009. VULNERABILITY

✎ S1E2 ⇢ ˗ˏˋ PART 2 , 2019

|"CHERRY"

     The act of having common sense is one thing, but disregarding others' safety is another. Consider Butcher, for instance, who charged at a semitransparent supe guns blazing. Dean almost perished due to that strangely attractive man with a trigger-happy mind. In confidence that it would accomplish his objective, he fired mindlessly at Translucent, but the bullet failed to penetrate. As a result, it ricocheted into the room and somehow exited it. Dean was a few meters behind Butcher when the bullet struck him, barely striking his cheekbone. Yes, Dean could have stopped it if he used his powers, but he still has human reaction time and bleeding ability.

A slight squint appears on his face as he places his fingers where the bullet hit him. There was a feeling of warmth in the blood. His fingertips are covered in crimson blood when he brings it into view. He ignores the discomfort, wiping his fingers on his dress pants while Hughie and Frenchie stare at him in shock. However, Butcher paid little attention and proceeded to walk closer to Translucent. "Ha, ha, ha, ha. You stupid fucking asshole. I'm invincible." As Butcher walks out of the room, he pays no attention to either of the three men who look at him appalled. "I'm fucking Translucent."

When the door closes, Dean watches as Butcher and Frenchie collapse in defeat, contemplating what they should do next. "Well, that was great, guys. That was awesome." Hughie commented sarcastically.

"Frenchie, back later," Butcher stated, grabbing his coat from the counter as he prepared to leave the premises.

Crossing his arms, Frenchie asked, "Where are you going?" The accent on his voice is evident.

As he puts on his black coat, he smiles. "Got an idea. Long shot, might help."

"Now?" Hughie inquired.

"Yeah, well, it's all under control here, isn't it? Try not to bugger eachother. And Huhgie- make sure they don't rip each other's faces off, yeah?" Butcher pointed at both Dean and Frenchie. Frenchie looks suspiciously at Dean during this comment as Dean furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

Hughie stepped forward slowly after Butcher left, placing a timid hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean gazed at Hughie, who wore a face filled with concern as he stared at the scar the bullet left on his cheekbone. "Are you okay?"

Using his sleeve as a rag to wipe off the remaining blood, he patted Hughie's head with his other hand. "I'm good, you gotta stop worrying. I'm the supe, you're the human."

Huhgie chuckled quietly as he looked at him ridiculously. "Right..."

In confusion, Frenchie scratches his head as he peers between the two. His googles moving about. He scoffs and heads out. A glance is directed at Frenchie by Dean. "Where are you going?" he asks.

Frenchie was about to make an intelligent comment but sighs instead. "Just checking the perimeter, don't- do anything stupid alright?"

With a thumbs up from Dean, Frenchie departs. The only two people left in the room are Dean and Hughie. The Dean fumbles with his tie, moving it from side to side. He removes it and places it on the table. Watching Dean, Hughie wonders what he might be doing. Dean unbuttons the first three buttons, exposing his hairless chest. His chest moves up and down in response to inhalation and exhalation. His chest glistens due to sweating, which extends from his neck to his chest. When Dean looks up, he sees Huhgie, seemingly in thought. "S'you good man?" Dean ponders.

"Huh?" Hughie frantically whips his head to see Dean's hazel eyes. A shrug of his shoulders is accompanied by a move around Dean, in the hopes of finding a cup. "Oh- yeah, yeah I'm good." Turning on the faucet, he pours a cup of tap water into the cup. After nearly filling it, he takes it with him to where translucent is stored. In searching for an appropriate replacement for his dirty and bloodied dress shirt, Dean paid little attention to what Hughie was doing in the small room. Then, with a hand gesture, he gestured to Hughie that he was leaving the room; Hughie noticed and waved him away.

As he approached the cold metal door, Hughie grabbed a wooden spoon on the counter along the way. "Hi," Hughie says hesitantly. With the wooden spoon in hand, he opened the hatch. The cup of water was placed right in front of it. "I, um... thought you might be thirsty, so..."

After stepping back, he waited for the supe to take it. The cup did not move for an excruciatingly long period of time, so Hughie began walking forward. "Well, if you don't want it, I can always..."

Translucent replied tiredly. "No, I want it..."

Observing as the cup floats into the cage, Hughie watches as the semi-transparent supe consumes the contents of the cup. Without wasting any time, Hughie placed a hand on his hips and began fumbling with his green jacket. "Listen um, I need to ask you some questions about A-train. When he, uh, burst through that woman the other day, Robin Ward," Hughie took a deep breath, his voice indicating hesitation. It did not help the situation at all that his voice was trembling. The image of his dead girlfriend in his mind was so clear that he was having trouble talking about her death to someone-a colleague of A-train who killed her. His arms were crossed across each other in order to appear more demanding of the supe, hoping to give himself the confidence he desperately lacked. "I-I need to know why. Where was he going? What was he doing?"

"Why? Was she your sister? Girlfriend?" Translucent sarcastically asked Hughie, seeking a raise. Upon hearing the word "girlfriend," Hughie grimaces in defeat and looks down.

Translucent confirmed the information with a stiff laugh. "Girlfriend. That's what all this is about? Christ. What makes you think I know anything about it?"

"I know you and A-train were tight. You guys came up together." Hughie affirms.

"What are you, a fucking fan?" Translucent beckons.

Hughie shakes his head. "Listen, those two guys in there, want to kill you, okay? Maybe-" Because Hughie didn't really know what Dean's relationship with Translucent was like, he merely wanted to see what Translucent would respond with. "Maybe, Rebound too- So you give me something, maybe I can..."

"What? Hold them off? 'Cause they hang on your every word. You're the big man around here?" Speaks with a trace of hate on his tongue.

Getting frustrated with Translucent's remarks, he stands up and begins walking away from the room. "Okay, you don't want to talk, don't talk. I tried. Good luck."

Translucent speaks up as Hughie passes the door by a fraction of an inch. "Buddy, my superpower ain't invisibility. Right? It's reading people. Watching them when they think they're alone. I see people for who they really are. I see you too, pal. And Rebound- oh." Hughie hears Translucent laugh hysterically. "The dude is miserable, believe me. I'm not a pervert Hughie," Hughie raises his eyebrows as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"But I've watched him a couple of times- He drinks his ass off, day 'n night. We don't really see eye to eye, me and him. But if there is one thing I know about him...he never wanted to be a superhero. He hated it, and he still hates it."

Hughie scrunches his face in response to the new information he has just learned. Before becoming a member of the seven, what was Dean's life like? Was he better off than now? Upon hearing the news from Translucent, he felt as if he was intruding on Dean's personal life. He completely forgot why he had entered the guarded room in the first place. He crosses his arms. "And why are you telling me this? Why would I need to know?"

"Well...you're buddies now, right? Especially since he helped you dumb fucks trap me here. Not good on his part, no," Translucent says with a click of his tongue. "You, my friend, just killed Rebound- Well it wouldn't be the first it's happened..." he murmurs dryly.

He whips his head in awe of Huhgie'swords. Not the first time it's happened? How often has Dean died? As he approached the cage, his face revealed concern. In complete disregard of Translucent's statement that he was responsible for Dean's death in the future. "How many- how many times has he died?"

"Well...the only thing I'll say is...they weren't caused by Homelander..."

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     Having failed to find a replacement for his bloodied dress shirt, Dean became frustrated. Inhaling deeply, he straightens out his shirt as he walks forward. When he looks up, he notices that the place he had been at with Butcher and Hughie has darkened. There was no lighting in the circular area, and the time of night did not help. As he walks forward with a confused expression on his face, he notices Frenchie looking out of a window. The darkened place almost blends into him. Dean creeps up on him. "What are you doing?" Dean whispers over his shoulder.

"Putain, tu m'as fait peur!" With amusement, he watches the man jump at his words and turn to face him. Frenchie pulls him down by the collar and watches through the boarded-up window. "Get down! They'll see you!"

Rebound asks "Who?" Fixing his collar as Frenchie releases him.

He watches as Frenchie glances at him and scoffs. He whispers. "The men who are looking for you and Translucent- You are so clueless for a supe. You know that?"

Rebound smirks and cocks his head. "Eh, I'll deal with the problem when it becomes a problem."

In disbelief, Frenchie shakes his head and stares at the supe. His attention is then directed to the black car as it drives away. Frenchie's eyes move steadily from left to right quickly. A radio transmission nearby catches his attention as he looks up at Rebound. Rebound quickly follows Frenchie behind a counter. A shadow can be seen behind the block window as people move about. The gun is handed to Rebound by Frenchie, who accepts it without question and fixes the magazine. Examining the firearm as if he were an experienced shooter. Taking a look at him, Frenchie continues to monitor the area where the men were. He speaks without looking at Rebound. "Seems you've had experience with guns before, never seen you with one..."

Rebound looked at the gun disappointed, remembering his experiences with them. "Yeah...I guess you can say that." While holding a gun, he remembered the regretful things he had done. He shakes his head without showing any emotion and diverts the conversation. "Hey uh, I don't know if we ever told eachother but, the name's Dean. My real name."

In response, Frenchie nods at Rebound. "Alright...Frenchie. If you didn't already get that from Butcher earlier." Dean nods back, appreciative of Frenchie's cooperation with him. They continue to move around as the men search the area for him and Translucent. While approaching a window, Frenchie hushes him as they see a man breaking into it from the outside. Dean is pushed toward a dark area, where outside light does not illuminate them.

"It looks like we're losing them. The signals are going in and out. Keep searching, another 50 feet down on the right." The radio transmitted from the man's grasp. The man looks around once again, then leaves.

Dean sighs and shakes Frenchie's shoulder. "At least we're not dead yet."

Frenchie rolls his eyes and leaves. "We're just business partners monsieur, not friends."

"Yeah, yeah..."

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     After a few hours, the sun began to rise. Dean sits with Hughie in a small room as Frenchie penetrates his teammate's skin in another. Dean sat beside Hughie on a metal counter as they listened to Frenchie making a ruckus while doing so. In the meantime, Hughie holds his own shoulders as Dean mindlessly cleans the dirt out of his oily hair. I need to shower soon.

"Hey..." When Dean hears Hughie's voice, he notices Hughie picking at the watch on his left wrist. Taking a quick look at Dean before staring at his watch. Dean notices Hughie's lips quiver and his eyes dart around as if searching for an answer, prompting Dean to sit closer to him. "Translucent told me something about you when you left uhmm... said something about you dying...more than once."

Dean's face is angry yet sad, puzzled, to say the least. Hughie observes Dean's discomfort with the topic and shakes his head quickly. "You know what- I'm sorry to bring that up. I shouldn't have asked-"

"No," He waves Hugie off and smiles sadly at him. "No, it's alright. I uh...dammit how do I say this without looking like a sad twig?" Dean laughed, trying to comfort himself. A personal detail about him was about to be revealed to his new friend, Homelander may not even be aware of it. He never found out if Homelander knew. "I uh...well. Before joining the team, I was always told to train to become a member of the seven, every day. No rest. In that case, I was guaranteed the spot. So I did it... every day. I didn't even know I wasnt taking fully care of myself through it, I've started to become tired. Tired of everything, no one was there for me, not even Jo- Homelander. I was alone. The training lasted for years end. It was physically and mentally draining. And throughout some of those years, I've...shot myself...through the head, right here." Dean lifts his head and looks at the ceiling, pointing under his chin.

Seeing the spot, Hughie's eyes widen. "Dean..." He lightly grazed the scar embedded in his skin. "...I'm sorry, I uh- I don't know what to say. I'm here for you, I am Dean. I am..." Hughie responds sympathetically.

Dean lowered his head and stared at Hughie; Hughie did the same, not moving his hand away from Dean's neck. They sat there for a few moments, neither speaking. Dean smiled weakly as Hughie's hand left his neck. Nodding, Dean tears up from the words never spoken to him. 'Here for you.' How did he find someone like Hughie? He'll never know. The tears roll down his cheeks as he looks shamelessly at Hughie.

Hughie wipes away his tears with the back of his hand. Giving a heartfelt smile to Dean. Hughie rubs Dean's shoulder in comfort. "Just because you're a supe doesn't mean you don't deal with the same problems everyone else does.".

Dean looks at Hughie and smiles softly. "Thanks, Hughie." He says, grateful for the support. Hughie smiles back, understanding in his eyes. Dean stands up abruptly and takes off Hughie's hand. Hughie slightly offended, questions him. "Did I do something wrong Dean? I was just-"

Dean places a hand on Hughie's leg, sniffing up tears. Patting him multiple times. "No, you did nothing wrong, I just- need some time alone. It's not on you...I just need time." Without hearing a response from Hughie, Dean quickly walks out of the room. Bumping into Frenchie as he walks in with a tool. Bumping into Butcher as he rounded the wall.

"Oi, mate. What you crying your balls for?" Butcher asks.

Without looking at him, Dean answers. "Why don't you go fuck china glass you brit? Why is everything a joke to you?" Dean quickly walks away.

He did not intend to target Butcher, it was just that the emotions that swept over him in a matter of minutes overtook him. The fact that he had died and been brought back so many times made him feel selfish, as not all humans had this ability. What is wrong with him? He should be grateful for his superior genetics, but didn't? He never wanted to be a superhero in the first place. He hated it. No one cared about him personally...not even John. To Dean, all John cared about was his reputation in the world.

But Hughie did. Hughie cared. Hughie was there for him in his weakened state and so was Dean for Hughie. Hughie was the most humane thing Dean came across. He made Dean feel human for once.

Made him forget he was just a supe on steroids, flashing for cameras...