Both girls turned with a start to the noise, eyes wide, only to realize it wasn't directed at them, but at a girl nearby. A girl clad in leather with brown curls cascading down her shoulders, cigarette loose between her pink lips as she had one hand near her open locker door.
(tease) RJ: Billie Badass!
The girl didn't move to look at him, or give any sign she heard what the girls saw was just some random jock with the typical green + yellow letterman, surrounded by two others just like him.
(scold) (venom) RJ: There's no smoking on school grounds. Tryna keep this place nicer than whatever shithole you crawled out of.
His goons laughed, but the girl still had absolutely no reaction. The jock narrowed his eyes.
(venom) RJ: You hear me, punk? You tryna kill the rest of us?
(cool) Li: Hopefully.
She finally responded with a cool smirk, and his teasing glare hardened into a legitimate one. He charged at her, hand outstretched as if to grab the collar of her jacket or the cigarette from her mouth. The girl smoothly turned and blew smoke in his face, making him cough and step back as his eyes watered, his goons doing the same. Once he recovered with a growl, he made for her again.
(venom) (livid) RJ: You little-
The girl caught his outstretched wrist and twisted it to an awkward angle, smirking at him calmly through her aviators, before she took the cig out of her mouth and dug the lit tip into his skin, singing it roughly. He screamed as the two girls' eyes shot wide. Wide enough to still be shocked, but not as shocked, as they had seen this girl do worse. She leaned down to him.
(tease) Li: Y'know, that might be the first sound outta your mouth, I actually like.
The girl released him and he clutched his wrist, his friends scrambling to pull him up and away. She flicked the cigarette butt at them and coolly walked away with the closing 'clang' of her locker door. As she passed Nancy and Barb, they retreated as far as possible into the lockers to stay out of her line of fire. Once she turned the corner, the entire hallway seemed to breathe in relief.
(wary) Barb: Does she seem...worse to you at all?
Nancy blinked, still trying to process what had just happened.
(unsure) (nerv) Nan: I...I think I heard something about her...breaking up with her boyfriend?
Barb got closer to her as the bell rang and they continued walking to class.
Lily is beyond grateful for her almost-boring day job.
it is so invaluably peaceful.
The smell of old books, the genuine smiles from happy members of the GCPL (Gotham City Public Library),
and don't even get me started on the kids.
Lily LOVES kids.
never had any.
never settled down.
but, she loves them.
in another life, maybe she would've been an elementary school teacher, all smiles and stickers and silly songs to help kids remember conjunctions.
but, that had sadly not been in the cards.
she had to go the rougher route.
which was a good metaphor for her life.
at least, in this line of work, she got to see kids at all.
happy kids.
excited to read.
kids she wouldn't have to break the hearts of when they stumbled upon her as she swiftly snapped their governmental criminal of a parent's neck.
sending them off to a life of foster care and emotional damage.
she closed her eyes at her counter, smile fading in its genuineness, as she took a few deep breaths.
just like her therapist said.
exhale your past. it doesn't make you who you are.
well, maybe that was true for some people.
but she had too many scars to forget.
which is why she was grateful to bring joy, no matter how small, to the citizens of this crime ridden city
in the form of another world.
reading had been the only thing to ever bring her comfort,
because mentally transporting yourself to another world was a whole lot better than living in the hellhole of reality.
Lily didn't even realize she was daydreaming until someone who looked like the subject of one of her daydreams popped up.
wicked smirk, strong veiny hands, and a streak of white hair that just made his blue eyes that much more tantalizing as it contrasted with the raven haired rest of his scalp.
she hadn't noticed she had been eyeing his leather jacket clad form until he cleared his throat.
he did NOT look like the type to read books.
he looked like the kinda guy who would offer to drive her home under the guise of chivalry with true intentions that weren't gentlemanly in the slightest.
J: I would like to check this out, ma'am.
Li: Ma'am? Jesus, am I that old?ย
she found herself saying.
He chuckled, the low gravely kind that said it hadn't been used in a while as she reached for a pen and her stamp.
J: Not at all, darlin'. Just thought that if I called ya 'doll', you'd kick my ass out.
Li: (tease) Good instinct.
She smirked, trying to stifle the flutters in her stomach at the pet name until she looked at the book she had just scanned.
She did a double take.
The Clockwork Princess.
From the Nephilim series.
Li: NO WAY, you read Nephilim? This is one of my favorite series, this author got me through middle...school.
She had made the mistake of looking up into those dastardly blues as she spoke, making her daze off slightly at the fiery admiration they were shooting at her.
Lily found a slight pink creeping onto her cheekbones as she grinned.
she couldn't remember the last time a genuine one of those crept on her face.
J: Really? This is my first time readin' it. read the 'princess' one first, even though I got a few weird looks from the guys at my work. It was really fuckin' good.
Li: Just show those assholes the page where the villain's body explodes graphically when Tessa turns into an angel and they'll shut up.
She said, kinda dazed, before she realized the ink from the pen she had used to mark the date on the library card had bled through to the counter from how long it had been sitting there.
He grinned back at her.
Lily quickly blinked, and scrawled out the info, before turning the card to face him and handing him the pen to sign it.
Li: I'd be happy to be your...readin' guide or somethin' for the series. Everytime you come in, we could check in on where you are, what your thoughts are...if you want.
She tried to be casual about it, trying not to flirt with him as a voice in the back of her head reminded her she was technically already seeing someone.
for 2 months.
But, his smirk that made his eyes flash with interest that caught her breath, also countered the voice with aย
'yeah, but he's not this guy'
She didn't believe in soul mates, or love at first sight, or any of that bullshit doe-eyed fianceรจ's spoke about at weddings.
cause relationships took work.
at least, she assumed they did.
She wouldn't know, mother dying when she was 4 and father being murdered which drove her to choose her first profession as a red-eyed teenager full of revengeful desire.
Betrayed by every 'friend' she ever had.
But, this guy.
This 'Jason Todd' as the card read.
He made her want to try.
J: What's your name, doll?
Lily smiled.
Li: Thought we agreed I'd kick your ass if you called me that.
J: (smug) I'll take my chances.
Li: Lily.
J: Lily.
The way it rolled off his tongue made a shiver roll down her spine as her heart rate increased.
He clocked her reaction.
Leaned in just enough so she could smell the whiskey and leather scent he wore proudly.
J: Lily, huh?
She nodded, mouth failing her.
J: A pretty girl like you has to have a boyfriend, right?
Lily nodded again, both despising and loving the way her flustered response boosted his ego.
She didn't usually fall prey to playboy types like he seemed.
But, he was kind of addicting.
with his eyes as tortured as hers if not more.
She kinda wanted to see where this went.
He frowned lightly at her response, before grinning again.
J: He doesn't treat you right, though, does he?
Li: Wouldn't know.
Lily leaned forward, matching Jason's smirk with a lip bite.
Li: Only been seein' 'im for two months.
His eyes narrowed at her teasing, flicking down to her lips that were impossibly close to his.
His hand smoothly coaxed the pen from hers, and then pulled back her sleeve.
He scrawled his number gently onto her skin, right between a thin white scar from a stray bullet and a jagged one from a torture knife gash.
Jason softened slightly, thumbing the gash with a painful look of recognization, the gentility making Lily's eyes flutter closed with a gasp.
He clenched his jaw at her delicious reaction, before he leaned forward to 'reach for the book' and his lips brushed her ear as he whispered.
J: (whisper) When you find out that other guy doesn't deserve a woman like you...call me.
Lily held back a sigh of contentment, Jason not missing the way she had leaned into him, before he tore himself away.
He mock saluted her and headed for the door.
J: Thanks for the book suggestion, doll.
Li: Thanks for the boyfriend one.
She shot back with a wink and she caught him hesitate, the comment making him debate between running back and pulling her over the desk and taking her home, or just...keep walking.
He forced himself to choose the latter.
when Lily heard his combat boots echo out the door, she sat back in her chair and fanned her face so she could serve a tiny lil' boy with a superhero book.
Li: well, hey, lil' man. You like superheroes? me, too.
damn, she really was grateful for her mundane ass job.
โฆ
He doesn't leave her mind all day.
Getting a cocoa from her favorite Gotham cafรฉ next to her apartment?
Guess whose name she accidentally says first, which ends up in a butchered scrawl on her cup only a barista could manage of the name โJaselyโ.
Going to cash in her latest paycheck at an ATM?
Guess what number she types in instead of the pin to her debit card.
His phone number.
That she's already memorized.
And she's convinced someone is watching her do all these things.
It makes her wary, CIA past obviously, but her instincts told her this was not a threatening presence.
It's only when it takes her 6 minutes to find her keys to her old cherry red Chevy Eldorado because she's too focused on how good the same color would look on him that she admits the common knowledge to herself.
She's smitten.
Lily has had enough.
She used to be a secret fucking government mercenary.
She can handle a cute guy.
So, she goes to her then-boyfriend's apartment to decide if he's worth staying with.
To be starkly honest, this was an overgrown hookup that constantly harped on the idea that 'he was the best she could get'.
But, now that she knew that wasn't true, she knocked three times.
Ready to end this instantly.
The third knock nudged the door that had been left open more ajar...
and Lily instantly goes for her gun.
which she doesn't have anymore.
because she's a librarian.
She settles for her switchblade, because its Gotham City and she's a woman and she's not stupid.
Lily takes a position opposite the door's entry way and nudges it the rest of the way open gently with her foot.
The unlit hallway to the bedroom is clear, as is the first half of the main room.
She hides her switch blade in her grasp, and makes a stealthy crouch, before sliding under the coffee table.
Lily's eyes lock onto Tony (boyfriend), who had been hastily stuffing what looked like wads of cash into a duffel bag near the kitchen, but was now holding a gun beside his head as he nervously scanned the apartment.
You're shitting me.
A criminal? Really, Lily? You were so desperate to get your pussy stuffed you ignored the telltale signs of an actual villain?
Her thoughts were mean, but she was still focused.ย
He was clumsy.
This seemed new to him.
What was he doing then?
After a little deliberation, she rolled out from under the coffee table and grabbed a coin off the TV stand.
Lily flicked it across the room, and it clinked against the coffee table.
The man's head shot to it and he shot at it.
Ok, wow, he was a wreck.
This was obviously new to him.
Lily leapt into action, lunging and twisting her legs around his arm, making him disarm the weapon which she then kicked far away from both of them.
She slowly stood with her hands up as Tony pointed a finger at her instead, shakily.
Li: (calm) Tony. What are you doing?
T: (shaky) W-what are you d-doing here?
Li: Nope. Sorry. You lost the right to question me when you shot at me.
She shrugged and he flinched at her words.
Lily motioned to the bag of money, pitifully shaking her head.
Li: What's that?
T: None of your fuckin business.
Li: (pity) Whattaya doin, Tony? They're gonna take you in fa this.
T: No. No, they're not.
Lily raised an eyebrow.
Li: How do ya figure that?
T: Because there won't be anyone alive to tell 'em.
Lily's eyes widened as he grabbed another gun from underneath the kitchen island, and she flung her switchblade into his palm before it reached the weapon.
It went right through his hand and he screamed.
T: UGH, YOU FUCKIN CRAZY BITCH!
Li: Says the guy who just tried to FUCKIN SHOOT ME.
Lily lunged for the gun, but his desperation to not go to jail made his other hand grab it before she could get there.
She dove back behind the counter as gunshots fired, she knew he was nearing her hiding spot soon, and tried to sweep the legs out from under him.
Tony stumbled, and Lily tried to angle her body so the bullet would hit a non-vital part of her body. Her shoulder.
But, the familiar blast of pain never came, and when she opened her eyes to see why, it was because a red Kevlar-clad hand had blocked the bullet with ease.
Lily's eyes widened as she looked up to see the Gotham legend that had plagued headlines for years.
Red Hood.
He was even more attractive in person.
Tony had stumbled in fear, dropping the gun and throwing his hands up, knowing the cruel mentality of the vigilante before him. Palm still gushing blood.
T: DONT KILL ME. DONT KILL ME PLEASE. JUST TAKE ME TO JAIL. IM SORRY. TAKE THE MONEY. IM INNOCENT.
But, surprisingly, Red Hood wasn't even focused on him.
He raised the hand that had just blocked the bullet to a curled up Lily, and helped her to her feet.
J: Are you a'right? Quite a show you put on there. Got me to a point of debatin' whether to step in or not.
She could feel his smirk under the helmet.
God, where had she heard that voice before?
Li: Well, if you hadn't, I would've had another bullet in my shoulder, so thanks.
She smiled, accepting his strong assist, his touch making her heart flutter in a familiar way.
Tony looked between the two, confused, as Red Hood seemed to remember what he was doing here and turned to him with a somehow more menacing demeanor.
J: Didn't your ma ever teach ya how to be a gentleman?
Red Hood grabbed the man's collar and threw him through the coffee table.
He groaned, and quickly tried to scramble away as the demonic looking hero pulled him to his eye level again.
J: Don't you ever say that shit to a woman again. Especially not a knockout like her.
He nodded to Lily, who found herself tucking a brown curl behind her grinning ear, as she blushed profusely.
Li: Jesus, at least take it like a man, Tony. My God.
Red Hood turned to her and cackled, thoroughly amused at her comment.
J: Damn, you jus' keep givin' me more reasons to take you home, darlin'.
She grinned at his comment, before the last word made her brain short-circuit once more, and her smile dropped.
Now, she recognized that voice.
Lily's mouth fell open, but Jason had already turned back to Tony before he could see her put his two identities together in his mind.
J: Say, since you attacked the pretty lady, why don't we have her decide what your fate is, huh?
Tony immediately put his best pleading act on as he trembled in the man's grip, Jason holding the man up to a trying-to-be-nonchalant Lily.
Her eyes narrowed at Tony.
Li: He'll suffer more in jail. Make sure he gets himself a nasty roommate.
Jason smirked under the mask again, nodding.
J: I really like you.
Li: Feelin's mutual, Clockwork Prince.
She smirked at him, and he choked.
Fuck.
Of course she would know.
He could deal with that later.
Jason was the one trying to play it cool now.
J: You heard her, asshole. Jail time.
He knocked the man out swiftly, slinging him over one shoulder and the bag of presumably stolen money over the other.
He went to the open window to leave, but Lily's voice stopped him.
Li: Wait.
Jason froze, knowing he shouldn't.
Knowing he should skip town for a while, not set foot in the library again, stop technically stalking her from the rooftops and never see her again now that she knew his identity.
But, he just couldn't.
She was addicting.
And the way Lily walked up to him and braced her hands on his chest, making his pulse spike beneath them.
She bit her lip and looked up into the white eyes of his mask, slightly nervous which made his heart melt.
Li: Call ya tommorrow?
It was a statement and a request all at once.
and secretly a plea.
Please don't run from me.
And as much as he didn't want her to be involved in his shitty life, he couldn't say 'no' to a request like that.
or to anything she wanted.
He nodded.
I won't run from you.
And Lily pressed a gentle kiss to the cheek of his mask that shattered him internally.
His soldier mask.
The mask he wore when he killed.
The mask of a monster.
and she kissed it.
Oh, God, this woman was perfect.
She pulled back with a smile, and Jason dropped the bag of money and the unconscious guy to pull her flush to him and take off his mask.
Lily gasped, at the proximity, at the vulnerability he was giving her.
And then she smiled and he kissed her like he needed her to breathe.
Like he wasn't on his way to go deliver a prisoner.
Like she was the only thing that mattered.
And it was only after he slipped back into the moonlight with a promising glance in her direction and the weight of someone's crime literally on his shoulders...
that she realized she had never been kissed like that before.
