kittymeowmrow

[kittymeowmrow]

Crawling Back to You

Chapter seven

Synopsis: Rex and Rudy have come together to theorize about your real reason for joining the team. But none of that matters, because now you're standing in Rex's room, alone, with a bottle, asking for forgiveness.

Pairing: Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Chapter: 7/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

TW: Alcohol, Mild Description of Wounds

Note: I have a love-hate relationship with Rex chapters. But they are good for plot and I love seeing a man confused.

“What is that?” Rudy’s gaze sweeps over Rex’s torso.

“The new kid just did this to me. One punch.” Rex admitted sourly, his eyes following Rudy as he walked over to his robot counterpart.

“Is that the only hit she landed?”

“…no,” Rex responded slowly. How incompetent was he coming across right now? It was suddenly very apparent to him that he just got his ass beat by the newbie.

“Interesting.” Rudy put a hand to his chin, turning as one of his robots began to scan Rex. “So, she can control it. Whatever it is.”

“Do you think it is enough?” Re questioned, lowering his shirt with delicate precision. The shock was wearing off and all he could think about was the heavy throbbing and how every move hurt like hell.

“No.”

“Seriously?”

“Killdeer landing that hard of a hit after admitting to having minimal practice is good evidence that she is capable of something beyond healing, but it is nowhere near concrete enough substantiation to bring up to the team.” Rudy began to type furiously on the computer that resided nearby. Pictures of Rex’s wound flash by on the screen, leaving Rex with a weird feeling after not seeing the camera. He eyed the motionless robot exoskeleton but stood up to read over Rudy’s shoulder.

“What exactly are we looking for?” Rex finally said, he was more than happy to spy on and report findings about the girl, but to what end? The wound he was sporting already felt like plenty of evidence to get her kicked to him. But the more time he spent with her the less passion he managed to evoke at the idea of her absence. He didn’t like her when she first arrived, but he didn’t like Monster Girl either. She ended up being a pretty good addition and he even respected her. Why was he having such a hard time swallowing that Killdeer might be just as worthy as the rest of them?

He scoffed to himself at the intrusion of the thought. She had never even been in combat before yesterday. There was no way she was nearly as prepared as anyone on this team. Minus Shapesmith, but no one really knew what was going on there. Is no one looking further into that whole situation still? Now that Rex thought about it, maybe he was getting too distracted by you to think about someone who was just as much of a threat and much more prominent on the team.

“I’m not sure.” Rudy shrugged. “I am close to getting access of footage that I think should reveal something. So far all I have been able to find out is that she has excessive records related to hospital visits, but she never stays more than a day. Hypochondriac maybe.”

“She doesn’t seem like the kind.” Rex stated flatly even though he was by no means an expert in this area.

“It is a long shot, but my running theory right now is that she can both heal new injuries and bring back old ones.” Rudy turned to Rex, his computer dimming as soon as he did so. “Have you ever been injured that badly in a fight in that exact region?”

Rex thought for a moment. He had been in a lot of fights, and it was very difficult to say. In fact, Rex was not sure there was a single part of his body that had gone untouched through all his years of combat. So…probably?

“I think so?” Rex pursed his lips trying to think about it more fully.

“It is just a running theory.” Rudy reiterated.

Rex could hardly focus on the conversation at this point. The pain was only amplifying and with every moment he spent upright he was starting to convince himself he was going to retch.

“Well let me know if you learn anymore… I’m going to go lay down or…some shit.” Rex did not wait for a response before trudging towards the exit of the room. His feet dragging slightly on the hard metal floor.

It was a blur. He could hardly remember making it up the elevator and into his room. But now he was lying down, his back straight against the mattress and his gaze on the ceiling. As long as he did not move it was not so bad. The biggest problem, at the moment, was he had to move to breathe. So, with every breath, a sharp pain ran through his chest.

He should have let her heal it. He sighed lightly, sending another stabbing pain through him. This shouldn’t take too long to heal right? The look on her face once she saw it kept playing through his mind. Either she was a phenomenal actress, or she really was completely dumbfounded at what she had done.

He laid for a minute just running over secret intentions she might have. Theories coursing through his pain-addled mind. But no matter how much rationalizing he did he still came back to her shock. The genuine apology she attempted to give him. It just all didn’t make sense.

__

If he thought he was in pain last night, then he must be in a living hell today. Upon sitting up he immediately knew he was not doing anything today. Rudy must have informed someone Rex was going to be out of commission today because it was at least four hours after when he was meant to be in the training room, and no one was coming to collect him. That was until he heard the first knock.

Rest time’s over. Rex sat up, scooting to the edge of his bed, with full intentions of pretending he had been up for hours to whoever was at the door.

Probably Immortal.

He groaned in annoyance, the end of it forced out of his lungs as a ripple of hurt ran through him. He put his head in his hands for a moment, now very aware of a headache forming behind his eyes.

Another knock.

Oh god.

“One day off dickhead!” So much for pretending to have been up. Either way, he hoped Immortal would just fuck off. Go hide in some backroom with Kate like a bunch of horny teenagers. Gross.

The door opened and he didn’t immediately look up. His thumbs digging lightly into his eyelids, trying to relieve a bit of the pressure from the oncoming migraine. Usually by now Immortal would have started to lecture him for not taking the Guardians seriously, fooling around when he had a ‘God-given duty’ or something like that. That sounds like something he’d say.

Rex didn’t really listen when the Immortal spoke.

But it was quiet, with no lecture and no feeling of judgment. The silence felt loaded, tense.

“I said-!” Rex started to snarl, turning his gaze directly towards the perpetrator but the words died in his mouth. “Oh shit.”

“Hi.” She said with an awkward smile.

Rex’s mind went completely blank, he was so prepared for an argument over failing to fulfill his daily tasks that he was now not sure now what to say. His eyes trailed over her body down to her hands that were holding a bottle in front of her.

A better view than he would have had if it had been Immortal.

“Hi.” Hi!? That it!? He squinted slightly at his nonresponse. Why was she here?

“I feel really bad about yesterday and I don’t want it to be a whole thing.” Ouch. Glad she’s so broken up about it. Guess she wasn’t as shocked as he had thought she was. If he was feeling more himself maybe he would tell her to get out. Leave. Begone. All tempting, but she was holding liquor. And maybe he wanted to see her. He was still convinced this might be a side effect of her powers. Maybe a kind of mind control.

“A whole thing?” He raises an eyebrow and leans back. She rolls her eyes but closes the door behind her. Was she making a move on him? He sits up a little taller, his mind running once again.

No… Right?

Girl comes to your room alone. With drinks. And a very awkward demeanor about her.

“That’s not what I meant.” She says to his previous question, holding out the bottle to him.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” He smirks, looking her right in the eye. Her slight smile immediately dries up. Damn it. Not getting laid.

“I’m saying sorry.”

“You said that already.” He tilts his head slightly, still analyzing her face.

“I know.”

“Multiple times.”

“I know.”

“I said to leave it be.”

“I know.”

He swept his gaze over his room for a second as if checking it was indeed just the two of them.

“Yet here you are, alone in my room, offering me a drink?” He grins, very obviously trying to drop hints.

“Don’t let it go to your head, it’s cheap.” She says dryly, practically dropping the bottle in his hands. He sighed while turning it over in his hand. Disappointing. Kate folded fairly quickly to his charms, why did it seem to have close to no effect here? The brand he recognized though, and it was not that cheap. Promising. Maybe she was secretly interested. Or he was making a complete ass of himself, either way. There was a crinkled yellow bow tied to it, it was fraying at the ends and looked extremely manhandled.

“Nice bow.”

“Thanks, it cost extra.”

Rex looked up from the sad-looking ribbon and watched her as she quickly took an interest in different things around the room. Maybe he should have cleaned up a little. She stopped in front of pictures he had haphazardly taped to the wall. Eve had sent them to him after their breakup and one night after drinking a bit too much he decided the walls were too empty.

She paused looking at a picture of him and Eve. A drink sounds pretty good right now, and that migraine was really starting to set in. After getting the bottle open, he took a long swig. “So… was there anything else you wanted?”

She briskly turned around, her eyes immediately landing on the bottle. He felt a little uncomfortable now, what time was it? Too early to drink?

“I-”

Rex straightened up slightly and immediately felt the searing pain in his chest he had been able to forget about for a few minutes.

“I want to fix that.” Oh, fuck off.

“No.”

“Why?”

How about I don’t need your damn sympathy! He gave her an annoyed glance, but he was already considering it.

“How do I know you’re not going to make it worse? You did the fuckin’ thing in the first place.” He grumbled, knowing it was a pretty weak argument, but he felt the need to put up a fight. Pride motivated probably.

She takes a few steps forward, obvious annoyance radiating off of her. “Rex, be serious for five seconds, I was brought on as a healer. Why not let me do my one purpose huh?”

“One purpose my balls.” Probably shouldn’t have said that. Rudy wouldn’t be happy to know he was being overtly suspicious of her. Or maybe it would be more suspicious to not act suspicious of her?

“Very mature.”

“Look, I just don’t want it okay? Back off.” He grits his teeth, but his resolve is quickly giving.

“It obviously hurts; you’ve been in your room all day-”

“No I haven’t who said that?” He all of a sudden felt very self-conscious at what her perception of him must be.

“Rae.”

“Ugh.” They seemed to be getting very buddy-buddy…

Suddenly she’s right in front of him, a look of determination on her face. She’s very close and he must look up to maintain eye contact.

His mind is blank again.

“Let me help you and I’ll leave, you won’t have to hear from me until the next time Cecil makes me come to Headquarters. Don’t let me help you and I’ll be back every day, and I’m taking that with me.”

Dilemma. If she came every day, then she might do something that Rex could relay back to Rudy. And…he’d get to see her every day. Not that that is something he wants. Definitely not.

But it also really hurts, and if it’s healed then he can get back into actual work.

“Every day?” He says with a sigh, not looking her in the eyes.

She nods and he looks away completely. Even just turning his head sent a shiver down his spine. Yeah, this needed to go.

“Will it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Are you lying?” He turns back to look at her again, examining her eyes.

“A little.” Of course.

He groans in annoyance and nods, but his expression completely turns to confusion as she starts to pull up a chair. Immediately he’s trying to stop her.

“Woah, can’t you just heal it from over there or some shit?”

“No.”

“No, you can’t or no you won’t?”

“I have to have direct contact with the skin.” Naturally. He bites at the inside of his lip, thinking. This was bound to be very uncomfortable. Sitting directly in front of him, after rejecting several advances. Maybe he could deal with the pain.

But to another point, if she can only heal with direct contact. Does that work the same way with the retrieval of old wounds? If Rudy’s theory was correct, then she was lying about needing direct contact. She had not needed it when bestowing the bruise on him yesterday. She had definitely landed the blow against his shirt, not directly to his skin. But if she was telling the truth, Rudy was wrong. It would be impossible for her to have enough connection.

“Are you just trying to get me to take my shirt off?” Last ditch effort. The look she is giving him immediately shuts that down and he sighs. Hopefully this doesn’t take long. “Fine. Jeez”

She positions the chair right between his legs, and he takes another swig of the bottle before setting it down. If she was anyone else, he’d probably find this hot. After managing to get the tank off, Killdeer moved closer, he didn’t even know she could scoot the chair any closer. Her eyes were focused, determined on the bruise. He could admit this did not happen often, even when he was sleeping with someone, they were not looking at him with this much scrutiny. Rex leaned back on his arms, trying to make a bit of space between them. Their eyes met for a moment and then she was immediately back to work. Her hand gingerly pressed against his chest.

His nerve endings were not working optimally from the injury, but he could feel her.

Her hand was cool, soothing, distracting. Then the healing process actually started. It felt like she was trying to pull his heart through his chest. It was a duller pain.

“The fuck?” There’s no way she is actually pulling his heart out right? That was fairly unlikely?

“I warned you.”

“Hardly!” He snapped back.

“You should feel what it’s like with a broken bone, it’s so much weirder.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Why are you assuming I’m trying to make you feel better?”

She has a small smile on her face. So, to some extent she must have been enjoying this, which filled Rex with indignance. But he was immediately distracted, after a few moments the pain was no longer as intense. There were sharp pains here and there, but it was nothing compared to what he had just felt. It felt like his senses were elevated almost. He felt…relief. That layer of exhaustion, the migraine, random aches from various injuries over the years, he couldn’t feel any of it. All he could feel was the cool of her hand splayed across his chest.

That feeling he felt the other night during drinks was back again to haunt him. He suddenly found he didn’t want to do anything but watch her. The way her brow pinched in concentration, the way her eyes moved slightly as she was obviously deep in thought. For a moment Rex feels like the biggest piece of shit. Was he really content trying to get her removed from the Guardians? She hadn’t done anything to him. Well, nothing she could control.

“Why do you hate me?”

She didn’t even look up, just kept her focus on her work.

“Who said I hated you, Joy?” He said it softly, he knew why she thought he hated her. And maybe he did sometimes.

“You’ve been rude to me since the day we met. You don’t even call me by my real name.” She glanced up but Rex didn’t look away immediately. She looked genuinely hurt.

Rudy’s suspicions flashed in his mind, grounding him for a moment. He tore his gaze away, reaching down to grab the bottle and take another drink.

“You don’t deserve to be on the Guardians.” Every time he said it, he meant it less, but at this point, he did not know what else to say.

“And that’s it?” She says with a tone of incredulity in her voice. “Something completely out of my control and you use that to hate me?”

“You could tell Cecil you don’t want to be a part of it-” He doesn’t finish, her gaze snapped back to her hand. A look of anger ghosting over her features rather than the semi-peaceful look of concentration.

Several moments pass in silence and Rex debates what to say. He doesn’t owe her anything. He really doesn’t. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself.

“I don’t hate you.” He couldn’t believe he said it as soon as it left his lips. But it didn’t seem to matter. If she heard she showed no sign of it. All his mind could concentrate on was the fact she was touching him. And how much he didn’t want her to leave. She could yell at him, bruise him again, he didn’t care. For some reason, he didn’t want her to leave.

And then she was done. He could feel it. Even still, she hesitated. Her hand did not immediately leave his skin, slowly tracing a small line. Rex blinked a few times, letting out a quiet exhale. In what felt like an instant she was standing and putting the chair back.

As soon as her hand was gone the exhaustion returned. He ran a hand over his chest, noting how it was back to normal.

“I don’t hate you.” He repeats again, suddenly desperate for her to know.

She pauses at the door, an unreadable look on her face. As she’s closing it she says:

“You have a funny way of showing it.”

__

Rex is in the training area, it’s very late. But after a day of laying in bed he suddenly has a lot of energy. With each punch he is landing on the boxing bag his frustration is rising. He wasn’t sure when Killdeer would be back, but it was bound to be a few days at least.

The sound of the door opening broke his concentration, and he turned his head suddenly to the source.

“Oh god.” He muttered grabbing his towel to dry his face.

“You don’t own the place. Stop making it weird.” Kate said with annoyance, making her way over to a different machine.

“I’ll stop making it weird when it stops being weird. Which it won’t, ‘cause Immortal is like a million years old.” He retorts.

She rolls her eyes, as one of her duplicates grabs her weights to put on the barbell bar. “Oh please, because you’re so hurt about it. I saw the new girl waiting outside your door with that wine bottle or whatever it was. You obviously didn’t have much trouble finding someone else so let me be.”

“What?” Rex bristled, maybe a little more than he should have. “Nothing was happening.”

“Sure, Rex. Just like nothing was happening when Eve found us in the showers.” She gave him an incredulous look. “I’m honestly not surprised though. You can’t see anyone without trying to get in their pants.”

Rex glared at her but didn’t say anything, returning his attention back to the punching bag.

“I’m just surprised she’s so easy. Didn’t quite peg her as the type but I guess you can never really know huh.”

“Knock it off, Kate. We didn’t do anything.” Usually, he would take this opportunity to pretend he just had that good of game. But it was irking him that Kate felt so comfortable as to say something like this. At least he said shit about Killdeer to her face.

“Then why was she at your door?”

“You ever think she might just be being friendly?”

“You don’t do friendly Rex. You’re only nice to something if you think you can fuck it.”

“Fuck you.” Rex grits his teeth.

“You did.” She sighs before flashing him an unimpressed look. She then lays back to begin lifting weights, effectively ending the ‘conversation’.

Rex looked at the bag in front of him, he was angry, but suddenly there was no longer any appeal. He grabbed his towel and simply walked out. He didn’t need to fuck the new girl; they could just coexist, right? All while he was trying to get rid of her… nothing abnormal there.

Either way, he knew that what he had been thinking today while she was in his room couldn’t happen again. He was letting her distract him, and he was in pain. He didn’t like her. He just had to coexist. At least until she was off the team.

Author's Note: I kept trying to come up with reasons why pre-arc Rex wouldn't try to sleep with the reader. I really needed to channel his distaste just enough to keep the conflict but also keep him questioning. Show Rex I fear doesn't think anything through enough and so Kate ended up being useful for once in her entire life.

divider credit: @/ saradika

[kittymeowmrow]

Crawling Back to You

Chapter six

Synopsis: You still cannot believe what happened yesterday, and the guilt is starting to eat you up. Asshole or not, Rex did not deserve that. Probably… It’s time to apologize, but you’re not sure he even wants to see you, let alone listen.

Pairing: Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 4.2k

Chapter: 6/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

TW: Alcohol, Descriptions of Wounds

Note: I really liked writing this chapter, I hope you guys like it too :3 I think dialogue is sometimes a weak point of mine, but I really tried for some good banter

“What?”

“It’s nothing, I am glad you were able to figure it out.”

“Figure it out? Cecil, you sent me into the Guardians Headquarters never having fought a fuckin’ fly and winning. You don’t think that will raise suspicions?” You could feel the anger rising in you, maybe it was not directly at Cecil, but he was not helping. You could still feel the sting on your pride of Rex refusing your help. Even worse you could see the hurt in his eyes as he backed away from you. Just when you thought you were making progress. “You’re the one who is asking me to keep all these secrets and telling me it’s to their benefit! Where is the proof of that Cecil?”

“Look, kid, calm down. I promise it was good for you-”

“I am sorry I messed up Cecil, I should not have said those things to them the other night, but why would this be your go-to punishment?” You exclaimed, holding a few fingers to your temple.

“Kid. This wasn’t a punishment.” His face was extremely serious at this. “I wanted to make sure you could work well with the Guardians before putting you on the field with them. I noticed Rex was giving you the most trouble, and I figured if you could make it work, then I would know.”

“Putting me on the field?” You ran a hand through your hair, you were in too deep. “Cecil I hardly know how to fight, I hardly have more strength than the average person-”

“Approximately 6.7 times the strength of the average person-”

“That’s nothing compared to these other heroes who are twenty or one hundred times stronger-” You quickly turned to look at the new voice. “Donald, why are you even here?”

“God.” Cecil ran a hand over his face, then continued once you turned back to him. “You have to learn how to utilize your powers when you are in the field.”

“But you said-”

“Not to let the others know, I know what I said. You can be discrete about it Killdeer. You just punched Rex and left a fuckin’ crater in his chest. I want to see you do more like that.” He nods at Donald, who leaves the room. “Lights.”

The white room around you dissipates and you’re in your study area. The ReAnimen is still on the gurney at the back wall, and the blood bag filled with Viltrumite blood remains near it.

“I want you to practice what you learned on this guy.” Cecil stepped towards it, holding out some sort of device that with a click of a button caused it to sit up on its own volition. It slid off the edge in a clunky fashion that made your skin crawl. If it had nerve endings that would have felt quite painful. It stood at the other wall adjacent to the gurney, swaying in an unnatural way. You looked at it with a furrowed brow before stepping forward to look at the blood bag closer again. It could not be good to leave this out at room temperature. Did Cecil have it taken out every time you left the room, and returned every time you came back?

“Do I ever get to meet Invincible- Mark Grayson?” The question was sudden and uncalled for, a direct contrast to the conversation you were having. It was something you had been stewing on for a bit, and looking at his blood bag brought it back to the surface. You knew he worked closely with the Guardians and Cecil at several points, so it was bound to happen. But you would be lying if you said you weren’t feeling a little impatient.

“Mark?” Cecil slowly turned back to you; his head cocked ever so slightly.

“Well, I just was thinking about it. I have met all the Guardians, and I have been able to keep fairly good connections there-” Rex flashed in your mind, and you winced at the wound you had left him with “Well… mostly.” You looked at the ReAnimen and ran a hand over the blood bag. “And…I think” You paused again, debating on if you wanted to tell Cecil this new discovery. “Well, I noticed when I was training with Rex that the longer I spend in combat with him the more of a grip I got on his life source.” You tried to put it lightly. “It almost became difficult not to use my abilities on Rex, I wonder if it’s a defense mechanism of some sort.” You looked back at Cecil “But I wonder if being around Mark would help me get that mental connection with his blood.”

“His blood,” Cecil repeated, walking towards you and looking at the blood bag. His eyes quietly ran over it as you removed your hand. Maybe he didn’t know you knew whose blood it was? He knew you had access to the files though, why is he so hesitant? “If what you are saying is true, why would being around him help you? Rex was fighting you, ideally Invincible will not be.”

“I figure if I concentrate on it then maybe it still would be better? Cecil, not that long ago I was struggling to make ripples in blood bags, and yesterday I just caused one of the most severe hematomas I have ever seen. You said it yourself.” Shaking the recurring image of Rex from your mind, you put a hand on your hip straightening up to look him fully in the eye. “I am able to learn better from live subjects.” You gestured to the ReAnimen. “There might be blood in that, but it’s not flowing, it not…alive. Merely biological matter, I do not have that strong of a connection to it-”

“Invincible is a lot different than the Guardians, there are a lot higher stakes-”

“I know!” You said with mild frustration but took a breath as Cecil narrowed his eyes at you. “I know.” You repeated. “But as far as Viltrumite blood goes, I am making zero progress sitting here with the bag. Maybe once I can feel the live thing I can come back and connect to this.” You gesture vaguely to the blood bag. “And…”

You pause for a moment debating whether to ask. You had drastically better results on Rex than you did on the ReAnimen, you should be practicing with live people. But the ethics on that gets very muddy, very quickly. Sure, Cecil had his own agenda for you, one he was not letting you in on, but now you wanted to get better. You were motivated by it. When Cecil found you there was no doubt in your mind that you knew exactly what you wanted and who you wanted to be. You considered becoming a nurse originally, helping one patient at a time. That turned out well.

After your training with Rex, you fully started to grasp the world that you might be able to enter now. You did not have to be some kind of mutant among humans. You could work in alliance with a team. You weren’t stupid though. Cecil saw you as an asset, and it was not because of your personality. When you thought about it, you wondered if Cecil had bad intentions, but after working with him so long you genuinely believed he wanted what was best for the people. The question was, as you grow your abilities, how long until he sees you as not what is best for the people?

You saw Mark Grayson as the epitome of what a hero should try to be, fighting his own father for the safety of the planet. And now that that was done you were here. And Cecil obviously was hoping you could be backup if Mark changed his mind and decided he agreed with his father’s past sentiment. Did he have a backup for you? Had he thought that far ahead? This is Cecil, of course he had.

You closed your mouth rewording what you were going to say. “Next time the Guardians go out I want to be told. I want to go. Not sometime off in the future.”

“Out of the question, I want you to be combat-ready, you’ve made good progress kid, but don’t let it go to your head.”

“What do you want me to do Cecil? You just said you wanted me out with the Guardians on the field. Now I am agreeing with you what changed?”

“Nothing changed, you will be combat-ready, and you will be discrete. But you simply are not ready yet.”

“Every time they answer one of your calls and I am not at the scene to meet them it must be more and more suspicious. How long until the Guardians call this bullshit? I am happy to be somewhat in the dark Cecil-” happy was a bit too enthusiastic of a word for it “because I trust you, but that’s because I know I am doing good. Do the Guardians trust you that much? Does Rudy?” You pause pressing the heel of your hand to your forehead, then slowly look back up at Cecil. “Does Rex?”

Cecil stops for a breath, his eyes drilling holes into you.

“Next small infraction I’ll send you. But you alone. If you want to practice then practice, we’ll watch from here. Make sure you make it.”

Sweet!

…

Make sure you make it?

“Okay, that’s- that’ll work.” You nod quickly, a little surprised. You were half expecting that Cecil would just say no and leave.

Cecil goes back to leave again and hesitates, “Try not to lose your brains this time hm?” He gestures to the ReAnimen still waiting for you to initiate practice.

“Sorry-” You gave an awkward smile, rubbing your neck, but before you could finish what must have been your millionth apology to Cecil in the past week he was gone. Guess he was not trying to reduce his teleportation uses. The blue static remained in the air after his passing for a moment.

This was good, you were going to be able to engage in real practice. Not just play in the kiddy pool. You ran your hand over your scalp, fingers tangling in your hair. Well, you had real practice yesterday… and look how that turned out. You sighed quietly, feeling yourself fall into the position Rex had shown you, as you took your first swing you knew that you were going to have to apologize. But how do you make someone who already hated you forgive you for giving them such a blow?

__

The answer was alcohol. At least you hoped.

You twisted the cheap plastic bow on the neck of the bottle nervously in your hand as you waited for the elevator to take you up to the dormitory section of Headquarters. It crinkled obnoxiously to the point you considered ripping it off. Your head ached. But you didn’t go so far you were admitted to the hospital again, so that was a win in your mind.

Rae was the first to see you when you walked in, which you were very glad for. She was the friendliest and most helpful face to you in headquarters. Bulletproof and Shapesmith did not seem bad, but they were less inclined to naturally want to help you. Or in the case of Shapesmith, they did not seem to know they were breathing.

After a very quick conversation with Rae, she told you Rex had been held up in his room, he had not come down for training or any meals. She shrugged it off though, saying this was not uncommon. With which you tried to make yourself feel better. And it did not seem like Rae knew why you were looking for him. Which hopefully meant he was not spreading around your mistake. But it might also just be because he did not want to come across as weak, sporting that big of a bruise after your first training session.

An uncomfortable pit started to develop in your stomach. It was not the usual one when you knew you had to interact with him, usually dread fed by annoyance.

No, you were nervous. It was not backed by anger or even your knowledge that Rex on some level probably deserved this a little bit. You were nervous he would turn you away, refuse to look at you.

Would it really be that bad for Rex Splode to decide to ignore you? A little awkward maybe, especially if Cecil pulled a stunt like that again. But it definitely would not be the end of the world, right? You couldn’t stand the guy.

You could not stand him.

You straightened your back, looking at the door in front of you, it had a very handy plaque that let you know you were at the right room. You held your hand out, fist clenched, ready to knock, and you…hesitated.

You rolled your neck, frustration rising, this really was not that hard. Just knock. Just knock on the damn door come on-

“Hello?”

Your gaze snapped to the sound of the voice. It was feminine and unfamiliar. You quickly realized why. It was Duplikate, a member you had only talked to once so far with your slow integration into the team.

Suddenly you were holding the bottle down behind your leg, which as soon as you did this her eyes trailed down to follow it. Why did you just do that? Way to make yourself look as suspicious as possible.

“I’m just here to see Rex.” You say dryly. WHY DOES THIS FEEL SO WEIRD?

It’s because you do not want anyone looking into Rex further, knowing more about the extent of your powers. Cecil was getting into your head, goddamn it.

But what if that wasn’t the only reason you didn’t like being caught outside his door?

“Quick house call?” She said, her eyes narrowing slightly. Okay actually, why does she care? You were starting to get annoyed, maybe because you had already hit the peak of how awkward you could feel today, and your head was still killing you from practice earlier.

“Something like that.”

“In his room?”

Hello?

You shifted a little uncomfortably. “He hasn’t been down yet, Rae told me he was up here.”

Kate stood there several moments too long staring you down, and for a moment you considered just leaving. Maybe that would be better than whatever this pathetic attempt at forgiveness was.

Finally, she not-so-subtly rolled her eyes and passed you to the elevator. You watched as the light above the elevators frame lit up to indicate it was going down and finally turned your attention back to the door. You deciding to knock before you got in your head about it again.

There was no response.

You waited a few moments then knocked again to which you heard an annoyed groan, “One day off dickhead!”

Well at least he doesn’t sound like he’s dying.

With that confirmation, you slowly open the door. It is dim inside the room; he had probably been lounging in bed. It was surprisingly not as messy as you thought it would be. There were some drink remnants on a desk and random magazines around with houses on the front. The kind you see elderly people read at bus stops. Rex was sitting on the edge of his bed, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“I said-! Oh shit.” His gaze immediately landed on you once he lifted his head slightly off his hands, and then it trailed down to your attempt at peace that you held tightly in your hands. He did not say anything, but he did straighten up a little as it seemed to fully dawn on him that you were standing in the doorway.

“Hi.” That’s it? All that freaking out and intense grappling with guilt and that’s all you start with.

“Hi.” Promising. That’s not a ‘get out dickhead, I helped you and you did that to me, GET OUT’ so you’ll take it. His expression was surprisingly soft, was he already drinking?

“I feel really bad about yesterday and I don’t want it to be a whole thing, you know?” Oh, very sympathetic. You winced at your accidental nonchalant tone.

“A whole thing?” He raised an eyebrow at you, straightening all the way up, his hands landing on the mattress to lean on. He still was wearing that grey tank top, and in the dim light, you could see the bruise that was very prevalent over the collar of it. It looked worse than yesterday.

“That’s not what I meant.” You close the door behind you and immediately Rex perks up. You hold out the bottle to him, hoping it portrays your intentions better than your words are.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” He gives you a snarky smile and just like that your anxiety dries up a little. He seems less pathetic now, so you don’t feel the need to tip-toe around his feelings.

“I’m saying sorry.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“I know.”

“Multiple times.”

“I know.”

“I said to leave it be.”

“I know.”

“Yet here you are, alone in my room, offering me a drink?” Ah. Kate’s reaction was feeling a lot more valid now.

“Don’t let it go to your head, it’s cheap.” You nudge it towards him again, and he takes it with a sigh, probably directed at you not taking part in his banter.

“Nice bow.” He said dryly, his fingers brushing over the twisted plastic you had forgotten about during your interaction outside his door.

“Thanks, it cost extra.” You decided to look around his room a bit, even though you knew he probably did not want you to.

There were a few pictures on the wall, some of Teen Team, and a few just of him. Which you thought screamed how huge his ego was. Narcissism must run strong with him. Your eyes paused on a picture of him and a redhead, she was the one taking it, and his arm was over her shoulder. You definitely recognized her; she had been in the files, but you could not place her. She was in several of the photographs, wearing a pink suit in the one of the Teen Team.

“So, was there anything else you wanted?” Rex’s low voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned around to look at him again.

He had just been drinking straight out of the bottle. Now his was hand clenched loosely around it as it hung just a few inches above the floor. You debated for a moment reiterating your offer from yesterday.

“I-”

Rex winced slightly, his free hand immediately reaching up to his chest. It would have been missable if you were still looking at the wall.

“I want to fix that.” You said shortly, folding your arms over your chest.

“No.”

“Why?”

“How do I know you’re not going to make it worse? You did that fuckin’ thing in the first place.”

You rolled your eyes walking up to him. “Rex, be serious for five seconds, I was brought on as a healer. Why not let me do my one purpose huh?”

“One purpose my balls.”

“Very mature.”

“Look, I just don’t want it okay? Back off.”

“It obviously hurts; you’ve been in your room all day-”

“No I haven’t, who said that?”

“Rae.”

“Ugh.”

You’re losing your patience, and he is acting like a child. You step towards him, and he has to strain his neck back slightly to look up at you.

“Let me help you and I’ll leave, you won’t have to hear from me until the next time Cecil makes me come to Headquarters. Don’t let me help you and I’ll be back every day, and I’m taking that with me.” You gesture to the liquor in his hand.

He sighs. “Every day?”

You nod, and he looks to the side, obviously debating.

“Will it hurt?”

“A little.”

“Are you lying?”

“A little.”

He grumbles but finally gives a small nod. You grab the chair from his desk and pull it in front of him.

“Woah, can’t you just heal it from over there or some shit?” He has his hand on the front of the chair and is pushing it away.

“No.”

“No, you can’t or no you won’t?” God this guy never shuts up.

“I have to have direct contact with the skin to heal.”

“Are you just trying to get me to take my shirt off?” He gives you a cheesy smile which you respond to with an exceedingly unimpressed look. “Fine. Jeez.” He lets go of the chair and you sit down. He puts down the bottle and moves gingerly to take off the tank top. A slight groan left him at the movement.

It looks a lot worse today, the edges are yellowing, and you can still see the blood pooling under his skin. It is honestly a little grotesque to look at.

You scoot the chair closer, sitting directly between his legs. He doesn’t say anything, but he leaned back slightly as you got closer. You look at him, silently telling him you are going to start. Your dominant hand cautiously reached out and your fingertips made tender contact with his skin. He was practically radiating heat. His body was desperately trying to heal this, and quickly.

After closing your eyes you felt the connection click, the healing process beginning.

“The fuck?” Rex tensed, closing his eyes tightly.

“I warned you.”

“Hardly!”

“You should feel what it’s like with a broken bone, it’s so much weirder.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“Why are you assuming I’m trying to make you feel better?”

Rex doesn’t respond. He is sitting quietly now, it’s almost too quiet. You can hear his breathing, the slight hitches as the pain ebbs and flows. You could feel the pace of his heart under your hand. Elevated. Pain will do that.

You could feel something else now, his eyes on your face. He was watching you. It almost made you dig your fingers in. Determined to make him look away. Instead, you pretended you could not feel his gaze and returned your focus to your job.

All of this bullshit just for him to give in at the chance of you taking back cheap liquor. You almost rolled your eyes. He was so aggravating. But even you knew that you didn’t like the idea of him hating you. Sure, he could dislike you, he had no problem making that clear. But why did he have to vehemently hate you? It would be easier if you thought he was no one of consequence. But he was one of the good guys. You knew his file, the kind of work he did, especially after Omniman and Invincible’s big fight.

Maybe it just bothered you that an ass could still do good things. That was it. You were jealous even. You couldn’t imagine being carefree enough to just be rude to whoever.

That’s not entirely true, you did not find it particularly hard to be mostly nice, but still. It was really getting under your skin.

Suddenly you’re vocalizing it.

“Why do you hate me?” You asked softly, you could still feel his gaze watching you. Your hand gently pressed against the brunt of the wound. You could feel it mending but you had to move slowly, especially with how close you came with the ReAnimen earlier.

“Who said I hated you, Joy?”

“You have been rude to me since the day we met. You don’t even call me my real name.” You shifted your gaze up to his for a moment, his eyes were half-lidded, staring into yours.

After a moment he looked away and took a swig of the drink. “You don’t deserve to be on the Guardians.” Stale, old, overused.

“And that’s it? Something completely out of my control and you use that to hate me?”

“You could tell Cecil you don’t want to be a part of it.”

You gritted your teeth and focused on his chest again, the bruise was shrinking in diameter, a minute or so and he’d be good as new. It was back to the tense silence, but now there was a buzz of irritation. Maybe it was coming from both of you, but it was definitely coming from you.

One minute and you could just leave, or maybe you could just leave it partially healed, it’s not like he deserves much more than that. Pompous, arrogant-

“I don’t hate you.”

You didn’t respond. The remaining time moved extremely slow. With every second that passed you could almost swear you could feel the rhythmic thumping of his heart more.

And then you were done. The ugly purple and yellow coloring was gone and with it the pain. You absent-mindedly trailed your fingers over his skin, making sure you were done. He stiffened slightly and you pulled your hand back. Rex lets out a slow, shaky, exhale. And you’re putting the chair back at the desk.

“I don’t hate you.” He repeats as you are pulling his door open to leave.

Your eyes linger on his face, he’s giving a sad excuse of a slight smile. It almost irks you.

“You have a funny way of showing it.” You retort, leaving him behind you and closing the door.

Author's Note: I am trying out using a fic specific tag at the request of @kittymeowmrow but I am really new to Tumblr so let me know if I am doing it wrong?

divider credit: @/ saradika

[kittymeowmrow]

Little something I drew while brainstorming for how to continue the fifth chapter of the fic. This is what I’m imagining he looks like in that chapter hehe 😼

[kittymeowmrow]

KEEP IT IN THE BEDROOM

rex sloan x FEM OUTCAST! reader

in which you don't know what you want

♫ I'm Not In Love - 10cc

contains - childhood trauma, bullying, alludes to sex, smoking and depression

Nobody knew.

It was a well kept secret between you and Rex. Even if Rex wanted to shout it from the rooftops and you wanted to forever hide from the fact that you spent most of your nights in his bed.

He would hold you, ramble on and on to you about his day or whatever superficial shit he thought was important. You laid there, tired and naked, just listening to him while he combed through your unruly hair with his strong scarred hands.

And then you’d come up with a bad excuse to start getting dressed and then you’d leave him. Careful not to leave any traces that would set anyone off about what really went down in his bedroom during the late hours of the night.

Truly, you didn’t know why you were so ashamed of whatever you had with Rex. You thought maybe it was because of his past? Were you embarrassed to be seen hanging around a known cheater? No, that wasn’t it. Were you ashamed to be seen kissing a man whose ego was as big as his….no that wasn’t it either.

The question stumped you for weeks. Late nights spent on a balcony in Guardians Headquarters, a cigarette perched between your index and middle fingers, a black leather jacket hugged tightly around your body. But not tight enough to resemble the way Rex would hold you while he was trying to mimic aftercare he had read about in ‘healthy sex’ magazines.

He was trying to do better, you knew that. The other Guardians knew that. He was becoming a better version of himself, as was everyone around you.

And then it hit you. Hard and fast like a strong gush of wind during a hurricane. You weren’t embarrassed to be seen with Rex. Not at all. You were scared. Scared that Rex would be embarrassed to be seen with you.

As much as you hated to admit it, it seemed that your grade school habits were hard to shake. The bullying, the name-calling, the fighting. You shuddered, the horrid memories almost always brought an angry chill to your spine.

You took a final drag of your cigarette before dropping it onto the concrete floor, stepping on it with your boot. You watched the ashes fizzle out with a satisfying hiss. You stared at the cigarette butt on the ground for a long time getting lost in your thoughts.

“Trailer park trash can’t even read. Maybe she could just stick to something she’s actually good at, like folding laundry or sucking di-“

“Tyler that’s enough.”

It was seventh grade, you sat in the back of your English class, a hoodie loosely around your body, a paperback cover of Romeo and Juliet clutched in your hands. Your life was falling apart. You were no longer soccer captain, you no longer had any friends to bide time with, boys mocked and taunted you in the hallways and girls avoided you like the plague.

All because the secret had got out, you lived in a trailer park, which wasn’t a big deal to most but to prepubescent teenagers, it was the lowest way of life. Not to mention the fact a rumor that you gave handjobs to every boy on the baseball team was spreading around the school like wildfire. And this all started because what? You rejected that douche eighth grader Doug? As if you would have ever gone out with him.

You were taunted, bullied, your name slandered and dragged through the mud by students and teachers alike. You spent your nights infront of the cross in your mother’s living room, surrounded by all of the shit she hoarded wondering what you did to deserve this. So many nights spent sleeping on a foam mattresss topper with a black trash bag acting as a blanket wishing you could have been born into a poshy rich family, with a cute little white dog and two parents that loved you.

You were miserable. Depressed and rotting away in that trailer, in that awful school for years until you had discovered something that was always there, laying dormant inside of you. A superpower apparently. And of course you used it. Just...not in the right way, instead of using it to help people you were using it to make the people who hurt you suffer.

Word got out and it wasn’t long before you were approached by a fair-skinned man with long white hair. He told you his name was Cecil and that you could leave your entire life behind if you wanted and work for him as one of the ‘good guys’. He didn’t have to say much else, you had agreed almost too quickly. And of course, Cecil claimed he didn't work with criminals but he could make an exception for a misguided young girl with an exceptional abilty.

And now here you were. Almost six years later, still just as miserable. But you had to wonder, was this your fault? If people like Rex were able to change, could you? Could you be better? Could you be happier, less angry, less stoic and more outspoken and cheerful? Did you have to be so miserable-

“Hey…what’re you doin’ out here by yourself it’s fuckin’ freezing.”

You glanced over your shoulder to find the man who's been haunting your thoughts for months, standing near the glass door in nothing but stained grey sweatpants and mismatched socks.

"Rex, go back inside." You sighed, not able to find it in yourself to keep a conversation with him right now.

“Is something up with you? Feels like something’s up with you.” He pried, completely ignoring you and stepping out further. He stood behind you, his arms moving to wrap around your waist.

"What're you doing?" You tried to pull away, not very hard but still.

“Relax, no one else is out here, just me and you.” Rex nuzzled his face into your neck.

"Still," You pulled away, turning around to face him. He was standing there in all his tan, muscled glory, with a little pout on his face.

“Don’t be so mean.” He groaned, “I’m just trying to feel you up, nothin’ wrong with that. You sure did like it last night.” He shot you a smug grin.

"What did i say about that?" You scoffed. "No talking about our...thing in public. That stays in your bedroom, Rex"

“Yeah, yeah i know, but why? I mean, what’s the big deal. If you’re stressed about the team finding out i guarantee they couldn’t give any fucks, i mean, i dated Eve, i dated Kate. Trust me, they don’t care.”

Your jaw clenched at the reminder of the other women he’s been with. All beautiful, talented, heroic girls who would give their life to the cause of being a hero. Meanwhile anytime you thought your life was truly in danger, you would cut and run.

“Hey, Earth to babydoll? You present?” Rex waved his hand infront of your face, snapping at you. Your hand shot out to grip his wrist, making him stop. “Okay seriously, talk to me. I know something’s wrong.”

"You don't know a fucking thing about me Rex, get real."

“Hey…” Rex was taken aback by how cold your tone was, “That’s not true. I do know you, better than you think i do. Look, i know i seem like all i care about is myself and getting laid, but i really do care about you.”

"Right." You replied flatly. Rex sighed in response, the sound making you internally wince.

“Baby…just talk to me please. I’m actually getting…like worried.” Rex scratched the back of his neck, stepping closer.

"I don't know what's wrong. I don't know." You buried your face into your hands letting out a deep sigh.

It didn’t take Rex long to envelop you, wrapping his arms tightly around you and pulling you into his chest. You pried your hands away from your face and slowly wrapped them around his warm neck. There were no words exchanged between you two for a while, just the sounds of Rex’s soft breaths and trees blowing in the breeze nearby.

When you finally looked up at him, he looked sad, confused, nervous. "Do...” You tried to force the words out of your mouth. "Do you wish i was someone else?" You croaked out, swallowing harshly.

Rex pulls away in response, still holding onto you but his eyes now piercing through yours, dark brown eyebrows furrowed. “What? What the fuck are you talking about baby? Why would i ever want you to be someone else?”

"I don't know...it's just...i don't know." You stammered letting out a deep sigh.

“Babydoll…you’ve…turned me into a better person. I mean, i’ve chilled out since being with you. The team thinks i’m less of an annoying prick and everything with you has just been fucking rad. I mean i know i got issues but im working on ‘em. For you.”

"For me?" You echoed, disbelief apparent on your face. Rex nodded in confirmation, one of his strong hands came up to cup your cheek.

“Who else?” He chuckled deeply, his voice just a little raspy from sleepiness. There was a lull in the conversation, before you glanced at the floor and then back up at Rex.

"Do you...ever want this to be like...a thing? A real thing? Not just a sex and go."

“You want me to be honest or bullshit?”

"Honest, i can take it."

“I want more.”

Another lull in the conversation, your eyes softened and the arms you had wrapped around him loosened. "Really?" You whispered

“Yeah. Really. I really really want to be with you, publicly. I want to show you off, i want to tell everyone we’re something, i want to touch all on you in public.” He slyly smiled with his last declaration. “But…i just don’t want you to be so…alone. I mean i get it, you’re always all mysterious, stoic, badass but i kinda don’t like seeing you off by yourself while everyone mingles. It hurts.”

"Why does it hurt you?" You lightly scoffed.

“Because i care about you. A lot.”

You hummed in acknowledgment your heart begrudgingly softening for the man infront of you. You leaned forwards, your forehead against his. Your lips were almost touching and the silence that filled the night air was loud. "You wanna go public then?" You whispered against his lips.

Rex didn’t respond right away, he just smiled against your lips and leaned in to fill that small gap. The kiss was languid and tender, tongues gently mingling together before you pulled apart.

"So that's a yeah?" You laughed, gently nudging his shoulder.

“Duh.”

a/n: this fic was lowk a challenge to write. i tried not to make it stereotypical but who knows. forgive me if rex is ooc, he's kinda hard to write for lol. and i'm finally figuring out how i want to format my posts, i'm excited to be an aesthetic girly now even if the gradient text took me like two hours. thank you for all the love, comments, reblogs and notes are very much appreciated

animated dividers by @/cafekitsune

sparkle dividers by @bernardsbendystraws

[kittymeowmrow]

Crawling Back to You

Chapter five

Synopsis: You can admit you are not very good at hand-on-hand combat. It has not really been something you needed to be good at until now. However, the worse you appear, the more suspicious your long “training” sessions with Cecil are starting to seem. And with each failure, Rex is getting more and more smug.

Pairing: Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 3.9k

Chapter: 5/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

TW: Blood, Descriptions of Violence

Note: If you ever see me hating on the "pinned to the ground" troupe, kill me. That's not me. Also shoutout to the several youtube videos I had to watch on how to fight. you guys are life savers.

“I knew I was good, but I didn’t realize I was quite this good.”

Rex was completely destroying you, last you checked this was a “training session”, not a fighting tournament. He obviously did not have that same memo though. As you looked over at him, he was shifting his weight back and forth from leg to leg, his fists clenched in front of him. There is no way this is actually boosting his ego more. The cocky grin on his face told you it definitely was. You cursed Cecil in your head, putting you directly in a metaphorical arena with someone who has enhanced strength and durability. As far as you know you do not have either of those to the extent most people with powers did. And just because your body can heal the bruise forming on your ribs extremely quickly, does not mean you cannot feel it.

When you had walked in earlier you were met with complete silence. Rex was sitting, no, he was lounging, in the training room. Waiting. Cecil must have told him the plan for today, which you were secretly grateful for. You could feel the tantrum that would have come if you had walked up to him and said “Hey! I know you hate my guts, but that old guy with the receding hairline-? What am I saying? That hairline is no longer receding, it’s receded. Yeah, you know the one, he wants us to train together. What was that? You think I don’t deserve to be here? What was that? You think I am making a fool of myself? What was that? Die, die, die? Well, I hear you, Rex! And guess what, I agree full-heartedly! Thank you for blessing me with a fragment of your precious, and I mean precious, time!”

Ugh.

Instead, you had given him a polite smile, opened your mouth to speak, and were immediately interrupted with: “Yeah-Yeah I know, let’s get started.” Which is the most amicable interaction you have ever shared up to this point.

He was wearing a grey tank top, and his hair was pulled back loosely. As much as you disliked him, you had eyes. He was surprisingly toned without the suit on, it almost made you feel self-conscious. But then it made you feel a little panicked. You have supposedly been “training” with Cecil the past few months, or did they not know that? They did not have your records the way you had theirs. So maybe you could get away with saying that you had not been training for as long, and that’s why…you were completely and utterly inexperienced? All of a sudden it was starting to feel like Cecil jumped the gun in introducing you to the Guardians. If you were able to use your other abilities you could completely freeze Rex in place, but then what? You had no idea what you would do that could truly give you the upper hand. Although after keeping him in place for a while, you would eventually heel over and become a personal blood sprinkler.

But you can’t use your other abilities, to these people you were just a healer. And Cecil had reiterated to you last night that you cannot let them even get an inkling that you can do more. So here you are, holding your ribs with one hand, and sweat dripping down your brow.

“You know, I am not sure how effective this is if you’re landing every punch as hard as you can.” You winced standing up straighter.

“I’m not hitting you as hard as I can.”

You glared at him, taking a breath so that you did not immediately snap back. Be the bigger person and all that, nonsense. “Well, how about just not hitting me at all while you’re still showing me the basics. I feel like that should be implied actually.”

“The basics?” He put his hands down. “Do you not know anything about hand-to-hand combat?”

A very telling silence fell between them. You almost wished he would make fun of you, instead he just stared at you.

“Shit, so you really are just a healer huh?”

Basically yeah. “I mean, loose on the ‘just’ okay buddy.”

“So, I’m your babysitter for the day.” There it is, the familiar snark.

“Well usually babysitters are paid, so not even that.” You gave him an almost apologetic look to try and cover your sarcasm. You straightened all the way up, your ribs fully healed from his earlier hit.

“Goddamn it.” Rex ran a hand over the back of his neck looking at the ground in thought. “No chance I can just go fuck off and we tell Cecil we trained anyways is there?”

“Don’t think so, no.”

“Right… yeah no I figured.” The look of sheer disappointment on his face was a very telling sign he in fact, did not figure.

You put your hands on your hips now at a loss for how to progress this forward.

“Basics then?”  A hand ran over his face in surprisingly quiet frustration.

“Basics.” You echoed.

Rex stepped forward then hesitated, “Wait, if I teach you any of this will it even do you any good? Or would you get immediately torn apart or some shit?” Strong vote of confidence. But he had a point. If you were up against the likes of people like the Mauler Twins, were you expected to try hand-to-hand combat? There was no way you would win, even with support. And if the likes of which you were up against did not have human blood there was no controlling them either. At least for now, you still were getting nowhere with the Viltrumite blood and that was only one species.

“Uh, I’m not sure.” You said honestly, straightening up a bit. “At least then I will be dead, and you don’t have to worry about it I suppose.”

“Hey, I wasn’t worried about you I was worried about my own wasted time.”

“Glad for the clarification.”

Rex finally fully made his way over to you, standing at your side. He was quiet for a bit, seemingly in thought about what to start with. Which you had a hard time believing he could deeply think about anything.

“So- uh… I guess always be aware of your surroundings, you can get backed into corners quickly in combat-” There was a much more awkward tension in the room now as he obviously recited what could have been textbook self-defense 101.

“Let’s assume I know that much, how about some actual techniques.”

“God, nothing makes you happy, does it?” You raise your hands at his outburst, trying not to laugh. “Are you left or right-handed?”

“I don’t see how this is-”

“Left or right.” He cut in, gritting his teeth. After telling him, he gestured for you to have the corresponding foot forward. You bit the inside of your lip in irritation but followed.

“Your stance is important, if you don’t do it right-”

“I’ll be unbalanced.”

“You’ll look like a dumbass.” His lip twinged slightly, and he moved behind you. Using his foot, he pushed your feet apart for a wider stance. A little close for your liking. “Your feet should be a little wider than shoulder-length apart, shift your weight to your toes. You’ll be able to move faster.”

You do as he says, testing your weight from side to side with a slight bounce.

“Stop fucking moving.”

“Sorry-”

“You have to hold your arms up like this.” Before you knew it, he was positioning your arms. His fingertips felt oddly warm on your skin. If he wanted to, could he make your entire body explode from this contact? That’s one way to die. You bit back any argument and let him pose you to his liking. You clenched your fists loosely (after he got on you about using up spare energy for nothing, but he did not seem to have a problem with using up spare energy to yell at you, so who really needed training).

“Hold your elbows in, you have to protect your sides, vital organs… blah blah” He quickly slipped back into his indifferent attitude but for a second he seemed to be enjoying this. Maybe it felt good for him to impose his superior knowledge on others, you can’t imagine it happens often. “Anyways, basically this is how I was able to get you earlier.” You subconsciously rubbed your side, and he hesitated for a split second.

“Okay, keep your shoulders somewhat up.” He stepped out from behind you and quickly took his place in front of you. “Hit me.”

“What?”

He sighed, dramatically throwing his head back, “I didn’t say it that quietly, hit me.”

You hesitated, not because you thought you might hurt him, but because you knew he was doing this so you would make a fool of yourself. “Why don’t you just quickly show me-”

“Goddamn it, HIT ME!”

Your dominant hand came crashing into his nose surprisingly hard. So hard you wondered for a moment if you just broke your knuckles. Losing your form, you immediately stepped back, holding your hand in your secondary hand. The pain of your body immediately trying to heal it striking through you. “Fuck!”

“FUCK!” Rex echoed, holding his hand to his nose and tilting his head back. “Why did you go for the face first you dick!”

“You told me to punch you!” God your hand hurt.

“I said to hit me not fucking punch me in the face!”

“Well, I’m sorry! Your face is just too irresistible for me to miss the opportunity!” You hissed back, feeling your middle finger pop back into place. After a few seconds more, the pain subsided, and you stood straight up again, turning to face him.

Rex was glaring at you, blood trickling from his nose down his face. If you were feeling nicer you might have offered to heal it for him, but his dark look was not making you feel generous.

“Back to it then?” You gave a fake smile and returned to your earlier position. He ran his tongue over his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment before sniffling and also returning to his position.

You went to hit him on his chest, and he quickly deflected you, a little harsher than necessary. What a baby.

“Again.” He spat.

You went again, and he deflected it just as easily. “Why weren’t you this good at blocking when I hit you earlier?”

“Shut up. Again.”

You used your non-dominant hand to try faking Rex out, which worked. He went to block it, and you nailed him in the side. Not as hard as before, not that it would matter, since he can definitely take a punch much better with his torso than his face. Rex simply nodded, returning his eyes to your stance.

“You should twist your leg with the punch, it adds much more force.” He walked to your side, his hands brushing over your thigh to your calf. His touch was surprisingly gentle for how bad this entire interaction seemed to be going. After twisting your leg, he stood up straight and gave you a demonstration.

“You have to twist it as you punch, use the brute of your force from your back.”

“Okay.” His nose was still bleeding and now you were starting to feel bad. He was still training you even after you did that to him. It was almost sweet. Or he was just too full of himself to be the first to give in, either could be true. Most likely the latter.

“And I want you to try this after you land that hit.” He demonstrates another move, his arm making a hook-like motion in front of him. “Okay?”

“Okay.” You steadied up your stance again, bouncing back and forth on your toes. He returned in front of you and posed himself. He did not say anything this time. No ‘hit me’, no annoyance at your moving, he just watched and waited. His eyes trailing over you. He must be checking your stance.

You repeated your fake-out move from earlier, then went to hit him with the new move he showed you.

“Keep your arm closer to your body, or you’ll dislocate your elbow.”

You nodded, not having the concentration to come up with a quip to throw at him. You repeated the move again but with a second fake-out. Rex winced slightly as your fist made contact with his elbow. Ideally, this move would probably work better if you were aiming for his face.

“That was fuckin’ good!” He exclaimed with a smile, genuine excitement generating off of him. You did not know he was capable of smiling in a way that did not reflect cynicism and sarcasm. It was almost alarming.

“Thanks?”

“Do that again.” He returns to position, and you follow suit.

__

After several more demonstrations and Rex purposely tripping you to ‘show you that your stance was bad’, you were both working up quite the sweat. And worse you were starting to become aware of his blood. You could feel it beneath his skin with every punch. This was not something you usually experienced, but from all the excretion and fighting it was starting to feel like you were actually needing to win.

Rex was talking about something now, but you were struggling to pay attention, your body willing you to get back into formation.

“With your size, a tackle could be good to know. You’ve got some dick who’s towering over you-”

“Some dick meaning you?”

He ignored you and continued. “You have to be able to bring them down to your level if you are able.”

He stops for a moment to fix his hair, stray pieces had been slowly falling out throughout the session and limiting his visibility. Your eyes trailed down to his face, the blood had dried now, and you were tempted to get him a wet cloth or something. But your body was still screaming at you to fight. So, you stayed put.

He looked at you out of the corner of his eye as he finished putting his hair back up and you found yourself looking forward to where he usually stood. Now you were overthinking it, did you look away too fast? Was he thinking you were weird for staring at him? Weird for looking away outside of the set time for it not to be weird? God, can he please just stand in front of you so you can punch him? You really needed to punch something.

Which felt a little redundant since that was all you had been doing for what must have been nothing short of ages.

Finally, he was back in front of you, and you immediately took a swing.

“Woah, the fuck are you doing?” He gave you a quizzical look, after taking a step back from your attempted hit.

“Practicing.”

“Were you not just listening? I want you to try out tackling.”

“Oh, okay.” You lowered your hands feeling a bit embarrassed. You wiped the sweat off of your brow with the back of your hand, then tunneled your focus on Rex.

He gave you an odd look but continued forward with his demonstration.

“Okay, you have to stand tall up until one of the last moments, or they’ll know what you’re trying to do, and the whole maneuver will be spoiled.” He stood up straight, stretching his back, preparing himself for the inevitable. “I’m going to come at you, you have to go for my knees and try to take me down.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? You sure you got that?”

“Do you think I’m stupid?” That came out a lot harsher than you meant it to, you just really needed to hit something.

He furrowed his brow at you but did not say anything. Almost immediately he headed towards you. You jumped back, somehow a little startled even though he just told you what was going to happen. You missed your window; he was going in for punches now. Trying to deflect the best you could, you got yourself into position to tackle him.

Rex’s fist collided with your shoulder and knocked you off balance. “Fuck!” Without leaving any time to waste you were back on your feet. Sweat was dripping down your brow. And Rex was looking very concentrated. You went in to hit him, he deflected, you went to tackle, he hit. This was not even training anymore; he was trying to wear you out.

Your lip curled slightly with frustration. And you finally took a deep breath, focusing your thoughts. Rex leaned in the way he was going to hit, even with cop-outs. You had started to notice the pattern, if you used it against him, you could break his balance.

He leaned slightly to the left, swung left, left, left, right, right.

You swung left, hitting his ribs. He grimaced, taking a step back. And then you sprung forward, grabbing his legs and pushing him down,

You were both panting.

His face was flushed, and from how hot it was you were sure yours was too. His mouth was slightly agape, and his eyes you were not able to be read. You could feel his chest heaving underneath you. As much as he was trying to wear you out, he must have been wearing himself out too.

“I got you.” You said between breaths, what you needed more than anything right now was some water. Have you ever realized Rex had green eyes? You did not see green eyes much anymore.

He did not immediately respond, the rise and fall of his chest still apparent to you. He was very firm; he probably had a lot of muscle from years of being a professional hero. Your hands were digging into his shoulders. You could feel him tense slightly under you, feel the shift in his blood.

For a millisecond his eyes slid down your face, and you wondered…

“You’re not meant to stay on top of the person once you’ve taken them down.” His voice rang out dryly. His eyes met yours with half-lidded mild annoyance.

“Ugh. Nothing’s good enough.”

“Plenty is good enough. Just do shit right.”

You got off him, offering him a hand up which he briskly refused. He stood for a moment with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. He walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed something; it looked like a belt.

“One more go.”

“Seriously?” You almost whined, you needed a break badly.

“Yes, fucking seriously.” You missed that one moment of actual happiness he portrayed earlier, wondering if you would see that ever again.

“Fine.” For hopefully a final time for the day, you fell into place. Rex immediately went back into action; this time he was keeping his distance. Every time you caught up with him, he quickly got away. “Dude, what is this?” You said unimpressed, and then you saw it fly out of his hand. He was throwing small discs at you. There was no way-

Before you could even finish the thought, it ignited in a small explosion, sending you back.

“Rex, what the fuck are you doing!”

“This is actual combat training Nurse Joy. Catch up.” You grit your teeth, you had already learned a lot for one day, did you really need to have mini-explosives thrown at you too? You did your best to avoid them, a few singed your shirt, and you could definitely smell burnt hair. How many of those did he have? Should you wait him out?

Each explosion left a little cloud of smoke. You just needed to get close enough that it would affect his sight. Slowly you made your way closer, still trying not to get hit. Even with the smoke in front of you, you knew exactly where he was. You already had that neural connection.

After bidding your time on the last one you finally jumped forward through the smoke. His arms immediately came up to shield his face, but you weren’t going for his face. Your fist made direct contact with the left side of his chest. A mild headache immediately irrupts in your head. He should have let you at least have a water break, before pulling all of this.

With a groan, suddenly Rex was backing away, a confused, and angry look on his face. One of his hands was over the place where you punched. You almost wanted to call him a wimp, say something mean, and then you saw the bruise. It was reaching above his tank top.

Fuck. You had manipulated his blood. Not to heal.

You had made it burst in his blood vessels. That’s why your head started to hurt.

You blinked, trying to regulate your breathing at what you had done as you watched him pull his shirt up. Your hand quickly came up to cover your mouth. The immediate impact zone looked horrible; you could practically see the blood pooling under his skin. The wound, although under the skin, was spread out like ripples. The top of it reached up to his collarbone, and the bottom two or three inches above his navel.

“Rex, oh my god.” You took a step towards him. He did not seem to be registering your voice, his hand ghosting over the wound.

He finally looked at you and lowered his tank. “Well, seems like you’ve had enough training to me.” His voice was much more fridged than before. You did not even know you could be doing worse than you were this morning when it came to him.

“Please, just let me heal it, that’s what I am here for right?” You desperately wanted to fix this. Not just because it was unexplainable and was sure to raise more eyebrows about you, but because you wanted to help him. As much of an asshole as he was, you did not want to actually hurt him, he just taught you a lot of valuable things. Hell of a thank you!

“It’s fine Nurse, I’ve got it.” He looked at you with an unclear expression. It felt a lot like disgust.

“It’ll be quick-”

“Just fucking-!”

“I’m so sorry! Please just let me-”

“Just stop!” Rex held his hands out in front of him and backed away, you did not follow this time. Everyone at the hospital whoever refused your help flashed in your mind. It almost made you want to cry, even around other people with powers you were not trusted. It was easy for people to put faith in superheroes when there was nothing they could do about the situation. If they do not see you as a necessity, you’re just a freak. You just did not realize that those of your own kind would see you that way too.

Rex stormed off to the exit of the training area just as Rae was walking in, bumping into her. She exclaimed but he unambiguously gave her a glare and continued out.

“What was all of that about?” Rae glanced over to where Rex had been standing moments ago.

You sighed, rubbing your neck and looking over at her. “I think I’m just going to ask Cecil for a gun or something if I have to fight.”

Author's Note: I might need to slow down soon with releasing chapters, finals are coming up and I don't think my professors will take "I had to write fanfiction" as an excuse for late assignments 💔. But then I will have a lot of time with summer. I want to get this out as fast as possible cause I hate waiting for updates as much as the next person. I hardly plan ahead so were experiencing this at the same time haha

divider credit: @/ saradika

[kittymeowmrow]

Masterlist-

Crawling Back to You Rex Splode x F!Reader Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 (Rex POV)

Still a work in progress; more chapters coming Ao3 Export

Total Word Count so Far: 14,842

My Art Work

Dividers by: @/ saradika

[kittymeowmrow]

Crawling Back to You

Chapter four

Synopsis: Does he hate you? If asked maybe he would say yes. But no one is asking.

Pairing: Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 3.6k

Chapter: 4/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

Note: Kind of filler, its a little hard to maintain enemies to lovers and also make his POV more interesting. I am personally a sucker for when the female character hates the guys guts, and the guy POV is just head over heels, so it might move more in that direction as the story progresses.

“Fuck, another one?” In what felt like either a week, or a century to Rex, there had been three additions to the team. Immortal as leader, Bulletproof as…whatever Bulletproof does, and the surprise addition of Shapesmith quite literally yesterday. Rex angled his head to the side, looking at the newcomer up and down. Cecil pinched the bridge of his nose but continued talking. Something about working with the Guardians but not really being a Guardian- whatever he was saying, Rex did not care. “Sure, why not just add her to the team, apparently it is a free-for-all around here anyways!” He snapped a glance at Shapesmith who just smiled, which made him more irritated.

Cecil continued to talk as he walked away, but he did not care. The Guardians of the Globe was such a highly respected group before the original team was…massacred. Part of him wondered if that was an ending that all of them were headed towards. With how often their asses were kicked it was starting to feel like it. Maybe that was why Cecil kept putting more and more suboptimal members on the team. He was still angry over the addition of Shapesmith. They did not even know who he was and yet he is on the team? Bullshit.

Robot had even been replaced, and he had been with Rex since he was on the Teen Team. As much as Rex was annoyed by the person who stole his DNA, he liked The Immortal much less. Rex grumbled a bit to himself in annoyance over the whole situation, leaving the common area.

Maybe Eve had made the right decision in leaving the Guardians. Rex considered the idea of trying to team up with her for about two seconds before fully remembering why she left the Guardians. His fresh interaction with Duplikate was still on his mind from earlier. He had gone into the gym and turned tail almost immediately when seeing her. Now that he was standing in here alone a few hours later it was all coming back.

Maybe he wasn’t in love with her, but it still stung that she had cheated on him with Immortal. Geriatric fuck. For a moment he started to feel a sliver of guilt for cheating on Eve in the first place, but he quickly pushed that feeling away to focus on the bigger problem. Cecil. Admittedly he did not know exactly what he was going to do about this particular problem, but he was definitely going to give it a good fester.

His eyes trailed over the barbell that he had seen Kate using earlier. “Fuck.” He whispered to himself aloud, rubbing his temple. Maybe he could fester elsewhere. Exiting the gym he considered his options. No doubt, the newbie was still making her rounds in the common area. He could not deny a part of him was curious as to how she handled the other members. His first interaction with Monster Girl flashed in his mind. God he was good at bad first impressions. But of course, none of this was truly his fault, after all, some people are just born dicks. He could not help it. And look how it turned out now, he and Amanda were…friends? Fuck did he consider any of these people friends? Glorified coworkers? He started to grumble to himself at this realization. There was mutual respect with Rudy up to a certain point, but he also stole Rex’s DNA so that’ll cause a hell of a drift.

He reentered the common area still lost in thought; you were talking to Shapesmith. Leaning against the wall by the door he took in where everyone was, but his eyes quickly returned to you after hearing Shapesmith exclaim something. You immediately went ridged and glanced around, your eyes landing on him for just a split second. After an awkward smile, you turned back to Shapesmith. Figures. Of course, she’s all buddy-buddy with the newest addition. She basically was Shapesmith. Rex let out a huff, his attention landing on the group that contained Rae, Immortal, Kate and, Black Samson.

Kate and Immortal were standing side by side, just a fraction too close while discussing something with the other two people in their group. Disgusting. For a moment he considered talking to Cecil about discouraging romantic relationships on the team, but somehow he knew Cecil did not care.

Bulletproof walked through the door Rex was leaning next to, catching his attention.

“Hey-”

Bulletproof stopped and turned, already seeming not very enthused at the fresh opportunity to have one-on-one time talking to Rex. “What?”

“Can you believe this shit?” Rex was not sure if he was talking about the new arrival or about Kate and Immortal, or if Bulletproof even knew about Kate and Immortal. Why would he? He just joined. Ugh, Rex was suddenly reminded that Bulletproof was for all, intents and purposes, barely less of a newbie than that person talking to Shapesmith.

Bulletproof didn’t say anything, looking over at the scene in front of them for a few moments before looking at Rex again. “I don’t know man, I don’t really see the big deal.”

“Seriously? This is a complete fucking joke! Shapesmith? We don’t even know who he is! And now some new Cecil hire? When I first joined, I had to go through trials and prove myself worth of this.” Rex ran a hand down his face at the memory of Moster Girl just about beating him to a pulp. “What can she even do?”

“Why don’t you just ask her instead of standing over here and staring like a creep?”

“I don’t look like a creep-!”

“And I am not sure that I am the right person for you to try rallying with. Because I am also a ‘Cecil hire’ as you say. Or did you forget?” Oh right. “I just want some coffee; you got any other insults you want to throw my way first though? I’d hate to leave before you’ve finished.” Bulletproof said, taking a few steps away from Rex.

“No, I think that’s all I got for now, don’t linger on my behalf.” Rex deadpanned, folding his arms as Bulletproof walked away. He wanted to make a joke about finishing but none of them seemed to enter his mind fast enough. All this change was throwing him off his rhythm in the ways of sarcasm.

Bulletproof walked up to them, and they conversed for a few moments before Bulletproof continued walking in another direction without getting any coffee. Damn, fifteen seconds talking to the girl and he was already turning away without what he went to get. A small sliver of satisfaction filled Rex at the thought that he was justified in his dislike for the person. That sliver quickly vanished though as he watched her say a few words to Shapesmith and then follow Bulletproof. He turned around and now they were talking- Okay why do I care? Rex turned his head back to the group with Immortal and Duplikate and groaned. Why couldn’t there be some emergency right now? Villians only seemed to try leveling cities when he was sitting down to relax or go to bed. He was sure Cecil would call them to action the moment he decided to just go sit in his room. No choice but to stay.

Rex pushed himself off the wall with a sigh, walking over to Shapesmith. As he got closer, he fully took in the scene. The coffee pot was hanging off the counter and there was a sizable mess on the floor. “What happened here?”

Shapesmith turned to look at him with a smile, “I believe it is what they call brewing, it’ll be ready momentarily, have no fear.”

“Where the fuck are you from?”

__

Rex ended up cleaning up the mess. Not without complaint, but after watching Shapesmith try to pick up shards of glass with his bare hands he figured this was about to be a safety hazard. And he did not want to deal with getting someone to come and take care of his new teammate. Cleaning up a mess of glass and water is much more complicated than it would seem, and there was a second where Rex genuinely considered just igniting the pieces and seeing if they would simply disappear in a chain explosion. But he also already got told off for blowing up garbage in the base. So, the traditional method would have to do.

It reminded him of the blood streak that used to provide such an eyesore in the early days of being in the Guardians. A reminder of those who had died in the very place he was standing. These new additions did not earn the right to get rid of that in the same way the rest of them had. It was a simple thought that slowly started to eat away at Rex. The Guardians of the Globe had been through so much, Bulletproof, Shapesmith, the new girl, they knew nothing about the trials they had gone through. Immortal, unfortunately, had to be excluded from this, since he was killed with the other previous Guardians. Rex still did not like him though. Does someone who technically died with the others still get the same amount of respect if they did not stay dead?

After dropping the broom and trash off in the kitchen Rex headed a little further down the hallway. The sound of Rudy and Amanda talking lured him in as he heard the familiar sound of small talk.

“Killdeer?” Must be her alias.

“A type of bird, correct?”

“Yes. The bird.”

“They are known for pretending to be injured to draw away predators. So they are notable for being unassuming, is that what you are?” Rex started to think about his earlier annoyance at her not having earned her spot. Fester. Rot.

“Notable? Well, I hope so-”

“Unassuming.” Unassuming? She did not deserve to be a Guardian, but was Rudy really implying what Rex thought he was? He entered the room and immediately interjected himself into the situation. Fester.

“Birds don’t have superpowers.” Real clever. He almost wanted to roll his eyes at the non-statement.

“Your point being, Rex?” Taking a few moments to come up to the group, Rex took Killdeer in. Her height and stature, she was remarkably ordinary almost. And was wearing civilian clothes rather than a suit. It really was like just anyone walked in off the street.

“My point is just that it’s a stupid name.” He crossed his arms and looked at her more closely. She did not return the scolding glare but instead glanced over at Robot a few times. Did she think he was going to help her? Irritation started to form at the fact she seemed determined not to speak for herself.

“Seriously? What do you want man?” Amanda said.

“What do you even fuckin’ do anyways?” He muttered with disdain, it had better be good if she was being granted membership without being screened by the other members. His gaze did not leave her.

“I, uh, heal.”

Oh, that is rich. A glorified nurse. Just what the team needed. No telepathy, or the ability to create illusions, you know useful things. She was here to do what most of the people’s bodies here do already at an accelerated rate. Unless she is able to regrow other’s teeth, Rex was still a little jealous that Mark could do that.

“Oh, you ‘uh heal’. I am glad we got that covered! I mean come on! Don’t you guys see how ridiculous this is? I feel like I am going crazy! What is Cecil thinking?” Rex returned his gaze to you and was met immediately by a very unimpressed look. Not even the flat anger that he is used to, just instantaneous disinterest. Harsh. But Rex decided to double down, the festering getting to him. “We already have all kinds of high-tech what’s-its here that we can get treated with after battles. I should know, I have had to be put together plenty of times after fights.” He looked at the other two who were listening in, and the look on Amanda’s face told him he was not making the good argument he thought he was. “We do not need Nurse Joy over here.” He said this to Rudy and Amanda, trying to reiterate his initial point. “You are pointless.” He said this directly to you. His brow furrowed tightly.

You proceed to tell him how your powers save the GDA in funding, but it still does not seem like a good reason. Cecil never seemed concerned about funding before, and he had not gotten on them directly about cutting costs. Or maybe he had, and Rex had not been paying attention. Maybe this makes more sense than he would like to admit. She finishes by clarifying that she is not able to regrow limbs and how she accelerates the healing process- whatever.

“You hear that, Rex? No regrowing limbs, I am guessing that means she can’t change your micro either.” Rex cocked his head slightly at Amanda, getting major déjà vu from their first meeting.

Running out of good reasons to dislike her addition, he started to throw out the basest complaint there is when it comes to government-run operations. Wasting tax dollars.

“You pay taxes?” The joke does not fit the tone of the current conversation. Rex cannot help but purse his lips together and look at Rudy as he begins to speak. If anyone else had said that he probably would have exhaled a short laugh. But it was not anyone else, and she did not get to get out of this by simply making a joke.

Rudy reiterated basically what she had already said. Rex gave him an incredulous look and Rudy gave a halfhearted shrug. Guess there was not much left to be said. Rex did not have another good argument to come up with, but he still was not convinced of her necessity to the team. “Well, I do not like it.”

After a brief few moments of silence, she glanced to the side, looking like she was listening to something. She probably had an earpiece in. And like clockwork, she began to say her goodbyes.

She addressed Rudy and Amanda and then turned to the last person who was standing in the group. “Rex.” She said with a kind smile. For a moment Rex almost felt bad, he had been giving her a ridiculously hard time all morning. She had pretty eyes. He noticed rather begrudgingly how they crinkled slightly with the smile. Rex could feel his face scrunch slightly in concentration, he was not entirely sure why but at this very moment he felt the need to study her face. Commit it to memory. Maybe if he knew her face well, he could avoid it more quickly after seeing it. Right? Logically his brain should register her in a crowd quicker the better he knows the curve of her lips. Definitely an important detail.

And with that, she walked away. Leaving Rudy, Amanda, and Rex standing around like idiots. Before Rex could come up with something to fill the silence, maybe another grumble about not liking the situation, Rudy spoke.

“This is odd.” Rex’s gaze snapped onto Rudy.

“Why do you think?” Amanda asked.

“It just is very sudden. Like Rex said.” Ha, it was a good point to make, he knew it. “And she’s not particularly… extraordinary. Her explanation makes sense, but with Cecil is never that simple. Or at least it never has been.” He trailed off a bit and put a hand up to his chin. “Just a healer…”

“Do you think Cecil has ulterior motives?” Amanda asked, tilting her head. “She seemed kind of, well, nice. To be honest. If he does do you think she knows?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Well glad we figured that one out,” Rex interjected starting to feel frustrated.

“I will have to learn more about her. We just do not know enough right now.”

“So what? We watch her?” Rex questioned.

“We watch her.” Rudy repeated.

__

Several days passed with hardly any mention of the newest addition. A few minor altercations with some lower-league villains occurred, but no one experienced any injuries, so she was not called in. Rex also learned that she technically was not part of the Guardians, but was contracted, kind of like Mark. It put him mildly at ease, for more reasons than the fact that he did not think she deserved to be there. It was also starting to feel just a little crowded on base. Between avoiding Immortal and Kate and dealing with the awkward silences when Shapesmith was around, it was almost too much to bear.

Originally planning on showering, Rex now found himself entering the common room where he saw Rae. When he had entered the shower-room he heard all too familiar giggles coming from the closest stall and immediately turned tail.

Rae was tiredly rubbing her neck will discussing something with Amanda. Her gaze landing on Rex as he got closer, she then hurriedly beckoned him over.

“Rex, we’re thinking about drinking tonight, some of the team has already said they aren’t interested, but you think you’ll come?”

Drinks sounded amazing. Nothing like the embrace of alcohol to take your mind off every individual problem of the Guardians. But if everyone was invited, then the likelihood was, that so was Kate. And he was not in the mood to deal with her. “Uh, no I don’t think so.”

“What? I have never seen you refuse drinks before.” Amanda jeered, arching one of her brows.

“Come on it’s just going to be a simple relaxing evening, Rex.” Rae pulled the headpiece of her suit back, smoothing out her hair. “You deserve it, I deserve it, the whole team deserves it.” She returned her gaze to Rex and sighed after a moment. “Kate won’t be there.” Rae rolled her eyes.

“Well, who said that’s why I didn’t want to come?” Rex frowned.

“Just come for drinks Rex. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Fine, but it had better be something strong.” Rex spoke with an edge of reluctance to his tone.

__

“Are you shitting me?” Shit, he had been so concerned with the potential presence of Kate he forgot about you. You tensed as he entered the room and looked back at him, eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Hey Rex.” Rae squints at him and gives him a ‘shut up’ look, before mouthing ‘sorry’ at Killdeer.

Did Rae do this intentionally? God leave it to her to try and bridge gaps in the team. This does not even have anything to do with her. He repeated her words from earlier back to her, parroting her tone. “What is this bullshit, Rae?”

Rae gave him a guilty shrug and opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by the cool tone of Rudy’s voice. He was asking you more about your abilities, Rex could recognize what he was doing a mile away. He was not just interested in you, he was checking off boxes, collecting more information. Rudy was probably analyzing everything you said, debating whether you was lying or not. This was something Rex wanted to know more about, his attention left Rae and turned to the newly blossoming conversation.

“-would your stab wound begin to heal as soon as the sharp object was removed?”

“You trying to plan ahead?” Deflecting, not a great sign as far as innocence goes.

“I think? I have not really had to try. But if I have ever cut myself while cooking or anything like that, it’s healed basically before my eyes. But couldn’t you just learn that from my file?”

Rudy and Rex’s gaze immediately met; this was the first bit of incriminating evidence that they physically had. More than hunches.

“What?” She said, looking around at the other teammates.

“We don’t have access to each other files-”

__

An awkward confrontation followed but eventually was somewhat explained away. Something they would revisit later. Towards the end of the evening, Rex was starting to actually enjoy himself somewhat. Rae had returned to the Cecil and Donald debate, which Rudy refused to participate in it. He just gave them all incredulous looks and continued to cut in occasionally, to ask Killdeer questions. Shapesmith eventually returned too, but in Rex’s opinion, he did not add anything of consequence to the conversation and was easily ignored.

The more drinks he had the more he felt his gaze rest on the newcomer. He still felt that earlier determination to memorize her face, assuredly just to avoid her. The first few times she caught him he quickly looked away, but eventually, he just stared. If he had drank a little less maybe he would feel how awkward this was, but he could not quite rip his eyes away.

A small thought popped into his mind. A quiet one, hardly audible. She was pretty. She did not just have pretty eyes or a pleasing curve of the lip. But she was actually pretty.

Now he looked away. His gaze landed on the table in front of them. Somehow this had to be related to Rudy’s suspicions. Maybe her powers encompassed drawing people in. Making them comfortable. If Rex thought about it long enough it made sense. She was still a worthless addition, even if she just so happened to be easy to look at for…twenty minutes straight? Was that really the time?

Rex was drawn out of his thoughts at the sound of her saying goodbye. By the time he looked up he hardly caught a glance before she was gone. He turned to see Rae giving him a knowing look, which he immediately scoffed at. But his gaze quickly returned to the door.

Side effects of her powers or not, this was not ideal.

Author's Note: I started to get writer's block pretty hard midchapter. So I worked on Chapter 5 when I did not know what to do in this chapter. So chapter five is about a third done, and there's a nice amount of forced proximity hehe

Divider credit: @/ saradika

[kittymeowmrow]

Shrinking Rae Doodles + headcanons? buff rae will be reality

[kittymeowmrow]

Need more Kate x Rae content they’re so doomed yuri

[kittymeowmrow]

[kittymeowmrow]

Morning warmup!

[kittymeowmrow]

Redraw of this because i realized i made Waller too skinny in the first drawing,im very sorry

[kittymeowmrow]

rex sloan - rex splode

masterlist • invincible • 04/04/24

˚‧⁺ ･ ˖ · ୨ৎ recs

𑣲 i know you I @fruitheart

𑣲 jealous!rex I @midnightshindig

𑣲 nonsense I @couldeatthatgirlforlunch

While on the brink of death, you confess your greatest burden to Rex. He always had a crush on you, so he decides that at his final moments, he should grant both of your last wishes… Until Invincible saves you. You go on with your life, but Rex can't seem to forget what you did under that rock.

𑣲 full of shit I @sobbingscripter

𑣲 who’s your daddy I @/sobbingscripter

𑣲 rex sloan dating hcs I @angelltheninth

𑣲 utterly yours I @sqgeism

𑣲 easy going down I @grimmsbride

rex was trying to be better, to a new and improved man and superhero. slowly growing himself, the man turns to you in hopes of learning one, very important thing; how to get better at oral sex..

[kittymeowmrow]

Yearner Jason is so real to me!!!!

[kittymeowmrow]

Love language Jason

You’re welcome to use it as a wallpaper.

Love u bye!!💋

[kittymeowmrow]

of course the recruitment team is them ♡ Zatanna: Bring Down The House #5 by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez

[kittymeowmrow]

Caught it