Beneath the Armor by Chalced0ny
Tags: Alternate Universe; Bodyguard Romance; Action & Adventure; Canon-Typical Violence; Slow Burn
Summary: Hughie Campbell is a Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs employee, complete with an office, a supportive boss, and a stalker sending him threatening letters. When Hughie's stalker gets too close for comfort, he reaches out to a group he knows for help.
Billy Butcher is a private investigator hellbent on getting revenge for the loss of his wife. When M.M. asks him to be Hughie's bodyguard, Butcher is not on board in the slightest: the kid's a scrawny yuppie with big blue eyes and a naivety to rival even Butcher's cynicism.
However, as fate pushes Butcher and Hughie closer and closer together, the two enter into a partnership that challenges everything they know about vulnerability, control, and even love.
Chapter One excerpt below!
"If you were to take this job, I promise I wouldn't be too difficult." Hughie swears. "I pretty much only go between my office and my apartment."
Hughie smiles shyly with a shade of self-deprecation, as if he knows his social life is lacking for someone his age.
"Oh, I know you wouldn't be difficult," Butcher replies.
Hughie laughs in surprise.
"How could you possibly know that?"
"If you were under my charge, I wouldn't let you be difficult."
Hughie's eyes widen slightly and Butcher feels like a shark that smells blood in the water. The kid looks like Bambi when he blinks at Butcher like that, as if no one's ever talked to him that way.
It's enough for Butcher to realize why M.M. wants protection for Hughie: the lad's practically a babe in the woods.
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