#leota waller

[thequeenofuselessinformation]

Guess who just watched Peacemaker?

Wdym this isn't exactly how the BFF structure worked

#peacemaker #chris smith #christopher smith #vigilante #adrian chase #leota adebayo #leota waller #peacemaker meme #vigilante meme #dc memes #dc #dcu #dceu #dceuedit #james gunn #peacemaker series #peacemaker series meme #dc x reader #dc imagine

[420technoblazeit]

rewatching peacemaker rn and i forgot how funny it was that adebayo was like oh idk if i'm cut out for this job it's so dangerous i just wanna go back home to gotham. like ok GOTHAM??? you mean the city famous for having 500 supervillains who regularly escape from jail and the asylum? you mean the city with the fucking joker? THAT GOTHAM?????????? what

#i know it kind of has to be like this bc she's amanda waller's daughter but it still caught me off guard #girl that's the LEAST safe city in the world come on #peacemaker #leota adebayo #the pig squeals

[mayhem24-7forever]

Rage Becomes Him - Prologue: Homecoming

Dark!Rick Flag/Lazarus Pit!Rick Flag x Reader

Series Summary: After Colonel Rick Flag dies, Amanda Waller dumps him in the Lazarus pit and resurrects him. But she quickly realized that the soldier that had been sent to Corto Maltese to die was not the same one that walked out of the Lazarus pit. Loyal, friendly, patriotic Colonel Rick Flag was gone and in his place was a cold, rage-filled demon who becomes uncontrollable. And when he gets loose, his first stop on his revenge tour is Evergreen, Washington and a certain “hero” living there…

Author’s Notes: This series is gonna be DARK! There will be major character deaths and very mature themes throughout. Minors, this series is NOT for you, please respect my wishes and do not read this. I deserve a safe place to express myself just as much as you do. This series is based off of an idea I made in this post and then in this edit with encouragement from @edwardbaldwin and the amazing and spectacular @a-reader-and-a-writer​ who also came up with Dark!Rick’s vigilante name and beta read this for me. Thank you so much! Lovely dividers by @silkholland​

Content Warnings: DARK AND MATURE THEMES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WORK! In this chapter: descriptions of violence and a canon death, near-drowning, the consequences of the military industrial complex, Waller being Waller which is a huge TW in itself, nudity, resurrection

Amanda Waller sat at her desk, staring at the files from the Corto Maltese mission. It had been a month since the operation and she was still furious. Of the fourteen members she had sent to the small island country, nine were dead, one had been placed in a coma in the hospital, and the other four had used a hard drive of sensitive government information to barter for their freedom, not to mention the handlers that had betrayed her and needed to be punished. She had already arrested one of them, sending the other two to work on a special project for her in Washington with the injured, but alive and still loyal member, still in the hospital. She didn’t care about any of the deaths, they were all expendable to her, including the team’s commander and only non-criminal member: Colonel Rick Flag. It was more the principle of the thing, four of her best recruits were now off-limits and the rest of her cannon-fodder had been used up in a single mission. It would take a lot of whatever desperate enough criminals she could get to sign up to equal even half of the four soldiers she had lost.

She needed something to offset this betrayal, a soldier that would be skilled enough to do what she needed them to do and loyal enough to not betray her like the others, at least until she could find enough powerful metahumans to fill out the team. Fortunately, she had just the person in mind: a highly skilled soldier that had been able to keep up with and even control the large team of metahumans despite being a non-enhanced human. His loyalty had always been steadfast and although he had slipped up during the Corto Maltese mission, it was nothing that couldn’t be easily rectified with a little conditioning. Unfortunately, he was deceased, his corpse still somewhere in the ruins of the Jotunheim lab.

She pondered the situation, considering how she could solve this “little” issue of him being dead. An idea struck her suddenly and she smirked. It was dangerous, not for her of course, and it was as of yet untested, but if it worked she’d have her perfect little soldier back and better than ever. She sent a message off to the workers clearing the debris of the destroyed lab to focus all efforts on retrieving the body from the rubble as soon as possible. Then she pulled up a file on her laptop, locating a phone number and beginning to dial on her desk phone. She sat back in her chair as it rang, a grin on her face when the line connected.

“Mr. al Ghul… I believe it’s time to collect that favor you owe me for keeping you out of prison…” she began, pleased with herself.

“Peacemaker, what a joke…” The words echoed in his head. It was his voice, but it sounded so far away. The world was black, there was nothing and he was nowhere.

“Peacemaker, what a joke…” There it was again, his disembodied voice floating from afar, but a little closer that time. The world was still black but for a moment, it wasn’t. For a moment, he was somewhere else, somewhere he knew but couldn’t remember. Gray dust. Rusted metal. Stained white tile.

“Peacemaker, what a joke…” Closer again. The flash was back, cutting through the black for a little bit longer and he could hear something. Grunts and groans. Water running. Porcelain scratching on concrete. Suddenly, he could feel. A metal pipe. Water on the floor. A red hard drive. Warm blood. A salty metallic taste in his mouth. Pain.

“Peacemaker, what a joke…” Closer again, this time as if it was right in front of him, ringing in his ears. Pain overloaded the other senses as the black flashed in and out, losing the battle. The pain was everywhere, radiating through every cell of his body. It was excruciating and he wanted to scream but nothing happened. The black seeped out and the flash became his world.

He was in the strange room with the dust, metal, and tile. It was the basement laboratory of a secret facility in Corto Maltese. He was seated atop a man, who struggled and grunted as a metal pipe is held down on his throat. He was going to kill the man, pushing down harder and harder as he struggles for air. Then a sharp pain in his chest, in his heart. The air was knocked from his lungs, the metal pipe falling to the floor. He looked down and saw a shard of porcelain lodged right into his heart. Warm blood was seeping from it. The man was looking up at him, a strange expression on his face. Regret? Pity?

“Peacemaker, what a joke…” he muttered and the man looked hurt. And then everything was black again…

And then it wasn’t. The world was blurry, distorted and a sickly green. He opened his mouth to breathe and found it filled with acidic liquid that burned his lungs. He breached the surface, spitting out the acid and taking a huge breath of air. It was stale but he didn’t care. There was a green glow to the liquid around him, and he couldn’t see anything through it. He tried to keep himself afloat so he could breathe but his body was slow to his commands and he felt heavy. A hand grabbed his arm, then another hand on the other and he was hauled upwards and dropped on hard ground. On his knees, he tried to catch himself by putting his hands out but only succeeded in falling onto them, the dirt clinging to his wet skin. The air was cold, he was drenched, and without clothes, he started to shiver immediately. He was still heaving in breaths, his eyes looking down at a small, jagged red scar on his chest, right on his heart. The green liquid still dripped from his body, a texture somewhere between water and slime as it pooled below him, turning the dirt to mud.

The clacking sound of heels approached and a pair of red shoes came to a stop just in front of him. Still panting and shivering, he pushed himself off his arms to look up at the figures he was kneeling in front of, two soldiers standing as straight as boards on either side of a woman wearing clothes suited for an office. He knew her but her eyes had a spark of twisted joy in them and her smirk felt more menacing than usual.

“Welcome back, Colonel Flag.” Amanda Waller said. “Your country needs you…”

#dark!rick flag #dark!rick flag x reader #lazarus pit!rick flag #lazarus pit!rick flag x reader #dc #dc fanfic #Rick Flag #rick flag fanfiction #rick flag x reader #peacemaker #peacemaker fanfic #peacemakernet #christopher smith #adrian chase #emilia harcourt #john economos #leota adebayo #amanda waller #the suicide squad #suicide squad #the suicide squad fanfiction #suicide squad fanfiction #tss #tss fic #harley quinn #Vigilante #lazarus pit au #rick flag au

[knismosexual]

It's still my headcanon that Lex Luthor is Adebayo's dad in the DCEU because he's definitely the only non-vigilante man on earth unintimidated by Waller. I don't give a DAMN about the age difference. These two lunatics would be the ultimate power-couple.

#dceu #batman vs superman #the suicide squad #peacemaker #lex luthor #amanda waller #leota adebayo #head canon

[harcourt-maeve-stan]

Me when i hear Peacemaker season 2 is on hold:

Me when i hear the peacemaker characters will be in the Waller show:

#peacemaker #amanda waller #emilia harcourt #leota adebayo #john economos #waller #i dont know who all is in it

[multifandomfanficss]

Stuck With You

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader

Adrian Chase Masterlist

Prompt: When the team sticks their newest member with Vigilante, everyone feels bad for you, but you’re grateful to have him around when you run into something from your past and lose your cool.

Warnings: panic attacks, human experimentation, referenced child abuse

A/N: I found a couple lines of dialogue in my drafts that I never did anything with and I had the writing bug today so I decided to finally make something with it! I’ll crosspost it on my AO3 adriansglasses as well. Hope you enjoy!

“(L/N), you’re with Vigilante.” Harcourt says, at the beginning of the meeting.

“You’re really gonna stick the newest person with that psycho?” John asks.

“You don’t need to be mean to Adrian just because he’s not here.” Leota starts.

“I would say it to his face too. He’d probably just laugh and call me his 4th best friend.” John retorts.

You hadn’t been with the team for long. This was your first mission with them. After a mission gone too out of control, Waller sent you to the middle of nowhere Evergreen, Washington. You thought she’d sent you here because the environment would be less hectic, but the longer you’re there, the more you realize she probably sent you here because everyone on this team is either highly traumatized or in need of more experience. She was trying to put the training wheels back on. From what you’d been told by the team’s top conspiracy theorist, Christopher Smith, this team was originally supposed to be an expendable scapegoat, but they ended up saving the world. You had no idea what to believe at this point.

“What’s up with Vigilante?” You ask, wondering why this was all such a hot topic. You hadn’t known him for long. He seemed a little odd, but overall fine. If you were being honest you actually kind of liked him. He was sweet and funny, often without trying. There was this comforting air about him and you didn’t really know why. He was a good fighter and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t think he was at least a little bit cute.

“He’s a little…” Chris started moving his finger in a circular motion, trying to insinuate that Adrian was crazy.

“He can’t be that bad.” You smile.

Suddenly Adrian comes running into the old video store tripping over one of his shin guards that wasn’t on properly. He sits down and fastens it.

“Sorry I’m late, guys. They kept me late at the restaurant and then when I was trying to put on my suit in the car I accidentally ran a red light and usually I would kill somebody for that, but I mean I think the more important thing is that I didn’t run over the old lady crossing the street! She was totally fine and I know she’s alive because she screamed at me…I’ve never seen an old lady use to many swear words. It was kind of awesome! Anyway what did I miss?”

“You put on your suit while driving?” Leota asks.

“Yup.” He gives a straight face nod. Adrian often had a way about him, as if what he was thinking should be obvious to other people, when in fact, it was not obvious to most people most of the time.

“You amaze me.” Harcourt says, sarcastically.

“Thank you.” Adrian smiles, not catching her sarcasm.

She rolls her eyes, sighing.

———————————————————————

Later on that night you and Adrian found yourselves walking through a series of tunnels.

“John, I think we might be lost.” You spoke into your coms, hoping he can help you from the van.

“I can’t even hear you in my earpiece and I’m right next to you. I think we lost the signal.” Adrian walks in silence for a few seconds before adding, “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.” He looks at the ground, sad.

“What are you talking about?”

“I know they stuck you with me. Nobody ever really chooses to be my partner.” He lightly kicks a rock, pretending not to be bothered.

“They did pair us up, but that doesn’t mean I was disappointed.” You smile.

“Really? Why would you want me?”

“Well first of all, you’re a great fighter. You were also the first person to attempt to be my friend. I’d trust you in the field over anyone.”

“Really?” You can hear the surprise in his voice.

“Yeah.” You let out a soft giggle. “Why are you so surprised that I like you?”

“Usually everyone just tells me to shut up or fuck off.”

“Well I’m not everyone.” You nudge him playfully as you walk.

Soon you come upon a door. It’s a little rusted, but Adrian shoots the lock off and you’re able to break in.

“What is this place?” He asks.

As soon as you walk inside you see the tubes, the files, the devices, the tables, the symbols. You know exactly what this is. This is an old facility for the for the group that made you leave your old job, the mission that ruined your life. You see files on the table, files no doubt full of details on the children they were experimenting on. The group would take orphaned children or children who were abandoned and unwanted, kids who had no one to protect them, and they would experiment on them. They were human trials to try to find new ways of making superheroes. This must have been one of their old abandoned facilities. Despite the lab being inactive, just the sight of it was still enough to send you into a spiral.

Your heart starts beating rapidly as you grow dizzy. You look down at your shaking hands. You’re starting to lose control of your breathing.

“I- I can’t-“ You walk backwards out of the room, starting to hyperventilate.

“Woah. Hey, what’s going on? Are you having a panic attack?” Adrian slowly puts his hands out towards you. He’s a little unsure of what to do.

“I’ve seen this before!” Your entire world is spinning as your start to cry. You can’t stop thinking about the awful things you saw when you snuck into their active facility earlier this year. Those poor children. Part of you was starting to wonder if Waller put you on this team for a reason. You should have known better than to think she was giving you a break. Waller always had some sort of fucked up motive that only worked for herself hidden up her sleeve. “I can’t fucking breathe!” You sob, sucking in air.

“Tender nice touching.” Adrian slowly approached you, patting your shoulder. You needed pressure on your body. You felt like you were slipping away from earth and you needed to be held down.

“Can I have a hug?” You asked, quietly.

“You want a hug?” He asked, his voice just as quiet. He was speaking softly to not startle you further.

“Yeah…”

“I think I can do that.“ He smiles, slowly bringing you into his arms. A little loose at first, he tightened the hug as you melted into him.

“I’m sorry- I- I just…I know what the did here and- and-“ Adrian shushes you as you begin to stutter, your mind moving much faster than your mouth is able to.

“You’re okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you. Just breathe with me. Don’t focus on anything else, but your breathing okay? Can you feel me breathing?” He rubs your back as you cry into his arms. You nod. “Okay, good. Just…just follow that.” He sighs and then focuses on making his own breathing something you can follow.

“Sometimes it’s hard for me to know what people on the team want because I know Chris doesn’t wanna look weak and Harcourt would kill me if I touched her, so I try to be careful. I just don’t wanna upset you guys more, but if you want me hold you I can keep doing that. Just let me know what you need and I’ll do it.” He says, softly.

“Can you just keep talking?” You ask. The sound of his voice is soothing and grounding.

“You want me to keep talking?” He smiles. “You’re in luck. I’m actually really good at talking. So good, in fact, that people are constantly asking me to shut up. So uh… What can I talk about? Oh! I know. So I have this friend at work. His name is Taylor. Well, he says we’re not friends, but he texts me all time time asking me to help cover his shifts and I would only trust a friend enough to ask them for that, so I think we’re friends. Anyway, so Taylor walked in this morning and…”

The longer Adrian rambles on the better you feel. The pressure of his body on yours and his voice slowly bring you back to earth. Eventually you find yourselves walking back through the tunnels, hand in hand, retracing your steps as he guides you back to the van to regroup. He keeps you distracted with silly stories the entire walk back.

You don’t know what the rest of your team was talking about. Adrian was the best partner you could have had.

#adrian chase #fanfic #fanfiction #adrian chase x reader #peacemaker #freddie stroma #peacemaker hbo max #vigilante x reader #peacemaker fanfic #peacemaker fanfiction #peacemaker dc #vigilante dc #adrian chase fanfic #adrian chase x you #adrian chase oneshot #adrian chase fanfiction #adrian chase imagine #vigilante #vigilante imagine #vigilante fanfic #vigilante fanfiction #vigilante oneshot #vigilante x you

[lands-of-fantasy]

DCEU Poster Ladies

Amy Adams as Lois Lane

Gal Gadot as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman

Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

Cara Delevingne as June Moone / Enchantress

Karen Fukuhara as Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana

Robin Wright as General Antiope

Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta

Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna

Amber Heard as Mera

Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Dinah Lance / Black Canary

Helena Bertinelli / The Huntress

Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain

Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya

Kristen Wiig as Dr. Barbara Minerva / Cheetah

Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo / Ratcatcher 2

Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo

Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt

Quintessa Swindell as Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone

Grace Caroline Currey as Mary Bromfield

Meagan Good as Darla Dudley

Rachel Zegler as Anthea / Anne

Helen Mirren as Hespera

Lucy Liu as Kalypso

Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl

Bruna Marquezine as Jenny Kord

Becky G as the voice of Khaji-Da

#dceu #dc #wonder woman #harley quinn #lois lane #mera #antiope #queen atlanna #black canary #amanda waller #supergirl #hippolyta #huntress #wonder woman 2017 #suicide squad #fury of the gods #birds of prey 2020 #batman v superman #aquaman 2018 #suicide squad 2016 #the suicide squad 2021 #shazam #the flash 2023 #wonder woman 1984 #blue beetle 2023 #black adam 2022 #peacemaker series #mary marvel #mary bromfield #darla dudley

[tiannasfanfic]

Tongue Tied

Adrian Chase/Vigilante x Reader (Fluff)

| Adrian Chase Masterlist | AO3 Link |

Summary: After a long week of boring busywork and aggravating allergies, Adrian Chase does something a little unexpected.

Rating: General

Author Note: Gender-neutral Reader, no pronouns used. This started out as a different story, but I lost the thread of it. It's been sitting in my WIPs for months now. With a bit of editing, it is now a fluffy oneshot.

CW: Allergies and mention of taking over the counter medications for them.

Word Count: 1,620

4:59pm

The clock had been stuck on 4:59pm for five hours now.

Or at least that’s what it felt like as you stared at it.

“Burning a hole in it ain’t gonna make it go any faster,” Leota said to you from her desk, which was close to yours.

“If anything, you just cursed us by staring at it,” Harcourt said, who was sitting nearby and scrolling through her phone.

The group was between missions, but none of you had been dismissed to return to your regular jobs yet. Even Adrian hadn’t been allowed to go back to his position at Fennel Field’s, which was just fine by him. There was speculation among the six of you that meant something screwy was coming down the wire. None of you had any idea what it could be, but the whole thing was highly suspect. Amanda Waller never let you all sit around with nothing to do for this long before, even prior to your coming to the team, according to the others.

And so, the last five days had been filled with nothing but in-office busywork.

Everything that needed to be done housekeeping wise got done on the first day. The first half of the second day was spent finishing up some fine detail cleaning and supply restocking, then rest of the day after lunch was filled by filing paperwork. The third day was spent cleaning all of the weapons in storage to make sure everything was good for the next mission. But there had been nothing to do since then.

However, while everyone was simply bored out of their minds while waiting, autumn in Washington was playing hell with your allergies. While both John and Harcourt were being affected in similar ways with some sneezing and runny noses, over the counter allergy medication was working fine for them. You? Not so much. Something in the Evergreen air absolutely hated you. The sneezing had stopped, at least, but your eyes wouldn’t stop being itchy, which was making them water, and now you could feel a sinus headache starting to build up behind your forehead and eyes.

5:00pm

“Oh, thank fucking hell,” Harcourt exclaimed as she stood up and pocketed her phone.

You eyed her, then chuckled as you began packing your laptop away in your bag. “Now who was watching the clock?”

Harcourt flipped you off, which made you really laugh for the first time all day. She headed back to her office to collect her things, leaving you to finish gathering yours.

After saying goodbye to Harcourt and John, you and Leota walked out together. You didn’t see Chris, Eagly or Adrian and just assumed they had left early. That was pretty standard for them if there wasn’t actively something to do. Once you were outside, the work mode you had been trying to maintain slipped, and you rubbed your forehead, groaning softly with a slightly pained look on your face.

Leota looked over at you with an empathetic look. “The Zyrtec not helping anymore?”

You shook your head.

“Or the Advil. They really only took the edge off though,” you said, sighing. “I’ll pick up some NyQuil or something on the way home, just sleep this weekend.”

“That’s a good idea,” Leota gave you a gentle hug. “If you need anything, give me a call, okay? Keeya and I will be doing our errands tomorrow, so we can grab you anything you need.”

You told her you would, then you both headed to your respective cars. You were parked further down from her a couple spaces away.

“Hey, Y/N! Wait up!”

It as Adrian’s voice, not Leota’s, that called out to you. You turned in the direction it came from to see him jogging your way from the other side of the building. Your gaze shifted behind him to see Chris and Eagly watching Adrian from around the corner. They were not trying to be stealthy about it at all. In fact, Chris even waved at you when you looked at him.

“Hey Adrian,” you said, your gaze shifting back to him as you smiled tiredly. “What’s up?”

Adrian took a deep breath, fidgeting nervously.

“Would you-“ he started, then stopped. “I was curious if you wanted to-“ And he stopped again. “If I was to-“

Adrian stopped again and turned around suddenly, looking back at Chris and Eagly. They both gave him the “get on with it” gesture; one with a hand, the other a wing.

You glanced over at Leota. She was rapidly looking back and forth between the two of you, eyes widening and a big, excited smile spreading across her face.

Shifting your eyes back at Adrian, you were just in time for him to turn to you with an extremely serious look on his face. He looked you dead in the eye with an intensity he’s never directed at you before. It was as if a sudden blaze had sparked behind those green eyes of his. Butterflies started flapping around in your stomach.

Adrian opened his mouth to speak.

“Do you go out?” he asked.

You blinked.

He blinked.

“That was a dumb question,” he said quickly, his face turning a shade of red that looked like a sunburn. “Obviously, you do go out because you’re out right now, and you have to go out to be able to go to work or the store or on a mission, so that’s like a big ‘duh’ to that. And I’ve seen you out doing errands, so-“

You heard a slight “kaw” from Eagly and glanced behind Adrian again. Chris was rubbing the bridge of his nose in what looked like aggravation, and Eagly was staring at Adrian like he was about to fly over and start pecking at him. You looked back at Adrian, who was still rambling about all the things you’d have to leave your apartment to do.

“But I- what I was asking was- um- what I was wondering is…do you go out…in other ways?”

Adrian was looking at you with a hopeful expression.

“…I guess?” you said slowly, confusion really setting in. “I go out to eat sometimes, but that gets expensive, so I try not to very often.”

Adrian perked up. “Awesome! Did you want to eat something one night?”

You blinked again.

He blinked again.

“Er…” you said, really confused now. “I usually eat every night after I get off work.”

Now Adrian’s sunburn blush was pushing past moderate territory.

It looked like he was having trouble speaking now, which just added to your confusion. Adrian looked back at Chris, so you looked over at Leota with a questioning gaze to see if she could give you any indication as to what exactly was happening right now. Leota’s expression didn’t give you much as it was frozen somewhere in between excitement, secondhand embarrassment, and abject horror. But that made you feel a little better about the whole thing since you didn’t understand any of this at all. Between your head checking out for the day as soon as your allergies started and Adrian’s fumbling with words, you were properly confused as hell.

A few seconds after you looked back to Adrian, he got his voice back.

“Well, what I meant was- that is, what I was asking you is- I didn’t know if you- what I meant to ask you- I mean, would you like to possibly- or, if you’d like, totally up to you- um, I-“

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Chris exclaimed from behind Adrian, and Eagly kawed in agreement. “Y/N, would you like to go out on a date with Adrian and have dinner with him tomorrow night?”

Adrian blinked, suddenly a bright red and looking terrified.

You blinked, your face suddenly blushing a very deep red.

“Oh!” you said, your eyes wide.

While Adrian had been leery of you at first after ARGUS transferred you to Evergreen, seeing you take most of stress off of Harcourt while she recovered had quickly gotten you into his good graces. She was able to focus more on her physical therapy that way, which aided in her speedy recovery. It really didn’t take long for you to develop more than friendly feelings towards him. The feeling definitely was mutual as the flirtation between you two had been heavy for weeks now. But you figured if anyone was going to make the first move, it was going to have to be you.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to, no worries,” Adrian said hurriedly, his tone reassuring, but he did a very poor job of masking a disappointed expression. “I’m really sorry about asking. I didn’t think you would be interested, but Chris said-“

“No no, I’d love to,” you quickly interrupted him with a smile. “Sorry, I was just surprised.”

The look on Adrian’s face was priceless. He seemed unable to stop himself from jumping into the air and fist bumping the air above him. Then he turned red again, realizing he just did that in front of you and everyone else.

A thrumming behind your eye reminded you that you needed to get home soon before your head got much worse.

“Pick me up at seven?” you asked him.

Adrian nodded rapidly, and started to say something, but at that moment Eagly swooped over to peck Adrian in the leg, resulting in a “owowow” from him.

Regardless of what the bird thought of Adrian’s technique, you were going on a date with him tomorrow night.

And that made you smile for the first time all day.

#adrian chase #vigilante #adrian chase fluff #adrian chase fanfiction #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase x y/n #adrian chase x you #vigilante fluff #vigilante fanfiction #vigilante x reader #vigilante x y/n #vigilante x you #adrian chase imagine

[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.

#i really don't know what you guys will think of this #but i like it #adrian chase #adrian chase x reader #adrian chase imagine #vigilante #vigilante imagine #vigilante x reader #peacemaker vigilante #peacemaker #peacemaker hbo

[she-wolf09231982]

Chapter 5: Christmas Boops

Summary: Most of the 11th Street Kids get into the holiday spirit except you and Harcourt due to your rigid past on missions during Christmas time. But that doesn't stop Leota and Adrian from decorating headquarters to get you out of your Scrooge funk.

Author Note: Adrian Chase X Fem Reader, Y/N, 11th Street Kids, A.R.G.U.S., Hallmark Channel level fluff, Explicit language/Cussing/Swearing, Celebrating Christmas, Christmas carol/song references, Mentions of multi-cultural holidays includes Hanukkah & Kwanzaa, Alcohol consumption, Implied nudity & sex, Karate Kid, The Grinch, Scrooge, Elf, Polar Express, & Christmas Vacation movie references.

No dogs were harmed or embarrassed during the making of this fanfic.

Italics indicate character thoughts & flashbacks

**The first Freddie Stroma gif chosen is how I imagine Adrian's face after reader 'boops' his nose**

**Second Freddie Stroma gif is obviously when female reader showers with Adrian. You're welcome**

~~~~~~~~

The ground once covered in fallen leaves quickly became a blanket of white as winter approached. You and Harcourt lost your lust for Christmas a long time ago. Probably has a lot to do with working for the government since you were overseas for quite a few of them and Emilia working for the gender bend ‘Scrooge’ herself (Amanda Waller) at A.R.G.U.S.  

Adrian and Leota, on the other hand, found this time of year to be thrilling. Adebayo and her wife, Keeya, had a whole wardrobe for their Yorkie, Emerson, dedicated to the season.

“He has the costume from the movie ‘Elf,’ of course Santa Claus…Oh! And there’s one that’s a Christmas tree where the lights actually turn on!”

Leota explained to Adrian while each of them carried a huge box of Christmas decorations and placed them on her desk.

The level of emotion about Emerson’s Christmas ensemble had yours and Emilia’s eyes rolling but had Adrian matching Leota’s excitement tenfold.

“No way!! I have got to see that!” Exclaimed Adrian.

“It’s bad enough that your dog is the size of a squirrel, but to also dress him up like a doll? He probably plans ways to off himself every day because of that, you know?” John said to Leota.

Leota rolled her eyes at Economos.

“I’ll have you know, he loves his outfits.” She stated.

“It’s not a real dog if they’re no bigger than a football.” Peacemaker interjected.

Economos snickered as Leota flashed her middle finger at Chris.

Harcourt shook her head and smirked. You stretched and released an evident yawn to showcase your lack of interest in the topic.

Adebayo turned and looked at you upon hearing your dramatic yawning.

“I beg your pardon, are we boring you?” She asked you sarcastically.

“She doesn’t like Christmas.” Adrian answered. “She’s my sexy little Grinch.” He proclaimed affectionately.

“I see,” Leota replied, “Well, even the Grinch eventually liked Christmas at the end of the movie!” She sang cheerfully as she sashayed across the room and draped a red, sparkly garland around your neck like a scarf.

Adrian chuckled, looking at you like a shimmering spectacle.

You gave her an exasperated look, “Don’t worry Adebayo, I won’t interfere with your Christmas spirit. I just choose not to participate, that’s all. Commence hollying and jollying.” You said with a weak smile, turning to your laptop.

Leota and Adrian continued to filter through the boxes, practically squealing as they discover a plethora of holiday decorations as they dig deeper.

~~~~~~~~

By the end of the day, Adrian and Leota had headquarters dripping in yuletide garnishing.

“Well? What do you guys think??” Adrian asked.

The four of you reviewed the area covered in half blinking, half burnt out Christmas lights, paper Mache cut into snowflakes hanging from the ceiling panels, different color sparkling garland lining the windows, and creepy Santa, snowman, and elf animatronic dolls that looked possessed scattered around the room. They even managed to have a Menorah and a Kwanzaa Kinara candle holder placed on each of the two filing cabinets, each baring all the proper colored candles. Leota even had a Polar Express replica traveling around beneath the starless Christmas tree.

“Not gonna lie, it looks pretty fuckin’ good, you guys.” Chris admitted.

Leota and Adrian beamed at each other bumping fists triumphantly.

“Yeah, definitely looks like Buddy the elf made his way in here.” John said.

Everyone chuckled together. Even Emilia smirked at Economos’ comment.

You only smiled so you wouldn’t be such a Debbie downer and ruin Adrian or Leota’s proud moment like you promised.

Adrian looked over at you, most likely waiting for your feedback. As he looked at you, so did the rest of the group. You blankly look back at everyone. You were genuinely clueless.

“Um, what?” You asked them.

“What do you think, Y/N?” Leota asked.

“Oh!” You say finally catching on.

“Well…” you take another look around the room. Adrian and Adebayo waited eagerly on your response.

You were genuinely at a loss for words. Your distain for Christmas outweighed your ability to pretend to like it. You felt a knot form in your chest, trying hard to swallow it down as it started to rise into your throat. It felt like an eternity trying to come up with a response heartfelt enough to satisfy Leota and Adrian’s expectations. Afterall, they did work really hard on the place, so you didn’t want to hurt their feelings by any means.

You released a deep exhale, “It’s everything what Christmas should be. It’s definitely going to be a shame to take it down after the holidays.” You finally managed to say.

Leota started clapping and jumping in place squealing with joy.

“I knew we’d get you into the holiday mood!!” She ran over and hugged you so hard you almost fell off your chair.

You struggled to laugh. “Uh, yeah… right, Leota…… ACK!!”

You grunted feeling extra weight bare down on you. Adrian had jumped and embraced you and Leota in an unexpected group hug.

Harcourt had began videoing the three of you from her phone when she saw Adrian make a running start towards you and Leota. Everyone was laughing enjoying the moment.

“Maybe this isn’t so bad.” You thought to yourself as you couldn’t breathe from all the weight sitting on top of you.

~~~~~~~~

The following weekend, the group decided to have a little holiday gathering at O’Rourke’s. You all pile in together on a cold Friday evening as flurries fell from the night sky. Chris without hesitation ordered up a round of drinks.

As the hours passed, the majority of you get rowdier as you play another one of Chris’ suggested drinking games. This game was Christmas themed of course. The bar had a different holiday movie playing on each of the flat screens, and Chris said anytime one of you notices a Santa hat appearing in the scene, that person calls out ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’ as they point to three separate people (basically calling each of them a ‘hoe’) at the table and they have to drink.

Economos and Adrian ended up drinking more since John was very delayed catching any Santa hats, and Adrian just distracted by looking at you dreamily the whole night wearing a low cut red V-neck.

You look at him and whistle at him.

“Hey, buddy, my face is up here.” You say tilting his chin up making his eyes meet yours.

He snickered guiltily having been caught staring at your chest.

“I can’t help it! They’re perfect.” He declared.

You shake your head smiling.

“Well, I’m glad you think so.” He leaned in and gave you a clumsy peck bumping your nose quite hard.

“Ook, I think it’s time to go, Adrian.” You announced rubbing your nose.

“Yeah, I gotta get back to Keeya and the pups.” Leota checked her watch.

Everyone threw money on the table to pay the tab and exited the bar.

Everyone going their way to their car, you take the keys to the Vigilante-mobile and get Adrian into the passenger seat.

“Where’s the steering wheel?” Adrian asked.

You laugh, “It’s in front of me. I’m driving.” You told him.

“Ahhhhh.” He said booping your nose. “You’re cute.”

He placed the palm of his hand on the side of your cheek cradling your face. He musingly looked into your eyes, a wave of adoration pulsing through his veins. You leaned into his hand putting your hand on his. His touch sent a surge through your body.

“Let’s get home so I can love on you properly.” You said finally.

~~~~~~~~

As you drive past the park, Adrian suddenly perked up and demanded you to stop the car.

“WAIT WAIT WAIT!! Stop here!!” He shouted making your heart jump.

“What the actual fuck, Adrian??” You stop the car. “What’s wrong??”

He said nothing opening the door and started running towards the monumental water fountain in the middle of the park.

“Um, Adrian?” You call after him.

“Come on, Y/N!” He yelled back at you.

You get out of the car and run after him.

He stopped by the fountain in front of a fresh layer of fallen snow.

“Adrian?” You asked out of breath as you reach him.

“Ready?” He asked.

You look around you, confused.

“For?” You asked.

Adrian turned around and fell backwards onto the snow on the ground behind him.

“Holy shit!” You gasped, “Are you that drunk?”

“Snow angel!” He chirped at you, like it was obvious.

He started to move his arms and legs in a Vitruvian Man motion creating the angel shape beneath him on the ground.

You watched him awestruck…and slightly annoyed.

“You almost put me into cardiac arrest because you wanted to make a snow angel? Really?” You asked.

“Really really! Now get down here and make one with me!” He said disregarding your irritability.

“No, Adrian. It’s too cold and we’ve been drinking-“

You suddenly feel your feet kicked up from underneath you. You hit the ground hard as the air you did have left in your lungs was forced out as you land on your back next to your boyfriend. You cough a few times trying to allow your brain to catch up to the fact that Adrian had just swept your legs with his foot to get you on the ground with him.

“Did…did you just..?” you began to ask.

“Sweep the leg? Yep! Now that you’re down here, start angel-ing!” He replied with a tinge of pride in his voice.

You cannot believe he just took you out at the leg to get you on the ground to make a snow angel.

“Christ, the level of insanity…” You muse to yourself.

Nonetheless, you began to move your arms head to waist while closing and separating your legs to make the angel, obliging Adrian’s request.

He looked at you and smiled.

“Look at you! Being all Christmasy as fuck!” He gleamed.

He rolled over on top of you, pulling your face up to his, kissing you quite sloppily.

You giggle into his mouth.

“You are crazy, Adrian Chase!” You pull away to say as you continue to laugh.

He hovered over you, exploring your face with admiration.

You gazed back at him, his green eyes putting you under his love spell. And the smile his lips curl into when he looks at you that way has your heart melting every time.

You pulled him back down for another kiss.

The kiss so intense with passion you couldn’t even feel the cold you both are still laying in.

Adrian pulled back.

“See? The holidays don’t have to be bad.” He said with a proud smile stroking your hair.

You roll your eyes, “Yeah I guess this year is different since you’re around.” You say smiling back.

He booped your nose again and stood up pulling you along with him.

“Let’s go home and take a nice hot shower. Then, hot chocolate while watching some holiday movies! Starting with Christmas Vacation!” He said gleefully.

You walked side by side as he held your waist to make way towards the Sebring. He pulled you in tight against him to keep you warm, and to make sure you didn’t slip.

“And by hot shower I mean together.” He whispered into your ear.

“Of course.” You said booping his nose.

So Leota was right, you found your holiday spirit. This was how your Christmases were going to be from now on…

A little bit of second hand multi-cultural decoration, a side of alcohol with the 11th Street Kids, and a little nonsexual tussle with Adrian to get you to make snow angels mixed with sexual tussling after some hot chocolate.

This was the beginning of your Christmas tradition with Adrian, and now you will always have a reason to look forward to the holiday’s thanks all of them.

~~~~~~~~

#adrian chase #vigilante #adrian chase x female reader #vigilante x reader #adrian chase imagine #vigilante x you #hbo max #dc #11th street kids #chris smith #peacemaker #emilia harcourt #leota adebayo #john economos #shewolf #christmas #holidays #hanukkah #kwanzaa #freddie stroma #my love #teal

[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. 

#adrian chase #adrian chase/reader #fanfic #dc universe #peacemaker #fanfiction #vigilante #vigilante x reader #vigilante peacemaker

[roipecheur]

Summary:

Nothing is going to get in the way of Leota's perfectly planned weekend to spend with her wife, the first they'd had together in months. Whatever Adrian wants when he shows up on her doorstep on Friday night can damn well wait until Monday morning, even if he tries every last bit of Leota's patience by nearly ruining all of her and Keeya's dates with his killing spree. If he doesn't knock if off soon, Leota's going to kill him. That is, until the hits start landing a little too close for comfort, and their origin means she'll be lucky to survive the weekend in one piece.

Fandoms: Peacemaker (TV 2022), Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Batman (Comics)

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Relationships: Keeya Adebayo/Leota Adebayo, Leota Adebayo & Adrian Chase, Adrian Chase/Christopher Smith | Peacemaker

Characters: Leota Adebayo, Keeya Adebayo, Adrian Chase, Christopher Smith | Peacemaker, Emilia Harcourt, John Economos, Amanda Waller, Slade Wilson, Patricia Trayce, Kate Kane (DCU), Ra's al Ghul, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Rose Wilson

Additional tags: Humor, Action, Plot Twists, bats & birds show up briefly, rose has a cameo

Words: 37,499

#wrote stuff #hbo peacemaker #leota adebayo #adrian chase #leota POV fic that's mostly leota/keeya and leota & adrian #this took me over a year (with a 10 month break) so I'm rly glad to be finally done and posting

[bippot]

Summary: When the new government issued 11th Street Kid arrives, the team soon finds out why Waller picked her. They don't really know how Adrian pissed off their boss so much, but he sure isn't happy with their new colleague.

Additional Tags: Manipulation, Past Relationship(s), Co-workers, Angst, Secrets, Canon-Typical Violence, Broken Engagement, Double Agents, Emotional Hurt, Betrayal, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Family Drama

Music Recommendation: I Knew You When by Marianas Trench

Peacemaker, Adrian Chase Masterlist - here

└─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────┘

Chapter 1

Economos, Peacemaker and Vigilante were too male. Harcourt too thin. Leota too curvy. So, that left Y/N. It was literally her job description. Why would've it been anyone else?

Henry Blaghart was rich enough that the butterflies had been after him for a while. He'd also always been a sucker for a pretty woman who'd go along with his every whim without complaint. After hearing through the rumour mill that he was the next target to be 'flied', the squad soon found out everything about him.

There was a fancy bar that he frequented every Friday night and that's when they would strike.

"Ade, can you zip me up please?" Y/N asked as she managed to catch him as he passed the room where she was getting changed into her dress.

"Still looks so good on you."

His fingers found the zipper of the only fancy enough dress she owned - the green one he'd bought her when they were younger - and slowly tugged it up.

The fabric felt so smooth against her skin as his rough fingers brushed against hers, making goose bumps form. He grinned mischievously as he caught her eye in the mirror before them and leaned down to press his lips to the bare skin of her shoulder.

"I'm surprised it still fits," she breathed, pinching at her tummy self consciously, as he started to stroke circles on her hips. "I've put on a few pounds since the last time I wore it."

"That only means there's more of you to love."

With that, he continued to brush the pads of his fingertips against her curves as he nuzzled his face in her hair, taking in her fragrance once more. It took all of her willpower not to melt under his attention. And if she let her mind wander a little farther than usual, well, they would never get this mission completed, would they?

Their eyes met in the mirror and she gave him a soft smile, letting his actions and words wash over her like a wave, washing away any worries she might have. He grinned back sweetly, pressing a light kiss against her cheek before turning to face the door.

"Alright. Let's go kill this guy," he mumbled, walking towards the door.

"We're not killing him yet."

"I hope Harcourt knows that if he touches you in a way you're not comfortable with, I'll shoot his dick off."

Y/N burst out laughing as she followed him out of the room and closed the door behind her. She shook her head fondly at him, grinning as he linked her arm with his. They walked side by side in silence, their hearts heavy but somehow filled with determination.

If he was forced to observe her flirt with another guy, Adrian made it his personal mission to have her attention until they had to part ways. If they were going to do their job, he had to wait in the wings whilst she performed, and if she needed him, he would step in to execute the target in a covert and calm manner. For her safety.

Because he didn't want anything to happen to her because of some dumb, racist (probably) sexist asshole who was only involved in this shit since he was born rich.

"Your tie is wonky." Her hands came up to fix it for him, but soon realised that he'd managed to do it completely wrong yet, somehow, it looked fine from the outside. She undid it and re-tied it properly before she glanced up, catching sight of the smirk that curved his lips. "You look very handsome tonight."

Decked out in the only suit he owned - which, sadly, was the one he'd originally bought for their wedding - Adrian looked suave and debonair. His hair had been nearly styled into an elegant and sophisticated style and his deep green eyes shone brightly against his pale complexion. He had the most dazzling grin that made Y/N swoon internally whenever she thought about him.

"Not half as good as you, angel."

"Nonsense. Maybe ol' Henry will take one look at this absolute stud and realise he'd like to try sodomy."

He laughed as she wrapped her arm around his waist, playfully nudging his side as she spoke. A flicker of annoyance flashed through his eyes, but it disappeared as he smiled down at her in adoration. The rest of the drive to the bar was taken in companionable silence, the car ride punctuated only by music that played faintly through the speakers.

Neither wanted it to end. But, alas, they had a job to do. Y/N was quick to exit the vehicle, bidding her partner goodbye with a smile as he watched her walk away before following after a considerable enough gap. The night air nipped at the skin of his cheeks as he made his way inside, his eyes scanning the crowd eagerly for any sign of Blaghart.

Y/N was at the bar waiting patiently for their target to order a drink, her hands resting lightly on the cool surface. When she saw him appear from the direction of the dance floor, she gave him a faux coy glance over her shoulder before turning her attention back to the bartender, her eyes glued to her drink.

A couple of moments later she heard him approach her, sitting in the bar stool beside her with a loud thud as he rested his arms on the table. He gazed up at her through half lidded eyes, a cocky grin playing upon his lips.

"What are you drinking, doll?"

She smirked and leaned forward, whispering to him in a husky tone, "Whatever you buy me."

"Oh, that's bold."

She shrugged, reaching forward to grab her glass and holding it close to her lips. Her eyes met his as she tipped the glass and took a sip, feeling the alcohol coat her tongue as it slid across her bottom lip. When she looked back up at him, Blaghart's eyes were locked firmly onto her mouth and she couldn't help but smirk wider at how blatantly lustful they appeared.

The thing about seduction is that you have to alter the approach depending on the target. Someone like Adrian would need to be eased over time to appease him because he was hard to know, hard to categorise. It would take a while to gain his affection truly. Lust was fleeting for him, yet often entirely superficial. Deep down, he sought companionship.

A target like Henry Blaghart was entirely non-committal. He wanted the prettiest toy he could find in his life but no further than that. He would fall prey to any girl in an instant, especially since Y/N already possessed the best attributes to lure someone into becoming entranced by her - a willingness to say what they wanted to hear.

"Are you gonna order something?" She asked him as the corners of her lips turned upwards ever so slightly into the faintest of smiles.

Henry hummed thoughtfully as he tapped the edge of the counter, "Let's see..." He pulled out his wallet and dug through it for a moment before he settled on a card and slid it towards the bartender. "Get us two bottles of whatever's strongest that you've got here."

"On it."

As soon as he heard the sound of the cash register chime, Y/N turned to meet his gaze again and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to impress me...sir?" she questioned him teasingly.

"Is it working?"

"It is now."

Adrian watched from the sidelines with his jaw clenched tightly, his chest tightening when Blaghart suddenly leaned forward to whisper something to Y/N, who giggled in response. He could feel the blood running through him like fire as he tried to keep himself from throttling the target right there and then. Instead, Adrian narrowed his eyes as he stared back at the man with pure hatred radiating from each pore on his skin.

How quickly she guided Henry to suggest they should go to his hotel room was a testament of how good Y/N was at her job. Less than twenty minutes of flirting was all it took for the pair to get up off their barstools and make their way out into the hotel next door. As she stood, Y/N subtly caught Adrian's eye and gave him a wink to show that everything was going according to plan, before slipping out of the room in pursuit of Henry.

He was sticking to the shadows when following the pair, giving Harcourt updates through comms when needed.

Once they made it to Henry's room, Y/N waited until the door was fully closed behind her before she reached into her bra and retrieved the nanosecond electrical pulse device (which is basically an optimised taser but Economos hated when someone called his invention that). While Henry had his back turned, Y/N jabbed the device against his neck and he fell unconscious in the blink of an eye.

"Target is unconscious. Vigilante can enter now."

"Outside the door, Angel."

Y/N opened the door, put on the gloves Vigilante handed her from his jacket pocket and the pair hoisted the unconscious dude onto the bed before they ransacked his belongings in search of any information possible about the butterflies. They found a folder which contained some documents and maps that told them exactly where they were going to relocate the water buffalo that they'd managed to 'fly' after the previous mission was cut short.

"Please let me put a bullet in his head."

"Siren, under no circumstances should Vigilante shoot the target," Harcourt warned sternly. "This is too important to jeopardise."

"Please, baby."

"No. We've got the documents, let's go."

She gently pushed Vigilante towards the door, but as soon as he went to turn the handle, there was someone standing directly on the other side of the wood. Fuck, they had to come up with a distraction.

"Oh fuck, Henry!" Y/N moaned loudly, making a show of doing the most pornographic noise she could make. "Right there, baby!"

"What are you doing?"

"Just go with it."

So, he did. Two grown adults were making sex noises at each other, both of them getting whinier as time went on. The man outside the door got the memo that whoever was inside clearly needed some privacy and they no longer could see the soles of his shoes at the bottom of the door.

"Thank god for that."

"Is it weird that I'm hard?"

"Do we need to wait a minute for you to calm down?"

Unknowingly, their little performance had caused the once unconscious man on the floor to not be that anymore. He was awake and managed to swipe the taser from Y/N before she even had a chance to face him. His hand swiftly grabbed her wrist and tugged it so he'd have the perfect line of sight on her neck, zapping her and letting her body fall without a second thought.

Vigilante rushed to catch her once he'd snapped out of his boner daze, placing her gently on the ground before he dealt with her attacker. "That was a big mistake, dummy," he taunted as he approached Henry, glaring daggers at him. Usually, his menacing stare was covered by his visor, but today, this victim was going to see every movement on Adrian's face as he killed him.

The man didn't answer, instead opting to stand his ground, his eyes locked on Vigilante in defiance. "My name is Adrian, by the way... actually, I'm better known as Vigilante so that's probably more appropriate in this situation," he introduced himself with faux politeness, his voice dripping with venom.

"V-Vigilante?" the man stammered, staring wide eyed as he realised how deep of shit he was in. Adrian smiled, enjoying watching the fear grow within the stranger's eyes as he slowly backed away, trying to flee the scene in hopes of being successful, only for Vigilante to reach forward and wrap his fingers around his throat just before he got out of Adrian's threatened area. The guy gasped for air and clutched at his throat, trying to pull free but to no avail.

Adrian continued to chuckle darkly as he squeezed his grip tighter around Henry's neck, watching him struggle to breathe. "Knife, taser or choking, how would you like to die?" he mocked. "Any preference?"

Henry couldn't answer. His hands had moved to claw uselessly at Adrian's wrists, trying desperately to pull his hands away from his windpipe. His feet scrambled against the carpeted floor trying to locate something to use to defend himself but found nothing. He had nowhere to run to and he was utterly terrified and completely unable to speak a single word.

It seemed as if Adrian was forced to choose for himself. He was in a choking mood; his mind was set on killing the man, and he wasn't about to be denied his satisfaction. With rough squeezes of his hand, Adrian made sure Henry Blaghart could never be the butterfly's puppet anymore.

As soon as that horrid business was done, Adrian rushed to take Y/N into his arms and get the fuck out of there with all the documents.

Now, carrying an unconscious woman out of a hotel looks sketchy and suspicious, but tried to look as nonchalant as possible when they emerged from the elevator into the lobby. He held her tightly as they headed for the doors, ignoring the stares of people as they passed them.

Honestly, if he wasn't stopped, his faith in people would drop even more.

Unluckily for them (but luckily for society), the bouncer at the door held out their hand, palm up for Adrian to stop walking. He did as he wanted him to.

"My wife has had far too many drinks," Adrian lied, keeping a straight face but his voice got significantly higher pitched as he said the word 'wife'.

The guard narrowed his eyes at the couple. "Your wife?" he repeated sceptically, looking down at the woman being carried bridal style.

"Ma wife."

"Was that a Borat reference?"

"Yes it was, sir."

At that moment, Y/N began to come to. She groaned softly as she woke up to a very soft pillow beneath her. Opening one of her eyes to check what was happening around her, and even in her dazed state, Y/N could tell that she needed to play her part.

With a yawn, Y/N rubbed her eye lazily with the palm of her hand, cooing, "Hey, baby. We going home?" Adrian looked down at Y/N, nodding and smiling warmly at her, before turning his attention back to the guard, who still eyed the pair suspiciously for another second before he shrugged his shoulders in acceptance and allowed them to pass.

Once they were safely out of the hotel, Adrian took the opportunity to put her down on her feet. "Can you walk?" He asked, concerned as she blinked up at him.

"Just give me a few moments to regain my bearings."

Adrian nodded in agreement and helped Y/N to lean against the building wall beside her for support, holding her up as if she weighed less than a feather. After taking a couple of shaky breaths, the two of them were ready to get the fuck back to HQ and report to Harcourt.

"How many times did we tell you not to kill the target?" Harcourt yelled when he saw Y/N and Adrian walking through the front door of the headquarters.

"You killed Blaghart?" Y/N asked Adrian before turning her attention back to Harcourt.

"He saw our faces."

Harcourt sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. "Also, why did you go fucking radio silent as soon as you found the documents?" she added, folding her arms across her chest in annoyance.

"Siren was unconscious and we needed to look as normal as possible when leaving. Talking to myself and carrying a sleeping woman out of a hotel isn't a good combo, boss lady."

He had a point. But now that the danger was over and everything was fine again, Harcourt couldn't really blame Adrian for reacting in such a way. So, instead of yelling at him, she simply shook her head in defeat.

The documents were handed over and the pair were sent home. The mission was mostly a success, so Y/N nudged Adrian and offered, "I was planning on buying a bottle of wine to drink and watch Will Ferrel movies till I pass out, want to join me?"

"As long as I get a whole bottle to myself."

"Looks like I'm buying two bottles then."

"Are you supposed to drink alcohol after being tasered?"

"Probably not."

Y/N winked at him before she started off towards the liquor store. A small smirk appeared on Adrian's lips as he followed her, his heart warming as he caught a glimpse of her in the dim light of the streetlamps, swaying her hips and swinging her hands as she walked, all signs of worry and stress gone from her face.

They were back in her cold hotel room and opening two large bottles of cheap wine whilst laughing loudly at Stepbrothers in no time flat. Now that was like old times.

Half a bottle in and Adrian couldn't help but tuck his head against her shoulder and wrap his arm around her waist. Y/N leaned her cheek atop his head as she ran her fingers through his hair in slow, soothing strokes. It felt nice to forget for a brief moment everything else surrounding them...

Until the phone rang. Y/N jumped at the sudden noise as she pulled away from Adrian, looking frantically in search of her phone. Her fingers finally grasped onto her phone and she saw the caller ID. "I, uh, I'll just be a second-" she said hastily, hurrying into the bathroom before he'd even had a chance to respond.

Yet, she hadn't managed to close the door quick enough and he heard as she greeted, "Hey mush. How are you doing, baby?"

His eyes widened before narrowing dangerously at the sound of her words. Who was this person? Questions raced around his head as he watched the bathroom door click shut and tried to work out exactly what that meant. Was she talking to some other guy?

All Adrian could do was listen.

"I know, I know. I've got a surprise for you. It will arrive on Monday." The person on the other line spoke for a bit. "Well, telling you would ruin it, wouldn't it?"

Adrian slid off the bed and creeped closer to eavesdrop further. This new conversation intrigued him. He wanted to know who she was talking to and who this mystery person was. He felt a little uneasy with how friendly they sounded.

Maybe it was another guy...

"No, I refuse. No hints. I want it to be a total surprise. You have to trust me, mush," she laughed, sounding so happy.

Another pause followed, causing Adrian to tense in anticipation as he waited to hear more.

"I love you, baby."

Just like that, his heart broke in two again.

"This is where you say it back, you know."

Oh no...he thought in utter shock as the realisation struck him like a brick. She loves this person...and they're not him. What kind of twisted game was this woman playing? She didn't love him. Not any more at least. Not like she used to.

Someone had taken his place. Someone had taken his love away from him. Again.

Suddenly, without warning, the bathroom door swung open suddenly. Adrian jumped as Y/N stepped through, a shocked expression plastered on her face as she almost walked straight into his chest. For a moment, neither one dared move or breathe.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough." He didn't bother hiding his disdain, his eyes staring daggers at the girl who had once loved him.

The hurt that crossed her features almost tore him apart. Almost. A bitter smile curled on Y/N's lips as she raised an eyebrow at him, challenging his glare. His gaze dropped to her lips for a split second and he just went for it, crashing his lips onto hers. He tasted bitterness and something sweet at the same time, and he immediately became distracted by the feeling of Y/N pressing herself to him with a sigh, her hands moving to hold his cheeks as she kissed him back fiercely.

It felt different, though. Before, there had been heat and passion, but now there was something completely different. There was hate there.

Pulling back, he trapped her chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced her to look into his eyes. She refused to meet his gaze, however, only letting out a small whimper when he pressed harder against her jaw.

"Gonna tell your boyfriend about how you've been leading me on for the past couple of months?" he sneered.

Boyfriend? Well, that was easier than the truth. She could work with that.

"I wasn't planning to."

It wasn't a lie. Why did it feel like one?

A frown etched itself onto his forehead, making him furrow his brows even more tightly together. The silence that followed gave Adrian ample time to search her face once again, looking for any trace of a lie in her eyes, yet finding none.

"Tell me that you still love me," he demanded, his voice coming out hoarse as his emotions overwhelmed him, and he began to panic slightly when he realised that she didn't seem to have his best interests at heart anymore.

Forcing the corners of her mouth into a wicked smile, Y/N slowly removed his hands from her with ease - he could easily overpower her, yet he didn't even try - and cradled his face in her hands to lean in for a kiss. Like always, he was at her mercy. Like always, she knew exactly what buttons to press.

Getting closer to his ear, she whispered, "I mean this with one hundred percent certainty, I wish I had never met you," and pulled away as soon as her sentence was over. Adrian stared at her in horror, his lips trembling slightly as he attempted to form a single coherent word, his mind struggling to make sense of the situation.

The tears that pricked the corner of his eyes threatened to spill over as Y/N leant back against the headboard and grabbed her bottle, taking a long swig of the amber liquid inside as if it could cure the pain that was currently radiating through her entire body. She hated having to say those things to him.

"You...you don't mean that. You love me..." he croaked, barely able to form complete sentences. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he tried to convince himself otherwise.

It took everything in her to retort, "Why'd I leave you then?"

And before Adrian even knew what hit him, his cheeks were wet. Hot angry tears fell down his face, burning his skin as they dripped down. His throat tightened, closing up his airways for a few seconds before he let out a sob as he wrapped his arm protectively around himself.

"I don't fucking know why you left!" he screamed in frustration, tears blurring his vision. Everything was starting to fall apart again. He had just come to terms with her being back, but now that he was finally starting to accept it, reality was beginning to sink in once again.

He was still stuck in a world of darkness; nothing could change and he might as well accept the fact that he was destined to be alone forever. Even if he did have Y/N back in his life, it wasn't as simple as it seemed.

"Why'd you give me up, huh?!" he continued, ignoring the way he was shaking, and instead raising his voice and slamming his fists down on the mattress. "I never stopped loving you! Every day, every night, every hour, every second, I love you...and you just..."

Y/N gulped down the contents of her bottle as silence enveloped them once again. They stared at each other, unable to speak because all that was left to fill the space between them was the deafening silence. Neither had anything to add to this, both too lost for words. Both were too scared to admit it. But the fear had already won out.

And with that loss came another wave of anguish as Y/N remembered that there was no longer any hope. Nothing would ever go back to the way they used to be. Nothing would ever be the same. And yet, despite the painful ache within her chest, she once again forced a smile onto her face.

Pitifully, he got to his knees by the side of the bed and reached a hand towards her, hoping that, somehow, he could persuade her to open up to him. To talk to him. Just to see if she still loved him, to find any hint of a spark that still resided inside her heart. Maybe then she'd be willing to come home.

"Baby please...please tell me you love me." He begged quietly, desperately reaching forward with one shaking finger, hoping it would be enough to prove to her that he really was worth her affection.

Y/N blinked in shock as she gazed into his sad eyes, her lips pursing into a thin line. It was true. Her heart still belonged to him. However, she pushed all that down.

"I can't."

Adrian's hand instantly fell back to his lap with a thud and he let out another heavy sob before bolting out of the room. The door slammed behind him and Y/N finally broke. With a loud cry, she buried her face into her pillow, pulling the covers up over herself, blocking out the rest of the world, including the tears streaming down her face, staining the white cloth underneath her.

└─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────┘

Weekly, Adrian made sure to visit Chris' house. When Peacemaker was in prison, he still did it. Saturday. 12pm. One sweep around the perimeter before a swift knock on the door.

And, it was his time to check up on his buddy.

Y/N knew that too and made sure she arrived at Peacemaker's at 11.40 am. She ubered so it wasn't obvious that she was there and roughly knocked on the door. When Chris opened the door, his bright smile immediately faded, morphing into a worried frown as he took in the sight of her.

"Got booze in there, pissmaker?"

She didn't wait for his response and walked inside quickly before Chris could protest. The door shut closed behind her and she heard Chris curse loudly as he followed her.

Chris frowned once more and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's midday," he pointed out as they stood in the kitchen area.

"That's never stopped you before."

He snorted. "Well that's true."

Silence settled over them. Y/N leaned casually against the counter top and watched Chris walk slowly towards the fridge, rummaging through it until he found two beers. He opened them and handed one over to her, eyeing her sceptically as she took a sip.

"You know, Chris, I want to thank you," she started suddenly, turning to glance at him. His lips twitched upwards but he didn't reply. He simply tilted his head curiously waiting for her to continue. "Did you know that you're part of the moment I realised I had more than friendly feelings for Adrian?"

His expression softened, though he couldn't help the amused smirk appearing on his face. "Oh yeah?"

The corners of Y/N's lips turned downwards into a frown. "Remember our prom?"

Why would he remember their prom?

Well, because he'd ruined it.

Adrian had been so excited to have one night where he wasn't Adrian Chase: the nerd. He was the guy who finally got a girl to go to a school dance with him, and to make it even better, he got the girl he'd been drooling over since he'd met her to go with him.

So, he was all dressed up in his fancy clothes. His father had helped him pick out a suit that was so nice and made his confidence had a little spike, which was a rare thing at that time of his life. And his mother had guided him on what flower Y/N would like. He was on cloud fucking nine and, as he parked up on Y/N's driveway, he thought nothing could dampen his mood.

Then Gut and Chris ruined it like they always did. Adrian's mix of bad eyesight and focus on meeting Y/N's father completely blindsided whilst walking up to her door as he was shot with paintballs. His lovely suit was splattered in an array of colours before he'd even registered what had happened.

Plus, they had shot him at a close enough range that he'd definitely have deep purple bruises appearing across his skin in no time.

"Your face, dude!" Chris teased, pointing a thick finger straight at Adrian's cheek, not trying to hold back a laugh.

"Good luck with your date, loser," Gut joined in with a mocking grin on his face, and he slapped Adrian on the back.

When he reached back, Gut's hand was covered in paint, so to make it even more difficult to get out, he rubbed his hand all through Adrian's hair.

All the noise had alerted Y/N and she opened her front door wide. Her eyes widened as they fell on Adrian's dishevelled form, her mouth agape as she gaped at him in disbelief.

As she saw Chris out of the corner of her eye, she called back inside, "Dad, get the gun: the White Dragon's son is on the driveway!" and smiled as Chris and Gut ran away.

Her eyes softened. "Let's get you cleaned up, mush," she cooed gently, taking a hold of his hand to lead him inside.

Mrs L/N immediately rushed up with a thousand and one questions for Adrian, but Y/N quelled them by asking, "Mom, do we have some spare clothes?" The woman nodded before rushing off to fetch something while Y/N led Adrian to the bathroom.

"They came out of the bushes," Adrian mumbled as he sat on the edge of the bathtub and peeled off his jacket and shirt, tossing it carelessly over the toilet seat. He was starting to feel nauseous just looking at himself.

Gut was right. He was a loser.

Y/N could see the self doubt forming in Adrian's eyes, and she sighed softly, making her way over to him and kneeling between his legs.

Without saying a word, she began untying his shoelaces and removed his shoes as she went along. Adrian didn't say anything as he watched her, allowing her to take control of his clothes and actions. She could only imagine how uncomfortable he felt in those clothes.

After undoing his tie, she pulled the buttons undone and left him in his undershirt. "Prom wasn't our scene anyway," she said simply as she grabbed a washcloth and started running it under warm water to wipe away any paint from his face and glasses.

Not so subtly, he glanced down at his hands as she continued wiping at his face. They were shaking slightly. He tried to suppress his nerves. And, like usual, she noticed. Her non-dominant hand conjoined with one of his as she continued cleaning his face.

"I'm sorry," he murmured quietly as he looked down at their hands. His breathing was coming out heavily. He tried to calm his heart rate, hoping she wouldn't see how much it had thrown him.

"No need to apologise. You don't have anything to be sorry about," she replied, standing and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Wasn't your fault. Far from it."

Slowly, Y/N assessed his hair; his curls were tangled and messy, his dark brown hair sticking everywhere and globbed together with clumpy paint. "Should wash away, I think. I'll bring you a towel and some dry clothes, okay?"

With that, she got up and moved out of the bathroom. A few moments passed and Adrian stared blankly at her bathroom wall. His gaze eventually travelled to his hands, now resting limply on his lap.

How pathetic.

"Hey there, handsome." He jolted as he saw Y/N's familiar smile appear next to his head. She held a pair of grey sweatpants, a plain black t-shirt and a towel in her hand, smiling kindly at him as she handed them over. "Here. Take a shower."

A shower sounded good. It sounded better than sitting around feeling awkward in a ruined tux. As soon as his head hit the cool, soothing spray, he felt some tension leave his shoulders and he let out a soft sigh. He needed this. He stayed in the shower for longer than necessary and when he dried himself off, he noticed all the bruises once he looked into the mirror.

His lip trembled slightly as he looked at his battered reflection, a look of pain crossing his features. What a horrible night he'd had. All because...?

Gut and his friend didn't want him to have one fun night? Why would they do that? Was it really such a big deal? Or were they trying to humiliate him or push him into freaking out? Or maybe they wanted him to cry? He sighed again as he looked into his own tired eyes and brushed back his wet, unruly curls as he thought about the fact that he would never, ever have a chance with her now.

Not after this, that is.

There was no point in him trying.

Not anymore.

"You changed, mush?" Y/N called out from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Just a moment."

For some reason, he took that as his cue to scramble his clothes on, attempt to tame his hair and get out of the bathroom as fast as he could. She was waiting patiently outside the door when he emerged, her expression softening as she caught sight of his appearance.

"You've changed too?" he asked curiously as she guided them to her room. "You could've gone without me, angel."

"I could've, but it would've been so fucking boring without you."

Back in those days, she always knew what to say to make him feel better.

"Besides, I've got a new plan. Wanna hear it?" He nodded. "You. Me. Your dad's car. We buy overpriced takeout for the fun of it. We drive to the lookout and completely stuff our faces and talk and hang out till twenty minutes past our curfew when we realise 'Oh shit, we should be back by now' and we get in a little bit of trouble but it's quickly blown over."

She took a breath. "What do you think?"

He couldn't help a chuckle slipping out. "Sounds pretty cool."

That's what they did that night.

Taking a sip of his beer, Chris chuckled, "Oh, you had to see his face. Fucking priceless," and Y/N's jaw clenched. That wasn't the response she wanted, but it had been the one she was expecting.

Her expression was one of pure anger as she glared daggers at Peacemaker and his lack of remorse at the situation. If looks could kill, he'd have been burnt to a crisp already.

Though, she kept her voice steady as she explained, "Years later he told me that he'd been trying to gather the courage to ask me for weeks. Every day when he thought he'd finally worked up the nerve, he'd try and somehow you or Gut would do something that made him rethink everything."

Chris grinned. "That does sound like us alright."

"Eventually, he did. To his and only his surprise, I said yes. He was so excited. You know how he gets," Y/N sighed fondly and shook her head, musing out loud, "The same happened after our engagement but multiply it by ten. He would've been insufferably excited after the wedding."

"He would've been," he agreed. "You know when he gets so overwhelmed that he starts vibrating? I swear he would've internally combusted as you walked down the aisle."

Y/N let out a dry laugh as she sipped her drink, nodding in bitter agreement as she thought about the possibility of that day.

That day could've been the happiest day of her life if it weren't for Gut.

"Anyway," she continued, shaking herself free from these memories as she refocused her attention onto their surroundings, "My, um, reminiscing has a point. I want to thank you, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say. Thank you for - somewhat - looking after Adrian while I was gone."

Both of them knew for a fact that Chris had barely tried. If anything, he urged Adrian to go deeper into the whole Vigilante side of his life. She had been so mad, so furious when she found out about all of the crimes Vigilante had committed when she was allowed back into society.

"He's going to need you again, just to let you know."

It sounded like a threat.

That's because it was.

A familiar sounding Sebring could be heard pulling up on Chris's drive. He was five minutes early. Y/N noticed. Chris did not.

She moved closer to Peacemaker. "I want you to actually care for him this time, and to be honest I'm worried that he might not be able to bounce back from this one," she confessed, lowering her voice. Chris remained silent as he gave her a confused expression. He didn't understand but he soon would.

Seeing Adrian out of the corner of her eye, Y/N slid her hand to the side of Chris's face in a faux loving manner and placed her lips against his. He stood still, shocked at first, but because he was actually getting some action and he was never one for turning that down, Chris kissed back almost instantly.

Adrian watched as the two people he loved most in the world shared a kiss and it left him speechless.

No words came to mind as he glared at the love of his life and his best friend. The people who had broken his heart and had stolen away his happiness for years and years. The people who hurt him more than anyone else ever did.

Without another word, Adrian stormed back to the Vigilante-mobile, climbed inside and slammed the door behind him, glaring out the window and gritting his teeth. He was seething. He was so, so mad. The mere idea of that person touching his Y/N again angered him so deeply that he felt tears forming in his eyes.

This wasn't fair. This wasn't right.

Had it always been Chris? Of course it had been. If someone had to pick between cool, muscly Chris Smith and nerdy, weak Adrian Chase, there was an obvious winner.

Shit. How long had it been going on? Maybe years? Who knows? Did this start when they were still together? Did Adrian ever hold Y/N's heart?

Or had she always preferred Chris?

Chris must've been the man on the phone the night before.

Pulling back from the smooch, Y/N let a tear fall down her cheek. "Thanks for help, pissmaker. I hope we never see each other again," she muttered sadly, wiping the tear away with her sleeve as she turned around. "Please, just make sure he doesn't blow his brains out. I'm not worth it."

Still, Chris was beyond confused.

"Y/N, what the fuck? You can't just say shit like that," he yelled angrily, grabbing her wrist in an attempt to keep her from leaving. Y/N struggled to break free but gave up almost instantly. Pulling a frustrated sigh from her lips she turned around once more, staring straight into Chris's eyes.

"I thought you guys would have put it together by now. I disappear and Gut is found dead the next day. Hardly seems like a coincidence."

Silence.

Chris's breathing became heavier as he tried to process what he'd just heard.

"Wha...?" he mumbled, unable to speak clearly due to the shock of hearing all of this.

"Did you know he was dealing? I didn't... until I happened to kick a criminal a little too hard and send him flying into a brick wall."

Her face contorted into a grimace as she recalled how Gut had screamed out in pain upon impact as his client bolted in the opposite direction. She laughed sadly under her breath.

"The ambulance couldn't save him in time."

The atmosphere grew heavy after her statement. Neither spoke for a long, painful moment as Chris processed everything Y/N had just dumped on him. Y/N's words reverberated around his skull as he let her go. She left silently as he tried to figure out how to respond to what she'd just told him.

What was he supposed to do with any of that information?

All this time, Y/N had been the one who killed Gut. Why she left made sense now.

Who knows how much time passed before he was startled by Harcourt's icon appearing on his phone and Chris hesitantly answered the call. "What have you done? Where is Y/N?" She exclaimed on the other line. His brows furrowed as he sat down on the floor.

"Y/N? She-" his voice trailed off as he glanced up at the clock. 12:24.

Adrian hadn't arrived yet...

There was silence from the end of the phone before she spoke again, her voice filled with rage and concern all mixed together. "Why has Vigilante just insisted that we never contact him again?"

Chris swallowed hard, feeling the dread rising in the pit of his stomach. Only then he understood why Y/N had come to see him today.

"Fuck."

As Y/N drove to the only place she knew would help her calm down, her mind continued the rest of the story she'd told Chris. It was hard to drive with tears in her eyes but despite all that, she managed.

Sat shoulder to shoulder on the hood of Adrian's fathers car, the teenagers shared a huge pizza that there was no way they were going to be able to eat it all. The car radio could faintly be heard as they gazed out into the night sky. The stars above seemed incredibly bright compared to the city lights below.

Despite the day he'd had, young Adrian was happy to spend his night with a regular clothed Y/N. "You looked really pretty in your dress, by the way. Sorry I didn't say it earlier," he admitted nervously, scratching at his neck with a grin spread across his face.

"I did?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! You look great. I mean, you're beautiful, y'know. You always look pretty, but that dress was, like, bam!" He paused. "You're the prettiest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Y/N smiled softly before turning back towards the starry night, her cheeks flushing pink. Adrian let out an embarrassed chuckle as he leaned back on the hood, stretching himself out as he did so. The wind whipped through his hair as he let out a sigh.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Adrian hummed in response, shrugging lightly as he turned his head towards her.

"Honestly? Yeah. I'm okay," he answered, his gaze falling downward as he stared at the ground, fidgeting slightly. His hands reached up unconsciously, running them through his hair in nervousness.

After a few moments of comfortable quiet between the two teenagers, Adrian broke the tension. "They did a shitty thing, I know that. It's not gonna change if I get angry or something, though. But..." He took a deep breath, finally raising his eyes to meet Y/N's once more. "Thank you, by the way. For taking care of me."

"Oh mush, I'll always take care of you."

"No! I don't want it to be like that anymore!" he protested. "I... I mean I appreciate it but I wanna help you out in return! Y'know?" Y/N smiled softly at Adrian and nodded her understanding.

There was a minute of silence, then Adrian reached over and grabbed Y/N's hand with his, lacing their fingers together. It was a bold move in his head but for some reason, Adrian felt confident that it would work. Her cheeks flushed pink as she shyly raised her eyes toward his as well, giving him a tiny smile and squeezing his fingers gently.

And he felt comfortable enough to say, "All I wanted was to have one, like, movie prom night. Somebody spikes the punch. The one weird girl - maybe Stephie Andrews or one of her friends - catches the eye of one of the jocks. Two of the teachers spark up a romance.... I don't know, maybe... the nerd finally gets the balls to ask the girl he likes to dance."

At least, that was his plan.

"I knew it wouldn't be perfect. Nothing ever is. I... I just wanted to be a guy. One night where I'm a normal dude and not some idiot that people laugh at."

When he finished his confession, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't dare to look at Y/N for fear that she'd think that he was just being ridiculous. Instead, he focused on their intertwined hands instead. The longer he stared, the more he began to blush and his heart rate skyrocketed.

His body tingled and buzzed with excitement and butterflies danced in his stomach, making him feel giddy. It wasn't often that he felt such overwhelming emotions and the thought of confessing his love and getting rejected made him extremely sad.

However, with Y/N there, he felt safe and happy. As long as he was with her, he'd never feel alone again.

Then, she let go of his hand and he was preparing himself for the worst. But no, she hopped off the hood of the car and rushed to turn the radio up.

"Adrian Allen Chase, I've been dying to dance with you all night - would you do me the honour?" she begged with a wide smile. He grinned widely before hopping off the hood as well.

They began dancing slowly, both smiling widely and laughing as they held each other close. They swayed awkwardly back and forth, giggling like children as their bodies brushed against each other. Their hearts thudded loudly in their chest as their eyes locked onto each other.

The dancing itself was as awkward as two teens who had never done it before had expected, but they didn't mind in the slightest. There was nothing wrong with stumbling around like fools and holding each other.

All that mattered was that they were together.

"So...you asked the girl you liked to the dance, huh?" she teased gently, causing him to groan and roll his eyes.

"You picked up on that?"

Before Adrian could reply, Y/N raised her hand to his cheek and gave him a kiss on the other one, which caused his mouth to open in astonishment. He blushed furiously as she rested her head against his shoulder and looked up at him with a twinkle in her eyes, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips.

"Hey, it seems like our feelings are mutual."

He couldn't contain the giggle that escaped him when he realised what she meant. With an astounded shake of his head, he closed the distance between them and went in for a kiss.

On the first try, he was too excited and bumped their foreheads together.

The second try, she forgot to turn her head and their noses squished against each other.

They finally got it right in their third try.

Slowly, the pair pressed their lips against each other for the first time after years of waiting. It was experimental at first - the need to take things slowly with each other overwhelming both of them - but quickly grew more confident as they lost themselves within it. It didn't matter where or how they touched each other; their entire being was consumed by pure adoration.

As the passion increased, Adrian had no idea what came over him as he walked Y/N back over to the car and pressed her up against the bumper. Her soft gasp of surprise was all he needed to hear to know that he'd done something she liked. He kissed down her jawline and across her exposed collar bones. He could feel himself growing more aroused and desperate to taste her skin, to breathe her scent.

It was all too much - the hunger he was feeling, the desperation, the warmth, the pressure.

All of the feelings coursed through him. He wanted her, needed her. Adrian didn't know whether he should break the kiss to pull away or continue kissing down her neck and collarbones - his hands wandering everywhere as he explored her body.

"Sorry! Sorry, got carried away. Should've asked," he mumbled apologetically, resting his forehead against hers. Y/N shook her head slowly, her breathing still heavy as she tried to catch her breath.

"I liked it." He looked up at her with shock on his face as a faint blush crept up his cheeks.

"What? You did? Really?"

Y/N couldn't help but laugh softly as she leaned up on her toes to press another gentle kiss to his lips.

Adrian felt like his brain was short circuiting. He was sure that this had to be the happiest moment of his life. He wrapped his arms tightly around Y/N, pulling her closer to him as he peppered her face with kisses.

"Oh angel, you're never going to be able to get rid of me now, you do know that, right?" he asked quietly, nuzzling into the side of her neck gently.

"Wouldn't want to."

More and more smooches were given and received. It didn't take long before the couple found themselves in the back seats and giving and receiving other things too. Prom night things. Things neither of them were entirely sure about how to do, but tried their best at nonetheless.

└─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───────┘

Parking up in the same spot from her memory, Y/N let her gaze fall on the horizon, which looked a lot less vibrant and hopeful now she'd grown up. It was almost scary seeing the familiar landscape that she had come to rely on to comfort her now seemed bleak and empty.

She bit her lip as the sobs started in her shoulders, tears streaming down her face as she struggled not to cry harder. She wiped the tears off her face harshly as she sniffled and blinked rapidly to keep herself composed. Her vision was blurry as her breaths hitched painfully. Her chest tightened and her throat burned as she fought to choke down the lump that had begun to form. She didn't want to be here anymore, she didn't want to be thinking about everything that she'd gone through. Everything that she'd sacrificed. She had to get out of here.

"Hey Mom, can you put Eowyn on the phone for me?" Y/N pleaded as her mother picked up her call, her voice slightly shaky. Her mother was quick to oblige and handed the phone off.

Though it was quiet at first, Y/N heard her breathing before she said anything. Then came the excited "Hi mommy!"

"Hi baby. How are you, my lovely?"

The little girl replied by talking about everything she had been doing and asking her mother all sorts of questions. After a while of hearing Eowyn talk about what fun she was having, Y/N managed to compose herself and stop crying.

Even though she couldn't see her daughter, she smiled fondly at the image of how she always spoke with her hands. How'd she pushed her glasses up, but very frequently missed and poked herself in the eye. How her green eyes sparkled whenever she spoke about what toys she played with that day. She always made Y/N proud.

That was what mattered most. Even if she wasn't there physically, Y/N was always thinking about her, looking forward to spending time with her and talking with her.

Everything Y/N did, she did to ensure her little girl never found herself in Waller's clutches. To prevent her from losing any of her innocence. To make one hundred percent sure that she never followed her parents' illegal ways.

"Are you ready to start school soon, mush?" Y/N questioned, getting out of the car and sitting down on the dirt with her back resting against the bumper of her car.

"I'm ready for you to come home," her daughter pouted cutely, causing Y/N to roll her eyes playfully despite the fact that Eowyn couldn't actually see her. "I miss you," the girl added in a quieter tone, causing Y/N to feel her heart swell with affection.

"Don't worry, baby. I'll be home sooner than you think," she promised her daughter before adding softly, "I'm ready for me to come home too."

Once again, the sound of a familiar sounding Sebring was getting closer and closer to the viewpoint. Recklessly, Adrian pulled his car next to Y/N's - not even realising she was there - and slammed his car door. He mirrored his ex-lover and sat against his car.

"Hey little one, I better go. Okay? I'll see you soon," she cooed into the phone lovingly.

"Okay momma, I love you lots. Bye bye!"

"Love you too. Tell Nana that she'll hear from me soon."

With that, Y/N ended the call. She sighed quietly, staring down at her knees while she listened to the sounds of the music drifting towards her ears once more. She didn't move at all, didn't speak. She knew this conversation wouldn't go anywhere.

Looking up, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped as she saw Adrian had decided to come over and sit next to her. Though his expression remained stoic and distant, she could tell that he was nervous as hell. His leg was bouncing underneath him and his knuckles were white as he gripped onto his cardigan.

"Why?"

Now that was the question that had been swimming around his head since the night before.

Letting out a deep huff, Y/N simply said, "I need to get out of my contract with Waller." Her face scrunched up in distaste as she thought back to how she found herself at Waller's beck and call.

As much as she hated being indebted to someone like Waller, it had to be done. Pregnancy and prison don't go together, even if you are a crime fighting vigilante. Y/N made that decision to ensure her daughter would be born in the comfort of Y/N's mother's home, without the presence of shady doctors that could do tests on the newborn or the menacing glares of her fellow inmates.

What Y/N never could've guessed was the sneaky clause Waller added in the small print. "Amanda Waller owns my body and anything that it produces. I didn't know that when I signed."

There was no hesitation in her tone and no fear that she might have upset him by saying this. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was Adrian. After all, they'd gone through hell together and she wanted nothing more than to give the puzzle pieces to why she'd messed his brain up. She owed him at least that much after what she'd put him though.

A heavy sigh escaped from his lips as he rubbed the back of his neck. This was one conversation he really wasn't looking forward to having but there was no avoiding it now. At first, he came to the look out to be alone yet, clearly, they both had the same idea. That thought gave him a small amount of hope; maybe things could work out.

"Anything that it produces," he repeated her words. The phrase sent a shiver down his spine because he knew exactly what those four words meant. Releasing a deep groan, Adrian buried his head in his hands as he cracked the case.

Chris wasn't who she spoke to on the phone. She'd never spoken softly to him before, never in her entire lifetime. Once Adrian realised, 'Oh shit, Y/N has been manipulating me', he knew that Peacemaker was just a buff pawn of hers. A stupid pawn at that.

Weirdly, it felt like his world was coming together, slowly but surely. The clues he'd picked up on and thought, 'huh, weird', made sense. Every time the pair got too close and things seemed too real for Y/N's liking, she'd either tell him it was getting late and he should get home or she'd hurry into the next room where he could hear her muttering to herself about breathing exercises.

Every time she was reluctant to kiss him.

Or hug him.

Or talk about her personal life over the past five years.

Or that time she was inconsolable for days when the team was instructed to assassinate a flied four year old girl with green eyes and pigtails.

"You have a kid." He pointed out, breaking the silence. His eyes were trained on hers, watching for any hint of a lie, any sign of deceitfulness. But the way she looked away and fidgeted with her fingers told him everything he needed to know.

Her eyes fell to the floor, her cheeks flushed pink as she murmured, "Yes." She looked so vulnerable right now, almost afraid. And that scared him.

For a second, he actually wondered whether he could love another woman. Whether he could love anyone else but Y/N because that would be a whole lot easier. Then reality hit him square in the gut and he realised just how ridiculous such thoughts were. Y/N was Y/N and he loved her, always will love her.

No matter what kind of baggage she carried with her, or if she was under the thumb of an evil mastermind like Waller, she was still Y/N underneath it all. Despite how many masks she wore, her heart was still there to remind Adrian that she was still the same girl who cleaned him up on prom night, the same hero that he fought beside, and the same woman he'd proposed to.

In the end, no matter what Waller tried to pull, he wasn't letting that bitch win.

"How old?"

"Wynnie will be five on Monday."

Strange. Five. It may have been a coincidence but Y/N and Adrian had been together around the same time as the conception...wait a minute.

It took every bit of willpower not to reach over and hold her hand; to pull her closer and wrap her in his arms. Instead, he kept his arms folded across his chest, refusing to let anything show in front of her. Even then, his hands twitched slightly, wanting desperately to feel her soft skin beneath his own.

"Her full name is Eowyn Grace L/N."

Oh, how he could start sobbing and never stop. "G-Grace? Like my mom?"

"Your mother was a very nice lady."

Tears brimmed the corners of his eyes as he stared intently at Y/N, but he sniffed and blinked them away, forcing himself to stay stoic. He wouldn't show weakness in front of her, not when she could so easily use it against him.

Before he could ask the question on the tip of his tongue, Waller decided to do her daily report with her employee early. Y/N shot up her finger to stop him from speaking before answering.

"Mission achieved, my little Siren. Vigilante has officially been kicked off the team."

The words felt like a dagger going straight through Adrian's stomach. Especially the phrase 'my little Siren' as Waller seemed to take pride in her acquisition of Y/N's being. In that moment, he couldn't bear to watch anymore as Y/N's gaze met his. Her beautiful eyes were glassy, rimmed red with dried tears as the pain etched itself upon her face. Adrian couldn't stand seeing her like that.

Still, Y/N held her forefinger to her lips and placed the phone down, putting it on speakerphone to be completely transparent.

"I did as you wanted me to."

"Yes you did."

"Now I've fulfilled all my requirements, have I not?"

Waller laughed. She actually laughed. And not only did that make Adrian's blood boil but he couldn't help the anger that welled up inside him. "Well, there was this mission in Arizona that I put your name down for, but after that? I'll think about it," Waller explained, her voice oozing with smugness.

"I was told that this would be my last mission," Y/N protested, trying hard not to stutter as she clutched tightly onto her shirt.

"By who?"

"By you."

"Oh, did you get it in writing?"

Y/N's bottom lip quivered as she shook her head and closed her eyes, feeling her shoulders sag. How could she've been so stupid. Of course Waller wouldn't let her leave. In anguish, Y/N hit her head against the bumper behind her causing her hair to fall into her face. She quickly brushed it away as she heard Waller chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Without any physical evidence, it's your word against mine." Y/N let out a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose as she stared out into nothing. Waller spitefully added, "You know, I distinctly remember you agreeing to let young Eowyn join our minor unit during our last talk."

Amanda could practically be seen smirking, knowing full well Y/N was just seconds away from snapping and punching her through the phone line. It took all her effort to stay calm.

But Waller wasn't done yet. "Or did I put you down for two missions? Could've been five for all I know. Maybe you'll be booked up for the next year."

Swallowed thickly, Y/N was fighting hard against the urge to slam her fist through something. She hated the smug bitch, she hated what she stood for and the power Waller held. But more than anything, she hated the way she treated those who she felt owed her, especially Y/N. The feeling of resentment towards someone like Waller who used them as tools to achieve her own goals was one that would ever go away.

And so, she bit back the retort that had formed on the tip of her tongue and instead opted to remain silent, hoping to avoid provoking her.

Silence hung heavy in the air, filling the space between the pair until finally Waller broke it by sighing dramatically, "Look, kid, you know your options. You. That brat of yours. Or that third option that I think your friend sat beside you would love to hear."

Shit. Of course Waller would track Adrian's phone and know that it was right next to hers. How stupid of them.

Almost comically, Adrian's eyes widened in shock. "What's the third option?" he asked, whether it was to Y/N or Amanda he had no idea.

"You want to tell him or do you want me to?" Waller questioned in an almost teasing manner. Adrian swallowed dryly, suddenly becoming anxious.

The words wouldn't come out of Y/N's mouth.

"Siren's taking too long. Option three is to blow your brains out, Chase."

Adrian visibly flinched. His mind went blank, unable to think of what to say. He wanted nothing more than to break the call off, he didn't want to hear anymore. He couldn't breathe. He felt trapped. Waller didn't seem to care, didn't care at all about anyone but herself.

Then, something overtook every rational thought that occupied his mind. "What about an option four?"

"Illuminate me with your idea, Vigilante."

"I serve the rest of Y/N's contract. Full contract. That's another five years, right?"

"Correct," Amanda confirmed, intrigued by what he was offering. Waller wasn't surprised, they could tell just by her tone. He gulped loudly, his breathing becoming quick as he prepared himself for the inevitable outcome of his decision.

"I'm an excellent marksman and fighter. Although I'm not as... socially experienced as Siren, I can kill and I can kill with ease."

Beside him, Y/N was furiously shaking her head. This was a bad idea. It was her sentence to complete, not his.

"Strange that you'd offer to serve in her place after what she did to get it in." Waller paused. "Did you ever tell him what you did, Y/N?"

"She killed my brother."

Over time Adrian had noticed that every time Gut had come up in conversation, Y/N would get quieter. Her eyes would begin to water slightly before she excused herself to the bathroom. He would always watch her leave, wishing to follow after her and comfort her, to hold her and hold her tight, but he knew that she would brush away his help.

The timing of her departure and Gut's death had always seemed off. The coroner had ruled his death accidental and, while the police claimed it was due to some form of drug deal gone south - which was sort of the truth - Adrian had always had his suspicions.

At his admission, Y/N's hands were trembling as she brought them to her face and covered her cheeks. Without hesitation, Adrian reached over and grasped her hands between his, rubbing soothing circles into her skin with his thumb. With her eyes still firmly shut, she leaned forward, resting her forehead against Adrian's shoulder, hiding her face once again.

"Five years and then we're both out," he spat down the phone. He could feel the blood running in hot torrents through his veins and the pounding of his heart in his ears. He could feel the weight of Waller's gaze from the other line. "I would like time to go over the contract once you send it."

"We have a deal. Good luck, Vigilante."

Click. Waller hung up.

After hanging up the call, Adrian huffed, "Wow, she's so scary!" He let himself smile for a brief second before it faltered again as he looked down at Y/N, worry etched across his features.

"Sorry. Sorry, I got snot all over your cardigan and I-"

Adrian lifted his hands to cup the side of Y/N's face and caressed her cheekbones, trying his best to distract himself as he watched as the colour drained from her face when his deal finally sunk in for her.

"You didn't have to do that," she whimpered, placing her hands on top of Adrian's. "I'm not worth it."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe it doesn't matter. Let me look after you for once."

Y/N let her forehead drop onto Adrian's chest as a soft sob escaped her. Adrian wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly against his body as he kissed the top of her head. He rubbed small circles in Y/N's back, gently swaying side to side, comforting and consoling his girl in the very place they'd originally got together.

She opened her eyes to him, her expression blank as the memories of everything she had seen flashed across her mind. All the missions she'd gone on. All the horrid targets she had to seduce. All the nice people she'd tricked and manipulated on Waller's behalf.

"I'm so sorry. I've ruined your life."

"See that's the thing, without you? I don't really have a life. Not one that I want to lead," Adrian pointed out calmly, a slight smirk gracing his lips. "I'd much rather have you in my life and things be a bit rocky than to go without you and angrily jerk off into your underwear every night."

A snort left her throat as she pushed herself upright again and ran her fingers along Adrian's jawline as she stared into his eyes. There was a lightness to them now, almost mischievous even. "You kept some?"

"Yep, burned a few but I still have my favourites collection. You remember the ones with Garfield on? Yeah, let's just say he's skipped out on lasagna and had a healthy diet of my cum for way too long."

"Gross!" she laughed. A grin tugged at the corners of Adrian's mouth and his dimples reappeared. Y/N couldn't believe how easily her laugh was coming back to her. It was still so foreign to hear it again.

They remained in each other's arms for a long period of time before finally pulling apart, Y/N reluctantly breaking away. After clearing her throat softly, she tried her best to sound composed as she looked up at Adrian, "Would you like to come on a road trip with me? I promised to surprise Wynnie and it's a long drive. I understand if -"

"She's my daughter, isn't she?" Adrian's voice was soft, but she understood. There was a look in his eye that screamed of hurt and frustration at the fact he'd missed the first years of his kid's life. She reached forward, gently taking his fingers in hers and intertwining their hands together.

"Yes. Yes she is."

"Alright then."

Y/N's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "... Alright?"

"Well, obviously I would want to go with you. I want to meet her, obviously." Adrian smirked as he let out a breathy chuckle, running a hand through his hair. "What's she into? I want to get her a birthday present."

Like her father, the answer was "Dinosaurs."

"Oh, fucking sick!" Adrian yelled gleefully, startling Y/N a little as she jumped a little at the sudden outburst. He'd never liked being quiet. But now? Because, honestly, the fact that he got to see his daughter, to spend time with her, made him want to scream from the rooftops in delight.

The ride to Y/N's mother's house was long but the pair didn't waste a single moment. They spent the entire time going over everything. Y/N divulged everything that had happened during the past couple of years, giving detailed descriptions of Waller's treatment of her, her coercion, and even the times she'd threatened to hurt Eowyn.

Obviously, Adrian was outraged by the mere mention of it all. He swore revenge. He vowed to protect his child, and if anyone dared to lay a finger on her again, he'd end them. No doubt in the fact that Waller would pay dearly for insinuating that she'd hurt his child.

"I don't know if you want to know this -"

"I said to tell me everything, so tell me," Adrian cut Y/N off, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

"You were both my easiest and hardest target. It's easy to fake love if the love is real, but because I love you, every single move was like twisting the knife in even further." A bitter chuckle escaped her lips. "I can't apologise enough, especially for all those things I said that made you cry."

Honestly, he was still hung up on the mid part of her little speech. "Say it again," he demanded, his jaw set firmly and determination swimming through his eyes.

"Say what?" Y/N asked in confusion.

"That you love me."

For a split second, Y/N hesitated. The words felt heavy in her mouth. But there was no going back. If he didn't hear her say those words, she would never be able to let them go again. As far as she was concerned, they belonged to him. "I love you, Adrian," she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as she watched as a grin began to creep up on the corner of his lips. "So much that sometimes I can't stand it."

He chuckled slightly and squeezed Y/N's hand. "Then make sure you keep saying it every day, or else I might forget." He bent forward and planted a kiss to Y/N's temple. "I don't trust you at this moment, but I do love you."

That was fair. That was completely fair.

With a happy sigh, she turned her body towards him so she was completely facing him. "I love you." Her words were slow, careful. "I always have. I always will." She watched the light flicker on in his eyes before leaning over the gearstick to kiss his cheek and muttering the same words over and over again. "Love you so goddamn much."

One declaration of her love then a kiss. This action was repeated until a small smile appeared on his face. "Did I say you could stop?" he mumbled when she went to pull away and she gave a quick chuckle before resuming the cycle. It was so simple but it worked wonders as his smile grew wider and happier and the tension in his shoulders slowly eased away. He held onto her hand and placed a kiss on it, before forcing himself to focus solely on driving.

"Wake me up in an hour so we can switch," Y/N murmured drowsily before closing her eyes and letting sleep overcome her.

What would be considered a grateful grin rested on Adrian's lips as he watched Y/N fall asleep against the passenger seat window, the steady purr of the engine lulling her to rest. His heart swelled and ached at the sight of her; she truly was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Even if she had been a scheming little bitch recently, she was his scheming little bitch.

Once they'd switched, Adrian managed to get some sleep before they reached their destination. He wanted to be as prepared as possible for the biggest moment of his life. Making a good first impression on his daughter was paramount. And if he was being honest with himself, the idea of it was making him feel rather nervous.

In no time, he was being woken up to a gentle nudge on his shoulder. "We're here," she whispered, gently rubbing the nape of his neck to help soothe away the anxiety that was bubbling inside. It took him a while to collect himself.

"Baby, she's a miniature you. Seriously, you have nothing to worry about," Y/N reassured with a smile when she noticed the slightly apprehensive look on his face.

"Need a good luck kiss?"

A scoff slipped from her lips as she rolled her eyes, but leant in to place a soft peck on his lips nevertheless. Well, it initially was soft. As soon as their lips touched, Adrian quickly deepened the kiss. He pulled Y/N closer towards him as his hands travelled under her shirt and found themselves tracing up and down her spine as he moved their mouths together with renewed passion.

She moaned quietly at the contact, allowing herself to melt into his touch, her mind going numb for a moment as their kiss became more passionate and heated. It wasn't long before he broke the kiss. He looked down at Y/N as she blinked rapidly, looking somewhat dazed, though her cheeks were flushed red.

He was instantly transported to all their teenage rendezvous'. All of the times they'd kept their romance to the inside of whichever parent allowed them to use the car for the night. Mr L/N would be turning in his grave if he knew how many times the young couple defiled the backseats of his old car.

"Ade, I think you're trying to distract yourself," she mumbled between kisses, giggling when his hands squished her hips playfully in response. She ran her fingers through his messy brown curls, feeling how they stood on end beneath her palms. "And I think we should probably go inside before the neighbours start talking."

A mischievous smirk came across his face. "I don't really care about who sees us right now," he replied huskily, his hot breath fanning across her skin and sending shivers of pleasure throughout her body. "Let's give them a show, huh?"

"As fun as that sounds, the neighbours probably aren't too fond of loud noises," she smiled, her hand resting gently on his chest to push him away. Adrian pouted, but relented. He couldn't fault her reasoning - he was a loud boy. And while it wouldn't be terribly surprising if the whole neighbourhood heard them, he did not feel like dealing with that.

"Okay okay, fine. Let's go." Adrian sighed, reluctantly pulling himself away from her. The two got out of the vehicle and started walking towards the house.

Due to all of Waller's threats, the front door looked like a fortress. There was a keypad that Y/N showed him the password to and unlocked the door with ease, leaving them standing in the entrance hall where he turned and looked at her.

"You'll have to write the password down for me."

"Will do."

Usually, the sound of the door alerted the occupants that a certain someone had returned home. Since it was her birthday, Y/N guessed that Eowyn was too busy with her presents to hear it.

"Miss Wynnie, I think you have another gift at the door," Y/N's mother told the little girl who had suddenly stopped playing with her toys and looked up at her curiously.

Eowyn's excitement skyrocketed when she neared the door. "Mommy!" she exclaimed happily, jumping on her feet and running toward Y/N without hesitation. In a heartbeat, she ran straight at Y/N's legs with her arms extended outwards, gesturing that she wanted to be picked up.

Y/N grinned as she scooped Eowyn up into her arms. "Hey baby, did you miss me?" She pressed a kiss to her forehead and bounced her gently in her arms, her laughter escaping her lips at Eowyn's happy giggles.

As she looked up at Y/N with wide eyes and a huge grin plastered on her chubby face, the little girl suddenly froze. "Who are you?" she blurted out, her little face scrunching up in confusion as she saw the stranger standing beside her mother.

Adrian had no idea what to say. 'Hey, I'm your father. Sorry I haven't been around, but I had no idea that you existed until yesterday.' seemed far too blunt, and quite frankly, he couldn't think of anything better. But before he could say anything, Y/N beat him to it.

"Mush, you know the photo on the coffee table? The one of mommy and daddy?" Wynnie nodded. "Can you go get it for me?"

Without a single moment of hesitation, Eowyn took off running in the direction of the living room. Moments later, she returned holding the picture frame, her cheeks tinged pink due to exertion as she handed it over. "Thank you very much," Y/N smiled as she lifted the girl back in her arms so they could both look at the photo together.

Pointing to herself, Y/N asked, "Who's this, baby?"

"Mommy when she was younger."

Then she pointed to Adrian. "And this?"

"Daddy when he was younger."

To put the pieces together, Y/N held the photo next to Adrian. The little girl looked suspiciously between the photo and the real thing until she realised. Her eyebrows to knitted together in concentration, but as soon as the penny dropped, they relaxed and her eyes widened considerably. And to check, Eowyn looked back at her mother for confirmation that she didn't make a mistake. "Is that really Daddy?"

The question made Y/N smile. "Yes."

"Wow," was all the child said as she reached out to poke her finger at his nose, before moving to pinch his cheek. It was almost as if she was checking if he was real or not. If it wasn't for Adrian's chuckle, which made the little girl pause, Eowyn was just about to try and jab her finger under his glasses and into his eye.

Luckily enough, she decided against it, deciding instead to wrap her tiny arms around her mother's neck, burying her face into Y/N's shoulder. She sniffled quietly, clearly overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"Hey Eowyn?" Adrian spoke up, causing the little girl to lift her head up and glance back at him. "I've got this birthday present here, but I can't remember whose birthday it is."

"It's my birthday!"

"It is?" Adrian asked in faux surprise. Eowyn giggled and nodded enthusiastically, her momentary dip in energy forgotten by the promise of gifts. "Do you want this present then?" Adrian inquired, raising an eyebrow in her direction.

Bringing out the hastily wrapped present that he'd been hiding behind his back, Adrian held it out to his daughter. She let out a gasp in response and eagerly crawled out of Y/N's embrace to sit on the floor and unwrap it carefully; her big, green eyes never left the gift as she peeled away paper, revealing its contents.

"Oh! Ohhhh!" Eowyn yelled, showing off the dinosaur onesie that she received. "Fucking sick!"

For the past couple of months, one of the children's clothing shops in Evergreen had the green t-rex onesie in the window and every time Adrian passed it he thought, 'Wish I was small enough to fit in that.' And now, he had a reason to buy it. Sure, it wouldn't fit him, but it would be perfect for his little girl.

"Wynnie, what did I say about swearing?" Y/N's mother chastised as she came to see what all the fuss was about. Now, had she expected Adrian to be there? No. Was she surprised? Also, no.

"Sorry, grandma."

Eowyn couldn't help but giddily stare at her new clothes, hugging them tightly as her little heart swelled up from her happiness. Just as she'd done to Y/N, she barrelled herself at Adrian's legs and hugged him tightly, pressing her tiny cheek against his pant leg. He chuckled softly and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Happy birthday, pumpkin," he muttered as he bent down to lift her up in his arms, swinging her side to side slightly so she squeaked with delight, her smile reaching her ears as well. He placed a quick peck to the top of her head and rested his cheek against her hair.

There was no denying that he now understood one hundred percent of why Y/N had done what she'd done. If given the chance to protect Eowyn in any way, he'd throw himself into any danger he possibly could to keep her safe.

"Baby, why don't you go and put your onesie on while me and your dad go unpack the car?" Y/N cooed, smiling down at the little girl lovingly. Eowyn nodded enthusiastically and scampered off towards the bedroom, already looking forward to wearing her new outfit.

By the time the dinosaur outfit had been thrown on, Y/N and Adrian had brought their bags inside. The couple had just sat down on the couch when they heard a very cute "Rawrrr!" coming towards them followed by a pair of small footsteps.

"Hi princess."

"Not princess - I'm a vicious dinosaur." Eowyn replied matter of factly, staring at Adrian with narrowed eyes. Her words were met with a chuckle, which soon turned into a soft 'oof' as Adrian was hurled into the back of the sofa with the sounds of a battle cry in his ears.

Y/N, however, laughed out loud as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. When the little girl jumped onto Y/N and tried to get her in a headlock, Eowyn's smile didn't dim in the slightest.

"She was right about the vicious part. You are a ferocious beast, Eowyn," Adrian exclaimed, laughing like crazy while trying to catch his breath.

"She's definitely your kid, mush."

Before the adults knew what was happening, Y/N and Adrian found themselves tangled underneath Eowyn, with the little girl clinging onto each of them as though they were her jungle gym. The little girls hands tightened on their arms and chests as she buried her face into their stomachs and laughed loudly at their muffled grunts and groans.

"Rawrrrrr! Rrrrrrr!" the little girl shouted, shaking both her fists in the air excitedly. The sound of her childish voice resonated around the house. It echoed through the air and filled the atmosphere with a sense of warmth, laughter and joy. It felt so pure, so pure like nothing else Adrian had experienced.

Naturally, Adrian was completely captivated by Eowyn and her antics, loving every second of it. Every time she laughed, Adrian couldn't help but join in, feeling his cheeks heating up from the sheer happiness that flowed out of her.

"Ah, gotcha," he cheered when he managed to catch her in mid air as she was about to lunge at him again. He then proceeded to tickle her stomach relentlessly, making her laugh even more than she already was. His actions made the little girl giggle hysterically, squirming helplessly on his lap and struggling to escape his grasp, her little face beet red from laughing so hard.

As he finished tickling her, she began playing dead, her breathing heavy and her body still convulsing with laughter. Once her chest finally slowed to a steady pace once again, she opened her watery eyes, fixed her glasses and looked up at him with an expression of utter adoration. He stared down at the little girl as he gently tucked away some stray hairs behind her ear.

Looking at her, Adrian could see the parts of him she'd inherited. Her eyes and, therefore, poor eyesight. Her nose. Her excitable nature. He saw it everywhere. But, he couldn't deny the undeniable resemblance between Y/N and the little girl. Her hair was Y/N's. Lips. Cheekbones. Eyebrows.

"Daddyyy, you're crying."

Her little fingers touched her father's wet cheeks, but he tenderly pulled them away and wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm happy, my little monster," he assured her, cupping her delicate face in his palms and kissing her forehead. "That's all."

His statement seemed to satisfy her as she snuggled deeper into his chest, wrapping both arms around him and letting out a sigh that sounded half exhausted, half contented.

"Tired yourself out, huh?" Y/N asked as she brushed her hand through Eowyn's hair soothingly, knowing that the little girl was too tired to continue fighting anymore.

"No...I need cuddles."

Needy. Just like her father. But Adrian didn't mind. Not one bit. In fact, he could have happily stayed like this forever. For the rest of his life.

Father and daughter were glued at the hip for the rest of the day. When she'd decided that she'd had enough cuddles, Y/N could finally give her daughter the gifts she'd bought her - a bunch of school stuff that were dinosaur themed and a load of plushies that she knew would end up living on the end of Eowyn's bed as soon as they got upstairs.

Over time, Adrian ended up sitting on the floor, leaning back against the couch with Y/N's knees on either side of his head, and playing with the plastic figurines Eowyn had given him. She'd 'forced' him to come up with a bunch of different weird noises and voices for each figure. Y/N sat there and massaged Adrian's head as he made all these stupid sounds, giggling quietly in amusement when he did so, enjoying the sweet feeling of being able to relax after such a stressful couple of months.

For the first time, she had hope that they could be a regular, happy family. Admittedly, it wasn't as orthodox as most other families, but they would work at making Eowyn's upbringing as normal as possible.

"Bed time, Miss Wynnie," Y/N's mother said as she walked past the living room.

"Can Daddy stay over tonight? Please?" Eowyn asked. The pleading look on her little face told Y/N everything she needed to know. Of course, it wasn't a surprise.

"Up to him, baby."

Before Adrian had agreed - because it was a no brainer to him - Eowyn brought out the puppy dog eyes and Adrian knew why Y/N always used to give into him back in the day. They were so big and so sparkingly green - it was impossible not to succumb to the child's pout even if he wanted to. And he didn't want to. There was no resisting that adorable look of hers.

"I'd love to stay."

With a bright grin, Eowyn practically skipped towards the stairs, grabbing Adrian's arm and dragging him along with her. Y/N giggled before trailing after them, watching fondly as Eowyn threw herself onto the bed as quickly as she could and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

"I think you've forgotten to brush your teeth, stinker."

"Carry me to the bathroom?"

Adrian chuckled softly before picking up the little girl, carrying her towards the bathroom and depositing her on the counter top. He grabbed the toothbrush, squished some toothpaste on and initially went to hand it over. But then she opened her mouth and gestured for him to do it for her instead. He smiled and did as he was told, helping the girl brush her teeth.

Sneaky. Just like her mother.

"Eowyn Grace, you know you're capable of brushing your own teeth," Y/N pointed out as she placed a cup of water near the sink for the little girl.

"Well, dad wanted to do it for me," the little girl stated, grinning widely. Adrian just shook his head in response, chuckling slightly, before placing a kiss on his daughter's head.

Then it was onto the story time. Eowyn listened intently as her father read her a story, who was occasionally glancing to Y/N who would give him encouraging smiles or thumbs ups whenever he looked over at her.

"The end," he announced with a satisfied sigh as he closed the book and placed it aside. Eowyn's big eyes drooped as she yawned loudly. "Sleepy?"

She nodded her head, her eyes slowly drifting shut as she let the exhaustion settle in. After checking the little girl was fully asleep, Adrian turned back to Y/N with a soft smile on his face. "Come here, mush," she whispered before pushing off the doorframe she'd been leaning on and wrapping her arms around his torso as soon as he reached her. Adrian wrapped his arms around her waist tightly, hugging her close and planting a deep kiss on her temple.

"Thank you for coming," she mumbled quietly, tightening her grip on him. "It really means a lot to me. And to her." She glanced over at the sleeping little girl, her heart swelling at the sight of her peacefully resting in her onesie and clutching a pterodactyl plush to her chest.

"I'll always make time for my girls from now on."

Y/N melted at the sound of those words and stood up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. As usual, Adrian pulled her impossibly closer while wrapping his arms even tighter around her waist, lifting her off the ground and carrying her out of the view of their daughter. "Which bedroom is yours?" he asked teasingly, his lips hovering dangerously near her cheek as he spoke.

"Left."

With a chuckle, he walked in that direction and opened the door with ease, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. Y/N was pushed against the wall and kissed hungrily. She returned the kiss passionately, tangling her fingers through Adrian's thick hair and pulling slightly at the strands, smiling contently as he deepened the kiss with her.

"Want to make another kid?"

It was a lovely sentiment, but "Oh, I was advised to, uh, tie my tubes."

Shit. There was that idea out the window.

"Was it your choice?" Adrian questioned, his fingers running along her jawline before dropping to her collarbone.

A soft nod was her only response as she wrapped her leg around him, tugging him closer to her and pressing her lips firmly against his. "Yeah," she whispered against his lips, causing Adrian's breath to hitch in his throat, his hands gripping her hips tightly. "Only wanted you as my baby daddy, and back then I thought I'd ruined my chances."

Tenderly, Adrian nuzzled his nose gently against her, pressing kisses across her jawline and down her throat before moving on to her pulse point. A gasp slipped through her lips as he sucked on her skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her body and her stomach to flutter excitedly, a blush spreading all over her cheeks and down her neck.

"You're so damn beautiful," he murmured against her lips, his hands wandering up her sides as they pressed further into her chest, eliciting a moan from her lips. Adrian couldn't help the grin spreading across his face when he saw how flushed she was, how affected by him, and he pressed another kiss against her lips.

"You're so fucking gorgeous and sexy and..." he trailed off when he felt her legs wrap around his hips, her arms going around his neck. "I can't get enough of you."

The way he whispered those last few words sent a shiver down her spine. Her hands moved to the bottom hem of his shirt, fiddling with the edge to get it off. The moment the garment dropped to the ground, she dragged her lips away from Adrian's and gazed up at him, her pupils dilated as she stared deeply into his emerald pools.

"Bed?" she breathed, running her finger down his chest softly, causing an intake of breath from the man beneath her touch.

"Bed."

They wasted no more time in getting undressed, both of them stripping off every piece of clothing between them until they stood before each other naked and completely unable to keep themselves from kissing. Needy kisses devoured their lips hungrily as wrapped himself around Y/N from behind, grinding his pelvis against her butt feverishly.

"Fuck, you gotta tell me if you get uncomfortable at any point," he mumbled as he slid one hand under Y/N's panties, gently caressing her swollen clit in small circular motions. She moaned softly, letting her head fall back as she arched her back off the bed, allowing him better access to what he was doing to her.

"I trust you, Adrian. I'm good," she breathed out in response, her eyes falling shut with pleasure as she felt him slip two fingers into her, slowly beginning a rhythm that matched perfectly with the way her body moved.

His other hand was splayed across her neck, rubbing his thumb against the skin below her ear as he watched her reaction, admiring how she seemed to be in complete bliss. It was something he would never be able to get enough of; seeing Y/N looking utterly satisfied due to his actions. He could feel himself growing harder and harder as he watched her; his fingers pumping faster and deeper within her and sending her into an ecstasy she hadn't experienced in years.

"Look at me, sweetheart. Look at me." His voice was low, husky and commanding and Y/N complied, opening her eyes slowly and meeting his heated gaze, her eyes blown wide open and filled with lust, with desire and with need. She bit her lower lip to stop herself from moaning out loud - her mother and daughter still could hear, after all.

He smirked, his eyes trailing down her body. The sight alone was enough to send a rush of blood flowing through his veins, his cock throbbing painfully in its place. Her eyes were glued to his face and a small whimper managed to escape her and that diminished his final bit of patience.

"Suck on my thumb," he demanded and she obeyed instantly. Although, she did seductively drag her tongue up his digit before she took it into her mouth, sucking and swirling her tongue around it playfully.

"Such a slut..." He stopped. "Do you still like being called that? Is that okay?"

There was a slight pause as she thought about it, but she nodded.

"What about whore?"

That one was a little too far these day. Yeah, it had a different implication now. She shook her head.

"Got it."

Consent checked, they got back to the sexy times. "Be good and continue sucking, baby. Gonna need something to muffle you as I put it in," Adrian growled, sliding his hand under Y/N's thigh and lifting it so he had more room to slide his cock inside her wetness. He thrusted slowly at first, watching her facial expressions carefully to make sure she wasn't having second thoughts or anything.

But upon noticing how eager she seemed, he picked up the pace, thrusting harder and faster with each pass. A string of curses fell from his mouth and soon he was burying his face into the crook of her neck. His eyes screwed shut as he gritted his teeth together and grabbed at her breast roughly, pinching it between his long fingers as he fucked her with every inch of his cock.

"I've missed this pussy so much," he groaned between ragged breaths and deep throated huffs of air. His voice sounded gravelly as he pulled out of her quickly, making her yelp in surprise as he slammed back in.

They both panted harshly as he pounded, feeling the waves of pleasure roll through her body and pool in his cock. She let out a staggered breath at the feeling, her hands finding his head and holding onto his hair tightly as he pumped his hips into hers, feeling her clench around his cock repeatedly.

"So good, baby," he muttered against her ear.. "Just feel how good I am inside you, baby, just feel it and take it."

He pushed her so she was fully lying face down, propped a pillow under her stomach and crawled above her, placing kisses all over her shoulders and back before continuing to pound inside of her. Y/N was grasping at the pillow under herhead as he continued to fuck her like his life depended on it. His lips moved to her neck and shoulder, leaving tiny little marks there until he instructed, "Stick your tongue out for me."

Y/N obliged without a moment's hesitation, extending her tongue out so he could spit into her mouth. He chuckled lowly before giving her a big wet smooch. "You're mine, aren't you, angel?"

She nodded.

"Mine forever and always?"

Another nod.

"Say it for me."

"Always yours, Adrian," she uttered, her voice strained, a tear slipping down her cheek as she felt Adrian tighten his grip around her waist, driving into her harder than before. She cried out weakly as he continued to pump in and out, his head thrown back and breathing heavily in a mix of exhaustion and arousal as his hands tangled themselves into her hair tightly, desperately in order to stay connected to her.

"That's right, angel," he whispered, his lips crashing into hers in a heated kiss as he felt her orgasm ripple throughout her entire body.

A shudder ran through her body as she tightened around him, squeezing him hard before she came. He could feel it, his own orgasm rushing through his veins, making every nerve ending in his body buzz pleasantly as he spilled into her warm wetness. He collapsed onto her with heavy gasps, his fingers curling into the mattress beneath her and his forehead resting against hers as he fought to regain control of his breathing once again.

Then, a smug smile crept across his lips when he noticed the dazed expression on Y/N's face. "Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked teasingly and leaned forward, his nose nuzzling her cheek softly. He felt her giggle before he heard that familiar sound coming from her throat.

"For the first time in years, yes. Yes I did." He grinned widely. "Now get off, you're squishing my boobs."

Adrian rolled his eyes, chuckling quietly to himself as he removed himself from her, crawling off her back to lie next to her. They turned around to lie on their sides facing each other; their faces only inches apart, his head propped up by the palm of his hand while she laid on her side facing him. He ran his fingers down her arm lightly, enjoying the softness and smooth texture of her skin.

However, she didn't say anything, instead staring up at him in a dreamy sort of way, as if she had no idea what else to do or where to look. Her lips were parted slightly, just barely moving with each breathe she took and her beautiful eyes were clouded with emotion. She glanced around the bedroom before turning back to Adrian.

"I love seeing all this." She gestured to his naked body. "But, our daughter tends to lie about having a nightmare so she can sleep in the same bed as me for a night or two, so we better get some clothes on before we traumatise her."

"No problem," he said with a laugh, grabbing his discarded shirt to throw at her. She caught it before rolling off the bed with a playful glare. She slipped on the shirt, gave him a wink as she moved to find a pair of shorts and left for the bathroom.

This was the life, huh? It might not have been exactly what he had thought he'd end up. A year ago, if you'd asked Adrian where he'd be, he would've said 'Probably out killing bad guys and being sick as fuck'. But here he was, a father, happy as hell, and reunited with the love of his life.

As he scrambled to throw his pj's on, he couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he thought about everything that had happened. He'd come home to a completely new world full of life and happiness.

When Y/N returned, he let out a quiet wolf whistle at the sight that greeted his eyes. "Forgot what it feels like to see you in my clothes," he stated as she entered, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a quick kiss on his lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist, grinning from ear to ear.

"Let's get some sleep while we still can."

"Yes ma'am."

A couple of hours later, the pair were awoken by the sound of a cute little voice asking, "Mommy? Mom? Mom...wake up!" Eowyn shook her mother awake gently, looking up at her with huge pleading eyes and a pouting bottom lip.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

"Yup."

Y/N groggily patted Adrian on the hip so he'd move because she knew for a fact that Eowyn would position herself in the exact same way he was currently sleeping - head tucked under Y/N's chin and almost entirely sleeping on top of her. He sat up straight with a grunt, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly as he stared at his daughter, whose bottom lip was now sticking out even further than before.

It was impossible to say no.

"Come here, lovely," Y/N cooed softly, holding her arms out to Eowyn as she crawled onto her chest and snuggled into her arms. "Baby, can you put your head on my other shoulder please? Daddy needs a pillow too."

Eowyn nodded and lifted her head up, leaning onto Y/N's other shoulder and letting out a sleepy whine. Y/N rubbed the child's back as she felt Adrian's head fall back down to its previous spot, his arm wrapping around the two of them protectively.

"Say goodnight to your father, mush."

"Night daddy. Love you," the little girl mumbled, closing her eyes and falling asleep in seconds.

"Love you too, princess."

Waller may have won the battle, but to him, Adrian won so much more than the war. He'd finally found happiness after going through so many ups and downs. And that victory meant far more to him than he cared to admit. As he watched his daughter's breathing ease into sleep, he closed his eyes and knew that it would all be worth it in the end.

For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or health, as long as his girls were by his side, nothing could ever keep them apart.

#Youtube

[findingvigilante]

Date: May 23, 2022

Evergreen went wild when the news broke that Peacemaker and Vigilante turned out to be working on a top secret mission for a government agency together. For Peacemaker, it wasn't surprising. But for Vigilante it was a surprise. Our resident small town costumed crime fighter was now a big shot government agent....I almost feel proud of him for some reason. For the limited amount of time I spent researching him and trying to track him down, I became oddly attached to the guy, despite never even meeting him before.

There was a press conference today at the back of the old video store in town. I couldn't miss it so naturally I had to head over there and nab some answers for another story. Charlton 5 news was already there with their cameras set up so I knew by this afternoon that the news would reach everyone in Evergreen. A woman named Leota Adebayo stood at a pedestal, nervously tapping the mic. From there she spilled the proverbial beans. After reporters were handed out a folder with documents, she explained that Christopher Smith never wrote a diary filled with horrible things and that Peacemaker and Vigilante were working undercover for an operation called Project Butterfly. She then proceeded to tell us about a black ops called Task Force X that consisted of criminals taking on dangerous missions for the US in exchange for time off their sentences. It's been running out of Belle Reve for years under Amanda Waller, who was this lady's mother. Reporters began scrambling and yelling out questions. Since I was the only one who raised my hand, Leota chose me to ask a question. So I asked "Where are Peacemaker and Vigilante now?" Her response: they were both taken to Mount Rouge Health Center to treat their injuries.

That was all I needed to know.

Mount Rouge was nestled smack dab on the edge of town to make it easier for those coming from outside Evergreen to get medical assistance. With all things considered, I was going to probably need assistance too judging by how fast my heart was beating. Vigilante was so close. He was just beyond the automatic doors and was most likely in one of the recovery rooms. When I asked the nurses about him, they glanced at each other nervously and shook their heads. Another asked me if I was a friend so I told them yes, I was. So once I had his room number, I had to hold myself back to keep from sprinting down the hallways. I think I ran by Chris Smith but my head was in another place to be paying attention to my surroundings. Once I reached his room, my hand shook while hovering over the door handle. This was it. I was finally going to speak to Vigilante after all this time. All of my efforts finally came to this moment. Knocking, I slowly opened the door and stepped in.

Unfortunately, the room was empty. The bed which was supposed to be keeping him upright was empty, borderline untouched and the wires that were used to hook him up to the ECG were on the bed, the heart monitor itself not making any flatline noises. The window was wide open and since we were on the second floor, there was no way he could've jumped out. If he had left using the hallway, someone would've seen him. So that could only mean he jumped from the second story window....on the hard ground underneath. If he was injured that would only worsen his wounds. When asking a couple of nurses if they saw anyone leave the room, they all shared the same answer: no. So whether or not they were covering for him, I couldn't tell.

I was frustrated at this point. I came so far and came so close to finally meeting Vigilante only to have him jump from a freaking second story hospital window. Angry and annoyed, I opened up the folder that was given to reporters at the press conference. I didn't have a chance to really look through it yet but since I now had some time on my hands, I wanted to see what it read. There was a mention of Coverdale Ranch and what went down there a few days ago. I knew where Coverdale was. If the area was already cleaned out by the feds I had no idea. But going there and investigating was a hell of a lot better than sitting here and doing nothing at all.

Coverdale was.....a mess. If you remember my previous entry about the massacre at Glan Tai, this was probably ten times worse. Turns out the feds hadn't gotten around to cleaning out the field yet so the ground was still covered in blood.....and bodies. Bodies were strewn everywhere. The first thing I noticed was that they all had something in common: they were either prisoners from the corrections center or police personnel (minus a few civilians here and there). The entire police station was laid about on the ground. Some had limbs chopped off. Others had no heads. Mostly all of them had bullet holes. But all of them did have some sort of wound to the head. I tried not to gag as I tiptoed through the field like I was scared they were going to wake up. The barn that once stood there was now a pile of rubble. I remembered there being a set of stairs going down from my childhood memories but I didn't dare go down them in fear of what I might find (it was probably for the best too). So instead I snapped a quick photo of the scene for my own case files (warning: it's pretty bad so if blood makes you queasy, scroll by). I guess that means the entire Evergreen police department would need replacing since they were all dead. Vigilante is going to have a field day with his crime fighting while the town waits for new replacements.

I went back to my apartment feeling heavy with frustration. Although I didn't score a story with Vigilante, I did however end up uncovering an alien conspiracy that could land me an actual writing position at the Planet. I had enough coverage from my previous investigation with Vigilante that it could make a great story. I'm disappointed, sure. I came here solely to find Vigilante and hear his side. It might not be what I wanted in the end but at least I have something to write about. Something that'll get a foot in the door anyway. Like Ms. Lane always says: something is better than nothing.

Time: 2:19 am

There was a thud in my apartment. When I turned on the light and glanced around the room, there was no one around but my bedroom window was wide open, the wind gently moving my curtains. The papers that were on my desk were now on the floor so I got up to put them back in the pile. After I put them back, I noticed a small piece of paper that wasn't there before. It was torn, hastily ripped off the corner with four simple little words. Four little words that made my heart sink in my chest, signed with a single initial to signify who wanted to leave me a message.

I didn't find Vigilante. Vigilante found me.

#finding vigilante #vigilante #have you seen the vigilante?

[luvmxmh]

it's cute when you do it, but cupid is stupid—

ADRIAN CHASE APPRECIATION WEEK

Day 4: favorite relationship / unrequited love

Pairing(s): Adrian Chase & Reader, Emilia Harcourt/Christopher Smith, Unrequited Emilia/Reader, Unrequited Vigilmaker

Disclaimers: adrian&reader-centric, angst with a hopeful ending, gender-neutral reader but may have sapphic undertones, reader is kinda mean, hurt/comfort, alcohol

Word Count: 2.0k

Summary: —he shot the wrong lovers.

In which you're in love with Emilia. Adrian's in love with Chris. Emilia and Chris get together. Where the fuck does that leave you?

Author's Note: had a hard time figuring out what to name this until kissaphobic by make out monday played and it just felt fitting. reader and adrian's relationship may be interpreted as platonic or pre-slash

Cross-posted on AO3

The moment Adrian steps into the bar you know exactly what he came here for and why. You get an inkling he knows exactly why you’re here too.

It should’ve lit a spark in you, to see someone so familiar. But all it is really is you looking at him and him looking at you.

He takes a seat beside you, and orders a drink. He says your name in greeting and you just nod in response. It’s a quiet night. Everything that aren’t your thoughts or sound within one meter are simply static.

From your periphery, you notice him glance your way once more.

“Rough night?”

“You could say that.”

The team didn’t do much fieldwork today, and all you did was fill out paperwork to report compensation for collateral damage from your previous assignment. You also got briefed for the current mission about new leads and that’s that. John presents another one of his innovative PowerPoints that you only vaguely remember because you were busy staring at—

Emilia. God, Emilia. You could recall her laughter, strained from having to keep her composure in the middle of a recon. She didn’t use to be so relaxed around the team.

Even with a cracked surface she’s still so capable. All these years you’ve worked together and for all the back-bending she has to do for Waller she never breaks. Not in a way that doesn’t have her pick herself back up.

And Christ do you adore her; the way she carries herself, how she asserts her leadership, she’s—

“All I ever wanted.” It dawns on you that you’ve said that out loud, and you curl your lips in displeasure.

“What was that?” Adrian turns his head towards you sharply. Goosebumps rise at his attention, and now you want to go back to silently acknowledging each other while nursing a bottle and your emotional crisis.

“Nothing—nothing, I was just thinking out loud. Sorry.”

“Well,” He shifts in his seat to turn to you, one hand on his knee and another around his drink. “I’m here. To, um, talk, I mean. ”

For a couple beats you don’t respond, contemplating whether this is a good idea.

“But only if you want to!”

You snort. How precious.

“Sure.”

You mirror his posture, leaning against the bar top as you face him, “I have this feeling, though. That we’re here for the same thing.”

“What? Oh, oh no, definitely not,” he chuckles nervously, “No idea what you’re talking about, man.”

“Right. Because you definitely weren’t upset when Chris told you he and Emilia are doing more than hooking up.”

Adrian purses his lips, the skin on his chin resembling a bramble.

“Dude, I thought we’re bonding right now? It’s not like I’m calling you out whenever you make heart eyes at Harcourt. Or when you eavesdropped on that conversation with Chris telling me he got together with her.”

You recoil, obviously not expecting that from him. Fuck, that was a bit shitty of you, wasn’t it? He was being civil and you let yourself get agitated with him.

Adrian deflates from his own outburst. Before you could say anything he downs his whole drink.

It feels like you’re back to square one; your reclusive nature pushed away Leota and John when they asked you to hang out with them (Leota sent you pictures of Emerson anyways), shot down what could’ve started an actual friendship between you and Chris (“Do you want to grab some beers with me?” “Hanging out with you merits Polish vodka.”), and now…

You’ve never been a light-weight, but times like these make you wish you are. The liquid amber in front of you seems a lot more enticing now. You want it to swallow you whole.

It burns the back of your throat when you take a sip, and you hope it also washes away the pride that stops you from saying sorry to everyone you know.

“How long?”

Adrian’s hushed query pulls you out of your head. He’s looking down on his empty glass, his shoulders up by his chin.

“What do you mean?”

“How long have you… liked Emilia?”

‘Too long,’ you think.

It’s a quiet kind of love that creeps up at you at night, something akin to a low tide lapping at your ankles while you stand stagnant.

It makes you feel ashamed, on bad days.

“We trained under the same handler at ARGUS. She was one of the best in our group— she still is.” Adrian sharply exhales in what you could assume from amusement. “I looked up to her a lot. Then that admiration grew, I guess.”

You remember what Flo called it—a spiral so slow she had to give you the name for your feelings. There had been times she’s encouraged you, pushed you even, towards Emilia. You were adamant about remaining nonchalant, however, telling her it’ll pass like you were talking about a flu.

Needless to say, it didn’t. It remains a sickness that rots. It’s a battle you’re running from; a losing war.

It won’t be fair of you to get mad at Emilia, or Chris, or even Adrian. Not when you’re the most passive in your whole love parallelogram or whatever bullshit.

“What about you?” You tilted your head at him. “What about Christopher Smith made you spend that long waiting for him?”

It’s one of the first things you’ve said this evening that wasn’t entirely caustic. Huh.

Adrian looks deep in thought, and his shoulders more relaxed. It’s a new kind of vulnerability you’ve ever seen him display.

“Well, um I don’t really know actually. You already know he’s my brother’s friend growing up.“

“Yeah. Gut, right?” He nods.

“It’s like with you and Emilia, I guess. I admired him a lot as kids—I mean, if that wasn’t already obvious.” He laughs. “If you think I suck up so much to him now you really don’t want to see me as a teenager. I did a lot of embarrassing shit to impress him and Gut.”

You could envision that; short, lanky Adrian who hasn’t hit puberty yet, chasing at the coattails of his favorite person and his brother. It’s as pathetic as it is winsome.

‘At least he worked for Chris’ attention, I guess,’ you think dolefully.

“We also did a lot of cool stuff together once I became Vigilante, like having threesomes—” You really, really doubt Chris would consider having threesomes as a ‘cool’ bonding time with Adrian. Or maybe he would. “—and then he had to get himself imprisoned. It sucked! But I waited, you know, because I’m his buddy and everything.

“Then the thing with Goff happened and I got my mask taken off and he only recognized me as Gut’s younger brother. But it’s okay now because we reconnected and stuff even though I know I annoy him sometimes. Hell, I’m probably annoying you right now.”

“You’re really not.” It’s true. Even you could hardly believe it. You’re well-aware you’re a hard headed asshole but you’re not incapable of extending some sympathy (maybe empathy, in this case) to your peers.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” You affirm. “This is all… retrospective for me.”

“I know it’s not the same but Chris is awful at introspection.” He leans his back against the bartop using his elbows as support. “It’s my least favorite pastime with him.”

“Pretty sure he used up all his introspective shit with Emilia.” you mutter bitterly, “I doubt she’d go out with him if he didn’t get his act together.”

Adrian hums in agreement.

The conversation mutes to a weighted stillness.

You attempt to break the silence. “Sorry for being a bitch earlier.”

 He nods. “It’s alright. You can’t always help who you are.”

It’s a dull strike to your nerves. But knowing Adrian, he’s probably picked up more of your personality than you could ever wish to reflect on.

“It almost mirrors Harcourt, sometimes,” he adds.

“...I really hate how that makes sense, but please never try to trigger some sort of introspection for me right now. I don’t do that on weekdays”

“It’s a Saturday.”

“It was Friday when I got here.”

Adrian laughs. “It’s, like, half-past three.”

When you check your watch it is indeed almost four o’clock. Very few people are left with you in the bar.

“That’s too bad then. It’s almost last call.”

You still feel restless. You don’t think it’ll wear off any time soon.

Adrian looks at you and you look at him and maybe there’s more to that than a kindred understanding between the both of you.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

“Didn’t you say you usually hang out here with Chris?”

“Shh! I’m trying to make new memories here with you.”

You fight back the urge to smile, but your resistance makes your pout feel awkward. Adrian isn’t looking at your strange display, thankfully, since he’s busy preparing your guns and setting up new targets. You don’t know how much time Adrian dedicated to pick literal garbage and transfer them to a half-decent practice shooting rig in the woods. A third of them look like they could be his old furniture.

Then it hits you. He goes here with Chris. He probably set this up all for Chris over the years. It’s… painfully congenial. You almost can’t believe he brought you here.

But he did. You still can’t decide what to feel about that.

He hands you a loaded gun, and lets you put on your own protective eye and ear gear. The gun is a familiar weight in your hands, having been vigorously trained as an ARGUS field agent. You sigh. You guess you never expected to practice shooting trash to get some things out of your system.

You glance over to Adrian, who you assume is waiting for you to cue either of you to start. You tilt your head towards his direction, prompting him. Wordlessly, he raises his arms and shoots.

The two of you are deep enough in the forest to remain undetected despite the ringing of gunshots in the air and bullets taking aim. Weird shit happens in Evergreen. Here’s to hoping civilians won’t get this place investigated (not that there are much cops anymore, considering—well, the butterfly situation).

Something shiny and metallic catches your eye, and you drop the gun by your feet. Adrian stops shooting, and he asks you something your mind is too clouded to hear.

The golf bat feels cool on your palms. You clench them, and you start fucking swinging.

Wood, plastic, ceramic, glass—nothing is safe from the onslaught of whatever the hell you’re doing. You’re certain you’ve nicked the soft spots between your knuckles, but all you could focus on is getting this bitter frenzy to quell.

Somewhere along the way, you start screaming. Somewhere along the way, Adrian does too. For all the violence he’s causing, he doesn’t look like Vigilante. He’s still Adrian. Sensitive and hurt Adrian.

It’s probably stupid to open your mouth while actively destroying things in melee range. It is stupid. You’re on your knees and you feel stupid and numb and everything feels so real yet not at the same time. You hope you're dreaming.

Except Adrian sits behind you, entering your silence. He’s real—the sweat on his philtrum catches the light of the breaking dawn and you’re both awfully real.

“Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course,” he says seriously.

“I imagined Chris’ face when I broke those.”

There’s a beat of silence until he speaks up softly.

“I don’t want to beat up Harcourt. Or even think about it. I’m gonna be scared she’ll know what I thought about her and beat me up in retaliation.”

Oh Christ, that’s quite the visual. She’d probably rather fight him on equal grounds, though. Laughter crawls out of your throat like a stranger, and you realize it’s the first you’ve had in a while.

“Hey, I made you laugh! That’s so cool. Usually you just snort. Like some cool kid who’s too cool to pay any sort of attention to the nerd.”

“I think you’re pretty cool yourself.”

He beams, “You do?”

“Yeah.” You sigh, and you find that it’s not out of exasperation. “Yeah, I do.”

#acweek22 #peacemaker #my writing #adrian chase #adrian chase/reader #adrian chase x reader #vigilante/reader #vigilante x reader

[maid-of-the-golden-deer]

what i want from peacemaker season 2:

more solid examples of chris putting his money where his mouth is re: his changes. we get some, but obviously it was a short show, so i wanna see him do More, and not just revert back for comedy. maybe some clenched teeth apologies, maybe some rick flag family drama. now that his dad is gone, he needs to start his journey in earnest

more of leota's personal life and history. how did she avoid working with her mother for so long? how did she learn what her mother was doing was wrong? more about her and keeya too, background wife characters deserve justice lmao. some "the call of her new special agent life vs the comfort and security of her old life" would be pretty juicy too

vigilante coming into more serious conflict with chris. the ending montage alludes to their relationship remaining in status quo and imo thats not good enough. either adrian starts on his own "maybe... murder...sometimes Bad arc" (tho ideally without it being too either demonizing or infantilizing) or he and chris need to have a falling out. ideally both, so they come back together as proper equals

some murn backstory might be nice

less economos fat jokes. was one of the shows biggest drags. i understand they mostly came out of the mouths of the shows two amoral assholes but it felt like they wanted you, the audience, to laugh at them too. a touch more backstory for him too please

i dont like how harcourt just went to be a prison warden in black adam (despite otherwise liking the film). that cant be retconned away but seeing her properly disillusioned with the whole system might be nice

depending on where gunn takes the dceu i wanna see them do some properly rebellion againt argus and waller. i wanna see them undermine her orders, maybe get the chip out of chris's head. some fugitive action might mean we get to see a broader scope of locations which would be cool

not expanding the cast needlessly. one or two characters, or maybe fleshing out judomaster and making him a main. id rather they hone who we have into more fully roundes characters and build on prexisting dynamics

last but not least, ofc, more eagley

#peacemaker #dc #dceu #chris smith #adrian chase #leota adebayo #emilia harcourt #the other characters i dont get deep enough into go tag