#torpedo

It starts with Dr Voughts search for a new scientific assistant. Dr Vought is given as many lab techs as he needs but he is looking for someone with that intellectual curiosity. He holds interviews for several candidates while Clara sits in the background. Most of the candidates give the same answer for why they want to be his assistant i.e. I am ambitious and want to learn from a pioneer in the field of genetics. Finally he finishes with y/n's interview. Clara immediately disregards her as an option due to her appearance. When it comes to the final question, y/n's answer is different:

"Why do you wish to be my assistant?" "I'm curious... your work in genetics could have permanent effects on mankind. Can you imagine a perfect human society? Free from disease? Free from addiction? Not bound by our mere genetics?"

Y/n obviously just meant curing stuff like cancer, unaware that in his head, Dr Vought's "perfect society" looked very different. Regardless, Frederick chooses y/n leading to an argument with Clara:

"All those young minds and you couldn't have picked a pure one? How does she not disgust you too? Have you forgotten our cause?!" "I am well aware of the cause Clara! But scientific excellence must always come first. She is bright and academically scored highest. I too wish she was not of her kind but in the mean time it must be overlooked."

And so, Y/n starts as his assistant. From the beginning, Clara is cold to yn and in private refers to her as the lab rat. Meanwhile, Frederick is very neutral towards yn - not giving her perks but not punishing her either.

And so, when the V1 trials start, y/n is in charge of the administration as well as monitoring the vitals of the subjects. And so in the early days, y/n was spending her whole day looking after and talking to the subjects. She meets Private Angel first - the two immediately becoming good friends when y/n sneaks her a butterscotch. Then Torpedo- the friendship starts off a bit more formal but Torpedo quickly becomes protective over y/n. Then she meets Robbie - When Robbie tells her that she is very pretty, y/n gets upset before telling him that she doesn't often get told that because of her complexion. The two are obviously crushing on each other but neither make a move. Then after some time when the friend group has already been established, Clara announces there will be one new addition: Soldier Boy. Ben flirts with yn in his macho way but yn remains professional - something that irks him when he saw yn smiling at Robbie moments prior. Clara notices Ben's gaze on y/n and immediately decides to stop it before it starts.

A few months after the new group of supes have become famous, Vought hosts a gala for their shareholders to come and meet the supes. An hour before the event, Torpedo, Angel and Bombsight are walking past y/n's desk when Angel spots the big shopping bag by her desk and the immediately corners her:

"PLEASE tell me that there is a pretty dress in that bag and you are wearing it to the gala tonight?!" "I am! I made sure to finish all my work to make it!" "And it better not be black or white like the rest of your clothes - I need to see you in some colours!" "Will you be dancing with the rest of us?" "I'm undecided... at the best of times, I have two left feet and I'm not sure I'll be able to move in this new dress..." "It's only an hour until the gala - try it on... and then we'll practice some steps"

Before y/n can protest, Angel drags her to the bathroom to try on the dress. The two come back and Robbie is awestruck when he sees y/n, earning him some teasing from Torpedo. Y/n practices waltzing with Robbie while Angel and Torpedo demonstrate. While y/n keeps standing on Robbie's toes, the gang are in fits of laughter unaware that one floor above, Ben is venting to Clara and accidentally gives her the push:

"... And if it wasn't bad enough that I'll be stood next to Robbie, he and the rest of the wonder gang are down there, dancing like nutcases" "dancing?" "Yeah... thought I'd get a dance with y/n but apparently not" "I see... can I borrow your pen knife? I have something to do..."

Despite the ominous change in conversation, Ben thinks nothing of it and follows Clara down to the office where Y/n and the supes are. Clara and Ben enter and the tone shifts:

"Y/n... I was not informed you would be attending the gala tonight." "I was unsure at first but Dr Vought said that as long as I finished my work for today, what I did in the evening was up to me!" "I need your help with one last task downstairs in the lab. It will only take a moment so you do not need to change. We will catch up with the rest of you at the gala."

And so the 4 supes head to the gala while Clara and y/n go to the labs. After the gala has started, Clara arrives eventually, returning the pen knife to soldier boy but yn is nowhere to be seen. As the night progresses, Torpedo, Angel and Bombsight get more and more worried about yn and as the night is drawing to a close, the three sneak away to find yn. Ben sees this and when he finally gets a moment where Clara isn't clinging onto him, he runs after the others.

Torpedo, Angel and Bombsight enter the office and their hearts break at the sight of y/n: dress torn to shreds and having been obviously crying. They get closer and see that her feet are bleeding and immediately swarm her: Angel starts checking her for injuries, Torpedo asks her what happened and Robbie is holding her hands trying to give her some form of comfort:

"Y/n, show me your feet, what happened?" *yn removes her shoes to show deep cuts on her heels and toes* "Who did this to you?" "She said... she said I'm no princess." "You aren't making sense - what happened to your feet?" "She told me I am naive for liking a movie made for children and that if I wanted to be like Aschenputtel, I needed to learn the original story..." "Aschenputtel is the German version of Cinderella... in that version, to fit in the shoe, the sisters cut off their toes and heels" "this was Clara?" "Please don't say anything! If they think I am gossiping about her, Dr Vought will fire me on the spot and I can't lose you al-" "y/n sweetheart please stop crying~ you won't lose us. We are right here for you" "Thank you Ro-"

At this point, Ben enters the room and Y/n starts shaking and goes completely mute. Ben tries to approach her and ask what happened but y/n goes into a panic attack. Angel calms her down while Torpedo accuses Ben of being involved and an irate Robbie is ready to fight solider boy to get him to leave.

At this moment, Frederick and Clara walk in. Clara smiles at the chaos infront of her, something that does not go unnoticed by the supes. Meanwhile Frederick is just confused by the whole scene:

"Y/n, you are still here? I did not see you at the Gala and assumed you went home. Are you alright?" "I... I tripped... and fell badly so I needed to sit down" "I see... I do have one last task for you: the beakers need to be washed. After that, you should go home and get some well deserved rest." "Yes, Dr Vought". "Meanwhile the festivities are continuing at the bar and people are looking for their new heroes" "At least let me go with her, she can barely walk-" "No Robbie. I'll be okay" "Well done Y/n... remember scientific excellence always comes first."

And so the supes watch as y/n limps away. Clara holds onto Bens arm before slipping the pen knife back into his pocket and thanking him which causes Ben to realise: y/n recognised the pen knife that Clara cut her with as Ben's and that's why she froze up. Now all four supes are in foul moods: ben because of Clara's actions causing y/n to fear him and the other three because they want to help y/n but can't. Ben pulls Clara aside to confront her:

"You did it?" "Did what?" "You know damn well what." "If you have an accusation to make, make it...hmm? Did not think so."

Again Ben sees the others slip away and follows them. Torpedo, Angel and Bombsight get to the labs first where they find the meticulously cleaned beakers and yn passed out on the floor. After checking that's she okay but has just passed out from exhaustion, they decide to take her back to her apartment. As the three are leaving with Robbie carrying yn, they bump into Ben. Before Ben can defend himself, the three supes make it clear that they will protect yn, even if its from him. However Ben can only focus on yn leaning into Robbie like its second nature.