Hackers and Nyte Blade
Warnings: sfw, all characters aged up, post-SR3 Matt, canon divergence, privacy invasion, illegal hacking
Characters: Matt Miller, gn reader
Author's Note: This is for the slice of life collab but boy. I struggled so much with this and I don't actually like it but dhdnkdd. Its here, it's eh, but writers block.
Word Count: 1.1k
Curiosity drove you. A morbid curiosity about the place you once called home. Now, of course, you had found your home in a small town just west of Stilwater and farther still was Steelport itself but your home and loyalties still lay with Steelport. Even if it had been engulfed by a gang war when you had moved away. You, of course, kept an eye on it. You noticed a few details, but something wasn't adding up and hadn't in the two years since. Sure, the Luchodores died. You understood why.The Morningstar, led by Viola DeWynter, merged with the Saints. Yet… Why had the Deckers simply vanished? More specifically, why was there no word on their leader? You tapped your foot in the break room, reading article after article. Interviews with Killbane, the DeWynter sisters and Loren had extensive business ventures all signed under their specific names, alongside the prostitute game that required a more personal touch, the Saint's boss was around too. All documented. Normally by one Jane Valderamma. Yet it frustrated you. There was not a single mention as to who the Deckers ever listened to. Nothing!
"Can you work the closing shift again?"
You perked up, hearing your boss speak. The kind old lady had picked you up out of the street, comforted you when gang life took over your life, and would lament you going back.
"Ah… I can, yes." Responded your coworker.
You looked over, he seemed less than fond of the bright green work shirt every time. You liked him. Matt Miller. A fine employee, a lackluster conservationist (unless you count the topic of Nyte Blade), and a generally reserved man. You always wondered why he seemed so… Odd. Yet, he wasn't your type. You had caught yourself drifting towards harsher types. People like Loren, Viola, and Killbane. Those with skewed morality and something to lord over. Fighting rings, hookers, even other gangs all joined together under one flag. Something. Matt, of course, was kind and while he was hot… Something was off.
If only you knew how wrong you were.
You wanted to look him up too, look into his past. Yet… wasn't that crossing lines you promised you wouldn't again after surviving a city takeover, two actually, back in the day. It was an invasion of privacy too! Yet you were stuck on your research and… He didn't have to know what you would find. First, you needed to find out where he was from. Matt Miller, after all, was quite close lipped regarding anything and everything about where he came from. There had to be something there! A reason. So, you began. In that little coffee shop, growing steadily more defensive as you went from harmlessly looking up just his name to pulling up his records. That was the first thing you thought of and it brought forth interesting results.
"... Expunged?" You softly muttered to yourself, "Lets get that unsealed."
You really did just want to know! You weren't going to do a thing with what inevitably boring thing Matt cared so much about as to seek out it getting expunged. Yet when you got access, the list of crimes made your eyes widen.
".... What the-"
And then it crashed. The site, a remarkably secure government site, had crashed. In fact, your entire computer's screen went black. You jumped up, startled with your blood running cold. After a few seconds, one symbol sat in the center of your screen. It had been one you grew quite familiar with in your research. The Decker logo, a blue skull with a pink star in an eye socket. You whipped around, Matt stood a little too close for comfort, black bangs in his face as he stared down at you.
"You really didn't seem like much before." He remarked, his accent thick.
You stepped back, "You…"
"That all got sealed, expunged, yet you found a way. Well, where there's a will." Matt tilted his head, "I really didn't think much of you. Perhaps I should've learned my lesson from before as to underestimating people. Especially those who also have expunged records."
"How'd you even get that expunged!" You huffed.
Matt shrugged, "Where there's a will." He repeated, narrowing his eyes, "Although… What to do now? You could tell either one of them. You could be working for either of them."
"Wh- you paranoid little-" you cleared your throat, "I'm not working for anyone, Miller." You raised a brow, "Yet clearly you have someone working for you. I mean it, how did you get all your crimes from being in a gang all expunged as if it were nothing!"
"I don't have to answer the likes of you." Matt scoffed.
You pushed him back, "I'm still your supervisor!" You hissed, "I've been here longer, I've-"
"You're a has been." Matt simply retorted.
"I'm a- excuse me!" You grabbed that bright green shirt, dragging him forward.
"You're excused." Matt smirked.
It was a game of cat and mouse, whoever stopped was the loser and to the victor go the spoils. You groaned, pushing him back with all your strength, the taller hacker fell on his ass with nothing but a perked brow, as if asking if that was all you could do. With him no longer pretending to be a meek, reserved and polite worker, he was just sassing you and frustrating you with every word that left his mouth.
"Listen here, you little-" You began.
"You should get your eyes checked. I'm bigger than you are."
You wanted to rip your own hair out but settled for groaning and kicking his leg as you stormed past him. Yet, you froze when he hummed, "Wouldn't it be terrible if your bank lost all your money, love? Maybe hacking to know who I am was a mistake, no?" He chuckled, "How about you do something for me and we'll forget this."
And that's how you got here. A simple bout of curiosity, evidently you both had regrets and mistakes under your belts. You just couldn't imagine this was the favor. Your eyes laid on the TV before you in the hacker's living room. He sat beside you, leaning forward and his entire posture was absolute hell yet Matt didn't seem to care.
"I think you'll like this! Just watch!" He promised.
".... You threatened me so I'd watch…. Nyte Blade with you?" You asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Of course!" He seemed almost insulted that you'd ask, "Its one of the best things created for God's sake!"
"Its sure… Something, alright." You sighed yet it was charming.
You didn't know when that realization hit. That in all his awkward, gawk nerd-ness, Matt Miller was charming. Endearing, even. You sighed, leaning back and letting your eyes focus on whatever Nyte Blade was doing, mourning his wife you think. You paid some attention, it seemed to make Matt happier. Asking him about Steelport could wait. You just wanted to exist here for a moment, let your curiosity die out for just a little while.
