Chapter Text
Deep was on his feet the second he saw that massive doorway begin to open. Between casual and over-professional, he figured he should err on the side of professionalism for his first day at the most important job he’d ever get.
As he had expected, the team’s gorgeous leader entered the room first.
“Deep!” Homelander beamed, declaring his title like he was seeing an old friend.
Deep felt a dopey smile spread across his face as his idol casually approached him. He had definitely peaked in life, at this very moment.
“Homelander!” Deep spoke as clearly as he could, but it seemed to come out as mumbling anyway. The marketing people had already found the time to instill some shame about his “frat-bro” voice.
Homelander shook his hand as the rest of the members took their seats. Deep had already made an effort to introduce himself to everyone, apart from Homelander and Translucent. That guy was hard to find, and he couldn’t spot him anywhere in the room right now.
“Welcome to the Seven!” Homelander’s grip through his glove was firm, verging on painful. And went on for way too long. Despite that, this was still probably the most magical moment of Deep’s life.
“Thank you so much Homelander, I’m like, super excited to finally meet you- bro, what the fuck!?”
Deep whipped around as he felt something pinch his ass, looking around frantically when he saw nothing was there.
Before he could put two and two together, he heard Homelander chuckle behind him. He was hit with another shock as he turned back around; Translucent was standing there, fully naked, just behind Homelander’s shoulder. Deep quickly averted his eyes, forcing himself to smile and push out a laugh. It definitely wasn’t his first time being hazed, but he’d never had to take shit from such powerful supes.
Glancing around the table, he noticed that no one else was really laughing along. Lamplighter seemed almost bored, sitting back in his chair with his hood down. Maeve seemed kind of on-edge, and Mister Marathon was smirking as he rubbed a scuff mark off his shoe. Noir was of course as unreadable as ever while he watched the scene unfold.
Translucent fizzled out of view, and Deep finally felt his shoulders start to relax as he saw a depression form on one of the chairs. Homelander was still smiling as he turned around to address the now invisible Translucent.
“Don’t be too hard on him, alright?” he said, pulling back the unoccupied chair next to Translucent, and gesturing for the Deep to sit down. “I’ve heard he’s not quite as bulletproof as some of us.”
Homelander remained standing next to him as Deep sunk into his chair.
“Yeah, but… I’m still really strong though,” he said, trying his best not to sound sulky. The last thing he wanted to be accused of was being a buzzkill.
That earned him a bruising squeeze on his bicep, before the gloved hand made its way to patting his shoulder.
“I can see that! Look at this suit they got you in, huh?” Homelander teased, sneaking two fingers under the hem on his shoulder. “Looks like they ran out of money on the sleeves.”
Before he could protest the contact, it was gone, and Homelander was sweeping his cape around as he headed to his seat at the head of the table. Deep could feel his face start to flush pink from the delayed embarrassment of the whole thing, only worsening as he looked up to see that Homelander was still looking at him.
“Well?” Homelander said, expectantly. “You wanna tell us a bit about yourself?”
Deep swallowed a lump in his throat that he hadn’t realized was forming. “Yeah, yeah, totally! Um… I was the leader of Gamma-”
“No one wants to hear about your dumb frat, bro,” Marathon chuckled, looking over to Maeve for approval that wasn’t given. He took this as a sign to press further. “Hey Deep, bet you’ve got a pretty good deep-throat.”
This got a chuckle out of Translucent and Lamplighter, at least. Homelander just continued to smile mildly, eyes bouncing around as he silently followed the conversation.
“Haha, very creative,” Deep said in a playfully sarcastic tone. “I’ve never heard that one before”.
Translucent scoffed next to him. “You’re the one who picked such a gay fucking name.”
Deep furrowed his brow in sudden annoyance. “Gay? You’re the one who just touched my fucking ass!”
His chair was suddenly skirted sideways, ramming hard into Black Noir, who barely reacted to the impact. Deep had fallen out of his seat before he could even figure out what happened.
Homelander finally dropped his smile, sighing loudly as Deep scrambled to get back up off the ground. “Translucent, what did I just fucking say? Go easy on him,” Homelander scolded, voice mixed with annoyance and amusement.
Translucent mumbled an apology to Homelander while Deep got back in his seat.
“Are you all right?” Homelander leaned in a bit, voice lower and genuine.
Deep gave him a forced smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” Apart from his ego being more bruised than ever, and a literal bruise surely forming on his right arm from that tumble.
The rest of the meeting was luckily uneventful, and very short. More than anything, Deep honestly just wanted to get back to his new penthouse and continue to introduce himself to the fish in his tank.
As soon as the meeting ended, he was speed-walking to the elevators. He pressed his floor’s button and leaned against the wall, letting out an exasperated sigh as the doors slowly shut. Finally, some alone time.
“Get a fucking grip,” someone said suddenly, as another button was pressed.
His heart jolted at the sudden voice. “Jesus- bro, you almost gave me a fucking heart attack!” Deep put a hand over his chest, trying to slow his breathing back to normal.
“See, this is what I’m talking about, you gotta toughen up if you’re gonna survive working here,” Translucent continued, apparently standing somewhere a bit too close for comfort. “Listen, these people can smell fear, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that.”
Deep pressed his back further into the wall. “I’m tough, I mean… why would I be in the Seven if I wasn’t, right?” He asked, a bit too meekly.
Translucent laughed, as the elevator began to approach Deep’s floor. “They hired you because your powers are unique, and you’re good-looking, not because you’re strong. But if it makes you feel better, then… sure. It’s just because you’re super qualified.”
The elevator doors began to open, and Deep tried to step around Translucent, running into his shoulder anyway.
“Fuck off, and don’t follow me, okay?” Deep said, turning around and glaring back at where Translucent likely stood. He didn’t get a response.
Unnerved, he hurried out of the elevator and down the hall, pulling his keys out of his vest pocket. He unlocked the door of his apartment, opening it as little as possible to prevent any possibility of someone slipping in behind him.
Deep nervously locked his bedroom door to change into a dolphin print robe, then flopped down on his bed, quickly striking up a conversation with a pleco in the tank. Not the smartest fish, but this one was pretty polite and seemed genuinely interested in his day.
“Man, I dunno, what if it’s just not the right fit? I just miss the boys back at school… Growing pains? Yeah, I guess I didn’t think of it like that,” Deep rolled over onto his back. “It’ll probably get better soon, you’re right. Plus, the perks bro…”
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Ugh… I’ll be right back,” Deep grumbled, slowly pulling himself out of the bed. He shuffled out of his room and to the front door, wishing he had just jumped in the shower the second he got back.
Peering through the peephole, he felt his heart skip. Homelander’s flag-clad cape was facing the door, and he suddenly turned around to give a tight smile as Deep looked at him. Right, super-hearing and x-ray vision. No point in trying to go and quickly change out of this robe.
He opened the door, and Homelander’s smile grew into a more genuine looking grin. He looked him up and down, as if he hadn’t already seen him. “Cute robe! Couldn’t wait to get out of that outfit? Not because of what I said, right?”
“Oh! No, totally not, bro!” Deep said, laughing nervously as Homelander’s smile started to fade. “I mean… um…”
“Just, anything other than bro,” Homelander said, trying to mask his obvious annoyance.
“Um… Sorry… sir?” Deep said hesitantly; Homelander wasn’t acting very intimidating, but his judgemental gaze felt increasingly oppressive.
This seemed like it was… maybe the right answer? A smile spread across Homelander’s face again, but it read more as a shark’s predatory grin than anything genuine.
“That’ll work,” Homelander said approvingly, patting him on the shoulder. “Do you mind if I come in?”
“Oh yeah! Duh-doy, of course you can!” Deep laughed, still feeling a bit on edge.
Seeing Homelander in the movies over the years could not prepare anyone for how it really felt to stand face to face with the man. It felt like raw power radiated from him in waves, even as he calmly walked through Deep’s living room with a quaint smile on his face.
“Wow, Deep! They really went all out on your room, huh?” Homelander spun around to face Deep as he closed the door behind him. “How are you liking it?”
“Oh, totally. It’s so fucking sick bro- sir.” Deep gave another sheepish smile as Homelander grimaced at him. “Um, I’m gonna go change real quick, sorry-”
“Don’t worry Deep, it’s your place. You can wear whatever you like, even if it’s a girly robe,” Homelander said teasingly, walking over to Deep again. “You can take it off though, if you want. It’s not like I haven’t already seen what you’re hiding under there.”
Deep’s face twisted in indignance. “How did you-” Homelander raised his eyebrows at him.
“Right, x-ray vision,” Deep huffed, starting to lose his patience. “Who else knows I have, um…”
“Gills? Just me. And, well, I guess one other person, now…” Homelander gave him another grin, then turned around to face a dent in the couch Deep hadn’t noticed before.
“Didn’t I tell you not to fucking follow me?” Deep said, the confidence in his voice faltering as he saw the divot disappear.
Deep stepped back a bit, glancing back and forth for a sign of the invisible man, before a force on his chest pinned him against the door. He tried to catch his breath, punching the air in front of him wildly as he felt a hand creep up and around his neck. When Deep’s fist finally connected with Translucent’s body, it felt like punching a brick wall.
Translucent laughed cruelly, inches from his face. “I’m fucking bulletproof, asshole. You think you’re gonna tell me what to do? Anyway, gills, huh? Let’s see.”
“Fuck off,” Deep’s voice felt tight from the slight squeeze on his throat, and he pulled his robe closed tightly, fighting against the invisible hand trying to undo the belt.
Homelander finally stepped forward, placing a hand on what was probably Translucent’s shoulder. “Be gentle! And don’t be so shy, Deep,” Homelander flashed that shark tooth grin again, and any hope of a rescue went out the window. “He’s not gonna hurt you. I’m right here, so just let him see.”
Deep’s heart was pounding, but he finally stilled under Homelander’s paralyzing gaze. That handsome face had transformed into something much more wicked, but no less relaxed. Translucent’s behavior certainly didn’t come as a surprise to Homelander. Deep looked away as his robe fell apart, silently thanking his past self for putting on boxers.
“Damn, they’re huge!” Translucent laughed, and Deep sucked in a breath as he felt fingers run along his top-most gill. He tried not to make his sensitivity obvious, but the unpredictable touch of the invisible hand was making it impossible not to squirm. Any motivation to comply with this humiliation disappeared as pain exploded from his gills.
“Don’t put your fingers in there, Jesus fucking Christ!" Deep fumed, masking fear with anger as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes.
“Alright, let him go,” Homelander said, patting Translucent’s shoulder. Deep felt the grip around his throat finally retreat. “Catch and release, right?” He added with a smile, as Deep quickly re-tied his robe.
As soon as Deep caught his breath, his indignance began to boil over.
“You… you fucking asshole,” he growled, directing it at where he assumed the still invisible Translucent was. “Touch me again, I swear to god bro, I’ll go to Stilwell.”
“Madelyn? She knows we’re here,” Translucent said, sounding amused. “What, you didn’t notice all those cameras in the hallway?”
Deep’s voice died in his throat as he tried to retort back. If that was true, then the only thing holding this maniac back was Homelander, and he seemed more than happy to put some slack on Translucent’s leash.
Once they had finally left, Deep was glad to resume his conversation with the pleco, who he learned was named Trevor.
“Did you hear that bro? They think they can just treat me however they want,” he sat up with a whine. “I already got a bruise from Translucent’s bullshit at the team meeting, and now even my gill hurts. Yeah, bro, my fucking gill! I mean, I can deal with hazing, but I kinda thought maybe Homelander would be above all that shit, y'know?”
Deep tried to listen as Trevor recounted his own adjustment issues when he got put into this new tank, but he couldn’t focus on anything he said. He was too busy throwing paranoid glances into the corners of his room, waiting for an invisible hand to grab him at any moment.