Kiss It Better

[Banner Laverick]

The warm breeze swirled her long red hair around her shoulders as she settled onto the edge of the fire escape on her building. It had been about a month since Felix – no, Flux – had come “home”; it was nice to have him here, when he actually WAS here. As much as they played house and played the happy young couple, there were the constant calls to “work”. Calls to do what, she didn't exactly know. Banner had reluctantly fallen into the role of Supportive Girlfriend...


It was so boring.


Not that she would ever tell Flux that. Part of her missed this, and it was something she'd decided to keep from him. Just for a little while, anyway. It wasn't hard to keep her new costume hidden (a slightly modified motorcycle suit, made of leather and Kevlar - a bit more form fitting than she was used to, but it gave her more protection than any of her old costumes), and it wasn't hard for her to find time to go out and patrol. There was no shortage of criminals, and unlike New York, it didn't seem like anyone was interested in the heroics of a random mutant hero. Not yet, at least. She'd stopped some small time crooks from stealing purses, robbing convenience stores, and the like.


Banner Laverick sat, watching the sun rise, after a night of patrolling and fighting guys twice her size. Silently she opened her apartment window, sliding inside. Flux should be out...Or not. Someone was in the washroom. Oops.

[Flux]

He dried his hands and face with the towel hanging on the rack and opened the door, leaning just inside it with arms folded. It was unusual for him to come home to find an empty bed, but lately, it'd been happening with greater frequency. He hadn't been worried too much, knowing her power set, but seeing her crawl back in through the window in a vigilante costume made something in his blood boil.

"Vhat ah you doing, Bannah? Moonlighting hero work?" he drawled, mimicking Edna Mode to mask some of his irritation. "I see you've ditched your hobo suit."

[Banner Laverick]

She stopped, mid step in the middle of the room, looking at him sheepishly.

"My last costume was SO not a hobo costume."

She stood tall, mimicking his stance, with her arms folded across her chest. Banner could sense the irritation coming from him, and felt some of her own.

"If you can have secrets, so can I. A little heroing on the side never hurt anyone, and it certainly can't hurt me."

[Flux]

"Whether or not you'll get hurt isn't the point," he said. "Why would I worry about that when you're invincible? No, what I'm worried about is who you might run into out there. I really don't want a bunch of Vanguards to collar you. No matter how strong and tough you are, it won't stop a collar from depowering you and getting you dragged off to Jericho. If you're alone, you've got no one to help you if you get in deeper than you thought you would. I'm not going to have you go missing from me that way."

[Banner Laverick]

"Like you'd even miss me anyway...."

She pulled the harlequin mask from her face, tossing it onto the bed before heading into the kitchen. She returned moments later with a bottle of water, cap in hand.

"I think I can handle myself just fine. Besides, who's going to go with me on patrol? You? I thought you didn't want to help "mundanes"," Banner did air quotes. "You have your Brothers, I have...well, just you. And you're not even here all the time. I can't just go to work, come home and do nothing but wait around for you, Flux. It's driving me crazy."

[Flux]

"Excuse me?" he yelled, not hearing anything beyond her initial statement. "I have missed you everyday for a half year of incarceration! All I could think of was what did you think of me now, did you even love me, what would you do or say if I could see you again. And you think I don't care!?"

His mind processed the rest of her talk in the crushing silence that followed his outburst. He sighed, face-palming and squinting his eyes shut. "I actually would go. I wouldn't help you with every little thing. Yes, that means I'd leave the mundanes to be mugged. I'd help with those Tres Onces bastards though, and anything we found related to Jericho. And I never once asked you to stay here and wait on me like a housewife. Why didn't you say anything before now?"

[Banner Laverick]

She flinched at his outburst, chewing on her bottom lip to keep herself from having one of her own. His words hurt her, but she wouldn't let him see that.

"What did you expect me to do? I'm sorry for trying to have our home life be somewhat normal. I thought it would actually mean something to you, to have some kind of life without all of that craziness. Maybe I wanted to have that too. Maybe I want our home to be a safe place, just for us."

Banner sat on the bed, cross-legged. She started to peel the label from the bottle in her hand so she wouldn't have to look at him. She could feel her eyes starting to tear up in spite of her trying to stay strong.

"You were away because of playing hero. I didn't think that I should put you out there when, you know, you're a wanted criminal. I love you, and I don't want to lose you. Ever. Do you think I don't worry about that every time you leave to do Brotherhood stuff?" She paused, continuing to fidget. "You want me to be proud of my powers, and I want to use them, to help people - human or mutant. But part of me will always be afraid that they'll cause us to lose everything all over again."

[Flux]

He bore her out with impatience, and found he only half-cared about whether or not she noticed. Normal? No such thing, for a mutant. Her concern over losing "everything" seemed childish to him, too. If a half-year of prison hadn't broken the relationship between them, nothing short of death would do the job. But no matter how he tried, she would never, ever listen when he pointed it out. I know, I just worry! was the usual response. Or something. Sometimes it was I just love you, which was a little better. But not much. They ought not to be having talks along this line by now.

"Look, fuck it. Do what you like. Let's just not talk about this now. I don't wanna argue about this again. Let's go somewhere, and do something fun, and maybe get some food or something. C'mon, put on some regular clothes. I'm buying."

[Banner Laverick]

"Okay."

She changed her clothes in silence, disappearing into the bathroom for a brief moment before coming out looking more like a teenage girl than a super hero. Banner gave him a small, forced smile.

"Where do you wanna go eat?"

[Flux]

"I don't know what's good around here. I haven't been out long enough to know. Isn't this in or near Koreatown? Let's just go get some Korean food. I've never tried it. All I really know is that they eat kimchi and it's supposed to smell like a demon's asshole and taste similar." Not his funniest or most appropriate joke. Slow start tonight.

"Been to any Korean places yet? If you know one you like, we should just go there."

[Banner Laverick]

"I haven't, but the ladies at work say Parks BBQ is really good."

She pulled on her sneakers and grabbed her purse, giving him a grin.

"I'm sure they wouldn't recommend a place where the food tastes like ass. I think it's mostly meat dishes anyway. And it's like, ten minutes away if we walk there."