Chapter Text
Your mornings started as they always do, groggily pulling yourself out of your bed and stretching briefly. You checked your phone for missed calls, work or otherwise, before shuffling into the kitchen to toast a frozen blueberry waffle and make a pot of coffee. You turned from the kitchen counter towards your small dining table, where a plain letter was left. You approached quickly, it wasn’t here last night before you went to bed. Someone must have come in and left it while you dreamt. You gulped and grabbed it shakily, flipping it over to read the back: ‘Blue Canary.’
“I fucking hate that name.” You cussed, dropping the letter and spinning in a circle on your heels. What could these people possibly want from you? You grumbled, storming over to the fridge to grab the magnetic letter opener, then storming back over to the table. The toaster popped, but you were more focused on the letter. You pulled the paper from the envelope and unfolded it.
“To Blue Canary,
We hope this letter finds you well. We’re in need of assistance from you for a special mission; Project Butterfly. The details cannot be shared with you unless you agree to help beforehand. Just know, you would be a bodyguard for some of our other assets. See me at ARGUS headquarters.
Signed, Amanda Waller, Director of ARGUS.”
You flipped the paper around, staring incredulously at the incredibly short letter. “I have a name you bitch…” You mumbled to yourself. You walked back to the kitchen, paper in hand. You yanked open your junk drawer and grabbed a small lighter, burning the letter and tossing it into the empty sink. You grabbed a plate and syrup, putting the waffle on your plate before pouring a cup of coffee for yourself. You grabbed utensils from the drawer, not bothering to shut it before walking back to the table and placing your stuff on top of the envelope.
☮
You pulled your car into a parking spot in front of the ARGUS headquarters. The guards at the gate were clearly expecting your arrival, since they let you in without question, despite not working at ARGUS, therefore not owning an employee ID. You groaned loudly, throwing your head back against the carseat. Were you really going to let ARGUS employ you again?
Every time you did something for them they took advantage of your regenerative ability, they constantly threw you at bombs and weapons of mass destruction. A bodyguard position probably meant having to take hundreds of bullets for some stuck-up dick. With one last sigh, you exited your car and made your way towards the entrance to the building.
Security looked up and nodded. “Welcome, Blue Canary.” One man spoke up with a nod. You groaned, “that’s not my name! It’s fucking y/n! y/n l/n!” You glowered before taking a deep breath. The security nodded silently, motioning you to walk through the metal detector.
You passed the metal detector without problem, but were stopped by a different man. He wasn’t wearing the security uniform, just a black sweater and jeans. He seemed familiar but you couldn’t put a name to his face. “Blue Canary? We finally get to meet. I’m Clemson Murn.” He holds a hand out for you to shake, which you oblige awkwardly before pulling your hand back. “God.. You need lotion, dude.. Your hand is super dry.”
Murn sighs and turns his back to you before walking away. You followed quickly, catching up to walk side by side. “So, a bodyguard job? Why are all your projects named after animals? Who am I supposed to guard anyways? I hope you guys are providing weapons, and a license to carry. I still don’t have one.” You pestered this Murn man with questions and demands, wondering how long it would take for him to snap at you. It was important to know how much whining you could get away with while on the job.
“Yes, we’ll provide everything you need to do your job, though it’s not our job to get you a license.” He approaches a conference room and swings the door open, holding it for you to enter. You walk in and are met with three others. Two you recognize, but the third is a stranger.
“Yes!” Economos quietly cheers, pumping his fist. Unlike him, if Harcourt has an opinion on you she doesn’t show it. The third woman looks at Economos, raising an eyebrow, “what’s with the celebrating?” She asks, keeping her voice down.
“This is like winning the lottery, most dedicated meat shield ever.” He responds, making you frown. “Seriously?” You ask, unimpressed with his interpretation of you. He shrugs, not saying anything else. “Meat shield?” The woman repeats, concern filling her voice and painting her face. “You’re gonna kill yourself for us?” She looks to you, probably hoping you’ll correct him, but he wasn’t entirely wrong.
“No, I won’t die, but I’m definitely going to be taking every bullet during this mission.” You halfheartedly reply. Murn clears his throat and everyone, including yourself, looks at him.
“This is Blue Canary, also known as y/n l/n. They’re a metahuman who can regenerate in the blink of an eye. They’ll be working as a bodyguard for our team, making sure we stay alive long enough to accomplish our goal.”
“Don’t call me Blue Canary. It’s stupid. I don’t do bird shit.” You interjected, earning an unimpressed look from Murn.
“Anyways… I’m sure you recognize some of our older employees, like John Economos, Emilia Harcourt,” He motions to the two familiar members, Harcourt holds a hand up and Economos gives you an awkward smile. “And our newest employee, Leota Adebayo. She.. has her skills.” Adebayo waves and smiles before stopping. “Uh, yeah I ‘have skills’ what’s with that pause?” She looks around for backup from the other two, being met with silence. “Ouch.” You chuckle, she throws her hands up in defeat before crossing them.
“Along with these three,” Murn continues, “we’ll be needing to find Peacemaker. He’s an important part of this mission.” You make a confused face, “isn’t he in prison?” Your question is met with a nervewracking silence, the rest of the people in the room fidgeting, like they know something you don’t.
“About that…”
☮
“Jesus.” You mumble, being face to face with the Peacemaker himself. The five of you from ARGUS had located him with the bomb-tracker-thing in his neck and were standing in his cramped, American flag painted, trailer. You wrinkled your nose, regretting breathing in through your nose. “It smells like dried cum in here.” You blurted out, right before Economos started gagging. You turned around to see him helping himself to something in the fridge.
“Enjoying my food, asshole?” Peacemaker asked sarcastically, “Those are four year old olives you're eating.” That statement elicited more gagging.
Murn shook his head before speaking, “you showed you were loyal, you’re a born killer with expertise in every weapon known to humankind. You’ve had experience in black ops around the globe, so I’m giving you the chance to stay out of prison and work for me.”
Peacemaker scoffed, “and you are?”
“Murn, Clemson Murn. I report directly to Amanda Waller. This is Harcourt, who you may know from Waller’s team in Bell Reve,” He motions his hands toward her. She was sitting on top of a counter with her legs crossed. “She’ll be your handler in the field.”
“John Economos, who you may also know, is tech and tactics.” Economos was panting behind everyone, trying to recover from the disgusting olives, while hunched over a messy sink. “And this is our newest recruit, Leota Adebayo, which means she’ll be doing most of everything else.”
She nodded enthusiastically, “Glad to be here. Ready to kick some ass, sir. And really looking forward to getting to know all of you- Even you, Peacemaker. Even though you’re not the best guy in the world..”
You watched in silent horror as she continued to give a speech, recoiling as she looked towards you. “And I hope I won’t get you shot too many times, Canary..” You smiled at her, face flushing from second hand embarrassment as she awkwardly finished her speech.
Silence filled the room for a moment, which was starting to become a common occurrence, before Peacemaker spoke up, “I think you forgot a member in your introductions.” He pointed towards you. “I’m-” You were planning to not introduce him to the ridiculous ‘super hero alias’ that was forced onto you, but it seemed Murn had other ideas. “Blue Canary. Unofficial member. Bodyguard.” He answered sternly, looking back at you. You groaned and threw your head back. “Fuck you.” you mumbled under your breath before crouching on the ground.
“Okay, fucking mysterious.” Peacemaker scoffed. “What’s the op?”
Murn clicked his tongue, “domestic situation, known as Project Butterfly.”
You spaced out as Murn and Peacemaker had a back and forth about Mothra and jetpacks. You were given the full explanation of what Project Butterfly was, aliens trying to take over the world and shit, trying to remove humanities freedoms by force. It sucked pretty bad, and it made all aliens look bad. What if your teammates looked at you and saw a power hungry alien stereotype? Super fucked up.
“We’ll meet you for dinner tonight. 7:30 at…” Murn began talking like you guys were finally going to leave.
“Fennel Fields on Manchester Road.” Adebayo finished Murn’s sentence when he couldn’t remember where they were going. Harcourt hopped down from the counter and quickly made her way to the front door of the trailer. Adebayo snapped her fingers and made finger guns as she left, “and the mozzarella sticks are dope.”
“Like the olives, dye-beard?” Peacemaker jeered as Economos made his way to the door. He scoffed and moved a hand to touch his beard. “It’s not dyed.” He rebutled. “Oh, yeah, sure. Hard edge of two-tone gray and Magic Marker brown, that’s natural.”
You waved stiffly to Peacemaker then maneuvered around the messy floor as fast as you could to get to the door. Once you were outside you took a deep breath of fresh air outside. “Thank god..” You whispered.
☮
You looked up at the worn down sign across the building. Layered ‘for sale’ signs covered the window left of the door. “Henenlotter Video.” You read aloud, looking to Harcourt. She had a box full of crap in her arms, for her new office probably. This place was supposed to be the headquarters for Project Butterfly. She walked past you without saying a word. You reluctantly followed her inside.
The sound of pipes shaking echoed in the room when you entered. Adebayo and Economos were conversing about the noise when you entered before Harcourt spoke up. “Hey, new girl, get your shit off there.” She called to Adebayo.
“Damn.” She cursed, picking her own box up. She looked at the middle desk where water was dripping onto it from a different pipe than the ones creaking. The top looked moldy and you felt kinda bad for her. You grabbed the side of the desk and pulled it in the direction closer to the door, moving it just far enough so the water dripped onto the carpet. “Thanks.” Adebayo placed her box on the desk, then began searching for something to wipe the water off with.
“I don’t know what you did to piss off Amanda Waller, but she’s definitely fucking me and John with this gig. What agency did you get transferred from?” Harcourt glanced towards Adebayo, who turned her head briefly towards her before looking back at the moldy desk.
“‘Fucking you’ how?” Adebayo dodged the question. You raised an eyebrow at her, but she either didn’t notice or was ignoring you. Harcourt noticed though, and rolled her eyes. “We helped Task Force X during Project Starfish, and this is her way of getting back at us.”
Adebayo made a sour face, “yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Hey, new girl’s an expert over here, John.” Harcourt flicked her hand towards Adebayo and scoffed. “Well, she’s entitled to her opinion.” Economos responded, almost sounding sympathetic.
“Thank you.”
“Her stupid fucking opinion.” He chuckled and took a seat at his desk, brushing off the caking of dust. You snorted, making Adebayo look up from her box at you. You looked away sheepishly, walking away to survey the entire room.
Harcourt let out an exasperated sigh, “what about you, Canary? Why does Waller want you to suffer?” she asked, turning her attention towards you. You tightly closed your eyes and groaned into your hands. “I don’t know. Maybe she thought it was funny to watch everyone call me a bird.” You sat down on the piano bench that was, for whatever reason, left the run-down store. You put your elbows up on the piano key cover and sighed. “Canaries are fucking yellow anyways.”
☮
You decided to drive separately to Fennel Fields. If you had to hear them call you Blue Canary one more time you swore you were gonna blow your brains out. And then immediately regenerate, because that was apparently your only redeeming skill. “Fuck! Fuck my life!” You screamed into your steering wheel as you parked in front of the restaurant. When you sat up, a very concerned family exiting their car next to yours were staring. “What are you fucking looking at?” You yelled. The parents flinched and quickly pulled their children away and towards the Italian restaurant.
You climbed out of the car limply, already sick of Project Butterfly. You slowly made your way toward the door. Opening it and approaching the hostess with a disgruntled smile. You scanned the dining area and gritted your teeth when you realized you were the first one there. “Table for six, please.”
She kindly showed you to a round table with eight chairs. “This is the only table we have.” She sounded sorry, but this would work fine. You were about to tell her it was okay, but your phone buzzed and you pulled it out to read a demanding text from Murn: ‘Get a booth. And order for us before we get there.’ It was followed by a list and then a small thank you.
“Fuck.. Sorry, could I get a booth?” She looked concerned, but nodded. “It’ll be a tight fit.” She commented and you sighed. You would have to be incredibly close to whoever sat next to you. “That’s fine.” You replied and followed her to a booth. She looked down at the table and shook her head. “Our busboy will come by with some extra silverware.” She assured you as you sat down on the left and slid to the wall.
You pulled out your phone and opened the notes app. You were going to write down some observations about your teammates from earlier today so you could predict their openings before you got into a fight so then you could cover their weak spots. As you typed, you glanced up as the busboy finally came by with the two extra silverware rolls. You paused, he was kinda cute. He turned to walk about from the table and you accidentally spoke up, nearly on instinct. “Nice ass.”
You slapped a hand to your forehead as he whipped his head around, pointing a finger to his chest. “Me?” He looked down the aisle before moving back towards the table. “Yeah, sorry.” You mumbled, trying to ignore your burning face. You couldn’t believe it, you were just as bad as a man. “No, it’s cool. Not many customers compliment my ass. On account of proper decorum.” He laughed.
You looked up, a little slack-jawed. You couldn’t tell if he was offended or into it. “Sorry, again. Maybe I could buy you dinner or something.” You offered, realizing too late it sounded worse than what you meant. He blinked at you. “Like… A date?” He laughed again. It was short and sounded like it could be out of disbelief. You bit your lip and nodded, trying to save yourself from stumbling over your words. “Yep. That’s what I meant. Like a date.”
“Okay. Sure.” He pulled a pen from his uniform apron and wrote his phone number on the paper napkin. He began to walk away before you realized you didn’t get his name. “Wait- Uh, what’s your name?”
He stopped and backtracked once again, “Adrian, what about you?”
“I guess you could call me Bl-” You stopped, realizing there was no way he would ever learn about the existence of Blue Canary since he was just a regular dude. “Y/n. That’s my name.” He gave you a small thumbs up before rushing away to a table where a server was calling him over.
After a while, Economos, Harcourt, Murn, and Adebayo finally showed up. Economos sat between you and Harcourt while Adebayo slid into the other row of seating next to Murn who sat directly across from you. “Where’s Peacemaker?” You asked, expecting him to be with everyone else.
“Driving separately, like you. We figured he’d be here before us.” Adebayo said, looking around the restaurant while she talked. “He better show soon.” Economos grumbled, “earlier, I forgot to close my balcony door, and when I came home, my living room was full of pigeons.” Adebayo laughed with him and you shook your head in amusement.
The waitress approached your table with your meals, receiving thanks from the entire table. You were kinda surprised everyone else arrived before their meals got here. Guess Murn is good at time management.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Harcourt sounded incredulous, staring out the window parallel to your seats. “No. There were like ten of ‘em and they shit all over my couch.” Economos replied but Harcourt grabbed his shoulder and sat up. “No. This guy.” He looked out the window to follow her gaze and chuckled. “Did the dipshit really show up in full cosplay mode?”
You looked out the window along with the two of them and snorted. You could see an eagle jumping around in his backseat as he walked away, the streetlights reflecting off his shiny metal helmet. His bright red outfit contrasted the dark starkly. “This is the guy Waller’s giving us?” Harcourt directed her attention towards Murn who sighed. “I told you she’s fucking us.” She said a little quieter, mostly directing it towards Economos, who laughed even harder. “Is that an eagle in his backseat?” He asked, sounding as awed as Harcourt. As if on que, a muffled screech could be heard, even inside the restaurant.
You strained your neck to look over the dividing wall to see Peacemaker by the host stand, taking from her a menu then heading over to the table. “Scooch.” He motioned with both hands for Adebayo to move in more, which she did. Peacemaker took a seat next to her, being met with various stares.
“Why are you in your uniform right now?” You asked him, glancing around the restaurant, “aren’t you supposed to be on the down low?” He scoffed, like you asked an absolutely ridiculous question. “It’s brand new, so I gotta stretch it out, make it more comfortable before I go on a mission.”
“Maybe I’m stupid, but why would you even wanna wear that on a mission? A bright red shirt and white pants aren’t exactly conducive to lurking in the shadows.” Economos pointed out a major flaw in his uniform, which made you speak up instead. “How is he gonna sneak around if he’s like seven feet tall and ‘roided up?”
Economos laughed while Peacemaker huffed. “For your information, I don’t do steroids. And for your information, dye-beard, people see this uniform and it strikes fear in their hearts.” Economos stopped laughing before retorting with another insult; “What people? The other people at the Village People tryouts?”
You both laughed while Harcourt glanced back outside towards his car, “why is there a bald eagle in your car?” She asked. “That’s Eagly.” He glanced around the table at your plates and frowned, “you guys ordered without me?”
His question went unanswered as Harcourt teased him, “is your dog named Doggy?” Economos laughed while Peacemaker shook his head in annoyance. “Do you have a daughter named Daughtery?” Economos jeered. “Jealous of a man’s pet eagle much?” Peacemaker grumbled, which surprisingly made Harcourt chuckle. Though, you figured she was more so laughing at Peacemaker’s annoyance.
“Hey, Sweet-cheeks! Can you take my order real quick?” Peacemaker called to the nearby waitress. You looked over in horror, how many times was your group going to harass the Fennel Fields employees about their butts? The rest of your table also went silent, giving Peacemaker various looks of judgement.
After ordering, he turned to the rest of the group. He inhaled deeply, “good choice.” He repeated what the waitress had said before walking away. When no one said anything he began clarifying, “Zoodles are zucchini noodles-”
“‘Sweet-cheeks?’ Seriously dude?” Adebayo questioned him, an unimpressed look on her face. He looked confused, looking at Adebayo then your, still horrified, face. “What? She had cherubic cheeks. It’s a compliment.” He defended himself.
“Dude. You were talking about her ass!” You looked to see which way she went, hopefully she wasn’t talking to a manager to get your perverted party thrown out. He looked shocked, looking between you and Adebayo. “It’s like calling somebody, I don’t know, ‘sugar-tits.’” She explained.
He gawked, “That’s totally inappropriate. Besides, her tits are way too big to be sugar-tits.” You sighed and leaned your head back, hitting the cushioned seat back. “Sugar-tits are, like, smaller, perkier tits, like…” He trailed off before pointing to Harcourt, “like yours. Technically, I think you may also have sugar tits, too, but that also feels inappropriate.” He moved his hand slightly to point to Economos, who in return pulled his jacket over his chest.
Murn sighed and finally put a stop to your tables bickering. “Peacemaker, that’s enough. You don’t have to be happy with this detail, but you do have to treat your fellow soldiers with respect.” Peacemaker grumbled, “Yeah? Heard plenty of stories of how you treat people with respect, Murn. Plenty.”
That’s kinda ominous, you figured, looking to Murn. He was stonefaced, per usual, and had barely touched his side salad, which was the only thing he ordered. What a weirdo. You were surprised when Economos began talking immediately. “Uh, why is that busboy staring at us?”
You were glad that you were leaning back against the booth, blocked from view. “Shit..” You closed your eyes and awkwardly began explaining. “Well, it might be because I accidentally sexually harassed him.”
“What the hell?” Adebayo looked at you in confusion, “what did you do?”
“I… Well.. He came by with the silverware before you guys got here and when he turned around I went, really loudly, ‘nice ass!’” you repeated your words in a mocking tone. “If you told that guy he had a nice ass, why were you so mad I said sweet-cheeks? Not that I had that intention to mention her butt. Quite the hypocrite, Blue Canary.” Peacemaker tutted you and you stared at him, slack-jawed, not really sure how to respond.
He looked over at the busboy, squinting, then turned back. “Actually, I think he’s staring at me. I think that’s my friend Gut Chase’s younger brother.” He leans in closer to the table before whispering, “he has mental issues.”
“His brother’s name is Gut?” You ask, extremely weirded out. “That’s, like, really different from Adrian.” You peek out from next to Economos and Harcourt, only to see the guy is gone. “You got his name?” Harcourt asked, looking up from her meal at you. “Yeah, I also accidentally asked him on a date.” Several people opened their mouths to question your actions but you stopped them. “Don’t ask. I don’t know either.”
“When do you plan on going on a date?” Adebayo asked, she sounded a bit worried. “That’s… A good question.” You pulled out your phone and looked at the number on the napkin. You drafted a short text restating your name and, ultimately deciding you should just take him somewhere when he gets off work, asking when his shift ended.
Across the table, Peacemaker was handed the dossier with everything about his target in there. He opened it, earning a scolding from Murn. He cleared his throat and you looked up from your phone, Murn staring directly at you. “Oh god..”
“Speaking of Peacemaker’s uniform,” You gulped, mumbling a retort, “We were talking about his suit, like, 30 minutes ago.” Murn continued without acknowledging you, “I have something for you, Canary.” He pulled a drawstring bag out from under the table and passed it to you. You opened it, terrified by what he meant. “It’s your uniform. The Blue Canary is officially a costumed super hero.”