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jjenthusee · 3 months ago

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Racing Hearts

f1!driver!Jason x reporter!Reader

A/N: i know i said that i felt like writing a toxic f1!driver!Jason, but my mind always reverts back to fluff and hurt/comfort. i can’t help it. :( So ENJOY <3 comment if your comfortable, let me know your thoughts, and please check out the art that inspired this fic (F1 Driver, F1 Driver Pt.2 and F1 Driver Pt.3) i’m proud of how everything came together \(^~^)/ ALSO I SEE THOSE OF U WHO SPAM LIKE, REBLOG, OR COMMENT ON ALL MY WRITING (I LOVE ALL OF YOU) it makes me geek out fr

The story will continue! Here is pt. 2 HEHEHE

Tags: banter, agonizing fluff, hurt/comfort, strangers to friends to lovers, sudden roy harper appearance???,

Word Count: 3.7k

The lights were bright, rapid flashes brightening every angle of Jason’s face as he stood in front of multiple cameras.

His sweat pricking his forehead and running down the sides of his face, shimmering from the light, making him even more attractive as he finally felt the sun on his skin after a race.

His racing helmet clasped in his hand, towel in the other, dabbing at the sides of his neck. His hair perfectly messy from his win.

Fans screaming his name, reporters trying to get his attention. A man finally stopping him in his tracks, shoving a microphone closer to him, surpassing those who were also trying to talk to the star in question.

“Jason, we have seen your name repeatedly throughout racing legacies, what’s the secret to having such a great career?”

Jason continued to walk again, waving at fans, effortlessly pleasing the crowd one look at a time. The reporters and photographers following him like pigeons flocking to food on the ground. Shouting to repeat his name.

After dabbing his towel to his face, he turned back to look at the interviewer. A sparkle in his eyes.

“You’re lookin’ at him. What else do I need?” Jason smugly smiled, briefly making eye contact with the interviewer as he spoke, the interviewer’s face slightly reddening. Giving his classic swoon worthy smirk, fans erupting behind him trying to get a glimpse.

Just another day as one of the world’s best racer.

——

Jason had arrived late, his ball cap worn nicely on his head, his classic Red Bull uniform snug around his fit physique.

Bright lights burned down on him, giving the cameras the best lighting. Jason’s flaws were being watched like a hawk, ready to be shown, but he confidently walked to the microphones.

He let out his signature smile, a quick wink to the nearest interviewer, tapping the microphone in front of him.

Repeated thump thumps echoed through the speakers as he sat down, his management team not far off the stage as he took one of the two seats. The other driver no where in sight, his bright orange hair nonexistent next to Jason. The iconic duo not yet together.

Multiple hands raised, ready to ask Jason any big questions they had been saving for the past twenty minutes until one of the two men decided to join. The press conference should have started once his companion arrived, but journalists weren’t patient people.

“Mr. Todd! How does it feel to add another win to your belt and beat your own record?” A bright young man asked from the crowd, his glasses bouncing off his nose.

Jason laughed, pride taking up the entire room.

“I didn’t know there was any other option.” Jason leaned into the mic, giving a show of his arms crossed, muscles on the table in front of him.

You could practically hear the fans screaming through the camera as you sat a couple rows from the racer. You were surprised his ego didn’t push you off your seat when he arrived.

“Jason! There is talk that your contract is near its end and you are possibly thinking about changing teams, what are your thoughts?” A blonde woman asked two rows in front of you.

“I always think of my fans first, I want to carefully consider everything when I make that decision. Plus, I can’t deny how good I look in black.” Jason teasingly tilted his head.

A quiet scoff left your mouth.

It was now or never, you didn’t know how loud the room was going to get once the second racer arrived.

You raised your hand, standing up to talk face to face to Formula 1’s hottest driver, Jason Todd.

Well…face to face was pushing it, there were other reporters also trying to get their chance with the ever bright star.

But a press conference was a press conference, if you don’t make yourself known, you don’t get to ask any questions.

Once Jason’s focus landed on your standing form, he nodded at you, giving you permission to speak.

Returning the courtesy, you nodded your head.

“Gotham’s greatest has returned.” You smiled, notebook in hand, voice even.

“Please, no need for an introduction.” Jason chuckled, interrupting your sentence as the rest of the crowd laughed with him.

Charmer. You thought.

Patience has always been your virtue, too many people tested you in your line of work, but you could handle someone as spontaneous as Jason Todd.

“Not only do you have the skill, you have the money, and the team to back you up. You are engineered for success.” You explained.

Jason chuckled, charming smile broadening at the compliments.

“You have such a nice way with words.” He relayed through the microphone, projecting his husky voice throughout the room, gaining another laugh from the crowd.

“But your Chief Technical Officer is leaving this season, digging a huge hole in your team. His legacy changed the engineering of your vehicle because he introduced you to your legendary car. Putting you and your other driver, Roy Harper, in a position of possibly seeing your racing careers coming to an end as your CTO retires.”

“You do have a way with words.” Jason repeated, irritation pricking at his skin, but keeping that picture perfect smile for the camera. You smiled again, a tiny bit wider at his strain.

“In other words, your fans are wondering, if your car can’t be at it’s top shape, there’s only so much skill you can perfect before technology surpasses you and you can only see the rear wing of all your opponents.”

Ouch. Jason thought, smiling through your verbal jabs, but none of the amusement reflected in his eyes as he stared at you.

“What did you say your name was?” Jason sat up straighter, his tone lowering. He was used to mindlessly giving eye contact, giving that mind numbing attention that most people on the internet fawned over.

This time it was different, he focused in on the reporter standing not far from his seat, never lowering their eyes from him.

You smiled, slow and calm, basking in causing the change in the flirtatious F1 driver.

Now you had his attention.

“All legacies come to an end, Mr. Todd.” You continued, never answering his question. “Now that your CTO Elainey Usoro is confirmed to leave, will we be able to witness your legacy end in the upcoming season?”

“Aren’t you jumping the gun? Of course my name will continue to be recognized.” Jason scoffed.

“But will it be recognized as the star that lost its fame?” You nudged again.

Jason’s face went neutral, observing you. You stared back, not wavering in your eye contact, a calm diligence.

A tension blanketed the conference room.

Roy threw his arm around Jason’s shoulders in a friendly manner, leaning against his driving buddy as he also threw a flirtatious smile. His laid back demeanor cut up the tension filling the room, the reporters getting oddly quiet at the sudden back and forth of you and Jason, but saved by the second driver’s arrival.

Roy was as fashionably late as usual, throwing a kiss towards the management team on the side lines. His iconic bright hair covered in a backwards ball cap.

They erupted his name around you, as you stood above the crowd.

Roy waved his hand, playfully mimicking a royal princess addressing his loyal subjects as he kept his arm on Jason.

Despite the noise around you, Jason kept his look at you.

Once Roy was done getting in his crowd pleasing, he spoke.

“Sweetheart, just ‘cause Usoro is leaving doesn’t mean we get cars tossed in from the dump. The position will just be empty until the next season begins. I can promise you we aren’t taking off our uniforms any time soon. I look too good with the words ‘Red Bull’ across my abs.” Roy cheekily grinned, toothpick in between his teeth.

Roy Harper. You thought.

One coquettish athlete was one thing, but two had the potential to test you.

“I hope to see those results, Mr. Harper.” You calmly smiled. You glanced back to Jason. “Thank you for answering my questions, Mr. Todd.”

You sat back in your chair, your badge displaying your name and company around your neck. The symbol recognizable to Jason, but he had reset to his usual coy responses before he did anything about it.

And the press conference continued as usual, the fans loving Jason, interviewers taken with him. They tried to trip him up like you had, but no one had pricked him as much as you did.

——

The chair you sat in was uncomfortable.

Luxurious restaurants had the weirdest looking furniture, twisted in odd shapes to make it more appealing to the rich.

The mood lighting set low to create a kind of intimacy most fancy restaurants aimed for.

Jason sat across from you, waiting on his dinner for the night.

“Thank you for meeting me today, Mr. Todd. The place you chose is…quaint.” You eyed the indoor waterfall and the huge chandelier.

“You should have ordered something, this place is known for its seafood.” Jason smiled, crossing his arms across his chest.

A much too expensive watch on his wrist, in too expensive clothes, in a too expensive restaurant.

Your outfit was formal, you thought it fit the atmosphere of the restaurant and you were only here for business. The contrast of the two of you looked like a boss and his employee from afar. Awkward and not on the same level of pay.

The salary of Formula 1 drivers would make any person look plain next to them.

“I shouldn’t because we’re here to discuss about you.” You plainly said, posture straight.

Jason stared at you, the shadows on his face chiseling out his features more than usual. Casually leaning into his chair.

“So, tell me, Mr. Todd—“ You formally started.

“Call me Jason.” He leaned his arms on the table, more of his face coming into the light, his wrist watch glistening in the warm light.

He probably has his own personal jeweler that shines his watch everyday. You judged internally, your left eyebrow raising. A nonverbal “really?” unconsciously stemming onto your face.

Jason’s smile growing wider at your reaction.

“Well…Jason,” You awkwardly corrected, face going back to neutral. “Our interaction last week has gained…interest. I’ve been told that your management is interested in us discussing another interview, just the two of us?” You picked up your glass of water, gently sipping.

Jason was weirdly silent, watching intently at your moves and words.

“Tell me about yourself.” You continued, gently laying your cup on the glass table. Placing your notebook next to it and a simple pen. The plain stationary complimenting your equally plain outfit.

“Jason Todd, F1 driver, signed onto Red Bull, haven’t changed since.” Jason’s food arrived. “The podium is practically my home, the stuff everyone knows. You could quickly Google all of that.”

You stayed quiet, mindlessly writing his quotes in your notebook. Not much effort put in your handwriting.

“But no one is interested in that.” Jason took a bite, glancing back at you as you stopped writing.

“Why not?”

“Okay, ‘lil reporter, let’s be real for a second. The reason why the internet wanted us to meet again is because of how we interacted.” Jason continued to eat. “You have no interest in me, despite your line of work.”

You put your pen down. Really listening.

“I may not be interested in your career, but I do have a passion in what I do.” You defended yourself, tone firm.

“I’m familiar with your work.” His nonchalance apparent in the way Jason sat. His voice leveled, none of the familiar coquettish attitude in front of you. The real Jason was sitting there.

“You are?” You stammer in confusion. You hadn’t expect his shift in demeanor or that he knew about you.

“Duh, that’s why I tried asking for your name last week, but someone thought it was cute to ignore me.” Jason sipped on his water.

Your mouth formed into a firm line.

You knew that there had to be another person underneath all the on screen charisma, but you didn’t expect to meet him at this dinner that was set up. Hell, you even expected getting cancelled by all his hardcore fans the next morning after the press conference.

“Look, I wasn’t interested because everyone knows you. You rightfully made a name for yourself and I had chosen another athlete to interview that day, but it was scrapped because the ‘great’ Jason Todd, shining beloved driver, had made a comeback after you had flopped for a short while.” You breathed, catching your breath.

Jason stopped eating, watching you look at the notebook on the table, a single sentence written on the blank page.

“Ouch, lil’ reporter.” Jason looked up from his plate, his eyes sparkling at something interesting he’s heard.

“I wanted to interview a woman changing athletics, but I had to drop everything to meet you at a press conference you were twenty minutes late to. So, yeah, I wasn’t overjoyed to meet you that day. I’m sorry if I was rude, you weren’t the one who rejected my story.” You slightly huffed, the most emotion you’ve shown Jason.

“Now we’re getting somewhere.” Jason enthusiastically put down his fork. “Finally some honesty, I was questioning whether you were a robot.”

“Huh?” You had expected Jason to be mad.

“Bad things happen, but we were told to put this together. So, forget the sports stats, let’s show them something a lil’ different.” Jason smiled, a genuine smile that didn’t look at you any differently after you vented out your frustrations about him.

“Like what? Get to know the real you?” You flatly said. “Sounds kinda cheesy.”

“I love to talk about myself, so why not?” Jason shrugged his shoulders.

You sighed.

“Okay—okay, let’s start with—“

“No, no, no.” Jason interrupted you. “Not here, hell no.”

“You chose this place, I thought this was what you wanted.” You questioned.

“The company chose this, I don’t like seafood.” Jason replied, blankly staring at you.

“What?!” You nearly yelled, self-consciously looking at the other tables, nodding an apology.

Jason laughed, truly laughed.

“Are you free tomorrow?” He asked, smile reaching his eyes.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” You replied, lost in the development.

“Great, we’ll meet for dinner.”

——

You ended up outside of what appeared to be local restaurants, packed inside an outdoor lounge area, surrounded by furnished secan containers locking in the structure.

It was beautiful with the hanging string lights illuminating the seating area.

You looked in awe.

“You’re on time.” Jason’s voice rung on top of your head, behind you.

You turned around, surprised at the sudden silent appearance and the casual clothes he was in, no fancy watch, his clothes looked like normal department store ones, and his hair was messily down.

“Ten minutes late? That’s a new record.” You quipped.

“Ha!” Jason laughed. “I almost didn’t recognize you in casual clothes. You almost looked less robotic.”

Jason leaned down to give you a once over like he was evaluating your outfit.

“Quit it, I’m starving and whatever smell is coming from that side is changing my brain chemistry.”

Jason smiled, following behind as you led yourself by your nose.

“Holy shit.” You took a moment after your first bite.

“Woah, the robot cusses. What a scary lil’ reporter.” Jason teasingly shook his head, taking a bite after his teasing. “Holy fuck.”

“Right?!” You smiled, eyes squinting at your cheeks lifting.

Jason, lost in the food, chewed, taking in all the flavors.

“I could die in this moment and ask the paramedics to pass on my final wish, to thank the owner of the food truck over there.” You sipped your beer.

Jason stopped eating, pausing to look at you.

“What?” You questioned his stare.

“You actually have emotions.” Jason kept his face blank.

“Shut up, I would throw this at you if it didn’t change my taste buds.” You frowned.

Jason laughed. His shoulders shaking from the movement.

You noticed his smile was different. He had actual smile lines on his face, his eyebrows grew softer. It wasn’t the usual look he gave after his races.

“Is this what the incredible Jason Todd does when he isn’t wearing his Red Bull uniform?” You tried to casually prod into his life.

“How smooth,” Jason whistled, catching onto your nosiness. “I came here a lot with my brothers.”

“Wow, Wayne family lore.” You kept your eyes on your food, trying to deter the atmosphere away from the sad tone coming from Jason.

“Not the best history there.” Jason quietly spoke, picking at his food.

“A rich boy with family issues, I would have never guessed.” You smiled at him, playfully punching his shoulder. “I might be a reporter, but I respect boundaries. I don’t like the work of others that invade privacy for selfish reasons, bombard children of celebrities, and other awful reasons. So, trauma dump or not.” You smirked.

“Wow, lil’ reporter is all grown up.” Jason dramatically wiped the corner of his eye, wiping nonexistent tears.

“Never mind, I already know the title of the article.” You flatly said. “Rich, charismatic—“

“Aren’t you a charmer—“

“Pain in the ass, reckless, thorn in my side—“ You continued.

“Okay, alright, that’s enough, I get it.” Jason smiled, despite the harsh words.

You raised your left eyebrow, not fully convinced.

Jason used his thumb to rub your eyebrow back to its normal spot, you closed your eyes, moving your head away from his playful harsh rubs.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get there.” Jason reassured. “You’ll get my all my issues, the one time I was mugged, the reason why I don’t drink, and all my kinks.”

“What?!” You shrieked, Jason laughing at your reaction.

“I’m kidding, I was never mugged.”

You threw your dirty napkin at Jason.

——

After the fulfilling dinner, you got Jason’s number, set another date for a lunch, and you were happy.

It had been a while since you had time to enjoy a meal, no work blurring into your off time.

You could never admit to Jason that these meals felt like dinners with friends, not work at all.

Jason had suggested that you choose a spot. You decided on ice cream, not a lunch spot or a decent meal to talk over, but he didn’t complain.

You sent a location to him for a spot near the harbor.

You met each other, the weather getting colder after the F1 season was over and the new norm of adding a jacket to your daily clothing.

It felt idiotic to get ice cream in cold weather, but it was too late to change now.

Jason came five minutes late this time.

“You’re getting better!” You yelled between your cold hands. “Almost brought a smile to my face!”

You fought a smile as you saw Jason jog to your waiting spot.

“I couldn’t let my lil’ reporter wait too long in this cold weather.” Jason’s breaths fogged around him as he caught his breath. Teasing your cheeks into a slight blush, but maybe that was the cold weather.

You put your hands back into your pockets, trying to keep any warmth in them.

“Let’s go, before the ice cream melts.” You joked, walking away from Jason.

“Why ice cream?” He questioned, catching up to your side.

“I don’t know.” You shrugged. “Don’t you get those cravings for hot chocolate in summer and ice cream in winter?”

“No, only robots think that.” Jason smiled.

You swung to punch his shoulder. Jason didn’t even bother dodging, taking the hit with the biggest grin on his face.

“I’m glad this isn’t a live interview again because if I wasn’t cancelled for giving attitude to you at the press conference, then your fangirls and boys would berate me after this.” You spoke, ears red.

“They wouldn’t do that. They just love trying to get me in as many love scandals as possible.” Jason rubbed the edge of your ear with his fingers, they felt warm to the touch. “Been a running joke for a while. Last week they thought I was dating a valet guy and previously they thought it was a some lady at the auto shop.”

“Does that explain the edits of you with some taco stand guy?” You smirked.

“Aw, you looked me up.” Jason cooed.

“Alright, that’s enough.” You laughed as you walked into the ice cream parlor. The two of you walking in and a pair of teenagers sat alone in the shop.

“One scoop of strawberry please.” You asked the teen worker, you looked at Jason, silently asking for his order.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Do I get the pleasure of you treating me to ice cream?” He teased.

“Just order.” You told him, feigning frustration.

“Banana split please.” Jason excitedly told the worker.

“Wow, really taking advantage of me.” You pulled out your card.

Jason pulled out a twenty dollar bill from his wallet, placing it in the tip jar.

You smiled to yourself.

As you sat with your sweet treats, Jason was devouring the ice cream.

“Y’know, now I get why you get this craving.” Jason scooped another bite in his mouth.

“No more robot talk from now on.” You eyed him.

“Sorry about that. I just wanted you to act like yourself. You look better like that.” Jason mindlessly played with the left over ice cream at the bottom of his plastic tray, a small smile forming on his face. “People getting angry at me turns me on.” Jason smirked, his coquettish personality coming back, but it didn’t annoy you as much as it did before.

You choked on your ice cream, the realization to his words in your eyes. You looked back at the other teenagers in the shop, they were in their own world, not paying attention to you.

“Relax, they don’t care about us.” Jason laughed.

You glanced back at him, weighing the thoughts on your next words.

“I bet my praise would be more effective.” You scooped your last bit of ice cream, finishing it.

Jason’s laughed boomed in front of you. He was smiling like a little kid, it lightened your heart.

“I never know what comes out of that pretty mouth.” He couldn’t stop laughing.

Your ears reddened at his words.

You nervously played with your spoon.

Words. Yes, they were just words. No need to overreact.

“Wanna walk by the harbor? I think I need to walk off all this sugar.” You asked Jason, getting up to throw away your empty cup.

The air outside was freezing, but your ears burned.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd #red hood #writing #racing hearts

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afterglowkatie · 5 months ago

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pair of pests: summer ˏˋ°•*⁀ kyra x catley!reader, social media

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penguinsravioli · 7 months ago

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·˚ ༘Crush Confession anthony vaughn x reader

: ̗̀➛⁺ chapter 1 ⁺ next

“Well, shit.” I stare at the map while everyone crowds around it. Heaps for keeping my body count a secret. “Well damn (name), I didn’t know you got down like that ay?” Dusty nudges my side. I frown, I don't think my count is that high in my opinion, but I’d rather keep it on the low you know? This happened during holiday, me and Ant I mean. Didn't mean much to me because we were shit-faced.

But he’s been avoiding eye contact with me since I walked in. I think it's because he’s into Jesus and all that.

“Says here you went at it wiiiiithhhh, Ant and Missy huh? You enjoy getting a gobby?” I rolled my eyes. “Fuck off, cunt...” I shove Spider out of the way. Adjusting my jeans on the way down, they’re seriously starting to ride up my ass. When me and Missy went at it, I didn’t do anything with her. She did go down on me though.

To the gym, we all traveled for an assembly. I sat down near the back, like 2 rows from. Which placed me behind Dusty, I messed with the charms on my acrylics, stoically staring at my feet when the gym silenced. I look up and see, Harper, with a full buzz. “Pack it up Eleven” Missy shouts. I hold in a chuckle. While Amerie frantically calls out her name. “Sit down Amerie,” Woodsy commands. Shortly after, she begins.

“I am a woke woman.” I sit up a bit straighter, curious on what’s about to come out of her mouth next. Woodsy is known to be a tight stuck-up bitch of a principle, I don't think she's that bad. She just… “I enjoy sex as much as the next person.” …has a way with her words is all.

“But reputation is everything and this map..has jeopardized your reputations” No fucking kidding woods. “And the reputation of our school. On the first day back, we are currently in the process of contacting all the parents of everyone on this map”

Shit…shit shit shit shit shit- I am so fucked. Woodsy’s voice begins to lessen throughout my brain. “-and have strongly suggested that there are to be no more parties, shindigs, or gathos-” my mouth begins to dry up. What will my parents say? They’ve had the ‘talk’ with me but they're not really understating you know. “Oooi central link is losing her shit” Spider comments. “Shut up Spider..” Ant whispers. “Hey! Hey!-” There's Woodsy’s voice coming in again. My legs begin shaking “-Unsupervised parties equals alcohol. Alcohol equals poor choices. The risk-taking behaviors outlined on this map are unacceptable.” I sigh, lightly pulling at the end of my hair. Trying to calm myself down, I'm so gonna get my ass beat when I get home later. Woodsy ends her speech a bit later and we’re finally dismissed. Well, except Amerie. It must have been her. What a dog.

Maths passes by excruciatingly slower than usual. I check my phone, no notifications. My legs begin to shake again, and the under of my boobs are sweating, how fun. I put my head on the table, I feel a headache coming up. I look at the clock. Thank GOD. I get up to use the bathroom as soon as the bell rings. I breathe in and out slowly. “You’re good man You're good, chill out” I attempt to calm myself down. When it finally works I walk out of the bathroom. Turn a corner and there in the gym, is Harper beating the shit out of Amerie.

“worldstar material?” I question, weaving myself into the crowd pulling out my phone to record. “Well shit, beat her ass then” I instigate. A small chuckle slips from my mouth when Amerie falls to the ground, Harper leaves, and Ameries nose is bleeding.

“Yikes..” I turn away. My ass is already grass when I get home. Let us not deepen the grave by being late to class.

“Oi (nickname), can we talk?” It’s Ant. I feel just as bad for him as me. I’ve met his mom, she's scary. “About? It seems to me you've talked a bunch” “Listen I’m sorry about it. I know you told me not to spill but Spider kept on prying because he saw us walk out of the bathroom.” During holiday I had snuck out and went to a party that Sasha So invited me to. Now I don't drink, but I do occasionally take a hit. The last time I had gotten high I almost died of laughter, like so deadass. I'm a giggler, but this time I was dissociating.

—“Oi (nickname) you good? Ant looks at me. He’s a bit high, you can tell because usually when he’s hella high he acts like he doesn’t have a brain. “Yeah bruh, heaps”. We stare at each other for a moment and I begin giggling, he begins giggling too. “You know… you’re real cute when you’re not trying to be like spider and your group leader dusty” I turn my body towards him and get closer. I was wearing this cute skirt, it was pretty tight on me but it made my legs look quite nice. I had paired it with this cute black tube top as well. “Am I? I always thought I was a bit of a ripper” I giggle at his remark. My arms begin to wrap themselves around the base of his neck. “Wanna show me how much damage a ripper like you can cause?” He smirks, “sure mate” he puts his hands down my waist, dropping his arm to grab my hand as he leads me to the bathroom.—

I shake off the memory. “Listen, Um Anthony..” I think to try and find the right words to say. He lifts his head to reveal his puppy-like eyes. Ugh, what an asshole that boy is. “I don't really care anymore. But I think it would just be best if we forgot about it yeah?” His face seems to melt a bit with sadness. “Yeah Yeah, Of course. No biggie”

“Cool, Catch you later I guess” I begin to walk away from the sulking Ant. “Will the following students please meet at classroom 5D”

I continued walking, trying to get away from Ant, who was currently burning holes into my backside. “Amerie Wadia, Harer McLean, Sasha So, Missy Bekett, Dustin Reid, Spencer White, Anthony Vaughn—“ I whip my head around, and his face looks confused. “Well Shiiiit” I smirk his way, he rolls his eyes and adjusts his backpack straps beginning to walk the opposite way from me.

“(name) (lastname), Darren Rivers, Quinni Callegar-Jones, Douglas Piggott—“ He turns around. “HA!” I roll my eyes and follow him out the doors.

#heartbreak high x reader #heartbreak high #anthony vaughn x reader #anthony vaughn imagine #heartbreak high 2022 #amerie wadia #spider white #ant vaughn #heartbreak high season 2

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miryum · 4 months ago

Text

"The Red Arrow"

Summary: Detective!Jason Todd x detective!Reader based on Jake and Amy's relationship

Series Warnings: Swearing, descriptions of violence (but nothing descriptive), guns and other police stuff

Series Masterlist

Mp/n: mispronounced name W/n: wrong name N/n: nickname

I combined two episodes- just a heads up

Y/n stood next to Cass behind the two-way glass, carefully watching a redhead sitting in the interrogation room. Jason stood silently in the corner. The redhead was a burly man, feet thrown up on the metal table, causally singing. “What’s going on?” Y/n scrunched her nose.

“Picked him up on more than a dozen counts of identity theft,” Cass said. “His name is Roy Harper. Ever seen him?”

“Nope. Although, I will admit, he’s one of the hotter perps. Definitely smash.” Jason grunted at Y/n’s words.

From inside the interrogation room, Roy sang, “Cassandra…. Cassandra…. Caaaassandraaaaaa…. oooooh yeah….” Y/n snickered and Jason couldn’t hold back a smirk.

Ignoring Roy, Cass said, “he said he wanted to talk to a Mp/n or W/n L/n. Whatever.”

“Why would he want me? And, should I change my name to W/n L/n? Cause it sounds super badass.”

“He said he has some info about someone with arrows?” Cass shrugged.

“Arrows?” Y/n’s eyes widened. She muttered to herself, “he knows the Red Arrow.” She grabbed Cass by her shoulders and demanded, “listen to me. He specifically said he knows someone who uses arrows?”

“Yeah. I literally just said that.”

“Right, right, sorry.” A laugh bubbled out of Y/n. She practically ran into the interrogation room, Jason following on her heels. He wasn’t about to let her be alone with a criminal. Cass sighed and marched after them.

“So, I used to work in a pawn shop,” Roy explained after introductions. Y/n sat forward, hanging on to his every word. “Chill hours, absent boss, perfect place to snag jewels and stuff. Uh, not that I’ve ever done that,” he hurriedly added. Cass’ jaw twitched. “Anyway, this guy came in a lot, selling rubies.”

Y/n gasped. “Just like the Red Arrow!” she exclaimed.

“I mean, we called him Miguel, but whatever.” Roy shrugged.

“I’ve been chasing this guy for six years!” Y/n turned to look at Jason and Cass, explaining her passion for this random thief. “He always steals red rubies from high tech jewellery stores and spray paints a red arrow before he leaves, hence the name. He never left any evidence and he’s never been caught on camera. He’s a ghost!”

“Super ghost,” Roy whispered, eyes gleaming.

“Super ghost!” Y/n yelled out, agreeing.

“Before anything else happens, we need to know this guy’s legit,” Jason said. “Describe him.”

“Uh…” Roy hummed. “Mexican dude, maybe 5’8”? He has this pointy little beard and always wears a purple tie.”

“So would you say he looks sort of like,” Y/n whipped up a drawing of the man Roy was describing. “This?”

Roy winked. “There‘s that sexy motherfucker, Miguel.”

“This is a composite sketch from ten interviews I've done,” Y/n said in awe. “A perfect match.”

Cass wasn’t satisfied. “So all you know is what a bunch of other idiots have said over the years. Big whoop. Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Roy sat back and his teeth flashed as he grinned. “I know how to get in touch with him.”

Y/n gasped and emphasised, “Roy Harper!” Jason clicked his tongue, unimpressed.

“Ah, Brown. Just the woman I was looking for.” Captain Wayne stopped by Stephanie’s desk, looking down at her. “Clark has accepted an offer to teach at the University of Florence for the next six months.”

“Oh, I love Italy,” Steph said, still unsure as to why her Captain was telling her this.

“Clark and I belong to the Park Slope Racquet Club, where we've established a squash doubles dynasty.” Bruce explained, “we've taken home the trophy two years in a row. Unfortunately, he’ll be flying to Florence this year during the tournament. I remember you told me you played in college…” he trailed off and glanced at Steph hopefully.

“Three-time intramural champion at Sarah Lawrence,” Steph said proudly. “Would have been four, but senior year I played Lord Farquaad in our school's production of ‘Shrek.’”

Wayne hummed, unsure of how to respond. “In any case, I would be honoured if you would take Clark’s place so that I could still compete.”

Stephanie blanched, yet offered a thumbs up. “Absolutely! I would love to do that!”

“Fantastic,” Wayne said.

“Yup! That is great. This is great.” She slowly stood and manoeuvred over to Dick’s desk before collapsing in a seat next to him. “This is terrible.”

“Why? You’ve always said you wanted more quality time with Wayne.” Dick set down his pen.

“No, not like this,” Steph shook her head. “Squash brings out my competitive side. Breaking racquets, cursing, excessive use of the bird.” Her eyes widened in fear. “One time, just to psych a guy out, I locked eyes with him and ate a squash ball.”

“That's not possible.”

"I can still feel it rolling around in me, Dick.”

“Look, the point is to have fun,” he tried to reassure her. “So just relax and have fun.”

“Right, right, right, yeah. I mean, it's just a game. It's fun. There's no need for Wayne to see me unleash the beast.” She laughed nervously. “Okay.”

“The burner phone that Roy uses to contact the Red Arrow is at his house.” Y/n pressed her hands together and pointed at Captain Wayne, a hopeful look plastered on her face. “He's agreed to help us catch the Arrow if…. We drop all charges against him,” she said quickly, almost as she hoped her superior didn’t hear her.

Captain Wayne sat behind his desk, analysing his detectives. “How many rubies would you say this Red Arrow has stolen?”

“Fifty-eight, that I know of.” Y/n said, “but the real number could be in the thousands!”

Wayne squinted at Y/n. “You’re not very good at maths,” he stated. Turning to Cass, he asked, “what are the charges against Harper?”

“Thirteen counts of identity theft, but I’ve been chasing him for more than a month.”

“A month?” Y/n scoffed. “I’ve been chasing the Red Arrow for more than six years. Do you know how many months that is?”

“Seventy-two,” Wayne answered instantly.

Y/n pursed her lips and murmured, “Ten…? Five and seven… and four years… wait, months?”

“Do you need a maths tutor?” Captain Wayne asked. “Because the department will provide one.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious,” Y/n muttered.

“I’m on the fence,” Wayne admitted, returning to the matter at hand. “Cain, you caught him. It’s your call.”

“Cass,” Y/n turned to her friend, practically begging. “This guy is for real. One thousand pushups.”

Cass’ eyebrows shot up. “One thousand pushups? Alright. I’m in.” She shrugged.

“What’s one thousand pushups?” Bruce asked.

Y/n explained, “we were in the academy together and hated the drills. So now, when we're on a case, if one of us says one thousand pushups, it means ‘I'm so sure I'm right that if I'm wrong, I'll do one thousand pushups.’”

“It’s a pact we made,” Cass added. “It means ‘trust me.’ And I do,” she added with a smile.

Wayne nodded. “Make the deal.”

Y/n cheered, “yes! I’ve got you now, Red Arrow! Wow! It feels good to say that in front of actual people instead of the mirror. Okay! Let’s grab the burner, contact and catch the Arrow, and become police legends.”

Later, Roy stood in front of his house, flanked by Y/n and Cass, the latter in her signature leather jacket. “Babysitter’s car is here,” he said. “They’re home.”

“Babysitter?” Y/n scrunched her nose. “You have a kid?”

“Yeah,” Roy beamed. “Little girl called Lian. Can I take my cuffs off?”

“No,” Cass deadpanned.

“Lian doesn’t know I’m a criminal!” Roy protested. “She thinks I own a construction company.”

“Why stop there?” Y/n shrugged. “Tell her you’re an astronaut.”

“Nah, man,” Roy shook his head. “Space is scary. You saw what it did to Matt Damon. I don’t wanna staple my skin together.”

“You got a point.” Y/n shot Cass a look. “Come on, Cain.”

Cass huffed and rolled her eyes. “You can play-act with your daughter for three minutes until we get the burner. One false move and I tase you in front of your daughter,” she threatened.

“Geez, dude. Harsh,” Y/n sucked in a breath. She mouthed towards Roy, “Don’t worry, she loves me too much to do that.” Roy nodded back dramatically.

He unlocked the door and a small voice shouted out, “Daddy!” A tumbling mess of toddler came barreling down the hall and into Roy’s arms. Y/n cooed, heart melting. Roy grunted, picking Lian up and spinning her around.

“Hey, baby! How you doing?”

“Good! Lois and I were playing Veterinarian.”

“Ooh! Sounds fun. Where is Lois?” Roy looked around.

“Cleaning up!” A voice shouted from down the hall.

“Why aren’t you at work?” Lian asked. “And who are they?” She pointed at Y/n and Cass and Roy gently reminded her it’s rude to point.

“They’re my coworkers!” Roy snickered, “Cass is a director on my board of directors and Y/n is my financial planner.”

Y/n winced and hummed, “yes. Stocks and numbers. Money. Very important. Did you know that four twenty-five dollar bills equal a hundred dollar bill?” Cass simply sighed and rubbed her temples. “Speaking of which,” Y/n said, noting her friend’s expression, “we should find that phone. So we can get back to building… buildings.”

“Right, right.” Roy let Lian down and said, “it’s in the spare bedroom.”

“I’ll go with you,” Y/n volunteered. “Cass can stay here with Lian and Lois.” Cass glared at her, but agreed.

Roy led Y/n through the house, waving to Lois and asking about Lian’s day. The spare bedroom was filled to the brim with toys and stuffed animals from Lian and memorabilia from Roy’s younger days. Roy dug the out burner phone and presented it to Y/n who quickly typed out a message. “Back in the game,” she narrated. “When can we meet up?”

“Ooh, you’re good at this criminal thing,” Roy commented. “If you ever wanna quit your cop thing, I could use your intelligence.”

“Aw, thanks man. How long until he usually responds?”

“Like, ten minutes?” Roy shot her a look. “Chill, dude.”

“I can’t chill!” Y/n bounced up and down. “I've never been this close before.”

“I gotta admit, your enthusiasm makes me want you to catch him.”

Y/n placed a sincere hand to her heart. “Thank you.” She noticed a pile of DVDs in the corner. “You still have those?”

“Yeah. I robbed a store a couple years back and kept my favourites.”

Y/n crouched down and scanned the titles. “Goonies, Princess Bride… The Sandlot! Dude! You have the best taste in movies!”

“Gotta have the classics,” Roy said. “Yes, ma’am, the American stories of promise and inspiration.”

“Inconceivable,” Y/n muttered, grinning.

“I’m not sure that word means what you think it means,” Roy said in a stilted accent.

“Hey, you guuuuys!” They crowed together.

“Hurry up, Benny! My clothes are going outta style!” Roy quoted.

“They already are!” Y/n cried back, both giggling.

“Hey,” Cass stepped into the room. “You guys having fun?” Lian gripped onto the detective’s hand, smiling brightly. Cass’s eyes screamed, 'Cause I’m not. Her hair was decorated in braids and she looked as if she wanted to rip them out.

The phone suddenly chimed and Y/n practically dropped it trying to see the Red Arrow’s response. “Parking lot on Flatbush and Vanderbilt in 15 minutes. Let's go.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Roy held up his hands. “Cain looks like a dirty criminal. But you,” he pointed accusingly at Y/n who still wore her GCPD jacket, “look like a cop, man. You can't go over there like that.”

Y/n raised an eyebrow. “...What'd you have in mind?”

A couple minutes later, Y/n stepped out of Roy’s house wearing a striped shirt and jeans with a white suit buttoned in the middle, sleeves rolled up. Y/n giggled, a moment away from breaking out into laughter. “I don't look like a cop now.”

“No, you look like Backstreet Boys meets Jonas Brothers,” Cass said.

Roy laughed, “Burn!”

Y/n shook her head, “Nah, that's not a burn, that's cool.” As they walked to the parking lot, she commented, “Not gonna lie, the suit is kinda growing on me.”

Cass grunted, glaring out the parking lot. “There’s no one here. L/n…”

“A thousand pushups,” Y/n said softly. Cass took a slow, deep breath and nodded once.

“Incoming,” Roy hissed, eyebrows up and hands in pockets. “Who the hell are you?” he cried to the man walking towards them, very clearly not Miguel. “Where's Miguel?” Y/n frowned and eyed Cass.

“He hadn't heard from you in a while, so he sent me to make sure everything was cool,” the man said, shrugging.

“Apparently it's not,” Y/n muttered, kicking the pebbles at her feet. She had been so close.

“Who are they?” The man nodded to Y/n and Cass, glaring.

“They're with me,” Roy said. “This is the buyer. Rosa Santiago.” He gestured towards Y/n.

The man shook his head. “I don't know ‘em, I don't trust ‘em.” He stated his terms, “He meets with you alone or it's off. I'll text the address.”

The man walked away, not giving them another option. Once he was out of earshot, Y/n groaned, “Come on! I promise you this: they have not heard the last of Rosa Santiago!” She shook her fist at the back of the retreating man. She pivoted to face Roy and Cass and announced, “Okay, it's worth the risk. We send him in alone.”

Cass argued, “no, we don’t! Something doesn't smell right to me.”

Roy shrugged. “Could be my dad's suit. He died in it.”

Y/n’s eyes widened. “He died in it?! Wait… this is a man’s suit? Why does it fit me so well…?”

Roy’s burner phone pinged and he said, “they just sent the location.” He studied his phone and exhaled loudly. “Man, this dude is cautious. If I show up one minute late or I'm not alone, he is done with me.” He pursed his lips and said to Y/n, “this is your last shot.”

Y/n shook her head and picked at her skin. “I can't let the Red Arrow get away.” After a moment of contemplating, she decided, “put a wire on him, get a tactical team in as backup.” She begged Cass, “please, it's the only way.” When the older detective didn’t look impressed, Y/n tried to convince her. “Harper and I know this guy. You have to trust us.”

Cain scoffed. “Do I? One of you is a criminal, and the other one is dressed like a knockoff of fucking Steve Harvey.” She poked her tongue in her cheek and decreed, “it's over. I'm ending this now.” She sighed. “Sorry, Y/n. Truly, I am.”

Y/n stared at her and couldn’t help but cross her arms. ”Seriously, Cain?”

“Yeah.” She repeated the words Y/n had promised earlier, “one thousand pushups.”

Y/n’s chin jutted up. “Well, I raise you. Two thousand pushups.”

“What?” Cass frowned. “That's not how this works. I said "one thousand pushups.” You have to back me up, L/n. That's the pact; end of story.”

“Well, I break the pact,” Y/n said abruptly. “Cass, I hope you understand how serious this is to me.” She whined in a deep voice, “Can't you read between the lines, man?”

“Don't quote Die Hard.”

“Sorry. But we're still sending him in alone.”

Captain Wayne wore shorts and a t-shirt, something Steph was still getting used to seeing. She, however, was on the sidelines, fiddling with her racquet. “You ready, Brown? Psyched up?”

“No, why?” she asked. “Do I seem psyched? 'Cause I'm definitely not. I- I just want to have fun!” She ran a hand through her hair.

“And to win,” Wayne reminded her slowly.

“Hey hey hey!” Steph shrugged dramatically, pulling at her shirt. “If we all have fun and don't throw any racquets and don't eat squash balls, then we're all winners.”

“What?!”

“Nothing. I'll serve.”

The game started with Stephanie serving and after a couple hits, their opponent called, “out.”

“What?” Steph shouted. “Are you out of your goddamn mind?” Then, as if a switch flipped in her head, she gave a high-pitched chuckle and gritted her teeth. “That was... fun. That was a fun call. You're a real fun guy, fun guy. This is fun! This is fun! Right?” Her knuckles turned white on her racquet.

Y/n prepped Roy Harper in the back of a police van. “We need evidence, so get him talking,” she encouraged him. “Ask questions about money, jewels, specifics.”

Roy clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I'm getting kind of nervous, man. This dude is for real. You sure you have everything covered?”

“Yeah. There's a guy on the back door, eyes on the side door, and two dudes on the corner. You'll be fine.”

“What about choppers?” Roy asked. “Do you have access to choppers? With snipers and rockets and shit?”

“No one has rocket choppers,” Cain deadpanned.

“Although that does sound amazing,” Y/n added, eyes lighting up with the possibilities.

“We got eyes on the Arrow.” A voice announced through a walkie talkie. “He's a block and a half away.”

“You ready?” Y/n asked Roy.

Roy nodded. “You and me, N/n. We were born ready.”

“Yeah! Go, Roy, go! You got this! Show me your game face! Whoo!” Y/n hyped him up as he exited the van, clapping him on the shoulders. Once the doors had closed behind Roy, she turned to Cass and stage-whispered, “his game face makes him look constipated.”

Y/n leaned over the audio transmitter and muttered, “we meet at last, Red Arrow. For six years I've tracked you. And today I'm taking you down.” She said into the microphone, “Roy Harper, can you hear me? Say something to test the wire.”

“Hey, Cain, after we put the cuffs on this guy,” Roy waggled his eyebrows. “I'll be free for dinner. And I’m sure Lian would love another playmate. What do you say?”

“The mic works,” is all Cass said.

“Miguel! What's up?”

Roy called out and another voice filtered through. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

Roy rambled, “let's talk about jewels. I’m working at the shop again. I can deal with anything you want. Red jewels, blue jewels, one jewel, two jewels. Jewels are really great, aren't they? Real pretty.”

“What is he doing?” Cain asked in disbelief.

“Talking about jewels,” Y/n said as if it was obvious.

“You know what else is great about jewels?” Roy continued, “The way they look. They’re just so pretty.”

Cass shook her head. “That's it. I'm calling it.”

“No!” Y/n shrieked.

“Move, people, we're going in now.” She banged open the door and the other officers ran onto the scene. “On your knees! Hands on your head!” In the basement where the deal was going down, they surrounded a man who was Mexican, maybe 5’8”, had a pointy little beard, and wore a purple tie. He was clutching a thick briefcase and nervously complied with their demands, dropping the briefcase.

“Gotcha, Red Arrow,” Y/n’s chest bloomed with excitement and pride, having finally caught her prize. “Wait, where's Roy Harper?”

“Uh, he went to the bathroom.” The man stammered, unsure if this was all a trick. “I- I'm just here to cut his hair. I don't know what's going on.”

Y/n hummed, “A likely story, Red Arrow…” She bent down and opened the briefcase, revealing scissors, razors, and other supplies. “But you actually do have a lot of hair products.”

“He's gone. He ran,” Cass confirmed.

“Why would he do that?” Y/n exclaimed. “He helped us catch the Red Arrow. That was the deal. This doesn't make any sense unless…” Her mouth fell open and she realised, “Roy Harper is the Red Arrow.”

As Y/n stood there, shocked, Cass immediately jumped into action. “Put out an APB. Seal off everything for a 20-block radius.”

The audio transmitter beeped and Roy’s voice said, “Yeah, don't bother looking for me. I'm in the wind.” He made a ‘whoosing’ noise into the microphone.

“If you're close enough for me to hear you, you're close enough for me to catch you!” Y/n called back.

“Nah, I got a relay set up, sister.”

“So if you're the Red Arrow, who's this dude?” Y/n asked.

“Well, a couple of years ago you were getting really close, so I started telling all my peeps that if they ever get caught, they should say I’m Mexican, 5’8”, have a pointy beard and always wears a purple tie.”

Y/n nodded stoically. “So then you hired a guy who matched that exact description….”

Roy laughed. “No, no, no, no, no, no. That's my barber, Miguel Barragan. He gave me the idea.”

Miguel was cutting Roy’s hair and commented, “you know, if you can't come in, I do house calls. You just text me a location and I could be there in half an hour.”

Roy beamed. “Good to know.”

“You know, you should actually use him while he's there. He'll give you a crazy good fade. Lian says he… layers her hair? I don’t know.”

“I get crazy good layers from my current barber, thank you very much.” Y/n deduced, “So you dragged us over here, went in there, pretended to talk, and then snuck out the basement. Am I right?”

Roy squealed. “The basement connected to another basement! Which connected to a garage, which is where my boy picked me up with Lian.”

“Your boy? Oh, that guy from the meet-up. He works for you.” Y/n rolled her sleeves up and tugged at a strand of her hair. “He pretended to be spooked by me and Cain in the parking lot to make sure we let you go to the next meeting by yourself.”

“Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! You win a prize!”

“You lied to me, Roy Harper,” Y/n whispered dramatically, somewhat hurt and somewhat impressed.

“You brought your daughter along?” Cass mumbled.

“Gotta be honest, I'm pretty disappointed right now,” Y/n shook her head.

“Sorry it had to go down this way, L/n.” To his credit, Roy sounded a little sad. “Maybe we could've been friends in another world.” He paused then cackled. “If I hadn't just fooled you like a little- Lian, cover your ears- bitch!” An engine revved in the background. “Bitch!”

Y/n shouted back before the line when dead, “You use that mouth to kiss your daughter, Harper?!”

“Brown.” Captain Wayne approached his teammate after a particular gruelling and unfortunate match. “Is everything okay, uh, with your brain?”

“Yeah yeah. I'm great,” Steph said. “I am having… a lot of fun.”

“Yes, I’m sure, given as you’ve said that one hundred and forty three times today.” Wayne pulled her aside and reminded her, “you do realise that if we lose this next match, we're out of the tournament?”

“Yes, but the important thing is we had a good time.”

“No!” Wayne yelled. ”The important thing is that we win the trophy! I promised Clark before he left for Italy that we would do that.” He sighed before admitting, “do you know why I chose you as my partner?”

“Because I'm the most athletic person you know?” Steph’s voice ended in a high pitched question.

“No, otherwise I would chose Todd. I chose you because of an article I read in the "Sarah Lawrence Phoenix" about a young woman they called ‘squash's unhinged lunatic.’” He pokes her in the chest for extra measure.

Stephanie swallowed harshly. “I- I haven't a clue what you're talking about, Captain.”

“According to that article,” Wayne said, ”that lunatic was 27-0. I need her on my team. I need you… to unleash the beast.”

Steph’s eyes grew wide and she inhaled sharply. Captain Wayne’s smile was just as sharp.

“Whoo!” Steph paraded into the court. “You butternuts ready to get squashed?” Their opponents stared at her and she mocked them. "’Huh? What? Duh?’ That's gonna be you guys while I smoke your butts, because Brucie and the Beast don't even give a what.” She sang the last word and waved her arms dramatically.

Bruce repeated stoically, ”we don't give a what.”

“Unh-uh. Whoo! Let's do this.”

The matches went on, and with the Beast unleashed, Stephanie and Bruce won every single one- not without earning a reputation.

“Boo-ya-kah, suckers!”

Whenever someone called her shot out, Steph had a few choice words. “You kidding me? Are you kidding me?”

But when they won a point, she was enthusiastically crazed, even to the point where she slapped Captain Wayne on the butt. “Way to go! That's it, baby!”

Y/n approached Cass’s desk. “Hey,” she mumbled. “So… I went back to his house. Unsurprisingly a dead end.”

“I have a lot of work to do, L/n,” Cass said firmly, standing up to leave.

“Wait. I want to say something.” Y/n sighed and began, “we've worked together long enough to know that you hate apologies. So, I just wanted to ask you to join the Roy Harper case. Officially, as partners. I wanna catch this guy and I can't do it without you.”

“No, you can't,” Cass agreed.

“Now I believe I owe you one thousand pushups.” Y/n grimaced.

Cass gave her friend a small smile. “I don't care about the pushups, Y/n. I care that you didn't honour our pact. I've always trusted you, and when you went against me, it made me feel like you don't trust me.”

“I know and I'm sorry. It won't happen again,” Y/n promised.

“No, it won't. Now get down on the floor.”

What?” Y/n yelped. “You just said you didn't care about the pushups!”

“I changed my mind.”

Taking a long breath, the detective said, “Fair enough. A pact's a pact.” She nodded at Cass, knowing she couldn’t back down. Y/n shed her jacket, stared Cass in the eye, and stooped to the ground, beginning to honour her deal. “One, two, three…”

“Two hundred and sixty nine…”

“Heh. Sixty-nine.” Damian chuckled as he sauntered by, snapping a picture of his best friend. “I’m using this for blackmail,” he shouted back at her.

“Okay!” Y/n gave him a weak thumbs up before going back to her pushups.

“Five hundred and thirteen…”

Jason walked past her, calling out, “Night, L/n.”

“Night. Five hundred and fourteen…” she panted.

“Hey, Derek,” Y/n greeted the night janitor. Derek waved back. “One thousand…” she did one more pushup before whining the rest of her sentence. “Is so many pushups! I'm never gonna make it.” She shouted out, “What am I at?”

Captain Wayne marched by. “Nine hundred and one.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“You said two thousand, remember?”

“Argh! I should've trusted you, Ca-a-a-in!” she sobbed loudly, a stripe of sweat staining the back of her shirt.

“Clark, there's something we'd like to show you.” Stephanie and Captain Wayne day in front of his computer, face-timing with Bruce’s husband, Clark.

“Ta-da!” Steph held up the trophy proudly.

“Ah, magnificent.” Clark said from Italy. “The trophy is ours! I look forward to getting number four next year.”

“Actually, we've been banned for life from all future tournaments.” Wayne sucked air in through his teeth, leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, geez. What happened?”

Stephanie popped back into screen. “My fault, Clark.” The bruises on her arms and legs confirmed her words. “I snapped the second-place trophy over my knee and threw it in a toilet.”

“...Oh, my.”

“Yeah.”

“But the important thing is, we had fun,” Bruce smiled softly.

“Yeah,” Stephanie agreed.

“I don’t want to do it,” Dick said. “She’s not my problem.”

“She’s literally your problem,” Steph rolled her eyes. “You’re her sergeant.”

“And as your sergeant,” Dick said. “I command you to take care of L/n.”

Stephanie glared at him. “You’re abusing your powers, Grayson,” she whispered ominously. “Get Todd to do it!”

“Todd’s already taken care of her,” Dick nodded to Jason who had placed a doughnut and a cup of coffee on Y/n’s desk and a blanket over Y/n’s sleeping form. He had attempted to place a pillow under her head, but when he tried, Y/n had grumbled and whined. Jason didn’t want to disturb her, so he just left her on the floor. Every moment or so, Jason would glance down at Y/n to make sure she was still sleeping peacefully and a loud noise hadn’t roused her.

“They really are idiots,” Steph muttered.

“Yeah,” Dick sighed. “They are.”

#title of your sex tape #jason todd x reader #jason todd #dc x reader #dcu #detectives au #brooklyn 99 #b99 #b99/dcu #slow burn

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pastelvelvett-2nd · 3 months ago

Text

Yandere!Harper x Female!Reader

[♡] Last chapter

Chapter 2: Only human

Summary: A week has past, and your second tutoring session with Harper is today. It's rather inconvenient that the entirety of the night, her mind is far too preocuppied with thoughts of you to sleep, even the slightest bit. The perfect mask she built slipping in front of you would be her worst nightmare, and in all likelyhood, it probably would happen today, given her current state.

Word count: 5,230 words

Note: Hello again! This will first of the two promised version with male and female reader. The fact that I took a while to post this is made even more hilarious by the fact that I literally had to edit exactly one word in this whole thing, considering this story is in second person. I was about to decide to not post these at all, but then I realized that there will be more mentions of the reader's gender as the story goes on so it's worth posting this one too so we can have the full set. ...Okay I ramble a lot even for Author's notes, cool, good to know. Anyway hope you enjoy re-reading or reading for the first time! Here's to hoping I won't take another year to post the next chapter (haha dw I totally won't guys)

What did Harper truly care about in the world? It wasn’t directly related to what she was doing, like it tends to be for a lot of people. She couldn’t think of many things she did at all that came from mere enjoyment. The girl did everything she did not for the act of it in itself, but what she would gain from going through with it. Often, it felt like even small decisions and actions on her day to day life were strategies, as insignificant as they may have looked to those around her. Small actions and decisions that build up to make a portrait of herself others could enjoy. That’s why, her newly found, constant thoughts didn’t make sense to her. For nights in a row, she’d tumble and shift in bed incessantly, thoughts burdened and confusing. They didn’t start off as something she was bothered by, though. First, she had a fuzzy feeling inside of her as she thought back to your first tutoring session. Your entrancing frame and beautiful face burrowed itself in her mind, laid their eggs that would lead to more, to the point it was the only thing she could see whenever she closed her eyes. Your words, your tone, soft and comforting like a lullaby, replayed themselves in her head. Except, of course, unlike a regular lullaby, it just had to have had the exact opposite effect on her, about as damaging as three cups of coffee back to back would be at this hour. That’s where her pleasant thoughts started seeming to be more concerning, than anything. Why was she considering something so intently, when she didn’t have any real conclusion to these thoughts? Harper had gotten obsessed with things before, it was pretty much an integral trait to her already, but it was always for the sake of gaining something. The fact she didn’t understand what was happening to her was concerning in its own right. The girl let out a shaky, unnerved sigh as she, in a brisk movement, got up to a sitting position on her bed. Harper peered downwards at her soft blanket. It had a childish print; A repeated pattern of a cute, chibi cat sleeping, the whole thing being colored in varying shades of pink. Thinking back at everyone she talked to on a regular basis, it was clear as day they’d think she’s immature for secretly liking this sort of thing. How would you react, though? Would you be disappointed that she’s not truly a mature person, or would you be okay with that? Something told her you weren’t like them, preoccupied with what looks socially acceptable.

“Oh, crap…” Harper gritted her teeth, leaning forward as she covered her scrunched up face the second she realized. She couldn’t believe it. Her mind wandered to something other than you for one second, and that thought was so quick to turn right back to you. This clearly wasn’t something she could push out of herself by just laying down in bed, maybe if she did something, she could take her mind off of it. The girl looked up, her lavender eyes rapidly darting from her left to right to identify where on Earth she left her phone before she started sleeping. Or… Trying to, anyway. Ah… On the end table next to her, of course. Did she ever leave it anywhere else? Why did she even ask herself where it was to begin with? Harper stretched her body to the right to grab onto her phone and pull it from her charger. It was still warm to the touch from having charged for- she didn’t know for how long. Her eyes, used to the darkness of her room, tried adjusting to the bright, unnatural light the phone gave off as soon as she turned it on. Admittedly, the overly cutesy brightly colored wallpaper didn’t help much with this achieving this.

Oh…

Crap again.

Harper cringed at the sight of the time, 5:49 AM. It took her a full hour drive to get to college, so really, she only had an hour at her disposal. She couldn’t remember the last time that she stayed up the whole night without realizing it, if it ever happened to begin with. Normally, she goes to bed at 10PM sharp, and falls asleep only a few minutes later. Just what had you done to her?

Surely it wouldn’t be surprising to say that Harper couldn’t sleep in the one hour she had left. Instead, she worried incessantly about how that day was the second tutoring session she had with you, and the only thing she was running on was anxiety that kept her more or less alert. Still, the lack of sleep made her nowhere near as sharp as she’d hope to be for it. If anything, in her current state, you’d be the one able to teach her. Still, she had to put her best foot forward. She managed to get through the school day, yes, with a few weird looks from people that knew she was behaving strangely, but she was still able to jot down notes with… Some readability to them.

As Harper waited for you to join her in the back of the library, she lowered her face to get a better look at what she now recognized as being hieroglyphs that were intended to represent the English language in her notebook, coming to the morbid realization that she was deluding herself into thinking she’d been doing better than she actually was. She supposed she didn’t do very well with lack of sleep… Maybe because she was always strict with herself on getting a full night of rest, like her parents were with her while she was growing up.

—

Second week, second tutoring session with Harper. You had to admit that you were incredibly nervous, but thankfully less so now, since you noticed how approachable she was to you the last time. A part of you was fully expecting her to be the type of popular person to act incredibly sweet to some people, and horribly nasty towards those that have a less than stellar reputation, like you did. If anything, she seemed even more genuine and brighter when you talked to her one on one than in a classroom setting.

You inhaled then exhaled, paused in front of the library door, trying to remind yourself of these things. You’re fine. Just focus on learning, she wouldn’t judge you for being incredibly stupid (even though compared to her, you clearly are).

The library was very quiet, which was certainly a good thing for you. You could only see one person reading in a chair relatively close to the door. Not someone you recognized, from what you could tell. The guy gave you a weird, slightly judgemental look for just a second, which was enough to make you shrink and wonder if you did something strange. You weren’t sure if you were just being paranoid, it wouldn’t be the first time you imagined someone judging you. God, just focus… Find Harper. She’s chill. You’ll be fine with her. You hurriedly went deeper into the library, the stacks of books you needed for today held tightly against your chest. You were quick to spot her, sitting at the furthest table and staring down a notebook. Her face was pale enough that she looked like she saw a ghost, and unlike you, it didn’t seem like she spotted you nearly as fast.

She narrowed her eyes, nearing her face to the paper to get a better look while also lifting it. You had to wonder what made reading what’s there so difficult. It kind of looked like someone else’s handwriting, from what you could see, so maybe she borrowed someone’s notebook for some reason and was having some trouble reading it because she wasn’t familiar with the way they wrote. Another thing that was interesting to you- Harper tended to be… How should you say this without sounding rude (because though you’re obviously the only person listening in on your thoughts, you still would feel guilty if you thought something mean about someone that only treated you with kindness so far). She was always more attentive to the world around her than this, let’s call it. While you were 100% the type of person to look around disoriented when you go to meet a friend at any location, you always thought people like Harper were exempt from having those kinds of moments. Well, Harper is human, afterall… Like anyone else, she can get distracted.

You guessed that calling out to her would be a better idea, since you were starting to feel a bit creepy just looming over her. You didn’t doubt it would look suspicious if anyone saw you, they’d most likely think you were stalking her (and doing a pretty bad job at it, honestly).

“H-Harper, hel-”

The second you spoke out with a shaky voice and an awkward smile, she jumped up from her seat with a dramatic gasp and looked up at you wide eyed like you’re about to attack her. She dropped the notebook on the table in time with the gasp, making it fall and slide further to the other side of the surface, where you were. You looked down at the notebook that was just in Harper’s grasp briefly, which was enough to make her panic further and take it, sliding it in her backpack hastily. That was… Strange of Harper. You never once saw her like this, or heard of anyone seeing her like this. It looked like she was hiding a murder plot that she wrote about or something, though that was obviously not possible. Plus, you doubted the notebook was even hers to begin with. Maybe she wanted to copy someone’s notes or homework and she was ashamed she’d get caught…? But then again, why was only this mystery person’s out, and not Harper’s, too?

“OH! Y/N!” Harper exclaimed, a bit too loud for something she’d say in the library. “Hi! You’re…” She looked up to the clock with squinted eyes. …Maybe she needed to get new glasses, and that’s why she was squinting at that notebook, too? “Oh. Exactly on time.” Ouch.

“Haha… Surprised? I wouldn’t want to waste your time making you wait for me, Harper.” You laughed nervously, pulling out a chair to sit down next to her, careful to not place it too close to hers. She was already pretty jumpy, by default, the last thing you’d want to do is worsen her emotional state. Something… Clearly must’ve happened to cause her change of behavior. You didn’t think you had it in you to pry. The two of you weren’t terribly close or anything, afterall. That would probably make her uncomfortable. Harper was much quicker to reply to this than she was in noticing you.

“Oh, wait, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that… I meant I thought it was earlier than it actually was, so when I checked the time, I got surprised!” The pink haired girl tried her best to explain, as fast as humanly possible, so you wouldn’t have a misconception about what she meant for much longer. You eyed her in concern, studying her face. Upon closer inspection, beneath her eyes were dark bags that certainly weren’t there the day before. It didn’t look like she slept one bit last night, or if she did, she had very little. Maybe something was bothering her, and she couldn’t sleep? You didn’t know her personally at all, so you had no clue what could’ve happened. Interrogating her about it couldn’t be a good idea, so maybe giving her an easy out from having another tiring thing to do after uni would be the kindest course of action.

“You look… Pretty tired, Harper. Do you want to change the tutoring to tomorrow, or maybe some other day of the week? They should allow that, it’s still a tutoring session a week-” You couldn’t properly brace yourself over how immediate her response would be, even if you somehow knew about it ahead of time.

“No. No, we can do it today.” Harper’s voice was strangely firm, almost as if it was an order, rather than a confirmation. A few seconds of eerie silence passed before her different, frankly unusual demeanor melted away. “S-Sorry, I meant… I’m not really one to put things off. It’s a vicious cycle.” Oh, how nice it would’ve been to be her, and not your procrastinating self. It seemed like Harper was putting a genuine effort in pulling herself together, as evidenced by her straightening her back and clearing her throat. Her nervous, taken aback expression was turned into a calm and composed smile. Just how can she flip so quickly from one way of acting to another? It seemed like she’d be fairly good at something like improv acting or playing DnD, but you weren’t sure she was interested in either, or would be if she gave it a try. “Okay, sorry for the delay! We can start!” Realizing you still hadn’t sat down, you awkwardly shifted and moved towards the seat next to her, fighting off your immediate instinct to sit across from her instead. You supposed sitting right next to her was a lot more nerve wrecking of a concept, it was closer to her after all, so it made sense.

With Harper even closer, the marks under her eyes seemed far more pronounced, making your guilt over putting her through this deepen. Still, she was obviously doing this for the extra credit, so it was her own decision if she wanted to sacrifice her own comfort to get that week’s session out of the way. Harper was the type to take everything she did seriously, which was incredibly respectable to you.

As she introduced the subject of today’s focus (still under math, because God knows you needed it), you could see the energy and brightness she put forth just a few minutes earlier dissipate gradually. Harper’s speaking was slower, her pauses more frequent, and eventually, she even struggled to have her eyes be any wider than half lidded. Even more distracting was that her writing seemed a lot sloppier than I saw it be last week, enough for it to be very possible that the notebook she had in front of her earlier was actually hers. This wasn’t something you could commentate on openly, at least not if you pointed out the specific telltale signs she had of being sleep deprived. But maybe if you insisted you end the tutoring session early after a bit of time had past, she’d be more likely to accept it.

“Okay, so now that you know the formula to that, let me just write down an example before you try one on your own.” The pink haired girl slid her math notebook closer to her side of the table and began writing down a math problem, tired eyes deeply focused. Then she started solving it, her mouth twitching slightly at some point, followed by her eyebrow doing the same. It really seemed like Harper was unsure of what she was writing down. You knew she probably meant for you to look at it after she was done, and peeping would be a bit mean, but your curiosity simply couldn’t wait. You scooted closer, making Harper’s body freeze like a deer caught in headlights the second that she finished writing the final result. Your eyes narrowed and studied each line of calculations. It… Didn’t really sound right. At all.

”Oh… I kinda thought it would be something like this.” Harper allowed you to take the notebook from under her and watched you attentively with no readily apparent emotion. You quickly wrote down the solution that you thought would be correct right below hers, looking to her when you were done for some sort of feedback. Harper seemed the slightest bit horrified, her mouth opening wordlessly and her eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Is it… That wrong?” Harper blinked a few times, looking bewildered as she took the notebook back and read through my solution several times over rapidly.

“No… It’s correct. I…” Harper gulped nervously, seeming not so eager to continue her sentence. She looked up towards her own solution, silent for a bit longer. “I was completely wrong. This… Is completely idiotic, what’s wrong with me? It’s like if an elementary schooler tried to solve this!” Harper’s tone raised, and her breathing quickened. Her concern from earlier was a bit more than you expected, but this state of panic was way beyond that.

”Harper, it’s okay, really! Everyone makes mistakes-“

”Not me!” Harper’s head was lowered in shame, hands shaking to the point she was barely able to hold the notebook properly. Tears quickly welled up in her violet eyes, and it took no time at all for them to drip down her face and for her to close her lids, probably from the stinging effect her tears left in their wake. She sobbed and sobbed, leaving you speechless. “I… Can’t. I’m not allowed to.” Her voice was weak and quieter this time, the slightest bit rapsy from having raised her voice earlier. You had no clue how to comfort her properly, not knowing her well enough to know what worked and what didn’t. Everything you could try would be a shot in the dark.

You were so caught up in Harper’s emotions that you didn’t notice that the librarian had walked up to her. The middle aged brown haired woman placed a hand on Harper’s shoulder in a motherly way, and you could only hope that would be enough to make her feel at least a little bit better, because then you would know what you could do. “Honey, are you okay…?” Then, to your surprise, the woman moved her gaze from her to you, now far less compassionate and more pointed, more accusatory. “You didn’t say anything to her, did you?” Did it… Look like you were an awful person? You had no clue why so many people here expected the worst of you. Even the staff, apparently. Still, you felt an insane amount of guilt for not doing something to comfort her up until now. You wouldn’t be surprised if Harper would come to resent you for seemingly not caring, despite her trying to tutor you every week, even when she was so exhausted.

”No, t-they didn’t.” Her current state made the fact that she actually responded for you even more shocking. It was noble of her to think about how you were perceived, even when she seemed to be going through a panic attack. “I-I’m sorry for making a scene. This is a library, I s-shouldn’t disturb-“

“No, no honey. Please. Don’t think about that right now. Just focus on feeling better.” The librarian let go of Harper’s shoulder and looked towards me. “Y/N, was it?” You felt pretty bad that you didn’t remember her name, despite her remembering yours. “Please take Harper here to the counselor.”

”It’s a-alright, Mrs. Moore, I can go on my own.” Oh well, at least you knew her name now, that’s something. Harper stifled her sobs, making occasional sniffing the only obvious sign of her crying, besides of course, the tears streaming down her face. The girl took her notebook and stuffed it in her backpack quickly, slipping it onto her back. It seemed like Harper was trying to rush away before either of you could have the chance to protest.

“Wait.” You got up too, and grabbed onto her hand after she took just a few steps away. Immediately, as you looked down at her hand that was stiff from shock, a result of your sudden and probably socially unacceptable action (given how little time the two of you spent together), you came to regret that decision. Then you looked up, which was perhaps even worse, because you saw her staring at you with a confused, teary face. “Sorry for that, I just…” You tried taking your hand away from hers. This time, it was your turn to be shocked when Harper refused to let you go, holding your hand tight. You’d feel rather awkward bringing that up now, especially with Mrs. Moore being right there still, so instead, you decided to continue what you were meaning to say. “I really want to do something to help. Taking you to the counselor is the least I could do.” Harper just stared at you in shock for a few good seconds that might as well have been an eternity, given how bad your perception of time was after her sudden show of emotion earlier. Then, she chuckled, smiling. Her eyes brightened, and her breathing seemed to be steadier than it was before. It was pretty interesting, because she didn’t give Mrs. Moore this look of gratitude and happiness after she tried to comfort her. First, you assumed maybe Harper just didn’t feel that okay with physical touch, so her putting her hand on her shoulder didn’t help. Still, she talked to her, too, and she had a more gentle tone that should’ve had more of an effect, yet it didn’t. Maybe Harper didn’t much like Mrs. Moore? That was your best guess.

”Thank you. I-If… You’re okay with that, I’m okay with that too.”

You didn’t really expect Harper to immediately say yes, but needless to say, it made you relieved. You weren’t really one to insist with anything, it was too nerve wracking to demand something of anyone. Still though, you were pretty sure that demanding to go with her, a grown adult that barely knew you, was an objectively morally wrong thing to do that you wouldn’t have done even if you had a backbone.

—

You started leading Harper to the counselor’s office, the both of you incredibly quiet. It honestly felt a tad bit awkward for you to be leading her somewhere on campus, when you barely started going here a few months ago and still get lost sometimes, even now. You weren’t sure for how long, but Harper probably had been going here for a significantly longer time than you. It seemed like she knew the layout pretty well, even now, in her sleep deprived state. If anything, you were there for emotional support. You felt rather useless for not being able to give that emotional support, and instead be completely quiet.

“I’m sorry for-“

”I’m sorry for-“

Much to your shock, you both apologized at the same exact time, causing you and her to stop dead in your tracks. After a few seconds of bewilderment, the two of you laughed a bit at the coincidence. Not in a boisterous way, it was rather impossible to be too cheerful with the things weighing on both of your minds. But it was a soft, content laughter. You didn’t know about her, but it made you a bit more comfortable at that moment. This and her show of emotion earlier made you realize that as different as she may look to be from you, you may have more in common than you first assumed.

“That was interesting. …What are you sorry about?” You asked her, smiling and beginning to walk again. Harper began stepping forwards immediately, herself. You looked to your left and saw her looking downwards at the white, well cleaned tiles of the hall. You supposed what she wanted to say made her uncomfortable enough to want to avoid eye contact.

“For ruining today. For all I know you could’ve had a normal, happy day, and I just ruined it for you. Or, possibly even worse, maybe you had an awful day and I made it even more horrible.” Harper breathed out, seeming to be even more tired out by her own emotions. “I stood in the way of things being normal.”

”Harper…” You eyed her with sympathy, initially unsure of what to say. “It’s not your fault. You must’ve gotten no sleep at all, and there has to be something in the back of your mind upsetting you that was worsened by how tired you are.”

“It is my fault. Who else’s fault is it that I didn’t sleep last night like a normal person?” It looked to you that Harper was trying so very hard to maintain “normal”… Her idea of what a normal person was seemed to be pretty warped.

“Normal people have bad days, sometimes you can’t get sleep. Some things just… Aren’t anyone’s fault at all.” Harper’s brows knit together, and she searched your face for an answer to a question you weren’t aware of. A few seconds later, she smiled, humming softly and looking forward again.

“I appreciate that… Um… What were you going to apologize for?”

For a moment, you forgot you even apologized at all earlier. You got far too caught up with her apology to continue thinking about it. Her apology was about something pretty complex actually, as simple as her opening for this topic was. It made you realize that your reason for apologizing was so much smaller, to the point it would be fairly accurate to say that it was pretty much for filling dead air. You chuckled a bit. “For being quiet.”

”Oh no, there’s no reason for you to apologize for that. I understand why you’d be quiet… You probably don’t know how to react properly after my outburst.” Harper looked downwards with a subtle sadness. Earlier, she seemed to have liked when you held her hand… Would she feel better if you did it again? Before you could argue yourself out of doing it because of your anxiety over making her uncomfortable, you just did it, reaching out and gently holding her hand. That time, Harper didn’t seem quite as shocked. Instead, she welcomed the touch immediately, even holding onto your hand tighter as if she was afraid of you letting go. The very same way as she did previously. She smiled, though she still refused to make eye contact.

”It’s okay. Really. I’m not judging you for being human.” Harper’s smile dropped, and you immediately began to worry you did something to upset her. Even worse, that was the moment that she chose to look at you. In her eyes was a strong, burning emotion that you couldn’t pin down with any real certainty.

”Y/N…” Harper still faced towards you, but her eyes darted elsewhere. “I have to tell you something.” She paused, and built the courage to look back to me after a bit. “I wasn’t going to go to the counselor’s.”

”Huh…?” You raised an eyebrow at this and stopped walking again, Harper deciding to do the same. Why on Earth didn’t she say so? She could’ve told you the second the two of you left the library, if she was just worried about the librarian pressuring her about it.

“I was going to walk with you until the beginning of the hall the counselor’s office is in and tell you I can walk to it from there. Then I’d wait for you to leave. I was going to go out to get some fresh air on my own, get everything out of my system and continue with our session.” Would that… Really work? What if you decided to stand there and wait for her to get in before you left? Your face was marked with confusion as you tried to make sense of why it would be a big deal at all for her to refuse to go somewhere.

“I… Understand that you probably didn’t feel like you needed to go to the counselor anymore, but I just don’t know why you wouldn’t tell me. Did you think I’d get disappointed with you if you didn’t go?” Harper paused, biting her lip uncomfortably. You weren’t her mother, and even if you were, you would’ve understood that she didn’t need it.

”I don’t know if I really need it or not. I just don’t want it, and that’s all I was thinking about. I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… My parents put me through therapy at some point growing up, and I can’t say it helped much, to say the least. Anything that reminds me of that could only make me feel worse.” It seemed like she didn’t want to respond to your question, but from what you could tell based on her reaction, you most likely hit the nail on the head. “You must think I’m a pretty awful person for wanting to lie to you like that… But I realized how little you deserved to be lied to, and how uncomfortable I felt about doing it to begin with, so I just had to tell you.” Harper sighed out, body language seeming a bit more agitated now than before. When she noticed you weren’t responding immediately, she looked towards your eyes with unmistakable panic. “I’m really sorry.”

You shook your head. “It’s okay, really. I’m not mad.” After you gave her an encouraging squeeze of the hand, her eyes lost some of the anxiety it held in them. You were incredibly relieved to see her calm down a bit. “Let’s go together.”

”Outside…? Oh.” Harper blinked in surprise. It seemed like she didn’t think you offering that would be a possibility. “Yeah, we can go... I’ll be honest, I’m a bit surprised you still want to spend time with me after the way I acted.”

”Acted like what, a normal human with emotions? I get it, I’m human too, regardless of what some people may say.” You tried to joke around to brighten her mood, hoping it would work, as admittedly awkward as your attempt felt. Thankfully, she giggled, marking this mission as a success.

Oh, how did Harper wish that other people could be like you were. You were understanding of her faults and mistakes, her humanity, something she never felt from someone else. At the very least, not in a sincere form. Memories of the fake kindness she received back when she went through therapy flooded her mind, and it made her want to vomit. Actually… Maybe she preferred this. Maybe she preferred it because it made you so much more special. It felt like in her eyes, you started growing more and more, and she realized what a unique, beautiful person you were. She was deeply terrified that unlike her, you began seeing her as pathetic, as the small, scared child she saw herself as every single day. Maybe if you knew about the way she thought about you last night, you wouldn’t be so kind any longer.

But surely, you weren’t fake. Your empathy was a sincere one, and finally, she found someone she could trust. Still, Harper was afraid. As much as she already trusted you, she knew she shouldn’t be hasty, especially when she didn’t even fully understand her own feelings quite yet. Not only that, but it wasn’t exactly normal to get attached to someone so quickly, she was certain. Letting the relationship develop naturally would be for the best, before she could voice this part of her. It was a shame that keeping these obsessive thoughts to herself was already becoming irritating to her.

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future-fire-dragon-blog · 3 months ago

Text

What Comes Around: Chapter 3

Masterlist

Pairing: Jason Todd x Mafia! Afab Reader

Synopsis: In this intense chapter, (Y/n) navigates the gritty underbelly of Gotham to meet with Black Mask, the city’s notorious crimelord. Tensions run high as (Y/n) and Black Mask negotiate terms that could shift the power dynamics in Gotham’s criminal world. Meanwhile, Matthis delivers a mysterious message to Roy Harper, setting off a chain of events that leads to a suspenseful rooftop encounter with the Red Hood. As alliances are tested and secrets are hinted at, the chapter dives deep into the dangerous game of survival and trust in Gotham's dark streets.

(y/n) = your name

(l/n) = last name

Content warnings: Violence and Threats, Drug and Chemical Trade, Surveillance and Distrust, Character Trauma and Past Experiences, Threats of Harm, Manipulation and Coercion

Crime Alley, once known as Park Row, was where the underbelly of Gotham scheme. (Y/n) santered through the area, glaring straight ahead. Looking down at their phone they rolled their eyes, “Why does Black Mask even want to meet?” they grumbled. Black Mask is the current crimelord, a sleaze bag in (y/n)’s opinion, he sells drugs to kids and hurts kids, something that (Y/n) does not tolerate.

Matthis, who had been trailing behind (Y/n) spoke up, his voice monotone, “You know why Boss. He doesn’t like that we are setting up shop,” (Y/n) rolled their eyes at this, “Yeah well he’s a sleaze bag, he needs to be put down like the dog he is.” they grumbled. Matthis let out a laugh at this, “I know Boss, but unless Gino said you can, you know the rules,” (Y/n) stopped and turned to Matthis, their gaze softening slightly, “I know Matt, but he hurts kids. That should be an automatic target in my opinion. He’s just obsessed with money and power.” they said, frustration evident in their voice.

Matthis nodded, reaching out to put a comforting hand on (Y/n)’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I know Boss, but look on the bright side, since we came to town our other soldiers have busted multiple schemes involving kids, all of those kids are safe because of us.” He said leaning closer trying to look (Y/n) in the eye. “Just promise me that you won’t be too rash.” he pleaded, his grip on their shoulder tightening slightly. (Y/n) sighed and nodded, “I promise Matty.”

Matthis smiled and released his grip on (Y/n), “Good now let's get going we can’t be late,” he said giving (Y/n) a small playful nudge. (Y/n) chuckled and turned around, their face going back to the menacing glare.

Black Mask’s goons greeted them at the door, puffing up and acting all menacing, “Look Matthis they’re trying to be scary,” (Y/n) guffawed as they slapped Matthis on the back. Matthis laughed, a frightening sound. “Move it, uglies, I don’t have the patience to deal with low-level goons today,” (Y/n) commanded, a menacing glare on their face. The goons visible gulped, comically deflating and moving out of the way so Matthis and (Y/n) could enter the compound. (Y/n) smirked and pushed open the doors, the doors slamming against the wall, alerting everyone to their arrival. “Oh, Black Mask!” they called out, their voice playful. Matthis followed, his hand resting on his gun, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Black Mask, a supposed crimelord who has a disfigured face that looks like a black skull, greets them as they enter his office, "Ah, welcome," the crime lord's voice wavered slightly, though they quickly masked it with a thin veneer of arrogance. "I trust your journey was... uneventful. Not that it matters to me, of course—just a formality, you understand." Their smile was tight, forced, as they leaned forward, their eyes betraying a flicker of unease. "Let’s be clear—you’re here because it suits me... for now. Your life, your fate, every breath you take—it’s all within my control." They hesitated, just for a moment, before adding with a strained bravado, "But let’s not waste time, shall we? I'm sure you wouldn't want to give me any reason to doubt your... intentions."

(Y/n) grinned wickedly, “You hear that Matthis, he thinks he's in control,” they laughed, turning to Matthis who had a similar grin on his face. “Black mask, let's make one thing clear. You're only still alive because Gino said I wasn’t allowed to kill you,” they responded, their voice dropping into a menacing snarl. “I hope we are here to accept the terms of Gino’s agreement. I would hate to become the crimelord of Gotham in less than a week. I bet Arkham Asylum has a nice little cell for you, or perhaps a trip to the bottom of Gotham Bay is more your style.”

Black Mask’s facade of control wavered as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his fingers drumming nervously on the desk. A bead of sweat traced a slow path down his temple, despite the cool temperature of the room. “Oh, I’m well aware of Gino’s... conditions,” he said, his voice trembling slightly despite his effort to sound dismissive. His eyes darted toward the window, a subconscious sign of his unease as he struggled to maintain his veneer of bravado. The thought of losing his grip on Gotham’s criminal underworld gnawed at him, and he clenched his jaw, trying to suppress the rising tide of panic.

"You might have Gino’s protection now, but that won’t last forever. And when it runs out, when his favor shifts... you'll see just how ruthless I can be." He tried to muster a confident grin but failed to hide the fear behind his eyes. "But for now... yes, let’s talk terms. I’m sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, can’t we?"

The last words dripped with a forced attempt at confidence, but the unease in his posture was unmistakable.

(Y/n) let out a sharp, barking laugh that echoed through the dimly lit room. "Yes, let's get down to business. I’m sure we can find some common ground." They eased into the chair across from Black Mask with the same casual confidence of someone who controlled the room, crossing their legs and weaving their hands together in their lap. Matthis stood behind them, a silent but looming presence, his hand still resting on his pistol, ready for anything.

With a smile that carried no warmth, (Y/n) continued, "Let’s start with the basics. The Moreno family will allow you to continue your work—" they paused, their gaze hardening, "—as long as you stay out of our business and keep your hands off the children and women of Gotham."

Their tone sharpened as they leaned forward slightly, the playful facade vanishing in an instant. "That means no trafficking, no exploitation, none of your people using them as pawns. You do, and I won’t hesitate to tear your empire apart piece by piece."

The air in the room grew tense, but (Y/n) didn’t flinch. They held Black Mask’s gaze, letting the weight of their words settle before easing back into their previous, more casual tone. "Now, as for the rest, I’ll be taking over the drug and chemical market. Specifically, Crane’s and Joker’s operations." They leaned back, cool and composed. "You can keep your foothold in the weapons trade. That’s your bread and butter, after all."

Pulling a folder from their suit jacket, (Y/n) slid it across the desk, their eyes never leaving Black Mask’s. "All I need now is your signature," they said with an almost playful tilt to their smile, though their gaze carried a dangerous promise. The unspoken message was clear: Refuse, and I’ll handle it another way—one you won’t like.

Black Mask’s jaw clenched tightly, his hands gripping the arms of his chair as (Y/n) spoke. His eyes flicked from the folder to (Y/n)'s expectant smile, then up to Matthis, whose hand hovered ominously over his pistol. He forced a tight-lipped grin, trying to keep the edge of fear from creeping into his voice.

“You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” he said, his tone strained but still laced with forced arrogance. “The Moreno family pulling strings and you stepping in as Gotham’s new chemical kingpin. Bold... reckless, even.”

He paused, his fingers twitching slightly as they hovered over the folder. "Crane, Joker… those are dangerous territories you’re encroaching on. I’d be curious to see how long you last before their… unpredictability becomes a problem. And Gotham’s children and women?” His voice hardened, though a nervous tick betrayed him. “What do I care about them? Fine, we’ll leave them alone."

He leaned forward slightly, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "But you think you can waltz in and take the drug market, just like that? Push me into weapons alone? You really think that’s all it’ll take to control Gotham?”

He reached for a pen, his fingers wrapping around it tightly, but hesitated, his eyes locking with (Y/n)’s. The threat behind their gaze was unmistakable. He forced the pen to the paper, scrawling his signature with an irritated flourish. "I’ll play along for now. But remember, the moment Gino’s not watching your back, you’ll wish you stayed in your lane.”

Black Mask tossed the folder back across the desk with a scowl. "I’ll see to it that your precious market remains intact… for now."

(Y/n) grinned, taking the folder, “I’d like to see you try Black Mask,” they said, a threateningly calm look in their eye. “Thank you for your cooperation. Gino will be in contact. Arrivederci!” With that said (Y/n) stood and left the office, Matthis following close behind.

Matthis ascended the creaky stairs of the aging apartment building, each step groaning under his weight as dust danced in the dim light of the flickering hallway lamps. His fingers absently toyed with the crumpled slip of paper in his pocket, the familiar rustle almost comforting. "What’s their obsession with this Red Hood guy, anyway?" he muttered under his breath, the irritation clear in his voice.

He paused in front of apartment 8, its door slightly scuffed, paint peeling from the edges. For a moment, he hesitated, listening to the distant hum of the city outside, a strange quiet settling over the corridor. His knuckles met the wood in a sharp, decisive knock that echoed through the stillness, bouncing off the cracked walls and traveling further than it should have. He shifted on his feet, waiting, the silence deepening as if the very building was holding its breath.

The door creaked open, revealing a young man with fiery red hair and piercing green eyes, his brow furrowing in suspicion. He studied the stranger for a moment, leaning slightly against the doorframe. "Can I help you?" he asked, his tone cautious yet curious.

Matthis offered a sickly sweet smile, the kind that never reached his eyes. "Hello, Roy Harper," he greeted, giving a subtle nod of acknowledgment. Without further pleasantries, he pulled the crumpled paper from his pocket and extended it toward Roy, whose confusion only deepened. "The Boogeyman wants Red Hood to meet them at this address at midnight," Matthis continued his voice calm but carrying an ominous weight. "Tell him not to be late."

Before Roy could respond, Matthis pivoted on his heel and made his way back down the creaking stairs, his footsteps fading into the eerie quiet of the building.

Roy stood frozen for a moment, staring down at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand. His heart skipped a beat, a cold chill creeping up his spine as the reality of the message sank in. With trembling fingers, he fished his phone from his pocket and hastily dialed a familiar number. His voice came out shakier than intended. "Jason, get to my apartment. Now."

The rooftop of Benny’s was quiet, the hum of the neon sign below buzzing faintly against the backdrop of Gotham’s infamous Crime Alley. (Y/n) stood at the edge of the roof, their sharp eyes scanning the empty street below. A light breeze caught the edges of their coat, but the chill of the night air didn’t bother them. They had grown accustomed to Gotham’s cold nights—nights where deals went bad, and survival often hinged on instinct and reputation.

(Y/n) had been waiting for nearly an hour, their arms crossed as they leaned casually against a rusted rooftop vent. Their posture was relaxed, but their mind were sharp, and calculating. Midnight was fast approaching, and they knew Red Hood would be on time. They shifted their weight, resting a hand on their hip, where the handle of a pistol was concealed under their coat. The city below seemed almost too quiet, but that was typical of Crime Alley at this hour. The place had a pulse, one that slowed after dark, but never fully stopped. A few dim streetlights flickered weakly, casting long shadows down the alleyways, and Benny’s—the rundown diner below them—was the only place still open, a beacon for Gotham’s late-night stragglers and criminals looking for an easy hideaway.

At exactly 11:59, the distant growl of a motorcycle echoed down the alley. (Y/n)’s gaze snapped toward the sound, their expression unchanging but their heart quickening slightly in anticipation. The roar grew louder as the bike sped closer, until the unmistakable figure of Red Hood came into view, cutting through the fog of the city like a shadow.

He parked the bike just outside Benny’s, his movements were as efficient and precise as the rumors suggested. He dismounted the red of his helmet reflecting the flickering streetlight. For a moment, he stood perfectly still, scanning the area with the practiced eye of someone who knew when they were being watched.

(Y/n) remained on the rooftop, watching him in silence, their fingers tracing the cool metal of their pistol for reassurance. They didn’t need it, not yet. This was just the beginning—a game of power, influence, and carefully chosen words. Red Hood was an unknown factor in Gotham’s underworld, and (Y/n) was about to find out if he was an ally, a threat, or something far more dangerous.

(Y/n) smirked as Red Hood’s head snapped up toward the rooftop, catching their silhouette in the faint glow of the streetlight. If they could see his eyes behind that mask, they’d bet anything they were narrowed in suspicion. They gave a little wave, playful, taunting, before stepping back from the edge.

The familiar thunk of a grappling hook followed a second later, embedding itself into the ledge, and (Y/n) watched with mild amusement as Red Hood flew over the edge with fluid precision. He landed in a perfect three-point stance, his movements as controlled and efficient as always.

"Heya, Red," (Y/n) greeted, their voice laced with mocking sweetness. They flashed a smile, sharp and unsettling, the kind that made it hard to tell whether they were genuinely friendly or just a little unhinged. "How’s this fine night treating you?"

Jason Todd, a.k.a. Red Hood, rose to his full height, his body tense and coiled like a spring ready to snap. Even behind the red mask, (Y/n) could sense the intensity in his stare. "Why am I here?" he growled, his voice low and edged with irritation. His hand instinctively drifted to the gun holstered at his side, fingers resting lightly on the grip.

(Y/n) rolled their eyes, letting out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, come on, Red, let’s not go straight to the dramatics." They waved dismissively, unfazed by his hand on the pistol. "I’m not here to shoot it out with you. That’d be bad for business."

(Y/n) casually toyed with the edge of their suit jacket, as if standing in front of one of Gotham’s most ruthless vigilantes was nothing more than a routine meeting. "I’m here to talk business," they began smoothly, their tone almost disarmingly light. "I assume your associate, Roy Harper, gave you the gist already. I had my own man deliver the message, but I thought I’d make things clear in person."

They glanced at Red Hood, who remained silent and tense, his stance ready for action. But (Y/n) didn’t seem bothered, their demeanor unnervingly calm. "As long as you and your bat-family stay out of my business, no harm will come to you. That’s a promise." A smirk tugged at their lips. "Though, I do regret what happened to little Robin. He’s just a kid—too young to get caught up in this mess. Even if his mother does scare me a little," they added, their smile faltering for a fraction of a second.

(Y/n)’s gaze sharpened, locking onto Red Hood’s masked face with cold precision. "But let’s get to the point, Jason Todd. I give you my word—no harm will come to children, women, or any innocents in Gotham, as long as I’m around. That’s my line, and I don’t cross it."

They extended their hand, an offer hanging in the air between them. "And, for what it’s worth, I’m willing to cooperate with you and your bats—feed you information, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my own business. Call it a… mutual understanding."

Jason felt a cold shiver crawl down his spine as he stared at the hand extended toward him. His instincts screamed not to trust them. "Why should I believe a word you say?" he growled, his voice low and dangerous. His fingers twitched toward his pistol, his body coiled with anger. "You shot at us! You used tranq darts on us!" His voice rose, his fury barely contained, the memory of being ambushed still fresh in his mind.

(Y/n) rolled their eyes, the gesture as dismissive as it was calm, before lowering their hand back to their side. "Please, don’t be so dramatic," they said, almost bored. "I won’t fault you for being angry—it’s expected. But I’m not here to justify the past. I’m here asking for trust, a mutual understanding. You and I both know the streets of Gotham demand a certain code."

They paused, meeting Jason’s glare with a steady gaze, their voice firm but measured. "I may be in the mafia, but I have my morals—ones that, if you’re honest with yourself, aren’t so different from yours. I protect the innocent, just as you do. That’s why, despite everything, I won’t reveal the civilian identities of your bat-family."

The tension in the air thickened as (Y/n) straightened, eyes never leaving his. "If it helps you sleep at night, I’ll even give you my own name, and show you my cards." They bowed their head slightly, offering a gesture of respect, though their tone remained unwavering. "I am (Y/n) (L/n), capo of the Moreno family."

They lifted their gaze, giving Jason a small, knowing smile. "Now, tell me—what’s worth more? Holding onto your grudge, or building something that keeps both of us on the right side of the line?"

Jason’s eyes narrowed behind the red mask, (Y/n) straightening after their introduction. The silence stretched between them, thick with tension. After a moment, Jason’s hand fell away from his pistol, but he wasn’t backing down.

"You say you won’t harm innocents, and you want us to stay out of your business," he said, voice still edged with suspicion. "But you’re not exactly on my list of trusted allies. I don’t work on faith alone."

He crossed his arms, his posture still rigid, clearly testing (Y/n)’s patience. "If you’re serious about this ‘mutual understanding,’ I need to see proof. A safe house, your operations—something more than just words."

(Y/n)’s smile faltered for the first time. Their mind raced, calculating how to keep Jason from stepping into dangerous territory. The safe house was off-limits—too many eyes, too many risks. They couldn’t let Jason, or any of the Bat-family, see the inner workings of the Moreno family. And certainly not with Gino’s surveillance.

They chuckled softly, playing it off, though their fingers twitched slightly, betraying a hint of unease. "Come on, Red. What, you think I’m going to invite you over for coffee and a tour of my hideout?" They tilted their head, eyes flicking up to meet his. "This isn’t how trust works. You don’t show me your safe house, and I’m not about to parade you into mine. That’s not how I do business."

Jason’s jaw clenched. He was clearly used to being the one in control of situations like this, but (Y/n) wasn’t backing down. "So you’re telling me I’m just supposed to take your word for it? You really think that’s gonna fly with me?"

(Y/n) raised an eyebrow, leaning forward just slightly, showing they weren’t rattled by Jason’s pushback. "What I’m saying, Jason, is that trust is built over time. You want proof? Fine. I’ll give you information on one of Crane’s next shipments. A test, if you will. You stop it, and you’ll see that I’m not playing games. But my safe house? That stays off-limits."

Jason’s gaze hardened, and (Y/n) could almost feel the weight of his distrust. "You expect me to work with you, and you don’t even trust me enough to let me see what’s going on behind the curtain?"

(Y/n) shook their head, smiling, though there was a sharpness in their eyes. "It’s not about trust, Red. It’s about survival. I don’t trust anyone in my safe house. Not you. Not even my boss. And if I can’t trust them, why would I risk trusting you?"

Jason’s eyes stayed locked on (Y/n) as their words settled in. His instincts screamed not to trust them—after all, he’d been burned too many times before. But there was something about the way they spoke, that flicker of truth beneath their guarded exterior, that made him pause.

He crossed his arms tighter over his chest, still sizing them up, his face unreadable behind the mask. “You don’t trust your own boss?” he asked, his voice low, testing.

(Y/n)’s smile didn’t waver, but their silence spoke volumes. Jason knew that kind of tension well—he’d lived with it in the Bat-family, keeping one eye open at all times, never fully trusting anyone. It was familiar.

“Fine,” Jason finally said, his tone sharp, but with an edge of reluctant acceptance. “I’ll take your offer. But if you’re playing me, or if innocents get hurt while you’re running your little empire…” His hand hovered over the grip of his pistol, a not-so-subtle warning. “I won’t hesitate to come for you.”

(Y/n) didn’t flinch. In fact, they seemed almost amused. “I’d expect nothing less, Red. But you’ll find I keep my word.”

The tension between them lingered, thick with the weight of an unspoken understanding. Jason gave a small, curt nod, signaling that—for now—he’d give them the benefit of the doubt. But trust? That would come much, much later, if at all.

“Don’t make me regret this,” he muttered, turning on his heel and heading toward the edge of the rooftop. In one fluid motion, he fired his grappling hook into the night and disappeared into the shadows, leaving (Y/n) standing alone.

I hope everyone enjoyed the longer chapter, I will be revealing more about Gino, and Jason's developing trust in (Y/n) in the next Chapter!

Arrivederci!

#batman #jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #mafia reader #red hood x reader #red hood #black mask

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slxsherwriter · 8 months ago

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chase harper x reader please ? 🥺

Evening, anon. Thanks for sending in something. I had a few different ideas for this, but Chase just feels like such a good character for fluff, especially compared to some of the other Costas characters. So, I hope you like this! Sometimes, we all need a little fluff and someone there to take care of us when we get too caught up.

Long days as an editor were typical. The sort of territory that just came with the job. But at the twenty hour mark, even you were beginning to struggle. It didn't help, but it had been days of this, all in a row. A heavy deadline loomed and missing it was not an option. Everyone else had opted to go home or get in a nap. Too tired and too mentally fried to properly do the work. Not you. Though, at the moment, you were just starting to regret that decision. Your eyes felt gritty enough that they could have classified as sandpaper while your vision was beginning to double. It was a dangerous incident when you were editing footage for a movie. Coffee. You needed more coffee. Caffeine and a lot of it was the only thing that was going to get you through the rest of this process.

Pausing where you were at, it was an effort to pick yourself up and not fall over. Simultaneously, your limbs felt like lead weights and noodles. Groaning, there was a conscious effort that had to go into each and every movement. The coffee station wasn't all that far from the room that you were in, but with the current level of exhaustion, it might as well have been a one hundred mile walk.

Coffee, sugar, creamer. A simple order of things. Stir it, blow, sip. Thankfully, muscle memory guided you through the process. It took about half the cup for it to really kick in. It wasn't in the suddenly you felt far more lively and awake sort of deal. It was more of a you didn't feel like falling over or passing out standing up sort of deals.

Standing at the station like a gremlin, cup cradled between two hands, you weren't entirely keen on moving. No, let it sink in before you even thought about going back to the tiny room you had been crammed into for far longer than the human psyche could really handle. But that was the way it went with this industry. Work to exhaustion, have little praise or recognition for the work, start the cycle all over again. Even so, you loved it, which was why you stuck with it.

Your cup was just about empty when you were startled out of your moment of peace. A warm arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back against a broad chest. A nasty comment was sitting on the tip of your tongue when a familiar voice spoke right against your ear.

“Have you been here the whole time?” A glance at the clock confirmed that it was time for others to start leaking back to the studio. Chase Harper was a producer who was hardly ever late to work. And that track record seemed to be holding. You had been at the studio for nearly a full day by now, if the time on the clock was right.

“Yeah. I think this is the first time I've left the room in….six hours?”

“Christ. When was the last time you ate?” Having him worry about you created a warmth in your chest. It was early enough that no one was going to walk in and see the affection traded between the two of you so you felt comfortable turning around in his arms.

“I guess this is the part where I say I don't know, and you aren't thrilled with that answer…” The unimpressed look that he gave told you everything. “It was at some point yesterday. I lost track of time.” He shook his head.

“Come on, you are coming to my office. You're gonna eat and get a little shut eye before finishing whatever it is that needs your attention.” There wasn't any room for negotiating there.

“Your office?”

“Just come on,” he huffed with a small roll of his eyes, though there was a hint of a smile on his lips. His arm slid from your waist, but contact was kept when his hand wrapped around yours.

The two of you had been dating for the better part of three months. Early on, it had been agreed upon to keep the relationship quiet and under wraps. For your sake and his, it was just the easier way to handle things. He had just finished up with a rather vicious divorce. And you? Well, it just seemed easier to let things settle before dealing with all the shit that came with dating a producer. Being seen coming out of his office while you two were likely the only ones here may seem a little obvious. But you were not about to argue because a small nap and a bit of food sounded perfect.

The walk to his office felt like a bit of a blur. You hadn't even realized that he had ordered some breakfast, set to arrive in twenty minutes. Led to the couch, you collapsed and reached up to rub your eyes. The caffeine had given a little boost, but it was quickly fading.

“You just gotta stay awake long enough to be able to eat, okay? Then I’ll wake you up after a short nap.” He settled down beside you and settled an arm around you.

“You stay that close, and you're gonna lull me to sleep instead of keeping me awake.” The soft laugh that rumbled from his chest was felt as you rested your head against his shoulder.

“I can think of a few different ways to keep you awake.” Fingers pressed under your chin gently, so you were forced to tip your head upwards. “Starting with this.” His lips pressed to yours. That was one way to be able to keep you awake. At least until the food arrived. The kiss was slow but not lazy enough that you could fade out into it. Just on the right side of demanding that it forced you to participate and succumb to whatever it was that he had in mind.

Before anything could get too heated, however, his phone rang. He groaned softly but pulled away to grab it. Apparently, the food had arrived, and it was sitting at the front desk.

“I'll be right back.” You nodded as he slipped away and moved out the door. Now that he had started to relax you, it was incredibly difficult to keep your eyes open. Your body swayed a little, and a few times, your head jerked as you started to fall asleep before nearly toppling over and waking up. Standing up, you decided moving was the best bet for you, simply walking around the rather spacious office in a circle.

Chase was back in a flash, holding breakfast for the both of you, with a coffee for himself and a juice for you.

“Here ya go. It isn't gourmet, but it's better than nothing.” You smiled.

“It's perfect. Thank you.” There seemed to be some expectation about how things were perceived with him. But really, you couldn’t have cared less. You certainly weren't dating him because he made good money. You would have dated him if he didn't have a dime to his name. So, you always made sure that he didn’t feel self-conscious about things like this. Quick, cheap meals were always a good way to go when you were running on such little sleep.

Once the food was gone, Chase had directed to lay out on the couch. Apparently, most of the work that he had to do today could be done from his office. At least that was what he said. It could have just been an excuse he used to get you to get a quick nap in. Either way, you weren't going to argue. Sleep was ready to overtake you whether you wanted it to or not. Curled up on the couch, you missed the footsteps that brought Chase over, but the warmth of his jacket that he laid over you as a makeshift blanket was not missed. It smelled heavily of his cologne and caused you to smile, even in your sleepy state.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” he murmured. You swore you heard him cancel some meeting this morning as you drifted off, but it was hardly a problem for the present. Nor did you really notice him lifting your head and resting it in his lap, fingers moving through your hair.

#costas mandylor characters #primal doubt #primal doubt fic #chase harper x reader #chase harper x you #chase harper fic #writing requests

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idontplaytrack · 8 months ago

Text

MY CHARMED ONE [5]

Capri Donahue x Harper Sibling!fem reader

Warnings: fluff, angst, mentions + slight descriptions of the death of reader & darby’s mom(flashbacks)

In which reader gets rudely woken up by a nightmare and gets comforted by Capri

Capri walks out from the bathroom and turned the light off. And as soon as she sat back down in bed, you stirred in your sleep and almost instantly got jolted awake then was sobbing your eyes out. “Baby, baby…it’s okay, baby. It’s alright. You’re okay.” Capri wraps you in a hug without hesitation, rubbing your back, “What’s the matter, darling?”

“I keep getting the same nightmare…of my Mom and Darby drowning, my Dad telling me she died.” You sniffled, “It’s been- the same thing for a week.” Feeling the snot dripping down from your nose, you pull away from the hug. She grabs you a tissue to wipe it off with, then Capri cups your face, swiping your tears away with her thumbs.

“You’re safe here, darling. You’ll be okay, hm? I’m right here with you.”

Tears still threatened to fall with your emotions still running high. You no longer felt sleepy- wanting to get out of bed. “Baby, it’s not even four in the morning. Where are you going?”

“To wash my face.” You told her shakily, “I don’t even feel like sleeping anymore.”

“Okay.” Capri shifted herself so her legs now hung off the bed as she watched you enter the bathroom to wash up, not even bothering to turn the lights on. “Baby, do you want something to drink? Maybe some tea?”

“It’s fine, just go back to sleep.” You told her.

“No.” She disagreed. You didn’t even say anything back before she started making her way to the kitchen. After you’ve washed and dried your face, you headed for the kitchen to look for her.

“Capri, could you…take me to visit my Mom tomorrow?”

She nodded, looking at you once she hears your voice, “I’ll go with you, honey.”

“I’m sorry for waking you up so early.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Capri assured, “Come here, baby.” She snakes an arm around your waist while waiting for the water to finish boiling. “I’ll make you some camomile tea, okay? Then let’s try sleeping a couple hours more.” She knew how tired you’ve been- she’s sees it. No doubt. So you didn’t even bother trying to disagree. Thankfully, with her holding you, you eventually managed to sleep till 8am.

————

After breakfast, you and Capri took a drive to go visit your Mom at her resting place. You haven’t been there in a while, purely because of how hard it was to do so. However, you’ve always had a habit of talking to her before bed nearly every night- of course it was a silent conversation usually.

On the way there, you had Capri stop at a flower shop to get a few of your mom’s favourite. “All set?”

“Yup.”

“Alright, here we go.” She began driving again, you stared out the window in the meantime as she kept a hand on your thigh.

Once there, you and Capri walked through rows and rows before you managed to locate your mom’s headstone. You placed the small bunch of flowers down then sat on the grass. Capri sat down as well, “Oh, would you rather have me leave for a few?”

“No, it’s okay. You can stay.”

“Hi, Mommy. Happy early birthday.” You began, “I’m sorry I haven’t came by in a few months. It’s always been hard for me to come here. So I hope you could hear me while I talked to you every night, almost. Anyway, I’m with Capri now, and Darby’s on better terms with her. I also almost got hit by a car a few weeks ago but Capri saved me. With her power- how cool’s that? Don’t worry about me, Mom. Capri’s taking good care of me. Maybe you sent her into my life right when I needed her the most, and I’m certain you did. So…thank you.”

“I’m very lucky to have her as my partner, Mrs. Harper. She’s the sweetest and most beautiful person I’ve ever met. Not to mention so incredibly strong, intelligent and talented.” Capri added on. You smiled, leaning your head onto her shoulder.

You blinked and looked up because you saw a pair of legs approach you and Capri.

“I’ve been watching over you, my dear girl.” You heard your Mom, “You’re going to do some great things in the future- I’m so proud of you, y/n.” Then through your clouded vision, you met her eyes and her smile. The same one you always remembered. You were in disbelief and smiled back tearfully. “Remember that I’m always going to be with you in whatever way, shape or form. I hear you all the time- you can always talk to me. Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’m doing very well over here.”

You gave her a subtle nod but a bright smile. Relief, excitement and pure joy washed over you all at once. You’ve finally seen her. After such a long time.

“I love you so much, Mommy.” You kissed your hand and tapped the headstone. With that, she disappears, orbing away.

“You okay, baby?”

“Mhm.” You sniffled, “Never better.”

Once on the road again, you told Capri about what happened. “I could feel it.” Capri said nonchalantly, “I couldn’t see anything but I felt it. Besides, the way you were looking up and directly in one area? Kinda tells me she was there. I’m glad you got to see her for a bit.”

You nodded, “Darby’s always been the one to be able to experience that. I’m glad I’ve finally had my own chance.”

“Do you feel better?” She asks cautiously.

“I do. I think this was just what I needed after the week of repetitive dreams.” You nodded firmly. “Thanks for coming along with me, Capri.”

She brushes her thumb over your knuckles soothingly, “Of course, my love. Anytime.”

#auli’i cravalho #capri donahue #darby and the dead #lgbtqia #queer #wlw #wlw fanfic #wlw fluff #fanfiction #my charmed one #drabble

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thebisexualdogdad · 8 months ago

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do you have any nsfw Harper Row headcanons From dc?

Harper row x GN!reader

● Harper is a verse

● she can be whatever you want her to be in the bedroom because she likes doing it all

● especially if it involves one of you being handcuffed

● Cullen accidently finding a pair “do you have these in case you need to tie up a bad guy for the cops?”

● Harper looking at you “yeah sure… that's what those are for…”

● she acts all tough but she actually really loves sweet and romantic sex

● and cuddling after sex is a must, doesn't matter if she's the big spoon or little spoon she just wants to feel close to you

● she has no problem getting handsy in public

● “Uh guys can you not make out right now? We're kind of in the middle of a stakeout”

#dc imagine #harper row imagine #harper row x reader #x gender neutral reader #mini headcanons #gotham knights imagine

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headcans-oneshots-and-stuff · 5 years ago

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Bruce: Hello, people who do not live here. Duke: Hey. Helena: Hi. Harper: Hello. Bruce: I gave you the key for emergencies. Duke: We wanted to cuddle Y/N

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fleogecorpse · 2 years ago

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Imagine wrapping your arms around Tim Drake’s head as he hides his face in your chest or tummy, blankets and pillows surrounding you both because it’s a cold day.

Imagine braiding Jasons Todd’s white tuff of hair while he or you sit on each other’s lap as he silently reads.

Imagine dancing in the rain with Dick Grayson, dance coordinated or not, worrying about nothing and just having fun.

Imagine star gazing with Duke Thomas on a tree branch or hill top, pinkies linking and a blanket over your shoulders as you talk about astronomy.

Imagine taking a walk around the forest with Stephanie Brown, searching for a hangout spot with the best view and lighting.

Imagine working out with Barbara Gordon and aiding each other when you fall or trip.

Imagine painting nails with Cassandra Cain, curlers on her hair and glittery makeup on your face.

Imagine writing love notes on the beach with Harper Row, bottling and tucking them in your bags to read when you miss each other.

Imagine taking late night drives with Kate Kane to a mini-mart, abandoned park or treehouse.

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redhead-batgal · 2 years ago

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hey may I request a batfamily thing where they help the reader who's mourning over a friend's death who has died due to cancer (cause I'm mourning over a youtuber who's name is technoblade who has died today to cancer and I need something fluffy btw your welcome to ignore my ask if you want )

(Sorry, this is so late, I've been going through a hard time recently, but things are getting better! Anyways I hope this helps 😊)

You could barely breathe. Dead, they were dead. Your breath skipped as you forced a smile on your face looking up from your phone. Duke and Damian were talking while Steph and Cass curled into each other on the couch trying to decide what to watch.

They-they didn't seem to care-no no they didn't know. And even if they did, this was your friend. You knew they had been fighting for years, just a little after you had met even.

Cancer.

It was painful and agonizing, yet they always smiled at you. Acted as if nothing was wrong and everything was going to be alright. But they knew it wasn't. Was that why they hadn't said anything? Was that why you found out... found out they spent their last moments alone over text instead of being by their side holding their hand making sure they knew they were loved?

Steph snorted and you swallowed, feeling something building up in your throat. Your breath picked up for just a moment and you forced a slow breath out.

You- you needed a moment. A moment alone, alone so that no one else was bothered by- by your tears.

Sliding your phone into your pocked you rose to your feet causing Cass and Damian to look at you. Duke blinked before looking up from his notebook, his brows furrowed.

"Is everything okay Y/N?"

You nodded, that fake smile searing into your face. You needed to reply, breathe-breathe breathe.

"Yeah" You began your voice cracking.

Forcing laugh you cleared your throat and tried again, "Yeah, sorry. I'm just tired. I think I'm gonna go take a nap."

Duke gave you a somewhat concerned look before smiling and nodding. Damian eyed you before turning back to his sketch book. Cass stared at you, and you gave her a tight smile.

'Feel better' She signed meeting your eyes.

You nodded and signed back, 'Got it.'

With that you turned and left the room your heart beating faster and faster.

How many years had it been since you'd first met them? Four, five? Years felt like lifetimes and yet... they were alone, alone and now gone.

You felt your breathing hiccup as your throat became tight. Walking faster you moved towards the room you used while staying in Wayne manor.

You hand had just barely touched the knob when you felt the tears. Yanking the door open you scrambled into the room before closing the door behind you.

You barely make it to your bed side you, collapse in on yourself. Tears hot and quick spills down your face. Your knees give you and your find yourself on the floor in front of your bed.

Body shaking as your throat got tighter and tighter and tears didn't stop you pressed your face into your hands.

Memories sharp and clear came to your mind. Their smiling face and the way they would roll their eyes when you would do something stupid.

Their laughter and sense of humor. How they wouldn't let the cancer get the best of them. They ordered ridiculous wigs and had fun when all their hair fell out.

You remembered their sleeping face and the sound of the heart monitor beeping when you got to have a sleep over just once. How their eyes lit up when something intrigued them or how they could talk for hours about the randomist of things.

You remembered the tears on their face when you gave them a birthday present despite barely having any money. You remember them scolding you then pulling you into a hug.

You remembered their words, "You're my best friend. No one could ever replace you."

You remembered how they would look out the window with glazed eyes and a small smile. How they would tilt their head back to feel the sun and how they held your hand with a cracked voice and pale lips, they whispered,

"I love you."

Then, then in a shattering of silence you remembered how they were alone when they went. Probably staring out the window, a soft smile- thinking it was better you weren't there.

Forcing back the tears you swallowed and pulled your knees to your chest. Pressing your face into your arms you breathed, slowly and carefully, breath hiccupping and throat aching everyone in a while.

In the silence you realized, you- you didn't want to be alone. Not in the dark and with the memories but- but what were you going to do?

There was a knock on the door, and you felt yourself whimper, however the door opened before you could even reply. With a tablet in his hands Tim walked into the room his brows furrowed. Hot tears spilled down your face and you looked at him hoping he wouldn't glance at you.

"Hey Y/N do you got a minute-"

His sentence stopped as he looked up from the tablet at you. He blinked a few times his eyes going wide.

"Are- are you okay?"

Lie, lie, lie, lie please- please just... I don't wanna be alone

"No." You whispered as more tears came and you pressed your face into your arms, "I'm not okay."

"I-uh, give me a minute."

The door didn't close but you heard racing footsteps.

Great, look at what you did. You scared Tim! Why did you have to tell the truth why couldn't you lie?

Seconds later you heard even more footsteps and the door peeked open and you heard voices.

"I don't know, they're just crying, and I don't know what to do!"

"Why did you get me then?"

"Alfred's out of town, I couldn't think of anyone else!"

Dick poked his head into the room, and you sniffled more tears coming. He blinked.

"Oh."

Then pushed the door open and walked into the room. Hands darting, he winced before looking around the room.

"Are you okay?"

Tim let out a groan before walking in after Dick.

"I already asked them that!"

More footsteps sounded and you found yourself wanting to sink into a hole. Soon everyone would know, and you-you didn't want this but-but you wouldn't be alone, right?

"Hey what's going- what did you guys do to Y/N?" Steph suddenly snapped.

"Nothing!" Dick began, "Tim found them like this."

There was a sigh and you looked up to see Cass signing something to Steph. Behind them, Duke hovered, and you saw someone move but couldn't tell who.

Steph then nodded and hurried away. Cass, grabbed onto Duke's arm and pulled him into your room. Sitting down next to you, she leaned on your arm and Duke blinked. Cass motioned for him to sit, and he sat on your other side.

"What do we do?" Tim hissed and you saw someone else in the doorway.

"Guys, I got this."

They quickly left and you sighed. While you liked having people here, you didn't want to bother anyone.

"OH OH! Got it!" Dick suddenly said dashing out of the room as well.

A few seconds later Damian appeared in the doorway, shadows following him, and you blinked.

Ace and Titus walked into the room before resting their heads on your feet. Pennyworth, trotted in and hopped onto Ace's back. Ace huffed, but Pennyworth moved across him before jumping onto your knees. You sighed and sniffed before setting your legs down. Ace and Titus rested their heads on your legs, and you reached out to pet them.

More footsteps came and you looked to see Harper waddling into the room a collection of stuffed animals in her arms. She bumped pennyworth to the side before dropping them in your lap. Pennyworth hissed slightly before squeezing in-between them, so he was in your lap as well.

Tim looked up from his phone and winced slightly, "Would some calming music help? I think I found a good playlist."

A breath of sorts escaped you and you nodded feeling more tears filling your eyes.

Fast footsteps raced towards you, and you blinked seeing Dick running towards your room something in his arms. He skidded to a stop before sliding into your room. He walked towards you, and you blinked realizing the bundle was a blanket.

You watched as he shook the blanket out and you felt Cass pull away from you. Seconds later, the blanket was wrapped around your head and shoulders. Cass leaned back onto your shoulder and Duke did as well.

"COMING THROUGH!"

Steph's blonde head appeared in the doorway with Jason following her. In her hands was a tub with a silver handle sticking out of it. Chocolate and sugar filled the room as you breathed in.

Jason held a plate of steaming cookies in his hands. You smiled, feeling more tears build up in your throat.

You weren't alone. All-all these people loved you. They really did.

"So, what's wrong?" Jason asked and Steph shot a glare at him.

There was a laugh of sorts, and you noticed a wheelchair turning into your room.

"You guys still haven't' asked them what's wrong? How do you know what to do then?" You watched Barabra roll her eyes as she looked you over.

"What is wrong Y/N? Is everything alright?"

"No," You whispered shaking your head, "My-my friend had cancer and-and they passed away last night. They-they were all alone."

More tears spilled down your face and the room went silent. You raised your hand to wipe away the tears with a sigh.

"I just- I miss them already. I don't know what I'm gonna do now."

Harper plopped onto the floor in front of you and smiled softly. She shrugged before remarking, "Well, whatever it is. We're here for you."

Smiling you nodded slowly, "Thank you... I love you guys."

"Of course, we all love you as well L/N." Damian declared causing everyone to look at him.

He rolled his eyes and gestured around the room, "Why else would we all have gathered here. Is it not obvious."

You felt a laugh of sorts escape you and you sighed.

"Thank you... thank you all."

There was some more silence when Duke suddenly cleared his throat. You turned to him, and he winced.

"Uh, well. Could you tell us what they were like?"

You paused and smiled nodding.

"Of course."

#batfam #reader x batboy #reader x batfam #kinda angsty #fluff though #reader #y/n #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #batboys #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #duke thomas #harper row #mourning #request #really late sorry!

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