A Response To This Prompt From @gingerly-writing

A response to this prompt from @gingerly-writing

CW: Death, mention of murder, serious wounds, reanimating the dead

"I wasn't important enough for [hero] to save, for anyone to save. I wasn't even enough to save myself. So why the hell did you bring me back to life?"

"To save you."

Villain crooked their finger, trailing the blue hue of livor mortis from Sidekick's cheek to the gaping hole at the base of their throat, raw and black but no longer weeping. A twin wound marred the back of their neck just below Villain's cradling grip, but they ignored both wounds as much as they did the deadly chill soaking into their fingertips.

Sidekick stared them dead in the eyes, hard, unblinking. They'd had such lovely eyes in life, a bright shade of bottle-green that even Villain couldn't help admiring from time to time. Now a hazy film clouded them a pale, greenish grey. How unfortunate.

Villain did not flinch or turn away, but the venom gathering in Sidekick's mouth did not dry.

"Liar," they spat.

Villain raised one brow. "Is that a fact?"

"You barely acknowledged I was alive. Why would that change after I died?"

Villain pulled them further into their arms, wet locks pasting to the criminal's face as they went forehead to forehead. "Perhaps I've always been secretly and madly in love with you."

Sidekick thrashed, but their limbs still carried the heavy stiffness of rigor mortis, and would for at least a couple more hours, so all they succeeded in doing was bapping the heel of one half-closed hand against Villain's chin.

Villain drew back a few inches and quirked an unimpressed smile. "What? Cuter up close? Come on, you've hit me harder than that."

"Let go!" Sidekick cried, squirming uselessly, tears pricking their clouded eyes.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Villain tutted at them like a tantruming child. "Let's get you out of here first."

Tucking their arm under Sidekick's cold legs, they hoisted them into a bridal carry and started toward the mouth of the cave. The leftover inch of chain hanging off the do-gooder's anklet clinked with each step and glinted vaguely as they stepped out into the sun. As Sidekick clumsily attempted to shield their face with one arm, Villain shifted them a little and laid one hand loosely across their eyes.

"You don't have to--" Sidekick began snippily, but the roar of waves crashing on the rocks cut them off. Their entire body seized, each muscle growing even stiffer.

Was that what they'd heard in the hours before the tide came? In Supervillain's videos, Sidekick knelt blindfolded on the cave floor. How would it have felt hearing that sound, not knowing how much time was passing or how far the water was rising? To feel the cold water start gathering around your legs? What a cruel way to spend one's final moments. Then for Supervillain to cut it all off with a blade? That was just unnecessary torture.

"The thing is, Hero should have saved you," Villain said, starting up the slope. They knew talking about a different angle to their death wasn't much of a distraction, but it was all they could think to say. They're plan hadn't gotten much further than a basic outline. "They're making themselves look like a mess on tv, wailing and crying about being too late, but I saw them that day. A lot of flying back and forth, and walking around, but not really going anywhere."

Sidekick sniffled a little, tears dripping icy on Villain's fingertips. "Why were you watching them?"

"I'm always watching them," Villain said. "Even right now, I'm watching them."

They lifted their fingers briefly to twist their square watch toward Sidekick's face.

"Click that button on the side."

Sidekick hesitated, but finally, with some difficulty, they jabbed their thumb into the button and lit the screen with a view of the street. Clicking it again switched the image to Hero's house, the lot outside their workplace, the rooftop view of the sky, etc.

"Cameras." Villain dropped their hand back over Sidekick's eyes. "If I want to keep on Hero's plans, I need to keep an eye on them. But I only get so much. I know Hero didn't try to save you that day, what I don't know is why."

"Like I said," Sidekick mumbled. "I'm not very important."

"I don't buy that."

Sidekick jolted. "Y-you don't?"

"No. Any human loss is a blotch on Hero's reputation, let alone their own Sidekick. They're spinning it their way now, but allowing your death was a huge risk."

They spotted their car at the top of the slope and jogged the last few meters to the back door. Sidekick blinked rapidly up at them as they removed their hand and laid them in the backseat.

Villain met their eyes. "I think you're very important. Enough to scare Hero very badly."

"That's why you saved me."

Villain grimaced. "Well I could go on about how gracious I am, but yes. Apparently, you know something big enough that Hero wanted you dead? I simply had to hear it straight from the horse's mouth."

Villain looked at them expectantly, but Sidekick only stared back.

"One problem with that," they finally said, voice hushed.

Villain leaned in closer. "What's that?"

"I don't know why Hero wanted me dead. I...I thought we were...friends."

Their voice cracked on the last word and a new set of cold tears streamed their cheeks.

Villain wasn't sure how to respond. The beings they brought back to life often carried trauma, but usually, they didn't deal with them directly or need them for quite so long. Not to mention they were in breach of their biggest rule: don't bring back anyone they knew personally.

It was a precaution put in place only a couple years after they discovered their powers. They'd quickly learned that the pain of losing someone was nothing compared to the agony of losing them a second time. People often wanted goodbyes. They wanted closure. Six more months of orange sticky buns and bedtime stories cut off in a random instant did not bring closure.

But they didn't really know Sidekick. Sure, they'd been caught in their fair share of fights, and they knew the basics about them, but that was different from being in danger of regretting aliving them. They wanted info and that was it. A few questions and they'd probably be done in no time.

"Hero is a greasy piece of garbage that deserves nothing less than a good crushing. Anything you know of them is probably a lie. Forget them."

They slammed the car door on Sidekick's shocked expression and moved up to the front seat, drowning out any possible comments with the rev of the engine.

***

By the time they reached Villain’s lair, Sidekick had been alive long enough to be able to stand. They resisted Villain’s proffered arm, but followed them slowly and creakily inside. So. Progress.

On the way in, they caught a glimpse of themself in the hallway mirror, freezing them to the spot. They ran their hand over their bluish cheeks and lips and settled their fingertips over the gouged hollow of their throat. For a moment their lips moved, like they might say something, or maybe where whispering real quiet, but then just as quickly they tore themselves away from their reflection and stumbled into the living room.

They flopped down heavily on Villain’s couch, sending a few cushions to the floor. They picked up the fluffy, sage roll pillow and began smoothing the fuzz back and forth.

“So, you brought me back to life.” They didn’t look up from the pillow. “Not CPR or anything, just regular supernatural reanimation.”

“You don’t have to make it sound so mundane,” Villain said. “It’s not like you know anyone else who can—“

"For how long?"

“Huh?”

“It’s not permanent, right? I know that much about you. Whatever you revive has an expiration date. So how long do I have?”

Villain paused for a long moment but finally said, “ I really can't say. No less than 3 months, no more than 2 years. It’s pretty random…”

Sidekick swallowed and nodded. They definitely weren’t comfortable with that knowledge, and who would be? Villain sometimes felt it was just as cruel for those given a second chance at life as it was for their loved ones.

“So how does this work exactly? Cause I could feel when you touched me but I don’t…feel this.”

They hovered their hand just shy of touching the death-wound.

“Basically you have the sensations of a living human, without being fully alive. You can touch, taste, smell, all that fun stuff. You can even eat. And even If you look like a corpse, I promise you won’t rot. But since you already died, you’re kinda immune to the things regular people need. No heartbeat, no breathing, no bleeding…no death—not until the reanimation-whatever-it-is wears off that is.”

Sidekick lifted their hand up in front of their face in amazement. "So I'm immortal?"

"In a way, but you have to be careful, if you injure yourself, you won't heal.”

Sidekick was already off the couch and not listening. “They think they can kill me and get away with it? Well how would they like an unkilllable target?”

Villain took a few steps after them. “No. I don’t recommend— Even if the pain only lasts a moment, you could still lose body functionality!”

"I'm going to kill them,” Sidekick seethed, hazy eyes narrowing. “Both of them."

With that they lurched toward the door, picking up speed with every step.

"Oh no you're not!" Villain cried, speedwalking out the front door after them. "You're going to help me!”

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