#his superhero persona and his day personality are as different as night and day

[novenycserepben]

Sorry I had to add áll the tags bcuz this is HILARIOUS

[star-sim]

supernova ☆ riki nishimura

☆ hero! riki x fem! villain! reader ☆ summary: riki was the city's top hero, you were the top villain. when your archnemisis pulls up to your apartment late at night, all battered and bruised, you just sighed and took him in. you were a villain, not a monster! ☆ genre: superhero! au, good ol' patching up scene, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort, fluff, a lil bit of angst ☆ warning(s)? injuries, riki has a panic attack, but it is very brief ☆ word count: 3.7k words ☆ i love this trope sm reblogs are appreciated! >_<

When you were awoken by the sound of banging on your door, you nearly killed someone. It was a dark and stormy night, with rain pouring down so hard that you had to put on your headphones.

But the moment that you saw Riki, your biggest enemy, standing at your doorstep all you could do was sigh, and let him fall into your arms.

"Not again."

By day, you were a regular high school student. You had a lot of friends, with a few admirers and confessions along the way. Like everyone else, you worked hard and kept up with your studies.

By night you were the city's top supervillain, aptly named Supernova for the bright and theatrical spectacles that were your terrorizing.

But while everyone thought you were some evil spawn, you were really just carrying on a family business. Thank your supervillain parents and supervillain grandparents. You had nothing personal towards the civilians that you terrorized, it was all just a part of the job. Because your family was scattered around in different cities for their supervillain activities, you lived on your own.

Enter: Riki Nishimura.

You knew the moment that you saw his grown-out bleached highlights and oversized black clothes, you knew he was up to no good.

He'd transferred to your high school in the middle of the school year, and unfortunately, you had far too many classes with him. It felt like wherever you went, he followed. 

You didn't like him. 

You knew you were popular at school, and maybe a quiet guy like Riki didn't have good experiences with the popular crowd, but did he have to treat you like you didn't exist? All he did was grumble under his breath something that no one could hear, before putting on his headphones and ignoring the world around him. Some courtesy would be nice!

Oh, you didn't like him one bit.

Which was why the moment that you realized that the new hot-shot superhero in town whose arrival suspiciously aligned with Riki's transfer to your high school was Riki Nishimura himself, you wanted to laugh.

The reckless, brash, and otherwise cocky, yet self-righteous and heroic, superhero persona Riki put on was so perfect, yet so unlike anything you've seen. 

Riki Nishimura, who couldn't pay anyone any mind even if he was forced to, fighting crime and representing justice! Hilarious. Leave it to the most arrogant and condescending person to name themself Orion, after the brightest constellation in the sky.

You couldn't remember a single headline you read where he actually saved someone. So much for a so-called superhero.

And your identity was no secret to Riki either.

In the past few months, you and Riki had had multiple showdowns— on rooftops, over traffic, heck, even in Riki's own house. It was no surprise that he figured out pretty quickly that the popular girl that everyone liked was the worst supervillain in the city's history.

Glares in the middle of class, shoving you if you were in his way, and sometimes even purposefully following you to the bathroom just so he can wait outside to pass a few mean words to you. So childish.

The only thing keeping you and him from revealing each other's identities was the fear that the other would reveal your own identity.

Which was why you could almost 100% trust that Riki wouldn't say a word.

You could not stand Riki Nishimura, whether it be his civilian self or his superhero self.

However, something was changing.

Something bad, something bigger than anything you or Riki could even imagine. 

There was a bigger, and much worse, villain organization in town. 

Instead of pulling little pranks, terrorizing people, and just sometimes breaking in and robbing places, this new villain organization was legitimately hurting people.

You and Riki couldn't help that you were just teenagers, which was why in the first few weeks of this new arrival, you couldn't help but pay no mind to the new villains in town and focus on fighting each other.

But one night, when Riki didn't show up at your window like he usually would to fight you, you found yourself just a tad worried. Not that you cared about Riki. Had he finally resigned and given up on fighting you?

However, when you went on your nightly villain patrol a few hours later, you felt your heart drop to your stomach when you found Riki Nishimura in his hero suit slumped over at the back of a dark alleyway, covered in cuts, bruises, and blood, barely conscious.

"What the hell happened?" you asked, as you crouched down in front of him. You couldn't even tell if he was still alive, so you reached down to check his pulse. But the moment that your fingers brushed up against Riki's neck, he jerked away, immediately slapping your hand away.

"Stay the fuck back!" he yelled, suddenly fully awake and alert. Even with the mask over his eyes, you could see how red and blood-shot they were. "Don't— Don't fuckin' touch me!"

You lurched away immediately, standing back up on your feet.

And you watched in sheer horror as the one boy you've been fighting for months struggled to his feet, clutching his side. Under the moonlight you could see the streaks of red and skin peeking out under his suit. He was cut. And severely injured everywhere, for that matter.

You'd never forget the sound of Riki's ragged breaths and silent curses under his breath as he stumbled. And what startled you the most was how he clenched his fists, standing defensively.

"Fight me," he breathed, teetering on his feet. "I—I can still fight."

"Are you crazy?!" you cried. "I'm not going to fight you."

"What," Riki rasped. You could hear how strained his voice was, almost as if he had been screaming for hours. "Are you finally giving up? Are you admitting defeat?"

You scoffed. "No, of course not— Oh my god, are you oka—"

Riki was hunched over, clutching the gash on his side. A single stream of light hit his skin just enough for you to see how deep it was. Dark red blood stained Riki's gloved hands. He groaned in pain, a sound that you never wanted to hear again. 

The way his shoulders and legs shook like he was about to fall over made your heart pound. 

You reflexively reached out for him. "Riki, are you—"

"I said don't touch me!" he shouted, bringing his other hand to shield himself defensively. Yet the moment those words left his lips he fell to his knees. You could see how his face scrunched in pain, his brows furrowed and lips curled. "Just give me a second. I— I just need a second and we can fight."

"You're in no condition to fight," you crossed your arms. "I will not fight you."

But it seemed like your words fell upon deaf ears. Not because Riki wasn't listening, but because he collapsed over himself, falling unconscious.

That night you used your supervillain abilities for good, for the first time ever. But not too good, of course. You just took him to the hospital, making sure that both of you were in your civilian forms and saying that you found him unconscious in the alleyway.

You couldn't look him in the eye the next day at school.

You quickly realized that this wasn't a one-time occurance, because it seemed like every few weeks you'd find Riki severely injured. He'd always proclaim that he could still fight you, but both of you knew that that just wasn't possible. 

It was the new villains in town, he finally admitted. They were purposefully targeting Orion, or Riki, for he was the city's main crime-fighter.

And for the first time ever, you actually felt bad for him.

At school, you'd see the way dark eyebags hung under his eyes, a heavy limp in his walk. Sometimes, he wouldn't even spare you a glance.

Since then, the streets have been more dangerous than they ever were.

So now, you couldn't even be surprised when Riki showed up to your apartment in the middle of the night, covered in injuries.

He was still in his hero suit, but there were rips everywhere, coupled with his torn up mask. His hair was wet, whether from the rain outside or from the sweat of fighting. Either way, he was shivering, small whimpers of pain leaving his lips.

The boy fell into your arms almost immediately, and as you pulled him into your peach-lit apartment, warmth kissing his skin, he murmured something.

"Shhh," you whispered into his ear. "Don't talk."

He was heavy, just as heavy as he was all those times you threw him across skyscraper rooftops. Yet as you carried his slumped body to your bathroom, he was as light as a feather.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled against your shoulder. His eyes were shut, his body devoid of all life and energy. Only his lips moved. "I didn't— I didn't know where else to go."

You only hushed him.

You set him down on your bathroom counter with a flick! of the lightswitch. It seemed like the moment that he was set down, Riki let his head fall back against the mirror behind him, his body giving out. 

Under the warm light of your bathroom, you took a closer look at his face.

Despite the cut on his lip, Riki's lips were purple, probably from being out in the storm for so long. Other than the smudges of dirt and gravel on his face, you couldn't help but notice the streaks of redness streaming down his cheeks. Like he was crying.

You stared at him for a little bit longer. You'd seen him beaten down like this before. As a matter of fact, you've seen him battered like this so many times these past few weeks. 

But what set all of those instances apart from now was that you couldn't see that glimmer of hope in Riki's eyes anymore.

All those times before, he would be knocked down and bruised up, yet Riki always had the spirit to stand up again and declare a fight.

But now, all he did was slump back in resignation.

It made your heart clench in your chest.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when you realized that Riki was probably more physically hurt than any teenage boy should ever be. You made a bee-line for your kitchen, fixing him a glass of water. 

When you came back, you shoved the glass into his hands, forcing him to drink it.

Meanwhile, you started a warm bath for him. When you made sure that he could stand on his own, you gave him his privacy to bathe, with the reassurance that you'd be right outside.

And as the bathroom door shut, you sighed.

Riki shuddered as the warm water touched his skin, sinking down into the bathtub. It hurt to move. His entire body ached like hell. It felt like any wrong move would break his bones.

If someone told him that he'd be bathing in top supervillain Supernova's bathtub a few days ago, he'd lose his mind. But now after the events of tonight— being ambushed, tortured, and beaten by a group of villains before his escape— this felt ordinary.

Riki felt himself relax into the warmth, letting his eyes fall shut. 

He felt disgusting. All sweaty and bloodied up, tears still staining his cheeks. The water did just enough to make him feel a little better. Still, even if he was far away from those villains, Riki couldn't shake off the feeling of their hands on him. It made the hairs on his neck stand up. He knew that he was safe now, for they couldn't reach him now. Yet Riki couldn't help but have that eerie feeling that he was being watched, that at any moment, they'd come back and hurt him.

Chills ran down his spine, like spindly cold fingers clawing at his skin. Riki's heart dropped.

He was safe. He knew he was. No one could hurt him. But why could Riki still hear their voices? His breathing became ragged again.

He's okay, he told himself. But his body told him otherwise. 

And just as Riki pulled his knees to his chest, digging his nails into his palms as he rocked back and forth, a knock on the bathroom door pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Riki?" your voice rang from the other side of the door. "I got you some clean clothes. I'll leave them out here for when you're done."

"O-Okay," he called back.

His heart still raced in his chest. He bit on his lip.

"Wait," he said from inside the bathroom.

He could hear you hum from the other side. 

"C-Can you stay in here with me?"

You didn’t need Riki to explain. After all, your entire family was supervillains. You’ve seen it yourself: how painful and traumatizing it could actually be.

So here you were, pouring bubble bath soap into the tub as Riki sat rigidly. 

"Am I making you uncomfortabl—"

"No," Riki answered quickly, pulling his knees closer to his chest. "It’s just awkward."

You nodded understandingly, watching as the bubbles began forming in the water. They came in twos, then fours, and suddenly the entire tub was filled with bubbles. 

As if he wasn’t the city’s only protector, and as if he was a young child, Riki watched, fascinated. He reached out to touch the foamy bubbles, staring at his hands.

"Are you okay with the bubbles?" you asked, but Riki only absentmindedly nodded. too occupied with the bubbles. Your lips curved. "How are you feeling now?"

Riki’s eyes flickered up to your face. He was about to shrug, but the aching feeling that he was beginning to forget returned. It struck through him, piercing through his skin in a way that made him hiss, keeling over himself.

Immediately, you rushed to his side. You reached out for him, and for the first time, he didn't jerk away. 

Riki turned a little bit, twisting his torso just enough so that you could see his back. 

And oh, his back was horrible.

You've seen some bad injuries, but the lashings, gashes, and slashes with red blood oozing out littered his skin. In fact, all across Riki's back and shoulder area you could see some pretty nasty gouges.

But that wasn't the most concerning part. Starting from the base of his neck and trailing down his side, a reddish-mauve colored scar was imprinted. On the inside of his arm, there was a collection of darker blemishes. They were not protruding from the surface, nor were they bumpy. The collection of blemishes continued, spotting his skin, until it reached a large patch.

You knew what it was just by the sight of it: burn scars.

How did he—

It seemed like Riki read your mind. 

"I know, I know," he breathed. "Bad, isn't it?"

You nodded, your mind still racing. How the hell does a teenage boy even obtain such a severe burn scar?

"I got—" he let out a groan of pain as he turned back to you so that you couldn't see his back anymore. "I got the new ones earlier when those bastards—" you watched as he paused, his brows crashing together like he was remembering something he didn't want to— "when those bastards captured me."

Before you could question further, he continued. "Those burn scars are old."

"How did you get them?" you blurted.

He gave a sly look, almost with a curve in his lips. "I'm a hero, you know."

When you only gaped at him confused, the grin on his lips grew. "There was a burning apartment complex a few weeks ago. I had to rescue some victims, and got a few burns in the process. No biggie though."

You blinked.

Oh.

Maybe you were wrong about him. You shook off the oncoming guilt, focusing on the boy first.

"When you're ready, I'll patch you up," you said, rising to your feet to inspect your bathroom cabinet. 

He hummed.

"Ack— That hurts—!"

"Stay still!"

Riki's physical state was much worse than you thought. It wasn't just his back. It was everywhere else.

He was covered head to toe with bruises and cuts, some of them so severe that you couldn't believe your eyes.

Somehow, even when he was literally injured he still managed to be an asshole. So much of an asshole that you had to give him candies to shut him up.

"How do I know these are not poisoned?" he asked you suspiciously, though with a sly little grin as if his lip wasn't busted. He examined the foil-wrapped candies in his palm as if it were a specimen of science.

You scoffed. "Suit yourself. Either you eat my poison candies or shut up."

He did both.

As you disinfected his wounds, you watched his expressions closely, being careful to hurt him even more.

You stood between his legs as he sat up on the bathroom counter. If punching him square in the face multiple times didn't count, this was probably the closest that you'd ever been to him. 

It was completely silent now, so quiet that you could only hear his hisses of pain and the rain that continued to pitter-patter outside. Everything was so still, so quiet that you could almost hear his heart beat.

His wet hair dripped from time to time, a bead of water dripping onto the counter or maybe his chest. Maybe it was a bad time to think this, but you couldn't deny that Riki was a handsome boy. Maybe people at school would disagree, but his rugged and brooding look was always something nice to look at.

You focused on his biggest wounds first, and after patching and bandaging all of them up, you were at last tasked with the injuries on his face.

It was weird to see someone that he'd spent so much time fighting be so kind and tender with him. On most days that he was injured, Riki usually just sloppily cleaned himself up. He ran on pure ambition and passion, at the expense of his physical health. But here you were, gently cradling his face like he was made of glass, a type of warmth that he hadn't experienced in years. 

So pretty, was all the thought. He'd be lying if he said that you weren't a formidable opponent. Strong, fiery, and just as much of an asshole as him. But pretty, too.

The feeling of your fingers gently pressing against his lips was weird, but he didn't mind it. The way you wet your lips unconsciously, swiping your tongue over them, made him feel all different things. 

Whatever, he thought. 

He pushed it all to the back of his mind.

But that was difficult in itself. 

You were just so close. He'd been close to you before, when you fought him, but not like this. Not in such an intimate way. 

Maybe it was how physically drained he was. Maybe it was the burden of the city weighing down on his shoulders, or the mental distress he underwent earlier. It could be the warmth of your apartment and the sound of raindrops on the window down the hall, or it could be his craving for affection, any at all. 

But before he could even think, Riki's hand jerked out to grab your wrist, pulling it away from his lips. And in one swift movement, he smashed his lips onto yours.

All time stopped.

It was just the two of you frozen.

And then, you pulled away, resting your hands on the counters to stabilize yourself.

"We can't—" you whispered against his lips, a whimper coming from your lips when Riki's hand wrapped around your waist— "We can't do this."

"Why not?" he rasped, leaning into you again. You pulled away just enough for him to miss your lips.

"You're you, and I'm me," you shook your head. "It won't work."

Yet all your resolve crumbled when Riki's hand slithered up to gently push your head closer to his, his lip brushing against yours.

"It's just a kiss," he said coolly. Then, he pressed his lips against yours again, and the moment that they touched, you hungrily deepened the kiss. You gripped the countertops under your fingertips, leaning into him as you ravage his lips.

"And plus—" Riki murmured against your lips between kisses— "We're kissing as you and me, not Orion the hero and Supernova the villain—"

"Just shut up," you shut him up with your lips.

And he did.

"I have something to tell you."

The two of you settled into bed a while ago. You forced Riki to stay the night, because it was still too dangerous for him to leave right now.

It's quiet again. Although there was a wall of pillows separating the two of you, you couldn't help the beating in your chest. And you were sure Riki couldn't either.

It was getting late. You could feel that familiar burn in your eyes, the sensation you got when you were getting sleepy. You could tell from Riki's softer, much more slurred voice that he was, too.

"What's up?"

He was silent for a little bit. "It's about the villains. It's really bad—"

You shook your head. "Tell me tomorrow morning."

"No," he continued, and you could hear the strain in his voice. The desperation. "I— I need your help. The city is at risk, and—"

"Tell me tomorrow," was all you said. You could hear him sigh. "Riki, I promise that I'll help you. But you are exhausted right now. Tell me in the morning."

"Okay."

It took much longer for Riki to fall asleep than it did for you. He was awake until the sun rose, not even being gifted with the privilege of rest. 

There were a few times where Riki almost started crying, blinking back his tears. It felt hopeless as thoughts raced through his head.

But then he'd hear you stir and feel you reach for him, and Riki would take it as a sign to slow down.

He didn't know if tomorrow would come.

He didn't even know if tomorrow would be kind to him.

But for some reason, the thought of you being beside him while it all fell down made him feel just a little bit better.

How strange.

[lovetreats]

in the shadows.

superhero!nanami kento x gn!assistant!reader

LOVETREATS .ᐟ navi. jjk m.list.

anon . . . Hii I’d love a nanami headcannon of him being a super hero

synopsis .ᐟ the head of nanami enterprises by day, a masked hero by night. nanami kento has a routine: work, train, fight crime, help people, and maybe get a couple hours of sleep. but when ijichi manages to persuade him in hiring another helping hand for the company, he relearns a couple of things he thought he’s forgotten. [ part of the 'behind the mask' project. ]

content .ᐟ superhero!nanami, superhero!au, nanami is sorta like batman (you'll see why i said 'sorta'), nanami has two personas but both are serious because that's just how he is, expect cliches, nanami's a ceo, reader kinda just. says whatever's on their mind

chapters .ᐟ one | two | three | four | five

a/n .ᐟ this is uhhh somewhat of a slow burn? sooo expect multiple parts... also this... kinda doesnt feel like a headcanon but OH WELL enjoy this scenario/headcanon <3 ( i've rewritten this so many times it's insane )

superhero!nanami who dons his mask every night, ensuring that the citizens of tokyo are safe from the dangers that lie in wait within the shadows.

superhero!nanami who thwarted mahito's harmful plans of leaking toxic laughing gas in an apartment complex, a blank expression on his face as mahito tries to worm his way out of nanami's grip. he turns him in to agent higuruma, who merely nodded when he says his thanks.

superhero!nanami who doesn't care about what people say about him. whether they think of him as a hero, a villain, or a vigilante, he does not concern himself with the media's perception of him. his priorities and focus are all solely on ensuring the city of tokyo is safe.

superhero!nanami who stays in the shadows of tokyo, always lurking, observing, and on the move.

superhero!nanami who, at first, denies ino takuma pleads of fighting crime in the shadows with him, until ino manages to save a severely injured nanami from certain death.

superhero!nanami who guides and trains ino in his ways. "we have a no-kill rule here," he states. before ino could ask him why, nanami continued on, "every person deserves a second chance. some of the 'criminals' are sometimes just people trying to get by, resorting to illegal activity to stay afloat."

superhero!nanami who looks ino dead in the eye and says, "but i understand that there are some people out there who are nothing but vile and corrupt." he stands up and hands ino a black mask. "... humanity is better off without people like them."

superhero!nanami who greets ijichi with a tired smile and introduces ino, telling him he'll be living with them from now on.

superhero!nanami who raises a brow when ijichi tells him that he's hired a personal assistant for nanami. "there's no need for that, you and i are competent enough—" ijichi cuts him off, "nanami, sir, we need another helping hand around to oversee the enterprises. i'm busy enough with helping you with information, and you're busy enough prowling around tokyo—you even have a sidekick to train too."

superhero!nanami who sighs in defeat and waves one hand. "alright, but only one person."

ceo!nanami who flips through your resume (along with the printed background check that ijichi had per nanami's request for each candidate) for several minutes before setting the folder down on the table.

ceo!nanami who glances at ijichi and points at the small, square picture of you. "they look reliable." ijichi nods and bows before he starts on making arrangements, emailing you a concise message, informing you of being the chosen applicant to be nanami's personal assistant.

ceo!nanami who does a double take when he sees you already typing away on the computer with a purpose. it was only 6am. nanami clocks in early because he barely sleeps and uses his time to train, plan different strategies, or fix or upgrade his equipment before coming in to work. why the hell were you here so early? the employees start work 9am.

ceo!nanami who asks you, "did ijichi inform you that work starts 9am?"

ceo!nanami whose eyes slightly widen at your response. "yes, sir. he also informed me of your schedule, and since i will be overseeing the company with you, i decided to follow your work schedule." you state after bowing.

ceo!nanami who tells you, "you don't have to clock in early. no need to be rigid either."

ceo!nanami who can't help but crack a half-smile when you said, "sorry, sir. being this rigid comes from experience." though he's unsure if you were joking or not.

ceo!nanami who isn't used to having someone that isn't ijichi follow him around. "sir, your appointment with mr. gojo satoru is in a few minutes. i can handle signing the papers for the nanami foundation."

ceo!nanami who feels like he's about to pop a vein when gojo starts teasing him with you. "nanamin! it's like they know everything about you!" gojo exclaims in joy. "... because they're my personal assistant," nanami states, tone filled with annoyance, rubbing the temples of his forehead with his middle finger and thumb.

ceo!nanami who sighs, exasperated. "what's the meeting for, gojo?"

superhero!nanami ceo!nanami who furrows his brows when gojo's expression turned into something more... serious. urgent.

superhero!nanami ceo!nanami who clenches his fists when gojo tells him that mahito got out of prison, to which gojo made yuji and megumi follow after him as quiet as possible. when they came back, their eyes were filled with fear. it looked like mahito was planning something terribly sinister.

superhero!nanami ceo!nanami who told gojo to meet him tonight at his cave. they needed a plan, stat.

all rights reserved © LOVETREATS. all fanfics belong to me. do not repost or claim my content as yours. do not recommend on any other platforms any of the works seen here.

[lovebeatriceplz]

🥀Those aren't meant to bend.

Gwen Stacy x Fem! Reader ( platonic but can be interpreted otherwise i think)

Summary: The girl you managed to befriend a little more than a year ago stops responding to your texts, basically disappearing. One rainy night you stumble upon her, not as Gwen Stacy..but as Spider woman.

Tw: Mentions of self - harm, panic attacks and a brief mention of su!c!de .Captain Stacy ended up dying prior to the events that happen in this fic.

This isn't really like a reflection on her character but the gwen angst syndrome is strong and i need to get it out

It's been five weeks since Doctor Octopus attacked your city. It's been five weeks since the death of Captain Stacy. It's been five weeks since Spider woman stopped appearing. Five weeks since Gwen stopped coming to school.

You made the connection a long time ago. It always found it's way into your mind, sitting up at night, wondering how she does it, how she balanced her personal life and being a superhero, if she does at all.

Taking your seat on the train you take a look around. She wasn't here, again. Gwen is one year below you, so you would only really see her in the mornings and evenings.

She begins to flood your thoughts. Was she ok? How is she managing without her father? Is she still spider woman or has her father's death prompted her to discard the mask?. The last time you spoke, she said her aunt was staying with her, taking on the role of her guardian you figured, however, a part of you just didn't believe her.

The feeling of the seat dipping slightly brings you back to present, and a friend starts a conversation. After discussing upcoming final, school and other things, you ask the question that's been burning at the back of your throat. "Have you seen Gwen recently?" .

The boy looks up, thinking. "Stacy? Nah, not since - you know". You nod, yeah you did know. A sigh escapes your mouth and you lean against the window. "Hey, she'll be fine, she's probably just mourning, it's normal". He tries his best to sound convincing. "Yeah.." you respond, not able to channel an once of conviction in your words.

His brows furrow, wanting to divert your thoughts else where. "Guess what?" He perks up, reaching for his phone. "Your favorite girl is back". Leaning up you look over his arm. That didn't make sense, your favourite girl was Gwen, and she wasn't back. Once you see the article it makes sense. 'Spider - woman spotted after disappearing for almost two weeks'.

A slight feeling of hope washes over you as you head to class. Gwen- Spider - woman, she was ok. As the day progresses doubts plague your mind. It could be false, some journalist desperate for a story, or a an anxious citizen that needed something to trust in again. Wait, what was that?. You tilt your head up, this was the path you took home everyday, so anything foreign would catch your attention.

Zzzzp. There it was again. A flash of pink and white. It was just for a second but you're sure of it, it was true. Gwen-... Spider- woman, she was back.

" I understand that this is private information but please it's out of concern". You thought that Spider - woman being back meant Gwen being back as well. It seemed like she segregated the two, splitting herself into different personas. She didn't respond to calls, texts, when you showed up at her apartment you got no answer and she's not at school. Only as Spider - woman did she appear, and even then, she never stayed around long enough for you to get a hold of her.

That's why the principal is pinching the bridge of their nose, and why you're persisting, begging even that they provide you with the contact of this "aunt" Gwen mentioned. "Please, I want to know if she's okay". You looked pitiful, but that's the goal. A sigh, then a grumble, followed by aggressive writing. The principal hands you a small slip of paper "If anyone asks, you didn't get it from here". A grin is plastered on your face as you leave.

"Hello? who is this?" She sounded calm, a bit tired, maybe in her 30's. "Hello, this is a friend of Gwen Stacy, your niece".

"Gwen?...my, why I haven't seen her in years, I heard about her father, is she alright?" a puzzled expression crosses your face. "I was hoping you could tell me, aren't you staying with her?" trying to conceal your rising panic.

"Oh..oh no dearie, I haven't seen Gwen since she was 'bout twelve years old". What was going on? "but-". "I'm sorry but I haven't been in contact with George or Gwen for a very long time, good day" the phone line goes dead.

A feeling of dread consumes you, staring at the text you sent, she read it but you still got no reply. Five, six, seven, still no reply. Your sneakers echo as you jog up the apartment complex. If she wouldn't reply you'd just have to seek her out.

You have to stop yourself before knocking, be gentle, she's the one that's hurting here. A soft knock, and you get silence in return. Raising your fist to knock again, you stop as your phone chimes. A concerned friend checking on you due to the villain on the loose.

Screams and loud bangs spread throughout the city of Queens. Anyone with an ounce of self preservation would head home, but this was your chance to see her.

Watch from a distance, and everything will be fine. This wasn't anything new, they were no match for spider woman. You observe her closely, as she skillfully takes control of the fight. But, she seems...slower, and she looks thin, not like you notice her enough to tell. She wasn't okay.

The fight's over, people cheer, the police attempt to clean up etc etc. Your only focus was to get a grip on that girl before- damn, she's gone, again.

The weight of yet another missed opportunity drags you down. You take a shortcut to get home due to the debris from the fight. And if your night couldn't get any worse- rain starts to pour and your drenched in seconds.

It was quiet, almost inaudible at first. But you heard it. Stopping, you strain your ears to hear better. It was a strained, almost gargle like sound. A sob?

You slowly turn the corner to find the source of the noise. When you do see it your chest tightens, you could have just died right there. Why? because in front of you was Spider woman, on her knees, soaked, mask discarded at her side as she desperately tries to force oxygen into her lungs, she was failing.

You want to scream out her name but your throat is dry, you want to run to her but your feet suddenly feel heavy. No need for any of that anyways, because she spotted you.

"Don't come any closer!" she shouts out. Her voice brings you back to reality, the once calm and pretty sound now hoarse and..just tired. "Gwen! oh my- Gwen you're okay" you start to lessen the distance between you, but the look on her face stops you. "I said don't come any closer!" she repeats, reaching for her web shooters. They made a crackling sound and, no webs came flying towards you.

Now you start to panic. Did she even recognize you? she had to right?. "Gw- ow!" a pebble comes flying instead, then another, and another. She tries to run away but she hardly moves, her leg was probably injured, or her body was just exhausted.

You resort to grabbing her wrist to stop her flailing but she winces, you instantly let go. "Gwen..." her gaze locks with yours, and her eyes are puffy, but they also looked glazed over, she was so distant.

Atleast she wasn't trying to get away anymore. She was struggling to breath, you wanted to help but- everything you did seemed to make things worse.

The sobbing starts again, the most heartbreaking sobs you've ever heard. You're hands hover over her, you just wanted to hug her so badly, but what if she tried to run off again?

She quietly calls out your name in between sobs. Your arms wrap around her instantly as you sink to the group beside her. She presses herself into you, her fingernail digging into your skin, making sure that your there.

It hurt, but you pulled her closer anyways as sobs wracked her body. They gradually die down, the only sounds being the rain, the shuddering sounds she made each time she inhaled and the denim of your jacket against latex.

When her breathing evens out somewhat, you stand up, wrapping the jacket around her first before hoisting her up, putting her arm around your shoulder.

There was no way you could walk her home, she wouldn't make it. You start to walk towards the nearest train station, dragging her along. She tries her best to not put her dead weight on you, but you can tell that she was ready to just collapse.

Few passengers on the train don't pay you two much mind, only a couple glances here and there. Most of her suit was damp and dirty and covered with your jacket, besides, a tired girl and her seemingly not fully conscious friend wasn't an uncommon sight at this hour.

The climb up the apartment stairs was a struggle but you made it. "where are your keys Gwen?" You ask her gently. "Keys?" Her eyes dart around, she didn't seem to register anything you were saying, it's been like that since the train.

The door was open anyways. The intention was to take her to her bed, but she immediately goes limp against the couch.

"I'm sorry.." it's the first thing she's said that was intentional and coherent. You sit on the floor beside the couch. "Sorry about what?" Concerned etched into your features.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't do it... I thought i could i really did, but I can't" her eyes get glossy and she lays on her back, looking at the ceiling.

What did that mean? It could mean so many things, but you didn't push it. (Trigger warning for the paragraph after the next one).

You get to work, removing your jacket and helping her out of her spider suit, she barely seemed to be apart of the process. She's in her undergarments and you start to look around for something for her to wear. (Actual trigger warning now).

An oversized t - shirt is what you settle for. The shirt just slipped over her chest when you notice them. Some seemed to dig deeper than others, some healed over, some looked like they could start bleeding again. You felt like throwing up and a lump forms in your throat as your hands gently grasp her wrist.

Her eyes follow your hands, hardly registering what was going on. When she does however, she sits up immediately, pulling away from you "it's not what you think it is" the words came out harsher than she wanted them to "they're old..." she mutters.

They were obviously recent. The lump in your throat gets bigger, suffocating almost. You inhale deeply "w-" the words refused to come. Why have you never seen them? why are you just realizing how bad the situation actually is. "i said they're old stop staring at them" she repeats.

Her eyes dart away from yours, like she's about to cry again. You pull yourself up on the couch beside her. "I can't do it anymore" she says, the words strained, as if she had to physically force it out her throat.

"being spider - woman?" You shift a bit closer to her. "everything..." Her voice reduced to a hoarse whisper.

"talk to me Gwen" you gently urge her to open up. "i'm just tired..." There was more to it of course, but she wouldn't even allow herself to feel it.

"You can't keep it all in-", "yes I can." As stubborn as always. You take her wrist, finger pads brushing against the now choppy skin, to remind her that you're there, and to make sure that she doesn't run away from the conversation.

Silence. "Okay....then, tell me what happened this evening, why did i find you the way i did?". She brings her knees to her chest, zoning out. "Gwen?".

"I-" she sighs "I don't really remember.." The confession leaves you confused, but she continues before you could ask questions "i don't really remember much these days i-it's sort of a blur I don't know".

The words remind you of the time you tried to check up on her when her father passed away. She was smiling, somewhat. But she seemed fine, although there was an underlying tone of something else.

Now that you think about it, it's like her body was on autopilot. She barely made eye contact that day, she was there but she wasn't..really there. A feeling of guilt starts to swell in your chest, why didn't you know? You're her friend, you should have known.

You were so lost in thought, so lost in the flashbacks of the little things you didn't remember until now that you're just realizing the tears silently streaming down her face.

"is it your dad? is that why?" You ask, reaching out to wipe her face. She shrugs "i think so.." choking on her tears. "you know... it's been five weeks" the words barely audible due to the sobs trapped in her throat.

"only five weeks and i-" she continues "I'm already starting to forget how he sounded". Your arms open and she doesn't hesitate to crawl into them. Her body starts to tremble once more, and she clutches her chest as if it physically hurt.

"- and we didn't even leave off on a good note..we had a fight-". One of the very very few people that Gwen confided in when it came to her father was you. You knew all about it, the relationship wasn't quite secure, but she loved him...she loves him.

She continues to let it all out in strained and muffled whispers. "I wasn't supposed to hurt myself..i was just - I just didn't want to do it anymore". Slowly, your gaze moves down to look at her. "everything?"

She doesn't respond, maybe she couldn't. The crying stopped but her body was still shaking, the tears ran out but the pain didn't. "I just didn't want to be here anymore" the interval between her statements was so long that it took a second to register what she was referring to.

The lining of your eyes sting with tears, and you look upwards in an attempt to keep the tears in check. You couldn't cry infront of her, not now atleast, that wouldn't be fair.

"do you still feel that way?" The steadiness in your voice is obviously forced. "I don't know" she sounded so detached, so far away.

"what about me? and the people out there that need spider - woman?" That was selfish, entitled even, but you weren't choosing your words carefully anymore.

Her silence hits you like a truck, the depth of what you said just now settling in. "It doesn't matter forget i said that- it's about you, and what you feel, okay?" she manages to nod slightly.

With a sigh you pull her body closer, your arms completely encircling her, she felt thinner.

The exhaustion from the fight, along with the turmoil inside her mind and the warmth of your embrace coaxes her to sleep.

She's knocked out cold and you slip away. You just reach the kitchen when the tears start to fall. It wasn't loud or dramatic, instead it was quiet, the type of crying that made you empty when you're done.

Do you blame yourself? not entirely. For the first time since you found Gwen, your notification bar is flooded with missed calls from your parents. So that's how you spend the rest of your night, calling back and convincing them to not report you missing.

The morning comes quickly. You wake up on the cold floor of the kitchen.

Gwen was in the same place you left her, but her eyes are open. "Are you leaving?" her eyes meet yours, even after all that crying they were still bright. "soon" you respond, sitting on the carpeted floor beside the couch.

A silence is shared between the two of you, but it's light, like a breath of fresh air. "Do you remember how we met?" The question slips out by accident, but it was the only thing on her mind at the moment.

You smile, how could you not remember?. It was a hot night, due to it being summer. A friend of yours invited you to hangout at a band rehearsal. It was more like a party, a good amount of people and boy was it loud, but the good kind of loud.

The drummer on stage caught your eye immediately. "who's that?" You had to shout for your friend to hear. "Hah?- oh! That's Gwen, she's new".

You end up catching the same train as her that night. "So..do you play?" That was the first time she spoke to you. You gave her a small smile "bass". Her eyes light up "bass?'.

A chuckle passes your lips "what? You don't like bassists?" she smiles, revealing her cute little gap that you've grown to love "You guys are cool I guess, what about you? Do you like drummers?" That's how it started.

"Did you know? before this i mean" her question snaps you out of it. "know what?". She turns on her side to face you better "know that I was Spider- woman".

You nod "yeah, did you know that I knew?" You ask, playfully poking her side. "I always thought you watched me a bit too closely" she said with a laugh, something she hasn't done in a while.

Her laugh fades, a soft smile coming to rest on her face. "I just want to get better" she admits quietly. You take her hand, giving it a kiss before draping it over your shoulder "you will."

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Mystechaos AU

So... I have a new thing. It's another superhero/villain AU because I am a little shit, and well, the idea simply wouldn't leave me alone. This is intended to focus mainly around Mysterion and Professor Chaos, but other characters will likely still appear! It's just written to be more of a... pairing trope, you could say.

I found myself falling for these two, and since Kenny is my favorite (unironically-), well, here we are. To explain some of the background, Kenny and Butters are best friends in high school - they're exceptionally close; due to the fact Butters understands Kenny in a way others don't. Not to mention how perhaps... they have an unsaid crush on each other, but there's one tiny catch.

By day, they're just ordinary high schoolers but in the night, they're two different people altogether. Mysterion and Professor Chaos are mortal enemies, except they don't know each other's secret of who they really are... and the rest is history.

And now, you must read below the cut to see the rest of the story!

Plot/Summary

Kenny and Butters are now in high school, and their friendship grows stronger by the minute, but there's something they don't know. Secretly they're Mysterion and Professor Chaos, vigilante and supervillain respectively, and yet- as civilians, they're something more. Unfortunately, the more time they spend in their personas, things start to become a little strained... until the day that changes everything.

This is a little more in WIP, but Professor Chaos manages to capture Mysterion and unmask him; everything comes pouring out, and now they're forced to make a decision, but that comes after.

Kenny is struggling and so is Butters, though maybe - just maybe - they'll find comfort in each other. Through ways they didn't even expect.

Background/Headcanons

Both of them have actual powers. When they were still in elementary, they gained supernatural abilities but didn't fully assume their vigilante and villain personas until high school. Pretend plays as children hardly counted.

Kenny is extremely cagey about a lot of things. He doesn't enjoy sharing the truth of what happens on at home, and being discovered as Mysterion wouldn't work well in his favor.

Butters feels autistic and I'm keeping it because I said so.

Kenny is a bit of a rascal. He might not do hard drugs, but he's not against drinking and being a little menace. Kenny's known for his inability to stay out of trouble.

Is Kenny immortal? We shall see.

Butters also has some form of an anxiety disorder because why not

I'll come up with more later. It's late-

The brainrot is real with this one. I can't help but think if Kenny came back injured from an act of vigilantism and well, I'm getting ahead of myself. It won't do any good if I spoil my own idea right now lol, but I am down for roleplaying this if anyone wants!

I will say for this one, I'd prefer to roleplay with people closer to my age for personal reasons; I main Kenny, so if anyone wants to be Butters, please reach out to me! Not that you have to though regardless, it's worth a shot.

More will be written for this one soon! Enjoy~

[akihabaradivision]

Criss's Thoughts on Obihiro Division

Hisoka Tetsumasu

"Hisoka-san's ranch? Oh, it's definitely on my list of places to explore! I mean, with all the history he has, there's got to be some kind of supernatural energy there, right? Horses are such spiritual creatures too; they have this wise look, like they've seen things we can't even imagine. I haven't had the chance to sneak onto the ranch yet, but believe me, it's tempting. I've heard stories about places where animals live being crossroads for spirits, and I'm curious if Hisoka-san's ranch is one of those places."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there were spirits lingering around, maybe even watching over the horses. It would be fascinating to investigate and see if there's any truth to the tales. Plus, I think it would be pretty cool to meet Hisoka-san in person. Despite his past, I bet he has some interesting stories to tell. And who knows? Maybe the spirits are drawn to the place because of him. It's all speculation at this point, but I’m eager to find out more. Ghosts or no ghosts, Hisoka's ranch is definitely a place where the veil between worlds feels thin."

Daiki Kamiyama

"Daiki-kun's superhero antics are totally cool! I mean, who doesn't love a bit of mystery and adventure under the cover of night? We've bumped into each other a few times while I'm out on my paranormal investigations, and let me tell you, it's always a blast when he's around. His enthusiasm for superheroes and doing good is just infectious. I think it's awesome that he's trying to make a difference, even in his own unique way."

"We've explored a couple of spooky spots together, and Daiki-kun's bravery really shines through. It's like he's in his element, you know? I can't help but admire his dedication to his hero persona. Sure, it might be a little risky, but life's too short to not chase after what you believe in. Plus, having a 'superhero' by your side when you're chasing ghosts? That's just epic! I'd say we make a pretty great team when it comes to exploring the unknown!"

Jack Verrill

"Jack-san is like a character straight out of a manga! The stoic butler with a mysterious air about him—it's just like something you'd read in a story, and I find it pretty amusing! Whenever I'm hanging out with Daiki-kun and Jack-san is there, I can't resist teasing him a bit. I’ll sometimes just throw out a classic line like, 'The butler did it!' when we're talking about mysteries. He usually just gives me this look that's a mix of exasperation and amusement, which only makes it funnier!"

"Honestly, I think Jack-san's presence adds a whole layer of intrigue to any situation. He's got this vibe that he knows more than he lets on, and I respect that. It's clear he cares a lot about Daiki-kun, and his dedication to his role is something you don’t see every day. But I do wonder what secrets he's keeping. With someone like him, you just know there's a wealth of stories behind those quiet eyes. Maybe one day, he'll share some of them with us. Until then, I'll keep enjoying the mystery that is Jack-san, the enigmatic butler. Because, after all, he is just... one hell of a butler." Criss giggles to herself.

Veiled Vanguard

"I like these guys! They're an interesting bunch! I've hung out with them a few times, and it's always an adventure! Hisoka-san's ranch has this mysterious vibe that's just so captivating, and Daiki-kun's enthusiasm for heroics is super contagious. Even Jack-san, with his stoic butler act, has a certain charm. They're like characters from the paranormal fanfics online come to life, and I love that!"

"When it comes to facing them in the Division Rap Battle, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit torn. On one hand, it's going to be epic. But on the other, I've gotten to know them, and they’re not just opponents; they're friends too. It's going to be tough to go against them, but that's the nature of the game, right? We all want to win, but more than that, we want to share our stories, our music, and our hearts. So, no matter what happens, I'll give it my all and hope that our friendship can withstand the competition."

[chyirly]

Human Amongst Beast (DC Idea)

So basically this takes place in a world where everyone, except for the Batfam are animals. Everyone who is a superhero that is. They are ‘pets’ that live in the Wayne manor with the Wayne family as their caretakers.

Of course, they aren't normal ‘pets’, they can shapeshift into humans, which is what they do when fighting villains. Although I do think that it should remain on a time limit except for those that actually are able to shape shift in the franchise.

The actual humans remain humans but are aware of the shape-shifting and weird stuff going on. I don't know what to do with them.

Of course, the Waynes are aware of this, having their superhero persona that they use when necessary. Although they aren't that well know outside of the hero community.

I think this would be a slice of life with some serious moments, but it mainly showing the adventure of the ‘pets’ as they try to keep things on the down low.

The Batfam mainly try to stay at the Wayne manor, but they do have their own personal residence that they live in where some ‘pets’ will mainly reside.

With most of them being semi-permanent residents of the manor. Garfield, in particular, would come back as a different animal every time, so the Waynes just name every different version as Garfield the I, II, III, etc.

Dinosaur Garfield does exist and does have a name.

Garfield and the other aliens that don't exactly fit into the mold of a regular pet are seen as exotic by the family, no questions asked.

The Kent family are not apart of the Wayne group. I can see as animals that the Waynes meet at the parks while taking their pets on walks. Always present but not.

The Flash family are in the same situation as the Kents. Bart, due to being a time traveler is aware of the Batfam’s identity, but due to forget to explain the first time, never does. Bart just showed up one day.

For magic user such as Zatanna, I see them as being able to remain human for far longer than the others, there is still a time limit, but they are able to interact with the Waynes in their personal life.

Cyborg is a regular animal with robotic parts.

I don't think there will be any romance, maybe some hints but probably not.

Now for the teams, I think of it as the Wayne family having their own set of pets that they are more responsible for, such as Bruce with the JLA. Sometimes these groups will overlap.

Now when the ‘pets’ are out fighting crime, it will be noticeable, so the others will try to distract their handlers until the other comes back. When that doesn't work, the Waynes will be over dramatic and begin putting out wanted posters, sometimes even looking for other heroes to find their missing ‘pet’.

Garfield gets a pass because at some point they figured out that another Garfield would count as the original.

Garfield, due to having shapeshifting as his literal superpower, is the one that has to be the most careful when fighting. Although the Batfam just think that it is a coincidence.

Of course, as stated before, the Batfam know all about the shapeshifting, they just play along with everything as well as enjoy the other's pain as they try to keep their identity a secret.

When the Batfam are out patrolling, mainly during the night, except for Duke, they try to do so before the ‘pets’ realize they are not in bed being regular humans. When they are with others fighting larger disasters, they try to make things not so obvious, even having some members be civilian casualties.

When meeting other versions of themselves, the pets will tell them to keep things hidden, although the dimensional visitors do know the Batfam’s civilian identities, they won’t say anything due to their own Batfam redirecting the conversation. In the end, they never explain.

The reveal has to be an accident on the Batfam side, no question.

[jedivoodoochile]

“Madness is the Emergency Exit: The Killing Joke’s 35th Anniversary” - A Tragic Destiny:

Considered by many critics to be the definitive Joker story and one of the best Batman stories ever published, Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's 'Batman: The Killing Joke' from March 1988 at the time effected the mainstream Batman continuity greatly. Most notably, the shooting and paralysis of Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Batgirl by the Joker laid the groundwork for her to develop the identity of Oracle, an expert computer hacker and a vital source of information for Batman and other superheroes, though Barbara's paralysis would be healed with DC’s 2011 soft reboot ‘The New 52’.

The Batman Family as a whole was shaken by the Joker's actions, especially when soon after in December 1988, Joker killed the second Robin, Jason Todd, in Jim Starlin's four issue arc ‘Batman: A Death in the Family’. Throughout the years, under the guise of Oracle, Barbara would have flashbacks to the day Joker struck her down. As the years went on in DC, Barbara's paralysis became a thing of destiny. In Geoff John's 2007 Booster Gold story "No Joke", illustrated by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund, Booster is sent back over and over to stop Barbara from being shot, but fails every time. In the end, Rip Hunter tells him he would always fail this mission because this fate was meant for Barbara. A few years later, in Michael Straczynski's 2010 story "Ladies Night" in The Brave and the Bold #33, Zatanna and Wonder Woman struggle to come to terms with the impending attack on Barbara after Zatanna has a precognitive dream about it.

The heinous acts the Joker has done against both Barbara and Jason Todd, who is the current Red Hood, and their trauma is explored in Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok & Brad Anderson’s three issue DC Black Label series ‘Batman: Three Jokers’. Published in 2020, Batman, Batgirl, and Red Hood work together to solve the mystery of three individuals claiming to be the Clown Prince of Crime. After Jason murders one of them, he is kidnapped and tortured by the Jokers. After Batman and Batgirl find him, Jason erupts at Bruce, claiming it is his fault for everything the Joker has done and the path Todd has taken since being killed and resurrected. Taking him back to her apartment to rest after the brutal beating, Barbara and Jason discuss how differently they navigated the healing process from their separate tragedies; while Babs had her family and physical therapists to help her eventually walk again, Jason didn’t have support due to the Bat family believing he was dead, turning him into an incredibly violent vigilante.

These tales and others throughout the last 35 years, although hurtful to not only the extended Batman Family but also members of the DC Universe, illustrate Barbara Gordon’s resilience in both her personal and vigilante personas since that fateful day in Moore’s ‘The Killing Joke’, showcasing her tragedy shaping her to become greater than she could have possibly imagined in the DCU.✌🏽💜🦇🃏📚

[were-wolverine]

wait fuck steddie as superbat works so well

i mentioned this a while back but i started thinking about it again so

first we have stevie harrington, billionaire playboy douche bag by day and batman- the allusive protector of gotham with a penchant for adopting kids- by night

then we have eddie kent, small town farm boy turned big city reporter who also happens to be the alien superhero of metropolis, superman

nancy is lois lane, joyce is alfred, wayne is pa kent, robin is diana prince (wonder woman), jonathan is jimmy olsen, hopper is jim gordon, chrissy is kara zor-el (supergirl)

the party are the batkids, doesn’t really matter who’s who (but dustin is definitely tim, max is definitely steph, and el is definitely cass)

backstory:

thomas and martha harrington are killed, leaving behind a son- steven harrington. from there the boy is raised by his maid, joyce pennyworth. over time he perfects a false persona (stevie) to hide behind, and trains to avenge his parents and his city.

eddie lands in wayne kent’s farm and is brought up in a humble life. he helps around the farm and around town, learning some basic handyman/mechanic skills. smallsville is a town where everyone knows everyone, it’s a very tight-knit community, and everyone loves wayne and eddie (eddie specifically as the charming, helpful, more honest part of himself).

when eddie moves to metropolis things are very different. because he’s a small town farm boy, his coworkers at the daily planet are condescending and oftentimes rude. that is, of course, except for jonathan byers and nancy wheeler, his closest friends. the more eddie learns about the state of metropolis and the surplus of supervillains, the more he is convinced he has to do something to help. cue superman emerging.

superman agrees to an interview with nancy, because she’s the only reporter he trusts, but it ends up backfiring because nancy almost immediately realizes it’s eddie. she swears to secrecy, but only if he lets her help, and eddie can’t really say no to her (she’s scary). she is the one who comes up with the ‘clumsy dork eddie kent’ persona, and she covers for him when he has to leave work.

we all know the media is very distrustful of superman at first, especially when they learn he is an alien, and it takes a lot of effort on nancy’s part to convince them otherwise.

anyway, flash forward a few years and eddie is assigned to interview steven harrington while attending one of his galas. eddie has heard a lot of (mostly bad) things about “stevie” harrington, so he’s not the happiest about it. only, when eddie spots him across the crowd, the man is already staring at him, assessing with a cold gaze. when their eyes meet, the brunet blinks before tilting his head a fraction, towards a hallway leading deeper into the manor. without seeing eddie’s response, he walks off in that direction.

eddie, the diligent reporter he is, immediately follows. he slips away from the crowd and into the hall, shutting the door behind him and looking around. steven harrington is leaning against the wall opposite him, eyeing him curiously. eddie almost feels pinned to spot under the other man’s gaze.

“you’re new,” he says, and it’s not really a question. eddie answers anyway.

“yes. i’m, uh, here for the daily planet actually,” he says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. eddie thinks this is probably the richest person he’s ever spoken to, and tries not to show it. something must give him away though, because harrington flashes a playful smirk and steps forward, into eddie’s space.

“oh, really?” he asks, saccharine-sweet, his voice dripping with honey as he readjusts eddie’s askew tie, his hands lingering on eddie’s chest. eddie swallows and wonders how he got here, breath catching as harrington cups his face with a hand and traces a thumb over his bottom lip. and then it doesn’t really matter because harrington is pushing him against the wall with a surprising amount of strength (don’t think about it don’t think about it) and kissing eddie like he’s desperate.

eddie can’t help but get caught in the other man’s intensity, pulling harringtons hips forward and relishing the quiet little noise he makes. eddie nearly whimpers when harrington bites down hard on his lip, which only drives the other man to loosen eddie’s tie and unbutton the top of his shirt, smirking when eddie jumps at the feeling of lips and teeth and tongue against his neck. harrington lets out a happy hum when eddie groans and tilts his head back to give the other man better access. eddie’s grip on harringtons hips loosen and, while it seems like he misses the touch, he definitely appreciates eddie grabbing his ass if the sound he makes is anything to go by.

seemingly taking that gesture as a challenge, harrington, to eddie’s confusion, grips the underside of his thighs. and then. and he then lifts eddie up against the wall. eddie thinks- no, he knows- that it’s the hottest thing he’s ever seen and/or experienced (which isn’t much, but seriously, what the fuck!). eddie knows he lets out an embarrassing noise solely because of the proud look on harrington’s face. but then he’s kissing eddie again, bruising and needy, and eddie thinks he forgives him.

of course, that’s when the hallway door slams open to reveal three teenagers.

“shit,” harrington mumbles under his breath, though eddie thinks he’d be able to hear it even without his super-hearing. steve lets eddie down, righting him before he trips over himself, and sighs defeatedly before pressing a card into eddie’s hand and a kiss to his cheek.

“sorry, sweetheart. call me sometime, will you?” he whispers before turning around like he’s heading to the gallows, facing the teenagers.

“really, steve?” a curly-haired boy asks, looking eddie up and down with a raised eyebrow. he tries not to feel insulted. (it doesn’t work).

a redhead punches the boy in the arm and looks at eddie, then steve, then eddie again and lets out a low whistle.

“jeez steve, it looks like he was attacked by a rabid bat,” she snickers, and eddie flushes bright red. steve lets out a sarcastic huff at the comment before grabbing the two teens by their scruffs and ushering them back through the doorway, telling the other girl to show him the way out and winking at eddie before disappearing.

the girl, whose hair seems to just be growing out from a buzzcut, gives him a small genuine smile and tugs his sleeve to get eddie to follow her. they wind their way through the shadowed empty halls until they somehow arrive at the front door. the girl opens it but tugs at his sleeve again before he steps out. he looks at her and she seems to find the right words in her head before saying, “you are good for him. call,” and giving him maybe-but-probably-not-accidental puppy dog eyes. eddie can’t help but smile and huff a laugh.

“don’t worry, he won’t get rid of me that easy.”

[a-n-conrad]

Hey, i really liked your Martin li fic, could you maybe write another x reader fic for that's like after the events of the fic and spider-girls plan worked and it's just fluffy and cute☺️ sry if this is long i don't usually request 😅

@exodarkwolf16 Thanks so much for the requests and I'm so glad you both liked part 1! Here's a continuation!

[Warnings: PS4! Spiderman spoilers, slight hurt/comfort

Part 1: (HERE)]

With a gasp, you pulled the mask off of your suit. You were surprised how hard it was to arrest Norman Osborne. You weren’t expecting him to nearly go nuclear in order to prevent the police from raiding his lab. It was dangerous and he had a full blown breakdown halfway through the police raid. You were surprised that you managed to get out of it fairly unharmed. But, regardless, it worked.

It took you months, but it worked. You had spent a lot of time sneaking into different Oscorp labs and offices to collect evidence of their shady and unethical experiments. You brought them all to MJ, who spent weeks writing and editing an article revealing everything that Norman had done with his company. The same day that she published it, you brought everything to the police. And war broke out in the city.

Norman Osborne practically owned all of New York. He hired mercenaries. He had designed technology for the police. So suddenly, half of the city was turned against you. And you had to work with the members of the police that were actually willing to stand up against Norman to take him down. It took ages and you were exhausted. You were sure that you wouldn’t have been able to do it if MJ’s article hadn’t turned the people of the city against Norman. But you did it.

You didn’t have the time to sit and take a breather, though. This whole mission had started for a reason. You had promised justice, and now it could actually be served. So it was time for you to meet up with Martin Li, the person that you had made that promise to.

The roof of the F.E.A.S.T. center was nice late at night. It wasn’t very high up like a lot of the rooftops that you perched on, but you could still see enough of the city’s skyline to be satisfied. And truly, it felt like home. You had spent enough time there that it felt more familiar than your actual apartment. That, mixed with the pride from finally taking down Norman Osborne, made it so much easier for you to finally take a moment to breathe and relax.

“You’re all over the news, you know,” you didn’t react to the voice that sounded behind you right away. You had been expecting to see him, after all. And you were enjoying the moment, just staring at the beautiful lights of New York City at night. Eventually, though, you turned around to look at the very man that you had been thinking about for the past couple of months.

“That just means that I’m going to get a whole new episode on JJJ’s podcast. I wonder what kind of crazy bullshit he’ll come up with in order to accuse me of being an evil mastermind,” you sighed, knowing that this moment of relaxation was bound to end long before you’d like it to. They always did.

Martin chuckled a bit in response, shaking his head at the idea that I listen to a podcast dedicated purely to bashing my superhero persona. Truthfully, it was a habit I picked up from Peter, who liked to listen in order to make fun of JJJ. “Well, whatever anyone else says, I truly appreciate all of the work you put in. I have to admit that I doubted your ability to take down Osborne at first.”

“I know. But that’s alright. It didn’t stop me from proving you wrong,” you teased slightly. Honestly, his doubt just motivated you even further. You wanted to prove that he didn’t have to fix everything himself. That justice existed for him.

“Honestly, thank you,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Hair that was already a lot less neat than it usually was due to the wind that wrapping itself around the two of you.

“Martin, you don’t have to thank me for this. This is what I do. I take down all the bad guys that think they can get away with doing shady stuff in the city if they’re smart about it. And even if it wasn’t just what I did, I care about you. I promised that you could always come to me if you needed help, didn’t I?”

“You did,” he took a few steps closer to you, going from a respectful distance to standing mere inches apart, “which reminds me, I believe you asked for something when you finally won.”

“Hmm,” you pretended to think about it for a moment, unable to hold back the smile that was making its way onto your face, “I suppose I did.”

The world is quiet for just a few moments. Just the time that it takes for his hand to make its way to the side of your face, cradling your cheek with so much care that you felt truly treasured and fragile for the first time in ages. For those few minutes, you weren’t the city’s hero. You weren’t the person with an insane amount of responsibility being thrust upon you before you could even understand what that meant. You were just you. And Martin was just Martin, not some villain about to burn the city down in a desperate attempt at revenge. It was just the two of you, standing alone on the rooftop, wrapped in refreshingly chilled air.

“I love you,” he whispered, the word almost getting swallowed by the wind in your ears. But you didn’t truly need to hear them anyway. Because you felt them. You felt them in the way that he was looking at you. In the way his thumb moved to smooth across the skin of your cheek. And in the way the already small gap between you started to close without either of you truly intending for it to.

It felt like an eternity as his lips moved against your own, the backdrop of twinkling lights behind you. It was a rare moment, but it was worth all of the work that you put into the city every day. It was worth every risk that you had taken and every bruise or scrape that you had earned. And you just hoped that there would be more of these rare moments to come.

“I love you too,” you replied, grinning like a fool. He continued to hold you like that for a few more moments, and you leaned into the heat from his body. It was something warm, and almost familiar. Something you didn’t want to leave, despite knowing that you could be pulled away at any moment.

As if on cue, sirens sounded from a few blocks away, echoing down the cold streets. You sighed, reluctant to pull yourself from the man’s embrace. You had fought so hard for this moment. You want it to last just a little longer. However, he pulled himself away before you had to, a soft smile on his lips.

“I suppose I can’t keep you to myself forever,” he sighed.

“Unfortunately not,” you replied, almost whining despite your attempts to hold back your disappointment.

“It’s alright. I’m not going anywhere, much thanks to you,” he teased, “just promise to meet me tomorrow for a lunch date. I think I owe you that much at least.”

“Deal.”

[A/N: This one is a bit shorter than my usual ones, but I think it's fitting because let's be honest, the spider-people have to learn how to treasure the little moments.]

[ladydorian05]

A Christmas with you~

Oh god...where do I begin, okay as of today Dec/24/2020, the movie We can be heroes isn’t out yet, so everything is just from my imagination, interactions, personalities and everything else that may sound slightly canon, it’s most certainly NOT canon. I hate using ‘Y/n’ on reader inserts but this time I had to. Thank you @din-damn-djarin​ for being my beta for this fic, I really, really appreciate it. Go check out her fics, I adore her Neigbor Marcus Pike series, it’s SO good. 

This is a monster of a fic, where did so many words come from?

Hope you guys like it.

Thoughts are in italics 

A Christmas with you~

Pairing: Marcus Moreno x f!reader

Summary: You’ve been in love with your best friend for years, what you don’t know is that he’s also in love with you. Could a little push from one cunning young girl help you both get together during the most wonderful time of the year? (sorry, still suck at summaries)

Warnings: Reader’s superhero name is “Striker”, why? Because my brain thought it sounded cool, I jump from POV to POV, one plotting child, best friends to lovers, a pair of pinning idiots and implicit spiciness.

Words: 7K something

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was no secret to any of the members of the Heroics that you had no family to spend the holidays with.

In a way they were all your family, you were all a close-knitted team, but sometimes, it just wasn’t the same.

Then, there was Marcus and his daughter. He had been there from the moment you joined the team he became a very close friend, your best friend. Most of the time you got partnered with him, especially when it came to reconnaissance missions, you worked well together, you trusted each other and always had each other’s back.

Eventually, you began to feel differently towards him. You were no fool, you knew what you felt for him was definitely more than simple fondness, attachment or admiration. Your heart rate increased when he was close, his smile makes you smile, you would do anything for him, anything to keep him and his loved ones from harm’s way.

He’s always been so charming and handsome and a total gentleman. There had been times where you had wanted to take the first step, confess your feelings to him and see where that would take you, but you couldn’t; at first because he had been a married man about to become a father when you met him and then when his wife stopped being a part of the picture, well you just wanted to be there for him as a friend, he had enough on his plate raising Missy on his own, he didn’t need you to dump all of your feelings on him.

He was doing amazing on his own, but you wanted him. No, you wanted both of them, Marcus and Missy, to know that you would be there for them whenever they needed you. Besides, you were just friends, he’ll never see you as anything more.

“That will be all for today, everyone’s dismissed. I wish you all a happy Christmas eve and remember to keep your locators close, we all know how crime rates increase during this season. I'll see you again here until the 26th” Ms. Granada said, taking you out of your thoughts and officially ending the debrief meeting.

Every year, during the holidays, most of the team got a leave from duty, beginning early on Christmas eve, until the 26th; that was if no major crisis happened that required the whole team, otherwise only a handful of volunteers were left on patrol duty during those days.

Seeing as you’ve never celebrated the festivity, you always volunteered to be a part of the patrolling team. Not that your teammates had never invited you to spend Christmas with them and their families, they had done it on multiple occasions, not wanting you to be alone, time and time again you had reassured them that it was alright you didn't mind spending the night patrolling.

In truth, you always declined because you didn’t want to intrude, the celebration was all about family and spending time with loved ones, you knew your friends had good intentions but you just didn’t want to feel like you didn’t belong there, like you were invited to tag along out of pity.

Eventually, the invitations stopped coming your way, and while it hurt a bit that they gave up on you, you were also relieved for not being put on the spot again and again having to decline their generous offers.

But this year, unbeknownst to you, a scheme was beginning to brew inside the head of one young girl, to make you change your plans for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

Missy wasn’t blind, she knew there was something between her father and Striker, even before she learned that her father was a superhero.

When she was younger, she had shipped his dad’s alter ego and Striker. They always looked so in-sync on the tv, like the perfect duo, but now that she gets to watch them both in real life? She had no doubts, they liked each other.

And it wasn’t just when they were in costume, Striker had always been around ever since she could remember, all of her birthday parties, her school festivals, even helping her dad every time some mom came up with the idea to have bake sales at school over and over again; what’s wrong with that woman?

She had noticed all the constant glances, the here and there ‘accidental’ brush of hands, even the full-on staring; just like right now, during the debrief, her father’s eyes kept straying from Ms. Granada to Striker and every single time he turned his attention back to the meeting before he could notice how Striker had been doing the same thing. Oh yeah, they were both pining for each other.

The problem was that they were SO stubborn, she’s been trying to bring it up to her dad, but he would immediately change the topic of the conversation with some question about school or any upcoming mission, it was frustrating!

She wanted him to be happy, she wanted both of them to be happy, and being superheroes was dangerous business, she wasn’t about to wait until something happened to either of them, as dramatic as that would be, for things to move forward. Like always, it was up to her to give them a push.

“You know, if you keep staring at her like that she’ll burst into flames.” One good thing that came with the pair of pinning adults was that the whole thing made them so easy to tease, and she loved to tease her father.

“I think you're mistaken, that would be something Lavagirl could probably do, not me sweetheart.” With a chuckle, Marcus puts a hand on her head to ruffle her hair. “Ready to go?” Changing the topic, again. This time she wasn’t about to let it go.

“Not yet. Actually, there’s something you haven’t done.” Missy crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh, really?” Marcus smiled as he mimicked his daughter’s stance. “And what is that thing I haven’t done?” he said with amusement.

Missy smirked. “You haven’t asked Y/n if she wants to come home and celebrate with us. “The smile on Marcus' face disappeared, a stunned expression replacing it.

“What!?”

“Yeah, you should invite her, we can all have dinner together and maybe she can stay and open presents with us.”

“Uh…Missy, sweetheart I don’t think that’s a good-“

“Oh, come on, dad! It’ll be great! It’s not as if we’re doing something REALLY special tonight. Please?”

“Sweetheart, she’ll probably say no, you know she never comes to Christmas parties.” His hands moved from his chest to rest on his waist as he spoke.

“Which is why you should invite her over. We’re not throwing a party; it’ll be just the three of us. And even if she says no, you won't lose anything just by asking.”

He wouldn’t know what to do if she rejected him. How cliché of him to fall in love with his best friend.

He had slowly fallen for you, so much so that by the time he realized what was going on, he was already a goner.

He had always known how beautiful you were, your smile, the way it illuminated your whole face; your eyes, your nose, your lips. He noticed how you were always helping people, inside and outside your Heroic persona, he also noticed how you tried to dismiss your own worries, not wanting to ‘burden’ others with them.

If only you would let him do for you the same things you do for him. He would love nothing more than to share whatever problems weighted down on you. He also knew you never accepted invitations to any Christmas celebration, at first, he had thought maybe you were being shy, being the new member of the team and all that, but year after year you always declined every single invitation from your teammates, he had always hated the thought of you spending the holidays on your own, patrolling the city.

He had never tried to invite you himself, back when his wife was around, they had always traveled to her parent’s house so it was useless to ask you to tag along, and then, after she left, it had been difficult to even try to celebrate.

If he asked you to come to Christmas and you said no, if you rejected him…well what hope could he have that maybe, just maybe he could find the courage to confess his feelings. But the probability of them being unrequired scared him so much. Should he risk it all?

Missy didn’t need to be a telepath to know what her dad was thinking, he was thinking too much and that normally resulted in him chickening out, well this time she wouldn’t let him.

“Or do you actually like the idea of her spending Christmas patrolling the city in a cold night most likely on her own?” This time she copied her father’s stance, silently challenging him to a staring contest, she had this in the bag, her dad had never won a staring contest in his life.

“You can be so stubborn when you want to, little lady.” Marcus said after a few seconds, breaking eye contact.

“Who do you think I got it from?” She said with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

“Come here.” Marcus pulled her in a hug. “I love you; you know that?” he said, leaving a kiss on top of her hair.

“I know, I love you too. Now stop stalling and go ask her.”

“Okay, okay. Sheesh, you’re also bossy.” He squeezed her a little before letting go and walking towards y/n.

“It’s called leadership!” He shook his head laughing, well, at least he was doing something right, god knows raising Missy almost on his own hadn’t been easy.

~~~~~~~~~~

You had been waiting to see which teammates would be staying with you this year to agree upon a schedule, when you noticed Marcus approaching you, he stood in front of you with a wide smile making his adorable dimple appear.

“Hi there.” He greeted while rubbing his hands together, one of his nervous ticks.

“Hi there yourself, everything okay?” It was weird, you could see how tense he was and he kept shifting from foot to foot.

His eyes widened and his head kept moving as he nodded. “Yeah, yes, everything’s alright.”

“Okay.” Now this was a Marcus you didn’t get to see often. Normally he was so self-assured, he always carried himself with confidence, even in the face of danger. “Are you excited to go home and spend a whole day with Missy?”

“Of course, it’s been some time since we’ve had the chance to spend a whole day together.”

“I’m glad you got the chance, she’s been working so hard, you both have, you deserve some time off.”

And so do you. He thought.

“You know, you’re right, you should also take a break.” He frowned. Marcus could see the bags under your eyes. You had also been working harder, pulling more time than the others. You did this every year during this season and it always pained him, while everyone else went home to their families you didn’t even hang your suit and equipment for a night and a day off, no, you made sure to keep everyone safe.

“I don’t know, not many of us volunteer for patrol as it is, and I don’t have any plans for the night or tomorrow so, why not?” You looked down at your feet. It was the truth, why bother taking a break, only to go to a cold empty apartment? You could find a better use of your time like this.

Marcus, swallowed, steeling what little resolve he had, it was now or never.

“You know, we- Missy and I that is. We were wondering if…maybe, if you don’t have any other plans; and of course you can say no, but it’ll be great if you said yes, and it’s nothing formal-” You watched him with amusement as he kept rambling, “It would be just the three of us and well, pizza and movies and junk food, staying up until midnight and opening some presents. Don’t worry, you don’t have to actually bring anything, it’ll be fine with jus-“

Shit, why was he talking so much, and why wouldn’t his hands stop moving!? Something like this hadn’t happened to him in a freaking long while, since he first invited a girl he liked on a date, like twenty or so years ago!

Leave it to you to have this kind of effect on him, only you could reduce him to a babbling idiot, if this kept going on, he wouldn’t be able to actually ask you the question.

~~~~ 

Oh my god! What is he doing!? Missy stared at her dad as he kept talking and moving his hands around while you just looked at him with mirth and confusion.

She had to do everything in this family, didn’t she?

“Would you like to join us tonight and maybe even tomorrow?” Missy interrupted her dad before he could keep on talking.

 Marcus hadn't been so grateful to his little girl than in that moment. “Umm, yeah, would you like to join us?” Marcus looked at you with a smile and hopeful eyes.

“Oh…OH!” You were speechless, you weren’t expecting an invitation this year, least of all an invitation from him. While it wasn’t weird for him to invite you to special occasions, he’s never once tried to invite you to spend Christmas with him. You always thought this time of year was special for him and that he preferred to spend it alone with Missy. “I-I…”

“Please say yes! It’d be fun, we just sit in front of the tv and watch movies while eating junk food!” Missy jumped in hugging you. She wasn’t scared to use her resources, every single one of them, if that meant that y/n agreed to the invite; she’d even use the puppy eyes if she had to, she had to exploit that one before it stopped working.

“I don’t know, we can’t leave the city defenseless…” Puppy eyes it was.

“Pretty please! I’m sure it’ll be fine, you always stay on duty, they can manage one year without you!”

Oh no, not the puppy eyes! You stared at Missy’s brown eyes, they looked so much like her father’s. You shifted your gaze from Missy to look at Marcus only to find him doing almost the same expression. God damn it! Not him too, he’s too old for that face to work, why is it working!?

What the hell, it’s not like you didn’t want to.

“Okay, I’ll join you guys”

“Yes! You’re the best, see ya later!!!” Missy gave your middle a squeeze before running out of the room, leaving you and Marcus staring after her.

“You mister are way too old to be pulling the puppy-eyed look, you should be ashamed.” You turned to see his smug face.

“I’ll keep using it for as long as it keeps working.”

“What a disgrace.”

“So umm, does six work for you?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to let the others know I won’t be a volunteer this year. See you then.” With a smile you gave Marcus a quick hug before approaching one of the members of the Heroics that, much like you, always volunteered and was the one in charge of making the schedule for patrol rounds.

“Yeah, see you.” Marcus said shaking his head, long after you had left his side. He needed to get a grip of himself, if not, he would have a long night waiting for him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Even if Marcus said not to bring anything, you hated arriving at a friend’s house empty handed, even if it was Marcus, especially if it was Marcus; so you made sure to grab a couple of things on the way to your apartment. Some bags of everyone’s favorite chip flavor and enough ingredients to make some cinnamon rolls.

You took a quick shower once the glaze was done and the cinnamon rolls were in the oven. With one towel around your body and another one around your hair; you stood in front of your dresser debating on what to wear.

It’s not like this was a date; as if. So why worry so much?  Still, you kept on throwing clothes on your bed, you told yourself enough by the time you were seriously contemplating putting on a dress.

You put away the mess you made, leaving out a nice button up shirt and a pair of comfortable dress pants, the ones that had actual pockets, you finished your look with some comfortable boots, you were probably going to end up taking them off at some point so you also put on some cute Christmas themed fuzzy socks.

Satisfied with your choice, you decided to put on a baggy T-shirt to take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and to prevent the glaze from dirtying your clothes when you poured it on the buns once they were cool enough.

You were fifteen minutes late by the time you got dressed, packed everything up, and grabbed the presents for Marcus and Missy that you had wrapped up a week ago. You send Marcus a message saying that you were on your way.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marcus went into full panic mode when they got home an hour and a half away from the time he told you to arrive, they lost too much time lining up to pay at the supermarket, he insisted on going once he remembered he was out of your favorite candy, he also got a bag of chocolates and some sodas.

For a moment he contemplated getting some beers, but soon dismissed the idea, he wasn’t that much of a drinker and he didn’t like to drink in front of his daughter. Besides this wasn’t a date, of any kind, just his daughter and best friend; who he had been in love with for a long time now, spending some quality time together.

Shit, he forgot about the pizza!

“Missy, go take a shower and change into something more comfortable but nice and then come give me a hand, we need to set everything up in the living room” He said as he dialed the number from the pizza place the three of you loved.

Missy took the grocery bags to the kitchen before doing what her father asked her to do, but in reverse, that way there was a chance that you would arrive while she was still getting ready leaving the two of you alone for a few minutes.

She opened the chocolate and candy bags dumping the contents into two different small bowls, she listened as her father finished ordering the pizza on her way to the living room where they had a slightly bigger tv than the one in front of the breakfast table, she left the bowls on the coffee table in the middle.

“Missy, I thought I asked you to do something else before setting everything up.”

“I know, but we’ll finish faster this way, you need to take a shower too. Can you get the glasses from the cupboard?”

He sighed but went to the kitchen to get the aforementioned glasses.

“Hey, did you order the potato wedges?” Missy asked, taking one of the soda bottles and putting it inside the fridge.

“Yup.” Marcus answered, passing her the second bottle. “Give me a hand with the plates please.” He bumped her with his hip as he passed her.

They inspected their work for a moment before going to their respective rooms to get ready, Missy decided to take her time choosing her clothes, she even contemplated whether it’d be too much to take a bath instead of a shower.

 ~~~~~~~~~~

Never before, in his whole life, had he gotten ready for ANYTHING as fast as today. He almost pulled out a suit from his closet before doing a double-take and grabbing a nice shirt, some black denim pants, and his favorite sneakers.

He decided to forgo any kind of hair product and only dabbled a little bit of cologne on his wrist and neck. On his way to the living room, he stopped by Missy’s room to knock on her door.

“Are you ready darling?”

“Not yet!” Was her muffled response.

“Okay, I’ll be in the living room, take your time but remember we’ll have a special guest over.” A special guest? Come on Marcus, she’s been here multiple times before, she’s like part of the family, maybe not in the way he wished her to be but still.

~

“Okay, dad!” A special guest!? Really!? He was hopeless, did he even notice how obvious he was? Why hadn’t he done something about it yet? Y/n could easily slip through his fingers by the time he decided to actually make a move. She needed to up her game.

 Marcus kept staring at the clock as it read five minutes past six, leg bouncing. Maybe his clock was wrong, maybe he didn’t put the right hour, maybe it was forward by a few minutes.

God, he was a mess, he needed to calm down, it was just Y/n, his best friend; she’s hung out with them before, on multiple occasions, except…well she wasn’t JUST Y/n, she never was and never would be.

She was everything, she became everything to him in such a short time that sometimes it scared him. If he had to be truly honest with himself, he needed to admit that he began to fall for her the moment they met, he fought against it for years, he was married with a baby on the way for god’s sake.

He had loved his wife and he would’ve never cheated on her, but he also couldn’t deny the connection he felt with you from day one, he had never felt something even remotely close to it with anyone else.

If things had been different, he would have told you about his feeling’s way sooner, he had been selfish, he knew he couldn’t afford to lose you, he lost his wife, Missy lost her mother, he couldn’t lose you too if you didn’t feel the same, that would’ve destroyed him when Missy needed him more than ever.

So, instead he kept it silent, holding on to the hope that maybe, someday, he’d be able to act upon his feelings for you.

He was startled by his phone chiming in his pocket, the first thing he noticed was the hour, quarter past six; and the second, your message. ‘I’m on my way.’

He sighed, you would be there soon, could he maybe try to hint at something tonight? Well, if he didn’t, maybe he could bring ‘that’ out.

~~~~~

Fifteen more minutes later you were finally ringing Marcus’ house doorbell, not for the first time, you were happy with the proximity of your apartment complex to his house.

“Hey! Why didn’t you use your key?” Marcus' smiling face greeted you. “Oh, I see why.” You were holding a container in one hand, balancing two gift boxes on top and the cloth bag with the chips in the other.

“I kind of couldn’t even if I wanted to.” You laughed.

“I told you, you didn’t have to bring anything but yourself; here, let me help you.” He took the container with the cinnamon rolls from your hands. “Come on in.”

“As if you didn’t know me Marcus, I never come here with empty hands.” You followed Marcus to the kitchen after closing the door behind you.

“This thing is warm, what’s inside?” he had left the bag and the container on the counter, he also put the boxes aside.

“Well, you have two options, you can try to guess or you can open it.” You said with a smile, taking the bags of chips out to fold the bag they were in.

“I know it’s warm, is it something sweet?” so guessing it was, you loved to play this kind of game with him every time you brought baked goods.

“Yes.”

“Can I smell it? Am I allowed to do that?” he asked, eyebrows raised and a big smile on his face.

You faked a thoughtful look before nodding. Marcus lifted the container close to his face and took a deep breath.

“Cinnamon?” His eyes opened wide in delight. “No way, don’t tell me! Are these, you brought cinnamon rolls!? Holy sheesh!”

You laughed at him, you knew he loved cinnamon rolls so you made them as often as you could, you even gave him the recipe but he claimed that they just didn’t taste the same when he made them himself. You thought he was just too impatient to make them and preferred to just eat them.

He opened the container to keep the bread from getting soggy because of the condensation inside it.

“My god! They look delicious, I swear could kiss you right now!” What!?

 FUUUUCK!!! YOU IDIOT! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!!!! he froze up, there was a moment of silence between the two of you before it was thankfully interrupted by the doorbell.

“The pizza is here! Just in time.” He said with maybe too much enthusiasm. The delivery guy deserved a big tip, he just unknowingly saved his ass.

 Did you hear correctly? Did he say kiss? That’s what he said, right?

No, well yes, he did say it, but he probably didn’t mean it like, well...THAT. It was just an expression, he was overjoyed you brought him food and you were just thinking too much into things. Yeah, that was it, you were thinking too much.

“I heard the pizza arrived! Don’t start without me!” You shook your head, clearing your thoughts as Missy appeared around the corner. “Hi y/n!”

“Hi Missy.” You opened your arms towards her for a hug that she walked right into.

“You got chips, nice. Wait do I smell cinnamon rolls!?” Like father, like daughter.

“Ah-ah-ah! Don’t touch those, little lady. Those are for later.” Marcus said stepping into the kitchen. “Now, come on, I left the pizza on the coffee table.”

“But dad, they’re WARM.” Missy argued, stressing out the last word.

“Don’t you think it also hurts me to leave them there? We can reheat them later in the oven.” Marcus said with his hands on his hips. Missy looked like she wanted to say something more, so you decided to cut in.

“Mis, why don’t you take the gifts I brought and put them under the tree? We’ll be there in a minute.” You said handing her the boxes.

“Okay, but I get to pick the first movie!” Both of you watched as she walked out.

“I swear this girl.” Marcus huffed running a hand through his hair.

“Don’t you dare finish that thought Moreno, you’re just as bad as her when it comes to your precious buns.” You said shaking your head.

You hear him gasp as you walk to the fridge, knowing he probably stashed the drinks there. “You wound me!”

“Uh huh, let’s go before she decides to start eating without us.” You grabbed one of the cold bottles of soda inside the fridge and made your way towards the living room. “Don’t forget to bring the chips.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Together you made your way to the living room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Missy decided to sit on the carpeted floor right in front of the coffee table, that way her dear pining love birds would be forced to share the loveseat.

“What took you so long? I hope the big box is for me, also I already picked a movie.”

“Don’t be impatient, you’ll find out soon.” You said as you ruffled her hair a little, leaving the bottle of soda on the table close to the glasses.

“Oh no. Sweetheart, we forgot to move the couch.”

“It’s okay dad, you two can have the loveseat, besides this way I’ll be closer to the snacks.” Don’t be suspicious Missy, you don’t want to ruin this perfect chance. Phase one, getting them to sit together: complete, phase two is on hold.

“You sure you don’t mind darling?”

“Nope, can I start the movie?”

~~

Oh god, they were going to be really close to one another.

Calm down, Moreno. You’re fine, this is fine. It’s your best friend. He reminded himself for the millionth time that day.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him, maybe it was because this was your first Christmas with them and all the domestic stuff was getting to him.

He turned to look at you “After you.” He said gesturing towards the loveseat with his hands.

“Thank you. What are we watching Missy?”

“First Home alone, The Santa Clause, Arthur Christmas; you know, the classics with a touch of new stuff.”

“Let’s begin then.” Everyone sat in their respective places with a plate and a slice of pizza.

As the evening progressed, he found himself using the ‘stretching move’ to put his arm around you, when he noticed you weren’t bothered by it, he willed his body to relax and enjoy the company of his favorite people in the world.

 As the movies kept playing on the screen and the snacks disappeared little by little. You felt yourself get more comfortable.

For a moment you let your imagination run wild; for a moment you let yourself believe this was a normal occurrence, family movie nights, cuddling with Marcus on the loveseat, going to sleep beside him afterward, waking up beside him, help him raise Missy…

You needed to stop this, as wonderful as everything sounded inside your head you knew none of that would become a reality.

“Okay, it’s getting late,” You got startled by Marcus nudging you softly with his shoulder before pausing the movie, you hadn’t even realized you leaned into him “don’t think that I’ll forget about your bedtime just because Y/n is here.”

“But dad!”

“No, come on, let’s open some presents and then I want you to go get ready for bed. I can see your head nodding from here, you’re tired, go on choose one.”

Phase two: Leave the love birds alone, has officially begun. Missy thought, wishing for her dad to finally take the opportunity to climb that last step. Phase three of her plan, officially having you as a mom, depended on it.

“Okay,” Missy said pretending to be disappointed “Y/n, which one is mine? The big one?”

“Sorry Mis, It’s actually the small one.”

“Oh.”

“’Oh’? What’s that supposed to mean? Don’t you have faith in me?”

“I do, but what cool stuff could possibly be wrapped in such a small box?”

“You’ll see once you open it, sweetheart.” Marcus left the remote control on the table and returned to his previous position on the loveseat, arm around you and all.

Both of you watched as Missy broke the wrapping paper and opened the wooden box taking out what looked like a smart watch from inside it.

“Oh! It’s one of those cool watches!” Missy exclaimed with surprise.

“Yes and no.” you said, leaning in towards her.

“what do you mean?”

“This one’s special, see I got Tech-no to make it especially for you. It does work like any other smart watch, but you’ll be able to use this one even if you don’t have a Wifi connection or aren’t close to any phone tower.”

“What!? How!?”

“It’s linked into one of the Heroics main recon satellites, it has a GPS function that’ll show you the map and your location no matter where you are, it also has the emergency button. It’ll alert your dad, me, or the Heroics mission control station. It has many more functions, I think, but that’s all I remember. Tech-no included a manual, you’ll get it once you turn it on. Oh yeah! Almost forgot, aside from being able to use conventional charging cables, I don’t know how but he also included solar panels.”

“OMG! I can’t believe it!! It’s the best gift ever!! Thank you!!!” Missy jumped from her place on the floor to tackle you in a hug.

“You’re welcome, I thought it could come in handy now that you’re in the saving the world business with us.” You said with a laugh.

“Hey, Missy, you still want the big box? We can exchange.” Marcus said with raised eyebrows.

“No way! This is mine, I’m gonna go charge it. Thankyousomuch, goodnight, bye.” With that Missy took off running towards her room.

“Hey, don’t forget to brush your teeth!” He reminded her.

“I won’t!”

You both heard the door to her room slam close.

“Wow Y/n, you didn’t have to.”

“It’s no big deal Marcus, you know how much I love her, and I worry. She’s too much like you.” You said staring at him.

“Wha-what’s that supposed to mean?” He said feigning offense.

“I mean it in a good way! She’s kind and selfless, headstrong, brave, and so intelligent. What we do is dangerous, and now that she's exposed to it, well, knowing her she won’t stay behind anymore. All we can do is give her the tools to keep herself and her team as safe as possible.”

Could you be any more perfect? He knew you loved his daughter, it’s always been clear to him, but could she love him just as much?

“You know now I have to try and top that gift next year, right? There’s no way anything I got her this one is going to top yours.” He said with the most serious face he could muster.

“That was the point.” You answered with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Mala.” he said, squinting his eyes at you.

“You think I’m bad!?” you gasped, “I’ll show you bad mister.” You stand up from your seat, you walk in your Christmas themed socks; boots long forgotten in favor of comfort; towards the tree to take the gift you brought for him. “No present for you, I’m going to keep it.” You said smugly .

“Now that’s not fair.”

“Oh, I think it is.”

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry.” He apologized.

“What? What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I said I’m sorry, oh benevolent woman! Goddess of the amazing Christmas presents! I kneel before you.”

“You’re ridiculous.” You laughed at him.

“The things I have to do for a present.”

“You didn’t really kneel.”

“You serious?” he asked flabbergasted.

“No. Now open your gift before I change my mind.”

Marcus eagerly tore the paper apart, revealing a thinner wooden box than the one Missy received. Inside, Marcus found an old throwing knife.

You stared at him, holding your breath as he opened the gift, it wasn’t some cutting edge piece of tech, but you knew how much that knife meant to him.

He was speechless, he instantly recognized it the moment his eyes laid on the engravings of the blade, this had been one of his father’s throwing knives. While not exactly a superhero, his father had served in the army as part of a special secret division. He had preferred knives instead of guns. And he taught Marcus everything he knew about them, that was the reason he had chosen to fight with swords, in memory of his father.

But how, how could you have gotten hold of one of his knives, they had been lost during his last mission.

“I-I, how-” He swallowed hard “How did you find it?”

“Well, I remembered what you told me, about your dad, what he did and a-about your dad’s last mission and well, remember last time I took some days off a few months ago? I did some research and found the town he had gone to. I asked around and I found this old lady, she treated your father’s wounds at some point during his mission and he tried to pay her by giving her one of his knives, she never sold it. I told her about you and well, she insisted on returning the blade to you.” You finished your tale a little bit breathless, he became really quiet when he opened the box.

He couldn’t believe you remembered that, it’s been so long since he told you about his father.

Had it been a mistake to search for the blade? Did you overstep? Maybe you should have told him before going on that trip.

“Marcus, I’m sorr-” One moment you were trying to apologize to him and the next you were being enveloped in a pair of strong arms.

“Thank you.” He said breathless, leaving a kiss on top of your head. “This means so much to me.” You just smiled and hugged him back.

You stayed like that, relishing in the feeling of his arms around you, holding you tight to his chest.

This woman, this wonderful, amazing, beautiful woman… fuck it, he knew what he had to do.

You felt a pang of sadness and longing as Marcus’ arms began to retreat from around you.

“Wait here. I-I need to go get something.” You watched as he left the box with his gift on the table, stood from his seat and disappeared around a corner.

 Calm down, calm down, it was just a hug. You told yourself.

Marcus came back to sit beside you a minute or so later holding a small baby blue box with a white ribbon on top in his hands.

“I-I’ve been waiting for the right moment to give you this. It’s nothing like what you gave us but…I hope you like it.” He reached for your hands and left the box in your palms.

Upon a closer look, you noticed the box came from a jewelry store, an expensive one at that. You opened it carefully, not wanting to damage the little box. Inside the box, lying on a silky looking piece of fabric, you saw a beautiful heart shaped golden locket, there was a flowery design with some vines on the surface giving it some texture.

“Marcus!” You gasped. “You didn’t have to; this must’ve been really expensive.”

“Go ahead, open it.” You did as he said not lifting the heart from its silky bed. Inside, you found a small picture of Marcus, Missy and you.

You remembered that one was taken during Missy’s birthday last year, in the picture the three of you were laughing, your faces dirty with cake frosting from the small war that took place moments before his mother had taken the picture without them noticing.

“Marcus! This is beautiful, thank you so much!” You were about to hug him when he raised a hand to stop you.

“There’s more.” You were confused, he was acting a bit strange, you noticed he was tense as you looked from him and back to the necklace. “Turn it around.”

Once more you did what he said, closing the locket you took it in your palm noticing something engraved into it. On the back you found that it was indeed engraved. It read:

‘For the holder of my heart~’

It’s now or never. He held his breath as he watched you read the words. He began to worry when you didn’t show any kind of reaction.

“What?” you whispered, it can’t be, could this mean, did he, what?

“I-I was going to wait to give it to you, I had this elaborate plan, I wanted to ask you out, take you to a nice restaurant, then maybe we’d go to a park or something. I also thought of giving it to you on your birthday, but then we got kidnapped by aliens and I lost the courage, because what if I ruined everything? What if I ruined our friendship just because I fell in love and you didn’t feel the same? Then things would’ve become awkward and we’d stop hanging out and eventually we would’ve become strangers and I never want that to happen, I want you, I want you in my life, in our lives and I can’t imagi-”

“Marcus.” You interrupted him. “You love me?”

“More than anything.”

“How long?”

“Long time now.” You nodded slowly. Your brain still trying to process everything he just said, but mainly repeating ‘he loves me!’ over and over again.

“Can you... help me put it on?” you gesture to the necklace still in your hands.

He nodded, taking it in his hands as you turned around for him. He didn’t understand what was happening, you were still here, you asked him for his help to put his gift on, so that was something good, right?

“Done.” He said stunned as you turned around to face him with the biggest most beautiful smile he’s ever seen.

“You love me?” You asked again. Your voice, now full of emotion, a stark contrast from the flat one you used a moment ago.

“Yes.”

“You really, really love me?” now he was getting confused.

“Yes Y/n, I love you, you and only you.”

“Good. Because I love you too.” He barely had time to react before your lips were on his and just like that, time stopped, right there, in that moment, there was only you, the feeling of your lips on his, the pounding of his heart, the feeling of your hands, your fingers as they carded through his hair.  

He couldn’t get enough of you. He pulled you closer to him until you ended up straddling his lap, his hands on your hips, your lips moving in perfect sync with his as if it wasn’t the first time you kissed. His senses overwhelmed by you and how you made him feel.

Suddenly, you leaned back, ending the kiss with a smack; much too soon for his liking; leaving you both a panting mess.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve dreamt of you saying that, of you feeling the same way.” You said breathless, giving him a small peck when you finished talking. 

“Oh, honey-is, is it okay if I call you that?”

“It’s more than ‘okay’ Marcus.” You said laughing.

“I’m glad, because I’ve been dying to call you all kinds of beautiful names. And me too, honey; I’ve imagined countless times telling you how I feel about you. I’m so sorry it took me this long to tell you.” He pulled you in, claiming your mouth again, in a kiss more intense than the first one making you moan. You felt his tongue lick your lips, silently asking for entrance, letting go of your inhibitions you let him explore the insides of your mouth, your own tongue tangling with his.

This time he ended the kiss, making you whine from the loss of contact.

“I want you, but tell me to stop, and I will.” He whispered in your ear, “Tell me if it’s too soon and I’ll stop.” he sucked on your earlobe before leaving a trail of kisses down your neck, alternating between kissing and sucking on the sensitive skin there.

“Don’t you dare stop Marcus.” you gasped, “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?” you asked as you ground your hips against his earning a groan in response.

He returned to your lips for one more hungry kiss before outright growling “Hold on tight, honey. Let’s take this somewhere more comfortable.” His hands slid from your hips to your ass, supporting you as he stood from the cushions making you squeal in surprise. Your arms went around his neck as you tried not to fall backward.

“Marcus! Warn me next time.” You admonished him “What about Missy? What if she hears us?” You ask as he begins to walk towards the part of the house you knew led to the bedrooms.

“That’s why we’re going to my room, so we don’t have to worry, it’s soundproofed. Now like you said, we’ve waited long enough.” He squeezed your ass before latching his lips on your neck again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

He stirred awake, with the feeling of your hand drawing mindless patterns on his naked chest. With a smile, he remembered what happened last night when he finally confessed to you, and what happened after as well.

He let his eyes open, slowly, letting them adjust to the little morning light that managed to seep through the curtains. He turned his head to look at you, your head resting on the hand that wasn’t drawing shapes on his chest.

He smiled at you, lifting one of his hands to hold yours, lifting it from his chest to place a kiss on your knuckles.

“Hey. Merry Christmas.” You greeted him with a smile.

“Merry Christmas indeed. Did you sleep well, honey?” he asked, lowering your hand in his and resting it on his chest right over his heart.

“Better than ever.” You gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment before leaning in at the same time to share a sweet, slow kiss.

“I wish we could stay like this forever.” He mumbled against your lips.

“Who would save the world if we did?” You managed to ask between little pecks to his lips.

“I bet the others can do it just fine.”

“Okay, well, who would keep Missy out of trouble?”

“Yeah, I don’t think either of us can keep her from that.” he stared at you, before saying your name. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Marcus.”

You stayed in bed, in each other’s arms, until one of you remembered that neither of you turned off the tv last night, and he remembered the cinnamon rolls had been left on the counter in the kitchen.

Once dressed, Marcus in his pajamas and you in one of his shirts (that almost made the both of you stay in bed longer) and a pair of pants that he let you borrow to keep you comfortable, you set out to clean the living room.

When that was done, you set to work together inside the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone, reheating the cinnamon rolls and making fresh coffee.

The two of you were soon joined by Missy, whose only reaction to the two of you being now together-together was a very happy, very exasperated ‘Finally!’.

He looked at his little family with a smile on his face as he sat down on the table. He could finally say that this Christmas he finally received what he’s always wished for, what he’s been yearning to have for years.

Your heart.

Tag list: @mindless--ramblings​ @oloreaa​ @16boyfriends-and-me​ If anyone wants to be added or removed from the taglist, or wants to only be tagged for certain characters, please let me know.

[thevindicativevordan]

On Lois Lane

Figured it well past time I got to the matriarch of the Superfamily, especially since I already wrote about the other major "LL" in Superman's life.

Hardest part of writing about Lois is what more can be added that hasn't already been said? She's The Love Interest when it comes to female supporting characters, so iconic and successful that like Superman himself, she's inspired countless copycats: Iris West, Vicki Vale, the current video game version of MJ Watson, if your hero has a love interest who is a reporter, they're drawing on the archetype that Lois established. She was there from the very beginning, before there were Krypton, Smallville, the Kents, the Rogues, before Superman could even fly Lois was there.

And my God is she such a fantastic character in her own right.

Whereas Clark himself is pretty damn different if you compare and contrast his Golden Age incarnation with his modern incarnation, Golden Age Lois is pretty recognizable as Lois Lane. Feisty, independent, scornful of danger and of cowardice (especially in a "peer" like Clark), a bit in awe of Superman while also eager to press him for information about himself, willing to throw herself into danger if she can get that exclusive scoop. Her personality in the early comics is much more like her modern incarnation than the lovestruck wanna-be housewife she became in the Silver Age. Lois is one of the few characters who basically came into comics perfect from Day 1.

I love the Rucka idea that she somehow has everyone's number and can call up anyone from the lowliest criminal to the highest politicians. I like when writers show that she herself is able to wear a variety of disguises, something I'm sure she and Clark can bond over once he reveals his identity to her. And I love that she is basically waging a one-woman war against corruption and evil in Metropolis long before Superman shows up, something the Superman & Lois show highlighted.

It's easy to see why Clark would fall for her. Even putting aside that Lois is hot as hell, she's a great foil to him personality wise. They both are committed to rooting out social ills and taking the fight to crime and oppression wherever it rears it's head, from the Lexcorp boardroom, to the darkest underbelly of Metropolis. They both are kind and compassionate, but have explosive tempers if you piss them off. They both love to snark, although Lois has more bite whereas Clark is more deadpan.

The biggest contrast, and honestly the biggest turn on for Clark, is that Lois is free from doubt. Clark is constantly second-guessing himself, worrying about how others see him, worrying about whether he's making the right choices or if he's approaching his heroics/journalism the right way. Lois? Lois never second-guesses herself, never allows the doubts or opinions of others to affect her course in life. She knows her dad is disappointed and upset with her and she couldn't care less. She knows others think she's a bitch and that only amuses her. She's confident and self-reliant and those are attributes Clark wants desperately to posses himself. How could he not fall head over heels in love?

Why Lois would fall in love with Clark is a bit trickier. It's easy to see why she would love Superman, which is part of why Clark wants her to love the "whole" of him and not just the public persona. Superman is confident, Superman is powerful, Superman kicks ass, he's kind and intelligent, he's a huge celebrity, who wouldn't love him? Clark? Eh he's easy on the eyes but he doesn't really have much of a presence. That's how everyone else views Clark. Lois, I think, would start off viewing Clark as a dweeb who will be gone in a week, the big city too much for him. That he sticks around and toughs it out impresses her. That he manages to outscoop her multiple times infuriates and intrigues her. That he manages to live in Metropolis and see how rotten it can be beneath the shiny gilded exterior, yet doesn't lose his sense of optimism, his faith in other peoples inner goodness, his "naivety" so to speak? I think that's what would make her fall in love with him.

Lois is at heart a "cynical idealist" in my estimation. The cynical side is she's someone who will always fight for the truth, for justice, but I don't think she believes that peoples inherent goodness will win out in the end most of the time. She's seen how selfish people can be, how uncaring, and I think before Clark shows up there's a part of her that thinks she's just bashing her head against a wall trying to change things. The idealist part of her is that she will continue to bash her head against that wall of public indifference anyway. Lois will always fight even if nobody else will fight alongside her, she'll keep writing articles and investigating long after a lesser woman would give up, because it's the principles that matter damnit, even if only to her. That Clark is someone who will join her in that fight while still believing that the rest of the public can be swayed to join them is what I see as the reason why she finally gives him a chance, that optimism remaining in Clark is refreshing and uplifting to her. That he's also hot and can trade banter with her doesn't hurt his chances any.

Lois becoming a mom has been really interesting, even if I haven't always been wholly satisfied with how they've handled the relationship between her and Jon. I haven't seen enough of Lois traits in Jon to really buy him as her offspring, I hope that changes. While I'm not the biggest fan of Tom Taylor to put it mildly, I liked that he emphasized Lois' importance with regards to Jon becoming Superman in interview leading up to the first issue, and I hope we get lots of Lois/Jon interaction in Superman: Son of Kal-El that really flesh out their relationship. At the very least I want to see Jon get some of that Lois patented verbal bite to him.

One last thought with regards to Lois: how the hell was Tom King the first one to realize that Lois and Selina would immediately hit it off?

They're both so similar when you think about it: Brunettes who are willful and independent, who flaunt the rules to get what they want, who outright laugh when their male significant others try to order them around, yeah I totally can see the two of them becoming friends. I really hope that gets continued under someone else, since I don't think anyone other than King has really played with it, but I love the idea of Lois having a "gal pal" that's also caught up in the insanity of life with a superhero.

If not Selina I'd like to see Lois being shown to have a friendship with her copycats such as Vicki or Iris or the rest. Definitely with Cat (even though Cat Grant can drive her up the wall sometimes). More girls' nights out/double dates for Lois, that's all I'm saying.

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here!

Etsy Store Here l Ko-Fi l Commission Info I Instagram I Zine

A/N: This is the last part to The miscommunication series, I hope you guys enjoy it ;) Also peep the last link to ‘Zine’ and stay tuned

This is weird.

You look up from your textbook at the scrawny boy across from you. The circles under his eyes look especially dark as the blue light from his tablet shines on his face.

Yeah, this situation is super weird.

You’re ashamed to admit it, but you’ve been avoiding Dick a little bit lately.

You’re still pleasant to him in class, and you see him at the study group sessions, but you don’t try to make the effort to see him in situations where it’s just the two of you.

You’re just not ready to see him with all these feelings brewing inside you.

So the last thing you wanted was to run into his little brother, especially when you purposefully went to another coffee shop across town just so you wouldn’t run into Dick.

Still, you’re surprised Tim chose to sit with you after ordering 4 shots of espresso over ice.

“The ice makes it cold so you can’t taste how bitter it is” he had told you when you looked at his drink with a skeptical expression.

Well, it’s not a problem, you think taking a sip of your chai tea. Tim seems like a quiet person, he’s only said a handful of words to you so far, he probably won’t even bring up -

“So are you and Dick fighting?” Tim asks without looking up and you choke on your tea.

“So you are fighting” he hums as his gaze trails from his tablet to you. He figured Dick was being paranoid, honestly, even Tim thought following you to the coffee shop and pretending that he just ran into you was overkill.

Man, he figured you were just in the middle of some misunderstanding. He’s usually right about these things. Tim’s not going to lie, it stings to know Dick was on the nose about this one.

“It’s not that we’re fighting,” because you both really aren’t, there’s only going to be a fight if he finds out how you feel and how uncomfortable your new feelings make him considering he already has someone he loves.

“I just don’t want to get between him-“

“And Nightwing?” Tim supplies for you and your eyes widen.

“You know?” Tim nods in response.

You think Tim is saying he knows his brother and Nightwing are dating.

Tim thinks that you found out Dick got reprimanded a few weeks ago because he was spotted chatting with you on your balcony. He was able to play it off as just a normal chat but he would be risking exposing you to every villain in Gotham if they ever found out your were someone important to him.

“Maybe you are-“ Tim hums. You feel like a lightning bolt has struck your spine. So Dick does know about your feelings - or at least suspects something.

“But that’s not exactly a bad thing” Tim finishes, and you raise an eyebrow. You wait for an explanation but Tim’s already turned back to his tablet, typing away.

You look at the city, buildings springing up like trees from the concrete, their jagged edges like the crooks of a mountain. Nothing’s really changed. Not the buildings, or the skyline, not the stars in the inky black void of outer space. Not the city that never seems to sleep, the idle chatter of cars and civilians always whirring in the distance.

The only thing that has seemed to change, is you.

“That smells good, is it green tea?”

Well, one other thing has changed. You find a smile twitching onto your mouth as you hand Nightwing the mug in your hands. He’s perched on the ledge of your balcony, legs swing against the bars.

You get anxious just watching him.

“I had a feeling you’d stop by, it’s cherry blossom green tea, I think you’ll like it.” It’s a naturally sweet tea, so he should find it suits his taste considering he seems to share the same disposition for sweet things as his boyfriend.

You know that encounter with Tim this morning was weird, but the fact that you’ve kind of become late-night tea and chat buddies with your love rival is even weirder.

Looks like you can’t even make friends in a normal way.

“You’re a lifesaver,” he grins taking a sip of the hot beverage with a satisfied smile. The hum he lets out afterward sends shivers down your spine. Geez, no wonders Dick has it so bad for him.

You wonder what kind of noises he makes when they’re together-

Nope. Nope. No. Nope. No.

That was too far, your imagination really needs to get a grip.

“So how are things with you and that guy you love?” You flinch at the mention, choosing to take an unusually long sip of tea right then.

“That good huh?” Nightwing snorts, and you sigh. You’re not going to tell him about the cryptic conversation you had with Tim, especially considering the fact that he doesn’t seem to support their relationship.

Dick feels a little frustrated, as he watches you avoid his eyes. The whole thing seems off like there’s something missing. So you don’t want to be seen with Dick Grayson, but you don’t mind midnight tea talk with Nightwing- and you tell Tim how you don’t want to get in between him and his superhero persona- and then you wave him over when you see he’s a rooftop over-

It just doesn’t make any sense.

And worst of all-you look so pretty standing there, even with that sad look on your face.

“Well you know what they say-“ you let out a dry laugh, “to get over someone, you have to get under someone else”

It’s just a joke - a bad joke, you’re helping it’ll ease the tension. You figure Nightwing will make a dumb joke or pun back, and this whole thing can be behind you when he says-

“Get under me then” you’re so taken aback but what he’s said you’re sure he must have heard wrong. But when you look away from the green tea in your mug to his face, that chiseled face is only a few inches away from your own.

Before you can open your mouth to ask what he’s doing so close to you, his lips are pressed over your own. His gloved fingers ghosting over your cheek, holding it so tenderly that the action sends shivers down your spine.

Dick pulls away, fingers retreating to his domino mask, he doesn’t want to confess to you as Nightwing he wants to do it as Dick-

When you slap him.

This has seriously been the worst day. Dick sighs as he turns the water faucet to his shower off, grabbing his towel from the rack.

First, he forgets his cell phone at home on a Monday afternoon, so he’s got nothing to do to pass the time while he patrols.

Then the girl he likes slaps him before running back into her apartment without another word, probably to go cry-

And finally, to make the perfect end to the perfect day Dick got caught in a spontaneous rainstorm, getting soaked to the bone on his way back home. He figured Gotham could wait for a few hours and decided to come home a little early.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I catch a cold” he mumbles tying his robe around his waist, his hands moving the towel to dry his hair, stopping mid-motion when he hears several very urgent knocks.

Well, who could it be at this hour? He’s considering ignoring it, probably just one of his brothers wanting to use his shower, when he hears several more knocks.

“Geez Jason, the neighbors are going to complain” he hisses, as he clings open the door, fully expecting to see his younger brother drenched to the bone and creating a puddle in the middle of his apartment building's hallway.

And someone is standing in the middle of his apartment building's communal hallway, drenched to the bone and creating a puddle in the hallway. But it’s not Jason, it’s you.

He only pulls you inside his apartment, the door clicking behind you when you break down into tears.

“I-I’m so sorry! I really didn’t mean to, I should have known better but- I didn’t think it would happen” The words are jilted by your tears and your chattering teeth. Did you run all the way here? Dick wonders as he starts using his slightly damp towel to dry your hair.

“I really didn’t want it, Dick, I promise I didn’t-“ you clasp his arm now jilting his movements. In the pandemonium, he completely forgot that you were the one that slapped him just a few hours ago, and now you’re the one apologizing for something?

“What are you talking about?” he sees your gulp hard, your eyes averted like a dog that realizes he’s accidentally snapped at his owner. And then, with clenched eyes and your hands balled into fists you shout:

“Nightwing kissed me!” Yeah, he knows, he was there. Kinda weird that you’re referring to him with his superhero persona. You look at him earnestly now- clasping both of his hands in yours.

“I promise I didn’t mean to make a pass at your boyfriend or steal him away from you.”

.

..

...

Huh?

You’re babbling about how ‘You could do so much better than a guy like that Dick’ and ‘if it was me- I would never do something like that’ when the flashbulb finally goes off over his head.

Oh.

Ohhhhhhhh. You think he’s dating Nightwing. This actually explains a lot.

“Here come with me” he grabs onto your numb wrist before you can answer, tugging you towards his bedroom. Your eyes staring into his robe-covered back.

Oh no, you can’t believe you didn’t realize it before.

Nightwing’s here isn’t he? That would answer why he hasn’t answered any of the texts you’ve sent him. Who would when they were busy having a romantic liaison with their lover. And obviously, he spun some different story for Dick, probably that you kissed him. And now you’re going to have to confront them both and pray that Dick believes you-

Only to your surprise, the bedroom is empty, and Dick’s fiddling around with something in his rather large wardrobe. Before you can ask what he’s doing he pulls out a suit-

It almost looks like a wet suit, with accents of blue amongst the sleek black- so he surfs? Is he showing off right now?

But then your eyes land on the bright blue symbol smack dab in the middle of the chest.

So Nightwing was here, and he did spin another story! You’re mentally preparing your best argument when you look into Dick’s baby blue eyes stare into your own, softening as they gaze warmly at you.

“(Y/N), I’m Nightwing”

.

..

...

(Y/N).exe is broken

Dick watches you gulp hard. Then he watches you slide past him, each step pronounced with a squeak, and step into his wardrobe before closing it from the inside.

“(Y/N)!”

“(Y/N)’s dead, so she can’t come to the phone anymore” Dick can practically feel the embarrassment radiate through the wardrobe door, and in spite of the situation, Dick laughs. He laughs so hard you actually swing open the door, crouched at the bottom of his wardrobe.

“It’s not funny Dick! Do you know how worried I was about you! I thought Bruce Wayne was homophobic and that you were leading some double life!” Dick only laughs harder at that. To be fair, he is leading a double life, just not the one you imagined he was.

“Well you’re not totally wrong,” he says between chuckles, sitting on the ground outside your wardrobe next to you. “I like guys and girls, but Bruce had it figured out before I even did,” he says with a shrug, mouth quirked up into a grin. His cheeks hold a rosy tinge, but somehow his red cheek is even brighter-

Ah, that’s the cheek you slapped.

Without thinking you reach out to him, your thumb caressing the swollen flesh. Dick doesn’t flinch away, relaxing into your touch.

“Sorry about that, I thought your boyfriend was cheating on you,” you say with a sheepish smile. Dick grins even wider.

“Would the response have been the same if you knew it was me?” There’s a hopeful glint in his eyes and you feel your heartbeat stutter.

Is he stupid?

If you knew it was Dick if you knew it was the boy you loved sitting on your balcony railing drinking tea with you all those times-

“Of course I wouldn’t have”

And Dick doesn’t wait another moment, leaning forward to catch your lips in his own.

This time you don’t slap him. Instead, you place both hands on his face and pull him in closer.

BONUS:

“So you’re Nightwing-“ you say, sitting cross-legged across from Dick in a marching bathrobe in his bed. He insisted you shower, he didn’t want you getting sick. You thought he was going to combust with how red he turned when you jokingly asked if he wanted to join you.

“And your Dad, Bruce, he’s Batman”

“That’s right” Dick nods.

“And you’re brothers, they’re the Red Hood, Robin, and Red Robin... respectively,”

Dick nods again.

“And Stephanie and Cass, they’re a part of this too, They’re both Batgirl” Dick nods, he tries to get some eye contact, but you’re firmly starting down at your hands.

“And your ex, Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter- she’s the original Batgirl.”

This must be pretty overwhelming, he had never realized what a robust mantle their extended family collectively carried. He’s about to offer you some comfort when your head snaps up-

“Do you think if I got all of them to autograph my textbook I could sell it and buy a new one”

Dick starts laughing.

“Seriously, there’s no one like you in the world”

[aphrodite-would-be-proud]

🕯Anon said: just wanna say I adore your writing and how you write Reiner and the kids and the other warriors is my favourite thing ever !! I just wanna give them all hugs :) do u have any hcs for the types of jobs you see them all doing in modernverse ?🕯

The types of jobs they have in modern au

{Annie, Bertolt, Colt, Marcel, Pieck, Porco, Reiner, Zeke, }

{Implied Reiner x reader}

{ "Porto" 1935 by Renato Natali 1883-1979 }

Annie is an Animal rescue worker.

Having had experience as a dog trainer before, it wasn't hard to find a full time job at her local shelter after graduating high school, having volunteered there before.

With time, effort and a lot of energy she made her way into the position of "animal control officer" now she spends her days busting animal's abusers doors and rescuing injured or neglected pets.

With long shifts and a high maintenance job, her time was all poured into her work. Usually she'd be exhausted after a long day.

Despite that, she's fulfilled and satisfied with her job. Not having to deal with a lot of people is a plus too, it's a hard job yes but she prefers it this way.

Her friends are bumped about not being able to see her a lot but they understand, plus she keeps in touch with them by lurking in the group chat only to send a snarky remark to stir the pot every now and then.

Bertolt sees her everyday because they work at the same animal shelter, even if their jobs are different they still walk home together, she also met some different people like Hitch and Marco at her job.

The kids love her job, they think it's badass, especially Gabi and Udo. Gabi because Annie gets to kick people in the face and Udo because he genuinely cares about animals.

She'd never tell anyone this, but part of the reason she wanted the job was because she felt guilty for her past self and wanted to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

Bertolt is a veterinarian.

Having changed his mind post graduation and going to college instead of with Reiner, he graduated after 4 years of studying and is currently working with Annie at the local shelter while also planning to open his own clinic one day.

He takes some animals under his personal care for weeks or months even till they get adopted, he fears something bad will happen to the weak or ill ones if left at the shelter overnight.

Just like Annie, the job takes a lot of his time, not to mention caring for animals off of work. So he's in the same situation as her, but for the sake of his best friend he still finds time to visit and hang out once a week.

Reiner and him still text daily, it's mostly pictures Bertolt took of the animals, Annie on her break, interesting plants he finds along the way. And Reiner replies with pictures of the kids.

They still find time to play basketball together, they try to keep it a secret from Annie because she will kick their ass in it.

Bertolt is comfortable with his job, he feels like he belongs and likes being needed. Yes the long hours are a con but seeing the fruits of his labour grow and get better day by day makes it all worth it.

The kids like visiting his house because there usually will be a new dog or some animal in there every month or so, Reiner makes sure they don't bother the animals. 

Something he's never told anyone is a big part of the reason he changed his mind last minute was because Animals feel much safer and secure for him to work with than humans.

Colt is a college student working part time.

He's majoring in nursing, being a four years degree he's trying to balance his studies with work and taking care of Falco.

Zeke offered him to work full time after graduation at his clinic, since he's been working part time there for a while and the pay is good, plus it's really convenientnal.

He has worked different part time jobs in the past like a barista, flower shop assistant, tutor, kindergarten teacher, etc.

Between all his responsibilities he barely has time for himself, his courses end right before his work starts and the small bits in-between is spent on Falco and his friends. Zeke and Pieck try to take some of his responsibility but he refuses saying it's the least he could do to Falco.

He's really good at his job like multitasking, reading people, gaining their trust and having high stamina that he could stay for night shifts even.

He relies on coffee a lot.

Falco sees him as a real life superhero, they weren't that close before but after the incident he really started appreciating his big brother. 

Something he keeps inside is that despite pursuing this job because he genuinely wanted to make a difference in people's lives and help the sick, he also felt a crushing guilt after his parents passed away, and so he's trying to save other people's lives now instead.

Marcel is a pilot.

It's a dream he always had since middle school, soon after graduation he joined the military to gain enough flying hours and experience to apply to a commercial airline after taking some mathematics, aviation and some general flying courses.

He was officially hired as a pilot after getting his first class medical certificate to check his health.

His work isn't measured by hours to him but by days, he needs to be available 24/7 in case of an emergency call. Now he's working overseas and far away from his friends.

You've actually never met Marcel, only seen pictures of him and received letters. The person he keeps in touch with the most is Porco.

He likes his work, it's his dream. He doesn't like the work hours and being so absent from his friends and brother, he misses them so much at times.

Pieck is a tattoo artist.

Her shop is actually her old flower shop after she decided to change her career. She's always been good with plants and taking care of them, at that time Colt worked as her assistant. 

It wasn't till later after some years of practice and training under other artists that she was confident enough about her skills to start the project 

Her art is full of life, mesmerising and beautiful. She puts her soul in every piece and has gained a good reputation because of it, plus having really high ratings and strict hygiene rules, no health inspector could ever challenge her.

Having her own independent work meant that she has a very flexible schedule, being mostly free ment she could pursue other hobbies like gardening.

A peaceful and simple life where she can indulge in her art and be happy is all she ever wanted

Porco is a frequent customer of hers that gets a family discount, Zeke came once before and later sent his friend, a really tall and blonde woman who became her most frequent customer.

Zofia thinks her work is really cool and wants to go and just watch her do her thing, but it's frowned upon to have a kid just sitting at a tattoo shop.

Despite changing into this career, the town people still think of her as the sweet flower shop lady.

Porco is a bartender.

That job came to him by accident more than anything, he was working part time as a bouncer in a local bar but a slot was open after the old bartender suddenly quit and he gave it a chance.

He didn't expect to love it so much, neither did he know about his hidden talent in mixing drinks. So he took it as full time and changed to better bars after gaining the experience he needed.

Being naturally charismatic and good at influencing people, while also multitasking in making drinks and keeping a conversation going, he was instantly a hit in whatever place he worked at.

Working the night shift ment he's mostly free in the morning, he tries to help Pieck with her gardening and is actually attempting to grow some plants at his house.

Naturally whenever there's a gathering, he's the one mixing drinks and being the self assigned bartender who openly judges his friends for their choice in drinks. The charismatic persona being thrown out the window and replaced by a no mouth filter.

He genuinely cares tho, he's the one taking care of someone when they drink more they can handle. It's mostly Colt who underestimates his drinks and is left clinging to Porco who drives him home.

Because of his line of work, tattoos and general brash personality, the kids' parents don't like him even one bit. They're suspicious of him no matter how many times Reiner assures them he's trustworthy.

It's actually only Colt who trusts Falco with him, and maybe Zofia's mom who is at the bar every weekend. 

Reiner is a firefighter.

With his mother pushing him into this line of work, he applied for the physical and psychological exams after graduation before getting accepted. He wasn't unprepared per say but actually being in that line of work was more than he could ever prepare for.

It instantly took a great hit at his mental health, so much in fact that he was thankful Bertolt changed his mind last minute and didn't follow him in this job.

It was both everything he ever wanted, like saving people, helping children, animals and knowing it's him who saved them even if it means putting his own life at risk.

But also everything he hated, like the hunting faces and screams of the people who were far too gone for him to save, the recurring nightmares and constant guilt paired with imposter syndrome.

He works a 24/72 shift, meaning he works for a whole day before getting 3 days off. Approximately only working 7-8 days a month, not to mention unpaid leave, sick days and holidays.

So it both gave him a really tight schedule on some days and on others more free time than he knows what to do with, that's why he naturally took the main role of being the kid's caretaker. Looking after his little cousins genuinely helped him and he liked playing the big brother role.

Especially to Gabi, he was the only stable adult in her life. It's common knowledge that you call Reiner first for anything concerning her before her parents because he's more likely to answer and be available.

After meeting you, his life improved to the better as you moved in and became a trustworthy person in his life, someone he can depend on to take care of his little cousins on the days he works.

Not to mention that after you persuaded him to see a therapist, his mental health began improving too.

Gabi may or may have not committed arson at one point, she still wants to be a firefighter despite that and follow in Reiner's footsteps.

He hasn't told anyone beside you this, but he really fears for her, but doesn't have the heart to tell her no.

Zeke is a doctor.

Previously he worked in a hospital but was able to open his own clinic afterwards, Colt was a great help to him at that time when he was getting on his own feet and even worked a lot of unpaid hours.

After that he insisted Colt works an official part time job there with a much higher pay, till he graduates at least. Plus the experience will greatly improve his resume.

Zeke is brilliant at his job, he'd be a perfect doctor wasn't it for the fact he's a huge hypocrite who doesn't follow the advice he gives his patients. 

He does a side job in his free time that honestly no one of his friends know what it is, but they know it gained him a lot of connections and made new friends.

Something he always keeps buried inside was that he really never expected himself to become a doctor especially after what his dad did to his mother, and yet here he is. In some way it's like his own personal stepping stone to prove he's a better man than his father ever was.

Bonus:

Falco: middle schooler

He does volunteer work on the weekends, sometimes Udo joins him.

Doesn't want Gabi becoming a firefighter.

Likes all videogames , just all types.

Likes watching cartoons and medical shows with Colt who covers Falco eyes whenever an adult scene is on

His favourite food is chicken nuggets

Wants to try coffee

Is good at PE

Reads comic books

Likes yellow and blue

Gabi: middle schooler

Takes self defence classes and really wants to go to summer camp

Wants to be like Reiner, aspires to be as strong too.

Likes shooter videogames or really hard ones.

Likes watching Anime and cartoons

Her favourite food is Pizza

Wants to try energy drinks

Is also really good at PE and surprisingly good at puzzles.

Likes red and pink 

Udo: middle schooler

Takes music classes at the weekend, wants to go to science camp

Kinda wants to be like Reiner or an astronaut.

Likes calming videogames

Likes watching anime and Minecraft let's play

His favourite food is mac and cheese 

His favourite drink is strawberry milk

Is good at language classes and creative writing, he also just likes animals a lot.

Likes green and black

Zofia: middle schooler (could've been in a special program)

Takes music classes with Udo

Wants to be a lawyer

Likes co-op Videogames 

Likes watching true crime and youtubers drama

Her favourite food is Donuts

She likes strawberry milk and ice tea 

Is good at all classes

Likes white and purple

[randomdcfangirl]

Jason x Superman's daughter!reader

Request: Hi can i request a jason todd x reader where reader is a daughter of a hero and defends jason infront of the jl by @illzarr

(A/N): You didn't specify if you wanted them to be a couple or not but I made them one, hope that's okay :) Also I made it Superman's daughter.

Tags: @redhoodieone @avengerdragoness @comic-nerd-dc

Keys: (Y/N): Your Name (Y/S/N): Your Superhero Name

Word Count: 1,381

Warning(s): Cursing, arguing, mention of child abuse, talking about Jason's death, league may be a bit rude and ignorant when it comes to Red Hood, also a bit insensitive

**********************************************

Being on The Watchtower wasn't something Jason liked doing, especially since he wasn't Robin anymore. As Robin it was fun and he liked it but after everything it wasn't a fun experience. Red Hood isn't seen as a hero in the hero community like he is down in Crime Alley. Moral codes got in the way of that.

How the hell Jason got (Y/N) Kent or (Y/S/N) he has no idea, no fucking clue. Why did Clark allow it you may ask? He did not, he doesn't know, good thing Jason carries Kryptonite around, he's not dying a second time to Superman.

Jason doesn't even really know why he was called to this mission, it wasn't hard and they wouldn't need backup so he was a bit on guard because of that. He was walking with his Nightwing, his brother of all people, to this meeting that Jason is pretty sure isn't a meeting. Jason's pretty sure he's getting set up but he was going with it for now, well somewhat.

"Wing, you need to tell me right now, am I getting set up?" Jason asked him.

"I'm not going to take you to get arrested, Hood. If I wanted that it would've happened a long time ago." Dick let out a laugh.

"Wow thanks, glad to know you don't want me in prison." Jason joked. "But actually, this isn't a mission is it?"

"To be honest, I wasn't told anything either. So I honestly don't know." Dick replied.

"Okay, now I know it's not a mission. They were prepared for me to ask questions so they didn't tell you anything." Jason sighed. "Guess I'm arguing with somebody today."

Dick shrugged and they continued on their way to the conference room. That conversation didn't give Jason any information at all. They arrived in the conference room a few minutes later and everyone was there, already waiting for them. There was a seat for Jason at the table between Diana and (Y/N), Jason cautiously walked up and sat in the chair while Dick walked around to sit next to Bruce and Clark.

"Now that we're all here we can get started. So, it's not really a mission." Superman said. Jason's suspicions were confirmed.

"I had a feeling, so why am I here?" Jason sighed.

"Think of this as sort of an intervention, Batman has no say in anything we've done and he cannot stop it." Diana said.

"Intervention for what?" Jason asked confused.

"Your actions as the Red Hood." Clark replied.

"If this is about killing I haven't killed anyone in the past year, bats already beat you to that "intervention" a while ago." Jason said with finger quotations.

"Not just the killing, there's a lot of younger heros that look up to you and you're too aggressive out in the field." Diana explained vaguely.

"But yes mostly the killing." Flash said.

"I didn't sign up to be a role model, that's not my fault. All I do is mind my business and do my job, I don't think that's a need for an intervention." Jason replied.

"Okay, let's talk to Jason instead of Red Hood, drop the persona." Superman said. "Clark to Jason."

"Sorry but Jason isn't any different, I think the person you're looking for died in a warehouse 8 years ago." Jason replied, Clark flinched a bit at that remark. "Just spit it the fuck out, why exactly am I here?"

"They don't like the way you act and work down in Gotham like they have any authority down there in the first place." (Y/N) said from her place next to Jason.

"(Y/N)." Clark warned.

"No, all you guys ever do when he's here is criticize like you have authority over him. Well guess fucking what, you don't. He's a grown man who can make his own decisions and you're not his family. Maybe you were considered so at one point but in my opinion you lost that privilege a long time ago!" She exclaimed to all of them.

"(Y/N) you don't hav-." Jason started but she cut him off standing out of her chair.

"No! I do! I'm sick of all of you trying to change who the Red Hood is! Just because he has a different moral code? Also did you know that he's never once killed an innocent person? Did you know Red Hood has only ever killed murderers, rapists, child molesters, because I don't know about you but those people don't deserve to be breathing in my opinion anyway." She said darkly then turned to Jason and talked softly. "They brought you up here because Joker is dead but they wanted to know if you did it or not. They wanted to see if they could make you say it without straight out asking you."

"He's dead? When? Who?" Jason asked quietly in shock.

"We were hoping you knew." Green Lantern said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"If I was never stopped he would've been dead a long time ago. But no I didn't kill him, I wish I did but nope." Jason was keeping himself composed from the shock.

"Okay, he didn't kill him, like I told you many times. But you wanted to know how I knew so you know what I'll tell you. I was with him for the past 2 weeks every single night and day. He's my boyfriend and he's the most kind hearted, hard working, strongest and intelligent man I've ever met. I've never been treated with such respect and love so I'm not going to sit here and let you tear him a part in lectures anymore. He does too much good down in Crime Alley to deserve it." She said strongly to everyone in the room. Bruce sent her a nod because he's glad Jason has her.

"Oh really, what good has he done?" Green Arrow said.

"When was the last time you guys gave out food to street kids or an orphanage? How many of you guys help kids with homework or the kids who have to cover bruises on their arms or legs while at school? When was the last time you gave a sexual assault victim peace of mind knowing their attacker can't hurt them anymore? When was the last time you worked your asses off every single night to bring kidnapped children home from a trafficking ring? Probably never for most of you but Jason does it every single day while dealing with his own demons up in his mind because guess what he's gone through literal hell and back and that shit ain't easy!" She exclaimed more. "C'mon babe, you have no reason to be up here. Let's go home."

She grabbed his hand after they both stood up and they walked out of the room. They left everyone in the room including her father who didn't know what to think.

"That's three bats now somehow involved with my family." Clark sighed.

"It's not fun from my side either, Clark." Bruce replied standing up. "Also don't ever call a meeting to do with any of my children again. Especially not Jason, he deals with enough already and you have no authority over Gotham so your input on my city is not accepted. Leave my family and my city out of League business, this meeting is over."

Batman is scary but Batdad is scarier.

When Jason and (Y/N) got to his apartment they changed out of their gear and into sweats and comfy clothes.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Jason said wrapping his arms around her from behind while in their bedroom looking out the window.

"I did, I know you won't defend yourself with actual facts and would likely turn to anger to protect yourself so as your girlfriend I decided I'd take it upon myself to protect you the way you try to protect me, even though I'm Kryptonian." She replied. Jason huffed a laugh because he does do that even though she doesn't need it.

"I love you." Jason told her kissing the side of her head.

"I love you too." She replied and turned to give him a real kiss.

They'd deal with Superman later.

****************************************

Hi, I haven't wrote is fic in a long time but here this is. I'm still doing the Jason x Bermudian!reader I'm sorry that's taking so long. But I love you guys and hopefully I'll be more active on here :) <3 (Also I couldn't think of a title lol)

[redrobinfection]

Alfred’s Favorite Barbara

Babs & Alfred || Read on Ao3 || Happy Birthday, Barbara Gordon! ❤

<< A sequel to last year’s “Batgirls’ Favorite Mentor” 

~*~

Barbara leaned forward and spit out the toothpaste Cass had let her use, on one of the many spare toothbrushes Alfred kept in the guest toiletries stockpile, then leaned back in her chair with a sigh and considered her mostly-put-together-again reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Wow, that had certainly been a party of a night, she mused, ruefully lifting a strand of her sleep-mussed auburn locks before deciding that pulling it back in a bun was really the only dignified solution.

Steph and Cass had kept her up all night--not like that was all that much different from her usual schedule, but mani, pedi, facials, horrible (great) superhero movies, and gossip until dawn had worn her out more than she would have expected. Although, the wine that had snuck into the mix right when the mani-pedis were left to dry and the third movie went in might have had something to do with it, she conceded with a smirk at herself in the mirror. It wasn't a bad sort of tired, she admitted as she tucked few stray hairs into her messy bun, but she was more than ready for a day to rest, recover and recharge.

Just after dawn, Alfred had invaded the sanctum of their home theater encampment to invite them up to the kitchen for a hearty breakfast. There he had laid out toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, juices, teas, coffee, pancakes and even some of the real cake from the night before--a rare breach of protocol from the prim and proper butler that Barbara took as a one-time gesture of affectionate indulgence of their whims--which eventually drew out the other occupants of the house, turning breakfast the morning after into as much of a party as dinner the night before had been.

After that, Alfred had shooed Steph and Cass off to bed and shown Barbara up to her regular guest room where the bed had already been turned down, the pillows fluffed and the blackest of blackout curtains tightly drawn, bless that man. After a few hours of much needed sleep, it was now just past noon, most of the manor's occupants were either still sleeping or out living their daylight personas, and Alfred had offered to drive her back to the Clocktower after she had "freshened up a bit".

Satisfied that she had done as much as she could to make herself decent for the drive of shame, Barbara gathered her things and made her way down the hall to the elevator. Alfred was waiting for her when the doors opened on the civilian garage.

"Ah, Miss Barbara, I take it you're ready to depart?"

"Yes. Thank you for driving me back, Alfred."

"Of course, it's my pleasure."

He led the way toward their several limousines, opened the door to one very special vehicle and began extending and lowering a long ramp. Barbara pressed her lips together to hide a smile as Alfred stepped to one side and let her wheel herself up the shallow incline. He retracted the ramp, closed the door and slid into the driver's seat while she positioned herself in the sleek interior and locked the wheels of her chair.

"Thanks again, Alfred. For everything," Barbara added as they pulled out of the garage. "Last night, this morning...it was all amazing and it must have been so much work--extra work--for you. I really appreciate it."

She saw his eyebrows rise in the rear-view mirror as he replied, "Of course. It was no trouble; I would hardly label hosting a small dinner in honor of and giving accommodations to one of my favorite persons "work". It was a pleasure, Miss Barbara."

She raised an eyebrow in turn. "Oh really? A fairly large dinner, putting up with the mess we all made in the theater afterwards, and putting together a big breakfast in the morning--and driving me back after letting me stay over, even when I'm sure you've got plenty of cleaning up to do? 'Favorite person' huh? If I didn't know better I'd think you were buttering me up for something, Alfred Pennyworth," she teased, sharing a knowing look with him in the mirror.

He didn't laugh out loud, but his eyes twinkled in that way Barbara knew meant he was amused rather than offended. "My word! Is it so hard to believe that an old man would take pleasure in doing what little he could to celebrate the birthday of his favorite Barbara."

Barbara did laugh out loud. "Your favorite...huh! First Jason calls me his favorite, then Tim and Dick, then Steph and Cass... and now you? All of you in less than twenty-four hours? Did you all have a meeting to discuss the topic or am I about to go home to one of the hardest cases of all time and you're all buttering me up to it?"

"I believe the subject had come up recently," Alfred replied evenly. "You do so much for this family and receive so little appreciation..."

"That's my line," Barbara muttered incredulously with a minute shake of her head.

"...and I'll have you know that of all the Barbaras I've had the pleasure of knowing, you most certainly rank supreme."

Barbara huffed a laugh through her nose. "And how many Barbaras is that exactly?"

Alfred met her eyes in the mirror and fixed her with an impressive look. "When you've lived as long as I have, served as long as I have, you come to know a great many people. Among all of those... you are rare soul indeed, Barbara. Surely one to celebrate and to venerate."

That gave her pause. What are you supposed to say to something like that? She didn't know, so she let the silence stretch and turned her gaze to the traffic speeding past her window while her true focus turned to beating down the bloom of color that had flooded her cheeks at Alfred's unexpected pronouncement. 

They rode in silence--not an uncomfortable silence, but Barbara still felt the weight of those words still hanging heavy between them--for the rest of the drive. They'd caught the lull between the lunch-hour jam and afternoon rush-hour traffic--likely a strategic choice on Alfred's part--so it only took about twenty minutes to make the trip into the city. 

Alfred graciously helped her disembark, escorted her to the ground level door to the tower, and--to her surprise--asked to walk her in, pulling a cooler bag from somewhere with leftovers from the revelries. Barbara invited him in, sending him ahead of her with repeated thanks, but the words of appreciation died in her throat as she rolled over the threshold and took in the interior of her homebase. 

She wasn't a slob, per se, but Barbara knew she didn't tidy up around the Tower quite as often as she should, and she cleaned the place even less frequently. It was a lot of real estate for one person--a person with certain mobility issues, at that--and a small army of specially programmed Roombas and some casual dusting here and there could only do so much. 

But today, her foyer was spotless. All the coats, umbrellas and other detritus were neatly hung or stacked in their places. The tile was a shade lighter than she remembered and the grout was actually white--she'd actually thought it was tan up until now. 

Moving into her apartment showed the same story. Shelves of books and knick-knacks were freshly dusted, the rugs had been deeply vaccuumed, and personal items had been put away or neatly arranged. Every surface gleamed.

She turned to Alfred with an accusing look. "Alfred... did you...?" One look at his quietly pleased expression was answer enough. "When did you even find the time to come over here and do this? Did you clean the whole Tower?" She wouldn't doubt it. She didn't bother to ask him how he got into her super-secure, high-tech lair--this is the ex-MI6 agent who raised Bruce, after all--but given the timeline of events, it shouldn't have been possible for him to clean all this by himself and do everything he did for them while she was at the manor. 

"We did, in fact, clean the entire tower--and we took great care not to disturb any of your things in the command center, mind you--but it hardly took any time at all with Masters Damian and Timothy along to help. In fact, we were in and out well before you rose from your nap this morning."

Barbara's eyebrow rose into her hair. Alfred had wrangled Tim and Damian--in the morning, of all times--into cleaning? Together? Without killing each other? 

"Wow, Alfred, you got Tim and Damian to work together to do all of this...? At eight in the morning? You're a miracle worker, for sure. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.

"Really, Alfred...this--" she gestured to rooms around them "--the party, the sleepover, and then breakfast... you've done so much. Thank you. It means a lot to me, but, really, you didn't need to do all this. It's... it’s too much..." 

Alfred looked away for a moment, his expression uncharacteristically sheepish. "Ah, well. Yes. I admit, I may have gone a bit overboard..."

They entered the kitchen and Barbara came to a complete stop. The appliances shone, the stove was spotless, and, for once, the sink was completely free of dishes. But that wasn't what stopped her dead in her tracks. 

On the polished kitchen table, laid out elegantly on a freshly washed and pressed table cloth that Barbara had forgotten she even owned, was a handsome tea set in lustrous lavender and gold--one pot, saucers, cups, sugar cellar and creamer. To one side sat a few varieties of Alfred's favorite teas, and on the other a plate piled high with Alfred’s signature tea cakes, one of her favorite things about visiting the manor for pre-patrol briefings or post-patrol debriefings, back in the day. A recipe card stuck out under the plate.

Barbara turned to Alfred, her vision going misty. "Alfred..."

Alfred graced her with a rare smile, beaming down at her, his expression fond, but his voice was quiet, "For when you need a break from Master Tim's gift of espresso or a moment of peace after along night."

Barbara broke out into a teary smile of her own and raised her arms, reaching out for a hug before she thought it through. Alfred surprised her yet again, leaning down to accept her embrace. 

"Really, thank you, Alfred. For everything," Barbara murmured into his shoulder before he could pull away again.

He didn't. Instead, he replied, so quietly Barbara almost missed it,

"Anything for one of my favorite granddaughters."