Pairings: Adrian Chase x "Hero"!Reader
Fandom: DCECU

Word Count: ~ 2,730
Warnings: Canon-typical whatever, mentions of food, bantering duh
SUMMARY: You admit to knowing Adrian's secret identity and you two create a pact.

A/N Here's the (probably) last fic in this little series! I hope you all enjoyed it <3

"I got some leftovers from that diner if you want?" He offered, slyly covering up the fact that he works there during the day. Adrian's face was covered with a different styled Vigilante mask. It was cloth, unlike his current one. "It was Taco Tuesday and I couldn't help it."

You chuckled, "I'm alright," You found yourself back on the sofa, relishing in the comfort, it was much better than the futon at the office.

"You're seriously missing out," He joked before turning on the television. "What kind of stuff do you watch? I feel like you're a sit-and-stare-at-a-wall kinda person."

"What about me says I'm boring? I literally kill people for a living,"

Adrian shrugged dramatically and worked his way around the kitchen, warming up his leftovers. "I dunno, what's more exciting than killing y'know?"

"I guess? Killing isn't that fun for me, it's just normal." You explained and could see his jaw fall under the mask. "Don't give me that look."

"You sound like Chris, he's all against killing now like he hasn't been doing it for-literally-fucking-ever." Adrian sounded pretty passionate about Chris' recent admission to not wanting to kill people anymore. Huh.

You turned on the couch to look at him, "You're telling me that it's boring to want to not kill people?" He nodded, "Jesus man you're like me ten years ago."

"I'm older than you!"

"No you're not, I'm at least six years older than you."

"I'm 30."

It was your turn for your jaw to drop, "You're fucking 30? That's another lie, there is NO way!"

Adrian shrugged, "Why not?"

You gestured to him vaguely, "Well-look at you!"

He took the request literally and looked down at himself, you didn't even notice what he was wearing until that moment. Adrian's clothes mirrored your own. A too-big shirt and some drawstring sweatpants. His were obviously thinner from wear and were black.

"Yea no, I don't get it." He said.

You groaned into your hands, "Nevermind, Vig." When you peeked at him through your hands, he looked startled that you called him Vig. You realized it must have been weird hearing his alter ego's name in Adrian's house.

"You okay?"

"Just embarrassed." You murmured.

He chuckled to himself, "Embarrassed? You're funnier than I thought."

You didn't respond as you kept hiding in plain sight. "Your couch is like heaven, dude."

"Hell yea it is, I stole it from my ma when I moved out." Adrian carries a bowl of some kind of abomination in hand as he sits on the opposite end. You're secretly grateful he doesn't force his presence on you.

Adrian alone is already a lot to handle. It isn't even a bad thing you just overwhelm easily.

"What do you watch?" He offered the remote, and you began flicking between the channels fast. Your eyes trailed on the screen briefly before looking at him. He was eating that mess of tortilla and whatever the fuck it was like a starving dog. "Oh my god," You commented before forcing yourself to look away.

"I don't really-" He was talking in between bites and it made you want to die, "-eat around people."

"I can fucking tell stop talking." You were understandably disgusted by his eating habits and it took everything in you not to complain about it extensively. You muffled the sound of him eating by turning the television up and dramatically covering your ears.

-

"I promise it's good, just watch, come on!" Adrian's whiny voice managed to reach you in the bathroom. "Fargo is like the best show ever."

You rolled your eyes to yourself before walking out of the dimly lit bathroom, "It's like five am dude doesn't your alter ego have like, a job or something?"

He looked down at the watch on his wrist, tilting his arm toward the television screen. "Pfft it's Saturday man, I am free all day." Adrian folded his arms behind his head and when he went to put his feet up, he missed the table and fell forward.

"Hm, really elegant." You joked, stepping over his legs and flopping onto the couch.

He folded it out a few hours earlier, seeing how your eyes began to droop. You may have slept for a long time but you still got stabbed. That thought reminded him of your bandages that probably needed cleaning, "Have you checked on your uh- thing yet?" Adrian cursed at himself for wording it so weirdly.

"Huh?" You weren't even looking at him.

"Your uh- your wound? Have you cleaned it?" He couldn't see too clearly, this mask lacked the prescription his normal one did. Adrian itched to put his glasses on but he promised not to take his mask off.

The look you gave him threw him off, "Uh... I'm not sure actually."

"You got shanked and haven't cleaned it at all!?" He was horrified, "You could get an infection and turn into a zombie or something," Adrian jumped up from the couch, "When I get back you better be without a shirt-" He paused, "Um. That sounded gross I didn't mean it in a weird creepy way just that I can't clean the wound if you're wearing a shirt and like-"

"Just go, please."

Adrian nodded, "You got it!" And he rushed toward his bedroom. He knew it was weird to keep his first aid supplies in his room but he thought it was moronic to put cleaning stuff in the same room where you shit. Who does that? How is it supposed to stay sterile if it's surrounded by shit particles?

-

"God that looks so much worse than I expected," Adrian was watching closely as you cleaned the wound on your stomach.

"Imagine how I feel," You mumbled and hissed as you poured some rubbing alcohol on the area. "I hate this part of the job the most."

Adrian shrugged, "I don't mind the clean up its initial injuries for me."

"Weird, I usually don't notice I'm hurt till it's done." You dabbed at the area with a cotton pad and reached for the gauze. Adrian handed it to you, "Adrenaline is insane."

"Killing is what gets me going."

You stared at him for a moment before he realized what he said, "Not like that-although I wouldn't be surprised if Chris said that."

"Nobody said that?"

"Huh."

You cleaned up your wound and covered it again with a smile. "Those painkillers Economos gave me are crazy good." Tiredness began to cloud your brain, "I'm beat," Adrian chuckled to himself, "What's funny?"

"I'm pretty sure he gave you melatonin man," Adrian held the bottle of pills close to his face. "Yea, that's 100% melatonin."

You snatched it from his hands, "How the hell do you know what melatonin is?"

"My mom used to give it to me as a kid to help me sleep regularly."

"That makes a lot of sense actually."

-

The next night you spent learning about his favorite weapons to use and how he liked using them. All of his tools laid out on his kitchen table.

"Guns are fun but they hurt my ears," He nodded, "I like these," You picked a pair of ring knives, you spun them around easily. "They're practically weightless."

"I know right? Those are my second favorite behind this-" Adrian showcases a sword expressively, "I love this thing so much. I've killed like 50 people with it at the very least."

You snorted at that, "You're so weird, man." The throwing knives fit in your hands comfortably, "Where'd you get these?"

"You can have them actually, I use these ones more."

Your eyes lit up in surprise, "Seriously?"

Adrian tilted his head nonchalantly, "You're like my best friend now sure,"

"I'm your best friend? That's adorable," You mumbled with a stupid smile. "You know, I've never been someone's best friend before."

"That's a lie."

You shook your head, "Nope, very true, I'm very hard to get along with. Why'd you think Chris tried shooting me that one time?"

Adrian does a double-take before recovering, "He uh- Chris tries to shoot everyone. Not Eagly though, but I bet he'd shoot anyone who even thought about shooting Eagly."

"I thought you should know that I uh-" You paused, "I know who your secret identity is."

-

After Adrian knew about you knowing about who he was, (that's a mouthful) he decided to say fuck it to that mask. It was pointless if you knew already. He argued. And you had to agree.

He took it really well which... didn't surprise you? Adrian's never been conventional you could tell that much. He admitted to eavesdropping on you and the team which also did not surprise you.

It made things almost too personal for you when Adrian started walking around without his face covered. You felt weird calling his name even, it was silly but you were breaking rules you set in place.

"Hey... if you need glasses how do you see with your regular mask?"

His face lit up, "My visor? It's got my prescription in it! How fucking cool is that?"

You were in awe, "That's actually really awesome who made it, I'd like to be able to see clearly without wearing contacts for once."

"What do your glasses look like?" He asked.

"Not so different to yours," You shrugged and reached into the bag in hopes of finding a pair. "Ah-ha!" You presented the glasses to him, they were wide in the frame size like his but were made out of plastic instead of metal. "My... only pair of glasses now apparently?" You rummaged through the duffle bag some more only to nod solemnly.

Adrian looked through the lenses before slipping them on, "We have the same prescription dude," He lifted and lowered the glasses, nodding.

"That's cool, lemme see yours." Even with your face covered you could look through his glasses, "Oh wow you're right. What happened to your right eye?"

"I think I got punched, not sure," He took his glasses back.

You shook your head, "That's better than tripping in my opinion."

"You had to get glasses because you fell?" You nodded, "Chris would think that's so funny." Adrian laughed to himself with a stupid smile.

"Yea haha you're funny," The sarcasm threw him off, "I'm being all fucking weird, Adrian." You opened his fridge before leaning on the door, "Did you mean it when you said I was like your best friend?"

Adrian nodded with a smile, "I don't lie that often you know." You gave him a look, "Okay I don't lie that often to you." He admitted shyly. "But yea, Chris is kind of a dick to me these days."

"That's because he wants into Harcourt's pants and she keeps boundaries professional." You grabbed a pop from the bottom shelf, "Unlike my dumbass breaking my own rule," You said this quietly for only you to hear but Adrian seemed to have heard you.

"Do you regret coming here?" His voice sounded so small it made you turn around quickly, Adrian's face was flushed; probably embarrassed you deduced.

"I didn't really have a choice and no, I don't. Contrary to popular belief I like most of the team."

"Who don't you like?" You could hear the trap in his words, it weirded you out how easy you made him insecure. Why would he be so unabashedly himself around everyone else but then be all... normal around you.

That thought made you realize something, Adrian was a different person entirely from Vigilante. That suit gave him this confidence Adrian clearly lacked. He didn't even stand the same way he did when he was in his Vigilante suit.

"Probably Chris because he's the only one who tried shooting me like five fucking times." You fiddled with the tab on the pop can mindlessly.

"What how'd he miss?"

You laughed at that, nobody really understood how you always came out of fights unscathed (for the most part). "I think that's like... my thing? I'm just kinda... lucky, I guess?" You took a slow drink of the beverage, trying to ignore the popping sensation as you swallowed.

He nodded slowly, "But wait, how'd that butterfly stab you then?"

Adrian was right, how did that fucker get the jump on you? You thought back to when you guys were fighting those butterflies, thinking about every choice you made, every word you spoke, everything. And the only thing you could deduce was that... Adrian was the reason why you got stabbed. He distracted you with his stupid quips and retorts. Your favorite part of his personality got you injured.

"Weird... I think your talking distracted me so I wasn't like, protecting myself or something. It's not like I'm invincible, I wish I was but most of the time, I just end up doing better than my enemy."

"Punch me then and watch I'll win."

"What?"

Adrian groaned, "Hit me." He said with a smile, raising his fists into a fighting stance.

You shook your head, "I am not gonna hit you, man." He seemed to think about it for a moment before throwing a punch toward you, "Chill out." You warned, not feeling in the mood for his shit. "Adrian I swear to go-" He landed one right in your jaw, "Jesus fucking christ man!"

For a single second, fear showed on his face before he covered it up. You set down the pop and glared at him, "Hit me, Y/N."

"You know what, you are a dick." You lifted your foot and pushed him back with it.

"Pfft that was weak as shit, you can do better than that."

Anger flashed through you, what a dickwad, you thought and swung on him. It was awkward fighting in his house but Adrian moved around easily. Your side began to burn but your ego told you to ignore the pain and kick this dude's ass.

He did some stupid flip that threw you off, "The fuck was that!?" Adrian tossed a towel in your face but you just caught it and twisted it up to slap him with it.

"OW! What the hell man!?" He exclaimed.

Before he could gain any momentum you jumped over the divider between the kitchen and livingroom and landed on top of him. It wasn't the most graceful fall but you made sure to keep Adrian's head from knocking on the floor.

You crouched above him, holding his head up with a stupid smirk. "I thought you'd win, jackass?"

Adrian laughed smugly, "I technically did win I hit you like five times."

"I've literally got you pinned on the ground, Adrian." Just to get the point across further, you dropped his head and pressed your forearm against his throat, "Talk some more shit pretty boy I dare you."

His cheeks flushed red which made you laugh out loud, "God it's even easier to mess with you out of your suit."

-

"You were really nice about that fight."

"I didn't wanna kick your ass too much we still have butterflies to murder."

Adrian drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, "I have a consideration," He said incorrectly again but you ignored it. "Since Chris is up the blonde's ass, what if... we form an alliance?" Adrian calling Emilia "the blonde" almost made you laugh.

You tilted your head to the side, "What kind of alliance are we talkin' about Vig?"

He smiled, "Be more annoying than we already are-"

"It's you who's annoying but go on,"

"That's not true they treat you like they treat me but they're afraid of you so they hide their annoyance."

You stared blankly ahead, "What?" You had no idea what the hell he just said but he kept talking.

"Anyways-they're too afraid to say you're annoying but if we both start annoying everyone, then they'd like, lose their fucking minds." Adrian finished with a grin, looking genuinely excited to mess with the team.

"You're maniacal man, I fucking love that." Before crashing at his place you two never really got a chance to talk and god Adrian was literally unhinged. "Let's do it."

"Hell yea! I knew you were the coolest on the team," His smile was contagious. "Besties for the resties amiright?" He offered his fist.

You raised an eyebrow, "Yea sure dude," You bumped yours against his. "They're gonna kill us aren't they."

"Oh for sure."