#emilia harcourt fic

[jeysbvck]

late night talking

@peacemakernet event 02: once more, with feeling!

Emilia Harcourt x gn!reader

warnings: none really, other than language and fluff.

word count: 3k

summary: "I didn't hate you." Emilia mumbled. "You scared me." Emilia Harcourt drunkenly confesses her feelings to you.

The fact that you and Emilia were best friends sometimes baffled you. You were such different people, she was a blunt, brutal badass, while you, although badass in your own right, you were not blunt and you certainly weren't brutal. Because of that, you sometimes wondered if you truly belonged on the Task Force, even John - who was more often than not the getaway driver - had some brutal moments. Emilia was quick to remind you that, despite your feelings, you had proven time and time again, that you did belong on the team, and one of those times was in fact, how you became best friends.

For months when you first joined the team, Emilia would act like you didn't exist, for the most part. She never let it jeopardize the mission, keeping her personal feelings separate like a true professional; but it was always awkward, and you often found yourself watching from the outside as she bonded with everyone else. You spent far too much time wondering why she hated you, especially when she had never taken the time to get to know you.

Despite the cold shoulder, you couldn't help but be enamored by Emilia. You tried to call it anything else, but in the end, you had to admit defeat and call it what it was; a crush. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice when you stared at her for a little too long, and there was no chance of you getting tongue-tied around her when she barely said two words to you. You didn't pay attention to your feelings too much, you figured it would pass eventually. Besides, you weren't her type anyway, and there had been gossip amongst the other members of the team about Emilia and Chris.

It wasn't until you threw yourself in front of a bullet for her, that she began to soften towards you. When you woke up in hospital 4 days later, Adrian and Emilia were both at your bedside. Adrian was eating jello and watching television, his feet on the bed you were lying in, while Emilia had her head hung back over the chair.

"I'm pretty sure that jello was meant for me." You croaked. Emilia's head shot up like a pinball, while Adrian just shrugged, making a popping sound as he pulled the spoon from his mouth.

"Well, you weren't eating it." Adrian replied. He jumped up and patted your shoulder. "Do you want some water? You sound awful."

"Adrian, don't be a fucking dick!" Emilia chastised, making you chuckle. Adrian ignored her as he put the cup of water and straw to your lips and you finished it in record time.

"Thank you." You said to Adrian, before turning to Emilia. "Hey Harcourt, I'm surprised to see you."

"She hasn't left your side." Adrian said before Emilia could, which made her blush furiously.

"You haven't?" You turned to Emilia, who just shrugged.

"I'm the leader of the team. How would it look if I didn't stay?" She asked.

"John said it's because you've been an ass to them and now you feel guilty as shit." Adrian piped up again.

"Yeah? Well John's fucking dead, and if you don't get out of here, you'll be joining him." Emilia snapped, her cheeks getting redder, due to embarrassment or anger, you could only guess.

"Okay well," Adrian said as he stretched. "I'm gonna go. I'm glad you're not dead, bye!"

"Love you too!" You shouted after him, as he waved without turning around.

Once Adrian had left, the atmosphere in the room quickly shifted. It was stifling and awkward, and you didn't know what to say. Luckily, Emilia broke the silence.

"Thank you. For, you know..." She trailed off, and you gave her a shy smile.

"You don't have to thank me." You replied, but she shook her head.

"No, I do. I've been such a bitch to you, and you still saved my life."

"Whether or not you hate me, you're still part of the team. I wasn't gonna stand there and watch you get shot." You looked away from her and down at your hands as you played with a loose thread on the hospital sheet.

"I don't hate you." Emilia replied, your eyes snapping back up to her. "I just don't like change, especially when I'd just got used to the way the team was. But that's no excuse. I'm sorry."

You smiled and shrugged. "It's fine, Harcourt. I'm fine, everything's fine."

"Emilia." She said with a small smile. "Call me Emilia."

****

After a very stressful, but luckily successful, mission, you and the rest of the team were supposed to be clearing everything away, but instead, you were drinking the various bottles of alcohol stashed around the office. The general consensus was that a drink was needed, and you couldn't agree more. You and Emilia were lounging on the sofa, legs tangled up together, while John and Leota, and Chris and Adrian were playing a multiplayer video game. You were too busy watching the game and laughing at everyone's competitiveness to notice Emilia staring at you.

Emilia still held onto some guilt over your brush with death. Even though you'd assured her that you were more than okay, and even though you were both thick as thieves now, she still couldn't shake the feeling. She thought back to when you were in the hospital when everyone was waiting for you to wake up. The feeling that you might not wake up scared Emilia in more ways than she was willing to admit out loud. She had been scared of the change you brought with you, scared of the change in dynamic you might have on the team. But she was more scared of the feelings she felt when you walked in that very first day, with your bright eyes and even brighter smile.

Emilia said the same thing to each member of the team when they mentioned it to her, they're new, I don't trust them, I'm closed off with everyone, but they were all excuses. As much as she might protest, Leota, John, Chris, and even Adrian had become family. Emilia wasn't stupid, she could see the rejection etched across your face when you thought nobody was looking. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to open up a dialogue with you. She didn't trust herself to open up to you, but she didn't know why.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. She knew exactly why she didn't want to let you in. From the moment you walked into the shitty office and you flashed her a huge grin, looking so full of innocence and hope, something in her shifted, and she was terrified. Then, the more time you spent around the team, getting everyone to love you, consistently proving that you were more than an asset to the team, and just being so fucking nice to everyone, even when they didn't deserve it, Emilia started to panic; her feelings from the first day were getting stronger. So she distanced herself even more from you, if that was even possible.

Ultimately, Emilia was glad things had worked out. You were alive, and you and she had gotten closer; she just hated that you almost died before she got her head out of her ass.

"Emilia? Hey Em!" You yelled, clicking your fingers in her face, bringing Emilia back to the present. She blinked a few times, and she saw you grinning at her, already stood up.

"Sorry, I zoned out." She apologized and you laughed.

"Yeah, I noticed! Do you wanna crash at mine? Everyone else is staying here, I think."

Emilia nodded, reaching her hand out so you could pull her up. "Let's go."

****

When you and Emilia got back to your apartment, you probably should have gone straight to bed. Instead, you grabbed supplies from the kitchen - more alcohol and some snacks - while Emilia headed straight for your bed and scrolled Netflix for something to watch, eventually ending up on The Office. You loved spending time with everyone on the team, but these were the times you truly held close to your heart; when it was just you and Emilia, when she dropped her guard, going from Harcourt, the hard-ass leader of the 11th Street Kids, to Emilia, your soft-ass best friend.

When you became friends, your crush never once crossed your mind, you were just happy that she had not only warmed up to you, but you'd become best friends and each other's confidants. She had spent so long pretending you don't exist, refusing to be in the same room alone with you, and now you couldn't get rid of her. You spent your days working with her and rooming with her on missions, then going home and spending your free time together. Every time you doubted yourself, every time she doubted her skills as the leader, you were there to lift each other up. Every time you called her, she picked up, and every time you needed her, there she was. You already had her in your life, you didn't need anything more. Or so you thought.

"Would you date anyone on the team?" Emilia asked unexpectedly, using the beer to wash down the chips she'd just eaten. It was totally out of the blue, you were both sitting in a comfortable silence as you ate, drank, and watched The Office. Your mind instantly conjured up images of you and Emilia dating, acting like a couple during missions, and having secret trysts in the office. You finished your beer and shook your head slightly, hoping both these actions would erase the images you had spent months pushing down.

"I've...uh, never thought about it." You lied, pulling a bottle of wine from the side of the bed, more so in an attempt to hide your face.

"So think about it!" She said, a little too loudly. "Would you date Chris?"

You snorted and shook your head. "Fuck, no!" You laughed, making Emilia cackle. "I love him, but come on, he's a bit of a dick!"

"He's handsome though." Emilia mused, and you felt your face heat up. You took a sip of wine straight from the bottle and shrugged.

"I guess, if you're into that...pro wrestler look."

"Adrian's more your type right? The scrawny, nerdy look? Yeah, you'd totally date Adrian."

You raised your eyebrow slightly, you thought you detected a little jealousy in her voice. You thought about dating Adrian, for a split second, and you shook your head.

"Adrian definitely has way more of a shot than Chris, but I still wouldn't date him." You replied. "I know way too much about that guy!"

Emilia laughed again, the sound was like music to your ears, and your curiosity got the better of you. "So, why are you asking me about dating someone on the team?"

You almost didn't want to know the answer; everyone on the team knew that Chris was practically in love with Emilia, he wasn't exactly subtle about it, and you knew that whatever relationship Emilia and Chris had was getting stronger. It was another reason you knew you didn't have a chance with Emilia, if she was going to date anyone on the team, it was going to be Chris.

"I've just been...thinking about things lately." Emilia said, her words slurring slightly, due to the alcohol.

"About dating someone from the team?" You questioned. "Chris, right?"

Your heart was in your throat as Emilia stared at you. She had perfected her poker face over the years, and you hated it. You hated it was the one thing you couldn't penetrate, you couldn't gauge how she was feeling, or what she was thinking. Out of nowhere, she let out a loud, drunk cackle, taking you completely by surprise.

"Chris?!" She said through the laugh. "You're fucking with me, right?" She saw your face, realized you weren't laughing and her own quickly subsided. "No, it's not Chris."

"But, it is someone?"

Emilia rolled her eyes as she reached over and took the wine bottle from your hands. She popped the lid off and took a large swig from the bottle, and handed it back to you, ignoring the question.

You frowned and nudged her leg with your foot. "Come on Em! I'm your bestie, you're obligated to tell me!"

If looks could kill, she'd have struck you down with this one. She hated the term bestie, and you knew it. You giggled as she snatched the wine back from you and you nudged her again. "Tell me!"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? I've had way too much to drink." She replied, taking another sip of the wine.

"Yeah, that excuse isn't gonna fly when you're still drinking! Why won't you tell me?"

"Seriously. Just drop it." Emilia was beginning to sound like she did when she was talking to the team about a mission, and you knew you were getting under her skin. You also knew you should stop pushing, but you couldn't. You had to know why she wouldn't tell you this, of all things.

"Emilia!" You whined, which made her audibly groan. "You tell me everything!" When she didn't respond, you shifted onto your knees and scooted closer to her. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!" You badgered, shaking her arm gently as you did.

"It's you, okay! It's you!" Emilia yelled.

You froze, your mouth agape, your hand still on her arm. Your eyes were locked with Emilia's and for the first time, you saw fear in her eyes; fear that had nothing to do with a mission and everything to do with you.

"You-you want to date me?" You squeaked. Emilia broke eye contact as she shrugged, swapping the wine bottle for her half-empty bottle of beer.

"I'm drunk, I don't know what I'm saying." She replied, to which you scoffed.

"Again, that isn't gonna fly." You said. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" Emilia questioned, and you sighed.

"Emilia!" You scolded. You raised your hand, ready to shove her, but she was too quick for you and she caught your wrist. Her grip was strong, but she was definitely holding back, and you stared her in the eyes. "Did you mean it?"

The fearful look was still there, and it confirmed everything you were asking. Drunk or not, she meant what she said, she was just scared. Scared of losing your friendship, scared of everything changing. You took her hands in yours and held onto them tightly.

Emilia's eyes widened, before they quickly narrowed. "Are you fucking with me? Is this pity?"

"You know I couldn't do that." You said softly. "Unless of course, you didn't mean it. Then I'm lying." You grinned, which Emilia reciprocated.

"I meant it." She whispered. "I've felt this way for a while. I didn't want to ruin our friendship. Dating changes everything and I didn't want things to change."

"You know Em, things have changed already." You pointed out. Emilia narrowed her eyebrows and you continued. "You weren't close to the team at the beginning, and now look at you! Don't forget, you also hated me at the beginning too."

"I didn't hate you. You scared me." Emilia mumbled, and you couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Emilia Harcourt being scared of you. "Hey, I'm being serious! You walked into my life and it was like a breath of fresh air. My world got brighter, like I had never truly seem colour before until you, and I didn't understand, I didn't like it and I wasn't ready for it. So I pushed you away. Not that you got the fucking message."

"Well, I've always had a soft spot for pretty people who are complete assholes to me." You grinned.

"Aw, you think I'm pretty?" Emilia said, before you both laughed.

"Okay, so now might be a good time to admit that...I've always had a crush on you." You confessed, making Emilia gasp dramatically as she put her hands over her mouth.

"You had ulterior motives regarding our friendship?!"

"You're an idiot." You giggled as you poked her in the shoulder.

"An idiot you have a crush on."

"Mmm, real glad I confessed." You said, rolling your eyes affectionately.

"I am. All I've wanted to do is, you know, hold your hand, go on dates, and all that other fucking sappy shit."

Emilia held her hands out in front of you, palms up, and you took them, your fingers entwining together.

"That was so romantic." You replied. "Please tell me more about this "other fucking sappy shit" as you so eloquently put it."

"I could...or I could kiss you?"

There was nothing you could do to stop the grin from spreading on your face, the blushing of your cheeks, or the eruption in your heart. Emilia had gained her confidence back; between your confession and the way you turned to putty at the mere thought of kissing Emilia, she didn't have anything to fear now, and it also boosted her ego a little.

"I'm gonna need verbal consent, or at the very least, a nod." Emilia instructed, and you nodded your head like a bobble head figurine.

Once again, you were frozen, only this time, Emilia was leaning in. Her eyes left yours for a split second, to glance at your lips, and your tongue ran over them instinctively. Your heart was hammering against your chest, beating loudly in your ears, but when her hand touched your cheek and her lips touched yours, everything slowed down. With her hands on your cheeks, yours in her hair, and your tongues dancing together, everything felt perfect, everything in the world felt right.

Emilia was the first to pull away, which made you whine as you pouted. Emilia laughed at you as she pushed your hair from your face.

"We should've done that a long time ago." Emilia said, taking your hands back in hers. The fear from her eyes had completely disappeared, in it's place was happiness.

"Maybe we would've been, if you hadn't spent so long trying to hate me."

"Shut up." Emilia laughed.

You finally shifted how you were sat, taking your place back next to Emilia, only this time, she pulled you under her arm and you nestled into her side.

"You're my light, you know? When I feel like I'm lost in the darkness, it's like you guide me home, and bring me back."

You hummed and lifted her hand up to your mouth, kissing it gently.

"Hey...shall we both just...not turn up tomorrow? We could celebrate this turning point in our relationship by spending the day in bed?" You proposed, wiggling your eyebrows suggestively. Emilia chuckled at you and planted a kiss on the top of your head.

"That sounds perfect. I'll just text the team and give them the day off."

While Emilia did that, you snuggled back into her side and closed your eyes, and pretty soon you had fallen asleep on Emilia's shoulder, feeling content, safe and happy.

[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.

[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?

[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

[astromechs]

Without another second of hesitation, Chris raises his arm like he’s back in high school, about to make the first pitch of the first game of the season, only this time, his dad is there and watching — and when he hurls his phone across the room with all the strength he’s got, he aims to hit his dad right between the eyes.

He thinks, vaguely, like it’s some distant memory from some other life, about all that nonsense Adrian had rambled on about earlier about killing ghosts.

But right now, he doesn’t have a dead ghost; all he has is a broken phone, judging from the way it sounds like it shatters against the floor upon impact, and probably a sizeable dent in his fucking wall.

Or: the trials and tribulations of banishing a shitty fucking ghost.

chris smith character study; eventual chris smith/adrian chase, also focusing on his friendships with leota and harcourt; 10,143 words

[biblionerd07]

When Emilia and Adrian end up on their own, they have to team up to get out of there alive. Luckily they've got a few things in common.

Adrian and Harcourt team-up! Teleportation! Polyamory! Wild animals! Rocks that may or may not look like dicks!

[saatanariess]

abra para maior qualidade

⎙ DNA - pedido pessoal

╰─► leia aqui

›em caso de inspiração, dê os créditos please

[fanficsandfluff]

Squealing Santa 2k23: All the Maybes in the World

Fandom: Peacemaker (DCEU)

Characters: Peacemaker (Christopher Smith), Vigilante (Adrian Chase)

A/N: Happy Holidays, @fluffy-lee-boa! It has been a hot minute since I've actually watched the show or seen Suicide Squad, but I sure did try my best. Peacemaker is a comfort character of mine, I love him to death, and I just want him to be happy.

Tried my best to take inspiration from your prompt: "Maybe Character A discovering he’s ticklish for the first time and wanting to bond with the Character B so they ask about it."

Thank you @squealing-santa for your organization and hosting another year of this fantastic tradition!

It's been a pleasure being able to provide you with your 2023 Squealing Santa fic!

"Is it bad?"

"No."

"Is it good?"

"If it wasn't bad, wouldn't you then assume it was automatically the opposite?"

"Is it cancer?"

"Adrian, what the fuck."

Christopher Smith pinched his temple between two fingers, letting out a very drawn-out sigh. When he came to his friend about his... well... discovery, let's put it, he had no idea how dense Adrian would be nor how difficult it was for him to actually explain himself.

"Well, you're not giving me the best clues, you know. You can make this clearer and stop beating around the bush if you just admitted you loved me," Adrian said in his oh-so-oblivious yet sincere way, pushing his glasses further up his face. This admission gave Christopher another reason to groan, this time into both hands that now shrouded his face.

"That's-That's not it, Adrian."

"Yeah, okay," Adrian scoffed.

Christopher finally looked up from his dejected position and furrowed his brow. Just come clean. Why was it so hard? He wanted to talk about it in the first place and now that the moment was here, he was too fucking embarrassed.

"Em did something to me that no one's done in a really, really long time and it was... surprising? It just--"

"Who's Em?"

Christopher turned his head to look at Adrian and gave him the benefit of the doubt, knowing the nickname had been pretty new to him and her, "Emilia, sorry."

"Who's Emilia?"

Benefit fucking obliterated.

"E-Emilia. You've worked with her for the past month."

"I have?"

"Harcourt--"

"Oh! Why didn't you just say so! Jesus, dude, here I am thinking Emilia was Eagly's other name or something."

Christopher was just about ready to walk out of his own goddamn trailer.

"So..." Adrian scooted a hair closer to Christopher on his buddy's couch, grinning, "What'd you two get up to?"

"She tickled me."

Adrian was still grinning, still nodding his head, tongue poking out like he was hearing some sick story about his best friend and teammate getting it on together, until, "Huh?"

"I know... I didn't know what was happening at first. And I just-- reacted! Then I shut down, she asked me about it, and pssh, I barely knew what the fuck I was feeling so I booked it out of there."

"Why'd you run away?"

"Because..." Christopher's mouth was fully ready to continue speaking, but his brain stopped him short. Why did he leave the situation so quickly? From what he'd heard about it, tickling wasn't too bad. But every part of his body wanted to flee the scene the moment it happened.

"Did Keith ever tickle you?"

In a rare moment of sincere clarity, Adrian hit the nail on the head with that unidentified trauma.

Of course. When the brothers would sneak around to avoid their father, the two would do anything they could to keep their spirits up. And that definitely included a tickle fight here or there, ones that young Christopher would lose more often than not. And if dad ever found them, he'd hurl the homophobic and incestual slurs. So, yeah, Chris never thought about that in a really, really long time. Until today. Until his fight or flight kicked in because of one stray touch along his ribs.

Christopher ended up nodding slowly after what he was sure was many moments of silence as he was taken back to decades ago. Adrian even let him have these moments, which was another big win for his character.

The realization dawned upon Adrian in a heartbeat later, and he was smiling wide, "You're ticklish?"

Chris felt an unfamiliar flush build in his cheeks and he glanced at his friend, "Yes, but don't get any ideas, Adrian, I swear to god."

"Wouldn't dream of it," not, "I just can't believe the Peacemaker is ticklish! Who would've guessed?" even Adrian let out a small, excited giggle.

"And you aren't? Why's it such a big deal? I bet you like it, too, you sick freak," even though Christopher came to Adrian to confess and get some advice about his predicament, he couldn't avoid hurling insults as his defense mechanism. Can't get too close now, remember.

"Oh, I do," Adrian thumbed his glasses again, nodding and possessing a very matter-of-fact look about him, "It's one of my favorite torture methods."

Chris made a face, knowing in that moment Adrian definitely meant to torture and to be tortured.

"What's there to like?" he asked more genuinely.

"It's so much fun, dude! The tingles, the nerve endings, the effortless laughter," Adrian was smiling just thinking about it, and Christopher was squirming at just the mention.

It was then, in basking in the beautiful memories of being involved in tickling, that Adrian reached out and pinched at Christopher's side without abandon. Chris shot off the couch completely, screaming a, "What the fuck!"

Adrian giggled with pure glee coursing through his body at the discovery his best friend laid out before him, "Stop fighting it!" he bolted off the couch and ran straight at Christopher.

They played a brief game of cat and mouse, Chris hurling every kind of insult at Adrian in his avoidance of the inevitable. The ever-determined Adrian wound up cornering Christopher in his bedroom, avoiding objects that were hurled at his head in the process.

"Go fuck yourself. Fuck you, fuck your mom, fuck your aunt--"

"What's Aunt Kathy got to do with this?"

"Well I know you don't have a sister, otherwise I would've banged her already, dipshit."

Adrian grinned disturbingly at the thought. He wouldn't want any part in that intimate affair, of course, but him being able to say that Peacemaker was his brother-in-law was too tempting to not daydream of.

Christopher was genuinely considering jumping out his window once he ran out of small throwable objects. That split second of decision cost him big, as Adrian roundhouse kicked him directly into his bed.

Knowing he had nowhere else to go, nothing else he could do to prevent this, Christopher threw up his hands, "Wait wait wait wait! Adrian, wait!"

"Yeah, buddy?" Adrian straddled Chris and rested his own hands on his hips just waiting for whatever his idol and friend was going to say to him.

Christopher shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths before continuing his thought, "This is still new for me... I'd appreciate it if you, you know..." he swallowed, "took it easy."

Adrian couldn't believe his ears. Had he already converted Christopher into being okay with tickling? Not fighting back as much as his traumatized brain probably wanted him to? Adrian now felt he had a duty to uphold. To take a step in reversing whatever repressed, fucked up memories and feelings Christopher had towards tickling.

"Of course, dude," Adrian assured. He wiggled his fingers in quick anticipation and softly touched down on Christopher's belly. He could feel his friend tense beneath him and watched Christopher's hands land on his own face to cover up.

"No anti-torture techniques now, Mr. Military Man," Adrian chastised.

Adrian did take notice of Christopher making himself more vulnerable by lifting his hands like he did. And the Vigilante was not one to turn down the opportunity, so he clawed at Peacemaker's ribs, not pressing in too hard at the behest of his friend.

Christopher's arms immediately shot down and squeezed to his sides as laughs huffed their way through. When Adrian vibrated his fingers more quickly, that amped up Christopher's laughter, the much larger man rocking from side to side.

"Awesome," Adrian had a smile a mile wide at this discovery, at seeing his best friend and idol laughing this carefree.

Adrian tested out a few more spots on Chris's upper body, all earning him a variety of laughs. When he'd had his fill of exploiting his friend's weakness, he unhooked his legs from atop Christopher and knelt beside him on the bed. Chris took in deep breaths to recover and was rubbing his hands along the parts of his torso that still felt tingly.

"That was so much fun," Adrian decided to pitch in his two cents, smiling broadly.

Christopher was still processing what just transpired. He did think he should be feeling way more self-conscious after being so vulnerable like that, laid bare with all his emotions and his body. But no, he was actually feeling pretty good. Like the tickling was a stress-reliever. He would never admit any of this, however, of fucking course not.

"Economos is gonna die when he hears about this," Adrian seemed to be still in his own little fantasy world post-tickling, giggling at the idea of their teammates face when he tells him of Peacemaker's weakness.

"Oh, fuck no. You're not selling me out to Economos! I trusted you, man!" Christopher, fully on the rebound, saw the glint in Adrian's eyes behind the kid's glasses and the anticipatory smile on his stupid face, and, well... don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Adrian was squealing and laughing before Christopher even laid a finger on him. And yeah, it was clear to Christopher just how much Adrian enjoyed being tickled. Which was actually kinda cute.

And as Christopher was getting his footing being the giver of tickles, not the receiver, he was quickly seeing how much more he preferred this side of it. Doing the tickles. Being a younger sibling first, then only child, he was only ever on the receiving end or receiving nothing at all. Adrian must have been used to this kind of treatment being Gut Chase's kid brother, so maybe that's why it grew like it did within him.

Either way, Chris was fine taking pointers from Adrian on how to tickle him more effectively, which was all kids of fucked. And Adrian swore not to tell anyone else on the team about this. While Adrian and secrets was a ticking time bomb, Christopher knew he needed the time to fully anticipate what was to come. Maybe the team knowing wasn't a bad thing. Maybe he avoided the situation with Emilia too quickly. Maybe there was still a chance for him to feel more grounded day by day, surrounding himself with loving people and loving acts. Fuck, he was getting soft... and maybe soft wasn't a bad thing, either.

[7-wonders]

The 11th Street Kids Go Undercover (Adrian Chase/Vigilante)

Summary: On a mission to stop the formula for creating metahumans from falling into the hands of Lexcorp, you and Adrian are paired up. A fake date with the guy that you have a crush on is surely just another day at the office.

Word Count: 4.2k

A/N: I don't know how this fic is gonna do bc I'm posting it kind of late, but I'm really excited for it because I felt inspired for the first time in a while with Adrian. I've missed writing for you, Vigilante. Like, comment, and reblog if you enjoyed this!

The team listens intently as Harcourt goes over the mission brief one last time before rolling out…well, most of the team. Peacemaker is very loudly playing a game on his phone while Adrian watches over his shoulder. Harcourt slowly trails off, searing the two with a death glare, and the rest of you watch with bated breath to see if they’ll notice. When it becomes clear that they won’t, Harcourt sighs.

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” Harcourt asks sarcastically.

Chris finally looks up at this before shaking his head and going back to the game on his phone. “No, you’re fine. Thanks, though.”

“Dumbass,” Harcourt snaps, “get off of your phone and pay attention to the brief. Are you seriously playing fucking Angry Birds? What is this, 2012?”

“Angry Birds is a classic and I won’t tolerate this slander from you.”

Harcourt folds her arms over her chest. “You can go ahead and brief the team then, Smith, since I’m doing such a terrible job at keeping everybody interested.”

“I will, thank you.” He slides the brief over, looking at it for the first time tonight. “Alright, our target tonight is Jacob Han, whose mugshot you’ll see in Image A. Looks like a chode, if you ask me.”

“We didn’t ask you,” Adebayo says, “but yeah. Dude looks like a chode.”

“Thank you!” Chris sports a proud smile as he continues. “He originally worked for the American Government as a part of Project M, helping to develop a serum to create metahumans for war. Han went rogue a couple of years ago, took the formulas he had been working on for the serum and ran off. He’s recently popped up again with claims that he’s created a successful serum and he’s willing to sell the product…for a hefty fee.

“Tonight, Han is supposed to be at the Kryptonite Bar & Nightclub in Metropolis to perform a dead drop with a representative of Lexcorp. There are three potential representatives that could show up tonight. You have their names and pictures in your brief as well. If Lex Luthor and his minions are able to create metahumans whenever they want, that will spell disaster for the world. That’s where we come in.”

Almost nobody expected the group that would become the 11th Street Kids to be a functional team, least of all those that were a part of the team. After your defeat of the butterflies before the Justice League could even show up, as well as Waller being exposed on national television, ARGUS kept your team around for special ops and, the team suspects, to be able to monitor what you’re doing.

Not that any of you minded being able to come together and work with each other time and time again. Such a close brush with death tends to bring people together. And so the 11th Street Kids were now an official task force. Leota Adebayo, Adrian Chase aka Vigilante, John Economos, Emilia Harcourt, Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker, and you. What had started as a mission that you had been forced onto months ago due to being the lowest on the ladder in terms of seniority has quickly become your favorite team to work with. No other group compares to the 11th Street Kids, and you’re including the stint where you were an unofficial member of the Bat Family.

Peacemaker looks at Harcourt after he’s finished the brief. “Okay, you can give everybody their roles for tonight.”

“Gee, thanks.” Harcourt rolls her eyes, but continues. “Economos, you’ll be in the van hacked into the cameras and Han’s phone. Adebayo, you’ll be with Economos monitoring transmissions and providing backup if needed. 

“Now, we don’t know where the dead drop is supposed to happen, so we’ll be split up to make sure we can adequately sabotage this meeting. I’ll cover the bar by working as a bartender. Smith, you’ll have the front of house by acting as a bouncer. Chase and Y/l/n, you’ll both be ‘patrons’ on the dance floor. Any questions?”

The team remains silent. On the scale of missions you’ve completed together, this is pretty standard. Still, you can’t shake the nerves that you have, because tonight you’re going on a fake date. 

A fake date with Adrian.

A fake date with Adrian, who you have a crush on.

Harcourt and Adebayo have told you multiple times that he has just as much of a crush on you as you do on him, but you doubt that. After all, you’ve heard him say time and time again that he doesn’t have emotions like a normal person. You may have broken him down enough to see his friendly side, but does he even have the capacity to like you in a romantic way? If this weren’t a serious mission, you’d assume that you were placed together so that you’d be forced to admit your feelings to each other.

You know the actual reason why Harcourt assigned both of you together, of course. The blueprints of the building show a large dance floor/bar area for patrons, too big for one person to cover. Since you and Adrian look the least like undercover black ops agents (Adebayo and Economos too, but Adebayo is terrible at lying and Economos is needed for tech stuff), it makes sense to pair you up with him. This simultaneously makes you want to throw up and jump for joy.

Adrian must notice the way that you nervously drum your fingers against your leg while loading the handgun you’ll keep concealed on you, because he bumps his shoulder against yours and smiles at you. “Hell yeah, dynamic duo back at it again!”

You’ve been paired with Adrian for a few missions, both of you working extremely well together. He calms your nerves, you calm his…everything. That’s probably yet another reason why Harcourt gave you these roles. You balance each other out in the best of ways. It will be difficult for him to calm your nerves tonight, however, when he’s the one causing your nerves.

“Undercover dynamic duo,” you note, since this is a rare mission where no uniforms are used. Instead, you’re all dressed like civilians.

You both get out of the van a couple of blocks away from the bar after enough time has passed since Harcourt and Peacemaker left, and you have to admit that Adrian cleans up really well, though that could be because Harcourt had given you all wardrobe changes for tonight’s aliases. Scratch that. You don’t ‘have’ to admit anything. He does clean up well, but you like the way that Adrian looks no matter what. Tonight, however, he’s been forced to switch out his usual quarter-zip sweaters and nerdy graphic t-shirts for a button down, short-sleeved shirt that frames his muscles deliciously. You assume it’s to make it look like you’re actually a couple on a date, but you’ll still thank Harcourt for the eye candy anyways.

His muscles are so distracting, in fact, that you nearly jump when you feel his hand brush against yours. You look up at him only to see him looking as surprised as you. “What ya doing, there?”

“Well, we’re supposed to be on a date, right? People on dates, like, hold hands and shit.”

“Oh.” He’s right, of course. Still, you hadn’t expected him to be so…forward. You had thought that you were going to have to be the one to make this act convincing, not the other way around. “Um, yeah. Let’s hold hands, I guess.”

Shyly this time, Adrian slides his hand into yours, interlocking your fingers with his. You both smile at each other before looking away, though you can see the way that the back of Adrian’s neck is heating up.

The line to get into the bar is thankfully short, and you’re in in a matter of minutes. You both nod to Chris, who’s standing inside next to the door doing his ‘job’ as a bouncer. If you didn’t know who he was, you’d think that he was very experienced at this job. Your eyes immediately sweep the room, checking for any sign of your targets. They’re not here, which you had been expecting. It won’t be an on-the-dot affair, from what Economos has gleaned from Jacob Han’s communications. There’s a certain time slot he gave Lexcorp’s representatives, of 11:15 to midnight. It’s your job to wait around until they show up.

The comm in your ear crackles to life, and you can assume from the way that Adrian stills that his does, too. “Alright guys,” Economos says, “it is currently 11:10 and we are fast approaching dead drop time. We only have forty five minutes to secure the formula and stop Han from making the deal with Lexcorp. Adebayo and I have successfully hacked into his phones, yes, plural, and will be monitoring to see when he arrives.”

“Hey, do you wanna go get a drink?” you ask Adrian after Economos has signed off.

“Uh, sure. Yeah, a drink sounds good.” You lead him to the bar, your hand still clasped in his, and try to act like you don’t know the blonde woman with a killer resting bitch face that comes up to serve you.

“What can I get for you guys?” From the way that Harcourt handles herself in this position, you have to assume she did some sort of bartending back in college.

You turn around to look at the man behind you. “What do you want, Adrian?”

“Oh, I’ll just have a beer.”

“Two Bud Lights, please,” you order. Harcourt quickly grabs the beers and takes the caps off. “Is it worth it to dance here? Some bars say they have dancing, but it ends up not being much.”

“I’d wait a few minutes and enjoy your drinks at a table before dancing. The music doesn’t get good here until about 11:30.”

“Great, thanks.” You slide a ten across the bar for the drinks before glancing at Adrian. “Wanna go grab a table then?”

He nods and takes the lead this time, moving through the crowd of people with ease until he comes across a table that’s empty. You both gratefully fall into the empty seats, and you take a large drink of your beer before setting it down. “You were asking Harcourt when we should move positions, right?” Adrian whispers across the table to you, the subtlety of that conversation going over his head like usual.

“Yeah, just wanted to make sure that we were in the right spot.”

It’s easy to fall into the routine of work, and you both silently begin to watch for any sign of Jacob Han or the Lexcorp reps (red headed woman, man with star tattoos on his knuckles, or Lex Luthor himself, you remind yourself of the characteristics you’re meant to be watching for) entering the bar. After you confirm that none of your targets have arrived, you look back at Adrian only to find that he’s already looking at you.

You laugh nervously at the attention. “What?”

“Y’know, if this was a real date, I’d tell you how nice you look tonight.”

Your breath catches in your throat, and you’re thankful that you hadn’t taken a sip of your beer because you could guarantee it would be spit out on the table right now. Deflecting with humor, you say, “But it’s only a fake date, so that means I don’t look nice?”

Adrian’s cheeks go red. “That’s not what I–I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that being on a real date would give me the chance to say that you look nice. You always look nice, but tonight you look–I’m just gonna shut up now.”

“So do you think I look nice or not?” you say with a laugh, teasing him now. Sometimes, Adrian needs a push in order to actually verbalize his feelings.

“Yes. You look beautiful tonight. There’s nobody else I’d want to be on a fake date with.”

“Thanks, you look really handsome too, fake date or not.”

“Seriously?” Adebayo’s voice comes through on your comm, and you and Adrian both jump at the sound of it. “You know we can hear you, right?”

“Y-yeah,” you stutter, “we’re just making sure we’re convincing to anybody that might be watching.”

“Mhm.” She doesn’t sound convinced at all, but thankfully she moves on. “Listen, Han just received a text that the drop is set to happen in twenty minutes, at around 11:40.”

“Do we know who’s receiving the drop?” Adrian asks, trying to make it look like he’s talking to you and not a voice in his ear.

“No, but it sounds like Han will be arriving first. Make sure to stay alert.”

“Will do. Keep us posted on if anything changes.” If there’s one thing that Adrian loves, it’s the thrill of the chase. His eyes gleam as he drums his hands against the table with a grin. “Almost go time!”

“You know that you can’t,” you drag your thumb across your neck to mime a killing motion, “right?”

Adrian rolls his eyes. “Duh, of course I know that! I can enjoy doing my job without doing the best part of my job.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” You hold your hands up to show that you didn’t mean anything by asking the question. Though you hope that he knows you’re just teasing, you want to show him as clearly as you can that he has nothing to worry about. “What are we supposed to do while we wait?”

Adrian thinks for a moment, and you can almost see the lightbulb that figuratively goes off over his head when he comes up with something. “Question, and you have to answer this seriously: would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses?”

Arguing the pros and cons of which battle royale you would prefer to get into gets so heated and so in-depth that you very nearly miss Economos in your ear. 

(“Okay, but a duck can’t exactly kill you,” you argue, “so I highly doubt that they become a killer duck when they’re bigger. Plus, being trampled by a hundred mini horses sounds like a fight I’d surely lose.” 

Adrian shakes his head, raising a finger in the air to let you know that he was about to make a very important point. “A giant beak, though? Their creepy knife teeth would kill you easily, especially when they’re huge!”

“I’m pretty sure it’s geese that have the knife teeth, not ducks.”

His eyes narrow, not sure if you’re tricking him. “I’m gonna Google this.”)

“Eyes open everyone, Han should be entering the club in the next couple of minutes.”

You glance down at your phone screen to see that it’s almost exactly 11:40. Looking around the bar, you find the eyes of Peacemaker and Harcourt, who both nod in confirmation that they’re ready to proceed with the mission. Downing the last of your beer for another few drops of confidence, you and Adrian stand up. 

“Shall we move this ‘date’ to the dance floor?” Adrian asks, shimmying his shoulders. You grab his hand once more and allow him to lead you to an empty spot on the dance floor.

It’s far more difficult to look like you’re having fun and dancing on a totally real date when you’re focused on constantly scanning the room for your target. Surprisingly, Adrian’s the one who looks more in character than you do. He’s smiling as he moves to the music, and it’s all you can do to not gasp when he grabs your hips and pulls you in close.

“Loosen up,” Adrian whispers into your ear when he leans in to make it look like he’s kissing your neck. “You’re gonna blow our cover the second we see Han if you look like you’re looking for someone. He’s expecting an agency to try and stop him.”

You nod. “You’re right. I’m not good at multitasking.”

“Well you’re in luck, because I’m very good at multitasking. Just let me take the lead, yeah?”

“Yeah.” You move your arms to his shoulders and try to ignore the butterflies in your stomach that begin to appear when you realize how close you are to Adrian. “You know, fake date or not, this has been fun.”

“Really?” He grins in disbelief. “I’m a fun date?”

You go to respond, but stop when you see a shorter man with cropped hair slink in through a side entrance. “Han’s here,” you mutter. Adrian goes to look in your direction, but your grip on his shoulders tightens. “Don’t look!”

“Sorry!” he apologizes.

You move your hand up like you’re itching your ear, instead turning on your comm. “I have eyes on Han, he entered through a door in the back left side of the building. He’s sticking close to the walls right now, and it looks like he’s trying to find his intended meet-up.”

“I see him now, too,” Harcourt says.

“Me three,” Peacemaker chimes in.

“Whoever has the chance to stop this drop, do it. We don’t have time to come up with a sophisticated plan,” Adebayo directs.

“Fuck,” Adrian hisses to you, “he’s going into the bathrooms!”

You and Adrian are the closest to the bathrooms, and you’re the only ones who will be able to leave their positions without drawing attention. But how do you get both of you into a bathroom without looking like you’re going to subdue a target? Suddenly, it hits you. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Adrian responds.

Though he tells you that he trusts you, he’s still surprised when you pull him towards the bathrooms and lock your lips with his. You lean up against the wall next to the bathroom and pull his body weight on top of yours.

“What—”

“Just follow my lead,” you say against his lips, “I’m gonna get us in there.”

“Fine by me.”

It’s fine by you, too. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t had many a daydream about what it would be like to kiss Adrian, and you’re happy to report that it’s so much better than anything you could have imagined. His lips are a little chapped, not that you mind when they’re so warm and pressed over yours. The urge to run a hand through his curls is too strong to resist, and you’re glad that you don’t since Adrian moans when you do. His hips grind against yours, making you gasp.

It’s all that you can do to remember that this impromptu makeout session has a point. Moving you both down the wall, you land against the door Han had gone into before fumbling with the doorknob. Unlocked, thankfully, because he’s still waiting for his Lexcorp contact. The door falls open behind you, and Adrian holds you tighter as you stumble backwards into the bathroom. You had only meant to make it look like you were too wrapped up in each other to notice your surroundings, but it turns out you’re actually too wrapped up in each other to notice your surroundings when someone awkwardly clears their throat.

Adrian pulls his lips away from yours only so that he can glare in the direction of the man who interrupts you. “Um, we’re a little busy here, dude.”

Jacob Han stands in front of both of you, looking more than a little amused as he wipes his hands on a paper towel. “You two lovebirds are the ones who barged in on me, not the other way around.”

You hide behind Adrian in mock embarrassment and silently lock the door behind you as Adrian says, “Sorry, we…”

“Hey, you don’t have to explain anything to me. I’ve been in your position a few times, buddy.” Han looks at his phone. “I am gonna have to assert dibs on this bathroom, though. I’m waiting on someone.”

“Yeah, that’s totally fine. No worries.” 

The bathroom is small, just two stalls and a little sink. Small enough that Adrian barely has to take a step before socking Han across the face. He barely has time to straighten up again after the hit before Adrian’s got an arm around his neck to cut off his air flow. You can only watch and keep an ear against the door to make sure that nobody tries to enter in the thirty seconds it takes for Han to lose consciousness. When he finally does, Adrian lowers him to the floor.

“Yuck,” you complain as you go to your knees on the dirty floor to begin searching Han’s pockets.

Wallet, keys, wrappers, gum: you’re finding everything but the metahuman formula. You run your hands up and down his sides when you finally feel a lump inside of his jacket. Pulling it off of his body, a zippered pocket stands out on the inside. When you unzip it, you find not just one, but two flash drives. You grin when you grab them, holding them up to show Adrian.

“Nice! Now we just gotta get rid of,” he lightly kicks Han’s leg, “this guy.”

A small window catches your attention. “We could always just toss him out?”

Adrian presses his comm. “We’ve got what we need, and we’re going to remove the target through the window.”

“Get him out quickly and I’ll hide him a little better. Reconvene at the van in ten minutes,” Adebayo says.

You grab one arm and Adrian grabs the other, both of you working together to haul Han over to the window. Though you’re both not weak by any means, ‘dead weight’ has a literal meaning. 

“On three we toss him out, okay?” Adrian asks. When you give him a thumbs up, too out of breath to say anything, he nods. “One, two, three!”

Han’s body crashes harshly against the bags of trash that sit against the wall outside, and you cringe at the sound. He’s definitely gonna be sore when he wakes up tomorrow. After you both straighten up and make it look like you didn’t just get rid of a (still living) body, you unlock the door and nonchalantly make your way out. There’s a few stragglers in this hallway, and they all smirk at you when you exit, obviously having a different idea of what you just did in that bathroom.

Ducking out of the same door that Han entered through, you take a deep breath of the cool night air. The van is still parked a couple blocks away, which means you’ll have to walk to the rendezvous point. After the excitement of tonight, you don’t mind a nice walk to calm down. Adrian grabs your hand before you do, and you look at him in surprise.

“The mission’s over now,” you remind him, “we don’t have to be on a fake date anymore.”

“Maybe I want to be on a date with you for a little bit longer.” Adrian continues to stare straight ahead, but his face sports a blush deeper than any you’ve seen on him tonight.

You’re in disbelief over this, but in the best way. You had thought that the kissing would have crossed a line, and you were more than prepared to apologize profusely over this. “Really?”

“I thought it was obvious that I enjoyed that kiss, and this mission, way more than any other mission.”

“Even the mission where you finally got to kill someone with a chainsaw?”

Adrian grins at the memory of taking out a remaining faction of butterflies on a rural farm and having no weapons to destroy them but the chainsaw hanging on the wall. Still, he nods. “Even more than that.”

“But…you always say you don’t have emotions like a normal person. You–you like me?”

He struggles to find the words for a minute, but you’re content to wait for him to figure it out. “I’ve kinda figured out that it’s not that I don’t have emotions, it’s that I don’t understand my emotions. I have them, but I don’t really know how they work. Liking you is really the only emotion that comes easily to me.”

“I like you too, Adrian.”

He grins in disbelief. “Oh man, Peacemaker and Adebayo were right!”

“Maybe we could try out a real date soon? Say, Friday night? I still haven’t had the chance to check out that arcade you always talk about.”

Adrian’s eyes shine under the street lights, and he grips your hand a little tighter. “That’d be–that’d be fun! I’ll even let you win at skee-ball, if you want.”

“You’ll ‘let me’ win? Adrian, I don’t need you to let me win; I’m a master at skee-ball.”

Your comm turns on once again. “Vigilante and Y/l/n, where are you guys? You were supposed to rendezvous two minutes ago,” Harcourt says.

You look at Adrian, who hasn’t been able to stop smiling, with a grimace. “Sorry Harcourt, we’re on our way now.”

“Hurry it up!” Peacemaker complains. “We gotta hear how your make out with Vig got you guys the formula.”Adrian’s embarrassed face must match yours, but you can’t help the giggles that escape both of you. Hand in hand with Adrian, you continue on to the van. When you appear at the end of the street and those waiting around the van see, whispers of “goddammit” and “I knew it!” are heard as money exchanges hands before either of you can know about the bet that’s been on for a month.

[callmelittlesunshinefics]

[Someone to Try New Things With] - Part 1

Adrian Chase/Reader

Word Count: 3K

Warnings: Cursing, drug use, universe-similar language/subject matter, will add as needed as things might get smutty.

AN: This has been sitting in my drafts for days now with me putting off posting. No Y/N, but the reader is loosely based off of the same as my AO3 fic. This is still a baby of an idea and more of a drabble to length is tbd :)

Covered in blood and speeding down the highway, everyone was having a much better time than they probably should. You chalked it up to the adrenaline, the euphoria at somehow still being alive despite a literal gorilla swinging you around like its toy doll. Everyone was celebrating the win, exposing and wounding a deep rooted butterfly operation right under their noses, and yet, you couldn’t help but find yourself dwelling on the opposite. The obvious fact that this plant supplied so much of the alien food source that it could only mean an invasion on the scale of which you hadn’t fully even grasped yet. 

But hey, nothing getting a little less than sober couldn’t fix. 

Harcourt nudged your shoulder, pulling you out of your own head, “If even I’m sporting a hint of a smile, how is it you’re not?” She eyed you suspiciously. 

Emilia had known you the longest of the team, and had actually been the person who made the call to recruit you. You were…an exception to the government to say the absolute least. To put it simply, this universe wasn’t your first home, but you did find yourself here and even found family, and abilities you never knew you had in your other life. 

Amanda Waller was aware of your arrival immediately, though once she saw who had found you first, even she knew she couldn’t intervene with her usual force. The best she could do was invite you and your…’uncle’, Lucifer Morningstar, to brunch while she was ‘conveniently passing through’ L.A. Explain who she was, what she did, and ask if she could ever call on them for help. 

She did, and once or twice you agreed. It soon became obvious that you were more likely to agree if Emilia were on the case as well, and the two of you became friends with a quickness that surprised you both. She knew your entire past, in both worlds, and in return you were one of the only people who knew hers. Probably as close as you would come to having a sister. 

“Just trying to wrap my head around the day I guess. Or,” you coughed, making a show of raising your voice even above the music, “OR trying to figure out if anyone wants to partake in some legal drugs and alcohol this evening because what the fuck just happened??”

The group collectively cheered and you smirked at Emilia, as if to prove everything were fine. She rolled her eyes at your blatant attempt to throw her off. 

Leota slid over, joining the huddle as soon as she saw the dreaded Harcourt eye roll. 

“Is it the dancing? Are you totally questioning your sexual taste over that dancing?” 

“OH MY GOD” you whisper yelled, channeling David a-la Schitt’s Creek. 

Adebayo laughed, “What? You’re the only one sitting here looking miserable after getting out of there in one piece, and since she couldn’t get you to crack I figured you were regretting your crush on-“ 

“I know what you’re-“ you cut her and yourself off, closing your eyes and stopping. 

Emilia doesn’t know where to start with her prying, and Leota had to go to straight to the one thing she didn’t want to talk about in such a close knit space. She wanted to talk about your hopelessly ridiculous crush on Adrian Chase. 

You fell pretty hard and pretty fast for someone who made absolutely no fucking sense. Emilia couldn’t make heads or tails of it. She was mortified. Not quite disgusted, she wasn’t blind, but she never believed in the ‘love at first sight’ thing. And neither did you, which only made how you felt, and how deeply you felt it, all the more confusing. 

You decided to fess up to your actual feelings before they could make any more guesses, “Honestly the scale of this thing is just weighing on me. Didn’t hit me until we saw the size of this operation, ya know?” 

They both looked momentarily deflated, but quickly bounced back shrugging, with Emilia shaking her head at you. 

“Okay see, you have to enjoy the moment.” Leota forced your shoulders down urging you to relax and speaking louder now, “I think we’re gonna do exactly what you said.”  

Economos snorted from the driver’s seat, “Drugs and alcohol?”

“Fuck yeah, I’m in.” From Chris, obviously. 

You hadn’t even realized the guys had tuned into the conversation once Leota spoke up. Economos shrugged like he was in but didn’t care, though you could tell he was excited. The only one still thinking was Adrian, and you looked at him waiting for an answer. Chris spoke up instead. 

“Dude, stop being weird about weed and just come, it’s legal, you gotta let it go and probably try it so you don’t keep being so fucking-“ 

“Alright, alright!” Adrian interrupted before Chris could keep going, he didn’t want to hear the rest of it. He looked at you.

“I’m coming but we need snacks. Come to 7-11 with me when we get back?” 

You smirked, “Adrian, I would love to.” 

He glared at you, “Are you being sarcastic?” 

“She’s not,” Harcourt said, “You two head out when we get back and I’ll text you a list.” 

The rest of the ride was spent with everyone shouting out snacks and drinks they like, don’t like, don’t like but might like while stoned, and it went on and on until John and Chris were fighting about Combos and there wasn’t anything resembling a list. You leaned into Adrian’s side, watching everything unfold.

“I think we have to make a run for it and just buy everything in 7-11.” She stage whispered near him and he smirked. 

“Yeah, there’s no way we can afford everything in 7-11.” 

You laughed in response and held up a wallet that was clearly not your own. You let it fall open for Adrian to see that you had picked Emilia’s pocket while she was trying to end the Great Combo Debate.

“You know that’s a crime.” He raised his eyebrows at you, you knew Adrian well enough to know that while he sounded like he was joking, he completely wasn’t.

“Actually it’s not,” you pulled out a generic looking credit card Adrian had never seen before, “Em has a card that gets comp’d by the job. And since this is a team event after nearly getting shredded by a gorilla, I think Waller can bankroll us tonight.” 

“In that case I’m gonna need two bags of each Skittles flavor just for me-” 

He went on, but you just bounced on your heels waiting for John to park. Everyone had a part; Chris and John were heading out to find a dealer Chris knew for some last minute party favors, Harcourt and Adebayo were on alcohol and set up duty, grabbing speakers from a dusty room in the back and throwing on a playlist.

You and Adrian were on your way to 7-11 when you realized that the ride had been unusually quiet. You weren’t totally sure what you were to Adrian, but you knew that he never had any shortage of things to say or questions to ask you. As soon as you had joined the team and they had been given a (loose) background of why you joined the team, Adrian had had an endless stream of questions for you. The team had given him a hard time about it, but you assured them you didn’t mind, not adding how adorable you found it. 

“What’s on your mind, Ade?” 

It struck you not for the first time that it was a good thing Vigilante’s mask was so concealing because you could read every thought that passed Adrian’s mind. He clearly weighed whether or not to tell the truth or make something up, you could see the moment he decided on the truth, and the moment that he braced himself play out in succession.

“I’m thinking about smoking with you guys to stop being annoying like Chris said, but it’s probably so gross and I’m gonna choke and then he’s just gonna make fun of me more and think I’m a lame best friend so then Adebayo is gonna be second under Eagley and third may as well not even count as a best friend.”

Everything was said in one running sentence and he kept his eyes straight ahead, but you could tell how worried he actually was about this. 

“Okay.” You took a deep breath-

“It’s fine, I was being stupid.”

“No, you’re not, let’s just talk it out. Seriously.” You looked right at him and he nodded. Pulling into the 7-11 parking lot, he parked and threw his seat belt off, turning to you and waiting. 

“First of all Ade, don’t smoke because of Chris. He’s just messing with you and once he starts partying he’ll forget he even said it.” 

Adrian nodded begrudgingly.

“Second, the only reason you should try tonight would be if you want to try it for yourself while you’re with friends who’ll look out for you in case it doesn’t go well. For all of his jokes I know Chris would look out for you if it actually came down to it. He’d make fun of you first, but he’d help.” You smirked at him, shrugging. 

Adrian took a deep breath and released it, immediately feeling lighter, but also a little scared. He told you it was Chris he was worried about, totally. It was, anyway, but then you sat there and walked through everything he said, one step at a time, in a way no one else ever does and he was able to make sense of things so the problem just…goes away? Crazy.

“I know you said I should only do it if I want to, but I wanna know if you think I should do it?” He asked you so genuinely, like it was a matter of life and death.

“Okay, how about this. I’ll try to explain what I like about it, and you can think about if you’d like that too and want to try.” He nodded and you took that as your sign to keep going, “I mean you know me Ade, I get anxiety about things I don’t even know if I should have anxiety about yet. Not to mention all the shit I’d much rather forget. I’m not saying smoking makes any of that go away, but it definitely puts me in a headspace where for a little while it doesn’t feel as heavy. It feels like I can really breath, and all of the good things just feel better too. It’s not like that for everyone, and it takes some getting used to, but that’s what I like about it.” 

You meandered towards the end of that sentence, suddenly feeling self conscious over how intently Adrian was staring at you and listening to your every word. He thought about what you said before very seriously stating, “Okay, I’m definitely a maybe.” and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Let’s head in, gonna take a while to grab one of everything.” You joked, exiting the car with Adrian catching up to you. 

By the time you made it back to base Adrian wouldn’t let you help carry anything and asked you to send Chris and John out instead. He did, however, take the time to clarify that he wasn’t being sexist, he just knew you had carried enough out of 7-11 and Harcourt and Adebayo probably needed a break from their bickering.

He was way more aware than people gave him credit for, you decided making your way into the building.

“That was a pretty clean swipe but I’m gonna need my wallet back now.” Emilia help her hand out expectantly, smirking.

“‘Clean’ come on, you know you didn’t even notice, you can say so.” You rolled your eyes and passed the wallet back, leaving the receipt tucked in for her expense report. You looked around and laughed, “Do you think you guys got enough beer?” There were cases all over of several different types.

Leota shrugged, “Everyone likes something different and it’s not like we’re not gonna use it.” 

“That’s true, I just know once I smoke I’m going to start tossing those like I’m Stone Cold Steve Austin and no one will be able to talk sense into me.” 

The guys all came in dropping bags from 7-11 just in time to catch your last remark and Chris immediately agreed.

“FUCK YEAH WE HAVE TO-”

“OUTSIDE!” Emilia interrupted, “If you must be children, do. it. out. side.” 

“Yes, mom.” You rolled your eyes, quickly shaking your head at Chris and shooting him a warning glare from adding on to your statement. You could easily see him calling Emilia ‘mommy’ and getting this whole night canceled for everyone. 

“Need any help?” You turned to John who you were surprised to see getting a bong set up. Not exactly what you were expecting for a black ops team, but hey, who were you to judge. Lucifer used some surprising pieces too, after all. 

“Nah, pretty straightforward over here, but everyone agreed you’ll be getting first dibs.”

“Aw, thanks.” You weren’t all that surprised. As Emilia said, you not joining in the celebration was an odd sight, and not just to her. There was a silent agreement that you needed the nudge.

Everyone settled onto the floor surprisingly naturally. Once the adrenaline started fading a little and they had found their favorite snacks, the group found themselves casually arranged in a circle on the ground, throwing things at each other and debating the music choices. 

A loose order was formed once you decided to light the bong, with Adrian observing as the rest of the group (excluding Emilia) passed the herb around. After Chris lit more than he could handle you jumped in to help, pulling the bowl and laughing along with Chris. 

“So is there a way for like,” he nudged his glasses up his face and shrugged, “you can start it for me and I can just ya know, do that part at the end?” 

“Is he talking about a shotgun?” Economos foolishly asked while Chris burst into a grin. You looked to the two women for help, neither seeing any reason for your panic. 

“Why yes there IS a way to do that, and I’m sure Angel Cakes would be happy to help you out with it.” Chris eagerly nodded at you, making sure to drop the nickname he knew you couldn’t stand. 

“Chris don’t be ridiculous, we all know you two are close enough to do it.” Leota jumped in, ready to save you from your already weakening self control. 

“Well sure but he didn’t ask me he asked her, and probably cause he knows I might laugh right in his mouth and that would be-“ 

“Okay, enough, yeah, fuck it-“ you cut everyone off, getting a bit louder with each work, “I’m gonna shot gun Ade’s first hit, but everyone’s taking a shot first.” 

The group gave a salute and followed orders, proving that there were at least some things they could agree on as a team. 

“So what exactly does shotgun even mean for this, it’s not like shotgunning a beer otherwise why would you or Chris have to do it…?” Adrian was asking the questions to the group, but specifically you while you grabbed your lighter from Chris and motioned for Adrian to slow down. 

“I’m gonna light the bowl, take a deep breath, and hold all the smoke in my mouth.” He nodded for you to continue, “I’m going to turn to you and blow all the smoke into your mouth, so make sure you take a nice deep breath. Hold it for a while, and don’t let anyone be a bitch if you cough.” 

“Economos, this is what you thought I was asking for??” 

“Well you seem like you’re into some kinky shit so sure!” 

“I mean yeah but not with you!” Adrian caught himself and turned back to you “With him that is, not saying yes with you but not no either because any answer is inappropriate so-“ 

“Adrian,” you stopped him, “We’re here now. Just take a deep breath when I tell you, okay?” 

He nodded and you lit the bowl, saying a quick prayer that this wasn’t going to be the metaphorical rubber band snap that sent you crossing the lines of appropriate workplace boundaries with an off-the-books-anyway assassin. 

You went on as if everything were completely normal. As if Adrian weren’t watching your lips with the intense concentration usually reserved for something else entirely, deadly in a different sense. You pulled the bowl from the slider and grabbed Adrian’s chin, gesturing him to tilt and open his mouth, which he did surprisingly quickly. 

The first thing he noticed was that he did faintly taste your cherry soda, something he told himself wouldn’t happen, because surely the only taste he would be able to notice would be the weed he told himself he’d never try. It almost felt welcoming in a way he didn’t expect, it tasted familiar, and tasted like you, something he had been so curious about that he felt instantly calmed. Until he remembered the smoke in his lungs and urgently started coughing, smoke pluming out quickly. Expecting everyone to be laughing, he was pleasantly surprised to look up to see the team cheering, Chris coming over to clap him on the back.

Turned out to be exactly like you said, Adrian realized everything felt a little lighter. Problems that seemed insurmountable earlier…kind of seemed manageable now. 

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

A Picture's Worth 1000 Words (Alt. POV Rick Flag Rewrite)

Fandom: DC, The Suicide Squad, Rick Flag

Summary: It was an accident, something you were never supposed to see. But when you had asked to borrow his notes, it never crossed Rick's mind what else was in that notebook...

Word Count: 2733

TW: Fluff, Love Confession

Original Drabble

For Rick, briefing days were the worst. Not only did Waller always start them off by droning on for an hour about all their recent mistakes before ever getting to their latest assignment, but it was time he could be spending with you. Sure, you were sitting a few seats over from him, but it felt like a million miles away when he couldn’t talk to you, couldn’t make jokes about Waller’s latest fashion catastrophe, couldn’t make snide comments about her finding fault in everything they did on the mission. But today it seems it didn’t really matter anyway.

You were usually so on top of your game, so it was surprising to see you had actually let yourself nod off in the middle of the meeting. However, as much as you had been running yourself ragged these past few weeks, he was glad you were getting some rest. But still, Rick wondered if he should try and wake you up. If Waller saw you, there would be hell to pay. So, reluctantly, Rick took his pen and lightly poked you in the back of the head. You shifted slightly but didn’t wake up. He tried again, but then winced when the pen became entangled in your hair. But when he let it go and it stuck, his concern quickly shifted to glee.

Years ago after a particularly boring meeting, Rick had fallen asleep just to wake up to his normal American flag baseball cap replaced with one that read “I’m with stupid” with an arrow pointing down. It had taken close to an hour after the meeting (and a bunch of snickering and pointing in the halls) for him to realize it. He had sworn revenge, but you proposed an alternative. If either of them fell asleep during a briefing, they would become free game to mess with. It not only gave them more of a motive to stay awake in the long monotonous meetings, but it allowed the other person to have a little fun. So, instead of finishing your reports, the two of you spent the afternoon detailing a long list of rules and limits. And since then, the game had been on.

So, Rick quickly dug through the bag that he brought to the debriefs just for opportunities like this. Pulling out a handful of pens, Rick spent the next five minutes strategically sliding the pens into your hair. When he was finished, he sat back with a wide grin. You looked like his high school art teacher with five or six pens sticking out of your head at random angles. He was just about to take out his phone and slyly try to take a picture when you shifted in your seat, giving him a better view of your face.

Rick felt his heart leap in his chest as he drank in the view before him. You had been his best friend, his partner, his confidant, for years. But more than that, you had been his most well-kept secret. After only a month or two of knowing you, he had fallen hopelessly and helplessly in love. Sure, there had been an immediate physical attraction. You were exactly his type, and while you were beautiful and sexy, it was obvious you were oblivious to this fact which somehow made you even more attractive. But soon, those feelings of lust and desire morphed into something else.

As Rick really got to know you, he saw the amazing person you were beyond the physical. How you were so intelligent but not a know-it-all, how you were funny but never in a cruel way, how you could flip between a hardened soldier and compassionate friend in seconds, and how you would do anything to protect those who you cared about no matter the personal cost to you. You were everything he had ever imagined in a romantic partner and more. However, you were his work partner, his best friend. And as much as he longed for more, there was no way in hell he would ever risk what he had with you by trying to make a move.

So, he resigned himself to stolen glances and his notebooks. As much as his father had influenced and encouraged his militaristic side growing up, his mother had encouraged his artistic side. Pens, notepads, charcoal, paints. These were his birthday and Christmas presents every year. And he embraced it wholeheartedly. His art provided him a release from the horrors he experienced in the military, and even though he never shared it with anyone (except a few violent ones he showed you of the things he would do to Waller if ever given the chance), he still drew every chance he got. And lately, all he could draw was you. He knew it was weird, maybe even borderline creepy, but he couldn’t stop himself. You would look at him a certain way or the light would hit you just so, and he couldn’t help it.

Just like now. Because you had shifted in your chair, you were now facing him more directly. And you looked so peaceful. It was a look he hadn’t seen on your face in a really long time, and he knew he had to capture the moment. So, he grabbed his pencil out of his bag and began to draw.

His eyes kept flickering back and forth from you to the page. He wanted to capture each and every detail with as much precision as possible. The way your lips were parted just ever so slightly, and the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. How your impossibly long eyelashes quivered slightly against your skin in your sleep. And your neck… It was extended to one side, baring its perfect, smooth skin to the world. And as he began to sketch it, his hand began to tremble. What would it feel like to kiss your neck, gently and tenderly? To feel your pulse beating beneath his lips as they trailed across your skin? Would you like him nibbling on your jaw, your ear? And the way your breath would catch just before his mouth crashed against your perfect, full lips. How your hands would gather in his hair while he-

Rick had to press the tip of his pencil painfully against his thigh to snap him back to reality. He had been so close to releasing a loud, needy moan right in the middle of the debrief. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he returned to the sketch. His hand began to fly across the page. Normally, a sketch like this could take an hour or more, but within thirty minutes, he was staring at your perfect likeness on his page (minus the pens in your hair). And he softly smiled down at it.

That smile turned into a full-on grin as moments later, he watched you stir and sit up. You felt the extra weight in your hair immediately and turned to glare at him. Rick stifled a laugh and just shrugged. He knew it was best to avoid your fury immediately, so as soon as Waller finished the meeting moments later, he bolted through the back door of the auditorium.

He hurried back to his office and dumped his bag on the floor next to the desk. He pulled out his notebook and quickly reviewed the notes from today's meeting about the mission they would be leaving on in two days. Same old life and death stuff. But just as he was about to close the notebook, his eyes caught his sketch once again. He trailed his finger down your cheek and closed it with a smile. Then he hurried out of the office and headed to the cafeteria.

Just as he reached the double doors, he was attacked by a handful of pens to the face. He grinned as he turned to face you. “Hey, serves you right. You know the rules. Anyone who falls asleep durin’ a briefing is free game to mess with.”

Your face was fuming with anger, but Rick could tell it was mostly for show. “Yeah, but could you have been more obvious! If I hadn’t been sitting behind Nanaue, Waller would have noticed in seconds!”

Rick shrugged, “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.”

“No, you and I did make the rules! It’s our game, you jackass.” You punched him in the arm but there was no real force behind it. Rick had felt what one of your real punches felt like and this was in no way that. Thankfully. “However, to make it up to me, can I borrow your notes? I obviously missed everything she said in there.”

Rick’s stomach growled and he glanced back into the cafeteria, not really giving your request a second thought. “Sure, but I already dropped my notebook back in my office. I can get it for you after lunch.”

“Do you mind if I just go get them now? I’m not really hungry and I want to get caught up in case Waller wants to discuss it more later.”

Rick shrugged again as he headed into the cafeteria. Of course, you would want to work through lunch. But he didn’t. And if he didn’t hurry, Economos would take the last burrito. “Whatever works for you. It should just be layin’ on top of my desk.”

Hurrying inside, Rick cursed loudly as he watched Economos grab the last burrito just as expected. The other man shot Rick a smug grin as he moved along to pay. Every week this happens! One of these days the cafeteria would actually make enough of the food people wanted to eat. Reluctantly, Rick grabbed a plate of soggy-looking tacos and an energy drink. Once he paid, he went and sat at a table alone. Normally, he would be eating with you but since you weren’t here, he preferred eating by himself. Not that he had anything against the office team per say, but he knew about the bets that they made every time the squad left for a mission and it kind of ticked him off.

But as he took his first big bite of taco, Harcourt called over to him. “Hey, Flag. Where’s your partner? I need to talk to her.”

“Not ‘ere.” Rick said through a mouthful of food.

Harcourt rolled her eyes. “I can see that. But where is she?”

Rick swallowed then said, “She went to get my notebook from my office. Just go talk to her after lunch.”

Harcourt kept talking about needing a report or some shit, but Rick tuned her out. He was just raising his taco back to his lips when a thought occurred to him that made his blood run cold. He bolted up from the table, spilling the remains of his lunch all over himself, and took off at full speed towards his office. He could hear Harcourt and Economos calling after him but he ignored them.

How could he be so stupid! He had given you permission to look in his notebook. The notebook filled with pages and pages of sketches of you. Oh God! If you saw them, if you realized how he felt…. Rick started running faster.

The second he reached his office door, he burst through it yelling, “No! Wait!”

Rick stood there, chest heaving and eyes wide, as he took in the open notebook in your hands and the shocked expression on your face. He didn’t know where to look. You. The notebook. You. The notebook. Finally, he nervously looked at you. This was never how you were supposed to find out about his feelings for you. Finding a drawing while he stood there, sweaty, out of breath, and covered in soggy tacos. But it seemed like this was how things were going to play out.

Holding up the page with today’s sketch, you asked in a hushed tone, “What is this, Rick?”

“It’s nothing,” he muttered. He hurried over to you and tried taking the book from your grasp, but you dodged out of the way, retreating farther into his office.

Clinging protectively to the notebook, you said, “This isn’t nothing. This is……I’ve never even imagined I could look like this…But-but why did you draw it? Why like that?”

Rick took another few steps towards you, silently begging you to not dig deeper into this. “Just drop it, okay? I was bored and I just wanted to draw something. I saw you asleep and….”

“And what? Rick, why did you draw me looking so…so beautiful?”

The awe and wonder in your voice stabbed at his heart. How could you not see that’s how you looked? How could this accurate representation of you come as such a shock? Why was it so hard for you to see the amazing person you really were? But, Rick couldn’t tell you any of that. Instead, he shrugged and somehow managed to mutter the words, “I just drew what I saw.”

He watched your face waver for a second before a look of realization passed over it. Quickly, you began flipping through the pages of the notebook, scouring every page for more sketches. NO! Rick dove for the book, trying desperately to pry it from your grasp before you got to the end. But he was too late. As he saw you turn to the first page of drawings, his body deflated. It was over. Any hope he had of talking his way out of this was now gone. You would know how he felt and everything would change. He wouldn’t be surprised if you asked for a transfer.

Rick stared intensely at the floor, jaw clenched tightly, willing himself not to show you how much this rejection was going to hurt him. But then, he heard you approaching him. Your shoes slowly appeared in his line of sight as you stood mere centimeters away from him. He looked up cautiously, glancing at your face which was a mix of hesitation and fear. But just as he was about to say something, your expression changed. It was one he had seen a million times. You had steeled yourself against your fear and were about to face it head-on. Suddenly, one of your hands reached up and slid behind his neck and began pulling him into your lips.

Rick didn’t hesitate. The second he realized what you were doing, he surged into your lips. For years, he had wondered what it would be like to kiss you, and this, this, was so much better than he had ever dreamed. While never breaking contact, he circled his arms around your waist and lifted you up. He was stunned when you wrapped your legs around his hips, but he took it as a sign to continue, so he carried you over to his desk. Once you were seated carefully on top, he slid your jacket off you, running his hands down the smooth skin of your shoulders and arms as you were left in only a thin tank top.

Finally releasing the moan that had felt trapped in his chest since this morning’s meeting, Rick trailed his lips down across your jaw and then your throat. You arched into him as his hands settled on your hips and he pulled you in tighter to him, slotting you perfectly between his large thighs.

And just as his first kiss landed on your collar bone, you finally spoke up. Breathlessly, you said, “Rick, there is one thing I need to know.”

He hummed in acknowledgment praying you weren’t about to ask him to stop but preparing himself for that eventuality. But instead, he was shocked to hear you ask, “That picture you drew in the meeting today was so detailed, so beautifully sketched and shaded……How long was I asleep?”

A soft chuckle exploded from Rick’s lips still on your skin, causing you to squirm under the vibrations. Glancing up at your face, Rick teased, “Really, darlin’? That’s what you’re thinkin' about right now? Huh. Seems I’m not doing my job correctly.” He reached up and slid his hands under your tank top until they cupped your breast through your bra, running his thumbs over the thin material. You gasped as your head fell back, causing Rick to grin widely. “Let’s see if I can change that.”

[vigsilantes]

the heat (adrian chase x reader)

Pairing: Adrian Chase / Vigilante x Reader Summary: While on a mission during a heat wave, Adrian gets frustrated and just wants to go to the beach with you (inspired the horrific heat wave I just experienced). Word Count: 2.2k Tags: Established Relationship, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Reader-Insert, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Post-Canon, Comfort, Mission Fic, Humor Warnings: blood, knifes, drugs, killing, swearing

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

-

Mother nature must be really mad at us for making it this fucking hot out today. Well, in all honesty she should be mad, but still, this weather is unbearable. Before even getting out of bed this morning, you were already drenched in sweat, your legs were sticking together, and the pit stains you were sporting were dreadful. Adrian hates the heat – like, he absolutely can’t stand it. He doesn’t get annoyed very often, but when it’s hot out, it’s like his brain gets foggy and he can’t think, so he gets frustrated very easily. This morning he was groaning as soon as you got out of bed because the heat was already sneaking into your motel room. So, to say the least, he was complaining the whole time he was putting his suit on.

“I just- I can’t… this is too hot! Harcourt is definitely going to hell for making us work today,” he moaned and rolled his eyes, you couldn’t help but giggle.

The mission this week was to intercept this weird, alien-goo drug that people were using like acid. The tricky part with this goo was that it temporarily enhanced senses, which is why people felt so good after taking it. The supply of it was on the coast, so Harcourt put everyone up in a motel near the beach for this mission to make things go smoothly. After painfully getting ready, the team drove out to a cabin near the beach, which was the front for these goo-dealers.

“Again, all we need to do is kill the dealers and set the cabin on fire to destroy the goo.” Harcourt retold the plan as she drove. Everyone nodded in agreement, seemed easy enough, even with the heat bogging everyone down.

“Can we try the goo?” Chris curiously asked, and Adebayo slapped him on the head.

“No,” Harcourt stated, you laughed. Chris’s eyes brightened; he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“But-”

“Let’s just get in there, destroy the drugs, and get out.” Adrian snapped. He was hot, so you knew his temper was not to be messed with. You rested your hand on his thigh to try to relax him.

“Woah,” Chris began, and you shot him a cunning look that warned him to back off. Shockingly, he obliged, probably because he was exhausted from the heat as well.

“So, what if we get this done quickly?” you started, trying to change the subject. “Could we maybe – go to the beach afterwards?” you looked around, everyone’s faces lit up, including Adrian’s.

“I’ll think about it,” Harcourt sternly said, which you gladly accepted. Before you knew it, the van stopped, and you were there, parking a short distance away from the cabin. It was daytime, which isn’t the most ideal time of day to kill people and set a cabin on fire, but the cabin was pretty secluded, so it didn’t really matter when you guys did this, the sooner the better honestly. The cabin was big, much bigger than you had imagined, but it made sense considering the scale of the operation that these goo dealers had going on here. You and Adrian threw on your masks and everyone got out of the van, except for Economos. You split into your usual teams, you and Adrian were together, and Emilia, Ads, and Chris were together, and you planned on going in from the front and back of the cabin to eventually meet in the middle. You and Adrian were taking the back, while the others took the front.

As you were walking, Adrian was silent, and while he’s usually focused on missions, he’s never quiet, it was obvious that the heat was still getting to him. It was getting to you as well, but you could manage it a bit better than he could, so you wanted to make sure he was alright.

“You alright, V?” you asked, and he huffed.

“I’m hot, babe,” he complained, with no energy in his voice. You shook your head in agreement.

“Well, I know it’s sunny, and hot, and we’re sticky and gross, but the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get out of our suits,” you told him, he turned to you, and you could see his wide eyes staring you down.

“Oh, fuck yeah!” he sounded enthusiastic and pumped his fist, he’s such a dork.

“Well, I didn’t mean for sex, but I’m obviously not opposed to it,” you winked through your mask, “I meant the beach-” you stopped in your tracks as you saw two men walking in the woods behind the cabin. Adrian shot one and you shot the other.

“Pshh that was too easy,” his mood was beginning to improve, “y’know I don’t think we’ve ever been to the beach together,” he candidly said.

“Holy shit, I think you’re right-” you quickly shot another man and he dropped like a fly, “in all the years we’ve been together how have we never made it to the beach?”

“Don’t know, but whether Harcourt lets us go or not, we are definitely sneaking to the beach before we leave,” he knew the team could hear him through your earpieces, “I am not missing a fun beach day with my babe!” he emphasized with his voice loud, to really make sure the team heard him. You heard a series of snickers from them through your earpiece. “We’re in the back,” Adrian informed the team, and Harcourt confirmed they were at the front, ready to converge. You approached the back door with ease, Adrian opened it, and the room was gigantic, more spacious on the inside. There was an open floor with nothing but what seemed to be a shit ton of boxes stacked full of the goo.

“Well this is a super boring cabin,” Adrian softly pointed out, he was right. There wasn’t a single decoration or piece of furniture, it didn’t look like a typical cabin in the woods at all. The ceiling was tall, and there was not a single thing in this room besides the goo - and the goo dealers. About twenty men stood before you and the team, some armed, most not. Several of them turned to face you and Adrian, the others turned to the front door. Gunfire began, mostly from the team, but Adrian was on fire. A series of shots came from his gun, he wasn’t even giving the goo dealers a chance to fight, even if they were enhanced from the goo. They were clearly amateurs though, enhanced or not, missing almost every single shot they fired. Adrian powered through, killing nearly everyone, not even leaving anyone for you to kill. Once his gun ran out of ammo, he dropped it and went for his various knives, throwing them at the few remaining men. All you could really do was observe as he was, for lack of better words, killing it. Once he threw his last knife, taking out the last man, you and the rest of the team strolled over to the middle of the room where the goo was.

“Fuck, Vig, you totally stole all the kills!” Chris whined, Adrian chuckled and shrugged his shoulders in response. Now for the second part of the mission, you each had a few detonators that you were setting up around the cabin, making sure to not leave a spot without one.

“Hey, don’t lick these ones this time,” you teased Adebayo as you placed one in a box, she snorted and shook her head. You then noticed Adrian collecting his knives from the men he threw them in, you grabbed one for him.

“How the hell did you even know about that, weren’t you tied up?!” She rolled her eyes at you with a smirk on her face, Emilia snickered. “Man, fuckk you,” she joked towards Emilia who was slyly laughing. Once each of you placed all of your explosives around the cabin, you walked out of the front door and back to the van. You grabbed Adrian’s hand and dragged him back so you two could walk behind the rest of the group.

“You feeling any better, hun?” you asked, seeing his burst of energy back there. He tightened his grip on your hand and began swinging your entwined arms.

“A little,” he let out a long breath, “still super fucking hot though… I wanna swim with you,” he admitted, “anddd if we stay the night, maybe even skinny dip?” he queried enthusiastically.

“Well, now that’s just too good of an offer to say no to,” you professed, and you could practically hear him smile through his mask. You caught up to the others and joined them in the van.

“All set,” Emilia told John, and as you shut the door, he nodded.

“Got it,” John replied, and as Emilia began to drive, John typed on his computer, activating the explosives. After a minute of driving, you had gotten far enough away and the explosives went off, completing the mission.

“Good one, guys,” Emilia said, “easy mission, but necessary,” she admitted, everyone nodded in accomplishment.

“Sooooooo,” you began, probing the team about the beach - you really wanted this to happen so you could help cheer up Adrian.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know… We can go,” Emilia turned back and grinned at you, “I guess you deserve some fun.”

“Fuck yeah!” Adrian cheered and ripped off his mask. His hair was nearly soaking wet and his face was glossy, he was hot. That prompted you to take off your mask and you weren’t in any better shape than he was, your hair was sticking to your face. After a few minutes of small talk, and Adrian admitting how thrilled he was about swimming, you reached the motel, and you and Adrian went back in your room to change.

“I’m just gonna have to swim in my underwear… I wish I thought about bringing a bathing suit,” you said, as you peeled out of your suit. The whole team would most likely be doing the same, but none of you could care less.

“Hey, I am not complaining about that, babe.” Adrian said, while looking at you admiringly. You two quickly changed, Adrian sporting his boxers and you in your underwear, grabbed towels from the bathroom, and returned to meet the team outside. The water was close enough to walk to, so Adrian scooped your hand into his and you began walking. After a quick couple of minutes you were there, and you all took your shoes off so you could walk in the hot sand. The beach was shockingly empty, people were most likely too hot to even make it there, so there was plenty of space for all of you to spread out. You and Adrian found a prime spot and dropped your towels down in the sand, Adrian then flung his glasses off and they landed on the towels.

“You ready?” he asked, squinting at you because he couldn’t really see without his glasses and from the bright sun shining in his eyes. You nodded, and he took your hand again and bolted towards the water. You didn’t even bother waiting for the team, so once you reached the water you two dived headfirst into the ocean. Feeling the cool water hit your skin was instant relief from the heat. You bobbed your head out of the water and found Adrian inches away from you, with a giant smile on his face. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair glistened from the water. He floated towards you and pulled you in closer to him.

“Ahhhhh, this is great,” he hummed, and brushed your wet hair out of your face. “You always know how to make me feel better.”

“I got ya, babe,” you smirked, and he kissed your forehead. His eyes were bright, and he was more animated than he was this morning, so you knew the water was helping. “You always take care of me so I gotta return the favor once in a while.”

“Nah, you don’t need to do a damn thing, I loveeeee doing things for you, like so much,” he beamed. You pecked his cheek to thank him. “OOOH look at that wave!” he shouted, and you turned around to see a giant wave coming right for you two. Adrian grabbed your hand so he wouldn’t lose you in the tide, and you floated together in the water riding the wave. You both briefly got pulled under the water, but it felt refreshing to wet your head again. Emerging your heads from the water, Adrian looked at you, his face pleased.

“This is a fun little impromptu beach date, don’t you think?” you asked as you met his eyes, you loved how the sun made his green eyes glisten. He instantly nodded his head.

“Hell yeah it is!” he smirked. “And you look totally hot in that bathing suit, babe,” he stated as he lifted his hands to do air quotes which made you chuckle. He then drew you into a hug, and the two of you floated entwined together in the water. The was sun reflecting beautifully on the water, and you felt nothing but bliss as you swam in the cold, comforting ocean.

[starforgedthor]

when you become untouchable {Vigilante / Adrian Chase} // eight

eight. i'm out of my head when you're not around.

Summary: preparing for the first mission means the rest of the team finally gets to weigh in on your three friends... And meets them. Harcourt is less than impressed.

Need to Know: She/Her pronouns. villain!meta-human!reader. self depricating reader. chaos. implied dehumanisation. canon typical violence. heavily implied smut. slowish burn.

A/N: no I haven't forgotten about this fic I've just been suffering from ✨depression✨ but also written on my phone, unedited as always, and I'm so excited to get into proper content for reader and Vij!!! Let me know if you like it!

[ masterpost ]

Taglist: @16boyfriends-and-me @a-girl-who-loves-disney @amysuemc @generalfoolish @idkanymoreaboutlife @home-of-disaster @2guysonascooter @demure-doll @grippleback-galaxy @demeterl @specificpuppy @gay-cold-brew @siberianallen @evvilspawn @bright-cherry-bombzz @simping-4-jason-todd @hazzarights @blackwatxr @plzu

Taglist is always open, feel free to message or comment to be added! xx

The only person on the team who seems to look kindly on your fast-formed friendship with Peacemaker is Adebayo; she presented a cheerful, if stark, contrast to the others on the team and you always found yourself enjoying her company, even if she seemed vaguely wary around you.

"I'm not going to applaud you for doubling your number of friends," Harcourt tells you humourlessly the day you're all setting off to murder Senator Goff.

"Don't be shitty," you reprimand her, "I tripled my friends, not doubled." Adebayo and Peacemaker are in and out of the conversation as they head back and forth to the van with supplies.

"Tripled?" Adebayo asked with amused curiosity, and you found yourself beaming at her.

"I'm friends with Peacemaker's friend," you declared.

"Really going for quantity over quality here," Emilia said dryly.

"You can't say I'm a bad judge of character when you're the blueprint, sweet cheeks," you tell her raising your voice to make sure the two who just left still heard, and are glad when you yourself can hear both Adebayo and Peacemaker's amused noises. Smile turning sharp and a little mean, you don't even bother to turn around to face her where you know she's standing, you lean back where you're sitting cross-legged on her desk until you're leaning against her.

When you angle your head back to give her your best trickster smile, she glares down at you and the top of your head pressing gently against her sternum. However you still know its for show; if she wanted to move, wanted to let you fall from the desk and flat on your back, she's more than capable of it, but she doesn't.

"I know you're saying that to spite me," Harcourt mutters, playing at being irrate, which just makes you smile wider.

"Its not the worst thing I've ever done," you remind her, tone so bright it's easy to forget you're comparing light teasing to literal murder. But it makes her smile, like you knew it would, and where she's looking down at you, there's so warm in her eyes that you know so few other people ever get to see.

"Cujo," she calls you the nickname with such quiet warmth in a moment the others can't hear. A longstanding, teasing fondness, she gives a faint scratch just behind your ear, and for all the nickname sounds demeaning coming from anyone else, she says it with an exasperated kind of love.

But it's gone as soon as it arrived.

And Chris is back for another bag.

Emilia double checks the equipment you had helped load into travel cases while Adebayo and Peacemaker fall into a discussion about Peacemaker's distaste for homonculi. You had zoned out and were focusing on the warm laughter and soft, worn hands of the kind old lady who had sewn your gloves, basking in the pleasant memory while you tried to pretend like you hadn't gotten a good look at the tiny ship Peacemaker had brought back from the Butterfly's apartment. Because knowing your luck, somehow Harcourt would figure out you'd first seen it while wrapped in Peacemaker's scratchy sheets with both him and Vigilante, distinctly post-coital, while Peacemaker himself was lighting a spliff. There was not a single thing about that moment that you wanted Emilia finding out about, so you played dumb and thankfully Chris took the hint.

The dark satchel that sat at your side was your thoroughly stocked, checked, and double checked bag of medical supplies, while you held a small stack of textbooks in your arms, swinging your legs while you sat at the far end of the quickly emptying equipment table.

Peacemaker is yelling something just as Emilia tells you it's finally go time, and just as you're breezing through the door, Economos shoulders past you radiating fury and muttering that you have shit taste in friends.

"Don't be rude, John," you say lightly, not even bothering for more than a second to take his bad mood seriously...

Just as Adebayo points out Vigilante hiding behind the trash can just a few feet away. She's asking about who he is, while you're beaming and waving.

"You know him?" Both Harcourt and Adebayo ask you at the same time, with unnervingly similar tones.

"Fuck," Peacemaker sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "that's Vigilante, he's tryna be helpful," he said, sounding a little fed up and helpless. After a beat, you turned to Harcourt and her disdainful expression.

"That's my other friend," you see fit to explain brightly.

"Jesus Fucking Christ," Harcourt groans.

"Yeah, but I'm Peacemaker's best friend," Vigilante offers.

"He's Peacemaker's best friend," you parrot, as if to reaffirm the statement.

"Get the fuck out of here!" Harcourt calls to Vigilante.

"What? I was just looking from behind a trash can, it's a normal thing to do!" Vigilante tries.

"The hell it is!" Harcourt argues back, before turning her disapproval on you, "absolutely fucking not; I'm drawing a line, Y/N, a line. Be friends with Peacemaker all you want, fine, your third friend can't be a trash-loitering guy in spandex."

"How would you know what's normal, you're not a psychiatrist," you found yourself scowling back at her, while Vigilante's voice began to overlap yours-

"Pretty sure you're not allowed to veto someone else's friends like that," he pointed out with a surprising note of irritation, continuing, as you yourself were, with no real regard or hesitation for the other, his words overlapping yours, "and seriously? Trash-loitering guy in spandex? It's mostly Kevlar, I'm like the safest friend she has here -" and your -

"What if his secret identity is a psychiatrist and he actually knows what's normal and what's not?" You posed to her, holding your own medical textbooks to your chest.

Emilia seems exhausted by you both, and takes a long moment to look between you, and Vigilante several feet away still by the trash can.

"If he's a psychiatrist, we're all screwed," she rolls her eyes, before looking to Vigilante, who seems to be two steps away from concededing and leaving, "get the fuck out of here," she orders, ignoring how you shake your head. Predictably, Vigilante doubles down instead of leaving, and you can't help but find the whole situation delightfully amusing.

Even when Peacemaker asks him to be cool, Vigilante is insistent.

"I just wanna make sure you're okay; I don't trust most of these people, and the one I do kind of trust is also literally the worst person I've ever met in my life who I don't think you should probably trust," its not intended as compliment, but you take it as such anyways, focused only on how he admitted he 'kind of' trusts you. It's more than you were expecting after hanging out a few times over the week... Honestly, you're so giddy from hearing that that you lose track of the conversation, at least until Vigilante is recommending that Peacemaker should befriend Adebayo to combat the rumours about him being racist, since it reflects badly on Vigilante, and all you can do is hang your head in exasperation. Vigilante's absolute lack of tact strikes again.

"Catch you guys later," Vigilante finishes candidly before taking off at a run. You wave after him, mostly because of the faces Chris and Emilia make in exasperation.

"Isn't that guy wanted on multiple counts of murder?" Economos finally joins them once more, spaceship in hand.

"That's Cujo's third friend," Harcourt offers flatly instead, her arms crossed. When you turn back, you see Economos giving you an evaluative look over.

"That checks out," he finally says with a firm nod, and heads into the van.

"You know what? I fully support you going after Vij, you guys deserve each other," Peacemaker says dryly as you tell him to shut the fuck up, the exact moment Adebayo asks what he means by that.

"Oh Y/N's totally got the hots for Vij," Peacemaker snorted like it was common knowledge.

"Please tell me he's kidding," Harcourt squeezed her eyes shut tightly, as if she's hoping that when she opens them this will all have been a bad dream.

"I like Vigilante as a person and I'm not used to my friends being openly enthusiastic about things," you stuck your nose into the air, tone pointed and you hear Harcourt's loud sigh, "I'm trying to figure out this new dynamic, Chris is just wilfully misinterpretating me because he's a jag."

"Whatever," Chris rolls his eyes, "neither of you know how to interact like a real human being half the time and you both probably think violence is a love language or some shit -"

"Are you jealous," you teased, much to Chris's spluttering, "don't worry, he's still your best friend." His spluttering grows louder and more indignant.

As you settle into your seat in the back of the van beside Adebayo, Murn, however takes the opportunity to look over you, expression hard.

"You're needed up front," he wastes no time giving orders, and your bright expression falters with confusion.

"Aren't we being briefed on the way-?"

"You'll download the mission from Harcourt-" Murn explains flatly, though he's interrupted by Peacemaker.

"Download?" Chris splutters with gleeful confusion, "dude, I bet she doesn't even know what that means!"

"I know what downloading means," you rolled your eyes, "I just don't get -" but Murn's holding a map out to you. Ah. You take the map with a far more sober nod, "I'll keep us on target."

"Why does she get to download while I sit through a whole briefing?" Peacemaker's voice has a touch of childish indignance to it, which only seems to irritate Murn further.

"Because you don't have the ability to download information directly into your brain via touch," Murn tells him sharply, "everyone in this team was selected for their individual skills and abilities, Smith, so her assignment is obviously different from yours, or would you like her to replace you as our hired gun?"

Chris's gaze flicks to yours for a long moment as his lips press into a thin, unhappy line, thoroughly put out by the threat. Mouth opening and closing wordlessly, you finally stand, map under one arm.

"Thank you," and though Murn graciously moves to let you pass, he also holds a hand up to grab your attention the minute you're on your feet. Everyone in the back of the truck is watching you both, waiting, captive in the silence. You don't step past him.

"You alright there, Mister Murn?" You asked, trying to keep your tone light. It's as if he forces his shoulders to relax.

"Yes, of course," comes out much more level than his previous words. The tension in the van eases. Economos starts the van. Then, finally, Murn reaches into one of the inner pockets of his jacket, pulling out a sealed plastic bag with a once-crumpled receipt inside, "Chaser, I will also need you to keep us all updated on the Senator's whereabouts; I was told this would be all you need."

"Like now?"

"You have two hands don't you?" He asked sharply, and you raised your free hand in apology, and to take the plastic bag wrapped receipt. As Murn takes your now empty seat, the van roars out of the parking lot with Economos behind the wheel, and you brush past Harcourt to sink into the passenger seat.

"Yikes," Economos mutters, quiet enough that only you can hear him, and in the front the two of you share a rare look of exasperated amusement.

"It's a big day for us all," you shrugged, already opening the sealed receipt. Economos is flicking through radio stations as Peacemaker has started a tirade of questions to the other three in the back.

"So what do you do with that?" Economos keeps glancing at the receipt you're holding out in front of you, and glancing back to the road, "and when are you gonna open that map? You're kind of my only GPS here." At that you heave a great sigh and tuck the receipt back into its plastic sleeve, and begin pulling off your gloves.

After confirming the destination, you let your eyes fall closed to focus on the map, still folded tightly in your lap. In your mind, however, it's sprawling and detailed, intimately familiar to you in a fraction of a second, route found as if it lights up on the map itself. Economos is the map's owner, and you smile faintly at how he'd mumbled complaints when Murn couldn't just 'buy it himself'.

Now came Part B of using your powers to navigate.

*Okay just a second -" you mumbled, eyes squeezed shut as if bracing. You gently rest your right elbow on the window where it has been rolled down, before reaching up to connect your fingertips gently to the metal of the van door above the open window -

the owner of the rental car was sitting some miles away eating yoghurt in his office and watching videos on his work computer, while all your senses felt like they were overwhelmed with the immediate sensations of the car as it drove, each minute movement in the engine, the gravel beneath the tires, the weight loaded in the back, the warmth of everyone in their seats, you can't see the road ahead but even with your eyes closed you can see out of each of the mirrors, can even see yourself grimacing at the edge of the passenger side mirror -

- every single road that's ever been driven in this van, every passenger, every moment and conversation, all the human moments and interactions hitting you while also giving you the mechanical sensations of the van itself, but even then the months it spent sitting on the showroom floor, the cold streamlined manufacturing process, the blistering, seeing heat as each individual part was forged from molten metal or other various components -

"Next left," tone sharp, you feel the uniquely intimate and altogether indescribable feeling as Economos' hands fidget on the wheel before he turns, and the rough sole of his sneaker as he eases back down on the breaks. But in your mind, one hand on the map and the other connected to the van, it's as if there's a GPS in your mind, knowing the exact distance you'd travelled, and how exactly it translates to the map in hand. Everything in your mind reeks of gasoline, you can feel it burning away, keeping you all going.

"You okay there?" It's Economos again. Eyes still closed, you can see at the edge of the drivers side mirror when he looks at you with concern. Vehicles were always overwhelming, though a very different kind of overwhelming to your textbooks; in a word, visceral. But thankfully, like the textbooks, you quickly get used to it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," you took a few deep, calming breaths, trying to fill your lungs with as much fresh oxygen as you could, despite gasoline, metal, and oil still permeating your senses. When he shouldn't asks if you should have your eyes open to be able to give directions, you assure him it's not necessary, "I know the exact distance and surgeon we've come from and exactly how far we need to go," after a beat, you can't help but give a humorous smile, "and it's disorientating."

"Disorientating?"

With the map still held with three fingers, you reached up to angle the rear vision mirror to more directly face him, giving you a better look at him for the moment.

"Hi John," you give a big, goofy grin but are still facing forward, your eyes closed. He squints at the mirror for a long moment, then turns to squint at you in the passenger seat - "careful, if the wind changes you'll be stuck squinting like that," you teased, much to his apparent shock. The moment you hear Harcourt snicker you angle the mirror to face her, only to see her looking right back at it over her shoulder.

"Can you get the receipt out of my pocket so I don't have to let go of the map?" At your request she nods, and you thank her brightly. Economos calls you unsettling, but you reposition the mirror so you can get the best vantage out the back anyways, and finally Harcourt presses the receipt into your hand by the map.

And immediately you know the receipt is months old, from a gas station, tossed aside and missed the bin and -

"Hey Murn?"

"Yes, Chaser? Have you got a read on the Senator's location," Murn enquires, tone as serious as ever.

"I mean I think so, I can extrapolate -"

"Extrapolate? What do you mean?" And he's coming up to the front of the van now, you can see him concern in the mirror.

"I can chase someone to the ends of the earth no issue, and I can tell you now, thanks to these," you shook the map and receipt that you had clutched in the one hand, "the exact location of the receipt owner to like, the foot, and how he's travelling in real time, so as long as Judo Master sticks close to the Senator then technically I can tell you where the Senator is."

"Judo Master?" Murn's brow furrows from what you can see through the mirror.

"Yeah, so for future reference, if you need me to track someone, you need to make sure it's something of theirs that I'm actually tracking," a long pause follows, Murn clearly taking his time mulling over this information, "third exit after the roundabout," you instructed Economos.

"You really were able to use that dirty, old receipt to track Judo Master?" Murn's tone is strange and unreadable, neither awed nor afeared, you're not sure what to take from it. So you nod. You inform him that Judo Master is currently travelling via plane, judging by his speed and altitude. Murn thinks for another long moment, then looks directly into the rearview mirror, nodding firmly.

"Good to know," and he retreats back to briefing Peacemaker. Something about the whole exchange felt like a test, though you don't quite know why.

For the time being, as the briefing finally got underway, you retreated into the van's history in your head, only speaking up to give Economos directions. At least once you'd gotten used to the memories you could pick and choose which ones to spend time and focus on; you had every song that had ever been played, whether it was the radio or CD or friends singing along at the top of their lungs down the highway, you at least had a range to choose from. Meanwhile you keep thinking you see a flash of a maroon Seabring in the distance behind the van -

"What 2000s pop song have you found this time?" Harcourt's wry amusement can be heard over the actual music saving the van from silence.

"This isn't -" Economos starts, but you interrupt him with a grin.

"It's a compilation disc, 2009, absolute jackpot," you kept bopping to the beat in the memory.

"Stone cold killer, ladies and gentlemen," Economos added sarcastically, which amused the rest of the crew as they saw you dancing quietly in your seat, eyes closed, one hand still clutching the map and receipt, the other drumming on the outside of the car with the window still down, "man if that dude by the trash really was the same dude wanted for murder, I can totally see why you became friends with him."

"Right?!" Peacemaker immediately insisted.

"Am I being insulted right now? Are you guys insulting me? Our Vij?" You frown a little, confused but still smiling. It takes Economos and Peacemaker a long few moments to realise that they don't really know either.

Just quietly, you choose to take it as a compliment.

[vigilvntes]

Requests!

hi! requests for fics/headcanons/drabbles are open! i'm currently taking requests for:

Peacemaker:

Adrian Chase

Christopher Smith

Emilia Harcourt

The Batman (2022)

Bruce Wayne

Selina Kyle

Edward Nashton

The Last Of Us

Joel Miller

Ellie Williams (TLOU2 only!)

Abby Anderson

MCU/Marvel

Peter Quill

Eddie Brock/Venom

The Boys

Homelander (i'm so sorry)

Black Noir

Billy Butcher

Queen Maeve

[tiannasfanfic]

Catharsis: Chapter 1

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

Word Count: 2,481

Description: Based on true events, a reader insert story. An abusive relationship has finally ended for reader, but the ex soon turns into a stalker. While you're trying to deal with it on your own, your coworkers can tell something is up.

Author Note: We’re all still sick with this blasted cold, so my longer fics are on hold for a bit longer until I can think straight again. However, two days ago while I was feverish and high, I wrote the start of a shorter fic. I’m thinking it’ll only be a few chapters. Though, of all the autobiographical stuff I could’ve written about, I don’t know why it was this period suddenly screamed out at me for a story. It felt good getting it out though.

CW: All chapters will possibly touch on some of the mental and emotion abuse reader went through, plus deal with the type of PTSD leftover. Please read at your own discretion.

Chapter 1: (Crossposted to AO3)

The breakup had been a bad one. To be fair, the whole relationship had been a bad one, but you were still in the process of seeing that. Bits and pieces had filtered through your rose-colored glasses over the four years you were with your ex. But that last six months though really brought a lot out into the light.

While it never got physical, that didn’t matter. Emotional and mental abuse was just as bad. Unseen scars were still scars.

You started working for the group out of Henenlotter Video about a year ago. You hadn’t wanted to get a new job, liking the call center position you had, but at that point, your ex wasn’t working and spent all the money you made on useless stuff, not bills. You had been going into debt fast, so a higher paying job at that point was the only option until you could figure something. You were still thinking then that he was just having bad luck finding work, not that he just wasn’t looking, which was the reality of the situation. So, you got yourself a new, better paying job as a data analyst.

Only to find out data analyzing was only a small part of the job. You still didn’t really know why you had gotten hired for this. The whole thing was out of your depth. While you were pretty good at data entry, you weren’t even doing that most of the time. That was fine with you, it was all very exciting and interesting, and you felt like you were living in a sci-fi action movie some days. Since your ex never showed the slightest interest in your day, he never got to hear about all the cool stuff you got to do or about how much you liked your coworkers. You even came home with a black eye, and all scratched up once and he didn’t even bat an eye.

Your coworkers didn’t know you before your ex, so they had no idea what kind of person you were before he got his hooks in you. You had changed, though you didn’t really know how much yet. Those last six months though, they could tell something was wrong. You were quieter, a bit stand-off ish and very distracted. The two who really noticed was Emilia Harcourt and Leota Adebayo. While John Economos, Chris Smith and Adrian Chase did to varying degrees, they just passed it off as stress, your period, or whatever else they could think of that might have you cranky. But Emilia and Leota had a weird feeling about it all. They noticed your demeanor had changed with the guys, not with them. You stopped getting into playful arguments with Chris. You didn’t get up from your desk a dozen times a day to show silly memes to John anymore. Adrian’s bizarre comments which usually made you laugh (and only you most of the time) barely got a smile. And Harcourt definitely noticed how you tensed up anytime one of them would raise their voice and how you would force yourself to relax afterwards.

Then came the breakup. With as little interest as your ex showed in you or anything you did, breaking up should have been a cinch, right? Obviously, he doesn’t care about you to care about staying with you, right?

Wrong, as it turns out. So very wrong.

You discovered personally how when you start taking control back from an abuser, they completely lose their shit.

Your ex moved out one Saturday, and you told your coworkers that much, at least. But not that your ex always was lurking somewhere after that. Outside your townhouse, circling the parking lot of the complex; driving past your work; everywhere. He refused to give you his key until he got his stuff out but was also refusing to set a time to come do it, wanting the leeway to still come and go as he pleased. About two weeks later, you woke up one night to find him standing in your bedroom, staring at you. You pretended to still be asleep, frozen in place. He walked out after a minute or two, then you heard him leave a few minutes later. It took you an hour before you could get out of bed. When you did, you went downstairs, pushed your recliner in front of the door, then curled up on the couch and sobbed for the rest of the night.

For the next week, you called out of work. You didn’t want to, but every time you walked out of your apartment, you would immediately get sick to your stomach and get hit with waves of panic attacks. You blamed it on a nasty case of food poisoning when you talked to Harcourt every morning, but it wasn’t that at all.

Agoraphobia was an anxiety disorder that ran in your family. While you had dealt with it a few times in your life already, it had never been this bad. Never to the point you couldn’t leave your house at all. But having a stalker with free access to your house will do that to you. Since his name was still on the lease, you didn’t think you could change the locks. You really didn’t know what you could or couldn’t do at this point, or even what you should do. Your brain still hadn’t fully wrapped around the fact you were the victim in this and were still actively being abused. Hell, you were already hearing from friends how your ex was already going around saying HE was being abused by YOU. That was a kick in the balls, to put it mildly. You ended up sleeping on the couch every night with your recliner in front of the door. Sleeping consisted of one hour cat naps, if you were lucky. You woke up with every little sound from outside. Hearing a car door would instantly set you off into another panic attack.

That Friday, sometime around 11am, you were trying to get a nap on the couch. You had just started dosing when not one, but two car doors shutting right outside your home instantly jarred you awake. The panic attack started rising up but considering Chris and Adrian couldn’t go anywhere without being noisy as all hell, you quickly figured out who was outside. They were having a rousing debate about the flavors of Gatorade, even going as far as to stop right outside your door and argue for a few minutes about what flavors the two of them would be if they were Gatorade instead of people before they finally knocked. That was fine, it gave you time to calm down and center yourself as best you could. Which ended up being a lot, you realized with surprise, considering how much of a mess you had been lately. But, then again, you’d never had any reason to feel unsafe around these two.

Well.

Let’s rephrase that one, shall we?

You’ve been in plenty of unsafe situations with the two of them. A lot of the time, the situation was unsafe because of one of them, if not both. But they never, ever directly made you feel unsafe. Since you were still the newbie and had the least experience among the group, they were always the first to check on you after things went sideways. Technically, it was always Adrian checking on you first, but Chris always made it clear he was happy you weren’t dead yet. Even Chris’ bullying never got to you, you usually found it amusing. He was trying to be better about it, though he did occasionally let some zingers slip. At the end of the day though, the small zingers were nothing compared to what you had been living with every day until recently.

“Hey, Harcourt called and yelled at us,” Chris explained as soon as you opened the door. “Said if we were going to be late, we might as well come by here to make sure you’re staying hydrated. And she’s right, you don’t want to get dehydrated, dude.”

You looked down and realized they were both holding four grocery bags each, plus a couple of six packs of Sprite.

“Oh, thank you,” you said, speechless, moving aside to let them in.

They headed for your kitchen.

The both of them had been inside your apartment before when you needed rides to work. All of your coworkers had. You ex also had a habit of running off with your car without warning, so this had been a frequent occurrence over the last year, and especially the last six months.

This was how Adrian immediately noticed your recliner was not where it was supposed to be as soon as he stepped inside. It was normally closer to the couch, sitting at angle facing towards your tv. The few times he’d been in your place before, it was always right there. That’s where he expected to see it. Now it was directly next to the front door, positioned where you couldn’t even see the tv from it. So that was definitely odd. But even odder was the indentations in the carpet in front of the door. You hadn’t bothered to try leaving your house since Wednesday morning, so you hadn’t moved it until Chris and Adrian got there. Two days was plenty of time for the weight of it to settle into the carpet. After that, his gaze swept the living room and kitchen on his way through. It was a bit messier than normal, with some trash that needed picking up and dishes that needed doing. While you definitely weren’t a neat freak, you had your own mode of controlled chaos that made sense to you. This was going a little bit beyond that.

“Did you need some help around the house?” Adrian asked, setting the bags on the kitchen table.

“That’s okay, I’ll get it in a day or two,” you said. “I just haven’t had the energy to clean this week with my stomach being goofy. But thanks!”

Adrian nodded, noting this was more than a week’s worth of mess, but elected not to say anything. He pointed at your overflowing trash can. “I’m at least taking that out though.”

A surge of relief washed over you. Even the idea of taking the trash out to the dumpster made you sick to your stomach.

“Sounds good!” you said, laughing tiredly.

While Adrian collected the trash bag and took it out, Chris began unloading the bags they brought.

“We got you water, Gatorade and Sprite,” he said. “Go easy on the Spite. Even though it’s caffeine free, the sugar isn’t good for you with you being sick, but it might help settle your stomach while you’re eating.”

There was now a rainbow assortment of bottles on your kitchen table. Most of what they brought was Gatorade. Over a dozen bottles of it, at least.

“That’s a lot of Gatorade,” you said. “I think you stocked me up for the next year.”

“We didn’t know what flavor you liked,” Adrian said as he came back in from the trash run. “So, we got you one of each.”

“No,” Chris said, holding up a finger. “No, no. YOU insisted on getting one of each. I was going to get her four bottles of fruit punch and call it a day.”

“But we don’t know if she likes fruit punch!” Adrian protested.

“Dude, everyone likes fruit punch!”

“Actually,” you interjected. “I can’t stand fruit punch.”

“And that makes you a weirdo,” Chris said, and took the bottle of fruit punch they brought off the table. “More for me.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little. It was the first time you had laughed in about three weeks. Since all this started, really. But they always had that effect on you. Every single one of your coworkers had that effect on you, which is partially why you loved working with everyone so much. There was just something about these two especially. Neither one of them showed they cared in conventional ways, but then again, neither did you. And neither of them would never, ever admit to caring unless it slipped out. But you could tell. Even Harcourt couldn’t have made Chris come over if he didn’t want to, so the act itself gave it away. And, most importantly, they made you feel safe.

They didn’t stay for long since they were in hot water with Harcourt already. As they were leaving, Adrian saw the chair again. A feeling rose in his gut, and he stopped. He turned back to you.

“You still have my number, right?”

You nodded.

“If you ever need anything, call me and I’ll be right over,” he said, looking you in the eye with no trace of his normal humor in his voice. “No matter what it is, or what time it is, if you ever need me, I’ll be here as soon as you call.”

You didn’t know what to say. Despite the fact Adrian was an extremely lethal killer, he had a pair of green puppy dog eyes that just seemed to bore into your soul and lay it bare. You never realized until now that those eyes of his made it almost impossible to lie to him. Of course, it would be now that you were desperately trying to keep something from him that you would realize this.

You started to open your mouth, a flood of words on your tongue, but unsure what you were about to say. Maybe he could help somehow. Maybe if you asked, he’d -

“Dude, stop being creepy,” Chris said as he stepped back into your apartment.

“I’m not, I -“

“She hasn’t even been single a month yet, “Chris grabbed Adrian by the arm and started dragging him to the car. “Give her space. I haven’t even tried to hit that yet.”

“I wasn’t hitt- wait, singl-“

“And if I can wait, so can you!”

They were back to the car when Chris suddenly remembered you could still hear them. He turned back towards your front door where he saw you standing a step outside the door into the small entryway, watching them with raised eyebrows.

“Sorry, Y/N, but it’s true!” Chris called to you with a wave. He shoved Adrian towards the passenger side of the car and opened the driver’s side. “Don’t worry, you still got a few more weeks safe though. See you Monday!”

You chuckled, stepping back inside quickly before they left. It didn’t bug you being outside while they were here, but you didn’t want to push it.

Before shutting the door, you heard Adrian exclaim in a tone of dismay and shock, “What do you mean Y/N is single now???”