Just see how virtue repays you… you turn and someone betrays you…
- "The Riddle" from The Scarlet Pimpernel
Bex returned home utterly exhausted and unnaturally depressed. The way Bex's life went, of course, she was almost always depressed - but today it was so much worse, and she couldn't quite explain why.
As she prepared to depart her car she glanced over her shoulder, just to check and see if maybe Syndrome had decided to appear again. He hadn't. The backseat was completely empty. For some reason this upset her a great deal more, and Bex swallowed the lump forming in her throat and angrily threw open the car door. "Bastard," she muttered to herself as she locked the car door and then walked towards her apartment building.
Her day had been extremely busy. This didn't particularly surprise her - hero work was always demanding. Fortunately, it was a Super who ran the library at Metroville University, where Bex worked on the side, and they would forgive her for not appearing at work that day. Eric, on the other hand, would not be nearly so magnanimous.
Bex stopped on the stairs and swallowed a sudden swell of fear painfully. Eric was seldom in a good mood, and he would feel worse if he knew he had missed an opportunity to play the all-important hero. Bex wasn't sure she was ready to tell him about her day. She prayed to God or whatever entity controlled the Universe that he was still passed out in a useless lump on the couch and then walked into the apartment building and up the stairs.
She unlocked the door with relatively little noise and slipped inside almost like a shadow. No sign of Eric anywhere. Damn. He was either awake and wandering around the apartment, or asleep in his room, or out buying more beer. Bex silently hoped that it was not the latter option; they needed whatever money they had left, and spending it on beer was about the last thing she wanted.
Bex walked almost silently through the house. Most people wouldn't have had any idea that she was there. Of course, Eric was not most people.
"Where the hell have you been, bitch?"
Bex turned slowly to face her roommate. "Hi, Eric," she whispered fearfully.
"Out fighting crime without me again?" he snarled. "Being the little hero, getting all the limelight, without me again? Is that it? Is it?"
"No," Bex mumbled, hanging her head. "You were sleeping… I thought you'd want to sleep longer… you know you don't fight well when you're - "
"Oh, so that's it, is it? I don't fight well enough for you and the other Supers' taste?" Eric screamed.
Bex shook her head frantically. "No!" she gasped. "No, it's just that I didn't want to wake you - I'm sorry - I made a mistake - I won't do it again -!"
"Like hell you won't!" Eric growled, and then he punched her, hard, in the mouth.
Kauri tasted blood. She clutched at her bleeding lip and spit some of the blood onto the floor. "Eric, please!" she said desperately. "I'm really sorry - it's not like that - I just -"
He hit her again, a neat punch in the eye. She tumbled backwards onto the floor. Hurriedly, she leapt to her feet and backed away, as far away as she could, towards the bedroom door. Just get inside, lock the door and get inside, everything will be okay if you just lock the door and hide…
"You worthless little whore," Eric spat angrily, throwing another punch. Kauri ducked. "Don't think I haven't heard about you and your new nemesis. All over the news tonight. And just because you avoided an interview doesn't mean anything. You still want all the fucking attention, don't you, Bex? Isn't that what you want? You just want to take it all away from me!"
"That's not true!" Kauri whimpered. "Eric, please don't hurt me, I didn't mean -"
"Shut the fuck up!" Eric howled, and suddenly, Kauri was picked up by a horrible, spinning wind, like a miniature tornado. She was flung past Eric, down the hallway, and back into the living room. She slammed into a wall and the fell to the floor, the rapid wind disappearing. She lifted her head and made an attempt to stand, but Eric kicked her down. Flames appeared in his hands. "You should know better than to fuck with me," he snarled hatefully. He turned the palms of his hands towards her and prepared to shoot flames at her.
"Eric, no!" Kauri screamed, but the flames came shooting towards her. She frantically held up her hands in front of her face, knowing it wouldn't do any good, but the searing, painful heat never came. She looked up cautiously and gave a stunned exclamation. Eric was still standing in front of her, but he was frozen in a beam of bluish energy.
"And you," a voice said icily from behind him. "Should never, ever fuck with Bex like that. You never know what friends might come to her rescue."
"Buddy!" Kauri stood shakily to her feet.
Syndrome almost casually threw Eric through a wall. "Bex…" he said softly, staring at her bleeding and bruised face.
"Oh my God! Bex!" Someone with platinum blonde hair ran out from behind Syndrome and threw her arms around Kauri's neck.
"Miriam?" Kauri said in disbelief.
Mirage stepped back from her and studied her damaged face. "Bex, how can you let this asshole do this to you?" she demanded, angrily brushing tears from her face. "It isn't fair."
"I'm coming to find that a whole lot of life isn't fair," Kauri said bitterly. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Kidnapping you," Syndrome replied offhandedly. "And in the nick of time, I see."
"Wait a second," Kauri said, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean, kidnapping?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Syndrome replied. Kauri started to back away, but Syndrome closed the distance between them with a few swift steps and caught her arms so that she couldn't escape. "I'm taking you away to my lovely little island paradise for awhile, so that we can have a little talk."
"About what?" Kauri asked nervously.
"A lot of things," Syndrome said with a shrug. He gave her a piercing glance. "I swear to you that it won't be nearly as painful as staying here seems to be."
Kauri started to chew on her lip, a sure sign that she was almost ready to burst into tears. Syndrome's whole manner seemed to soften. "Ah, Bex… don't…"
But she was already sniffling. Buddy pulled her against him and gently embraced her as she started to sob. "Hey, Mir, get me some Kleenex, will you?" he said quietly.
Mirage rushed to obey.
Syndrome stood uncertainly in the center of Kauri's dilapidated living room, trying to figure out exactly what to do. He had never been very good at this sort of thing - comforting somebody. He'd always tried to make Bex happier, but obviously he'd failed at that, too. Just like he'd failed at everything else in life.
He pushed this thought from his mind and gently lifted Bex off the floor, carrying her over to one of the collapsing couches. Bex hiccupped a bit and lifted her head from his shoulder, wiping her bleeding nose on the back of her hand. "Dammit," she said with a sniff. "I'm bleeding."
"And you were expecting…?" Syndrome questioned, raising an eyebrow. "That's what happens when you let your boyfriend beat you."
"Shut up," Kauri snapped angrily. "You have no right to give any commentary."
"Well, I don't exactly have a boyfriend," Syndrome said, rolling his eyes. "So I guess I can't say that he beats me."
Kauri giggled despite herself at this, but stopped as a fresh spurt of blood came from her nose. "Dammit," she muttered again.
"Mirage, you might wanna hurry with that Kleenex," Syndrome called.
"I can't find any!" Mirage yelled back, frustrated. "This place is such a pit, Bex! How the hell do you live here?"
"By trying to avoid coming back for as long as I can," Bex muttered.
Syndrome bit his lip. "Your life is really shitty, you know that?" he said.
"Thanks for the news flash, Buddy. Yes, I knew."
Buddy sighed angrily and looked around for something Bex could use to wipe her nose. "Here," he said, tossing her an old pillowcase. "That looks like it's seen better days. I'm sure it won't mind being used as a snot rag."
"It's been used for worse things," Bex said, gently pressing the rag to her nose. "Ouch!"
"Did he hit you in the nose?" Buddy asked worriedly.
"Don't think so," Bex mumbled. "It must have been when I hit the wall or something…"
"He threw you against the wall?" Buddy said in disbelief.
"Yup. He does it all the time."
"Son of a bitch!" Syndrome swore. "I swear I'll kill that worthless bastard."
"Don't you dare," Kauri snapped. "I may not like the guy, but you're not going to kill him."
"Well, I'll at least get his ass hauled to jail," Syndrome retorted hotly.
"Yeah, that'll be great," Kauri replied sarcastically. "'Hi, I'm Syndrome, that evil supervillain you see on TV wanted ads all the time, and I'm here to report domestic violence, oh, yes, and while I'm here, why don't you just clap those handcuffs on me and shove me in a top-security jail cell?'"
"Jeez," Buddy muttered. "You save somebody from getting their face burned off and do they show you any gratitude? Of course not!"
"You're being insensitive," Mirage said, re-entering the room with a roll of toilet paper. "Sorry, Bex. This is the best I could do."
Bex tossed the now-bloody pillowcase onto the floor. "It's an improvement. That thing probably hasn't been washed in ages."
Mirage wrinkled her nose in disgust. "That's so gross," she said. "What is it? Just a random rag?"
"It's a pillowcase," Kauri said, blowing her nose loudly into a wad of toilet paper.
"Well, since you're about as fixed up as we can get you here," Syndrome said, standing up and stretching slightly, "I think it's time we bust out of this puke hole."
"Thanks, Buddy," Kauri said, rolling her eyes, but she stood and gently leaned against Syndrome. He gladly took the invitation and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, to help support her.
"You'll be ok, won't you?" he asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. "I've survived worse than this."
"So you've told me," Syndrome said with a heavy sigh. "All right then. Shall we?"
"Let's blow this Popsicle stand," Kauri said with a grin. Syndrome smiled slightly back at her, and then helped her limp towards the door.