Redemption x Repose

by Leone_Brion

Summary:

Redemption: Rex resolves to be a real man for the women in his life.

Repose: Rae resolves to protect the innocent with the life she never truly got to live.

Chapter 1: Redemption

Rex was utterly fed up with the incessant tests! He spoke perfectly well, his mind functioned just fine (mostly), and he moved without issue. What was the big deal about surviving a gunshot wound, especially when the bullet had miraculously missed all the brain areas that would have irreversibly ruined him? Clearly, he was just built differently.

 

He had been on the verge of smugly striding past the defense personnel stationed nearby when a double-take confirmed their presence, prompting him to swiftly duck behind a door. A sigh of relief escaped him. He was just a few steps from Rae's room, and getting caught now would have been incredibly annoying.

 

Once the coast was clear, Rex quickly made his way to the ICU. He pressed his new bionic palm to the scanner—a cool feature Robot had told him about, capable of copying the DNA prints of authorized personnel he'd shaken hands with. Zipping inside, he darted to Rae's window, pulling the curtains shut for privacy. He approached her bedside and sank to his knees. As he looked over Rae's battered form, the same shock, horror, and devastation that had gripped him when he first witnessed her brutalization resurfaced. He felt an overwhelming sense of failure; though he knew he should have moved past his old chauvinistic tendencies, seeing her so helpless and diminished made him feel truly wretched. She was his teammate, and he, as the self-appointed leader that day for God's sake, should have protected her. Why was he even on the Guardians of the Globe if he was so weak, if he could get his ass kicked so badly by the Lizard League of all villains?

 

"Man, this is messed up," Rex muttered. "Glasses, please wake up and be okay."

 

The fluorescent hum of the GDA infirmary was a constant thrum against Rex's skull, a maddening addition to the chaotic symphony of survivor’s guilt spinning around in his head. He talked fine, he thought fine (mostly), he moved fine. But was he truly fine? There were these edges of memory, shimmering and uncertain, making him question everything.

 

A fleeting image. Rae, her glasses perched on her nose, a smudge of dirt on her cheek, a glint in her eye as she dodged a tossed dummy, a smirk playing on her lips as she quipped.

---

"You almost took my head off, Glasses!" Rex yelled from the floor after Rae had used his face as a leverage point for her sudden growth into a punch to their shared, holographic opponent. She then shrunk back to her miniature form to evade an attack. The program’s timer was up, the projection faded from existence. Rex stood up with a huff, brushing dust from his shoulders.

 

Growing back to full size, Rae adjusted her spectacles with a precise finger. "Maybe you should learn to anticipate, Earbleed," she retorted, a mischievous glint in her usually serious eyes. "I thought you'd move left."

 

Rex scoffed, then a grin spread across his face, genuine and unforced. "And I thought you were trying to show off. And, for the record, you were."

 

"And what if I was?" she challenged, approaching him slowly. "Are you implying I didn't succeed?"

 

"Oh, you succeeded alright. Just... not in the way you intended." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Thought you were trying to impress someone with that little stunt."

 

Rae's smile widened. "And what if I did?" she whispered back, leaning closer, her breath warm against his ear. "Did it work?"

 

Rex felt a flicker, a warmth he hadn't expected. "Depends—“ he mumbled, stepping back, a sudden awkwardness in his usually confident posture. "—on who you were trying to impress."

 

Rae just laughed, a bright, clear sound that filled the training room. Rex’s eyes glossed over, breathing stifling. "Maybe I was just enjoying myself." She winked, then strode away, leaving him feeling disarmed and... intrigued.

 

He watched her go, a strange new respect blooming in his chest. She was cool. Not just powerful, but effortlessly witty, matching his banter, turning it back on him with a playful challenge he never saw coming. It wasn't the kind of shallow admiration he usually felt for women. This was different. This was fun.

 

The memory faded to the scene of her emerging out of one of the Lizard League’s eye socket, effectively killing him, which was also cool. The fierce determination on her face as she expanded and shrunk accordingly was amazing. Watching her be swallowed and seemingly digested by Komodo Dragon though…

 

Shortly followed up by his narrow defeat of Iguana, then being snuck up on by King Lizard. With a mix of fear and guts, he’d told the villain to pull the trigger—

 

BANG!

---

The memory, so vivid, swirled with the metallic tang of fear and the dull ache of his healing skull. Was it real? Or just a cruel trick of his fractured mind, an amalgamation of emotions after surviving something so traumatic? Rae was the only one who'd survived the Lizard League attack with him, the shared terror creating a mutual, unspoken bubble of understanding. He wished he could be sure.

 

He visited her every day. Sometimes, he'd find her briefly conscious, eyes unfocused, barely registering anyone. But when he spoke, a faint flicker, a slight turn of her head, suggested she recognized him. Even amongst the low murmurs of doctors, the concerned whispers of other friends and family, it was his voice, his steady presence, that seemed to penetrate the fog. He'd talk to her about anything—stupid jokes, the latest GDA gossip, even confess his own fears about what had happened. He found himself falling, slowly, irrevocably, for the unyielding spirit beneath the broken body in spite of himself.

 

Months later, Rae was finally out of critical care, her eyes now lucid, her mind sharp. She was still healing, mentally, but the physical, terrifying uncertainty was gone. For now. Rex, however, was a wreck. He'd just witnessed Kate and Immortal’s announced engagement, and the unconditional celebration was another punch to the gut. His stomach dropped out as he processed not only the unaddressed betrayal of his comrades for their abandonment, but the lingering sting of another girl he had semi-liked choosing someone else over him because he wasn’t good enough to share something real with… at least not without him sabotaging it himself.

 

Rae, with a hint of her usual bite, commented, "You sure have bad luck with women, don't you, Rex?"

 

He flinched, then managed a bitter laugh. "Only with the ones I've worked with and dated," he shot back, his voice too loud in the locker room. He ran a hand through his hair, agitated. "It's not like I have other options anyway though. But the team is... kind of lame. And I barely have time for anything outside work anymore thanks to that geriatric hypocrite over there."

 

Rae's eyes narrowed, a flicker of genuine offense crossing her face. "So am I only slightly less lame?" she clipped, her voice quiet but razor-sharp.

 

Rex immediately regretted it. "No, Rae, I didn't mean you—I just—"

 

"Just what, Earbleed?" she interrupted, pushing herself up slightly, wincing. "That I'm your last resort? Your consolation prize?"

 

"No! God, no, Rae. That's not it at all." He scrambled to her side, desperate to fix it. "I... I just meant... you're the only one who gets it. Who understands what it's like. What we went through." His voice softened, cracking with a vulnerability he rarely showed. "And... I don't know, sometimes, I still think... is any of this even real?" His gaze darted to the ceiling, then back to her, searching. "This whole place, me, you... after that shot to the head, sometimes it all feels like a dream."

 

Rae looked at him then. Truly looked. The anger in her eyes softened, replaced by a deep understanding. She reached out, her hand finding his. "Remember that training session?" Rae mused, a small, genuine smile on her face. 

 

Rex’s eyes lit up. "When I called you 'Glasses' and you first called me 'Earbleed'?"

 

Rae smiled back, a warmth in her eyes that reached him deep inside. "And I asked if I impressed you," she finished, her fingers tracing the lines on his palm, an insecure, vulnerable shine in her eyes from everything they’ve gone through to this point. "Did I?"

Rex squeezed her hand, his gaze unwavering, finally clear. "More than you'll ever know," he whispered. "I know now. It was real, Rae. All of it. Always has been."

 

"Good." She said, pecking his cheek.

 

And in that moment, Rex knew, with absolute certainty, that this feeling, she, was the most real thing he had. “Thank you,” he said. 

 

Rex drank her in her entirety, breaking eye contact to look her over and she blushed, shrinking slightly in bashfulness yet not shifting uncomfortably away, a smile quivering on her pouty lips. He laughed to himself, hopelessly smitten, but with the shameless thought: she’d look huge on my dick.

Chapter 2: Repose

Rex and Rae sat on the concrete landing of the top of the bridge. It was a comfortable silence stretching between them, punctuated only by the faint whirring of the passing overhead aircrafts. The city lights twinkled, a deceptive blanket of normalcy.

"So," Rex began, breaking the quiet, his voice softer than usual. "About us. About... everything." He gestured vaguely between them, then to the city skyline. "This whole superhero thing. It's... it's all I've ever known, you know? Since I was a kid. It's who I am. I don't get to be happy."

Rae could hear her own heart break, imagining the child in the man before her saying it and what precisely could lead him to that conclusion. She didn't want to believe in the cruelty of superheroics and the GDA any longer. Rae traced a pattern on her knee, her gaze distant yet still inching closer. "I know, Rex. And I respect that. But... I keep thinking about what I missed out on growing up with powers and my micro-managing parents... To have a normal life. A chance to just... be a person. Not a weapon, not a target. Just a person." Her voice was quiet, tinged with a wistfulness that tugged at his heart. "After everything with the Lizard League... with Invincible and Cecil... after seeing what can keep happening to us until we die or retire, if we even get the privilege to fully do either with Cecil still in charge... I—I just want to quit. Before something happens again. To either of us."

Rex reached for her hand, his thumb stroking her knuckles. "We're not just 'superheroes,' Rae. We're... us. And we're good at this. Together." He squeezed her hand. "But I get it. I do. So... what do we do now?"

She looked at him, her eyes, usually so sharp and guarded, now vulnerable and open. "I don't know. But I think... I think we can figure it out." A tentative smile touched her lips. "I think we can try."

Rex's grin widened, genuine and hopeful. "Yeah? You really think so, Glasses?"

"Pretty sure, Earbleed."

The air between them crackled with a different kind of energy, a promise hovering on the cusp of reality. They were about to lean in, about to finally bridge the gap that had always been there when the red lights flashed and the alarms blared.

Robot's synthesized voice cut through, chillingly clear. "Multiple Viltrumite signatures. Global invasion. All hands on deck."

Rex and Rae exchanged a horrified glance. Their moment, their fragile, hopeful future, shattered.

"We need to get to the main comms. Secure the base," Rae yelled, already on her feet, darting backwards. 

"Right behind you!" Rex responded, his hand glowing faintly with stored kinetic energy.

The Teen Team base was a maelstrom of orders and shouts in an effort to begin stretching their team thin for maximum damage control. Rex and Rae, caught in the initial wave of chaos after heading out together, became separated. 

Rae dodged a sweeping sequence of punches and kicks from a towering Invincible Variant that sent debris flying backwards with the sheer force behind the blows. This one wore a full mask, its eyes glowing with malevolent intent. She landed hard on a debris-strewn street, the ground shaking from a nearby impact. Her eyes immediately darted to the source of a child's terrified whimper. Three small figures—a very injured and recovering Oliver Grayson, surprisingly, shielding two even younger kids—huddled behind a demolished bus stop. The Invincible variant loomed over them, its attention momentarily diverted from Rae.

He gave a sickening grin, blood splattered over his face, dripping down his teeth. "Look at these pathetic, cowering weak things. Why protect such inferior beings, little hero? They'll only slow you down."

Rae felt a cold fury ignite in her gut. Her own childhood, marked by fear, insecurity, control and helplessness, flashed before her eyes. These kids, so small, so vulnerable—she couldn't let them suffer. Not like she had. Not while she could still fight.

"They're not weak. They're innocent. And you're not touching them." Rae shot back. 

Rae launched herself at the variant, shrinking to the size of a coin to gain an edge as she suddenly grew back to size to throw him off. Delivering a powerful punch that staggered the variant, buying the children crucial seconds. She then shrunk again, darting between his legs, creating diversions as the variant obsessively tried to get petty revenge.

"Kid! Get them out of here! Now!" Her tiny voice demanded.

Oliver, wide-eyed but resolute, nodded, grabbing the two children and soaring away, a tiny purple streak disappearing into the smoke-filled sky. Rae watched them go, a fierce satisfaction momentarily overriding her fear. Then, her expression hardened. No more holding back. No more mercy.

She thought of Rex. The memory of his hand in hers, the hopeful promise of a future just moments before the world exploded. The easy banter, the shared understanding. She'd wanted to quit. To build a normal life. To escape this endless cycle of violence. But here she was, fighting for the very normalcy she craved, for children she didn't even know, because it was the right thing to do.

Rae became a spectacle of calculated violence. She grew, she shrank, she delivered otherwise bone-shattering blows had it not been for her opponent's near invulnerability, her movements precise and intentionally lethal. The Invincible Variant roared in frustration, unable to land a solid hit on her elusive form. She needed to end this. Quickly. For Rex. For everyone.

A dangerous idea sparked in her mind, reminiscent of her fight against Komodo Dragon. She felt a fool for considering that battle strategy again, but she had to take a chance while being smarter about it. She grew to her normal size, drawing the variant's full attention, then, with a burst of speed, she shrank to microscopic proportions, unnoticed, just as it swung a devastating punch.

Rae entered the variant's body through a gash in his suit as a tiny, determined warrior in a world of flesh and bone. The limited air inside was thick and suffocating. She began to expand, slowly, methodically, targeting his internal organs: his lungs. His heart. His brain. She felt the pressure building, the variant's muffled groans vibrating through her tiny form.

Her own breath grew ragged. The pressure was immense. She was suffocating but she couldn't stop. Not now. Not when so much depended on it. She thought of Rex again, his smile, his voice, the warmth of his hand. She imagined a normal life, with him. A life she was dying to protect. This was her choice. Her sacrifice. For him. For everyone.

The variant's roars turned into choked gurgles. His movements became erratic, then ceased. Rae felt a final, violent shudder. She had done it, but the darkness was closing in. Her own lungs burned, her vision tunneling. She began releasing her last breath, a silent whisper of his name, her consciousness fading and reverberating across the city, hoping he knew what she'd done. Hoping he was safe.

Deep within the Teen Team base, the air was thick with smoke and the stench of blood. Rex, panting, his body bruised and battered, facing down an all too nonchalant Invincible variant. This one wore goggles, specs reflecting his victims with a cold, calculating fury. Around them, the base lay in ruins. Rudy, Amanda, and Bulletproof had been overwhelmed, forced to retreat, leaving Rex alone to hold the line.

He had tried everything—even detonating parts of the collapsing base to create traps. The variant was too strong, too fast. He had him pinned against a crumbling wall, his hand wrapped around Rex's throat, lifting him effortlessly.

"This was pointless, kind of like your entire life." He squeezed, Rex wheezed. "You're out of tricks. No more explosions. Nothing left to blow up. You have nothing. You are nothing. Your death will amount to nothing. You were just an idiot asshole who couldn't maintain a true connection without someone wanting to beat you to death after really getting to know you." The variant broke its cool demeanour to creepily smile. "I can't wait to do that again."

Rex choked, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The variant's words echoed the taunts of every enemy, ally, and family member who'd ever undervalued him, every doubt that had ever gnawed at his own worth that he had internalized that had cost him true, unmarred connection until now. He heard Rae's voice calling his name and had to dismiss it as his grief playing tricks on him, his brain sensing his inevitable demise and seeking comfort as a twisted act of self-preservation. A defiant cackle bubbled up from his chest, growing louder, more unhinged, fully embracing the mess he felt his mind had become since surviving that bullet to the skull. His eyes, wild and incandescent, locked onto the variant's. A desperate, final thought flashed through his mind—Rae. Her laugh. Her touch. The promise of a normal life for her. The life he was about to ensure for her, even if he couldn't have it himself, dead or alive. 

"I have one thing left." Well, not exactly one, but he'd never tell him that. It was another act of protecting her in case this little stunt hadn't worked. Rex snickered, "My entire goddamn skeleton, dickhead!"

Rex's body began to glow, an impossible, blinding light erupting from within. The variant's eyes widened in dawning horror, but it was too late. The light intensified, consuming them both. A deafening boom tore through the base as Rex detonated, a self-made supernova designed to take down the unstoppable. A final, cataclysmic act of defiance.

As the fire consumed him in his last, fleeting moment, with every fiber of his remaining being, Rex reached out for Rae. He hoped she was safe. He hoped she was still real.

Across the city, in the suffocating darkness of the Invincible Variant's dying body, Rae felt a final, faint tremor. A distant echo of an explosion, a warmth that wasn't her own. She imagined Rex, fighting to the very end, just like her. As her own consciousness slipped away, her hand weakly reached out for him, a silent, desperate plea for connection before coldly dropping to the base of her fleshy grave.

They died in separate battles, miles apart, amidst the chaos of the Invincible War. One consumed by fire, the other by darkness. In their final, desperate moments, their thoughts converged, bound by the fierce spirit of heroism and the unspoken love that had bloomed between them. They had fought for a better world, for some semblance of a normal life they wouldn't get to share, but in their sacrifice, they protected the possibility of it for others.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed! ❤️

Notes:

I just thought “Glasses” from Rex to Rae is cute because Rex is sometimes a dudebro who likes making fun of people for dumb reasons. Rae’s nickname is of course more clever because of her shrinking powers that allow her to go through people’s ear canals and also the fact that Rex’s explosions can cause ear damage lol