Zack felt like throwing himself off a cliff.
Why did he ever agree to this in the first place? All he wanted to do was get out of high school in one piece and then kick some Pre-Law ass at Harvard, but now he'd somehow become an international pop/R&B sensation who was doubling as a fucking superhero.
What the actual fuck?
And this time he was tied to a chair by some superpower-proof chains, rendering his super strength and even his handy ability to make things disappear utterly useless. Goddammit, evil scientists made the worst villains.
"Can't say I'm surprised that you aren't putting up much of a fight, pretty boy," a familiar, raspy voice rang from the shadows. "You never were the struggling type."
Junior came lurking out of the shadows with his signature sadistic smile playing on his features and the fingers of his right hand toying around with a sharp blade. Junior's civilian get-up of simple black jeans and forest green T-shirt made Zack want to roll his dark brown eyes. In his humble opinion, the boy belonged in a straight jacket.
"What can I say? Guess I like bein' tied up," Zack replied with the most nonchalant shrug he could manage. "The hell you doin' here, Junior? Your dad makin' you do all the boring stuff again?"
The supervillain's spawn only laughed shortly before swinging both his legs over Zack's lap so he was sitting on the hero sideways, his right elbow resting on Zack's collarbone for support. Zack shifted uncomfortably with a bob of his Adam's apple.
"I wouldn't call this boring, would you?" Junior chuckled as he ran the fingers of his left hand across Zack's chin. "If anything, this is probably the highlight of my week."
"Thanks for makin' me feel special, babe, but you ever heard of personal space?" Zack quipped as easily as he could for someone in his situation.
Zack felt something sharp graze along the skin on the left side of his neck, and he realized it was the blade Junior was playing with before.
Become a superhero, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Well, they never had to fucking do this shit themselves, so he shouldn't have listened.
"Personal space," Junior hummed as he continued to lightly glide the blade across Zack's skin. "Now, that's a little boring, don't you think?"
If boring meant comfortable, Zack was all for it.
"My friends are comin' soon," Zack warned weakly, although he knew it wouldn't do any good.
"Oh, of course they are, sweetheart. No doubt about it." Junior chuckled lightly, his smile as crazy as ever and his ocean blue eyes twinkling with amusement. "This wouldn't be a WarZone kidnapping if they weren't. I just wanna have some fun before they come. Will you let me have my fun, baby?"
No. But Zack didn't say anything because he preferred the blade outside his throat, you know?
Without a single warning, Junior's right hand took a handful of Zack's dark brown hair and pulled down, placing his lips near the superhero's ear.
"You've been a very bad boy, War," the villain's spawn whispered with a slight sing-song, fingers still dancing along the hero's chin, "and I'm not very happy about that."
Zack responded with a scoff and an easy smile. "Oh, really? What you gonna do about it?"
Junior smirked as if he was ready for the challenge and swiftly shifted himself on Zack's lap so he was straddling the young hero. He fiddled with his blade once again before slicing through the strong fabric at the neck of Zack's all-black WarZone stealth suit, so the boy's collarbone was accessible.
"Fuck you, Junior, this shit's expensive," Zack muttered in annoyance, trying his best to ignore the boy who was causing a disturbance in his lap.
"You'll live," Junior said playfully as he threw a piece of the super suit to the side and traced a teasing finger along Zack's exposed skin. "This suit is my favorite on you, by the way. The all-black thing is sexy."
Zack involuntarily hissed as he felt the blade dig into the skin where his shoulder and neck met, and Junior ran his thumb across the hero's lips in what seemed to be a lousy attempt to ease the pain.
To make matters worse, Junior decided it was a good idea to fucking lick Zack as soon as blood began to trickle down his collarbone. The wannabe villain's tongue slowly made its way back to the hero's ear, and Zack felt Junior nibble and suck on his earlobe.
"You'll heal, sweetheart." Another one of his damn chuckles. "You always do."
Zack closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat as Junior continued to play vampire. He tried to calm himself down with small mental assurances like "your friends are coming," or "this could be worse," and the ever effective "at least you ain't fucking dead."
Zack was so out of it by the time a minute passed that he almost didn't notice when the burn of the cut ceased and Junior's licks turned into soft kisses along his neck.
"Fuck you think you're do—"
Zack's protest was cut short by Junior's attempt to mark him, and the superhero emitted a soft, nearly inaudible sound at the back of his throat at the foreign sensation.
Realizing what had just happened, Zack's brain immediately went into overdrive as Junior laughed fondly into the hero's neck.
"This would be so much more fun if your body didn't heal so quickly," Junior stated with a pout as his love bite faded, and Zack almost lost himself in the calming vibrations of Junior's voice on his skin. "Your skin looks absolutely gorgeous when it's bruised."
"No, shit, shit, Junior–" Zack began to earnestly try to break the chains for the first time that afternoon– "Junior, get off—"
Zack's pleas were silenced as Junior enveloped the hero's lips with his own in a short-lived but deep kiss with his palms caressing each side of Zack's jaw.
"Dude, you taste like my fuckin' blood." Zack pulled away almost immediately and coughed towards the floor before looking up at Junior's face with wide eyes. "You–your...your lips. That's...that's my blood."
Zack eyed the mixture of fresh and dried blood on and around Junior's lips, and he had no idea what to think of it. On the other side of things, Junior seemed ecstatic at the other boy's inability to comprehend the situation.
"Why, yes it is–" Junior smiled and licked his mouth, eyes as wild as ever– "and you taste exquisite, sweetheart."
Realizing it was next to impossible to break free, Zack stopped trying to free his hands from behind himself and just allowed himself to lean back against his chair with a deep sigh.
"So you're not gettin' off me any time soo–" Zack pursed his lips as Junior nodded– "okay, just checkin'."
The hero nearly screamed because their position really wasn't helping the growing issue in his Calvins, but there was no way he was going to point it out if Junior wasn't already noticing on his own. The guy probably noticed a while ago, though, going by the shit eating grin plastered on his face. Zack just resorted to looking at the wall behind the villain kid's shoulder in attempt to distract himself from his misplaced arousal. However, Junior had other plans—he always had other plans—and used his right thumb to stroke the outline of Zack's eye mask.
"Have I ever told you that I love your eyes?" Junior wondered absentmindedly. "They're beautiful."
"My eyes are literally the color of shit," Zack deadpanned, trying his best to keep his breathing in check.
"They're very easy to fall in love with," Junior continued with a lazy grin. "I just wish I could rip this stupid mask off of your pretty boy face. Bet you look even more beautiful underneath. Wouldn't be able to keep my eyes off you, huh, baby?"
Zack's eyes quickly darted around the room to make sure no one else was present before asking, "Why don't you just rip it off? No one's stoppin' you. I would, but I can't exactly do shit right now, so."
Junior fucking chuckled again, and Zack couldn't help but feel a little childish and naive. The boy always had a knack for making him feel stupid.
"It would take all the fun out of this little game we play, wouldn't it?" The blue-eyed boy leaned back with his eyes closed and a mad smile playing on his lips, placing his hands on WarZone's shoulders. "I like not knowing who you are while also knowing that I'll be all you can think about whenever you go to bed at night."
Okay, well, Zack was ready to fucking scream, just so you know.
"Junior—"
"The thought of me probably keeps you up at night, huh?" The villain let his right hand travel down to Zack's torso and back as he continued to visualize behind closed eyes. "Always wondering if I'm thinking about you too and what you'd do if I was lying next to you."
Zack squeezed his eyes shut. "Fuck, Junior—"
"And maybe you'd let your hands wander a little bit–" Junior took his hand down to Zack's inner thigh– "but never too much because you know you'd be too loud and wake up the neighbors."
Zack felt himself tensing, and he knew Junior felt it too and he couldn't do this, not with him. But Junior's hand was so close to where he needed it to be. All he had to do was—fuck.
"Junior, please, I don't–"
"The thought of me already makes you want to scream because you think you can never have me." Junior's hand made its way up to cup Zack's jaw as their foreheads found each other. "But I'm right here, sweetheart. Let yourself have me."
Zack's breathing was uneven–not enough that it was too embarrassing, but enough that it was fairly (very, very) noticeable. Junior laughed softly as he played with the small hairs at the nape of the hero's neck. If the whack job was aware of how his hips were lightly grinding against Zack's crotch, he wasn't showing it.
"Fuck. You," Zack said between breaths after opening his eyes.
"Was that an invitation or?" Junior teased.
"Does your dad know you're doin' this?" Zack asked, squeezing his eyes shut once again. "I don't think he'd approve."
"I think Dad would approve of anything that makes you look vulnerable, just saying." Junior attempted to flatten the hero's furrowed eyebrows with his thumb. "Don't do that. You'll get wrinkles. You're too beautiful for wrinkles."
Zack relaxed his face, opening his eyes to a greeting by a pair of nearly navy irises. He wondered how they'd look as he was lying on to–
"Shit," Zack swore under his breath at his thoughts. "Lemme go, Junior, or I'll hurt you."
"Sure you will, sweetheart—"
"Stop callin' me that, man."
"What? You don't like 'sweetheart' anymore?" Junior looked genuinely surprised. "What should I call you then? Cupcake? Angel? Darling? Bambi? Oh, I like that one. Really goes with your eyes—all big, brown, and beautiful."
"Junior, I swear—"
An unceremonious series of crashes sounded throughout the warehouse, causing Junior to jump in Zack's lap.
"I have come to the rescue, Junior! Sorry I'm late–flying in the rain slows me down. You can stop no—woah, you two need a minute? 'Cause I can wait; I got nowhere to be."
Junior's head jerked up at the familiar voice, and he felt Zack's shoulders relax under his forearms. He made eye contact with a tall young lady in a simple ensemble of black basketball shorts and a blue Duke hoodie; he recognized the black lace eye mask immediately.
"Majesty," Junior greeted with a smile. "Almost didn't recognize you without your tiara. I'm a bit offended you didn't bother to dress up for the occasion."
"Didn't think I needed to." Tori shrugged nonchalantly. "And I was right. I mean, this doesn't look too menacing." The girl gestured toward the two boys with a teasing smirk.
"Just you?"
"Just me. Didn't wanna bother the others just 'cause of this idiot's carelessness, y'know?"
"I'm glad you two are havin' a happy reunion and all, but can someone please get me outta this fuckin' chair?" Zack spat angrily.
Junior and Tori both laughed quietly at the struggling hero, and once again, Zack couldn't believe that this was his life. Fortunately for him, however, Tori worked through the chains using a code Junior was showing her on his phone.
"Oh, so you give her the code," Zack said pointedly at the boy who was still sitting on his lap. "Okay, I see you playin' favorites."
"Don't be silly," Junior responded earnestly, ruffling Zack's already messy hair. "You know you've always been my favorite."
Zack only rolled his eyes and blew out a long breath as he heard the relieving click of the chains releasing him. Finally, Junior slid from the hero's lap and allowed Zack to stand for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. He silently prayed that his dick had calmed down, but it was honestly the least of his worries.
"Jesus Christ," Zack praised breathily, bending down and placing his hands on his knees. "Thank you."
Tori chuckled fondly before she fixed her gaze on Junior's mouth. "Is that blood?"
"Why, yes, Jes, it is." Junior lightly toughed his lips with his fingers. "Your boy tastes wonderful."
Tori's light expression morphed into one of disgust, horror, and curiosity; however, Junior only smiled as if he saw the look everyday. (Which he probably did, that crackhead.)
"I'm just gonna wait outside and have you two sort your shit out," the girl announced, already backing away. "You need a lift anywhere, Junior? I don't mind havin' two passengers."
"Thanks, but I'm just staying here tonight," Junior kindly turned down the offer and watched Tori exit the warehouse.
Zack was standing straight up once again, happy that he could use his limbs as he wished, but that didn't mean he wasn't feeling awkward. Like, c'mon, he could still taste his blood in his mouth from that kiss.
"So, do I have to fight off any bad guys or something?" Zack tried to get rid of the copper-like taste in his mouth using his sleeve. "I mean, your dad brought me here for a reason, right?"
Zack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Junior smiled slyly and bit the tip of his slightly bloody blade.
"Dad's been in France since Monday," Junior confessed. "He doesn't know you're here. He doesn't even know I'm here. He probably won't care, though. I'm not really a priority."
Zack wanted to say something about that last part—he was an asshole, but not so much of one that he'd just ignore something like that. He just couldn't find the right words. He could never find the right words.
(If Zack was being honest with himself, he always had the words, but he never had the courage to say them.)
"So you captured me, so you could have your 'fun', huh?" Zack easily pieced everything together. "'Cause I'm just a toy you can play with anytime you want? I dunno what's goin' on in that sick, twisted brain of yours, but I don't fuckin' like you, Junior. You make me sick."
With the blade still in hand, Junior began to advance on the the hero, and Zack instinctively took a step back. Now that both boys were standing, Zack had about three inches on Junior, so the captor wrapped his hand around the back of the hero's neck and roughly pulled him down until their foreheads were lightly touching.
"If I really made you sick, you would've ran out of here as soon as those chains unlocked," the villain spawn spat, "but you're still here. If I really made you sick, you wouldn't have let me do all those things to y—"
"I couldn't do any—"
"Your powers didn't work on the chains, but they most certainly would've worked on me and you fucking know it." Junior's breathing began to grow heavy. "You could've easily made me disappear, War, yet I'm still here."
Zack made an attempt to escape, but Junior used a free hand to grab his hip and pull him back. So much for super strength.
"You have yet to run away from me after a total of, what, ten-twelve captivities?" Junior reminded the young hero. "I don't know what's going on in your mind, but have you ever wondered why you always wait for your friends to come get you? Why you never bother to come up with your signature plans of escape when you're with me?"
Zack finally managed to break away from Junior's hold and took a couple steps away from the villain in training. Junior let his arms fall to his sides, his face contorted with frustration.
"I know you're clever as hell, War. My dad's evil buddies talk; word gets around," Junior continued his rant. "I've heard enough about you that I know you could escape a max security prison without even using your powers. You can talk all you want about how you never have a choice, War, but I spend a whole lotta time looking into your eyes, and they give away a lot."
Junior ended with a shaky breath, and Zack's urge to just scream wasn't getting any weaker. He never bothered to make a run for it because he was usually tired. Zack was tired and wanted to wait for his friends to come get him, so he didn't have to worry for once. That's it. It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to spend more time with the boy standing in front of him.
All Junior did was mess with Zack with that big smile and those wandering hands that always knew when to stop and his loads of "sweetheart" and "baby" and "beautiful" – Zack was always beautiful. Even when he was covered in debris or soot or just looking like shit in general–beautiful.
So, yeah, Zack obviously wanted nothing to do with Junior, and he would've appreciated it if he was left the fuck alone.
"Why'd you bring me here?" Zack asked after a minute of silence. "Why today? You couldn't've waited until your dad came back? He's always on my fuckin' case anyway. I would've ended up back here sooner or later."
"I wasn't lying when I said your eyes were easy to fall in love with," Junior responded in a slightly bashful tone Zack didn't know he possessed. "For some reason, WarZone doesn't fight bad guys in the summertime anymore. I–I haven't seen you in months."
Zack thought back to that summer and his first headlining tour for his debut album. It was hard to kick evil's ass when he was trying to make his fans around the world happy in return for making the album top the charts.
"My civilian identity's been busy this year." Zack shrugged.
(He was still trying to decide which group was scarier when provoked: killer aliens or his fans?)
"Well, while you were doing whatever you do as a boring civilian," Junior began and Zack rolled his eyes once more, "I've been over here...sorta missing you. It's been kinda lonely not having you here to foil my dad's plans."
God, Zack really tried to ignore the warmth in his chest, he really did.
"So you kidnap me and lick my blood to show me how much you care," Zack deadpanned before his lip quirked up seconds later. "Didn't expect any less from you, Junior."
Junior returned the rare sign of affection with one of his ear to ear smiles.
"Do you think of me?" Zack asked curiously, brown eyes on the ground. "At night?"
Junior walked up to Zack and lifted his chin with two fingers, and Zack wondered where the hell someone could get such blue eyes.
"I think about you all the time," Junior answered softly. "You think about me?"
Zack wanted to say no. Of course, he wanted to say no because what good superhero had mushy thoughts about a bad guy?
(Well, he probably wasn't a "good" superhero in the first place if he let himself get captured by the same people around ten times just because he subconsciously wanted to hang out with a cute boy.)
"Sometimes," Zack barely whispered, "but I'm not—"
"Okay." Junior traced Zack's eye mask again. "But can I kiss you again?"
Zack's face immediately contorted. "You probably still taste like my fuckin' blo—"
The hero's words were swallowed by warm lips—that still very much tasted like his blood, mind you—but he didn't seem to have the energy to care as he wrapped his arms around the villain spawn's waist and let Junior take the lead. (Mostly because he had no idea what to do.)
The kiss lasted significantly longer than the first one the boys shared, but not too long because, you know, blood.
Zack knew he was never going to get over it.
"Okay." The hero pulled away, slightly out of breath. "Maybe I am. Just a bit. Like, thirty percent maybe."
"Thirty percent gay," Junior repeated for the sole purpose of letting Zack hear how stupid he sounded, but the superhero was having none of it that day. "Okay, sweetheart, I can work with that."
Zack crinkled his nose at the nickname, and Junior gave it a quick peck in attempt to soften the taller boy's expression, but it only made the nose crinkle even more.
"You're adorable," Junior said fondly, and chuckled when Zack's face began to heat up.
"Look, uh, some evil beings are threatening to come some time next week, and my civvy identity is finished with his personal shit, so I'll be out there almost dying again," Zack explained. "I'll make sure to be extra careless during battle if you wanna keep a lookout for boys with Bambi eyes."
Junior smiled, and it was a weird smile—to Zack at least. The smile wasn't teasing or menacing or knowing—Junior just looked happy.
Because of Zack. Zack did that.
Holy shit.
"Well, I'll make sure to be extra sneaky then," Junior promised, blue eyes twinkling with excitement. "You know I'm a sucker for Bambi eyes."
Junior was excited.
Zack did that too.
Fucking hell.
Suddenly, Junior's phone began to play a familiar tune, and he declined the call so quickly that Zack almost didn't catch it.
"Was that..." the hero trailed off in shock. "Was that Zack Martinez? You listen to Zack Martinez?"
The look on Junior's face made it clear that he was extremely offended.
"Look, War, you're great and all, but if you can't deal with my love for Zack Martinez, I'm never talking to you ever again," Junior stated with confidence. "This boy is a lyrical genius, and his album is a fucking masterpiece. Don't test me."
Zack wanted to laugh.
Oh, how he wanted to scream yet again.
But he didn't because he had self-control. Take that, Tori.
"No, that's–that's–you're fine." Zack shook his head in disbelief, lightly biting down on his lip. "Zack's...not my favorite, but I can deal."
"You better be able to fucking deal because next time you're coming here, I'm playing the whole album for you. You've probably already heard his singles, and that's a great start, but you need to listen to 'Midnight Daydreams' because what. Kind. Of. Genius. There's even a little Spanish part that I'm never going to get over..."
Zack carefully listened to Junior ramble, wondering when it would've been a good time to tell the boy he wrote the song about him.
(Probably when that thirty percent grew a little bit.)