Chapter Text
The bar was… loud. The smell of sweat and alcohol was heavy in the air, mingling with a dozen perfumes, colognes and the sweet scent of a fog machine needing to be cleaned. Waterboy was lingering awkwardly by the bar, staying out of the way of the main crowd, just far enough away that none of the bartenders came to ask for his order. He swayed gently to the music, not quite dancing but moving just enough to not feel out of place. The song was something trendy, a pop song that most of the patrons seemed to know the lyrics to well enough to sing at least the chorus. Herman wasn’t familiar, making a half-hearted attempt at mouthing what he assumed the words to be.
A familiar face eventually emerged from the crowd. His usual blue SDN shirt traded for a white button down, Robert slid up beside the taller man, leaning against the bar. He said… something? Herman couldn’t quite make it out, the words lost on the sea of sound. He shot him a confused look, tilting his head. Robert gestured the redhead closer, placing a warm hand on his shoulder as he leaned in.
“Want a drink? I’ll buy.” Robert’s breath was warm on his cheek. Herman was thankful for the dim lights to hide his blush as he nodded.
“A-Ah, yeah! Yes please!” He smiled. The dispatcher nodded back, gesturing to a list of drinks and prices marked on a board behind the bar. After a second of scanning he leaned down to Robert “Cider, please! Uh- strawberry.”
Robert smiled, nodding once more before moving towards an unoccupied bartender. Fuck. He wondered if his stupid crush was obvious. The young hero groaned quietly to himself, dragging his eyes away. His gloved hand rose to touch where Robert had placed his hand, feeling the fading heat with a sigh.
Waterboy shook his head, pushing the lingering thoughts down as he squinted through the crowd. The glint of Prism’s bright hair, a flash of Mal’s golden eyes, coupe’s headdress. Familiar forms in a sea of strangers. A knuckle rapped on his shoulder, drawing his attention down to the dispatcher again, who held up a glass of sweet-smelling alcohol.
“Thanks si- Robert, uh sir!”
“Cheers.” Robert grinned, tapping his own can against the side of Herman’s glass with a nod “To a good shift, right?”
“Y-yeah.” Waterboy nodded. It… hadn’t been a great day for him. The others, however, had done amazing. Not that he wanted to bring the mood down by mentioning that “Ch-cheers to… to that!”
Robert took a deep drink from his can, sighing deeply and leaning back against the bar, eyes scanning the crowd before them with a satisfied expression.
“Hey Robbie!” Invisigal suddenly appeared beside the brunet, a shot glass in each of her hands. She offered one to Robert, who took it with a grin “My treat.”
“Mhhm, comes with an apology, I hope?” Robert raised an eyebrow, voice smooth and low. Herman wished he spoke to him like that…
“Can’t this be both?” She hummed as she leaned in close, eyes half-lidded. Herman blushed, glancing away from the pair for a moment. The ex-villain clinked the shot glass in his hand against her own before tossing it back, placing the empty vessel on the bar beside them. Robert copied the motion, wincing with a groan.
“Christ- trying to kill me, Court?” He coughed, patting his chest “What was that, anyway?”
“Whaaat?” The ex-villain grinned cheekily “Too strong for you, Mecha Man?”
Waterboy swallowed a bitter lash of envy at the two’s banter, instead coughing awkwardly. Third wheeling like this was so embarrassing. He glanced between the pair once more before forcing a smile, gesturing vaguely towards a less busy area of the room and shouting “I’m-uh… gonna- I’ll just be over here!”
Robert smiled, giving him a loose thumbs up and nod before turning back to Courtney. Herman sighed, squinting against a particularly bright flash of the lights as he wove his way through the crowd, slipping into an unattended booth tucked in the far corner of the room. The U-shaped seat muffled the sound somewhat. The redhead let out a long sigh, relaxing into the wood as he cradled his glass.
He didn’t feel drunk enough for this. Maybe he should’ve taken the others up on their offer for pre-drinking. He’d felt too nervous at the time to pour from the tall bottles of spirits, and too shy to take a can from the packs brought into the break room. He regretted it now, the barrage of stimuli grating on his too-sober senses.
The song changed, fading from that generic pop song to a familiar rock tune, bringing a small smile to his face. He pulled his phone from his pocket, water beading on the hydrophobic case as he navigated to the official SDN social account. It was a habit he’d gotten into, reading the reports after each day along with he comments left underneath. It was nice, sometimes, to see the positive response from the public when he did a good job. Made him feel like he was actually making a difference.
“Phoenix programme- rising stars in SDN’s Z-team” He clicked on the most recent article with a smile, a distant picture of him standing with the rest. These update posts came once every month, usually detailing the changes to the team. They’d included when Sonar was cut, and when Phenomaman had joined, along with him too a few weeks later.
‘…world-renowned hero Phenomaman, who’s public breakup with Blonde Blazer…’ He continued to scroll. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, he just wanted to see what they said about him.
‘… Invisigal…‘ nope
‘… ex-villains…’ no
‘… shroud…’ no…
‘… Waterboy’ ah! Finally! He stopped his swiping, scrolling back to the top of the paragraph with a smile
‘… The youngest member of the group and the only hero without history in the field, Waterboy. This new addition is finally starting to find his footing after a shaky start. Success rates for this new super have risen sharply in recent weeks, a welcome contrast from his controversial early months. This improvement is likely supported by his more experienced colleagues, individual dispatches not being reported since Shrouds arrest.’
That… well, it wasn’t completely true. Golem was actually the youngest in the group, it was just that people couldn’t tell by looking. It’s not like he really expected these to be 100% accurate, but whatever. Did people think he was really being carried by the others that much, though? He wasn’t dispatched alone because they weren’t spread as thin and didn’t need to go solo, not because he wasn’t able. Herman shook his head, scrolling down. Hm, no mention of himself after that? Well... That was a bit disappointing. He took a sip from his cider, clicking on the comments with a sigh.
The regular comments were there, the floods of smiley faces, thumbs up, short sentences like ‘Phenomaman saved me!’ ‘I love Flambae!!’ and ‘Prism carries’ until…
‘Why is waterboy on the team anyway lol, don’t they have a training group?’
Oh.
‘maybe his parents are on the board XD’
‘nepo baby makes sm sense hahaha’
Oh…
‘That water-guy is soooo annoying’
‘Literally hate this guy. Basement flooded cause of him and SDN won’t pay for damages.’
‘Wow LOL remember when shot down Flambae? It was so funny, vid here vvv’
Waterboy’s face has fallen completely at that point. He saw the linked video, recognising the thumbnail as one which had circulated some time prior. His water shot had gone wide, striking the fiery ex-villain instead of their target. He still remembers the furious heat which had radiated from Chad’s form as he raged at Herman, the bitter words cutting like steel against his trembling body. Too many articles had shared it, people mocking not only his poor aim but Flambae’s reaction too. The hothead had mocked him for days, making a show of staying far out of his range whenever he was about to use his powers, warning the others against getting in his line of sight ‘just in case’… It had taken a lot of chiding from Robert for him to finally stop.
Pressure flared in his sinuses, the telltale burn of incoming tears prickling at his eyes. Fuck- was he still that affected? Waterboy turned the phone face down, taking a sombre sip from his cup to smother the rising urge to sniffle. That… well. That wasn’t what he’d hoped to see. Fuck. He didn’t even want to be outside now, just wanting to crawl under his covers and hide forever. A cool, damp arm pressed against his face as he lay his head on the table, watching the gathering of moisture under his fingers as he tapped the tips in a small circle on the wood, waiting for the threat of tears to pass.
Nearby movement and a familiar voice eventually caught his attention, the redhead drawing his head up to focus more on the source. Sonar stumbled over, arm slung around the shoulder of a man Herman hadn’t seen before. Short, bleached blonde hair and dark eyes. A spiralling tattoo trailed up his arm, motifs of clouds which disappeared under a black shirt. His face was heavily pierced, glittering metal shining in the flashing lights of the bar.
“Hah- Oh, hey. Meet my buddy.” Sonar patted the man on the shoulder, pointing loosely to Waterboy. His voice was thick with alcohol, his drunkenness supported by the glass of amber liquor in his hand “Waterboy, Slipstream. We used to hang back ‘fore I went to jail.”
“Ah, good t-to, um… meet you.” Waterboy smiled nervously, waving before sipping his drink. Slipstream looked the redhead up and down, nodding.
“Right back at’cha.” The blond grinned, lip piercings glinting in the light as he slid into the booth beside him, Sonar following with a heavy huff, alcohol splashing out his cup.
Waterboy was quiet for an awkward moment, rolling his own glass in his hands as the two other men looked about the room. Should he say something? Or wait for them? God, he sucked at talking to new people normally, let alone when he barely wanted to be where he was.
“A-ah… Uhm…” Waterboy started suddenly, deciding to break the silence “Sooo… you guys… how d-did you guys… meet?”
“Hah! I met Vic outside a bar like a decade ago. dude wouldn’t stop badgering me for a cig.“ Slipstream answered with a grin “And would’ja guess how we just met again? Really hasn’t changed a bit.”
Sonar rolled his milky eyes, smirking “Hey, you still gave me one, so who really won here?”
“Ohh, but could I ever say no to that ugly mug of yours?” Slipstream simpered sarcastically, nudging the half-bat “That one was for old times, I’m charging for the next.”
“Fuckin cheapskate.” Victor grinned back, sticking out his tongue.
“Broke-ass”
The two continued to playfully argue as Herman turned his eyes back out to the bar. He really was appreciative of this marginally quieter corner. Kept him out of the way, along with keeping his water more… contained. He hoped no employees noticed the liquid pooling under his body, it was always a painfully awkward conversation. The redhead leant forward, propping his head up against his hand as he watched his coworkers dance across the bar.
Prism was stealing the show, a small gap in the crowd having formed as she danced, glittering constructs casting rainbows across the room. Malevola leant against a wall, chatting with some neon-haired woman that Herman didn’t recognise while Phenomaman was sitting politely in the corner, speaking animatedly to a particularly drunk looking man. Coupe and punch-up stood near a dart board, the former’s aim still deadly accurate despite the alcohol in her system. Robert still stood against the bar, sipping his own drink as he now chatted to both Flambae and Invisigal, who’s suggestive smirks implied the conversation topic was anything but mundane.
They were having fun. He wished he felt the same. The alcohol helped, made him feel looser, softened the sounds around him, drowned the ever-present anxiety. Herman sighed deeply, finger tapping on the rim of his cup. He wasn’t drunk enough for this. For socialising... He wished spirits didn’t make him so sick. Cider was one of the only alcohols that didn’t leave him retching just from the taste alone, but it took him way too long to get drunk from it. Better than throwing up, he supposed…
“You gotta loosen up, man.” Slipstream’s deep voice was startlingly close, an instinctive flinch throwing Herman to one side, cup clacking against the table as he slammed it back down.
“Wh-whuh?” The redhead stuttered, giving the villain a confused stare. Damp gloves beaded water on the rim on his glass as a wave of embarrassment flushed through him, a droplet trailing down his wet face.
“Hey, I’m just sayin’. It’s a bar, but you’re acting like you’re at work.” Slipstream smirked, leaning against the seat’s back with a slow blink as he gestured loosely at Herman. The blond man’s voice was casual as he shrugged “Y’ seem like a guy who might benefit from a hit of something.”
“Y-you don’t just-just tell someone to do drugs.” Waterboy stared incredulously “That’s just... Not right.”
“Hey, I’m not telling you to do crack, man.” Slipstream snorted, moving to rest his chin on his fist, leant against the table as he took another sip from his cup “Chill for a sec, you’re not a cop.”
Waterboy was quiet for a moment. Okay, admittedly that outburst did make him seem like a narc, but still. The redhead sighed, muttering into his cup “Well, Its not like I go to- like I’ve ever been to th-the places that would h-have that kinda stuff.”
“Noo, really? Never woulda’ guessed.” Slipstream snorted sarcastically before fixing the hero with a more searching look “But wait, you’ve really never had nothing? Really?”
Waterboy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He decided to pretend not to care, humming noncommittally into his glass.
“Did you just like… not go to college?” The villain continued at his lack of response, The bat hybrid to his side smirking faintly as he drank from his own cup “Or any party? Ever? Really?”
A heat rose on waterboy’s cheeks as he looked out across the room once again, blinking against the flashing lights. This topic was so infantilising, people treated him like a kid just because he didn’t break the law for fun? Mess up his body or risk his life for a temporary high? Not like he got invited to high school parties. Noone wanted to hang with the weirdly sweaty guy who left everything vaguely damp, no matter how much he tried to explain his curse. Kids were cruel.
“No.” Herman snapped into his glass, sharper than he’d expected. He took a slow sip, sweet cider helping to distract from the bitter taste rising in his throat. He’d done all of one semester of college before he had to drop out to be his grandmother’s primary carer once his parents... Ugh, even if he could afford college at this point, he wouldn’t want to leave her alone. Just balancing his SDN shifts was hard enough. She was a capable woman, but at her age… he hated to think of trying to work, care for her and study at the same time, especially if her health declined. He’d never manage. “Guess I never had the, uh… the chance.”
“Sucks” Slipstream shrugged, taking a swig from his bottle “Had some great parties at college. Great drugs too.”
“Sure…” Waterboy nodded distractedly, hoping the villain would take the hint of his disinterest. Unfortunately for him both Slipstream and Sonar seemed completely oblivious, the latter taking another drink of his liquor as the former fixed him with a searching look.
“So you’ve never had weed?” Sonar suddenly piped up, ear tips drooping with intoxication.
“Hah, No.” Herman huffed, shaking his head.
“What about smoking? Like… regular tobacco?” Sonar sounded more surprised than anything, eyebrows rising even higher at Waterboys continued shake of his head “Damn, that’s crazy…”
Waterboy frowned, snapping “It’s n-not a bad thing to not be an addict.”
Sonar shrugged, sipping his drink. The blond was quiet for a moment, focusing on the redhead before he added “Ever thought it might help?”
“H-how would being addicted to nicotine help me? Like… at all?” Waterboy gave him a disbelieving look, shaking his head.
“Psh- you don’t get addicted from smoking unless you let it happen.” Slipstream snorted, Sonar nodding drunkenly in agreement. Herman resisted the urge to argue the point as the villain continued “Plus I mean just in general. Not just cigs. There’s stuff out there for supers specifically, y’know?”
Waterboy eyed the pair suspiciously, tilting his head. The idea was… intriguing. He hadn’t actually heard of super-specific drugs. Usually, it was just… well, general ones? It kinda made sense.
“Ohhhh, y’ talking about booster?” Sonar hummed. Slipstream nodded, prompting the hybrid to continue “Damn, sucks it doesn’t do too much for me. Means I’ve got a handle on my own power, but ‘ve seen some reeeeal crazy shit from others. Like… Shiiit, Slip, remember your early gigs?”
“Gotta be more specific than that, Vic.” The villain smirked “I had a lotta gigs back then.”
“Uhhh, crap… dunno when… It was like, fuckin, mid winter. You went ‘gainst Glacier when he was on it? Dude had you on your ass the whole time, clips were fuckin hilarious.”
Slipstream’s face fell, a grimace pulling at his mouth while Sonar laughed “Psh- Barely. Got him back, though. Fucker had no chance once I was on the stuff too. What’s that loser doing now, anyway?”
“Y’know… good fuckin point, lemme see…” The drunken hybrid mumbled, tapping at his phone while taking another sip of his drink. Slipstream glanced at the distracted ex-villain, leaning towards Waterboy. Herman shuddered at the way the man’s eyes trailed up and down again, resisting the urge to ‘accidentally’ splash the guy.
After a long second the blond smirked, shooting a glance back at Sonar, who had seemingly gotten distracted by some shitty shortform videos. Waterboy took another drink of his cider, needing something to distract him from the scene for just a moment. Hm, his cup was getting low. Maybe it’d be an excuse to go up to the bar, get away from the two?
“Y’ seemed interested.” Slipstream hummed, voice low as he stared into Waterboy’s eyes. The redhead felt his heartrate pick up at the proximity “Never heard of booster before?”
Herman shook his head after a moment. Slipstream nodded, grinning “Real good stuff. Dev’ed by some corp for managing ‘high risk’ supe’s, but turned out sooo much better. Makes controlling some powers easy as fuck, works like nothing else.”
“What do you mean?” Waterboy frowned, suspicious. He knew what people said about things being too good to be true, and this certainly seemed it.
“Like… Look, I’m an aero, I control winds. I barely made a decent breeze when I started out. Now?” The villain smirked, flexing his tattooed arm. “Fuck, I could knock houses clean off their foundations if I wanted. Booster did that.”
Waterboy bit the inside of his cheek, finger tapping idly on the glass in his hands “Well, I-I don’t think my powers uhm… work the same as yours…”
“What, just cause you got water and I got air? “
“C-cause you’re not making a breeze all the-all the time.” Waterboy frowned, a pulse of jealously tainting his tone “Not always bl-blowing air around. I-I don’t make this on… ugh, I don’t d-do it intentionally.”
He flicked his hand up, drops of water flying from the tips of his fingers. It was always a sore spot for the redhead, but the alcohol making it harder to keep his emotions in check. Slipstream was acting like they had the same issues, but the blond could never know how annoying it was to just exist as Herman did.
The blond man huffed, shrugging sharply “Maybe. Yeah, you can’t control that now, but you could.”
Herman’s heart ached. God, he wished it was true. It was one of his favourite dreams, one he wished he never woke up from. Memories of his childhood, before his powers had stolen his life from him. To feel soft, fluffy sheets instead of crinkling plastic and wet fabric each morning. To walk in the cold without the constant threat of hypothermia. To play an instrument again, touch paper, touch anything without damage… to simply be normal…
“You really don’t wanna try living without…” Slipstream gestured at the small puddle which had gathered under Herman’s cup, the occasional drop falling from his hands “This? Even for a bit?”
“It’s not that easy.” Waterboy snapped as he hunched his shoulders, pulling the cup towards himself with a frown.
“Look, im not sayin you-“
“I don’t want to be addicted to drugs. Thanks.” Herman interrupted. He was feeling the alcohol now. It kinda made him wanna hit the guy. Shit, that wasn’t a good idea.
“Pf- that’s what you’re worrying over? its not even addictive. I took it for a few months, got stronger, then dropped it easy.” Slipstream shrugged, gesturing towards himself with a smug look “Didn’t feel a thing after.”
Herman narrowed his eyes at the table, pointedly avoiding any eye contact with the man. In the corner of his eye he watched the blond take out his phone, tapping the screen wordlessly for a moment
“Oh crap.” Sonar suddenly slurred “Glacier’s dead.”
Herman frowned, staring at Sonar’s phone. A news report of a warehouse explosion shone on his screen, a black and white photo of a fluffy-suited man smiling back. Waterboy felt somewhat sick. He didn’t like thinking about the risks of their job, of the constant risk of death. He tipped his cup back, frowning as he realised it was now empty.
“Serves him.” Slipstream sniffed “High ‘n mighty bastard, he was.”
Sonar hummed, picking his own cup up again before hesitating, clawed hand pressing to his muzzle with a groan.
“Huhh… oh, sh-shit.” The hybrid mumbled, pushing himself to standing “gonna- Sick-”
The bat stumbled towards the bathroom. Herman moved to follow his coworker, taking this as an opportunity to escape, freezing when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder pulling him back onto the chair. His head snapped around, shrugging the grip away with a grimace.
“Vic’ll be fine. Dumbass probably just had one too many.” Slipstream smirked “But I’ve got somethin’ I think you’ll be interested in.”
The blond reached into his pocket, pulling out a small pouch of small pink pills. They reminded the redhead of the medication his grandmother took, but he knew they were far more sinister. Waterboy eyed the baggie warily, flicking his gaze between the man and the object he held.
“One pill. Give it like… twenty minutes. You won’t believe the difference.” The villain opened the pouch, taking one out and holding it towards the man. Herman bit his lip, picking at his suit nervously. God, it felt like he was living a drug PSA. Knowing his luck it’d end with him throwing up, seizing, flooding the place or something…
Slipstream shrugged, smirking “Cmon, what’s the downside! Worst is they do nothing. Best outcome? Everything.”
“I don’t have any money on me” Waterboy lied with a shrug. His knee had begun to bounce absently. He wanted to tell the guy to fuck off, to go grab Sonar and run to the others. But…
Fuck, the mental image was nothing short of mortifying. Imagining himself fleeing to his dispatcher like a child because someone had offered him drugs in a villain bar? They’d probably laugh in his face. Wasn’t it Robert himself who’d told him that he could benefit from trying it? It was a month or so ago, on the dispatch line. He could barely remember the call or the context through the alcohol in his system, but the words were clear as day in his head.
‘I haven’t really ever been high before…’ he remembers admitting. Something about teenagers and drugs…. Robert had half-jokingly asked if he’d ever been high, that’s what had prompted his answer.
‘I don’t recommend this to anyone, but I think you specifically should try getting high’ Robert had offhandedly suggested. It seemed innocuous at the time, but he’d turned the thought in his head for far too many nights after. Would it really help? Make him better to work with? From what Slipstream said, this didn’t even produce a high, it was barely a drug at all! Right..? It was basically coffee.
Realistically he knew Robert hadn’t been talking about this… getting sketchy power-boosting drugs from a villain in a dark corner of a bar. But the team already saw him as weak. Unreliable. Too many calls had been lost from him messing up. Maybe…. Maybe if this could give him a good day, a good shift….
Waterboy bit his lip, heart beating hard in his chest. But if he got caught with it, he might get kicked out completely… But didn’t Sonar do drugs? Everyone knew that, the hybrid was probably on something at that very moment! It wouldn’t be fair for them to punish him and not Sonar. Waterboy looked down at the table, at the puddle of water dripping from the wood onto the floor and frowned, eyes closing. Christ. His mouth felt dry as he sucked in a shuddery breath, eventually fixing the blond villain with a defeated stare.
“Fine.”
“Great choice.” Slipstream grinned, those piercings glinting like blades as the pill was pressed into waterboy’s gloved hand.