Bdubs couldn't fall asleep.

Not even the comfort of his partner could lull him into a peaceful slumber.

So he decided, instead of lying in the darkness, he was going to do something.

He carefully lifted the arm off of him and climbed out of bed. As much as it pained him to use it, he picked up the crystal and let it transform his outfit. He picked up his red bandana from the bedside table and tied it over his eyes as he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Doc quietly asked, stopping him in the entrance.

With a small sigh, he adjusted the mask before turning around. "I'll be right back, I promise," he whispered. His boyfriend had sat up, and despite the lack of light, he could see the tired pout on his face.

He walked back over in favor of kissing his cheek. But, Doc lightly grabbed his arm. "Please don't go see him. What if that's what he wants?"

Of course, Dynamight figured him out. "I have to. I can't risk him saying anything else about me. It'll be quick, I'll be in and out." He touched his face, brushing his thumb over the cold metal.

"A-Are you going to kill him?"

Bdubs pressed his lips to his forehead. "No," he simply replied. "I know you wouldn't want that. I'm only going to talk to him."

With his free hand, Doc touched his side. "Bdubs please, everything is going to be okay. Just come back to bed. He's trying to scare you and what if you going there helps him get out somehow?" He sat down on the side of the bed, and Doc leaned into his hand.

"He's not escaping, and this is something I need to do. Now go back to sleep, you have work in the morning," he urged.

Exhaling, Doc's frown didn't lift, but he nodded. "Okay. But wake me up when you get back, promise?"

"I promise."

-

It wasn't Bdubs' first time sneaking into the prison. He had done it before, not just for Warlock but when his boss wanted him to break out other criminals too. Like the last time Warlock was imprisoned, his cell was surrounded by terrariums of fungi. To top it off, he had specifically engineered handcuffs that further dampened his abilities.

Bdubs bubbled all nearby cameras, so the footage and audio would be corrupted.

Warlock was sitting in the corner, half-asleep, but the moment he saw Angel, his face lit up and he quickly stood, striding over to the cell door. "Can you believe they still have me behind bars? It's like they want me to escape! I'd have thought they would put more security into keeping me here," he commented with a smirk.

For the moment, Angel kept his mouth shut. He wanted to see just how willing Scar was to talk first before making any threats.

Holding onto the bars, his former boss sighed and leaned his cheek against one. "You have no idea how nice it is to see you," he murmured. "I really missed you, y'know? Genuinely."

Unable to stop himself, he laughed. "That's crazy! Because you know I missed you too!" Whipping out the dagger stowed against his lower back, he closed the space between them so his blade could touch his jaw. "I missed how much you walked all over me! How much pain and damage you caused without care. And yet you could never stop." Although Scar's eyes widened, he didn't back up. Instead, he dared to touch his hand.

"Oh Angel you're wrong! I did care, and I still do! Don't be ignorant, you knew then how I had to do what I did to you, otherwise you'd never learn! Be as sarcastic as you want, but you do miss me."

He left a shallow gash on his cheek, causing the villain to recoil. "Bullshit!" He snapped, louder than he should have been. "You made my life hell! We may both be villains but I'm not the one who made someone feel like anything they said didn't matter. You don't miss me either, you miss having someone to use. And that's why you want to leak my secrets, right?" He started laughing again. Of course, that was it, how did he not realize it sooner?

Scar looked furious as he kept his hand pressed against his bleeding cut. "And here I was; ready to go back on my words! I was ready to give you everything I had prepared you for, but no, you had to insult me, hurt me," he spat. Bdubs could only scoff.

"There you go again! You never change, Warlock. You never fucking change. Whatever 'secret' you have on me besides my identity? I don't care, because I'm never doing what you want again," he declared, holding out the bloodied blade.

Much to his surprise, Scar strode right back over to him. With a manic smile, he grabbed the bars and leaned his face through the gap. "You want to know what that third secret is? Do you want to know what I'm going to tell the whole world? Once I let them know your identity, all I have to say is that you're dating our one and only hero Dynamight, and then you're both finished."

His stomach dropped, and he nearly dropped his dagger. "Wh- but we're not dating. That's not even true!" He hastily protested.

"Angel, love, I know you're a better liar than that."

He felt sick, but Warlock kept talking. "I still believe what I said; that I don't need to know Dynamight's true identity to defeat him. But I can only assume you two are openly together in your civilian forms. Once your name is revealed and your relationship is put on blast, people will put two and two together. No one will trust the hero, and you two can never run far enough from punishment." The more he monologued the more his poisonous words burned his throat, suffocated his breaths.

"I'll kill you." He whispered. "I kill you right now and you can take it all to your grave."

It was Warlock's turn to laugh. "Ha! You kill me and your hero will never want you again! He's too morally just," he taunted, and Bdubs hated that he was right.

With his free hand, he grabbed the collar of his orange jumpsuit. "There's a catch, I can feel it. What's the catch? What do you want?"

"I already told you; I want to take back what I said. I want to make you my super weapon," he simply explained, though his smile stayed just as manic.

"And how am I supposed to trust that you still won't say anything?"

Scar shrugged. "Really I don't care about them lessening my sentence or whatever, because you have to break me out to make this all work. I'm only going to spill everything for blackmail purposes. But, you help me help you? Then I don't care. And that's the truth." The former side-kick pursed his lips.

This could either work extremely well in my favor or ruin everything.

"How... exactly do you plan on making me into this 'super weapon'?" He slowly asked as he finally let go of him.

Readjusting his jumpsuit, Scar's smile brightened. "You remember the Scarlet Demon, right? They're the key. I'll take you to them, and he'll help you acquire powers far stronger than what you have now. There's a little more, but I won't say anything else until you agree."

He slowly sheathed his dagger. Am I really considering working with him again?

A hand was extended through the bars. "So, do we have a deal?"

With a deep exhale through his nose, Bdubs knew what he had to do.

Taking his hand, he twisted it backward, making Scar stagger to his knees as he hastily begged Bdubs to let go. "No, we don't. If I'm so desperate for more power I'll find him myself. Don't you understand? I'll never work for someone as monstrous as you again. You think I'm weak enough to fall back into your manipulation? I've learned a lot better," he declared before finally letting go of him.

"I didn't treat you nearly as bad as you claim!" Scar snapped. "You need me and you're an idiot for saying no to me!"

"Oh, now that's something I've heard before!" He shot back without missing a beat. It was a bone-chilling memory of every time Scar said something along those lines to him.

And I believed it.

"I was a fool for following you but I'll never let anyone, let alone you, do that to me again." He decided.

Scar banged his fist against the bars. "Dynamight's life is about to be ruined and it's going to be all your fault," he warned. Although his threats left an anxiety-inducing bile in his throat, Bdubs brushed it off.

"You know what? Grow up. Stop acting like a brat, and then maybe we'll talk again."

-

When Bdubs returned home, he found his boyfriend sleeping so peacefully, he almost didn't want to disturb him. But, he made a promise. So he gently brushed the hair from Doc's forehead and lightly kissed his temple.

"I'm home," he sweetly whispered.

The hybrid grumbled something before blinking his eyes open. "Come to bed," he complained, lazily reaching for him.

He lightly laughed. "I smell like the prison, so I'm going to take a quick shower but I'll be right back."

Doc gave a half nod, and as he started to sit up Bdubs headed for the bathroom.

Once he returned, he laughed at the sight. The hero was sitting patiently, though he was taking slow and long blinks, topped with crazy bed hair. "You didn't have to wait up for me," he chided, climbing back under the blanket.

"Don't care. Wanted to. How was it?" They laid down together, Doc trapping him once again and nuzzling his jaw.

A small frown took root on his face as he lightly grasped his shirt. "I-I stood up to him. I actually stood up to him. Everything is going to be okay now."

As great as it felt to let Scar know how he felt, to stand his ground against someone who spent years abusing him and his abilities, he knew it wasn't over.

Deep down, Bdubs knew he was royally fucked.