I need more Hal/Bruce please.

Please. Oh my god, I love them too much. It's the most ridiculous thing, but for gods sake, how can I not ship it when Bruce literally pins Hal twice within the first five minutes of meeting him and then SMILES. Oh lord my lil heart. And then he also reveals to Hal who he is and just... fok.

I have a problem.

I also have another problem in that I'VE LITERALLY READ ALL OF THE SHISAKU TAG AND BATLANTERN TAGS ON AO3. Please, I will pay you in pocket fluff, I need more. Oh my god.

Shisui is a giant sleezebag in this chapter, because I was being a giant sleeze. Also cause I'm putting Control on hold until I can figure out if I want to be putting out that content or not, I made it more... steamy.

not spice.

STEAM.

Enjoy nerds.

Chapter 4: The Heat Builds

Shisui opened the window to Sakura's office. She wasn't inside, but he knew that she would be returning soon enough to finish out her day.

He slunk over to her lab desk, the one with the microscope and testing machine that he only vaguely understood. Her desk was a mess, bits of paper and abandoned glass dishes that shone in the light from her computer.

It was not quite what he expected. Sakura seemed so put together that mess didn't really fit with the impression she gave off.

Shisui was beginning to think that her mask went a lot deeper than he realised.

A file caught his eye, half hidden under a pile of papers and medical journals. It was unmarked, save for a small rendition of a very familiar mask in the corner.

He smiled, and pulled it out easily, leaving the books and other paper undisturbed. He made a note of where it had been, so he could slot it back.

Flipping it open, Shisui raised an eyebrow at the seemingly gibberish writing on the pages. He didn't activate his Sharingan, because he wasn't an idiot and he was well versed on the rules around privacy and classification.

He was fairly certain these were the results of the water sample he had bought in.

"It's sight encrypted." Sakura said from behind him, sardonic and dry.

Shisui turned away from her desk. "Jonin Haruno." He greeted, unable to keep from smiling.

Sakura closed the door with her hip, hands full of a box and several clipboards. Her own smile was bright and easy as she juggled her things into one hand. "Captain." She said sweetly, holding the other out for the file in his hand.

He handed it to her. "The results of your tests?" He asked.

She understood immediately, from the way her eyebrow rose ever so slightly. "On the sample you so rudely dropped off here last week?" She said, aiming for lightness. "Yes. It is."

Shisui waited.

Her office was quiet.

He didn't mind. He had a feeling he was much better at using silence to his advantage.

Sakura huffed at him and didn't quite stomp around him. "There's a compound I've never seen before in the sample." She said, dumping her things on her desk unceremoniously, file included.

Shisui watched as she shuffled around on her desk for a moment.

She turned, tucking her hands behind her back with a sweet little smile. "So that leaves one of two options." She said.

Shisui really, really liked Sakura Haruno. He already knew she was smart, but he hadn't realised just how quick she would be.

"One, this sample isn't from Konoha, in which case, I want nothing to do with this mission." She looked up at him through her lashes, eyes far more coy than her smile. "Or two, you put something in this water that I wouldn't test for, as an excuse to talk to me."

Shisui clicked his tongue, grinning behind his mask. She was clever. "Unfortunately," He said, stepping closer to her. She smelled of nothing in particular, and he supposed it made sense given her jobs. Strong scents weren't exactly nice to the sickly. "You're wrong on both counts."

She pouted.

And again, he wondered if she even knew she was doing it. "I don't need an excuse to come see you." He reminded her. "I volunteered, remember?"

Her eyes slid away. "So what then?"

"Sample is from Konoha." He said. "As you said, there's an unknown compound in there. We need to know where it's from, and given that you travelled extensively with Princess Tsunade…"

She smiled.

Begrudgingly. Another trend it seemed.

Sakura sighed, traipsing forward. "You could've just told me that." She almost whined.

"Where's the fun in that?"

That made her smile even wider and she turned away to hide it. "If you want me to narrow down the exact compounds and where they're from, it'll take a little longer." She told him, struggling to return her face to a practiced nonchalance. "If you could just tell me what I'm supposed to be looking for…"

She was no ANBU. But she tried.

Her composure broke after a few minutes of silence and him simply staring at her. "You're cheating." She growled, pointing at his mask. "I know you're grinning at me behind there."

She was right, of course, but she didn't need to know that. "I'm cheating?" He repeated. "What about you, huh?"

One eyebrow rose. "You're not still sore over last week, are you?" She goaded, smile turning a bit more smug, a little bit too nasty for the sweet, delicate Sakura Haruno. It was a very good look on her.

"You cheated." He said. Shisui may not be Sasuke or Fugaku when it came to pride, but he did like to think of himself as above fighting dirty. And that was exactly what she had done, fought dirty.

It rankled, especially because he hadn't been expecting it from her. Kakashi, Genma, hell Itachi if he was in a bad mood.

He had to give her credit though. It was clever, playing on his concern like that.

But still.

"You didn't specify any other rules." She said, almost sing song. "Why, you want a rematch?"

"I already told you what I want." He said, interested to see what she would do when he reminded her of the charged way their last meeting had gone. He hadn't been expecting to be pushed so far, and so quickly in their fight, but she made it hard not to.

She was a goddamn spitfire.

There was no demure demeanour, no sweet smile and hands tucked behind her back. Just fire and steel and raw strength and by god, watching her slip in and out of his blows like she was reading his mind was almost as sexy as those fists of hers.

And then she had playacted at being unconscious and he had fallen for it, like a green genin.

It was his own fault. After the sultry way she had curved her tongue around his rank outside the Hokage's office, he should know better.

He didn't know a thing about this woman.

But Shisui did remember the shudder that had gone through her when he'd told her, in no uncertain terms, what he wanted to do to her.

She had liked it.

Still. Saying things like that in the heat of battle was an entirely different ballgame.

"You did." She said, silky smooth and very careful. She fidgeted. "I think we need to clarify a few things."

Shisui eyed her. He was expecting this sooner, to be perfectly honest. Even if she was hiding behind a mask, it had to come from somewhere and he was surprised she hadn't brushed him off earlier. "I agree."

She took a deep breath. "What do you want from this? Really?" She asked him, eyes hard and glittering gold in the light of her office.

"I'm not here to play boyfriend." He said simply. "I'm not interested in courting you or bringing you flowers."

Strangely, she smiled. "You would've just approached me off the clock for that."

He gave her that one with a nod, smiling. Very clever indeed. "I told you what I wanted. If you want a one night thing, then I'm happy with that, but what I had in mind doesn't really fit into one night."

She grinned and then coughed. "Disgusting." She murmured.

"You asked."

That made her laugh and she covered it with a cough and a covered hand. The look she gave him bordered on a glare, with a hint of something playful. "So what, fuck buddies?"

The language surprised him a little bit. It was surprisingly filthy, coming from someone with pink hair and big doe eyes. Though he had always had a thing for stark juxtapositions, and Sakura was a walking contradiction. "Something like that."

Sakura made a face, obviously thinking. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and then pointed at his mask. "You've got an insurance policy."

Shisui wasn't an idiot. Acted like one, but he wasn't one. He knew about the double standards for women, how those double standards were even more harsh and damaging for kunoichi. Especially a kunoichi like Sakura, from a no name family.

One rumour would be enough. One rumour had forced many a kunoichi onto border patrol, or long term missions far away from the scathing remarks that floated around the market.

And Sakura had such a long way to fall.

He didn't blame her for being cautious.

"I'm not interested in sharing my personal business." He said. It was the truth. What he did and with who was his business and his business alone. "If you're serious about this, about… whatever it is we've started, then you need to tell me. I'm not going to go further than this without your say so."

She was giving him a very strange, wide eyed look.

"If you want it to remain as nothing more than banter, then you can tell me that too. But I need to know."

The big eyes blinked and then she looked away, chewing on her lip. It was a nervous movement. Picking at the nails, pulling the skin off lips, all signs of anxiety or nervousness. "What if I did want to go further? What then?" She asked, looking at him carefully from the corner of her eye.

"That's up to you." He said. "I'm not… blind to the implications."

A secretive smile at that, something that made him want to pry deeper.

He didn't.

"I have a lot more to lose than you do." She reminded him.

He knew that too. "Would it make you more comfortable if you knew who I was?" He asked curiously. Because while it wouldn't completely even the playing field, it would put his job at risk as well.

She gave him that wide eyed look again. "You're not supposed to tell anyone who you are." She said, back straightening. There was an odd undertone to her words, filled with something that Shisui didn't know her well enough to place.

"No." He conceded. "But I'm not interested in blue balling myself either."

She giggled, hand jumping to cover her mouth like a good little Jonin. She clamped down on her laughter, pushing it back into a smooth expression.

"So. You need to tell me, what do you want out of this? I told you already, I'm not playing boyfriend, and what I want from you-"

"Sex."

"Well if you want to be vulgar." He said with a grin, tone dipping into something that wasn't expressly allowed. He was supposed to be professional and even at all times. Though Sakura wasn't exactly testing him, she was interesting enough to get him to drop it.

"No." She interrupted. Her eyes flicked away, and she swallowed audibly, slim throat bobbing. She looked up at him with big eyes under dark, thick lashes, pink tongue swiping out across her bottom lip. "That's what I want."

Four for four.

He really couldn't figure her out and it was more arousing than it should be.

"Just… sex?" He asked.

She took a breath.

Again, she got stuck behind that mask of hers.

She tried again, shrugging as she moved closer to him, feet soundless with years of training. She looked up at him when they were almost chest to chest. She didn't touch him, but she didn't really need to. "I want… I want you to do the things you said in the training grounds."

He kind of wanted to push her to say them, repeat them back to him word for filthy word. But she wasn't quite there yet. "What? You want me to push you down and fuck you over that desk?" He asked, nodding at hers behind her.

She nodded.

"And after that?"

Her smile returned, shy and small. "You tell me, Captain." She said lowly.

It shot straight to his groin, arousal and want making his pants tight and his stomach hollow with anticipation. "You're a little brat, aren't you, Jonin Haruno?" He snapped, but he couldn't be irritated by how quick he was to react.

She grinned and then hid it behind her mask again.

He regarded her for a moment longer. He had broken the cardinal rule of the ANBU Black ops before, for a child in a warzone, for a man they'd come across in one of Orochimaru's cells-

"Wait!" Sakura said suddenly, catching his wrist.

Shisui looked at her curiously.

She swallowed, eyes flicking up to meet his. "Leave…" She breathed. "Leave it on."

She couldn't…

Did she?

The thought was tantalising. He'd always liked the intimacy of sex, getting to know someone on a base, primal level. But still, the idea of her not knowing who he was, especially if it went further…

Well he seemed to have learnt something about himself.

And her.

And wasn't that interesting?

He really didn't know anything about her it seemed. Who would've thought that sweet, demure little Sakura Haruno would want something so… kinky.

Shisui eyed her for a moment and he was interested to see if she was serious. Gently, he pushed against her hand experimentally.

Sakura held him easily, despite the fact that he was heavier and taller and bulkier than she was. She stepped a little closer, eyes wide, but not naïve. She knew what he- they were doing.

"You said it was classified." She reminded him. "And I told you, I'd figure it out for myself."

He smiled. "Is that the only reason?" He murmured, goading her. He increased the pressure on his hand. He knew he couldn't beat in her in terms of raw strength.

Sakura resisted, arm not even moving. "Yes."

He had always figured her strength was the result of chakra manipulation. It hadn't even crossed his mind that she might just be strong. Not until she had thrown his sword so hard that even now, he couldn't get it out of the tree. "Liar." He murmured, but he didn't press, less interested in the thought of fucking Sakura with his mask on and more interested in the power in her limbs.

She pushed back and Shisui grunted in surprise at the how sudden and easily she just overpowered him.

He strained, but she held him with ease. His arm shook, but it was like trying to shove against a mountain. Sakura didn't even move, and even though he could see her muscles working, it wasn't taut or strained, not like his.

God it shouldn't be that hot.

It really shouldn't.

Sakura stepped closer to him as she pushed his hand, down, down, down. Her eyes were dark with attraction. "Do you like my strength?" She asked breathlessly, a note of surprise in her voice.

Shisui looked at her. She was biting her lip again, the natural pink turned red. "I do." He said honestly. He had always liked it, ever since he had seen the now Fifth Mizukage in action. There was just something about a woman who could shatter rocks and bend steel and wills to her whims.

And Sakura, with her incomparable ability to destroy entire landscapes, was very, very attractive to him right now.

She wasn't small, not slight like civilian women, but she was slender for a kunoichi. Looking at her you might think distance, speed.

Not strength.

Not like this.

Down. Down, down, she forced his hand. "Why?"

The question didn't sound desperate, but he became aware that it probably was. "You can kick a man through a mountain, kill him with a finger. You destroyed an entire training ground, threw my sword so hard it won't ever leave that tree trunk." He said slowly. He wanted to push her more, pull out on that tiny little spark of submission and snark he had seen when they sparred. "It's pure power. Not chakra, not fire, not water, just power. You really don't see how that's the sexiest goddamn thing on the planet?"

Sakura swallowed.

His arm almost ached with how hard he had been resisting her. "You have all that power at your fingertips, and yet… you want me to fuck you with my mask on. A stranger, someone you don't know*." He said, voice growing ragged at the thought. He was so hard he wasn't thinking very clearly.

She pressed his hand down to the desk, and held it there was an ease that made him harden in his pants. "I never-" She blinked a few times, chewing on her lip. "I didn't say that."

He cocked his head. He was achingly hard now, and she probably noticed. He didn't really care. He was of half a mind to go through with his promise and fuck her over her desk, show her exactly what he was capable of, and remind her why he was a Captain.

Her cheeks reddened.

"Well then, I won't." He assured her. "Not until you tell me yourself, what you want me to do to you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, and her nose wrinkled, twitching with displeasure. It made her look less like the lethal weapon she was and more like the sweet, perfect young woman she liked to pretend to be.

"Not going to share?" He pressed. She wouldn't, he didn't think. Sakura might have the fire and steel of a hardened kunoichi, but that mask wasn't just for show. He didn't want to just strip it away and see all that expression, he wanted Sakura to break it first. "A shame."

Hook.

Her jaw worked. "You…" She spluttered, face turning red. "I… I can…"

He laughed at her, because she was more than a little bit cute. Spluttering and bright red. "Let's make it interesting then, shall we?" He proposed, leaning closer to her.

Line.

She shivered and Shisui wondered when the last time she had had sex, because she was incredibly sensitive.

He had barely touched her in their spar, only losing his composure after her little trick. And tonight, he hadn't touched her at all. Of course, that was by design, because he wanted to see how far he could push her before she finally broke that mask and pushed back properly.

But now…

That desire was starting to morph into wanting her to beg for it.

She had all that fire, all that zeal, and she wanted him to fuck her with a mask on. She called him Captain, curling her tongue around it like she might do with his dick, goading him on and on. She wanted him to do things to her, but he wasn't going to do shit, not until she begged him for it and gave his title the respect it deserved.

Her pupils had dilated when she looked up at him.

"If you win, you can have your way with me. Take off the mask, whatever you like." He whispered, taking in the way her shoulders stiffened and the catch in her breath.

Her throat bobbed and he wondered what noise she would make if he were to drag his fingers along the nape of her neck. "And if you win?" She breathed.

"Then you tell me what you want me to do to you."

Sinker.

*that was line for you, you know who you are ;)

So I accidentally introduced my poor sheltered stepdad to the humour of gen y/z and now he's all mopey and he gave me the puppy dog eyes over the phone yesterday.

Basically, I was telling him about the Green Lanterns cause they my fav group of supers. And I was showing him pictures of each and telling him about the basics, and I showed him Hal and was like, he's my fave.

And he was like, but wait, what about the artist one, he seems nicer

And I was like no, you see, Kyle is entirely too put together as a human being, whereas Hal is a walking train wreck and I can relate to that on a spiritual level

And that was how my stepdad was introduced to generational depression memes

My mum yelled at me cause it made him sad