand up to them.”

“I have never pitied you, I never thought I was some savior doing charity or used you to stand up to my parents. I put my career on the line for you,” You softly remind them. “I’ve been in your corner since the day we met, Jordan.”

“I never asked for that!” They shout back. 

“Why would you have to? I…” You inhale, eyes wide because this is ridiculous. “Jordan, you’re my best friend. I’m not pitying you or using you to make me seem like some great person. I’m just being around you because I want to. Because I love you.” 

“Do you?” They ask, arms crossed. “Or do you like that we fuck and you get to have sex with a pussy and a dick?” 

“Jesus, Jordan,” Pinching your nose, you stand up straight. “I never liked watching the Property Brothers before you, I’d never had Olive Garden before you— I’m shit at video games but I play because you like it. I learned how to make safer drugs because I didn’t want you or anyone I care about to overdose or get some tainted shit. We didn’t start having sex until a month into dating and you initiated it.”

“All I’m hearing is I, I, I,” 

“Fine.” Holding your hands up. “Fine, if that’s what you want to hear. Fucking forget it. I’m not going to force you to listen to me,” You walk away first, heading back to your dorms, leaving Jordan behind as Cate leaves Andre and Marie. 

Once you’re in your dorm, you waste no time getting high and drunk, ignoring the physical pain as it replaced the emotional pain because, damn, maybe you shouldn’t have made an alcohol that was well beyond the legal amount and drank the entire bottle. Your nose is all runny from the blow and your stomach is churning. That stupid fucking gala food wasn’t enough and your lunch was some shitty rich people food. 

Turning up your music to ignore all the signs of your body telling you to get a fucking grip, you take one last sip, one last drag, one last line, and one last pill before going to bed. An oh so familiar feeling helping you calm down. 

—

Waking up with a raging headache, you groan and roll over to the side. You see the scattered bottles, the bong, the roaches, and lines you didn’t finish. The sight, for the first time, makes you sick. The first time you felt regret for doing drugs and drinking all night. Creating a bucket, you throw up into it, clutching your stomach. 

With the little strength you have, you clean up your mess around the room and drink some bone-chilling water. You won’t take an Advil or something, afraid you’re ingesting too many drugs together. Would it be stupid to look up how to sober up quickly? Shit, probably. Especially with Tek Knight on campus— and shit, he wants to interview you soon. Fucking shit. 

Vaguely, you can recall your mother and Tony reminding you about it. Tony had sent this passive-aggressive email and your mother made sure you remembered it during your off-campus lunch. 

Sitting up, you stare at your hands, trying to remember the feeling of being sober. Remembering a healthy body and project it onto yourself. Slowly, that woozy feeling goes away. The pain in your stomach, your nose, your chest, everywhere dies down. Something remains, though, the reminder of the previous night. The way Jordan had looked at you— the breakup. Was it even a breakup? It felt like it. 

Taking a well-needed shower, you get dressed and head to the media department. Your parents are long gone, they’d gotten what they wanted, and they had to fly back to whichever city they were living in at the moment. So, thankfully, you wouldn’t be seeing them until break. If you’re lucky. 

Your interview is after Andre’s, you listen to some of the questions and sigh. He’s asking good ass questions and his stupid fucking powers catch Andre in his lies. His interview ends far too soon for your liking (Andre had stormed off and his dad awkwardly wrapped up for him) and you’re ushered inside by one of the crew. 

Tek Knight greets you, a small nod and his team gets to work on adjusting the lighting. You’re given a microphone that’s hidden on your clothes and give it a small test. Tek doesn’t say much before the interview begins, he mostly talks to the crew, telling them what to do and when to start rolling. When it does start, you don’t put on that practiced smile your mother had taught you. This isn’t an interview where you should be smiling— it’s hardly an interview to begin with. It’s an interrogation. 

An interrogation done by the human lie detector that fucks people over. 

“We are here with (Y/n) (L/n), one of the friends of Golden Boy. Let’s start with the big question: why did he do it?”

“I’m not sure,” You answer. 

“Elaborate,” He shifts ever so slightly. 

“Luke and I, we never talked about deeper issues. We never confided in each other about pressing issues. The deepest conversation we had was probably about the school changing the gym equipment and rules,” You answer. It’s the truth, you only talked to Jordan about topics that really bothered you; you didn’t want to burden your friends with your issues. Not when you’re the silver spoon baby who can create something to fix all of your issues. 

“They said Golden Boy was a chronic drug user,” Tek asks next. “Do you know what drugs he took? Where he got them.” Fuck. Okay, damn. 

“Luke was against most drugs. He only ever took mushrooms from what I can remember,” You don’t lie, you can’t lie with Tek fucking Knight. You can give half-truths, you can omit parts but even then, it’s never a full guarantee. 

“Do you know the chemical formula for the mushrooms?” He continues. 

You nod, forcing yourself not to shift around. “I do, I know the chemical formula for nearly everything.” 

“Did you ever supply him?”

“No,” Because you hadn’t. You’d make Andre the drugs and he’d pass them out. Andre always passed you the little bags. Andre always told you when Luke wanted more because Luke was too shy to ask for more drugs. “I never gave Luke shrooms.” 

“Were you jealous of him?”

“Jealous of what?” You ask back. 

“He was number one, the more famous one, he’d gotten into the Seven, everyone loved him,” He lists a few to which you softly shake your head. 

“Being number one has never been my goal. Yes, I want to be a hero and yes, recognition is nice but I was always happy for Luke. We trained together, he’d ask me for help on his form or things he could do to improve. I’ve never felt any animosity towards Luke.” He nods and the interview ends. He shakes your hand, gives you a smile before you’re allowed to leave. 

On your way out, you pass by Jordan. They stare at you, pausing mid-step but you look away, staying out of their way as you exit the building. 

—

Sinking into a seat, you don’t watch as Jordan sits behind you. Their eyes burn holes into the back of your head until Tek Knight walks into the room. You ignore his bullshit speech until he calls you and Marie up. “The Guardians of Godolkin.” Quietly, you suck your teeth and make it to the front of the class, creating two chairs for you and Marie. You sit on her left, your ankles crossed and hands folded neatly on your lap. 

“So, Ms. Moreau,” He says your name next, keeping eye contact with the two of you. “You both stopped Golden Boy’s rampage.”

“Not just me. There were others,” She adds and you nod. 

“Andre Anderson,” He nods. “Golden Boy’s best friend. Whom I notice, uh, has skipped class today.” He chuckles, looking around the room before pointing at Jordan. “Ah, and you’d said Jordan Li also helped, isn’t that right?” Tek looks back at you. 

“I did,” You nod once, sparing Jordan a glance. 

“The two of you make a good couple,” He says and you try to keep your reactions to a minimum, but you can’t help the flex in your neck. “You and Andre, too.” His eyes flicker to Marie. 

“We’re not together.” The two of you say at the same time.

“When you start out, you want to establish a baseline and build a rapport.” Tek explains. “Ms. Moreau’s body language is open, and she’s maintaining good eye contact.” He says your name next. “Their body language is closed and their eye contact is locked— too focused.” 

“Walk me through that day.”

Marie speaks first. “I went to see Professor Brink—“ He makes her pause and makes you talk. For a second, you lock eyes with Jordan.

“I went to meet Jordan.” He has Marie continue. 

“Luke had already killed him. We fought.” Again, he has Marie stop, and then it’s your turn. 

“Before I got into the building, I saw Marie. She explained what happened and I went inside. We fought.” 

“We told this story a lot.”

“But, uh… not the whole story,” Tek says. “Why were you going to see Brink— why were you going to see Jordan Li? You first,” He points at you. 

“We made plans to have lunch,” You blink and he waits, wanting a deeper, more detailed response. “I’d texted them, talking about a new Vought-A-Burger item, and they were interested in it. I figured, why not and got two of them for us.” He nods, finding no signs that you were lying to him and looks at Marie. 

“I wanted to discuss my class schedule.” 

“Lie. Pupil dilation.” Tek smirks, pointing at Marie. “See it? It’s a classic sign. Why were you really there? Was it to talk about his distaste for you?” His grin grows as he hits it. “Bullseye. Heart rate just elevated. Professor Brink only admitted students with impeccable qualifications into Crimefighting. Your powers are, um… nasty. There’s no way he would admit you.”

“And yet here I am,”

“Ah,” He leans back a little. “So, not being good enough is a sore spot. And yours,” He looks at you and then Jordan. “Is Jordan Li. Why is that?”

“There is no sore spot,” You lie and he quirked an eyebrow. 

“When I first mentioned them, your nostrils flared, your jaw tightened, neck flexed. This time, your heart rate spiked and you gulped. When you made eye contact, your pupils dilated. All signs point to them.” 

“We… got into a disagreement,” You shrug, eyes flickering on Jordan for just a moment more. “A personal matter.” Tek nods. 

“And not because Jordan hates Luke for killing Brink?”

“No.” Tek nods; you hadn’t lied. You’d known— and been okay with Jordan not liking Luke after what he’d done. That was never an issue. 

“What are you hiding?” He turns his attention back to Marie. “What do you know?”

“Nothing.” 

“He was gonna expel you, wasn’t he?”

“No.”

“Pretty convenient that he was deep-fried that very same day. Were you in on it with Luke?”

“No. I didn’t do anything.” 

“Now or then?”

“Then. Now. Both.”

“Which is it?” He continues to press and you can tell he’s making her sweat. He’s asking questions that would make anyone nervous, you could ask fucking Steven the same questions and you bet he’d be just as nervous. 

“I-I couldn’t stop Luke,” Marie admits. “Yes, I went to Brink’s because he kicked me out. I saw Luke, and I fucking ran. And the only reason I’m still alive is because Jordan Li held him off long enough for me to get away.” The class turns to them, breaking into small murmurs. “Jordan’s the hero. (Y/n) too,” She looks at you but you’re staring at the wall. “Not me.” 

“And that’s how you break a witness, folks.” The class claps while Marie leaves the class. You stand and take your seat again. Tek stares at you and then Jordan, a knowing smirk on his face. 

Thankfully, the class wraps up soon after and you leave in a rush. 

“(Y/n)!” Jordan calls but you keep on walking, ignoring the fast footsteps approaching. “(Y/n)—“ Their hand grabs on your wrist and they spin you around. You watch as they quickly shift to their masculine form. Something Jordan does when they want to get a point across. It’s something you honestly hate. 

“What?” You remove your hand, placing it on your bag strap inside. 

“Let’s talk,” They whisper, nodding towards the bathroom door. “Please,” They beg, using those fucking puppy dog eyes and you cave, letting them drag you into the men’s room. There’s no one inside the bathroom, you’re sure of that. 

Jordan paces back and forth while you lean against the counter, watching. “I love that you make me breadsticks just because I asked, I love that you always have my back, that you listen to my wants and my needs— my feelings. I love that you play games with me, I love that you’ve always been there for me.” They stop in front of you, grabbing your hands and place them on their face. “I love you.”

Your hands tighten, curling before you make them relax. Looking between their eyes, you slowly breathe in and out. 

“Say something, please,” They frown. “Fucking yell at me, something!”

“You hurt my feelings,” You finally say, dropping your hands. “You hurt my feelings on purpose . You used something that I confided in you against me because I didn’t tell you information that I knew you weren’t ready to hear. You made me feel small to make you feel bigger about yourself.”

“I know,” They nod, holding your face instead. “And I’m fucking sorry. I’m so fucking sorry about that, baby. Please, believe me. If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat.” 

“I don’t love you right now,” You softly admit and their face crumbles. “I would’ve never done that to you.”

“Fuck, please. I know and I’m so so fucking sorry. Believe me, I’ll never do it again.” Looking away, you swallow before you look between their eyes again. “If I do, you have full permission to beat my ass black and blue.” Snorting, you shake your head. 

“Okay,” You nod. “But this is your only redemption. Do that shit again and we’re actually done.” Without hesitation, Jordan leans down, kissing you. They pin you against the sink, kissing you as if you’d been broken up for years and not just a couple of hours. Literally less than a day. 

“I won’t.” They promise. “Now, come. I gotta yell at Marie.” Nodding, you let them grab your hand and guide you out of the bathroom. “Oh and (Y/n)?”

“Yeah,” You hum. 

“Can we talk about last night? After you got back to your dorm.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You lie. 

Jordan frowns, looking you up and down.“Your dorm is above mine. I heard all of it. You were banging on the floors and cursing me out,” Blinking, you shake your head. That’s… surely you didn’t. 

Jordan paused, caging you in a corner to avoid people. “I don’t remember that.” This time, Jordan knows you weren’t lying.

“Yeah, cause you were so drunk and high, you didn’t notice me breaking into your dorm. I had to give you the Narcan you stashed ‘cause you were close to overdosing.” 

“I don’t remember that, either,” You softly admit, rubbing your wrist and Jordan nods, pushing your hair from your face. The way they look at you, tender, cautious, makes your stomach drop. 

“Baby, I think you might have a problem.”

—

You sit and listen as Jordan talks to Marie about her stupid choices. You’re not truly listening, trying to think if you truly have an issue. Truth be told, you don’t think you do. Sure, that time at the party and last night but those were outliers. You were having a bad day, you needed to take the edge off. It wasn’t like you couldn’t last without drugs. 

You’d gone months without them— and you could stop now if you wanted to. You’re in control, a hundred percent. 

Emma burst through the door, talking about Sam going to find Dr. Cardosa and trying to kill him. You know of him, but Jordan knows him. He used to work with Brink; they’ve been to his house on occasion and thankfully remember the address. Quickly, you go and get Andre and Cate before driving down to Dr. Cardosa’s home. You have to take your motorcycle, since there’s not enough room in the car for all six of you— unless someone sits on someone’s lap and you’re not sure if you want that. 

Admittedly, it takes a while. He doesn’t live close to campus and by the time you get to the house, it’s nighttime. 

Sam is already there, yelling at Dr. Cardosa and his family. Clearly going through something and Andre smashes a fridge into him, sending him flying into a glass cabinet. Sure, fine. Maybe they created a plan in the car that you’re not privy to. You make a pathway for the family, getting them out safely and more importantly, without Sam taking notice.

When you return to the fight Sam is yelling about puppets and stuff, Emma tries to calm him down and it was working. At least until Andre said something that set him off again. Sam slowly turns to Andre, eyes wide and kicks him into the fireplace. With him back on edge and a danger again, Marie makes blood ropes— a little freaky but cool— to wrap around his neck, keeping him held back. You used a construct to knock him off of his feet but he grabbed onto Marie’s blood before he fell. It helped him both keep his balance and knock her away before his attention shifted to you. 

He swung and you ducked, side-stepping him. His hit connected with the wall and you watch as part of it breaks— the metal framing bent from the force. With you momentarily distracted, Jordan pushes you behind them, taking the brunt of Sam’s incoming attacks and eventually knocking him into the backyard. Andre tells him some stuff about Luke, trying to calm him down when Emma calls for him. Her voice is loud— louder than if she was yelling and you look back before looking forward again. 

She’s fucking huge and naked, now strong enough to pin Sam to the ground and calm him down. Marie says something, something about a promise and then someone taps you.

Chapter Text

Yawning, you feel Jordan scoot closer to you, wrapping their arm around your shoulder. Vaguely, you register that you’re both naked. Shifting closer to them, they tuck their head under your chin and you kiss the top of their head. Closing your eyes, you pull the covers up back to your shoulders and try to go back to sleep. 

The door opens and you barely have time to register what’s happening. “Holy shit!” Andre and Cate shout and the two of you spring up, covering yourselves automatically. “I just… Sorry, I just thought.. we’re sorry about that. Is this that…. Right on— we’re just leaving.” Their voices blend together as they speak over each other while you get your bearings— shit. You’re not in your dorm or Jordan’s. This is Dusty’s house. 

When did you go to a house party?

“I don’t remember us having sex,” You softly admit, trying your hardest to remember something that happened last night. Something to explain why you’re at Dusty’s and naked in bed with Jordan— not that the second part is an issue. That’s never an issue. 

“Neither do I,” They look you up and down, eyebrows furrowed because not knowing is a new feeling. A bad feeling. 

“Did I get too high— too drunk?” You whisper, looking at Jordan with wide eyes. “Do I have a problem?” 

“No— no, babe, you definitely don’t. I was just,” Jordan shakes their head, trying to remember why they’d said that in the first place but it runs a blank. You can’t remember why either, just the fact that Jordan had said it. “I was worried. Please, don’t think that you do.”

“But I can’t remember—“

“And neither can I,” They kiss the top of your head. “Now get dressed, we’ll figure out what happened in a minute.” Nodding, the two of you hand each other your clothes before heading downstairs. You’re fumbling with your phone when it turns on and you catch the date and it can’t be right, it should be Friday. Showing Jordan they curse and check their phone, cursing again when their phone shows the same date. 

When you get downstairs, Andre and Cate are already there, smoking. He chuckles as he offers you a blunt but you shake your head, saying you’re too tired to smoke. Slowly slumping on a sofa chair you made (because sitting on one of Dusty’s furniture is one way to get an STI) while Jordan sits on top of it, your head resting on their leg while they massage your scalp in gentle motions. 

“So,” Andre grins, pointing between the two of you. “How long has this been going on?” 

“A couple of months,” Jordan rolls their eyes. “Around nine or ten now.” You nod, confirming it to the two of them.

“Holy shit, almost a year?” Cate laughs. “How did we not notice?” Her eyes flicker between the two of you, how you seem to naturally fit together. 

“Not sure,” Jordan laughs before wiping their nose, holding back some raunchy details they had never noticed before. “But I don’t remember last night. I don’t blackout— ever. I’ve only ever seen (Y/n) blackout once. We’ve taken a whole case of Beam to the face and been fine.” 

Once. Last night. The only time Jordan has ever seen you get so wasted you couldn’t control yourself or remember your actions was because they had done something to hurt you on purpose. Jordan’s jaw tightens while you look down, ashamed of yourself. 

“Why are your chonies twisted over this?” Andre asks. “You two are dope together. Clearly, if it’s been almost a year.” He shakes his head at that part, as if it’s hard to believe that either Jordan was able to keep a relationship that long (don’t tell him that they almost didn't) or because he really didn’t notice for that long. 

“Yeah,” Cate nods. “You guys make a cute couple.” She pouts as if you two were some adorable puppies and you smile. It’s a nice feeling, your friends knowing and supporting your relationship. Not that it was a fear before, but it’s just a bubbly feeling now. 

Jordan nods, glancing down at you. “Thanks, but this whole fucking morning is weird. You know what day it is?” Jordan steers the conversation back because— yes, they do agree that you both make an amazingly hot couple but why are they the only ones to realize how fucked their current situation really is?

“It’s like…” Andre looks off. 

“Friday,” Cate shrugs. You can’t tell if they really don’t care or if they have just realized it yet. 

“It’s fucking Saturday!” Jordan corrects

“Hold up. It is… fucking Saturday.” Andre breathes out after checking his phone. 

“Guys, look. It’s not that I don’t remember the party or (Y/n). I-I mean, I don’t, but more importantly… There are days that I am missing. Like, huge gaps in my memory.”

“Mine too,” Cate admits. 

Andre exhales, looking between everyone. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Has anyone seen Marie?” You ask; the first time you’ve talked since the bedroom. “I feel like we were with her. It feels like she’s missing from the group, right?”

“No, we checked all the rooms. Didn’t see her.” Andre shakes his head, his nose a little scrunched. “But I saw her friend, Emma, passed out in the pool.” He adds with a little chuckle. 

“Is she okay?” You ask, looking back outside. “Like she’s not drowned in the pool?” You scan the pool but you don’t see anyone and relax. She must be fine, then. 

“Oh, no,” Andre shakes his head, eyebrows raised. “She was huge— turns out she doesn’t just get small.” That’s news. 

“So, Emma and Marie,” Jordan places their hands on their knees. “We don’t know where Marie is—“

“There’s Marie!” You point out the door, standing up. “ And she’s with Emma.” Clapping your hands, you start to make your way to the door.

“Marie!” Cate calls as the four of you exit the house. Marie spins around, looking a bit awkward and Emma’s eyes slowly drag between all of you. 

“Did you, uh.. did you black out last night?” Andre asks.

“I don’t think that’s any of your business,” She looks at the four of you, a little on edge. 

“Marie, we all blacked out.” Cate reassures. 

“And not just the party. It’s the past few days. Think about it. I blew off my interview with Hailey Miller but I don’t know why.” Andre adds, helping Marie realize that she wasn’t on trial or something. 

“I remember Tek Knight being here, I remember talking to him, but I don’t remember why.” Jordan continues and that’s when Marie relaxes. She’s not the only one with something going on with her memories. 

Suddenly, she perks up. “There was a kid just now. He acted like he knew me and Emma.” She explains. 

“What kid? Another student?” The conversation continues until you find out that Marie literally blew Rufus’s dick off. You don’t find it nearly as funny because with the gaps in your memory, you’re struggling to understand if Jordan’s worry was something real. You’ve taken drugs every day for, what, a week now? Maybe more. 

Is it selfish to be more concerned with yourself right now? When your friends and partner are all going through something that’s clearly fucked up and you’re worried that you’re taking too many drugs at once. You can’t help but feel bad, like your issues aren’t much compared to what you’re hearing around you. 

Jordan pulls you into their lap, squeezing your thighs to bring you back down to the conversation. Resting your head on their shoulder, you breathe into their neck, trying to find the familiar smell that you’d get from Jordan. You can feel Marie looking at the two of you with wide eyes— that wasn’t a display she was used to from Jordan or even expected. Once you’re fine, you tune back into the conversation. Andre was going to kill Rufus for something he did to Cate— you can probably guess what, considering it’s Rufus— and it was time to go back to campus. 

Which is good because you sure as hell won’t find more answers— for any of the various issues you’re dealing with— just sitting in Dusty’s trashed house. 

—

Back at campus, everyone split up. You’d gone straight to your dorm and found all of your drugs, your bongs, your bottles of alcohol— every substance you had stashed around your room and turned it all into nothing before sitting on the floor. You hadn’t realized how much you had, how long you’d spent creating drugs and swearing that it wasn’t a lot. Because if you had taken the time to measure everything, you imagine you’d have enough drugs to make the cartel shiver. 

You wanted to text Jordan about it but you knew they were busy; everyone was, if you’re being honest. 

Jordan and Marie were out looking for Rufus, Cate was probably out looking for Andre, and he was probably killing Rufus. But your hands were shaking, you were panicking and trying to calm yourself. Because, fuck. Jordan was right. It was an issue. 

Your maybe problem can be handled later; you have bigger issues right now. Rufus— the memory loss. Covering your face, you shake your head. No, not a problem— an addiction . But, no fuck. You’re not addicted; you’re in control. Total control. It was a hobby, it was something you did when you had to. Like when your friends were taking drugs, like when your parents were too much, like when you were stressed. And you’re an easy-going person, so you weren’t stressed that often. So clearly, you can do it. You can go without your drugs. 

Standing up, you exit your room and go to Jordan’s room. It’s already late, the sun had set and it was around dinner time. You’d been spiraling in your room for hours, you realized when you saw the night sky from Jordan’s window.

“You’re shaking,” They point out once they see you and you shrug, trying to stop the shaking you hadn’t noticed. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine.” You nod. “I just trashed all my drugs and shit. Might ask Cate to make me forget what it’s made of,” You chuckle, half-joking about that last part. 

Jordan holds you close, rubbing your back. “Jesus, baby, you’re fine. Please, stop worrying. We figured out the gaps in the memory was because of Rufus. The blackout was because of him.” Shaking your head, you try and find what you’re feeling. Put your feelings into words, something tangible. 

“I’m scared,” You finally admit. “Addiction starts with coping. What if I start needing it all the time?” 

“You won’t.” Jordan hushes you. “How about you go sober for a while? See if you feel better,”

“Yeah,” You nod. “I’m trying.”

“Good. Okay. Do you want to take a nap?” Shaking your head, you lean back a little, looking between Jordan’s eyes.

“I wanna eat on the roof, can we?” Eating on the roof was something you used to do during summer break. You’d gone on vacation and Jordan just so happened to be staying at the same hotel so the two of you snuck to the top of the hotel's roof every night for the entire week. It was nice. You hadn’t gotten high that entire week but then again, you were drinking instead. 

Fuck. 

“Of course, come on.” In the hallway, you see Marie. She seems fine and the three of you talk but when Jordan mentions the whole Rufus thing, Marie looks confused. She doesn’t remember their chase; she doesn’t remember why she’d been looking for Rufus in the first place. 

“Fucking asshole wiped you again,” You huff. “Andre hasn’t found that prick yet?” 

“Don’t worry,” Jordan nods at Marie. “Gonna find that fucker and then explain everything to you.” As the two of you walk away, Marie suddenly stops you. She looks concerned, more concerned than when she just learned her memories got wiped again. She gets close, hesitant in her steps before she places a hand on either of your collarbones, squinting. 

“There’s something there,” She mutters. Jordan grabs her wrist and drags her into their dorm, you follow after, locking the door behind you. 

“What is it?” You ask, your fingers ghosting over where she’d touched. 

“I…” She shakes her head. “I don’t know. But your blood is clotted. Both of you, in the same spot.”

“Check,” Jordan urges, taking a step closer to Marie after shifting. “I trust you, right, (Y/n)?”

“Yeah,” You nod. “If you think there’s something wrong, I trust you.” That seems to put her at ease and she slowly inhales before ghosting her hand over Jordan’s collar. She seems to find what’s probably the issue and pulls. Jordan winces before you watch as Marie pulls something out. 

“It’s a tracker.” You hurriedly say, grabbing it. “My dad develops these. Holy shit,” Blinking, you stare at the tracker before creating a tissue and wiping the blood away. Flipping it over, you have to take a seat when you see your father's logo. Sure, you’d known Andre’s dad was in on this. So was Brink and probably half of the fucking staff. And sure, your parents were shitty but…

“No,” You frown, looking at Jordan. “They wouldn’t, right?” But Jordan doesn’t have anything to say. They can’t think of something that would help you, at least not without lying. “Take it out. Please,” Marie nods and you feel as she pulls it out. It rips through your skin and you hiss, looking down at the open wound before grabbing the tracker. 

“Come on,” Jordan softly urges, placing a hand on your shoulder. “We’ll find Rufus and get some fucking answers.” Looking over at them, you slowly nod and the three of you head out. 

—

It doesn’t take long to find Rufus; he’d been hiding out at Dusty’s place. It was one of his go-to spots aside from his dorm and the student center. Marie and Jordan interrogate him while you keep him pinned to the ground, hands bound, trying to understand how he got tech from your dad. Emma calls Marie while Jordan and Rufus yell at each other— Rufus swearing he didn’t do it and Jordan yelling at him to confess that he did. 

“Jordan, it’s not him. It’s Cate!” Marie rushes out and it’s so outlandish that your concentration breaks and the binds go slack on Rufus. 

“What? That’s fucking crazy.” The both of you say, looking back at her. Rufus jumps to his feet, trying to find somewhere to run.

“I know, but it’s true.” She urges and something in her tone makes you believe her. 

“You sure?” You ask, just to be sure and she nods before a keg flies across the room and sends Rufus flying through the room, crashing into another. Turning around, you find Andre walking inside. 

“Fuck,” Jordan drags out. “Woah, woah, Andre, Andre, you need to calm down.” 

“Move. This scumbags mine.” He brushes past Jordan and Marie, not bothering to look at either of them. 

“Andre,” You keep pace with him. “It wasn’t Rufus- yeah, he’s a dick, but this wasn’t him. It was Cate .”

“Bullshit.” Using his powers, he picks up a pair of hedge clips and sends it flying towards Fufus. “Cate would never do something like that.” He sends a shovel next, still not looking at anyone but Rufus.

“Andre, don’t!” Cate stops him just before he quite literally cuts Rufus’s head off with a shovel. 

“Cate,” Andre keeps the shovel at Rufus’s neck, waiting. “Tell them it isn’t true.” He swallows. 

“I’m so sorry,” She says instead and he falters, dropping the shovel before turning to her. “I’ve only ever wanted to help and protect you. I just wanted to make things better, and…” She steps closer to him, placing her hands on his head. You’re ready to push her away, waiting for her to say some command but she doesn’t. She’s not making him forget; she’s making him remember. 

“Andre, please understand. I didn’t…” She stammers, crying alongside him. 

“You’re a fucking monster.” He whispers and walks away but he doesn’t leave the house. You slowly breathe; it makes sense. When Rufus uses his powers, it feels like a snap. Like you blinked and then you were somewhere else. This felt like something was taken from you, that you’d experienced it just to forget.

“Do you want me to…?” Cate softly asks, sniffling. 

“Of fucking course.” Jordan nods before glaring. “Mess with our heads—“

“I won’t,” She quickly promises. “I’ll just give back what I took.” Jordan turns to you, wanting your input and you nod. You want to remember. You need to. 

Cate does it for each of you, it feels like a headache when she does it to you. You imagine it feels the same to the others, too. You feel disgusted by her, the sight of her makes you ill— it makes you so fucking angry just looking at her. So angry that you don’t even feel pity when she starts crying and leaves the room in a hurry. Jordan and you decide to keep watch on her, in case she tries to run away. But you kept your distance, watching her like you were some type of fucking prison guard. 

It’s only when she collapses and starts seizing that you feel bad. Jordan calls for Marie and Andre to help. Marie helps her, getting her blood running through her body again and you sit on the floor, your back to the cabinet. Biting your nail, you stare at her. 

Was it her? How much of your memories were yours? Was any of this fake? She knew this whole time, she watched you all freak out— probably watched you fight with Jordan about an issue she knew so much about. It nearly broke the two of you up permanently. 

They carry her into the living room and you follow, still chewing on your nail. This would’ve been the time that you needed drugs— especially when Cate blinks away and the bricks in the house slowly break apart and when you pass through it, the whole group suddenly you’re in the middle of the woods with Dusty. 

“You okay?” Jordan asks as the two of you follow behind Andre. 

“Yeah,” You nod, grabbing their hand. “My mind is still scrambling? I dunno,” Jordan looks angry, not at you, but for you. Their grip gets tighter and they just shake their head, pushing away their thoughts before you rejoin the group. 

You hear shouting; a woman is calling for Caleb. She’s crying for him and then an officer tells her it’s been three days. He wants to stop the search.

“Don’t.” She demands. “He’s only six years old. Keep looking,” Her demanding voice turns into a plea. A broken mothers pleads to search for her son. You look around, squinting. Blonde woman, six-year-old boy, Cate’s powers are fucked—

“That Cate’s mom,” You breathe. “She told us this story at the gala.”

“Mommy, mommy!” A young Cate calls as she runs up. 

“Cate, wait!” Her mother holds a hand up to her, stopping her when she’s ten feet away. “Just…wait there.”  

“Holy shit, this is a memory,” Marie puts it together next. “We’re in Cate’s head.” The memory continues but it starts breaking, fizzling and distorting. It’s confusing, it’s making your eyes hurt. 

“Hey!” The group jumps and you all turn around, finding Soldier Boy walking out from a tree line. “What are you greasy sack of fuck nuts doing in here?” 

“What the fuck?” Andre breathes out. 

“Soldier Boy, what are you doing in here?” Marie counter asks. 

“I’m Cate’s imaginary friend from when she was a kid. Boyfriend, really. I taught her how to jerk off. Diddle that Skittle. Flick that bean.”

“Dude, gross,” You cringe but he continues, probably says a dozen more analogies about Cate touching herself when she was younger. 

“I know you,” He looks Andre up and down. “Yeah, you’re Cate’s new fuckboy. She really loves you. But whatever,” The three of you look (glare) at Andre— no way. Luke’s been dead for less than two whole fucking weeks. Andre wouldn’t have swooped in that soon, right? Not when he was Luke’s best friend. “Boys, they come and go. But she always comes back to a little… pillow talk.”

“Fuck you. You’re a Russian Agent, you fucking know that, right?” Andre spits. 

“He’s an imaginary friend,” You remind him, lips pressed in a thin line. “He’s fake.”

Marie nods. “Yeah, bigger shit going on right now.”

“What the hell you talking about?” Soldier Boy asks, clearly more interested in being some type of Russian sleeper agent than anything. Then begins him talking about commies and being red-blooded but not commie red blood. No, he was Red-white-and-blue-blooded.

A storm starts and he explains it was a burst blood vessel, revealing that if she goes brain-dead, so do all of you. All before he’s zapped away. The group quickly runs away, getting away from the storm. Andre makes an offhand comment that he was a dick and you glare at him, slowing to his pace. “You’re fucking Cate?” You ask. 

“Now isn’t the time,” Marie tries to cut off any conversation. 

“I mean, true, but also like it’s September, what? Sixth? And you’re dating your dead best friend's girlfriend. It’s a little weird.” You continue anyway.

“Can we— can we not?” He squints at you. “At least until we get out of Cate’s mind and avoid going brain dead or-or getting zapped.” He points back to where Soldier Boy had been. 

“Fine.” Holding your hands up, you meet Jordan again. “Fine, whatever.” 

—

Eventually, you come across a room with a young Cate. Maybe tween or teenager. Her mother opens the door and lets in Shetty, closing a heavy metal door behind her. They talk, Shetty offers Cate some type of pill that would help the voices that Cate hears go away and she doesn’t hesitate before taking one. And then, in a blink and you’ll miss it moment, you’re in a classroom. The scene you’d been watching paused and turned off on the TV. 

Looking around, you see Luke, taking a seat in the front row, Cate next to him. You all take a seat in the row behind, watching their first-ever interaction. He asks to cheat off of her and it works, somehow. Andre starts to leave and then— “I miss you, man,” Luke says and Andre stops. The scene stops, too, everyone but your group and Luke is frozen in Cate’s mind. 

Luke spins in his seat, turning to face Andre. “I-I miss you, too, man.” Andre walks closer. “So fucking much.”

“But you know what?” Luke tilts his head a little. “I don’t believe you.” Luke stands up, walking two paces until he’s face-to-face with Andre. “You thought I didn’t know.”

“Know what?” Marie asks. 

“Andre,” Jordan looks between the two of them. “What’s he talking about?” The lights go out and Luke turns to the televisions across the room. Each of them plays a different time Andre and Cate had sex. They literally have a conversation about not doing it, wondering if Luke would find out but instead of caring, they start making out. Your jaw drops at the videos; each of them were separate instances. They have different clothes and the dorm room is arranged in various ways. 

“How many times?” Luke asks. 

“Are you fucking serious?” Jordan stands up. 

“No,” Andre holds his hand out to Jordan. 

“Was that real?” You ask, standing next to Jordan. 

“She didn’t make you do it, did she?” Luke asks, his voice as calm as ever. “You wanted to. Behind my back.”

Andre blinks harshly. “I’m-Im sorry,” 

“I thought you were my best friend.” He starts to ignite and Dusty runs, unintentionally taking the blast that was meant for Andre. And he blows up— shit , was he dead for real? Was this like Sword Art Online— you feel a little vomit in your mouth as you make that connection, actually. You each try to do something to stop Like. Jordan tries to shift, Marie tries her blood, Andre tries to grab something metal, and you try to create a wall but nothing. Absolutely nothing happens.

So, you all run away. It’s the only thing you all can do. 

You all run in front of Brink’s office and with a moment to think, you push Andre. 

“You fucked your best friend's girlfriend while they were dating?” You hiss. “What? Did you actually not want to work out, or was Luke working out with me and Jordan a good enough excuse for you and Cate to fuck?”

“What, you don’t think I feel like a piece of shit?” He asks, pushing you back and Jordan steps between the two of you, sizing Andre up. “I loved her.” Andre stresses. 

“Stop fucking lying to me,” Luke’s muffled voice calls from behind the door to Brink’s office. It stops the conversation and okay, you’re in another memory. Luke isn’t chasing you anymore. That’s good news. 

“Hey, you need to calm down.” Brink says. 

“No! I’m not gonna calm down! Unless you give me some answers.” You all move towards the door, staring at it. 

“Luke; you know what I always tell you.”

“No, fuck that, okay? I don’t want to hear any more of your bullshit.”

“Hey-!” Jordan says and you look back at them, seeing both Jordans in the same room. The female presenting Jordan walks up to the door, pressing their ear against it. 

“Oh shit,” Andre says. 

“Do we think Cate’s in there?” Marie looks between both Jordans. 

“She isn’t. This isn’t Cate’s memory,” Jordan says. “It’s mine.” 

“How?” You ask. 

“How the fuck is it yours?” Memory Jordan knocks on the door, pushing inside. You watch as memory Jordan grabs a gas mask and knocks Luke out. Slowly, you look at Jordan. That’s… fucked up. But are you standing on a high horse by saying you wouldn’t have done that? You weren’t there, you’re watching it with the knowledge of what Luke was doing— why he was doing it. 

Brink grins at them, clearly pleased. “Jordan. What do I always say? Being a hero isn’t always about the glory.” 

“It’s about the sacrifice.” They finish, unsure of themselves. “I know, sir, but what the hell kind of sacrifice was that?”

“Well, Luke… Luke needs cutting-edge treatments, put him over the edge. That boy could be Homelander strong. But sometimes…” Brink sits on the edge of his desk. “Sometimes he has a bad reaction.”

“If Luke’s getting cutting-edge treatments, I want ‘em, too.” 

“Always looking out for yourself, huh?” Andre scoffs. 

“You were fucking Luke’s girlfriend behind his back,” You snap, glaring back at Andre. 

“Kid, you got a strong head. You don’t need ‘em. Tell me, do you remember sitting in that chair, a scared-shitless freshman who never wanted to switch? And I promised that I would always take good care of you. Remember?” Both of them nod and Brink puts his hand on the memory Jordan’s shoulder. “Jordan, people just don’t understand the lows it takes to reach great heights. And so now I want you to promise me, as my new T.A., that you will always protect me. Not a word of this to anyone.” 

“You’re making me your T.A.?” They softly ask and you frown, looking between the two of them. You know this, you know that look— this power dynamic. 

“That’s how you became Brink’s gatekeeper?” Marie asks. You’d never really pressed on the how, Jordan had always been sort of cagey around it and you guess you know the reason why now. 

“Of course, because you’ve earned it," Brink smiles down at them. “Can I trust you?”

“Yes, sir. I’m honored.” They both chuckle and hug. 

“So you knew. You knew Golden Boy attacked Brink before.”

“I don’t know what I knew,” Jordan defends, on the brink of crying. 

“Looks like you knew a lot.” Andre gulps. 

“Cate knew more,” 

“We could have stopped everything right here,” The group turns towards the memory Jordan, they’re standing in front of actual Jordan now. “Save someone. Like we always wanted. But instead we’re a fucking T.A. saving our own ass.”

“I loved Brink. He was good,” Your Jordan cries, like full-on-- snot crying, voice shaking. “Or not. But he was good to us.”

“He was nice to us,” They correct. “Nice is all it takes for us to let someone get royally fucked? You’re a coward. And you always will be.” 

Jordan walks away, hands rapidly wiping their face and you follow.

“Jordan—“

“Not right now, please, baby.” They hold a hand out, stopping you from getting closer. You take the boundary, chewing on your bottom lip. “I let Luke— I could’ve stopped it.”

“You didn’t know better.” You tell them. “You trusted Brink more than you trusted yourself. He used that. He used you. He saw you were someone who needed an adult to look up to, he saw it and he fucking— he abused it.” 

“I should’ve known,” They repeat, shaking their head. 

“Maybe,” You shrug. “Or maybe you wanted so desperately to believe that the first person to see you wasn’t a shitty guy. That you held onto hope and blinded yourself, trusting him wholly.”

“Luke could’ve gotten away.”

“Fuck it. Maybe. Or maybe they would’ve found another way. Another teacher. Someone who wouldn’t have let you walk away from the situation.” Shaking, Jordan takes a breath and looks at you, their bottom lip wobbling. “It wasn’t your fault.” Jordan nods, slowly but assured when they do and you smile. 

“C’mon,” Marie urges, pointing at a door. “Before we get Soldier Boyed.”

Chapter Text

“The woods,”  

“The thing I don’t get,” Jordan looks back at the three of you while you take in the room— hallway you’d been placed inside of this time. “That was my memory, not Cate’s. It’s like her shit and our shit are bleeding together.”

“Yeah. Let’s talk about your shit, actually,” Andre nods. 

“Fucking drop it,” Shoulder checking Andre, you walk down the hallway of the Woods until you stop at the open door. The others join and you see Luke and Sam strapped to a table. There’s machines behind them. Shetty, Dr. Cardosa, and Brink are watching them as they draw their blood— they’re drawing Sam’s blood and putting it into Luke. 

Suddenly, Luke wakes up with a start. “What the fuck are you guys doing to me?!” He shouts. “Sam! Wake up, Sam!” Shetty orders something, pointing at someone and you see Cate standing in a corner. He begs for her help, but she makes him forget and puts him back to sleep. You see each time she makes him forget in flashes and you all realize she’s known since the beginning. 

Once the flashes end you find yourself in Dean Shetty’s office. Cate tells Shetty and Brink that it wasn’t working, that Luke keeps remembering but they dismiss her concerns. Shetty looks at the group and orders Cate to make you all forget, the windows in her office breaking, starting from behind her and trailing over to you all. Running out of the building, you see a door in the middle of the lawn. As your only exit, everyone heads into a door. Marie stops in her tracks when she sees the door. She doesn’t want to go inside to what you can only imagine is a painful memory. 

But it’s the only way out. 

She opens it, showing a bloody bathroom. It’s when she got her powers, you figure out. Her parents are dead on the floor and her sister is crying in a corner, rocking back and forth. She comforts her, at least she tries to. Her sister tells her that she’ll never be a hero, just a murderer. That she should never get forgiveness. That part makes Marie realize something and she starts yelling that it wasn’t her fault and it wasn’t Cate’s fault either. The room shakes and everyone stumbles out of the bathroom, landing on the floor. 

The scene changes again and you pause, staring at the brown barn doors that replaced the bathroom door. “No,” You shudder, looking at the door in front of you. “Fuck. Please, Cate. Wake up!” You shout, looking up at the ceiling while carefully standing. You beg her again, shaking your head before Andre grabs the handle, sliding the door open. 

“I heard she was pregnant,” Your cousin says, flipping through a magazine. There are five of them in total lying on your bed, you’re curled in the corner, covering your eyes. “(Y/n) fucking killed her and the baby. Bet you killed your brother, too, huh?”

“I didn’t,” You whimper. You’re thirteen, they’re all older than you. Much older. It’s Thanksgiving, and your mother invited them one of her mansions for the holidays. All of your family is over; she wanted you to play nice. “I didn’t kill them.” You grit. 

“But you did,” Another cousin laughs from your desk, messing with a signed Funko Pop from Black Noir. “I saw the footage. Y’know, the building is still slanted, you did that. Someone got her falling off and then her body hitting the ground. Wanna see?” He pulls his phone out and you shake your head, crying. 

“Please, Tommy, I don’t wanna see.” You hiccup, trying to stand but another cousin pushes you down while Tommy holds the phone to your face. The group is silent, watching as you shake and tell them to stop. They see the way your hands spark but you stop yourself from using your powers. 

“You see the way her head fucking exploded?” He snickers. “Watch again,” He replays it, they all laugh as you cry, trying to get away from the video without hurting them.

“I got your brother's pictures too,” Another one says. “They had to take photos for the report. His neck was bent like fucking a twig. It’s sick.”

“No, it wasn’t,” You sob, trying to cover your eyes as she pulls her phone out from her pocket. “Stop lying.”

“I’m not, look at it. Look at your brother's fucked up neck, (Y/n)!” One of them removes your hands and makes you look at his dead body. You shout, pushing them off of you and running out of the room. 

“(Y/n),” Jordan says but you follow yourself into the bathroom, watching as you hurriedly lock it as your cousins laugh after you. It’s hard to breathe now and you look at your friends, you don’t want them to know about this. You can’t let them see this. 

“Cate,” You're sobbing, shaking your head. “Please. Please, it wasn’t your fault!” You’re unsure if you’re saying it to her or to you. But you watch as younger you fills the tub with water in seconds before you make a handful of pills. They’re shitty; you hadn’t fully learned the ingredients and the dosages at this age. 

“(Y/n)— what the fuck?” Andre gasps as you down them in one go, struggling to swallow them but eventually manages. The laughing at the door goes away and you stroke your younger self’s face but younger you doesn’t seem to feel it. You remember feeling cold almost immediately, but maybe it was because you’d climbed into the tub. The pills weren’t fast enough. 

Water spills from the edge of the tub and you take a step back, rubbing your wrist, unable to do anything else. 

“Oh my god,” Marie watches as you create a small razor blade. It had barely fit in your fingers, but it was all you could muster. You’d closed your eyes, softly apologizing to your brother and his girlfriend. 

Turning around and screwing your eyes shut, Jordan holds you, stroking the back of your head while watching a younger you slits your wrist. The blood starts pouring out and you shudder, looking at what you’d done. You remembered how it looked— how the inside of your arm had looked. They gasp as you reach for your other before the door breaks down, revealing your mother in her diamond form. Your mother had sensed something was wrong, you’d never known how. She doesn’t talk about this day; no one does. 

And god, she screamed. She screamed bloody murder and pulled you out of that tub. She held your wrist together, shouting for your father. He’d come rushing up the stairs, an apron still on because he always made the Thanksgiving turkey. 

“I’m sorry for killing him,” You whimpered into your mother's neck. She didn’t need context; she knew who you’d been talking about.

“No, my sweet baby, you didn’t,” She cried, wiping your face. “Fucking hurry!” Your dad dropped to his knees, fixing your wounds but you were still woozy. It wasn’t known that your dad was a supe, too. He always said no one cared about stupid healing abilities, not when he could code like a ‘beast’— his words, not yours. 

You’d missed a pill; it was still in your palm. Maybe it was on purpose, maybe it was a total accident but your mother saw it and dragged you to the toilet. She’d made you puke, shoving her finger so far down your throat that she’d accidentally cut you. Your cousins had filtered into the bathroom— something they didn’t do before. You pull from Jordan, staring at the bloody tub and the blood trailing on the white bathroom tiles.

“You always turned to drugs to solve your issues,” They laughed all together like a group of creepy ass teenagers in a horror movie, you jump, facing them. “Maybe you should try again. Get it right this time.”

“Cate!” Marie shouts; this has gone on for too long. “It wasn’t your fault!” The room spins and it makes you feel woozy, that same woozy feeling you felt all those years ago. 

The room changes again and this time Cate’s in her room. The Cate you know. “You shouldn’t be here,” She says. 

“You shouldn’t either. But we’re here now, trying to wake you up,” Marie explains while Jordan helps you compose yourself.

“You can wake up right now. I won’t stop you anymore.” Cate promises, that same crying look on her face. 

“Come on, let’s all wake up and get the fuck out of here,” Jordan urges. 

“We’ve been through this. You’re fucked-up, I’m fucked-up. The one thing that is really apparent now is that we are all fucked-up.” Marie continues, desperate to leave but you don’t want to. You want to stay, you want to go. You want to forget this. 

“I don’t want to wake up,” Cate sits on the edge of her bed and stares at the wall. 

“No.” Andre steps closer to her. “No, fuck that. Doesn’t matter what the fuck you want.”

“Andre, I’m sorry.”

“No.” He leans down to her height. “No, sorry doesn’t cut it. You want to forget your problems and not wake up? No, fuck you!”

“Hey, hey, Andre—“

“-No!” He looks at Marie and then kneels down in front of Cate. “I didn’t want someone that I love to burrow into my fucking brain. You manipulated us. Me. You manipulated me. And I know, I know that… your painters hurt you, that Shetty… Insee it. I see it. But I wish you would’ve chose something different. Because I love you and I don’t want to fucking love you because I’ll never trust you again. But right now you have a choice. You finally have a choice. So wake the fuck up. You don’t get to throw this all away. Now I need you to remember. Please. So wake up.” 

Your eyes open and you’re back at Dusty’s. Everyone else is awake and you scramble to your feet, walking out of the house and passing by Emma and Sam. 

Heaving, you lean against a tree before throwing up. You’d tried so hard to bury it, to get rid of those feelings, to forget how you’d wanted to die. How upset you’d been you woke up in that fucking hospital room. You’d screamed and cursed out your parents for saving you, demanding that they leave you to rot. 

They’d spent months getting you to realize that it wasn’t your fault. You were a kid, barely able to speak properly, when your powers manifested. It wasn’t your fault. It was the closest you’d been to your parents in your life; it was the best and worst six months you’d ever had. 

It was also what led you to learn the compounds of drugs because you knew that if you ever wanted to try it again that you wouldn’t fail. You wouldn’t let yourself get saved. You’d learned the overdose amount, how much of each drug it took to take down a person and then how much it would take to kill an elephant. 

And then you met Jordan, Andre, Luke, and Cate; you got close to them. You saw how they’d go to shady people for drugs and learned the proper doses, not just the lethal ones. 

Sitting on the ground, you cry into your legs, picking at the skin around your wrist. You can hear them fighting in the house, but you can’t bring yourself to get up. To fight. To care. It eventually stops and you hear the sound of soft footsteps approaching. 

“(Y/n),” Jordan squats in front of you. “Baby, please, look at me.”

“I wanna go,” You shake your head. You don’t exactly know which go you’re referring to at that moment. 

“You can’t go,” Jordan grabs your hands and pulls them from your face. “You’re here. With me. Okay? I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You crack a smile, leaning into their touch. Jordan cracks a small one back and guides you to your feet. You don’t miss the way their eyes scan your wrist, finally seeing the small scar where it had been slit. 

Jordan gently kisses the back of your hand, guiding you back to the house.

Chapter Text

Everyone had gone to some diner in between Dusty’s house and campus to take a breather and fine-tune whatever plan they had come up with back at his place. You’d been given a basic rundown of the plan, Cate would lure Dean Shetty to her house and make her expose the truth about everything while everyone else tries to get proof and/or come up with a backup plan. That part wasn’t vocalized but you could tell that Marie and Jordan agreed on that, still not trusting Cate. 

You don’t remember where Sam and Emma had gone but you’re sure it’s back to the dorms. For what reason, you also don’t know. No one told you and you didn’t care to ask. 

It was fairly empty inside of the diner, just one other table was taken so the workers weren’t upset when Andre dragged a chair over because the booth couldn’t fit five people in. You were next to Jordan, who honestly hadn’t stopped touching you in some capacity since the whole thing. You guessed they’re worried you might do something because they didn’t even let you use the bathroom alone, you’re unsure if it makes you feel suffocated or grounded, and you’re still in that weird limbo area. Marie was in front of you, not really doing anything. You guessed she was still processing everything, too. Andre was watching as Cate made a call to Shetty, a part of the plan they’d made to expose the Woods. He was stuck between not trusting her, thinking that she broke his trust beyond repair and wanting to believe that she could change; that this was all one giant accident. 

You didn’t think lying for nearly four years and erasing your friends and boyfriends' memories was a giant accident by you digress. 

Silently, you watched the television as The Cameron Coleman Hour plays. Coleman talks about Victoria Neuman, who’d be speaking at a Godolkin town hall later today and there were mixed reactions. You thought she was cool, you never understood why the others thought she was anti-supe supe but maybe you’d missed the memo. In between the group talking, Jordan would ask you questions. Simple things, like do you want some of the gum from the stand or maybe something to drink but you shook your head each time. You knew they wanted you to talk, to say something because you haven't in hours. You haven’t spoken since the moment in the woods and it’s worrying them. 

And it wasn’t as though it was on purpose; you wanted to talk. You wanted to be fine but it was like you couldn’t talk. You could only stare at them and shake your head. 

Andre stands up, making Cate take his seat when she returns from her phone call. He sits in the chair instead and your eyes flicker to her before going back to the TV. She explains that Shetty can’t meet right now, she’s in the city but she’ll be back later. So they have to make a new plan but no one trusts Cate to go alone— she proposed some idea about going alone and even you knew that was a stupid fucking idea. Something happens, you don’t know what. But Jordan rips their hand from your thigh and leaves the diner in a hurry.

You watch, wanting to follow them but for some reason, your legs don’t work. You can’t move— you can’t stand. You’re stuck. 

Marie followed after Jordan when she realized you weren’t. Andre leaves the table next, leaving you and Cate. You’re surprised he trusts you to watch her, make sure she doesn’t leave. 

“Are you…” She starts, flinching when your eyes meet hers. “Are you okay?”

“You showed my partner my suicide attempt,” You lick your lips. You’re too tired for spite, for anger. It’s like any emotion is draining and you don’t know how to stop this feeling. “I haven’t felt like this in years, Cate. And it’s your fault. You had two decades of memories to pick from and you picked the worst one possible.”

“I didn’t pick it. I-I didn’t mean for any of this to happen!” She leans closer, reaching for your hand but you move it away. She pauses, licking her lips and looks back to where Andre had gone. “I can help you.” She offers.

“I don’t want you fucking with my head ever again.” You tell her. “You touch me or Jordan and I swear to god I’ll make sure you can never touch anyone again.” Slowly, her hands drag back to her lap and you look back at the TV. Slumping in your seat, your leg bounces as you wish you could make something. You want something— even something small. Just to take the edge off. 

Marie walks back inside and it’s like your legs are on fire, you rush out from the dinner and gulp in the air. 

“(Y/n)!” Jordan grabs your shoulders, stopping you from walking too far away. Shaking your head, you try and push them away, you don’t want them to see you like this. You’ve been a mess in front of them too many times this week; you need to deal with this yourself. “Talk to me, please!” They softly grab your chin, making you look up at them.

“I can’t,” You choke. “I can’t do this. It’s too much,”

“Do what? The Woods? You can… I can take you back to campus, pretend this never happened,” They immediately offer but you shake your head, pressing your palms against your eyes. 

“The Woods, Luke, Cate, this sober shit, the tracker, the memory. It’s too much, Jordan. It’s too much at one time.”

“You don’t have to do this,” They shake their head while you nod. This is unfair to them, you’re being selfish. This is bigger than you and with Jordan caught up, you need to push personal issues down. Bury it until this all blows over. 

“I can’t just go. I can’t leave you to do this alone. What if something happens? What if— fuck. I just need a minute,” You inhale. “I’ll calm down, I promise. I’m just… I’m overreacting. I’m overwhelmed and need to sit.” You promise and Jordan nods, gesturing to a benched area. 

“I’ll sit with you,” They nod. 

Shaking your head, you step away from them. “Mm-mm,” Jordan falters before shaking their head back. “I won’t use, I promise. I just can’t let you see me like this again.” For a moment, no one says anything and you want to take that as a sign of agreement. That Jordan will let you, but you know Jordan. And they’re nothing if not persistent with you. 

“(Y/n),” Jordan grabs your face, making you look at them. “When I said I love you, I meant all of you. Seeing you like this isn’t a burden. Alright? We’re in some deep shit and it’s stressful. I get it, I really fucking do, okay? You’re not alone in this, especially not when I’m here. Okay? Do you get that?” Taking in deep breaths, you nod. 

“I get it,” You nod again and Jordan nods back before kissing you. It’s soft and gentle, their thumbs brushing against your cheeks. “Thank you,” You mumble as they pull away. 

Jordan smiles down at you, their hands still gently holding your face. “Don’t thank me. Take your minute. Gather yourself but I’m staying out here with you. We’re about to leave anyway,”

—

You, Jordan, and Marie had gotten into Shetty’s office with ease, considering Jordan had the keycard for her office as her T.A. You’d given them gloves, since they’d be touching nearly everything they could find and you needed to leave as little proof as possible. Marie was flipping through whatever files she could get her hands on, Jordan was working on getting her Login to her laptop with little luck, and you were close to the door. Listening to hear if someone got close to the office. They find something, something about a plane crash, the file hidden inside one of the drawers. It doesn’t take long before Marie puts the pieces together; her family had been on the plane. 

“Footsteps,” You announce, rushing away from the door. Jordan reaches for you, pulling you under the desk. It’s very much a tight space, but you scan what you can see and can’t exactly find someplace else to hide. Unless you change something.

You’d expected Shetty but instead, you hear Dr. Cardosa’s voice filled the office. “Shetty, Shetty, Shetty,” He takes slow steps, his voice slurred. “You want me to increase the viral infection rate. Right.” He drinks something, you can probably guess what, and then sets the bottle down. “Kill them all, she says. And sign my own death certificate.” He’s close to the desk now, drinking again and then pees into the bottle, setting it down again.

Kill them all. The three of you look at each other as if you all needed confirmation that you’d heard him correctly. That your assumption based on who them was, was probably right on the fucking nose. 

“How about… you take a long drink of that, Indira.” He sneers her name, walking around the desk and slapping something down. “You fucking cunt.” His footsteps get softer until the door opens and closes as he leaves. 

You all wait a beat, just in case he decides to come back inside. “What did he say about infection rate?” Marie is the first to speak. The three of you climb from the desk and you fumble as you grab your phone, a pair of latex gloves materializing on your hands as you open new the red file and take pictures of it. 

Truthfully, you’re not entirely sure what you’re looking at. You’re also hardly looking at it, looking just long enough that you’re sure you’re getting a clear picture. “Something about killing them all.” You add, glancing up at Marie. “I’m guessing it’s some fucked shit about supes.”

Jordan tries the laptop again before slamming it shut. “I’m not gonna get into this— we need a new plan,” They groan. 

“Okay, I’ll call Cate. See what’s happening over there,” Marie offers and the three of you work on putting the office back to how it was when you entered. Once you leave the office, Marie calls Cate but she doesn’t answer. 

“Maybe her and Andre are fucking,” Jordan wishes, but you all know what they really think happened. And you’re hoping they’re wrong, but it’s not a bet you’re willing to make. “Try again once we’re outside.” Rushing down the stairs, you manage to avoid any staff and Marie tries to call Cate again. 

“Still no word from Cate,”

Jordan huffs at that. “Not surprising.” 

“Maybe we should check on her,” Marie suggests but Jordan disagrees again. 

“We don’t have time. We gotta find Neuman, tell her what we know.” You get to the side entrance of the media building but there are guards blocking it. 

“Any chance you know a teleporter?” Marie half-jokes. 

“I can… change the wall into a door,” You offer and Marie looks back at you, a little confused. “I don’t just make stuff, I can change it. We would just need to find a wall and I could change an area into a door.” You quickly explain. 

“Yeah, that’s good.” Jordan gives you a smile. “That’s good. Let’s find a wall!” 

It takes a little bit, but you manage to find a wall and you pat around before finding a good spot. If you remember the building's layout correctly, this would be the thinnest part of the wall. Marie watches as a door forms and you open it, leading to a hallway that wasn’t there before. 

“Hey!” Someone shouts and you turn to the side, finding a security guard running your way. Pushing Marie inside, you change the door back into a wall before you and Jordan run away. They shift and you change your clothes, quickly losing the guard in the crowd of people either protesting for or against Nueman. You don’t look at their signs or listen to them too closely to figure out. 

Walking alongside them, you both try to be as casual as possible. “I think you own too many camo pants.” You admit and Jordan barks a laugh. “I’m sorry, it was an awkward silence and I- it’s hard not to notice when you have three camo pants for every five normal pants.”

“I thought you liked me in camo,” 

“Yeah, but normal camo. You have a rainbow camo!” Jordan’s eyebrows raise and they hold your hips, pulling you close. 

“It was a pride gift from that sponsorship we did with H&M—“

“(Y/n)!” Looking to the side, you see your mother and your smile drops. “There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” She beckons you over but you glance at Jordan; wishing they’d tell you not to go.

“Be normal,” Jordan whispers as they pull away. Inhaling, you jog over to your mother, putting your hands in your back pocket. 

“My phone's been acting weird,” You lie. “But what’s… is there something wrong?” It’s weird, how despite everything you’re not angry at her. You thought you’d be furious to see her after finding the trackers but it’s not something you can muster right now. 

“No, nothing is wrong.” She smiles. “But Ashley Barret wants to meet with you. Right now.” Ashley Barret, it takes you a moment before you remember that she’s the current CEO of Vought. 

“Right now?” You ask, looking back at Jordan but they’re gone. Fuck. “I’m- I don’t think—“ You splutter, trying to find some excuse to hold onto.

“Nonsense, come on. She has a proposition for you— might get you into the Seven before you graduate.” She places her hand on her cheek, her nails scratching your skin ever so slightly. Her hand is cold compared to Jordan’s touch. Her nails make your skin itch and you find yourself pulling away from her. “You’d be more famous than Golden Boy. You’d replace that shank, Starlight. And who knows, your voice can help Jordan Li get back in the top three.” Your struggle stops immediately and she doesn’t miss the way your eyes seem to gleam at the idea. 

“I could?” You smile and she smiles brightly. 

“You will. If you come with me and talk to Ashley.” Nodding, you take one last look behind you, trying to find Jordan before following after your mother. You’re walking back to the Dean’s building when Jordan grabs your hand. 

“We gotta go,” They urge and show you a text on their phone. A text from Cate, sent to a new group chat with you, Jordan, Emma, Marie, and Andre: Come to Shetty’s. 

“Mom, I have to reschedule,” You look up at her and she’s frowning. “Please.”

She looks between the two of you before she crosses her arms over her chest. “Fine,” She huffs and then licks her lips. “I’ll see what I can do. but you aren’t missing it a second time.” Nodding, you fully grab Jordan’s hand and you run to meet the others. 

The others are near the exit for campus, looking more anxious than you feel. “We can’t run to Shetty’s,” You huff when you realize that no one in the group has a car. 

“Take the bus?” Emma suggests and you laugh. 

“I’ve never taken public transportation—“

“Lucky you,” Marie rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. 

“Oh my god, I’m setting something up,” You roll your eyes back. “Geeze, gimmie a second.” There are five of you, so a standard car would do. But it would need to be fast— a fast car with five seats. So, no flashy F1 sports cars and definitely not a van. There’s a new car that came out, you remember the campaign for it. The… fuck… the BMW M5. TwinPower Turbo V8 engine. Perfect. 

The group watches as you create the car in the parking lot, it builds itself up like a 3d printer and you pretend to be bashful when Emma lets out a gasp. 

They move to get in the car before Marie pauses. “Can you even drive?” She asks, holding her hands up and you nod. 

“I have my motorcycle, driver's, helicopter, and boating license.” You confirm and she gives you a puzzled look. “It was for a movie. I did my own stunts.” You rush out before ushering everyone into the car. Jordan, of course, takes the passenger seat and the others climb into the back. Sam sits in the middle, you think Emma thinks he’d try to bolt or something. 

“Seatbelts,” You remind them while double-checking that you’d created the car perfectly— you did. When the seatbelts click into place, you pull off. Jordan helps with directions and eventually, you skid to a stop a house away from Shetty’s place. 

Rushing to the house, you see that the front door is cracked open. Marie, also noticing it, pulls out a pocket knife that you’d noticed she always keeps on her. Jordan pushes the door open and you all walk inside with Sam closing it behind him. Walking through the house, you end up in the living room where Cate is standing in front of a couch. Shetty is behind her, off in a corner like she’s been put in timeout. 

“Cate, are you okay?” Marie asks. “Your eye,” Her eyes have that bloody look they always get when she uses her powers but it’s more than usual. 

“What happened?” Jordan asks. 

“I’m okay,” Cate nods. “And now she’ll do whatever we want.” Looking closely at Shetty, she has glossy eyes and this far away look that makes you uneasy. 

“Maybe you should rest,” Marie suggests. 

“I feel fine,” Cate reassures. “It wasn’t my powers that were fucking me up. It was the pills she was giving me. I’ve never felt better.”

Shetty looks at her, breathing harder than usual. “Cate. Listen to your friends. They care about you.”

“Shut up!” Cate yells, glaring back at her. “You had your chance to talk, and now it’s my turn.”

“Please, Cate. You don’t have to do this. I love you.”

“I know you love me. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re a fucking bitch!”

“Cate, what the fuck is going on?” Jordan brings the attention back to the group. 

She smiles at them, that smile you’re used to but now it seems sickening. “Don’t worry, we’re on the same side.”

“Okay, sorry, can I get a quick SparkNotes version?” Emma carefully asks, stepping forward a little. “Cause I have no idea what the fuck you guys are talking about.” Cate makes Shetty talk— admit that GodU isn't really a school. It’s a place to study supes, based on the man it was named after who was doing similar experiments when he was alive. Shetty admits that every student was a subject. And then admits the virus wasn’t just for the Woods, but for every single supe in the world. 

She says that she has a deep-rooted hatred for Supes and Marie pieces together that Homelander took down the plane that her family was on. She goes on a rant about supes, saying that every supe leaves a path of destruction. She and Cate start arguing until Cate gets fed up with the back and forth. She tells Shetty that it’s time and Shetty slits her throat without hesitation. 

Marie tries to help but Cate grabs her hand and makes her stop, a simple command turning her powers off and keeping her from getting closer to Shetty. You go to try and help but she reaches for you too, her hand brushes your arm and it’s enough contact that it works. You’re stuck, like you’re glued to the floor because of Cate. Shetty dies with Jordan and Emma trying to stop the bleeding but there’s not much the two of them could’ve done in the first place. You watch as the blood stops, how she stops gasping for air and the control Cate had on the two of you stops. You shudder because you’re only able to move again because Shetty died.

Kneeling down, you try your best to help. You try to bring her back but it doesn’t work. Your hands shake as you realize that she’s dead, that Cate really had stopped you from saving her. Truthfully, you don’t even know if you wanted to save her but you did. Right? That’s why your hands are still shaking and why Jordan is rushing to your side. 

Jordan pulls you away and you pretend not to notice that they kick the knife under the couch too. “Okay, look,” They stutter. “Let’s all just calm down and-and assess the situation.”

“The situations bleeding all over the fucking rug.” Emma points to the blood. 

“We just… we have to figure out what to do now.” Jordan nods, pointedly ignoring Emma’s quip. 

Marie looks up at Cate, glaring. “You murdered her.” She says. She’s been trying to push the blood back into Shetty, trying to restart her heart to no avail. There was no bringing her back unless you knew someone with weird necromancer powers. 

Cate’s eyes soften, clouding with hurt. “Marie, I did this for you,” Cate says, shaking her head. “I did this for all of you. When I’m done, maybe eventually you’ll realize I’m being a hero.” She goes to leave but Sam blocks her path. 

You thought he was going to stop her, but when he opens his mouth, you feel slightly betrayed. “I want to be a hero, too.” He’d hated Cate, she’d been the reason Luke’s brain was unraveling like that. She’d been the reason they were so easily sedated but now he was welcoming her with open arms. You didn’t understand it. 

Cate’s visibly happy with this. “Of course, Sam,” She smiles and everyone crowds around the two of them. 

“Leave him alone.” Emma demands. 

“Shetty sucked. I’m not an experiment.” He explains. 

Marie takes a soft breath before looking back at Cate. “What are you gonna do, Cate?” She asks. 

She shrugs as if her plan was no big deal. “We are gonna free The Woods.” 

Emma and Marie look at each other before Marie shakes her head. “Sam, don’t go with her.” They talk for a little bit more before they leave. Jordan had tried to stop them again, but Cate questioned if they could take Sam and Marie shook her head— not that Jordan couldn’t. But she thought not here, not right now. Jordan and Marie debate on something to do before you eventually head back to the car. 

As you’re putting your seatbelt on, you get a call. Of course, it’s your mother. You look at Jordan before picking up, pressing the phone between your ear and shoulder. “Are you busy— No! Great,” She doesn’t wait for your response. “Ashley agreed to a phone interview!” 

“Yeah,” You nod, pinching your nose. “Sure.” Creating a phone rest, you lock your phone into it and put the phone on speaker. 

“You’re alone, right?” Looking at the others, you nod to yourself. 

“Yes, I’m alone.”

“Perfect, you’re on speaker.” 

“Hey, (Y/n), this is Ashley Barrett! This is going to be quick because I have a board meeting coming up but I really wanted to talk to you.”

“Hello, Ms. Barret. Yeah, I’m sorry, something had—“

“Don’t worry about it. Right now just focus. You can create anything, right?”

“Yes, I can. As long as I know the chemical composition.”

“I’m going to list- rapid fire, and you just answer yes or no if you could make it.”

“Okay,” Your eyebrows furrow. You’re not quite sure what this is getting at. What Ashley really wants. 

“Gold?”

“Yes,”

“Steel?”

“Yes,”

“Food and water?”

“Yes,”

“Weapons?”

“Yes…”

“A vaccine?”

“Yes,”

“Compound V?”

“I don’t…” Your eyes find Marie’s in the rear-view mirror. “I’d have to know what it’s made of exactly, but I’d assume so.”

“A bomb?”

“Ye— yes,” You nod. 

“An atomic bomb?”

“…yes…” You blink, chest rising with your breathing. 

“Clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Can you make… animals?” 

“I’ve tried. It didn’t exactly work, I’d need more practice.” 

“No problem. Could you make buildings? Planes, bigger things?”

“Yes, I built my father's tech building.”

“Okay, perfect! It was amazing talking to you, (Y/n)! We’ll be in touch.” The call ends as you stop at a red light. You stare at the road, your hands squeezing the steering wheel tight enough that the leather makes noises. 

“Okay, so that was creepy,” Emma breaks the silence. 

“They want to use me,” You grab your phone from the stand and hand it to Jordan. In case someone texts or calls they can filter it out or something. “I mean, they want to use all of us but I… I could be some type of evil scientist they keep in a lab or in Homelander’s back pocket. They could put me in a fight and have me drop a fucking nuke. They could make the most fucked up things without it being on record cause I can produce the same exact materials for free. Oh my god,” 

“Then you drop a fucking nuke on them first,” Jordan nods. “Don’t let them get a chance to do anything. They can’t just use you.” As you’re driving, you see a poster for your mother's ad about engagement rings and your chest tightens. Your leg bounces as you’ve finally come to terms with one simple fact. 

“And my parents are happily letting them.” 

—

Parking the car, you all rush to the closest entrance to the Woods. You get in without a fuss, which you should’ve taken as a sign before you got down to the Woods. Because when you do get down to the level, you realize that you’re too late, the guards are dead and all of the cell doors are open. Sam and Cate already set them free and who knows what they’re going to do across campus. 

Marie quickly comes up with a plan; Emma would head over to clear the arts building, Jordan has to clear the student center, and Marie would handle getting to Shetty’s office to activate some protocol. 

“What do I do?” You ask, looking between everyone. “I don’t… I don’t really know.”

“Help clear out people. You can fly, right?” Marie asks and you nod to which she nods back. “Just try and get as many people away from campus as possible.”

“And don’t fight anyone,” Jordan adds, their eyes flickering between yours. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Jordan, I can fight. I’ll be fine,” You remind them, getting back into the elevator. 

“I know that,” Jordan knocks your forehead with their knuckles. “But I don’t want you getting into fights. Clear people out and then meet up with me, okay?” Jordan gives your phone back and gives you a kiss as the doors open.

“Okay,” Everyone quickly goes their separate ways and you shake your nerves away before taking off into the air. 

You start with people on the lawns, anyone who wasn’t safe inside of a building you quickly scooped up. Sure, it was a little awkward when you’d pluck as many people as you could and then place them within a large net without warning. It wasn’t the safest but it was efficient. You were able to dodge lasers and sonic screams before your phone buzzed and you answered without checking, assuming it was Jordan or Marie. 

“Hello?” 

“(Y/n)! This is Ashley, we just spoke. We want to offer you an immediate spot in The Seven as long as you take out some of the uh, escaped students. Cancel them— nuke them.” The line clicks and you land on a roof, staring at your phone. It lost signal somehow. Looking around, you go towards where you think Jordan is at when you don’t find anyone else you can immediately get to safety. You find Jordan with Ashley and the board of trustees— you scan them but don’t find your mother. 

“Jor,” You breathe as you land. 

“You okay?” They ask, quickly scanning you and you do the same. 

“I’m fine. I got a ton of people out— what about you?” One of the escaped Woods people runs up and Jordan knocks them back and you keep them down using steel beams. 

“Get to the helicopter,” Jordan tells them but Bourke, of fucking course, disagrees. 

“No, it’s fucking grounded!”

“And I’ll fix it. Just fucking go!” You shout and the two of you usher them inside. You work on finding the issue aside from the blades and start fixing it while Jordan watches your six. 

“You can’t go any faster?” One of them shouts at you. 

“Oh, yeah, I’ll just send you up in a shitty helicopter,” You glare at them. “You want to die or something, fucking hell.” Glancing back, you see Marie and Cate talking and then Andre and Sam. Sam is knocked out and Cate is yelling—

“Fuck!” Jordan suddenly shouts and you turn, catching one of the Woods people burning lasers into them. Jordan shifts into their invulnerable form and you quickly create a shield over them before knocking the escaped supe back using a wall and changing the wall into a reflective helmet, making her laser her own head off. Her body falls and you rush to check on Jordan, ignoring the board members yelling at you. 

They’re being rushed by some other supes, you help pull them off, twisting one of their necks until it snaps. You think it was the one with the burning hands. Panting, you look at Jordan and smile. 

“You okay, baby?”

“I’m fine,” They nod. 

“No!” Marie gasps and your eyes quickly find what she was looking at. Cate was walking up behind the two of you, her hand stretched out before Marie blew her entire forearm up. She screams as you jump back, trying to wipe her blood from your face. Jordan scrambles to their feet, putting more distance between them and Cate. 

There’s a boom in the distance and you watch as Homelander drops down. The fight is essentially over now with him there. 

“Sir, I, uh…” Marie starts but he holds a finger up to her, waving it side to side. 

“What… kind of animal are you?” He blinks a ton, looking between the bodies on the field. 

“What?” 

“Do you like attacking your own kind?”

“No, I, um…”

“Stay back!” Homelander shouts before he lasers Marie. 

—

“It’s happened yet again in America. Tragedy on campus. 4 Godolkin students went on a brutal murder spree. At least 12 people are now dead. Many more undoubtedly would have been killed had it not been for the Guardians of Godolkin. Excuse me- the New Guardians of Godolkin, Cate Dunlap, Sam Riordan, and (Y/n) (L/n)— who is still missing. It’s believed that Jordan Li has taken them hostage after eye witnesses say (Y/n) (L/n) had tried to get a helicopter working to save innocent lives and Jordan stopped them.”