𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥

3 | A Surprisingly Civil Conversation

During Ashton's tenure in Vought's medical team, she had tended to dozens of patients across the United States. Of course Vought had doctors and nurses who would be able to operate in dire circumstances but many of the heroes Ashton saw were able to heal their injuries and ailments on their own, thanks to the Compound V. The only issue, was the immense amount of pain they were under in the meantime.

She and A-Train had become fairly friendly with each other earlier in the year due to his frequent visits to Vought's recovery ward. They first met when he had come in with a severely broken leg, though their friendship had grown after he had an extended stay due to experiencing a series of cardiac arrests.

"Hey, if I ask you something, can you give me the truth and then we like, never fucking mention it again?" A-Train laughed, turning towards her and letting his head fall against the back of the lounge with a sigh. "Am I getting, bigger?"

"Bigger?" She repeated with furrowed brows, taking a sip of her wine and setting the glass back down on the table next to her.

"Like, fatter..."

Ashton couldn't help but scoff as his comment, to which she immediately apologised for her insensitivity.

"I'm just not running as much and like, I dunno. Homelander grilled me for getting Shake Shack the other day and I've been all up in my head over it."

"Dude, you're still recovering. It's normal to gain weight when you're not running at the speed of sound," she assured with a light chuckle. "But if you ask me, I can't see any difference. Your body is just missing the hormones it's used to getting from all the exercise and Shake Shack just so happens to boost your endorphins in the same way. They call it a 'Runner's High' for a reason."

A-Train groaned and mulled over the whole idea in his head, obviously self conscious about what his team leader had said to him. "I can't argue with you on that. You're like, the pro of endorphins."

"I might get sued by Hersheys and prosititutes across the country if I claim that title though. They create endorphin rushes for a job too... I can't take all the credit," She laughed. "Seriously though dude, you're fine. Homelander was probably just being an asshole."

Unbeknownst to the two semi-tipsy heroes, Homelander was leaning against the doorframe of the common room he so rarely visited. For the other heroes of The Seven, the room was available for them to relax, socialise and do as they please. Maeve frequented this room, often drinking the bar empty. A-Train sometimes invited his groupies to party there to but Homelander had no use for those things. The reason he was there tonight however, was that Stan Edgar had told him to 'get to know' his newest colleague. So that's what he was set out to do.

"Room for one more to join your little social club? I don't want to be an asshole and intrude though..." He said casually, alerting them to his presence in the room as well as the fact he had overheard their conversation.

"No, you weren't interrupting at all. I was just about to call it a night anyways," A-Train lied, getting off the lounge and heading towards the door that Homelander happened to be strategically blocking.

"Oh come on, really? It's not like you to turn down a fun time... But, you're right. Another drink would just equal more calories to not burn off." He taunted, firmly smacking A-Train on the back and laughing as he headed towards the bar at the back of the room. "Guess it's just you and me then, new kid."

"Oh, lucky me." Ashton said sweetly, turning to shoot a desperate 'help me' glance towards A-Train before he left though he was already gone. Shit. It was safe to say she wasn't too keen on being alone in a room with him, though she wasn't scared of the concept. It just wasn't something she fancied doing. She heard the clinking of glass bottles as Homelander began pouring himself a drink.