#this was much longer i had to cut it down for legibility | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mysticmunson · 1 year

Note

can we have a blurb about reader returning to school and being cornered by jason? 🙃

so funny enough i almost wrote this in the original post but i decided not to last minute so this is perfect. i hope you enjoy this darling! i wrote this in one sitting so just let me know if i fucked something up lol.

tw: language, a/o/b dynamics, unwarranted touching (not assault)

word count: 2.1k

Waking up just as the sun peeked behind the huge oak trees in the yard, you woke to an empty bed for the first time in days, Eddie returning to his place before you both made your return to school.

Nerves had kept you tossing and turning, wondering who knew or who would notice. You felt different, physically and mentally, and when Eddie came back from presenting, most figured it out, although an alpha’s transformation is more drastic visually.

The warmth of your sheets comforted you as you stared at the popcorn ceiling, making shapes from the ridges. The birds outside chirped to each other, rustling by and landing on a branch. Your smile at the peaceful scene was cut short by your alarm clock, jumping out of your skin before slamming it to snooze.

Applying makeup with shaky hands and putting on a blue, cotton dress with sneakers, you tried to regulate your fears before they got the best of you. Grabbing a snack on your way out, you took a long exhale once on the opposing side of your front door, wishing you could hide for a bit longer.

Your stride gained momentum as you neared Hawkins High, grateful to see Robin being dropped off by Steve, rolling her eyes at something he said from the inside of his BMW. She caught your gaze and let a grin spread across her freckled cheeks, signaling you over as Steve drove away.

“Hi Rob, thanks for your help last week.” You said as you approached her, feeling blood flood to your cheeks at your compromised state. She snorted, swinging an arm around your shoulder, her jean jacket rubbing against your bare arm.

“Anytime, just owe me a movie night this week since it didn’t happen on Friday.” She compromised, making you laugh and agree, knowing she didn’t say this with accusation. The tiled halls were bustling with students, not taking much note of who was coming in and out of the doorway.

Thankful for the busyness, you felt a significant weight being lifted from your shoulders, but still kept your eye out for Eddie. He was notoriously late, so you figured it would be awhile till he returned.

Robin rambled about her movie night with Steve and how he hogged the popcorn and burnt it, something you always managed not to do. As she continued her rant, you saw a quick glance of a basketball player whose name you couldn’t recall. He quickly disappeared into the sea of teenagers.

Trying to shake it off, you figured it was awkward eye contact, knowing you usually cowered away with awkwardness yourself at that. You bid goodbye to Robin as you entered your first period, taking a seat at the end of the middle section, attempting to garner as little attention as possible.

As class went on, you could feel sets of eyes lingering longer than usual, blaming it on your heightened nerves and that it would all calm down soon enough. The math equations scribbled in your notebook were barely legible, foot bouncing beneath your metal seat until the first bell rang.

Grabbing your bag, you took one step out the door until a hand grabbed you, yanking you into their chest. While the action startled you, the recognition was instant as you saw his curls, smelled his potent aura, and the lips pressed to your cheek.

“Hey pretty girl.” Eddie greeted, intertwining your fingers as you both descended down the hall. He was in an Ozzy Osbourne tour shirt from ‘84, a pair of black ripped jeans, and bracelets on his wrists with one dangling cross earring in his right ear. You wanted to bite him.

“Hi Eds.” You smiled, quickly wrinkling your nose, “Did you skip first period?” Your question made him scoff, shooting air as if he couldn’t care less. While you did care about his education and making sure he graduated this year, you both knew this past week was eventful to say the least.

Forcing glares to anyone giving less than a smile or not looking at all, Eddie was on high alert with you on his arm, his chest puffing in authoritative nature. He had the urge to stay by you in every class, but knew the teachers would either give him detention or kick him out.

So he dropped you off at every class, racing back when class finished to repeat the action. The only time he didn’t was when they were going to lunch as the cafeteria was right between both rooms, a bit of distance between it.

The fluorescent lights felt more intense as your exhaustion settled, rubbing your upper brow as another scientific theory was explained poorly by the P.E. teacher who was brought in to substitute. As he began to describe Newton’s laws, the bell signaled lunch, your stomach grumbling as if on cue.

Filing in with the array of overly energized underclassmen and chronically stressed upperclassmen, you went in the direction of the lunch room until someone called your name. Walking to the side to fully turn around, you didn’t see anyone looking your way besides for quick glances, making your brows furrow. As soon as your back turned, you heard it again, this time closer until a majority of the students were down the walkway, getting their daily dose of cold meatloaf.

“Well hi there sweetheart.” You heard a chilling voice, not belonging to the one shouting your name previously, only to notice Jason and two of his teammates beside him. Their looks made you feel two feet tall, biting the inside of your lip to avoid crying which made you even more frustrated.

The influx of emotions were too much, if this would’ve happened weeks ago, you’d just walked away with no comment. However, your feet now felt cemented in place as he loomed over you, a few strands of his blonde hair falling out of place.

His friend backed away, continuing a conversation aside from you as Jason smiled, leaning against the lockers beside you. His eyes sparkled with mischievousness, unable to read his direct intentions.

“So a little birdie told me you had a life changing weekend…” He trailed off, his fingers trailing against your elbow, “I could take care of you, would never have to lift a finger or be scared ever again. I would keep you safe.”

Swallowing the lump building in your throat, you could only muster up a whisper, barely recognizing your voice. “Eddie takes care of me.”

This made him chuckle, rolling his eyes as he grabbed your arm lightly, his golden skin warm against your tricep. His rough fingers brushed against your dainty dress, feeling much too thin at the moment, making the tears come to your waterline.

“I could truly take care of you, want you to be my omega,” He cooed, his free hand catching the stray tear, “No need to cry, I’ve got you. I’ll drive you home today.”

As he finished his sentence, you felt your feet be lifted from the figurative quicksand, turning on your heels. A burn blossomed within your ribcage providing you a shortness of breath as you wiped away the dampness on your cheeks. Breezing through the now empty lunch line, you bought a lemonade and treat from the end cart, the older woman giving you a look. One that meant you better eat something better tomorrow, you smiled at her in appreciation, knowing her for years.

Eddie was looking amongst the crowd before he met your sight, shoulders relaxing visibly as you walked to him, sitting at the seat saved beside him. The boys of Hellfire gave you a kind smile and a hi before going back to their campaign talk.

“Where’s your lunch?” Eddie questioned as you popped open the plastic covering the small rice krispy treat. You shrugged, taking a bite of the sugary snack as Eddie began quietly reminding you how important it was for you to eat well, particularly after heats.

The anxiety didn’t leave as you took a sip of your drink, nearly choking on it as you saw the basketball team sitting at their typical table, including their MVP. His touch taunted you, his voice grating as he spewed false promises, but nothing felt worse than seeing his false smile and almost trusting him.

You didn’t like Jason, but the nature aspect of alphas and omegas was irrefutable in the beginning stages. He was telling you what you wanted to hear, things Eddie didn’t have to directly vocalize because you already knew he was your alpha, knowing he would provide for you.

“What’s wrong? You’re scared.” Eddie interjected your psychoanalysis as you twisted a sticky piece of puffed rice in between your fingertips. Shaking your head, you tried listening to Gareth describing their next attack, but Eddie reigned you back in.

“Hey, talk to me, please.” He whispered, his hand grabbing your knee in a comforting manner, the best feeling you had experienced all day. Yet the whiplash of feelings made the tears resurface, opening your lips to speak before clamping them shut and scurrying out of the lunch room.

You didn’t look back as you went straight to the parking lot, inhaling the fresh air intensely as if you hadn’t breathed in a minute. The sound of sneakers followed behind you, feeling Eddie behind you mentally until his hand reached your lower back.

“It’s nothing.” You muttered, wiping your black stained tears, sniffling. It was naive to believe you could hide things from each other anymore as every interaction was more intense than the last, feeling your bodies mush into one cohesive response system.

He didn’t need to edge you on, only raising his eyebrows and staring down at you. Damn those soft, brown eyes that always made you melt, enticing you with every blink. He hugged you close to his chest, hearing his heartbeat evenly.

“Jason talked to me in the hallway,” His body instinctively tensed, “S-said he wanted to be my alpha, drive me home, and take care of me. I don’t want that, you’re my alpha.” Nuzzling deeper against his band tee, his jaw clenched in an attempt to reign in his anger.

“He’s not going to lay a hand on you, baby doll, but let me pay him a visit.”

The final bell rang to signal everyone out for the day, escaping as fast as you could for the gravel filled parking lot. You waited near the steps for Eddie as cars sped off, blasting the newest Billy Joel or Soft Cell record, much different from your alpha’s taste.

Peace only lasted so long though as Jason drove around the road, looping back to pull up in front of you. His car purred to a stop, hopping out and pushing his sunglasses to his hairline.

The green letterman jacket on his arms squeaked as he outstretched his arms, waiting for you to come closer until he saw your hesitation, sauntering a few inches closer. His breath fanned against your face, tickling your lower lashes to make you blink harshly.

“You have two seconds to back the fuck off, Carver.” Eddie all, but growled at the shorter man before him, leaving the double doors a foot behind you.

Anger was laced with every word as his disdain for the spoiled rich kid interfered with his newfound alpha protectiveness. His knuckles cracked as they clenched at his sides, only opening a hand to push you behind his frame.

“How about you learn to treat your girl right-” Jason began until Eddie grabbed him by the collar, lifting him from the ground.

While they both were newfound alphas, having an omega meant enhanced results, like an increase in strength. He saw the flash of fear in his light colored eyes, making his brain produce serotonin.

“Say one more thing to her and you’ll never speak again or be able to have children, got it?” He ordered, watching as the boy in his grasp rolled his eyes before he slammed his body into his car, grunting in pain.

“Eddie, please.” You begged softly, not wanting to risk suspension or a crowd of people who couldn’t give less of a shit of his well being. Thankfully Jason nodded, making Eddie release his firm grasp before walking you back to his van.

The ride was quiet as he drove down the winding roads of Indiana, the leaves going from green to orange, some scattering the ground. His hand rested on your upper thigh, tight as if you would vanish right beneath him. A part of him feared you would really leave him for Jason, someone who could take care of you financially and not have the town's eyes on them in a negative light.

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving you, handsome.” You spoke as if to his thoughts as he smiled, eyes still trained on the black road before him, lifting your hand to put a gentle kiss on your soft skin.

792 notes · View notes

laundrybiscuits · 1 year

Text

(Hanahaki AU tag)

They pull out of the parking lot in a kind of nearly-comfortable silence, the radio crackling with some Heart song. It’s not Eddie’s favorite, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Madonna or the Bee Gees, so he finds himself humming along. He drums on the steering wheel a little, letting the I-43 take up all of his conscious mind for a spell.

The road curves, and they’re out of the suburban sprawl, nothing but scrubby green trees and long gray warehouses on either side; it’s a straight shot all the way to the hazy hills on the horizon. Eddie takes a deep breath, and it’s like his lungs are expanding all the way up to the sky, like he can breathe in the slick blue heavens and the road dust being kicked up in their wake all at once, like the whole sun-baked world is flowing through him.

It’s a beautiful day, he thinks, and then scoffs at himself, at how mundane a thought it is. This could be—this is the last summer he’s ever gonna see. Every day had better be fucking beautiful. He’ll wring the beauty out of the world with his last breath.

———

They get far enough out, eventually, that the wildlife starts to look a little different. Eddie’s gotten a lot better at identifying Indiana wildflowers over the last few weeks, but he’s seeing more and more stuff he doesn’t recognize. He always sees black-eyed susans before too long, though. Seems like they grow wild pretty much everywhere he looks, like they’re following him around or something. He doesn’t stop to pick any more, even though the ones in the van—the ones not coated in spit and bile—are starting to get a little funky. It was such a dumb idea to have them around, like that would help at all.

They stop for the night in Salt Lake at a motel for once, because they really can’t go too much longer without showering, and Eddie chucks out whatever plant matter he can find in the van. Maybe he’s ruining the local ecosystem or something, but he doesn’t care.

Steve helps. He’s obviously a little bemused by this development, but he doesn't ask any questions, just fishes rotting stems out of the footwells before they head over to reception.

The woman behind the desk is probably thirty or so, with a dirty blonde ponytail and an ankle-length skirt; she looks deeply unimpressed with two grubby young men showing up in a beater van around sunset. Too late, Eddie thinks he probably should've sent Steve in alone to work whatever vestiges of charm have survived through the funk of having slept in a van for the last few nights. Even in a pretty innocuous t-shirt, faded enough that the ACCEPT logo and tour dates are barely legible, disreputability wafts off Eddie. The long hair, the visible tattoos, and something indefinably Munson is more than enough to make the clerk's face twist like a skunk just wandered in through the door.

"Hi," says Steve, bright and oblivious, somehow coming across as clean-cut country club despite the stubble growing in. Definitely should've sent him in solo. "Can we get a room? Two queens, if you've got 'em."

The clerk looks them up and down, taking her time about it. "You boys know where you are?"

"...Salt Lake City?" Steve looks adorably confused. "We're just passing through, ma'am."

"Might be worth passing a little faster. We don't have any vacancies right now."

Steve very obviously leans back to glance at the lit VACANCY sign outside and the utter dearth of other vehicles in the lot. "What, seriously?"

"Sign's broken," she says, cool as ice.

Eddie rubs at the bridge of his nose and pushes in, leaning his elbows on the counter. "Listen, lady, we're just. Two pals on a little roadtrip through these great United States, trying to see some nature and shit, okay? We just want a couple beds for the night, that’s all. Not looking for any trouble.”

He sees the instant the penny drops for Steve, because Steve’s face goes all flushed and scandalized and kinda mad. Eddie kicks his ankle, hard, so Steve doesn’t get all bitchy about it.

The clerk can’t be more than ten or fifteen years older than them, but she sniffs like she’s some kind of embittered dowager empress.

“Maybe I can find something,” she says. “But I hear even one single complaint, you two are out. No refunds.”

"Copy that, yep, won't be anything to hear." Eddie counts out the cash quick before she changes her mind, and steers Steve back out by the shoulder, nice and neutral.

"What the hell was that?" Steve bursts out as soon as they clear the door. "What was—"

Eddie drops his hand from Steve's shoulder and squints at the chipped number on the keychain. "You see a Room 5 around here anywhere?"

"Eddie."

"Steve."

"I'm serious."

"So'm I. Gotta pull the van around once we find it."

Steve subsides grumpily, folding his arms and peering around in the growing dusk for the door numbers. The lingering glow of the blood-orange horizon picks out the contours of his face in a hundred warm caresses, brushing copper along his cheekbones and igniting molten honey in the depths of his eyes.

Eddie will say this for Utah: it sure does have some pretty sunsets.

#hey y'all!! I've been in amsterdam getting extremely high and wandering around museums for the last 10 days instead of writing #can't help but feel that eddie would approve #but I am BACK and SOBER and hence: snippet #SLC setting is bc I was traveling with a friend from there #I spent a couple evenings sneakily trying to get him to describe the vibe of the place without letting on what I wanted to know for #it was not incredibly successful #Hanahaki AU #steddie

55 notes · View notes

a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all · 2 years

Text

The Truth About Revenge

Fandom: DC, Peacemaker, Vigilante, Adrian Chase, f!reader, Flag!reader

Word Count: 9640

TW: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Loss, Mentions of Death, Revenge, Guns, Excessive Drinking, Explicit Language, Kissing, Implied Sex

Note: Thank you to the anon who requested a fic with Vigilante x Flag!Reader 💖 and SPOILERS FOR THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021)

Groaning, you reached out and slammed the snooze button on your alarm clock, silencing the high-pitched beeping. Your head throbbed painfully as you cursed yourself for having that fifth shot last night and you swore to yourself for the third time that week you would cut back on drinking. Though, if you were being honest with yourself, you knew you were probably going to get a beer as soon as you mustered the energy to drag yourself from bed.

As you tried rolling over, you felt a weird pain in your chest. Glancing down, you realized you must have been laying weird last night because the dog tags you had placed around your neck before passing out had dug themselves painfully into your chest. Peeling them away from your skin carefully, you could see the barely legible words now imprinted on your skin, though the last name was clear as day: Flag.

Lifting the chain over your head, you gently placed a kiss against the cold metal before setting it in the drawer of your bedside table just like you did every morning. The tags might not have been the set he had been wearing when he died (those, like his body, had never been recovered from the rubble of Jotunheim), but it was all you had left of your brother, and they were a constant reminder of why you were here in Washington.

Practically falling out of bed, you stumbled over to the floor-length mirror propped against the far corner of your studio apartment. Ignoring your haggard appearance, you gazed at the imprinted tag just above your heart as you traced your fingers over the letters. “Soon, Rick. I’m so close. I just need a little more time, and then I’ll finally kill Peacemaker for you.”

Returning home from work to find two uniformed military officers waiting outside your apartment door had been the worst day of your life. You knew Rick’s job was dangerous, yet your older brother had always seemed invincible. Even when he would come to see you after a difficult mission, banged up, bruised, and bloodied, he always gave you that same small smile, pulled you into a hug, and told you ‘he wasn’t goin’ anywhere’. But he lied. There would be no more hugs, no more smiles, no more random gifts he would snag from the exotic locations he had been to, no more calls at all hours of the day or night when he would find time to contact you, no more telling you incredible stories of the things he did or hilarious tales of the Squad’s latest antics. There would be no more Rick.

And then, just when you didn’t think the news could get any worse, you were told he had been stripped of all honors and benefits he had earned during his career due to the manner of his death. According to the official report, Colonel Richard Montgomery Flag Jr. had gone rogue and threatened the safety and peace of the United States of America, and one of the members of his squad was forced to terminate him before he could carry out his plan. But you refused to believe it. Rick had dreamed of being a soldier just like your dad for longer than you could even remember. He always said he would live and die for this country, but now that he had, his country seemed to have turned its back on him.

For weeks, you had wallowed in your grief, barely able to find the strength to drag yourself from your bed. But then one day, there was an incessant knock at your door that refused to stop no matter how much you ignored it or told it to go away. Finally relenting, you staggered towards the door, nearly empty whiskey bottle still in your hand, and threw it open without even bothering to see who it was. You were absolutely shocked when you recognized the perky blonde and ex-soldier turned mercenary. “Harley? Dubois?”

Rick had taken you to meet a few special members of his team a couple of times, Harley Quinn being one of the most frequent. You could tell Rick had come to view her as a friend and had developed a soft spot for her even if he would never admit it. And even when he would come to visit you, the conversation would eventually turn to some of her crazy antics or latest escapades. You didn’t think there was more to their relationship than friendship, but it honestly wouldn’t have come as a surprise to find out they had been more than friends and colleagues.

Dubois you remembered vaguely from when he served on special forces with Rick when you were younger. You had only met him once or twice along with a group of Rick’s military buddies, but he was a difficult man to forget. Especially when you found out, years later, he had become the paid assassin known as Bloodsport. Rick had been stunned to learn of his friend’s turn to a life of crime, but he had mentioned just before he left on his last mission that Dubois had recently arrived at Belle Reve and Rick had recommended him for Task Force X.

You could instantly see by their faces they were appalled by the state they found you in: your hair and skin greasy and reeking from not taking a shower in over a week, your frame thin and sunken from hardly consuming more than booze since you had received the news of Rick’s death, stumbling slightly as you were still half-drunk from the night before. And for the first time, you felt ashamed. This wasn’t how Rick would have wanted you to mourn him. In fact, he would be horrified and disappointed at the way you were acting. He had taught you to be better than this. And as you stood before his friends in the clothes you had been wearing for the past five days, reeking of alcohol and BO, you could only hang your head in shame.

But Harley had ignored all of that as she wordlessly gathered you into her arms. And for the first time since you got the news of your brother’s death, you felt like you weren’t truly alone.

Harley and Dubois helped straighten up your apartment while they told you what they knew about what really happened to Rick. That they had found evidence that proved the US government was doing shady, illegal things down in Corto Maltese which included the torture, experimentation, and killing of children. It had been too much for Rick to swallow and so, he had decided to expose the truth. Hearing this made your chest ache even more than it already had. Rick once told you that he had the hardest time on missions where kids were involved because whenever he looked at them, all he saw was you and what could have happened if he hadn’t been there to protect you when you were growing up. So, in a way, he did what he did because of you….

Neither of them had been there when Rick had been killed but one of the other members of the squad, Cleo, had witnessed Rick’s last moments. She had a hard time talking about what she saw but from what they were able to get from her it seemed that Rick and yet another team member had disagreed about sharing the drive and they both fought over it. And the other man killed Rick to silence him. Cleo would never say how he was killed, but she was positive he did not survive. All because of this other man: Peacemaker.

The irony of the name sent you into a tipsy fit of giggles that quickly morphed into chest-rattling sobs. Harley had once again held you, but this time, the embrace felt hollow. It didn’t give you that same reassurance it had the first time. Instead, you felt a cold, numbing ache in your chest, and as much as you appreciated Harley trying to warm it, at that moment all you wanted was another drink.

Dubois had just stared at you, a strange, unreadable expression on his face. You knew from Rick that he had a daughter about the same age you had been the last time you had seen Dubois, and you wondered if he was thinking of that. Slowly, he had walked over to you and placed a hand on your shoulder as he explained that he had shot Peacemaker in the neck. That everyone assumed Rick’s killer was dead. Yet, last week, they had heard a rumor that somehow that son of a bitch had survived. Together they had tracked down the lead and found he was indeed in a hospital in Evergreen, Washington, alive and in stable condition. The two of them thought you deserved to know he had survived and that, based on the government agents hovering outside his room and the accusations against Rick, it was doubtful he was going to be punished for what he did. Under normal circumstances, Dubois would have gone in, guns blazing, and finished the job, consequences be damned. However,… after Corto Maltese he had actually gotten to a good place with his daughter again, and he couldn’t do that to her.

You understood and you told him so, but he had still seemed upset about it. But honestly, you weren’t. Because from the moment you heard Peacemaker was still alive, you had seen it as a blessing. It meant you got to be the one who pulled the trigger.

It had taken you two months of planning before you first stepped foot in Evergreen, but by that time, you had learned everything you needed to about the man who killed your brother and the team he was now working with. The name Rick Flag still held a lot of weight and he had had friends in high places who had owed him some favors, and you had cashed in every one of them. Armed with this information, a fresh dye job, colored contacts, a fake id, and a flat accent to hide your Southern twang, you had rented a small studio apartment just down the street from a certain chain restaurant in town. During your research, you had been delighted to discover that one of Peacemaker’s best friends had been this dorky goof of a busboy that you felt you could easily manipulate to get closer to “Chris”. Sure, you knew that he was also the merciless killer known as Vigilante, but from what you could tell, the man behind the mask was an easy target for your plan. From your very first trip to Fennel Fields, it was clear Adrian Chase was your in. After only one or two meetings, he asked you out and the two of you were soon dating. Within no time, you had Adrian wrapped around your finger and he didn’t suspect a thing.

It hadn’t taken long for you to “accidentally” discover his secret other life. He had denied it at first, but he quickly caved and told you everything. And soon, this led to him introducing you to the rest of the 11th Street Kids. You had been extremely nervous the first time you had met them since you knew Harcourt and Economos used to work with your brother. Rick confessed one time that he always kept a framed photo of you, your mom, and him together on his desk. It obviously had to be years old since it was before your mom had died, but there was always a chance one of them might recognize you or note the resemblance between you and your brother.

However, the alterations you had made to your appearance seemed to be enough to fool them. You had no doubt that Economos was completely clueless about your true identity, and while you had caught Harcourt staring at you strangely a few times, you were fairly certain she hadn’t put the pieces together. You had been pleasantly pleased with yourself until Peacemaker had walked in.

That night was the first time you had come face-to-face with the man who killed your brother. It felt like the world froze and dimmed around you until all you could see was Peacemaker. The man who destroyed your entire life, stole the person you loved most in this world from you, and here he was just walking around like it didn’t matter. Yet at that moment, to you, it was the only thing that mattered. When Adrian introduced you, and as Peacemaker had taken your hand in his massive one, it took everything in you not to blow the entire plan right then and there. But somehow you managed to bite your tongue and give him a terse smile. And as time went on, it never became easy being in the same room as Peacemaker, yet nothing would ever be as horrible as that first meeting.

It was a slow con, but one that was working exactly as expected. However, Adrian was the one wrench in your plan that you hadn’t anticipated. Sure, he was the perfect pawn in your plan, but what you hadn’t predicted was how much you had grown to like him. He was ridiculous and not clueless and had the weirdest moral code you had ever seen, but he was also sweet, and funny, and fiercely loyal. Lately, when he would give you his infectious smile, you felt your heart momentarily skip a beat. And every night as you slipped into sleep in the middle of your drunken stupor, Rick and your vengeance were no longer the last thought on your mind. Instead, they had been replaced by a pair of wire glasses and a head of soft curls.

But it wasn’t supposed to be like that. He was only supposed to be your foot in the door, a way to get close to Peacemaker. Your relationship was only supposed to be real for him, not for you. Yet now, it had come to mean almost as much to you as your revenge. The thought of him finding out you had been lying to him, that you had been using him, left a foul taste in your mouth. In fact, the first time the two of you had slept together, afterward you had slipped into the bathroom and burst into tears from the knowledge that you loved him so much yet for your plan to succeed, you were going to break his heart. Because as much as you didn’t want to hurt him, you saw no other way of getting vengeance for your brother.

A knock at your front door stirred you from your thoughts. You were still just in your stained tank top and pair of Adrian’s boxers that had somehow found their way into your laundry, but you only ever had one visitor and he wouldn’t mind what you were wearing.

Quickly crossing the room, you opened the door and leaned on the frame with a smile. “Hey, Adrian! I wasn’t expecting to see you this early.”

He sighed as he pushed his way into the apartment. “Yeah, well, I was expecting to see you earlier. It’s already three-forty in the afternoon.”

Catching sight of what he was wearing, it all suddenly came flooding back to you. “Oh, fuck! I was supposed to meet you after your shift! I’m so sorry!”

“I thought maybe you would just be running a little late, but you haven’t even gotten dressed yet. Did you just get out of bed?”

You hung your head. But suddenly you realized the imprint of Rick’s dog tag was still faintly visible just above the low neckline of your stained tank top. Quickly grabbing your crumpled sweater from the floor where you had flung it last night, you yanked it over your head, successfully hiding your secret.

Turning back to Adrian, you mumbled, “Yeah, I guess after all the fun from last night, I hit the snooze button a few more times than I realized.”

He shook his head. “I knew this was going to happen. I guess I should even be surprised you’re awake now. What’s the last thing you remember from last night?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know…. downing that 5th shot?”

“Well, you had three more after that. Then you got us kicked out when you started a fight because they wouldn’t serve you another one. Plus, you threw up in the Vigilantemobile while I was trying to get you home!”

You dropped heavily onto the foot of your bed and buried your face in your hands. “Ah, shit. Hey, I’m so sorry, baby. I guess I went a little too far last night.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Adrian scoffed. But then he came over and sat down gently next to you on your bed. After sitting in silence for a moment, he nudged you softly. “Look, I’m not trying to judge or pry or anything but what’s going on with you? I mean, I know you’ve always liked to drink. A lot. But lately…. You’re kind of starting to scare me a little.”

“I know,” your voice was muffled by your hands. “I know I need to stop but I’m still trying to get over some stuff that happened before I moved here. At first, the drinking helped me forget. Then it started taking more and more before the memories faded. And now… even when I blackout, I remember.”

Adrian grabbed your shoulders and turned you so you were facing him. “Babe, did someone hurt you? Just tell me who, and I’ll take care of them. No one hurts you like this and gets away with it!”

If only you knew what you were offering, you thought sadly. But you just gave him a small smile as you cupped his cheek. “Thank you, baby, but it’s something I have to handle myself. I know I haven’t exactly been the most forthcoming about my past, but one day soon I’ll tell you everything. I promise. I just… I just need a little more time.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t want to pressure you, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” He wrapped his arms around you, and you rested your head against his shoulder. The smell of grease and dishwashing soap still clung to his skin from work, but you had almost come to like the combination after all this time together. It was so Adrian and it eased some of the tension you had been feeling since he had arrived.

Still keeping your head resting on him, you asked, “I know it is later than planned, but do you still want to do something?”

“Ah man, you know I do. But I’m supposed to meet up with the team tonight to go over a few things for a possible new mission. That’s why we said we would do a late lunch date today instead of dinner.”

You sighed. “I forgot. I’m sorry I ruined everything. I know how much you have going on between work, the team, …. Chris.”

It still made you sick to your stomach every time you had to refer to the man who killed your brother as “Chris”. Whenever you had been invited to hang out with the 11th Street Kids and Keeya, you tried to force a smile and put on a show of acting like you were happy to be there but the whole time you were fuming inside. How could this man kill Rick and yet still be out partying and having fun as if he hadn’t absolutely destroyed your world? He was one of the reasons you had drank so much the night before. Whenever Peacemaker joined you and Adrian for the night, your alcohol consumption tripled.

But, of course, Adrian couldn’t know any of this. He did occasionally notice the tension in your jaw or fury in your eye when Peacemaker was around, but he just assumed you weren’t a big fan of his friend. However, that just made him try and get you two to bond more which was starting to become pure agony at this point. Being so close to the target of your hatred, knowing all it would take was one bullet to end him once and for all, but not being able to while in such crowded spaces….. you didn’t know how much longer you could deal with it.

Adrian seemed to notice the shift in your demeanor, because he quickly said, “Listen, I can tell them I can’t make it tonight. We could go out to dinner after all.”

“No, I know the work you are doing with the 11th Street Kids is important and you are a really valuable part of their team.” Adrian blushed slightly as he ducked his head. You smiled softly as you continued, “This is my fault today got all messed up. But then tomorrow you have a late shift and Friday is your weekly training night with Chris. So, I’m just a little disappointed I won’t get to see you much for the next few days.”

Adrian’s head shot up. “Oh! I forgot to tell you! I talked to Chris and he agreed to let you watch us train this week!”

You slowly lifted your head from Adrian’s shoulder and looked deeply into his eyes. “He… what?”

“Well, I know you asked about seeing me in action,” he awkwardly tried to wink at you behind his large frames, and in any other circumstance you would have found it utterly adorable, but right now all you could focus on were his words. “So after a lot of begging and offering to do stuff for him, Chris said I could bring you to our training night this week! I thought it might be a good way for you two to get to know each other better too since it’ll just be you, me, and him alone all night. What do you think?”

What did you think? It was perfect! Adrian and Peacemaker trained in an old, abandoned gym on the outskirts of town. It was far enough away from anything else, no one would hear a gunshot ringing out in the middle of the night. You could finally kill Peacemaker and give Rick the peace he deserved!

You flung your arms around Adrian’s neck as you placed a huge kiss to his cheek. “What do I think? I think that sounds amazing, baby! Thank you!” You pushed him backward until his back hit the mattress. Then as you hovered over him, you bit your lip and ran your hands down his chest, “How much time do you have?”

Adrian gazed up at you in awe, “For this? I can be late.”

Grinning, you climbed onto the bed, kneeling so you straddled his hips before sitting down with your ass settling against his rapidly hardening length. Then in one fluid motion, you removed both your sweater and tank top and cast them once again to the floor, and thoughts of Rick's dog tags were quickly forgotten.

Two days later you stood outside the remnants of the abandoned gym, gazing at the front door you were unable to make yourself open. This was it. Within the hour, Peacemaker would be dead at your feet. And Adrian would know everything. This was the only thought keeping you from bursting through the doors and opening fire right then. Because as much as you needed Peacemaker dead, you needed Adrian too. He was the only thing that had kept you from completely falling apart the last few months and when you did this…. you weren’t sure how he was going to react. Not only were you about to kill his best friend, but you had also been lying to him about every part of yourself. Your name, where you came from, why you were here….. hell, even your appearance and accent were a lie! It wouldn’t surprise you if Adrian turned one of his own guns on you before the night was over. But maybe… that wouldn’t be the worst outcome.

You had been so focused on killing Peacemaker since the moment you found out he was still alive, that you never thought about what happened afterward. Would you be caught and sent to prison? How would the other 11th Street Kids react? If by some miracle you managed to slip away completely free, then what? How do you live your life knowing your brother was dead, you killed the man who murdered him, and destroyed the man you loved in the process? How could you live with that? But then again, how could you live if you just walked away now….

“Hey, babe. What are you doing out here? I thought I told you to just come right on in.” Adrian’s voice snapped you out of the theoretical spiral you had fallen into. Glancing up, you saw him poking his head out of the gym door, a befuddled expression on his face.

You gave him the most reassuring smile you could fake and said, “Oh, sorry! I was… thinking about something. But I’m ready now.”

Adrian offered you his hand, but instead of following him inside as you took it, you pulled him into you, smashing your lips into his. You could tell he was confused at the sudden embrace, but he quickly returned your affection. As you drew him in closer, your kiss became more frantic and passionate. It took everything in you to keep the tears from rolling down your cheeks as you silently said your goodbyes to the man you loved, knowing he would never touch you like this once the truth came out moments from now.

Finally, you were forced to break apart as you both took a deep breath of air. Adrian still seemed confused, but his gaze was also filled with such love that you almost drew him back into your lips. Yet, before you could, he took your hand once more and led you into the building.

The gym was probably really nice…. Once. But after so many years of Adrian and Peacemaker using it as their own personal training facility, the place looked like a war zone. The main room had bullet holes sprayed across the walls, and it looked like more than one explosion had gone off. Broken equipment and furniture were piled in one corner while the other contained a large display of weapons such as knives, guns, grenades, a flamethrower, and what looked suspiciously like a rocket launcher. They all ranged in size from beginner to “who the hell needs a weapon that big?!” and you started to wonder if this was really the best location to make your move.

But then Adrian led you into what was once probably a back office, and you came face-to-face with Peacemaker. When he saw you enter the room, he grunted and nodded half-heartedly. “Hey. So, Adrian said you wanted to come to watch us train?”

You swallowed hard, your eyes never flinching from the man in front of you. “Something like that. I’ve heard so many stories of the things you are capable of, I figured maybe it was my turn to see it in person.”

He shrugged, “Yeah, whatever. Just try not to get in the way. We have a ton of dangerous stuff here and I don’t need you to accidentally blow yourself up.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” you said coldly. “I can take care of myself.”

Adrian glanced at you quizzically as he tried to figure out what was wrong with you tonight, but then he said, “I’m going to go upstairs and get my suit. Will you guys be okay for a minute until I get back?”

“Yeah, of course.” You glanced quickly at Adrian and flashed him a small smile. “We’ll be fine. I- I love you, Adrian. Now, go.”

He nodded once, then turned and left the room. You closed your eyes for a moment to steel yourself, then opened them and turned to face the man who had taken everything from you. “So… I guess it was time we talked, alone and face ta face, Peacemaker.” You spit out the word like it was something rotten on your tongue. For the first time since arriving in Evergreen, you dropped the flat accent you had been using and let your Southern twang come through. “We’ve got somethin’ ta discuss.” Reaching into your bag, you pulled out your gun and pointed it directly at his head.

Peacemaker took a few steps backward in confusion. “What the hell? Are you insane? You’re going to hurt someone with that thing.”

“That’s the idea. Well, not hurt…. kill. But don’t worry, I know how ta handle a gun. My brother taught me before he died. Or should I say, before you killed him.” You pulled Rick’s dog tags out of your pocket where you had slipped them before leaving your apartment, and you threw them at his feet.

Glancing down at them, you watched as the realization of the situation slowly passed over Peacemaker’s face. “Wait….you’re the sister…” he whispered. “He talked about you on the mission, but I never thought-”

“What? That I would care that you killed him? That I would actually track you down and make you pay for what you did? What you took from me?” With every question, your voice seemed to rise an octave as you became more enraged and distraught. And each time, you took a step closer to him and he took a step back until he bumped against the wall.

Slowly raising his hands, Peacemaker said, “Look, I was just doing my job. He was going against his direct orders because he thought what he was doing was right. That it was better for the country to know the truth. But I had my own orders, and I couldn’t let that happen. It would have destroyed the peace of the nation. So…. he had to be stopped.”

“You can’t even say his name!” you roared. “It’s all ‘he’ and ‘him’ like he was just another target, just another name added ta your mile-long list. But not ta me! And I’m gonna make sure the name Flag matters ta you one way or another.” You jabbed the gun in Peacemaker’s direction and smirked happily when you saw him flinch.

“You don’t think what I did mattered to me?” Peacemaker asked. There was a slight tremor in his voice. “Sure, I’ve killed a lot of people. I mean, a lot of people. But they always deserved it. Or at least I thought they did. But not him. Not…. Rick Flag. He didn’t deserve what happened.”

“You’re right. He didn’t. But you deserve this.” You cocked the gun and your finger began to tighten around the trigger.

But just then, Adrian walked into the room carrying his Vigilante costume. He took one look at what was happening and asked, “Uh… babe? What’s going on?”

You hesitated. Adrian wasn’t supposed to be here for this. Sure, you knew he would have heard the gunshot and quickly realized what you had done, but that was a lot different than actually watching you blow his best friend’s head off.

Before you could figure out what to do, Peacemaker yelled, “Adrian, take her out! She’s not who you think she is. Her brother is the guy I killed on my last mission in jail. She’s been lying this whole time. You were just a way to get to me. She doesn’t care about you.”

Adrian turned to face you directly. “Is that true?”

Your eyes flicker away from Peacemaker for the first time since you drew your gun, and they briefly landed on Adrian’s heartbroken expression. “I’m sorry. I-I needed a way ta get close ta him and I thought…. I didn’t mean ta hurt you, but this was never about you.”

Adrian’s face crumpled even further as Peacemaker said, “See? Even her accent was fake. All she ever wanted was revenge for her brother’s death. You were just a pawn in her plan.”

“Shut up!” you screamed. “You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about!”

“Tell him I’m wrong. Tell him you didn’t start seeing him just because he was my friend. Tell him your revenge wasn’t more important than your relationship,” Peacemaker taunted.

“Are you forgettin’ I have a gun pointed at that pea-sized brain of yours?” you growled, before softening slightly as you cast the man you loved an apologetic look. “Adrian, I’m so sorry. But my brother needs to be avenged.”

Slowly edging closer to you, Adrian softly said, “Babe… don’t do this. Your brother wouldn’t want this for you.”

Whatever regret you had been feeling towards Adrian quickly shifted into rage at his words. “You didn’t know Rick. Don’t you dare try ta tell me what my brother would have wanted! No one will ever know that because he”- you jabbed the gun at Peacemaker – “took him away from me! Rick was more than a brother ta me. I was a baby when our dad was killed overseas, and Rick stepped up and took care of me and my mom. He was still just a kid himself, but it didn’t matter because that was the kind of selfless person he was. He helped my mom raise me my whole life. He was everythin’ ta me and Peacemaker killed him. So… I’m here ta kill Peacemaker.” You once again aimed the gun and took a step closer to your brother’s murderer. But Adrian stepped in-between the two of you, his hands raised in submission. You hesitated but didn’t lower the weapon or take your eyes off your target. “Adrian, get out of the way. I don’t want ta hurt you so don’t make me do somethin’ I’ll regret.”

“That’s what I’m trying to stop you from doing. Don’t do this. Not because of me or because of Chris. Don’t do this for you. Taking a life is not something you do without consequences, no matter how justified you feel in doing it.”

Your eyes shifted from Peacemaker as you stared at Adrian in disbelief. “What are you talkin’ about? You kill people all the time.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve killed hundreds of people and I am totally fine with that. But you aren’t me. You care too much to be able to live with this. Look at how much you care about your brother! I don’t care about a lot, but I care about you. I know you think this is what you want, what your brother would have wanted, but I don’t think either of those things are true. He wouldn’t want this to haunt you for the rest of your life. So, why don’t you hand me the gun, and we can pretend none of this ever happened.”

“But, I have ta do this. For Rick,” you repeated the mantra that had been fueling you for the past nine months but for the first time, you hesitated. Adrian was right. Rick wouldn’t have wanted this. Not for you. If Dubois had managed to kill Peacemaker back on Corto Maltese or Harley had been the one to track him down, maybe things would be different. But when it was you holding the gun, you about to pull the trigger, Rick would have done anything to stop you. He might have taught you to handle a gun so you knew how to protect yourself, but he had also been adamant that you stay away from the dangers, horrors, and bloodshed of his world.

This whole time, you had been focused on your vengeance that you had convinced yourself this was what Rick would have wanted. Revenge, justice. But those weren’t the same things. Killing Peacemaker wouldn’t bring Rick back. It wouldn’t restore his name or reputation. In fact, you would just be harming it more by killing a man in cold blood. Just another traitorous Flag going against the laws and well-being of the country. So, what would this really achieve?

And suddenly, everything fell into place. You weren’t angry. Well, a little bit, but that ache and tightness in your chest wasn’t a white-hot fire of vengeance and retribution you had thought it was. In reality, it was an ice-cold burning of pain and anguish. After your brother died, you were completely lost in your sorrow and grief. So, you had jumped at the first distraction that had been presented to you. The drinking, the planning, the need to keep busy every moment of every day, it wasn’t because you needed Peacemaker’s death. It was because you couldn’t accept Rick’s.

Your hand began to shake as your vision blurred through the tears forming in your eyes. You looked at Adrian, and in a quivering, uncertain voice whispered, “I have ta do this?”

Then, even as Peacemaker barked at him to stop, Adrian stepped forward until the muzzle of the gun was pressed against his chest. Placing his hand over your hand still wrapped firmly around the gun, he slowly lowered your arm as he said, “No. You don’t.”

It was the final straw. You broke into a sob, finally allowing the gun the clatter to the floor. As soon as it was no longer a threat, Adrian gathered you tightly into his arms. You buried your face into his shoulder as you allowed yourself to release all the sadness you had kept locked away for so long and you wailed, “I just want the pain ta stop. I just want my brother back.”

“I know, I know, babe. And I’m so sorry about that.” He ran his hand gently up and down your back. Then, you felt him jerk his head and you could tell Peacemaker was scurrying from the room. But you didn’t care about killing him anymore. In fact, you never really did. After all of this, it turned out that what you really needed was just to face your brother’s killer head-on and make sure he knew the pain he had caused you. And now you had.

Once you had calmed down enough, Adrian cautiously guided you out to his Sebring and he drove you to your apartment. The pair of you rode in complete silence as you stared out of the window, clutching Rick’s dog tags tightly to your chest. When you arrived, Adrian ran over to your car door and helped you out. You were almost in a trance as he led you up the stairs to your door. After all this time, all these months of planning, you had carried out your objective. And while it hadn’t gone as expected, it was still over with. Everything you had put your focus into, everything you had fixated on for every moment of the day, it was done. And you had no idea what happened next.

Adrian unlocked your apartment and carefully steered you inside before sitting you down on your couch. Then he knelt in front of you and gently took your hands, “Can I get you anything? A beer? A glass of whiskey? I know you always like your whiskey this time of night.”

Slowly, almost robotically, you shook your head. “I don’t think that would be the best thing for me right now.”

“Okay, well how about just water then? Or something to eat? I’m sure I can figure out how to make something. I don’t really cook, but do you have some bread, maybe?” He stared down at you with those big, innocent green eyes magnified somewhat through his glasses. His face was scrunched slightly as he tried to gauge how you were feeling, but it was the tenderness and care that you saw there that really broke your heart.

With a slight quiver in your voice, you asked, “Adrian, how can you still be so sweet and kind ta me after everythin’ I did? I lied ta you since the day we met. I used you. I tried ta kill your best friend! And yet, here you are actin' like nothin’s changed between us.”

Adrian shrugged. “Just because your feelings were a lie, doesn’t mean mine were. I still love you just as much as I always have, even if you don’t love me.”

The tears once again began streaming down your face. You finally let the dog tags tumble to the floor as you grabbed Adrian’s hand and pulled him onto the couch before throwing one leg across his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck, and burying your face into his shoulder. “Oh, baby. I do love you. So, much. I never planned on it, never meant for it ta happen, but you made it impossible not ta fall in love with you.” As you kept talking, you began placing kisses on his neck and jaw after each sentence. “You are so nice. And caring. And strong. And, you are the only person in the world I still care about.”

You leaned back and ran one hand up the side of his face and into his curls while you said, “I’m so sorry I lied and I used you. I just thought this was what I had ta do ta find peace with what happened to my brother. But you were right. Killin’ Peacemaker wouldn’t have brought Rick back, and I would have only felt worse afterward. You saved me from myself, and I can never repay you for that.”

You cupped the back of his neck and pulled him crashing into your lips. When he returned your level of enthusiasm, you rolled your hips into his lap causing him to moan into your mouth. You could feel his length already straining in his jeans and you broke off the kiss just long enough to whisper in his ear, “And while I might not ever be able ta repay you for what you did, tonight I’m gonna try.”

You woke up to something heavy pressing on your chest. Cracking one eye open, you smiled to see Adrian’s naked form, haphazardly covered with a blanket, sprawled out on the couch with you. From the angle you were laying, you could just make out his sleeping face behind his skewed glasses as he rested his head on your bare breasts. Reaching out, you ran your hand through his messy curls. He started, sitting up slightly. But when he realized what it was running through his hair, he gave you a goofy grin and settled back down.

You bent over and placed a soft kiss on the top of his head. “Good mornin’.”

“Morning,” he mumbled as he shifted slightly and almost fell off the couch. Luckily, he managed to catch himself right before he hit the floor.

You shook your head softly. “You realize my bed is only on the other side of the room. We could’ve moved over there last night.”

“I couldn’t wait that long. Had to take you here,” he muttered, still half-asleep. “ ‘sides, your bed is too soft.”

Brushing your lips across his ear, you whispered, “You never seem ta have that problem.”

Adrian giggled before turning his head and capturing your lips in a sleepy kiss. It was wet, and sloppy, and he had pretty terrible morning breath, but at that moment, you didn’t care. For the first time since you had found out about Rick’s death, you had slept through the night without a nightmare, without waking up screaming or crying, and it was all because of Adrian.

When Adrian finally broke away from the kiss, he hopped up and tugged on his boxers. Reaching blindly under the couch, you finally located your tank top and pulled it over your head. After repeating this process with your shorts, you looked up to see Adrian staring at you.

Softly, he asked, “How are you doing this morning? You know…. with everything that happened yesterday?”

You thought for a moment before slowly saying, “I’m…. okay. Honestly, I’m better than I thought I’d be. And that’s because of you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you yesterday. And I’m so glad you stopped me from doin’ somethin’ I would’ve regretted in the end. Then, the fact you forgave me for lyin’ ta you about who I was…. thank you, Adrian.” He began beaming brightly as you talked but somehow, you didn’t think it was because of what you said. You reached up to touch your cheek. “What? Do I have somethin’ on my face?”

“No, it’s just… I gotta say, I think the accent is adorable.”

The slight sense of relief you were feeling disappeared as you were reminded of just another thing you had lied to Adrian about. “I faked the other one ta just add one more layer ta my disguise.”

“What do you mean? Disguise?”

Motioning from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes, you said, “This isn’t the real me. It was just how I made myself look ta keep my identity a secret.” Standing up and walking over to your bedside table, pulled out a framed photo from the top drawer. After taking a long look at it, you handed it to Adrian. “This. This is the real me. And Rick. It was taken the last time he came ta visit, just a few days before he was shipped off ta Corto Maltese.”

Adrian stared at the photo in amazement. “Wow! You look so different.”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t sure who all would be here once I came or how much Rick might have told them about me. I didn’t want someone from his old team ta recognize me from a photo he might have shared so I dyed and cut my hair, got colored contacts, changed up my wardrobe, used a fake accent. And, uh, I lost a lot of weight right after Rick died because I wasn’t eatin’ or really takin’ care of myself too much so that also made my face look a little different. But, yeah, that’s who I was before all of this.”

Adrian traced a finger over the face of the person you once were. Then in a soft voice, he said, “You look so happy.”

You bowed your head. “I was.”

Adrian opened his mouth to say something else, but just then “Barbie Girl'' began to ring out from the floor. Quickly, he dove for his jeans still laying under the couch where he had hastily removed them last night. Fumbling with them, he finally managed to get ahold of his phone. As he squinted at the caller ID, his skin paled slightly, and he glanced up at you nervously. It was all the confirmation you needed to know who was calling. Silently, you nodded and he answered the phone. “Hey, dude. This really isn’t a great ti-…. I know but…. What? Really?.... Are you sure?......... I can ask but I don’t know-…… Yeah… yeah…. Okay, I’ll call you back.”

Hanging up the phone, Adrian looked at you hesitantly. “He wants to come over and talk.”

You shook your head adamantly. “I don’t wanna talk ta him.”

“Babe…” Adrian took a few steps closer to you and gently grabbed your arms from across your chest before sliding his hands down until they rested in yours. “He just wants five minutes. That’s it. He said he doesn’t blame you for what you were going to do but he wants to try and explain his side of things.”

“His side! He killed my brother! What other side is there?”

“That’s my point. Just listen to him for a few minutes, and then you never have to see him again. I think it would do you both good to just clear the air some. And maybe it will give you some answers you didn’t know you needed.”

He was right. After your realization last night, you were second-guessing everything you thought you felt or knew. So maybe hearing what Peacemaker had to say would help tame the chaos in your mind. Reluctantly, you nodded. Adrian smiled and lifted up his phone to call Peacemaker back, but you grabbed his wrist. As he looked back at you curiously, you whispered, “Will you stay with me? I don’t…. I don’t know if I’m strong enough ta do this by myself.”

Adrian cupped your face in his hand, and you leaned into it. “Babe, I wasn’t going anywhere. And while he’s here, whatever you need, just say the word. I’ll be by your side the entire time, I promise.”

You nodded as he pulled you tight against his chest once more. And as your tears dampened his bare skin, you silently thanked God, the universe, and anyone out there who was listening for bringing Adrian Chase into your life.

An hour later, there was a knock on your door. Adrian squeezed your hand tightly before standing up off the bed and walking over to the sound. When he opened the door, Peacemaker hesitantly walked in. You glared at him, but you could tell your stare didn’t hold quite the fury it had before. Now, it was tinged with sadness and exhaustion.

Adrian motioned for Peacemaker to sit on the couch as he returned to his place on the bed beside you. Peacemaker anxiously looked around the room, anywhere but you. But finally, he sat down, his eyes finally resting cautiously on your face. “Thank you for letting me come to see you. I, uh, I know it probably wasn’t an easy decision.”

You continued to glare at him. “Adrian said you needed five minutes. You already wasted one. So, whatever you’ve come here ta say, you better get ta sayin’.”

“Oh, right, yeah.” Peacemaker once again glanced around nervously before finally sighing, “I wanted to say how sorry I am about your brother. And that I understand why you did what you tried to do.”

“You understand?” You had thought you had prepared yourself for whatever he might say to you, but this had never crossed your mind. “I tried ta kill you. I would have if Adrian hadn’t stepped in. And you are, what? Just okay with that?”

“I mean, obviously I’m glad I’m not dead, but I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had killed me.” He paused before taking a deep breath. “I had an older brother. He was the one good thing in my life. Our dad was….not a good man. But Keith- Keith did everything he could to protect me, to give me a happy life. But then he….. died.” Peacemaker bowed his head and you could tell there was more to the story than he was letting on, but you didn’t push him for more details.

“So, I know what it’s like to lose a brother. That person you counted on and who you thought was invincible. And I never meant to put you through what I went through when I lost my brother. I never wanted to kill Flag. He was an American hero who devoted his life to keeping the peace and our country safe. But he was going to go against our direct orders, he was going to do something that would have caused an international incident and it was my duty to keep the peace. I begged him to reconsider, to not make me stop him, but he refused.”

“What happened?” you whispered. “How did…. How did he really die?”

Adrian squeezed your hand. “Babe, you don’t have to know that. It won’t change anything.”

But you ignored him and continued looking directly into Peacemaker’s eyes. “I have ta know.”

He nodded slightly as he wrung his hands together. “We fought and he got the upper hand. He was sitting on my chest as he choked me with a pipe and then…. I didn’t even mean for it to happen, I was just trying to get him off me. I reached out for something, anything that would help me, and I…. I managed to grab a piece of plaster or something that had broken off in our fight. I-I just stabbed at him blindly. I didn’t…. I didn’t know it would hit his heart.”

You had been managing to hold yourself together for the most part, but at Peacemaker’s last confession, you couldn’t contain yourself any longer. With a chest-rattling sob, you buried your face in your hands as your tears finally began to flow down your cheeks. Adrian awkwardly placed a hand on your trembling shoulder, and you turned and threw yourself into his arms. You felt him stiffen beneath your embrace for a moment before wrapping his arms around you.

“Did… did he suffer?” you managed to choke out.

Peacemaker shook his head. “I don’t think so. He just seemed to be more shocked than in pain. He threw one last insult at me then… he was just gone.”

“What did he say?”

Peacemaker sighed as he screwed his eyes shut, as if he were trying to block out the image forming in his mind. And as horrible as that image probably was, you would have given anything to be able to see it at that moment. To see Rick one last time. “He said ‘Peacemaker. What a joke.’ I hear those words, hear his voice, all the time because he was right. I am a joke.”

You chuckled softly which sounded more like another sob. “Rick always did have a knack for gettin’ the last word.” You took a deep breath and leaned your head against Adrian’s shoulder.

He patted your hand gently. “Are you okay, babe?”

You thought about everything that had happened over the last nine months. How your life had been turned upside-down and how you had thought of nothing but killing the man before you. And yet now, he still lived, and you had come to some small understanding which you believed you could one day come to live with.

So, you nodded. “I think- I think I am. Or at least I will be. I guess more than anythin’, I needed answers. So, I’m glad I know even if it hurt.” You looked Peacemaker dead in the eye as you steeled your face. “And this doesn’t change anythin’ between us. I can’t forgive you for what you did. Ever. But…..” You closed your eyes and ran your tongue over your lips as you tried to draw the strength to say your next words. “….thank you for comin’ here today and tellin’ me the truth. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you and I do appreciate it. So, thank you…. Chris.”

He smiled softly at the sound of his name. “You had the right to know. He was a great man and he deserved better. I have to live with what I did forever and…. it’s not easy.”

Your eyes bore into his. “And it shouldn’t be.”

He gave you a single curt nod in agreement. Then he shot Adrian a final look before standing and walking out of your apartment. As soon as he was gone, you flopped backward on the bed with a loud sigh. Adrian lay down next to you as he stared intently at your face. “So… how are you feeling now?”

You stared up at the water-stained ceiling. “Tired. Fuck, I am so tired. I’m tired of all of this. I just want things ta go back ta the way they were a year ago. But I know that can’t happen.” You rolled onto your side, so you were facing Adrian. “At least I got ta meet you. I know it might have started out as a lie, but Adrian… I would never have been strong enough to put down that gun without you there. Or ta find the strength ta start pullin' myself together again. You are the only thing that has given me any semblance of happiness since I lost Rick. And no matter what happens next, I need you ta know how much that has meant ta me.”

Adrian sat up in a panic. “What do you mean ‘no matter what happens next’? We-we know what happens next. We keep hanging out, we keep seeing each other. Just because I know the truth now, I told you it doesn’t change how I feel about you. We can just still be us.”

You sat up and took his hands in yours. “Adrian…. Your best friend killed my brother. Even if I understand the circumstances a little more than I did, it doesn’t change that fact. And you aren’t going ta stop being his friend because of me, you shouldn’t. But I don’t know if I can handle that.” He nodded softly as he hung his head. You placed a finger under his chin and raised his eyes up to meet yours. “But I’m willin’ ta give it a shot.”

His face lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah. It would still have ta be long distance since I can’t stay here, but we could try ta work somethin’ out.”

He dove at you, knocking you both back down onto the mattress. “Yes! Whatever you need! I can come to you! Or we can meet somewhere else. Maybe take a trip! Or we could-” Your lips on his quickly shut him up. When you parted, he looked at you sheepishly, “Too much?”

“No, it was all perfect.” You trailed a hand down his cheek. “I just love you so much, I couldn’t help myself.”

He smiled at you. “I love you too, babe.”

And as you nestled snugly into his chest, you couldn’t help but wonder what you ever did to deserve Adrian Chase.

57 notes · View notes

dearestones · 5 months

Note

Hiya Devin :) for the recent ask game!

10 (short, huh?), 26, 27, 43, andddd for 50: Why writing? What inspires you/ got you into it in the first place? Thanks Devin :) Hope you're having a slay day! <3

Hey, Devin here!

10. How tall are you?

Did you know... shortness is only a matter of perspective? I'm 191 cm. Obviously. Like Floyd Leech. You should totally believe me.

150 cm

26. What are some seemingly childish things you like?

Ohhhh, that's a very cool question! Ummm.... hmmm...

I really like cute notebooks, planners, scrapbooks, and calligraphy sets! I don't have a creative bone in my body when it comes to writing legibly, much less decorating planners or scrapbooking, but it seems like a good hobby!

Another a childish thing I like? I really like my happy stims! It's a sore point for me in real life, especially if other people are in the room when I stim, but I like flapping my arms or jumping up and down. The happy chemicals create more happy chemicals in an unstoppable feedback loop that has originated since childhood. :D

Ohhhh, puns! I like to grab seemingly random objects and making puns out of them!

I mean, with all of these questions... It seems like this is a quest ur on to know more details about me! ;)

Yes, I know it's bad shhhh...

27. What’s your favorite book? Or just one you’ve read a few times?

Oh gosh, please don't be mad at me, it's been years since I've read a book that wasn't a reference text or a manual. Can fanfictions count? From my most recent memory, even though it's been a while since I've last read it (but I have read it upwards to 10+ times over the years)... Snakeskins by Lsunnyc.

I know you like worldbuilding and lore, guess what that fanfic is composed of! (It's also one of my main inspirations to how I write nowadays. I really look up to that author and you should check them out and their ao3 if you're interested!). It's a Hetalia/Harry Potter crossover fanfic and it's... very long, but hey. It's really well written.

But an actual book? Gosh... No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai? That's one of the last few books I remember reading and that was definitely a trip. I related to the main character a bit too much and the subject matter, trajectory of the character... It really hits and there's a reason why the book has the reputation it has.

43. Do you have siblings? How many?

Yup! Two of them!

50. Wild Card. Any question, ask away.

Why writing? What inspires you/ got you into it in the first place?

(Answer under the cut because it got too long!)

Okies, so I know in the past I think I admitted to having started posting fic in 2012 and my first fandom was for Tokyo Mew Mew. However! My first ever fanfic was for Sharkboy and Lavagirl and it was written on yellow legal pad and will never see the light of day ahaha!

The reason I bring that up is because when I was younger and school would let out for the summer, our class would have this ritual of throwing away our tattered old notebooks that we weren't planning on using for the next school year into the recycled bins. However, before I left for home, I would take all of the notebooks that had been dropped into the recycle bins, take them home, rip out the old notes and doodles, and then keep them over the summer.

So that I can write in them.

I started in fifth grade when I realized that it would be a waste just to let those notebooks be recycled when there were some that had tons of clean pages??? In them??? That's why I saved those poor notebooks.

The thing was, I didn't realize that I had like half a dozen or so notebooks that had clean pages that I realized... I could do things with the notebooks. So, over the course of the summers from 5-7 grade, I would write short stories (seriously, short as in like one paragraph long onto a single page and call it a day). It wasn't until the summer of 7th grade that I realized... wait, why write stories only in the summer? Why not write during the whole year instead?

At that point, I amassed a lot of notebooks and scraps of papers filled with stories. Somewhere along the way, I shifted from purely original fiction to fanfiction because it was through my first official fandom (Tokyo Mew Mew) that I realized fanfiction was a thing.

I totally thought, upon reading my first fanfic in ye old ffnet, that it was actually canon material until I checked the comments and other stories. And thus, my eyes were opened.

So yeah, come eighth grade and beyond, I began writing more fanfics in my free time and eventually, in high school, I began bringing my fanfic notebook into class so that I could work on them during breaks.

I think what really inspires me to write would be because... there are entire swathes of the story, of the behind scenes, that we never get to see in canon. You can infer a lot from subtext or hints dropped from characters alluding to events, character perceptions, etc. but there's a difference from accepting the subtext or canon as it is and... Taking what you know and then adding depth to it and transforming it into something new.

I don't know... breathing life into characters who already has an established character is so exhilarating to me! There are people out there who roll their eyes at fanfic, but like??? Writing a character and making them stay in character while also transforming them in the process??? It's creation in one of its more pure forms while also paying homage to the original creator.

There's a quote somewhere... maybe on tumblr? and this person said that writing fanfic or any sort of transformative work is like playing with the sandbox that the original creator has left behind. That's what I'm doing, I'm playing in a sandbox.

And I'm having a lot of fun with it! :D

Anywhoozles, thank you so much for the questions and I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Feel free to ask more questions and I hope that you have a wonderful day! :D

#fjshii #fjshii ask #answered #ask game #information about Devin

2 notes · View notes

a-reader-and-a-writer · 2 years

Text

The Truth About Revenge

Fandom: DC, Peacemaker, Vigilante, Adrian Chase, f!reader, Flag!reader

Word Count: 9640

TW: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Loss, Mentions of Death, Revenge, Guns, Excessive Drinking, Explicit Language, Kissing, Implied Sex

Note: Thank you to @loverhymeswith and @mayhem24-7forever for beta reading for me! 💖 And SPOILERS FOR THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021)

This is part of the @peacemakernet EVENT 02: once more, with feeling! This fic is based around the emotion sadness 😥

And then, just when you didn’t think the news could get any worse, you were told he had been stripped of all honors and benefits he had earned during his career due to the manner of his death. According to the official report, Colonel Richard Rogers Flag Jr. had gone rogue and threatened the safety and peace of the United States of America, and one of the members of his squad was forced to terminate him before he could carry out his plan. But you refused to believe it. Rick had dreamed of being a soldier just like your dad for longer than you could even remember. He always said he would live and die for this country, but now that he had, his country seemed to have turned its back on him.