#project genesis whump series

[bamber344]

people really need to learn how to not read stuff they don't like instead of going into it and then insulting the author and leaving a shit review because the whump story that was explicitly stated to be whumpy in the desc had whump in it

(got a half-star review for project genesis on royal road that tanked my stats 😢)

[anoyedartist]

I was feeling inspired today and drew a fan art of Jordyn from the series Project Genesis by @bamber344. I hope I did ok; armour is quite hard to shade. :)

[bamber344]

Subject G-5: 'Magpie'

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masterlist

heyo! this chapter is a fucking MONSTER. biggest one yet. but that's what i get for trying to condense a character's entire backstory into one chapter lol. I'm sure you can guess who's backstory it is ;P

Enjoy!

CWs: living weapon whump, minor whump, whipping, electrocution, stress positions, non-con body modification, lab whump, starvation, controlling whumper, vomit, various other bodily fluids

Subject G-5: 'Magpie'

Maggie sighed, sinking further against the cushions as Diego’s hand massaged preen oil through the feathers on her back and wings, straightening them out and cleaning any debris out of them. After having to suffer through trying to do it herself with her limited human flexibility for the first nine months of her life, having someone else to help her with preening was something she would truly never take for granted. It wasn’t just her wings she had to worry about; the feathers trailed all the way down her spine, coalescing in a small, useless tail at her coccyx. Basically, it was a whole lot of work. At least she was blessed with a preen gland, producing her own preen oil and saving her the struggle of having to find another way to maintain her feathers’ quality, despite the fact that other people tended to find it…offputting. 

Well, Andreas was an asshole anyway, so what did she care about his opinion? Diego didn’t mind, and Hex never knew anything different. They were the only ones that mattered.

Maggie heard the door to Hex’s room open, and she plodded over to them, taking a seat on the couch near Maggie’s feet.

“Hey Diego?” she asked. “Can we get McDonalds for dinner?”

“That depends,” he hummed. The sound instinctively made Maggie relax. “Have you finished your studies for this week yet?”

Despite the fact that she was out of Maggie’s line of sight, she could almost feel Hex’s pout. “Maggie didn’t finish hers last week, but you still bought her chinese food when she asked!”

“Hey, I’ve been busy working at the construction site, making money so we can eat! I don’t always have time to read books,” Maggie complained. “Also, Diego loves me.”

“Actually, last week you skipped out on studying to try and go after Jordyn again, and she kicked your butt so bad she broke three of your ribs.”

“‘Scuse you! I kicked her butt! You weren’t there, you didn’t see!”

“I’ve gotta give that one to Hex, babe,” Diego said. “I did tell you not to go.”

“Whatever. Either way, I sorted it. She won’t be coming after us.”

“Anyway, that’s besides the point,” Hex said. “The point being: is McDonalds on the table tonight?”

“...Actually, I could go for some McDonalds right now, too,” Maggie muttered.

Diego laughed. “Fine. But that’s the last time I’m ordering takeout for the rest of the month!”

Hex protested, and Maggie smiled as the conversation between her sister and her boyfriend continued on above her. A comforting warmth settled in her belly; pride and happiness in herself for succeeding in giving her little sister at least some semblance of a normal childhood. It wasn’t perfect by any means – it couldn’t be, what with the memories of the things they suffered in the facility still plaguing them every day – but like this, Hex at least got a chance. She got to bicker with her sister without getting beaten for it, got to skip out on her studies to play video games like a normal kid. Granted, Maggie herself was still learning just what ‘normal’ was. Despite the difference between their physical ages, she was only four months older than Hex, technically speaking. Having Diego around was certainly helpful, though. Without his help, the two of them would probably still be the naive, bumbling idiots they’d been the day they broke out of the facility.

Maggie closed her eyes, relaxing into the couch and reminiscing on how she got to where she was today.

—

5 MONTHS AFTER WAKING

Magpie sat on the end of her bed, shivering. She didn’t know why. She wasn’t cold, not with her wings wrapped around herself protectively like they were. There was nothing to be scared of in the immediate vicinity. And yet, this horrible, pervasive anxiety just wouldn’t leave her alone.

It had been there since this afternoon, when Father screamed at and hit her for flying over the obstacle course instead of running through it. She didn’t understand why it mattered if she could run well when she had a perfectly good pair of wings on her back to help her fly. It was stupid. Father was stupid. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but something just wasn’t right about this whole situation.

As far back as she could remember, Father had been there, helping her recover after waking up from her supposed ‘accident.’ He was trying to help her become a superhero again, or so he said. Magpie just wasn’t sure that she believed it. If he was trying to help her, why would he turn around and hurt her in the same breath? Why did he want so much control over her, to the point where he refused to let her leave the facility, no matter how much she begged? It just didn’t sit right.

Really though, what was she supposed to do? Her memories were completely gone. She had no knowledge of who she used to be, or how the world worked. She had no choice but to just stick with Father until she learned more. Then, she would make a decision on whether or not to trust him.

She occupied herself by running her fingers through the feathers of her wings, straightening them out. Their softness was reassuring, but it did little to settle the quiver of unease that had sunken all the way down into her bones. 

The door opened, and Father walked in. Magpie instinctively hopped off of her bed, ready to defend herself. 

He studied her, eyeing her up and down, before sighing. “Come in, Hex.”

Someone entered the room behind him. Magpie gasped.

The girl was a lot younger than her, shyly hiding behind Father’s leg. Her short-cropped hair was black, just like Magpie’s, and she shared her tan skin. In fact, the girl was practically identical to her aside from her age and the lack of wings on her back. Who the hell was she?!

Father turned to the young girl. “This is the older sister I was telling you about. Her name is Magpie. You’re going to be staying with her from now on, okay?”

“What is this? What’s going on?” Magpie asked.

Father sighed again. “I’m truly sorry, I should have told you this earlier. Hex here is your younger sister. She was injured in the same accident as you, and only woke up a month ago. Since then, she’s been going through the same rehabilitation program that you did, and is finally well enough to join you properly.”

Magpie had absolutely no memory of a younger sister, but… what else could this girl possibly be? She looked exactly like her. It wasn’t like she had memories of anything else either, to be fair, and from the look on her face, Hex was thinking a similar line of thought.

Father placed a hand on Hex’s back and pushed her further into the room. A spark of protectiveness instinctively rose in Magpie’s chest.

“Get to know each other. Another bed will be brought in shortly.”

With that, Father left. Magpie and Hex stared at each other.

“I didn’t know I had a big sister,” Hex said. Her eyes kept flickering to Magpie’s wings. Magpie smirked.

“Well, I didn’t know I had a little sister, either.” She sat back down on the bed, motioning for Hex to join her. “You don’t remember anything either, huh?”

Hex shook her head, tentatively climbing up next to Magpie. 

“Even if I have no memories of you, it’s nice to finally not be alone. No one else… gets how hard it is, not knowing anything. Y’know?”

Hex hummed in agreement, but she seemed a bit distracted. “Can I… Um… Can I touch your wings?”

Magpie chuckled. “Sure. But be gentle.”

Hex reached out, carefully running her fingers along the feathers. Magpie tried not to shiver. The touch was gentler than anything she’d ever felt from another person before, and honestly, it was starting to get her a little choked up, especially with the cute little smile on Hex’s face as she did it.

There was something on the back of her neck. Magpie frowned.

“Hey, let me see the back of your neck?”

“Hm? Okay.”

Hex shifted a little to allow access. Sure enough, there it was. Starting just below her hairline, there were a bunch of lines making up a weird rectangle, and below that, there was writing.

G-6: ‘HEX’

PROPERTY OF PRECINCT 23

That same old dread settled into Magpie’s gut. Something just wasn’t right. Hex seemed oblivious to it, but somehow Magpie knew. Was she even really her little sister? Or was this just another lie from their ‘Father’?

There was one thing she was certain of, though. Little sister or not, Magpie had to protect her. They were in this situation together, and she wouldn’t let that old man hurt her like he had hurt Magpie. She swore it.

—

9 MONTHS AFTER WAKING

Magpie rolled her shoulders as she walked down the corridor, having finished her combat training for the day. Anxiety broiled in her gut for her upcoming exam tomorrow. It wasn’t that she was scared she would fail – there wasn’t even a chance of that. It was more a general excitement at the prospect of finally being allowed to go outside.

The past few months had been difficult, full of harsh training and harsher punishments, but as soon as Father gave her free access to the outside world, Magpie was gonna grab Hex and make a run for it. Their freedom from this underground hellhole was so close, she could almost taste it.

The thought of Hex made her sigh. The girl was struggling under Father’s ‘tutelage.’ She didn’t have the same distrust of him that Magpie did. She hung on his every word, followed every order to the letter, and the slightest hint of a smile from him was enough to have her practically melting. And yet, her young body just couldn’t live up to the demands being placed on her. He was being a lot gentler with her than he had been with Magpie, but she didn’t doubt it wouldn’t be long until his limited patience ran out.

Honestly, what was he expecting? Magpie was a full-grown woman of 25, but Hex was barely even a teenager! Of course she couldn’t complete all of these crazy, dangerous obstacle courses. If not for her telekinesis power allowing her to block the knives and poles being swung at her, she’d probably already be dead! Magpie herself had had way too many close calls on that course for comfort, and she could literally fly over it if she wanted.

The thought angered her, but she buried it down. Just one more day. One more day, and they could get out of here for good. 

Speaking of Hex’s training, Magpie was pretty sure it was still going on for today. She figured she might as well go and see how her little sister was going before heading back to their room.

A shrill scream and a loud crack echoed through the hallways. Magpie’s heart leapt into her throat. She started running.

He wouldn’t. Surely he wouldn’t. He’d threatened Magpie with it a few times, and only backed down on account of not wanting to damage her wings. Hex didn’t have that protection. But, still. He wouldn’t do that to her, right?

The cracking and shrieking continued, and it became clearer and clearer that, apparently, he would. Magpie was going to kill him.

The sight she saw through the window when she got to Hex’s training course didn’t betray her expectations. 

Hex, shirtless and on her knees. Father standing behind her, whip in hand. A dozen red, bleeding lines criss-crossing Hex’s back as her entire body quaked.

A rage the likes of which she’d never felt before burned in Magpie’s gut. She rushed over to the door, dismayed to find that it was locked.

Fine. It wouldn’t stop her.

She threw her fist against the metal, denting it. A grim satisfaction settled inside of her. Nothing could protect Father from her wrath now.

She punched the edge of the door over and over again, until there was enough space for her to get her fingers in between it and the frame. Ensuring that her grip was sound, she heaved, contracting every fibre of muscle in her arms and literally ripping the sliding metal door out of the wall. Inside, Hex was curled up on the floor, and Father was staring at Magpie like she was the consequences of his actions made manifest. He was scared.

Good.

With a flap of her wings, Magpie was flying towards him, ready to rip him apart. 

Her fist sunk into his side with the force of a wrecking ball, and she felt his ribs crack under her knuckles. The hit sent him flying, slamming into the far wall like a sack of bricks.

Magpie landed on her feet, planting herself between Father and Hex. He wouldn’t hurt them anymore.

Father coughed and gasped, spitting up blood as he tried and failed to get to his feet. “Wh… what… Wh-what’s the meaning of this?! How dare you raise a hand against me!”

“You stay away from us!” Magpie yelled. “Come near Hex again, and I’ll kill you!”

Father finally managed to drag himself up, clutching his side. He scowled. “You’ve always been a precocious one, Five. I see I’ve been far too gentle with you. It’s fine, you’ll learn obedience in time. Here’s your first lesson!”

He threw his hand up and Magpie screamed, suddenly overcome with an impossible pain coursing throughout her entire body, pinpointed in the back of her neck. She collapsed as her knees gave out, writhing on the ground in unknowable agony. Darkness flashed across her vision. She heaved, her body curling in on itself and forcing her lunch back out of her mouth. This was it. She was going to die. Her body couldn’t take it. Hex was going to be all alone with that monster, and there was nothing she could do.

With that one last thought, everything went black and Magpie died.

—

TWO DAYS LATER

If only she’d actually died back then. It would have been a mercy. If she’d died, she wouldn’t be stuck on her knees, with her arms wrenched and twisted behind her back, chained to the wall tight enough that she couldn’t move at all without searing pain. If she’d died, she wouldn’t have been stuck in this exact position for an unknowable amount of time, muscles burning constantly, stomach aching with hunger, thirst quenched by only the most meagre amount of water that would keep her alive, soiling herself over and over with no way to stop it. Passing out was her only consolation, but even then, she never stayed asleep for long. It was stupid of her to think she’d had it bad before. This was true hell.

Magpie closed her eyes, trying not to cry. She couldn’t afford to waste hydration like that. Her only hope was that Hex had been spared. She would put up with this forever if it meant that her little sister was safe.

The door opened, bright light spilling out from the hallway and blinding Magpie after so many hours in the dark. It was probably Father, come to torment her again. She braced herself for another verbal lashing or boot to the jaw.

“Maggie?”

If Magpie had the energy to, she would have gasped.

“H… H-Hex…? Is… Is that… you?” she rasped out.

The figure haloed in light stepped closer. Sure enough, it was Hex, her little sister, looking down at her in horror.

“Oh god, Maggie. Did… Did Father do this to you?”

“What are you doing here?” Magpie croaked, ignoring the question. “If Father finds you, he’ll hurt you again.”

“He’s not here right now. He and a bunch of the scientists left. I’m gonna save you, okay?”

The thought made a lump rise in Magpie’s throat. Her bottom lip quivered. “H- Hex…”

The young girl wasted no more time, rushing to the shackles binding Magpie’s arms and legs. They came undone all at once and she collapsed to the floor, relief flooding her tattered muscles. Magpie couldn’t help it; she started sobbing.

“It’s okay now, Maggie,” Hex said, kneeling at her side and gently massaging the base of her wings. “It’s all gonna be okay. We’re gonna get out of here tonight, just like you talked about.”

“I’m sorry… I c-couldn’t protect you… I’m so sorry, Hex.”

Hex’s voice cracked. “It- it’s alright. It’s not your fault, Maggie.”

Magpie let out a sigh, her body deflating. “I like it when you call me that. B-better than Magpie.”

“Then that’s what I’ll call you from now on, okay?”

Maggie nodded. She sniffled, summing up the energy to speak. “How much time do we have?”

“A little. The hallways are pretty empty right now, so I should be able to get us back to our room without any trouble. We’ll have a bit of time to prepare, but then we have to move. Do… Do you think you’ll be okay? Will you be able to fight?”

“I will be,” Maggie said. “No matter what, I will be. I’ll always fight for you, Hex.”

“Not alone, you won’t. I’ll fight, too. Like you said, we’re in this together. To the end.”

“To the end.”

—

Maggie laid in bed, enjoying her last few moments of rest before everything went down. Hex ended up carrying her down the hallway with telekinesis, and thankfully they didn’t run into anyone on the way. She’d had a shower – or, more accurately, Hex had showered her – gotten a change of clothes, and was now ready to fight for their freedom.

Okay, maybe ‘fight’ was a bit of an exaggeration for her current state. Shakily hobble toward their freedom, more like.

As much as she didn’t want to move at all for the next month, the promise of the outside world was invigorating, and it gave her the strength to sit up.

“Feeling okay to go?” Hex asked.

Maggie sucked in a breath to steel herself and nodded. “I don’t know if I can walk too fast on my own, but together, we should be able to make it.”

Hex nodded. “Let’s do this.”

Maggie dragged herself off of the bed and pretty much flopped over Hex, who wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her as they walked out of their room and into the halls. The pain in her shaking limbs was almost overwhelming, but with Hex’s support, she could manage. She had to.

Maybe it was the fact that it was the middle of the night, or maybe it was because of what Hex said earlier, but the corridors were practically deserted, and they met no resistance as they slowly hobbled their way to the ‘elevator’ that Father was always leaving from. Now, Maggie didn’t really know what an elevator was, but she was sure gonna try and figure it out.

“Um… what do we do now?” Hex asked once they’d stepped inside the small room.

Maggie stared at the row of buttons on the wall.

“Uh, I dunno.”

Hex shrugged and pressed the bottom one, seemingly at random. Well, it was as good a plan as they could possibly have, given the circumstances.

The doors closed, and both of them yelped as the floor started moving. Okay. This was fine. Father travelled on this every day, so Maggie wasn’t gonna let it get the best of her.

After a few seconds, the doors opened again, and the world outside had changed. Instead of bright corridors, the room on the other side was dim, lit up only by dozens of… windows? That wasn't exactly what they looked like, but it was the closest approximation Maggie could guess, considering that she could see different parts of the facility through them. There was a chair in front of the windows, with someone sitting in it. Thankfully, it looked like they were asleep.

Was this the right way? It was worth a look around, at least.

Focusing all of their stealth training, Magpie and Hex tiptoed out of the elevator, sneaking towards the door on the opposite wall. Thankfully, whoever was posted up in the chair was out cold, so they were able to reach the door and get through without the person noticing anything awry.

The room on the other side was… weird. It was just as dimly lit as the previous room, only this time the light source was the large green cylinder next to the door. The walls were lined with other cylinders, but these ones were all made of metal, whereas the glowing green one seemed to be made of glass. Inside the cylinder was a small… something. Honestly, Maggie couldn't really tell what it was. It was tiny, and vaguely person shaped, but that was where her deductions ended.

A forgotten memory suddenly flashed through her mind. She remembered this green stuff. She remembered being submerged in it, floating in the warmth.

The realisation washed over her like ice water. This was it, wasn't it? This was where she came from. There was no ‘before’ the facility. This room was where she and Hex were… created.

Her heart lurched in her chest. They… they were never actually born, just… grown in a tube. No wonder Hex looked exactly like her. Screw ‘sister,’ they were probably the same damn person. And from the looks of things, the tiny speck floating in the green was probably the next little sister to come. What the hell did Father want with them that he would go as far as to create people?!

“There was never an accident, was there?” Hex asked. “This was where we came from.”

Maggie sighed, trying not to let the idea overwhelm her. “Looks like it.”

“B-but… what does that mean for us?”

She scowled. “It means nothing. It doesn't matter where we came from, because we're here now. We exist, we're people, and we're not gonna let Father push us around anymore just because he created us.”

Hex took a shallow breath and nodded. It looked like she was about to cry, but she held it back. “Right.”

Maggie wanted to hug her, but she wasn’t sure she had the strength. Instead, she looked at the little rectangle next to the cylinder. There was writing on it.

SUBJECT G-7: ‘JORDYN’

STATUS: NORMAL

She sighed. “Good luck, Jordyn. You're gonna need it.”

“I think we went the wrong way,” Hex said. “We shouldn't stay here.”

“Agreed. Let's go.”

They turned and exited back the way they came, into the room with all the windows and the sleeping person. They were going to just cross through back into the elevator when something on one of the windows caught Maggie's eye. She stopped walking.

“What is it?” Hex whispered.

“That window has writing on it. It says our numbers.”

“So?”

“Any information could be helpful, Hex. We know literally nothing about the outside world, or honestly, ourselves. It's worth it.”

“What if the guy wakes up?”

“I'll take him out.”

Hex bit her lip, hesitating, but ultimately, she nodded. “Okay.”

The two of them silently crept over to the wall of windows, focusing on the one at the bottom. The person in the chair – who they could see now was a man – didn’t react. Sure enough, the window displayed both of the numbers Maggie and Hex had on the back of their necks. They started to read.

Subject G-5

Power already manifesting in early development stage. Subject has a pair of wings growing from her back. Whether or not they will actually allow for flight remains to be seen. Named ‘Magpie.’

(I will not allow a subject with a purely cosmetic power to waste my time. Is there any way to ensure that her wings will work? - Andreas)

(With a little bit of genetic engineering, we can give her super-dense muscles for some added strength. It’s not a guarantee, but it should help! - George)

(Do it. - Andreas)

Maggie rubbed her bicep absent-mindedly. She thought she was this strong from her own merit, but it was just Father – or ‘Andreas,’ if she had to guess which one was him – tampering with her even more. The idea made her feel sick. She kept reading.

Post-birth, everything is falling into expected parameters. Habilitation to continue.

Subject has a particularly rebellious personality, and is not very receptive to orders or Andreas’ explanation of why she is missing her memories. Programming may have failed to set in properly for whatever reason. Continuing to study.

Subject appears to have become quite attached to G-6 post introduction, and vice versa. Whether or not this is a good or bad thing for the program remains to be seen.

Subject excelling at locomotive and combat training. Subject’s aggressive personality, while difficult to control at times, is proving very effective in battle. Expected to pass exam with ease.

Subject interrupted one of G-6’s punishments, assaulting Andreas and threatening him. Her protectiveness of G-6 has proven to be a liability. No solution to this has been found as of yet. Correction chip was effective in subduing subject. Punishment to be carried out.

‘Correction chip?’ That was what knocked her out back then? Maggie shuddered. Just how much had Andreas tinkered with her and Hex’s bodies?

That was where her entry ended, and Hex’s entry began. She continued on.

Subject G-6

Subject was pulled out of formation tank early due to unexpected complications that would have otherwise resulted in her death. As a result, her body and brain were not fully formed, leaving her in a child-like state. Estimated physical age to be around 12 years old. Termination was considered, but subject displayed a strong telekinetic power that could effectively make up for her underdeveloped body. Named ‘Hex.’ Proceeding with habilitation.

(Well, this throws a wrench into things. How are we going to explain this to G-5? - George)

(Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. - Andreas)

Upon introduction, subject bonded with G-5. Cohabitation seems as though it will be successful. Continuing habilitation and beginning locomotive training soon.

Subject is struggling with locomotive training due to development issues, but seems determined to continue. Programming seems to have settled in well.

Locomotive performance has plateaued at an unsatisfying result. Punishments to ensue if the subject shows no more progress.

That was the end of Hex’s notes. The last one made Maggie want to punch the window, but she held herself back. What kind of a monster would resort to… to doing what Maggie had witnessed, just because a child wasn’t doing good enough?!

“Maggie, your wings!” Hex whisper-yelled.

“Ngh?”

It was too late. In Maggie’s anger, she’d failed to notice that her wings had puffed up, getting ready to extend so she could fly. In doing so, they’d bumped into the guy in the chair and woke him up. The two stared at each other.

He started scrambling. “H-Hey! What-”

Hex’s eyes widened, and the man was suddenly flung across the room, slamming into the far wall hard enough for Maggie to hear an audible crack. For a second, she thought he might have died, but he was still squirming around. She could use this.

Maggie let go of Hex and limped over to the man, gingerly kneeling down and grabbing him by the lapels. 

“Wh-what…? M… Magpie?”

“How do we get out of here?” she demanded. “Tell me, or I’m gonna start breaking things.”

“I… I don’t… what?”

From the look of it, he probably had a pretty bad concussion. Maggie sighed and tried again, speaking slower.

“How. Do. We. Get. Out. Of. Here?”

It finally seemed to click for the guy. About a hundred different emotions flickered across his face; most of them some variation of fear.

“Y-you… You can’t.”

Maggie snarled. “Why not?!”

“Th-they’ll find you. No matter where you go. They’ll track your chips and bring you back.”

“Chips? Like the correction chip?”

His eyes widened. “How do you…”

Maggie remembered when Andreas used it on her. She remembered exactly where the pain came from; where it was the most intense. “They’re in the backs of our necks, aren’t they?”

The man glanced from side to side, like he was trying to come up with a lie. “I…”

Whatever. That was good enough. They could figure out the elevator on their own. Maggie finished the guy off with the strongest jab to the face she could muster in her weakened state.

“What do we do now?” Hex asked as Maggie limped back over.

“We’ve got to get these chips out. They’re in the backs of our necks. If we don’t get rid of them, Andreas will be able to find us no matter how far we run.”

Hex grimaced. “This is gonna hurt, isn’t it?”

“Yep. But that’s what we’ve trained for.”

—

With the help of a first aid kit and a shard of glass from a broken cup, Maggie and Hex cut the back of each other’s necks open, and managed to fish out the horrible chip. There was a lot of whimpering, crying, and shouting involved, but they got through it in the end, stitching each other up just as they were trained for. Maggie felt sick having to hurt Hex like that, but it was the only way for them to truly be safe from Andreas once they got out. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to ensure that man never got his hands on them ever again.

Maggie wiped her eyes and sighed, trying to ignore the stinging pain in the back of her neck. “Are you ready to go?”

Hex nodded, her bottom lip still quivering. “Yeah.”

They stumbled over to the elevator, holding onto each other for support. Maggie eyed the buttons on the wall wearily. Nothing to it but luck, she supposed. She pressed the one at the top and the elevator started moving again.

“We’ve got this,” she whispered in Hex’s ear. “We’re gonna be okay. No one’s gonna lay a finger on us anymore.”

Hex’s nose crinkled, but a smile played at her lips. “Your breath smells bad.”

Maggie snorted out a laugh. “Gimme a break. I haven’t brushed my teeth in two days. You’re just lucky we had time for me to shower, or I’d probably still reek of urine.”

Hex chuckled. “Yeah. I didn’t wanna say anything when I found you, but wow, you didn’t smell good.”

“Aren’t I lucky to have such a caring little sister.” Maggie grinned.

The elevator reached its destination and the doors opened, revealing a room neither of them had ever seen before. It was wide and open, with a carpeted floor and several chairs sitting against the walls. Maggie couldn’t ascertain what its purpose was. On the far end of the room from the elevator, the wall was made entirely of glass, and a dim, cool light was drifting in from the other side. There was a door in the glass. It called to her; an odd tug in her gut urging her towards it. Somehow she knew; this was the way to the outside world. They were free.

She charged forward, filled with renewed strength, and slammed the door open. Cold air slammed into them right back.

There was a man in her way. His eyes widened at the sight of her face, then he looked to Hex and they widened even further. He wasn’t one of the familiar faces from the facility. This guy was just… a regular person. Huh.

Maggie wrapped her arms around Hex, flapped her wings, and finally took proper flight for the first time in her life. Cold wind rushed in her hair and through her feathers. Hex shrieked in delight from the thrill. The world stretched out below her and the sky opened up above her, little pinpricks of light twinkling in her eyes as freedom filled her lungs. She wouldn’t trade it for the world.

—

ONE WEEK LATER

If there was one thing Maggie had learned about the outside world in the brief week since they’d escaped, it was that the outside world was nothing like what she and Hex were used to. There were no more steadily provided meals, no convenient clothing that was always cleaned when they needed it, no directions or schedule or order. It was just her and her little sister against the world.

Hex’s stomach rumbled loud enough for Maggie to hear it. Maggie clenched her fists against the guilt that washed over her. She was supposed to be taking care of her, but she was failing miserably. She could barely even take care of herself. Hex was being so good about it, not complaining, always staying strong, but they couldn’t keep going like this. They were losing weight. Every night they almost froze to death, huddled up together wherever they could find even a modicum of shelter. What little food they could find was few and far between; pitiful scraps scavenged from bins or off the floor. Maggie had broken into a building to get them some new clothes the night they escaped, but it wasn’t going to last. She just had no idea how the outside world worked, frankly. Not for the first time, she wondered if escaping was a bad idea after all. 

Not everything was hopeless, though. Maggie had an idea that might help them get a little bit more to eat. She’d been doing her best to study up on what life was like out here; watching people from the shadows, reading whatever ‘newspapers’ she could get her hands on, and she reckoned she might have stumbled onto something promising.

A little ways away from their little hideout, there was a big plot of empty land, and every day, a bunch of guys would show up and start putting something together. A new building, if she had to guess. The way Maggie figured, if she could help the guys out a little bit, they might be inclined to help her out, too. A proper meal, some new clothes, maybe even a comfortable place to rest their heads. It was worth a shot, at least.

So, one day, Maggie and Hex donned their sunglasses – the best way they could figure to hide their identities, lest Andreas hear something and come looking – and made their way over to the yard.

The men were hard at work when they got there, each buried in their own task. Maggie walked up and, summing all of her courage, called out to them.

“Uh, e- excuse me!”

A few of the men stopped what they were doing and looked their way, before glancing to one man in particular. He stood up from where he was crouched near a steadily growing brick wall and raised a hand to the others. They got back to work, and the man walked over to the two of them.

“Hi, can I help you?” he asked, taking off his own sunglasses and wiping the sweat from under the weird hat he and the rest of them were wearing. His tan skin was speckled with pockmarks, and a dark, full stubble had taken up most of his jaw. He was quite handsome, actually. Maggie’s stomach fluttered a little as he looked her up and down, glancing at her wings, though that also could have been from hunger.

“Yes, u-um, actually, I was wondering if I could help you.” Maggie clenched her fists, letting out an awkward laugh. This felt weird. “I, uh, I’m pretty strong. I could lift some things, i-if you need. Hex here has telekinesis, too, so… Um, she could also help.”

The man frowned. “You want… a job?”

Maggie didn’t know what that word meant, but she nodded. “If that’s what it takes to get some food, then yes.”

There was a pause as the man analysed her. “You guys are in some trouble, aren’t you?”

“Please,” Hex suddenly blurted out. “We’re… we’re just hungry. If there’s anything we can do to earn some food, please. Let us help.”

The man bit his lip, glancing to the side. After a few seconds, he looked back at Maggie. “Alright, I’ll tell you what. I can’t let you guys work on the site for… well, for obvious reasons, but if you come with me, I can get you two something to eat, and we can sit down and talk this through. The company I work for is owned by the Heroes’ Union, so we should be able to work something out and get you guys some help. Sound good?”

Half of that meant literally nothing to Maggie, but at this point, she would take anything. She nodded.

“Alright,” the man said, holding out his hand. “The name’s Diego, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

—

Back in the present, Maggie smiled at the memory of her and Diego’s first meeting as she pulled her shirt back on and struggled to get her wings through the holes. It had been almost two years since then, and Maggie felt lucky for that chance encounter every single day.

Diego had taken them back to this very apartment, gave them their first warm meal in over a week, let them shower, gave them a change of clothes and heard them out; every last detail of their fucked-up story. At the time, Maggie hadn’t known how much to omit, so she just told him everything. If he’d been anyone else, that could have ended terribly for them, but thankfully, they’d run into one of the few genuinely good people in this city. He was the only one that knew the whole truth; that Maggie and Hex were nothing more than unwilling body doubles for a woman that died five years ago; that Andreas de Vygon was playing God below the precinct, creating life and forcing it to do his bidding; that Seven wasn’t just a superhero working for the police, but the next body double down the line. As far as any of his bosses knew, Diego had just taken in some powered people in need of help, and provided him the resources to do so. If not for his generosity, Maggie was sure she and Hex would have died on the streets, clueless and alone.

Not wanting to be a burden, Maggie once again begged Diego to let her work at the construction site, and finally, he acquiesced, promising to teach her how things worked. These days, it was what she spent most of her time doing, saving the company money by using her wings to do the high-up work that anyone else would need safety equipment for. It was hard work for sure, but it was rewarding, knowing that she was helping earn to support herself and her sister.

It was about a year after they started living together that this… thing that had been dancing between them finally caught alight. Maggie’d had time to learn about the world, about people, about relationships and how things worked. She’d seen them on TV, read about them in books, figured out how to determine the good from the bad by scouring the internet, and finally, made her move on Diego. They’d been sharing a few drinks after Hex went to bed, watching a movie together on the couch, and Maggie just went for it, grabbing his face and kissing him then and there when the moment presented itself.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe she was just pent up from literally never receiving sexual touch from another person in her life, but things progressed very quickly from there and they took it straight to the bedroom. Safe to say, it was a night she would never forget.

They had a proper conversation about it the morning after, where Diego admitted that he’d felt the same way for a while, but wasn’t comfortable making a move considering that, for a lot of their relationship up to that point, Maggie was entirely dependent on him, and considering how little she knew about… anything, the dynamic would have been a little weird. But now that she’d started working, now that she had her own money and a half-decent understanding of the world, and now that he knew she was actually super interested in him, too, he figured they could give this thing a shot. And the rest was history.

Jordyn’s appearance on the streets had scared her. She knew it was only a matter of time before she came after their fragile peace, smashing through their glass walls and leaving Maggie and Hex nothing more than a bad memory in Andreas’ mind, splattered across Diego’s floor. That tiny speck that once floated in the green had grown into a monster, and Maggie had no choice but to get ahead of it.

To that end, and much to Diego’s protest, Maggie had gone hunting. What she needed was equipment. Weaponry that could stand up to a killer of Maggie’s own calibre. Sure, Maggie’d had more time to build her muscles, and she was undoubtedly one of the strongest people alive already, thanks to Andreas’ tinkering, but Jordyn had the backing of the entire police force behind her. Maggie needed to be smart.

So, she slaughtered two SWAT officers and stole their guns. Then she used that sniper rifle to shoot Jordyn down. Only, she underestimated the strength of her armour, and only succeeded in pissing Andreas off. For a month, she laid low, hiding out in the apartment and waiting for things to cool off. And once they did, she tried again.

Jordyn was no pushover, though, and gave her a real run for her money. Maggie got her down though. Got her down, and was seconds away from pulling the trigger and ending it, when that pathetic, terrified look on her face made Maggie freeze. 

Did she make the right choice in letting her little sister live? Who could say. The only thing to do was move forward, and take every day as it came. Maggie and Hex were alive, and they were free, and that was the only thing that truly mattered.

“Maggie?”

“Hm?” She blinked, returning to her body. Hex had been calling to her. “What’s up?”

“We were trying to ask what you wanted from McDonalds. Get lost in your head again?”

Maggie smiled. “Yeah. Thinkin’ about stuff.”

“Well, you’d better hurry up and order, birdie, or I’ll get you a 20 pack of chicken nuggets again,” Diego joked.

Maggie let out a mock gasp. “You wouldn’t dare! Making me eat my own kin; shame on you!”

Diego laughed, and Maggie basked in the sound. It was times like these that it felt like everything would turn out alright after all.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idkwhattodowiththisaltiamsorry

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

wahoo bird lady backstory!!!

i do really love maggie as a character, but in truth, she doesn't actually get all that much screentime in the current outline of the plot. granted, that outline is in the literal haziest terms imaginable, so that's open to change lol. or maybe i'll write a maggie spinoff once this is done

only 2 more chapters until the end of this arc! next up, we reconvene with Steve and see the results of his little investigation hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe (evil but cute laugh)

thanks for reading! let me know what you thought in a comment or reblog! It's v appreciated :> Ciao!

[bamber344]

Project Genesis MASTERLIST

Project Genesis is a superhero living weapon whump series about an ""amnesiac"" superhero who was nursed back to health and trained by her supposed 'Father' to become an efficient and ruthless criminal-catching machine for the police, and a weapon to further her benefactor's desires. Only, as she is given more and more freedom in the outside world for the sake of Father's mission, Jordyn begins realising that her origin might not be as clear-cut as it was made out to be.

Featuring many lesbians, sad women, manipulative old men, god-like eldritch beings, unethical science, probably a few identity crises, a confusing definition of the word 'sister,' and one very unfortunate ghost, haunting the whole thing.

(i wish i could tell yall what this concept is really about but i don't wanna spoil the reveal :< )

(crossposted on Royal Road and Scribblehub)

Prologue Prologue - Birth

Whumpee intro/Jordyn's Training arc Jordyn's Training, part 1: The First Mistake Jordyn's Training, part 2: Questions Jordyn's Training, part 3: Final Exam Jordyn's Training, part 4: Deployment

Deployment Day mini-arc Till Death Did Us Part Behind The Curtains Mindfuck

Streets of Tombguard arc The Cost Of Negligence Cracks In The Façade Invested In Your Success A Day In The Life Of Vivienne Matthews Birds Of A Feather Secrets Below The Precinct Subject G-5: 'Magpie' Consequences An Olive Branch

Heroes' Union arc Welcome To The Heroes' Union

taglist: @steelandblood@sapphicwhump @urnumber1star

(lemme know if you wanna be added ;) )

[bamber344]

Consequences

prev/next

masterlist

:) sorry not sorry

anyway i said this would be a steve chapter but it turned into an andreas-steve-jordyn type of chapter because i just really like flipping the perspective all the time to be honest, it's like an addiction

enjoy the chapter tho!!!

CWs: living weapon whump, no-holds-barred beatdowns, broken bones, other grievous injuries associated with aforementioned beatdowns, manipulation, panic attacks, hospitals

Consequences

Andreas stepped out of the elevator into the surveillance room hoping to find someone to mark down G-7’s training results for the day, but was displeased to find it entirely unmanned. What was even worse was the fact that the elevator camera seemed to be switched off. Someone around here was getting a warning, that was for sure.

The door to the subject development room opened and Cheryl stepped out. She smiled at him once she noticed his presence.

“Oh, Andreas! Good to see you!” she greeted.

“Who was on shift to man the surveillance desk?” he asked, putting a stern lilt into his voice.

Cheryl glanced at the chair and seemed to only just now notice that it was empty. “Oh. Arthur said he would look after things. Where did he go?”

Andreas frowned. “Who the hell is Arthur?”

Cheryl blinked at him. “Uh, the new guy…? I ran into him on the elevator down here.”

Cold dread settled into Andreas’ gut. He powered towards the surveillance desk, sitting down and waking up the computer. “What did he look like?”

“Um, white, mid to late forties, brown hair sort of medium length, I guess? Kinda shaggy, in any case. He had a bit of stubble and a moustache, and some freckles on his nose. Why, what’s wrong?”

“I haven’t hired anyone new in almost a year. He was a spy.”

Andreas navigated to the saved surveillance footage as Cheryl freaked out behind him, finding exactly what he feared: everything from the last hour or so had been deleted. The little snake wasn’t totally incompetent, at any rate. It was just unfortunate for him that Andreas already had a good clue as to his identity.

Steven Matthews would regret ever showing his face in Andreas’ precinct.

—

Andreas entered G-7’s quarters without knocking and came across the exact scene he’d been expecting, based on what he’d seen through the cameras. The girl was sprawled out over her bed, half-dressed and completely knocked out. It wasn’t surprising that she was especially fatigued, considering all of the extra training and patrolling she’d been doing to make up for her failure with G-5, and since she’d been forbidden from having dinner tonight, he didn’t doubt that she found sleep a much more enticing option than staying up and enduring her hunger. She looked almost peaceful, in a dishevelled, snoring, drooling-on-the-pillow sort of way, and a small part of Andreas almost felt bad about having to wake her up. Almost.

He kicked the leg of the bed frame, rattling the whole thing. “Wake up, Seven!”

G-7 jerked awake with a yelp, scrambling to her feet and standing at the ready. “Y-yes, sir!”

“Put your armour on. I have a job for you.”

—

Steve rolled his neck and shoulders, trying to work his anxiety out on the elevator ride up to his apartment. He was almost certain no one had been following him back; by all accounts, he should be safe. Still, he just couldn’t get the nagging feeling of oncoming dread out of the pit of his gut.

He sighed and tried to ignore it. The fact of the matter was that there was nothing he could do either way. Whether he was about to release the information he found and save Jordyn from Andreas’ clutches, or wake up in an unmarked grave and slowly asphyxiate tomorrow morning, it was now out of his hands.

Steve exited the elevator and trudged down the hall, fishing his keys out of his pocket. His hand touched the USB as he did so, and he pulled it out along with the keyring. Inside that tiny piece of plastic and circuitry was enough evidence to launch an official investigation on de Vygon and all of his cronies, and rip all of this evil out at the root. Or maybe that was just him being optimistic. Still, it was certainly a good start.

He unlocked his door and stepped into the dark apartment, flicking on the lightswitch.

Nothing happened.

Steve frowned, flipping the switch on and off over and over. Nothing was changing. The lights in the outside hallway were still on, so it wasn’t like there was a blackout. Had the power been cut to his apartment in particular?

The door slammed shut behind him and he whirled around, only to find no one there. His heart leapt into his throat.

Oh. This was how it was going to go, huh? At least he got to enjoy one last drive before it was all over.

Darkness swept over his vision, completely blinding him right as something sunk into his solar plexus hard enough to lift his feet off the floor. Air rushed out of his chest so fast he almost puked. His knees buckled when he hit the ground again, and his attacker was quick to help him down, striking him across the cheekbone and sending him collapsing into a heap.

They didn’t let up, kicking and stomping on him over and over, refusing to stop even when he got his breath back enough to start crying out in pain. Ribs cracked and splintered. His nose was crushed, his lip split. He tried to predict where the boot would come next and protect himself, and only got snapped fingers for the trouble. A particularly bad hit to the head knocked out his hearing, leaving only ringing in its place. 

The attacker changed target, focusing on his legs. By that point, the hits were starting to blur together, only coming into sharp focus when something broke. His left knee was the first to go, followed by whatever his calf bone was called. He was certain that he knew, but the name just wasn’t coming to him. The femur? No, that was the thigh bone. The humerus was an arm bone, that definitely wasn’t it. It started with an F, he was sure. Vivienne would definitely be able to tell him, if she were there. She was smart like that.

Speaking of his femur, that broke too, and Steve screamed so hard he thought he would choke. It would have been a mercy.

Finally, the beating stopped. The ringing quieted down enough for him to hear his surroundings again, and he could just about make out the sound of distressed panting, almost to the point of sobs. Was that him? No, his breaths were coming in raspy and slow. 

“I’m… s-so sorry,” said a broken, electronic voice.

Huh. That was weird. Steve passed out.

—

Steve Matthews’ twitching, rasping body laid at my feet. His chest continued to rise and fall, and an occasional spasm rocked through his limbs. He wasn’t dead just yet. Thank god.

I still didn’t understand why I had to just… do that. Steve was one of the good guys, right? He was a police officer, working to catch criminals, and yet… Father wanted him ‘dealt with,’ as he put it. He wanted him beaten within an inch of his life. He wanted his legs broken so bad he would never walk straight again. I couldn’t bring myself to go all the way on that one. The screaming from one leg was bad enough. God, I wanted to throw up. But my job wasn’t done.

I clenched my fists, trying to get my breathing under control. I still needed to search him and seize any of the things he had on him when he arrived back. Just… get it done. If I did a good job, maybe Father would feel inclined to reward me, or at the very least, cut back on my extra training and patrol hours. What I wouldn’t do to be allowed another few hours of rest a day. My ribs still ached with every breath, and all I wanted was for it to just stop.

As carefully as possible, I patted him down, removing his phone, wallet, and keys from his person. In his hand was a small plastic… something. I grabbed that, too, just to be safe. Time to make my exit.

Limbs shaking, breath still coming in quick gasps, I made my way towards the window and slipped out the same way I entered, making sure I closed it behind me. Sirens echoed through the distance, no doubt on their way to my location. Steve’s neighbours surely must have heard all the screaming. I just hoped they got to him in time to save him.

Somehow, it only occurred to me then, in the cool light of the moon on the long run back to the facility, exactly what I’d just done. I just tortured an innocent man. I attacked him in his own home, overpowering him and beating him until he was begging me to stop, and even then I continued. That… that sounded like something a criminal would do. Hell, I’d taken down criminals for similar crimes before. How could Father order me to do something like that?

He was Vivienne’s uncle. How was I supposed to face her again after what I’d just done? She was one of the only people who’d ever made me feel safe in her presence, and I just broke her uncle. Why did he make me do it?

I tripped over my own feet right at the edge of a rooftop, tumbling into the alley below and hitting the rail of every fire escape on my way down, crashing into a pile of garbage bags. The fall barely even registered through the ringing in my ears and the pain in my chest. I felt like I could barely breathe, every gasp for air choked off and denied by the stifling prison of my helmet. I clawed at it, finally tripping the latch at the back of my head and tearing it off. Humid night air hit me like a train, and for a second it felt like I could breathe again, but the ache didn’t cease, and the world continued to spin wildly around me. All I could do was lay there, staring up at the sky and contemplating what I’d just done while trying to remember how to push oxygen in and out of my body.

I supposed this was just another one of those things I was too stupid to understand. I wasn’t smart like Father and the scientists. I barely knew how to shovel food into my face without making a mess, let alone comprehend the complexities of crime. If Father ordered me to do it, Steve must have done something truly horrible. He must have. That was the only explanation. I just… needed to stop thinking about it. I would never truly understand it anyway.

Don’t stop asking questions. Don’t take anything at face value. Andreas is gonna try every trick in the book to make you feel like you’re too stupid to understand anything, so why even bother wondering? Don’t let him. You’re smart, Jordyn.

Maggie’s words echoed through my head. Back when I heard them, part of me was tempted to disregard them; just because she was my sister didn’t mean that she really knew me. She didn’t know how stupid I really was. Now, though… I just couldn’t let my actions sit on my conscience. I refused to accept the answer of ‘Father knows best.’ I needed an explanation for what I just did.

But… How the hell was I supposed to get one? Father would break me just as bad as I just broke Steve if I kept talking back like the idiot I am. Was I just supposed to ignore it and pretend everything was okay? How was I supposed to keep going on like this?

It just… felt so hopeless.

There was a bit of time before Father was expecting me back. Not long enough to let everything out, but it would have to do.

I squeezed my eyes shut and started to cry.

—

The walk back to the facility felt like it took ages, and yet at the same time, it was over in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it I was slipping through those doors, scanning my palm against the card reader, and heading down the elevator back home. I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to see Father and demand some answers, or never look at him again. Either way, I had to go report to him, so what I wanted didn’t really matter.

I dragged my feet all the way down the halls, finding out from a scientist that Father was waiting for me in my quarters. At least I didn’t have to make any detours before I could strip this armour off and go into a coma for however long I would be allowed to sleep. Better to just get it over with.

Sure enough, when I opened the door and stepped inside, Father was sitting on my bed, looking at me.

“How did it go?” he asked, like he didn’t already know. Like he hadn’t been watching through the camera of my visor the whole time.

“I…” I tried to speak, but the words didn’t come. Just the thought of the pain I’d caused formed a lump in my throat, and nothing could get past it.

Despite not receiving an answer, Father nodded. “Take off your armour, Jordyn.”

I didn’t need more encouragement than that. Piece by piece, I stripped off the black metal and dropped it on the floor like I was shedding the weight of my crimes. Somehow, things started to feel just a little bit better.

“Come here,” Father beckoned once it was all off. I slowly made my way over and sat down on the bed next to him.

“I saw what you did, Jordyn.”

“You were watching?” I asked.

“Of course. I’m always watching while you work. You did good. You did what I told you.”

I sniffed and nodded, not replying.

“It was hard, wasn’t it? Hurting him like that?”

Despite how hard I tried to hold it back, I couldn’t stop my face from scrunching up. The question slipped out before I could stop it.

“Why? Why did I have to do that?”

I tensed up, expecting to be struck. Instead, Father gently put his hand on my knee. I remained frozen, just in case.

“I know it’s difficult for you to understand, Jordyn. I’m not sure I can explain it in a way you will understand. Just know that Mr. Matthews did a very, very bad thing, and he needed to pay the price for it. You don’t need to worry about it beyond that, okay? You leave that to your betters, and just do what you’re told. You’re very good at it.”

The compliment sent shivers of pleasure down my spine, as did the gentle touch of Father’s hand as it moved around my shoulders instead. I did a good job for him. That was the important part, right?

“It didn’t feel good,” I muttered, a few errant tears escaping and falling down my face.

“I know, Jordyn. I know. You’re a gentle soul, aren’t you? But you did a good job, and now you won’t need to worry about it again. Tell you what, we’ll forget about your mistakes in training today, alright? I’ll have some fresh dinner made and brought to you shortly.”

The thought lit off a spark of excitement in my belly, though it was dampened a bit by confusion. “Wh… Why are you being so nice to me?”

Father tilted his head. “You’re my daughter, Jordyn. I know I’m hard on you sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. And when you do good for me, I want to reward you.” His smile remained, but his eyes turned a little colder. “Just don’t expect this treatment all the time. You performed a very difficult and important job today, and I recognise that. That’s all. Now, what do you say?”

I nodded. “R-right. Thank you, Father.”

He gently ruffled what little hair I had and stood up. “There’s a good girl. Have a good night, Jordyn.”

With that, he left me alone in my quarters. He was… actually happy with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him so proud and receptive of my work. A giddiness I hadn’t felt for months rose up within me, struggling against the overpowering guilt of what I’d done to earn it. I did the right thing, but… it just didn’t feel right. Father wanted me to just forget about it, but was that really possible? Maggie would have wanted me to keep questioning, keep digging and searching until I found out the truth as to why he made me do that.

Both options sounded equally as exhausting. All I really wanted was to sleep.

My stomach growled loudly. …And maybe a good meal, too.

I went about my nightly routine, showering off the sweat and tears and getting changed into some sleep clothes. All that was left was to wait.

Sure enough, Father hadn’t been lying. About half an hour after he left, a piping hot bowl of chilli and rice was delivered right to my door. My favourite meal; he must really have been happy with me.

And yet, when I brought it inside and forced it down at my desk, I could barely even taste it. There was only nausea and the sound of screams.

—-

“Could you tell me your name?”

“St- Steven… Matthews.”

The nurse nodded, writing something down on her pad. “How old are you, Steven?”

Steve frowned, trying to remember the exact number. His head had been a mess of fog ever since he woke up in this room. He had a vague memory of what happened to him to get him sent here, but everything in between was just black.

“47… I think.”

“What’s fourteen plus twenty six?”

The mental maths took a bit longer than it really should have, but Steve thought he could be excused for that, given the circumstances. “Fourty.”

“Alright,” the nurse said, putting her pad down. “Seems like you’re all there. I’ll go get the doctor, and we can go over your prognosis. If you’re in any pain, you can press this button here to get a dose of morphine. Don’t worry about overdoing it; the machine has an inbuilt limiter. Try to stay awake, if you can.”

With that, the nurse left him alone with the beeping of his heart monitor. Hearing it was a little bit of a shock, to be honest. He’d been almost certain that last night would be his… well, his last night on earth. Was it just an accident that he was still alive? Or did de Vygon only intend for him to suffer, and not actually kill him?

Well, if that was his goal, he succeeded. More of Steve was broken than wasn’t; wrapped up in casts, stabilised with metal fastenings, poked full of intravenous drips and covered in monitoring equipment. He was just doing his best not to look at all of the metal braces sticking out of his leg, lest he throw up again like he did when he first woke.

Eventually, the doctor came in and gave him the rundown: in short, he was well and truly worked over. He had a nasty concussion, a punctured lung, three broken fingers, six cracked ribs, a leg so unimaginably shattered that it was likely he’d never walk on his own again, two missing teeth, a crooked nose, a broken collarbone, some lovely internal bleeding, and enough bruising to fill a semi-truck. He couldn’t even remember half of that stuff happening.

The pain wasn’t so bad now that he had morphine coursing through his system, but that was a small consolation in the face of… everything else.

“So… how long will I have to stay here?” he asked.

“It's hard to say at this time, but we're probably looking at a few weeks, at least,” the doctor replied. “The damage to your leg will take multiple surgeries to completely fix, and with injuries like yours, we want to be careful about letting you go too soon.”

Well, that wasn't too bad. It wasn't like he had a job to go back to, anyway.

The doctor finished up and left him to his drugged-up rest. Steve closed his eyes and tried to let the sleep find him. Of course, it was just his luck that Andreas de Vygon walked in at that very moment. The beeping of the heart monitor picked up speed.

“Ah, it’s good to see you’re awake, Steven.”

“Wh… Why are you here?”

He took a seat at Steve’s bedside. “Can’t a police captain visit his detective in his time of need? I heard about what happened. Such a shame that those burglars would pick your apartment, and that you happened to come home right at that time. Apparently, you’re very lucky to be alive.”

Steve tried to scowl, but it wasn’t very easy with how bruised and swollen his face was. “Yeah, I’m sure you know a lot about it.”

De Vygon chuckled. “Fine, if that’s how you want to be. I’ll do you the respect of speaking plainly, then. I know it was you who broke into the facility last night. I don’t have any concrete proof, but I am almost certain that it was you. Why?”

De Vygon could torture him; he wouldn’t say anything. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

De Vygon hummed. “I’m sure. Well, I suppose it doesn’t really matter why. Whatever your plan was has been foiled, regardless. Really, Steven… What were you expecting? That you’d just get to walk away?”

Steve glanced at his leg. “I think I have a solid shot at it.”

De Vygon laughed – actually laughed at that. “Apparently morphine turns you into a comedian. Who knew?”

“Cut the bullshit, Andreas. Why did you come here?”

De Vygon’s face darkened, just for a second, before that business neutral mask slipped right back into place. “Two things, Steven. Number one: Don’t ever show your face at my precinct again, unless you want someone to come and finish what they started. Number two: make sure whoever it is that you’re working for understands the same thing. No one crosses me and gets away with it.”

He stood up, dusting himself off as if merely being in Steve’s presence was enough to dirty him. “I would wish you a speedy recovery, but… Well, that would just be counterintuitive, wouldn’t it?”

With that, he turned and strolled out the door, just as smug as ever.

Fuckin’ prick.

There was a commotion outside just a moment after he left, and Steve heard Vivienne’s voice loud and clear through the thin walls.

“Get out of my way, asshole.”

Steve shut his eyes and prayed that she didn’t do anything stupid. If de Vygon had the slightest inkling that she had even a pinky toe dipped in this mess, she would suffer the same fate that he did.

Thankfully, things calmed down, and a moment later, Vivienne was bursting through the doors, looking on the verge of tears.

“Uncle Steve!”

She rushed over to his bedside, barely holding herself back from pouncing on him with a hug. Steve’s ribs were very grateful for that restraint. 

“Hey, Vivienne.”

“What happened?! We- We were just… I thought-”

“Calm down, Viv. I’m okay.”

“No you’re not, look at you!”

Steve put his casted hand up, trying to placate her. “I will be, okay? Just breathe.”

Vivienne pouted but she did as she was told, sighing and sitting down. “What happened? The person on the phone said someone broke into your apartment.”

Welp, there was no getting out of it now. He told her the truth; that he went into the facility without her.

“B-but… why? I thought we would go in together!”

“Look at me, Vivienne. I knew something like this would happen. How could I have let you come with me, knowing that this was how it would end?”

“I…” Vivienne opened her mouth, but nothing more came out. Clearly, she understood, as much as she so obviously hated it. She let out a sigh. “Do you know who did this to you?”

“No,” he lied. “Just one of de Vygon’s operatives, I assume.”

She looked down, her face scrunching up. “You don’t think… Surely it wasn’t Jordyn, right? Even at his orders, there’s no way she’d do something like this…”

Apparently, she would. What else would explain the darkness that overtook his vision before the assault began, or the metallic voice desperately apologising right before he blacked out? But Vivienne didn’t need to know that. No one needed to know it but him. Telling Vivienne that Jordyn almost beat her uncle to death would only make things harder for what they were trying to do.

“I don’t think so,” he answered.

Vivienne hummed. “Did you at least get anything out of it? Any proof of what’s been going on?”

And there was the kicker. Thankfully, Steve had a little more foresight than de Vygon had bargained for.

“Do you know the library on Cliff street?” he asked.

Vivienne frowned. “Uh, yes?”

“I need you to go in there with a USB. On the computer at the very back, on the left-hand side, you’ll find a file hidden in the documents folder titled ‘PGSN.’ Move it to the USB and take it to the Union. They’ll have a better idea of what to do with it than me. Be careful, though. De Vygon has shown that he’s clearly not messing around.”

 “What’s on the file?” she asked.

“Research notes, by the looks of things,” he replied. “Documenting years worth of experiments Andreas has done on his test subjects, Jordyn included.”

“You mean there’s more?!”

Steve tried to shake his head, but immediately regretted it. The painkillers were making him forget just how busted up his body really was. “No, most of them are dead, aside from the two I saw escape. It seems like he’s trying to create a superhero for some reason. From the sounds of it, he’s literally growing these kids from birth in tubes.”

“Jesus…” Vivienne muttered. “I guess Maddie was right when she wondered if Jordyn was a genetically engineered test-tube baby.”

Steve stifled a yawn. “You should get going, Vivienne. Before de Vygon realises he’s been played. Also, no offence, but I really need to rest.”

Vivienne smiled, though there was pain in it. “Okay. I’ll be back once I’m done, though. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Don’t you have class or something?”

“What better place to study nursing than in a hospital? I’ll still get my work done, you don’t have to worry.”

Steve grinned, his eyelids growing heavy. “That’s my girl. See you then.”

A quiet pop, and Vivienne was gone.

Finally, some peace and quiet. Steve closed his eyes and fell asleep.

taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idk-whumpalt

@Iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

wahoo! yippee! whump!

also quite possibly some of the only guy whump in the whole story so far. They can have just a little. as a treat. :)

anyway, hope you enjoyed! let me know what you thought in a comment or reblog! it's v appreciated :3

up next is a MADDIE POV!!!!! my GIRL! my depressed QUEEN! and also the last chapter in this arc :) stay tuned!

[bamber344]

most stories have something along the lines of a token gay

the further i get in plotting out project genesis, i think we're gonna be dealing more with a 'token straight' situation here

[bamber344]

An Olive Branch

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masterlist

late afternoon chapter because time has no meaning

idk what it was but this chapter kicked my ass a little bit. I was just very distracted for most of its writing process. Happy with it though! Final chapter of the arc! If this were a TV show this would be the season finale. Enjoy!

CWs: references to pre-canon character death, manipulation, non-con body modification, references to previous torture (whipping)

An Olive Branch

Madeline sighed, running a hand through her mullet and pulling her shirt collar out to try and get some airflow going as she walked down the street. The midday sun was blistering, not at all helped by the business casual she’d been forced to put on for the job interview she just totally bombed. She supposed that was to be expected, considering she was notably mentally ill and hadn’t worked a proper job in years. Still sucked, though. Her plans for the rest of the day involved hitting up the bar and trying to get her head on straight enough to flirt with the person she’d matched with on her dating app.

She hadn’t told anyone about it yet; that she was finally starting to give moving on a try. It still just… felt really weird. Like a betrayal. Logically, she was sure Rosie wouldn’t want Maddie to be hung up on her forever, but that didn’t make it not feel like she was spitting on Rosie’s memory every time she came up with some cheesy line to hook someone on an app.

The bottom line was, Madeline was lonely. Not in the friendly, platonic sense, but in the sense that she missed having someone to cuddle with at night, and someone to confide in above all others, and frankly, someone to screw around with in the bedroom. Her body and heart yearned for Rosie in all those respects, but that just wasn’t an option, so she had to find something else.

She knew that nothing would ever really fill the Rosie-shaped hole in her heart aside from Rosie herself magically coming back to life, but surely it was better to try opening herself up to love again, rather than letting that hole fester and wither and eat away at her until there was nothing left. Maddie was tired of letting it control her life.

It was just like her therapist said. One day she would get to be happy again, and Rosie’s memory, while still tender, would just be a reminder of back when her happiness took a different form. It would be okay, but it would be different, and that was okay. Madeline needed it to be okay.

“F-fuck!”

Madeline paused in front of the alley that the curse had just echoed out of. That sounded… oddly familiar. She couldn’t place where, but she’d definitely heard that voice before.

Tuning out the rest of the city, Maddie could just about make out the sound of someone crying at the end of the alley. 

The urge to just keep walking was strong. People’s problems were their own business, and she had more than enough of her own. At the same time though, she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to see who’s voice that was.

Also, well… she was a hero, wasn’t she? Wasn’t helping people like this kind of the point? Rosie would want her to check it out. Probably. Maddie imagined she’d share her curiosity, at the very least.

Sucking it up, Madeline turned and strolled down the alley. It didn’t take long to find the person at the end, clad in familiar black armour, curled up with her face hidden against the ground. Her helmet sat on the floor next to her, facing the wall.

“I… I-I don’t understand…” Jordyn whimpered through sobs. Maddie’s stomach clenched with sympathy. The girl was clearly going through it.

She inched closer, spotting something marking the tan skin on the back of Jordyn’s neck. A tattoo of some sort, perhaps? When Madeline got close enough to read it, her heart sank. Vivienne wasn’t kidding when she said something seriously messed up was going on here. A very obvious barcode lined the back of her neck, and below that, writing.

G-7: ‘JORDYN’

PROPERTY OF PRECINCT 23

…Good lord, this poor woman.

Madeline remembered the conversation she’d had with Ashley and Viv; that they would try and encourage Jordyn to join the Union. Apparently, that was all on her now. Great. She cleared her throat to announce her presence.

Jordyn jerked like she’d been electrocuted, scrambling for her helmet and putting it back on before whirling around to face Madeline. 

“H-Huh?”

Maddie sighed. No backing out now. “Hey, you alright? Heard you crying.”

Jordyn loudly and obviously sniffed. “I, uh… I-I’m fine.” She climbed to her feet and dusted herself off. “S-sorry for disturbing you.”

Before Madeline could even attempt to reply, Jordyn was already scurrying off, pushing past her and running out of the alley.

“Wait! Seven!”

She didn’t stop. Maybe this was risky, given that de Vygon was no doubt surveilling everything she saw and heard, but Maddie needed to talk to her if they were going to have any chance of helping her. Viv would be mad if she didn’t at least try. 

“Jordyn!”

Jordyn paused at the mouth of the alley, slowly turning around.

“How do you know my name?”

“Uh, Viv told me? Look-”

Jordyn flinched. “H-how does Vivienne know my name?”

Madeline frowned. “Because you told her?”

“No I didn’t!”

Maddie was pretty sure Viv mentioned that Jordyn was drunk during that encounter. Apparently, it had become a bit hazy for her. Hah, lightweight.

…Or she was just trying to cover for herself, since de Vygon was probably watching. Great, now Madeline felt like a bitch and probably just got her in trouble. Ugh.

She shook her head. “Whatever, that’s besides the point. I know you don’t really know me, but can I just talk to you for a bit?”

Jordyn looked away, hesitating. “I… I’m not allowed to talk to you.”

Typical. “Just five minutes, that’s all I ask. Surely your boss can begrudge you a measly five minutes?”

Without being able to see her face, it was hard to tell what Jordyn was thinking. She reached up and touched the side of her helmet, whispering to nobody. Madeline could just barely make it out.

“Sir, are you watching? Do I have permission to speak with her? I know you told me- Oh. Okay. Yes sir, I understand. Thank you.”

Jordyn turned back to face Maddie again. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

It was at that moment Madeline realised she hadn't even thought of a script yet. God, she was an idiot.

“Do you, uh… wanna sit down somewhere?” Madeline asked in a desperate bid for time to think.

“Um…” Jordyn looked around a bit, before glancing up at one of the buildings bordering the alley. “Up there?”

Madeline blinked. “How am I supposed to get up there? I can’t jump like you and I can’t teleport like Viv.”

“I could… c-carry you?” Jordyn’s voice cracked a little as she said it. 

“Uh huh. And how am I supposed to get back down again?”

“Um… I just thought I would carry you again.” She wrung her hands together.

Call her egotistical, perhaps, but… was that a little crush Madeline sensed? Oh yeah, she could work with that.

She sighed. “Fine, let’s do it.”

Strolling over to Jordyn, she looped an arm around the back of her neck. “Come on, scoop me up.”

Maddie could practically hear the nervous swallow through Jordyn’s helmet. “Uh… O-okay.”

Not unexpectedly, Jordyn picked her up with ease, holding her in a bridal carry. What was unexpected was the little jump in Madeline’s gut as she did so. It had been a long time since anyone had carried her like that. She tried to ignore how much she liked the feeling.

“R-ready?” Jordyn stuttered.

Madeline smirked, trying to ignore the slight heat in her ears. “Whenever you are.”

Jordyn bent her knees, and all of a sudden they were flying. Maddie yelped, clutching onto Jordyn tighter as her stomach dropped out and wind buffeted her hair. In no time at all, they landed on the rooftop and Jordyn hastily set Madeline down.

Madeline watched as Jordyn walked over to the edge of the building and sat down, her legs hanging off the side. She craned her neck around to look back at Maddie, and patted the space beside her.

Well, at least the view was nice. Madeline joined her and sat down, looking out over the city.

“This is what I like to do when I get some down time,” Jordyn said. 

“That’s cool,” Madeline replied. 

A short silence reigned between them, until Jordyn finally spoke again. “So… What did you want to talk about?”

Okay, go time. Madeline put on her best bashful look, glancing down at the street below them. “Well, I was wondering if… maybe you’d like to join the Heroes’ Union?”

Jordyn cocked her head to the side. “Why would I do that?”

“I know you do pretty different work than most Union heroes, but there are still a ton of benefits for you. We provide free food and lodging, training areas, medical care, a guaranteed minimum-wage salary with bonuses for when you help out with monster attacks and other disasters. Like I said, I know monster attacks aren’t really your M.O., but we could easily hook our analysis systems up to a police scanner so that you can find crimes easier. And all that’s not to mention the biggest bonus of the Union: you get to hang out with other heroes! People who actually… get what it’s like, y’know? They understand the struggle of trying to manage your powers, and might even be able to teach you a thing or two on how to utilise them. Viv wasn’t always a master teleporter, believe it or not. I can’t even count the number of times she popped back into HQ totally covered in sea water because she accidentally thought about the ocean too hard, way back when she first joined.”

Eugh. God, that made her feel like a door-to-door saleswoman. Thankfully, it seemed to get through to her somewhat. 

Jordyn hesitated. “It… would be nice to get to hang around other heroes, I guess. But… What did you mean by minimum-wage salary? I don’t know what that-”

Jordyn paused, touching the side of her helmet. “Sorry sir, could you repeat that? Oh. Okay. Understood.” She turned back to Madeline. “Sorry, something’s come up. I have to go.”

Was she about to say what Madeline thought she was? That Jordyn didn’t know what a salary was? Yeah, if she were de Vygon, she’d cut her off too. What on earth did he do to her to make her so clueless about the world?

“Wait, just… just think about it, okay?” Madeline asked. “Ask your boss. I promise you won’t regret it!”

Jordyn nodded. “Okay, I will.”

With that, Jordyn jumped away, leaping from building to building faster than Madeline could track.

She left her on the roof.

Maddie sighed. “I wish you weren’t so clueless. That way I wouldn’t feel bad about calling you an asshole!” 

Great. Now to find a way down.

—

Finally, with the help of the fire escape and a teensy bit of property damage (wedging icicles into the brickwork), Madeline was able to get back to street level and make it to the Union HQ. She knocked on the door to Ashley’s office before entering. He was inside, at his computer, and looked up at her approach.

“Hey, Madds. What’s up?”

“Got some news about the whole ‘Jordyn’ problem. I ran into her a little while ago, and… Yeah, she was not doing good. Girl was crying to herself in the back of an alley.”

Ash leaned back in his chair. “What about?”

Madeline shrugged. “I dunno. Didn’t ask. But, dude, she’s got a fucking barcode on the back of her neck. And a tattoo that says she’s the property of precinct 23.”

Ashley let out a long exhale. “Shit. Did you manage to ask her about the Union?”

Maddie nodded. “Yeah. Dunno if it’ll stick, though. De Vygon was definitely listening in to the conversation. She tried to ask me what a salary was, and he cut her off.”

“Rat bastard,” Ash muttered. He sighed again. “Well, I suppose we’ve done what we can. Now we just have to wait and see about the results.”

Madeline hummed. It really didn’t feel like enough. But… What more could they do?

The air popped, and Vivienne suddenly materialised in the room, glancing around to reacclimate with her surroundings. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot.

“Woah, Viv, what’s wrong?” Madeline asked. Ashley stood up, clearly alarmed as well.

She shook her head, sniffling. “I… It’s just… fuck. Something really bad happened.”

Maddie opened her arms in an invitation, and Viv fell right into the embrace, sobbing against her chest.

“Shh, hey, it’s okay. You’re safe,” Madeline whispered, holding Viv tightly. “Can you tell us what happened?”

It took a bit, but Viv eventually pulled herself together enough to step away from Madeline and speak.

“I-it’s my uncle. I… I told him about our plan to help Jordyn because… I don’t know, because I wanted to do more. It didn’t feel like enough. S-so, we made a plan together, to sneak into that facility under the precinct to try and get some incriminating evidence on de Vygon.”

“Oh god, please tell me you didn’t go through with it.” Ash whined.

Viv’s throat bobbed up and down as she swallowed. “I didn’t get the chance. Steve went without me, b-because he thought it would be too dangerous and he didn’t want me to get hurt. He actually found a lot of really incriminating stuff, but… de Vygon wasn’t far behind him.”

Madeline clenched her fists. “Is he…?”

Viv took a deep breath. “He’s alive, just about. Stuck in hospital, though. De Vygon sent someone to his apartment that beat the hell out of him. I… I don’t know what he’s gonna do after he gets out. The doctors don’t think he’ll ever walk on his own again, a-and he can forget about going back to work under de Vygon.”

Ashley walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Vivienne. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to help him, but we can at least give him a place to stay while he recovers. We can even see about a job, maybe.”

Viv nodded, wiping her eyes. “I’ll let him know. Thank you, Ash.”

“You said he found some incriminating evidence,” Madeline said. “Do you know what?”

“Yeah, and you’re not gonna believe it.” Vivienne reached into her pocket and pulled out a USB. “It’s all right here.”

Ash took the USB, examining it as if its outsides would hold a prelude to the data within. “Well, let’s check it out, then.”

—

“...I don’t even know what to make of any of this,” Ash said. Madeline was right there with him.

There was something viscerally upsetting about the tone of the notes, glossing over these major human rights violations as though they were mere steps in a science experiment. Subdued panic stung the back of her throat, though she didn’t fully know why. Something about this ‘Source’ that kept coming up unsettled her, as did the fact that G-2 was asking to see her wife. She just… couldn’t put her finger on it.

“Turns out you were right about the test-tube baby thing,” Vivienne said. “From the sounds of it, de Vygon grew Jordyn and her sisters all the way to adulthood before letting them out.”

“How is it even possible?” Madeline muttered.

“The real question is, what do we do with this information?” Ash asked. “Who’s gonna believe this if we try to release it? It’s so perfectly vague that it almost seems intentional. No court on earth would convict with just this document.”

“It’s a start, isn’t it?” Viv pleaded. “I know it’s not gonna actually do anything on its own, but maybe if we showed it to the right people, it could be enough to start an investigation?”

Ashley sighed. “There’s really no way to tell. I’ll look into some stuff, see if there actually is any way we could use this. It’s good to have just for reference, at least. It gives us a bit more understanding about Jordyn’s experiences, which could be helpful in getting her to trust us.”

“I managed to ask her about joining the Union,” Maddie explained to Viv. “We’ll see how it pans out.”

Viv slumped down onto one of the chairs. “It’s something, I guess. Ugh, everything just sucks.”

Madeline gently nudged her foot. “Wanna get your mind off it? Go have a few drinks?”

“Ordinarily, I would say no to that for your sake. Today, though… I’m more than down. I can’t stay for too long, though. I’ve gotta get back to Uncle Steve.”

“Hey, I only said a few,” Madeline teased. 

“I’ll hold you to that, Maddie.”

“Yeah, that’s cool, just talk about it in front of me,” Ash joked.

Madeline huffed a laugh. “No one said you’re not invited, dude. Come on, we all need a break.”

He grinned tiredly. “You’re a bad influence, you know that? But… sure, why not?”

—

I arrived back at the facility at the usual time, heading down the elevator towards home. My mind was elsewhere, however. Far, far away, back at the encounter I’d had with Madeline Garcia-Holmes.

I’d been in the midst of another episode of… remembering what I did to Steven Matthews. Rather than letting my distraction cause me to risk making a mistake, I found a quiet, secluded place to take off my helmet and just let everything out for a few minutes. Only, clearly it wasn’t as secluded as I’d hoped.

Seeing Madeline again was certainly a shock. Just like last time, the sight of her sent my heart-rate skyrocketing, and I had no idea why. It wasn’t like with Vivienne, where I knew she was someone I could let my guard down around. She just… looked really pretty, I guessed. I didn’t know how else to describe it. Getting to carry her was also an experience I definitely wouldn’t forget any time soon.

But her offer… joining the Heroes’ Union? I’d never considered it before, but it made sense, right? I was a hero, so why shouldn’t I also work with the other heroes on top of my police duties? Only, Father wouldn’t like it. I’d heard him bad-mouthing the Union too many times for him to possibly approve. He definitely knew more than me when it came to them, but… surely they couldn’t be that bad? Madeline, Vivienne, and Brianna were all really nice, and the rest of the heroes probably were, too. It would be nice having people to relate to, in any case. No regular citizen would understand the difficulty of all the training and punishments we had to go through to get to be heroes.

I shuddered, remembering the feeling of a whip ripping the skin from my back. The thought that Vivienne or Madeline might have had to deal with that too was upsetting. At least they would… understand the struggle. It was a small comfort.

I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Father probably wouldn’t agree, anyway.

The elevator doors opened and I stepped out, making my way to his facility office and knocking before entering.

“Seven,” he said, looking up from his work.

I nodded to him. “Father.”

“I assume you’re here about Mrs. Garcia-Holmes’ request?”

“Yes, sir. I was hoping for your input.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I’ve given it a bit of thought. The Union isn’t the sort of place you would thrive to your utmost potential. The quote-unquote heroes it employs can’t hold a candle to the heroism you exhibit every day in your police work. Sure, they may be useful every so often when the Godling creates a monster or a disaster strikes the city, but those events are few and far between, and in the meantime, they do nothing but soak up taxpayer money. They’re freeloaders, prancing around doing nothing ninety percent of the time and sullying the title of ‘hero.’ Don’t get me started on their leader, Ashley Min. He doesn’t even have a power, yet he leeches off of taxpayer funds all the same, managing his little cabaret of fools and pretending like he actually has a use in our society. Hear me well, Jordyn. If the de Vygons – if our family still ran the Union, it would be unrecognisable from the farce it is today.”

There he went again. I really did my best to listen, but most of it just went over my head. What even was a ‘taxpayer?’

“...that being said,” he continued. “I believe this is an opportunity we can’t pass up.”

I froze. That wasn’t what I was expecting. “Sir?”

Father smiled. 

“I have a job for you, Jordyn.”

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

Ooooh cliffhangerrrrr >:)

this arc was a whole lot of whump and a whole lot of fun! I'm not entirely sure what the next arc holds tbh, I know exactly where i want it to go but i'm not sure what happens in between that and now. I wouldn't call it a recovery arc, but it's definitely something. It's... the Heroes' Union arc :)

in that respect, there may be more of a delay than usual until the next chapter. Between writing my book, working on a dnd campaign that i've just started, and now figuring out the next arc before i dive too deep into it, it may take a hot sec. Hope y'all don't mind!

Thanks for reading! let me know what you thought with a comment or reblog :) see you next time!

BUT!

before you go. Purely because I'm curious...

Poll :)

[bamber344]

Prologue - Birth

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masterlist

Finally going through with my promise to actually write this superhero living weapon whump story. Updates will probably be pretty slow and sporadic as finishing draft 1 of my book is my current priority, but once that's done i'll definitely focus on this during the downtime before editing starts. Also the series itself doesn't have an actual name yet but shhhhh i'm working on it

it's in 1st person pov for the main character as i felt her perspective would be more interesting from that pov. Other character povs will likely be 3rd person when we get to those.

this is just a prologue to get you situated in so it's pretty short but i hope it gets you excited for what's to come! let me know what you think! story begins below the cut.

CWs: Medical whump (technically), female whumpee, non-sexual nudity, confused whumpee, male whumper, blood mention, manipulation of a vulnerable person, living weapon whumpee, mysterious medical procedures, language barrier

The first thing I remember feeling was warm. It was all-encompassing, surrounding and pressing in on me. I was completely weightless, floating around in some infinite black void. Nothing existed but myself and the warmth, gently cradling me, lulling me to sleep. I let it take hold, and sank into the emptiness.

—

I opened my eyes for the first time, and discovered that the universe was Green. Like the warmth, it was all around me, clinging to my skin, suspending me in itself. There were shadows, flickering about somewhere deeper in, moving back and forth, tempting me. I wanted to go to them, but movement eluded me, and all I could do was reach out, uselessly grasping at the Green. It was then, with my arm stretched out in front of me, that I saw myself for the first time.

My bones were small, and my skin was translucent. 

That didn’t seem right.

Something inside of me started thumping quickly. I heard my very first sound; a shrill, high-pitched beep, piercing through the Green in time with the thumping. The shadows began moving quickly. Something was wrong. Something was wrong! I needed to escape! Get out! Get out get out get out get out getoutgetoutgetoutgetout get out get… out…

Calmness washed over me. My eyelids grew heavy. I closed them, shutting out the Green and returning to the dark.

—

COLD.

The Green was gone, replaced by blinding White. The warmth was a distant memory, torn apart by an all-encompassing cold biting my skin, now opaque as it always should’ve been. My whole body shivered and a terrible pain lit up inside of me, my limbs flailing limply against the hard surface I was pressed up against. I convulsed, and Green spilled out of my mouth, making way in my lungs for my very first breath.

Air rushed in through my throat and filled my chest. It still wasn’t quite enough, though. Another few coughs and it seemed like most of the Green had been expelled, leaving me panting and gasping for more precious oxygen, now that room had been made. It made me feel Awake. It made me feel Alive. It gave me the strength to lift myself to a seated position, curiously interacting with the way this new Universe worked outside of the Green. I was no longer suspended; I had to use my body to move, and to do that, I needed to learn how things worked.

The blurriness in my eyes cleared, and I discovered that the Universe was not entirely White, either. Yes, the White was abundant, but there were exceptions to it, like the things standing around me, observing. They had bodies of a similar shape to mine, with two legs and two arms and a torso and a head, but where my skin was bare and visible, most of theirs was obscured by more White, soft-looking wrappings and covers. They held things in their hands, and were making noises with their mouths, but none of it meant anything to me, so I moved on.

Something unexpectedly touched my shoulder and I spun, sweeping my arm out in alarm. There was a flash of Black and a splattering of Red and suddenly all of the things around me were screaming. I scrambled backwards as best I could, pushing and kicking my limbs off of the slippery floor to move myself away. The things moved away from me as well. That was good. I decided I didn’t like them.

My back hit a wall and I curled up, ready to lash out at any more of the White things with the Black that came out of my arm. It was still there, staining my usually tan skin from my hand to my elbow, with a tendril hanging from my wrist. I focused, and the tendril disappeared into smoke along with the remaining Black. Curious.

Enraptured as I was by my own strange ability to cover my hands in Black, I failed to notice the new figure approaching until they were right in front of me. My first instinct was to fight, to get the strange thing away from me, but when I looked upon them my body was filled with a strange sense of calm. I didn’t know how I knew it, but I knew that above all else, the thing in front of me was safe.

Their pale body was hidden by a blocky, navy blue covering, and their face was covered in wrinkles and divots. They reached out, cradling my cheek with a warm, calloused hand. I leaned into it, filled with an overwhelming feeling of safety. This was where the warmth I was missing was, ever since I left the Green.

The thing was making noises at me. I couldn’t understand them, but they didn’t seem to mind. They put a hand to their chest and repeated a specific noise, over and over. They sounded it slowly, making exaggerated movements with their mouth. Their teeth on their bottom lip; an open exclamation; their tongue between their teeth; and another, slightly less open exclamation. Compelled by my curiosity, I attempted to repeat it.

“Fffff…” I tried. “Fah…” My voice was raspy and weak in its first use. My tongue was thick and unresponsive. The movements of the thing were difficult to replicate, but they were patient as I practised, getting the hang of it. “Fah…ther. Father. Father!”

The thing smiled, and it was the greatest sight of my short existence. At that point I knew that I would do absolutely anything if it meant getting to see that smile directed at me again.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star

Hope it wasn't too confusing! Obviously the protagonist currently doesn't really know what's going on at all, so I tried to translate that feeling through the prose. It won't usually be like that, so dw if you weren't feeling it. feel free to ask for clarification tho! Happy to answer any questions that don't spoil anything

feel free to reblog ;) it helps a lot!

[bamber344]

Welcome To The Heroes' Union

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Completely dropping the pretense of having dedicated POV chapters. I like fucking around with the POV too much for that :)

Anyway, welcome to the Heroes Union arc! This chapter kicked my ass for unknown reasons, and i really hope this trend doesn't continue! enjoy!

CWs: Andreas being himself, discussions of pre-canon character death, allusions to Steve getting his shit kicked in (rip), uhhhh I think that's it. pretty tame this time around.

Welcome To The Heroes’ Union

“Hey, Seven. Good morning. It’s good to have you here.”

The man in front of me held out his hand in greeting. I’d seen people do this; I knew what to do. I’d just… never had to do it myself before. Today was full of new experiences.

“Uhm, hi,” I replied, shaking his hand.

We were in a small office somewhere inside the Heroes’ Union building. Father had set everything up, so all I had to do was walk into the building at the right time, follow the directions I’d been given, and walk into this room. Apparently, after that, I’d be a member of the Heroes’ Union. It seemed a lot easier than I’d thought it’d be.

Yes, against all odds, Father had agreed to let me join the Union. As usual, his agreement wasn’t without its many terms and conditions, though…

“I’m Ashley Min, one of the co-leaders of the Union. If you can take a seat, we’re just gonna do a little entrance interview so I can get some of your info,” the man, Ashley, said with a warm smile.

“O-okay,” I replied, sitting on the chair across from him. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous for this. Was there gonna be a test? What if I failed? Father actually wanted me to join the Union, so it wouldn’t just be Madeline and myself I was disappointing if I messed this up. There were real consequences.

Ashley picked up a little notepad and a pencil. “First off, can I get your full name?”

“Jordyn de Vygon.”

“De Vygon, huh?” he muttered. “You’re Andreas’ daughter, right? Gonna be honest, I didn’t even know he had one until recently.”

…That was odd. Wasn’t I still a superhero before the accident that cost me my memories? Surely people would’ve known who I was back then, right?

This was definitely one of those things Maggie would want me to question. It was also one of those things Father would want me to just not think about. For now, it was best to just play it safe and ignore it. 

“Uh, yep! That’s me.”

Ashley grinned. “You know, that means we’re related. In a ‘3rd cousins’ sort of way, anyway. My great-grandpa was your great-grandpa’s brother.”

I didn't know what a ‘grandpa’ was, or what made it so great, so I just nodded along. “Okay.”

Ashley paused for a second, then muttered something under his breath, looking back down at the pad. “Right… Could I get your date of birth?”

Oh boy. Another thing I didn’t know about. “Uh, sorry, what is that?”

Ashley blinked, looking back up at me. “Your date of birth. The day you were born. …Your birthday?”

Maybe honesty was the best policy in this situation. “I, um… It would probably be good for you to know this, but… I have some memory issues. I was in an accident a little while ago and just… lost everything from before. There’s a lot I’m still… catching up on.”

Ashley sighed, a distinct look of sadness in his eyes. Or was that… pity? “I’m sorry to hear that, Jordyn. I take it your date of birth is one of those things you’re still catching up on?”

I nodded sheepishly. “Y-yeah.”

Ashley nodded back. “I’ll just ask Andreas, then. I’ll do the same in regards to your bank details for your salary.”

All I could do was stare back blankly. “Uh, sure.”

“Well, since we don’t have to worry about any of that, I suppose the only thing left is your preferred pronouns.”

“Uh…”

Ashley sucked in a breath. “You don’t know about those either. Makes sense. Basically, it’s just how you like to be referred to. People call me ‘he’ and ‘him,’ y’know? It’s optional, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Most people will just assume in that case.”

“...You can pick those?”

Ashley shrugged. “Sure, why not? They’re just words.”

That… made a lot of sense. “Uhm… just the girl ones, I guess?”

Ashley chuckled, copying it down. “Sure. Well, that should be about it. Once I get your other details from Andreas, I’ll be able to register you as an official member of the Tombguard Heroes’ Union! Until then, we’ll just pretend like everything’s already sorted. We’ve got our monthly team meeting coming up, so you can sit in on that and we’ll get you up to speed.”

I nodded. “Alright. When will that be?”

“This afternoon. I know you have police things to do, so I won’t keep you any longer. Just meet me in the lobby at 2:30 and I’ll show you to the conference room.”

“Yes sir,” I replied, standing up. 

Ashley looked a little shocked. “O-oh, uh, we don’t do that here. Just Ashley’s fine.”

What kind of superior didn’t want to be referred to with respect? I could only imagine what Father would do to me if I called him by his first name. “Uh… right. Sorry.”

He smiled. “It’s alright. See you later?”

“Yeah.”

With that, I turned and left the room, with more than a little anxiety roiling around in my gut. Boy, this place was weird. 

—

Two days before…

“I have a job for you, Jordyn.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Sir?”

“The way the Union is being run currently, it’s nothing more than a leech on city resources. Eventually, it’s going to reach a point of singularity and collapse, and then we won’t have access to heroes when we truly, actually need them; for monster attacks. What it needs is an overhaul. New management, as it were. And I believe I am the perfect man for the job.”

With leadership skills like his, I couldn’t see why not. He continued.

“That’s where you’ll come in, Jordyn. I need someone on the inside to help facilitate my takeover. They’ve invited you to join, so no one will raise any eyebrows if you suddenly take a break from your police duties for this. I need you to gain their utmost trust. Worm your way into their hearts until they allow you to see them at their most vulnerable. Then, we strike.”

The thought of doing that to Vivienne and Madeline rankled, but not as much as the daunting prospect of actually having to undertake such a task. I wouldn’t even know where to start. “Uh, F-father, I… I’m not sure I can do that.”

He smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there to guide you along every step of the way.”

—

And so, I found myself returning to the Union HQ at 2:30, ready to attend my first meeting there. Ashley met me in the lobby just as he’d promised, and led me through the building towards the conference room.

“How are you feeling?” he asked. “Nervous?”

“A bit,” I replied. “How many other heroes are there?”

“Well, in total we have about 15 on our roster, but most of them aren’t very active in the Union outside of the big emergencies, so you probably won’t run into them a lot. If you spend time around the place, you’ll probably mostly be seeing Madeline and myself. Vivienne pops by pretty often, too. You’ve met Brianna, right?”

“Yeah.” 

“Well, she lives here in our dorms, so you’ll probably see her a lot, too.”

The thought brightened me up a bit. I hadn’t seen her since the shooting, where she held my hand and whispered comfort in my ear as Vivienne did her best to patch me up. It would be nice to talk again. Something in my gut tingled at the thought.

It wasn’t much farther until we reached the conference room. Ashley opened the door for me and we both stepped in.

The space was huge, dominated mostly by a large table at which sat over a dozen people, most of whom I didn’t recognise. Madeline sat near the head, with Vivienne next her, and Brianna a little further down. On the right-side wall from the entrance was a huge TV screen, displaying what looked like a map of the city. I clenched my fists, trying to keep a damper on my nerves.

Ashley patted me on the back. “Just take a seat wherever, okay?”

I nodded. “Right.”

He made his way to the head of the table as I searched for an open spot. Thankfully, there was one right next to Brianna, so I sat down there. Vivienne smiled and waved at me, mouthing something I couldn’t quite make out.

Screams. The sound of bones cracking under my boot. Blood being spat out through split lips.

I bit my tongue, trying not to vomit, and averted my eyes. I could just make out Vivienne pouting at my lack of reaction out of the corner of my vision, and the guilt only worsened. But… how the hell was I supposed to face her after what I did to her uncle?

Brianna leaned over to me. “That’s Seven, right?” she whispered.

Oh yeah, Brianna was blind, wasn’t she? I was thankful to Mr. Sadler for explaining to me what that meant after our first encounter, otherwise I might have been confused at her question.

“Yeah,” I replied.

She grinned wide. “Hey! It’s been a little while, huh? How’ve you been? Heal up from that bullet alright?”

In truth, my chest still hurt sometimes when I exerted myself, but it was nothing I wasn’t already used to from my back. “Yes, I’m all better.”

“That’s good to hear! So, I heard we were getting a new member. That’s you, I take it?”

“Uh, it’s not solidified yet, but… yeah, that’s me.”

“Awesome. It’ll be good to have you around.”

Would it really? I didn’t realise I was so sought after. The thought made a warm, giddy feeling rise up in my gut, though it was dampened by the memory of what I was here to do.

Ashley finished setting up and cleared his throat. “Thanks everyone for coming. It’s good to see you all again.”

Everyone at the table mumbled out a return to his greeting. I noticed most of them were just in casual-wear, no hero costumes in sight. As if I needed another reason to stick out…

“So, it’s been a pretty uneventful month overall, which I think we should be grateful for in this city. We had that one incident with the Godling changing that fire hydrant, but Rishta sorted that out before we could even get any reports. Good work, you’ll be seeing a bonus on your pay.” Ashley smiled at this ‘Rishta’ person, before turning back to the table at large, a more serious expression on his face. “More importantly, that means that the Godling is likely charging up Its energy for something big. I need everybody to be at the ready for this next month, at least until we get another attack. The last thing we want is for a repeat of five years ago to happen, and none of us are ready for it.”

What happened five years ago? The urge to ask was strong, but I held my tongue. I really didn’t want to draw any more attention to myself than necessary. From the way that Madeline and Vivienne both looked down when he mentioned it, it must’ve been something bad.

“On a lighter note,” Ashley continued, “I’m sure you’ve all noticed by now, but today we’re welcoming a new hero into our ranks.”

Oh boy.

He indicated over to me and I did my best to resist the urge to sink into my seat. “You probably know Jordyn here best for her work with our city’s police force, but from today onwards, she’ll also be contributing her considerable skill towards the protection of our city from more… monstrous threats. In regards to the elephant in the room, let's just get this out of the way. I know not everyone here is the biggest fan of the TPD, but let’s keep things civil. Jordyn isn’t here as a cop, she’s here as a hero, and more importantly, a friend. I expect you all to treat her the same as you would treat anyone else.”

Some people smiled and mumbled a greeting at me, while others ignored me entirely. This was it, I needed to start making an impression. I needed them to trust me.

I gave a small wave to the room. “Uh, hi everyone. I-it’s good to meet you all. I… I’m looking forward to working togethe- AUH!”

Right in the middle of my sentence, some pink, four-legged… thing hopped up into my lap and scared the life out of me. It looked up at me with its slitted-pupil eyes and weird wrinkly face and licked its chops, revealing sharp fangs.

“Mrrow.”

“Wh… what is that?” I whispered, trying to lean away from it. It just jumped up, planting its front feet against my chest plate and sniffing at the seams of my armour.

Laughter bounced around the room at the display, much to my embarrassment. No one else seemed to be surprised by the creature, so I supposed it was nothing to be afraid of. Still… A little warning would’ve been nice.

“Wow,” Ashley said, chuckling. “I haven’t seen Muffin be that friendly with someone in a long time.”

“M-Muffin?” I asked.

He nodded to the thing still trying to sniff its way under my armour, trilling and chirping all the while. “The cat. His name’s Muffin.”

So that’s what this thing was. I’d heard of cats before, of course, but I’d always thought they’d be… fluffier, based on the descriptions I’d been given. Muffin barely had a single strand of hair on him. 

I looked back up. Vivienne was smiling at me, but Madeline appeared absolutely livid. She stood up hard enough that her chair tipped over, and stormed out of the room.

Silence reigned over the space. Ashley cleared his throat. “Well. Uh, unless anyone has anything they’d like to say, I believe that’s all for this month.” He paused for a moment, but continued when no one else spoke up. “Alright, then. Meeting adjourned.” 

With that announcement, most of the people at the table got up and started heading for the entrance. I stayed in my seat, unsure of what to do, especially with the cat still sitting on me.

“What happened?” Brianna asked in a whisper.

“Madeline looked angry, then she got up and left,” I replied.

Brianna audibly winced. “Oh, I think I know why.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why?”

“It’s about Muffin,” Vivienne said, approaching from behind Brianna. She reached down and plucked him off my lap, to which he immediately responded by thrashing and yowling until she put him down again. Once free, he slinked off under the table.

It was still hard to look at Vivienne without feeling sick to my stomach, but I did my best. “Wh-what about him?”

She sighed. “He was originally adopted and brought into the Union by Madeline’s wife, Rosalyn. We all look after him, but Rosie was the only person that Muffin ever showed much affection to. He’s warmed up a bit to Maddie, but it’s still nothing compared to the love he showed for Rosalyn. She was probably offended that he suddenly jumped up on you like that out of nowhere. Seriously, he’s never done that before to anyone but Rosie.”

Rosalyn. That name sounded familiar in a way I couldn’t quite place. It rang through my ears, all the way through my body, and into my bones. It was familiar, in a homey, comforting sort of way.

“I don’t think I’ve met her,” I said.

Vivienne squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “Yeah, she, uh… She passed away five years ago in a monster attack.”

I bit my lip. “Is that common?”

She shook her head. “No. That attack was just… a mess.” She pulled up a seat next to Brianna and sat down. “It was the worst attack we’d ever seen. An entire city block was transformed into raging flesh in an instant. The death toll was immense. The entire Union fought for literally the whole day, trying to get people out and minimise the damage. I was there too, teleporting around, taking people to hospital, helping the front-liners stay out of harm’s way, delivering supplies… I couldn’t tell you how many times I had to stop to throw up from the disorientation. It was the same for all of us. We were exhausted and beaten. I… I was only 19, for fuck’s sake.”

Her face was sunken and drawn in a way I’d never seen before. She continued. “I saw the moment it happened, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Rosie was fighting her heart out, blasting the monster with fire so hot she was burning her hands. And then she just… stumbled. I guess the exhaustion must have caught up to her. The monster took its chance. A tentacle rose up behind her and… stabbed straight through her chest. She was dead before she even hit the ground. Maybe… maybe if I hadn’t been so out of it myself, I could’ve saved her. But it just happened so damn fast. One second she was standing there just fine, and the next, she was gone. She was the only Union hero who didn’t make it.”

I didn’t know how to respond, but Vivienne’s words instilled a dread in my heart that I couldn’t put to words. The only time I remembered feeling similar was when I saw a monster for the first time myself, on that first day out of the facility.

“I was lucky enough to not have to fight,” Brianna said. “But I was part of the rescue efforts, searching through the rubble for any survivors once the monster finally died. I couldn’t see the carnage, but I still remember the stink of death permeating the entire city, and the sounds of trapped people screaming for help. It was a day none of us will ever forget.”

“Wow, I… I had no idea…” I muttered.

Brianna chuckled, though there was a sourness to it. “Not sure how. I thought everyone in Tombguard knew. Doubly so for anyone working as a hero.”

“I… I can’t remember anything past about a year or so ago. I had an accident, apparently, and everything before that’s just gone.” 

The teasing grin dropped from Brianna’s face. “Damn. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” I said. “It’s just the way things are.”

There was a short silence, before Vivienne clapped her hands. “Well, would you like me to show you around, Jordyn? We’ve got a pretty nice setup here.”

As beneficial as that would probably be for me, I just couldn’t be alone with her right now. Not after everything I did. “N-no thanks. I should get back to patrolling, anyway. The, uh… the police probably need me.”

Vivienne frowned. “Okay… if you say so.”

With that, I turned and left, practically running out onto the street and ruminating on everything I’d learned. 

That big monster attack… Hadn’t Father said that I was injured in a monster attack? Could it have been that one? But, clearly no one else knew who I was, and they were all there that day. Besides, that was five years ago. There was no way I was asleep for all that time. Maybe I was just overthinking things…

Still. Rosalyn. I just couldn’t get that name out of my head.

—

Madeline loudly grunted as her fists made contact with the punching bag in the Union gym over and over. After all the effort she put into getting that cat to like her, everything she did for it, it just jumps up on Jordyn the first chance it gets? What the hell. How the fuck was that fair?!

“Maddie? Hey, are you alright? You ran off.”

She stopped, grabbing the bag and leaning her head on it as she caught her breath. Her fists stung from the force she was hitting the leather with, and her chest hurt from how winded she’d become without even realising. Boy, she really needed to get back into shape.

Madeline turned, finding Ashley looking at her with concern. She sighed. “No, I’m not okay.”

“This is about Muffin, isn’t it.”

It was a little embarrassing when he said it out loud like that, but whatever, sue her. That cat was one of the only things she had left of Rosie. Could anyone blame her for feeling jealous?

“Yes, it’s about Muffin,” she grunted, walking over to the bench and slumping down. “It just doesn’t make any damn sense that he would go to her like that!”

Ashley sat down next to her. “I agree with you. It doesn’t make sense. But, it happened, and you have to accept that. Don’t hold it against her.”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and was surprised to find that underneath the anger, she was legitimately on the verge of tears.

“It… it’s just not fair.”

He put an arm around her shoulders. “I know. It really isn’t.”

She made the most of his comfort, leaning against him and finally letting herself cry. She so desperately wanted to be mad at Jordyn for it – and a large part of her was mad – but the sensible part of her brain fought back against the idea. It wasn’t Jordyn’s fault Muffin liked her, even though it was a complete mystery as to how. Who knew, maybe she just stuffed raw fish into her armour and Muffin was attracted by the smell?

“Hey, guys. Everything okay?”

Madeline looked up to find Viv. She wiped her eyes, trying to get a hold of herself. 

“Everything sucks.”

Viv huffed a small laugh. “Yeah. Just had to explain to Jordyn what happened five years ago.” Her eyes glazed over a bit. “Fun memories.”

Madeline groaned, hiding her face in her hands. “Why did we sign up for this again?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do, or some other nonsense like that,” Ashley replied. He sighed. “It’s certainly gonna be an undertaking. Poor girl doesn’t even know her own birthdate, if such a thing even applies, considering she was pulled out of a tube.”

“I think that says more about de Vygon’s inability to provide her with a cover story than anything else, honestly,” Maddie said.

He snorted. “Yeah. I’m not going to discount the man’s intelligence, but that was a pretty big oversight on his part. And it’s a pretty big headache for me. Now I’ve got to organise a call with him so I can get all of her ‘details.’” He made air-quotes in time with the last word.

Viv clapped her hands. “Don’t worry, guys. We’ll get through this! It’s gonna be hard at first, sure, but as Jordyn gets more used to being in the Union, things are gonna get easier. She’ll be easier to talk to, and easier to convince that de Vygon’s hurting her. And once she’s finally safe and we can get her official testimony, that’s when we bring de Vygon and his whole group down! We’ve got this!”

As much as Madeline was loath to admit it, Viv’s optimism was infectious. She wasn’t going to admit it out loud, though. “If you say so, Viv. I’ll have to take your word for it.”

—

“With all due respect, sir… Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Andreas took a sip of his beer as he watched G-7 prowl the streets of Tombguard through her visor camera. “Trust me, George. I’ve calculated the risks.”

George hummed with uncertainty. “Still, you can’t blame me for worrying. Wanting to make it seem like everything is normal to the public is one thing, but actively letting Seven join the Union seems like a step too far. When you want your dog to be obedient, you don’t go letting it play with the pack of strays. Frankly, sir… I just don’t see the point.”

“It’s all part of the plan, George. We need her to join the Union if we ever want to make a difference in this city.”

“...I thought the idea was just to revitalise the police?”

Andreas sighed. He couldn’t fault George for his ignorance. It was, however, slightly annoying. “What’s the point of just revitalising the police if we don’t fix the other underlying issues plaguing our great city? The Union has been leeching off of taxpayer money for as long as I’ve been alive, yet they provide no value 99% of the time.”

“But… Isn’t it basically just insurance against monster attacks? If insurance companies can take our money on the off chance something bad happens, why can’t the Union? Hell, we don’t even have to consciously pay for it, it just comes out of our taxes.”

…Well, George was allowed to think what he wanted. He was just a peon, after all, only good for his science know-how. And that was why scientists never made it far in politics. He should really stick to his petri dishes.

Andreas cleared his throat. “Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, that was always the plan. Why do you think I specifically trained the subjects to be heroes, and not just police officers?”

“Uh… so that you’d have a good excuse to hide their faces, so it wasn’t immediately obvious they were all-”

“So that they could join the Union, obviously!”

George paused, blinking rapidly for a moment. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again. “Well. If that’s your plan, then who am I to stop you? But still, how can you be sure Seven’s interactions with the Union heroes won’t… sully her loyalty? Once she realises that it isn’t normal to be beaten for a minor infraction, don’t you think she’s going to decide that she’s happier there? We’ve had the programming to keep her in line so far, but it can only do so much when faced with outside influence. Aren’t you worried she’ll go down the same route as Five did?”

“As I’ve said, I’ve calculated the risks. G-7 always needed to join the Union for my plan to work. Yes, she may come into contact with people who may begin to pull her away from my control, but that is a risk I must accept if I want my plan to succeed. Hell, it might even help us. If G-7 begins to trust the Union heroes, they will trust her in turn. Then, all it’ll take is one last nudge.” 

He smiled as visions of the future washed over him. None of this will matter then. No more posturing and ass-kissing to higher-ranking politicians for funding. No more being part of the lesser family. There would be no one above him anymore.

“Uhh… Sorry, but I’m still a little lost-”

“Go home, Sadler,” Andreas interrupted. “Your shift ended five minutes ago.”

George sighed, getting up. “Yes, sir.”

The mumbling twig of a man shuffled his way out of the surveillance room, leaving Andreas alone to drink his beer and watch his creation do his bidding. Jordyn would only be useful for so much longer. He would say he was sad to know the time of her disposal was drawing nearer, but… well, that would be a lie. The weak little shit was only good for wasting his time and failing to follow his orders. Though, he could admit that he would miss having a punching bag to take things out on at the end of a long day.

Eh, G-7 wasn’t even uniquely good for that. Nothing was stopping him from waking up another subject whenever he needed to. That was the lovely thing about Jordyn and her sisters. They were so perfectly disposable.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

Andreas is such a bastard lol

let me know what you guys thought! I wasn't sure how i was feeling for a lot of this one, so any feedback is appreciated!

[bamber344]

Birds Of A Feather

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time for birb :)

got this one done quickly as I'd already written like a thousand words of it before i started writing that Viv chapter, so the groundwork was already laid

usually i would upload this in the morning (for me) but rn i can't be bothered to deal with all the faffing about so you're getting it now. wahoo yippee ect ect

side note, project genesis document is now at 100 pages including the taglist and all of my rambling notes, so that's pretty cool.

enjoy!

CWs: general violence, cigarette use, gun violence, knife violence. just a whole lot of action typical violence really.

Birds Of A Feather

The woman sighed, looking out over the city as the wind whipped through her hair. She brought the cigarette up to her lips and took a long drag, admiring the pink and orange sky coloured by the slowly setting sun. Say what you would about Tombguard; it was truly a beautiful place, if you knew where to look. Granted, the woman had never actually been outside of the city, so she didn’t have much frame of reference. Still, after spending the first nine months of her existence locked in an underground prison, the sight of any space big enough to spread her wings in was enough to bring a tear to her eye.

Things weren’t perfect, though. She was never completely safe from Andreas’ pursuit, and that wasn’t helped by the fact that she was actively antagonising him. Still, he’d be hunting her even if she didn’t fuck him over at every possible opportunity, so it was justified. That dickhead deserved everything she threw at him.

A dark figure flickered across the rooftop of the building opposite. The woman sighed again, taking one last puff to finish her cigarette and shaking her wings out. She didn’t want to have to do this, but it was the only way to keep herself and Hex safe. There was no doubt in her mind that Andreas had already told Jordyn to kill her on sight, even before she made a mess of the first assassination attempt. In an ideal world, they could leave each other alone and Jordyn could go on her merry, naïve way being ordered around by her ‘father,’ but that just wasn’t reality. It was kill or be killed, and the woman refused to let Andreas continue to have a hold on her life. Jordyn had to die for the two of them to live.

She cracked her neck and double-checked that her pistols were fully loaded before re-holstering them on her hips. She made sure her knives were secured against her thighs. The target was in sight. She pulled the mask over her face and stomped her cigarette out on the floor.

“Sorry, little sister. I’m not gonna miss this time.”

With that, she flapped her wings and took flight.

—

Something was wrong.

The afternoon was calm, and up until a few minutes ago, I’d been enjoying my time relaxing on the rooftops as the end to my patrol grew closer. As per usual, I’d been lounging on the edge of a building, watching all the people and traffic go by, but when I got up to make my way back to the facility, I was immediately hit with the sensation that something wasn’t right. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, and I had to resist the urge to look over my shoulder as I ran from building to building.

I knew that feeling all too well. I was being watched.

I slowed down, landing on a rooftop and surveying my surroundings. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and as far as I could see, there wasn’t anyone around that was paying any attention to me. That didn’t mean I was safe, though. For all I knew, this was another one of the Godling’s attempts to get in my head. The pain that would usually accompany that hadn’t hit yet, but still. I needed to be on my guard, just in case. 

A memory flashed through my mind; one of discarded feathers, and a suspect flying away after shooting me down.

I looked up.

All I could make out was a beak-shaped mask before my instincts kicked in and I flung myself backwards, out of the way of the hammer kick coming straight for my head. It cracked the concrete as it made contact with the floor.

I fell into a roll before hopping back to my feet, dropping into a fighting stance as I analysed my opponent. Based on their figure, they were most likely a woman, dressed in a tank top and some baggy combat pants, along with a heavy-looking pair of boots. Her arms were thick with corded muscle, her tan skin nicked with countless tiny scars. A large pair of black wings flared out behind her back, spread to show off their intimidatingly huge wingspan. Behind her bird-like mask, dark, thick hair cascaded down over her shoulders. She was about the same height as me, with a similar build, and based on the way that she dropped into an identical stance to my own, she knew how to use it. This would be no easy fight.

Kill the black-winged one on sight should you see it.

Father’s months-old command pierced through my mind like an arrow. Whoever this woman was, he wanted her dead, and I had a duty to see that order through. After all, she shot me. It was completely justified. She had to die.

A large part of my mind protested against the thought, but I pushed it down. I knew Father was watching. I couldn’t fail him again. I wouldn’t fail him again. Better to get it done quickly.

I whipped my hand forward, and a spike of shadow extended from the seams of my armour, heading straight for the gap between the woman’s fourth and fifth rib. It would be over for her in an instant. Painless, for the most part. It was better this way. My gut clenched as time seemed to move in slow motion, waiting for the countdown towards the woman’s demise to hit zero.

All of a sudden, she was moving, quicker than I could possibly have anticipated. She deftly stepped to the side, dodging the spike by millimetres, and flapped her wings, using the upward force to lift herself into a frontflip over my head. I spun as she landed and ducked my head to dodge another kick. The woman pirouetted as she backed up, pulling combat knives from the straps around her thighs. There was a single moment of tense stillness before she came at me again, stabbing and spinning back and forth with those knives aimed right for the unprotected spots of my armour like she knew exactly where they all were.

She had me on the ropes, backing up as I dodged this way and that, deflecting knives with my shadows when they came too close. I was far too focused on staying out of the way of her attacks to even think about focusing the darkness in my armour into any sort of attack. Maybe if it was nighttime, and I had shadows all around me to call on, I could put her down. As it was, I’d just have to do without the full use of my power. 

I grabbed her wrist as she came in for another attack and twisted, pulling her over my shoulder and aiming to slam her onto the ground. She was surprisingly heavy at first, but that quickly changed as a rush of wind hit my ears and the woman’s weight shifted behind my back. She moved with my throw, twisting in the air as she came back into view and wrapping her legs around my neck. Her movement stopped as she hit the ground with her other hand, and suddenly I felt myself lift off the ground as the woman pulled a reversal, throwing me over herself and slamming me onto the concrete with enough force to rattle my bones even through all of my armour. 

In my daze, I could just about make out the woman flipping back onto her feet and rounding on me once again. Something glinted in the light of the setting sun, and my instincts kicked back in just in time to roll out of the way of the knife coming straight for my face.

It snapped as it hit the ground where my head had just been, and the woman’s fist followed through hard enough to leave another cracked dent in the concrete. Just what was this woman made of?!

I threw myself back onto my feet and conjured a whip of shadow before she could get close enough to stop me. She lifted herself, discarding the now-useless hilt as she settled back into her stance. Her head cocked to the side, and my stomach dropped as my own voice came out from behind her mask.

“Well shit, Jordyn. I thought you’d be a pushover, but you’re not half bad. Still not as good as me, though.”

My shadows flared in alarm. “How do you know my name?”

The woman didn’t reply. Instead, her arm disappeared, moving faster than I could process, and reappeared with a pistol. She pulled the trigger once, twice, three times, and I stumbled back as each shot hit me in the chestplate and knocked more and more air out of my lungs. My shadow whip turned to dust as my concentration dropped from the sudden attack.

The woman didn’t waste her opportunity, flapping her wings to kick herself off and charging at me. She spun, and the last reserves of oxygen were expelled from my body as her steel-toed boot hit my side with the force of a train. 

The hit sent me flying, flipping head over heels in the air as I flew over the edge of the building we were on and onto the roof of another. I landed in a sprawling roll, desperately trying to regain control of my body and my lungs while fighting through the pain of a few definitely broken ribs. Eventually, I managed to jab a spike of shadow in the ground to stop my momentum and centre myself. I tensed my abs, sucking in as much breath as I could as I got back to my feet. There was no time to process, though. She was coming at me again.

All I caught as I looked up was a flash of wings before something hit me in the face and I was sent flying again; this time, with a brand new scrape in the viewscreen of my visor. I refused to let the hit stun me again, forcing my body into a flip that landed me back on my feet. She wasn’t the only one with a good core.

I quickly glanced around, trying to ascertain where she went. She wasn’t hard to find now that I knew where to look; swooping through the sky, gliding her way around for another hit. She lined herself up and began her dive, speeding towards me faster and faster; one knife in hand. She wasn’t going to get the drop on me again, though.

I stanced up, amassing my shadows beneath my armour, fortifying my body as she came closer and closer. This might be the only chance I had left to get out of this. I had to time it right.

There.

I dropped and spun right at the moment of impact, sending my boot launching up into her gut like a piston, powered artificially by my shadows and strengthened by her own speed. Darkness shot out of my armour as I made contact, following the hit through with dozens of tiny blades that cut into her stomach and pierced through her skin.

The woman let out a gagging cry as she flew away, crashing into the side of a building with a burst of feathers and falling into the alley between. Relief washed over me. It had worked; for now, I was safe. 

I knew better than to think it was over just like that. The woman was far too strong and clearly far too hell-bent on my death to be turned off just from one attack. I got lucky with that one; there was no way I’d be able to land a hit like that two times in a row, and it was becoming obvious that, as things were, I was outmatched. What I needed was a plan.

I turned to the west, looking at the setting sun. Its light was the only reason I wasn’t able to unleash the full strength of my power. Even if I ducked into an alley, the woman would probably have no trouble corralling me back onto a street, directly in the sunlight. What I needed was the complete darkness of night. I needed time. I turned to the east and I ran.

Adrenaline still coursed through my bloodstream, providing me with the strength needed to ignore my pain as I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, pulling myself along with shadowy tendrils where necessary. Only a few more minutes until sunset. I could make it.

Sure enough, I heard the beating of the woman’s wings against the air behind me, steadily growing closer. I knew my counterattack wouldn’t hold her back for long, but I was hoping to get a full minute out of it, at least. Oh well, there was nothing for it. I’d just have to evade her until the sun went down. Easier said than done, but I would manage. I had to.

More gunshots cracked off behind me. The impact against my back threatened to throw me off balance, but I stabilised, spinning mid-sprint and flinging spears of shadow at her to hopefully keep her at bay. I could hear her swooping back and forth and I zig-zagged in turn, trying to keep my movements unpredictable.

The hair at the back of my neck rose and I instinctively dove to the ground - just in time for the woman to blur through the space I’d just been in, crashing onto the rooftop just in front of me. We both jumped to our feet, but I was just a millisecond behind her, and she used that time to launch a powerful roundhouse kick right into my cheekbone.

My head whipped to the side, and everything around me suddenly clicked into high focus. The scratch in my vision was gone. I could feel the cool air on my face and in my sweat-soaked hair. The sounds of the city became loud and sharp; no longer muted by my helmet’s audio processors.

Oh, that was it. My helmet just came off.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as I watched it spiral through the air, flying over the edge of the building and falling into the alleyway, disappearing from sight. Father was going to be so mad with me. 

Time sped back up and suddenly I was moving; flying across the rooftop as the hit knocked me off my feet. I landed in a sprawling heap, tumbling over myself before managing to roll onto my back, staring up at the sky. My vision spun as pain throbbed through my skull, and my neck angrily protested any attempt to turn my head and spit out the bloody taste of whatever had come loose in my mouth. By the feel of it, it was probably a tooth.

The woman appeared in my line of sight before I could recover, planting one boot on my chest and aiming her pistol straight at my face. My heart leapt into my throat.

She wheezed, clutching at her bloody abdomen with her other hand. “That… was a nice fuckin’ hit you got earlier. You’re pretty good, Jordyn.” She straightened out, putting her finger on the trigger. “I’m sorry it’s come to this, little sis.”

“W-wait!” I pleaded. All I needed were a few more moments. This wasn’t the end. “Wait, please… Who… who are you?”

The woman hesitated. A few tense seconds passed, and she shrugged. “Yeah, why not. That’s the big question, isn’t it? Who am I? I asked myself that a lot when I was in your shoes. All you need to know is that I’m someone that daddy dearest doesn’t like very much. Though, I’m sure you already knew that.”

“B-but…”

“Who are you, Jordyn? Can you answer that? If you can, maybe your story won’t have to end here.”

That… that was a trick, right? She clearly already knew my name. If I gave her the obvious answer of ‘Jordyn de Vygon,’ I was gonna get shot. No, she was looking for something else. I racked my brains, searching for some sort of clue.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, little sis.”

“-daddy dearest-”

“Madeline Holmes, will you marry me?”

“Are… Are you me?”

I swallowed, praying to god my hunch was right. “I… I’m y-your sister. A superhero. I-I’m M-Madeline Holmes’... wife…?”

Silence reigned over the rooftop. The woman cocked her head to the side. “Huh. What gave you that idea?”

Not immediately dead. That was a good sign. “You… you called me ‘little sis,’ and… I had a dream, wh-where I was proposing to her.”

“Hmm. You’re not totally hopeless, I guess. Still, you’re a little confused. I’ll give you a hint: you’re not Madeline Holmes’ wife. I’ve had that dream, too.”

I frowned, trying to ignore the twinge of disappointment in my gut. “Then… I was right about the sister thing?”

“Smart cookie. Say hello to your big sister. You can call me Maggie.” 

This was all way too much to take in. Was this woman serious?! “B-but, if you’re my sister, why are you trying to kill me?!”

Maggie sighed. “I don’t want to, honestly. But I gotta prioritise number one, and Andreas would have sent you after me sooner or later, regardless of what I did. So long as you were just a mindless soldier following his every command, it was safer to just put you down. Now that we’ve had the chance to chat, though… I can see that you’re not totally under his thumb. You’re asking questions, you’re thinking for yourself a bit, instead of following blindly along with whatever he tells you. I might still have to kill you - we’ll see - but it’s a promising start.”

My head felt like it was about to explode. “S-so… You know who I am? Who I really am – the person I was before my injury?”

Maggie slumped. “See, and then you go and say shit like that, and you have me worrying again.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“I wish I could tell you the truth, Jordie. I really, really do. You don’t deserve to live in ignorance, stuck under that bastard’s grip. But, if I tell you now, things are gonna go tits up faster than I can flap my wings, and I sure as shit don’t have the resources to help you when it does. You gotta figure it out for yourself. I’m sorry.”

…What? So, after everything, she just wasn’t going to tell me anything? I was this close to finally having some answers about myself, and she was just gonna keep them to herself?! Frustrated tears prickled in my eyes. “B-but, but why?! I don’t understand! Why can’t you tell me?!”

“I just told you why, dumbass. I get that you’re desperate for some answers, but that’s the best I can do for now. You want my advice? Don’t stop asking questions. Don’t take anything at face value. Andreas is gonna try every trick in the book to make you feel like you’re too stupid to understand anything, so why even bother wondering? Don’t let him. You’re smart, Jordyn. You’ve shown me that in this conversation, and during our fight. I know you can figure this out, just like I did.”

Maggie finally lowered her pistol, holstering it as she looked out over the city. The sound of police sirens echoed through the air, steadily getting louder. “I’ve stayed out too long,” she said. She looked back to me. “I’ll let you go this time, Jordyn. But if you come after me again, I won’t hesitate to blow a hole in your head, sister or not. Good luck.”

Her wings flexed, extending out to their full length. I realised she was about to fly away.

“Wait! What am I going to tell Father? He’s ordered me to kill you, I can’t just ignore that! He’ll… he’ll punish me.”

“Yeah, that’s a tough one. For today, the best you can tell him is the truth. I kicked your ass, and got away. If he’s in a generous mood, he’ll let you off. I can’t promise that, though. As for if he orders you after me again? Maybe that would be a good time to question why he wants you to kill your own sister so badly. Don’t actually ask him that, though. God, he’d whip you bloody for that. Just… think about it. See you later, Jordyn.”

With a gust of wind and a quick, painful burst of pressure from the boot on my chest, she was gone, disappearing into the night sky.

Oh. I’d totally forgotten. I was meant to be buying time until sunset so I could muster up the shadows for a surprise attack. Oops. In the wake of everything Maggie was saying, it just slipped my mind. I couldn’t say I was particularly upset about that, though. I had a feeling that that conversation had been more valuable than I could currently comprehend.

The sirens grew louder and I continued to lay there, contemplating what I’d learned as the pain from my injuries steadily intensified in the comedown from the adrenaline of the fight. I… had a sister. Why hadn’t Father told me about her? What else wasn’t Father telling me about? Why were things so clearly fraught between my two only family members? And why did Maggie’s voice sound exactly like mine?

The swelling from my throbbing cheek was starting to spread up to my eye, forcing it shut. Worried, I reached up and gently poked it. It felt about as good as could be expected, from a kick that knocked out a tooth and took my helmet right off my head; in that doing that really, really hurt. Ow.

I gingerly sat up, trying not to move my neck too much. Speaking of my helmet, I needed to find it, and quickly. The police would no doubt be here soon, come to investigate the gunshots, and I couldn’t let any of them catch sight of my face.

It was slow, painstaking work getting myself down from the rooftop into the alleyway, but I managed. Thankfully, my helmet stood out pretty obviously against all of the trash and junk, and I was able to retrieve it with relative ease. As soon as I put it on, Father’s voice rang through my ears. Hearing from him filled me with relief, but Maggie’s words still sat heavily in the back of my mind.

“Seven, what’s your status? Did you complete your mission?”

I swallowed thickly, trying to sum up the courage to lie. “I-I… I’m sorry, Father. I failed. She got away.”

Silence stretched on for a long, tense moment. Finally, Father spoke again. “Return to the facility at once. We will discuss this more once your injuries have been seen to.”

I nervously bit my lip. “Yes, sir.”

I could already tell. Father was not in a generous mood.

—

“Three cracked ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a missing tooth, and a nasty case of whiplash,” the medic said, reading off my diagnosis. “It was good that you kept the tooth in your mouth. We can probably find someone to stick it back in, but as for the rest of your injuries, the best I can suggest is taking it easy.”

Taking it easy sounded nice, but I seriously doubted Father was going to let me take another break so soon after my last one. Sure enough, his frown immediately deepened.

“You’re dismissed,” he said to the medic. They nodded their head and left without another word. Father turned to me.

“You’ve disappointed me today, Seven. All you needed to do was follow one simple order, but clearly I expected too much from you. It’s obvious that you’ve been neglecting your combat training. From now on you will be doing double training shifts every day, as well as double patrols for the next two weeks. Oh, and forget about getting your tooth back. Maybe I will reconsider once you’ve done something to earn it.”

With that, he turned and followed the medic out. I sighed, looking up at the ceiling, running my tongue along my teeth and feeling the gap in between my upper molars. Having to work double patrols through my injuries definitely sucked, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I could survive that.

I tried to turn my head as I got up from the examination table, but a lance of pain shot through my neck and down my back. I gasped, returning to my previous position as gently as I could. 

Okay, maybe this was a problem.

Double combat training every day with my neck like this?!

…Fuck. Maybe it would have been better if Maggie had just pulled the trigger.

—

Maggie landed heavily on the fire escape outside of her apartment, clutching her abdomen. Adrenaline had made it a bit easier to ignore during the conversation, but now that things had calmed down, the real damage that Jordyn’s kick had inflicted upon her was becoming clear. Every breath felt like needles stabbing into her ribs.

She lifted her shirt to check the damage. Aside from the absolutely gnarly bruise, the kick had somehow also left her with multiple bleeding lacerations. The little soldier was crafty with her shadows, that was for sure. One thing was clear, though: she needed stitches. Ugh, her favourite.

She shook out her wings, trying to work off the spare anxiety, and opened the window, slipping inside.

Diego was sitting on the couch when she entered. He turned to her, a conflicted but relieved expression on his face as he looked her up and down.

“So… Did you do it?”

Maggie shook her head. “Nah. I almost did, but…” She sighed. “Seeing her scared face looking up at me like that, it… reminded me too much of Hex, on that day back in the facility. I decided to give her a chance.”

Diego’s face relaxed into a smile. “I’m proud of you. You did the right thing.” He stood up, walking over and planting a soft kiss on her lips, one that she happily returned.

She pulled out of the kiss, resting her forehead on his shoulder instead, enjoying the warmth of his arms wrapped around her. “I wish I could believe that. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how it pans out. Where’s Hex?”

“In her room, playing Minecraft on my laptop. She’s been waiting for you to come back.”

Maggie closed her eyes. “I’ll go say hi later. Right now, I should probably focus on patching myself up.”

“You want my help?”

“After what happened last time, I think I’ll just do it myself.”

“Fair.”

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idkwhattodowiththisaltiamsorry

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

Bird lady! Maggie! Yay! honestly up until writing this chapter her name was gonna be 'Fila' but i wasn't loving that so i decided to change it. Her full name is Magpie btw :)

listening to the yakuza soundtrack is quite motivating when it comes to writing fight scenes I've found. makes the imagery play out in my head like a QTE or something. It's great :)

Anyway, thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in a comment or reblog, it's super appreciated! also let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist :)

see you guys next time for another Steve'o chapter. Ciao!

[bamber344]

Cracks In The Façade

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masterlist

posting this now because i can't be F'ed waiting till tomorrow morning tbh...

We've got a Steve and Vivienne double POV special! it was my first time inside both of their heads so I hope I've done them justice!

CWs: references to previous torture (beating, cutting), gun whump, minor medical whump, caretaker who is just doing her best fr fr, references to past gaslighting, living weapon whumpee

enjoy!

Cracks in the Façade

Detective Steve Matthews sighed, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling it away from his chest to allow some airflow. It was a blisteringly hot day, and he’d rather be anywhere other than where he was right at that moment; standing in the sun outside of a convenience store that just got held up. The perp didn’t get very far, thankfully. Seven had been patrolling nearby and took the man down before he could make it across the street. Now Steve was just here to take statements and collect evidence in the summer heat. Or, more like he was there to supervise the beat cops as they did all of those things under the direction of another detective while he just stood around sweating. As if Captain de Vygon would actually let him lead his own investigation.

At least he didn’t have it as bad as Seven did, though. It couldn’t have been cool in that intimidating black armour, and he knew that the captain was breathing down her neck just as hard as his – probably even harder. Ever since those SWAT officers were killed a week ago, Seven had been moving differently; almost gingerly, as though she was hurt, or so Steve had noticed in their few encounters. It rose warning flags in the back of his mind. Something just wasn’t right about that whole situation. Steve didn’t trust de Vygon’s integrity at the best of times; he wouldn’t put it past him to beat his volunteer superhero for a mistake, especially one so extreme. The real question was, why would Seven put up with it? It just didn’t sit right.

Well, what was he going to do about it, anyway? He wasn’t a hero. He was barely a cop. Seven was an adult woman and a borderline supersoldier. He’d seen her flip a grown man over her tiny 5’3” frame and break his arm with ease. If she had a problem with how things were going behind the scenes, she could get herself out of it. The Union would take her in no questions asked if she wanted. It was probably just in his head.

Right now, the woman was standing some distance away, seemingly spacing out while staring through the window at the mannequins on display in a woman’s clothing boutique. She seemed to have relaxed some now that she wasn’t on active duty, antsily twiddling her fingers together as she examined the clothes. Steve walked over to her. He had nothing better to do, after all.

“Thinking about buying something?” he asked.

Seven jumped a little before turning to him. “S-sorry?”

“Are you thinking about buying something from here? You seem pretty fascinated by what they got on display.”

Seven looked at him, and then back to the mannequins, wringing her hands nervously. “Um, I don’t have any money. I was just… looking.”

No money? That was odd. Though, perhaps she just meant she didn’t have any on her. It didn’t look like her armour had pockets, to be fair.

Steve shrugged. “Still, you work hard. You should treat yourself. Why not come back after your shift is done?”

Seven stared at him, and though he couldn’t see her face, he could sense the confusion in her body language. She looked back and forth between him and the boutique a few times. “Uh… O-okay…”

The more Steve interacted with her outside of combat scenarios or de Vygon’s presence, the more he felt like there was something seriously weird going on. Her apparent personality just didn’t match the front she put up whenever she was working. If he had to guess, he’d say she almost felt like… like a sheltered kid or something. Where the hell did de Vygon find this girl?

A memory flashed through his head, but he shook it off. He’d heard it enough from the precinct counsellor; it was just a hallucination induced by stress and a lack of sleep, nothing more.

The awkward silence stretched on. Steve sighed. “Well, whatever. Do what you want. I’m gonna head back to the scene; I think the boys are almost done with the evidence.”

He turned and started walking away, hearing Seven’s footsteps following along behind him. He approached her because she’d looked a little lonely, standing there staring at the store like a puppy with a toy it couldn’t have, but now he felt bad about interrupting her privacy and ruining her quiet moment.

They got back to the scene. Steve busied himself catching up on the evidence that had been logged, while Seven milled around, as she was wont to do at crime scenes. A few days after her first appearance, a couple of fleeing perps returned to a scene that she’d already left and ruined some evidence before the police could stop them. Ever since then, she’d made a habit of sticking around to ensure everything went smoothly, unless there was another pressing issue that required her attention.

It was a few minutes later that things went awry. A loud crack echoed across the street and Seven flew backwards. All of the officers dove for cover and Steve was no exception; throwing his car door open and hiding behind it. There was a shooter, and if they had managed to knock Seven off her feet, they had to be packing some serious heat.

Steve glanced around. Seven was on the floor, but she was still moving. According to de Vygon, that armour of hers was bullet-proof. He hoped for her sake that was correct. She lifted her head, trying to get up, but another shot ripped through the air and sparks flew from Seven’s helmet as she was forced straight back to the ground.

Steve drew his pistol, taking a deep breath. He peeked through the window of the open car door, looking up at the roof of the opposite building. The sky was blindingly bright, but he could just about make out a figure perched on the edge. Light glinted from the scope of the sniper rifle in their hands.

One of the other officers returned fire and the figure startled, backing up and taking their rifle with them. A huge pair of dark wings unfurled from their back and flapped, lifting them from the roof with improbable speed. Steve took aim and fired a few shots, but none of them met their mark. The figure was too fast, ducking and weaving through the air until they were gone from sight.

“Seven, are you alright?!” Steve asked, jumping out of his hiding spot to check on her.

Seven groaned, lifting her head again. The glass on the front of her visor was cracked, but it didn’t look like the bullet had gone through. Most likely, it ricocheted off the edge. He couldn’t tell where the first shot had impacted, but the woman didn’t seem that much worse for wear, if a little winded. “Y-yeah… I’m okay.”

“Come on, we might still be able to see them from the roof!”

Steve turned to the other officers. “Put out an APB! We’re looking for someone with huge black wings and a sniper rifle! They won’t be able to hide!”

The authority in his voice surprised even him, but it spurred the officers into action, scrambling to communicate with dispatch to organise a manhunt. With that out of the way, he turned back to the building the shooter was perched on, running towards it. Seven was back on her feet by now, right behind him.

She cleared the building in a single jump, disappearing over the edge of the roof. Steve wasn’t so blessed with augmented abilities, and as such had to painstakingly climb his way up the fire escape, activating muscles he probably hadn’t used in years. He was definitely going to be sore by tomorrow morning.

Finally, panting and gasping from exertion, he reached the roof, but it was too late. The winged person was nowhere to be seen. It was just their luck that their suspect would be able to fly. Still, they’d find them in time. There was no way someone with such an obvious power could hide themselves for long.

Seven was looking at the floor, where the shooter had been perched. Scattered around the area were a dozen long black feathers, no doubt left by their wings. Once again, Steve was hit by a memory he’d been trying to forget, of a night roughly eighteen months ago, where he’d seen an impossible sight that subsequently nose-dived his career.

~~~

It was a little past one in the morning on a cold winter’s night, and Steve Matthews was returning to precinct 23 to pick up some case files he needed to look over. It had been a long week, and exhaustion was clawing at him like a feral cat, trying to drag him to bed, but there was still work to be done. He promised himself that once he got back to his apartment, he would sleep and go over the files in the morning, and that assurance gave him the strength needed to keep going for these last few hours.

It was when he was just about to enter the precinct that it happened. The glass door flew open and Steve froze as he came face to face with the two girls running out. They froze in turn, staring him down. In the dim light from the street lamp, Steve could just about make out their appearances, and what he saw shook him to his core.

One girl was older; clearly an adult, and the other was probably in her early teens, if Steve had to guess. They were both dressed in identical black thermals and had shaved heads. The older one had a large pair of wings sprouting from her back, the feathers puffing up in anticipation. Both girls had the exact same face; one that should’ve belonged to a dead woman. The younger one’s eyes held a cocktail of fear, sorrow, and pain. In her older sister, there was only rage.

A small twitch of her feathers was all the warning he got before the older one was wrapping her arms around the teen, beating her wings against the cold air and disappearing into the dark sky, leaving Steve alone to contemplate the impossible thing he’d just witnessed.

~~~

Steve remembered how hard Captain de Vygon had tried to convince him what he’d seen wasn’t real. He remembered all of the counselling sessions he’d been forced to go to, all the cases he’d been forced to drop because of his supposed ‘unstable mental state.’ According to de Vygon, of course it had been a hallucination! Why else would both girls have had the face of a dead superhero? Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes was one of the most famous superheroes Tombguard had ever seen, and Steve had even met her a handful of times before her death thanks to his niece. It made sense that his brain would pick out her face to put on the actors in its mysterious play. It was all just in his head. Steve had even started to believe it himself. Now, however…

Steve looked over at Seven. She came from precinct 23, just like those two mystery girls. What face hid underneath that visor of hers? Why was everything about her so weird? Just what exactly was de Vygon doing underneath the precinct?

Seven was still staring at those feathers. A thought occurred to him; a pit opening in his stomach. If those girls had all come from the same place, there was every possibility that they knew each other. And now, one of them had just shot Seven with clear intent to kill. Regardless of what else was going on behind the scenes, that had to sting.

“Did… Did you know who that was?” he asked carefully.

Seven hesitated, but ultimately shook her head. “N-no. Captain de Vygon has spoken of a girl with wings before, but I don’t know who she is.”

Her voice was slurring a little. Steve frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I-”

—

“Did you hear that?” Brianna asked, craning her head around despite the fact that she wouldn’t be able to see anything, anyway.

“Hear what?” Viv replied. They were sitting together on a rooftop, enjoying a lunch break from their patrol. Not that there was really much to be patrolling for, especially not for a support hero and rescue hero, but it was a good excuse for both of them to get out of studying for a while, and enjoy the warm summer’s day. That reminded Vivienne that Maddie was probably about due to be dragged out of the house again, as well. Rosie would kill her if she let her wife rot inside all summer, and they hadn’t really done anything since Rosie’s death anniversary aside from hang out and play video games together.

Brea frowned. “Sounded like gunshots. Over in that direction.” She nodded her head down the street, her shoulder-length braids swishing back and forth with the movement.

“Should we go check it out?”

Brea shrugged. “If you wanna. I’m not too keen to get caught up in a fight or something, though.”

“We’ll just have a look from a distance,” Viv said. “If it’s something we can help with, maybe we can step in, but we’ll see.”

“Alrighty then, sounds good.”

The two of them stood up and Viv took Brianna’s hand. In an instant, the scenery changed and they were about two kilometres down the street. Brea shuddered - she still wasn’t very used to teleportation - as Viv looked around. There were a few police cars parked a ways away, and she could just about make out two people on a rooftop nearby.

“So?” Brea asked. “Anything interesting?”

Vivienne squinted. “A couple of cop cars, and… I think that’s my uncle? And that new hero that works with the police, too. They’re on a roof. Doesn’t look like anything dangerous is going on anymore.”

“Y’know, I’ve been wondering what that new hero’s deal is. I’ve heard a lot of weird rumours on the radio. What’s her name again? Seven?”

“Yeah. Maddie and I met her a couple weeks ago. We didn’t really get to chat though, because de Vygon showed up and swooped her away. Wanna see if we can say hi?”

“Might as well. Not like we’ve got much better to do. Just… warn me before we teleport next time, please? I know I can’t actually see that we’ve moved, but something about the way the air pressure pops just throws me off.”

“Sure, sorry about that.” She took Brianna’s hand again. “You ready?”

Brea took a deep breath and nodded. Vivienne focused on the empty space a few feet away from her uncle. She did a countdown for Brea’s benefit and as soon as she reached zero, Viv flipped the switch in her brain and the space that she was focusing on appeared under her feet. She turned her good cheer up to eleven and announced herself to the two police officers.

“Hey guys! What’s-”

Seven whipped around and a wave of darkness spilled from the seams in her armour, barrelling towards the two of them. Viv stumbled backwards, waving her hands.

“Wait, wait! Friendly!”

The wall of shadow stopped inches from her face, dissipating into the air. Seven didn’t drop her combat stance though, watching them through her visor like a hawk. Speaking of which, her visor looked seriously messed up. The opaque glass was spiderwebbed with cracks, coalescing at a point near her temple. Also, it sort of looked like there was a hole in her armour, right above her heart. What the heck happened here?

“I-it’s just me! You know, Vivienne? We met one time? Oh yeah, and this is Brianna, she’s my friend. Hi, uncle Steve!”

“Yo,” Brea said.

Steve sighed. “Hello Vivienne. This is a crime scene, you can’t be here.”

They must have startled Seven something fierce. Her whole body was shaking. Viv frowned, ignoring her uncle.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

The woman finally dropped the combat stance, putting a hand on her chest. “D-detective… I… I think the first shot pierced my armour…”

Steve whirled around. “What?! You said you were okay!”

“I- I thought… The shock must’ve… It… It hurts.” Her voice cracked into something almost like a sob at the end. Vivienne’s gut wrenched.

“Uncle! There’s a first-aid kit in your car, right?”

Steve blinked, taken aback. “Y-yes, but-”

“Brea, get her to lay down. I’ll be back soon!”

“You got it,” Brea replied.

Viv turned to Seven. “You can trust us, alright? I know first-aid; I’m studying to be a nurse right now. It’s going to be okay. We’re gonna fix you right up. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Seven nodded shakily. “O-okay…”

Vivienne jumped into action, grabbing her uncle’s wrist and teleporting him down to where the police cars were milling. He barked some orders at the other officers as they made their way to his car, relaying the situation and telling them to inform Captain de Vygon while Viv opened the trunk and grabbed the first-aid kit. She wasted no time teleporting them back to the roof-top, pleased to find Seven already lying on her back. Brea was holding her hand, speaking softly to her.

“Do you want to take your helmet off?” she asked. “You might be able to breathe a little easier without it.”

Seven shook her head. “Not allowed to let anyone see my face…”

“Well, I’m blind, so I won’t be able to see it anyway. If you’re more comfortable with it on, that’s fine.”

Seven reached a hand up, and for a moment Viv thought that she would get to see the face under the mask, but all she removed was her mouthpiece. Her lips were chapped and dry, and the surrounding skin was discoloured with fading bruises. Her bottom lip looked like it had been split recently. She and Steve shared a look. Clearly, he was thinking similar thoughts.

If Seven never took her helmet off when she was out, where had she taken those hits?

Viv tried to ignore it. That wasn’t important right now. She knelt down at Seven’s side, examining her abdomen.

“We’re gonna have to remove your chestplate to get a good look, Seven,” she explained. “Don’t worry, help is on the way. We’re just gonna make sure you’re as well as you can be until they get here.”

“Latches ‘re under the armpits,” Seven replied, slurring slightly. Without the electronics in the mask obscuring it, her voice was soft. It had a rough sort of cadence that reminded Viv a little bit of Rosie, only without the hispanic accent.

Viv followed her instructions, finding the latches and pulling the chestplate off. If the state of what little she could see of Seven’s face had shocked her, then she definitely wasn’t prepared for the state of her bare torso. She sucked in a breath, and heard her uncle curse quietly.

Below her armour, Seven was wearing nothing but a sports bra, leaving very little to the imagination and filling Vivienne with some very conflicted emotions. On one hand, Seven was fucking sculpted. She looked like a goddamn greek statue, and the sight of those sweaty planes of muscled, tanned skin were leaving Viv a little breathless. On the other hand, it looked like someone had used her abdomen as a punching bag, leaving a tapestry of colourful bruising across every inch of aforementioned skin. What was even more concerning than that, however, were the two sloppily stitched-up cuts intersecting each other on the upper-left side of her belly. They were too clean to be anything other than intentionally made, and clearly the patch-up was far from a professional job. Vivienne didn’t know what to think about any of this, but it was giving her a distinctly bad feeling.

She pushed all of those thoughts down. Now wasn’t the time. Seven was her patient, and right now all that mattered was finding and assessing the damage from the bullet she was presumably shot with. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to find at all. A large patch of blood had saturated the cotton of her bra right above her sternum, surrounding a very obvious hole.

The fact that she was still conscious and alive meant that the bullet had most likely been slowed down enough by her armour to be stopped by her sternum, but Viv doubted that the bone remained entirely intact in the process. It was a marvel that she was still able to move about in the way she had. Either Seven was very used to pain, or she was still bursting at the seams with adrenaline. Based on the state of her body, it was probably a mix of both. The only certainty was that she needed a hospital. Until professionals arrived, Viv and Brea would just have to do their best for her.

Step one was to find the bullet. If it was deeply embedded in the bone, there wouldn’t be anything they could do for her now aside from slowing the bleeding, but they might be able to remove it themselves if it just impacted the surface. There weren’t any major blood vessels in that area, so they could probably do most of the patch-up work on site.

“Brea, can you check how deep the bullet is?” Viv asked.

Brianna nodded, moving her hand closer to Seven’s chest. Two of her fingers disappeared, turning into thin wisps of smoke that then drifted daintily down onto Seven’s body. The smoke wafted around searchingly until it found the hole, sinking into it and examining the interior painlessly.

“It seems like it’s just below the surface of her skin. Doesn’t feel like it’s fragmented or anything. We shouldn’t have any problems removing it here.”

“Cool,” Viv replied, pulling on some gloves from the first-aid kit and searching for a pair of tweezers.

“Don’t worry,” Seven muttered. “I’ve got it.”

Vivienne was about to protest when blackness began to seep across Seven’s skin from the shadowed edges of her armour. It travelled like a liquid, remaining flush with her body as it slipped under her bra and amassed in the bullet hole. Seven tensed up, balling her fists and clenching her teeth, clearly trying to power through the pain of whatever she was doing. Viv was a little too distracted by the mouth-watering sight of her tensed abs to question it. After a few seconds, Seven relaxed, her body deflating with a sigh as a flattened, gore-covered bullet rose from the hole, lifted by a pillar of shadow, before being discarded and rolling away down the side of her chest, leaving a trail of red on the cotton in its wake.

Viv blinked. “Where the hell did you learn how to do that?”

“‘s not the first time I’ve had to pull shrapnel out of myself,” Seven replied.

Well then. Just another thing to file away under the ‘weird and concerning things about this new superhero’ tab in her brain.

Vivienne took a second to get her brain back in order. This next part was important.

“Alright, well… Are you okay with me lifting your bra so we can patch up the wound?”

Seven waved a hand that flopped limply back to the ground. That wasn’t a great sign. “Go right ahead.”

Viv took a breath and ripped the metaphorical band-aid off, lifting the garment and looking only at the bloody wound on her chest, refusing to let her eyes drift anywhere else. Time to do her thing.

“I know I said we’d do our best for you here, but you should really go to a hospital just to be safe. The risk of infection here is pretty high,” Vivienne explained as she gently rubbed the wound down with an iodine wipe. Brea kept hold of Seven’s hand, whispering comforting nothings to her to distract her focus away from the pain Viv was no-doubt causing.

Seven shook her head. “N… No hospital. Not allowed.”

Oh boy. It just got worse and worse with this one, didn’t it?

“Do you at least have some sort of medical facility you can go to?”

Seven nodded, so at least that was one less thing for Vivienne to lose sleep about. She pulled out a bandage and placed it over the wound, deciding it was safer not to stitch it up here in case she missed anything that the actual doctors would need access to treat. With that done, she pulled Seven’s bra back down into its place.

“Well, that’s about all I can do for that right now. Is there anything else I can help you with?” Viv asked.

Seven let out what was probably supposed to be a considering hum, but it ended up sounding more like a groan. “Mm, I dunno… Thanks for your help, though. You guys’re nice. And you’re really pretty, too.”

Brianna barked out a laugh as Viv’s insides got caught in a vice. “O-oh. Um, thank you.” She could feel her face burning with an obvious blush. Stupid redhead genes. 

“What about me?” Brea asked, smirking.

“Yah, I meant you, too,” Seven clarified. Her voice was slurring a lot now. “I really like your… your face. ‘s nice.”

Brea was trying to act cool, but Viv could still see her dark complexion deepening from the blush on her cheeks, too. 

Steve - who had walked away once Viv removed Seven’s bra for the sake of her modesty - made his way back over to them. “Seven, do you have a concussion? You’ve been acting a little strange.”

“Oh, uh… Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Viv groaned. “Of course you do. How do you even know?”

“My visor can check for it… That bullet hit me in the head pretty hard, so the first thing I did was get it to check.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?!” Steve asked.

“A lil’ bump‘s no reason to stop working.”

“We should take your helmet off to check. It might be pretty serious,” Viv said.

Seven shook her head again. “Not allowed.”

“Seven, I’m not kidding! You could be in real danger and we’ve had no idea this whole time!”

Steve sighed. “It’s fine, Vivienne. You’ve done good. Her medical team will take care of the rest. Speaking of which…” he trailed off, glancing over the edge of the building. “Looks like the cavalry’s here.”

Everything moved quickly from thereon. A group of people ascended up the fire escape with a stretcher and carefully laid Seven out on top of it. They were about to make the painstaking journey down when Viv just offered to teleport them. It would be dangerous taking her down the fire escape, and the quicker Seven got some proper medical attention for her head, the better. It wasn’t long before she was bundled into the armoured van and driven away to wherever her supposed ‘medical centre’ was, leaving Vivienne, Brianna, and Steve alone on the roof.

“Yeesh,” Brianna said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “That girl has issues.”

Steve shook his head. “Everything about her is just… giving me a bad feeling.”

“I’ll say,” Viv replied. “Did you see the state of her torso? Those bruises were awful! Not to mention the cuts…”

“I’d suspected something like that. The way she’s been moving recently, it was obvious that she was in pain. And I’d bet good money that Andreas de Vygon had something to do with it. He practically has her on a leash.”

The name made Vivienne’s blood boil. That man was truly scum. He’d tormented the Union for years, harassing and slandering her and her friends. Why any superhero would choose to join him was beyond her. That being said, the more she learned about the mysterious woman, the more it seemed like it might not have been a choice after all. 

“There’s gotta be something we can do, right?” Brea asked, voicing Viv’s thoughts. “If de Vygon’s mistreating her, surely there’s someone we can tell about it to get her out of his hands?”

“He would just cover it up,” Steve said. He let out a breath, rubbing his face with weary exhaustion. “Look, the only thing I know for sure is that that woman is strong enough to take down the entire precinct if she wanted. If she had a problem with how she was being treated, she could get herself out of it. De Vygon might have influence, but he’s just a normal man when it comes to power. Seven could easily kill him if he angered her. We’re probably just looking too much into it. Those injuries could easily just be from combat training or something.”

Vivienne sighed, looking out over the city in the direction Seven’s medical team had left in. “I hope you’re right, uncle. I really, really do.”

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idkwhattodowiththisaltiamsorry

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue

Even in the midst of a concussion and a broken sternum, Jordyn can't help but be a hopeless lesbian

Viv didn't really get as much introspection into her character as I would've liked but that's just because she was so focused on Jordyn that there was no time for that. Chapter was ballooning a lot as is. I'm sure she'll get more later :)

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought! Comments and reblogs very appreciated :)

[bamber344]

The Cost Of Negligence

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masterlist

this chapter is a little over 4k words long and almost 3k of it is pure whump :3 I know y'all have been starved of some solid whumper-whumpee goodness for the sake of story progression but dw, here it is!

Feels good to actually have shit to put in the CWs lol

CWs: living weapon whump, controlling whumper, gun violence, knife whump, drowning whump, beatings, dehumanisation, belittling, conditioned whumpee, references to past torture (whipping), the inherent irrationality of abuse

poor jordyn :3

enjoy the chapter!

The Cost Of Negligence

The sound of my heartbeat echoed through my head. According to my visor, my BPM was sitting at around 110. Anticipation ate at my gut and sweat prickled along my skin. I could see my nerves reflected in the men around me; their hunched backs, twitchy fingers, and heavy breathing. In comparison, I must have looked totally stone-cold calm. I wasn’t, of course, but I knew better than to let my anxiety show. I was their rock; the one these men would be relying on above all else. To show any form of weakness would be tantamount to sabotaging the mission.

“Are you ready, Seven?” the team commander’s voice pierced in my ear, sharp and electronic over the comms.

“Yes, sir,” I replied. The men around me all tensed in response. It was time.

The command to breach sounded like a bomb going off in my head, and everything started moving at once. The man with the battering ram smashed the door open while another threw a flash grenade in through the doorway, giving the criminals inside no time to react before they were blinded.

They were scum. The worst of the worst; manufacturers of the sorts of drugs that have ruined countless lives on the streets of Tombguard. I’ve seen the result of their greed time and time again over my past month of patrolling; in the crumpled bodies on the sides of the road; in the people twitching, scratching themselves, making scenes over nothing but the narcotic-induced hallucinations and hurting themselves in the process. The source of all that pain could be traced straight back to this building, where a tip-off confirmed that a manufacturing plant of one of the city’s largest drug trafficking rings was located. They would get no mercy from me.

I charged forward into the fray, shadows lashing from my body as I took the lead in disabling the criminals. Most of them were completely stunned by the flashbang, so it was a cinch to run up and crack each of them with a well placed hit to the skull, sending them crumpling to the ground and leaving them for the SWAT officers to apprehend.

The door in front of me slammed open and a man ran out, pistol in hand. He zeroed in on me as the biggest threat and took aim. For a split second, I froze as adrenaline shot through me, but then my training kicked in and I threw my arm up, turning the darkness inside the barrel of the gun solid. He pulled the trigger and the whole thing exploded, mangling his hand.

I ran up as he screamed, slamming the palm of my hand into his nose and jabbing at his throat in quick succession before cracking my elbow against his temple. His knees buckled and he collapsed like a sheet of broken glass.

The clamour in the main room had become significantly quieter. I turned and surveyed the situation, pleased to find almost all of the criminals in handcuffs already, the officers sweeping the last few rooms of the house that held the source of all this pain.

“Is that all of them?” I asked.

One of the SWAT officers - Eyre, I thought his name was - did a head count of the apprehended criminals. “According to the tip we got, there should be one-”

The door next to him opened - the last door we had yet to check - and all I saw was the barrel of a shotgun before my legs were powering forward and I was shoving Eyre down.

The gunshot went off and the force of the impact against my armour sent me rolling across the room, the wind rushing from my lungs. Several more gunshots echoed through the small space as the other officers drew their weapons and returned fire, putting down the culprit like the dog he was.

“Anyone hit?” one of the officers called.

“N-no, no, I’m okay,” Eyre said, picking himself up off the floor. I did the same, wincing at the pain in my back. My armour was more than enough to prevent any real injury from such small bullets, but the shock of the bullets’ collision with the metal still transferred to my body, right into the scars that Father had left with his whip. Just my luck. It was definitely going to bruise, and those things gave me enough grief already.

“Seven? Are you good?”

I nodded, grateful for my visor to hide my grimace. “Yes.”

The officer turned away, seemingly satisfied. “Alright, let’s get these suspects rounded up so the evidence team can clear this place out.”

Relief flooded my system at the notion that we were finished. No more fighting for today; I could just go back to the facility and relax. Or, more likely, shadow Father after giving my report until he dismissed me. Still, that would be leagues better than the nauseating heat of battle. At least with Father there was a certain guarantee that I wouldn’t be suddenly inflicted with a head wound. I couldn’t say the same about joining SWAT raids, that was for sure.

The earpiece in my helmet crackled to life with the commander’s voice. “Lookout team C isn’t responding. Seven, could you go check it out?”

“Roger,” I replied, rushing out the door. The brightness of the midday sun glared in my visor as I ran, heading for the tall building across the street that housed Lookout Team C. There were several sniper teams set up around the area, keeping an eye on things in case any suspects made a run for it. They hadn’t been needed, thankfully, but it was still worrying that this team wasn’t responding. Hopefully, it was just a radio malfunction, but something in my gut was telling me otherwise.

The shadows in my armour wrapped themselves around my legs like springs, fortifying them and giving me the strength to fling myself and clear several storeys in one jump. I flew up through the air until I reached the apex of my flight, sending out a whip of darkness from my wrist which wrapped itself around the railing of the fire escape, keeping me suspended. The whip shrank, and I was pulled up along with it, slingshotting myself over the edge of the building and onto the roof, where I landed in a safety roll before turning to where the lookout team was supposed to be posted.

Two people in SWAT uniforms laid sprawled against the lip of the roof, blood pooling beneath them. Their sniper rifle was nowhere to be seen. My heart lurched.

“Team C is down!” I shouted into the comms, rushing over. Maybe they could still be saved.

“What happened?! What’s their status?” The commander asked.

I reached the bodies, turning one over onto his back. His entire front was stained red, and his throat hung open and bloody like a gaping maw of flesh. I dropped him and stumbled back, looking around in case the one who’d done this was still nearby. All was still and silent.

“Th-they’re dead,” I replied. “Their throats are cut, a-and their gun is missing.” 

“Shit!”

What followed was a scramble of orders too fast for me to process. I was too busy staring at the bodies of the two men who had been assigned to look out for us. When did this happen? How long have they been lying there, growing cold? From the looks of things, they didn’t even get a chance to react to whatever attacked them. One moment they were alive, diligently doing their duty for the raid, and the next, they were bleeding out on the concrete. I just… couldn’t understand. This sort of thing wasn’t supposed to happen to the good guys.

The comms crackled and Father’s voice suddenly appeared in my ears.

“Pick up that feather, Seven.”

His words kicked my mind back into gear. Sure enough, there were several black feathers scattered around the scene. I hadn’t noticed them before, and honestly, why would I? There were plenty of birds in the city, and plenty of birds meant plenty of feathers. They weren’t usually something to bat an eye at. That being said, if Father wanted a better look at the feather, he must have had a good reason for it. Following his order, I picked one up, examining it. It shimmered in the sunlight, long and full. I didn’t know much about birds, but this feather seemed healthy to me. 

“Bring it back to the facility with you. I will be awaiting your report in your quarters. That is all.”

The comms crackled again, and Father’s voice disappeared, replaced once again with the Commander’s frantic yelling, trying to coordinate a search for the suspect who did this to his men. I looked back at the feather, considering it again. I remembered the words Father said to me on the day I was deployed, just after meeting Madeline for the first time. If the puzzle pieces connected the way I thought they did, the search wasn’t going to be successful, especially if they only looked on the ground.

“Kill the black-winged one on sight should you see it.”

I turned my gaze up towards the sky. That magnificent blue stretched onwards to infinity, dotted with clouds of varying shapes and sizes. There was no ‘black-winged one’; no crazed, knife-wielding killers darting through the air, silhouetted in the light. Just an endless expanse of blue. There was nothing. Nothing but a feather clutched between my fingers, two dead men, and a missing sniper rifle.

Why, then, did I still feel like I was being watched?

— 

I sighed, sitting down on the end of my bed having finally stripped my armour off at the end of the day. I’d already given Father my report of the raid, and handed over the feather he’d been so interested in. He was silent the entire time, just listening, not even saying a word when he left my quarters. It worried me a little. Today was far from usual in terms of my activities, and adding in the huge loss of two SWAT officers, I could imagine that Father wasn’t very happy. I’d been doing good for him lately, but I knew well how easily his displeasure could turn around onto me. My bruised back throbbed in memory of the whipping I got all those months ago for failing at the obstacle course. I’d have to be on my guard.

Sure enough, the door opened again and I jumped back to my feet, standing at the ready. Father glowered as he walked over, the door shutting automatically behind him. Usually, he would've given me the command to be at ease by now. Something was very wrong. I didn't have my armour on anymore; totally stripped down to my underwear. The knowledge of how defenceless I was in the face of his anger was terrifying.  

He stopped inches away from my face, towering over me. I averted my gaze nervously.

“Could you tell me, Seven…” he began, voice low and rumbling like thunder. “Why exactly two men under your protection were killed, and you have nothing to show for it?”

“I- I don’t know, sir. I was busy with the raid; I don’t know what happened to the lookout team. I… I didn’t think they would be in any danger.”

He struck me across the face with the back of his hand, and my head rang like a bell. My entire body tensed up so that I wouldn’t move from my position and anger him further.

“Two men are dead because of your negligence, do you understand that? Two good men, with families that we will need to notify. What am I supposed to tell John Benovich’s wife when she asks why her husband isn’t coming home? That we don’t know why? That the only reason her husband is dead is because you weren’t doing your job? Can you even comprehend the gravity of your failure today?”

As a matter of fact, I didn’t understand it. How could what happened have been my fault? Was there really anything I could have done differently to prevent it? I knew Father was right of course, but the thought of the blame falling on me when I couldn’t make sense of it rankled, and I felt the uncharacteristic urge to defend myself bubble up inside me. Deep down I knew I would regret it; I knew Father would punish me for my insubordination - and rightfully so - but some part of me just couldn’t concede until I really understood what he was trying to tell me. I looked up and met Father’s piercing glare.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t see how it was my failure. I had no way of knowing what would happen, and the lookout teams were far outside of the range in which I could reasonably protect them. I… I just don’t understand how it’s my fault. I- I’m sorry.”

The silence in the room boiled and I felt the regret wash over me like a humid wave; sweat beading across my body. Father’s face contorted, his pale skin growing splotchy and red. I saw the hit coming from a mile away as the world seemed to move in slow-motion, but my body refused to move out of the way; painfully aware of how much I deserved this punishment for what I just did.

His fist collided with my nose and I felt the cartilage crack under his knuckles. My head snapped backwards and I stumbled, the pain and shock filling my eyes with tears. My back hit the sink and my knees buckled, dropping me to the floor and leaving me half supporting myself against the cold porcelain as warm, coppery liquid dripped over my lips and into my open mouth.

Father shook his hand out, his face a mask of rage. He stalked over and grabbed one of the straps of my sports bra, forcefully pulling me back to my feet. Icy terror stabbed through my chest. I really shouldn’t have done that.

“W-wait! I’m sor-”

He struck me again with his free hand, still holding me in place. My head spun, and my mouth tasted like blood from where I’d accidentally bitten the inside of my cheek.

“How dare you talk back to me, you mangy little attack dog?! How many times am I going to have to beat this lesson into you? I own you. You are mine. If I say that you failed, you have failed, and the first thing you should be doing is getting on your knees and begging me for forgiveness, not giving me backtalk! You know nothing about how the world works. You are nothing. Without me, you wouldn’t be here; you wouldn’t get this freedom that I’m allowing you. You would be buried six feet in the dirt where you belong! And you’re telling me you don’t understand? Of course you don’t; you’re barely one degree above an animal. You’re lucky I’m even gracing you with my presence. Do you at least understand that?” 

Through the hot tears on my face and the paralysing fear in my gut, I could tell he was looking for an answer. I nodded frantically.

“Say it!” he screamed, aggressively shaking me.

“I- I understand, s-sir!”

He leaned in close until our noses were almost touching. I tried to shy away, but my back was against the wall. There was nowhere to go.

“What do you understand?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

“I- I understand that I’m lucky to h-have you, F-Father.”

His eyes narrowed. “...And?”

I swallowed, trying to remember his exact words. “A-and… that I’m b-barely one degree above an animal…”

He tapped my cheek with his thumb. It was gentle, but it still made me flinch.

“That’s right, Jordyn. You’re barely even a person, and the only reason you get to be that much is because of me. You only matter if you’re useful to me. Remember that.”

He finally leaned away and I had to resist letting out a sigh of relief at getting my personal space back. My heart was still pounding in my ears and my nose throbbed painfully along with every beat.

“Now,” he said. “Would you like me to help you understand your failure today, as well?”

I froze. I wasn’t sure how I should answer that. With no words coming to mind, my mouth supplied the default before I could stop it.

“Yes, please.”

Father cracked his knuckles. “Good.”

He was coming at me again before I knew what was happening. His fist sunk into my solar plexus and I gagged, slamming back against the wall as the air rushed out of me. Father didn’t slow down, following up with an elbow cracking across my cheekbone. One left jab split my bottom lip, and a right hook blackened my eye. His fingers tightened around my head as he grabbed my face and drove my skull against the wall behind me. I felt the skin split and warm blood drip down my neck, but there was no time to focus on that as Father pulled me down into a knee that crushed my already broken nose.

The pain was too much, and for a split second, everything turned white. I felt my body go limp and the world seemed to slip out of focus as Father began kicking me in the gut over and over, not allowing me a second to suck in the breath that had been lost when this beating began. A sharp, stabbing pain that was definitely a broken rib shot through my chest, and black swarmed my vision. It all became too much, and my eyelids started to fall shut, unconsciousness taking hold.

Just as quickly as it had started, Father backed off, storming out of the room and leaving me in a heap on the floor, slowly coming back to myself. My chest finally untightened and I sucked in as much air as I could, panting and coughing and sobbing at how much breathing hurt. I still didn’t understand. What was the point of all that? All… All he did was hurt me, and I still didn’t know what he meant when he said that I failed. Was it even possible for me to understand? Maybe… Maybe I was just too stupid. That was why Father was always there to tell me what to do. Without him, maybe I would just be too dumb to understand anything. Maybe I really was just a dumb, stupid, barely-a-person animal, just like he said. 

I clenched my teeth, trying to stop crying. Every sob was like another kick in the chest, and it was excruciating. I really should’ve tried to get up and treat my wounds, but the thought of moving right now made panic claw up my throat. At least there was the reassurance that I had nothing else to do today, so I had all the time in the world to just lie here and feel sorry for myself. There was no need to force myself up just yet.

I heard the door slide back open; heard Father’s footsteps across the tile floor, and cold dread washed over me like ice water.

My vision was still blurry, so I couldn’t quite make out his face as he approached, but I could see what he was holding. In one hand: a knife. In the other: a bucket, sloshing with liquid.

“Oh good,” he said, voice lilting with menace. “You’re still conscious.”

“Wh… Wha…?” I tried to speak through my busted mouth, but it wasn’t quite following my instructions. Everything felt too thick and heavy.

“Your lesson isn’t over yet, Jordyn. We don’t stop until you understand.”

Panic shot through me like a bullet, and I started hyperventilating. “P-please… N-no more…”

Father shook his head. “You need to know the cost of your negligence. You need to know what you put those two men through by failing them today.”

He put the bucket down and grabbed the back of my neck, dragging me painfully to my feet. I could barely keep my balance, but Father’s hand remained in place and held me steady as the world spun around me.

Something cold and sharp poked my belly a split second before a line of fire parted my skin; Father’s knife cutting a shallow slice into my abdomen. I screamed as the agony struck through my nerves like lightning, thrashing and trying to escape. Father’s hand maintained its iron grip.

“Because you couldn’t maintain protective vigilance over all members of the raid team today, both of those men had to suffer through the excruciating experience of having their throats slit.” 

The knife came again in time with his last word, cutting perpendicularly through the previous wound. I dry-heaved. My hands remained at my sides, refusing to move and defend me no matter how badly I needed it. Father wanted to teach me a lesson, and I’d already failed once today. I could not disobey him again.

He let go of my neck and I dropped to my knees, clutching at the wound with blood-slicked hands. The knife clattered to the ground and Father dragged the bucket over until it was right in front of me. He got to his knees at my side and his hand returned to its place at my nape.

I had no strength left, and as such Father had no issues shoving my face down into the cold water filling the bucket. The shock made me suck in a breath, sending water shooting up my sinuses and into my lungs. I instinctively coughed and tried to get any air at all, but that only made it worse. Forcing back against Father’s hand did nothing. My hands still refused to do anything to help me, as if something was holding them back, keeping them from acting against Father’s will. It wasn’t a conscious choice anymore; I needed to get out of this water, but they just wouldn’t listen. Shadows wouldn’t amass and do my bidding. I couldn’t go against him. I couldn’t fight back. I was helpless, and it was going to kill me.

Finally, Father pulled my head out of the bucket. I coughed and sputtered, wheezing any air I could through my water-logged throat. Please, god, let it be over.

“Because their throats were slit, they died in agony, drowning slowly in their own blood,” Father said. “It’s not a good experience, is it?”

I shook my head as best I could with his hand holding me in place.

“Do you understand yet, Jordyn? Do you know how you failed, and what your failure put those men through?”

“Y-yes, yes, I u-understand, sir.” It was the truth. I understood.

He pursed his lips. “See, I don’t think you do. Until you’ve experienced both of their pain, I really don’t think you can understand. You’ve already been cut twice, sure, but the drowning? I just don’t think you get it yet.”

My eyes went wide. Father dunked me under the water again.

It was too much. I just couldn’t take it anymore. Every single part of my body was in pain. My face throbbed relentlessly. My lungs burned from the lack of oxygen and my abs burned from the effort of trying to fight back. Every movement still sent a spike of anguish shooting through my chest. My back ached from bending over. The cuts on my belly stung endlessly. I just wanted it to end. 

Father’s hand wasn’t moving. This was it; I was going to die. After everything I’d survived, I was going to die while getting taught a lesson because I was too stupid to understand a simple concept. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this life. Blackness swarmed around my vision, closing in. I accepted it.

Once again, right as I was teased with some sort of release from this agonising consciousness, Father ripped it away at the last moment. My head was pulled out of the water and Father finally released his grip. My body went slack without his support and I collapsed to the floor, knocking the bucket over as oxygen and feeling slowly returned to my tingling, dying body.

“Now, you understand,” Father said.

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. I was too busy trying to figure out how to breathe again.

“What do you say, Jordyn?”

Despite my overall lethargy, my brain kicked into overdrive trying to parse that question. Getting it wrong would mean this lesson wouldn’t be over yet. Father would still have to teach me more. He would have to take more time out of his day to discipline me for my stupidity. I needed to get this right; I needed to prove that I could be good for him in all the ways he deserved. I was lucky to get to even be in his presence.

“Th… thank you…” I rasped. “F-for… For helping me… u-understand…”

“Good girl.”

In the distance, I heard the door slide open. Mr. Sadler’s voice echoed around my head.

“Sir, we've finished- Oh. Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Father stood up. “Just dolling out some discipline. Don't worry, we just finished. What were you saying?”

“We've finished analysing that feather from the scene. You were right, it came from G-5’s wings.”

“Thought so. Seems that girl is dedicated to being a thorn in my side. No matter, we'll find out where she's hiding eventually. Then, Seven will take care of her. Won't you, Jordyn?”

I was too stupid to know what they were talking about, but it seemed prudent to reply with an affirmative. Unfortunately, I seemed to finally have lost control of my body, and all I could manage was a moan that sounded vaguely like a yes.

“Very good,” Father replied. “Now, patch yourself up and take a shower. You stink.” With that, Father and Mr. Sadler left my room, and I finally, finally, passed out.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idkwhattodowiththisaltiamsorry

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme

Hope all those work correctly this time! post creator is ass at telling you if your tags are actually functional. Anyone who has any advice I could really use it!

Huuuuuge shoutout to @anoyedartist who did some awesome fanart of Jordyn that you can check out here. Go and give them some love!

Thanks sm for reading :) Don't be afraid to leave a comment and let me know what you thought! It sustains me. Reblogs also very appreciated :)

gonna do another chapter of my book before the next one so it'll be a bit of a wait again. Stay tuned!

[bamber344]

Whumpee intro: Jordyn's Training - 1

prev/next

masterlist

heyo ik I said the updates for this would take a while but I wanted to get this out quickly so there was some actual whump to sink your teeth into for the story. the 'Jordyn's Training' arc was meant to just be one thing but this first section absolutely ballooned way bigger than I thought it would (just over 2k words) so it will most likely be a 4-parter

Anyway this series actually has a name now! it is Project Genesis, courtesy of my brain in the shower this morning; the birthplace of many great ideas.

Lemme know if you wanna be added to the tag list btw! chapter begins below the cut :3

CWs: broken bones, whipping, emotional manipulation, vomiting, blood, meal restrictions, mentions of recovery, female whumpee, male whumper, superpowered whumpee

(let me know if I need to CW anything else I forgot about!)

Jordyn's Training, part 1: The First Mistake

3 MONTHS AFTER WAKING

The obstacle course stretched out before me, vast and daunting. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t done before, but the fast-spinning metal poles and swinging wrecking balls never failed to make me anxious before I threw myself in for another go. I’d been hit by them more than enough to know how much they hurt. Still, this sort of training was necessary for my rehabilitation, so I steeled myself and prepared to do another run-through, aiming to beat my personal best under Father’s watchful eye.

It had been three months since I woke up in that room, cold and confused, lashing out at anything that moved. If not for Father, I would probably still be in that helpless, animalistic state. He took me in when no one else would, taught me how to speak, and read and write; how to be a functional human being again. I was in an accident, apparently, injured badly enough that when I woke my mind was completely blank, bare of even the most basic muscle memory. Father’s treatment may have fixed my body, but my mind still needed hands-on work; work that he tirelessly took upon himself. He spent countless late nights with me, speaking to me, reading to me, letting me get a feel for English again. He allowed me to lean on him while I was relearning how to walk. He spoon-fed me when I lacked the coordination to feed myself. There was still a lot that I didn’t know, and I got confused often, especially when he used bigger words, but he said that was okay. I didn’t need to know everything. So long as I did good, and he gave me that warm, tingly smile, nothing else really mattered.

Apparently, I used to be something called a ‘superhero’ before my accident. I would use this strange power I had to take down criminals and bring them to justice. If I ever wanted to be able to do that again, I needed to train. My body may have been passably functional, but it needed to be exceptional, or so Father said. He always smiled when he talked about me being a superhero again, so I knew that was where I needed to focus my efforts.

“Jordyn? What are you waiting for?” Father asked, his voice gravelly and stern.

I snapped out of my thoughts. “Sorry, Father. I was just preparing myself.”

He shook his head and something inside of me shrivelled up. “Not good enough, Jordyn. Do you think the criminals will wait for you to be ready? You need to do what I ask when I ask, not when you think you are ready.”

I clenched my fists, tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “S-sorry, Father.”

“It’s alright, Jordyn. Now, go.”

I wasted no more time, charging forward as Father started the timer. I needed to do good on this to make up for my blunder before. Father had spent so much of his time and energy on me; I couldn’t let it all be for nothing.

The beat of my feet against the floor fell into a rhythm as I jumped, dodged, and dashed my way through the course. I’d been running it for over a month now, and it was quickly becoming second-nature. I knew exactly when to duck my head to avoid the spinning beams, how to deftly move between the wooden knives shot from the walls, and just which way I should step to avoid the pitfalls in the floor. The burn in my lungs and legs was distracting, but I didn’t let it slow me down. Just like Father always said: ‘Pain isn’t real.’

Something looked a little different about the second set of spinning poles, but I ignored it. The course was always the same every time I ran it; I was probably just thrown off because of Father’s reprimand. They always stung in a way I didn’t know how to deal with. 

I leapt into the fray of rapidly spinning wooden beams, ducking the ones at head-height and hopping over the ones aiming for my legs. It took a little bit more focus to ensure I wasn’t hit this time; it seemed as though the poles were spinning faster than usual. Still, with all of my practice, I was making good time. My personal best wouldn’t know what hit it.

Crack!

Something slammed into my shin and my leg buckled from under me. That was fine, this wasn’t the first time I’d been knocked down. I made sure to roll out of the way of any on-coming beams so I had a safe spot to catch my breath in before continuing.

Then the pain hit, so hard and so strong that I immediately gagged from the shock, agony shooting up my leg like bolts of electricity. It was hard to breathe. Hot tears spilled from my eyes as overwhelmed sobs tore from my throat. I looked down at my leg to see what was hurting me so bad and almost threw up. My shin had already turned an ugly purple, and the rest of the limb below that point was twisted unnaturally. My heart lurched.

“F-FATHER! HELP!” I shrieked. The pain was too much; my entire body was locking up, too afraid to move in case I made it worse.

“What are you doing, Jordyn? Get up. Keep going.”

Disobeying his orders hurt almost more than my snapped leg, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. “I- I can’t! It hurts! Father, please!”

“That’s not good enough! Use your shadows, steel yourself! The course is not over until you complete it! Get up, girl! Your pain is not real!”

The thought of going on made me want to curl into a ball, but I did as I was told. Father’s orders came before all else, especially my own comfort. I owed him my life; a little pain meant nothing in the face of that. I reached out to the shadows around me, wrapping them around my injured leg like a splint. My skin turned black, sucking in all of the light around it, but the pain did lessen somewhat. A whimper escaped my lips as I forced myself up. Shards of agony stabbed my flesh every time I put weight on my leg, but it was manageable. I could move, albeit slowly. So much for beating my personal best.

It took an embarrassingly long time, but eventually I was able to limp my way to the end of the course, receiving more than a few extra bruises from the traps I was unable to dodge due to my injury. I collapsed at Father’s feet, dropping to my knees with my head hanging low as sweat dripped from my brow.

“That was disgraceful, Jordyn. Even your first attempt was better than that.”

I bit back a sob. “I’m s-sorry, Father. M-my leg, it-”

He grabbed a fistful of my short hair and tugged my head up, slapping me across the face. “I don’t care for your excuses. If you allow something as trivial as a broken leg to slow you down, the criminals out there will tear you to shreds. You should have learned by now how to use your power to protect yourself against this sort of thing without my instruction. I’ve already spent so much time healing you; I will be very disappointed if it turns out to all be a waste. Are you a waste of my time, Jordyn?”

“N-no Father! I’m not a waste!”

He let go of my hair, allowing me to sag back down to the floor. “Hm. I expect not. Remove your shirt.”

I blinked up at him. “F-Father?”

He struck me again, hard enough to whip my head to the side. “If you cannot even follow a simple order without talking back, how can I expect you to perform well in the field?”

I didn’t make the same mistake twice, pulling off the black, skin-tight garment as quickly as I could.

He nodded his head to the side, indicating a metal pole in the corner of the room, with two handles sticking out of it on either side. I’d yet to learn what purpose it served, but I had a feeling I was about to find out.

“Grab the handles of that pole and remain on your knees.”

I shuffled over with my head down, each drag of my injured leg across the floor causing tears to spring up in my eyes. The metal of the handles was cold under my palms, numbing my fingers. The rough floor dug into my knees uncomfortably. Father was moving around behind me, and every time it sounded like he was approaching, I inadvertently flinched and shied away. Anxious curiosity burned in the pit of my belly. What was this all about? I risked a question.

“Father, wh-what’s happening?”

“You need to learn how to ignore pain, Jordyn. The only way for you to do that is to experience it. It isn’t real; just chemical reactions in your brain. You must internalise that.”

“I- I don’t know what that means, Father.”

He ignored me. “While this is because you failed today, it doesn’t have to be a punishment, Jordyn. Consider it a lesson; a lesson on conquering pain. If you use your shadows to protect yourself from this, or let go of the handles at any point, I’ll have your other leg broken and forbid the medics from repairing it. Remember: pain isn’t real.”

“Father, I-”

SNAP

All of the air rushed out of me and a line of fire lit up across my back. It was so sudden that I couldn’t stop myself from crying out. Surely that wasn’t what he meant to-

SNAP

My stomach rolled uncomfortably as the strike shook my entire body. I couldn’t help but scream as the pain echoed through me.  

“FATHER! FATHER, P-PLEASE STOP!” 

“Be silent, girl! Who told you you could speak?!”

SNAP

His command overrode even my most basic need to express the utter agony I was in, and the following scream got caught in my throat. Shadows flickered and writhed underneath me, licking up my legs out of protective instinct before I forced them back down again, Father’s warning ringing in my mind.

SNAP

SNAP

SNAP

It felt like it would never end. My vision darkened at the edges. My abs clenched and a surge of bile spilled from my mouth. Warm blood dripped down the burning, torn skin of my back, my anguish heightening with each consecutive blow.

Pain isn’t real Pain isn’t real Pain isn’t real Pain isn’t real Pain isn’t real

SNAP

SNAP

SNAP

SNAP

SNAP

Seconds passed, and no new wave of pain came. I gasped, sucking in as much air as I could to refill my lungs before it was all inevitably expelled again by another strike. My ears were ringing so loud I could barely hear anything and my entire body felt numb aside from the battlefield that was my back, which was still sending lancing aftershocks deep into my muscles even as time continued to press forward with no hint of the next lash.

“You may release the handles, Jordyn.”

I let go and my whole body went limp as I dropped to the floor into a puddle of my own blood and vomit. The movement sent arcing memories of fire through my torn-up skin, and a sob slipped from between my clenched teeth.

“Clean yourself up and report to the medbay when you are ready. After that, head straight to your room. Do not expect dinner.”

All I wanted was a warm meal and for the pain to stop. “Wh-whyyy?” I moaned.

“I will not reward mediocrity, Jordyn. You did poorly today, and as such, you will not be receiving dinner privileges until you beat your personal best again. Be better.”

His footsteps echoed as he walked out of the training room, leaving me alone to cry. This was my own fault. If only I’d been good like he wanted, he wouldn’t have had to hurt me like that. I never wanted to disappoint him like that again.

“I’m s-sorry, Father… I’m sorry.”

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star

feel free to reblog and leave a comment if you enjoyed :) I like hearing from you!

[bamber344]

I'm curious

I know I've been intentionally coy with the information and wording surrounding Jordyn's whole deal, but i feel like i've also laid enough clues that people should be forming an idea about it by now. I wanna know the public opinion on the matter

Do y'all have any theories as to what her deal is? comment or send me an ask or smth and lemme know (i won't reply and confirm or deny whether you're right or not, i just want to get a read as to where the audience is at so i can decide how coy i should continue to be about it lol)

@steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

[bamber344]

not to toot my own horn or anything but that scene i just wrote was fucking banging

feels good after the slump of the past few days <3

[bamber344]

some reeeeaaaal juicy whump coming in this next chapter :3

i'm getting whumperflies just writing it.

should be finished soon, I promise!