Chapter Three of 9 Crimes (A Batman/Prodigal Son Crossover story)
Chapter Three of 9 Crimes has been posted!
Chapters 1 and 2 can be found clicking the links
Summary: Jason Todd finds himself pulled back into the family when Malcolm Bright, one of the few members of the Batfamily he had no grudge with is targeted by a copycat killer. Can he set aside his bad blood long enough to bring this killer to justice or will old wounds, and dark memories, prevent him from working with Batman?
Post-Under the Red Hood
He stood at the top of a set of stairs as familiar to him as the cobblestone streets and dark alleyways of Park Row and Crime Alley.
Pitch blackness surrounded him as he slowly descended those stone steps.
Shadows taunted him, beckoned him, whispered in his ears with every step he took. Above him came the silky wet rustle of wings as the bats roosted amidst the jagged stalactites awoke.
He reached the bottom of the stairs and crossed a footbridge over a slow-moving river to where a series of dark slate obelisks loomed.
He passed them and continued up a steel ramp. From the corner of his eye he saw the changing area, workout room, medical area, and laboratory.
He could feel eyes on him as he walked up another ramp to where the main computer grotto was located.
Something shifted to his left.
He turned as a figure oozed from the shadows, it's great gaping maw, and glistening fangs looming closer and closer...
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
A/N: My first Prodigal Son fic! I am still getting to grips with Malcolm’s character so forgive me if things seem off! I would love some requests for Prodigal Son so feel free to drop them in my inbox! I am only writing for Malcolm right now. I hope you all enjoy!
Warnings: light angst, hurt/comfort, cute
Word Count: 1.7k
He never stayed the night.
He would fasten his shirt; taking care with each button as he kisses you again and again. He would laugh against your mouth – his hands stopping yours from undoing the buttons once again.
He never stayed the night.
It never mattered how many times you told yourself this would be the last time; you found yourself answering his phone call or his text and unlocking your door for him. Knowing he would let himself in; sweet nothings on the tip of his tongue – ready to be whispered lovingly into your ear.
It didn’t matter how many times you pleaded with him. He never stayed the night.
He claims that it’s to protect you, but you wonder if it’s more to protect himself. That he’s so innately terrified that the walls he spent years building are so happy to crumble around you. That he just isn’t ready for that yet.
Doubts fly around your head; distracting you from your work, pulling you away from his arms when he least expects it. Malcolm notices – of course he does, he’s a trained profiler, he would notice the little changes in your behaviour. The distance you so obviously try to put between you; short answers to texts, upset sighs on the phone.
Malcolm starts to spend his days thinking of you: thinking of your smile, your laugh, your kiss. It occupies the better part of his day as he wonders whether he had taken advantage of you, of what the both of you have together. He knows that something has changed between you; that something is wrong, but he cannot work out the cause.
It comes to ahead the evening he enters the tunnels under the city, following a serial killer claiming to know more about the Girl in the Box. He follows the suspect blindly; not thinking of anything else but getting his answers though, for one brief moment, as his ribs are crushed in the turnstile gate, Malcolm’s mind briefly flickers to you. A moment of pain free peace in and amongst it all.
Malcolm’s breathing is slow and heavy when you find him in Gil’s office. His eyes are closed, but he feels your presence – it charges the atmosphere in the room, making him long to touch you, but falter at the idea that he could possibly hurt you.
“I thought they had called my mother,” Malcolm says in greeting; his voice tight as his ribs protest any movement, any breath.
You shake your head, holding up your phone as some semblance of evidence, “Gil rang about a half hour ago, asking me to come to the station and get you of his sight.”
Malcolm laughs, then gasps in pain, “I think Gil is angry with me…”
“Think?” You all but shout, “You think Gil is angry with you? Christ, Malcolm, I’m angry with you.”
Malcolm furrows his brows, confused at your outburst. His eyes wander over your body; the speed of your breaths combined with the flush under your skin and the thin line of your lips suggests your anger, but your eyes…
Your eyes show pain; anger is there, it is simmering away quietly, waiting for fuel to be added to the fire but through it all, pain is the key emotion. He cannot help but wonder how long he has been blind to the pain in your eyes; wonders whether it was visible every time he kissed you goodnight before leaving you once again.
Throwing your hands in the air, you cross your arms over your body, protecting yourself from whatever else is about to happen. Nudging the chair leg with your foot, you sigh, “Come on, I’ll take you back to your flat.”
Malcolm frowns: opening his mouth to begin to protest but decides against it at the last moment. Instead, he slowly pulls himself out the chair, doing his best to hide the grimace that falls across his face at the first hint of pain and follows you out of the door.
The car ride is silent and full to the brim with awkward tension. He doesn’t know what to say; he doesn’t know what to do. He cannot decide whether he should reach across the console and take your hand, offering you some form of comfort despite it being him that is injured.
He doesn’t take your hand. He chickens out at the last moment, unable to stop thinking about the pain in your eyes. Instead, he clenches his hand into a tight fist, willing himself to keep his hands to himself.
Distantly, Malcolm tries to pinpoint the exact moment it went wrong between you both. It wasn’t his job – you were just as dedicated to yours. It wasn’t his talent for profiling; for the keen sense of observation he uses in his everyday life.
It comes to him all at once.
He never stayed the night. He had left you too many times.
Tilting his head back onto the headrest, Malcolm deliberates whether he had left you alone one too many times, whether his time with you was now running out. He can feel the first crack in his heart when the thought crosses his mind; he feels it and he doesn’t like it.
-----
Malcolm’s flat is cold when you enter behind the brunette. His bird twitters away happily at the sight of their owner; you cannot help but smile softly at the sight of Malcolm greeting his beloved pet.
That very smile turns fond as Malcolm turns his attentions to you, gesturing you further into his home. To your heart, it didn’t matter how many times Malcolm had left you in the night, how his side of the bed turned cold before he had closed the door behind him. It didn’t matter because he had so easily managed to capture it for his own gain.
Malcolm takes a seat at his breakfast bar gingerly, willing himself not to jostle his side too much. He watches you with a wide-eyed expression as he tracks your movement; watching you grab a glass and fill it with water.
The glass landing on the counter is the only sound in the room. Malcolm doesn’t dare say anything for fear of pushing you further away; you refuse to say anything for fear of showing your true feelings.
“If you have everything you need, I’ll get going. I’ll call you in the morning to check up on you, Malcolm,” You comment quietly, pushing away from the breakfast counter, ready to leave and not come back unless absolutely necessary.
“What?” The questions falls from his lips before he even thinks it through; he just cannot seem to comprehend that you would leave him.
“I’m going. You’ve got your pain meds and some water, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” You sigh, tugging your jacket tighter and heading for the door.
“Wait!” Malcolm calls, standing from the breakfast bar with slow, painful movements. It is only in this instant that he regrets ever following that man into the tunnel; it is only now he regrets such an action for the fact that it looks like you’re about to walk out of his life and Malcolm feels as if he won’t see you again.
“Wait,” He repeats, “Please.”
You pause at the door, turning to face him. His eyes are almost wild with unspoken emotions as he outstretches a single hand, as if he could bridge the gap that had grown between the both of you over the last few weeks.
“Yes, Malcolm,” You sigh tiredly. You feel the fight leave you as your limbs suddenly become heavy; the weight of the emotions you have been feeling these past few weeks beginning to press down heavily upon you.
“What happened between us?” He asks timidly, as if afraid of the answer he will find. Malcolm has searched for answers since he was ten years old, watching his father being hauled away by the authorities. Now, however, he finds himself scared of the answer he might find.
“You never stayed the night. You would always kiss me and then leave. Why?” You counter, finally asking the question that has been circling your mind since the pattern emerged. Your voice breaks with barely held in emotions.
“There is a lot involved when it comes to being with me. I didn’t want to put you through all of it,” He replies in reason, closing his eyes at the pain that so clearly sounded in your voice.
“I think I did alright tonight,” You comment airily, gesturing to his bandaged chest.
Malcolm laughs, but doesn’t regret the burst of pain from his ribs. He reaches for your hand again, smiling happily when you don’t pull your hand away. “I think you did alright tonight too,” He murmurs.
“So why would you leave?”
Malcolm averts his gaze, thinking over the words carefully. “Would you believe me if I told you I was scared?” He asks.
“Of what?”
“Of it all,” He confesses, “There is so much that comes with being with me, having to manage everything… I understand how it can become too much for one person so that’s why I would leave every time when all I really wanted to do was spend every waking minute with you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” You demand, curiosity your besetting sin.
“I was scared. I was doing it all to protect you, but I’ve gone about it the wrong way.”
You squeeze his hand, offering him a form of comfort as you work through what Malcolm has told you. He remains silent, happy for now to be stood by you, holding your hand in his.
“Stay the night?” He asks, pulling you gently towards the couch.
You bite your lip, glancing quickly between the door and the hopeful expression on Malcolm’s face.
“I want to make this a regular thing,” He states before clarifying, “Not the injured side of things, but staying with you, sleeping with you. I don’t like leaving you anymore. I don’t want to leave you anymore.”
“Malcolm…” You trail off, thinking of your countless attempts at taking your relationship further, at asking him to stay with you in the futile hope you could help with whatever terrors he suffers with at night.
“Stay the night?” He asks, repeating the same question from moments ago. His voice is hopeful, and his blue eyes shine bright with untold emotion along with the clear trust that burns there.
Smiling softly, you answer, “I’ll stay the night.”
Omg! Could I make a request? Maybe Malcolm with an s/o that dissociates regularly, and maybe they dissociate when meeting Martin or something and he has to kind of bring them back to reality.
Yes of course you can! I’m not too familiar with dissociation so I did some research and hope I did this okay.
Reality
“Well, don’t you look horrible.” Y/n leaned against the hallway wall. She watched as Malcolm stopped abruptly, her voice catching him off gaurd as he stared up at her.
“What are you doing here?” Malcolm asked, he crossed his arms obviously confused. He thought she was still at the crime scene, not at Claremont.
“Gil told me to come with you, especially since you were told not to come to Dr. Whitly for this one.” Y/n stated casually, walking towards the door she gave a friendly wave and greeting to Mr. David.
“Y/n.”
“It’s so weird, I thought this place would be bigger.”
“Y/n..”
“Your mother really talks about how luxurious he’s living and I don’t know, for how much money you guys have-“
“Y/n!”
Turning around she stared back at Malcolm who obviously looked annoyed. “Yes, sweetheart?” She teased.
“You’re not going in there.” Malcolm said, his voice very serious. “I know you and Gil are worried-“
She scoffed. “Worried is an understatement, especially with how things have been going lately.” Looking to Mr. David, she nodded towards the door. Mr. David opened it and waited for them to go inside. “You coming Malcolm?”
Rolling his eyes Malcolm shook his head, following behind as they both walked in. Dr. Whity was sitting in his chair looking though some books and files.
“Martin, you have visitors.” Mr. David announced, shutting the door behind him, leaving Malcolm and Y/n with Martin.
Malcolm stood close to Y/n, standing in front of her, facing towards his father he waited for him to say something.
“Malcolm, my boy!” Martin happily greeted, not taking his eyes off his files. It didn’t seem like he notice Y/n. “I’m surprised you didn’t call first, I would have-“ Martin stopped himself, having finally turned in his chair he took notice of the extra visitor stood behind Malcolm. “Oh? Who’s this?” Martin stood up making his way over, but was stopped by his chain that was attached to his room wall.
“Hello, Dr. Whitly. Detective, L/n, I’m apart of Lieutenant Arroyo team.” Y/n leaned over Malcolms shoulder, smiling sweetly.
“Well, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Malcolm was bringing members of the team, I would’ve cleaned up a bit.” Martin looked a bit embarrassed as he looked around his room.
“I’ve seen worse.” Y/n shrugged casually.
Malcolm kept himself in front of Y/n, his protective nature taking over. He wanted to make sure Martin had no way of getting to her, even being chained up.
“I need your help on a case.” Malcolm pulled his attention away from her and back on his.
“Oh I expected nothing less.” Martin smiled. “Please continue, what seems to be troubling you?”
Y/n watched from behind Malcolm as he discussed the current dead end in the case. She looked around Martins room, noticing a few medical books and drawings along the left side of the wall.
She didn’t know when it started happening but she felt herself start to relax and become lighter on her feet. The sounds of Malcolm and Martins conversation became mute, only watching their mouths move, but no noise.
Reaching out to grip Malcolms sleeve, she pulled lightly, trying not to catch the attention of Martin. Although she thought she touched him, she didn’t feel anything, her body becoming even lighter then before. The area around her was almost like a dream, a show playing in front of her.
Then as quickly as it came, she suddenly got spooked by Malcolm facing her, his hands were rubbing her shoulders up and down, a white blanket was wrapped around her. Y/n notice his mouth moving and tried to focus on what he could be saying, his voice was becoming clear as she listen more intently.
“Y/n? Can you hear me?” She finally heard it now. “Breathe slowly, just focus on me.”
Nodding, she focused on Malcolms eyes. His blue eyes she love so much, so calming to look into.
“Well, if I wouldn’t know better I say that was an intense case of zoning out.” Martin spoke up from behind Malcolm.
“Shut up, please.” Malcolm snapped, turning his head back for a quick moment. “Are you okay?” He asked gently.
“I’m okay, I just had a moment.” Looking down at the white blanket wrapped around her, she held the material between her fingers. “How long this time?”
Malcolm sighed. “Ten minutes, maybe less.”
“If I may input, I would say you suffer from a sort of dissociation disorder?” Martin walked closer to the line on the floor. “Ya know, Y/n. I have had patients in the past who have struggled with this before, perhaps I could treat you as well, I knew a few techniques and-“
“Absolutely not.” Malcolm interrupted. “She’s not, or ever will be one of your patients. Stick with the over the phone teachings.”
“So defensive my boy.” Martin looked back to Y/n. “If you ever need some medical advice, you know how to reach me.” Martin winked.
Malcolm rolled his eyes. “We should go. You’ve been helpful. No reason for us to stay here any longer.” Malcolm took her by the hand, waiting for the door to open.
“It was nice to meet you Dr. Whitly!” Y/n turned back. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Martin smiled. “Oh not a problem at all my dear. You’ve been quite a treat, please convince my son to bring you around more often.”
Malcolm just shook his head. Once the door had opened, Martin had already went back to his chair. “See you soon my boy! Maybe on your next visit we can discuss how this little delight managed to sneak her way into your heart?”
Y/n looked confused, following Malcolm as he dragged her along. “Did you tell him?”
“No, I didn’t say anything. He must have just guessed.”
“I doubt that, maybe because your protective nature took over.” Y/n shrugged.
When they finally went outside, Malcolm stopped, he put his hands back on her shoulders. “How bad was it this time? Do you remember anything?”
“No, I’m not sure what triggered it ether, I’m still figuring this out as I go.” Y/n looked down at the white blanket still around her. “Surprised they let us take this.”
Malcolm wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest he rested his head on top hers. “Sorry, I just panicked with you being in there with him. If it was bad-“
“Hey, it’s okay.” Looking up she moved some hair from Malcolms face. “You were a big help, you always are.”
Malcolm smiled, leaning down he kissed the top of her forehead. “We should go, make sure Gil doesn’t send an APV for us.”
“Or the swat team.” Y/n teased. Reaching down to take Malcolms hand they both walked away from Claremont.
Shattered Glass (Malcolm Bright/Whitly x gn!reader)
A/n: This story is inspired by two things; a two-part series by @wreckofawriter and also my experience with family . If you want me to remove it (wreckofawriter) then I will, but I don’t mean to copy your amazing work.
Warnings: Angst to fluff, Malcolm trying his best (not really a warning but that needed to be put out there, HE ONLY TRIES HIS BEST), also talk about poor mental health! (Such as Anxiety, description of an anxiety attack (this is based off MY experiences I’m not trying to generalize them!) and slight depression)
Don’t read if you’re not done season one! All spoilers are under the cut just in case (Eve is mentioned, iykyk)
Summary: You and Malcolm have been dating for a few years now, you share with him all of your sides- or so he thought. How will he react when he sees you crying when you think he can’t see you? How will he feel when he realizes that you guys are more alike than he originally expected?
Y/s/n = Your Siblings Name
Y/m/n = Your Mothers Name
y/n = your name (just in case this is your first fic)
Words: Just over 3,000 (😅😅)
I was listening to this song as I was writing this: If the World Was Ending- JP Saxe, Julia MIchaels
You always knew that Malcolm could see the real you better than anyone else, he could see straight through your facial expressions and little habits. It was his job after all as a profiler, he couldn’t just turn it off when he was with you and that was understood between the two of you. The last thing you wanted was for him to change in a world that treated him differently already (no thanks to his father).
But there was one part of you that you tried to keep from Malcolm at all costs, and that was your family.
It wasn’t because you didn’t trust him with that knowledge, but it was just a side of you that you’ve never been able to let anyone see. To see how hurt you were by their words, how little you were respected by them, how small you felt anytime you tried to be yourself around them. You couldn’t tell him any of it, you hoped that he would believe your lies, cause you knew that his family was way worse than yours; so you just kept it all inside for no one except yourself to see. The last thing you wanted was for him to feel guilty for confiding in you after all these years.
You felt him nudge your shoulder, which brought you back to reality. You were a Reporter, and a very god one depending on who you asked, and Malcolm needed you to help him drag out a killer for a case. He was profiled as overly confident and a borderline narcissist, so Malcolm was certain that if you talked about him on the news, saying that they had him in custody that he would contact either you or the station to say you had a fraud. Malcolm was going to be by your side the entire time, just to make sure they wouldn’t go after the most important person in his life-,not again; he wouldn’t know what he would do if you were taken away from him like Eve. He would do anything in his power to make sure that he wouldn’t go after you, since you matched most of his previous victims.
“You alright?” He looked at you slightly worried, he was always concerned when you got too deep into that head of yours, he wasn’t sure what caused you to be constantly thinking that you’re not good enough, but he wasn’t going to press the matter. He rubbed your thigh as he sat next to you, to keep you grounded.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? It’s not like I’m about to be indirectly talking to a serial killer on live television, and possibly get a target on my back for doing so.” You nervously laughed as you looked down at your feet, your leg bouncing up and down to the rhythm of your rapidly beating heart.
“You don’t need to do this; you know that right?” He placed his hand on your cheek, caressing the side of your face with his thumb repeating the motion to calm your nerves. “I can ask Ainsley; she’s done this before-”
“Malcolm, I’ll be alright. I always am.” You gave him a tight-lipped smile; you knew it wasn’t very convincing but that’s all you could muster up at the moment.
He wasn’t convinced, you could tell since he gave you his doubtful that he’s given you on more than one occasion but he was cut off by another voice before he could call you out on it.
“C’mon Bright, they’re about to go live.” Gill said as he lightly grabbed his arm to get him out of the shot, and he complied.
“Live in 3,2,1...” You were given the cue as you took a deep breath and put your ‘TV face’ on as you liked to call it. “Breaking news tonight, the NYPD have confirmed that they have someone in custody who’s been known to the public as The angel of death, nothing has been said by police if this truly is their killer but after the past week of The angel of death terrorizing the city, police are led to believe that this is him.”
You took a pause to make it look like you were listening to someone through your earpiece, that was intentionally visible to the camera, then carried on with the broadcast.
“I’ve just gotten a confirmation from our sources that it has been officially confirmed that they have The angel of death himself in custody and will be setting a court date to be announced later. Now back to Ryan with politics.”
The second you heard the ring that signaled you were no longer on air, you slumped over in relaxation. You crossed your arms on the table in front of you and leaned your head, that now felt lighter than air, on top.
“You did amazing darling, that should get the killers attention for certain.” He said to you as the sound of his shoes got closer to the desk the kissed the top of your head and slowly rubbed your back to release more tension that he knew you were holding.
“I didn’t really- “You tried to correct him as you lifted your head, but Malcolm refused to let you get close to finishing that sentence of yours.
“Nope- you just brought us our killer baby; you did a hell of a lot more than most would’ve in your shoes.” You loved how he was always able to reassure you, and how he did it without a second beat.
You turned to look up at your loving and supportive boyfriend in admiration and a warm smile slowly painting your features, “Whatever I did in a past life was so worth it.”
“What?” He slightly laughed at your statement, looking at you now with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
“To deserve someone like you and be lucky to call them mine.” You stood up from your chair and moved closer to him to close the distance between his lips and yours, you could taste the slight cherry flavor of the candy you knew he had earlier. As you two break apart, you can still taste it on your own lips.
Unfortunately, this moment doesn’t last as long as you two wanted it to, because both of your phones go off. His from an unknown caller, and yet yours is somehow worse.
You look down to your phone saying Mom, you sighed at this and then looked at Malcolm, or where he was, already on his phone, most likely talking to the killer himself next to Dani, Giles and JT.
You excused yourself to another room for some privacy that you knew you were going to need. You were only halfway to the quiet room when you answered your phone; you knew that was going to be a bad idea.
“Why in the hell did you think that was a good idea y/n?!”
You sighed and with a tight-lipped smile replied with, “Hello to you too mom, haven’t heard from you in a while.” You then slowly closed the door behind you.
“Don’t give me that lip! I am your mother, I deserved to be treated with respect! I never get this from y/s/n.”
You dropped your head down in defeat, you always considered the problem child, ever since your sibling came into the picture. Before that everything was relatively fine, but you never blamed y/s/n though; it’s not their fault your parents decided that you could fend for yourself at the age of 8.
“Yeah I know, but it was for a case- “Once again, she decided to cut you off.
“A CASE?” she shrieked into the phone, making you pull the device away from your ear.
“Yes- “
“Now I knew were selfish, but I never thought it was this bad. I could tell that it was staged, are you seriously putting yourself in danger so they could contact you for some ink?”
You were absolutely shocked by her words; she thought that you risking your life was selfish? So, you could save others, that made you selfish? You felt the pressure of tears build up as a sickening pit was building in your stomach; she always knew the words to say and never in the good way. “No, that’s not- “
“No, I get it, you’re too damn stupid to see past your own needs. I have no clue where I went wrong with you.”
The minute you heard that, you hung up the phone. You couldn’t care less about what she would’ve said after that.
You hit your back on the wall as you slowly walked backwards and slid down to the floor. You pulled your knees up to your chest and placed your head down.
You must’ve been sitting there for a while as there was a rough knocking behind your back, on the door. ‘They must’ve been knocking for a while’ you thought.
“Y/n! Are you in there?” Malcolm. You must’ve scared him to death, without even thinking you stand up and open the door for him.
Behind the door was Gil, JT and Dani accompanying Malcolm. “Shit guys, sorry if I scared you.” You laughed humorlessly but stopped once you saw all their concerned faces.
“Y/n, you alright?” Gil asked, who was more of a parental figure than your own, but you couldn’t ever tell him that. Not because you were scared it would go to his head, no, he wasn’t like that. You just didn’t want it to become awkward since he already needed to worry about Malcolm, you didn’t need him to constantly worry about you on top of it.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” You said then realized you still had massive tear stains on your cheeks and puffy eyes from your previous phone call, you forgot to wipe them away before you opened the door.
‘Dammit y/n’ you scolded yourself for making the four of them all worry.
“Um you got somethin’ right,” JT then motioned to his whole face, Dani then elbowed him in the side for his unhelpful comment.
“Oh!” You wiped the sides of your face, “I’m fine guys, just got something in my eye.” You smiled at all of them.
Your head then turned to Malcolm, who squinted his eyes at you. You could tell didn’t believe you at all; he knew all your tells. You could tell that he was going to ask later, but you were sure as hell going to avoid it if you could.
Unable to deal with the silence anymore, you pushed by all of them, apologizing as you went, and walked out to your car. You were done for the day anyways, so you wanted to go home to Malcolm and yours’ apartment.
~
Once you got through the door, you let the dam in your mind open. The flood gate of tears rushed, and there was nothing you could’ve done to stop it; not that you really wanted to anyways. Your hands shook from the rush of emotions going through you, but you forced down the inevitable panic attack until you got to the couch. Your hands continued to uncontrollably shake, and you curled up in a fetal position with your favorite blanket wrapped around you like a tight hug. The words of your mother echoed throughout your fogged mind.
“I knew were selfish… you’re too damn stupid to see past your own needs…”
It just wouldn’t stop. It was like a massive wave going over a surfer; nothing could be done about it, you just needed to ride it out.
You heard a muffled noise coming from behind you but being so caught up and immobilized in your thoughts, nothing could’ve dragged you out of this one, not this time.
A pair of arms grabbed your shoulders, and there was enough fight left in you to push them away and run into the corner of the apartment. You could slightly see a male figure coming near you, and all you were capable of doing was whimpering and curling up in what you had deemed your safety blanket.
“Y/n… talk to me… happened at… were worried…”
You tried to make out the familiar voice- Malcolm; that’s the only person it could be right? It didn’t matter to you right now; the voice of your mother was stronger than your own thoughts, it always had been.
You felt a thud right next to you, and smelt the subtle sent of his cologne, it brought you back to your senses slightly, but not enough to stop your uncontrollable shaking and tears. He nudged himself closer to your body, and you instinctively laid your head on his shoulder. You could feel yourself calm down, but you knew it was because he was here. Yes, he was helping you ground yourself through the small gesture, but it was mainly that you were embarrassed of him seeing you like this and could feel your body force away the attack.
As you begun to trust yourself to speak, you turned slightly towards Malcolm, a numb look coated your features. “Sorry you had to see that; you shouldn’t have had to.” You spoke meekly, looking down at your still slightly shaky hands in your lap.
“Y/n, you have nothing to be sorry for.”
It was once he said that sentence that you knew you needed to come clean about the one secret that you had left from him.
“But I do, I’ve been selfish.”
“How darling?” He said while slowly petting your head, the way you’d comfort a child.
“I didn’t want to tell you, cause you already had so much on your plate, with this case, your family, and I- I just didn’t want to add my family on top of it.” He understood that this must’ve been eating at you for a while, because you normally bottled all your feelings until it broke; unfortunately, that’s why you both got along so well. He never wanted you to feel like that was necessary when you were with him, but how do you bring that kind of thing up?
“What about your family?” he spoke softly. You never spoke about them, hell he’s never even met them but now he felt deep down that he was about to find out why.
“Am I selfish to you? Am I someone you really see yourself with in the long run?” Tears begun to fill your eyes again, and a crack in your voice was evident to Malcolm that you believed in what you were saying about yourself.
He felt a pang of sadness for you in his chest, that was quickly turning to anger at whoever made you feel like you were any less than worth the universe. He composed himself before he responded to your question.
“Far from it, you are the most selfless human being I’ve ever met. There’s now way that a selfish person would’ve done what you did today; going in front of thousands of people and calling out a killer like that, like a badass.” He nudged your shoulder, where he got a slight giggle out of you. It wasn’t a lot, but it was better than nothing.
“And absolutely can I see you with me later on,” He took a deep breath before he continued his statement. “I love you y/n, and if I ever lost you… I don’t even want to think of who I would become. You’re the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
You immediately rushed into his arms and embraced him so tightly, afraid that this was all some massive cruel dream, and you’d wake up another day without him knowing. You stayed like this for a moment before Malcolm piped up,
“So, you wanna tell me why the most beautiful person to ever walk the earth is currently crying on our apartment floor at nearly 9 pm?”
You both chuckled at this, as you unwrapped yourself from his arms to look him in his beautiful blue eyes. His eyes were still filled with an underlying anger, but mainly held concern towards you.
“You know when we were at the news station today? And you got a call from the killer?” He nodded, encouraging you to continue.
“Well I also got a call, but it was from my mother. We got into an argument, since she saw the broadcast, and words were said.” You knew that the fine details were going to be said eventually, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say it.
“And, what did she say baby?” He answered in a voice that was barely even a whisper, he looked you up and down; most likely looking at your body language to see if you were going to try and lie, but he could tell that you were going to be honest.
“That I was selfish, dumb, questioning where she went wrong with me.” You sniffled and looked to your hands, terrified to see Malcolm’s reaction. Not because he might yell at you, but at what he might do to your mother now that this was his first impression of her.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Was all he said after some silence.
“You have your own family shit to deal with, I didn’t feel like it was fair on you to dump mine on top of it. I didn’t want you to lose anymore sleep than you already do over something that I need to deal with.”
“…”
“Malcolm? You’re scaring me.” You looked up at him to see him looking out the window, his face glowing from all the nightlife neon lights across the street; he looked so angelic, more than he normally did.
“How didn’t I see this any sooner? I don’t care that you didn’t tell me y/n, I don’t care that your family is screwed up as well. I do care about the fact that I couldn’t help you through it.”
“But Malcolm it wasn’t your fight-” you tried to defend your reasoning, but alas he needed to correct you once more before the night was through.
“You’re right; it’s our fight. To hell with our parents, we’re not our parents; we are our own people. So, from this moment on, I promise to be completely transparent with my baggage as long as you are with me. We can break our constantly bottled-up feelings together.” He gently picked up your hand and laid a kiss on top.
“turn them into shattered glass.” You nodded as you spoke, a smile slowly coming back to your face.
“Just like shattered glass.” He nodded back, returning your smile.
And just like that, the two of you sat down on the couch, cuddling and watching movies as dusk carried on into dawn.
A/n: I hope you guys liked this, I always loved Malcolm’s character and Prodigal son, and with my life being slightly hectic at the moment this was a nice change of pace. Hope you have an amazing day or night, depending on where you are! 💙
Alright, I loved the episode but I had a few issues.
⚠️⚠️ Disclaimer! I LOVE prodigal son, but I believe that doesn't mean I can't critize the show.
The JT thing felt hastily thrown in. It left a bad taste in my mouth as a poc. Im trying to enjoy the show, but instead I get police brutality shoved down my throat that felt graceless in it's presentation. I hope that this sort of social commentary will be better handled in the future.
Malcolm Bright x Reader, Gil Arroyo x Daughter!Reader
Word Count: 2,000-ish
Key: Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color
Warnings: Mentions of murder, cursing. Large chunks of text in italics mean that it is a flashback.
Summary: After your boss is murdered, you are brought in as a suspect. In order to prove your innocence, you have to reveal a secret to your father.
Author’s Note: This was one of those ideas that hit me like a train right as I was about to go to bed, so I scribbled as much as I could down and tried to make sense of it the next day.
We’re also gonna pretend that Gil and Jessica aren’t a thing cause then that would make this story a bit awkward.
This is not beta read, so let me know if there are any mistakes!
If you would like to be tagged in any of my future pieces, check out my tag list above and let me know! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!
<3
- DreaSaurusREX
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, (Y/N), got any news for me?” Your boss, Mr.Naruski asked from his desk chair, casually weaving a pen in between his fingers. It was lunchtime and you had gotten salads from the meditarrian place that he liked.
“Well, Simon wanted to move his meeting with you to Friday, but there would be no way to do that unless we add another 4 hours to the day. Oh! And Mrs.Krewnshe asked me if--”
“(Y/N), sweetheart! We are on our lunch break! Which means I don’t want any news with my clients unless it's urgent. I meant news in the world of the best secretary in New York!”
You couldn’t help but roll your eyes a little bit and smile. Mr.Naruski was a true blessing when it came to employers. He owned his own architecture business in New York and somehow wasn’t a complete asshat like some of your previous bosses. He and his wife were incredibly caring and truly understood that you had to be a human in order to work with other humans. The respect you got here was well worth the daily commute!
“Well, if you really want to know... My boyfriend set up a nice, and very last minute, date for us tonight.” You couldn’t hide the true smile that spread across your lips. Mr.Naruski leaned forward and raised an eyebrow.
“Oh? And where is this ‘nice’ date happening, if I might ask?”
“I’m not sure. He wouldn’t tell me. All he said was to be ready by 6 because we have reservations for 6:45. But I have a feeling it’s that new modern industrial place that I was telling you about. He knows I love to walk past it and appreciate the details. While I don’t think I’ve ever said out loud that I like it or would like to go inside, he has a great ability to read me.”
Your smile grew a little more as your eyes drifted slightly down, thinking about all the times your boyfriend picked up on the smaller details in the past. He was good with surprises. Mr.Naruski watched how this interaction brought out your best side. The two of you finished your lunches and got back to work.
Your boss had one more meeting this afternoon. It was with a company called Jetlan Inc. From the small bit of conversation you heard as Mr.Naruski escorted his guests out, it was a successful meeting. He turned back to you once the door was closed and let out a relieved sigh.
“I take it everything went well?”
“As well as I could. They are going to take tonight to mull it over and then give us a call tomorrow. So expect Samuel to call at some point.”
You wrote down a little reminder to yourself on a sticky note “May get call from Jetlan Inc.” and placed it near your desk’s phone. You went back to typing out the schedule for next week when Mr.Naruski tapped a finger on your desk.
“How about you leave early today, (Y/N)?”
“Are you sure, sir? I can stay and help with the final prep for tomorrow’s deal if you want. I should also probably finish this schedule.”
“I think I can handle that on my own. And you can add your final touches tomorrow. You,” He stood up and walked around your desk and held out his hands. You put your hands in his and he helped you up before grabbing your coat from the coat rack. “Have a date to get ready for.”
You couldn’t help but laugh. It was almost unbelievable to have a boss that really cared about your personal life as much as your professional one like he did. You just slipped on your coat and grabbed your purse, knowing that when Naruski made up his mind, it was set. He opened the door for you and put a hand on your arm.
“He told me to ‘love with my whole heart, but be smart enough to know when to use my brain instead.’ I think it was his way of saying ‘Be safe and have fun.’”
A small but sad smile worked its way onto your face at the thought of him being so supportive. You felt a wave of tears coming, so you finished up your story to try to stop them from falling.
“After that, I thanked him again, and I left to go back to my apartment and get ready. The next time I saw Mr.Naruski was the next morning, behind the crime scene tape blocking my office, dead.”
You couldn’t believe that just 24 hours ago, you were happily talking to your boss about your date. And now he was dead. Murdered in his own office, two hours after you had left. You were being questioned at the NYPD by none other than JT Tarmel, Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright, and your father, Gil Arroyo.
No one spoke, they were taking in all of the details of your alibi. It felt like forever before Malcolm broke the silence.
“Are there security cameras in your office?”
“Yes. There is one in the main office where my desk is positioned, one in Mr.Naruski’s office, and one in the hallway outside our door.”
“Great. We can check those. They’ll show (Y/N) leaving and should have a timestamp on them that we can check.
The team did their own little nods, still thinking about your alibi. They wanted to trust you, but they needed to think of every possible thing that could have happened, or if they could find any evidence to the real killer.
“Who did you go on a date with?” Dani was sitting about 6 feet to your right, a bottle of water in her hands as she leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“I don’t see how my dating life is relevant to my boss being murdered in his office.”
Lies. You knew why she was asking. It was a major part of your alibi and it’s the only other way that they could concretely cross you off of the suspect list. JT jumped in to try to diffuse the situation, none of them aware of how much you didn’t want to share.
“It's just another way that we can confirm your alibi, (Y/N).”
You could see Gil adjusting his stance as he leaned against the wall to your left. You couldn’t bring yourself to look at your father, already feeling his intense stare boring into you.
The room was silent, but the anxiety in your chest made it feel like the room was half of its real size. You kept your posture as straight as you could while you focused on your hands that were unconsciously fidgeting on top of the table.
“Tell us the kid’s name, (Y/N).”
“Why can’t you just check the cameras like Malcolm said? That’ll show when I left at around 4:30 yesterday afternoon and when I came back today for my shift but saw the tape instead! You could even check my apartment’s security cameras!”
“Woah! We will, (Y/N). We just want to be able to cover our asses and yours.” JT tried again to calm you down, everyone know seeing how uncomfortable the idea of sharing the details of your date made you.
Your leg started to shake under the table, that was your cue that your anxiety was getting bad. You lock eyes with Malcolm. He sees how much you’re struggling and just gives you a short nod. You knew what he was trying to say, but you really didn’t want to agree. Malcolm then took a deep breath, trying to get you to do the same. You looked down and tried to take a deep breath in.
“Why can’t you just answer the question, (Y/N)?!” Gil didn’t yell, but you could hear the annoyance in his voice. It was the final hit that broke the last of your defenses.
“Because it's Malcolm, alright?!”
Even you were a bit shocked at the slight frustration and exasperation in your voice. As everyone let that fact settle in their brains, you closed your eyes and took a couple deep breaths, trying to accept the fact that it was out in the open now. Malcolm made his way behind you and put a comforting hand on your shoulder, lightly rubbing this thumb to try and soothe you. You opened your eyes and stared at the center of the table, your hands now clasped together.
“Last night I left work early to go get ready for a date with Malcolm Bright. He took me to that nicer place off of 47th that has the grey brick exterior with the iron corner details. We went there to catch a break from our lives because it's been so hectic lately and we haven’t had much time to just sit and enjoy each other’s company.”
Our reservation was for 6:45 under Malcolm’s name. You can check with the manager there, go into their electronic reservation system, and see that we checked in and everything. Or Malcolm may have some sort of confirmation email. Now do I need to go into detail about what we ordered or what cocktail I was drinking, or am I good?”
You slowly looked up to meet your father’s eyes. You expected something upset in his eyes, but instead, they were very professional. He looked from you to Malcolm, who in turn nodded, confirming your story. Gil audibly inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his nose and he rubbed a hand down his face.
“No. You’re good, kid.”
You look back to your hands and close your eyes, focusing on your breathing. You weren’t hyperventilating, but you definitely felt a weight in your chest.
Dani and JT looked at each other, unaware of what to do in this situation. Malcolm looked from you back to Gil, his face slightly pleading. Gil quickly tilted his head towards the door, a small sigh of relief coming from Malcolm as he moved his hand to your arm and leaned down to quietly talk in your ear.
“C’mon, (Y/N). Let’s get some air or something to drink, okay?”
You nodded and stood up as Malcolm grabbed your coat from the rack near the door. You took yours and slung it over your arm as Malcolm opened the door for you. Before you could leave, Gil spoke up.
“I will be seeing the two of you in my office in an hour though. We need to have a chat.”
You just nod and leave already knowing what this “chat” is going to be about. Malcolm was reaching for his coat when Gil’s voice resonated again.
“Malcolm, take care of her. Go to that shop around the corner. They have those little pastries she likes. And make sure your both are back here soon. We’re not done with this.”
“Will do.” Malcolm nodded and quickly left and caught up with you, walking you safely out of the NYPD.
With that, there was still a semi-awkward air in the meeting room. Dani quietly fiddled with her water bottle and let out a “Well…”
“Heh! Yeah. That was somethi--”
Before JT could get further, Gil pointed at him and sternly said “Don’t.” JT just raises his hands in defense and backs off. Dani couldn’t help but smirk a bit at the sight of JT getting called out.
“So where do we go from here?” Dani calmly asked the room.
“We need to get the security footage from the office building and (Y/N)’s apartment complex. Get in contact with the restaurant owner and see if we can check their reservation system, if not, ask Malcolm if he has any email from their reservation.”
“On it.” JT confirmed as he left the room to head to his desk and start working. Gil leaned on the table, thinking for a moment. “What do we know about this Jetlan Inc.?
