very-venom-us

[very-venom-us]

Really tired of Freddie Stroma not giving me any reasons to get over my crush 😒

[very-venom-us]

fanfiction was such a good idea. like put those guys in situations

[very-venom-us]

Lily White- Acolyte Part 4

So. Here’s the long awaited smut.The OC finally gets that dick. Gets railed, if you will. Oral (female receiving) female virgin, hand job, humping, fingering, first encounter.

Adrian takes Lily back to his, Lily is shy but has a pretty good time. Adrian fulfils an old fantasy.

Femmest Of Fatales

Lily sat across the table from him. She was stunning. She wore a body hugging black satin and lace dress with a cleavage baring off the shoulder neckline. Her dark hair was teased for volume and worn loose full and curly. Her shiny rich lipstick matched her manicure. She looked like a 1960s bombshell with her thick black lashes and winged liner. She was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. She sat sideways to the table, legs crossed at the knee showing off their length and the fantastic black satin peep toe ankle strap pumps. They had been seeing each other steadily for about two months now. They’d been out several times but this was by far the nicest date. He’d surreptitiously snapped a quick photo of her and sent it to Chris, something he did frequently so he could appropriately gauge how serious the date was.

“Damn. I think it’s tonight bro (thumbs up emoji) Also, she’s fine as hell (fire emoji)” he texted back.

“Okay, now what?”

“Relax, go with the flow , treat her right. you’ll be fine”

He turned his phone off.

They’d been talking about the merits and drawbacks of different combat styles when the waiter brought the check.

Lily took a sip of her drink and gazed at him over the rim of the glass. Her expression was soft, but her eyes were hot.

There it is

Feeling suddenly very warm he swallowed hard. It was late. He liked knowing she was home safely before midnight and that he’d be out working to keep her safe. There was a little head rush knowing that she was still with him.

Exiting the restaurant with Lily lightly holding his elbow, a soft black fox fur draped over her shoulders he felt his pulse quicken. He noticed other men openly ogling her. He didn’t feel jealous, he felt lucky.

“Are you ready to go home?” He asked her as casually as he could manage.

“Let’s go to yours.” She replied.

“Oh. Okay, yeah.” He nodded.

Lily followed him up the stairs carefully in her dangerous but sexy shoes. Mentally he thanked Harcourt for reminding him to tidy his place up when she came by to drop off some files.

“You never know what could happen.” She’d said with a strange smile pressing the folder into his hand. He fumbled with his keys for a minute then opened the door. Lily looked around taking it in. It was simple, a couch an upholstered chair , two end tables - each with a matching lamp and a flat screen tv mounted on the wall. She looked so out of place in his surroundings, like she’d stepped out of a James Bond movie. He silently thanked god it was clean.

He’d been to her place several times. Sometimes after a date they’d sit in the kitchen and have dessert or stay in and watch a movie on her couch.This usually led to making out with her sitting on his lap or straddling him. He loved holding her and kissing her, her little sighs and gasps as he touched her over her clothes, sneaking his hand up her skirt while he rubbed himself through his jeans like horny teenagers trying not to get caught.

The week before, she took her bra off and he massaged her breasts under her tshirt, pinching and rolling her hard little nipples while she kissed his neck. They’d ended up on the floor, her thighs hitched up around his hips. He humped her with his jeans pulled down around his thighs, painfully hard cock pressed against her warm pussy through his boxers and her white cotton panties showing her wetness where he’d pressed the fabric into her juicy folds, cupping her right breast, her skin so soft in his hands. It was exactly his high school fantasy. He’d been a late bloomer and really didn’t have any game with girls back then. But now, Lily underneath him, bra on the floor shirt hiked up under her generous tits and visibly wet for him, the delicious friction on his sensitive tip was too much and he blew his load exactly like an over excited teenager. He’d been about to offer to eat her pussy so she could cum too when his phone rang. Startled he pulled away abruptly causing Lily to whine at the denial. “What was that?” Lily heard Chris’s voice on the other end. “Nothing, nothing. TV.” Adrian lied.

Sitting up on his knees he’d had to awkwardly zip his pants over his half hard dick while Lily clenched her thighs together to hide her wetness.

“God you are beautiful.” He told her after ending the call. He leaned down and stole a kiss from her swollen lips apologizing profusely for having to leave. He promised to make it up to her.

He didn’t know it but Lily had tried to finish by fingering her throbbing pussy and humping a pillow on the living room floor where he’d left her. She’d given up and went to bed craving more.

He’d gone on assignment wishing he had been able to pleasure her too.

The memory of that night stoked his desire for her and his cock stirred in his pants. “Well , this is the place.” He said gesturing at the nearly bare walls.

Lily laid her fur stole over the back of the couch and sat down.

“It’s nice.” She replied politely.

“Um. Are you thirsty?”

“Whatcha got?”

“Well,” he said walking to the fridge “Ah. Not a whole hell of a lot, actually. I’ve got Miller or if you prefer, Dr. Pepper.”

“Hmm. Dr. Pepper please.” She smiled. He cracked the can open and passed it too her pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“Thank you.” She said taking a sip. He took a seat by the arm of the couch and invited her closer. Lily took up her familiar position by his side sitting on one leg. She still wore her beautiful shoes. Her perfume was pretty. Soft and sweet with a slightly spicy undertone. Her head resting on his shoulder she drew little circles on his chest with her fingernail. From his vantage point he could see the lush half moons of her breasts pressed tightly into the form fitting dress. With his pointer finger he tipped her chin up and kissed her gently on the lips. She kissed him back and soon she was pulled into his lap, his hands gripping the flesh of her ass and thighs. She moved to straddle him but her skirt was too tight to allow much movement. Clumsily he helped her pull it up higher. His hands smoothed over her bare thigh, then over the garter straps holding up her silky nude stockings. Playfully he snapped one making her jump and squeak. Appreciatively he kneaded her generous thighs enjoying how soft she was, his kisses urgent. She pulled back for air and sight of her flushed cheeks heaving chest and mussed hair was so indescribably sexy to him in that moment. The contrast between her large innocent eyes and her kiss swollen glossy mouth got him incredibly hard. He smiled as she felt his arousal and she blushed.

“What?” She asked shyly.

“It’s just always so cute when you blush like that.”

“Well. It’s still new for me…”

He placed his hands on her waist and tipped his head to the side.

“What do you mean?” He asked sweetly.

“I mean, being. Intimate like this. I’m just not used to it.” She tucked a curl behind her ear self consciously.

He looked at her in confusion, brow furrowed slightly.

“Honey, I’ve gotten hard plenty of times. Remember last week?”

“Oh, yes I remember very well. I was so sad when you had to go. I thought it was going to be my first time.”

A look of surprise slowly moved across his face.

“Ohh. Are you a virgin Lily?” he asked with his usual bluntness.

She nodded shyly. “Is that okay?”

“Well yeah it’s okay. Are you sure you want me to keep going?”

“Yes, I want you to keep going. I’m sure.”

“How far do you want to go? We don’t have to go all the way, we can just play around like we usually do…I don’t even need to be inside you yet if you don’t want. I can still make you feel good in other ways. ”

“If you think you can, I’d like to try to.” She looked up at him through her lashes.

“Just make you feel good?” He nodded his expression gentle.

“Well yes, but I’d like for you to be inside me. If you want.”

“ I’d love to, I just want to make sure that you’re comfortable. Can I ask, like first time in awhile or ever?”

“I’m comfortable with you. First ever. I’ve never even been fully naked in front of a man. Or seen a man fully naked. Well, in an intimate setting anyway.” she said, embarrassed.

“Have you ever had an orgasm?”

“I think so? Not the way they write about them anyway.”

“Wow. Please don’t take this as me being a perv but I can’t believe you’re a virgin. I definitely wouldn’t have humped you so much… Also I wondered why you never touched it. Not that I ever expected you too, I was just curious.” Lily’s blush deepened. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger and mumbled something quietly.

“I’m sorry, what’d ya say?”

“I said. I’ve never, seen a hard dick before. Outside of a guy’s pants anyway…”

“Does it make you nervous?” His tone was gentle, his body language relaxed.

“Well, only because I want to please you.”

“Oh honey, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m just happy you trust me with this. I’ll get pleasure out of pleasuring you.”

Lily looked down between her thighs to his crotch. His erection tented his pants and strained against the zipper. With two fingers she stroked him ,her touch curious. He inhaled sharply through his nose.

“Mmm, sensitive.” He said voice husky. “ Are you sure?” He asked her again. She nodded.

“Okay.”

He bucked his hips up into her, dragging his hardness over her clothed pussy. Lily gasped. He rocked up to the edge of the seat stood up, and hiked her up higher on his hips his hands under her bottom. Impressed by the display of strength, Lily looped her arms around his neck. Kissing her, he carried her to his bedroom. Setting her on the end of the bed he clicked on the lamp. His cock twitched at the sight of her on his bed. He unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it into the corner. Her eyes traveled over his bare chest, his shoulders, biceps and down his flat,toned abdomen to his waistband. He leaned over her and kissed her again. Pulling back slowly, he unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants allowing then to fall to the floor. He watched as her eyes traveled to his crotch and widened. Taking her hand he gently tugged her off the bed towards him. Turning her so her back was to his front he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him. He kissed his way up her shoulder to her ear.

“Can I undress you?” He whispered softly in her ear his voice low and sexy, his hands tugging and straightening her dress and roving over her curves.

“Yes.”

He unzipped the dress and pulled it down her arms letting it pool at her feet. His lips returned to her neck, his hands on her hips. Turning her around to face him, he kissed over her collar bone, the hollow of her throat and down to the valley of her breasts. Holding her at arms length he looked her up and down appreciatively.

“Oh, Lily baby…” he groaned.

She was the most divine being he’d ever seen.

Her large breasts supported by the sheer delicate black eyelash lace bra, her sexy little pink nipples visible beneath.

The garter belt on her waist was surprisingly sexy, as were the matching panties through which her waxed smooth pussy waited for him. He turned her to see her full ass in the pretty cheeky cut of the panty. Her silky nude stockings had a thin, black backseam and a sophisticated French point heel. He debated keeping her pumps on because the sight of her in them and the lingerie was so very arousing. Through the sheer undies he could see her pussy glistening with her own slick juices . The soft pink part peeking out as her pussy lips swelled with arousal. He hooked his thumb and forefinger under her bra band.

“Is this okay?”

“Yes.”

He unclasped the bra and tossed it on the floor.

“Can I touch you?”

“Please.” she begged her voice breathy.

He took a breast in each hand kneading then squeezing them rhythmically.

“You are so soft. Love how soft you are…” he praised as he nuzzled against her neck.

He pinched and rolled her hard nipples, applying just enough pressure to get her to moan.

“Do you want more?”

“Oh, please. Yes.”

He laughed softly at the need in her voice and keeping one hand on her breast and placing the other hand flat, palm down on her tummy and slid it down into her panties and sliding his middle finger between her wet pussy lips and found her clit. Lily let out a sinfully loud moan as he rubbed with hard little circles pressing just slightly. Her knees buckled a little. He caught her and lay her down on the edge of the bed. “Feel good?” he laughed softly. Lily just nodded, thighs clenching together.

“I’m going to take these off, they look expensive.” He gently tugged the waist band and Lily lifted her hips to help him. He gave himself a few rough strokes watching Lily’s heels pressed against her bare ass and soaking pussy. Gently he caught each ankle and unbuckled them, tucking them under the bed. He unclipped each garter clip and rolled the stockings off. After tugging loose the garter belt he dropped his boxers and palmed his length. Lily sat up on her elbows and watched him work with interest. Adrian closed his eyes and thrust into his fist a few times. He was bigger than she expected, long and girthy with a nice upward curve.

He looked up to see Lily gazing at him with curiosity. She sat up, biting her lip.

“Do you want to”-

“Can I?”

“Of course” he chuckled low in his throat. She leaned forward slightly wrapping her small hand around his shaft her thumb tracing the tip curiously. His cock twitched in her hand as she gathered his precum in her palm and pumped him with firm twisting strokes.

She pulled the most attractive moans from him until he grasped her wrists with his hands.

“M’sorry babe. I can’t keep going like that if you want me to fuck you. And I really really do..”

“I do too.”

“I want to make sure you’re nice and wet for me. Can I eat your pussy?”

His directness made her blush and thighs clench together, teasing a breathy little moan out of her.

He kissed her again, deeper this time pulling her against him his hands under her thighs. He pressed her down onto the bed, one arm around her waist supporting himself on his elbow keeping his body off of her.

“Is this okay?” He asked his lips brushing over the tender skin of her throat.

“Oh, yes.” Lily gasped quietly.

“Mmm.” Turning his attention to her full breasts he took her right nipple into his hot mouth and sucked. Lily moaned and arched her back against him. Looking up he saw her eyes half closed, mouth open in pleasure as she whined. Releasing the pebbled nipple with a wet sucking pop he turned his attention to the other one. She stiffened and grasped his biceps reflexively. Smiling he released her and nudged her thighs further apart. Her wet swollen little pussy twitched and clenched without him even touching it.

“So pretty an wet, are you ready?” He asked

She nodded weakly.

Making eye contact he stroked her clit with two fingers. Reflexively, Lily clenched her thighs but Adrian pressed her right down with his palm and the left with his elbow, never removing his gaze.

“I’m going to hold your thighs apart okay?Its going to feel good but don’t fight it, just let yourself feel it.” There was a gleam of dominance in his soft heated eyes. Lily nodded. Spreading her pussy with his thumbs he kissed then sucked her clit. Then palms flat on her inner thighs he dragged his tongue flat over her slick folds. Lily tried bringing her thighs together to escape the intensity of the sensation but he gently pressed them back down . A heat built and coiled in her lower belly, she desperately wanted it to release. Adrian watched as she kneaded her breasts and pinched her nipples. She was so sexy with her back arched, head thrown back and sighing he could hardly believe she had chosen him. Her left hand clawed at the covers while her right fisted his hair and pulled. In spite of himself he began humping against the foot of the mattress seeking friction, his cock so hard it throbbed. He’d never wanted anyone as badly as he wanted her now. Under his palms Lily’s thighs began to quiver. She mewled and gasped pulling his hair with a delicious roughness. His jaw was growing tired but he didn’t stop, she was close he knew.

“Oh, unh. Adrian..” she moaned his name. “ Uhn huh, unh OH. Pleaseplease.”

He said it a lot, but Lily moaning his name was by far, the hottest thing that ever happened to him. He kept up his pace determined not to stop till he brought her to orgasm.

Suddenly the heat in her belly snapped, her pelvic muscles clenching and releasing rhythmically as she arched her back. “Adrian!” she screamed. His neighbors probably hated him but he didn’t care. Quickly, he jumped up, and half straddling her half lifting her lay her on the pillows. Kissing her passionately, one hand in her luxurious hair the other pawing blindly in his bedside drawer for a condom he praised her incoherently.

“-so sexy, so sweet, I wanna have you, fuck! You’re so fucking hot, I can’t believe I’ve got youinmybed. God, I wanna fuck youIswear I swear I’ve never wanted anybody so goddamn bad love it when you say my name sobad I want you-Ungh”

Lily’s hand found his erection and began stroking it

“Baby please, ohholyshit yesyesYES baby please I gottafuckyou,Im so fucking hard gottabeinsideyou”- the words tumbling out of him as he fucked himself into her fist.

“Fuck me Adrian.”

Cock dripping onto her belly he tore open the condom and rolled it on.

Gently holding her thighs up on his hips, he pressed his cockhead slowly into her entrance. Lily inhaled sharply and he backed off.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”

“A little..”

He gathered her juices on two fingers and swirled them over his tip. Then spitting into his palm smoothed it over his length.

“Try’n relax baby, if it hurts tell me and I’ll stop.”

He lined up and pushed himself inside again, this time his whole tip disappeared inside her.

“Okay?” He asked, his voice tense with his arousal.

Lily nodded. He continued slowly and carefully so that any pain wouldn’t overcome her pleasure. Lily’s eyes watered a little at the burn of the unfamiliar stretch but she soon adjusted. Adrian felt her relax around him.

“Still okay?”

“You’re big.” she answered her voice breathy

“Am I hurting you?”

She shook her head no “I’m just filled up.”

“Can I move?”

She nodded.

Cautiously he began to thrust, as he did so he felt her walls grip him. “Uhn, you feel so good, so nice Ohh I need-”.

He was focusing very hard on being careful with her. He wanted her first time to be a good experience, if not a memorable one.

“Adrian,” she said putting her hand on his cheek “I said fuck me. Like you wanted to on my floor.”

“Are you sure? uncertainty in his tone.

“Yes, I trust you and if I need to stop I’ll tell you.”

“If it even hurts a little, tell me.”

She nodded.

He manoeuvred her right leg across his body, crossed her legs at the ankles over his right shoulder and held her hips up off of the bed. His speed increased eliciting a loud lascivious moan from her. Buried to the hilt in her warmth he finished out his old fantasy. With Lily’s pussy tight around his girth, his cock hitting a devastating spot deep inside her he fucked into her as though they could be discovered at anytime. The obscene sound of skin slapping against skin mixed with her increasingly wanton moans made his youthful fantasy pale in comparison. Lily’s curvaceous figure far more voluptuous than any woman his 17 year old self ever imagined being with, her breasts and ass jiggling and bouncing with the punishing speed of his rhythm. Too soon for his liking, though he was glad nonetheless Lily clenched around him and his pace became erratic his climax close. Then suddenly Lily cried out, her walls bearing down and clenching him tightly.Dimly he heard his neighbor banging on the wall for them to shut up but he didn’t care. His eyes closed as his orgasm rolled over him. He held her hips till his till his cock was done twitching. Lily lay beneath him, flushed, hair spread over the pillow, arms above her head limply, drowsy and satisfied.

He lay the sheet over her flushed skin and went to the bathroom. He returned with a warm washcloth and gently cleaned her up. He helped her stand up so she could go to the bathroom and he changed the sheets. He pulled on a pair of grey jersey sleep pants and hunted on the floor for all her clothes and laid her panties out in case she wanted them. He placed a cold glass of water on the bedside table in case she needed it. He looked through his T-shirts and pulled out one that was worn and tagless so it’d be soft on her skin. It read “Property of Wilmont High” across the chest, he laughed quietly amused at the inside joke with himself.

Lily put the clothes on and snuggled up to him, comfortable in the fresh sheets. He kissed the top of her head tenderly.

As she nestled against him he heard her murmur sleepily “Love you.”

“I love you too.” He whispered back

#my fic #adrian chase #peacemaker #peacemaker vigilante #female oc #vigilante #lily white-acolyte #my lil meow meow #my stupid lil scrimblo #vigilante x oc

[very-venom-us]

Lily White-Acolyte Part 3

So here’s part three.OC ofc.Canon typical violence. Nothing super extreme, just a good old fashioned but one get one special on these hands.

Lily has caught a major vibe. And Nobody puts Lily’s baby in a corner. Or, The One Where A Guy Gets What’s Coming To Him.

Love You Like a Love Song -Lily’s Perspective

Lily considered herself to be highly capable and adaptable. Her entire life up to this point had been an exercise in discipline. She prided herself on being able to navigate her way through any given situation. Every possible script had been drilled and practiced until it was second nature from a very young age. Except now.

She didn’t like admitting it, least of all to herself but she was out of her depth.

Lily was in love. Though just now she couldn’t say the word.

Ordinarily, she associated the tender feelings that bloomed deep in her chest when she looked at him with children, kittens or other animals. She felt the tug on her heart strings when he smiled at her and once, when he took her by the hand she was overcome with a strange swooping sensation in her stomach.

Lily had never been in a serious relationship before. Sure, there was Zachary Reid but that was purely business.

She’d only been trying to get close with him to learn who he was working for, but a long term assignment in South America with her dad had cut that mission short. But this was an entirely different experience. Adrian was sweet to her. Genuinely sweet. The first time she’d felt the stirrings of affection was when he’d offered to get her foster kitties for her.

The gesture had taken her aback as no one, save for family, had ever offered to help her. She remembered how he’d offered her tissues when she hadn’t even realized she was crying, his gentle green eyes full of empathy.

He’d come to visit her in the hospital with fair frequency and he never arrived empty handed. He’d brought her a small floral arrangement with out of season peonies and Peruvian lilies. Another time he’d brought her her favorite latte. Not to mention that he'd evidently searched every side street and flower bed until he found her phone and purse, he’d presented them to her apologetically but she was thrilled.

He’d even brought her her favorite foods on several occasions. When he couldn’t be there in person he’d call her. He reasearched the fish the kept ( fancy guppies) and fed them brine shrimp every other day for the pregnant females, even buying an automatic feeder for their regular food.

He was kind to her and very gentle. It was like meeting a gentleman out of a regency era romance novel. Albeit one who liked tabletop RPGs and 80s music but still, even that was endearing.

He walked with her, letting her set the pace and even offered her his arm. He never told her what she should or shouldn’t be doing. He never spoke over her, he never even so much as touched her things without asking permission. She wasn’t used to this treatment by men.

So when she got out of the hospital and stayed with Chris it had cut her quite deeply when he’d abruptly pulled away. She learned on Google that this behavior was colloquially known as “Ghosting.”

While the term was new, this sort of behavior she was unfortunately accustomed to.

Usually men liked her when they viewed her as fragile and inferior to them and the moment they realized she was far more capable than they were they beat a hasty retreat. She hadn’t expected this from him and it hurt far more than she thought it would.

In her albeit limited experience with men (mostly on mission or military types she met through work acquaintances) she constantly had to justify her skill and sometimes even her presence and deflect their condescending flirtations.

Or worse still be the target of their most vulgar projections. She’d been called every objectifying name under the sun. Inevitably these types ended up emasculated.

If she had a dollar for every time one actually cried she’d have a decent little nest egg.

But when Adrian had seen the results of her work at Chris’s house he’d been full of awe and praise. It hadn’t even been her best. After his apology and confession of his feelings afterward she understood her emotional response a bit better yet she was still unsure of what to do next. Then he asked her out on a genuine first date. It had gone well and she looked forward with excitement to their second.

Then he’d shown up at her door holding her precious Sugar in his arms, a pink satin bow around her neck, just like Marie in Aristocats (one of her favorite movies). She’d jumped up and down like an excited kid, impulsively hugging his neck, which turned into an honest to god make out session after which he’d blushed and gave her that adorable bashful smile and offered to drive her to the pet store.

And now, cuddled together in her cozy living room, her fingers twirling those charming curls, he flashed her that adorable boyish grin and she was so full of fondness she thought her heart might burst. She silently vowed that she’d protect him in every way she could.

********

Lily held Adrian’s arm as they strolled by the duck pond. She wore a white swing dress with pink roses and a white lace crinoline that swayed as she walked with a white pearl button angora cardigan.

He’d been delineating the finer point of Dungeons and Dragons character building , Lily gazing up at him adoringly as he rambled when a football sailed out of nowhere and into the back of his head. His glasses flew off and into the grass. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped.

“Are you okay?”

He stood stock still for a minute, nodded then kicked the ball into the water. Lily retrieved his glasses for him. As she looked back she saw a group of three men buckled over in laughter. One was taller and a bit heavier set than the other two. He seemed to think his schoolyard behavior was the height of comedy as he roared with laughter, slapping his knee. An ember of rage kindeled in her chest.

He replaced his glasses with a tight sigh.

“Who are they?” She asked him slipping her hand under his arm, her tone concerned.

“Just some assholes from back in the day. It’s fine.” His tone was level, but she could see the suppressed anger in his eyes.

Looking back once more, she made a note of the one who laughed the loudest. Mentally, she drew a crosshairs over him.

****

Lily sat on the couch under a plush blanket with little Sugar curled in her lap. She heard Adrian’s car pull into the driveway and his key slide into the lock.

“Hey sweetie,” she greeted him brightly “ I have supper in the slow cooker if you’re- What happened?” Her tone becoming serious as Adrian still in his work uniform turned to face her, his eye blacked.

“Remember that guy the other day?” Lily nodded setting Sugar onto the floor.

“Well, he was outside the restaurant tonight, drunk as usual. He tried to start a fight but I didn’t take the bait. Can’t afford getting arrested over something like that.”

Lily cradled his face in her hands, her expression concerned.

“Nobody puts their hands on you, ever.” She said with such conviction it brought a smile to his face. He kissed her fingers.

“It’s okay” he said said reassuringly “It doesn’t even hurt. I’m gonna grab a quick shower. Did you mention something about supper?” he added hopefully.

“Yes I did. Hurry up, I missed you.”

He went upstairs to get his change of clothes and Lily returned to her seat on the couch, a plan formulating in her mind as she scratched Sugar under the chin.

*****

After Adrian left for home, she did some internet sleuthing on his graduating class, the one before his and the one after. But none of the yearbook photos matched up with the man from the park.

Lily dressed herself for comfort and freedom of movement in a pair of black lululemon leggings, a scoopbeck white tee and white Nike sneakers. She selected a leopard print velvet scrunchie from the vanity and slipped it on her wrist.

“Buhbye Sugar, mama’s gonna go run some errands.” She called out pulling on a supple black lamb skin moto jacket. She grabbed her fathers car keys and went out to the garage. Adrian had been reluctant to go home, but she convinced him in the end.

She didn’t want him knowing what she was about to do.

Lily walked in to the abandoned video storefront that served as the team HQ.

John looked up from his desk questioningly.

“Hey. Did someone call you in?” He asked.

“No, I was actually checking to see if Chris was here.”

“Oh, yeah. Hold on.” He said holding up a finger. He pushed his chair away from the desk and bellowed “SMITH” so loudly it echoed.

“Damn, we can’t use our inside voices?” She heard Chris shout back from a back room. Lily bounced on the balls of her feet waiting.

He stomped out into the office scowling.

“What?” he groused irritably.

“Visitor.” John said pointing at Lily. She gave him an enthusiastic little wave.

“Oh, hey. Whatcha doin? You get called in?”

“No, I wanted to ask you something. What happened to Adrian’s face last night? Mainly, who did it?”

“Oh. Yeah he told me about that. Some guy that thought he was hot shit in highschool. What’s his name” he snapped his fingers “ Mike David? Davis! That’s it. Why?”

“They get in a fight?”

“Kinda? But it’s nothing new.”

“I’m not following.”

Chris scoffed sitting backwards in a chair.

“Davis had beef with Adrian’s older brother. Constantly picking fights, but me ‘n Gut always kicked his ass. Well then, what happened to Gut happened and now he’s on Adrian’s case any time he can.”

“Why so much animosity?” Lily asked arms crossed.

“So, Davis had a girlfriend, now wife named Annie Lewis. In senior year, Davis got drunk at a party and ended up sleeping with another girl Cindy- whatever it’s not important. Somehow Annie found out, got pissed and same night went to Gut and said she broke up with Davis and they slept together. Well, the next day Annie goes to Davis and rubs it in his face. So Davis had it out for him ever since. Guess he just focused on Adrian now.”

“Hmm… John?” She said sweetly “Remember how you owe me a favor?”

“Yeah…” he said flatly, suspicious.

“Could you please dig around and tell me everything you can find about this Mike Davis?”

“I can’t just, use government property to spy on civilians Lily.”

“You wouldn’t be doing anything the NSA isn’t already doing.” Lily shrugged.

“She’s gotcha there.” Chris pointed out.

“Where does Davis work?” Lily asked Chris.

“Uh, last I knew he was a logging foreman.”

“Ah. Well there’s a strike on so he’s likely hanging out in some bar somewhere…” she had a malevolent glint in her eye.

“Hey, Chris. Are you busy?”

“Not right now no…”

“Wanna drive me somewhere? You can use my car.”

“Sure.”

“Hey, I don’t trust you not to be up to something.” Said John suspiciously.

“Why, I am absolutely hurt that you’d even say a thing like that. But if you’re that worried, come babysit me.” She turned and walked out the door.

Chris laughed “Well, you heard her. Babysit.”

“The fuck you think I wanna babysit her for? You and Vigilante are enough pain in my ass to last a lifetime.”

“Than stay here then.”

With a groan he snapped the laptop shut and put it in his bag.

“Damn Lily, this ain’t exactly discreet.” Chris said walking around her car taking in the black and red paint job. Her father had had a great love for classic cars. The 1969 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet had been his weekend driver the past ten years.

“Says the guy driving the Stars and Stripes around town.” She smiled.

“Hey, don’t diss my ride.” He jabbed a finger at her.

“No diss intended” Lily smiled, holding her hands up “it’s just kinda hilarious that you’re the one suddenly concerned about discretion.”

“No kidding.” John slurped on an iced coffee.

“ No drinks in my car.” She said pointedly tossing Chris her keys.

“I’m not gonna spill it, I’m not four.” He grumbled.

“No drinks, no food no smokes.” she said ticking each item off on her fingers.

“I just bought this, the ice isn’t even melted.” He complained.

“Ditch it or stay here.” Lily slid into the passenger seat and closed the door. John threw the trenta iced coffee in the dumpster and got in the back seat.

“ I’ll buy you a new one later.” Lily promised turning around in her seat. He gave her a reproachful look and opened his laptop. He passed the laptop to Lily so she could read what he’d found.

The car passed Davis’s house, a single story shotgun on the end of the street. It was in bad need of paint but it sported a new green powder coated steel roof. A rusty beige 1973 Ford Mustang II sat in the driveway on three wheels and a cinder block.

“He still has that piece of shit?” Chris scoffed peering around Lily out the passenger window.

“It’s a Mustang too, right? Same as this one?”

“WOW. My father is spinning in his grave to hear you compare this car to that one.” Lily said, offended.

“What? What’d I say?”

“Dude, there’s no contest. Lily’s is obviously the superior car.”

“But they’re bo”-

“Both Mustangs? Okay, sure. But in name alone. This car is the automotive equivalent to a triple crown winning race horse in its prime, and that one brand new, was essentially a swayback backyard Shetland pony. Now it’s just a three legged fifty year old nag begging for death. Mind you mine is almost fifty five and still looks mean as the day she rolled off the lot, so.”

“Exactly.” Chris agreed.

“English terms?”

“Lily’s car is a MILF, that car peaked in high school and rides around on a motor scooter.” Chris clarified.

“Ableist…” Lily reprimanded.

“You’re right. Sorry. That car peaked in high school and writes conspiracy theories on Facebook.”

“Better.” Lily nodded.

“I don’t get car people.” John shook his head.

“What do men who peaked in high school and aren’t currently working do during the day?” Lily mused.

“ I dunno, get drunk in alleys?” Chris offered.

“According to his Facebook, he’s a regular at Limber Jill’s bar downtown.” John said typing on the keyboard.

“Let’s try it.”

Lily had Chris circle around the back of the building to the parking lot.

“According to the DMV, he drives a white 1999 Ford F-150 single cab.” John read.

“I don’t really know the breeds of truck…” Lily hesitated.

“I thought you liked cars?” John said exasperated.

“Yeah… nice cars?”

“ I gotcha.” Chris said nodding sagely. “There ya go.” He pointed toward a badly dented and rusty work truck.

“So he’s here. Let’s park. Across the street though.”

Lily and the two men waited patiently until Mike Davis walked out of the bar and headed towards the alley.

“Pass me a microphone please.” John handed her a small wireless mic and she clipped it to her jacket.

“What’s that for?” Chris asked.

“In case I need you. Wait here please.” She ordered politely.

“Lemme go with you”- Chris started, Lily cut him off.

“No thank you. Wait here.”

“What are you going to do?”

“We stalk and stake out a guy for two hours and you wait to ask what she’s gonna do till right now?” Blurted John from the backseat.

“I’m just gonna, talk to him. I’m not gonna hurt him. Just. Talk.” She said sliding out the passenger door, gathering her hair up in the scrunchie.

“Ah, shit.” Chris swore.

“Hey, you shouldn’t you follow her, that guys like, more than twice her size.” John said, an edge of concern in his tone.

“If I go, I’ll definitely make it worse, that guy hates me. I’ll just, step in if she needs me too.”

Lilly jogged lightly across the street toward her quarry.

“Hey!” She called out putting on her best non threatening girly tone, her voice playing over the laptop speaker. John set it on the dashboard.

Davis stopped and turned around to see a petite and pretty stranger waving at him, her ponytail and chest bouncing with each step.

“Yeah?” He looked her up and down eyeing her like she was meat. Lily was well aware of the effect she had on men and used it to her advantage.

“Careful…” John whispered leaning into the front seat watching anxiously.

“She’ll be fine.” Chris said, anxiety creeping in to his voice “It’s smart. A pretty girl runs up on you you put your guard down. And Lily’s hot so it goes double.”

John stared at him like he was an idiot.

“What the absolute fuck are you talking about?”

“Yeah, if she ran up to you would be telling her to fuck off?”

“Shhhh! Be quiet, she’s talking.”

“I was wondering if you have a sec.”

“For you, I got all the secs in the world.”Davis’s tone sleazy, pleased by his own double entendre.

“Good” she beamed “ This won’t take long.”

“It can if you want it too..”

“Oh. Ew, no.” She shook her head “I’m in a relationship.”

“Then why’re you wasting my time sugar tits?” He spat, angry.

“Well, I have a question for you.” Something in her face didn’t match the light hearted voice, but not enough to ring any alarm bells for him.

“Okay?” He was annoyed now.

“Are you proud of yourself?”

“Wha”-

“Simple question. Are you proud of yourself? You’re a balding middle aged man with a growing spare tire who can’t let go of high school bull shit. Does that make you proud?” She smiled up at him like a cheerleader.

“Look lady”-

“And a deadbeat dad to boot. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree huh? But maybe that’s not fair… after all how can you be something you never had?”

“Ooohhh. She’s going for the jugular.” Chris snorted.

“Shuttup!” John hissed, leaning in.

“Whoah, I ain’t never seen you in my entire life so there’s no way your kids mine I ain’t got kids.”

Lily laughed a belllike like laugh and took a step forward.

“Oh as if. I’m talking about Cindy, silly. She named him after you… though why is beyond me. But I think you knew that. But the real question is, does Annie know? Would she be upset? I bet she would, thirty three years of marriage down the drain. Poor Annie. She shoulda married Gut after all huh.”

“Did Cindy put you up to this? That bitch”-

“Making threats Michael? How very like you. Like, the way you threatened that park ranger so he wouldn’t report that you and your crew were logging in protected growth?”

“That ain’t me. You got the wrong guy”-

“So you aren’t Michael Davis at 332 South West Dover Avenue who drives the beat up white 1999 Ford F-150 single cab that hasn’t been legally registered since 2014 but has current tags? You aren’t the Mike Davis who’s fucking Becky Coolidge in the bathroom of this bar on her lunch breaks everyday? You aren’t the Mike Davis who lied to your wife about taking out a second mortgage on that piece of shit you call a house to pay off your loan shark because you’ve got a raging gambling addiction?”

Lily had slowly advanced on him and they were now in the middle of the alley, not visible from the sidewalk at either end.

“How do you know that?”’Davis’s voice shook.

“What, like it’s hard?” Lilly scoffed.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to leave Adrian Chase alone.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

“Because Mike. I’m watching you now.”

Davis backed against the wall as Lily made direct aggressive eye contact.

“Do you understand? Nod for yes.” She prompted like a kindergarten teacher. Davis nodded.

“Good boy. Then we’re done here. And I think it goes without saying Mike, but just in case? I was never here.”

“Holy shit, she’s terrifying.” John remarked, impressed, but scared.

Lily turned and slowly walked back up the alley. She heard his clumsy footsteps as he rushed her but she waited until she felt his hands on her shoulders. Lightning fast she reached behind her and placed both hands around the back of the man’s head using his momentum to athletically lift herself up into the air legs straight, bending into a sharp v at the waist, her ankles over her shoulders flipping herself over him and throwing him to the ground headfirst. Davis’s head made contact with the blacktop with a dense wet thud. His body crumpled, and landing flat on his back he wheezed, the air knocked out of him.

“Oh fuck, did you see that? Holy shit! That was incredible!” Burst Chris as though he watched his favorite team score a goal.

“Is he dead?” John asked, worried.

“Who cares?” Chris shrugged.

“A bully AND slow on the uptake Mike, you’re really batting a hundred here.” Her cheerful tone gone, she stood over him, hands on her hips. She waited till he painfully rolled over onto all fours and kicked him mercilessly in his unprotected stomach. He retched.

“Since you’re such a dumbass, I’ll speak a language you understand.” Her voice low, nearly whispering carried the unmistakable chill of remorseless threat. She crouched down and grabbed a fistful of his thinning hair and jerked his head up and back to look at her painfully twisting his neck.

“You so much as look at Adrian Chase again, I’ll come for you and everything and everyone you’ve ever loved. I’ll burn you and everything you have down to ashes.” She jerked his head back and forth for emphasis “Fuck with me and I’ll make you watch as I pull your intestines out of your rotten gut inch by inch and feed them to my dogs. Do you know how long you can live with your guts outside your body Mike? I do. It’s a lot longer than you think. And I know how to make you live even longer than that. I can make sure you’re awake and alert when they start to eat your liver. And don’t bother going to the authorities Davis. Who will they believe? The delusional drunk tank frequent flyer who fucked himself up falling in the alley? Or the tiny girl who was just so scared officer. I did whatever he told me to do, I was afraid he’d kill me…” her theatrical tone punctuated by authentic sounding sobs.

“Crazy bitch.” Davis choked out.

“Oh, you have no idea.” Lily laughed that same menacing little laugh Chris had heard before. She shoved his head down and stood up. Chris and John heard the crunch of her foot making contact with his face, breaking his nose.

As she walked back to the car Davis sat up, bloodied and wild eyed.

“You’re fucking insane!” He yelled.

“Don’t be jealous cuz you aren’t the one between my legs, Baby Dick.” She called behind her, middle finger raised.

She got back in the car in time to watch Davis limp back into the bar.

“So. Just talking to him huh. Not gonna hurt him. What happened to that plan?” Chris asked.

“I didn’t hurt him. He can walk.” Lily shrugged.

“Holy shit, you’re just as insane as Vigilante is.” John lamented.

Lily turned and fixed him with the kind of chilling blank eyed gaze he’d only seen in photos of super villains in Belle Reve. Then suddenly, jarringly her expression shifted as though a curtain dropped to conceal her true nature. From stone cold killer to looking like a brunette Doris Day in the blink of an eye.

“Don’t worry, I know you don’t mean it.” She chirrped brightly. She glanced at her phone.

“Ooo, it’s 3:20. Adrian is getting off early today, I should get home.” John stared at the back of her head with quiet horror for the duration of the car ride back to base. He turned the incident over in his mind until he had a decent idea of why he was bothered. He remembered something Murn had said before he’d gone back to DC to brief Waller on her. He realized that he was in fact, viscerally afraid of her.

When it had become clear that there was a burgeoning romance between Chase and White, Murn took Economos and Harcourt aside to give them a warning about her. She was in fact asset 003. And what they said about Acolyte was true.

They were monitoring the one person most world power players were afraid of and if she decided to go into business for herself they were to terminate her immediately. After watching what just happened he was zero percent confident that any of them could do anything to stop her.

#my fic #lily white acolyte #adrian chase #female oc #peacemaker #peacemaker vigilante #lily white-acolyte #vigilante #my lil meow meow #my scrimblo

[very-venom-us]

Yeah, She Exists Duh

Short lil drabble. Not sure anyone actually reads these but if I don’t get these stupid little stories out then I’ll go nuts. So here’s a silly lil drabble thing for you. OC again :) and her cat, Sugar.

No warnings I can think of. Have fun!

Thursday night at Fennel Fields and things were slow.

See you when you get home!

Read Lily’s text message followed by a gif of a kitten waving. He smiled at the screen and sent her a blue heart and mermaid emoji. No matter how late it was Lily always waited for him to call her before she went to bed. He liked that. Admittedly he was still getting used to the care and consideration she showed him but even so he enjoyed it. He missed her so much when they were apart Chris suggested getting himself grafted to her thigh.

Sitting down he looked surreptitiously around, making sure he was alone.

Scrolling back through their earlier messages he replayed a little video she’d sent him. In it she was holding Sugar the kitty to her cheek and wishing him a good morning, blowing a kiss and wearing a fancy black satin robe with marabou trim with the top of a lacy black slip visible. He loved this video. In it she had just woken up, her wavy hair tousled, the makeup from the night before was smudged around her eyes giving her a smoky mysterious air.

“Mmm, Good Morning. We love you!” video Lily said again and again as he replayed the clip, gazing down at the screen with a bemused smile. He didn’t mind stealing a little bit of personal sunshine in the dingy alley behind the restaurant, even if it was technically considered wage theft .

“Dude, you shouldn’t be watching that stuff at work.”

Adrian looked up, confused flipping his phone over and locking the screen.

“What stuff?”

“Porn.” Taylor tossed the bag he carried into the dumpster nodding his head toward the phone.

“Oh. That’s not, porn no. That’s not what that is. That’s a video my girlfriend sent me.”

“Your. Girlfriend…”

“Yeah.”

“The one you had an abortion with?”

“Uh. That was, was someone else. We’re seeing other people…” he stammered recalling his off the cuff lie from months earlier “No this is my new girlfriend, A-uh. Lily. Her name’s Lily.”

“Yeah? Lily what?”

“Lily White.”

“Lily White, okay man. Sure.” Taylor nodded.

“I’m serious, that’s really her name.”

“Okay. Where’s she from?”

“She’s from Edgewood.”

“Hmm. Don’t know her. My sister had a Lily in her class though.” he supplied giving him an out.

“Yeah, well she went to private school, so.”

“Private school huh.”

“Yeah, her dad had like. A government job so she went to a private school in Oregon.” Adrian nodded, knowing Taylor didn’t believe him.

“Well anyway dude, don’t get caught.”

“I’m serious man, it’s not porn!” Adrian showed him his screen with Lily blowing kisses again and again.

Taylor looked doubtfully at the screen.

“Sure man. Like I said, just don’t get caught.”

Adrian rolled his eyes stashing his phone back into his pocket.

********

At closing the next night Adrian’s phone rang. Its ringtone was Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez. It was Lily.

“Hey, you okay?” he answered, concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine. I hadn’t heard from you so I thought I’d call?” she answered.

“Yeah sorry, one of the girls wasn’t feeling well so I stayed late for her. I should have called.”

“That’s okay, call me when you’re done. Love you!”

“Love you too babe.”

“Who was that?” asked Ramon, a wise and seasoned line cook with an opinion on everything.

“Just my girlfriend, called to see what’s up.” Adrian shrugged.

“Ah, these ladies man. Gotta keep em updated or that leash gets short on ya.”

“Are you still on that?” Taylor asked incredulously.

“Still on what??” Adrian asked brow arched.

“That girlfriend thing, dude. Give it up. Nobody believes that even a little bit.”

“Ooookayyy,doesn’t make her any less real though.”

“I didn’t say she’s not a real person, I’m saying she’s not really your girlfriend and probably not local.”

“Jeez, tell me you’re jealous without telling me.” Adrian scoffed tossing silverware into the basin.

“What is there to be jealous of? Man, nobody’s name is “Lily White” that’s absolutely a pornstar’s name if I ever heard one. Just, stop making things up to sound interesting.”

“I don’t know man, I got a cousin his name is Chili Rojas. That’s weird.” Ramon added.

“That’s a nickname, that don’t count.”

“Nah bro, that’s his government name. Chili Pedro Rojas. All I’m saying is people don’t pick their name.”

“Yes they do!” Taylor retorted. “ Anyone can literally choose to go by any name any time.”

“Okay, but her name is actually Lily, that’s really not that weird. Your name is Taylor and you’re not even a tailor. You work in a restaurant so that proves that you’re the one with a weird hang up on names.” Adrian pointed out.

“What I’m hung up on is that you’ve convinced yourself that an internet baddie is your IRL girlfriend.”

“First of all,” Adrian laughed “She’d probably think you calling her an “internet baddie” is hilarious because she’s the least plugged in person I’ve ever met. Second of all, she IS my IRL girlfriend and I can prove it.”

Taylor opened his mouth to reply but Ramon held up a hand to silence him.

“Let the man prove his point.”

Adrian pulled up a picture of Lily from their last date. She was Instagram perfect, seated legs crossed at the ankle on a barstool holding a pink frozen drink with a pineapple slice and umbrella. She was wearing a bombshell pink wiggle dress and matching shoes.

“See? This is from last weekend.”

“You literally could have pulled this off the internet.” Taylor said flatly.

“Okay, what about this?” Adrian showed a picture of Lily in jeans and a scoop neck white tee and her black leather moto jacket sitting in the driver’s seat of her 69 Mustang, one foot on the ground looking at the camera her hair caught by a breeze. The car was parked near a beach. “We drove out to the coast in her car.”

“There’s no way. That’s literally from a magazine.” Taylor shook his head.

“No, that’s my girlfriend and that’s her car.” Adrian said jabbing a finger at Lily and the car respectively.

“Dang man,” Ramon said leaning in to get a better look “ Estas bien buena, they grow ‘em like that around here?”

“Yeah, they do.” Adrian beamed.

“No. No they do not, damnit Ramon. Don’t encourage him.” Taylor reprimanded.

“Hey, he says she exists she exists bruh. Lay off the kid.”

Adrian just shrugged and continued with his work.

********

That Saturday Adrian was picking up a few things from the grocery store and found himself perusing the floral department debating on whether Lily would prefer cut flowers or a potted plant. He settled on a potted plant with fringey delicate leaves. He wasn’t sure what it was but he figured Lily would and would add it to her indoor jungle with a name and little saucer to sit on. Then he decided he’d like to give her cut flowers anyway. It was fun giving Lily things, she never expected it and was always so happy, no matter what it was. He’d once given her a particularly round and smooth pebble he’d found on the sidewalk and he knew for a fact she kept it in her wallet.

He selected a mix of white and peach roses and had the girl behind the counter blend them together.

As he waited idly reading the greeting card rack Taylor spotted him.

The salesgirl tied the bouquet up in white tissue paper with a protective plastic sleeve. As Adrian pulled out his card to pay Taylor craned his neck to see what he was buying. Before Adrian was finished Taylor grabbed his latte from the coffee stand counter and took his bags.

As luck would have it they bumped into each other as they exited the store.

“What’s all that for?” Taylor asked by way of greeting.

“Oh, uh. Lily’s having a little dinner party thing so I’m bringing her these” he gestured to the roses he carried in the crook of his arm “for her table.”

“Okay. Then why the plant?”

“Cuz she likes plants and I love her?” Adrian replied as though it should be obvious.

“For your internet girlfriend?”

Adrian sighed.

“She’s not my internet girlfriend”-

“There, see? Just be honest man. She’s not”-

“She’s my real life girlfriend that I’m going to see at her house. Tonight. And I gotta hurry up because I took too long picking out a plant.” Adrian gave him a sideways glance as he passed, shaking his head slightly.

Taylor rolled his eyes and got into his car. Chase was a weird dude, but this was getting out of hand.

********

Saturday rolled around and Lily had wanted to visit the farmers market to find some local honey and herbs.

So, he’d gotten up early and followed her from

stall to stall carrying her wicker basket for her. She was adorable in a full skirted white eyelet dress and fern green cableknit cardigan, her hair half up in a tortoise shell clip. She’d gotten into a conversation with an older lady she knew from the animal shelter so he occupied himself by wandering around the market.

Taylor was out for a run when he spotted Chase walking around the farmers market with a wicker basket. Ordinarily he was one to mind his own business but this bizarre little charade had gone on long enough.

“Whatcha doing?” Taylor asked a touch of judgment creeping into his tone.

“Oh, hey. Weird, running into you twice in one week. Outside of work obviously.” Adrian answered.

“Yeah weird.”

“Yeah, I’m just waiting on Lily. She’s talking to a friend of hers about maybe fostering kittens.”

“Likely story. You know, it’s okay to just say you’re here by yourself. You don’t need to keep this up.”

“Sorry, but you’re being super weird about this man. What’s so strange about being here with my girlfriend that you’ve gotta go out of your way to approach me about it?”

“There is no girlfriend! Just admit it! Lily White is not a real person and therefore is not here!”

“Yes! She. Is!”

“Admit I caught you in a lie!”

“No, because it’s not a lie. I’m starting to think you’re like, obsessed with me or something…”

“Why are you the way that you are? Admit you made it all up and I’ll drop it.”

Adrian pushed his glasses back up his nose, laughing quietly to himself looking at the ground shaking his head.

“You’re being so weird about this. What’s your deal?”

Taylor was about to reply when a pretty girl in a white dress walked up behind Chase.

“What’s going on?” She asked him curiously taking the basket from him and looping her arm through his.

“Hey honey, this is Taylor. We, work together.”

“Ah,…” Taylor responded confused.

“Taylor meet Lily, my girlfriend.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Said the girl from Adrian’s photos.

“She exists.” He said lamely.

“Yeah, she exists. Duh dude, I told you.”

Taylor stood and watched Chase walk away with his girlfriend.

“What was that about?” He heard her ask.

“I dunno, he’s just been super weird lately…”

Taylor let his hands fall limply to his sides.

If there’s somebody for him there’s somebody for everyone He thought to himself as he continued his run.

#my fic #adrian chase #female oc #peacemaker #vigilante #lily white-acolyte #stupid lil story

[very-venom-us]

you've gotta understand i don't post on here to gain followers i do it to empty my mind ruthlessly each day so i dont go insane . me posting about a character is just me shaking my brain upside down to make sure everything comes out

[very-venom-us]

i hear a good lyric and start mentally holding up blorbos like im in the home depot paint aisle comparing swatches

#congratulations on your post

[very-venom-us]

Lily White-Acolyte Part 2

Love You Like a Love Song-Adrian

Adrian is trying out this whole “dating” thing. Slowish burn? Definitely fluffy. No smut, it’s coming though. Pretty sweet actually. No violence but it’s alluded to in the past.

She was a lovely collection of contradictions.

On one hand, she was sweet and soft, an ultra feminine and gentle little thing all curves curls and doe eyed innocence. Swing dresses and crinolines cuddling with kittens and blushing while holding hands.

On the other she was sharp, witty and dangerously sexy. Athletic, and professional she was an extremely talented tactician.

The incident Peacemaker’s place was one thing since he’d only come in at the end.

But watching her now being put through her paces was different. Sure, she was attractive. She wore a zip front white sport bra, leggings and long ponytail and white sneakers. The generous and firm curves of her ass ,thighs and calves encased in the finest black stretch fabric Lululemon had to offer jiggling slightly as she made contact with the strike pads Chris held. But more impressive was her square stance and ability to strike hard and fast with consistency. The hard muscle in her toned arms, shoulders and back beautifully defined. Chris stepped back and allowed her to rest a moment. She adjusted the tape in her knuckles and stretched luxuriously, adjusting the bra band.

“I’m bored with the strike pads.” She said stretching out her shoulders.

“You wanna spar for real?” Chris replied with surprise.

“Yeah, try me.”

“I dunno, I don’t want to hurt you..” he cautioned.

“There’s literally no way you could injure me.” she replied with such confidence Adrian felt his temperature rise.

“Rules.” she held up a finger.

“Okay.” Chris nodded hands on his hips giving her a friendly smile.

“I won’t hit you below the belt, please don’t pull my hair or hit my boobies.” she stated, hands splayed out over her chest.

“Reasonable. Or your face, but that’s just on principle.”

“Okay.” Lily squared up, waiting.

“Ladies first.” Chris said congenially.

Lily sprang up and planted her right foot squarely in his sternum landing in a smooth crouch on the mat. While he was off balance she swept his legs out from under him with one of hers. He hit the mat hard.

Lily offered him a hand, helped him up and hopped backwards returning to her fighting stance.

“You were holding back. Don’t do that.”

He nodded aiming a punch at her midsection. Lily caught his fist with both of hers and using his weight and momentum directed him to the right. Jumping up she propelled herself behind him by kicking off of his shoulder.

“She’s like Catwoman or something.” Adebayo commented impressed.

“Yeah. It’s smart, she’s using his size against him. Peacemaker probably has like seventy pounds on her and he’s obviously taller. She’s pretty clever, had some extensive training . I’d be curious to see how she does against an opponent closer to her size.” he mused as Lily flipped Chris down onto the mat, holding his left arm behind his back.

Adebayo looked sideways at Adrian. “Dude, Murn says she’s literally an assassin.”

“Well, yeah. Clearly. I’m just saying she’s obviously got skills.”

“Nah. You want her to pin you down like that.” Leota pointed. Lily had her right knee in Peacemaker’s back between the shoulder blades her left stretched out toe pointed to the side. Hmmm.

Reaching behind him Peacemaker caught Lily’s ankle and pulled her off, shoving her across the mat.

“Uhn.” she grunted, rolling back up quickly. She made a running leap toward Peacemaker but before she could knock him down again he made to sweep her over and she moved into an acrobatic backflip. At the apex of her arc, he caught her upside down and around the middle. Wait..Adrian thought.

Wrapping her thighs around Chris’s head and locking knees bent, fronts of her feet flat against his shoulders she channeled the momentum into pulling him over with her. Chris flipped, landing flat on his back with a groan, Lily’s knees on the mat on either side of his head, both of them breathing heavily. God, I wish that were me….

Leaning forward onto her hands she sprung up and off him.

“Mmhmm. That’s what it is.”

Leota’s knowing tone pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Nah, I just think it’d be fun. Not, not having her thighs around my head like that, I mean. Well, no. Just. She’s. Bet she’s good. She IS good. Flexible-y’now. Uh”- he scrambled.

“I get it.” Adebayo nodded sagely.

As Chris got up, Adrian noticed Lily stretching her left shoulder and grimacing slightly.

Before it really registered what he was doing he was standing in front of her, her big eyes regarding him questioningly.

“Did’ya hurt yourself?”

“No, I think I just overdid it.” She smiled.

“It’s prolly stiff. Here, can I?” Lily nodded slightly.

With two fingers he pressed lightly over her left collarbone and shoulder joint standing facing her side. “Can you raise it please?” he laid his palms flat onver the top her shoulder.

“Ah, you got a big knot back here.” he pushed his glasses up his nose. “ Use a heat pack and see if it helps.” he nodded.

“Oh, thanks. I’ll try that.”

“He just needs to ask her out already.” Leota said arms crossed.

“Yeah. I don’t think he’s gonna make the first move though.” John said brushing crumbs off his shirt front “ He’s way too awkward with her.”

“Don’t sell the man short. He’s just being respectful is all. He already told her he likes her, he’s just… giving her time.” Leota said kindly.

“Nah. He’s definitely going to need a push.” Chris said confidently.

“Uh, no.” Leota “Lily wants it to happen organically, she’s romantic. Adrian might be, uh, little different but he’s got the right idea. Leave them be. They’ll be alright.”

“I disagree. Chicks dig a guy who really takes the lead. He’s gotta show her he’s man enough for her.”

“Mmm, I don’t think so. If he does that he’s gonna get his ass handed right back to him. Like, you just did, except twice as hard.” Harcourt commented without looking up from her work.

“Hey now, not fair! I let her win back there.” Peacemaker protested.

“Mhhm. Sure ya did.” she snorted.

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

Leaning against the counter he looked around at the ceiling and cabinets for the thousandth time.

“I’m just still so, just wow. She really did make every shot count. Aside from the blood stains, I’d never even know it happened.”

“That and the screen door bent to hell.” Chris sighed. They’d had this exact conversation a thousand times.

“Well, that wasn’t her fault. But still! Prescision.”

“So. You ask her out yet?”Smith asked sitting heavily on the couch.

The question caught Chase off guard. He crossed his arms tightly across his chest. “Uh. Well, see. I actually…no.”

“Why not?”

“B.Because….I’m too busy for all that right now. Besides. If I was interested in something as boring as dating”-

“Oh. So you aren’t into Lily then?”

“I didn’t say that. I like her, I just like, don’t wanna get tied down.”

“Why not?” Chris said between bites of Cheetos puffs “She likes you, plus she’s hot.”

“Yeah, well. It’s complicated. Dating me would be dangerous for her. Sure, I like her but I respect her too much to put her in danger like that, besides I gotta keep my real identity hidden”-

“She already knows who you are, dumbass.” Chris scoffed “Both ways.”

Adrian held up a finger to argue “Oh yeah.”

“So what’s the deal?”

“I don’t want her to turn me down.” He said cocking his head to the side, lips pressed thin.

“Dude. She’s not going to turn you down. She wants you to ask her out.” Chris gestured expansively.

Adrian pulled a wry disbelieving expression.

“Dude, that’s literally the oldest trick in the book. You convince me to ask out a girl way out of my league then laugh your ass off when she inevitably rejects me. Funny, sure but I don’t wanna be the rejectee on this one.”

“I’m serious. She’s just waiting for you to make a move.”

Adrian’s expression softened and he moved to the chair. “So, what should I do?”

“Literally just ask her bro. You talk to her all the time.”

“That’s different though.”

“How?”

“Because… Well it just is.” Adrian spread his hands in frustration.

“Alright.” Chris leaned forward clapping his hands on his knees “What do you know about her?”

“Easy.” Chase opened his notes app. “ One, she likes animals. Cats are her favorite but it looks like she might be boarding a horse outside of town. And there’s a rock in her backyard that says “Minky” on it? Probably a cat, but unconfirmed. Two, her favorite flowers are peonies and gardenias. Three, she secretly smokes. At least I think she does? One time I saw inside her purse and there was a pack of Camels”-

“Wait wait wait, are you like. Stalkin’ her?”

“No? Of course not.” he scoffed “That’s fucked up and illegal I might add. No, I got this from reading her blog and reading Economos’s open laptop. Except for the cigarettes, except she probably shouldn’t be smoking it’s super unhealthy. And the Minky rock. I saw that when I was checking the property after feeding the fish.”

“Okay. First? Absolutely do not show her that list. It’s really fucking weird. Secondly, I meant do you know what she likes to do?”

“Ohhhhh, that makes more sense, yeah. Since you asked…The whole date thing.” Chase said as though just now understanding the question “No, I don’t.” he finished brightly.

“Okay, so pay attention when she mentions anything she’d like to do. Then, and this is crucial. Ask her to go do that thing with you.” Smith pointed at Chase with both hands.

“Oh, I get it.” Adrian smiled “But what if she’d rather go alone? I’d hate to impose.” Chase asked seriously, his smile turning to an introspective frown.

Smith scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Bro. That’s literally the point, if she’s bringing it up that’s a hint that you should offer to take her do that thing!”

“Really?” he asked skeptically.

“YES!”

“Okay but what if it’s weird? Like what if she’s into S&M clubs? I’d hardly think it’s an appropriate first date option.”

Smith blankly stared at the clueless man.

“Don’t worry. Most people save that for at least the third date.” he said flatly.

“Damn, I gotta read up.”

Smith shook his head despairingly.

*******

Over the next few days Chase listened closely to everything Lily said. And when he wasn’t listening he watched her like a hawk intent on catching any potential clue.

As Lily sat writing notes while Murn brought her up to speed on their project, he stood left leaning against the table observing her.

Lily tucked a curl behind her ear and glanced up feeling his eyes on her. Quickly he looked away as though fascinated by the water damaged ceiling. It was neither smooth nor convincing. Clemson Murn sighed heavily and moved his chair so his back was to Chase and more importantly impeding his view of White.

“Hey.” Adebayo whispered sidling up to him. He continued to stare intensely at White, craning his neck to see her as though he hadn’t noticed Leota’s presence at all. She smacked his shoulder and he jumped.

“Shh..I, hey. Hey.” He said lamely by way of greeting.

“You keep staring like that and she’s gonna have two holes burned in her by the end of the day.” Adebayo teased quietly.

“I’m making sure I don’t miss anything.”

“Miss what?”

“I’m watching and listening for clues.”

“Clues? For what? We got some kind of situation or?”

“No, no. Um. Peacemaker said to pay attention and eventually she’ll say something about something she wants to do and it’s supposed to be a hint or something.”

“Ohhhh, so you’re looking for her interests. Okay, I thought…never mind.” she said waving her hands as though to clear away the statement.

“Thought what?”

“Nothing. You figure anything out?”

Chase sighed. “No, not really.”

“You want some intel?”she smiled slyly.

“Holy shit, yes! Whatcha got?”

“She’s into old movies. Friday night they’re playing La Dolce Vita at the old Orpheum theater. You should see if she’s free.”

“You think she’d go for it?”

“Worth a shot.” Adebayo shrugged.

He went over and over the scene in his mind, mentally practicing his delivery for the rest of the day. In his mind he imagined himself as suave and debonair as Bruce Wayne and Lily accepting his proposal breathlessly.

Towards evening after Murn left, he approached Lily’s desk.

She sat sideways on her chair, sitting on one leg supporting her cheek on her fist as she read through the thick dossier. She wore black sateen pedal pushers with a black cashmere mock neck sweater and black ballet flats. She wore a velveteen headband in her wavy brunette hair, the desk light catching her eyelashes and lipgloss bathing her face in a golden glow.

Now he was staring because simply because her beauty caught him off guard. She glanced up at him through her lashes, then sat up and smiled.

He quite forgot what he had intended to say.

Leota smacked Emilia in the shoulder, and pointed in the lovebirds direction to silence her. Emilia smiled and the two women shared a glance. Peacemaker punched John in the arm. “Ow..”he protested silenced by Chris pointing toward the developing scene. “Finally.” he whispered.

Standing awkwardly in front of her he swallowed and cleared his throat.

“So. I uh, heard you maybe like movies? Sorta.. old ones.” he shrugged “Anyway... uh, I was thinking if you do, maybe you’d like me?” he squeezed his eyes shut “No. To see me. Hold on, no. Maybe if you wanted to see one I’d bring you there? To where they are…If, if you want. It’s cool if not. But even cooler if you did. Be a lot cooler if you did actually. Poggers even. But it’s totally up to you. Uh? So, if that sounds like you wouldn’t completely hate it how about Friday?” he pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose self consciously.

Lily wore an expression of charmed confusion and blinked up at him, head tipped to the side.

“ Uhm, never mind…” He gave her double finger guns, bounced nervously on the balls of his feet, clapped his hands to his sides and started to turn away.

Leota and Emilia shared a worried glance while Chris ruefully passed a twenty dollar bill to John.

“Adrian, wait a minute.” Lily said.

He looked up at her, eyebrows raised, lips pressed thin, eyes wide.

“I’d love too, thanks for asking.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yes.” She said gathering her purse “I’ll see you at 7:30? The movie starts at 8:00.”

“Should I… come get you orr?” He trailed off.

Lily shrugged “If you don’t mind… I could walk it’s not fa”-

Adrian put a hand out to stop her.

“No! No, I’ll definitely come get you. 7:30.”

“I’ll see you then.” She waved as she walked out.

He stood still, rooted to the spot watching as the door swung shut on its hinges.

Then he punched the air with both fists moving into air guitar.

Leota and Emilia clapped and Chris pumped his fist victoriously as John ruefully passed his twenty back.

******

The movie theater was very nearly empty. Just Lily, himself and an elderly couple clearly having a little nostalgia filled date. In the car, she’d talked a bit about the plot but mostly how glad she was she could see it in a theater. He learned all about Fellini and his cultural impact.

He noted that Lily preferred extra butter popcorn and Twizzlers were one of her favorite sweets. He opted for separate sodas figuring that it’d be more appropriate for a first date.

As Anita Ekberg strolled through the alley on the screen with the little white kitten on her head, Lily sniffled quietly. By the time Ekberg was frolicking in the Trevi Fountain silent tears were running down cheeks.

“Are you okay?” he whispered. Lily simply nodded, giving him a tiny watery smile.

Walking out of the now empty theater he held her purse for her as he helped her into her skirted trench coat. She was pretty as usual, dressed this evening in another cashmere pullover this time 3/4 sleeve soft pink with a black pencil skirt and heels. Her curled hair held back from her face by a pair of tortoise combs revealing her gold hoop earrings. He couldn’t tell she’d been teary eyed just by looking but he was still concerned.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m fine, promise.”

“How come you were crying?”

“It was the kitty. It looked so like Sugar. I guess I just didn’t realize how much I missed her.”

“Oh, I was thinking maybe I wasn’t getting the tone… So, can you still see Sugar?” He asked.

“I wish but no, she’s pending adoption. It’s a good thing, really it is. I just think it’d be too difficult to see her and know she’s not coming home with me…” she trailed off, tears threatening to spill over “But don’t let me spoil the evening! I really am enjoying myself, thank you for taking me.” She blushed a little as she smiled slipping her hand under his arm and resting the palm on his forearm lightly. Due to the films run time it was now significantly darker than when they’d arrived.

Lily pulled herself closer to him as they walked through the empty parking lot. He heard a hitch in her breath and glancing down at her quickly he could see anxiety in her face. He hated that she was so uneasy out in the open, though personally quite glad he’d been able to deal with the one who caused her to feel that way himself.

He unlocked the passenger side door, opened and closed it for her and walked around the front of the car so she could see him.

Parked outside her house he walked her up into the safety of her porch light. She unlocked the door and put her purse inside.

“Thank you for a nice evening Adrian.” she said cheeks pink and suddenly shy.

“Oh, absolutely. I had a good time too. Probably the best date I’ve had in awhile… not that that’s a surprise. I mean, you’re easy to get along with. I like being around you.”

“I like being around you too.” she replied looking up at him through her lashes.

“So. I was wondering. Would you maybe want to do this again sometime? We could watch a different movie or even the same one if you wanted…” he held his hands awkwardly in front of him, picking the cuticles of his left with his right gazing into her big honey hazel eyes. “Doesn’t even need to be a movie really. I’m not really sure what else to do though because second dates are sorta few and far between for me. But anyw”-

Lily stood up on her tiptoes and holding his wrist for support pressed her soft lips to his cheek.

He was unprepared for her being so close. Her plush lips, her fingers on his arm, the soft sweater brushing against his hand, her bust pressing ever so slightly against his body, her sweet vanilla perfume that made him imagine that if she were a cupcake he’d want to lick all her frosting off. She’d have pink vanilla frosting with those little sparkly sprinkles…

“Absolutely I do. Would you like to grab lunch somewhere?” she offered.

He just nodded, pushing his glasses back up.

“Okay. What about Tuesday?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’m so down.”

“Okay” she smiled “How about you call me later? We’ll talk more.”

“Sure.”

“Goodnight Adrian..”

“Goodnight Lily.” He waited until he heard the deadbolt snap shut and the chain slide into place.

*******

Without really thinking about it he drove to Peacemaker’s place. Sneaking around back, Vigilante tapped on the bedroom window until the lights snapped on and the curtains flew open.

“What the fuck? It’s almost midnight dude, what the hell do you want?” Chris rubbed his eyes owlishly.

“Hey man, I’m glad you’re awake. I’ve got a situation and I’m going to need your help.”

“What situation?”

“Just trust me man, it’s legit. Super time sensitive and if this job isn’t handled quickly lives could be at stake.”

“This really can’t wait till like, morning?”

“Innocent. Lives.” Vigilante stressed “innocent.”

“You sure about that?”

“Cross my heart and hope to die bestie.” Vig drew an X over his heart.

Peacemaker sighed deeply. “Fine. But this better be good. And next time use the damn front door!” He yelled pulling the curtains shut.

“Okay, what’s the run down?” Peacemaker asked once they were on the road.

Vigilante cleared his throat. “I received some intel that an innocent inmate is due to be removed to another holding facility soon. Problem is, this inmate isn’t actually guilty of anything and is being detained without due process. She’s got one person pulling for her but they won’t let her see her. So it’s probably worse than we really even know right now.”

“Whoah, little weird for you but alright. I’m already in. What is she in for?”

“Basically dude, homelessness.”

“Oh, that’s fucked up.”

“Right? Like basic rights completely out the window man. Bad enough to be alone on the streets but being detained cuz of it? No way.”

“Absolutely, this is a free fucking country!”

“See, I knew you’d get it.”

Vig parked the car behind a cinder block building with a chain link fence around it.

“Do me a favor man, check for any dogs in that fence.”

“On it.” Peacemaker moved around the car and cleared the fence perimeter. Vigilante grabbed a small duffel bag from the backseat and climbed the fence.

“We need to get up there, go in through the skylight. There shouldn’t be a guard in here but we’ll have to hurry anyway since it’s probably video monitored.”

“No big deal, we’ll take out the cameras.” Peacemaker shrugged.

On the roof Vigilante unscrewed the hard plastic dome. “Kinda small for a detention facility isn’t it?” Chris whispered.

“Yeah. But there’s no cells in here, just cages.” Vig replied.

“Bastards.”

Vigilante moved the dome aside and jumped down into what appeared to be a storage room, followed closely by Peacemaker.

“Okay, to the right I think.” Vig led the way.

In the darkened hallway , they passed framed posters of advertisements for flea and tick prevention, heart worm screenings and feline infectious leukemia.

“Hey man, I don’t think this is the right place…” Smith whispered.

“Shhhh!” Chase hushed him, shooting out a camera in the corner near a large grey steel door.

Vigilante kicked it in and rushed inside Peacemaker not far behind.

“Don’t be scared, we’re here to”- Smith started, desert eagle drawn. Looking around he stood up straight and dropped his arms loosely at his sides.

“Dude, these are fucking cats.” he said, annoyance in his tone.

“Well yeah, but I didn’t think I could get you to help if I told you there were cats here…” he said checking cages.

“So. I take it no innocent lives are in danger then?” he was clearly pissed off.

“No, that part is gods honest truth.” he poked his finger between the cage bars and itched an orange tabby under the chin.

“What the hell could you possibly mean?”

“There you are!” he proclaimed “Do you miss your mama? I bet you do.” he spoke to the fluff inside the cage. Curiously Peacemaker glanced over Vigilante’s shoulder. The little yellow sign on the cage read “Fluffy. Fur-Ever Home adoption in progress”.

“Wait…”

Vig set the small duffel bag down on the counter and began unzipping and rolling down the side walls revealing mesh. He carefully folded some flannel receiving blankets and laid them inside.

“Is that one of Lily’s cats?”

“You bet. Last one too.”Vig opened the cage and grasped the tiny white animal with both hands. The kitten mewed as he put her into the bag and zipped it shut. “Let’s get out of here. Maybe open some cages? Let a few out? Obviously don’t hurt any of em but maybe it’ll look like a teenage break in.”

“Don’t hurt em? Duh, who hurts animals? That’s pretty sick.” Peacemaker fired back offended.

Smith pulled over a shelf of cat food then opened a few cages.

They left by the back door and carefully tossed a few cats back inside and quickly shut the door behind them.

The cat carrier with Lily’s kitten sat in the back seat, mewing loudly.

“So all that to steal your girlfriends cat?” Chris said testily “You coulda just said “hey man, let’s get Lily her cat back” like a normal person. I maybe wouldn’t have gone but at least I’d still be asleep.”

“Fair enough.” Adrian conceded “But dude, she loves this cat. And after she cried on our date”-

“You made her cry on your date? What’d you do?”

“It wasn’t me! There was a tiny cat in the movie and it looked like Sugar and Lily got upset…”

“Oh, so you stole the cat so she wouldn’t be upset?”

“I wouldn’t say “stole” that’s a pretty strong word. I’m going to go with “reclaimed”.”

“Uh huh. So how’d it go?”

“Dude? You were right there, remember? You should know?”

“Not the cat burglary! The damn date, duh.” Smith rolled his eyes.

“Ha, cat burglary, good one. No, the date went great! I picked her up like I said I would. She looked nice, I mean she always does but still. Uh, the movie was good. Three hours long. Long movie. Drove her home.” he said casually. “Oh, and she kissed me.” he added as an afterthought.

“Whoa, whoa, what kind of kiss?”

“Just, a little one I guess?”

“Like, we talking full on lip lock with tongue?”

“Ohhhh. No. Just a little one, right here.” he tapped his cheek and shrugged.

“You kiss her back?”

“Well, no. I’m not going to unless she asks me too.”

“Fair enough.” Chris nodded in agreement “See, I told you she liked you.”

“Yeah, we’re going out again Tuesday.”

“Hell yeah! Congrats bro.” Peacemaker punched him in the shoulder “Are you gonna tell her you stole the cat?”

“Mmmnmm. Nope. I’ll just say the adoption fell through. She doesn’t need to know I caused damage to her cat shelter.”

******

The next morning he stood on her porch with Sugar pressed against his chest. She was purring very loudly and he stroked her cheek.

Lily opened the door and smiled, genuinely happy to see him. He quickly held Sugar behind his back. She wore pink sateen pedal pushers with a black 50s style puff sleeve off the shoulder top and pink marabou heeled slipper. She looked like a brunette Marilyn Monroe.

“Well good morning!” She said “ I’m making coffee, do you want to come in?”

“Sure. But first, I have a little surprise for you.”

“Oh really?”

“You bet. Trust me, and close your eyes.”

Lily gave him a a playfully appraising glance and closes her eyes.

He held Sugar against his chest again and fluffed her bow. “Okay, open.”

Lily’s hands flew to her mouth and she jumped up and down ecstatically. “Oh! Oh, you didn’t!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed every part of his face she could reach, knocking his glasses askew. Surprised by her enthusiastic reaction , he wrapped his arm around her and just held her, grinning broadly and holding the kitten off to the side.

“Oh Adrian!” She delicately wiped under eye with her pointer finger “You are without a doubt the sweetest man!” Gently he passed the kitten to her and she cradled her to her chest.

“Oh Sugar! Don’t you look so pretty! Did you tie this?” She asked turning to him.

“Yeah, I did.” he shrugged.

She gestured for him to come inside. Setting Sugar on the floor she faced him pushed the door closed with her foot. Grasping his shirt collar she gently tugged him down to her height and kissed him. She released him and blushing deeply stepped back.

“Ah, wow.” he said straightening his glasses “Is it okay if I kiss you back? Or..?”

“Of course.”

“Oh good.” he said pulling her into him, returning her kiss with a bit more heat than he intended. Lily hummed against him and carded her fingers through his curls. He hiked her thighs up onto his hips and lifting her up he carried her to the couch. He sat down and held her on his lap. Her hands moved over his neck, chest and shoulders. Keeping his hands on her hips, he closed his eyes, savouring the closeness of her. He felt her cradle his face between hands and pull back. When he looked up she was gazing at him with such tenderness he could feel it deep in his chest. She gently replaced his glasses and he knew. This was love. He loved her.

She carefully adjusted her position in his lap and sat bridal style in his lap, resting her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and they just sat, snuggled close together with Sugar jumping up into Lily’s lap and purring loudly. She twirled his curls around her fingers and he gently tipped her chin up and kissed her lips, eyelids, cheeks.

He promised himself that he’d keep her safe no matter what.

“Maybe we should go to the pet store?” He offered.

#my fic #Lily White-Acolyte #adrian chase #female oc #peacemaker #peacemaker vigilante #vigilante #my lil meow meow #part 2 #idk what happened to the formatting

[very-venom-us]

Vigilante meeting Lily: 💔🥺You’re beautiful, you’re beautiful, it’s true🥺💔

Lily meeting Vigilante: (🍀opening to Baby Love by the Supremes🍀)

Vigilante seeing Lily barefoot wearing an oversized tee shirt spattered with blood holding a double barrel shot gun and blasting racists to hell in the middle of the night : 🌸✨🎶 Hello, Hello, My, My, My What Have We Here, What A Surprise What A Surprise, Hello ,Hello 🎶✨🌸

Lily barefoot wearing an oversized tee shirt spattered with blood holding a double barrel shot gun and blasting racists to hell in the middle of the night: 🎶💀 let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor, Let the bodies hit the FLOOOOR☠️🎶

#my fic #my OC #Lily White-Acolyte #Vigilante #adrian chase #It’s the Romance #my lil scrimblo #my lil meow meow #peacemaker vigilante #peacemaker #dc extended universe fic #gnomeo and Juliet song

[very-venom-us]

getting obsessed with your own ocs sucks ass because you gotta be the one that makes all the content for them like damn whats a guy gotta do around here to see their made up scrimblos drawn by someone else

[very-venom-us]

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

Gif from Giphy

Lily White-Acolyte Pt1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The blurb read:

Woman Brutally Attacked

Substitute teacher sustained serious injuries in late night attack.

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

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

Name: Lily Anne White 29

Caucasian Female

Evergreen WA.

Attended University of Washington on an archery scholarship.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Gnarly”. Chase replied clicking his tongue.

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

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

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

Local Woman Rescues Ducklings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“A real bastard that’s who.”

Eagly chirrped his agreement from his perch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ Did you see him?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smith noticed his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What the hell are”- Reid started angrily.

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

Reid looked dumbfounded then the blood drained from his face .

“Lily? I haven’t seen her since”-

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

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

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

“ But I”-

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

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

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

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

“Go on.” Chase prompted.

“You know her?”

“Clocks ticking Zach.”

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

Chase cocked his head to the side listening.

“Sound a lil bitter there buddy.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reid began to shake his head frantically back and forth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They left by the front door.

*****

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

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

Smith emerged from the bathroom toweling his hair.

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

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

Eagly chirrped happily.

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

Adrian sighed heavily and slumped back into the couch.

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

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

“C’mon. Somethings up.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*********

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

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

“Come in.” Leota called.

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

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

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

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

Gently, awkwardly he patted the back of her hand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh no!” Lily spoke suddenly.

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

“Oh no, my kitties. What time is it?”

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

She groaned in distress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Kitties?” Smith scoffed under his breath.

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

She rolled her eyes.

“You’d do that for me?”

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

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

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

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

Adebayo and Harcourt shared a knowing glance across the bed.

*****

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

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

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

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

“ How do you know?”

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

“Yeah. After you save the kitties.”

Adrian gave him a tight lipped stare across the car.

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

Adrian nodded staring straight ahead. “ Thank you.”

Chris side eyed him with a smirk.

Adrian sighed heavily. “What?”

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

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

“I’m right aren’t I?”

“‘Bout what?”

“You like her.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Scouts honor.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Weird.”

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

Adrian showed him the arrow.

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

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

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

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

“Why?”

“Just. Just cuz.”

Chris dropped his arms at his sides.

“Okay, what reason?” He pressed.

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

“Dude. Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

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

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

“Okay. So, go in.”

“No.” Chase shook his head emphatically.

“Cuz I’m right.”

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

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

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

Smith pumped his fist triumphantly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Weighted blanket.” Adrian observed.

Chris lifted it with one arm.

“That’s like, 25lbs.”

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

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

“She really likes pink.” Chris commented.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chase opened the iPad on her bedside table next to

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

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

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

“But on the bed though?”

“Chairs or shelves.”

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

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

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

“She’s got fish.”

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

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

He clicked the lamp switch and they headed back downstairs.

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

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

Chase nodded.

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

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

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

******

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

“Good Morning”. Chase said from the darkness.

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

“Ow.” Said Chase, annoyed.

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

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

“You got a reason, or??”

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

“Let me at least sit down first.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course.”

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

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

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

“An hour before dawn, actually.”

“Well excuse me.”

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

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

She narrowed her eyes at him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ Maybe, yeah.” Adrian nodded innocently.

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

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

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

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

“Very very tender ones.” Leota said sweetly.

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

Emilia sighed.

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

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

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

“Well yeah, I’m not a dick.”

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

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

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

He nodded ruefully.

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

“I just, did it.”

“ There you go. Just like that.”

“ Are you sure?”he asked skeptically.

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

“Uh, yeah??” He replied incredulously.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m always careful.” Chase scoffed.

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

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

“Oh really? What makes you think that?”

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

Chris motioned for him to shut up.

*******

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ah.”

“Yeah.” Smith nodded with a rueful expression.

“Bastard. I’m glad he’s dead.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Whose been feeding her fish?”

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

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

Chris looked over his shoulder.

“Tampons.”

“I couldn’t find any.”

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

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

“So what’s the plan?”

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

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

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

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

“He promised to be on his best behavior.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Can I pet him?”

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

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

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

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

******

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

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

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

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

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

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

“They’re not your type.” She scoffed.

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

“So you are looking?”

“ Not from the front.”

Lily gave him a pointed look, brow arched.

“Sorry.”

“Thank you.” She nodded laying down carefully.

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

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

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

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

“Nah, it’s alright.”

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

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

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

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

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

“ I mean it.”

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

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

“Good.”

He laid her phone on the bedside table for her.

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

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

“I will.”

“Is he like, mad at me?”

“What makes you say that?”

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

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

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

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

Lily nodded again trying to be nonchalant.

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

******

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh. That. Uh..”

“Well?”

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

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

“I am?”

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

“She misses me?”

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

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

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

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

“What the hell are you talking about?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sooo, no?”

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

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

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

“Right right right. Good idea.”

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

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

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

“So we’re cool?”

“We’re cool.”

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

******

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

A break in then.

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

Make them count.

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

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

Six

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

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

Five

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

Four

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

Three

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

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

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

“ I’ll send you straight to hell.”

Lily heard pounding footsteps on the gravel outside.

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

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

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

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

“You b”- Lily squeezed the trigger.

Two

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

One

She turned to the two armed men gun arm raised.

Recognition dawned on her blood spattered face.

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

*****

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

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

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

“You’ll know.” Chris nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Wait… you help her get dressed?”

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

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

“Her titties?”

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

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

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

He turned the car onto the gravel driveway.

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

“Why’d you think they’re little?”

“Just when they get hard you can tell.”

“You’re getting her nip”-

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

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

“Shit.” They said in unison.

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

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

“I hope the fuck you do.”

The man yelled and ran full tilt into the house.

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

“Vig, that’s Lily don’t shoot!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“ Others??”

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

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

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

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

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

“Adrian??”

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

“Give it up dude.” Chris ordered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Who the hell are they?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yep.” He answered unashamedly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Your whole life?” Adrian asked astonished.

“More or less.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Why didn’t you know?” Adebayo asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Economos went pale, realising what he’d said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lily watched him leave, eyes cold.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thanks.” She mumbled quietly.

“Does your shoulder hurt?”

“A little. My ribs hurt more though.”

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

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

“Hey, Lily?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Of course I forgive you.”

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

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

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

*******

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

“General Conklin.”

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

“State the asset’s identification number.”

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

“003”

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

“Yes sir, she is alive.”

“Is triple o three in need of extracting?”

“No sir”-

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

The line clicked off.

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

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

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

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

“General Conklin?”

“Yeah,”

“What’d he say?”

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

“Are you sure that’s what he said?”

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

Murn looked troubled.

“What is it?” Harcourt pressed.

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

“Why?”

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

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

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

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

Murn sighed deeply.

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

White is another terrifying creature altogether.

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

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

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

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

“Failsafes?”

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

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

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

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

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

#my fic #Acolyte #Adrian Chase #Christopher Smith #Peacemaker Vigilante #I’m writing again #Vigilante #Emilia Harcourt #Leota Adebayo #John Economos #friedrich wilhelm murnau #Lily White-Acolyte Pt 1

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Okay.

So almost five years ago I posted Missing Piece, but I’m avoiding it at all costs because I uh. Maybe don’t know how to finish it.

But in the meantime while I wrestle with my creative demons would anyone be up for some Peacemaker brain rot?

It’s got Adrian Chase/Vigilante in it!!

Come get y’all juice 🥤

#my fic #missing piece #it’s kind of a passion project now #Peacemaker #Vigilante #Adrian Chase #yes I am once again avoiding my responsibilities #please say yes it’s taken me fucking hours

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just had to take a fucking second and close my eyes because i remembered that on the night of november 5th tumblr had convinced me, an outsider, that this was an actual gif of Castiel Supernatural being sent to mega fruit hell

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the fundamental difference between instagram and tumblr

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is he,,, you know

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i cant stress enough that venom 2 does not have to be good. it simply must contain at least two hours of tom hardy in a hoodie acting like a neurotic little chihuahua

[very-venom-us]

Cool ! (Unmute !)