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“This is so dumb,” Jason said. “Steph, my darling, my cupcake, just let me burn this place down and then I’ll take you out for dinner.”
“Absolutely not,” Steph said. “Some problems can’t be fixed with arson, and this is one of them.”
“I’m pretty sure arson would fix it,” Jason said. “Or at least improve it enough that we don’t need to be involved.”
They both took a few moments to stare at the problem in question. Bludhaven Community College’s library was somehow worse than the rest of the campus. Dick had asked them to take over a case he didn’t have time for.. He had called the place a possible money laundering front; it was now obvious that it was also an illegal gambling den. They’d narrowed down the possible physical location to the library.
They had been here undercover for two entire days. Jason had taken on the humanities department, believing firmly it had been a front (“They don’t even offer a Shakespeare class. This place is a travesty. A mockery of education.”) but had come up empty handed. Steph had centered her sights on the dining hall – well, more cafe, as there were no dorms, but it served breakfast and lunch, and Steph firmly believed them to be evil for charging ten bucks for a grilled cheese. Unfortunately price gouging appeared to be their only crime. That, and the lack of seasoning.
Steph had noticed the library early on the second day. It was a small, shabby building on the left side of campus, identifiable as a library only by the small sign outside, and what had drawn her attention was the lack of foot traffic heading that way. At the very least people should have scoped it out as a prime napping location – she had taken some incredible naps in the Gotham U library – but no one seemed interested.
So they’d infiltrated it. Meaning they hadn’t even been asked to flash their (fake) student IDs at the door, just wandered inside. Once inside, they were surprised at the lack of, well, anything in the library, even given that it was Bludhaven . No books, no media, just some empty shelves with a few sad newspapers spread out on them, a few tables with some computer monitors on them – all powered off, Steph wasn’t even sure if they were connected to anything – and a couple of sad uncomfortable chairs that had clearly come from a waiting room somewhere. They’d been ready to give up when they’d found the stairs claiming to lead down to the main stacks.
There were no main stacks. Instead they’d found a locked door, which Jason picked the lock on easily enough, only to lead the way down to a room filled with clearly-rigged slot machines. It was currently empty, thankfully.
“You know, we really do run into shockingly few gambling dens in Gotham,” Steph said thoughtfully. “Wonder what’s up with that.”
“No one wants to use their luck up on winning a few bucks,” Jason offered. “Probably think they’d rather use their luck to avoid getting caught up in supervillain nonsense. Plus, you know, Two Face.”
“That would be like a homing beacon for him, wouldn’t it?” Steph said. Then she remembered that they were not actually wearing their costumes, since they’d gone to the trouble of pretending to be students at Bludhaven Community College, and that there were probably multiple cameras down here to safeguard the machines. “Hey, wanna make out?”
“Always, but is now really the time?” Jason said. Steph suspected he was still a little annoyed that she had shot down the whole ‘burn the library down’ plan. She was honestly shocked that he would even suggest that, in case the books that ought to be present were hidden away somewhere, but probably Jason wanted to burn the library down as revenge for the removal of the books.
She rolled her eyes. “Babe. We’re on camera. Coming down here to make out is the normal reason to break into a secret casino.”
She’d spotted and recognized the camera models; they didn’t record sound, so their conversation was private. Their presence, though, would clearly be noticed.
“Oh. Yeah, okay.” Jason smiled at her. A devastating smile, one that she never quite got used to being directed at her , even though they’d been together for a few months. But also one meant to distract her from the fact that she had been a step ahead of him for once, and she absolutely was going to bring it up later.
For now, though, she grabbed a handful of his ass and pulled him closer to her. “Plus, I wanted to. I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Maybe an exaggeration, but one that made Jason lean down to press a gentle kiss to the tip of her nose. “I still can’t believe it took me two weeks to get back from that Outsiders mission.”
Steph hummed a vague answer and hooked her other hand on his neck, tangling her fingers into his hair. It always surprised her, how soft it was. “Gonna make up for lost time.”
Then she caught his mouth with her own. The kiss started off gentle and sweet – nothing at all like the bruising first one they’d shared, both wild-eyed and a little bloody after a brawl with a half-dozen bikers, that had sparked their relationship. Steph sighed into Jason’s mouth and let the softness of his embrace relax her, feeling tension she hadn’t realized she was holding in her shoulders fade away.
The kiss continued, soft and slow, until Steph remembered she still had a handful of Jason’s ass, and squeezed it. She could feel his smile against her mouth, then he stepped in closer and closer, crowding her back until they were pressed up against one of the slot machines.
Jason licked at her mouth, and Steph obligingly opened her mouth, deepening the kiss. She ran her tongue along his, and loved the tiny sounds he made in response. Her hand traveled up his back under his shirt, and she traced little shapes along his back.
If she traced a heart and their initials together along his spine, he didn’t say anything. But the way he was kissing her showed his approval.
Jason kissed along her jaw to mouth at the spot on her neck that never failed to make her weak-kneed. She put more of her weight against the slot machine, tilting her head to give him easier access.
If only all missions were this fun.
Jason’s mouth worked at her throat, and she let out a breathy sound that was honestly embarrassing but made Jason intensify things. He lifted her up, propping her between the slot machine and his body, her legs encircling his hips to hold on tighter.This angle was better; Jason didn’t have to lean down as far, and she could grind her hips against his. She’d missed this, missed him so much. Steph gave a little nibble to his earlobe, just to hear his breath catch.
But when Jason’s hand dipped under her waistband, she stopped him.
“Cameras,” she whispered. Steph was having a good time, but she didn’t want to give the criminals that much of a show.
“Oh, right,” Jason said, his embarrassed tone clearly giving away that he had forgotten they were there. Steph felt a surge of something like pride that she’d distracted him so thoroughly.
He nuzzled her neck one final time, planting a tiny kiss on her earlobe, then pulled away. “Explore a little before we go?”
It was fun, moving through the rows of gambling machines while peering around trying to notice clues while trying to look like college kids just exploring. Steph jabbed at Jason’s side in his ticklish spot to make him let out a giggle, and he retaliated by tugging at her ponytail.
She wondered if this is what they would have been like, if they’d met outside of the cape, if they’d led different lives.
It should have been a bitter thought, but instead Steph found it comforting, that they’d ended up here anyway.
In the back corner was another door. Steph figured it could either lead to a way out of the gambling den – only an idiot would set up somewhere illegal without a back exit in case of cops – or maybe an office.
Either way, it was clearly a space they’d need to investigate while wearing their costumes, because making out in the casino was one thing, but breaking into the office with their faces just out there was another.
“We done here?”
Jason nodded, though Steph didn’t miss the way his gaze lingered on her mouth for just a second too long.
“How about you buy me that dinner you were talking about earlier, then we come back here and bust some heads?”
“Sounds like a date.”
*
Eight hours later, they stood in front of the burning library of Bludhaven Community College.
“I can’t believe you actually burned it down,” Jason said admiringly. “Only thing better would have been if I’d gotten to use the grenade launcher.”
Steph didn’t love his use of the word the , and wondered where he could possibly have a grenade launcher stashed. “Well, babe, it was a total accident, but a serendipitous one.”
How was she supposed to have known that she’d knocked a lit Zippo lighter out of the wannabe-mob boss’s hand right into a crate of illegal fireworks? The backroom of the illegal gambling den had been a frankly embarrassing hodgepodge of illegal goods that spoke of poor planning and lack of vision.
She didn’t entirely hate the outcome, though. They’d already snagged a bunch of paperwork to use as evidence, and the slot machines would still be recognizable after the fire had been extinguished, so there was no chance of the guy getting off because the evidence had burned.
And the community college could use the insurance payoff to build a better library. One that perhaps contained books and/or media for the students to use. She’d put in a word with Dick, there were definitely funds floating around somewhere to improve things here.
And she’d gotten to see Jason downright giddy as the wannabe-mob boss had cried while watching his ill-gotten gains go up in flames, gone forever instead of sent to Bludhaven’s police evidence locker to be stolen and sent back out on the streets.
Definitely a win-win.
“We should go undercover together more often,” Jason said. “This was great. I got to argue with a professor about Mary Shelley, make out with you, take down a case Dick didn’t solve, and got a bonfire to boot.”
Steph high-fived him. “Dream team.”
“Hell yeah.”