#idk maybe when ceilidho drops red dawn final part i'll go feral again but i'm way more feral for cod men rn

[imagine-shenanigans]

ouhasgdkl;asjfklajoughoughough anon ty for the compliments ily <33333

You said this was like "strange friendship" but idk if you're going by way of platonic or romantic end goal so I'll have endings for both <3333 I'm also assuming you meant a Vigilante reader?

Also side note but dear dear followers and people perusing the tag who found this, how are we feeling about Jon Bellion's song Guillotine when paired with Miguel/Reader because it came on while I was writing this and I'm feral

Side note, I wrote this awhile ago before I changed the way I write, but I'm going through my drafts and I guess i'll just drop this while I write more for tptbp, since I don't think I'll return to it, at least for awhile

Miguel O'hara Police AU x Vigilante Reader (Friends to Lovers) (Unfinished)

Rating: T for Teen (Minors Still DNI tho please)

General

Miguel has always had a strong sense of right and wrong, and he's always wanted to protect people. As a child, this was a strong sense of justice that manifested, and although now that he's older he sees it from the lens that the ends justify the means, at the end of the day all he wants is to protect the city.

Became disheartened with the police force overall after he'd been in it for a few years, his bright-eyed enthusiasm tampered by years of seeing the worst of Nueva York, both in and out of the police force itself. He's dedicated to reform in the system, and he's stubborn, and that's the only reason he takes the detective position. It's a step above the meaningless work he felt he was doing before, and at least this way he has some say over who really gets the hammer.

In any other world, he thinks to himself, maybe I would be like those vigilantes.

They're all over the news - villains (criminals, he often reminds those who use the term) that fill the streets of Nueva York like filth. Above the petty threats he and the other officers typically get slammed with, real, genuine threats that he should be investigating. Biochemical warfare, robberies that span several city blocks, bombs, and genetic testing that alters the very DNA of the other humans in the city. It results in a frankly concerning amount of human-animal hybrids, and that makes his job narrowing down vigilantes even harder. Between the genetic testing and the well-known phenomena of superpowers, Miguel is up to his eyeballs in (figurative) red yarn and pushpins.

Surpsingly, he doesn't hate the vigilantes for their work. Sure, it makes his own job harder, but if he were a little younger, or if he'd been gifted with powers, he'd have been right out on those streets with the best of them.

But he only has mercy for the ones that pass the extremely high standards he sets. He promised to uphold right and wrong, and while he'll often give the vigilantes a head start, he's never actually worked with anyone... until you.

He'd heard of you, infamous in the media, even for a vigilante. Kids want to be like you, adults are torn between wanting you brought to justice and wanting you pardoned. Villains/Criminals pray for your downfall - most willing to go to great lengths for just that (other than unmasking you - villains and criminals may be just that, but there is a certain code of ethics still upheld, and unmasking someone on purpose is a huge breach of the larger game at play.)

He becomes... just a bit obsessed.

You've got a code of ethics, a moral compass, and you yourself are willing to go to great lengths to protect the city. You're kind, and you're smart, a clever thing that is constantly evading his grasp. As much as he admires you, it's infuriating at the same time how much he hates you. You let criminals off the hook for reasons he can't comprehend, you put yourself in danger to such great lengths that Miguel isn't certain how you quite survive most of the things you do. You're snarky, and kind of an asshole, and you also commit strange, petty crimes, and while he doesn't really care when you punch one of his fellow officers and beat him bloody when you find out he was being a creep to a young girl, Miguel is still forced to at least try to bring you to justice.

But you're a fucking enigma.

If you live in Nueva York proper, he'd never know it - you don't show up on any scanners, your bio-signs are unique in costume, but the moment you're out of his line of sight he couldn't pick you out of a crowd for the life of him. No paper trails - if you're buying anything in the city, it isn't with anything but cold hard cash. He can't tell if you're living hand-to-mouth, and the system itself is hiding you from him, or if you're just clever enough that you're constantly three steps ahead of him.

Maybe it's both.

Miguel gets obsessed, quite frankly, and it's a good thing that he's better than his fellow detectives three times over, because otherwise he'd never get anything done in the long hours away from home. The only thing that keeps him from delving straight into madness is Gabi, and her needs. After she'd developed nightmares a couple years ago when he'd been absorbed in his work, he refuses to put in overtime more than once a week, and even then it's only on days that Gabi would be over spending time with his family anyway.