I love love all your writing and jealous villains / possessive villains always make me kick my feet!! Can I request a hero that’s been under appreciated by the city and getting hurt / almost killed by civilians they were meant to protect? And the villain finds the aftermath? ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡
"My god." The voice was strained. Familiar. Them.
It really wasn't the hero's day, was it? They released a slow, pained breath, pushing themselves gingerly off the grimy, rain-puddled street. "Enjoy the show?"
"What show? You could have taken them. You should have taken them."
The hero grunted. They straightened. They wobbled.
The villain appeared out of the shadows, at their side, in an instant. It took the hero a moment to realise that the villain had placed a steadying hand on their arm.
The villain's face was harsher in the streetlight; all firelit edges, beautifully demonic, orange pinpricks glinting almost red in their furious eyes. Rain spat down, soaking into the villain's hair and clothes. They didn't seem to care.
The hero did a double-take. The flippant comment they'd been about to make died in their mouth.
"How much did you see?" the hero asked.
The villain's jaw clenched. "I just got here."
It was an unexpected confession. On closer inspection, the rapid rise an fall of the villain's chest suggested they'd been running.
The villain's gaze raked over them, taking in every bruise and scrape and bit of blood. "You didn't fight back. Why didn't you fight back? You could have pulverised them. Made them fear ever hurting someone again. That's what you do if I attacked you."
The hero shrugged, awkwardly. They eased their arm free of the villain's grip.
"That's not an answer," the villain snapped.
"I would have killed them. Normal people can't deal with my powers."
"So better to let them nearly kill you?"
The hero shrugged again. Everything ached; they weren't especially in the mood for hearing about how wrongly they'd handled getting the flying spit kicked out of them, they weren't in the mood to explain how the villain was different. Even at war, it was easier with them.
"You're in uniform," the villain said. "They knew who they attacked."
"Oh." The hero hadn't realised. The truth of it struck them like a low blow and their shoulders slumped, as if it wasn't already far too late to brace and curl into a foetal position to guard the heart of them. "Right. Yeah. Well, bold move on their part!"
They tried for chipper. They failed completely.
The whole time, they'd been so preoccupied, they'd thought the strangers had no idea. A wave of stupidity, prickling with humiliation, washed over them. Their eyes felt hot.
The hero swore under their threat.
"I'm going to kill them." Possessiveness threaded low and heated through the villain's voice.
"I don't need you to do that."
"I know. It will be my absolute pleasure." The villain grabbed the hero's arm again as the took a step and stumbled. "They shouldn't-"
The hero could feel themselves beginning to shake, a myriad emotions welling up inside them, threatening to explode, as they listened to the villain's insistence that really no one else should be allowed to touch what was theirs.
"I said, I don't fucking need you to do that."
The villain went quiet. Still.
The hero closed their eyes again, already regretting their sharpness. A treacherous tear rolled down their cheek. Christ. That was all they needed, wasn't it? Cherry, meet the top of the garbage pile. They swiped furiously at their face and didn't say sorry. They couldn't say sorry. They'd never stop, they were sure of it.
"What do you need?" the villain asked.
The hero glanced up at them, startled.
It wasn't that the possessiveness was gone from the villain's face, only that the burning of it had finally cleared enough for the hero to see what lay beneath it.
The care, the sincerity, in the villain's question felt like a knockout blow. They didn't know what to do with it. They had no armour for it, no shield.
"What do you need?" the villain asked again, softer, when the hero said nothing. Their other hand rose, cupping the hero's cheek. "You want me to get you home? Your leg's screwed. You can't walk."
"I can walk." The hero looked down at their leg. They could...well, it wouldn't be fun walking. They eyed the villain. "Seriously?"
"Well, I'd prefer to hunt the bastards down and kill them, but I also do an incredible taxi service, yeah."
The villain looked almost as uncomfortable as the hero felt. They shrugged. Their jaw worked, eyes narrowing when they caught sight of the hero's injuries again. The hero could feel the villain's fingers flexing against their skin with barely leashed violence - and, yet. It was leashed.
The villain dropped their hand.
"My car is this way. Can you - can I - I can help you get there. If I'm allowed."
"You're asking permission to touch me?"
The villain glared at them.
Despite everything, the hero managed a weak smile back. "Yeah," they said. "You're allowed."
The villain nodded, wrapping an arm around the hero, before pulling them up into an unexpected bridal carry. They were strong. All lean muscle and warmth against the hero's frozen body.
"I'm going to get blood on you," the hero said.
"Because nobody has ever bled on me before ever."
They let the villain walk them out of the alleyway, brain still sluggishly working its way through all of the implications of the villain's sudden appearance.
They'd come running when - what? When they learned the hero was in trouble? When they learned that the hero wasn't fighting back to the full extent they were capable of?
Thoughts were hard and the villain's car was warm, the heating soon on full blast.
Thank you. It welled in their throat again. The hero choked on it.
They didn't think they'd ever been as well looked after as they were that week.