The Fuck You Want?

If Starlight was annoyed by Stormfront catching her off-guard with her mom, then her irritation went up several degrees at you strolling into the tent, a small toddler perched in your arms, a set of headphones covering his ears.

"Hey, sorry, I got caught up in a meeting about one of our experiments, I'll tell you later. Did you still want to have lunch or ...?" You asked on approach, Stormfront turning around to give you a quirky smile, almost immediately extending her arms, not to her maybe boyfriend/ at least friends-with-benefits, but to take the baby as she held him on her leg, softly bouncing him as he giggled.

"Well, maybe I should've asked if you want lunch with him instead." You brushed off the rejection, making it a joke as you turned your attention to the other two women present.

"Hello, Star, Ms. January, are you part of the filming?" You knew she wasn't, but pushing either of the women on the true reason would only lead to a fight.

"No, I was just visiting my daughter. Is this your son or yours?" Donna replied, looking between you and Stormfront.

"Goodness no, I don't have time between The Seven, filming, and everything else to be Supermom. Certainly not to this adorable little boy, I'd be distracted all the time." Stormfront said, earning both a smile and some brownie points with Annie's mother.

"Oh, he's not mine, I just abducted him off the street," You joked as Donna gave a confused chuckle while Annie stared with raised eyebrows. "No, little Teddy is mine, I thought he might enjoy a trip down here to see some movie magic, certainly better than being cooped up in the lab all day, me, not him." You recovered.

"I didn't know you had a kid, I've never heard you mention him before. He looks almost the same age as Stillwell's son." Starlight accused.

"Really, I guess that's not that strange, I doubt you know much about me other than my name, kinda sad now that you bring it up. We should hang out some time, catch up now that I'm VP of R&D, and you're... well I don't know what's changed in your life." You reasoned.

"All the more reason! You need some more friends in Vought Tower, especially after that Compound V leak, feels like you've been on edge everywhere you go." Storm suggested, switching Teddy to her other arm as she placed a hand over Annie's, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially.

"Besides, you said you don't have a boyfriend, so maybe you could blow off some steam." Storm whispered, low enough that Donna didn't seem to hear, but you certainly could, as well as Star, although her flush could be from embarrassment or temper, hard to tell these days, maybe she was having mood swings.

"Well, if we don't go, we won't-" "Hey Nick, could I speak to you for a bit?" A-Train cut in, suddenly appearing beside you, not with his powers, otherwise the tent would probably collapse from the wind.

"Umm, sure, I guess. I'll be right back Klara, could you watch Teddy for me?' You asked, following after the speedster, all too aware of Klara's now annoyed look behind you as she turned back to her conversation with Annie and her mom.

Once you were far enough away, from the women, the cameras, and anybody else, in some little side alley between trailers, you stopped, crossing your arms as your coat slightly fluttered from the shift in momentum. "The fuck you want?"

It probably said a lot that A-Train ignored the insult, or maybe that was just normal. "I was thinking, maybe you could help me."

"Help you? With what? Your dodgy ticker, cause you've got bigger problems than that." You pointed out as A-Train growled, punching the wall behind him.

"Come on man, you fucking owe me!" He shouted, uncaring of who might be listening.

"Owe you? I don't owe you shit, I had to keep The Seven running for how many years, and I can't think of once where any one of you actually listened to my opinions without direct orders from above. You're the one who wanted to win so bad he kept shooting up like some junkie in an alley!" You shouted right back, and for a moment A-Train looked like he'd start swinging but seemed to hold himself back.

"No man, for," He looked around, apparently worried that someone would come looking at all the shouting. "For fucking Popclaw." He whispered.

"Oh my God, you're pathetic. Yeah, I fucked her... one time. You were together how many years, two, three? And I still treated her better than you!" You pointed out, A-Train reeling back like he'd been slapped.

"The fuck?" He was lost for words and didn't look like he whether to punch you or leave.

Not to be deterred, you kept plowing into the issue, "I'm not the one who strung her along for years with promises about going public, I'm not the one who was hitting her up for V while she was sucking my toes, I'm not the one who messed her up so bad she nearly killed a guy high on V, and I'm damn sure not the guy who killed her!" You needled every point into A-Train, poking him in the chest as he fell back against the building, and for a moment you worried you'd literally bullied him into another heart attack.

"Fuck you, I came here for a favor, but I don't need this!" A-Train spat on the ground, turning to walk away.

You stuck your arm out, blocking his path as he turned to look at you with a mixture of anger and... sadness. "I do owe you the truth though, or at least you deserve it from somebody. You think if I fix your heart, make it so you can run like you used to, they'll keep you in The Seven. You're wrong." You said, calmer now that your annoyance had passed.

"If it was about your heart, they would've had me fix you a long time ago, hell, they would've let me fix you when I put your leg back together. You're getting pushed out, and I can't tell you why, mainly because I don't know, obviously you're aware I was moved to a different department, so Homelander, or Edgar, or maybe even the board is up to something, but you have to accept it and move on." You tried to comfort the hero, but he wasn't having it.

"Like hell! I can still perform! My A-Trainers are a top seller, have been for years. My brand deals bring in millions of dollars for this fucking company, and they're just going to shove me out?! I'm not going, not like this!" A-Train yelled, trying to pull away as you grabbed his wrist.

"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you're not that naive. This is the business, you knew that when you joined, every Supe thinks their reign at the top will last forever, and they're never going to be ready to go. You think you've still got it, your bones are like crackers, and your heart's barely holding itself together, you're falling apart. Keep going and it'll be worse than Translucent, you won't die off camera, it'll be public as all hell. You're so desperate to hold on to your reputation that you're using drugs, killing people, creating Super Villains around the globe, you're even asking me for a favor, you hate me, you really want it that bad?" You said, placing a hand on A-Train's shoulder.

"Yeah man, I do, cause if I go out, if I'm not on top, what else do I have, what does that leave me with?" A-Train said, fighting back tears.

"I can't answer that for you man, but if it really means that much to you, cut a deal, with Ashley, with Mr. Edgar, whoever, they want you out, and you don't want to go, surely you can find some leverage in there. I'll fix your heart for you, but I can't fix that crummy addiction you got. Make it a story or something, tell them... tell people the truth, that you and Popclaw were tight, dating whatever, you owe her that at least, her death hit you hard, and you need some time to get your head back in the game, people love that shit right, makes you relatable or something." You offered as A-Train looked up at you, eyes glistening.

"You know, you can be surprisingly nice when you want to, Nick."

"I think you meant Dick." You joked, walking away, "Since when did I turn into a therapist?"