Nine one word prompt drabbles 2 (PG-13, Penny, Billy, Hammer, Moist)
Title: Drabbles 10-18
Author: BlondieBelle
Credit: kproflostsouls- thank you for your prompts, and the plot for 'Tease'
Word Count: 100-500 words per story.
Summary: Nine stories ranging from fluff to tragedy.
10 Acceptance:
Penny accepting the Doc as a third member in their relationship
Billy had one real fear. That Penny would find out about the the Doc, and leave. It was rational, he knew she would never want to go out with the man who killed her super hero boyfriend.
So far, he'd never had a problem keeping his 'evil twin' from her. She'd never found the lab, or any plans in their apartment, and since they were both just messy enough, she'd never discovered the secret trigger that opened the door the lab in their apartment. Of course, the day came when Penny did find it (her parents were coming, she hadn't seen them in almost ten years and wanted the house to be perfect.) Billy found her broken and defeated in his lab when he got home from the ELE meeting.
“You didn't tell me.” She said from the other side of their living room once she had calmed down. Billy sat on the armchair, across from her miserable. She wouldn't let him touch her, and seeing her so distraught, knowing it was his fault, and not being able to do anything about it was taking a toll on his nerves.
“I'm sorry, Pen.” His voice was embarrassingly emotional compared to her cold tone. He wanted to- he didn't even know what he wanted to do, but he felt chained up. He couldn't let typical male stupidity make an appearance now, or he knew he'd loose Penny forever.
“I knew how you felt about the Doc, and I didn't want to make you unhappy-” Billy trailed off, wondering if that was even the right think to say.
“So you lied to me?” Her accusation cut through Billy like the lasers he'd been working on. “Was it your idea? Billy, or 'the Doc's'?” She asked sarcastically. The room was quiet for a little bit, Billy didn't know how to respond.
“I can't do this now.” Penny murmured when she knew Billy wasn't going to answer her question. She caught the pained look in Billy's eyes.
“We will talk this through.” She reassured him, her calm tone slightly strained. “But not now. I need to think.” She got up and moved past him towards the hallway that led to their bedroom.
“I love you, Penny.” It was a last ditch effort, but Billy couldn't help the words spilling out of his mouth. Penny turned around to look at him and he took in every sign of the damage he had caused. He face was streaked with hours worth of tears, her green eyes were glassy, puffy and red, and the hurt shown in them was too easy to see. She looked so fragile.
“I love you too, Billy. But this is too much.” Billy thought of all the trouble she would encounter if they didn't solve this issue, what the ELE would put her through.
“Pen-” She stiffened at his use of her nickname, and Billy tried to get the words he wanted out from around the huge wad of fear, anxiety, and sadness that seemed to block hid throat.
“Pen, please don't leave the apartment tonight.” His desperation must have touched something in Penny, because she looked a little softer, as if she were finally seeing that this was as hard for him as it was for her, and she nodded.
“I promise.” She said, before walking to the bedroom and shutting the door. Billy heard the click of the lock, and steeled down in the chair for a long night.
11 Sick:
Penny only had a cold. It wasn't even a bad cold, but Billy had decided that, since her coughing, sneezing and general sick noises had woken him up more then once the night before, she was too sick to do anything, and
so he confined her to bed rest. He even gave her one of those silly doctors notes that prescribed bed rest. It would have been cute if it wasn't so damn annoying. She had work that had to get done, the shelter's budget had to be re-evaluated, and the building had to under go it's annual inspection.
And to top it all off, though Billy was a good doctor, he was terrible at playing nurse.
“Billy!” She called out for the fourth time. The sound had to reach him in his lab, and that was nearly impossible. But Billy had threatened her with actual restraints when he caught her up and around, so getting up was not an option.
“Billy!” It was getting tiring, and her throat was starting to get sore. Not to mention she felt like a inexcusable nag every time she had to yell for something.
She was just about to get up, threats be dammed, and get herself the stinking glass of water when Billy appeared in the doorway looking frazzled and carrying a tray.
It was a full lunch, and Penny didn't realize she was hungry until she caught the scent of whatever was on the tray.
“Sorry, I was fixing this for you.” He apologized, not, looking the least bit put out by her yelling. He set the tray down and sat on the edge of their almost-too-small bed, with the intention of staying for as long as she wanted him to. Suddenly, Penny didn't mind the bed rest so much.
12 Cut:
The tiny scar from the tiniest cut would always remind Jason of what had been his fault.
He'd actually started avoiding mirrors whenever he could. Nobody seemed to notice the scar on his shoulder that told the terrible tale of how he had single handedly killed Penny.
It was a tiny pale line, even smaller then the cut that has caused it, but the guilt that filled him whenever he saw it was enough to send him running to the Hero's Guild therapist.
He'd never been able to admit that Penny's death was his fault. He actually didn't mind that Dr. Horrible had taken the publicity for that one, most of the time.
Captain Hammer had one scar, and it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
13 Bound:
Hammer didn't really have a choice. After that afternoon in the Laundromat, he had this urge to let Penny go to Dr. Horrible, or Billy as he'd called himself. He looked at Penny, she looked happy enough sitting in the passenger seat of the Hammer-mobile, but it wasn't anything near the glow his random groupie hook-ups wore, when they learned they had a chance with their favorite hero. He'd seen Penny glow, but back in the laundromat, with Billy.
Hell, he wanted to let her go. It wasn't that big of a deal, he reasoned, except the news papers would twist it so he'd have to go after her new boyfriend, or lose his reputation. He slammed his hands into the steering wheel, causing Penny to jump.
“What's wrong Jason?” She asked, concerned. He didn't answer. She didn't need to know.
14 Tease:
Penny tugged at the band t-shirt she had donned. It wasn't something she usually wore, but the laundry had been neglected, so she was left with a slightly provocative band shirt, and a pair of black skinny jeans a well meaning friend had purchased for her. The outfit was so far out of her league, she felt like putting her pjs back on and not taking them off until the laundry was all finished. Billy, noting her uncomfortable attitude about leaving the apartment, took the chore on. He was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about her staying home for some reason.
Penny spent the time Billy was out straightening up the apartment. Neither of them were actually neat people, and she figured she'd take the time he was out to clean up and surprise him. She was straightening up the magazines on the coffee table when she heard a thud, and a muffled groan.
She popped up from the table, smothering giggles at her boyfriends typical male reaction
“Hey baby.” Penny sauntered over, taking full advantage of the situation. “Thanks for taking care of the laundry.” She smirked, bending again to pick up the fallen hamper. She straightened up right against him, before wandering to the bedroom to put the laundry away, leaving Billy in the living room, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
15 Shattered:
Penny had always been maternal. It was simply a part of her personality. She had been looking foreword to the day she had kids the way a lot of girls look foreword to their wedding day.
So after she had been married to Billy, and trying to get pregnant for three years, she was heart broken.
They were sitting in a doctors office, on the uncomfortable chairs that seemed to be standard issue for medical personnel, waiting to hear what the problem was. Billy had his arm around her, and her head was on his shoulder, while he whispered reassurances in her ear. He wasted this too work out as much as she did.
“Mr. and Mrs. Harrison?” The doctor started, walking in with his nose buried in a file.
“I'm afraid we have a rather unusual problem concerning you two.” Billy's grip tightened around Penny, as they prepared themselves for the worst.
“Mrs. Harrison, according to the samples we've tested. Your, ahem, instrument-” The doctor looked confused for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase her problem. “Your instrument is decaying.” He finally said, confusion taking up residence on his face, as well as Penny's. But Billy understood perfectly. He remembered the awful days after the accident, the dark times where he was doing all he could to reanimate the corpse of the girl he loved. It had taken too long, apparently, and Billy had single handedly stolen one of Penny's biggest dreams.
He pulled Penny close, as the news that she would never get to have children finally sunk in. He found himself crying with her, for their lost opportunity, for his stupid mistake, and because no child would ever get to experience how wonderful it would be to have Penny as a mother.
16 Warm:
“Billy?” The sleeping redhead would mumble as he'd crawl into bed after another long day at ELE headquarters.
“It's me Pen, go to sleep.” Billy would reassure her, pulling her close to him and focusing on her shallow, even breaths. In the moments before he would fall asleep, he would think about how, if he didn't have Penny to come home to, and her warm personality to melt the coolness that came with being evil for a living, he would never be able to transition form Dr. Horrible to Billy at the end of the day.
17 Hesitation:
Billy wanted to vomit whenever he thought about what he had to do. Killing? Killing just wasn't his style, and not for any other reason then the fact that he was a squeamish little girl when it came down to violence. The idea of a world without Captain Hammer made him happy. But the idea of him removing Captain Hammer from the picture was too much for him to bear. Billy had never watched scary movies as a kid, or played really violent video games. It had prompted a ton of teasing, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Violence made him sick.
So when it came time to pull the trigger, he hesitated. For a second, he saw the Captain through Penny's eyes, as the caring protector she'd praised for weeks, and he found he was having a hard time pulling the trigger.
Those few seconds of hesitation would haunt him for the rest of his life.
18 Dread:
Moist was dreading the news. He was on getaway duty, like usual, which involved a lot of sitting in the van on pins and needles, worrying if the crackpot plans his boss had come up with would work or not.
He heard a door slam open, and felt the car shift as the Doc climbed in.
“Go.” The Doc's tone was dead. Moist took a second to look at him, but he had pulled his goggles over his eyes and was staring out the tinted window.
Moist didn't think he wanted to hear about how the plan had gone.
Author: BlondieBelle
Credit: kproflostsouls- thank you for your prompts, and the plot for 'Tease'
Word Count: 100-500 words per story.
Summary: Nine stories ranging from fluff to tragedy.
10 Acceptance:
Penny accepting the Doc as a third member in their relationship
Billy had one real fear. That Penny would find out about the the Doc, and leave. It was rational, he knew she would never want to go out with the man who killed her super hero boyfriend.
So far, he'd never had a problem keeping his 'evil twin' from her. She'd never found the lab, or any plans in their apartment, and since they were both just messy enough, she'd never discovered the secret trigger that opened the door the lab in their apartment. Of course, the day came when Penny did find it (her parents were coming, she hadn't seen them in almost ten years and wanted the house to be perfect.) Billy found her broken and defeated in his lab when he got home from the ELE meeting.
“You didn't tell me.” She said from the other side of their living room once she had calmed down. Billy sat on the armchair, across from her miserable. She wouldn't let him touch her, and seeing her so distraught, knowing it was his fault, and not being able to do anything about it was taking a toll on his nerves.
“I'm sorry, Pen.” His voice was embarrassingly emotional compared to her cold tone. He wanted to- he didn't even know what he wanted to do, but he felt chained up. He couldn't let typical male stupidity make an appearance now, or he knew he'd loose Penny forever.
“I knew how you felt about the Doc, and I didn't want to make you unhappy-” Billy trailed off, wondering if that was even the right think to say.
“So you lied to me?” Her accusation cut through Billy like the lasers he'd been working on. “Was it your idea? Billy, or 'the Doc's'?” She asked sarcastically. The room was quiet for a little bit, Billy didn't know how to respond.
“I can't do this now.” Penny murmured when she knew Billy wasn't going to answer her question. She caught the pained look in Billy's eyes.
“We will talk this through.” She reassured him, her calm tone slightly strained. “But not now. I need to think.” She got up and moved past him towards the hallway that led to their bedroom.
“I love you, Penny.” It was a last ditch effort, but Billy couldn't help the words spilling out of his mouth. Penny turned around to look at him and he took in every sign of the damage he had caused. He face was streaked with hours worth of tears, her green eyes were glassy, puffy and red, and the hurt shown in them was too easy to see. She looked so fragile.
“I love you too, Billy. But this is too much.” Billy thought of all the trouble she would encounter if they didn't solve this issue, what the ELE would put her through.
“Pen-” She stiffened at his use of her nickname, and Billy tried to get the words he wanted out from around the huge wad of fear, anxiety, and sadness that seemed to block hid throat.
“Pen, please don't leave the apartment tonight.” His desperation must have touched something in Penny, because she looked a little softer, as if she were finally seeing that this was as hard for him as it was for her, and she nodded.
“I promise.” She said, before walking to the bedroom and shutting the door. Billy heard the click of the lock, and steeled down in the chair for a long night.
11 Sick:
Penny only had a cold. It wasn't even a bad cold, but Billy had decided that, since her coughing, sneezing and general sick noises had woken him up more then once the night before, she was too sick to do anything, and
so he confined her to bed rest. He even gave her one of those silly doctors notes that prescribed bed rest. It would have been cute if it wasn't so damn annoying. She had work that had to get done, the shelter's budget had to be re-evaluated, and the building had to under go it's annual inspection.
And to top it all off, though Billy was a good doctor, he was terrible at playing nurse.
“Billy!” She called out for the fourth time. The sound had to reach him in his lab, and that was nearly impossible. But Billy had threatened her with actual restraints when he caught her up and around, so getting up was not an option.
“Billy!” It was getting tiring, and her throat was starting to get sore. Not to mention she felt like a inexcusable nag every time she had to yell for something.
She was just about to get up, threats be dammed, and get herself the stinking glass of water when Billy appeared in the doorway looking frazzled and carrying a tray.
It was a full lunch, and Penny didn't realize she was hungry until she caught the scent of whatever was on the tray.
“Sorry, I was fixing this for you.” He apologized, not, looking the least bit put out by her yelling. He set the tray down and sat on the edge of their almost-too-small bed, with the intention of staying for as long as she wanted him to. Suddenly, Penny didn't mind the bed rest so much.
12 Cut:
The tiny scar from the tiniest cut would always remind Jason of what had been his fault.
He'd actually started avoiding mirrors whenever he could. Nobody seemed to notice the scar on his shoulder that told the terrible tale of how he had single handedly killed Penny.
It was a tiny pale line, even smaller then the cut that has caused it, but the guilt that filled him whenever he saw it was enough to send him running to the Hero's Guild therapist.
He'd never been able to admit that Penny's death was his fault. He actually didn't mind that Dr. Horrible had taken the publicity for that one, most of the time.
Captain Hammer had one scar, and it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
13 Bound:
Hammer didn't really have a choice. After that afternoon in the Laundromat, he had this urge to let Penny go to Dr. Horrible, or Billy as he'd called himself. He looked at Penny, she looked happy enough sitting in the passenger seat of the Hammer-mobile, but it wasn't anything near the glow his random groupie hook-ups wore, when they learned they had a chance with their favorite hero. He'd seen Penny glow, but back in the laundromat, with Billy.
Hell, he wanted to let her go. It wasn't that big of a deal, he reasoned, except the news papers would twist it so he'd have to go after her new boyfriend, or lose his reputation. He slammed his hands into the steering wheel, causing Penny to jump.
“What's wrong Jason?” She asked, concerned. He didn't answer. She didn't need to know.
14 Tease:
Penny tugged at the band t-shirt she had donned. It wasn't something she usually wore, but the laundry had been neglected, so she was left with a slightly provocative band shirt, and a pair of black skinny jeans a well meaning friend had purchased for her. The outfit was so far out of her league, she felt like putting her pjs back on and not taking them off until the laundry was all finished. Billy, noting her uncomfortable attitude about leaving the apartment, took the chore on. He was uncharacteristically enthusiastic about her staying home for some reason.
Penny spent the time Billy was out straightening up the apartment. Neither of them were actually neat people, and she figured she'd take the time he was out to clean up and surprise him. She was straightening up the magazines on the coffee table when she heard a thud, and a muffled groan.
She popped up from the table, smothering giggles at her boyfriends typical male reaction
“Hey baby.” Penny sauntered over, taking full advantage of the situation. “Thanks for taking care of the laundry.” She smirked, bending again to pick up the fallen hamper. She straightened up right against him, before wandering to the bedroom to put the laundry away, leaving Billy in the living room, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.
15 Shattered:
Penny had always been maternal. It was simply a part of her personality. She had been looking foreword to the day she had kids the way a lot of girls look foreword to their wedding day.
So after she had been married to Billy, and trying to get pregnant for three years, she was heart broken.
They were sitting in a doctors office, on the uncomfortable chairs that seemed to be standard issue for medical personnel, waiting to hear what the problem was. Billy had his arm around her, and her head was on his shoulder, while he whispered reassurances in her ear. He wasted this too work out as much as she did.
“Mr. and Mrs. Harrison?” The doctor started, walking in with his nose buried in a file.
“I'm afraid we have a rather unusual problem concerning you two.” Billy's grip tightened around Penny, as they prepared themselves for the worst.
“Mrs. Harrison, according to the samples we've tested. Your, ahem, instrument-” The doctor looked confused for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase her problem. “Your instrument is decaying.” He finally said, confusion taking up residence on his face, as well as Penny's. But Billy understood perfectly. He remembered the awful days after the accident, the dark times where he was doing all he could to reanimate the corpse of the girl he loved. It had taken too long, apparently, and Billy had single handedly stolen one of Penny's biggest dreams.
He pulled Penny close, as the news that she would never get to have children finally sunk in. He found himself crying with her, for their lost opportunity, for his stupid mistake, and because no child would ever get to experience how wonderful it would be to have Penny as a mother.
16 Warm:
“Billy?” The sleeping redhead would mumble as he'd crawl into bed after another long day at ELE headquarters.
“It's me Pen, go to sleep.” Billy would reassure her, pulling her close to him and focusing on her shallow, even breaths. In the moments before he would fall asleep, he would think about how, if he didn't have Penny to come home to, and her warm personality to melt the coolness that came with being evil for a living, he would never be able to transition form Dr. Horrible to Billy at the end of the day.
17 Hesitation:
Billy wanted to vomit whenever he thought about what he had to do. Killing? Killing just wasn't his style, and not for any other reason then the fact that he was a squeamish little girl when it came down to violence. The idea of a world without Captain Hammer made him happy. But the idea of him removing Captain Hammer from the picture was too much for him to bear. Billy had never watched scary movies as a kid, or played really violent video games. It had prompted a ton of teasing, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Violence made him sick.
So when it came time to pull the trigger, he hesitated. For a second, he saw the Captain through Penny's eyes, as the caring protector she'd praised for weeks, and he found he was having a hard time pulling the trigger.
Those few seconds of hesitation would haunt him for the rest of his life.
18 Dread:
Moist was dreading the news. He was on getaway duty, like usual, which involved a lot of sitting in the van on pins and needles, worrying if the crackpot plans his boss had come up with would work or not.
He heard a door slam open, and felt the car shift as the Doc climbed in.
“Go.” The Doc's tone was dead. Moist took a second to look at him, but he had pulled his goggles over his eyes and was staring out the tinted window.
Moist didn't think he wanted to hear about how the plan had gone.