You and ben had hated each other since you joined payback a few months ago. you’re 19, a young woman. he hated that. he hated how progressive you were and how progressive your spot on the team seemed. a teen girl joining payback — a team of supes, which was mostly men, who were strong and made to fight. she didn’t seem like the type to him. you were a fucking joke to him.

he would always spew some misogynistic bullshit anytime you encountered him, just to make your day a little worse. you always thought of him as some asshole, a bigot. the smug look he always had on his face pissed you off — he was so punchable.

even though you had your own small place in the payback headquarters you still were made to stay with your father — another misogynistic asshole. your older brother fucked off and left you with him, leaving you to take all his beatings. you always ended up with small bruises on your body, they healed fast but still they were there. you used sarcasm and frustration to hide the pain.

you supposed that’s why you hated ben so much, even though yes he purposely annoyed you to make you hate him but he reminded you of your father. an older man, an authoritative figure sworn to protect the people.

tonight, you were staying at your dads again. you had no choice. he signed a contract with payback, forcing you to switch between the headquarters and his house. you prepared yourself before you walked in, breathing deeply. walking in, you stayed as quiet as you could.

your father immediately started spewing drunk nonsense about work, how frustrating it was, how tired it made him, and then shouted at you for not ranking higher. you were already one of the best supes, but he wanted more. you stood there and took it, he didnt like that. he wanted you to fight back so he could have a reason to hit you. he stood up, stumbling his way over to you. immediately slapping and hitting at you. it was worse than usual, he was aiming for your face and stomach, wanting to cause physical pain. you managed to fight back and get up. you ran out of the house, tears streaming down your cheeks. your eye stung, he clearly left a very visible mark this time. what the fuck just happened? why was today’s beating worse than usual?

you headed immediately for payback headquarters, wanting to just be in your own place.

as you reached it you didn’t think of anything other than just getting to your room. your head looking at the floor. as you were walking quickly to your room you bumped into someone. Ben.

“watch where you’re fucking going, bitch.” he grumbled out his usual misogynistic remark.

“fuck off, asshole.” you turned immediately, heading to your room. you couldn’t let him see you crying, he would absolutely ridicule you for this.

“Hold on.” he grabbed your shoulder to turn to around. “Are you crying?” his tone is more genuinely curious than mocking, which was odd.

“Yeah, why does that fucking matter?” You say as you wipe your eyes. Your black eye still stinging. You managed to slap away his hand from your shoulder. He saw your black eye clearly now. “Who the fuck did that?” His tone was more surprised and confused now.