#john economos fic

[tarancho]

economos + harcourt sketches because i've been thinking about them for days

[riverrunscold]

Peacemaker is weirdly what I thought of first for day 12: pride so here it is!

[multifandomfanficss]

F*ck You?

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

and the rest of the 11th Street Kids

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: Adrian has his own secret way of asking you to sleep with him.

Warnings: Mentions of sex, but no actual sex. The team bullying Adrian as per cannon ☹️. Peacemaker typical language.

A/N: Just a silly little thought I had at 5am during a text convo with one of my best friends when I couldn’t sleep. Shout out Tyler for letting me bounce this idea off you. Thanks bestie! Just a short little fic. The italics are flashbacks. Crossposting on my AO3 adriansglasses.

Adrian stuck his middle finger up, pointed at you. You were going through some files on the other side of the room unable to see him behind the papers you were focusing on. Those who saw were giving him questioning looks.

“Dude why are you flipping off, (Y/N)? I didn’t realize you were mad at them” Economos decided to be the first to question him. Usually he didn’t care enough to ask, but even he was curious as to why Adrian was enthusiastically flipping you off.

“Oh! That’s because I’m not. I just wanna have sex when we get back to my apartment. I was saying can I fuck you.” Adrian says, as if it’s obvious. Chris begins to laugh, having overheard the conversation.

“Oh my god. I’m not sure if you’re insane or an idiot.” Harcourt rolls her eyes, walking away.

“I’m pretty sure he’s both. You know that’s not what that means right?” Economos questions.

“It has two meanings.” Adrian says in a very matter of fact way.

“No, it doesn’t.” John argues.

“Then how do they always know what I mean?” Adrian asks, as if he’s proving his point.

Chris continues to laugh to himself as Adrian and Economos argue.

You’re deep in thought, not paying them any attention when Leota passes you the file you were looking for.

“Thanks!” You smile at her.

“Why is Adrian flipping you off?” She asks.

You look over at him, blushing. You nod.

“See!” Adrian yells throwing up his arms. “Two meanings! I told you!”

“Oh god.” You blush, hiding your face in one of the files. You didn’t need the entire team knowing you were going home to have sex after this, but it’s not like it was that big of a surprise. You’d been dating Adrian for a while, of course you had a sex life. “I don’t know how or why he got it into his head that fuck you means can I fuck you- but like I personally think it’s very clever and very cute so I just don’t correct him.” You laugh, deciding to be honest with Leota.

You thought back to the first time he flipped you off in such a manner. You were out with the team celebrating with drinks after a mission. He threw up his middle finger, drawing a question mark in the air with the other hand. You looked at him with a confused look and mouthed. ‘Are you asking me to have sex with you?’ and he mouth back, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’. Only Adrian could think something like that was obvious. Only Adrian would even do something like that. You smiled, laughing quietly to yourself. It was so uniquely him.

Chris was still laughing uncontrollably in the back. He was thinking of the first time he’d seen Adrian do this too. Little did everyone else know Chris had been the one to teach it to him long before you were dating.

“You really wanna know how I pick up chicks across the bar?” Chris asked with a shit eating smirk.

“Please!” Adrian begged. He could pull girls as Vigilante no problem, but it was a lot harder without the suit.

“Be direct. Just ask if she wants to go home with you. The most subtle way to be direct is to flip her off.” Chris falsely informs.

“Wait… you want me to be subtle and direct? I’m confused.” Adrian asks.

“Well, yeah. You want her to know, not the whole bar.” Chris quickly lies.

“I always thought flipping somebody off was an insult.” Adrian is rightfully cautious.

“It has two meanings. It’s like special. Special can mean you’re one of a kind, cool, awesome, or it could be used the other way.” Chris explains.

“Oh! Okay!” Adrian smiles, before pausing, with a pondering facial expression. “Wait! You call me special all the time.”

“You should hit on that girl over there!” Chris redirects.

“Okay… here goes nothing…” Adrian says, slowly raising his middle finger. The girl looks shocked and starts to walk up to the two men at the bar. “Oh wow! I think it worked!”

Her pace picks up. She walks up to Adrian, slapping him, hard.

“Wait! This is positive! I’m hitting on you!” Adrian says frantically with his finger still up, as she walks away.

“Aw! Fuck! Do you think maybe she had a boyfriend?” Adrian asks, adjusting his glasses and rubbing his jaw.

“Yeah, maybe.” Chris laughs hysterically.

[seancekitsch]

Wow, I can get sexual too: An Adrian Chase x reader fic- Chapter 3

series masterlist here

warnings: eventual smut, masturbation, twitter nude culture, the very slightest dub con but not really just saying this to be safe, mutual pining, idiots in love, perv!reader but also perv!adrian

Shit, you think as you throw the door to headquarters open. You’d spent all morning wondering and worrying and sitting in your anxiety that you made two wrong turns after getting in your car ten minutes later than you usually do.

“Finally!” Leota shouts and you practically throw yourself onto the piano bench, not even bothering to take off your sunglasses. 

“And just where the hell were you?” Emilia’s voice cuts across the room. 

“My phone died,” you offer, a lie and a lame excuse, “So I woke up late.”

“Okay, slut,” Chris mutters, rolling his eyes. You fling your sunglasses off your face and in his direction.

“Sexist!” Adebayo yells, and Chris immediately apologizes. 

“She’s not a slut, she was with me last night!” Adrian pipes up.

“With you?” Chris’ eyes widen and you honestly wish for the first time in your life that Adrian would shut up. Even though he was defending you it just fuels his best friend’s fire. 

“Yeah, it was Fargo night,” Adrian pushes up his glasses and gets up. You decide to tune out whatever happens next. It's a tactic you and Economos have figured out by now, that if you start playing on your phone the others will stop bickering and lose interest.

“Dude, I thought you were practicing how to lie,” Chris says, and you open up twitter to mindlessly scroll. Adrian gets up and starts pacing, and you tune out the following argument as you try to read people’s shit takes on whatever is happening now on week two of the #Scandoval fiasco. Adrian circles the room around your chairs and the bench mindlessly, and you can already feel their argument die down under Emilia and Economos’ glares. 

You swipe your thumb awkwardly until you come across a video. It takes you three seconds to notice that it's another video from @mattvtweets and to recognize Adrian’s footsteps coming up behind you.

You quickly hit the like button with your thumb and try to scroll as quickly as possible to avoid being caught. 

A near miss of disaster as Adrian’s path lets him pass behind the pulled out piano bench to see what exactly you're looking at. You're in the clear, you're safe, you have quick thumbs.

“Why are you even using the word slut?” King of the hour John Economos chimes in. He sounds just as bored and over this conversations as everyone else- save for Chris and Adrian.

“It sounds like you both need to work on your internal misogyny,” He snarks, and it shuts them both up almost immediately. You figure yourself safe to tune out and drop out of the attention of the team, tuning back in when Emilia sounds serious and scrolling your phone the rest of the time.

The hours pass slowly, but all at once at the same time. The old clock on the dingy wall ticks as it moves, counting your minutes here even though you've lost track. You've scrolled your entire Instagram feed, and caught up on all of the Twitter drama you can find. The only thing left is…. Well, you're not going to touch that twitter account with a ten foot pole right now.

You lock your phone and discard it only to be faced with the rest of the team looking at her expectantly. 

“Well? What do you think, Cowgirl?” Adrian asks, his eyebrow quirked so hard you can see it over the rim of his glasses. Your eyes widen and you can feel yourself heat up just at the nickname. How can you not after what you saw this morning? The tweet? The use of your emoji in it? The way he fucking laid himself out on the couch you had just been on and sloppily, hastily jerked himself off like he was pent up and thinking of you. Fuck, you’re hot all over from a simple word, pathetic and needing and he’s never even touched you like that. Never even tried.

“Yeah sure,” you respond, not missing a beat but not at all knowing what you’re agreeing to. 

“Good! I’ll pick you up after patrols tomorrow,” he confirms, and you nod. 

Sure. You’ll go with him wherever this is tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s plan, as it turns out, is nothing dangerous or insane. 

Your Number: Hey so…. Don’t kill me…

Adrian’s Number: Why? Did you graffiti that one froyo place?

Your Number: Listen, they would deserve it

Your number: It's not ice cream. 

Your number: I wasn't listening when we were planning for tomorrow.

Fuck you're annoying, you think, just say it all in one text.

Adrian’s Number: Silly 🤠. That would be a crime. 

Adrian’s Number: We’re going to the bar for something Adebayo calls “Team Bonding”

Adrian’s Number: Apparently it’s what A.R.G.U.S. did before Harcourt and Economos got demoted to our team. 

At least you're not the only one who triple texts.

Your Number: So we’re going drinking?

Adrian’s Number: Yep. Picking you up around 9 tomorrow 🧜‍♂️

You sit for a second and think about that. He’s ending patrols early for a Friday to pick you up, something he never does. Oh fuck. What if, God forbid he knows about you knowing about his online activities and he’s getting you alone to get on you about it? Oh but then he should have just blocked you or asked someone higher up that you switch teams… 

Or what if it’s chill? Your overthinking stops because this is Adrian. Adrian says what he means and means what he says. If he wanted to yell at you or wanted you gone he’d have made that known. It’s okay. Like Han Solo says, fly casual. 

Your Number: Sounds good! 🤠

You toss your phone to be devoured by the duvet and your mind flies into overdrive. 

You decide almost immediately you have to make a move.

His last twitter video that you had liked at work had no mention of you, or anyone really, but it was enough to push you over the edge both physically and emotionally. You can't keep living like this. You can't spend this much time yearning with your hand between your legs. You have to do something one way or another. 

If this fails, you can always get yourself transferred to another team or even go back to Gotham. No matter what though, you have to do something.

You let yourself slip into another uneasy sleep without plugging in your phone, your only thoughts being of Adrian again, a common occurrence these days. Dreaming of his lopsided smile and his hard body, on you and under you and everything in between. Of standing in the mirror with him, then on your knees in front of him, watching through the mirror as he fucks you from behind, one hand on your throat and the other holding his phone. Fuck, you’re a goner for Adrian Chase.

The next morning you're restless, knee bouncing when you're perched at your breakfast bar on a stool. You spread cream cheese on an onion bagel in a haste as you think over your options. You can't keep going on like this.

But how do you make a move on a guy like him? How do you make a move on a guy who you know has never been in a real relationship and has you so sexually frustrated you feel desperate even when he’s not around?

Obviously, tonight has to be when you make your move… if the opportunity presents itself. If you cant get him alone at the bar then you can't flirt, and that will leave you exactly like you are now; horny, nervous, restless.

You can't believe you're like this. You’re actively losing sleep at this point over looking at a nude twitter. Part of you feels like a fucking creep. Its Adrian, for god’s sake. What would that say about you if he ever found out? You’d never live it down. Youre a fucking pervert. 

Maybe this isn't a good idea, you think, do you really want to risk your friendship with Adrian?

No, you realize as you finish off your bagel, you want to at least try. Back in Gotham you’re sure they could call you a lot of things, but a quitter is certainly not one of them. It’s not much of a stretch to think that his tweets could be about you, especially with those captions and how he’s been acting lately. Last nights almost-cuddling and almost-flirting were enough to tell you that there isn’t nothing between you. Adrian seemed like he wanted to be closer, maybe if it hadn’t been so late he would have even put an arm around you. 

That settles it, you think. You want his arm around you. His twitter driving you up a wall be damned, you want his fucking arm around you on Fargo night. You want the weird little nickname and you want everything Adrian can offer you. It’s decided, Operation Mermaid is a go.

The rest of your day passes calmly, you read a little, you scroll Instagram and Twitter, but nothing really happens. It’s odd, especially for you, to hear the absence of noise like this. Gotham never seemed to dull below a shout, and the silence of Evergreen now sets you on edge. It’s probably why you busy yourself whenever you aren’t with the team with mindless phone games or social media. Honking or screaming or whatever the fuck Batman’s looney tunes are up to became something you didn’t even register after the first week. But here, it’s been months of silence. That’s why you started watching Fargo in the first place. Adrian spent an entire morning talking your ear off about his television routines before Chris shut him up, but you absolutely didn’t mind. It’s like Adrian had known you weren’t adjusting well and his suggestions came at the perfect moment.

You start getting ready four hours early, totally not out of anxiousness or anything like that. You showered, shaved, washed hair, and did everything you could to make it look like you tried but also like you absolutely didn't try. The others would absolutely call you out if your tried too hard appearance wise, except for your ace in the hole. You have an idea that you know will absolutely kill without earning the weird looks from the others.

You search for your ace in the hole everywhere in your drawer. You find the bra. It's a vintage bra, black and satin with teal stitching from the Dita Von Teese collection. Its full coverage but it cups you in the best ways, accentuating any curve you have with the vintage cuts, but the color scheme was supposed to be the piece de resistance. It's fucked that they arent' easy to find.

Where could it be?

You search your second drawer from the top, and its all full of workout leggings and barre bodysuits. You search the next drawer and all it contains is your favorite sweatshirts. You have the bra but the matching panties are nowhere in place. Fuck. 

Okay, you have a black lacy pair that can be an alternate. They don't need to match exactly even though they do, they really do.

You even go as far as to look at the Dita Von Teese website and see if there’s same day shipping, but there's not. You're stuck with a bra that's exactly his suit colors and a high waisted thong that's close enough but not what you wanted. It's fine, you tell yourself as you get dressed the rest of the way, casual enough to be inconspicuous but flirty enough to hopefully drive Adrian wild.

And then your watch pings. 

@mattvtweets: This is dedicated to somebody very special.

You freeze as if struck by lightning. Adrian is in front of his usual mirror, but the lighting is darker than usual, you can tell that his kitchen lights are off. It's not just his own hand wrapped around his cock this time, he's got some kind of cloth. 

You check the time, 8:30 pm, and you crash back against your couch as you watch Adrian work himself.

If you ignore your feelings, they'll go away.

Ignore it, you tell yourself. 

But you dont listen to yourself, and your thumb strokes your clit through your sweatpants as you continue to stare at the video, continue to stare and-

Holy Fuck.

Those are your panties. The black cloth in the video is your panties. He pulled too hard on the fabric,  he showed his hand by doing it. It's him, those are your panties, it's him holding your panties around his cock, there's no mistake. The teal stitching is too clear, too obvious. 

It's everything I wanted. It's everything I fear.

Your hand unconsciously circle your clit and then your watch pings again.

Adrian’s Number: Hey! 🤠

Your Number: Hey you!

Adrian’s number: Ready? Be there in half an hour.

Your number: Sure.

How were you to face him now? Still wearing the black and teal bra and still worked up? Still knowing he had your matching panites at his place? Fuck. Any Evergreen lady woulda said this was a honky tonk dream come true. Adrian doesn't honky tonk though, and your job is on the line. You throw off your sweatpants in honor of the replacement panties and a pair of your tightest jeans, matched only with a top that complemented the Dita Von Teese you already tried wearing. A spritz of your sexiest fragrance and you guess that enough to send you out the door. 

He honks the horn of his Sebring not twenty six minutes later and while you're still struggling to wiggle a skirt on in lieu of the jeans from before after taking a look in the mirror and hating the outfit

Fuck!

You work yourself together, plan almost be damned, as this isn't the outfit but an outfit you liked, disheveled and thrown together but hopefully in a way that's charming and not trashy.

You would have liked it more if Adrian didn't have half of your matching set. You would have like surprising Adrian with it, watching his face as your unwrapped yourself lie a gift for him.

It's no worry, you tell yourself, as you brush a comb through your hair one last time and look at your outfit, your bra sort of  matching those panties practically peeking out. Fuck, it has to be me, right? You ponder and worry and yell, but you sit and do your eyeliner and you wait for Adrian to text. 

He knocks at your door, four, then three, then two, then one. 

Time’s up.

“Hey, Ade!” you greet him warmly as you open the door, as if you'd pregamed but you haven't.

“Hey, Cowgirl!” He puts an arm around you and leads you towards the car, and you glady let him guide you. 

Here goes nothing! You think.

[lunaticsandidiots]

come back in one piece

read on ao3

synopsis: Economos was finally sent out into the field on his own for the first time, and possibly the last. You had to do something.

pairing: john economos x gender neutral reader

word count: 1.5k

warnings: explicit language, fluff, mutual pining, first kiss

a/n: ok reader and economos have the exact same dynamic as they do in old blue flannel but also it’s like my favourite trope and i love economos so much and i will write a million more. credit to @libellule2001 for the prompt <3

✦　₊　˚　♡ .　₊ ✦ .˚　♡ .　₊ ✦ . ₊　˚　♡ .　₊ ✦ .　˚　♡ .　₊ ✦

“Fuck, fine!” John grumbled, snatching the rest of the uniform from Emilia’s hands and beginning to unbuckle his belt. You could feel your throat involuntarily beginning to tighten at the suggestive jingle and swallowed deeply.

“Would you look away?” he whined.

“Happily” Leota snapped, followed by the grassy shuffle of everyone turning around. Except you. You were frozen in place for a moment, held still by an uncomfortable combination of bashfulness and anxiety. John’s fearful eyes met yours, prompting yours to widen as you realised you’d been staring at him beginning to undress, and you quickly spun around on the spot to face the dark, seemingly never-ending woods.

The rumpling sound that John’s clothes made as they were presumably being removed continued to elevate your heart rate, something that was already sky high due to the other circumstances that surrounded you. You were almost tempted to turn around and sneak a peek, your conscience tempting you with the promise that a quick glance at his chest may bring you solace, but you admonished the idea as soon as you realised how selfish and stupid it would be to choose then of all moments to pursue your little work crush.

Well, ‘little’ was a vast understatement. You’d been pining over your altitudinous, wisecracking coworker since you laid eyes on him. You couldn’t quite place your finger on what drew you toward John in the first place, but from his Dahmer-esque glasses, to his multi-coloured beard, all the way down to his wolf-print t-shirts, you were absolutely smitten. It didn’t help one bit that the two of you had developed a coquettish camaraderie over the course of your employment.

To begin with, the two of you merely exchanged pleasantries in between work related conversations - the two of you were the desk jockeys of the team, and you felt that it was important to develop a good rapport with your colleague. It didn’t take long at all though, for the small talk to grow deeper and your lunch breaks to be taken in tandem, and right up until that harrowing night, you’d considered John one of, if not your only best friend.

You felt sheepish at the realisation of how sad it might sound to say that your best friend, your favourite person in the world, was a colleague you met on a job that both of you were forced to do. If you ever did say something to the contrary, however, you’d be nothing short of a straight up liar.

All of these thoughts were tumbling around in your mind like a washer on spin cycle, and your head began to ache as it was hit with a whole new cognisance.

This could be it for him. This could be the end for your endearing, bearded consort.

You raised your chin up high, focussing all your might onto willing your tears to retreat back into your head. You didn’t want to distress anyone further with your anguish, and it was a hell of a lot more pleasant to focus on performing an impossible physical feat, rather than John’s possibly fatal demise.

“You done gettin’ pretty yet, dye-beard?” Chris sneered next to you, the crude nickname prompting you to angrily dig your nails into your palms. John hated that nickname. He’d never gone into detail about it, but you always caught the way he lowered his eyes to the floor in dejection at the epithet, and he’d ‘casually’ brought it up in conversation a few times, offhandedly mentioning how much he hated it. You never cared whether he dyed it or not, it was absolutely nobody’s business but his own.

How badly you wished in that moment that you’d bitten the bullet and told John that. Told him that it didn’t matter, told him that he always looked nice, told him not to listen to Chris’ baseless, juvenile libel.

“Oh go fuck yourself, you Royal Rumble reject piece of shit,” John snarled, “Yeah, I’m done.”

You turned around to see John dressed head to toe in the lifeless shades of brown donned by the local sheriff’s department, shiny gold badge of corruption and all. Even in the drab uniform with his beard speckled with droplets of nervous sweat, John still looked entirely perfect to you.

“Okay. You need to take this into the barn,” Harcourt instructed, handing John a red, medical-looking bag that was no doubt holding Chris’ sonic boom helmet, “And you need to bury it as deep inside as you possibly can-”

“Title of your sex tape…”

“Adrian, I will strangle you to death.”

“Sorry.”

Your blood was rumbling in your ears far too loud to process Adrian’s childish comeback, all your focuses were honed in on the 6’5 man in front of you and praying to whoever the hell was listening up above to bring him back breathing and in one piece.

“Once you’ve dropped it, make your way back here as quickly as you can and Ads will set off the helmet as soon as we can see that you’re a safe distance away. Even when it starts, don’t look back. Just keep walking.”

John nodded, swallowing so loudly you could almost hear it from across the way. He broke his gaze with Harcourt to take one, possibly last, look at you.

Economos had never found it so hard to walk away from something before. Sure, a lot of his apprehension was due to the obviously high-stakes of what he was about to do, but a sizable portion was all down to the fact that on the other end of your pining, he adored you just as much. He didn’t want this to be the end of your coffee breaks, he didn’t want this to be the end of your messily-written good-morning sticky notes, he didn’t want this to be the end before he’d even had a chance to kiss you. John’s chest was heaving up and down as he lingered on that last note, tucking it away in his front pocket to keep it close to his chest as motivation to stay alive.

“You’ve got this.” Harcourt nodded reassuringly, bringing John’s focus back to her intense gaze to give him one last look of credence.

Economos nodded back at her, took one last sweeping look at his colleagues, the ones that, in that moment, he decided were his friends, drank in your perturbed frame for a moment longer, then finally turned around to start his suicide run.

That one, last look he gave you, so full of fear and self-doubt and desire and longing, tipped you over the edge. Your blood was so saturated with epinephrine that you started to march forward with hardly a thought as to why.

“John!” you cried out, grabbing his attention just before his hand could grasp the fence to climb over it. He looked at you with pure bewilderment, he was never given the time to wonder what on earth it was you were doing before you seized his face in your hands and desperately pressed your lips against him. You couldn’t hear Leota’s gasp of wonder, you couldn’t hear Chris’ scoff of disbelief, all you could hear was your own heavy breathing, and John’s.

Through the shock, John’s hands managed to pull you close by the waist, ears turning red as he felt you tilt your head to weave your lips in between his. Your closed eyelids fluttered as he huffed with longing, and your heart continued beating at a million miles per minute as the tickle of his beard titillated your senses. You knew you didn’t have long, but if this was the first and last kiss the two of you would ever share, you wanted to milk every last second of it. You quietly fussed in ardour as the tip of your tongue glided against his, and you felt him pull you impossibly closer with his large hands.

“If you come back in one piece, there’s a million more of where that came from.” you uttered against his lips, not wanting to let go of his face in the knowledge that it might mean letting go forever. When you looked up to meet his gaze, you expected to be met with that same heartbreaking look of alarm, though your eyes widened as they were met with a brand-new air of confidence.

“I will be-” he swallowed, the corners of his lips hinting at a smirk, “-right back.” he nodded, before effortlessly jumping over the fence in a way you didn’t think he was capable of. Little to your knowledge, John also had no idea he was capable of such a stunt, but then again, he’d never been in the situation of kissing the object of his affection before running head first towards danger, and when he thought about it like that, it didn’t feel as farfetched.

You shivered the second that the warmth of John’s face left your presence, though your cheeks were still radiating immense heat as your whole body continued tingling with excitement. Biting your lip, you watched as he sauntered towards the barn, hearing him wordlessly pant with each step over the comms.

“Somehow, it’s still way easier for me to believe that we’re about to go kill an extraterrestrial amber-fluid-leaking cow than believing that really just happened right in front of me.”

“Oh go fuck yourself, Pissmaker.”

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

This Means War

Fandom: DC, The Suicide Squad, Rick Flag

Summary: After receiving new commands from Waller, you have no choice but the lead the Suicide Squad into battle against ARGUS. But to make it to the end of the fight, what are you willing to do? And are you willing to take out anyone who stands in your way?

Word Count: 1832

TW: Battle Situations, Guns, Fighting, Language

You dove behind the wall as four shots slammed into the spot you had been standing seconds before. Panting heavily, you try to assess the situation. You knew this had been a long shot, but things had not gone at all as you had hoped. You had run point on close to fifty or so Task Force X missions, but before this morning, you never imagined you would be leading the Suicide Squad into battle against your fellow ARGUS members. Yet after what Waller had said in the last meeting, you had no choice. You were doing what you had to in order to protect the squad. If she wanted a war, you were going to give her one.

However, most of your team already lay scattered on the ground around you, and while you had managed to take out quite a few of your opponents, your side was losing fighters at a much quicker rate. Killer Croc had been the first one to fall. Your assault had barely started when you heard him snarl as he was hit by at least three different people. Boomer was next. While deadly with his boomerangs, he had never really gotten the hang of guns. So, he just charged out into the middle of the field and began wildly spraying shots at anything that moved. Though he did manage to take out two of Waller’s people, he was quickly mowed down. Deadshot soon followed him. You had tried to warn Floyd before the assault started that he would be one of their main targets since his skills with a gun were unmatched, but he got cocky. After taking out three opponents in quick succession, he had tried to advance and was taken out by five shots coming from four directions.

You darted out from your hiding spot and charged towards the next barrier you could take cover behind. On the way, you managed to take out Flo and Dale. It often surprised people to know that the members of ARGUS who worked in the office or control room were just as trained and skilled with weapons as the mission operatives. But it was part of the application requirements to join the team. Waller wanted to make sure every person around her could be useful in more ways than one. So, while you felt bad about shooting your coworkers and people you considered your friends, it was you or them. And you were damn well sure you weren’t going to let it be you.

Something moved slightly behind one of the pillars in front of you. Shifting to get a better look, you could see Economos hiding over there. From this angle, you didn’t have a great shot, but you were too afraid to move positions just yet. However, it turned out you didn’t need to.

Harley dropped down from the rafters high above you and nailed Economos twice right between the legs. The man dropped with a loud groan and went still. She squealed and clapped her hands excitedly, but she remained out in the open. You tried to quietly get her attention, to get her to go back where it was safe. Yet, just as she noticed your gesturing, Harcourt stepped out from behind a doorway.

You cried out a warning, but there was no time. Four shots slammed into Harley, a splash of red blooming across her chest. Her eyes met yours for a second before she crumpled to the ground.

“No!” you screamed, but you knew it was too late. Harley was gone, which meant you were the only one left.

Harcourt laughed triumphantly as she peeked out at her latest victim. “Suck it, Quinn! That’s for last week when you spent my whole night shift psychoanalyzing me! I’m still dealing with that shit you brought up!”

She was so focused on gloating, she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, so you took aim and managed to fire two shots into her chest before she dropped.

Slowly, you crept out from your hiding spot. You quickly surveyed the battlefield and took a quick mental count of all the fallen bodies around you. Everyone was accounted for except….

You whirled around, gun at the ready. Rick was standing just feet in front of you, his own gun pointed directly at your heart. The two of you stared silently at each other, waiting to see who was going to make the first move.

After a moment, he sadly said, “I think we both knew it was gonna come down to this, darlin’. But I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

Your eyes narrowed slightly as you replied, “No, you’re not. You wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Rick smiled softly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I never really expected anyone else would be able to take you out anyway.”

“But you think you can?”

“I know I can.”

“Well, I think you’re wrong. Sure, you have the skills and the know-how to do it, but you lack the will. I know you could never shoot me. Even under these circumstances.”

Rick scoffed, “But you can shoot me?” You don’t answer, instead just continue to meet his gaze head-on. He smirked, knowing what your non-answer meant. “So, what now darlin’? We just stand here in a stalemate until Waller shows up? You know what will happen then. Game over.”

You took a small step forward, his gun now just centimeters from your chest. And in a voice so low that Rick’s earpiece couldn’t pick it up, you murmured, “Are you really going to let her win? After everything she’s done, time after time? I get you have to play for her side, but I know this is killing you. This is the closest they have ever gotten to beating her. Are you really going to take that away?”

Rick hesitated for just a moment, the end of his gun dipping just a fraction of an inch, and you took your chance. Before he could react, you fired three shots directly into his chest. He stumbled back, the force of the impact slamming him into the wall behind him as he stared at you, mouth gaping and eyes wide. Softly, he whispered, “I can’t believe you did that.” Then his hand went slack, sending his gun clattering to the ground.

You hurried to him and tenderly cupped his jaw with your hand. “You got sloppy, so I took the shot. Just like you taught me, Colonel.”

He scoffed softly as his head dropped down and rested heavily on yours. “You did good, darlin’. I’m so proud of you.”

He practically fell into your lips as you pulled him into you. And as you pressed yourself closer to him, forcing his body tighter against the wall, you could feel the warm liquid splattered across his chest from your shots as it seeped into your clothes, but you didn’t care. It didn’t matter anymore because he had been the last of Waller’s team. The fighting was done, and you had won the battle. It was over.

“Aww! Ain’t you guys adorable!” You both reluctantly broke apart to glare at Harley for interrupting you. She came bouncing up beside you and excitedly grabbed your arm that was still wrapped around Rick’s waist. “Did you see me nail Economos?”

You sighed, “Yes, Harls. But you know the rules. No aiming below the belt. I told you that last time. Good thing he didn’t trust you and wore extra padding down there.”

Rick groaned, “I’m still gonna have to hear him complain about it for the next week.”

“Oi! Is the game over or what?” Boomer called from the ground where he had dropped after getting hit.

“Sorry about that! Yeah, we won!” You called out happily.

“It’s about fuckin’ time. I’ve been layin’ ‘ere for twenty minutes!”

“Is it my fault you die too easily! You’re always one of the first people to get taken out! Maybe you should learn something from that, so it doesn’t happen in the field! That’s the whole point of these exercises!” You shouted back. The Aussie just grumbled as he stood up, trying to wipe the paint off his jumpsuit as he walked back over to the door to the training area.

You turned to Harley. “You got some paint in your hair.” You nodded to the red color that had sprayed onto the tips of her ponytail.

She grabbed at it and tried to wipe it away. “Aww! This stuff’s impossible to wash out!”

You chuckled, “Well, Harcourt will take you guys all back to the showers. Maybe that will help.” She nodded and hurried off towards the rest of the squad, still frantically messing with her hair.

Rick shook his head. “You would think as much as she is always beggin’ Waller to let her dye it again, she would appreciate a little splash of color.”

“You don’t mess with that girl and her hair.” You said, shaking your head with a laugh. Then, more seriously, you said. “Do you realize that was the first time the blue team ever won? That’s three years off of each of their sentences. I’m so proud of them.” You watched your team file out of the room. They are joking and more upbeat than you have seen them in months.

Rick smiled as he wrapped his arms around you. “We both know they weren’t responsible for this win. It’s because the red team’s greatest asset switched sides.” He chuckled. “I bet Waller is fumin’. But she should have known better than to order you to lead them.”

“She was trying to punish me for ignoring her orders on the last mission and going back for Floyd and Boomer. I just know it.”

“Probably. But you showed her why she recruited you for ARGUS in the first place.” He tapped on his earpiece. “Scores just came in. You had the highest kill count with the least bullets shot. There’s no way she can argue with those results.”

You stood on your tiptoes and gave Rick a quick peck on the lips. “Well, I learned from the best, Colonel. And I had fun being on the other side for once, but I missed fighting side by side with you. We’re too good of a team to be separated.”

“I agree.” He bent his head over, so his lips tickled lightly against your ear. Then in a low, thick voice, he whispered, “So, why don’t we go hit the shower too? Waller won’t be expecting us for the debrief for another hour.”

A smile crept across your face. “A little sleeping with the enemy, huh? That does sound intriguing.” You ran your hand across his broad chest. “Though, since my team did win, I’m expecting some sort of reward.”

You saw something flash behind Rick’s eyes and a low growl sounded in his throat. “Oh, don’t worry darlin’. I’ll make this a celebration you’ll never forget.”

[vigsilantes]

zombieland (adrian chase x reader)

Pairing: Adrian Chase / Vigilante x GN Reader Summary: It’s time for the 11th Street Kids’ movie night and Adrian gets to pick the movie that the team will be watching tonight. Word Count: 1.7k Tags: established relationship, reader-insert, gender-neutral pronouns, post-canon, idiots in love, comfort, fluff, movie night, drinking, domestic fluff Warnings: drinking and a shit ton of fluff and banter!

~masterlist~ | >>>(read on ao3)<<<

Fighting crime and working with a black ops team in your free time is fun, you can’t lie, but sometimes you need a break. Sometimes all of the 11th Street Kids desperately needs a break, which is why every so often you and the team have a movie night. Every few weeks movie night is held at someone’s house where you all get shitfaced, watch a movie together, and have some fun. The system you have in place to decide on movies is picking a name from a hat, whoever’s name is chosen gets to pick the movie, and the movies are strictly comedies – you all have seen enough traumatic shit from missions, so horror and movies that fuck with your mind are out of the picture, comedies are the way to go!

This week, movie night was being held at you and Adrian’s apartment, and after putting out an assortment of drinks, mostly beer, and making the place look somewhat presentable, slowly, everyone began to arrive.

Leota and Keeya arrived first with John, minutes later Emilia and Chris trailed in. Everyone dropped off the cases of beers they brought for the night in the kitchen and sat in their respective seats, leaving the recliner for you and Adrian to share. Emilia had the hat and pieces of papers of everyone’s names to decide who picks the movie tonight and while she was getting that out, you and Adrian were in the kitchen getting drinks and making popcorn for everyone.

“I swear to GOD it better not be Adrian again…” Leota sarcastically said because Adrian somehow gets chosen the most, you laughed from the kitchen and Adrian put down a beer and turned around to face her.

“Hey it’s not my fault the universe wants me to pick the movies! Sorry I just have better taste than all of you guys,” he replied, Emilia rolled her eyes and Chris huffed a laugh. "Not you though, babe, you have amazing taste," he whispered to you and nudged your shoulder, you beamed at his compliment. As the team chattered, you and Adrian gave everyone cold beers from the fridge and big bowls of popcorn, then you both made your way to your shared seat.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Emilia jokingly stated as she held out the hat for Keeya to pick. When movie night first started you all agreed that Keeya, the most sane one in the group, should pick the name from the hat, so tonight that’s what she did. She playfully rubbed her hands together readying herself to pick a name, stuck her hand in the hat, shuffled the papers around and promptly chose one. She unfolded it and immediately began giggling.

“Take a wild guess…” she started, looking up at everyone, groans filled the room. Chris began full on belly laughing while everyone shook their heads disapprovingly, a small grin grew on your face, and Adrian looked around at everyone’s faces skeptically.

“Who is it?” Adrian questioned not catching on, you patted his leg.

“You, babe,” you confirmed, his face lit up and he pumped his fist in excitement.

“Yes!” he said while swiftly standing up, “I know exactly what to watch!” he enthusiastically said as he walked over to your shared DVD collection.

Everyone sighed and you couldn’t stop smiling, you love the movies he chooses so you never have a problem with him being chosen all the time – you both have the same taste in movies so whatever he picks you know you’ll like it.

“This is so fuckin’ unfair, like how the fuck does he always get picked?” Chris wondered while taking a big gulp from his beer, John shrugged, “must be rigged!” he added, you chuckled at his annoyance. You looked to Adrian who was scanning through the movies to find the one that he had in mind.

“For the record I just think this is hilarious,” you state, teasing the team. Leota and Keeya both scoffed laughs and Chris flipped you off with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Well of course you do,” Leota replied, Emilia tipped her beer to her, “you two like all the same shit so it’s like you’re also picking what we watch,” your face flushed at what you took to be a compliment.

“Shit I don’t even think I’ve gotten to pick a movie yet!” John exclaimed, Leota snorted and Em chuckled.

“Your time will come,” you joked, he rolled his eyes.

“We need a new system…” Chris announced, Leota shook her head and hummed in agreement.

“I’m down for a new system too,” Emilia piped up, you shook your head playfully. Adrian finally decided on a movie and pulled it from the shelf, then showed everyone the DVD he chose.

“Zombieland!” he eagerly said, with hope filling his eyes. “It’s funny, a bit gory, nothing we haven’t seen before am I right,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “but it’s a good laugh!” he quickly looked around waiting for people’s reactions but landed on you and met your gaze, you grinned happily at him, he knows you like this movie, and you know he loves this movie.

“Solid choice, babe!” you told him, a smile grew on his face, “haven’t seen this for a while!”

“Okay, shockingly,” John paused and raised his brows, “I’m not mad at this choice,” he said, Adrian shook his head in triumph.

“Yeah, it’ll do,” Emilia added, you instantly peer over to her and Adrian furrowed his brows at her statement.

“Hold on…” you waved your hands to pause the conversation, “you’re not upset at this movie choice?” you queried at her.

“I actually like this movie, sue me,” she joked, you smiled to her and Adrian’s eyes grew big, he looked thrilled that he finally picked something Emilia liked, she’s kinda picky – no she’s really picky when it comes to movie night.

“Yeah… this movie funny. Vig you finally picked one we aren’t annoyed with, good job,” Chris teased as he sipped his beer, Adrian let out a big of relief and pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead.

“Fuck yeah it is,” Adrian cheered as he popped the DVD out of the case and put it into the DVD player. He grabbed the remote and threw himself on the recliner next to you, practically squishing you. You got into a comfy position and Adrian began clicking through the trailers at the beginning of the movie.

“I actually haven’t seen this movie before,” Keeya bashfully admitted, Adrian gasped loudly, there was a short period of time where he was obsessed with Zombieland, so to know this is her first time watching it excited him.

“Ditto,” Leota added, and Adrian dramatically gasped again, even louder this time.

“O.M.G. you guys are totally gonna love it!” Adrian declared.

“OH we need a drinking game!” you reminded everyone and looked around, everyone nodded in agreement. Chris then took out his phone and starting swiping, looking up a game for you guys to play during the movie.

“Easy, found one! And this one doesn’t have a shit ton of rules so that’s good,” he stated as he continued reading, Adrian nodded, the less rules the better when it comes to your movie nights. After one movie night of watching the movie ‘Superbad’ with a game that had a shit ton of rules, you all got too shitfaced and couldn't even finish the movie.

“What’re the rules?” Adrian asked while shaking in your shared seat with excitement, Chris cleared his throat.

“Drink whenever a rule shows up on the screen, when you hear a character named after a location, when you hear “twinkies,” and when you hear “Zombieland,” everyone got it?” Chris asked, everyone nodded, and Adrian asked him to repeat them again so he made sure he got all of them, you were happy he asked again because you needed to hear them again as well. After repeating the rules once again Adrian smiled.

“Got it! This is gonna be funnnnnn! Oh, maybe we could take a sip when there’s a cool kill, I mean there’s a lot of cool kills in this movie, like so many, but like we could also drink whenever Tallahassee breaks something, he gets frustrated very easily it's funny, OOH and-”

“Let’s just stick to what Chris said and drink whenever else we want?” John suggested, cutting Adrian off from his long-winded ramble.

"Play the damn movie," Emilia guestered, he sighed and shook his head in defeat as he pressed play to start the film, you took his hand.

“I’ll play that with you, Ade,” you whisper to him, trying to cheer him up a bit, his cheeks turned pink and he squeezed your hand.

“Awesome, babe, thanks!” he smiled and pecked your cheek. You let go of his hand to scooch into a more comfortable spot as the movie began, and he slung his arm around your shoulder, pulling you in closer to him. Adrian had to restrain himself from quoting the whole movie, he knew every word of it, fuck even you had to control yourself from quoting some of it, the team gets very annoyed at you both for talking while watching stuff, and you have learned to try to just talk when it’s only the two of you.

The movie played and after mere minutes of seeing a few of Columbus’s rules and hearing some states, you all finished your first beers. Chris generously brought in new ones for everyone and the game continued. You and Adrian both kept looking over at Leota and Keeya to see if they were liking the movie, and they were laughing a bunch, so they seemed to be enjoying it for their first watch which you both appreciated.

Drunken laughs filled the room and popcorn flew at you and Adrian when you couldn’t stop yourselves from discussing the movie with each other. The festivities continued on with more and more empty bottles crowding the table and multiple new rounds of popcorn being made. You and Adrian warmly cuddled with each other and enjoyed the presence of your friends, and you all enjoyed the night of fun until everyone eventually fell asleep from being absolutely plastered.

[honeycombstrawberry]

hi i did a bunch of writing today but didn't finish anything but

[source: @/heromode posted today (6/21/22) on twitter]

did we see this. have we discussed this yet. because i'm in tears. i love them so much. my emotional support team

[pretendfan]

Currently writing this SUPER FLUFFY Adrian story it’s so cute, but even I’m a bit how fluffy is too fluffy?

Here’s the summary:

The 11th street Kids are absolutely SICK of you staring at Adrian, none of them could understand why and even worse the guy in question didn’t have a single clue, so the team try to help you out…

What do you think?

[sleepdeprivedrants]

gonna reblog this with the fic but i wanna tell you guys ab it sjsgs

I'm writing this thing ab vigilmaker + economos (do they have a ship name yet??) where they all think the other 2 are dating and have to have this super awkward conversation like

John: if you'd stop eye fucking adrian over there and start paying atten-

Chris: i'm not eye fucking your boyfriend, dye beard!

Adrian: no hold on, i thought you *points to john* were dating Chris..?

John: i'm not dating Chris, i thought you were dating Chris!

Chris: No, what the fuck, i thought you two were together?!

John and Adrian, simultaneously: We aren't!

The only way i know how to describe the feeling of this fic is itchy, idk

[cloudy---jay]

God I wish there were more serious fics about Chris / Peacemaker. What a great character.

[wizardcommune]

you’re taking recs? for economos?? with male reader??? I AM ON MY KNEES. I AM SCREECHING. THANK YOU. IM SCREAMING oh my god finally finally some content about my malewife.

could i pls get an economos x male reader w the fluff prompt “i’ll kiss you right now to prove i don’t feel anything for you” but the kiss does the exact opposite”

(from the friends to lovers prompt list <3

@lunaticsandidiots

pairing - john economos x male reader

a/n - i always get nervous opening requests but yours watered my crops and fed my chickens im going insane. economos is gay and underrated and i will prove it in this essay

i hope he's in character; i haven't written in. so long.

warnings - cursing

word count - 1.1k

after pulling quite a few all-nighters working for waller on the new force, economos pitched in and bought a mini fridge. it was typically stocked full of red bulls and chocolate (to which murn had questioned him relentlessly on why the hell he would keep chocolate in the fridge; economos looked scandalized because "why wouldn't i keep chocolate in the fridge") but after a few weeks the others started keeping more permanent staples. a small kitchen was unintentionally set up in one of the empty rooms, mainly consisting of extra panda express chopsticks, paper plates, a toaster, and a single "cutting board" adrian sawed from a floorboard to everyone's horror.

every once in a while when the team was expected to stay in for a long period, chris could be found cutting bagels with his keys (and in one case, one of adrian's literal military-grade knives). adebayo banned him from the kitchen. after that, adrian would leave with him fairly often to eat out.

adebayo herself didn't use the "kitchen" very often, mainly going out to eat and coming back smelling distinctly of italian food (or home-cooked food, if she went to see her wife. she never said it's where she was going, but she always looked substantially happier.)

murn didn't use it either for... obvious reasons.

no one knew when or where harcourt ate. honestly, she went out to eat more than anyone but didn't say as she didn't want chris following on her heels.

that left you and economos. the two of you stayed in the most, practically held at gunpoint to do whatever project they needed to be done before a mission the next day, ranging from two-minute powerpoints to literally altering police records.

this was one of those days. you hadn't looked anywhere remotely near a clock in four hours, but it was probably bordering three in the morning. between your exhaustion and the music economos was blasting in hopes of keeping the both of you awake, you didn't realize his chair was empty until you got up. assuming he was in the bathroom, you stretched, wincing at the noise, and made your way to the kitchen. you stopped short.

"what the fuck are you making?"

the man himself was hunched over the table, mixing together a concoction of mountain dew, red bull, and something from a bag. your jaw dropped further as he set it down and you realized it was doritos.

"what the hell, man?"

adjusting his glasses, he straightened up and looked slowly between you and the fucking abomination he was about to eat.

"listen-"

"is that soup?"

his mouth opened and closed for a second before he heaved a sigh and rubbed his eyes.

"dude, look, i-- stop laughing at me-- i was going to try and eat it all before you came in. i wasn't planning on making you look at it," he tried to amend.

"is that supposed to make me feel better? i think you've ruined my whole week, actually. what kind of fucking atrocity..." you trailed off, shoulders shaking with laughter.

"don't call it an atrocity, man! it's rancid, but it helps me get through all-nighters!"

"if this is what you come up with when you haven't slept in twenty-two hours, i'm considering lacing your soda with nyquil. what else did you even put in it?"

you shook your head, standing behind him to look over his shoulder at the bowl. he stayed silent, watching you with a sheepish grin.

"jesus christ."

economos fucking laughed.

"what, you want a taste?"

"dear god; i can't look away. it's like watching a car crash. is that captain fucking crunch? i bought that out of the kindness of my heart so you wouldn't starve in the mornings, and you used it for your sick amalgamation? i feel betrayed, actually. have fun working alone; i'm transferring to do fieldwork. god."

the two of you were fully laughing now, leaning on each other so you wouldn't fall over from exhaustion. when it died off, you flushed, suddenly realizing how close the two of you were. economos was still staring at you with a grin.

"do you want some?"

your knee-jerk reaction would be to say no. of course it fucking would be. so maybe it was the exhaustion, or listening to music at 500 decibels for nine hours, or the way he was smiling so pretty at you like he knew what your response would be, because you gave him a deep frown.

"fuck it. i need to know what you've been eating behind my back for god knows how long."

his grin widened and he rushed to grab another bowl, quickly pouring you a very generous amount and passing it over. he bowed, sweeping an arm towards you as you took it.

"your sustenance."

"dork."

and you took a sip.

it was silent for a solid minute as you stared at him.

"what the fuck?"

it was like a punch to the face. your heart was beating wildly, and while that was expected being around economos, this was. more so.

"how much red bull did you put in this?"

"...a lot."

"christ."

but you took another drink, scrunching your nose as you bit down on a piece of cereal.

"this is triggering all of my sensory issues. all the alarms are going off. i feel like i just contracted every disease."

he laughed.

"it's good, right?"

"no? yes? fuck, why is it good? it's rancid but i'm still drinking it. i hate this experience."

you set the bowl back down in disgust, and after a moment you shook your head.

"actually, no, the aftertaste is pretty awful. this sucks. i think the only reason i even agreed is that i like you. i wish i could take back the last five minutes."

you didn't even realize what you said, enraptured by the hell that was his soup. it didn't click until you looked up and his face was beet red.

"you like me?"

your face matched his in a matter of seconds. you felt like you were in middle school.

"no, i-- no! i meant like. no. damn."

but he wouldn't wipe that stupid smile off his face, staring at you.

"you like me."

"no! dude, i will literally kiss you right now to prove i don't feel anything for you."

he was holding your elbow, now, beaming.

"definitely."

"...yeah."

and he ducked down. both of you had to hold in your laughter as to not ruin the kiss, but you could feel the curve of his mouth against yours. you held him close, running a hand gently through his hair as he wrapped an arm around your waist.

you weren't very persuasive.

[spacediddly]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Peacemaker (TV 2022), Suicide Squad (Movies 2016 2021), DCU Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Emilia Harcourt/Adrian Chase/Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Emilia Harcourt/Adrian Chase, Adrian Chase/Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Emilia Harcourt/Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Adrian Chase & Emilia Harcourt, Adrian Chase & Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Emilia Harcourt & Christopher Smith | Peacemaker Characters: Emilia Harcourt, Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Adrian Chase, John Economos, Leota Adebayo Additional Tags: Sickfic, Sick Character, Food Poisoning, Vomiting, Vomiting mentioned, Heart-to-Heart, Feelings Realization, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Autistic Adrian Chase, Adrian has a pet hermit crab because I say so, Emetophobia, Polyamory Summary:

It takes Adrian getting food poisoning for the three of them to realize their feelings for each other.

Because of course it does.

[very-venom-us]

Hello. This is my new fic, entry please. It’s not as polished as I’d like, but here ya go. Lily is my new fav OC. I got more with her. Be Nice! Not beta read. Sorry the format is weird, idk what happened.

Gif from Giphy

Lily White-Acolyte Pt1

When a saintly young woman gets hurt, Vigilante catches feelings for a girl with secrets and the team might get a new member.

Tw for implied SA on female character, show appropriate vulgarity,gore, descriptions of violence and injuries.Not quite dead dove level but not fluff either. Read with caution. Shameless OC insert.

If I missed any triggers lemme know, I’ll fix it.

Pulling his keys out of his pocket Chris Smith started towards his car. A clang echoed off the wall of the alley followed by what could have been a muffled sound of pain. Something wasn’t right. Drawing his weapon he carefully stepped toward the source of the sound.

He crept around the corner and aimed down the barrel at a bruised and bleeding young woman in a dirty pink dress torn at the shoulder. Soaking wet from the rain and barefoot she stumbled towards him. He caught her and she looked up at him with wide scared eyes. He picked her up and rushed back into their base of operations.

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

The the article on the folded newspaper peeking out from under an open bag of chips kept drawing his eye. It made him feel strange. He avoided it.

The blurb read:

Woman Brutally Attacked

Substitute teacher sustained serious injuries in late night attack.

“Why didn’t you call me? We coulda gone together.” Adrian Chase complained to Smith’s broad back as he rummaged in the fridge.

“Cuz, there wasn’t much time and it was late. Besides, I went as me. But she’s still in pretty rough shape.. Docs said it’ll be touch and go for a bit.” He cracked open his beer as he plopped down on the couch.“Plus, she couldn’t tell me anything since she passed out right after. But here’s what Economos pulled up. Besides I figured you’d want in on the good part. Honestly, the whole team wants a piece of the guy who did it.” He tossed the paper file into Chase’s lap. Chase flipped through the papers carefully reading everything. Turning the page he studied the photo showing an exceptionally pretty young woman in a white angora cardigan and a boatneck dove grey top her hair swept into an soft low bun. His brow furrowed as he turned the page.

Name: Lily Anne White 29

Caucasian Female

Evergreen WA.

Attended University of Washington on an archery scholarship.

Graduated in 2015, with a double major in nursing science and visual arts and double minor in political sciences and international relations.

She worked as Registered Nurse in the emergency department then transferred to pediatric oncology.

Quit her job in at Washington Regional in 2018 to care for her father full time. Her father Gregg White passed in October 2019 from pancreatic cancer.

Mother Marie White passed in 2003 from injuries resulting from a single vehicle collision. She attended an all girls school from 5th grade to high school.

“A nurse huh”. He muttered as he continued. “Aw, she’s an orphan. Hey, what d’ya suppose single vehicle collision means?”

“I unno, probably hit by a car? Maybe?” Smith shrugged.

“Gnarly”. Chase replied clicking his tongue.

She still lives in the home she grew up in. Since 2019 White has worked as a substitute art teacher . She has volunteered at a local pet shelter since 2016 specialising in critical care kittens and puppies.She is active with the Make A Wish Foundation. No police record. Nursing license is current. She has little to no social media presence, all personal accounts are private except for her personal blog detailing her taste in vintage fashion and her foster kittens. She seems to have few personal connections. One long term relationship from 2014 to 2018 with Zachary Reid, 32. They were engaged briefly in 2018 according to Reid’s Facebook page. A restraining order was granted against him in early 2019.

A lead weight settled in his gut. “ This is a real person right? Not like, some government morality test? Nobody’s name is Lily White. Shit, it’s not like, an empathy test for team placement right? You know I won’t place well.” Chase began shuffling around under the couch cushions and under the coffee table hunting for electronic bugs.

“Fuck no. Just read the file.”Smith scoffed. Chase gave him an exaggerated look of disbelief and flipped further forward. He found a printed out human interest article from the front page of a local newspaper . The headline and byline read:

Local Woman Rescues Ducklings

Off duty nurse frees ducklings washed into storm drain. Lily White, 26 came to the rescue of newly hatched ducklings at the corner of Pine and Cedar at College Park. Ms. White on her way to the farmers market comforted mama duck while they awaited the fire department. In total eight ducklings are now safe and happy back at the nest.

The photos that accompanied the article were clearly meant to stir up sentimental feelings. In the color photos a young lady stood wearing a retro looking pink gingham sundress her softly curled long brown hair held back from her face by a headband, a brown duck held against her busty chest. She looked familiar somehow.

In the next, a close up of her holding four fluffy yellow and brown ducklings in her cupped hands just under her chin. She was incredibly pretty with her large, kind, dark eyes and long thick eyelashes looking up at the camera from under her wispy bangs. Honestly under different circumstances he’d have said she was a total babe and discussed these findings with Chris at length.

He could imagine her nuzzling her face down into the duckling fluff, though he worried slightly about salmonella.

Upon flipping to the next page he glanced at the high gloss coldly clinical yet graphic images of the injuries to parts of her that upset him in ways he hadn’t expected. He closed the file and tossed it aside, anger bubbling up.

“Well. That’s all kinds of fucked up.” He said slapping his hands on his knees. “She seems like a real nice girl. Like, an angel even. My money is on the ex boyfriend.” His voice was cheerful.

“ Yeah. Thats what I was thinking.” Smith mused.

“What a piece of work, honestly. She literally saves orphan kittens, what kind of asshole hurts a girl like that? Or any girl for that matter.”

“A real bastard that’s who.”

Eagly chirrped his agreement from his perch.

“Fucking animal.” He was vibrating with nervous energy.

“Ya alright?” Smith asked, beer in hand watching the smaller man fidget with his glasses.

“Yeah, yeah. I just, I think I seen her somewhere maybe?”

“Well,she lives in town. Maybe in passing ?”

“No, like I talked to her?” He was pacing back and forth.

“ Oh yea? When?” Smith sounded skeptical but Chase didn’t pick up on it.

“ I’m pretty sure yeah.” He wracked his brain. Suddenly it dawned on him.

“At work, a few months ago. Before you came back. She was trying to hide from some guy. It was a date or something I dunno but she was hiding in the kitchen and I told her she couldn’t be back there. She looked good too, nice shoes… Anyway, I told her she couldn’t be back there an she kinda told me what was going on. Seemed kinda scared. She’s not very tall, actually. The guy waited awhile, got pissed and left.” He had the forethought to withhold that he had desired her in that brief interaction. The ribbing would never cease, he knew.

“ Did you see him?”

“Yeah, uh. Tall guy, mmm maybe like mid thirties and 275? White, dark hair. Looked like a chad y’know? But skinnier though.” Chase rambled “Looked a lot like”-Smith showed him a picture on his phone. -“ That. I’m pretty sure that’s him.” Chase nodded hands on his hips and sniffed.

“This is her ex. He’s a real estate agent I guess.”

Chases jaw tightened. “Okay then. Tonight, it’s go time. If it wasn’t him, which I doubt he still did something to have a restraining order placed on him.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Smith nodded checking his texts. Chase wiped his glasses off out of habit.

“Hey, can you drive? Harcourt wants me to see if she’s awake yet.”

Chase’s green eyes held a hard edge as he nodded enthusiastically.

He thought of when he talked to her. She was beautiful, little hands with long painted fingernails. She smelled nice too. He remembered that at the time he thought she had a bangin’ body, like he’d only seen in old movies. And most of all, he remembered that she was nice. Not just to him, but to everyone.

The kind of girl who probably has stuffed animals and genuinely enjoys getting flowers. The kind of girl who definitely pets stray dogs and saves baby birds and probably talks to little kids in line at the grocery store and pretends to be amazed when they tell her facts she already knows.

Who smiles and thanks the busboy for doing his job and whose smile touches her eyes the way others don’t.

Smith noticed his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

Outside her hospital room, Chase hesitated his mind flashing back to the documenting photos in her dossier. Clenching his fists he followed behind Smith.

The room was dim, curtains drawn. The only sound was the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor and her gentle breathing through the nasal cannula

. He sat very upright and stiff in a chair on the opposite side of the bed hands on his knees while Smith spoke quietly to the nurse in the doorway. His eyes moved over the devastation inflicted upon her. Her eyes ringed by deep purple bruises spoke to potential head trauma, the IV in her arm running an antibiotic, her split lip, her torn and broken fingernails, bruised wrists, the finger marks on her neck. His eyes flitted to the white board that told him of broken ribs and collar bone. The nurses listed her height as five foot two. Glancing back to her he noticed a scabbed spot near her temple about the size of a dime where the hair had been pulled out by the root. She looked so small and vulnerable on the bed. She did not deserve this.

He only looked up when Smith moved closer to the bed.

“Harcourt wants me to talk to the doctor, find out what he says.” He spoke quietly.

Chase met his eyes and nodded stiffly but firmly, hands in tightly clenched fists and returned to gazing at her still, but not quite serene face.

He didn’t move again until Leota and Emilia arrived hours later, hardly seeming to blink and Leota gently laid a hand on his shoulder. Looking up at her and jumping to his feet simultaneously he just said brightly “Keep us in the loop.” and strode out the door. The three shared a look and Smith followed him out.

*********

After casing his house, they drove to his office. Picking the lock on the side door of his building they methodically and quietly checked offices till they saw the glow of lights spilling out into the hall from under the door.

From Zachary’s perspective he’d been bent over his paperwork trying to get it all finished before his clients closed in the morning when suddenly every surface of the office was littered with the flying splintered remains of his door while two heavily armed maniacs filled the ruined doorway.

“Well hey bud-dy, glad you’re here!” Vigilante spoke in a light hearted tone as he took large bouncing strides toward him.

“D’do I know you?” Reid stammered out.

“ Nah, but I think we got mutual friends, don’t you think Peacemaker?”Chase said conversationally as he hopped up onto the desk and turned to face Reid. Smith duct taped Reid to the chair, wrists bound behind him.

Zachary Reid was dressed business casual in flat front khakis, powder blue polo and grey sport jacket. He wore dark brown loafers with no socks.

“ Yeah, I think we do Vig.” Smith agreed leveling his weapon with Reid’s chest.

“What the hell are”- Reid started angrily.

“What da hew aw yew tawkin’ bout?” Chase mocked “Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in.” Back to his overly friendly tone “ I’m talking about Lily. Ring any bells Zachy?”

Reid looked dumbfounded then the blood drained from his face .

“Lily? I haven’t seen her since”-

“Since last night, yeah, yeah. We know.” Chase nodded, smile evident in his voice.

“No, no! In years, not last night. I heard she’d died…” he lied lamely.

“ I guess you’re not a big reader.” Vigilante laughed “No Zachy, Lily is very much alive. But I wanted to get your side…” he trailed off.

“ But I”-

Vigilante slid across the desk and placed a foot on either side of Reid’s chair pressing a pistol to his temple. Smith moved to Chase’s right to maintain cover for him.

“Don’t fuck with me, I just wanna hear you say your side.”

“Take his advice, he’s insane.” Smith nodded solemnly “You guys were engaged right?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah we were.” Reid stuttered staring intently into Vigilante’s inscrutable masked face.

“Go on.” Chase prompted.

“You know her?”

“Clocks ticking Zach.”

“Well if you know her then you know I sunk four damn good years into that stuck up bitch just for her to break it off after I coughed up for a ring.” A vein popped in his temple, face reddening from anger and stress.

Chase cocked his head to the side listening.

“Sound a lil bitter there buddy.”

“Bitter? I was pissed. It would have been alright if she’d have just opened her legs up for me once and awhile. I was willing to buy in with no test drive and how does she repay me? By blowing me off.”

“Wow, you’re a real mother fucker you know that?” Smith moved closer.

“Maybe. Maybe I’m just taking what I’m owed. I know one things for sure, she’s not fucking either one of you.” Reid’s face broke into a cruel grin “If you were you’d get it. Body like that? I’m sorry I had to fuck up her face but she wouldn’t open her mouth. Looked good gagging on it though. And at least she was still as fuckable as she was in college. Was, anyway.”

Without removing his gun from the man’s head, Chase drew the second pistol and in one fluid movement shot him in the gut, the shot deadened by a silencer. Reid screamed in pain, head lolling backward.

“Hush now, don’t want a noise complaint do we?” his voice chillingly cheerful. Chase hopped off the desk landing lightly on his feet and tied Reid to the chair.

With his knife he open the front of Reid’s khaki’s.

“Well. I’ll be straight with you Zach. I believe that the punishment should always fit the crime.”

Reid began to shake his head frantically back and forth.

“That being said, since you like shoving things down people’s throats how about a taste of your own medicine mm?”

“Nononono”- Reid begged incoherently, spit running down his chin before he screamed louder than before. Vigilante grabbed his face firmly with a bloodied hand and forced his still screaming mouth open wider, shoving the flaccid member as far back as he could push it.

The scream cut off with a choking gag as Reid retched while his mouth was taped shut. He rocked the chair back and forth trying to free himself, terrified eyes streaming tears.

Vigilante leaned over him, hands on his victims shoulders, shuddering from Reid’s muffled cries.

“Hey, hey now. It’s almost over.” he said in a tone one might use to soothe a crying child, patting the top of his head awkwardly. Vigilante began turning out Reid’s pockets. Out of the right blazer pocket he pulled a lock of shiny brown hair tied in a loop with a piece of pink material, the roots rusty with dried blood and a crumpled pair of panties. He laid them on the desk behind him and his mind went white with rage.

“Sonovabitch.” Smith muttered trying not to look at the sick trophy.

“Oh hey. I forgot something.” Vigilante snapped his bloody fingers and quickly ducked down. Reid screamed silently, legs kicking ineffectually. Sweaty hair plastered to Reid’s forehead covering his eyes

“I’m taking these with me.” Chase held up the severed scrotum for its previous owner to see.

“Oh shit. My bad.” Vigilante reached up and pushed the hair out of his eyes and held up his prize. Reid’s eyes rolled back into his head and he went unconscious.

Vigilante stepped backwards level with Peacemaker and Smith shot Reid in the face, effectively obliterating it.

They left by the front door.

*****

In the car Chris called Harcourt to see how things were going. Chase was a little more relaxed than when they set out for the night but he still wasn’t himself.

He sat glumly in his civilian clothes in Chris’s living room wearing a pair of food service gloves throwing pieces of Reid’s gore to Eagly who caught each piece with gusto.

Smith emerged from the bathroom toweling his hair.

“Hey, don’t feed him that, that’s disgusting!”

“It’s probably healthier than chips.” Adrian reasoned tossing another piece. “Besides, what’s more symbolic than being eaten by the symbol of justice and freedom and then being turned into bird shit?”

Eagly chirrped happily.

Chris nodded and shrugged. Chase threw the last of it on the floor with a wet thump and Eagly dove off his perch for it.

Adrian sighed heavily and slumped back into the couch.

“What’s the matter with you?” Smith asked pulling a T-shirt down over his abs.

“I ‘unno.” Chase spoke evasively. He didn’t want Chris to make fun of him.

“C’mon. Somethings up.”

“It’s just. I don’t feel very satisfied y’know? Usually killing the bad guy makes it all worth it but this time it just feels like it was too late. Kinda.” He balled up the gloves and threw them in a waste basket.

“ But he’s off the street and that’s what matters.” Chris pressed a longneck beer into his hand.

“It doesn’t really feel like justice though. It’s not going to magically heal her.”

“Well, no. But now he’s not around to keep hurting her.”

“I guess. I just… wish it hadn’t happened.”

“I get it.” Chris clapped his shoulder in way that was clearly meant to be reassuring. Adrian gave him a half smile. Smith’s phone buzzed with a text notification.

“Hey, finish that up and we’ll go back to the hospital, okay? Harcourt says she’s awake.”

Chase sat up straight. “Let’s go now, it’s only 8:30.”

*********

Now he hesitated outside the hospital room for a different reason. She was awake, he could hear her croaky voice talking to Leota. He flattened his back against the wall when Chris knocked.

“Just relax, it’s going to be fine. What’s wrong with you man?”

“Come in.” Leota called.

Chris opened the door slightly and gestured for Chase to follow him. Adrian shook his head. Chris leveled a serious look at him, grabbed him by the shoulder of his jacket and pulled. Adrian stumbled in after Chris but tried to play it off, straightening his jacket deliberately. Adebayo gave him a sympathetic smile. Lily was sitting up supported by the adjustable bed. Her hair was now loosely braided, bangs pushed to the side. She held one of those big plastic sippy cups that every hospital has in her lap. There was a small plush calico cat beside her on the bed that hadn’t been there before. She lifted her right hand a bit and gave Chris a small awkward wave. Adrian moved to stand by Leota. He noticed her ring finger was in a splint.

Smith’s face softened as he pulled a chair up beside Harcourt.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked her his careful.

“I’ve been better.” Her voice was raspy and quiet. She gave a shy small smile and winced as it tugged her hurt lip.

Gently, awkwardly he patted the back of her hand.

“Lily, this is Chris Smith and Adrian Chase, they’re on the team too.” Harcourt supplied.

Lily looked up at Chase. Her pretty face was a little puffy and swollen. The whites of her large brown eyes were reddish and the bruises that ringed them darker now. But their expression was somehow still so full of kindness. He awkwardly pushed up his glasses and raised his other hand. She gave him a tiny smile. His stomach did a flip. Adebayo looked sideways at him then to Harcourt.

“ Smith is the one who found you. If you don’t mind Lily, would you please tell Smith and Chase what happened?” Emilia asked carefully.

Adrian stiffened a little as Lily haltingly told her story. Emilia held her hand and lightly rubbed her thumb over the back of Lily’s trembling one while she spoke.

While the others listened eyes on anything but her, Lily began to quietly shed tears. Adrian who hadn’t a social notion that he should look away, wordlessly handed her a box of tissues. “Thank you.” She all but whispered as she accepted them.

Emilia looked up in time to see Chase gazing at her with such a look of stricken sympathy that she felt instantly sorry for him.

“And that’s all I really remember.” She finished.

“You did good honey, it all helps.” Adebayo comforted her. Harcourt and Smith moved away slightly to have a hushed conversation.

Chase continued to gaze at her with that expression till Leota tapped him hard on the back. Lily wiped her tears away gingerly. Adrian blinked his own back fiercely. He took a seat by Adebayo and pretended to clean his glasses.

“Oh no!” Lily spoke suddenly.

Smith and Harcourt turned their attention back toward the bed with concern.

“Oh no, my kitties. What time is it?”

“It’s just now 8:55” Adrian confirmed checking his watch.

She groaned in distress.

“They’ve been without food all day! Their rice packs are ice cold by now! I’ve got to get home, I’m letting them down.” Wincing, she began to try and slide off the bed.

“Honey, you are in no shape. Lay back down baby, you are gonna hurt yourself.” Leota cautioned.

Gently Chris lifted her legs back into bed and adjusted the covers. Briefly, Chase saw her scraped, scabbed knees.

“But they’re bottle babies, they need me!” She protested.

“And you need to heal, let us help you. Okay?” Harcourt spoke firmly.

“Yeah. Chris an I can get the kitties.” Adrian blurted.

“Kitties?” Smith scoffed under his breath.

Frowning Harcourt smacked him in the abdomen with her fist. He spread his hands as if to say “What?”

She rolled her eyes.

“You’d do that for me?”

“Yeah, of course.” Chase shrugged one shoulder.

“Thank you. Um, they’re in the baby basket in the living room. The important numbers for the shelter are on the fridge, they’re going to need to eat. I don’t have my keys, they’re in my purse…”

“We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry, okay?”

Adrian gave her a sweet smile and patted the bed awkwardly.

Adebayo and Harcourt shared a knowing glance across the bed.

*****

“Kitties? Really bro? Kitties? You go from choking a dude with his own dick to saving kitties?”Smith’s done dripping with derision.

“That’s what she called ‘em, I didn’t think about it.” Chase defended himself.

“ Its fine if she does it, cute even. But when you do it it’s weird.”

“ She didn’t think it was weird.” Chase squared his jaw and stared out the windshield.

“ How do you know?”

“ I just know okay! GOD, can I live??”

“Yeah. After you save the kitties.”

Adrian gave him a tight lipped stare across the car.

“Alright, alright. I’m done, I’m done! Sorry.” Chris put his hands up defensively.

Adrian nodded staring straight ahead. “ Thank you.”

Chris side eyed him with a smirk.

Adrian sighed heavily. “What?”

“I didn’t think it was possible, but that’s it isn’t it?”

Chase’s jaw tightened again and he cocked his head to the side, confused.

“I’m right aren’t I?”

“‘Bout what?”

“You like her.”

“-n.Nah, what? Like duh, no. That’s a regular emotion dude. I don’t have. Those.” He laughed nervously.

“Yeah, you do. You like her like her.”

“No. Nooo. No! I’m, I uh concerned about her that’s all. Professional, regular normal hero concern.”

Chris cracked that shit eating grin and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the armrest poorly suppressing a snort of laughter.

“Ugh, just say it.” Adrian rolled his eyes.

“ Concern for the kitties!” he blurted roaring with laughter.

Adrian put the car in park and fixed his friend with a deadpan stare.

“Alright, alright. I’m done for real. Promise.”

He rested his head against the seat and raised his eyebrows.

“Scouts honor.”

“Fine.” Chase accepted, a surly edge to his voice.

The house was a nice white two story with a porch. There was one light on upstairs. Reaching under the porch light he retrieved the key.

The door was barely open before the frantic shrill keening of young kittens filled their ears. He flipped the lights on and scanned the living room. It was clean, cozy and smelled nice. A variety of large and obscenely healthy house plants grew in attractive pots. Her couch was covered with decorative throw pillows. There was a basket filled with folded soft fuzzy blankets. Framed family photos were displayed on her mantle piece interspersed with various crystals and geodes. A large attractively planted tank against the wall held colorful tropical fish.

“Nice place.” Chris said appreciatively. “It’d be great if those guys weren’t screaming though.” he gestured towards the basket on the coffee table. The basket was labeled with a pink hospital bracelet that read “Spicy Babies.”

Curiously he looked inside. Four little jellybean shaped kittens wearing collars crawled over one another. Adrian gently stroked the tiny face of the little yellow one who gave an itty bitty hiss. He lifted the tiny animal out of the basket. In sharpie it’s name was written on the yellow collar “Ginger.” His siblings were Chili(tabby, red collar ), Pepper(black and white, blue collar ) and Sugar (white, pink collar).

They were a little chilly. “Hey , look for a cat carrier, she’s gotta have one somewhere.” He picked up the other three and carried them against his chest. They were squirmy and their tiny claws poked his skin through his shirt but not enough to really hurt, and they quieted down. He checked in the front closet and pantry for a carrier. The bottles and cat formula were on the kitchen counter. On the fridge was a handful of magnets in the shape of chibi cats and fruits, her shopping list, a copy of a funeral program he assumed was her fathers, and a calendar that had pictures of majestic horses running through fields or beaches.

“Ah, horse girl huh.” The kittens meowed loudly as if in response.

He flipped through the pages with one hand noting that it was practically empty except for her work schedule. Her birthday was circled with a sad smiley face wearing a party hat. He pulled a face.

“Aww, that’s a bummer.” he said to the kittens. There was a plate fork and glass by the sink. Inside the fridge she had surprisingly little. A few cans of zero calorie soda, a nearly empty half gallon of milk, a large jar of whole dill pickles, a box of Chinese takeout and assorted bottles of condiments.

In her freezer was a lonely and very frosted box of Dino chicken nuggets and a half eaten pint of ice cream.

“Found it.” Chris called from the back of the house. “Laundry room.” Smith took some towels out of the linen closet and lined the crate and put the formula and bottles in a box along with the number sheet for the shelter. Chase heated two rice filled cloth bags in the microwave and tucked them and the kittens into the crate. On a dining chair was a black satin duffel bag. Peering inside he found her gym equipment. Poking around more due to his curiosity, he found a bow case and quiver near the back door. Pulling a pink and white fletched carbon arrow out of the quiver he noted that it was tipped with 1’ quadruple fixed blade broadhead points.

“Weird.”

“What’s so weird about that? She went to college on archery scholarship, remember?”

Adrian showed him the arrow.

“Oh. Don’t take her for the hunting type.”

“Yeah me either. Heavy duty. These’ll kill a moose.” Chase put the arrow back and continued his snooping. In the laundry room her hamper was full, all clothing, no towels or bedding.

“Let’s check upstairs, I don’t think she’d want the light left on.” Smith nodded, leading the way gun drawn just in case and swept the upstairs. Every room was dark, except the last room with a closed door.

“Ey, uh. Why don’t you check that one, I’ll wait here.” Chase stood awkwardly hands on hips in a weak attempt at being authoritative.

“Why?”

“Just. Just cuz.”

Chris dropped his arms at his sides.

“Okay, what reason?” He pressed.

“ W..well. Uh. I can watch your back better out here.”

“Dude. Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“ You don’t want to go in there because it’s probably her bedroom.”

“No no no, I didn’t say that. I think it’s better if it’s a one man job.

“Okay. So, go in.”

“No.” Chase shook his head emphatically.

“Cuz I’m right.”

“So what if it is her room, doesn’t mean I like her”-

“Yes it does! Ha! I knew it, you got a crush on her. Though it’s a little weird under the circumstances I’m

still glad because I’m right. Can’t hide shit from me!”

Smith pumped his fist triumphantly.

“It’s not weird, and it’s not a crush. Or anything. I just liked her when I met her. At my day job.” Adrian admitted quietly.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything dude? That’s worth celebrating! I’d have totally been your wingman.And if you wanted another threesome I’d have totally, totally said yes.” He slapped Chase on the arm good naturedly.

“I wasn’t gonna say anything because I thought you’d make fun of me.”

“The fuck dude, no. She’s the first girl I knew you were interested in since Rachel Millson in high school but she’s like ten times hotter. Rachel was like, Winona Ryder hot cuz she had those perky lil’ titties and she didn’t wear a bra but she had a vibe to where you were pretty sure she was probably nuts, remember?”

“Haha, yeah.” Chase laughed and nodded in agreement.

“ But Lily is like, Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zorro hot right? But like with Jennifer Lopez’s butt and Jennifer Love Hewitts tits and personality y’know? Like she’d be nice to squeeze.” He mimed hugging someone.

“ Oh yeah.I get it, yeah.”Chase agreed. He didn’t really but he did In fact he think about squeezing her a lot.

“ I’m not trying to be a dick or anything cuz of what happened y’know but you should totally shoot your shot.” Chris said over his shoulder.

Without thinking Adrian followed him through the door and by the time he realized what he’d done it was too late. This wa it. He’d seen it. Her private bedroom.

Her room was extremely feminine. She had an honest to god vanity with a huge mirror and velvet chair. The surface was cluttered with perfume bottles, lipstick tubes and hair pins. A black slip and lacy bra was draped over the back of the chair.

She had a canopy bed hung with sheer white curtains, made with white bedding , one corner pulled back as though the occupant would return any moment. A plush ivory blanket was folded on the middle of the bed.

“Weighted blanket.” Adrian observed.

Chris lifted it with one arm.

“That’s like, 25lbs.”

The white bedding was accented with blush pink throw pillows in velvets and satins, some embroidered some beaded heavily. He counted at least 10 bed pillows. And there, among the pillows a few stuffed animals. The window was dressed with heavy pink velvet drapes and a luxurious pink satin robe trimmed with marabou was tossed on the foot of the bed. Poking out from under the bed skirt were two pairs of pink slippers both with marabou pom poms. One pair, flat and cozy velvet the other sexy,high heeled and satin.

There were flowers of every shade of pink and white in vases everywhere.

“She really likes pink.” Chris commented.

“She’s super feminine. She’s got like, 10 pillows. Did you know that people who sleep with more than two pillows are statistically more likely to be lonely or depressed?”

“Maybe she just likes to be comfortable .” Smith offered.

“ Maybe, but she is an orphan. Plus the ,weighted blanket. So.”

“In my experience if a girl has a bed that looks like that she’s just a snuggler.”

“ That doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know enough about it to dispute it.”

He tried to imagine her comfortably snuggled up in bed sleeping peacefully, healthy and safe.

Chase opened the iPad on her bedside table next to

a little spray bottle of lavender vanilla scented linen spray. The background was pink clouds. In her messages app there were a few conversations, mostly between her and her work or the animal shelter. But there were also messages she sent that never got a response. He knew that feeling.

“Look though.” Adrian held up a floppy stuffed unicorn “ I knew she’d have stuffed animals.”

“I’ve been in lots of girls bedrooms, lots of girls have stuffed animals.”

“But on the bed though?”

“Chairs or shelves.”

“See? People who aren’t lonely don’t have to hold a stuffed guy at night.”

He carefully placed the unicorn back where he’d found it next to a bear another unicorn and a few cats.

“I thought she’d have had her own grown up cat or dog, or something though. Kinda surprised.”

“She’s got fish.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of emotional support animals, the fish don’t really count for that.” Chase clarified.

“I dunno man, watching fishtanks is supposed to be super relaxing”

He clicked the lamp switch and they headed back downstairs.

In the car the kittens wailed, bemoaning their empty bellies while Chris talked to Harcourt on the phone.

“Yeah, that’s the cats. Yeah, they’ve got good lungs. Oh, I’ll tell him. Lily says if they’re screaming they’re probably okay.”

Chase nodded.

“Mhmm. Yea. Okay. Alright see you tomorrow then.”

“What’d she say?” “Says just follow the directions on the can, they’ll be okay.”

“I’ll take ‘em home with me. Eagly might eat ‘em.”

******

Later on, Adrian scrolled through Lily’s blog as he bottle fed the kittens. She took great selfies, he noted.

In the post titled “Spicy Babies” she detailed how she hoped to adopt the one she called Sugar because it was the first one to warm up to her. She poured so much love and care into all these little animals she fostered. He read through all her posts till it was time to feed the babies again. Some might consider it stalkerish behavior but whenever he came across something she liked or enjoyed doing he made a mental note of it.

He waited a few hours, took a short nap and called the animal shelter. He explained the situation to the older woman on the phone who instructed him to drop them back with the shelter as soon as he could.

He left the little cats with the grandmotherly woman who thanked him for caring and inquired about sending Lily some flowers. After telling her to have them delivered to the receptionist and they’d make sure she got them he drove to the team base.

It was early. Very early, but he hoped he’d be able to talk to either Harcourt or Adebayo before Chris or Economos showed up. He sat patiently in the dark. He didn’t mind waiting.

*****

About half an hour after sunrise Leota’s key scraped in the lock and she reached for the lights rubbing sleep out of her still tired eyes. Before her fingers found the switch she heard a chair scrape.

“Good Morning”. Chase said from the darkness.

Leota screamed and threw her phone reflexively at the source of the sound.

“Ow.” Said Chase, annoyed.

“What in the hell are you doing sitting here in the dark? Scaring people half to death!”

“Honestly? One, you should work on being more prepared for these situations. Two, it’s stealth one oh one, never call unnecessary attention to yourself and Three, it’s a free country.” he tossed her back her phone.

“You got a reason, or??”

“Yeah, I do actually. I was hoping to talk to you or Harcourt about something.”

“Let me at least sit down first.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course.”

Just then Harcourt walked through the door carrying a tray of coffees.

“What the hell is going on? I heard you yell.”

“Chase got here at the ass crack of dawn because he wants to talk us about something. Hanging out in the dark like some intruder.”

“An hour before dawn, actually.”

“Well excuse me.”

“Is this because you have a thing for White?” Emilia asked sipping her latte.

“What? No. Who even said that?” Chase lied lamely.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“But, if it were hypothetically about White what would you say?”

“ I’d say of course it’s about White.”

“Dammit. Peacemaker told you didn’t he?” Chase swore.

“Nope. You did.” Harcourt smiled broadly passing Adebayo her usual.

“You or Chris didn’t have to say anything Adrian, we could tell last night.” Leota said kindly. “ You got such puppy dog eyes looking at her.”

“ I didn’t have. Puppy dog eyes. It was an exercise to empathise”-

“Hell it was. It’s too early for this Chase, spit it out.”

“Ugh,fine.” he deflated slightly and looked up to the ceiling. “How do you know if you have. Feelings for someone?”

“Well. How do you feel when you think of Li-this person.” Adebayo prompted.

“Uh. Well obviously this person is like, so attractive. So at first I guess hot?”

“After you read the file??” Harcourt said disgusted.

“No. No!” He raised his hands defensively “After I talked to her-this person at my day job. A few months ago. After I read the file I just felt like I drank bad milk or got kicked in the crotch. Nauseous, y’know?” He tucked his hands between his knees and cocked his head like a kid, deep in thought. “And sad. Really sad. Which is weird for me cuz violence never really gets to me. Like blood and guts n’ stuff, that’s just a night at work. But those pictures in there-I d’know. Just. Different.” He looked up with a childlike expression of confused sadness.

“Okay.” Harcourt nodded “But what about a few months ago?

“ Ahhuuhh. It’s hard to describe. I felt nauseous then too, but not in a bad way? My heart was racing and I started to sweat little. I actually thought I was sick but it passed pretty quick. But I do remember I was a bit embarrassed cuz she was so nice. And not in like, a mean nice way like she was trying to see if she could make me say something dumb,like most people, but actually nice. It was sorta weird. She smiled at me and touched her hair, I remember that.”

“Do you like being around her?” Adebayo asked.

“Yeah, but that’s the thing. I think I like being around her but. Wulll, like yesterday. I feel like being nice to her but seeing her hurt, I also feel just, like so. So… like I could tear somebody’s head off.”

Harcourt pursed her lips thoughtfully “So, could protective be the right word?” she asked lightly.

“ Maybe, yeah.” Adrian nodded innocently.

“Is it like you wanna hold her hand and do and be anything and everything for her?” Leota asked.

“ Yeah! Like, I just wanna keep her safe. And what’s important to her is important to me.”

“Then I’d say the that you do have feelings for her.” Harcourt confirmed.

“Okay, but what kind??” Adrian replied, exasperated.

“Very very tender ones.” Leota said sweetly.

“Alright sweet.” He sat back satisfied. “But wait, do I have to tell her??”

Emilia sighed.

“Eventually, you can. But she’s been through a lot just now. She’s going to need time.”

“And most importantly a friend. You could start there.”Leota offered.

“A real friend. Not creepy, not a stalker not only nice to get her into bed, a real genuine friend.” Harcourt emphasized firmly.

“Well yeah, I’m not a dick.”

“ We know, but when I say time, I mean it.”

Chase nodded. “But. How would I even tell her? I’ve never really….”

“Had a girlfriend?” Leota said with a gentle questioning tone.

He nodded ruefully.

“How’d you decide to ask us all of this?”

“I just, did it.”

“ There you go. Just like that.”

“ Are you sure?”he asked skeptically.

“Well, yeah. Girls aren’t that hard. What’s the worst she can say? No?” Leota shrugged.

“Uh, yeah??” He replied incredulously.

“Okay, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here. Adrian, you’re sweet and you’re cuter than you realize”- Harcourt started.

“I’m cute?” He had the unabashed enthusiasm of a kid getting a star sticker.

“Yeeesss. But, that being said you really need to take it slow first. There’s gotta be trust there. Get it?”

“Yeah. Trust. I get that. I think. Can I still like, protect her?”

“Well yeah. Friends protect each other. You and Peacemaker watch out for each other.”

“Of course we do. But it’s different when it comes to Lily. Peacemaker can take care of himself. Not to sound sexist, but she definitely needs more protection.”

“See, you get it.” Leota congratulated him.

“Okay good, cuz I’d do whatever it takes.I’d stop at nothing. Like, I’d shove a guy’s own dick down his throat”-

“Whoa, whoa whoa. Who’s dick are we chopping off?” Economos said around a bite of powdered donut.

“Oh, just this guy. When onetime I cut off”-

“Yes! That was fuckin brutal man, but awesome dude. Hardcore.” Smith said loudly “ You were a beast last night, on fire!”

“What do you mean last night?” Harcourt asked her tone dangerously calm.

“Oh, yeah. Vig an I killed Lily’s ex. You’re welcome.”

“You fuckn’ what? Goddamn it you guys, at least tell me you were careful.” John moaned.

“I’m always careful.” Chase scoffed.

Emilia slumped in her seat, face in her hands, Smith and Chase suddenly sheepish.

“I sense that maybe a mistake was made here…” Chase said slowly, eyes narrowed.

“Oh really? What makes you think that?”

“Is that a rhetorical question? I think that’s a rhetorical question.”

Chris motioned for him to shut up.

*******

Zachary Reid’s murder barely made a ripple. The police found the evidence they’d left connecting him to Lily’s attack and suddenly his brutal death didn’t matter so much anymore.

Chris was aware they’d gotten extremely lucky. Adrian either didn’t or just didn’t care.

He sat on the front porch sipping his morning coffee. Adrian had called at 6:30 sharp to remind him Lily was being discharged from the hospital today. Even though the phone he could tell Adrian was going to be more high strung than usual.

Lily had been in the hospital almost a week. Adrian had taken to checking in on her every evening, and when he couldn’t be there in person he called her.

He’d searched until he found her phone and purse a block from base in some bushes. She’d been happy to have her phone back although the purse was ruined by the rain.

Adrian talked about her quite a bit. He didn’t mind, it was kind of endearing really. How smart she is, how she was feeling, how she was healing, and most of all how pretty. Plus, Lily seemed to enjoy his company. He’d been starting to feel like a third wheel honestly. As soon as the doc cleared it she was able to walk around a little. He actually felt sort of proud of how the guy offered her his arm for support. He handled her very little and when he did he was very gentle.

Harcourt and Adebayo had taken Chris aside and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to undermine Chase’s confidence when it came to Lily in anyway or he would suffer dire consequences.

Chris went with Adrian and Emilia to pack her a bag so she’d have her own clothes to wear when they let her out. He leaned in the doorway of her bedroom arms crossed while Harcourt selected items out of Lily’s dresser. “Too bad she can’t come back to her own home yet .” She mused folding up a pair of black leggings.

“Yeah, well she’s only got the one bathroom downstairs and they don’t want her going up and down ‘em cuz I guess she’s still got a lot of dizziness”Chris gestured vaguely around his head “and they want her to be careful.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.” Smith nodded with a rueful expression.

“Bastard. I’m glad he’s dead.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Whose been feeding her fish?”

“Me.” Adrian answered from behind Smith. Chris stepped to the side and let him in. “I put in an automatic feeder though. Should last about a month.” His arms were full of various toiletries.

“Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and toothbrush.” He muttered laying the items out on the bed. “Did I miss anything?” he looked a little timid asking.

Chris looked over his shoulder.

“Tampons.”

“I couldn’t find any.”

“I’ll pick some up.” Harcourt said laying out some thick socks.

“Thanks.” He gathered up a few of her pillows and a body pillow and almost as an afterthought laid the floppy stuffed unicorn on top and carried them out to his car.

“So what’s the plan?”

“She’s going to stay with me at my place till she’s good for more activity. I’m putting her up in the bedroom, I’m taking the couch.”

“Chase doesn’t want her to stay with him?”

“Third floor walk up and he’s got a habit of bringing his work home with him.”

“Oh.” She tossed a few scrunchies and a hairbrush into the bag and zipped it shut. “What about Eagly?”

“He promised to be on his best behavior.”

Chris took the bag and the weighted blanket and followed Emilia downstairs.

Adrian helped Lily out of the car. Gingerly she stood up, left arm in a sling . She looked tiny in her soft leggings and baggy tee covered by Smith’s massively oversized zipper hoodie. In the sunlight she looked unwell and fragile. Her pale skin and bruises fading into shades of green and brown didn’t help. Chase helped her around the car and Smith picked her up and carried her inside. The place was tidier than it had ever been but was unmistakably a bachelor pad. Her gaze landed on Eagly and his perch and she blinked a few times in surprise.

“You have, a bald eagle in your house?” She asked somehow managing to sound both surprised and polite as though remarking on an interesting china pattern.

“Yeah. This is Eagly. Don’t worry he’s not mean.”

Turning to the unusual house mate he raised a finger to him. “Be nice.”

“Can I pet him?”

“Yeah sure. Be careful though, cuz someti”-

Lily stroked the huge bird’s face just under the eye with a hooked pointer finger. Eagly clicked his beak and fluffed his feathers.

“Beautiful bird, lookit how pretty you are.” She cooed softly to him.

“Aw, hey. He likes her.” Chase said, impressed.

******

The first week passed uneventfully. Lily’s broken ribs were tender but her broken collarbone caused her more trouble and embarrassment due to needing some help dressing and undressing.

“I had mine replaced not too long ago, I know how it feels.” Chris said sympathetically as he unclasped her bra for her. He quickly turned around so he wouldn’t accidentally see anything.

“Yeah, but you don’t need to worry about someone else seeing your boobs every time you need help though.” She pointed out.

“We’ll no, but I’m not looking. Promise”

“I know.” He heard the bed squeak and the blankets rustling as she adjusted them as best she could. “Ready.”

“Not that I’d mind, all titties are great titties.”

“They’re not your type.” She scoffed.

“Nah, I like all types. Yours are the kind everybody hopes they get wearing a push-up. Nice and full on top, round, big but still firm. They look good even when you aren’t wearing a bra.Plus if you turn around, raise your arms, you’ve got nice side boob from the back.” He clearly intended for this to be a major compliment. He mimed squeezing breasts against his own chest.

“So you are looking?”

“ Not from the front.”

Lily gave him a pointed look, brow arched.

“Sorry.”

“Thank you.” She nodded laying down carefully.

He straightened the covers then spread the weighted blanket over her.

“ I feel like a little kid.” She said, half pouting.

“Better feeling like a little kid than needing surgery.” he pointed out “ I really don’t recommend it.”

“True.” She snuggled down into the bed. “I still feel bad taking your bed though. Are you sure you don’t want to trade?”

“Nah, it’s alright.”

“I’m a lot shorter and skinnier than you, I’d fit better.”

“Yeah, but it’ll still hurt though, believe me.”

“Well, maybe I should go home? I could sleep on my own couch, order take out.”

“It’s not a problem, really. You still need help and that’s okay. I’ve been through way worse than having to sleep on a couch. Trust me.” He patted her leg reassuringly.

Lily scrunched her face as if to say “yeah right.”

“ I mean it.”

“Okay. Well, promise you’ll kick me out when you get sick of me then?”

He laughed. “Alright, if I get sick of you, I’ll kick you out.”

“Good.”

He laid her phone on the bedside table for her.

“I’m going to be out again tonight, if you need anything just call me or Chase, one of us’ll be right there. Just drinks and shootin’the shit.I should be home before 1 unless things get crazy.”

“Okay, have fun. Hey, would you tell Adrian I said hi if you see him.”

“I will.”

“Is he like, mad at me?”

“What makes you say that?”

“We’ll he hasn’t been around. Plus, I haven’t heard from him. I just wondered if he was avoiding me.”

“Nah, he’s probably just been busy that’s all.” Chris shrugged awkwardly.

“Well. If he is that’s okay too. I get it.” she picked at the covers.

“He’s not like that. I wouldn’t worry. More than likely he just got caught up in work.”

Lily nodded again trying to be nonchalant.

Chris made a mental note to ask Chase what was going on.

******

“How many more of these racists d’ya suppose are out here?” Vigilante asked as they walked back out of the woods. They had been staking out an illegal campsite deep in the woods for a few days that was being used by his Chris’s dads followers. The fire fight was fast and dirty, and they got all of them except one guy that ditched the group just as things were heating up.

“Hopefully not very many, but judging by the amount of supporters dad had, probably a lot.” Peacemaker said.

“Well at least there’s a few less.” Chase stretched casually. “Hey, should we look for that guy?”

“ Nah, we’ll deal with him later. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah of course. Feedback? Lay it on me. If I can improve I will”-

“How come you haven’t been talking to Lily Peacemaker asked bluntly.

“Oh. That. Uh..”

“Well?”

“Hey, I’m gonna run ahead, see you at the car”- Vig started. Peacemaker grabbed him firmly by the shoulder.

“Come on man, it’s not cool. She asks me about you every day. She misses you, you’re hurting her feelings.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. She thinks you’re avoiding her.”

“She misses me?”

“Well she ain’t gonna come right out and say it but yeah. She likes having you around, can’t you tell?”

“I was just giving her a break…This guy at work said I oughta back off for a bit so she’d be more interested in me? Was that bad advice?”

“That’s the shittiest advice I’ve ever heard dude. Lily’s not into playing games. Anyone could have told you that.”

“Well, I didn’t think she’d want me around after staying at your place… and he said it was good to keep her guessing.” he replied struggling to keep his tone friendly.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Why would she want me around when you’re right there? If I was her that’s definitely the choice I’d make. You’ve got it all man the looks, you’re famous, the physique. A huge dick. I get it I’m a fan too. I don’t compete but that’s okay dude, I’m fine with it.”

“What?” Chris was dumbfounded. “It’s not like that at all man. Think about it, she doesn’t even know I’m Peacemaker! She has no idea you’re Vigilante! She only knows our secret identities and she picked you.” Emphasising his point by poking Vig in the chest.

“Are you sure?” Chase sounded skeptical “Ramone said”-

“Bro. Listen to me. Remember, in the hospital? She asked you to walk with her? You volunteered to get the kitties from her house, you found her phone’n stuff for her. Shit, you even brought her her favorite food when she said the hospital food sucked and even fed her fish. She laughs at your jokes! It’s textbook dude, she likes you!”

“Did I really hurt her feelings?”Vig asked, concerned.

“Yeah, she’s pretty down. She checks her phone about every two minutes. She plays it off but I know she’s checking to see if you messaged her. What was the last thing she sent you anyway?”

“Oh, uh. Here.” He dug his phone out of his pocket. “There.” He showed the screen to Peacemaker. The message read: “Hi! (purple heart emoji, blushing smiley emoji ) I was wondering if you were busy Wednesday night? If not, would you wanna get something to eat maybe? I’m kinda tired of wearing my jammies all the time lol (laughing cat emoji)”.

“Just that. Then Ramone said I should play it off so I did.”

“Dude. She’s low key asking if you want to take her on a date.”

“What?? N-no. She asked if I wanted to get something to eat?”

“She said she wants to dress up. For You. She’s saying she wants to look nice for you. There’s all these emojis, she’s flirting. With. You.” He shook Chase by the shoulders.

“Holy shit. Now what? You think I got time?”

“She sent this Monday. Its 11:30 Friday night.”

“Sooo, no?”

“That means you need to apologize for being a dick and offer to make it up to her.”

“Right. Okay, new plan. I’ll talk her when I drop you off.”

“Nah, she’s gonna be asleep. Do it tomorrow. In person though.”

“Right right right. Good idea.”

They walked in silence for a bit, Chase stunned that he’d been so very wrong.

“Hey dude, I wanna say that I’m sorry for projecting my insecurities on you, that wasn’t fair. You’re my best friend, you wouldn’t do that. Thanks for keeping me straight.” Chase said.

“Hey, it’s alright. Things get weird when chicks are on the line.” Smith replied tossing his rifle case into the trunk.

“So we’re cool?”

“We’re cool.”

Adrian started the car and pulled out of the dark lot.

******

Her eyes popped open. Something wasn’t right. She lay still, listening. The digital clock read 11:58, the green illuminated numbers casting a ghostly glow on the bedside table. The only sounds were crickets and frogs singing faintly outside. Just as she was about to turn on the lamp she heard it again. A heavy step on the porch, a scraping sound followed by the doorknob jiggling. It sounded too light to be Chris, probably wasn’t Adrian or any of the others because they had a key.

A break in then.

So whoever was outside must not know she was inside or they’d have been quieter. Very cautiously she opened the bedside table drawer and pulled out the black Glock 9x19 Parabellum model she knew was in there . Checking the magazine to ensure it was loaded she crept slowly and quietly out of bed. She lamented the lack of a silencer. Barefoot and wearing an old oversized tee shirt, she carefully crept her way to the doorway of the bedroom. Eagly was asleep, head under his wing. She had only 7 rounds.

Make them count.

She had no way of knowing how many people were outside but judging by the footsteps at least three. The trespassers cast intermittent shadows through the living room window.

From her vantage point she could see down the entire trailer and had a little cover. The door popped open with a clang and a tall thin man with long stringy hair stepped inside. She saw the holster on his belt , but he hadn’t seen her. Quietly chambering a round she took aim at his throat and squeezed the trigger. He went down pop eyed and gurgling. Eagly schreeched and flew out the door.

Six

Five separate voices yelled from outside the door, three men, two women.

“You sonuvabit”- String beans compatriot yelled as he lept through the door brandishing a revolver. Lily hit him squarely between the eyes.

Five

Two more men and the women rushed inside. An older fat trucker type in a grease spotted wife beater charged at her with a double barreled rifle. She let him get closer then planted a bullet in his temple.

Four

A woman with a shaved head screamed like a banshee and lept at her, hands clawed. In one fluid motion Lily scooped up the double barrel and whipped the stock against her head with a crack. The banshee crumpled, twitching and urinating on the floor. Lily popped one into her head with the Glock for insurance.

Three

Headlights swept through the trailer house as the other woman screamed. Lily cut her off firing the rifle into the back of her skull with a loud report. The wiry young man with a confederate flag tattooed on his bare chest stared at her from the doorway. Lily leveld the rifle at him.

“You better not shoot me with my daddy’s gun you bitch.”

“What are you going to do about it if I do?” She challenged.

“ I’ll send you straight to hell.”

Lily heard pounding footsteps on the gravel outside.

She let out a sinister little laugh “I hope the fuck you do.” she challenged.

He let out a guttural yell and ran towards her. The rifle jammed and Lily turned and used her good shoulder to ram him in the solar plexus. He rolled over her back and off of her and she sprung smoothly to her feet and kicked him in the chest. He buckled and she brought her knee savagely into his nose. He slipped backwards in the dead woman’s urine and lay sprawled out like a starfish, face pouring blood.

Lilly stood over him pistol aimed point blank at his forehead.

“When you get to hell tell your daddy to oil his goddam guns.”

“You b”- Lily squeezed the trigger.

Two

“Bitch, yeah yeah.” Lily turned to see two costumed and heavily armed men standing just beyond the porch and the last intruder staring at her blankly, mouth moving like a fish out of water. Swiftly Lily shot him in the face while he gaped.

One

She turned to the two armed men gun arm raised.

Recognition dawned on her blood spattered face.

“Chris?” She said incredulously. Slowly she clicked the safety back on and laid the gun down on the floor.

*****

“Just to clarify, she was actually flirting right?” Adrian asked for the fourth time.

“Yes, she was flirting. Nothing hardcore but just to test the waters.” Said Chris growing exasperated.

“Okay, so lightly flirting. How will I know if she’s hardcore flirting?”

“You’ll know.” Chris nodded.

“Oh totally, but just for clarification..” Adrian pressed pushing his glasses back up.

“Hardcore flirting will happen when she wants you to get her into bed.”

“Whoa. That means sex. I hadn’t actually considered that that could be on the table.”

“Start with the bed first, it’s nicer. Table sex sounds like a good idea when you’re hot and heavy but it’s super uncomfortable.” Chris said sagely.

“Right. Duh.” Adrian agreed enthusiastically as though this was sacred information bestowed upon him by the master.

“But, you’re probably a little ways away from actually fuckin’. Lily seems like she’s the type who wants to be romanced. Y’know? She’s really shy. When she needs help getting dressed she blushes so bad bro”-

“Wait… you help her get dressed?”

“Well yeah her collar bone’s broke. That shit hurts.”

“So does that mean you’ve seen her” he gestured over his chest, fingers splayed wide “ y’know?”

“Her titties?”

Adrian rolled his eyes “ Yeah. Her, titties.”

“Oh, no. Never seen ‘em. Naked that is. I don’t look at her. Seems kinda, inappropriate.”

“Ohhhh. I- Ookay.” Adrian shook his head perhaps a touch too disappointed.

He turned the car onto the gravel driveway.

“I mean, she’ll probably let you look at her titties naked. I bet they’re nice. They’re nice in clothes. I think she’s got little nipples but I don’t know.”

“Why’d you think they’re little?”

“Just when they get hard you can tell.”

“You’re getting her nip”-

“Something’s wrong.” Chris’s tone went from playful to serious so fast Adrian’s heart dropped. Eagly swooped the car then circled back towards the house.

“Hurry.” Adrian sped up. As the headlights swept the house he could see the door was open but the house was still dark. Gravel flew as Chase slammed on the breaks. As he hurriedly shoved his mask back on the awful sound of a woman’s scream cut off by a shotgun blast echoed through the woods.

“Shit.” They said in unison.

As they jumped out of the vehicle they heard another scream, followed this time by a smaller calibre weapon discharging.

Pounding up to the porch Peacemaker could see the outline of a small figure wearing an oversized T-shirt shouldering an unfamiliar shotgun in the gloom of the interior through the doorway. “-send you straight to hell.” Growled a shirtless man. He was answered by a sinisterly mirthful little laugh.

“I hope the fuck you do.”

The man yelled and ran full tilt into the house.

Peacemaker stopped dead in his tracks throwing out an arm to stop Vigilante. The other man had his pistol drawn and aimed at her.

“Vig, that’s Lily don’t shoot!”

Slowly he lowered his weapon, confused. They rushed toward the door. The shotgun jammed and she instead performed an expert shoulder roll and an agile leap shoving her heel into the man’s chest. In disbelief they watched as Lily dealt a crushing knee directly to his face. As he lay sprawled on the floor Lily stood over him, produced a handgun and faintly he heard her say “-tell your daddy to oil his guns.”

“You b”- the wounded man spit out. He didn’t have time to finish before she killed him.

“Bitch, yeah yeah.” Lily finished for him derisively as she turned to the redneck on the porch. She looked him up and down and with pitiless twist to her lips shot him unceremoniously in the face at point blank range. He fell to the ground like a poll axed bull.

Her face was unbothered and smooth as she aimed down the barrel at them. Slowly, recognition crept into her eyes and her expression softened.

“Chris?” She said incredulously. She clicked the safety on and laid the gun down on the floor. She took a halting step toward them onto the porch.

“Fuck it.” Chris pulled off his helmet and started toward her.

“You’re Peacemaker?” How? The whole time? The whole time??”

“Are you okay? Did he they hurt you?” He asked hands on her upper arms, bending down to her level.

“No, no I’m okay. My ears are ringing. The others didn’t hurt me either. Didn’t have time…”

“ Others??”

“Yeah, there’s more inside… I need to sit down I think.” she clutched the side with the broken ribs.

He scooped her up and brought her inside, Vigilante right behind them.

“What the fuck!” Vigilante exclaimed taking in the scene. Two bodies were stacked on top of each other and three more in various positions in the living room.

“Careful! Floors wet, she pissed herself when she died.” Lily said pointing to a skinhead woman with her head dented in. “He slipped in it.” She pointed to the one who called her a bitch.

“That’s six dude! Six! By herself! That’s so hot.” Vigilante was vibrating with excitement.

“Adrian??”

Uh, no. No. Who’s Adrian?” he replied lamely with a poor attempt at deepening his voice.

“Give it up dude.” Chris ordered.

Reluctantly, Adrian tugged the mask off. A slight blush came to Lily’s face as she looked him up and down taking in his messy dark curls, his wide green eyes, the flush in his cheeks and most surprisingly the bulge in his pants. He gave her a small wave.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” She asked looking out of her depth.

“ I could ask you the same thing.” Chris said seriously sitting on the coffee table across from her, elbows on his knees.

“ We all have some explaining to do it seems”. She crossed her legs and cradled her injured arm to her side. Adrian held up a finger and stepping over bodies retrieved a blankets and a pillow from the bed. “Sorry, I. I can see your panties. Are you okay with a blanket.” He said sweetly.

“Mmhmm, thank you.” He made to hand it to her, thought better of it and carefully tucked it around her, propping her injured arm up on it.

“Is that okay?” Lily nodded. “Okay.” He nodded and stepped back a respectful distance. Chris made a phone call and within 15 minutes the rest of the team stood in Chris’s house looking in shock at the scene.

“Okay, so six dead bodies is pertinent phone call information, just so we’re all clear on that.” Harcourt said angrily.

“What the hell did y’all do?” Adebayo remarked stepping gingerly over the dead man on the porch.

“It wasn’t us.” Chris answered her, steadying her by grasping her hand.

“Oh yeah? Then who the hell was it?” Economos asked with heavy sarcasm.

“Lily.” Chris gestures to the girl bundled in a blanket on the couch, blood spattered on her face.

“Get real. What the hell happened?” Harcourt pressed.

“It’s true. I did this.” Lily spoke calmly.

“Who the hell are they?”

“Aryan Nation members, I believe.” Lily answered.

“I told you we should have tracked that guy down!” Chase lamented.

“I didn’t know they’d show up here!” Chris yelled back.

“No way. Was it an accident? Your covering for them right?” Adebayo reasoned.

“Nope. She did it. I didn’t see the whole thing, but god I wish I had. Mmmpht.” Adrian added arms crossed over his chest.

“Are you turned on right now you little weirdo??” Harcourt spat disgusted. The others groaned and looked away.

“Yep.” He answered unashamedly.

Lily patted the couch beside her and offered him some of her blanket which he accepted with a smile.

“I’ll tell you. Chris was gone and I was asleep. I woke up at 11: 58 because I heard a noise. I realized that the house was being broken into and that they thought the house was empty. I reached for Chris’s gun in the bedside table and I waited for their move because I only had seven rounds. ”

“Ookay…” John said slowly gesturing for her to continue.

“ I picked off the first two there, from the bedroom, then I stepped out, got her, got her then him and before I knew it Chris and Adrian were here.” She shrugged.

“What time did you get here?” Harcourt asked.

“About 12:04.” Offered Adrian in a helpful tone.

“Six kills in that short span is considered a professional hit time.” Harcourt said a disbelieving edge to her voice.

“ Its not my fastest time but to be fair I am working with a handicap. Though,I still have one round left so I’ll still call it a win.” Lily shrugged. “May I offer a little advice?” she turned to Chris “If you’re going to store a weapon for self defense, in the future you should make sure it’s fully loaded. But I’m thankful for the rounds I had.”

“Mmm. She’s right, rookie mistake.” Vigilante said waving a finger at him.

“Oh, you shut the hell up, like your an expert.” he pointed at Vig.

“Are you implying that you’re a professional hit man?” She said.

“I’m not implying. I am. Though I prefer professional assassin.” She spoke in that same even reasonable tone.

“Wait wait wait.” John said hands up “ If you’re a professional assassin why do you live here? Shouldn’t you be in like, Gotham or LA or something?”

“It’s much easier live low key in low key places. Besides, my parents lived here. I like it. Plus if I lived in Gotham my home and car insurance would be insane.”

“So how long have you been doing this?” Adebayo asked.

“I’ve been training since I was four years old.”

“Your whole life?” Adrian asked astonished.

“More or less.”

“Wait, so did your parents teach you this or?”inquired Chris.

“Yes. Have you ever seen KickAss?” Lily asked.

“Yeah.” Said Chris, Adrian John and Leota at once.

“Remember Hit Girl and Big Daddy? It was like that. My mom and dad were black ops agents working under code names They were a team, did contract work for the US government all over the world. Then they had me and trained me too. I spent my twelfth birthday jumping out of a helicopter into a war zone in Afghanistan. I had 32 confirmed kills before I was 18. I have an asset number. Its highly classified, but if you need to know I’ll give you the contact info for my government handler.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Chris asked gently.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware that you are who you are. I would have removed myself had I realized that I was infringing on another operation.”

“Why didn’t you know?” Adebayo asked.

“Well they don’t exactly hand out maps of covert operations and give a who’s who presentation. I just assumed after daddy died that most other auxiliary ops stopped up here.”

Chris wiggled his hand. “Eh. They sorta did for Project Starfish though.”

“What’s Project Starfish?” Asked Chase enthusiastically.

“Never mind.” Harcourt said firmly then under her breath “Dammit Smith.”

“Okay. So say we believe you’re some like, crazy good government assassin. If that’s true, then what happened two weeks ago?” Economos asked harshly.

“Whoa, out of line.” Chris interjected raising his voice.

“I’m just saying, if she’s telling the truth, how’d some random guy put her in the hospital then?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you??” Chris stood up, chest thrust out ready to fight.

“Hey, that’s enough.” Harcourt spoke firmly.

“I just have questions.” Economos said lamely, hand up defensively.

“ You’re adding insult to injury is what you’re doing sir. So what, haven’t I done enough to prove my abilities right here? My attacker got caught me off guard. My fault entirely. I was tired and complacent. Complacency leads to situational blindness. I learned that lesson the hard way. Don’t believe me? You’re welcome to try and face fuck me too if you want, but I’m warning you now, I’ll win.”

Economos went pale, realising what he’d said.

“Hey,” Adrian rubbed her back gently with his gloved hand “That wasn’t your fault. Like, at all.” he reassured her quietly. Lily gave him the smallest of watery smiles. He looped his right arm over her and took her hand in his left giving Economos a dead eyed stare.

“You aren’t on trial White. And you are way out of line.” Harcourt pointed at John.

“ If I’m not on trial, why does it feel that way? Should I have not defended myself? I know who these people are and what group they belong to. So if the question is did they deserve to die tonight then, I say better now than later.”

“I’m glad you’re still alive White. It’s just now you’ll probably get conscripted into the team. Our boss doesn’t appreciate it when outsiders wander in. And there’s no easy way out.” Harcourt said with a tinge of regret.

“I’m used to it. As long as I’m not the last man standing I’ll be fine.” Lily Squared her chin defiantly.

“We’ll talk more tomorrow. In the mean time I’ll take that contact info if you have it. Let’s get this mess cleared up.” Emilia stood up and directed Economos out.

Lily watched him leave, eyes cold.

“Hey. I’m sorry, are you okay.” Chris leaned in and patted her knee.

Her expression softened and her big eyes welled up with tears. She nodded.

“Are you sick of me yet?” she asked tearfully.

“Nope. Not even a little bit.” He assured her.

“I’m sorry I killed all these people in your house. I tried not to make a big mess. I’m not being a very good houseguest .” She apologized her voice quavering , tears falling now.

“Aw, hey. Don’t cry. I’m not even mad! I was just worried that you were hurt. You did the right thing, don’t apologize for putting yourself first.” Awkwardly he wiped a tear away. “ I’m gonna get up and take the trash out, okay? You stay here with Leota and Vig, and we’ll be done in no time.” He gave her a small smile.

“ Do you want me to help? I don’t have my kit but I can do a quick turn and burn? Hide the identities maybe?” She sniffed.

“Nah, most of ‘em don’t have any teeth anyway. It’ll be okay. Okay?”

She laughed a little in spite of herself and leaned her head against Adrian’s shoulder. Absently he stroked her hair.

“This might not be the best time, but I just gotta say that was probably the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in real life.” He complimented.

“Thanks.” She mumbled quietly.

“Does your shoulder hurt?”

“A little. My ribs hurt more though.”

“It’s probably tension. Here.” He said. Shifting a little, he lifted her into his lap. He was stronger than she anticipated. He gently pressed her head against his chest and held her close his arms encircling her, his his chin on the top of her head. He felt her body relax into him as she snuggled in.

Leota couldn’t help but smile at the tender moment the two shared despite the gore that surrounded them. She did her best to pretend that she couldn’t hear their quiet conversation as she busied herself filling a bucket with soapy water and wiping the blood spatter off of various surfaces but she strained to catch every word.

“Hey, Lily?”

“Hmm?” She turned her face up to his slightly.

“I’m sorry I sorta ghosted you. I mean, not sorta. I did..I took some really crappy advice and it sorta screwed things up. I read your text… I didn’t answer because I was trying to seem cool. It was stupid. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s hard for me to relate with emotions sometimes but I really don’t want to upset you.”

She gazed up at him while he tenderly flaked off the dried specks of blood on her cheek with his thumb.

“I couldn’t figure out why you pulled away.”

“Honestly, I was insecure and jealous. I got it into my head that if it was a contest between me and Chris… well that he’d win.”

“Chris is just my friend Adrian. A good friend but that’s all. I, I wanted get to know you better than that. Still do.”

“Really?” He said, genuine surprise in his voice.

“Well yeah. You’ve been so nice to me, nobody’s ever been as sweet to me as you have. And I thought, maybe you might, I dunno. Stick around.” She said eyes downcast her lashes casting a shadow on her cheeks.

“I thought you were way out of my league! Well you are, obviously. But my main thing is I didn’t know how to tell you without freaking you out.”

“You could never freak me out, I trust you! You’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever met in my life. And you treat me like a lady. I’ve never had to prove anything to you. You listen to me. You remember things I tell you. I like you.I want you to like me too.”

He blushed and gave her a boyish half smile meeting her eyes then looking away shyly.

“Can you forgive me? I promise I’ll never do it again. On god.”

“Of course I forgive you.”

“See? That wasn’t hard!” Leota said giving herself away “Damn, Adrian what did I say? And you two are cute! Weird as fuck, but cute.” She wiped her eye with a damp hand. “ I need a minute, hold on.”

Adrian’s face colored deeply and he gave her a half smile. “ I need a minute.” Leota excused herself.

Lily pressed her face into Adrian’s chest and hid behind her hand embarrassed. From the open door Chris gave Adrian an enthusiastic double thumbs up dropping the legs of a body with a thud. Adrian returned the gesture with one hand smiling broadly.

*******

Harcourt called the number Lily had given her. The line rang twice and was answered immediately by a brusque military voice.

“General Conklin.”

“Hello sir, this is Agent Emilia Harcourt calling to verify your field agents credentials.”

“State the asset’s identification number.”

Harcourt looked down at the number written in a curvy girlish hand.

“003”

“That number is valid. Asset code name Acolyte. Status as of 0500 this morning is listed as active or alive. Are you able to confirm assets current status?”

“Yes sir, she is alive.”

“Is triple o three in need of extracting?”

“No sir”-

“Than whatever it is she can handle it. Call me if she dies.”

The line clicked off.

“Okay…” she said to herself. She made her next call to Murn.

“Hey, I’m sorry I know it’s late. I have a bit of a situation here…”

Murn drove out to Smith’s house. In the van, Harcourt filled him in.

“So I called the number and a guy named Conklin answered”-

“General Conklin?”

“Yeah,”

“What’d he say?”

“He said that this triple o three number is associated with an asset under code name Acolyte”-

“Are you sure that’s what he said?”

“Yes, he asked if she needed to be extracted, I said no he said she could handle it and to call him if she dies.”

Murn looked troubled.

“What is it?” Harcourt pressed.

“If Lily is Acolyte it poses a bigger problem. She’d undeniably be an asset to the team but it’s well known in intelligence circles that she’s to be watched closely.”

“Why?”

“Acolyte is the daughter of two highly respected extremely effective black ops assets, Soldier of Fortune and his wife Fortuna. They trained Acolyte themselves from a very young age with no agency oversight. The suspicion was always that Soldier of Fortune raised Acolyte to be loyal to himself and himself alone, so while she’s well respected and delivers results she’s not fully trusted. Her reputation as a remorseless killer tends to raise a few eyebrows.”

“We’ve worked with plenty of dangerous killers, it’s not new. Hell, my impression of Lily is that she’s a bit like Vigilante.” Harcourt said.

“No, if she’s Acolyte she’s not like Vigilante at all.”

“How do you mean? They seem to have gotten on like a house on fire.”

Murn sighed deeply.

“Let’s assume White is Acolyte for the purposes of speculation. Essentially, whereas Chase is a likable yet awkward outcast who has few loyalties and a strong personal sense of justice, a skewed world view and a generous streak of brutal violence sprinkled in, he is still easily led and manipulated. While Chase believes himself to be free of the burden of human emotion, and, true his emotional intelligence is somewhat stunted at best his sense of right and wrong are very much present.

White is another terrifying creature altogether.

White’s combination of brutality and skill was all but selectively bred for and refined by years of rigid training and concealed by a convincing veneer of malleable femininity. It might seem like she is an outcast, but she is actually an outsider by design. She had been brought up without the outside influence of children her own age until she was thirteen. She has flourished in situations that a child her age should never have been in. She could field strip then reassemble and system check most common models of fully automatic firearms in standard time by the age of five. Her father bragged about it like other fathers bragg about little league.

In her psychological profile it is unclear whether White is capable of true, non familial close personal relationships over the long term given how low she scored on the empathy scale. Whites emotional intelligence is scored very highly which showed that not only did she have a strong understanding of the emotions of others she very likely did not care when she inflicted pain on another. However, perhaps more concerning she was able to verbally demonstrate that she understood the morality of right and wrong but expressed enjoyment in these actions. Her file says that she was noted to be incredibly charming and charismatic. It’s almost impossible to tell where her loyalties lie. She is exceptionally good at manipulating people and outcomes to her advantage.

Essentially, the assumption is that Acolyte is merely parroting back what she believes the person in front of her wants to hear.

Chase can’t hide who and what he is, but White isn’t just a chameleon changing her colors to suit her surroundings, she’s a shape shifter. To be fair, she was evaluated after her mother died and almost everyone scores as a sociopath at that age. However it hasn’t stopped them from putting failsafes in place.”

“Failsafes?”

“Her codename is one of few on a very short list of operatives to be eliminated should they ever demonstrate any unwillingness to cooperate with their handlers. Acolyte is probably the one person that intelligence leaders worldwide truly fear.”

“So if Waller found out that we might have Acolyte, she’d definitely use her then eliminate her?”

“Absolutely. And between you and I, I don’t trust her to use Acolyte for anything good. Waller’s loyalty is to herself then the United States, and Acolyte’s are unclear. So with her in Waller’s hands we could very well have another Corto Maltese situation on our hands.”

“So essentially she may have found a new way to punish us?” Harcourt said angrily.

“Unfortunately yes. Let me make a few calls to some old friends. I’ll see what they can tell me about White or Acolyte.”

[chaseadrian]

"i wish you would write a fic where" ADRIAN JIST FUCKING DESTROYS MY HEART, i love this man and that he is so beautiful, but is rare the times where i see Adrián being mean or rejecting Reader.

SO like a fic where we are in some kind of unspoken relationship where reader sees it like a romantic relationship But Adrian is just like pure no and doesn't sees us that way or in any other way I DON'T KNOW BUT I WANNA CRY.

Have a Nice day and i hope You are doing good 💞

OKAY LMAO listen i AM A BABY AND CANT WRITE REALLY SADFIC BUT THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH SO I HOPE YOU LIKE IT. also ty i hope you have a nice day too!!

Love is an Emerald

(PART TWO | PART THREE) Rating: General Word Count: 1.7k+ Summary: You and Adrian are just friends. Okay, you’re friends who hook up sometimes. And stay over with each other most nights. But you’re not dating. Except, when Adrian shows up to work with a hickey you realize you actually maybe...want to? A/N: I’ll probably write a part 2 to this once I have the time! It’s minorly edited, I wrote it in the car on my phone lmao so sorry for any mistakes!!

You didn’t know he was fucking other people.

It wasn’t like you were dating; there’d been no discussion about exclusivity or labels. The word “boyfriend” didn’t quite fit him in your mind. But, he’d been the only one in your life. The only one in your bed, and you kinda thought it was the same for him. He’d slid into the boyfriend role without effort, letting you stay the night when it was too late, emptying out a couple drawers for you at his place, making you breakfast at yours.

The first time it happened was after a mission, adrenaline pumping and scrapes coating your body. You stung everywhere, and the cold moisture of Adrian’s lips on the cut across your cheek was a blistering pain that you wanted more of.

So, you got it.

And then it happened again and again until there was no longer a line between friends and lovers. You’d never liked that term—felt too old world romance—but it was the closest descriptor you had.

Because he wasn’t a boyfriend.

Still, when he walked into HQ with a hickey that you certainly didn’t give him, a shield of confusion flocked over your body.

“Holy shit, Adrian got tail!” Chris pointed at Adrian, cracking up as he looked around to make sure the rest of the team took notice. Legend has it that in some dictionaries, the word ‘Subtlety’ is just defined as, “Not Christopher Smith.”

Adrian slid into a seat, “No, I got laid. Saved someone last night who really liked my costume.” He said, with a smile.

John walked in from the back room, plopping down at his desk and looking between the two of you, “I thought you and Y/N were hooking up.” He settled his gaze on his laptop screen, but you caught him darting over to see your reaction.

“Well, yeah, but we’re friends!” His voice was unwavering, staring at you with an earnest grin on his face.

Economos stared at you, awaiting confirmation. Even Leota and Harcourt, uninvested in the conversation until now, made a point to look at you.

“Yeah, yeah, no, like, we are. It’s just like. Tension relief, yknow?” You tripped over your words, spitting out a glaringly embarrassing agreement that everyone but Adrian and Chris picked up on. Chris had even perked up when Economos first asked the question, so you were pretty sure Adrian hadn’t even told him.

Granted, you weren’t quick to gush with Leota and Harcourt about jumping into bed with a fellow teammate, but this was Adrian. The man couldn’t keep himself from sharing what he’d had for breakfast that morning. It was hard not to retreat into a state of insecurity knowing that he hadn’t told his supposed best friend that you were...something.

The room stood in silence for several moments after you’d spoken. Your eyes darted around the room to your teammates, Chris nodding at Adrian and throwing him a thumbs up, Economos typing away at his computer, Leota & Harcourt returning to the dossier they were reading. You and Adrian sat there on standby. He was a field agent, everyone knew that. They told him what he needed to do, who he needed to kill, and he did it.

You were markedly more involved in the full process of these missions, so every passing moment you didn’t budge only deepened the embarrassment you felt. Made it all the more obvious that there was a problem. You needed to move, to participate, to do something.

Sure, you could go over to the girls and read up on your latest targets.

Or, you could go to the bathroom and cry.

Despite your strongest efforts, you wound up in front of the mirror holding your breath as you sobbed. Lungs burning, cheeks boiling red, it felt like your teeth would crack with how hard you were grinding them together to keep from making noise. You felt like a fucking idiot, seriously, crying over Adrian of all people.

It was just—everything about your relationship read as, well, a relationship. You thought that was what you were sliding into with Adrian. Never one to talk about things, you were used to getting what you wanted through action. So when Adrian learned how you took your coffee, and memorized your phone number, and waited for you before he watched new shows, you kinda thought you had him.

Not quite a boyfriend, but not someone who was entertaining other people.

Yes, okay, it was an unfair assumption, you knew that. But it didn’t make it hurt any less.

Adrian was cute, he was funny, a competent fighter, and surprisingly good in bed. Without acknowledging it, you’d harbored a sort of pride thinking that he was all yours.

“Ow, shit!” You looked down to see that you’d been gripping the sink so hard the corner of a fingernail had folded over onto itself. It was a dull pain that radiated through your middle finger, and you felt even more frustration course through your body, smacking the porcelain sink in retaliation with a disappointing wallop. It stung, and you didn’t feel like any less of an idiot.

You ripped the folded nail off with your teeth, and your finger retaliated by bleeding all over your hand.

Turning on the faucet, you rinsed your hand and soaked your face with tap cold water, scrubbing paper towels over your skin to try and rid your face of any signs you’d been crying. Your eyelashes were still clumped together, but everyone outside heard the faucet, for all they knew you just needed to wash your face.

When you walked back out into the main room, it was just Chris and Economos sitting there. Chris was flipping a pencil between his fingers while John was doing actual work.

“Where’d everyone go?” You asked, walking over to sit on the piano bench.

Chris spoke without looking up, “Grabbing some grub. Hey what’s up with you and Vigilante?”

Economos looked up from his laptop, not yet interjecting but certainly staying engaged.

You leaned back against the piano, trying to rest your elbows behind you only to bang them on the keys. Could this morning get any more fucking awkward? You were quick to close the lid and then put your arms down, catching Chris’ disapproving look and the smirk Economos was trying to hide.

“Nothing’s up. We fool around.”

Chris cocked his head at you, squinting his eyes.

“Bullshit. I fooled around with Adrian before—“

Don’t remind me. You thought.

“—and I still threw bombs at him in the woods and high fived him when he hooked up with other chicks. But I’m pretty sure you were just crying in that bathroom. So what’s the deal?”

You shot a look over to Economos, who was no help. He just stared at you and pushed his glasses up his nose.

It was of no use trying to act cool anymore. Every moment at HQ that day had been colored by your complete lack of composure. You were a fucking government agent. You’d stared down the barrel of a gun, saved the world a handful of times, but you couldn’t sell a lie about your feelings for Adrian? Feelings you didn’t even know were a thing until you saw that hickey.

The words just spewed from your lips.

“I—I don’t know! We were just hooking up but now I have a toothbrush at his place and he bought a Lord of the Rings pillowcase to sleep on at my place and I guess I thought we were both only sleeping with each other but apparently not and I didn’t think it would bother me this much but it does and I think everyone but him knows so now you all probably think I’m an idiot or something.” You paused, “And yeah I was crying in the bathroom and I broke my nail on the sink and it actually hurts like hell so, Chris, you can preemptively shut the fuck up.”

Chris stood up, walking over to Harcourt’s desk to rifle through the drawers and pull out a bandaid. He sat down on the bench and opened the bandage, wrapping it around your finger once you held it out for him.

John’s dry voice startled you both, “You know Adrian is like head over heels for you, right?”

You and Chris both looked over at him, eyes peering up from behind the computer screen.

He sighed, shaking his head and closing the laptop, “Am I the only one that’s noticed? He doesn’t shut up about how great you are in the field—”

You opened your mouth to interject but he bulldozed past you before you could protest.

“No, not the same way he does for Chris. It’s markedly more.”

Chris scoffed, “Doesn’t matter, I don’t need his validation.”

That made you crack a smile.

“Whatever. It actually makes me question your ability to do this job if you couldn’t tell that he’s the world’s most lovesick psychopath.”

Chris pointed a finger at John, “Not the most. Harley Quinn jumped into a vat of acid for the Joker. And that dude uses dildos shaped like guns because he looks like a Ken doll down there after an encounter with Catwoman.”

“Shut the fuck up, Chris.”

You and Economos spoke in unison, and Chris raised his hands in defense.

“I’m just trying to help. But Economos is probably right, I did think it was odd that Adrian had a drawer full of women’s clothing. I figured he was just into that.”

Looking between Chris and John, you smiled at them both, “Thanks, guys.”

“Sure.” John opened his laptop back up and resumed typing.

Chris gave you a pat on the back, “Hey, I made a vow for peace, and that includes in the bedroom.” He winked at you and got up to walk into the back room. The sound of the TV came soon after.

You pulled out your phone and dialed Adrian’s number before your thoughts could cloud what John and Chris had just said.

“Yellow.” His voice was chipper, and you heard pop music blaring in the background fade until it wasn’t audible.

“Hey I gotta talk to you when you get back.” You bounced your leg, picking at the bandage on your finger.

“What abouts?” He asked.

“I’ll just—I’ll tell you when you get here. Talk to you soon. Bye Adrian.”

“Okay, buh-bye!”

You hung up and shook out your hands, nerves shooting through your body.

Economos spoke again without looking up, “If your nerves are that shot after a minute phone call, I’m definitely questioning how you perform so well in the field.”

You rolled your eyes.

All there was to do now was wait.

[lunaticsandidiots]

how’s that for success story?

(gn!reader) (18+)

word count: 2086

warnings: explicit language

a/n: ok so this lovely idea came from my angel @libellule2001 asking about john + fake dating. these started as fake headcanons but i could see the fic happening in my brain so clearly i had to write it.

“Oh, FUCK!” John barked, throwing his phone onto his desk and running his hands through his hair.

“What?” Emilia deadpanned, spinning around in her chair to face him.

“Family reunion’s this weekend.” John sighed. Emilia’s face quickly dropped into a sympathetic grimace as she remembered what John had told her months ago.

“Oh. fuck.” she replied.

“Yeah. Know where I can get a last minute long-term significant other?”

Emilia and John began to brainstorm. Months ago, Economos disclosed his dirty little secret to Harcourt over a few post-work drinks.

Every time John saw his mom, she’d hound him for not yet settling down. Every time he saw his grandma, she’d pinch his cherubic cheeks and coo ‘Oh John, when are you gonna bring someone home for me to meet?’. All his family ever asked about was his love life, pestering him to find himself a mate, and he’d had enough. So naturally, he decided to make one up.

It truly started out as an innocent white lie. Something to get his family off his back for a while until he found one. John casually mentioned he was seeing someone over a Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago, and it all just spiralled from there. He didn’t see his family too often, meaning that the lack of pictures wasn’t that suspicious, so until then, it had all been fun and games.

“Well it can’t be Leota…” John thought aloud, brainstorming aloud in hopes it’d help him figure out what the fuck to do.

“And Flo’s six months pregnant which would not help things…” Harcourt enumerated, thinking back to their colleague from Belle Reve.

“And I’m definitely not doing it…” she added.

“Hey!” John scowled.

“I’m still gonna help, asshole, I’m just not down to fake-date you!” Emilia replied, shrugging defensively.

“Well I know that Murn wouldn’t be either…” John continued.

“Chris or Adrian?” Emilia perked up. The two shared a short moment of pondering silence, before simultaneously scrunching their faces up in disgust.

“Fuck no.”

Your keys jingled in time with the ice cubes in your coffee as you entered the old video store, taking a sip of the cool beverage as you locked the door behind you and turned back around to head towards your desk.

Your body froze in confusion, lips still wrapped around the green straw as you noticed that John and Emilia were looking at you with the same, devious expression. John continued to watch you with an inquisitive squint as Emilia opened her mouth to finally voice their thoughts;

“What would you say if I asked you pretend to date John?”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m pretty nervous. Can’t say I’ve ever fake-dated anyone before.” you exhaled, staring up at John with a furrowed brow as you chewed on the nail of your thumb.

You’d been sitting in John’s car since you arrived a solid 10 minutes ago, listening intently as he gave you one final pep talk and made sure you knew what you were up against.

“You’ll be fine, I come from a long line of introverts. Plus you’ll be with me the whole time and I always end up leaving early anyway, so we can say our hellos and get the fuck outta dodge.” John smiled, his moustache following the upward curve of his lips. You shot him a small smile back as your heart thumped away in your chest, though you chalked up the palpitations to pure nervousness, nothing more.

Truth be told, you knew it was more than nerves. Hell, the reason you were so easily convinced to go along with John’s scheme was that it gave you an excuse to spend more time with him outside of work and away from Murn’s watchful eye.

“Well, time to rip the bandaid off and go meet the in-laws!” you chirped, nodding as you inhaled sharply, riding the sudden surge of fresh oxygen and adrenaline to hoist you out of the car. You were stopped by a soft hand gently wrapping around your shoulder, and you flopped back into your seat. John’s face bore a flustered expression making your heart rate increase tenfold, though his words immediately soothed you;

“Thank you, again, for doing this. I got my own stupid self into this stupid, sad mess and you didn’t have to help me all, but you did, and I’m uh…” John stammered, breaking eye contact to look at the gearbox as he felt his face heating up at the sight of you, “I’m really grateful…”

“Well that’s what other halves are for, isn’t it?” you smiled cheekily, feeling the instant urge to cheer him up.

You walked side by side up to the house of ‘some distant cousin twice removed’s and John stepped behind you to usher you through the door with his large hand placed gently between your shoulder blades.

Once your eyes landed on a small group of grandma-looking strangers, your anxiety begin to heighten, hence why you barely had the sense to register the fact that you’d instinctively grabbed his hand, shoving your fingers through his and squeezing as hard as you could as you stood there like a deer in headlights.

And you definitely didn’t have the sense to notice John’s pulse quicken at the touch, though he didn’t have nearly as much time as he would’ve liked to enjoy the physical connection as his relatives began to pounce on the two of you like hungry wolves.

John introduced you as his partner to them one by one as they each finished their hugging and their kissing and their ‘I-haven’t-seen-you-since-you-were-this-tall-and-now-look-at-you’ing, and by the fourth or fifth ‘Mwah, mwah, It’s so lovely to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you!’ you were beginning to feel like a professional fake-spouse.

It was a good 30 minutes of reminiscing and mingling, never once letting go of John’s hand before food started to come out. The two of you madd eye contact as some aunt’s stepbrother’s dog’s lawyer’s uncle in law brought out the third plate of quiche and you instantly knew what the other was thinking.

The both of you speed walked ‘to the kitchen’ under the guise of assistance, though John, knowing his way around, tugged you through the back door and into the cool night air for a moment of reprieve. You sighed as one would after dropping a heavy load of groceries or running a mile, though emotionally, your relief wasn’t too dissimilar.

“You’re gonna make a great real partner some day.” John nodded, a sarcastic smile stretched across his mouth as he sat down on the porch swing hidden in the shadows.

“Oh fuck you.” you laughed back, finally untangling your hand from his. It felt cold and clammy and weird, you fingers instantly missing the warm, comforting crowding of his own and how they fit perfectly in between each knuckle.

You started slowly meandering across the span of the patio, wavering each foot around before placing it down in front of you and stepping forward in a childlike way. Eventually, you plonked yourself down on the seat next to John with a *squeak* of its rusty frame and huffed.

“You know your family is super nice,” you commented, eyes darting over his features as you watched him solemnly stare off into the yard, “At the end of the day they’d support you regardless of what’s going on in your love life.”

“I know, I know, its just…” John started, inhaling deeply as his eyes stayed trained on the distant trees, meaning you could continue to subtly ogle over him without shame, “My cousin Molly is a lawyer. My cousin Ben has a husband and three kids. Shit, Aunt Beth’s kid is only fourteen and he’s verified on fucking Tiktok. I hate that I never seem to bring home the success story that everyone’s waiting for.”

“Did Molly fight a giant, extraterrestrial starfish?” you asked, brows raised high.

“What?” John sputtered, finally turning to look at you.

“I said, did your cousin Molly save the entire world from a gargantuan, inter-dimensional starfish?”

“…No”

“And did Ben, or his husband, or Taylor or Cameron or Emma save the world from an all-powerful ancient spirit and her giant, volcanic incubus brother?”

“You remembered all their names?”

“Shut the fuck up and answer the fucking question.” you chided, smacking him on the back of the hand.

“…No they did not…”

“Exactly, so start using your sordid little genius brain to look at the bigger picture before you start berating yourself.” you finished your speech, harshly poking him on the temple until he swatted your hand away with a laugh.

“Plus if at the end of the night, I could choose to go home with either a lawyer, or a cute guy who’s literally saved the world multiple times? No offence Molly, but I know who’s car keys I’m fishing out of the bowl on the way out.”

“Cute?” John clarified, face growing red at your accidental compliment. You’d gotten yourself so riled up about reminding John of all the things he had accomplished that you didn’t even notice the confession slip into your closing statement.

“I- Wh- Y- I’m-“ you stuttered, shaking your head at John with an open mouth and an exasperated expression, hoping that if you shook it for long enough he’d finally pick up what you were putting down. Mostly so he could tell you what it was that you were putting down, having no idea past the fact that you liked him a whole lot more than you cared to admit.

“No no, you don’t get to porky pig your way out of this one. You said I’m cute.” John pried. You could hear the amusement in his voice, faintly able to see the smirk on his face as your comment went straight to his head. It was almost relieving to see John back in his normal, smarmy state of being, though it meant that out of habit, you immediately snapped back before thinking about what the hell it was you were aiming to do.

“Okay, fine. So what if I did say you were cute?” you snapped back, shrugging your shoulders and shaking your head at him as you jutted your neck out to taunt him, “What would you do then? Huh?”. John immediately mimicked your lighthearted air of mockery, shrugging back in sarcastic annoyance.

“I don’t know, probably say that you’re cute back, or like, kiss you about it or something.” John jabbed, folding his arms across his chest in defence, though the playful tone of the ‘argument’ continued.

“Oh, yeah, okay sure, you’ll ‘kiss me’ about it,” you scoffed, “you wouldn’t.”

“Oh yeah? Maybe I would, you don’t know me.”

“Actually I do know you, so I know you wouldn’t go out on a limb and kiss me about it.”

“Huh, well actually I’ve saved the world before, like on multiple occasions, so, you know, maybe I would go out on a limb and kiss you about it.”

“Fine then, fucking kiss me about it.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!”

John’s lips awkwardly crashed against your own as his hand cradled your face to keep it steady. Immediately, your hands began to feel around until they found a comfortable spot to rest between his neck and his shoulders as you wove your lips between his.

John’s large stature nearly swallowed you whole as the two of you tried to lean further into the kiss, addicted to the relief it brought after months of mutual pining, both groaned in unison as John’s arm pulled you even closer by the waist and you tugged yourself towards him with an arm around his neck.

You could taste the whispers of diet pepsi on John’s tongue and smell the hints of ‘one last cigarette’ in his beard as he kissed you. You’d chided him for months about both, trying to get him to quit the nasty habits, but with the way he was making your stomach somersault in that moment, you couldn’t help but glide your tongue against his to get another taste.

The two of you tried to turn your heads to deepen the kiss, though you both aimed for the same direction, breaking the kiss to laugh as your noses bumped together. You kept your face close to John’s as he absentmindedly began swinging the chair, neither of you noticing the concerning squeaking sound it made each time, still too high on adrenaline from the kiss.

“How’s that for success story then, huh?”