Title: Anything For You (2/3)  (Part One)  (Part Three)
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Dr. Horrible/Penny
Word Count: This part, ~2200 (overall, ~10,600)
Summary: Dr. Horrible loves Penny too much to let her go, whatever the cost.
Warnings: Torture, rape/non-con, dub con, emotional abuse, character death, murder, dark themes.
Written for: dark_fest using the prompt I'd give anything to have you. And I'll do anything to make you mine. Stalking, violence, dub/non-con, torture and murder pretty much a given. I'm also using this fic for the fanfic100 prompt 048. Diamond.
A/N: AU from Slipping. Part three will be posted tomorrow. Thank you so much to smthwallflower for the wonderful beta-ing, and who also let me complain to her when the fic wasn't working and plot-vomit over her when it was. *kudos-five!* 

 

One of Dr. Horrible's henchmen turns up at her house. “Hey, Penny. I’m, um, here to take you to the wedding,” he says awkwardly. “I’m Moist,” he adds, almost as an afterthought.

Penny nods mutely. The man shuffles uncomfortably on the spot. Penny vaguely notices that he's leaving a damp patch on the carpet.

“We’d better get going,” he says after several moments of silence. “Um, have you got everything you need?”

“I don’t need anything,” Penny replies quietly.

“Yeah, but you’ll be living with the doc after today…” Moist sees the shocked expression on her face. “Didn’t – didn’t he tell you?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“Crap. Um. Do you want to get your stuff together, then?”

Penny quickly pulls a suitcase out of the closet and stuffs some clothes inside. Not her favourite things, but clothes that she has never liked and rarely worn.

“Is that everything?” Moist asks as she walks back to the door, suitcase in hand. “I mean, you still have a lot of stuff and I don’t know how often you’ll be able to come back here. Nothing special you want to keep?”

“I don’t want anything special with me.”

Moist looks slightly confused by her answer, but shrugs and waits for Penny to lock the door behind them before leading the way down the hall. Penny doesn’t think he’ll understand, but the reason she’d rather abandon so many of her possessions than take them with her is that she doesn’t want objects that mean a lot to her to be tainted through association by Dr. Horrible.

She follows Moist outside and climbs into the passenger seat of his battered car, her suitcase carelessly thrown onto the back seat. She tries not to think as the engine roars to life and they begin their journey through the city.

--

Their destination is an upmarket hotel the other side of LA. Moist shows her up to a room where she can change her clothes, then leaves her alone. Ten minutes later, he reappears.

"He wants you to wear this," he says awkwardly, staring at the floor and handing her a wedding dress with a veil.

Penny nods, unable to speak, her vision swimming with tears. Somehow, this makes it that much more real.

He meets her eyes, his face wet with sweat. "He really does love you, Penny. He just - he just doesn't want to lose you."

She nods again. He sighs and squelches away down the hall. Penny shuts the door and sinks to her knees, unable to keep in the tears.

--

Penny stands in front of the mirror, staring numbly at her reflection. She’s wearing the dress; a striking white satin gown with a crimson sash tied under her breasts accentuation her figure, the ends trailing down the back of her dress. It somehow makes it harder that the dress is so beautiful – nothing should be beautiful about today. She never thought her wedding day would be like this.

There’s a timid knock on the door and the Moist enters wearing an ill-fitting tuxedo. “Oh – you look wonderful,” he says awkwardly.

Penny just looks at him and his gaze drops to the floor.

“Penny, it’ll be okay.”

“No, it won’t,” she says quietly.

He sighs. “It will be in the end. The doc – I don’t think he ever wanted it to be like this, but he’ll look after you. You can have a good life together.”

“A good life?” Penny blinks back tears. “You say he loves me – if he loves me, why would he make me do this? Why would he torture and kill and…” She trails off, covering her mouth with her hand. Be brave, Penny. Don’t let them see you cry.

Moist sighs again. “I know. This isn’t like him.” He shrugs helplessly. “But – I promise, he’ll take care of you. He’s always been a good friend to me.”

Penny doesn’t say what she’s thinking, that Billy had always been a good friend to her, too. She’d rather cling on to the false optimism Moist is offering.

“I brought you your bouquet,” he says, walking into the room and handing her an arrangement of scarlet flowers that match the red of the sash. “It’s time.”

She nods, picks up her veil from the table and fastens it in her hair.

“Come one,” Moist says softly. Penny looks in the mirror one last time, and sees her reflection, her pale skin looking even more washed out than normal thanks to the bright white of the dress, her fiery hair clashing with the crimson sash and blood-red roses. Dr. Horrible’s perfect fantasy, she thinks sadly to herself before following Moist out of the room.

--

The room is relatively empty. The members of the Evil League of Evil have all turned up, which surprises Penny a little. She correctly guesses that Dr. Horrible doesn’t know many other people. Besides Moist and a few members of the press, there’s no one else to see this sham of a wedding.

At the alter stands Dr. Horrible, dressed in his dark red coat with the black goggles pulled over his eyes. Penny hadn’t been expecting him to want to be married in costume, but guesses it makes sense. Dr. Horrible made her agree to this, so it’s logical that Dr. Horrible is the one she marries. Besides, Penny isn’t sure that there is a Billy beneath the mask anymore. She wonders why he didn’t wear his gloves.

As she walks slowly down the aisle, she realises that the crimson of his lab coat matches the scarlet of her dress and roses. No doubt he had planned this, had chosen what she’d wear so she could complement him perfectly. Penny remembers that it’s unlucky to wear red on your wedding day. A hysterical laugh builds up in her chest and threatens to bubble up and out of her. As if superstition is important now – she has enough bad fortune to last her the rest of her life.

Penny is impressed with herself, though. She keeps it together throughout the ceremony. She doesn’t let a single tear fall; her voice doesn’t catch in her throat when she says “I do”. She doesn’t flinch away when Dr. Horrible slides the delicate gold band on her finger, and when she does the same to him – so that’s why he didn’t wear his gloves – her hands don’t shake. Even when he lifts up her veil and kisses her gently, she holds it together.

She just keeps repeating the same words to herself, over and over again. It will be okay. Don’t let them see you’re scared, Penny, and it will all be okay. It’s just a pity she can’t believe them.

--

They go back to the ELE headquarters for the reception. The room is soon filled with henchmen and super villains. One small, hysterical part of Penny, the small part that isn’t frozen in fear, almost wants to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation. Dr. Horrible keeps a possessive arm around her waist, bony fingers digging into her hip as he leads her around the room, showing her off like a trophy.

Fake Thomas Jefferson insists on making a speech. “So, my dear, you’ve made an honest man out of our Dr. Horrible,” he says to the sound of sniggers around the room. Dr. Horrible stays silent by her side. “It’s about time, we’d certainly heard enough about you.”

Penny bites her lip and stares down at the table, trying not to cry.

“I have to say, though,” he continues, “You certainly are prettier than I’d imagined; the doctor has better taste than I had given him credit for.”

Penny feels Dr. Horrible’s grip tighten on her waist.

“Perhaps,” Jefferson says, leaning towards her with a sick smirk on his face, “When he tires of you, he will allow you to become League property?” He reaches his hand towards Penny’s leg.

Penny freezes in horror but before she can react Dr. Horrible tugs her closer to him with one hand while the other pulls out the Death Ray from under his lab coat and aims it squarely at Jefferson.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he snaps coldly, his voice quiet, but terrifying. The baying laughs from the other League members stop immediately.

Fake Thomas Jefferson stares angrily back at Dr. Horrible, one hand twitching over the hilt of his sword. “You dare challenge my authority?”

Dr. Horrible snorts. “You don’t have any authority. You aren’t Vice President, no matter how much you suck up to Bad Horse. I don’t have to listen to a word you say, and even if I did, do you really think I would give her to you? Penny is mine.”

The silence seems to go on forever, the air thick with tension. Finally, Jefferson turns away with sneer. “Have her. She’s not the only woman in the world.” He glances at Penny again. “She’s not worth my time.”

Dr. Horrible’s jaw tightens but he lowers his Death Ray. Slowly, the rest of the League relaxes and the party continues. Dr. Horrible and Penny, however, remain seated in silence.

“I think it’s time we went home, Penny,” Dr. Horrible says eventually.

Penny nods, unable to trust herself to speak. She doesn’t want to be alone with him but it’s better than being with these evil people a moment longer. They walk out of the room together, Dr. Horrible’s arm still curled around her waist, but this time his grip is protective, not possessive.

--

He unbuttons his lab coat as soon as they get in the door and hangs it carefully in the coat closet. Penny wonders again why he wanted to get married in costume. Who did he have to scare? She’d been scared enough as it was.

“Wait here,” he orders, disappearing down the hall. Penny wraps her arms around herself and tries not to cry. He reappears after a few minutes, no longer wearing his large black boots or his goggles. “I had to put them in my lab,” he says in way of explanation. He leans forward and presses a kiss against her lips. “I love you,” he whispers, smiling at her expectantly, eyes shining. When Penny doesn’t reply his eyes narrow and he grabs her roughly. “Penny? I love you,” he repeats angrily.

“I – I love you too, Billy,” Penny stammers.

“I know,” he smiles, all sweetness again. He gently takes her hand and leads her upstairs. They cross the landing and he ushers her into a large bedroom. “This is our room,” he says proudly. He pulls her closer into him, laying gentle kisses across her face. His kisses become deeper and more urgent and he starts walking her backwards towards the bed. She tries to stand her ground but he's stronger than her and he easily pushes her down.

“Don’t, Billy,” she begs.

He looks at her. “Penny, it’s our wedding night. You know how long we’ve been waiting – how I’ve been waiting – for this…” He moves to kiss her again, and she tries to shove him off, but he has no difficulty in pinning her arms above her head. “I know you did this with Captain Hammer,” he suddenly snaps.

Her fear increases at his words. He’s already killed so many people for so little reason, what’s to stop him from killing her for sleeping with Captain Hammer all those months ago? “Billy, I–”

“It’s okay,” he replies, his voice soft again. “I know that you’re sorry. I don’t blame you, it was his fault. Now you’ll be with me and I’ll erase all he did to you, until he isn’t even a memory anymore. You’ll only love me.” He smiles at her. “Isn’t that what you want, Penny?”

She hesitates.

“Penny?” His voice is hard again. “Isn’t that what you want?” He tightens his grip on her wrists, letting anger cloud his eyes. 

“Y-yes, Billy,” she whispers.

He kisses her again, releasing her wrists to run his hands down her body. She doesn’t try to fight him off, there’s no point. She just lies back and lets him touch her, lets him unzip the dress and pull it off her, lets him push her panties over her hips and down her legs. She just lies back as he tugs off his shirt and fumbles with the belt of his pants. She just lies there, ignoring his whispered lies of love and tenderness, trying to shut out what’s happening to her.

And when he pushes into her, when he hurts her, she doesn’t cry. He kisses and nips at her throat, moaning softly that he loves her and that she wants this, but she doesn’t cry. As he buries his face in her neck and she feels a shudder run through him, hears his breathing hitch, she doesn’t let a single tear fall. Only when he’s finished and rolled off her, only when he’s pulled her tight into his embrace, only when he’s drifted off to sleep does she finally let the horror in. She cries silently, the tears running down her cheeks, for so long and so hard she thinks she won’t ever be able to stop.

--

(Part Three)