No Happy Endings Act 12 - This World is Going to Burn
Title: No Happy Endings (12/? - "This World is Going to Burn")
Rating: PG-13
Paring: Billy/Penny
Word Count: 1679
Summary: The Hero is dead, and the Villain has taken over the city. Caught between worlds, all Penny wants is to get back to a normal life, only to find that she's already a pawn in epic struggles she didn't even know existed. AU from 'Slipping'.
Penny’s heart didn’t stop pounding until she was back in the cab and a mile away from the house. None of the guards had known to stop her, Justice Joe hadn’t followed, and she had what she’d come for. She wondered if the picture frame had even scratched Joe-- she’d put as much force behind it as she could, but he was a Hero. He probably had invulnerability or something. Penny had always thought of her self as non-violent, but it had felt illicitly satisfying to hit him.
Hourglass had said to call her once she had Billy’s latest ray-thing. The phone picked up after a single ring.
“Everything go well?”
Penny told her what had happened, editing out things she didn’t think were relevant, which ended up cutting her story in half.
“Good. Now listen carefully-”
Hourglass gave her directions to the ELE HQ in the mountains. Penny did wonder briefly how she would get all the way up there, but Hourglass assured her that if she got to the outskirts of the property the ELE would find her. Penny didn’t find this completely reassuring, but she’d been promised it would work, and she couldn’t see any other way.
The taxi only took her as far as the head of the winding dirt road that went up into the hills above the city. Penny gave the taxi driver all the money she had, and tried to tell him to stay out of town, but he looked at her like she was speaking gibberish and sped off as soon as she’d paid, leaving Penny in a cloud of red dust.
She started walking.
She’d at least thought to bring water, but she hadn’t known how much she’d need, so Penny had only bought a small bottle that lasted her all of an hour. The Ray was in a black trash bag that she’d slung over her shoulder where it jostled with the backpack that she’d hastily packed from her luggage. Her feet hurt after five minutes, and she didn’t have a hat. Penny was immensely relieved two hours later when the ELE finally arrived.
She recognized the villainess who found her as Snake Bite-she’d claimed responsibility a few years back for the release of all the poisonous reptiles at the zoo into a school group.
“What are you doing here, little girl?”
Penny set down the trash bag slowly and held up her hands. “I’m here to see Dr. Horrible.” There was an uncomfortable moment.
“And why?”
“Um, I’m his henchman-henchwoman,” Penny stammered, then remembered what Billy had said to Moist-- “No henchmen.” Oops.
“Come,” the villainess said after a moment. She gestured towards the ATV she’d arrived in with the nasty-looking gun she’d been pointing at Penny for the whole exchange. Penny picked up the bag again and climbed in, expecting to be shot in the back at any moment, and feeling only slightly relieved when Snake Bite got in beside her and leaned the gun against the seat.
It was almost dark by the time they stopped. It didn’t look like much-a broken-down farmhouse set against a cliff, a windmill with most of its blades broken off that creaked ominously in the still air. There were corrals too, the railings split and weathered, and a barn whose rusted roof had fallen in long before, weeds twining up rafters broken like shattered ribs.
Penny looked up as they drove through the remains of a gate with a sign hanging above it. The lettering was almost obliterated, and Penny could only barely read it in the dim light: “Twin Feathers Ranch”.
Snake Bite parked the ATV in a shed by the house, and motioned for her to get down first. She did go ahead of her for a moment to unlock the front door, but kept Penny firmly in front of her as they went in. Penny was slightly flattered that she was considered such a threat.
It was a short walk down the dark hall to the trap door to the cellar. Penny almost tripped going down the steps in the dark, but the unmistakable feel of a gun barrel at her back was an incentive to keep her balance. She kept walking, one hand stretched out in front of her.
She’d counted ten paces when her fingers touched cold metal. There was a shift in the air beside her, and the door swung open silently.
It took Penny’s eyes a moment to adjust, a moment they didn’t have because Snake Bite wanted her to start walking again. The dirt and rotten wood under her feet and around her had become concrete, and florescent tubes crackled and flickered along the ceiling. Penny took deep breaths and tried not to feel claustrophobic. It was a good-sized hallway, maybe six feet wide and twice that tall, but the air was dank and it had the feeling of being far, far underground. She guessed they were underneath the cliff.
There were doors in the passage every twenty feet or so, but Snake Bite ignored them. Penny had counted five doors on each side when they reached the end of the hall. There was a double door made of carved wood that looked oddly archaic and sentimental in its industrial, expressionless surroundings.
Penny glanced back at the villainess, who rolled her eyes and nodded. She reached up knock but Snake Bite hissed, “Just go in!”
It looked like a boardroom, long dark table, leather backed chairs, wooden paneling. There were even roll-up shades hanging from on the far wall, though Penny couldn’t see what use they’d be underground. Bad Horse stood at the head of the far head of the table; the six members of the highest echelon of the ELE sat in chairs along the table’s long sides, along with an empty chair she assumed was Snake Bite’s.
Eight of the world’s most evil Supervillains, and they were all staring at her.
She recognized all of them, matching faces and costumes to terrible crimes and horrifying reputations. She suddenly found herself noticing pointless things like how well the spots of color like Fake Thomas Jefferson’s sash, Dead Bowie’s scarf, and the bright crimson of Dr. Horrible’s lab coat showed up in the darkened room.
“This one claim’s she’s yours,” Snake Bite hissed to Dr. Horrible, giving Penny a shove towards him.
Dr. Horrible sighed. “Ladies, gentlemen, would you excuse me?”
Bad Horse’s answering whinny was comparatively quiet, but it still echoed deafeningly.
“Thank you,” Dr. Horrible rose and steered Penny out the door, back down the hall, and through one of the doors. It led onto another, much smaller passage that ended in what she assumed was his lab.
“I’m starting to get tired of you turning up,” he told her, shutting the door behind them.
“I brought you this-” She held out the trash bag. He didn’t even look at it. He had his back to her, fiddling with something on his worktable. It was much more tidy then the one back at the house, which was somehow disturbing.
“Look, I’m sorry I came back, but I didn’t want to leave in the first place-” She laughed weakly, trying to break his awful silence.
He turned to face her, and his expression made her breath catch. She’d never seen him look at her like that before, a mix of cold disinterest and distaste. He was looking at her like she was a stranger, like he’d kill her in an instant if it wouldn’t be more trouble then it was worth to clean her up later.
“I’m trying to work here, Penny,” he told her.
“Billy-”
“Don’t call me that.” He said it matter-of-factly, the voice of someone who knew that whatever he said would be obeyed instantly.
Penny took a step closer to him, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do, and reached out towards his face. He hit her hand away.
“You must be tired,” he said in the same impersonal voice. “You can have my bed; I need to work tonight.”
There were multiple implications and angles to that which Penny wasn’t comfortable with, but her feet were killing her. She didn’t change into her nightclothes though, only pausing to kick off her shoes before she collapsed onto the bed. She fell asleep quickly, but she didn’t sleep well. She hadn’t expected to.
* * *
Penny woke gasping, her heart pounding and her ears ringing with a sound she hadn’t quite heard. It was pitch-black in the room, and she could feel the aftershocks of whatever it was quivering in the walls.
“Penny!”
She jumped back from the noise and scrabbled for the light. He got there first, dulling the sudden flare of light to a manageable dim glow.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “Are you OK?”
Penny nodded, even though she wasn’t sure how generalized his question was.
He sat next to her on the bed. In the faint light Penny could see rings around his eyes from the goggles.
“Did something happen?” she asked.
He closed his eyes for a moment. “I think I just blew up Los Angles.”
“That doesn’t sound very definite!”
“Oh, the city’s gone. I’m just not sure if it’s my doing.”
“Billy, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Things are getting-complicated. Like earlier, I knew it was you, and I just couldn’t-” He met her eyes. “I’m not always sure of what I’m doing, sometimes I know things are my decisions and my thoughts, and sometimes I think they’re…someone else’s.”
Penny reached over and hugged him. He stiffened, then relaxed and leaned his cheek against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, but she wasn’t sure what he apologizing for-- him, or the ELE, or the dead city Penny was trying not to think about.
“It’s ok,” she said, and even if she had a hard time believing it, it was a start.
“I love you,” he said into her hair.
That she could believe, but it was still a surprise when he kissed her.
Rating: PG-13
Paring: Billy/Penny
Word Count: 1679
Summary: The Hero is dead, and the Villain has taken over the city. Caught between worlds, all Penny wants is to get back to a normal life, only to find that she's already a pawn in epic struggles she didn't even know existed. AU from 'Slipping'.
Penny’s heart didn’t stop pounding until she was back in the cab and a mile away from the house. None of the guards had known to stop her, Justice Joe hadn’t followed, and she had what she’d come for. She wondered if the picture frame had even scratched Joe-- she’d put as much force behind it as she could, but he was a Hero. He probably had invulnerability or something. Penny had always thought of her self as non-violent, but it had felt illicitly satisfying to hit him.
Hourglass had said to call her once she had Billy’s latest ray-thing. The phone picked up after a single ring.
“Everything go well?”
Penny told her what had happened, editing out things she didn’t think were relevant, which ended up cutting her story in half.
“Good. Now listen carefully-”
Hourglass gave her directions to the ELE HQ in the mountains. Penny did wonder briefly how she would get all the way up there, but Hourglass assured her that if she got to the outskirts of the property the ELE would find her. Penny didn’t find this completely reassuring, but she’d been promised it would work, and she couldn’t see any other way.
The taxi only took her as far as the head of the winding dirt road that went up into the hills above the city. Penny gave the taxi driver all the money she had, and tried to tell him to stay out of town, but he looked at her like she was speaking gibberish and sped off as soon as she’d paid, leaving Penny in a cloud of red dust.
She started walking.
She’d at least thought to bring water, but she hadn’t known how much she’d need, so Penny had only bought a small bottle that lasted her all of an hour. The Ray was in a black trash bag that she’d slung over her shoulder where it jostled with the backpack that she’d hastily packed from her luggage. Her feet hurt after five minutes, and she didn’t have a hat. Penny was immensely relieved two hours later when the ELE finally arrived.
She recognized the villainess who found her as Snake Bite-she’d claimed responsibility a few years back for the release of all the poisonous reptiles at the zoo into a school group.
“What are you doing here, little girl?”
Penny set down the trash bag slowly and held up her hands. “I’m here to see Dr. Horrible.” There was an uncomfortable moment.
“And why?”
“Um, I’m his henchman-henchwoman,” Penny stammered, then remembered what Billy had said to Moist-- “No henchmen.” Oops.
“Come,” the villainess said after a moment. She gestured towards the ATV she’d arrived in with the nasty-looking gun she’d been pointing at Penny for the whole exchange. Penny picked up the bag again and climbed in, expecting to be shot in the back at any moment, and feeling only slightly relieved when Snake Bite got in beside her and leaned the gun against the seat.
It was almost dark by the time they stopped. It didn’t look like much-a broken-down farmhouse set against a cliff, a windmill with most of its blades broken off that creaked ominously in the still air. There were corrals too, the railings split and weathered, and a barn whose rusted roof had fallen in long before, weeds twining up rafters broken like shattered ribs.
Penny looked up as they drove through the remains of a gate with a sign hanging above it. The lettering was almost obliterated, and Penny could only barely read it in the dim light: “Twin Feathers Ranch”.
Snake Bite parked the ATV in a shed by the house, and motioned for her to get down first. She did go ahead of her for a moment to unlock the front door, but kept Penny firmly in front of her as they went in. Penny was slightly flattered that she was considered such a threat.
It was a short walk down the dark hall to the trap door to the cellar. Penny almost tripped going down the steps in the dark, but the unmistakable feel of a gun barrel at her back was an incentive to keep her balance. She kept walking, one hand stretched out in front of her.
She’d counted ten paces when her fingers touched cold metal. There was a shift in the air beside her, and the door swung open silently.
It took Penny’s eyes a moment to adjust, a moment they didn’t have because Snake Bite wanted her to start walking again. The dirt and rotten wood under her feet and around her had become concrete, and florescent tubes crackled and flickered along the ceiling. Penny took deep breaths and tried not to feel claustrophobic. It was a good-sized hallway, maybe six feet wide and twice that tall, but the air was dank and it had the feeling of being far, far underground. She guessed they were underneath the cliff.
There were doors in the passage every twenty feet or so, but Snake Bite ignored them. Penny had counted five doors on each side when they reached the end of the hall. There was a double door made of carved wood that looked oddly archaic and sentimental in its industrial, expressionless surroundings.
Penny glanced back at the villainess, who rolled her eyes and nodded. She reached up knock but Snake Bite hissed, “Just go in!”
It looked like a boardroom, long dark table, leather backed chairs, wooden paneling. There were even roll-up shades hanging from on the far wall, though Penny couldn’t see what use they’d be underground. Bad Horse stood at the head of the far head of the table; the six members of the highest echelon of the ELE sat in chairs along the table’s long sides, along with an empty chair she assumed was Snake Bite’s.
Eight of the world’s most evil Supervillains, and they were all staring at her.
She recognized all of them, matching faces and costumes to terrible crimes and horrifying reputations. She suddenly found herself noticing pointless things like how well the spots of color like Fake Thomas Jefferson’s sash, Dead Bowie’s scarf, and the bright crimson of Dr. Horrible’s lab coat showed up in the darkened room.
“This one claim’s she’s yours,” Snake Bite hissed to Dr. Horrible, giving Penny a shove towards him.
Dr. Horrible sighed. “Ladies, gentlemen, would you excuse me?”
Bad Horse’s answering whinny was comparatively quiet, but it still echoed deafeningly.
“Thank you,” Dr. Horrible rose and steered Penny out the door, back down the hall, and through one of the doors. It led onto another, much smaller passage that ended in what she assumed was his lab.
“I’m starting to get tired of you turning up,” he told her, shutting the door behind them.
“I brought you this-” She held out the trash bag. He didn’t even look at it. He had his back to her, fiddling with something on his worktable. It was much more tidy then the one back at the house, which was somehow disturbing.
“Look, I’m sorry I came back, but I didn’t want to leave in the first place-” She laughed weakly, trying to break his awful silence.
He turned to face her, and his expression made her breath catch. She’d never seen him look at her like that before, a mix of cold disinterest and distaste. He was looking at her like she was a stranger, like he’d kill her in an instant if it wouldn’t be more trouble then it was worth to clean her up later.
“I’m trying to work here, Penny,” he told her.
“Billy-”
“Don’t call me that.” He said it matter-of-factly, the voice of someone who knew that whatever he said would be obeyed instantly.
Penny took a step closer to him, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do, and reached out towards his face. He hit her hand away.
“You must be tired,” he said in the same impersonal voice. “You can have my bed; I need to work tonight.”
There were multiple implications and angles to that which Penny wasn’t comfortable with, but her feet were killing her. She didn’t change into her nightclothes though, only pausing to kick off her shoes before she collapsed onto the bed. She fell asleep quickly, but she didn’t sleep well. She hadn’t expected to.
* * *
Penny woke gasping, her heart pounding and her ears ringing with a sound she hadn’t quite heard. It was pitch-black in the room, and she could feel the aftershocks of whatever it was quivering in the walls.
“Penny!”
She jumped back from the noise and scrabbled for the light. He got there first, dulling the sudden flare of light to a manageable dim glow.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “Are you OK?”
Penny nodded, even though she wasn’t sure how generalized his question was.
He sat next to her on the bed. In the faint light Penny could see rings around his eyes from the goggles.
“Did something happen?” she asked.
He closed his eyes for a moment. “I think I just blew up Los Angles.”
“That doesn’t sound very definite!”
“Oh, the city’s gone. I’m just not sure if it’s my doing.”
“Billy, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Things are getting-complicated. Like earlier, I knew it was you, and I just couldn’t-” He met her eyes. “I’m not always sure of what I’m doing, sometimes I know things are my decisions and my thoughts, and sometimes I think they’re…someone else’s.”
Penny reached over and hugged him. He stiffened, then relaxed and leaned his cheek against the top of her head. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, but she wasn’t sure what he apologizing for-- him, or the ELE, or the dead city Penny was trying not to think about.
“It’s ok,” she said, and even if she had a hard time believing it, it was a start.
“I love you,” he said into her hair.
That she could believe, but it was still a surprise when he kissed her.