#justified break

Hero sat on the rooftop, their legs swinging over the edge. It had been what felt like the longest few weeks of Hero’s life, with one problem after the other just hurtling at them. First, there had been the crime family they had to take down, then there was the power struggle between other criminals that had followed, then the mayor had gotten involved, and to top it off, there had been a bank bombing. Hero was beyond exhausted, but it wasn’t like they could take a break- they were Hero for goodness’ sake.

“Hero,” Villain called, “you didn’t forget about me, did you?”

Hero sighed, stood up, and turned around. There was Villain, standing on the other side of rooftop in a fighting stance. Hero didn’t want to do this now, but they couldn’t just let evil run rampant. So, with a groan, Hero dropped into their own fighting stance. Villain grinned and charged. Hero just barely managed to dodge their punch. They weakly threw a punch of their own. Villain easily caught their wrist.

“You’re off today, Hero,” Villain drawled, “have you been getting enough sleep?”

Hero wrenched their hand out of Villain’s grip and tackled them to the ground. Villain struggled for a moment but easily overpowered Hero. Villain pinned Hero in place on their back and straddled them.

“What’s got you off your game, little Hero?” Villain asked, “you’re normally much more fun to fight with.”

“Buzz off,” Hero bit out.

Hero tried to wriggle free, but Villain pinned their hands above their head and cupped their face with their free hand.

“Seriously,” Villain said, “I’m worried about you.”

“Why?” Hero asked, eyes narrowed, “I’ve got everything under control.”

“Hm,” Villain mused, “when was the last time you got eight hours of sleep?”

Hero laughed. That was easy! They always got eight hours of sleep! Well, except for yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and… well, maybe their sleep schedule had been off for a little while. Villain noticed Hero’s hesitation and tutted. They got off of Hero and helped them to their feet. Hero swayed at first, but Villain quickly steadied them.

“Go home, Hero,” Villain said, “you need to rest.”

“What!?” Hero asked, “no, I can’t! There’s still a bunch of other crime families out there trying to take control. I can’t stop until they’re all behind bars!”

“I see,” Villain said, “is there anything I can do to get you to take a break?”

“You'd have to kidnap me,” Hero joked.

As soon as they had said it, Hero regretted it. They saw a familiar glint in Villain’s eyes.

“Alright,” Villain said with a shrug, “you asked for it.”

Villain quickly pulled out a syringe from their pocket. Hero’s eyes widened. They backed away from Villain.

“Villain, I was joking,” Hero said.

Villain ignored them and stepped forward; Hero mirrored their movements until their back hit a wall.

“Villain, wait!”

“Tilt your head for me,” Villain said, gently moving Hero’s head, exposing their neck.

“Villain, please! I was kidding! I-”

Villain plunged the needle into Hero’s skin and emptied the contents into their system.

“Villain!” Hero yelled in exasperation.

“Shh.” Villain put a finger to Hero’s lips and pocketed the empty syringe, “if this is what it takes to get you to rest, so be it.”

“This isn’t funny, this is… th-this… woah…”

Hero’s vision began to grow blurry, and they lost the strength to hold themselves up. Villain caught them before they could hit the ground and swept them up into a bridal carry.

“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Close your eyes.”

“N-no,” Hero said stubbornly.

“Don't be difficult, Hero, just close your eyes. There we go, that's it."

Hero's eyes fluttered shut despite their efforts to keep them open. They were distantly aware of Villain carrying them away to who knew where. Hero drifted off to the sound of Villain's voice.