#like how they fight the big bad together and Jean heroically protects his idiots

[fenfyre]

SUPERHERO ANTIHERO AND VILLAN POLY RELATIONSHIP

Ehehe … this has been on the list for a while *sweats*This fill is also for the lovely @nb-writer who wanted some enemies to friends to lovers EreJeanMarco and what kind of writer would I be if I didn’t at least try to combine these, right? _______________________________“This is it?”, Eren asked, eyeing the apartment building suspiciously.He was wearing that dark trench coat again, collar popped up against the harshNovember wind. “That’s the address my contact gave me”, Marco nodded, checking the message onhis phone for the fifth time. “He should be here. Do you think something’swrong?”Squinting up at the building Eren shrugged with one shoulder and made anon-committal noise. “Dunno. Weren’t you expecting something more … flashy?” Marco just frowned, not quite sure what Eren had in mind. “You know, impenetrable fortress, laser sharks?”, Eren offered with a sly grin,one dark eyebrow cocked even though it was only partly a joke. Maybe Marco had expected something a little bit different but that wouldn’tdistract him from the reason they were here. And neither would Eren’s dumbjokes, no matter how cute he looked with that grin on his face. “He’s a telekinetic bank robber, not Doctor Evil”, he said, rolling his eyeswith a huff that was just a bit too fond. “Come on now, don’t let your guarddown.”~It was hard to say when it all started.Maybe a few months ago, when news about the latest bad guy in town had begun tospread. Stories about several raids all over the city, all by the same man,masked but unarmed. Rumour had it that the heavily armoured doors of cashtransporters and even bank safes opened for him as if by magic, that he didn’teven have to carry the lock boxes and metal cases filled with money, that theyfloated behind him when he left the crime scene. They said nothing could hurthim, no bullets, no tasers, no direct hits, and that when he showed upsomewhere it was best to stay quiet and let him do what he wanted. Because, andthat seemed to be his only redeeming quality, he didn’t like to hurt people andhe wouldn’t if he didn’t have to.The local news stations called him Pyre, a morbid nod to his ability tospontaneously set objects around him on fire. It didn’t seem to happen all toooften but still enough to brand the alias for him. ~“Alright”, Marco said when they arrived at apartment 6B, voice low andgesturing for Eren to wait while he closed his eyes and concentrated for amoment. “He’s inside, probably not suspecting anything. How about we knock andtry to talk to him first?”For a second or two Eren just looked at him, blinking slowly, and Marco wastempted to think he accepted the plan. But then Eren scoffed and reached forhis gun to pull it from the holster strapped around his shoulder and chest.Before Marco could stop him he took a big step forward and kicked in the damnapartment door with a loud crash, metal screeching and wood splintering. Marco wasn’t even surprised. Grinding his teeth and breathing an annoyed huffhe stepped into the apartment behind Eren. ~It was a rainy night when Marco got to know Eren Jäger. He’d been chasing Pyre throughhalf the city after another attack on a cash transport. No casualties on thisone but crime was still crime and Marco was not about to make exceptions justbecause this particular villain seemed to have at least somewhat of a moralcode. But when he’d finally cornered Pyre in a closed off alleyway the man hadhurled two or three dumpsters at him before literally disappearing through awall, the bricks arranging an opening for him before going back to theirprevious state, cutting off the escape route. Of course Marco hadn’t given upand immediately turned to the fire escape, thinking that he might have a chanceof spotting the other man and finding a way to him from a higher position. Butthe metal stairs had warped under his feet, twisting and melting away withinseconds so that his only choice had been to throw himself to the side, crashingright through Eren Jäger’s window and onto his dinner table.~They stepped into a tiny living area barely managing to fit a couch, a TV set,a bookshelf and a messy desk tucked into one corner. Right next to the entrancewas a small kitchenette tiled in an ugly, dirty shade of turquoise and at theopposite end of the living space were two doors, one open and leading to whatlooked like a small bathroom, the other closed, probably hiding a bedroom.The man they were looking for sat on the couch, balancing a half-eatenmicrowave meal on his crossed legs while the bluish light of the TV flickeredacross his face and reflected off his crooked glasses. He was frozen in shock,fork halfway raised to his mouth which was open and gaping at them, eyes wideand disbelieving. Of course he wasn’t wearing his mask at home, an intricate thing in classicVenetian style, delicately decorated in shades of red and gold. But it wasdefinitely him, Pyre.Before Marco could say or do anything Eren spluttered, a noise between wonderand surprise and then he let out an amused laugh. “You … you live here?”~The problem with living in Trost was that there was always someone bigger and badderon the horizon and that telekinetically gifted robbers were the least of theirworries. So when someone or something began attacking open, crowded spaces,leaving bloodbaths but no traces of what kind of forces were behind the attacks,Marco’s focus soon shifted away from Pyre and on to bigger fish. Until Eren reminded him of the man responsible for him having to replace aliving room window and the exceptional powers he possessed. Sometimes self-proclaimedheroes had to make sacrifices and sometimes those sacrifices involved buildingan alliance not just with ex cops who were way too young to be this jaded butalso with small scale villains, as long as they were promising enough.~“If I…”, Pyre sputtered back, eyebrows quickly crinkling together in a frown. “Youshould know, asshole. You just kicked down my fucking door!” He didn’t evenflinch at the sight of the gun pointed directly at him. But why should he,bullets couldn’t hurt him. He’d just reflect any projectiles and send them backwhere they came from. In this case to Eren and Marco.“Man and I thought this place was a dump when I saw the outside!”, Eren drawledwith a crooked grin that was way too attractive, considering that now wasdefinitely not the time to get distracted like this. Marco reached out a steadyhand and placed it on Eren’s shoulder, reminding him to stay calm. “Excuse you?” Pyre cocked his head and placed the plastic dish on the couchnext to him before getting to his feet. The remote on the side table trembledlightly and Marco wasn’t sure if that was a natural movement or not. “I’d liketo see you afford living at the Hilton’s while paying your way throughuniversity!”, he spat, taking a confident step towards them. There wasn’t muchspace between them now, considering how tiny the whole apartment was. “Is that why you robbed those banks?”, Marco asked, the absurd explanationputting itself together in his head. Pyre’s eyes shifted to regard him for thefirst time, eyebrows shooting up before he sighed.“Shit, not you again…”“Are you robbing banks to pay for university?”, Marco repeated, too stunted tolet this go. He was sure there were lots of other explanations of what mighthappen to the money, where it went if not into this apartment. But the nextmoment Pyre rolled his eyes and shrugged, hands coming to rest on his hips in asomewhat defensive posture.“I’m getting my PhD in applied physics so yeah, I have an assload of studentloans. I’m sure as hell not doing that shit so I can go on vacation on the Maldives.”“Who knows”, Eren scoffed, still not lowering his gun, no matter how pointlessit was in this scenario. Pyre squinted his eyes at him and Marco got ready to shove Eren out of the wayif necessary, even though they had both agreed that Pyre probably wouldn’t gettoo violent without being explicitly prompted to. And indeed the man acrossfrom them quickly relaxed and shrugged again.“You know what? I don’t care what you think. But stop waving that thing in myface, I hate that.”With nothing more than a flick of his eyes the gun was ripped from Eren’s handsand thrown across the room, clip falling out and landing in a different corner.“What do you want?”, Pyre asked and now he was almost bored even though hiseyes still had a pissed sparkle. Probably because they had destroyed his frontdoor. “We want to … propose an alliance”, Marco said, keeping his voice firm andconfident. They might be at a disadvantage but the man standing across fromthem wasn’t a real danger, at least not at the moment. And their plan was forthe greater good, after all. They might as well try and do what they’d comefor. No matter how unfortunate their introduction.A whole array of expressions flickered across Pyre’s face in the span ofseconds which gave Marco an opportunity to study that face more closely. He was thinner than expected. Paler, too. His cheekbones were high andpronounced and his jawline finely cut. There was something attractive about hislithe frame, even more so if he would have appeared a little healthier. Ohwell, at least he looked the part of stressed doctoral student. After a moment or two of contemplation the man seemed to have come to a decisionand gave a stiff nod.“Okay, let’s talk. But first close the damn door, I don’t care how.” Part II[If you enjoyed this story, please consider buying me a coffee