ᴇxᴄᴇᴘᴛɪᴏɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴜʟᴇ .•* Adrian Chase

2 ↬ ᴠɪɢɪʟᴀɴᴛɪꜱᴍ

Carry Out - Justin Timberlake

~<>~

Ten years later and you were back home after an extensive training in law enforcement. Much like many of the small town 'heroes' you'd heard of, you developed a sharp sense of justice, although in a much more traditional sense.

If you were to be out on a spectrum, you were somewhere between Batman and Peacemaker.  That being, you only killed those you believed had no saving. People who directly harmed another person - like murderers, or rapists, or kidnappers.

Thieves were fine. Drunk drivers who didn't hit anyone were fine. Vandals were fine. You supposed your morals were a little grayer than others, but regardless, everyone met justice.

You just sent them to prison, rather than taking them out. The prison system in Evergreen was actually very secure, you just felt it needed to be... a little sped up. Optimized.  It needed to see more small-time people behind bars, rather than prioritizing only the worst threats (whom they often struggled to catch).

Often, it was only the big dogs who would go out of their way to escape prison, and cause more terror.  Which was your exact reasoning for taking those types out.  The world didn't need to give them another chance to do the same awful shit over again.

Your common garb was a black and white suit, complete with a white mask over your eyes.  It didn't make you completely unrecognizable, but you'd have to really look to know who you were.  Most people knew you as 'Karma'.  Because that's what you were.  You brought upon karma.

By day, though, you were still (Y/N) (L/N).  You worked as an assistant at a law firm, and right now, you were really fucking hungry.

Which is how you found yourself at Fennel Fields, catching the eyes of a very excited busboy.

The atmosphere was friendly as you walked in, the smell of fried foods and dim orange lights being perfectly inviting.  It was just a nice enough diner to consider above a Coney Island, but it wasn't quite Olive Garden.

Budget Olive Garden, maybe.

You didn't notice him, (E/C) eyes drowning in each delicious option on the menu, but he sure noticed you. Adrian took a moment to mentally freak out, his high school crush back again.

You two had kept relatively in touch, although your communication began to fade out as you both got busier. Plus, you both had a little bit of a 'I don't want the other to get sick of me' complex going on, which meant that neither person wanted to reach out in fear of being 'too obvious with it.'

Which was very childish, coming from two 'heroes', but admittedly, saving the world was way less scary than being rejected. As for Adrian, he wasn't afraid of being annoying at all - he just sorta worried you kinda, maybe had a boyfriend.

You looked just as enticing as you had before, if not somehow more beautiful, and Adrian was having a difficult time containing himself. He considered asking his coworkers if he could take your order just this once, but no sooner did he feel his giddy feet moving toward you that he realized sometimes it was easier to just ask forgiveness than get permission.

"Are you ready to order?" Adrian asked, his voice coming out much less suave than he wanted.

Your eyes peeked over your menu, looking up to the somewhat familiar employee. "Actually, somebody just handed me this, so I'm going to need a couple more minutes."

"Oh, that's okay. Take your time." And then he sat down right across from you, folding his hands together on the table in front of him.

This action raised some eyebrows, leaving you mildly entertained and confused. Regardless, he definitely caught your attention and successfully distracted you from your menu.