#Wayne has his life dangled over him | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

alwaysurvalentine · 4 months ago

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the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad - fic

Written for Day 5 of @steddieangstyaugust - prompt: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by the Smiths - word count: 4.1k (this one got away from me) - cw: some cussing, allusions to parents fighting in another room, allusions to money issues, bullying mentioned (nothing graphic)

enjoy! 💛

When Eddie is five years old, his Uncle Wayne takes him to the aquarium. He talks the entire car ride, reading out the road signs they pass and counting the dashes in the road. He’s so excited that he doesn’t have to play the Quiet Game on the way there that he doesn’t even question it when Wayne comes to pick him up.

Eddie’s Mama helped him pack a bag and said he gets to stay with his Uncle Wayne the whole weekend, he’s so excited! Uncle Wayne always lets him stay up late and tells the best bedtime stories.

They’ve been on the road for a couple hours when they end up in a city. Uncle Wayne says it’s Louisville, but all Eddie can focus on is the tallest buildings he’s ever seen his whole life. They can fit millions of people in there! When he voices this, Wayne says only a couple thousand are in there. Which is basically the same thing - but Eddie’s not gonna correct his math when he sees them pulling into a Denny’s parking lot.

“We get to have Denny’s?! You’re the bestest!!!!” Eddie’s already unbuckling his belt by the time Wayne’s at his door, opening it to help him out. “Can I get pancakes? Please, please, please!”

Another chuckle and a shake of the head is his response from Wayne, who’s holding out a hand for Eddie to grab. They cross the parking lot together, Eddie skipping with a toothy grin.

“Well, go on then, find us a table.” At his uncle’s words, Eddie’s brown eyes scan the room. There’s a few tables next to the windows, but most of those already have people there - and then he sees it. The best table ever. It’s closer to the middle of the room but it’s got two booth seats opposite each other. Perfect for him and his Uncle Wayne! He darts over without saying anything and Wayne follows, slower, but still with a quirk of his lip that Eddie’s Mama said means he’s smiling.

He can’t read the whole menu, but he finds chocolate chip pancakes based on the picture on the side - which he points to when he orders from the nice lady named Sarah. When it’s Wayne’s turn to order he just gets nasty coffee. (Eddie snuck a sip of his mama’s cup once - it tastes like dirt.)

“WHAT is THAT?” Eddie yells - tiny finger pointed at the whale shark swimming above them. A couple of people around them turn to look at him when he yells, but Wayne doesn’t seem bothered - pointing at the words on the wall.

“This says it’s a whale shark. They’re the biggest sharks in the ocean.”

“What’s the ocean?”

There’s a stuffed whale shark in the gift shop when they’re leaving. Eddie’s seen so many fish today, but none of them were nearly as cool as the whale shark. His eyes find it, and before he knows it his legs have carried him over to the stack of them. A couple friendly clown fish sit nearby, but nothing interests him as much as the whale shark. It looks like it’s the size of his bed, but he doesn’t care - he has to take this home. Mama and him can lay on it when she sings him to sleep and he can cuddle up with it when Mama and Dad get loud in the living room.

“Eddie? What’d you find?” Eddie grins up at Wayne, smiling big enough to cause his dimples to show. He’s holding on to one of the sharks now, and he was right, it’s bigger than he is. The tail is bent slightly on the ground with his arms wrapped around its sewn gills.

“I love him. Can we get him Uncle Wayne? Mama would love him! I know he’s not as big as the real thing but this will help her believe me when I tell her it was the size of a car! Dad might even like him, since sharks are the coolest animal.”

As Eddie rambles, Wayne checks the price tag dangling off of the shark’s front fin. He knew his nephew was going to ask for something from the gift shop, and if this had been a planned visit instead of a quick phone call from Eddie’s mom type of visit, he might’ve had the money. But as it was, the only thing he knew for sure he could afford was the tiny key chain he’d grabbed on his way over to find Eddie. Now it’s just trying to convince Eddie that the keychain is just as cool.

Eddie’s pouting in his car seat, brown eyes focused on the trees outside instead of singing along to the station Wayne turned on to the radio. He did buy the keychain but that didn’t stop the tears that streamed down Eddie’s face for the first 30 minutes of the ride. The tears have stopped, but Wayne’s heart breaks at each quiet sniffle coming from the back seat.

***

Uncle Wayne is at the door again. Except this time Eddie’s ten years old and he’s the one that called. He can’t stand being in the house all alone. His mom passed four years ago and his dad’s never been the same - not that he was a stand up guy to begin with. Good old dad said he was going out to “shoot some pool with a couple of buddies”, and while this would normally be fine, Eddie’s run out of Kraft mac and cheese to eat.

“Hey, Uncle Wayne. Sorry I had to call, I was just thinking I haven’t stayed over in a little while. Would it be okay-”

“Where’s Al?” As always, his uncle cuts straight to the chase. His voice is gruff, but Eddie’s had plenty of practice now in reading his uncle and can hear the concern laced in his words.

He scuffs his converse against the floor and shrugs. “I dunno. He said he was gonna play pool with some guys.” Eddie looks up again to see Wayne looking around the trailer. He should’ve cleaned up after he called him; the dirty dishes in the sink and the trashcan full of candy wrappers says more than he meant to share.

“Eddie, how-”

“Just forget it. I shouldn’t have called - it was stupid.” Brown eyes meet Wayne’s green ones defiantly, daring him to finish the sentence.

“Alright, c’mon boy. Let’s go get Denny’s.”

The pancakes on Eddie’s plate are drowned in syrup, chocolate chips smeared across the top of them. A cup of black coffee sits in front of Wayne.

“What time does school start on Monday?”

A disbelieving smile starts to spread on Eddie’s face. “I can stay with you all weekend?!”

Wayne nods and sips his coffee, a small smile of his own hidden by the lip of the cup. “We’ll leave a note for your dad, but yeah. I don’t see why not.”

Unfortunately, Al Munson is at home when they get back, and with him comes the end of all of Eddie’s weekend plans. Al pitches a fit, sends Eddie to his room so he and Wayne can “have some words”. Eddie doesn’t know why he bothered sending him to his room when his dad’s shouting can be heard through the whole trailer anyway.

“Don’t need you telling me how to raise my own damn son!”

Wayne’s words don’t carry as well as his dad’s but he can hear some kind of murmur in response.

“Fuck off Wayne, you always thought you were better than me. I don’t care what you think, he lives under my roof so he follows my rules. He doesn’t need somebody babying him!”

Another murmur.

“Get the hell out of my house! Don’t even bother coming back! I don’t care if that brat calls you or not!”

Eddie’s back is pressed against his door, knees tucked to his chest as he listens. He was stupid to call Wayne. Stupid to think his dad would let him go stay the weekend with him. He’s just tired.

He’s tired of having cereal and mac and cheese for dinner. He’s tired of having to eat off of his friend’s lunch trays because his dad hasn’t paid for his school lunches. He’s tired of using duct tape to keep the bottom of his shoes attached because Al won’t buy him more. He’s tired of being left alone for days on end. His dad is right, he can take care of himself - he just doesn’t want to.

He misses his mom.

***

“Eddie? What happened?”

The teen brushes off his uncle’s words and heads into the trailer, bee-lining to his room. Eddie knows he looks rough, but seeing his reflection from the mirror on his dresser tells him not about this with Wayne isn’t going to be an option.

“Eddie, can I come in?” Speak of the devil; there he is knocking at Eddie’s door.

“Yeah. C’mon.” He sits back on his bed, eyes focused on the floor instead of the man stepping carefully into his space, and Wayne lets him sit in silence for a moment before sitting at the foot of Eddie’s bed.

“You gonna tell me what happened? Or are we just acting like your nose isn’t a bit more crooked than it was this mornin’?” Eddie stays silent. “I know you’re about as graceful as a bull in a china shop, but normally it’s your knees coming home bloody - not your nose. If you’re not gonna talk about it, you gonna at least let me have a look?”

“Why does it matter? No one cares in this fucking town anyway. Everyone always has something to say. Oh did you hear that Munson boy had to move because his dad’s in jail? Eddie’s a weirdo, don’t be friends with him. Have you seen his clothes? Doesn’t even have enough money to get new pants when he rips out the knees. Oh well, I heard that his uncle took him in just for the tax benefits - Lord knows it wouldn’t be worth it to have him otherwise. He’s going to be just like his daddy when he gets older, scamming people - don’t listen to a word he says.”

“Shut your mouth, boy!”

Eddie’s mouth clamps shut, teeth slamming together with an audible click. He’s shaking slightly, fists clenched at his sides. He can’t meet Wayne’s eyes.

“You listen to me, and you listen good.” Wayne’s voice is stern but like always, Eddie can hear the affection in it.

“Look at me,” Eddie raises his eyes slowly, jaw tense even if it causes his nose to throb.

“You ain’t nothing like your daddy. You’re your mama through and through, God bless her. And just because people can’t see past their own noses don’t mean you need to be listening to their shit. You’ve been nothing but a good kid since I met you, so unless you committed some crazy crimes that first week of your life then I think I’m good authority on this. I mean it, Eddie, you’re nothing like him. You keep being you, and you never will be him. Now lemme take a look at your nose.”

***

“Welcome to Family Video!” Eddie looks to the counter, eyes locking with none other than Steve Harrington’s before smirking.

“Is that any way to greet me? Your favorite customer?” He saunters to the counter, limp slowing him down only slightly - physical therapy the past 3 months making it possible at all.

Steve rolls his eyes but the huge smile on his face gives him away. “Sorry, let me try again.” And then he turns around, hazel eyes catching Eddie’s again, fluttering his eyelashes. “Oh! Hello Eddie!” He finishes his new welcome with a wink and then leans against the counter. The sun coming in through the windows makes Steve look like a painting, a modern day Adonis. He’s made to be in the sunlight.

“Anyway, what’s the occasion today? Came to finally return Alien?” Steve’s hair is a little floppier than usual, and he’s been letting it grow out since the end of July so it’s curling up slightly at the end of his neck. It doesn’t cover the two moles on Steve’s neck, the perfect place to bite - and Eddie’s getting off track.

“As if. That movie’s basically mine and Wayne’s now. No point in trying to get it back.” Eddie shrugs, shaking his head mockingly. He and Steve know he’s had it checked out for at least a year now. They both also know that Steve waived his late fees the moment he got promoted to manager.

“Just came to bother Hawkins’ favorite babysitter.” Steve’s eyes narrow at him now, leaning away from the counter to peer outside.

“Which one put you up to this? What do you need?” His hands are on his hips, opening the green vest to tease Eddie with the broad expanse of his chest hidden by a light blue polo. Eddie’s mouth feels a lot dryer than it was when he walked in. Okay - stop looking at the silver buckle on his belt, look at something else. Yeah, yeah, the tangled phone cord - that’s interesting.

“Why does it always have to be something?”

Hazel eyes level him with a look that paints a blush on his cheeks, causing Eddie to cough.

“Okay, maybe Will’s got a campaign planned for us to play. Buuuut-”

“But the cabin isn’t big enough for all of you to play in?” Steve cuts him off, crossing his arms over his chest instead. Which does nothing to help Eddie’s blush, eyes now distracted by the bulge of his arms. Which makes him think of Steve’s arm behind his back during the last group movie night. Which then makes him think of Steve offering his arms during physical therapy, easily holding Eddie up as he stumbled along. Which then makes Eddie think of how easily Steve was able to help him into the wheelchair he had for a few weeks.

“-ie? Are you okay? Do you need to sit down for a minute?” Eddie blinks and shakes his head, bringing into focus Steve’s brows furrowed in worry.

“Yeah, no, I’m okay. Gotta head out - Wayne’s waiting in the van. So we can host it at your place? Thanks!”

And then Eddie’s limping back towards the door, thoroughly embarrassed. Leave it to him to get a massive crush on THE Steve Harrington and become a huge idiot in front of him. Screw Robin for making him realize he’d fallen for the guy in the first place, no more late night smoking sessions with Birdie.

“Yeah, okay. Tell Wayne I said hi!” Steve calls behind him and he flashes a smile over his shoulder as he steps through the door.

There’s an open notebook to Eddie’s right and a pencil tucked behind his ear while he sits crouched over his guitar. He hasn’t written anything new in the last 30 minutes, his mind wandering to Steve again. He wishes he and Robin hadn’t decided to play truth or dare last night. If he’d only picked dare! Instead he picked truth and just like the teenage girl she is, Robin had to ask about crushes. And then he just - started talking about Steve and couldn’t stop. Robin got this weirdly focused look in her eyes and then just cryptically said that he should “tell Steve how you feel!” which had him choking on air.

“I’m sorry, what?” Brown eyes widened, staring into Robin’s blue ones.

“You should tell him how you feel!” She’d grinned, eyes red rimmed but nonetheless sincere.

“Birdie…he doesn’t even know I’m like that…what if he acts weird after? I can’t lose him.”

“Eddie.” Robin placed her hand on his shoulder, peering into his eyes, close enough that their noses were almost touching.

“He knows about me. And he’s my Platonic soulmate, knowing this isn’t going to do anything but make things better. He’s a good guy. I promise Eddie, nothing bad is going to happen if you tell him.”

And then she’d backed up to her side of the couch again, reaching for the bag of popcorn they’d made earlier.

“Eddie! Phone for you! Sounds like your boy!” Wayne’s teasing voice calls through the trailer and Eddie almost drops his guitar in his haste to grab at the phone on his bedside table (a perk from being stuck at the house for recovery).

“Waaaynee!” His voice comes out like a petulant teenager but he doesn’t catch his uncle’s response because he’s already holding the phone up to his ear.

“Hey, Stevie.” He’s breathless even though Steve hasn’t said anything, face warming just like earlier.

“Eddie! Hey! So I said I’d host, but you didn’t say what day.”

He can hear the smile in Steve’s voice, can imagine him peering into his fridge with the phone tucked in between his shoulder and ear. Eddie sets his guitar against the end of his bed and leans back against his pillows.

“My bad, yeah, Will the Wise said he wanted to do it next weekend, that work for you?”

“I have to open next Saturday but if you guys are okay with starting around dinner time, that works for me? I can talk to Mrs. Byers and the Sinclairs about doing a sleepover, can you ask Dustin’s mom and see about giving Max a ride? I’m sure Nancy can let her mom know Mike will be staying over. What kind of snacks do you guys need? I can go to the store on Thursday when I’m off. I can rearrange the living room too…I’ll have to tidy up the guest rooms. Maybe Hopper has some extra firewood we could use and have a little bonfire too? I’ll see if Robin wants to come, we could watch some kind of movie while you play.”

Steve’s in his own world and Eddie can almost hear the faint scratch of the pen he knows Steve is using to write out a checklist. The list will help keep Steve from forgetting anything, something that Steve has admitted he’s had some trouble with. Remembering the small things, that is. Has to write down dates and specific plans otherwise the day will creep up on him and he’ll only remember when one of the kids contacts him on the radio. It’s happened more times than he’s comfortable with, and now he writes everything down. Has a notebook near his home phone and even keeps a small handheld notebook in his car just in case. Eddie saw it once, accidentally sitting on it; got to see a page covered in bullet points.

Eddie Physical Therapy MWF 2-3 PM!!

Dustin back from Camp Know Where on Tuesday the 17th

Eddie says to listen to Black Sabbath ??

Will and El staying over on the 3rd so Hopper and Mrs. Byers can go on date

Give Eddie back his vest ???

Oil Change

Ask Eddie

But he couldn’t finish reading the list before Steve had grabbed the notebook to shove into the center console.

“Stevie, sweetheart-” and he swears he can hear a stutter in Steve’s breath, “we can just order a couple pizzas and be fine. Don’t worry about getting specific snacks or anything. I’ll talk to Claudia and you know I’ll make sure Max gets there in one piece. Everyone’s gonna be excited just to play, let alone stay the night and get some of that breakfast casserole you always make for us.” He’s joking with his words and is rewarded with a chuckle from Steve.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make it only when I get some help in the kitchen. Peeling and cutting all those potatoes is hard work. But yeah, we can order pizza for the group.” The stress has eased from his voice, and the Steve in Eddie’s mind’s eye is ripping away the previous notes to replace it with one that just says pizza for dinner and the ingredients for Steve’s breakfast casserole (potatoes, eggs, shredded cheese).

“Uh-huh. You tell me when you stop needing the potatoes in perfect cubes and I’ll help. Little Stevie Homemaker has to have his food perfect otherwise no one’s allowed to eat it.” He teases again, pulling a strand of his hair to his mouth, chewing on the end slightly.

Steve’s messing with something in the kitchen when Eddie and Max walk in. Max beelines to the living room, circling the coffee table before plopping down on the left side of the couch. Her hair is in two haphazard braids that Eddie knows El will offer to fix as soon as she walks in. She cuts her eyes to him and nods towards the kitchen, a knowing smirk on her face.

“Don’t look at me like that, Mayfield.” He pokes a finger in her direction and squints his eyes. The effect is lost on her though because she’s already turned back towards the TV, remote in hand, while he heads towards the kitchen.

At least three cabinet doors are slammed shut before Eddie steps into the kitchen. Steve’s back is to him, a green T-shirt stretched across his back - his shoulders are tense and Eddie can almost see an exact outline of the boy’s shoulders. He can’t make out what he’s saying, but Steve’s mumbling as he works. There’s a towel covered bowl behind him on the island, but he’s pulling out smaller bowls and setting them on the counter next to the fridge.

“What’s all this, Stevie?” And Steve jumps about 2 feet in the air at his voice, whipping around quick enough that his bangs settle back down on his head while he scowls at Eddie.

“I thought I told you to be here at 6.”

“And I thought I told you that we would order pizza tonight.” Eddie’s looking down at the homemade dough he sees sitting in the bowl he uncovered. Now that Steve’s turned around, he can see that he was pulling bowls out to dump toppings into. A jar of olives, cut green peppers, mushrooms, a bag of pepperoni, and a large bag of cheese - all the makings of a pizza, just no sauce. When he looks back to the boy in front of him, he’s wiping his hands on a gray towel he had over his shoulder. A light blush is on his cheeks, traveling down to the collar of his shirt - Eddie thinks if he didn’t have it on that pretty pink would travel further down his chest. He hears another mumble from Steve but he turns as he’s talking so he misses it, and Steve’s shoulders seem more tense than before.

“What was that? Hey, please?” Eddie rounds the corner of the island and reaches a hand out to rest on Steve’s shoulder, turning him slightly. He’s looking down but lets Eddie turn him, hands slowing their fidgeting with the towel.

“Mario’s pizza has too much grease, and this way all of the kids can put their own toppings on theirs.”

Again, Eddie is reminded of how sweet Steve really is. He’s so glad he’s gotten to know this Steve instead of the “King” he thought the younger man was. His hand travels from Steve’s shoulder with a mind of its own, resting against his right cheek. If he moves his thumb slightly he could cover up the moles right there on Steve’s left cheek. Hazel eyes are hidden from him, Steve’s eyes closed as he leans slightly into the contact.

Eddie really wants to kiss him.

“Stevie…” His voice is little more than a whisper but Steve opens his eyes regardless. The light from the kitchen window highlights the gold in Steve’s eyes and Eddie’s breath stutters at what he sees there.

Does Steve want to kiss him?

Loud knocking shocks both them and Eddie drops his hand like it’s been burned. “STEVE!! Why is your door locked? Let us in!!” Dustin’s voice is muffled only because there’s a door and room between them, and Steve rolls his eyes.

“Let me go let them in, can you stir that for me?” Then he just nods towards a simmering pan on the stove like nothing happened. And Eddie can do nothing but nod once before watching Steve walk away. He hopes he’s not imagining how red Steve’s face is before he leaves the kitchen.

Maybe after the kids leave he and Steve can have a little chat - seems like Robin might be right. If he’s lucky maybe he’ll even get to kiss Steve before the night ends.

But until then, he’ll stir Steve’s homemade pizza sauce and play the most distracted D&D game he’s ever played. He might’ve been through hell and back, with or without the Upside Down, but things might just be looking up for him now.

(Now with a part two!)

#steddieangstyaugust #steddie #stranger things #pre steddie #this one ran away from me #sorry its late #but Eddie just kept having things to share #music monday #valentine writes

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etherealxwitch · 1 year ago

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Illict Affairs

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Something changed within Eddie and now he only has time to fuck you and dump you like you mean nothing.

Warnings: SMUT (MDNI), angst, hurt/no comfort, eddie using reader (being bit of a fuckboy), dirty talk, praise kink, teasing, begging, a little degradation, spanking, hair pulling, pet names, unprotected sex, creampie, breeding kink if you squint

WC: 3.7K

(after months it’s finally done! i hope you enjoy)

Remember to reblog and support the author!

Things were so simple before Eddie made new friends. The two of you would go out in public, hand in hand, lips pressed to your temples. One would never be seen without the other.

It was common knowledge to know what the two of you had going on; the stolen kisses and even more behind closed doors. It was never an official thing between the two of you, but you always hoped it could be.

That all quickly changed once he got more friends. It was now late-night calls, meeting in dimly lit parking lots so he could fuck in the back of his van and then drop you off back home before going to wherever it was that kept him from you.

Eddie used to be so gentle with you. Letting his friends know you were his girl, taking you on small dates. He was still like that, but you only saw that in private now.

And as much as your heart broke being his fling, you couldn’t say no to him. Not when he treated you so well, doted on you, loved on you. Not when he made you smile so big your cheeks hurt. Not when the sex was so good that you could barely walk the next morning.

Eddie said it was this way because he wasn’t good at love, that he could never give you what you truly wanted in life. But you knew that was all a lie. You saw how he loved and cared for you. His eyes were so full of it. You just wish he saw what you saw.

That’s how you ended up where you are now, hurrying to get out the door after he had called you from a pay phone, telling you to meet you at the car shop parking lot for a quickie. You wanted this time to be the last. You even told yourself that as you passed on the perfume, knowing he would complain about the lingering smell once he was finished with you.

Deep down in your mind, though, you know you’ll crave him the second he drives off your street. Your heart will ache, and you’ll repeat the same circle of getting hurt all over.

Did he know how much you hurt being the second choice now? Did he know how much you yearned to go back to the way it was before everything had happened? Did he know your feelings for him?

You were so caught up in your feelings that you didn’t realize that you had made it to the parking lot. Eddie was sitting in the back of the van, his legs dangling as he held a lit cigarette between his lips when you spotted him.

“Finally! I was starting to think you blew me off.” He stepped down from the vehicle, quickly making his way to engulf you in his arms.

That scent, his scent. It’s another thing you crave from him; lingering smoke, musk, a bit of sandalwood. It was the same old cologne that he borrowed from his uncle Wayne and you never got tired of it. You wish you could smell it forever, let it seep through your pores, and stay there.

“No, you know I couldn’t blow you off.” God, how you wish you could. You want nothing more than to say no to him, but you can’t. He’ll always find another way to rope you in.

“Well,” his hands dropped lower, gliding across the plump of your ass. “Now that you’re here…”

Eddie never wasted time.

The heat in your body felt like it had turned up 90 degrees just from having his hands on you. You wanted them everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Slowly, you got out of his hold, crawling into the back of the van. You made sure to shake your ass, enticing him more.

“Oh, so we’re playing that game.” Eddie spanks you, his ringed fingers making you gasp in pain and pleasure. “Remember you started this.”

“Who? Me?” You smiled at him as you laid on your back, watching as he shut the doors once he was inside. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

You felt hot and gross all at once. Why were you letting this go on? You could easily walk out those doors and never turn back, but you stayed put. You’re giving yourself whiplash with these thoughts.

Eddie laid on you, his whole body now pressed against yours. You could feel his cock against your thigh, throbbing. “Mmm, I think you know exactly what you’re doing.”

His hands ran up the back of your dress, exploring you and the soft fabric.

“I-I,” you felt so stupid. How did he have this much of a hold on you?

“W-what’s that?” Eddie mocked you. He dipped his head low, his lips pressed against your ear. “Cat got your tongue?”

You tried to find the right words to say, but it was so hard when you could feel his hot breath against your skin. “I know nothing.”

He chuckled against your skin before pulling away, a smirk plastered on his face. “You do know.” Eddie sat back on his calves and started to work on his belt, fingers moving fast to get to the point. “But we can continue to act like you don’t.”

Your mouth suddenly watered with need as he pulled down his pants, his cock throbbed in his boxers. You could even see the wet patch of the precum starting to form.

Seeing that gave you hope, an ounce of it. Maybe he did feel something from you. Maybe that’s why he had this reaction to your body and kept you around for so long.

“Close your mouth, pretty girl.” Eddie reached forward and ran his thumb around your plump bottom lip before sliding it into your mouth. You sucked on it, swirling your tongue around the bad of your finger. His eyes darkened even more than before. “Look at you, always needing something in that pretty mouth.”

“I prefer something other than your thumb.”

With one hand, he pulled his cock from his boxers. The tip was leaking with precum, almost dripping with it. “Come get it.” He moved beside you, leaning against the side of the van, “what are you waiting for?”

The way his words echoed in your head made your legs clench, and your heart ache. Why were you doing this to yourself? Why was he doing this to you?

You turned yourself over and rested your upper body on his jean-clad thighs. Your fingers gently ran across his cock, making him quietly whine. “I gotta have my fun too, right?”

Your tongue darted out, catching a bead of precum that dribbled over your finger. The second the salty taste hit your tongue, you moaned. “You always taste so good.”

“Fuuuck,” Eddie grabbed your hair, pulling your head to the side. “C’mon, don’t tease me like this, sweetheart. Let me feel that warm mouth, yeah?”

“Like this?” You wrapped your lips around the red, angry tip.

“That’s fucking it, that’s my girl.” Eddie guided your head up and down his cock, thrusting his hips to make you gag around his cock. “Awe, is it too big for you?”

You moaned around his cock, him saying my girl shooting through your body and right to your cunt.

His cock felt so good in your mouth, sliding down your throat, and making your eyes water each time you gagged. This is how he likes (you wished it was love) you; his cock in your mouth and your eyes trained on him.

Eddie looked down at you and thrust his hips, the tip of his cock hitting the back of your throat over and over again. “Such a good fucking girl with a pretty mouth. You love being used, don’t you?”

No, you didn’t, but you’d never tell him that. It would ruin everything that this, whatever this was, the two of you had built.

His cock was fully in your throat, your nose buried into the thick patch of curly hair at the base of it. Eddie's cum filled heavy balls pressed to your chin, your drool dribbling down his balls and between your cleavage.

“Jesus- look at you.” Eddie held your head still as he kept thrusting in your mouth, making you gag until your lungs burned, and his eyes were rolling back.

You were a sight, a sight that Eddie mewled over each time you swallowed around his thick cock.

You pulled your mouth from his cock slowly. Salvia strung from your swollen lips to his spit-soaked cock. Your lips trailed kisses on the underside of it, your tongue darting to lick here and there before you got to his balls.

“O-oh shit.” The hand Eddie has in your hair pulled harder as you sucked his balls into your mouth, letting your tongue roll over the velvety skin. “You’re such a dirty girl, aren’t you?”

You hummed around the heavy sack. He had a certain way with words, always knowing what to say to turn you into putty for him. It never took much, though.

“Fuck, fuck- shit.” He gasped as you brought a hand around the base of his cock to pump it slowly, swiping your thumb over the tip, as your mouth still played with his balls. The wet schlick sound echoed in the small van.

You let your teeth barely graze his balls before sucking them both in your mouth, pulling on them. “Gonna make me cum already, sweetheart.”

All of your movements halted. He couldn’t cum yet, not when you had just met with him for the night. You wanted to prolong this meeting.

“I wasn’t done.” Eddie sat up on his elbows and looked at you, in shock and cock achingly hard. “Just a bit more, sweetheart.”

You wanted to roll your eyes and leave him with blue balls, but you couldn’t. Instead, you looked over at him with your big doe eyes and spread your legs. You had purposefully not worn any panties, your cunt already soaked and glistening in the van's light. “Is it my turn yet?”

Eddie gawked at you, his eyes glued to where you dripped for him. He pushed you back with a hand, slotting his body between your thighs. His jeans rubbed roughly against your clit, and it was enough to have you keen for more.

“God, I fucking love you like this.”

There it is. There’s those stupid words that he always said, that made your stomach fill with butterflies and your heart pound in your chest. If only he truly meant it, if only he could see the love swim in your eyes each time he said it.

“Do you?” You took his hand at your side and guided it up your legs between your thighs. “You feel what you do to me?”

You watched as his Adam's apple bobbed when his fingers ghosted over your slit. He could feel how wet you were, the pad of his finger now covered in your slick.

“Who got you this wet?” Eddie kissed up your neck, stopping to nibble here and there. You were sure to see some scattered hickies tomorrow.

He was pulling the most perfect whines from you. “Don’t go all shy on me now. Answer the question.”

You dropped your head down, not meeting his eyes. “Y-you did.” Your voice was barely a whisper. Not one part of you wanted to admit he did anything for you. You didn’t want to boost his ego.

With a rough hand, Eddie grabbed at your cheeks. He gently pushed them together, causing you to pout.

You now were looking directly into his eyes. The eyes that were so big and beautiful, filled with so much lust that he would probably burst at the seams if possible.

“Speak up.” He licked at his bottom lip before smirking at you. “Who got you this wet?”

Your head rolled to the side, as closed as he kept his skilled fingers on your cunt, barely rubbing. “You, you got me this wet.”

Eddie wanted it to always be this way. You were so quick to tell him that he got you this wet, but he wanted more. He wanted to call you his and hold your hand in public again, but things had changed within him. He didn’t deserve to be loved by you like that.

Sex was the only way that he could let you in anymore, it was the only time that he let a part of him show his all to you. But in his eyes, it was better to hurt you this way than to let you have his heart fully and then rip it away from you.

Everything in your body was betraying you; your cunt, your heart, your head. They all needed and wanted him.

Eddie smirked proudly at you, his fingers circling your clit before dipping into your soaked cunt. “That’s a good girl. Keep it up, and I might let you cum.”

You couldn’t say anything, only whined as his fingers curled right into your g-spot immediately. Your fingers gripped at his arms, your face buried in his neck. “I-oh!”

Your thighs shook around his arm, wanting to close around it so bad, but you knew he wouldn’t let you. He loved to see how much you shook and writhe because of him. Seeing it, seeing you like this boosted his ego beyond words. He felt like he could do everything and anything.

You could hear how soaked you were, the sounds flooding your ears. “Fucking hell! Feels so good!”

“Yeah? You hear that? That’s all you, sweetheart.” The heel of Eddie’s head rubbed perfectly at your swollen clit each time he pumped his fingers. “You’re making such a mess, baby. You gonna clean my fingers when I’m done?”

“Uhuh!” Your heart sped up, and you gasped loudly when he added a third finger, getting you nice and stretched open for his cock. “Oh my god, oh my god.”

Eddie gently kissed your forehead as his fingers slid in and out of your faster, the soft squelch sounds echoing off the van walls. “I can be your god, sweetheart.”

If only he knew just how much you truly worshiped him.

“I- I’m so close,” you were clenching around his fingers, craving that orgasm you needed so badly. “Please, Eddie!” You looked up at him, your eyes full of tears from being so close to cumming.

But just before you could cum, before you could feel the euphoria, he slid his fingers out of you. “W-what the fuck?”

When you opened your eyes to look at him, his dripping fingers were in front of your face. “Go on, clean up the mess.”

Obediently, you slowly wrapped your lips around them. You tasted yourself and moaned, tongue sliding between his fingers to get every bit of the mess you made.

“You follow orders so well. I might just keep you around.”

Oh, how you wished he actually would, and not just for the nights when he was lonely.

You got on your knees, making sure your ass was in there air. Eddie never wanted to see your face when the two of you fucked. Why? You don’t know, but maybe it made sense. Maybe it was better for you too.

“Look at you,” he rubbed a rough hand over the globe of his ass before pulling your hips toward his. You could feel his throbbing cock rut between your bodies. “You already know just how I want you.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” You wiggled your hips against him, silently begging.

You gripped at anything you could find when he nudged your cunt open with just the leaking tip of his cock, your eyes already rolling in the back of your head.

“Better squeeze my cock the way you squeezed my fingers, pretty girl.” Within seconds, Eddie bottomed out. His balls were pressed against your clit, hips flushed with yours. “God damn- I won’t ever get used to how tight you are for me.”

You felt so full, his cock stretching you open with the most pleasurable sting. “Please… move.”

“You sound so pretty when you beg for me.” Eddie pulled out, leaving only the tip inside your soaked cunt. “Do it again.”

“Eddie,” you turned your head to the side, looking into his brown eyes as much as possible. “I need you to fuck me, I-I need to feel you as deep as possible. Just-“

Before you could finish your sentence, Eddie had pulled all the way out and slammed back in. Your back arched and your head slumped forward against the floor of the van. “I love it when you say my name. Sounds so pretty falling from your lips.”

With each hard snap of Eddie's hips against your own, you could feel yourself draw closer to an orgasm. Your toes curled and your back arched, the praises spewing out of Eddie’s mouth.

“Such a tight pussy.” His rough hands pawed at your ass, spreading your cheeks so he could watch his cock get swallowed by your cunt. “Best pussy I’ve ever-jesus christ- had.”

Eddie reached forward and grabbed you by the shoulders, pulling your back against his chest. “Say it. Say that this is my pussy.”

“I-It’s…” Your mind was foggy, not only from his cock pounding into the sweet spot that had you seeing stars, but from the fact that he was being so possessive over your body.

“Fucking say it!” A rough hand came down in a harsh spank!, making your thighs shake and your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“It’s yours!” You bit your lip hard enough for the familiar taste of blood to hit your tongue. “It’s all yours, Eddie!”

And it was. Every single part of you belongs to him, or yearned to. He just didn’t see it.

“That’s fucking right.” Eddie shoved you back down to the floor and fucked you with fervor. “Gonna pump you so full of cum that on your way home, it’ll be dripping down your legs.”

You were sure there would be handprint shaped bruises for you to see and feel in the morning, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

“Please,” you arched your back, feeling the coil in your stomach tighten even more. “Please come inside me.”

He bunched the bottom of your dress around your hips and used it as leverage to drive his cock deeper into you. You squeezed your eyes shut as his cock pressed into your g-spot, making you see stars behind your eyelids.

All it took was one more hard, deep thrust and your body shook as your orgasm took over. Eddie’s name was a repeated prayer on your lips, your hands searching for anything to hold onto as every nerve ending in your body was set off. “Oh my- fuck, yes!”

Your thighs shook and your nails scraped along the floor off the van as your orgasm took full control of you. All you could mutter was incoherent babbles as you soaked Eddie’s cock.

The tightening of your pussy and the way his name sounded on your lips as you came was enough for Eddie to spill into you. “That’s it, take it fucking all!” His cock twitched inside you, emptying all he had to give. “My pretty girl, all full of my fucking cum.”

You felt the warmth of it flood your body as he held your hips against his, his cock twitching and giving you everything he had with labored breaths.

“God damn- always cum so damn hard when it’s inside of you, sweetheart.”

After pulling out and watching the mixture of cum leak from your used cunt, he laid his body over yours for a brief moment of actual intimacy. It barely took a second for you to feel that emptiness inside and out. That craving for him to come back and touch you taking over so quickly.

And just as quickly as you answered his call and met him here, it was over. The time you spent together never lasted long anymore. It was long enough for him and you to come undone and then you were out the car door, left with the sulking feelings of hurt and emptiness.

It was quiet as the two of you got dressed, almost too quiet. You took this moment as an opportunity to talk to him, no matter how dumb you may sound after.

“Eddie, can we talk?” Your voice was quiet, a bit hoarse from all the moaning you did just minutes prior.

He saw the glint in your eye when he turned around after adjusting himself back in his pants, he knew exactly what was on your mind. Even though it broke his heart to do this to you, he couldn’t let you in. It would never be like it used to be.

“We’ve been over this before.” He gave you a soft smile before looking down at the time on his watch, “Plus, I have somewhere to be.”

Of course, he does. Sex was the only time he had for you.

“I-I know, it’s just- it’s been a while since we have.” You reached for his hand, any ounce of intimacy to change his mind.

Eddie let you hold his hand for barely a second before he pulled it away to open the back doors and let you out. You’d be walking home alone again.

He slowly shook his head before he helped you out of the van. “Look, you knew what was going to happen before we even started it.” The sound of the doors shutting made you jump. “You gonna go back on your word now, baby?”

The guilt ate at Eddie as he put on this act that he didn’t care.

And you were hurt. Hurt, annoyed, and mad, all at once. Yeah, you knew what this was, but you would think after months of doing the same thing over and over again, he would give you a smidge of something. You just wanted that small amount of hope that the two of you could be something different.

“Don’t,” you stepped away from him and the van. “Don’t call me baby.”

“What?” Eddie chuckled from behind you. “Is this how you’re going to be right now? Didn’t we just have a good time together?”

“A good time? We do the same thing every fucking time you call me up. Why don’t we go out and actually do something fun? We never do that anymore.” You started to look down at your feet, avoiding all eye contact with any part of him.

You heard the jingle of Eddie’s keys as he pulled them out and walked in front of you, his body pressed into your side. “I’ll call you again tomorrow.” You could hear the slight smirk in his voice as he spoke against your ear. “You always answer the phone for me, baby.”

Before you could even speak up, the van had already started and moved out of the parking lot. You stood there, a mess all because of him.

And he was right. You would go against yourself and do this all over again, no matter how many times you got hurt. You could never say no to him.

#eddie munson smut #eddie munson #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fic

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just-my-latest-hyperfixation · 6 months ago

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Whatever the future may hold

Written for the May pop-up challenge of the @steddieholidaydrabbles

Prompt: Graduation

Rated: M

Tags: Omegaverse; omega!Eddie; alpha!Steve; pregnancy; mentions of sex

Notes: Set in the same universe as Whatever you want it to be

Eddie turns the square cap in his hands, feeling utterly and supremely sorry for himself. He's been imagining this day for so long. Snatching that diploma from Higgins's unwilling hands and prancing off that stage into a brighter, better future.

Only now, that future fills him with nothing but dread.

He groans, burying his face in his arms.

It was all going so well.

A while ago, when Carver and his possee found out about his little omegan secret, he thought his life was over.

Except Steve Harrington swooped in like a white, baseball bat wielding knight and saved him, and took him home, and cared for him. Knotted him near damn stupid, too, not that Eddie is complaining.

They've since commenced what must be the weirdest courtship in the history of courtship - stolen glances and subtle gifts and furtive dates at Steve's house or Eddie’s trailer. Eddie has kept his secret safe, and Steve is its biggest protector.

It's perfect. Everything Eddie never knew he wanted.

So of course it couldn't last.

“Eddie?”

Shit!

He must've been so far gone in his head he didn't hear the trailer door open, didn't catch the scent wafting into his bedroom. Pine needles and moss and sunlight.

“Stevie,” he croaks, and his stomach twists.

Footsteps approach. The doorknob rattles once, twice, before Steve realizes it's locked. His scent turns worried. Steve's worried about him. Eddie’s needy hindbrain whines at the thought.

“Eds, lemme in. Please?”

Eddie is unlocking the door before he even realizes he’s moved. Quickly, dread clawing at his guts, he retreats back onto his bed.

“Hey,” Steve ducks around the gown dangling from its hanger by the door. “Wayne called, said you wouldn’t come out of your room? Ceremony’s about to start, what are you- Eddie? What’s wrong?”

Because he has just spotted Eddie, back against the wall, arms wrapped around hunched knees, trembling hand still clasping the cap. Steve is in front of him in an instant, mattress dipping under his weight. His hands cup Eddie’s face, tilting his head up, and Eddie knows he should pull away, he really should. Still, he’s helpless to do anything but let himself sink into Steve’s comforting touch and scent.

“What’s going on?” Steve’s voice is a barely restrained growl. “Carver try shit again? You know you don’t have to worry-”

Eddie shakes his head. His stomach feels like it’s trying to crawl its way out of his throat. “It’s not Carver.”

Steve’s brow furrows.

“But then, what- … Are you sick?” He leans in, nosing the hollow of Eddie’s neck. “Your scent’s a bit off. Should I call a doctor, or-”

“Will you fucking leave it?” Eddie slaps Steve's hands away. The cap hits the mattress with a soft thud. “I'm not sick! Jesus!”

Steve's eyes are full of hurt confusion and worry. It makes Eddie want to laugh and cry and scream all at once.

“But I don't-” Steve stammers. “Why won't you-”

“Because I'm pregnant, okay?”

Steve's words screech to a halt. His eyes grow large, mouth forming a dumb little oh shape. It would be funny, Eddie thinks hysterically, if there was anything remotely funny about this entire clusterfuck of a situation.

“Wha-” Steve starts to say. Shuts his mouth. Opens it again. “I mean how- … I mean … are you sure?”

Like a line from some cliché soap opera. Eddie laughs weakly.

“Been puking my guts out all week. Took five tests, all positive. I'm pretty fucking sure, big boy.”

Silence seeps into the room. For a moment, Eddie thinks Steve's going to continue right on with the soap opera shit and ask when it happened. If it’s his. But Steve knows Eddie has never been with anyone else. Knows they've always been careful - except for that very first time.

Eddie screws his eyes shut and waits.

“Wow,” Steve breathes after an eternity. “That’s … that’s unbelievable.”

Eddie furrows his brow. Steve’s voice is brimming with incredulity, but also with something else. Something that, if Eddie didn’t know any better, he’d put close to … happiness? Hesitantly, he peeps one eye open.

He’s just in time to see Steve launch himself at him, and then he’s enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. Steve’s scent crests over him, heady and familiar.

“W-wait,” Eddie manages to mumble against the rapid staccato of Steve’s heartbeat. “You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” Steve pulls back just enough to look at him. His smile is so wide, Eddie’s afraid his face might be too small for it. “Why would I be mad? You know I want kids, loads of them!”

“Well yeah,” Eddie stammers. The room is spinning and all he can see is Steve’s smile. “But-”

“And you know I can’t imagine a better person to have them with than you.”

“Well …” Eddie can practically feel himself flush. “I guess.”

Steve leans in to kiss his forehead. “Then why are you so upset, dumbass?”

“Well, I dunno,” Eddie blurts, unable to keep the sarcastic undertone at bay. “Maybe cause I’m barely out of school? Or because we’re not even mated? Because your parents will go absolutely fucking-”

“Fuck my parents,” Steve declares. “This is about you and me. We’ll figure it out one step at a time. First, and most importantly: Do you want to have this kid with me?”

One large hand finds Eddie’s stomach, splaying itself over it, warm and safe. Eddie feels how something inside of him goes soft.

“Yes,” he whispers. “Yes, I’d love that.”

“Brilliant,” Steve beams, and kisses him. Eddie melts into it, but just as he’s about to lose himself in that summer forest scent, Steve pulls away. Eddie frowns as something is placed on his head - the stupid cap.

“And second,” Steve winks, giving his stomach one last gentle pat, “You gotta put on that gown and let me drive you to school. The two of you need to walk in half an hour.”

Poor Steve brought beer for the celebration. He'll need to drink it all by himself, whelp.

They're baaack, and they're having a baby!!! I said I'd write more of these two sooner rather than later, didn't I?

#steddie #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fanfic #steddie brainrot #fanfiction writer #fanfiction #fanfic #my writing #steddieholidaydrabbles #hype's holiday drabbles 2024 #whatever you want it to be #omegaverse #a/b/o #omega eddie munson #alpha steve harrington #pregnancy

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steddielations · 1 year ago

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flight of icarus spoilers

Something so heartwarming and gut-wrenching about the development of Wayne and Eddie's relationship:

So, Eddie lives alone in his dad's house (on and off, he goes to stay with Wayne for long stretches throughout his life, but at the start of the book he's 18 and has been there alone for months, by his choice) and Wayne checks in on him and brings him food.

Eddie mentions that Wayne's own shelves are pretty empty, but he always makes sure Eddie's are at least half stocked with things like tv dinners that he knows Eddie can eat easily. Eddie says "Wayne has a pet theory that I can't feed myself, so every two weeks or so I'll come home to find him shoving microwave dinners and canned soup onto the cluttered shelves and into the moldy refrigerator."

When Al shows back up, he belittles this, and says he’ll make Eddie a real meal (mind you he left Eddie with nothing but stale peanut butter and flat soda for days when he was 8) which then turns out to be a big spaghetti dinner over which he manipulates the shit out of Eddie, and dangles the prospect of them moving to California together in front of him, saying they'll make a tradition out of Spaghetti Saturdays. To which Eddie responds, "Like a real family?" (ouch) Of course, that doesn't happen.

But then!! When Eddie moves in with Wayne at the end of the book, he notices that Wayne made an effort to stock vegetables in the fridge. Vegetables. It surprises Eddie and they end up wilting because Eddie just doesn’t know how to react to such a clear act of care towards him. And I just hope they had plenty of family dinners after that (Excerpts below)

(ignore my highlighting it’s irrelevant)

Al leaving Eddie ⬇️

Wayne’s empty shelves ⬇️

Al belittling the food Wayne brings ⬇️

manipulation for dinner ⬇️

Eddie doesn’t know how to react to Wayne’s care (vegetables) ⬇️

#it's all connected in my mind #am i going to make it about steddie and say that the first time steve makes eddie any sort of food he just. crumbles #eddie munson #wayne munson #al munson #flight of icarus #character analysis #stranger things #mp

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quinns-shadowy-arts · 10 months ago

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No More Running

Day 7 of @steddielovemonth‘s Steddie Love Month Event! Rating: General CW: None Tags: Fluff, Getting Together, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a romantic WC: 1,122 Prompt: “Love is what makes you brave” submitted by @sidekick-hero

Note: Guess who came down with a cold. Me. Guess who ignored their many deadlines to write this. Also me. Sorry if this isn’t the best (and is also very late), but I’m pretty sick and can’t breathe out of my nose. I wanted something soft to make me feel better, so I wrote this. Enjoy!

He wasn’t going to run anymore. That’s what Eddie promised himself when he woke up from surgery after being dragged out of the Upside Down. He wasn’t going to run, and he hasn’t. He hadn’t run from Wayne, he hadn’t run from the somehow alive Jim Hopper, he hadn’t run away from the aftermath of Vecna, and he wasn’t going to run from this.

Eddie’s been developing feelings for Steve since he made that promise. Waking up to learn that the Steve Harrington bridal carried his half dead body out of hell really does something to a guy. Not only that, but Steve is one of the sweetest guys Eddie has ever met. Long gone is the King Steve of Hawkins High; replaced by a loving, caring, and smart man.

Steve had been there for Eddie through the whole recovery process. He helped with proving that Eddie was innocent, he helped Eddie with bathing, and he helped Eddie with cleaning and wrapping his wounds.

Steve also helped Eddie with processing the trauma of Spring Break. He held Eddie’s hand and talked him through panic attacks. He stayed awake with Eddie when sleep seemed like a monstrous task; the fear of what he’d dream fraying Eddie’s nerves and keeping him awake.

Steve was also just an amazing person overall. He had an amazing sense of humor; making Eddie’s ribs ache with the laughter he tugged out of him. Steve was smart, he could read people’s emotions like no other. He knew exactly what Eddie was feeling by looking at him for only a couple of seconds. Steve could pull the real reasons as to why Eddie was quiet out of him when no one else could.

He was easy on the eyes, too. His chestnut hair looked glorious, styled or not. His eyes were kind and genuine; but could turn bitchy in a way that sent heat down Eddie’s spine. Steve’s hands were big and spotted with freckles and moles, like the rest of his body. His skin was sun kissed and hairy. Everything about him made Eddie want to pounce on him.

Everything about Steve had made Eddie fall head over heels in love with him. Eddie knew about Steve’s woeful dating history; knew about Steve’s failed loves. How people have used Steve for a quick fling or bragging rights before tossing him to the side.

Eddie wanted to give Steve the world. Eddie wanted to worship Steve the way he deserved; to kneel at his feet and kiss up his body, to whisper praises into his ear, to pump Steve full of love and want, and maybe some other things besides love, too. Eddie wanted to make sure Steve knew that he deserved better than those past flings could have ever provided.

That’s why Eddie is stood outside of Steve’s font door, holding a bouquet of deep, ruby roses. Eddie had put on a black button up and black jeans. His wallet chain still dangled on his hip, complementing the silver of his rings. He had tied his hair up into a bun, leaving some framing pieces around his face. He spent a while on doing himself up, had wanted to look good for Steve.

He leaned forward and knocked at the door. Steve always teased him about not using the doorbell, but Eddie liked knowing that Steve knew it was him at the door based on his knock alone.

Eddie heard shuffling from behind the door before the sounds of the lock being opened filled his ears. His heart picked up its pace, knowing how close Steve was. Eddie sends out one last prayer, despite not believing in any type of greater being, that Steve felt the same way he did. And if he didn’t, to at least keep Steve in his life for as long as possible.

The door swung open, Steve stood in the doorway in grey sweatpants and a Hall and Oates T-shirt. He looked absolutely gorgeous like this, soft and relaxed. He had obviously been lounging around before Eddie had come knocking on his door.

“Hey, Eds!” Steve said, a smile stretched across his face. Eddie’s gut filled with warmth. His heart stuttered with the overwhelming love he felt for this man.

“Hey, Stevie. I hope I’m not bothering you?” Eddie said. Steve shook his head,

“Nah, man. You’re not bothering me.” Steve looked down,

“What’re those for?” Steve looked back up and made eye contact with Eddie.

“They’re uh, they’re for you, actually.” Eddie turned his head away. He could feel his face warming up. He held the roses out for Steve to take, hopefully he’d take them.

Steve grabbed the bouquet, pulling Eddie’s attention back up. Steve’s own cheeks and ears flushed.

“Why? Is there an event or something that I’m missing?” Steve sounded shy and a bit nervous. Eddie shook his head and smiled at Steve.

“No, I just wanted to get you flowers. Could I talk to you, actually?” Eddie asked, he shuffled his weight from foot-to-foot as he spoke. He was nervous and scared about confessing his feelings to Steve. He really hoped that this wouldn’t destroy their friendship.

“Sure, yeah, come inside.” Steve said, stepping away to make space for Eddie. Eddie stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He turned to Steve, straightened his back and gathered all of the courage he could muster.

“Steve, you’re my best friend. You mean so much to me. You’re so kind and amazing.” Steve’s blush deepened at Eddie’s words,

“You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. You’re strong, not just physically, but in every aspect of the word. You are so observant, you can always tell when I’m upset. You can read me like a goddamn book,” Steve chuckled and looked down at the roses in his hand, he was never really good with accepting praise.

“You are my everything, Stevie. And I’ve developed a lot of feelings for you, So, would you like to go out with me?” Eddie finished. Steve’s eyebrows had raised with surprise, his mouth forming an “o” shape. Steve blinked, then his mouth fell back into a smile.

Steve walked up to Eddie, dropping the hand holding his flowers to the side. He placed his free hand onto Eddie’s face. His thumb swiped over Eddie’s cheek before pulling him in.

Their lips smooshed together and a fire lit up in Eddie’s chest. Steve’s lips moved against Eddie’s, their lips forming a rhythmic push and pull. After a minute, Steve pulled back. He smiled at Eddie, both their faces still red and warm to the touch.

“I would love to go out with you, Eddie” Steve whispered against Eddie’s lips.

Eddie’s so glad he didn’t run from this.

#steddie ficlet #steddielovemonth #steddie #fluff #getting together

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cookeybg · 6 months ago

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Gotham Possesses

A cryptid Batfamily AU in which Gotham is the main character and follows its journey to consciousness as it follows its Bat and Birds. Chapters are short and a bit gloomy.

Main Characters: Gotham, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne

Honorable Mentions: Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Riddler, Cobblepot (Penguin), Two Face (Harvey Dent), Superman (Clark Kent), Superboy (Jon Kent)

No romantic relationships

Stuff to know: Cryptid Batfamily, grim, Melancholic mood, Angst, this chapter has mentions of drug use, murder and unsolicited touching

Word Count: 933

[Here's my table of contents]

Chapter 10 - Gotham Watches

Death. That’s what happened when their warmth seeped into me, emptying, leaving behind a husk, a body no longer needed. Death. I had been born because of it, awakened. Death. It hung over me, clung to my Bat and our Birds. It tittered in the jester’s presence, in his arrival, in his exit. In the wake of a bullet fired. In the hands of anger and in the perception of love. In the tumbling of a dear butler, a father, when his neck snaps as he lands crooked. A kiss to the lips and he’s back, dazed, in pain, bound to me and the manor he holds so dear. Tethered to my shadows, forever serving in our love for our Bat. He moves on, dusts himself, there is dinner to be served. It is the thing that the living must always meet, the thing I greet and make my own. Their souls and warmth fuel me, a near endless supply. It is a curious thing, to watch them. I float around a young girl, she sits in the dark, I’m her only company. She is not afraid, not happy, used to it. She was told to never turn on the light, never answer the door, the phone. When she was alone she was to stay hidden and wait. A door opens quietly, she stiffens, then relief as her mother calls for her in a tired voice. I move on. I linger in a building where the jester laughs maniacally in his glass cage. He suddenly stops and stares, his gaze following me, his smile widening, unnerving. I stay away. Slither past the female jester, the blue cold man, the green woman who sprouts life on my soil, the man who mumbles riddles, the female cat whose too familiar with my Bat. All uninteresting, captured. Much more fun when they are free. I slip through old brick loosening the mortar. I caress a young woman, passed out on the cold floor. Her skin nearly as cold as the stone. She smiles as her final, shuttering breath escapes, a needle tumbling to the ground. My senses alert me to look up. I see a red cape fly by, avoiding me. As he should. His presence casts a heavy shadow, my Bat does not see me when he’s near. Leaves with him for periods at a time, far from my gaze. More often than not my Bat tells the red cape, whose skin is far too warm and whose smile reflects the sun, to stay away. It’s satisfying. I dance in the clubs, enjoying the manic thrum, the unbridled joy of its patrons. Some if not most, using something to increase their vivacity. Not all will make it through to morning. A hooked nosed man in a black hat smiles from the second floor window. Plotting, monocle gleaming.

A boy steals a half drunk bottle that his father was hugging in his sleep. The boy tosses it out the window, the sound of shattering glass echoes down in the street, not uncommon. He huddles under his blankets a bag of frozen peas pressed to his let eye. His mother won’t be back for another few hours. I hear the mumbling of a man, arguing with himself. A silver coin gleams under the dim light of an abandoned building. He shoots his gun when the coin lands, a body falls to the ground, warmth seeps into my earth, salty. Another body to be sunk into my harbor. Laughter distracts me away. I sweep in on a lovers cuddling, enjoying the images playing on a screen. His arm loosely dangling over her shoulders. Her gaze is reminiscent to how I stare at my Bat. The man will be gone by morning, he was never planning to stay, he will not let her know. Life glows within her belly. New potential. I sink down into my depths. There’s a meeting, men and women in white masks. Myths, creatures that should not exist. Watching, just as I do. Abominations that must be purged, a new mystery for my Bat. I waft upward through the grates. I watch a man, shivering, digging through the trash amongst the rats. Searching for something, maybe food, maybe something to numb. Unsuccessful, he moves to another dumpster. I wrap around the clock tower, a red headed woman sits typing furiously on a computer. She also watches and observes as much as I do. I help her steer the cameras in the right direction. A female bat stands beside her, stitched mouth, silent. My first bird sleeps contorted, on the manor’s couch. Tired from a long grueling night. My second hugs his knees to his chest, woken from his sleep. I encourage him to calm and close his eyes. My third hasn’t gone to bed, wide eyed and wired, placing theories on a board. My fourth has escaped, our bond shows me that he is in another city, asleep next to a body far to warm to be human, far too bright. My Bat, with labored breathing, is forced to dream. Forced in bed by the older man. I shape my shadows into hands, they aren’t perfect, sharp ends. I slide them down his overheated chest. My shadows press into his skin, ecstatic with the proximity. I lick his wounds to try and heal them quicker. He tastes sweet. He is not bound to me, not yet. I wait in anticipation for when we can be one, and settle on his side content. I will continue to watch, I doubt I will ever tire of it.

The end!

I hope you have enjoyed Gotham Possesses. I will be posting it on Ao3, maybe tomorrow. I'm a bit sad about it ending but also proud of myself. This is the second thing I wrote that I posted and was super nervous to do so. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with reading this and endured my lack of editing.

I will be planning a series of POVs from the birds. I hope you look forward to them :)

Please feel free to comment, I get rly happy when I see your reactions.

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supershot73199 · 5 months ago

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Hey just wanted to post this as its own post as well it's a reaction to chapter5 in my story Dawn's Big Daddy.

Barbara was directing the bat's to the various bomb sights in Jokers latest scheme. She also had the damn clowns livestream playing on one of her monitors. Unfortunately this meant she saw as Danny, her younger sister figures boyfriend, was antagonizing the Joker.

It was only when Danny lunged forward and wrapped his legs around the bastard that she realized it was all a ploy and not him being a self sacrificial idiot. She figured she should update the others on the potential for Joker trying to set the bombs of early out of anger.

"Damn it Cass' boyfriend has the Joker in a headlock with his thighs, he's keeping him contained for now but what's yo-"

Mid-Sentence Barbara froze, as an experienced vigilante and native Gothamite there wasn't a lot that could shock her, but the visceral crack and spray of gore as the Jokers head was crushed between the thighs of one of the kindest people she had ever met was one of the few.

"Forget that just disable the bombs, Jokers not a problem any more."

Damian was the first bat to respond, likely his bomb was already disabled as he was assigned the closest when the split up.

"I knew Fenton was protective of those he loved but I was not expecting him to be capable of knocking the Joker unconscious while dangling from a chain." The soft tone tinged with respect would have been unthinkable from Damian when Barbara first met him, she was proud of how far her honorary little brother has come. But she should probably correct his misconception.

"Sorry Robin, but Danny didn't knock him out, and no Cass didn't either, when I said Jokers not a problem I meant permanently." Barbara said

"How certain are you that it's not some trick of the clown? We all know how crafty that bitch is." Jason interrupted clearly agitated.

"Not even the Joker can fake having his head crushed like a watermelon Hood. Check the group-chat I'm dropping a gif for your enjoyment. Also I'm telling Agent A to prep a feast." Barbara said even as she put action to words while turning down the volume of her com so as not to be deafened by the influx of shouting from the members of the family who were suspicious (overprotective) of Cass boyfriend.

"O we have to get him the world's best gift basket, shit Signal, Spoiler you guys want in on this? Don't even have to ask you demon brat." Jason's words might have been jesting but the way his voice choked up everyone on Com knew it was only his iron clad self control that was keeping him from crying, whether those tears were of joy at the clowns death or frustration that it wasn't B doing him in.

Either way it was best not to bring it up and allow Jason to work through his feelings on his own before she tried to talk to him about it. Suddenly a thought came to mind.

"Huh, I wonder how Harleys taking this.

Harley Quinn knew she has done a lot of bad things in her life, she had made a lot of mistakes and while she would never change where she was now, living with her beautiful wife Pam, she would always regret her time spent infatuated with the Joker.

"Harley, I know you don't like thinking about the clown but you have to see this." Speaking of her wife, Harley went over to the television that Pam had been watching to know if the Joker tried to do anything near the two of them.

"Well gee Pam, you don't usually like me seeing what that piece of work gets up ta. What makes this so different?" Pamela had the footage paused with the newest Wayne member (yeah Harley knew the two weren't married yet but she recognized the look in their eyes, after all she saw it every day in the mirror).

Pam pressed play before walking over to the kitchen while Harley watched. She admired the kid he didn't back down or show fear and his insults were really hitting Joker where it hurt. Then the kid got his legs around the prick.

"Whoo go kid give that piece-a-shit a concussion!" She cheered to her wife's amusement, based on the chuckles she heard.

Harley saw the look on the boys face and she hoped he didn't let Joker go before the Bat got there, that disgrace to clowns would not hesitate to hurt his little girl. Whatever Harley expected it wasn't the sight of one of the subjects of her recurring nightmares being snuffed out.

*Pop* Harley jumped before looking at the source of the sound, only to see Pam pouring out two glasses of the fancy wine that Bruce had given them on their wedding.

"To the end of a pasty faced try hard, may he rot in hell." Pamela said as she handed a glass to Harley before she raised her own glass in a toast.

"And a long healthy, happy life to that crazy Fenton bastard who did what Batman never had the balls to do himself."

"Hear, Hear and may his daughter never be bothered by any Gothamite worth their salt." Harley added before taking a drink. Looking back at the screen Harley couldn't help but giggle.

"We should give Ms Prima Ballerina one of my old mallets, she'll need it to beat all his new fans off of him if the way that girl there is looking at hims any indication."

Pam laughed, causing a soft smile to spread on Harleys face.

"Maybe we should give him a thank you basket, he did the entire city a favor after all, think they make a card for when someone kills your ex? Ah who am I kidding this is Gotham I'm sure we can find one."

Gotham city held its breath when the darling of the Wayne's got kidnapped, and when the Joker was killed it was like time stood still. Not a single word was said until o e voice cut through the silence.

"THATS WHAT IM TALKING 'BOUT BABY!! EAT SHIT YOU PASTY FACED MOTHERFUCKER!"

And suddenly the spell was broken laughter, cheers, crying, and shouting echoed over the city, as for the first time in years it felt like a weight was lifted from the atmosphere, for the first time since he made a name for him self, the Jokers memory no longer darkened people's mind, instead relief, joy, and pure unaltered happiness reigned supreme.

Parties sprang up in the streets, businesses closed early, and all anyone could talk about was the man who brought a smile back to Gotham.

As the days passed by an interesting trend came to social media from Gotham people were buying watermelons and painting the Jokers iconic make-up on it only to crush them between their thighs, recreating the historic video that showed the end of an era of fear.

Of course things started spiraling when infamous vigilante/crime lord The Red Hood took part in the trend,in full uniform no less, leading to other famous heros to take part of the trend.

This of course led to countless arguments about which hero was the hottest, as the internet does, though it seemed that despite some of the most beautiful heros male and female who took part Gotham city would always argue the original couldn't be beat.

#danny phantom #dc x dp #dp x dc #dpxdc #danny fenton #dcxdp #dp x dc crossover #dead silent

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albatmobile · 1 year ago

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Cardinal Sins Chapter 1

𓅪 Living with your vigilante boyfriends for the past year has been amazing, well, almost. Butting heads, old wounds resurfacing and a deadly threat still looming overhead could threaten the sanctity of everything you've ever fought for. Will you finally overcome your tainted past and survive the trials and tribulations, or will your relationships and your faith crumble under the pressure?

Rated: M | 6.5k fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist] Previous in Series: Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds

Chapter One: Everybody Wants to Rule the World

It’s only been mere hours since Bruce had handed you three sets of keys.

You’d met him in the lobby of your current place after you got a random text that he was in the neighborhood.

“The keys activate the elevator,” he said as he dangled a set of gold keys in front of you before handing the rest over. “These act as keys to your new place.”

“Mine?” you questioned with a raised brow.

Time has really flown.

You, Roy and Jason had been dating for a year now and your lease at your old apartment was coming to an end next week.

Bruce smiled, patting you on the shoulder. “The lease is in your name,” he revealed.

“That’s too much!” you exclaimed. You shook your head, making to give back the keys but he simply refused the action with a chuckle.

“You’re practically one of my own.” Your heart thrummed in disbelief at Bruce’s reassurance. “It’s the least I can do, seeing as I own the place and all.” You didn’t know why, but you though you saw a twinge of pride in his eyes. “Alfred’s cooking a Sunday roast for the family,” Bruce said before opening the lobby door. He began to walk backward out of the building, facing you all the while. “The four of you should stop by the manor once you get settled in. The movers should already have new furniture all set up, so it’s just a matter of unpacking.”

Ever since freshman year of high school, you’d found your life intertwined with everyone who’s stepped foot in that manor.

Damian had taken you in as a stray within your first week at Gotham Academy. Soon so did Tim, your lockermate and Stephanie, his on-again off-again girlfriend. After that, you were over at the manor daily and spending the night nearly every night of the week.

Jason had been unexpected, having quite literally crashed into your life. After him, Roy had been an easy addition; that is, as soon as you got through Jason’s prickly exterior. They were both three years older than you, but it hadn’t stopped you from chasing after them.

When Jason and Roy had disappeared before their graduation, you hadn’t realized you wouldn’t hear from them for another 5 years. That’s right- it wasn’t until nearly two years ago that they finally reached out to reveal what had kept them from you for so long. Though, it hadn’t actually been that easy because, well, Jason and Roy are also Red Hood and Arsenal.

You showed up at their apartment door to find Roy with a bionic arm and a kid and only much later did you figure out their secret identities.

Soon after they reappeared in your life, your parents did as well. Them and a barrage of Gotham’s finest criminals, which ultimately ended in a dockyard fight with you and the entire Bat Family.

“Sounds good,” you reply, waving him goodbye with a smile as he saunters away with his Bruce Wayne persona. “Thank you for everything, Bruce!”

At his name, flocks of people turned around and began to pull out their phones. He’d turned around to shoot you an annoyed, yet obviously mirthful look at the fact that you’d started a media frenzy.

You stood there a moment longer, watching as he avoided questions with grace before disappearing into his flashy Lamborghini with a small wave back.

Now, here you are piled into a fancy elevator with Jason, Roy, Lian and a shit ton of boxes.

“Old man never gave me shit,” Jason grumbles as he turns the key in the penthouse slot.

You were surprised by the generosity as well.

You’ve always considered Bruce a father figure ever since he stepped in to help you fight, well, your actual father. That dockyard battle for example??? Yeah, that shit had all been organized by your biological parents.

Ever since your conception, it had been planned that you would be Gotham’s reckoning.

Your parents had created a trust fund for Gotham’s criminals to funnel money, meaning your death had been planned from the start. All the while, you were to be used as a lab rat for the Joker’s experiments, which were to then be used on the organization’s enemies.

Picture this: 15 years old, wearing a ballgown your mother had stolen to the Wayne Gala only to get beaten and injected by the Joker and his goons. Now, picture 20 years old, surrounded by your found family while your actual family tried to murder you for the

Talk about trauma, right?

Lian giggles at Jason’s curse, leaving Roy to glare in the raven’s direction. “Oh, so the safehouses he paid for don’t count now, Jay?” Jason merely glares at him in response, undoubtedly saving Lian’s ears from any further cursing.

Recently, Lian’s taken to repeating everything. Literally everything.

From the weather report, to Titus’ barks, to curses and anything and everything she hears from her superhero cartoons, she repeats it all.

You can’t help but feel stuck on what Bruce said when he’d handed you the keys.

“He said I was ‘practically one of his own,’” you relay to them, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as you look to Jason for an answer.

“Told you,” Roy mutters under his breath, seemingly to no one and everyone at the same time.

Ever since your biological family had given you up, you’d felt misplaced and unwanted.

Yes, you had Jason, Roy and Lian, but you wanted a parental figure, something you’d never had. Part of you was starting to feel like Bruce was that, but you could never be too sure. The man kept his cards close and his emotions closer- practically the paragon of a closed book.

“I do, you know,” you trail off self-consciously, rubbing at your forearm for comfort, “view him as a father figure.” You’re not sure who chokes first, but both of them immediately begin coughing. “I mean, like, in the least weirdest way possible!” you attempt to rectify your statement, but it’s too late. Your cards are on the table.

You see, while Jason isn’t biologically related to Bruce and neither are you, you both see him as a father, which does tend to make things… odd.

“Well,” he drawls, “that didn’t sound grammatically correct in the slightest.”

Of course he’d deflect.

You let out an annoyed sigh, “Fuck you.”

So, the honeymoon period is definitely a thing.

For real.

Not that it wasn’t currently still going on, nor do you doubt the feeling will ever truly wane with two men like Jason and Roy. All you’re saying is that cracks in the relationship and points of contention have been becoming more obvious. You tell yourself that it’s only natural this happens, though you’re not entirely sure since this is your first long-term relationship.

One point of contention being: Jason dodging any and every serious conversation.

Example: right now.

Even Roy, who seems to rely on humor to get out of tough situations can sit down and talk it through. Jason, on the other hand? He needs a lot of coaxing and it’s not the way you roll.

“Hey,” Roy rubs your shoulder with his bionic arm before the two of you can start squabbling, “we’re just glad you have family and to be your family. Technicalities and all.” He gives your shoulder a light squeeze as the elevator comes to a halt.

The doors open to reveal a penthouse not even Damian could dream of.

“Holy shi-” Jason’s elbow to the chest prevents Roy from finishing the curse, though Lian already has it memorized.

“Oh, shit!” she squeals as she breaks into a run. She manages to dodge Jason and Roy’s attempts to collect her and calm her down by squirming and ducking under all the new, read: expensive, furniture.

“Looks like the latest edition of Architectural Digest in here,” you whistle lowly as you take in the expansive room with wall-to-floor windows.

Roy’s too busy following after Lian, grabbing falling lamps and vases that she’s run into to respond.

Jason still seems stuck on your irritation in the elevator, but, as usual, he says nothing. All you want is validation from him that you belong in his family, yet he refuses to give it to you and you can’t pinpoint why.

“Since when have you read that shit?”

You know moving’s hard, so you take it easy on him.

For now.

“It’s called manifestation, whore.”

It’s at this exact moment, of course, that Lian sprints into the main living room with an attached kitchen and dining room. “S’called manifestation, roar!” Lian screeches with a devilish smile.

“Oh, thank fuck she heard that wrong,” Roy groans before hurriedly running past you and Jason, who are still stationed in the entryway.

“Oh, thank fuck!” she giggles maniacally as she crawls out from under the couch and makes her way back over toward you and her daddy.

As she’s passing, you reach down, catching Lian in your arms. She attempts to keep running even in your strong grasp but eventually tires out like a wind-up toy reaching the end of its winding.

Eventually, she settles down for a nap in her new lily pad styled bed. The whole room looked straight out of Princess and the Frog with dreamy shades of green, purple, pink and blue scattered throughout.

Tiny pixie lights were strung up and cascaded their twinkling glow down the walls.

While she’s conked out, you, Jason and Roy set to work on unpacking the few boxes you’ve brought. It doesn’t even take two hours, but it’s enough to leave you exhausted.

You plop down to your new sectional with a tired huff.

Jason and Roy are in the same boat.

Jason groans as soon as his body hits the couch, “God, I can’t wait to not fucking do anything.” He closes his eyes and rubs at the bridge between them. “We’re staying on this couch and ordering pizza.”

“Pizza,” Roy tiredly agrees from next to you. “Definitely pizza.”

“I forgot to mention,” you clear your throat, catching both of your boyfriend’s attention as you do, “we’ve got dinner at the manor.”

•••

When you get to the manor, everyone’s already mulling about, laughing as they help Alfred set the table.

Once you’ve greeted everyone and handed Lian off to Dick and Wally, everyone helps themselves to a plate from the kitchen and takes a seat.

It’s truly a full house with your family of four and Bruce and Alfred, of course. Dick brought along his fiancé Wally, while Damian seemed to have a similar idea as Jon is also milling about in the kitchen. Barbra’s here, but what you can’t figure out is why Tim and Stephanie seem to have both brought Conner Kent to dinner.

You vaguely remember him from the college party all those years ago, but since when had either of them been that close to Connor? As far as you’d heard, Tim and Stephanie had been official ever since the dockyard battle, soooo what the fuck is Kent doing at Sunday dinner?

Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing, but with him being a half-blooded Kryptonian and all, no one raises the question.

“You wanna talk embarrassing?” Dick scoffs. “Wally, over here, decided last Hanukkah,” Wally groans, shaking his head in his hand, “that it’d be a good idea to do a ‘Secret Santa’ for it.”

“Dick, dude, do you even know the definition of embarrassing?” Roy goes into a whole reenactment of the coffee shop debacle, back before you knew about them being heroes. By the time Roy gets to the main part of the story, nearly everyone’s in tears. “And then she smashed a toilet lid over his head, swear,” Roy has to catch his breath, “funniest shit I’ve ever seen in my life. Jay went down like a ton of bricks and the whole time I had to stay in character.”

Where Dick, Babs and Steph are doubled over laughing, Jason looks like he’s already planning where to hide your other boyfriend’s body.

Damian ‘tchs,’ “Pathetic, Todd. You allowed an untrained girl to disarm you so easily?”

“You,” Jason brushes him off easily, “you, I don’t want to hear from.”

“Refusing to hear the truth?” Damian scoffs. “Even more pathetic than I thought.”

Connor looks around the room, gauging everyone else’s reactions, though everyone’s already used to their constant bickering.

“No one likes you, pipsqueak,” Jason sneers like the true older brother he is.

“I like him,” Jon pipes up, smiling sheepishly when Jason’s heavy glare falls upon him from across the table. “But you are being a bit over the top, Dami. You should apologize.”

You’re pretty sure, no, you know it’s Dick who ‘coos' at their interaction and you can’t help but agree.

Jason’s glare drops as he, instead, nods approvingly Jon’s way.

Throughout your friendship, you and Damian had been in a tangled web of miscommunications, hormones, and wrong-doings. Once Jason and Roy came back for good, you knew you and Damian were meant to remain friends.

Damian and Jon, though? They’re definitely made for each other.

Damian, honest to god, pouts at his boyfriend before turning back to sneer at yours.

“Todd,” his voice rumbles lowly.

“Brat?” Jason’s smirking now.

Damian mutters some unkind words under his breath he’s lucky Alfred’s too old to hear before continuing, “I apologize. It appears I’ve taken things too far, though your skills still are very much questionable to me.”

Jason huffs, “Whatever.”

The subject quickly shifts.

"So, the three of you are official, then?" Bruce asks. His tone is perfectly even as if he's just genuinely wanting to know, if not to understand Jason better, but Jason doesn't see it this way.

The raven straightens in his seat, puffing out his chest in preparation for the conversation as he does so. "Yup."

"So, you're poly," Bruce says as more of a statement than a question.

"Still bi," Jason says as he slowly sips his water. He’s pointedly staring his father down as a silent warning to fuck with him and find out.

Bruce's brows furrow in light confusion. "But you're in a polyamorous relationship." Again, his tone is genuinely curious, not accusatory, but Jason is always used to being on the defense around the man.

"Half my life, I’ve seen you show up with multiple women on your arms, Bruce. You really didn’t think that’d rub off on at least one of us?" Jason smirks as if begging Bruce to tell him he's wrong. "Fact of the matter is, it doesn’t make me any less bi, just like how that didn’t make you any less straight."

Bruce nods, "I see."

Jason looks genuinely surprised that it didn't devolve into one of their usual petty arguments. He nods back, thus officially ending the conversation, or dare you call it, a genuine bonding moment between the two.

Tim waits a moment for the chatter that follows to die down a bit before he brings up what everyone’s been dancing around.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumors that, uh,” Tim shoots an uncomfortable look at you and Jason, “Joker’s back. A few of my sources say if he hasn’t broken out already, he will soon.”

You watch as Jason’s fists clench under the table, noting how Roy’s hand immediately chases after to soothe it.

Dick shakes his head before reassuring, “He’s as good as locked up. Bruce, Damian and I checked out Arkham last week. He hasn’t moved since they put him in there after his Thanksgiving bombing.”

Tim still seems unconvinced, however. “He’s still making moves, then.”

“Do you want him to escape, Tim?” Jason sneers. “Because that’s what it’s sounding like.”

Connor bristles, though Stephanie’s gentle hand on his shoulder has him backing down immediately. Your brow raises, thinking back to Roy’s similar gesture with Jason just moments ago. Are Stephanie and Tim back on?

Jon looks as completely bewildered as Conner does as they observe the Bat Family semantics. Meanwhile, Wally and Roy look like they want to step in but, ultimately, don’t want to get involved in family drama. For Barbra and Stephanie, this is all just another Sunday.

“Master Jason,” Alfred’s wise timbre stirs from the end of the table not occupied by Bruce, “Master Damian. Is it too much to ask for just one civil dinner?”

“Sorry, Alfred,” they both grumble in unison.

Soon, everyone begins catching up once again.

Alfred cuts Lian’s roast for her at the same time Roy cuts her potatoes, Jon keeps leaning over to whisper things to Damian that draw a small smile. Dick, Wally and Roy reminisce about the Titans, eventually going over their wedding plans with Barbra and Stephanie’s excited input, while Tim and Jon argue horror movies with Jason and Connor.

And there Bruce sits, all the way at the end, hands clasped as he watches it all.

Your stomach is warm, filled with the inexplicable feeling of love in the room.

You listen in on it all with a huge grin that’s been present on your face ever since you arrived. You go to drink your water when, suddenly, your hand falters.

One moment, you’re there in Wayne Manor at the dinner table with your family and now you’re….

You look around, watching as groups of men swarm a truck. A group of two men presents you with a box, which, when opened, reveals a stem.

You blink.

Suddenly, you see people in some kind of uniform running all around you. When you look to the right of you, you want to stumble back, but your body only continues to run.

Joker?

You must’ve been out of it for a while because, when you come to, you’re left with 13 pairs of concerned eyes on you.

“Uh,” Stephanie chucks a potato from her fork from across the table at you, “are you having a "That’s So Raven" moment, or are you and the dickwad’s using a remote-controlled vibrator?” You shake your head, mind still clearly picturing what you’d just seen. Stephanie’s words, however, go unnoticed. Suddenly, you hear her saying your name, “You good?”

You blink.

You’re back in the manor, back at the dinner table, but your mind is clearly elsewhere.

“What?” you ask, looking around the table at everyone’s concerned faces.

Jason’s brows are furrowed in a silent question of ‘are you okay,’ while Roy’s hand rubs gently at your back.

Are you okay?

You clear your throat and force a smile you know won’t pass in a room full of detectives, but, hey, what can you do?

The last time you had a vision that intense had been…

Your brain screams with a sting of sharp pain that leaves you clutching the tablecloth for relief.

In the dockyard, Joker had injected you with two syringes. Immediately following the initial toxin, you’d been met with a vision right as the Joker made his escape in the helicopter. Though you’ve tried hard to remember what you’d seen in the past year, for some reason, it had never been clear until now.

Joker’s hands, the glaring lights of the city below, the scrawny man beside him…

“Yeah,” you clear your throat again as you force another smile. “Acid reflux,” you shrug to solidify your false excuse.

The table’s conversation slowly stirs again, though Jason and Roy’s eyes never leave the side of your face. You’re not ready to meet their eye contact, knowing you won’t be able to meet their concern.

“So,” Bruce begins, “I’ve heard you’ve been somewhat involved in their operations for some time now. Have you thought about what your future involvement may look like?”

“What do you mean?”

He takes a coy sip of water. “I mean, are you content with staying behind the screens? Or, is there a plan to eventually join them in the field?” he asks.

Point of contention #2: neither of your boyfriends ever wanted you involved in any confrontation.

Sure, behind the screens as ‘their own personal Oracle,’ as they called you, was fine. Anything else?

Nope. No. Nada. They wouldn’t have it.

Total double standard, but they’re too fogged in their love for you to care.

“Says the man who threw three kids into the field before they’d hit puberty.”

“Believe me,” Bruce says tonelessly, “you’d hit puberty, Jason.”

“Old enough to see through the bullshit, maybe,” Jason snaps back easily. “Dick was fucking 8, Bruce. Damian, 10. You don’t care about the logistics, let alone the safety. I do,” he glares at his father, “and I don’t want my family getting hurt.”

“Jay,” Dick frowns, making to put his hand on Jason’s for across the table, but Jason easily retracts his hand. “I love you and appreciate you, really, I do,” he puts his hand over his heart, “but I don’t need you to stick up for me. We’re all working on our issues; it takes time, but I know we’ll all eventually get there.”

Damian seethes quietly across from you, though you know it’s in defense of his father.

“Get there eventually?” Jason snorts, throwing out his hands dramatically. “I’m sitting here, a few years off of 30 and still fucking going through it. You think she needs to go through this contention, too?”

“She,” you start with purpose, “is not a child.” You reference his earlier rebuttal. “And she can stick up for myself! Uh, I mean, herself.” You shake your head in annoyance before starting over, “I’m a grown woman and I appreciate you wanting to look out for me, but that’s so hypocritical when you’re both going out every other night to do the very thing you don’t want me doing, isn’t it?”

It’s deadass quiet.

Like, you’ve never heard the manor so quiet with this many family members in it.

“Speaking for me,” Barbra’s sweet voice stirs slowly as if she’s picking and choosing her words carefully, “I went from Batgirl to Oracle, not the other way around like you.” You nod, interested in where she’s going with this. “Being Oracle has made me so much more aware of everything, regardless of physical training; being Oracle comes with its own set of skills none of you possess and that gives her an edge.” Your heart swells. “We’ve all seen her on the battlefield and seen how she can handle her own under pressure,” Barbara finishes.

“You’re a strong woman,” Stephanie concurs, saying your name as she does so.

“At the end of the day,” Roy finally speaks up from beside you. “What you’re all saying is true and we can’t stop her. It’s her decision and we’ll support her either way.”

An actual end to the contention?

Your head snaps over to catch Jason’s reaction, but he’s glaring at the painting behind Tim’s head. “I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes,” Jason mutters. His teeth aren’t necessarily gritted, though it sure sounds like it.

No one speaks, there’s only the clinking of forks and Alfred’s low humming to occupy the large dining room.

“Well,” Bruce’s domineering voice suddenly captures the attention of everyone at the table in an instant, “if you’re going to be going on missions, you’ll need to have a suit.”

He gives you a pointed look that you can’t help but smile at.

“I...” you trail off, looking down at the mahogany dining table. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“I’ve got that part covered,” he says with a small, warm smile. You’ve got an appointment with the new co-chair of the R&D department. Right, Damian?”

Damian glares from a few seats over, correcting his father, “Head.” No matter how old he gets, he never outgrows his signature scowl.

“Of course.” Though, Bruce’s correction goes largely ignored by his youngest son.

“Tomorrow, 10 o’clock sharp,” Damian’s eyes narrow your way, “don’t be late.”

•••

You arrive at 9:55 in the morning out of nerves and sheer excitement.

Jon’s already there to greet you with another man you’ve seen around at a few Chrismukkahs at the Manor. The raven is quick to explain that Damian got caught up in a meeting and introduces you to the gentleman in the suit.

“Meet Luke Fox,” Jon says. He stands a few inches taller than the darker gentleman in front of you, but he’s still quite a bit taller than you. “He co-chairs the department alongside Damian.”

The man in front of you offers a smooth smile and a firm handshake to match. “I know I’ve seen you at parties, but I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced,” Luke greets you.

You nod. Definitely nice to finally put a name to the face.”

He then gives you a tour of the entire floor dedicated to R&D, though you haven’t been able to get one thing off your mind.

Luke seems to sense your staring and turns around to smirk. “What?” he asks.

“You said co-chair,” you say, leaving him to nod politely. Meanwhile, Jon seems to know exactly where your line of questioning is going. “Why is Damian the head?”

“Have you met the kid?” he responds. You and Jon both snort. Luke flashes his badge at a scanner on the wall before dragging the two of you through another long hallway. “My dad, Lucius Fox headed this department for decades before he was finally made CEO about three years ago.”

Suddenly, Jon cuts him off as a loud gust of sound affronts your ears.

“Woah!” Jon exclaims suddenly. He grabs your hand and pulls you over to one of the windows in the hallway. It looks into a lab where someone’s using a flamethrower to torch a small piece of odd-looking metal.

“This is the innovation section of the floor,” Luke explains. “Right now, they’re testing on something called Nth Metal.”

“Neat,” Jon says, sufficiently satisfied with his answer and finally allows your group to move along.

You fall back into step with Luke and Jon.

“So, when did you start at R&D?”

Luke scratches at the back of his head. “Probably around that same time,” he chuckles. His laugh is as charming as his professional disposition. “Damian and I seem to know what the other doesn’t, so it’s been good to have him around.” He leans in like he’s telling you a secret. “Well, that and I get paid more, but he doesn’t need to know that,” he confesses. You smile easily, failing to hide your laugh. It’s something Jon catches immediately and quirks a brow at, but Luke continues on like nothing happened, “Co-chair just means I can spend less time leading and more time nerding out.”

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was a Wayne heir right alongside Damian. Hell, you know Luke’s probably 10x more professional compared to Damian’s order-barking leadership style. With what Luke said, though, it seems like they’re a pretty functional team.

“Trust me, Luke,” Jon sidles up beside you like a coy cat. “This one knows all about nerding out.”

“Shut up,” you his, sending him an admonishing glare. He merely rolls his eyes, snickering all the while. “Besides, you know this is the nerdiest thing I’ve done in a while.”

Regardless of your previous warning, Jon takes it upon himself to catch Luke up on the past, oh, six years of your life? Well, as long as he’s known you for, that is, so Sophomore year and beyond.

You’re all rounding the corner to come face-to-face with a giant vaulted door, but Luke seems to move swiftly past it.

Too swiftly.

Your eyes narrow slightly, tuning out Jon’s excited chatter to catch every detail you can.

There’s a giant red ‘ACCESS LEVEL: 84T BADGE ONLY. TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED,’ sign that takes up a majority of the door, but there’s a smaller print beneath it.

You quickly glance ahead. Luke and Jon are still just in front of you, but you’re clearly lagging. You shoot one more glance at their retreating forms before taking a look at the fine print.

You shake your head, confused, but Luke seems content to get as far away from the door as possible.

“Ah,” Luke says a little too smoothly for someone who just rushed past a super-secret vault, “here we are.” He inputs a lengthy code, then scans his retina before the door finally budges to reveal the impressive space.

The design room is huge, yet somehow, there’s not an inch of free space.

Mannequins and large rolls of fabric take up a majority of the space with the rest taken up by drawing boards and fancy-looking sewing machines.

“Not gonna lie,” Jon says, nudging you as he guides you further into the room, “Luke and I have kind of taken on this project by the horns, so I wanted to be here when you went over design ideas!” You look down at the table and begin shuffling through Damian’s sketches. He laughs when you shoot him a teasing brow, “No, I did not sketch those. You’ll never let me live down my drunken art skills from Damian’s penthouse party, will you?”

You snort, “It was so fucking bad, Jon.”

“Rude.” Jon bumps into you playfully. “Oh, wait! Go back a page,” he insists and you easily comply. “Okay, the body of this sketch,” he trails off as he searches through the pile. Luke easily hands him a sketch that compliments the previous pick. “Oh, for sure, with these ears.”

“So, you haven’t entirely figured out the final design yet?”

“Of course not!” Jon says at the same time Luke speaks up.

“Wouldn’t really be your suit if you didn’t actually have a say.”

You can’t argue with that logic.

With that, you peer over their shoulders at their mismatched collage, realizing that you don’t have any critiques. “Well, I like what the two of you have done so far, but what about functionality?”

“My thoughts exactly,” Luke agrees with a nod, stepping back from the table pensively. “What weapons would you be comfortable with?”

You think back to Jason’s advice. The one that’s rung clear in your head from the moment he’d said it.

“Nothing that I wouldn’t want used against me.”

Jon shoots Luke an inquisitive brow as if to ask if he has any ideas.

“I think we can work with that,” Luke says before he begins on a rough sketch. It’s obvious to you now that Damian was the most likely culprit behind the original drawings on the table.

For the next few minutes, you and Jon both chime in with ideas as Luke switches between erasing and drawing. When he’s finished, Jon nods excitedly. Once you give the thumbs up, Jon uses quickly arranges the final look.

“Okay,” Jon sets down the last paper with a wide grin. “What about this?”

“Honestly,” you squint down at the selection but are, ultimately, unable to put it all together, “Damian probably needs to sketch it out for me to fully see it.”

Before you can even finish your sentence, Damian’s signature deadpan scowl graces your line of sight.

“I heard my name,” Damian says, making his dramatic entrance as he sidles up beside the two of you. Jon ruins the entrance, however, by giving him a sweet peck on the lips that sends Damian into a brief state of shock. He blushes, obviously startled by the action and clears his throat before greeting you both by your last names to cover it up, “Glad to see you’re still punctual.”

“Glad to see you’re still not,” you tease easily.

He ignores you in favor of flipping through the selected pages. “Oh, good. You’ve both shown her the sketches.”

Jon nods excitedly and begins explaining the new design. You watch in amusement as they work together seamlessly to transfer the three of your ideas to paper via Damian’s hand.

After another hour of planning, you hold the final design in your hands.

Damian clears his throat, catching your attention, “I’ve been preoccupied with some other cases recently, but I wanted to get back into what happened last year.” You nod, feeling very much in the same boat. Jason and Roy seem eager to put it in the past, but you have the gnawing feeling no matter how much they try to bury it, the situation will resuscitate regardless. “Deadshot’s a good place to start. He might have a good lead that you can follow.”

Deadshot.

The same man who’d been sent to kill you not even a year ago.

“Great,” you trail off. Meanwhile, Damian seems like he’s biting his tongue. “What?”

He sighs, looking over at you with his hazel eyes for the first time since he’d greeted you, “You don’t have to do this, you know? It’s not fun and games being a hero; people die. Heroes die every day. That’s what you’re getting into when you put on the suit.” Damian’s staring deep into your soul, stealing your breath as he does so with the sheer intensity of it all. “This isn’t a comic. There is no next page, there is no second run and there is no do-over. This is real life,” your name is barely a whisper. “You already came so close last time…” he trails off. “Just be sure this is what you really want.”

Before you can open your mouth to defend yourself, Jon butts in.

“I just got my powers. I’ve been going out almost every night on patrol and I’ve never once heard this talk from you, so why are you giving it to her?” It’s not a jealousy thing, but rather Jon pointing out his hypocrisy. “You think that just because I’m half Kryptonian doesn’t mean all of that doesn’t apply to me, too?”

You glance appreciatively in Jon’s direction as Damian takes in his words.

Damian starts an apology, then trails off again, looking at Jon for confirmation on what to do next before finally giving in. “I apologize,” he briefly meets your eyes, then looks back at the design. “Do you have any questions?”

You smile lightly, accepting his apology easily. Luke, however, appears dumbfounded by words he’s obviously never heard from the Wayne heir. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“You’ll have it sent to your new apartment before your next mission, trust me. Are you sure this is what you want?” Damian scans your face up and down.

If he means the suit, or the hero life, you don’t know.

What you do know is that you’re ready for it all.

You look it over for a moment before asking, “Does it come in red?”

•••

You want that lead.

You text in your group chat with Jason and Roy about Deadshot as soon as you get out of Wayne Tower.

Jason responds instantly, ‘Meet us at the park.’

The park wasn’t an unusual place to meet.

You try to go on walks and let Lian run around the playground there every day if you can, seeing as it’s just a block away from the old apartment. Now, it’s a bit more of a trek to get to, but it’s well worth it.

When you arrive, you’re expecting to see Jason, Roy and Lian.

You’re definitely not expecting to see Deadshot.

You don’t see Jason or Roy anywhere, so you immediately take up a defensive stance.

“Still got that spark, eh, kid?” Deadshot smiles placatingly at you and steps aside to reveal Red Hood and Arsenal sitting peacefully on the bench. “Not here to kill you this time, beautiful.”

“Watch it,” Red Hood’s robotic tone warns from behind as he stands up.

Deadshot’s hands immediately surrender, though he’s wearing an obvious smirk. “Can’t hate the player,” he says.

“I can,” Red Hood threatens lowly.

The heart-stopping click of a gun’s safety being turned off is enough to wipe the smirk from Lawton’s face.

“Now, now. Let’s play nice.” He tilts his head off to the right where, off in the distance, you notice a security guard. “Wouldn’t want anyone stepping in on our fun, now, would we?”

It’s a thinly veiled threat and you know it.

Luckily, Arsenal steps in calmly. “We’re just here for information,” he says.

Deadshot scoffs in amusement, crossing his muscular arms, “Didn’t think to wine a dine a gent? Just went straight to threatening?” He sighs dramatically, “What’s this profession coming to?”

“Listen,” you speak up. Everyone seems startled you’ve spoken, so you take their moment of surprise to get what you came here to get. “We need to know who hired you.”

The evening was coming on with the sun nearly being set as you all stood there in the desolate park. Tiny songbirds spouted out as they settled into their homes for the evening while a chorus of crickets chirped a cacophonous background melody.

“You’re cute,” he starts, regaining his smirk as he continues. “But we both know you’re not that naïve,” he chuckles, stepping away from Hood and Arsenal to come closer to you.

Immediately, your boyfriends flock to your side, but Deadshot pays them no mind. He backs you against a tree, putting a hand right beside your head to trap you.

“What’s your game?” you ask before your partners can intervene.

“Well, ring-a-ding-ding,” Deadshot drawls with a slight purr. “That’s what I’m looking for now, right?” He smiles at you like he knows he’s about to get whatever he wants. “An exchange is only fair in this business, right, gorgeous?”

He makes to tuck a stray piece of your hair behind your ear, but you smack his hand away before he can even get close.

“I know about Task Force X.” It’s your turn to smirk. “Now, talk.”

His face instantly drops and his voice deepens. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, little girl,” the mercenary threatens.

You don’t dare look over Deadshot’s shoulder where Arsenal’s undoubtedly holding Red Hood back from doing something stupid. No, instead, you focus on the mercenary who’d been trying to kill you a year ago.

“I’m not a little girl,” you hiss, putting all your power into pushing him away from you. He stumbles backward, nearly tripping over the bench they’d originally met on in the process. “And I do know what the fuck I’m talking about.” You come up on him and send him flipping over the bench anyway, advancing on his fallen form before he even has time to draw his guns. You straddle him, pinning his arms above his head as you knee him in the chin. “TALK!” you demand menacingly.

“You know,” he drawls, “even when you think you’re not giving me what I want, you’re still giving me exactly what I want.” As if to prove his point, Deadshot bucks his hips up. You know it’s an attempt to throw you off, but you hold steady and land another knee on him- this time to his side. “Hgg!” he laughs through his pained grunt.

“Information,” you insist. To cement your statement further, you knee his other side as you continue to straddle and pin him. “Now, Lawton.”

He scoffs, “You’re don’t get to call me that. Not unless you actually give me what I want, gorgeous,” you continue to glare at him until he rolls his eyes and continues, “You do realize I’m letting you do this, right, doll?”

You wring his wrists at the same time you knee his side with all your might, unleashing a yelp from the man.

“Yeah,” you twist his wrists tighter until his face twists up in pain, “that’s exactly what’s happening here. Besides,” you start with an airy tone, “I thought you said I was giving you exactly what you wanted.” You turn your head menacingly at him, “Now, which is it, Lawton?”

You give him your best intimidating look, which is apparently enough to finally break him.

“Fine, fine,” he winces at your grip. “Black Mask hired me.”

You finally break eye contact with Deadshot to peer over at your partners. You motion down with your head at him and they nod, so you release him.

When he stands, he rubs distastefully at his wrists.

“What did Sionis want with her?” Arsenal asks.

Deadshot sighs, “It was a two-parter. Protect the package, kill the girl.”

“What package?” Hood demands.

“Dunno,” Deadshot shrugs disinterestedly, side-eyeing you, “they switched out hired guns halfway through. Picked up the damn thing from Gotham Botanical Gardens, but that’s all I have to offer. Merc’s honor.” He places a sarcastic hand over his heart, but regardless, you believe him.

Red Hood and Arsenal go over a few other things with him, but all you can think of is your vision.

You’d seen a rose and Deadshot’s lead was, well, leading you to a garden.

It couldn’t be a coincidence, right?

“Not that this hasn’t been fun catching up, but I have a girl at home waiting for me,” he snickers at your horrified look. “Don’t look so jealous, beautiful; it’s just my daughter. Anyway, au revior.” Deadshot gives a half salute before disappearing off into the night.

By now, the sun had completely set, though you weren’t itching to get home just yet.

You looked between Red Hood and Arsenal with your hands on your hips, noting they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“We need a plan.”

A/N: my first sequel!! super excited to share this with you and to introduce the badass on the cover!!!

keep an eye out for the next chapter where more will be revealed! in the meantime let me know what you think!

[next] || masterlist || pinned || ways to support

#my fic: cardinal sins #reader x jason todd x roy harper #jason todd x reader #reader x roy harper #reader x jason todd #cover characters created by stais-world but would stronglyy caution against working w them #x reader

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lolahasmoxie · 1 year ago

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Free Pass (E.M.)

So I was able to swing seeing Metallica when they stopped in Phoenix, and this popped into my head, waiting to get home after the second show. (Seriously, that Uber/Lyft surcharge was no fucking joke. Also, I may need a metal boyfriend.)

WORD: 1.2K

WARNING: language, implied smut, pregnancy

The third image from @themunsonator5000

The concert had been a smashing success.

You and Wayne had saved up to gift Eddie concert tickets to see Metallica in Indianapolis, complete with a hotel room for the night so you both wouldn't have to drive back in the dead of the night. You and Eddie arrived early to get as close to the stage as possible, slowly inching your way to the front until you were almost at the stage by the time the boys went on. You had thrashed and moshed, sang at the top of your lungs to every song, and at one point, you were simply watching Eddie have the time of his life.

After the show, and after you had caught Kirk's guitar pick, Eddie gave you a piggyback ride across the parking lot to the van. Your bare legs were sticky with sweat, your feet sore in your high-top Vans. Bare arms sticking out of a cut-up oversized tank top were wrapped around Eddie's neck as he rambled about every highlight of the show. You both made out in the van for a bit as you waited for the crowd to thin out, and you stopped at the diner next to the hotel for fries and shakes.

It was almost 2 a.m., and Eddie was still talking about the concert. You just smiled at him, thinking you would have to thank Wayne for helping you make this happen for your favorite boy.

"You okay, Babe?" Eddie asked in between bites of fries. "Awful quiet over there."

"Just happy; I'm glad you had a great time, that's all."

"Of course I did; this is like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me." he said before reaching for your hand and squeezing it three times, his code for 'I love you.' "And once we get back to the room, I thoroughly intend to show you just how grateful I am."

You feel your face warm under Eddie's intense gaze and quickly find yourself giggling when he makes a loud purring sound at you. When Eddie goes to take a sip from his shake, you reach into your purse and pull out the guitar pick you had caught earlier, a sigh leaving you as you hold it tenderly.

"You look like you're holding the holy grail."

"It basically is. I will cherish it until my dying day."

"Okay, Gollum."

"Mock me if you will, Eddie, but this isn't just any guitar pick. It's a pick from Kirk Hammett...KIRK. HAMMETT. Now you know I will love you until my dying day, but if the opportunity with Kirk Hammett ever presented itself to me, I would leave you in a heartbeat."

Your eyes meet, and Eddie's mouth gapes open as a fry dangles from his hand. He places the fry back on his plate, and for a second, you think you may have finally crossed a line with him.

"Eddie, you know I'm not serious,"

"You would like let me watch though, right?" There were many responses you had mentally prepared for, and your jaw dropped because you know Eddie like the back of your hand. He is serious.

"I'm sorry; I just told you I would leave you for Kirk Hammett. Seriously, will I let you watch, that’s your response?”

"It’s not like I’m gonna be happy about it; but it's like you said, it's Kirk fucking Hammett. The lead guitarist for Metallica. Frankly, I would consider it an honor bestowed upon our family if he were to rail my woman.”

You stare at Eddie blankly for a minute before you start laughing. Eddie seems pleased with himself as he watches you try to compose yourself.

"Okay, I promise you;” you giggle as you wipe the tears from your eyes, “If I ever get the opportunity with Kirk, you can absolutely watch him defile me."

FOUR YEARS LATER

You're backstage talking with Gareth and Jeff before the show. Life had been very good to you, Eddie, and the band. The right concert at the right time had led to some bigger venues, which had led to the right person seeing a show, which then led to being asked by Metallica to open for them on the Midwest portion of their tour.

You were listening to Jeff when you heard your name being called. You turned and smiled when you saw your husband walking towards you.

"Hey babe, everything ok?"

"Come with me, please?" he asked, and you excused yourself before letting Eddie lead you through the backstage area. You walked past security and staff and then towards some rooms you knew were for the bands. When you finally stopped, you looked up at Eddie; he knew you had questions. he simply leaned down and kissed you. "Trust me, ok?"

You nodded as he knocked on the door, and then a tall man opened it and ushered you both inside, and before you knew it, you were standing in a room next to Eddie and across from Kirk Hammett.

"Hey man, this is my wife, Y/N. Baby, this is Kirk." You're shocked and can't find words, even after Kirk comes over and takes your hand in his.

"It's nice to meet you," he says with a smile. "I've been looking forward to meeting you, especially since your man here is always talking about you. I can see why, though."

You're pretty sure your face is on fire as you stare at him; it’s easy to stare though. Especially since he has those big brown eyes that are so similar to the ones you fell in love with at thirteen in small town Indiana.

"Would it be cliche to say I'm a huge fan?" Kirk chuckles.

"A bit, but it's still nice to hear."

"When we saw you in Indianapolis on tour, she caught your guitar pick. She still has it in a jewelry box at the house. Told me that night that if she ever had the chance with you, she'd leave me in a heartbeat." You're mortified at Eddie's confession, and you turn to glare at him but stop when you hear Kirk laughing at you both.

"Oh man, I've heard that a couple of times. But something tells me that I'm the one who doesn't have a shot." Kirk's eyes glance down. You're wearing biker shorts and a Corroded Coffin t-shirt since it's the middle of summer. The shirt is tied up to rest over your growing baby bump, and Eddie can't help but place a large, warm hand on top of it. When you glance up at him, he's looking at you with pride and adoration, like you're the most precious thing on the planet. The smile you return to him comes naturally, only looking away when a tour manager comes in the room looking for Kirk.

"Well, Lovebirds, I have to go take care of this. Eddie, I'll see you on stage, and you," he pauses as he puts a hand on your shoulder, "if you need anything, and I mean anything, just say the word. We need to make sure you're comfortable if you're gonna join us on the road." Then, just as soon as he appeared, he was gone.

You and Eddie walk back to find the boys, Eddie's hand firmly holding your own.

"So baby," he asked. "Did you like my surprise?"

"You guitar players are going to be the death of me, I swear." Eddie merely grins before he leans down and gives you a soft kiss. You only stop when you hear Gareth calling for him.

"You gonna be on the side to watch?"

"Of course," you say as you push his hair behind his ear. "There isn't anywhere else in the world I want to be." You watch Eddie walk away, and as he catches up with his high school friends so they can live out their dreams, you're just glad that Eddie left out the part where he was going to watch.

#eddie munson #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic

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bluejaysandblackbats · 6 months ago

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Phantom Grin

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: Bruce Wayne visits his son's grave on the night of his resurrection. Will it change Jason's fate, or is it all simply inevitable?

Chapters: 17/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain

Relationship(s): Jason Todd/Original Character

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd is Disabled, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Resurrected Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Get Along

Chapter Seventeen: The Breaking Point

Bruce slept in Jason’s room beside him, jolting awake with every movement. After two nights and a day, Alfred pried Bruce from the room to talk to everyone downstairs. “I checked with the church,” Tim explained, “There was a Sister Irene named Indigo there, but she disappeared without a word three years ago. There’s no way Jason knew her before he died.”

“The sisters and a friend filed two missing person’s reports. Were you able to get a description of the area Jason thought he was in?” Barbara questioned.

“I can follow him,” Cass offered.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “He sleeps… It’s been a week since that migraine wiped him out, and I thought—. Jason sleeps. He barely eats. He wakes up in pain because he hasn’t taken his meds… And he doesn’t want me to know he’s in pain, but I see it—. Why haven’t any of you asked me how he’s feeling?” Bruce asked. He pushed his hair back.

“Bruce, we thought it’d be better if we—.” Tim grew silent as he looked at Jason standing at the top of the stairs. He stared straight forward, shaking his head as he mouthed something. Bruce and Tim read his lips and Bruce jumped over the couch to reach him.

“Jason, no!” Bruce shouted. Jason climbed on the stair rail and sat with his legs dangling. “Jason!” Bruce darted up the stairs and yanked Jason off the banister. Jason fell on Bruce and jolted awake with a gasp. He immediately started trembling. “I’ve got you.”

Jason’s ears rang as he rolled away, prying loose from Bruce’s hold, before crawling to his room and slamming the door. “Jason, are you okay?” Bruce asked.

“Stop asking if I’m okay!” Jason screamed.

Cass pushed past Bruce and let herself in. She shut the door behind her. Jason sat between his bed and dresser, rocking and holding his head. “Here,” Cass whispered, giving him a hand pie from her pocket. Jason didn’t look up, so Cass took his hand and placed the packaged pie in his palm. “You should eat.”

Jason looked up, and Cass nodded. He opened it and took a bite. “Thanks,” Jason mumbled.

“Do you want me to bring you dinner?” Cass asked. Jason shook his head.

“Don’t go,” Jason whispered. Cass nodded.

“I’ll stay… But it would help if you ate dinner,” Cass replied. Jason reached for his phone and texted Alfred. Cass smiled, watching as Jason finished his pie. “Hug?”

Jason nodded as he leaned into her open arms. “Do you want me to follow you when you leave?”

“What?” Jason asked.

“When you leave the house… Do you want me to follow you?” Cass questioned.

“Why are you asking me?” Jason questioned.

“I want to know what you want,” Cass replied.

Jason didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say. Cass’s honesty threw him for a loop. Maybe he wasn’t in the right mind to answer… If that was the case, he’d need to be closely supervised for the rest of his life. Jason’s stomach growled. Alfred knocked and entered with dinner for both of them, rustling a hand through Jason’s hair before leaving. Jason ate his mashed potatoes first, stopping to sip water and catch a glimpse of Cass and her warm, watchful eyes. “You’re just hungry,” Cass reassured him. He flashed her a smile.

Eating settled his nerves, but he still felt on edge. He ate his corn and reached for his bag of meds. Cass stopped it from knocking him in the head, while he sat it beside himself. He took his pills and washed them down with water.

Jason couldn’t sleep, so he wandered the halls of the manor until he heard the tap of a pebble against the window. Jason stopped in the hall and looked out the window. Indigo waved, and Jason shook his head. She clasped her hands together before gesturing for him to come outside. Jason sighed and crept downstairs and out the back door. He caught Indigo in the garden and shook his head at her. “What are you doing here? You left me in the church basement and—. Your lip,” Jason whispered. He wiped the blood from her lip with his thumb. Indigo smiled at him and shook her head.

“Jason, have you put two and two together because I can’t tell you—.”

Bruce shouted Jason’s name, grabbing Jason’s attention. “Come with me,” Indigo whispered.

“But—.”

“Jason, are you ready to go?” Indigo asked. Jason choked on his objection, powerless as Indigo dragged him away from the manor. “Hurry. You’re gonna wake up soon.”

“Huh?” Jason asked.

Jason woke up inside an abandoned apartment’s bathtub, gagging at the smell. His shirt and hair were plastered to his skin. His ears rang as he tried to stand up, and his legs buckled underneath him. Soaked from head to toe and disoriented, Jason crawled through the pitch-black room, trying to feel for a door before he found his phone on the ground. Jason tried to call Tim, but he could only remember Bruce’s. “Jason?” Bruce questioned.

“Dad, I don’t know where I am,” Jason mumbled.

“I’m having the call traced right now,” Bruce replied, “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I saw Indigo in the yard. I blacked out… I need a change of clothes,” Jason replied.

“What happened to your clothes?” Bruce questioned.

“They’re wet. My clothes are wet,” Jason answered.

“Why are you wet?” Bruce asked. Jason smelled himself and immediately threw up. “Jason—?”

“Blood. I think it’s blood. Oh, god,” Jason heaved.

“Jason, try to relax—.”

“Relax? Dad, I fucking blacked out, and I woke up in a bathtub. I smell like blood and vomit, and you want me to relax ?” Jason scoffed.

“Jason, Huntress—. Helena is the closest to your location… You haven’t met her yet, but she knows about you,” Bruce replied, “She’s three minutes out. Stay on the phone with me.”

“How much time did I lose?” Jason asked.

“At least three hours. I yelled for you three hours ago,” Bruce answered, “Did you dream?”

“No, I blinked and woke up in a tub… I have to take this off. I—. Dad, what if I—?”

“Jason, don’t do that. We don’t know if you did anything—.”

“I’m covered in blood, and I’m not bleeding. I think we have to do this ,” Jason replied, “Why do I black out whenever I see her?”

“Jason, let’s talk about that when you get home,” Bruce replied. Jason and Bruce argued back and forth until a loud thud startled Jason, but he lay in the tub, trying to conceal himself.

“Jason? Jason, it’s Huntress,” she called. Jason sat up in the tub.

“I’m in here!” Jason shouted. She entered the bathroom and shined a flashlight, disorienting Jason. “Do you have something I can wear? I can’t go out covered in blood—.”

“You’re not covered in blood,” Helena replied, “You’ve got puke on your shirt, and you’re soaking wet, but there’s no blood on you.” She gave him a sweatshirt and sweatpants to wear. Jason blinked hard and looked at his clothes. There was dried blood in the shower, but no blood on his clothes.

“I smelled—.” Jason sniffed himself, but he couldn’t smell blood anymore. “I don’t—.”

“Get dressed. I’ll wait in the living room,” Helena interrupted. She stood outside while Jason climbed out of the tub and changed. He walked toward her, still shaking as he searched for something to say. Instead, he burst into tears. Helena smoothed his wet hair down and sighed. “You didn’t kill anyone… A lot of people are worried about you.”

“She asked if I put two and two together and told me I was about to wake up,” Jason cried, “But I felt—. I haven’t had a normal interaction with her since she left the church. I convinced her to leave. What if something happened?”

“Sorry, but I’m not in the loop on this. Do you wanna explain outside?” Helena offered. Jason nodded. “Let’s talk on the roof. Can you climb?” Jason nodded, following her outside. The night breeze pulled him back, calming him.

“I felt lost and guilty a few months ago, so I started attending a church in the city… And that’s where I met her. She was a postulant—. A—.”

“I know what that means. Go on,” Helena reassured him.

“And I liked her… I knew I had a crush on her the moment I saw her, which felt wrong. So, I avoided her. I could’ve gone to another church, but I was drawn there. I felt comfortable there. Her name at the time was Sister Irene… I told her something I wouldn’t have told anyone… And she prayed with me. But, she eventually told me she wasn’t a Catholic. She didn’t even—. So, I convinced her to leave. We developed a—. We kissed. That’s all… But everything after that moment has been strange.

“I had a migraine that was so intense, half my body went numb. I’m sleeping all the time and blacking out and—. And the nightmares about dying and being buried keep getting harder to wake up from,” Jason explained, “This isn’t normal. I know it’s not.”

“Have you ever considered that you’re not losing your grip on reality?” Helena questioned.

#fic #phantom grin fic #Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne #Dick Grayson #Alfred Pennyworth #Barbara Gordon #Tim Drake #Cassandra Cain #Jason Todd/Original Character #Canon Divergent AU #Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain #Jason Todd is Disabled #Barbara Gordon is Oracle #Resurrected Jason Todd #Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating #Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Get Along

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blancheludis · 1 month ago

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Whumptober 2024, Day 11: loneliness

Fandom: Batman, Superman Characters: Tim Drake & Conner Kent, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd Tags: Suicidal Ideation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Friendship

Summary:

"You do know these things can kill you," Conner says as he finds Tim with a cigarette between his lips, legs dangling over the edge of the roof. He sits down right next to Tim, their shoulders touching. The warmth is welcome. The small smile is, too.

Tim offers the cigarette to Conner and, only when he accepts it, does he say, "I don't think I will live long enough for the occasional cigarette to matter much."

- Tim is tired all the time and, when Conner is not there, feels like loneliness will swallow him whole. But Conner is there, as often as he needs to be, ready to catch Tim if he falls. Or jumps.

Conner brings them to a roof in a city Tim does not recognize. It is better this way. Less chance of being observed. Superman could find them without any effort at all, and Bruce would not be far behind, but they would have to know to look. Nobody is going to miss them for the length of a cigarette or two. Probably not for far longer than that.

Tim sits down right at the edge, legs dangling, watching the traffic pass by underneath. He likes high places. Everything looks smaller, less pressing. It makes himself feel smaller, too, although he usually does not need the reminder. There are no walls pressing in from all sides, though, no people demanding his attention, no paperwork stacking up. This is the closest he can come to peace anywhere. Up on a roof in a strange city, the night air cold around him, a trusted friend at his side.

"You do know these things can kill you," Conner says as he sits down right next to Tim, their shoulders and thighs touching. The warmth is welcome. The small smile is, too.

Tim makes a show of lighting the cigarette and taking the first draw, smoke filling his lungs. Then he turns to Conner, one eyebrow raised, and offers the cigarette to him.

Only when Conner accepts it, does he say, "I don't think I will live long enough for the occasional cigarette to matter much."

He is not sure where that comes from, but it is true nonetheless. Life has been trudging forward painfully. A carousel of work and training and fighting. Of too much coffee and too little sleep. Of solving one case only to get three new ones. He is moving in circles, never managing to take a single step out of it. Usually, he does not have time to think about it, but it is nagging at the back of his mind, and sometimes he just needs a break.

"Stop talking like that," Conner chides, glaring at Tim even though he refuses to meet his eyes.

"What?" Tim shrugs and takes the cigarette back. "You know our fatality rate is stupidly low. That has to change at some point." Or, at least, someone has to stay dead.

Conner nudges him, waits until Tim looks up. "But not with you."

"It's not like I'd get a choice," he says and wonders, in the same breath, what he would do if he did. The edge seems just a bit closer, pressing against his legs.

He puts the cigarette back against his lip, breathes out smoke and follows its whirls up into the sky. A few stars twinkle back at him, unmoved, expectant.

Conner is a solid presence at his side. "It was your choice last week to jump off that building before you knew whether your grapple had connected securely," he says, his voice strangely thick. It is not an accusation. Tim knows those, hates them, because he always does his job.

He pauses, thinks about the exhilarating feeling of jumping into empty air, of actually falling, the world rushing by. It is different than flying with Conner. That, too, is without boundaries. But sometimes, Conner's arms holding him safe feel restricting, like censure.

A car honks down on the street, ripping him out of his musings; making him aware of how close he is to the edge.

"What is this?" Tim asks with a small smirk. "An intervention?"

But Conner does not smile back. "Does it need to be?"

Tim all but pushes the cigarette back into Conner's hand, breathing around the last of the smoke in his lungs.

"It's not like you're staying back and safe, either," he says off-handedly, like it does not upset him when his friends are reckless, when he recognizes his own restlessness in them. "That guy we suspected to have krypto on him? You charged without thinking twice about it."

He knows he hit a sore spot when Conner leans just slightly away from him, not losing contact but swaying with the insinuation.

Very carefully, Conner says, "I did think about it."

Tim looks at him, does not give him a chance to hide. "And I calculated my risks before jumping."

Conner sighs, a weary sound dragged up from deep down. He tries a smile and ends up with a sharp-edged grimace. "We're pretty messed up, aren't we?"

Pressure builds behind Tim’s sternum. He is not sure whether it is laughter or something worse. Not willing to take the chance, he pushes it back down, practiced in the art of hiding himself away.

"That kind of comes with the job. And it wouldn't be the worst thing," he then says with another shrug, focussing on the street below. Quietly, he adds, "If it were me, I mean."

He feels Conner growing tense beside him, feels supporting warmth turn into shock. "Tim."

But Tim shakes his head. They usually do not mince their words. Everybody else does enough of that.

"What?" he asks, completely unrepentant. "B has Damian as heir. They have Oracle for the tech stuff. The rest of the family is getting along most of the time." He goes quiet, less confident. "They'd hardly notice."

Everything else is a fact. That last thing is personal, if no less substantial. Sometimes, he wakes up at night, unable to breathe, unwilling to call out, absolutely convinced that no one would come even if he did. Even in the light of day, he hardly finds enough proof to counter that fear.

Conner reaches out and holds onto Tim’s hand, warm and solid, impossible to ignore.

"I'd notice," he promises quietly, squeezing until Tim's finger tighten in turn.

"Cheers to that," he says but means it.

In this entire world, Tim has three brothers, two of which only tolerate him on a good day, a father who likes to call them soldiers before he would ever call them sons, a team of heroes that has his back in a fight but otherwise expects him to be functional and self-sufficient, and Conner. His ray of sunshine in a drab, grey Gotham winter. The only one who hears Tim's perfunctory I'm fine and pushes past it. He hates him for it, at times, sure, because sometimes pretence is all that is keeping him upright. But he has learned that it is important to have someone with whom he can allow himself to fall and know he will be caught.

Conner is silent as they pass the cigarette back and forth until it is gone. They watch the traffic, the stars. They are both breathing.

"Clark has Jon, too," Conner then says, not looking at Tim as he puts the stub out on the roof. "I mean, I'm not sure he'd notice either."

Tim hums and pulls his legs up from over the ledge, puts his head down on his knees, sideways so he can watch Conner instead of the world around them. "We could quit," he says, more an offer than a dream.

Conner looks back at him, steadfast, open. "As in moving out and going to college, right?" he asks, just a bit of tension behind the words. "Not as in jumping off roofs."

Their hands are still holding onto each other and Tim leans closer, smiling. "I'm not actually suicidal," he promises, not allowing himself to really think about it.

Smiling back, Conner says, "Could have fooled me."

It is the truth. Probably. Tim does not want to die. He has a number of contingency plans in case he is too hurt to continue working or killed in the field. Too much responsibility weighs on his shoulder for him to not make plans. Historically, Bruce does not do well with losing one of his children. Tim is not convinced that his loss would impact the family as much as Jason's did. Damian, for one, would be ecstatic. But Tim is still doing his part. He has his patrol routes, his cases, the company. He has a job to do. Several, actually. Dying would throw a wrench into a well-oiled machine and Tim hates being disruptive. He also hates being nothing more than a tool. That is what he signed up for, years ago, when he went to knock on Bruce's door and refused to leave. Some foolish part of him still hopes his role will change, though, that he could be accepted for who he is, not for what he can bring to the table.

"Are you happy?" Tim asks, banning all thoughts of dying from his mind.

That is a terrible question to ask someone whose life has been largely determined by others. Raised in a lab, plucked out by Superman who had made his displeasure about having a clone very clear, delegated to being a sidekick in vigilantism. None of that leaves much room for normalcy. Still, if Conner can get over that, then there is still hope for Tim, whose only hardship in life is that no one deems him worthy of love.

Yet, Conner says, "I don't know." It still sounds like a lie. "Are you?"

"No," Tim replies without hesitation. He is not in the habit of lying to himself. He does enough of that to other people. "This was never about being happy, though."

Conner laughs at that and mutters under his breath, "Absolutely messed up."

---

Superman waits for them when they get back. Or, perhaps, he is just in the wrong place at the wrong time, walking through this particular hallway in the exact moment that Conner and Tim come down from the roof. One look is enough to pull his lips down in disappointment.

"You snuck out to smoke?" he asks, eyeing them critically.

Of course, he would smell the cigarette smoke, even after they flew twenty minutes back here. Of course, he could not let it go. He is only marginally better than Bruce in needing to control everything.

"No one saw us," Conner tries to reassure him.

Tim hates the way Conner’s shoulders automatically straighten. He does the same thing, of course, but he learned that from his parents to properly represent the family name out in public. Conner does not need to look like the perfect heir for galas or news articles. He learned because Superman is as liberal with his critique as he is unsatisfied with every move or word out of Conner.

"That's not -" Superman's face closes off, dismissing whatever he wanted to say. Instead, he turns towards Tim, expression stern. "Smoking will kill you."

While Tim still contemplates whether it is safe to roll his eyes, Conner steps forward, half between Tim and Superman. "It was my cigarette," he says, chin raised and back even straighter.

Superman can pull off disappointment better than Bruce. The very picture of this golden, selfless hero furrowing his brows at them as if they set out to personally affront him, is really effective. Batman, on the other hand, is better at putting fear into people's hearts. Together, they are a good team. Superman pouting you really shouldn't do this, with Batman hovering behind him growling or else. Tim is unmoved, having had enough time to get used to both of them.

"You're not immune to all poisons," Superman lectures the boy he cannot bring himself to call son.

"You can hardly compare cigarettes to poison," Conner replies as nonchalant as he dares.

Superman crosses his arms in front of him, showing off his impressive mass. "I very much can. You will stop immediately," he orders, steel in his voice.

There is only one answer Conner can give. "Yes, sir."

Completely ignoring Conner's protective stance, Superman then looks back at Tim. "I'll talk to Bruce about this."

That is just great. Exactly what Tim needs. Another lecture. Another fumbling conversation that will leave both Bruce and him hurt and painfully aware of everything that is lacking between them.

"That's not -" Tim tries because he has to, but stops quickly when Superman cuts him off.

"You are still children," he explains as if that has ever meant anything. "It is our responsibility to take care of you."

Tim bites the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste blood. Of course. They are not allowed to smoke, but going out to fight criminals and aliens is all right. Heaven forbid they forget to eat their greens. It might make them so slow they cannot dodge the next killing laser beam pointed at them.

Superman had not cared Conner was a child when he pulled him out of the lab, watching his every move and threatening to lock him back up if he did so much as put a toe out of line. Bruce did not care Tim was a child when he pummelled him into the training mat every day for weeks in preparation for becoming Robin. Their age is only ever an excuse when it is convenient for the adults around them.

"Of course, sir," he pushes out between clenched teeth. It is not his best attempt at sounding accepting, but he does not want to. It does not matter either way. Both of them are good enough soldiers. They follow directions when it counts.

---

It takes barely an hour for Bruce to knock on Tim's door. He even waits for Tim to call him in, which is more accommodating than Tim expected. It gives Tim time to arrange himself out of his slouch into something more straight-backed at his desk. When Bruce opens the door, he does not come in but remains leaning against the doorframe, looking Tim over like he is cataloguing all the ways he is lacking.

"Smoking?" he asks, more of a rumble than an actual voice. It irritates Tim immediately.

"It's not like we're chain smoking," he snaps, temper flaring. "It was one cigarette. Everybody tries that once."

Bruce is not a human lie detector, no matter how it sometimes seems. In this case, it is not about lying, however. Whether it was one cigarette or five or a hundred, he still snuck out to do something forbidden. This is like that time Tim had champagne at a gala and had to endure an hour-long lecture about how important it is to stay sober in case something happened. A drunk vigilante is worse in an emergency than no one turning up at all. It is all about control. Mind-altering substances and addictions are in clear contradiction to that.

"You're not everybody," Bruce says, making it sound more like an accusation than a reminder. "You should know better."

No, Tim thinks. They are not like everybody else. Their life expectancy is already reduced and smoking really is the smallest problem on the list.

Tim sits up straighter. "We already told Superman that we'd stop."

Bruce clenches his jaw. "And he didn't believe you."

Of course, not. Tim has no intention to let others dictate his every step. It is not so much about the stupid cigarette than about getting out, away from everything else. The Manor, the company. It is easier for them to sneak out at night and fly somewhere no one knows them. It is easier to sit on a roof than to brave a crowd of strangers. If Tim were to tell Bruce that, sometimes, they go out for pancakes or ice cream, he would surely find some fault with that, too.

"What will you do, then?" Tim cannot help but ask. It is never a good idea to provoke Bruce, but he is so tired of sitting back and saying yes, sir. "Build us a small smoke alert and pin it to our clothes?"

He expects Bruce to growl at him, to argue right back. Instead, he comes into the room and sits down gingerly on the edge of Tim's bed, looking ridiculous, tall and dark, in the small space.

"What's going on with you, Tim?" he asks, uncharacteristically gentle.

Immediately, Tim's mind flies back to the edge of the roof, to the street looming beneath his dangling feet. To the air rushing past him as he fell, grapple unused in his hand. There is no way Bruce can refer to any of that. The only one who knows is Conner and even they have not really talked about it, beyond the careful acknowledgment that it exists.

"I'm not a child, B," Tim snaps. The easiest way to deal with Bruce is to irritate him to the point where he leaves rather than puzzle through a difficult emotional situation. "I'm not taking drugs. I'm not doing anything that endangers our missions. I just went out with a friend of mine to have the absolutely normal teenager experience of sneaking a smoke."

Bruce's expression darkens. "You -"

But Tim talks right over him - which might actual be proof that he might be slightly suicidal, after all. "I know we're supposed to be better," he says, ignoring that thought. "Well, we're not. What are you going to do about it?"

This is the point where Bruce is supposed to get up, growl something about responsibilities, and maybe to order him to come to a training session later. Instead, he puts both his hands in his lap, carefully unclenched, and looks at Tim, expression almost gentle in its openness.

"Do you need me to do something about it?" he asks, completely serious. No hidden accusation, no threat, no disappointment.

"No," Tim replies, reeling as he tries to understand what is happening here. They do not do this. He needs them to stop doing this. With just the tiniest pang of regret, he pushes on, "I need you to not control every last bit of my life."

Still, Bruce does not look upset. "Is that what you think?"

With a sigh, Tim slumps back in his seat. "No," he admits. In fact, he is usually the one who needs the least oversight. Bruce trusts him not to be a problem. "You just don't need to make such a big deal out of this."

Bruce inclines his head, not quite an affirmation but also not a protest. "You can talk to me, you know that, right?"

Sure. If he wants a few grunts in response and a pointed reminder to be better. Or, it turns out, whatever this is. Neither of them is good with feelings, and less so with talking about them. They are meant for business deals and strict schedules. Usually, that is enough. Tim is not sure why he feels so unmoored. Why he picked now to push against boundaries he never even wasted a second thought on before. Nothing has changed.

"Can I sleep now?" he asks, wondering whether he should just say thank you, whether that would not make Bruce back up quicker.

"I - yes, Tim," Bruce says, and now he looks disappointed. "No more sneaking out, please."

Tim does not promise anything and he knows Bruce notices it. He does not comment on it, but it does not feel like a victory.

---

They meet on the roof of the WE building. It is not the most secure meeting place they could have chosen, but it is all Tim can fit into his lunchbreak and there is a secluded area where they should not be immediately visible for prying eyes.

Conner takes one look at him and sits down close, shoulder slotting against shoulder as if there is no other way to sit.

"No smoke today?" he asks lightly and catches Tim's eyeroll with a grin.

"It's more of a whiskey day," Tim shoots back.

One of these days he is just going to quit. He will walk out of his fancy office, leave the door open, and just leave. Let them all argue with each other. They do not need him for that.

Conner pokes him with his elbow and teases, "I'd think you wouldn't have to come up here for that. Don't your corporate friends all stash something in their desks?"

"What's with the prejudice?" Tim asks, but knows exactly where Lucius has hidden the good stuff. There is a sharpness in his voice that he did not intend to be there.

Conner notices it, too, of course, but he does not look offended. Instead, he remarks casually, "You look like you want to fight someone. Or sleep for the next two weeks."

Sleep sounds wonderful. There is enough fighting going on in their lives. Patrol has been busy the past days. Always some new emergency right around the corner. Even now with a whole bunch of them running around Gotham, there is always something to do.

"I'd take a break," he says and closes his eyes for just a moment. If he is not careful, he could nod off right here, feet dangling once again over a deadly drop but leaning safely against his best friend.

Shifting his posture, Conner lets Tim fit more comfortably against him.

"Your personal taxi is at your service," he then offers quietly. He means it, too.

That is what Tim loves about Conner. In a world with so much double speak and games being played, Conner is always honest with him.

"I wish it were that easy," Tim says, looking at Gotham sprawled out underneath them. They could just push off the edge and leave the city, fly somewhere no one knows them, somewhere no one wants anything from them. By now, he can understand why his parents spent all their time in remote places digging for forgotten artifacts. Nothing has ever sounded more tempting to Tim.

"Isn't it?" Conner asks but sounds serious, like he is really ready to bring Tim far away from here. "How about you come to the farm for a few days? We can fix up the fence together. There's nothing but sky and corn out there. No crowds, no emergencies."

No convenient high-up roofs either for the bad nights, Tim thinks before the enormity of the offer really hits. Conner sometimes talks about the farm. About the kindness of Superman's parents. About having a home, a place full of warmth where he can just be himself. But, also, about how easy it is to get lost out there, to drown in all that endless space. Both of them know loneliness intimately. How it takes and takes and takes. How it leaves an emptiness behind that feels impossible to fill, even when other people are around. Sometimes especially when other people are around.

Tim can imagine it, both of them out there. Quiet nights with an actual starry sky above them. No noise except for their own breathing. No training or fighting or dragging himself out of bed for another round of heated board meetings.

"I can't just invade Superman's home," Tim argues before the thinking can turn into longing.

But Conner catches him, like he always does. "Ma and Pa won't mind." With uncharacteristic shyness, he adds, "In fact, they'd be ecstatic if I brought a friend home."

Friends. Family. This started out as a mere working relationship. Both Superman and Batman were glad they could hoist their kids off on each other to get some breathing room themselves. Now, Tim cannot imagine his life without Conner anymore. Even so, it is often too much.

"How aware are they of -" Tim gestures broadly at all of Conner.

"Pretty much all of it," Conner assures him. "It's not like we're sneaking around at night."

No. Superman and Superboy are heroes for the light of day. They do not incorporate vengeance like Batman does. They do not hide in the shadows.

Tim finds that he wants to say yes. Wants it with every fibre of his being. Life has become this downward spiral he is not sure how to claw himself out of again. Every day the same, rinse and repeat. He needs a break or he will snap. Or jump.

"B will never say yes." Tim looks at Conner, wants him to take them anyway.

And Conner smiles. "We'll see about that."

---

Tim is late for patrol. If not for the inevitability of Bruce's disappointment, he would be late every night. Like this, he can get ready in peace, without Damian's insults and Bruce's terse instructions. He can put on his gear in silence and head out when he wants, not having to wait for anyone else.

Of course, it is too much to ask that the peace lasts.

Tim is just about to put his mask on when Jason comes down the stairs, munching on a half-eaten cookie. Jason likes to be late to patrol, too, because it gives him a chance to catch up with Alfred without anybody else interfering. He does not stick to anybody else's schedule, though, so Tim had hopes to escape him. When is he ever lucky, though?

"I heard life is not exciting enough for you and you're sneaking smokes right under B's nose," Jason says by way of greeting as he saunters over to his bike. He is already mostly dressed and can therefore put his entire unwanted attention on Tim.

Unimpressed, Tim points out, "You're smoking."

Jason probably smoked before Bruce ever picked him up from the streets. He should be careful with the hypocrisy.

"I also kill people when they annoy me." Jason shrugs like he does not have a care in the world. "You're the prodigal son."

Laughter tumbles over Tim's lips unbidden. He stops it immediately, but the damage is done. Usually, he is better at pretending that he has everything under control. Usually, people do not insist on talking to him about anything other than work.

"Did B put you up to that?" Tim asks, feeling exhaustion running through him like a tidal wave.

"Hell, no." Jason scoffs, but he never takes his eyes off Tim, seeing far more than he is supposed to. "I overheard him and Dick talking. They're worried."

They are all a bunch of hypocrites. Bruce had already started his grand plan for vendetta against crime in Gotham when he was Tim's age. Dick moved out and did his own thing at eighteen. Jason went and died only to come back and make a name for himself as a crime boss. Damian is a trained assassin. How is Tim getting caught smoking more concerning than all of that? They do not know anything else. About the lack of sleep, the bone-deep tiredness he cannot shake, his sudden fascination with high-up places.

"Well, tell them they don't need to be," he drawls in a close facsimile to his usual aloofness.

"Tell them yourself," Jason shoots back immediately. There is no heat behind the words, however, no implied threat. Instead, he just keeps watching Tim, digging deep, searching for all the things Tim does not want anyone to find out. Then, like a switch being flicked off, his expression grows bored, his shoulders slump. "So, little Superboy?"

It is such a rapid change that Tim feels like he got whiplash just standing there.

"Don't you have friends you can bother, Jason?" he asks, not sure he can deal with brotherly teasing any better than with concerned suspicions.

Swallowing the last of his cookie, Jason asks, "Does he carry you bridal style when he whisks you away for a smoke break?"

Tim finally puts his mask in place and glares at Jason through it. "This conversation is over."

Expression still uncaring, Jason says, a little sharper than necessary, "I heard he didn't have the greatest childhood either."

There it is, Tim's temper, always simmering too close underneath his skin these days. "I don't know what you're insinuating, but -"

Jason raises both hands in surrender. "Nothing, Timbo," he drawls, almost managing to sound unaffected. "Take care of each other. I fear the rest of these idiots don't know how."

With that, he pulls his helmet on and starts his bike. He drives off before Tim can even think of a response. What was that? Jason pretending to care about him? The world is currently not ending, so that is a resounding no.

Shaking his head, Tim finishes his preparations and waits a full five minute before he follows Jason out. He really does not have any energy left for strange conversations with his family.

---

"How is it that my entire family is hounding me about one stupid incidence, but you're good to do whatever you want?" Tim rants the next time they meet.

They are not on a roof but sitting in the very back of a small coffeeshop in Metropolis. There are no other customers and the waitress left them the entire coffee pot instead of walking over every time Tim empties his mug. She has learned her lesson after the third time.

"Don't worry, Clark had a friendly conversation with me, too," Conner says with the kind of helpless amusement that means he has long since accepted that Clark only cares when it suits him. "Although it was more about not corrupting you than me dying of lung cancer."

Tim almost chokes on his coffee. "Corrupting me?" he echoes, feeling strangely insulted.

Between the two of them, Conner is the innocent. As a lab-grown clone who got swept up by Superman of all people afterwards, he barely had any chance to develop the kind of habits to corrupt anyone else.

"Funny, right?" Conner asks with a roll of his eyes. "I didn't tell them it was you who likes to choose the highest building in any given place to have your crises."

They should not joke about that. Not even when no one else is there to listen. "Conner," Tim chides quietly.

Instead of letting it go, Conner asks, "Have you thought about the farm?"

It feels like Tim has not done anything else. In countless meetings with board members or investors, Tim has imagined getting up and stepping into a cornfield, just leaving everything else behind.

"Yes," he admits carefully.

"And?"

The coffee mug is empty again, so Tim busies himself with filling it up. Once he cannot stall anymore, he asks, "Next week? I cleared my schedule."

Conner raises both eyebrows as he stares at Tim. Surprise looks good on him. Separates him from Clark.

When he is quiet for too long, Tim looks away. "What?" he quips, trying to calm his mounting heartbeat. "You pulling back the offer?"

"Not at all," Conner reassures him quickly. He still looks at Tim with a strange intensity. "I just realized that things must be worse than I thought. You sound actually eager."

Heat creeps up Tim's neck. Things are not that bad. He is just really, really tired.

"Well," he says, trying for flippant but falling somewhat short. "You've painted a pretty picture."

Suddenly, Conner grins, and there is his best friend, happy and eager. "Yes. You'll love it. No tech, lots of manual labour. Cows."

Tim finds himself smiling back, wider than he has in months. "Is it too late to back out?" he asks, just because that is expected of him. He is not a country boy. He needs asphalt and glass fronts and computers, not dirt and animals. More than that, however, he needs a change of scenery.

"Definitely," Conner says, full of cheer. He kicks Tim's shin in light warning. "I'll call them as soon as I'm home."

"Only if they're really all right with it," Tim says but, by now, it only token protest.

He has not yet asked Bruce, and right now he finds he does not want to, either. Lucius knows, which means the company will keep running without him. The other bats can take over his patrol for a few days. He does not need permission. He will let Bruce know before he leaves and not take no for an answer.

Conner's grin widens as he points out, "They raised Superman. Do you really think I could pressure them into something they don't want to do?"

Above all else, Tim does not want to intrude somewhere else he is not wanted. "I just want to make sure," he says but he trusts Conner. Trusts him with his life and everything else, too.

Without a trace of hesitation, Conner says, "I'm sure."

What more could Tim ask for?

#whumptober2024 #no.11 #loneliness #dcu #fic #suicidal ideation #emotional hurt/comfort #depression #tim drake #conner kent #bruce wayne #clark kent #my writing

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loveinhawkins · 1 year ago

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oooo, honestly any of Wayne's thoughts in nbtdad you want to share will be treasured like gold!

oh Wayne! ❤️

i really wanted to get across that both Eddie & Wayne are used to slotting their lives in around each other—that they are so close, but recent circumstances have meant that there’s been some distance between them, passing like ships in the night with Eddie at school & Wayne working nights at the plant.

it’s also my headcanon in general that Eddie was meant to stay up late on that Friday night Chrissy died & watch T.V or a movie or something with Wayne to celebrate the start of Spring Break, just to add to the tragedy of it all 💔

After their first meeting in the hospital, Wayne also finds it ‘one of the hardest things in the world, to walk away.’ but even though he doesn’t have the full story at that point, he’s very intuitive, especially when it comes to reading Eddie, knows that even though all he wants is to hold onto his nephew that, for now, he has to let him go.

Eddie pushes himself off the bed. Wayne watches him with interest, eyebrows raising when he grabs the acoustic guitar. “You need that for the hospital?” “Mhm.” He’s put on his jacket, ready to leave, when he catches Wayne still looking at him. “What?” “You always lose your words when you’re hiding something,” Wayne says mildly enough, but Eddie can still hear the worry underneath.

at first Wayne believes that Eddie’s simply bringing his guitar because Steve might sense music being played while he’s in a coma, without of course knowing that Eddie’s trying to save Steve’s life. It’s only when Eddie doesn’t really say anything that Wayne starts getting suspicious and concerned. there’s also a hint of backstory with Wayne saying, “You always lose your words when you’re hiding something,”—tbh i think my headcanon is that Eddie’s grown accustomed to just being upfront with Wayne whenever he’s failing at school, stuff like that & ‘losing his words’ refers to years ago; the implication being that Eddie kept how bad his home life was with his dad secret before moving to live with Wayne.

As for Steve, with Wayne eventually knowing the full story with The Upside Down, his main thought about him is just that he’s been through a clearly traumatic event. I don’t think Wayne really catches onto Eddie’s growing feelings for Steve & their closeness until Eddie’s staying at Steve’s house & Wayne over hears their conversation, particularly how Eddie teases Steve.

“You’ve got a call,” Steve says around a mouthful of cereal, when Eddie heads back downstairs after a shower. “Ooh, I’ve got a call,” he says smirking, “you sound like a secretary.” And that’s how he finds out that Steve had just left the phone dangling so that whoever’s on the other end can listen in on everything. Because when he picks it up with a, “Hello?”, he hears— “Turn my back for one minute, and you’ve got a secretary,” Wayne says, amused. “Ain’t you going up in the world?” “S’the company I’m keeping, Wayne.”

And Wayne & Steve may meet properly in the future ❤️

fic director’s commentary ask game

#loveinhawkins fic commentary #eddie and wayne munson

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thruheavenandhighwater · 2 years ago

Text

Pairing: Single Dad! Eddie Munson/ Steve Harrington

Requested By: NA

Word Count: 2,033

Series Summary: Eddie left Hawkins in 1986 with no reason to ever return. But now, a few years have passed and life has changed. Eddie finally returns home and has to deal with everything he left behind, including Steve Harrington. This story starts in May 1991.

Chapter Summary: Steve begins work on Eddie's car. They finally have a real conversation about their years apart.

Stranger Things Masterlist

Steddie Masterlist

Series Masterlist

~~~~~

The following evening, while Wayne got ready for work, Eddie took Lucy to Sarah two doors down. He set her diaper bag on the kitchen counter as he held Lucy to his chest. Sarah smiled, mentally keeping track of everything Eddie said about how to care for her.

"She usually eats around 7," he told her. "She'll almost always do six ounces right before bed but sometimes she doesn't finish it all. Hey, can I ask you something?" Sarah seemed surprised, her blonde eyebrows raising as she nodded. "Should she be eating like, real baby food yet? I saw it at the store and I just… I don't know what I'm doing."

"How old is she?"

"Six months."

Sarah smiled to Lucy, all teeth and bright eyes. "Yeah, you can start trying it," she answered. "Think my girls were six or seven months before we started them on Gerber's. Anna didn't like it at first, but Brittany loved it."

Eddie let out a breath of relief. "Okay," he smiled. "I just don't want to fuck everything up."

"You won't," Sarah told him, very matter of fact in her tone. "The fact that you care enough to ask is proof enough of that. Now you go get your car fixed and let me have my newest favoritest baby," she smiled wide again as she put her hands out to Lucy. Lucy let go of her dad's shirt, which she'd been clutching tightly in her small hands since they left the house. She liked Sarah. Eddie thought that had to be a good sign.

Steve was outside the shop when Eddie pulled up. He was leaned back against an old Chevy, a cigarette dangling from his fingers as his head laid back on his shoulders. Eddie felt a little bad about interrupting his moment. Plus, he looked so damn good under the warm summer sun that Eddie almost hated to ruin the moment. He perked up, a smile blooming over his cheeks when he heard the rattle of Eddie's car.

"Since when do you smoke?" Eddie asked as he swung the door closed behind him. "Used to get on me and Paul like flies on shit when we lit up."

Steve smiled shyly, dropping the finished cigarette to the ground and pressing it into the concrete with the toe of his work boot. "Guess I realized there are worse things than a smoke now and then. Go ahead and pull her in," Steve instructed, bending down to open the garage door that led to the shop area.

Eddie got back behind the wheel and drove the car into the shop. Steve pulled the door closed behind him. "Don't need anyone showing up for an after hours brake job," he said. "Present company excluded."

Eddie smiled as he took a seat on a stool near the wall. Out of the way and with a perfect view of the work to be done. And if he just happened to be able to see Steve, bent over his car and working up a sweat, then so be it.

Steve opened the driver's door and popped the hood, securing it with the strut just like he had the day before. "It's your lucky day, my friend," he announced. "One of the parts cars Joe's been hoarding had a beautiful alternator that I think will work just fine for you." And he set to work.

"So," Steve said as his hands worked expertly over the parts that Eddie wouldn't even be able to identify if his life depended on it. "How've ya been?"

"What?"

"How have you been?" Steve asked again, still not looking back at Eddie. He could hear the cocky smile in his voice even if he couldn't see it.

"Well, I'm sleeping on my uncle's shitty couch, trying to raise a baby on a shitty job, and you're fixing my shitty car," Eddie answered, trying to sound lighthearted.

"Okay, yeah, but she's a fairly new development, right?" Steve asked. "What were you up to before Lucy? We got five years to catch up on, Munson."

Eddie smiled to himself as he thought back. Back to 1986. He was barely 20 years old, head full of dreams and nothing but time to make them come true. He sometimes missed that version of himself. The Eddie Munson that believed he would be better than the parents that had left him. That he'd make a life for himself that he would be proud of.

"The first few years were awesome, man," he lamented. "The guys and I found this shitty little apartment right in the city. All four of us squished into two bedrooms and one bathroom. It was small and dirty, but we loved it. Made us feel like real musicians, ya know? Like we were putting in the ground work before we skyrocketed to number one."

"Sounds awful," Steve laughed, the sound echoing around the metal under the hood.

"We loved it," Eddie sighed. "We had some regular gigs at some bars. Nothing crazy, but more people than we ever played for here. For like, two years Andy told anyone who would listen that we were just one show away from breaking big."

"So what happened? Why aren't you headlining The Garden with Guns n Roses?"

"Because Axl Rose is an asshole," he answered, earning another laugh from Steve. "Honestly? We were on our way. But then I met Billie two years ago, she got pregnant, and uh-"

"Life got in the way," Steve finished for him, echoing his own words back to him.

"Yeah," Eddie agreed.

Steve paused, the silence around them almost deafening without the sounds of metal tools clanking. "Do you ever wish you'd stayed?"

Eddie was quiet as he thought about it. "I don't think so," he answered after a long pause. The tools in Steve's hands began to move again, creating a noise barrier to break up the quiet. "Guess I kinda wish things had turned out different, though. Don't get me wrong, Lucy's amazing. She's starting to crawl now. But I wish I'd been more prepared for her."

"Makes sense," Steve said.

"But I can't go back and undo it."

"Nope."

"Guess I just don't think about the 'what ifs.' More worried about right now. Making sure I don't ruin Lucy's life." Steve made an affirmative sort of sound. "What about you? I’m sure your wife and kids don’t appreciate me keeping you at work all night."

Steve scoffed, shaking his head. "Don’t have a wife or kids, actually.”

"But you were with some girl the other day,” Eddie said, almost a question more than a statement.

“Robin?” Steve asked, a smile on his voice. “We are definitely not married. Or dating or anything like that. We’re just friends.”

“She seemed pretty cozy, grabbin’ all up on ya in public like that.”

He couldn't help but smile as he listened to Steve giggle. He watched his back, the way his shoulders and back moved beneath the faded t shirt. He pictured the blush that he was sure was on Steve's cheeks. "Trust me, man, Robin and I are friends. Best friends, admittedly, but that’s it. I’ve been painfully single basically since you left.”

Eddie brought a hand to his chest, feigning surprise. "So you mean to tell me that King Steve, heartbreaker of Hawkins High, is back on the celibate train with the rest of us losers?"

Steve stood up straight and turned to face Eddie. He pulled another shop rag from his pocket, wiping his hands like he'd done yesterday. There was something about the action that made Eddie's heart beat just a little harder. He'd never noticed Steve's hands before. But now, covered in scars and grease, weathered by a few years of manual labor, he couldn't focus on much else.

"Well, that's the problem with a town like this," Steve said. "Once you've been through all the girls in high school, the dating pool gets remarkably small as an adult.

"It's nice having you back, ya know?" Steve said quietly.

"Are you saying that you missed me, Steven?" Eddie asked, his tone joking, though his curiosity was genuine.

"Are you surprised?" He asked, smiling. "I'm the one who told you not to leave, remember?"

Eddie nodded, looking to the ground between them. He did remember. He remembered it all the time, especially the first few months he was gone. He could still see Steve's face, younger then and almost sad. He remembered thinking that Steve had more to say, but not giving him the chance.

"But hey," he said, pulling Eddie out of the memory. "Can't undo it, right? And at least you're back now. Even if the circumstances aren't ideal."

He stepped away from the car towards the wall opposite Eddie's stool. He turned a knob on a radio that Eddie hadn't even noticed was there. "You mind?" He asked as he stepped back to the front of Eddie's car.

Eddie didn't answer, only nodding and offering a small shrug of his shoulders. It was nice to have the music, anyway. Just one more thing to fill the space so that Eddie wouldn't have to.

As he watched Steve work, he replayed the last time he'd seen him before he left in his mind. The way he looked shocked, almost hurt after Eddie's announcement on stage. The guilt he felt when he realized he probably should have told him sooner. The rejection in Steve's eyes when Eddie had lied through his teeth, telling him that there was nothing in Hawkins for him. He thought about the way he'd excused himself from the conversation quickly, not giving either of them time to say what they needed. He'd known even then that if Steve had asked him to stay one more time, he would have. He would have done anything for Steve.

But that was five years ago. Now he was older. He had a baby, and responsibilities that Steve couldn't understand. A part of him wished he'd stayed. Wished he'd told Steve how he felt in 1986. But he didn't. He left with the intention of putting Hawkins and everything it held behind him. He tried to forget Steve amongst a sea of unfamiliar faces, but it didn't work. Every nameless hook up in dimly lit alleys and dirty bar bathrooms only served to remind him that Steve was gone. Far away in a town that he never wanted to see again.

He thought about the first time he'd seen Billie. She was front and center at a show one night. Her brown hair teased way too high, tight dress barely covering anything. He'd taken her home that night and she was the first person that made him almost forget Steve Harrington. So he kept her. He kept her for as long as she'd allowed herself to be kept. But now she was gone. On the wind somewhere in a city that was never his home.

He continued to watch Steve work. They made small talk about their lives, work and family stuff that really didn't matter. The clock on the shop wall ticked past 8:00 before Steve dropped the hood with a sigh.

"Should be good, now," he announced. "See ya tomorrow about those brakes?"

Eddie nodded, pulling his keys from his pocket. He smiled to Steve, offering a small wave through the car window as he backed out of the shop. He watched in the rearview mirror as Steve pulled the door down, securing it with a lock. He pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket and lit one, allowing it to bounce between his lips as he sat down in his own car.

Eddie turned, putting more distance between himself and Steve before he let himself think. Maybe Steve had been right all those years ago. Maybe he should have stayed. Stayed in that alley. Stayed in Hawkins. Stayed with Steve. If he had, he wouldn’t have spent the last two days feeling bad for himself, thinking that Steve had run off and gotten married while he was sleeping his way around New York City. Maybe, he thought, a lot of things would be different.

~~~~~

previous part // next part

~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed part five! The slow burn is starting to warm up just a little bit. Can't wait to hear what y'all think of this part 🥰 have a lovely weekend!

#steddie fanfiction #steddie fanfic #steddie fan fic #steddie angst #steddie imagine #steddie fluff #steve harrington/eddie munson #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie munson/steve harrington #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve/eddie #steve x eddie #eddie/steve #eddie x steve #single dad eddie munson #girl dad eddie munson

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