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Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing but the original characters and the situations the characters find themselves in. Thanks so much for continuing to read and for giving me feedback on my work. It's muchly appreciated, and I do read every review you send me!Heard it Through The GrapevineIt wasn't the smartest thing Blake had ever spent thirty bucks on, but it definitely wasn't the stupidest thing either. He did, after all, regularly buy vegetables he knew he wasn't going to eat just to make Bane happy, so that was an even bigger waste than bribing Simon to sing a bunch of anti-love songs on the steps of the courthouse for him. Currently Blake was stuck where he was, pretending to wait for a text from the assistant prosecutor telling him to get his butt inside to testify. The McGowan case had been a shit show from start to finish and the odds they would get to him today were minus zero given that court should be adjourning in the next half an hour or so.That being the case Blake sat outside in the gloomy, overcast weather that perfectly suited his mood to feel sorry for himself while listening to a fellow St. Swithin's boy sing about the trouble with love.Originally Blake had asked for fifteen songs-two dollars per song-in a row, but Simon had protested that that was far too depressing and would lose him the crowd. As a compromise he was doing one not depressing song in between every sad song and it was proving very jarring, especially since before this song Simon had gotten a request for 'A Pocketful of Sunshine' from a sweet looking grannie he hadn't been able to say no to. Though seriously? This was Gotham City. If you had a pocket full of 'sunshine', odds were a lot higher it was an incendiary device about to go off.Wow. That was a little dark. Even for him. Ugh."So did the lad have his heart broken, or is all this pining crap for your benefit?""It's not pining music. It's love sucks and should be avoided at all costs music." Blake informed Constantine, doing his best not to make it obvious that he hadn't noticed the other man sneaking up to take a seat beside him.He wasn't successful going by the blond's smirk.Making a sound of total disbelief Constantine stretched out his legs on the steps and then cocked his head to the side in Simon's direction. "He's the one Reilly's always fretting about, ain't he? The little songbird who lives in his own little world.""Yeah."Both went quiet as Simon sang the last few lines from the Kelly Clarkson song-actually Blake was pretty sure that someone had sung it first, which wasn't important-the two of them simply enjoying the boy's talent.And then both had to laugh when Simon's follow-up song to that was Beyonce's 'Single Ladies'.Constantine was the one to break the silence with a question. "Why is he standing on his tip toes?""Because he can do that whole fucking song and dance in heels. He's been known to trip over thin air on a good day, but somehow, he can do that whole dance in five-inch heels. It's fucking black magic, is what it is.""Even with black magic I couldn't do that dance in heels."Appreciating the joke and the way it brought a genuine smile on his lips, Blake belatedly asked Constantine what he was doing here, anyway."Your mate Barsad, actually.""We're not mates. Wait-he's here? Where?" Looking around Blake wasn't surprised to wind up frustrated. Barsad was like a fucking ninja who moonlighted as a shadow. You never saw him unless he wanted to be seen. Often right before he scared the shit out of you for shits and giggles. Not that Barsad had ever giggled in Blake's hearing.Come to think of it, Blake couldn't recall the jerk ever laughing unless it was at someone else's expense. Usually, his."He's hanging out over by that alleyway there. By that cart that's selling hot dogs."Yeah. Still couldn't see him."I caught sight of him when I was leaving...well, best not to say since you are a cop and all. Anyway, I thought perhaps your bloke had sent him to fetch me with nefarious purposes-""Is he threatening you?" Bane could be a possessive assehole sometimes. Plus, he seemed to think that Constantine was more likely to get Blake killed than Bane was. Blake's money was one hundred percent on Bane in that case."Do death glares count?""In Gotham? Not really."Waving his hand in a way that was meant to indicate how little Bane worried him Constantine continued with his story. "Any hoo, so I ducked out of sight, figured out pretty quickly that he wasn't looking for me at all, and would have gone about my business and left him to his-then he smiled.""He smiled? You mean in a good, not assehole way?" Barsad could do that?"All but whistling, he was. I didn't have anywhere I had to be, so I decided to see where he was off to. Well, to be honest, I thought perhaps he was off to meet a special someone and was curious as to who that someone was. He was very tight lipped when we had our little chat at your place, but I got the sense that someone had caught his eye."Barsad had a girlfriend? But wait...Constantine had followed Barsad here. Was Barsad's girlfriend somewhere in his vicinity?Making another thorough scan of the area did not turn up anyone that struck Blake as remotely Barsad's type. Not that he knew what the man's type was, exactly. He'd tuned out the boobs discussion the other two had had at his place for obvious reasons. But after a thorough study of all the women not just passing through-well one looked to be in her fifties, three of them looked like they were probably near the courthouse for legal reasons-aka to face charges-and finally a defense lawyer Blake happened to know was unhappily married with three teenagers at home.Blake didn't think Barsad would go for a married woman. Especially one who looked like a woman basically raising three hormonal, bratty teenagers by herself because her husband was useless. And okay, it was maybe weird to say that a terrorist who'd probably lost track of the number of lives he'd ended a couple decades ago wouldn't go for adultery, but Blake was pretty sure he wasn't wrong. So who was he missing?The rich, amused chuckle from Constantine said he was, indeed, missing some important clue.)He wasn't a nark-at least not unless it benefited him/prolonged his life-so Constantine wasn't sure if he should clue the younger man in or not. None of his business, really, and Constantine was fairly sure Blake wouldn't be rational about the whole thing. The lad in question could only benefit from having a secret admirer slash deadly bodyguard. Especially if the kid was even half as bad as Reilly had made him out to be. Still...those closest to criminals tended to meet bad ends. Lord only knows he'd seen it time and time again.Plenty had died for knowing him, that's for fucking sure."Don't think it was a bird that brought him here, Mate.""A bird?"It took a moment for Constantine to realize Blake didn't understand his use of British slang. Also, he had called the boy a songbird, so..."Bird as in woman, Blake.""You think he's here for me? Because he's never..."Constantine watched as those dark cop eyes narrowed and the other man's head turned to consider exactly where Constantine had told him Barsad was hiding. More specifically exactly where that spot was in relation to the very gorgeous young man who had finished his song about single ladies and had now switched back to another lament about the perils of loving someone.Damn, the boy could even do Marvin Gaye justice. He'd have to remember to toss a couple bills to the boy on his way out.There was also an irony Constantine could appreciate in the boy singing 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' when Blake had just heard that there was a distinct possibility that his man's top underling might have taken a 'special' interest in his honorary little brother."I'll kill him." Blake hissed out."Well way to make me an accessory before the fact. Cheers for that."Like he didn't have enough charges pending against him in various countries. Not that he was about to bring that up, of course. Mum's the word."I'm going to...oh HELL no."Constantine reached out a restraining hand to keep Blake sitting instead of leaping into action. Action that would lead to the cop bleeding on the ground, if Constantine was any judge as to how deadly Barsad actually was."To be fair, I could be wrong. Or your Bane could have ordered him to babysit the lad so that you'd owe him later." He didn't think he was right-but he'd been wrong before.Blake only took a moment to think about this before shaking his head. "Bane wouldn't ask Barsad to do this. Barsad barely tolerates being asked to babysit me. He swore he'd never do it again after the last time. Plus, Bane isn't smart enough to come up with this. He's one of the crappiest gift givers in the world! He's given me dead bodies!""Seriously?""The last time it was some gangbangers who jumped me while I was working. He found out and the next day they were found with bows on their busted up faces outside my precinct.""Was it for your birthday, Christmas, or just because?"The 'what is wrong with you' look Blake aimed in Constantine's direction said he couldn't see why that would matter."Well if it wasn't for a special occasion than that makes it extra thoughtful of him. I mean if it was for a set holiday where he was required to get you something than just killing the lot of them is on the cheap side. He should have at least given you chocolates as well.""The one time he gave me chocolate it was dark chocolate. Bastard says milk chocolate is too bad for me. Too FATTENING."Given that Blake was on the slender side as it was Constantine could only shake his head over that. Not to mention that who picked dark chocolate when milk was available? That was almost as mental as picking white.Constantine shook his head sorrowfully again for added emphasis. "And yet he's arguably the smartest member of the Suicide Squad."A snort from the cop. "Yeah. Like that's saying much."Well, he couldn't argue with that. "Still, no need to jump to conclusions, right? Maybe ask the man what's what before you go in there accusing or engaging in some fisticuffs."The way Blake's lips curved was way too evil to be called a smile. "Oh, no. I'll do so much worse if he's fucking around with Simon.""Right. I think you've been spending a little too much time around Bane, Luv.""He has rubbed off on me plenty."And with that Blake got to his feet and started taking the steps a little quicker than was exactly wise as he headed in the direction of the mercenary he was determined to pick a fight with.Watching him go-and thinking of the stupidity of youth-Constantine sighed, shrugged, and then got to his feet as well."Ah, well. Might as well tag along and see what's what.")He wasn't stupid, thank you very much. Blake knew better than to think that he could win against Barsad in a fair fight. He'd grown up on the streets of Gotham; he sure as hell hadn't learned to fight fair on them. And yeah, he knew how to rein himself in while in cop mode-which technically he was at the moment since he was still on the clock-but that wasn't the point. The point was he was going to ascertain why Barsad was here in the first place. And in the unlikely event it was because he had a sexual interest in Simon...well then Blake would know and would begin plotting how best to kill him and hide his body.He was overreacting, Blake tried to tell himself. If Barsad found him too annoying to be around for longer than two minutes than surely Simon would piss the other man off even more.Nevermind that Simon was ten times more good-looking than he was. And sang better than the majority of singers currently raking in millions. And was also, surprisingly, supposed to be a beast in the sack according to the man's previous exes.Fuck. He was going to have to kill Barsad.And possibly die trying. He was pretty sure Barsad would be okay with killing him and disappearing his body to somewhere Bane would never find it. Talia would help.Shit.Watching Barsad detach himself from his beloved shadows to walk towards him was not a good sign. He wasn't staying hidden, which meant he thought he had a good reason to show himself. Constantine's presence, possibly, but Blake wasn't counting on that. Not when he could also feel Simon's eyes on him, indicating that the boy was paying attention to what was going on instead of giving all his focus to the song he was singing. Simon didn't do that."Steady, Lad. No reason to lose before you've even begun."Huh, Blake thought as he turned around to consider the man coming up behind him. It would be two against one, wouldn't it. If Constantine helped. Those were actually really good odds considering just how dangerous Constantine was supposed to be.The raised eyebrow he got in turn wasn't reassuring, unfortunately."Not going to curse him for me, are you?""We are in front of the courthouse, Luv."Right. Shit."I suppose you're the reason for today's playlist?" Barsad asked, showing that he must truly have a death wish to poke at Blake that way when he was obviously already feeling murderous. "Both you and Bane are ridiculous when it comes to the other."It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if Bane had been doing stupid things because of his feelings for Blake-whatever those feelings might be-but Blake was pretty sure that Barsad thought Bane lost braincells every time he hung around Blake as it was. He also wasn't mentally or emotionally up to thinking about the consequences if, possibly, Bane were to-nevermind. He needed to focus on why they were talking in the first place."Why are you here? Are you babysitting me or is it Simon?"Barsad could lie, but he didn't. "I enjoy listening to Simon sing. One of the few things I do that isn't a crime, Detective. So, you can go back to your pining on the steps. No need to arrest me."Neither man was impressed by Constantine's appreciative snickering.Opting to ignore the Brit Blake asked Barsad if his only interest in Simon was listening to him sing. Seeing as he was old enough to be the KID'S dad and all."Not quite. Just like Bane is not quite old enough to be yours.""Touche." Constantine noted in appreciation."John."All three turned to see Simon walking towards them, a perturbed expression on his beautiful face. "Leave Barsad alone."Simon knew Barsad's name. Actually cared enough to remember it. Right. Death it was then."You're dating a member of the Suicide Squad; you can't tell me who I can date because he's dangerous. That would be extremely hypocritical of you."Blake was okay with being hypocritical...but was also being presented with an incentive to dump Bane that might actually work before he ruined his life by acknowledging feelings he did not-refused to-acknowledge."If I break up with Bane will you break up with Barsad?"Apparently Simon didn't love him as much as Blake loved him because the boy immediately shook his head in the negative, unwilling to save Blake from himself and his stupid feelings.Blake got the shock of his life when he saw actual relief on Barsad's face for a moment before his usual indifferent mask was back in place."You've tried to make yourself break up with Bane a kazillion times. You just need to accept you're screwed when it comes to him. And not in a good way."Simon apparently had no problem adding insult to injury by pulling Barsad back against his chest to literally cuddle the mercenary back against him, nuzzling his face against Barsad's cheek while legit murmuring about how he loved the man's beard.The fact that Barsad's ears pinked up a little in reaction only made Blake feel the teeniest bit better."Does Father Reilly know about this?""I am almost twenty-two, you know. I don't need permission."The way Barsad was now smirking at Blake, there was really only one thing left for Blake to do.Bribe Bane with sexual favors to keep Barsad too busy to screw around with Simon.Crap. The things he did for this kid.The look Constantine gave him said that he'd followed Blake's unspoken thought process easily. And didn't believe Blake would be making that offer entirely for Simon's sake.Which...fuck. Fuck his life times a zillion.