Chapter Text
Like an annoying bug bite, Gideon Smurton would not go away. It was a surprise no one had put a hit on him yet, he certainly was deserving of one—not that Harper was advocating for murder or anything! They might be a lawyer, but they had enough morals to know it was inappropriate to wish your law school rival dead! They didn’t want him actually dead!
Okay, maybe a little. Could you blame them?
Because right now, Harper desperately wanted to smash his head in. “You stole my textbook?”
“I was borrowing it!” He put his hands up in a surrendering gesture, a mischievous glint in his eye.
“It’s called stealing if you didn’t ask,” Harper retorted. They had spent a whole precious hour looking for it! One hour they could’ve been using to catch up on their reading, or homework- or anything productive!
“Does it matter? I put it to better use anyway, I mean, wasn’t I the one who got the hundred on the assignment?” As per usual, Gideon Smurton did not pass up a single opportunity to gloat.
Harper growled, “I got a ninety-nine.”
“You poor thing!” His voice filled with faked sympathy, before laughing.
Harper stepped forward to- throttle him, or something, and Gideon turned and ran away. (It was more of a graceful jog than a run. Pretentious, rich, asshole!)
“I am going to strangle you in your sleep!” Harper yelled. It was a shame no one had put a hit on him yet,
The library was supposed to be a quiet, calm place where Harper was able to peacefully work. But like a supervillain, Gideon Smurton had to strike. His laugh echoed against the bookshelves.
“Work on studying for our test tomorrow, first, Hallo!”
They had a TEST tomorrow? Harper ran to check their email and yes, they had a small quiz—it wasn’t a significant portion of their grade at all. But without a doubt, Gideon Smurton would brag incessantly if he got a higher grade than them. And he STILL hadn’t given them their textbook! With a muttered swear, Harper sat down and got studying.
Later, they answered the incoming call, groaning. “Hazel, help meeeee. I’ve been reading so many words my eyes have crossed,” Harper packed up all their books, stationery, and notes. A full three hours was spent sitting in the same chair, and they were eager to pack their things and leave. Their twin’s laugh sounded from the phone balancing precariously between their ear and shoulder, “I am not jealous of you right now. Do you want me to get take-out for dinner?”
“Yes, please. Freaking Gideon Smurton ruining my day.”
“Jeez, Harper! Him again? This is like, your fifth rant this week—you don't need to keep talking to that dude!”
“Its not my fault he’s so annoying!” They huffed.
“Alright, you can talk my ear off on the way back—as long as you tell me how your newest case went.”
“Hazel!” Harper berated loudly, wincing after realizing how loud their voice sounded in the empty library.
“I had to try!” They knew full well that Harper was not allowed to disclose any information from the cases at the Smith, Schmied, Smets, and Smid law firm—the place Harper was interning at at their last year of law school.
Harper pushed open the library doors and was met by the cold chill of mid-October, “Are we getting Thai food for dinner?”
“Yep!”
After figuring out the details of dinner, Harper said their goodbyes and walked to the bus stop. They brushed away the gold hair dangling in front of their eyes, and zipped up their jacket while the bus screeched to a stop.
Harper was so very tired.
Between their full time law school classes, internship at the SSSS firm, and studying for the Bar exam—and dealing with annoying rivals—Harper’s plate was well full. Seeing Gideon’s face when they got number one in their classes would be perfect, and honestly- one of the only things keeping them going. They snickered aloud, he would be furious. The bus started and Harper spent the ride going over the assignments they needed to hand in, the reading to catch up on, and the exams they needed to study for. They leaned their head against the window and would’ve fallen asleep if not for the bus’s brakes alerting them that they had reached their destination.
They walked the small distance to Smithson, Schmied, Smart, and Smidt, their shift was until seven-thirty PM, starting at three-thirty PM—and crap, they were going to be late for that same shift if they didn’t hurry up! Harper rushed to the building and went upstairs to the general litigation floor to meet Bonnie and Cole—their mentor/boss—for their newest case.
Cole greeted them, “Conference room L3-904, kid. This one’s gonna be a long one, I can tell.”
Harper really wished she and Bonnie would stop calling them that—Harper was far from being a kid… but they just meant well!
“You okay, Harper? You aren’t as… chipper as usual,” A crease formed between Bonnie’s eyebrows.
Harper perked up, “Oh, don’t worry! I’m okay!”
“Bons is right, you’d usually be talking our ear off by now!” Cole had a thoughtful look on her face.
“Um- thanks?”
“And I’d usually be needing a new cup of coffee by now!” Cole added.
“Uh-”
“Everything’s alright, right, Harper?” Bonnie interjected.
Harper smiled nervously, “Ah ha, yeah! You know… just usual things! I’m fine- really.”
“If you insist,” Cole said, skepticism colouring her voice.
Harper ducked their head abashedly and walked to the conference room, as a junior associate, they weren’t allowed to handle cases on their own yet—but they were allowed to sit in on meetings, subpoenas, hearings and trials, do research, give input on the case, etcetera.
When they got there, their client was sitting in one of the chairs, her long, wavy black hair sitting on top of the conference room’s table, almost swamping the beige wood with the length. Cole and Bonnie filed in after Harper and the meeting started.
“Harper, you got everything down?”
“What?” Had the meeting ended already? Harper looked down at their notepad. The same notepad that should’ve been filled with important notes about the case. And was empty. “Um- no?” The sentence came out as a question. “I just need to re-listen to it and get more thorough notes,”
Bonnie nodded (thank God) and walked out, Harper trailed after her and awkwardly waved “bye” to their client.
Harper watched her and Cole walk away, and they slipped into an empty room close by.
“Lois, could you summarize the case for me, please? I… um, wasn’t listening,”
“Birdbrain,” Lois said, affectionately—or as close to it she could get—her voice coming from the speaker system in the empty conference room. Lois was an AI, built into the building that basically ran everything in the office, from printing papers, lockdowns (a common thing in Megalopolis—where supervillains and superheroes lived a plenty), sending files and messages, an occasional eavesdropper and voice of reason, and in this instance, summarizing meetings.
“Mrs. Shey is married to the famous superhero Captain Blue-” She began,
“Oh, I know him! He saved that animal shelter last week from Destructo-Man,”
Lois continued as if Harper hadn’t interrupted, “-Until she discovered him trying to kill her in an ambush when she got home from “work,””
“Oh.”
“Apparently, Captain Blue had reason to believe she was the famous supervillain, Black Death,”
“Is she?”
“She denied it, but the similarities are striking.”
Harper pulled out their phone and got out a picture of Black Death, “Wow, their hair is totally the same, you’re right!”
“I usually am.” She said sarcastically, “Notice any other similarities? Like the exact same face, or body, or posture, or-”
“I see, thanks Lois!” Harper said bashfully.
“Attempted murder is questionable, as this would fall under a supervillain versus superhero fight, and those are usually difficult to argue for either side.” She was right, Super law was intricate in that way. Could you sue your arch-nemesis for fighting with you in a battle? Sure. Would you win in court? Probably not. Supers fighting was basically their job.
“Thank you so much, I’ve just been a little out of it lately,” their laugh trailed off awkwardly, and they rubbed their eyes.
“You’re quite welcome, Mx. Hallo,” her tone softened.
“So- she wants him to go to jail for attempted murder, but it’s not cut and dry because she is a supervillain? And it’s just a battle?” They clarified.
“Precisely.”
A long case indeed.
Harper shuffled outside, and went towards the sound of Bonnie and Cole’s voice, which was near their office. “Come on, which superhero isn’t sleeping with their nemesis?” Cole guffawed.
“Yes. Look at Duperman and Ratman,” Lois said levelly.
“They‘re sleeping together?” Bonnie looked to Cole in bewilderment.
Lois muttered something incorrigible, something about, “lawyers,” “stupid,” and “oblivious.”
Harper wondered what that was about.
“Alright, Harper, I need you to try and get a small report together about Black Death and Captain Blue,” Bonnie said when she noticed they had appeared.
“You got it!”
Harper went home when their shift ended, eating takeout with Hazel around the coffee table in the living room, Harper sat cross-legged, and Hazel lying on the couch upside down—catching up on old shows, shovelling food into their mouths and laughing together.
Their apartment was small, but homely, with Hazel’s crocheted décor everywhere, Harper’s files and papers strewn about, an old bean bag sat in the corner of the living room, and well loved stuffed animals sitting on their small couch. The sound of Hazel’s laughter and Harper’s excited rants filled the space. The warm light of the television and the light coming in from the kitchen rested on Hazel’s face, their smile seemed even warmer somehow.
“It’s nice having dinner with you,” Harper said in place of their ruminating, uncharacteristically quiet.
“We have dinner every night- but I get what you mean. It is, isn’t it? Now, tell me more about what Gideon Smurton did in class today!”
Harper grumbled, “Don’t get me started! He said, in the middle of the lecture—”