Your POV

“Wait, Ben, I don’t understand,” you frown, licking your lips. 

“It’s quite simple, sweetie,” the red head smirks, stepping up to you. She places her hand on your shoulder, squeezing a little harder than is necessary, and brings herself a little more level with your eye line. “Ben is tired of pathetic little humans and he needs someone who can handle him. Understood?” 

“Ben?” you question, looking past her to the supe, not wanting to believe that Ben could be leaving you for her. He’s always told you he hates her. 

Soldier Boy sighs heavily and shrugs his shoulders. “Sorry, sweetheart, but she’s right. It’s about time I was with my own kind again. You’re just not enough.” 

The confirmation makes your heart stop, a sickness sitting heavy and deep in your stomach as you try your best to swallow it back down. You should’ve known that he’d never want you forever. You shouldn’t have been so stupid. You’re not good enough for him. You’ve never been good enough for him. 

“Oh honey, I’m sorry,” Crimson pouts dramatically, a mocking tone thick in her voice. “But did you ever think a weak little girl like you was ever going to satisfy someone like him? He was bound to get bored eventually.” 

Tears stream effortlessly and silently down your cheeks as you look between them. You don’t care if you look pathetic or needy, your heart is breaking. You’d let yourself fall in love with this man, you’d let him steal you away from your home. You’d broken all ties with your family for him, you’d let him do things to you no other person has done before. You’d given him everything and trusted him with your life. You’d have done anything for this man. And now he’s leaving you for his ex-girlfriend? Why? Just because she’s a supe?

“C’mon baby, let’s go,” Soldier Boy calls out, holding his hand out for Crimson’s. 

She gives you one last pitiful smile and then takes his hand, and you watch as he begins to lead her away. But then they stop, and they just stand there, staring at each other, and you’re horrified as you watch them begin to make out, their hands starting to wander over each other. You feel sick to your stomach witnessing them like this, but you can’t pull your eyes away, like some bad car crash. It’s like your heart wants to get broken even more, if that’s possible. You’ve never felt pain like it before, you’ve never had your heart broken before.  

Just when you think it can’t get worse, it’s like you blink and they’re naked, limbs wrapped around each other and they’re levitating before you, and he’s fucking her hard and fast – harder and faster than you’d ever be able to withstand – and you start to realise just why he would get so bored with you. You’d never be like her. Sparks are literally flying out of them, and the whole room surrounding you starts to set alight, a burning sensation crawling over every inch of you, making you hotter and hotter until it feels like you’re on fire, and you look down to see your entire body encased with flames, burning alive.

Fire alarms start sounding out, a steady beeping noise filling your ears, so you close your eyes tightly and wait for it to be over. The burning subsides eventually, and then you find that you can blink your eyes open. 

Your vision is blurry for a moment, but it doesn’t take long for the edges to focus and the light to stop hurting your head. You realise the steady beeping you’d been hearing wasn’t just in your dream and you turn your head to see you’re hooked up to a machine monitoring your heart rate and what looks like some other vitals. It takes you a moment or two to remember what happened and why you’re here, and then you think back to being with Ben, and how you’d tried so hard to prove yourself to him. 

After your chat with Crimson, her words had been spinning around in your brain, how you’re not enough for him, how you’ll never be able to give him what he wants. And you’d wanted so badly to prove you could be that girl. That he didn’t need anyone else. But you’d failed, you remember the searing pain and you remember begging him to stop because you are only human, and you can’t handle it the way she could. No matter how hard you try. 

Then your mind wanders back to the image of Soldier Boy and Crimson together, and how he was leaving you for her. But that part was only a dream right? You frown to yourself and try to sit up further, expecting to feel some kind of pain between your legs, or in the base of your stomach where it had felt like he’d torn it into shreds. But there’s nothing. It’s like nothing ever happened. Maybe that was a dream too. 

You realise you can’t sit up too far, there seems to be restraints on your ankles and wrists  – maybe you’ve been convulsing or something – so you give up and instead look around the room. You notice a TV on the wall just outside your room, playing a news broadcast, and you realise from the high quality and cleanliness of the place that you must be at Vought, because no usual hospital in the area is this nice. The TV must be on pretty loudly, because you can hear it from here, and as you focus on it once again, the screen changes from the anchor to some recorded footage from a town nearby. 

“The two teenagers were stuck in the vent for almost two days before receiving help.” 

“As soon as I heard about the kids stuck in the vent, I knew I had to help.” Your eyes widen at the sound of Ben’s voice travelling across the quiet hospital wing, and you see him smiling at the camera. “This is what being a hero is all about. It’s not just the big wins, but the little wins too.” 

“Soldier Boy wasn’t the only superhero on the scene. He was joined by his old flame, Crimson Countess as they rescued the teenagers together and brought them to safety.” 

“It’s just so nice to be working with Soldier Boy again. Our relationship is so special and unique, and we really just work so well together.” 

Your blood practically boils at the sound of Crimson’s voice, especially after your last encounter with the redhead, and you find yourself clutching the metal bars on the side of your bed hard. 

“It seems the two teens aren’t the only ones that have been given a second chance, Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess appear to be just as in love as they were before Soldier Boy’s disappearance.” The camera shows a shot of the two of them clasping hands and waving for the cameras, and then Soldier Boy turns to her, pulls her in and kisses her. 

You feel the metal bars give beneath your grasp, bending and creaking, forcing your attention away from the TV and towards the bed to see you’ve broken it. Your mind is spinning as you try to come to terms with everything that’s happening. You’re not sure what was a dream and what’s real. You could’ve sworn Ben hurt you, but there’s no evidence of that on your body. No bruised feelings, not aches or pains. And yet on the other hand, what had felt like a very painful, surreal nightmare, seems to have been true. Did Ben actually leave you for Crimson? Has he finally had enough of you? 

“You’re alive,” you hear, a surprised tone to the statement. “We thought he’d killed you.” It snaps you out of your thoughts, as you turn your head to the door to see Crimson swanning through it. “Well, then I guess I should say sorry about that,” she adds, nodding her head towards the TV. You realise you’re still holding the broken metal bar from your bed, the one that had held your restraint, and you drop it instantly sitting up a little straighter as you try to break free from the rest of the restraints too. Not that you think that Crimson is going to hurt you, but you don’t exactly feel comfortable alone with her while being so tied up. “I guess these things just happen, y’know? When it’s meant to be…” She stops and smirks at you, but you’re too concerned with reaching across for the other wrist restraint, using your free hand to try and break that clean. Somehow, you manage it, and Crimson’s eyes widen. 

“Been a bad girl, I see,” she notes carefully, placing her hands on her hips. 

“I’m fine, I just want to get out of here,” you insist, not paying her much mind as you reach down for your ankle restraints. 

Crimson watches you for a moment and purses her lips. “I thought Ben banged you up pretty good,” she asks. “We didn’t think you’d make it.” 

“I don’t remember,” you tell her simply – half a lie because you do remember you’re just not totally sure that it was real. But why else would you be in a Vought hospital otherwise?

“Couldn’t handle him, sweetheart?” she mocks, smirking once more. 

You manage to get both ankles free and slide out of the bed, standing directly in front of her. You feel different, strangely powerful and not afraid, like you could take her on and win. You don’t feel like that weak pathetic little girl anymore. 

“Get out of my way,” you order quietly. 

Crimson just laughs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Kids these days, your attitudes are fucking disgusting.” 

“Stealing other people’s boyfriends while they’re in hospital is fucking disgusting,” you retort. 

“Oh sweetie, he’s always been mine, I just let you borrow him for a while. But he had his fun fucking around with you, and now he’s back for the real thing.” 

You find yourself reaching out and shoving her, and you both seem just as shocked when she stumbles backwards, unsteady on her feet for a moment. 

“Stay out of my way.” 

You’re not sure what’s happening to you, or what has happened to you, or what’s going to happen to you, but all you do know is that you end up in autopilot, wandering the streets using the back alleys like Soldier Boy had always shown you to get between Vought and his apartment. You’re grateful for the privacy and alone time considering you’re still only in a hospital gown. You’re not sure going to Ben’s is a wise choice, but you haven’t exactly got anywhere else to go, and there’s a small part of you that still hopes this is all some fucked up dream. Maybe Ben did hurt you, but you’re recovering at home and this is all still some fever dream. He’s not back with Crimson, you’re not accidentally breaking things or shoving superheroes hard enough to almost make them fall over. You’re not breaking out of heavy restraints like they’re made of tacky plastic. There’s some weird explanation to all of this. 

You don’t overthink letting yourself into the apartment, not until you’re standing there in the doorway, faced with Soldier Boy standing behind some brunette, her front half bent over the couch, her skirt and her blouse both bunched together around her waist. Ben’s sweats are bunched at his knees, his cock buried almost to the hilt inside her. She’s not screaming in pain or complaining it’s too much, or bleeding and passing out. She’s better than you and she looks like nothing more than some cheap hooker. 

“Y/N,” Soldier Boy chokes out, his eyes wide as he notices you. His reaction is almost how you’d expect a normal person to react to being caught cheating, except you know from plenty of experience with the supe, that’s not what’s surprised him. “How are you here?” 

He steps away from the trashy hooker, reaching down to pull his sweats up. 

“Get out of here,” he tells her quietly under his breath, and she obeys, not even asking for any kind of payment. Ben can have that effect on whores you’ve always noticed. 

“Sorry,” you finally apologise, that new found confidence and weird sense of strength seeming to deflate inside you just being in the presence of the supe. You suddenly feel like that weak little girl again. “I know that we’re not together anymore,” you tell him quietly, starting to pick at your fingernails in front of you. “I just don’t know where else to go.” 

Soldier Boy frowns at you for a moment and then gets closer. 

“Why wouldn’t we be together anymore?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I saw… the news,” you admit quietly, looking down. 

“Is that why you’re here?” You don’t answer for a second, not even sure exactly why you fled the hospital. There’s so much going on, you don’t even know where to begin. “That’s just publicity. It doesn’t mean anything,” he explains. 

“You’re not with Crimson?” you ask, immediately looking up at his face. 

“I’m with you,” he confirms, reaching out to hold your face. “But enough about me. How are you out of the hospital?” 

“I escaped,” you confess, feeling your cheeks heat up. 

“You escaped?” he repeats. “Why? They were fixing you up, what use to me are you if you’re broken?”

“I feel fine,” you tell him honestly. “Better than ever, actually.” 

Soldier Boy frowns, clearly very confused by that fact, and stares you down like he doesn’t believe you. “I left you there pretty fuckin’ damaged.” 

“Well whatever they did worked, I feel good,” you smile nervously, afraid that might be the wrong answer. What if he wanted you to still be damaged? 

“Oh really?” he asks, sceptically, reaching out for your arm. “Then you don’t mind if we… make up for lost time, right?” he asks. 

There’s only slight nerves inside you at the prospect of having sex with the supe again. After all, you’d be stupid not to be aprehensive given how it ended last time. But given you don’t feel any pain anymore, you don’t feel as nervous about it as you probably should. It’s like you think you can finally handle it. Maybe Soldier Boy broke you the first time, but whatever Vought did built you back together stronger. 

“Of course not,” you tell him, your voice only slightly wavering. 
“Alright,” he smirks, pushing his sweatpants down his legs like they’d been moments before. His cock is still half hard, and you try not to think about the woman he’s just been inside minutes ago. “What are you waiting for? Get on your knees and show me how good they fixed you.”