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[ficthots]

Just found your account while I was looking for Peter Parker fics! Thank you for feeding my addiction!

Thank you for reading! I will be adding to my Peter fics in the not so distant future!

[ficthots]

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A kind man said 'We need to love'. I think we need to start spreading this idea around like glitter. I'm sending you all my love in hopes for the best days before you and hope your struggles are behind. Share this with any and all so that 2024 can be the best yet. ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

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[ficthots]

omggg bonded is so good we need a chapter 6

Just posted! Thanks for being patient ❤

[ficthots]

I hope you are doing well 🫶🏼, I miss your writing!

Thank you, hon!

[ficthots]

Bonded: Chapter Six

A/N: Hello everyone! My absence has ended and I am back writing once more. I've missed you all and I hope this makes up for it. Please remember, this is a hobby and sometimes life overtakes hobby time. Luckily, things have seemed to even out for the time being. As always, enjoy and let me know what you think!

Word count: 5.2k+

Chapter Five

Weather holds more power than most people will ever realize. A planet’s atmosphere has wondrous effects on the life below which is why with each planet you travel to, you will experience a climate you never have before. It was one of the first things you noticed on this galaxy trek.

How one day you can look up and see the crystal skies beaming back down at you, offering immaculate views of the horizon far off in the distance. Yet, landing on another planet just the following cycle, storms wreak havoc over the innocent civilians down below unleashing a fury that blows eyes wide open in surprise and fear.

Demolishing anything that stands in its way, altering life as you knew it right before your very eyes. Watching as lives are ruined, some spared, others continue as before with little to no change.

Packing for such weather was difficult to do. Hence why nearly your entire wardrobe had been brought with you on this trip. As your cruiser descended on a tiny spec in the sector, the humidity pummeled you immediately. The condensation formed on the windows as a repulsive greeting and then dripped downwards towards the forever soggy ground.

A small sigh escaped your mouth as you knew how uncomfortable this short day was about to become. This wasn’t even a planet on your list. A courtesy stop if you will. An unplanned detour that you knew would only last the afternoon and early evening before continuing on with your actual planned route.

“I can only imagine what sort of creatures thrive in this type of environment,” Calista murmured with her nose almost pressed flush to the glass. Briefly looking up from your notepad you watched as Tamsyn began preparing for landing.

Only humming in response, there wasn’t much enthusiasm in your reply. You were exhausted. Having been traveling for nearly two entire months, your journey was finally nearing the end. Another week and you would be back home.

Home.

It was odd to think of the ship in that way, but that was what it was. Home. A sense of longing to go back to it, sleep in your bed, see Kylo. You couldn’t believe that you missed him.

Your eyes drifted to the string on your wrist. A gift before your original departure. A safety measure. A token of thought. That you were occupying his thoughts just as much as he was yours. As your thoughts descend into him, the rough landing of the ship jolted you out of your little world.

Tucking the bracelet under your thin gauzy sleeve, you stood as the ships door opened, allowing you to step into the jungle terrain. This was their opportunity to sell themselves to the Order. Explain how they could be of use. With what you could see, it wasn’t much.

Yet as you walked down towards the small gathered crowd to greet you, they were all beaming with enthusiasm to see you, the Empress, actually here visiting. Tamsyn and Calista were hot on your heels, your personal guard so close the armor he adorned nearly pressed into your side.

A precaution courtesy of Kylo and General Waylan. One you didn’t believe was necessary, but your own thoughts fell onto deaf ears. You weren’t even offered his name. No indication about who he really was.

He was just…there. All of the time. A shadow stapled to your own. When you moved, so did he. He was in charge of all the safety measures in regards to this trip. And he was certainly displeased to discover you made a decision to stop on this desolate crater without informing him earlier.

The leader stepped forward enthusiastically, his robes trailing on the moss ridden steps he descended to reach you. “Empress, we are beyond honored to welcome you here. Thank you for taking the time to join us.” As your eyes settled on the thin man, you nearly fell backwards. The striking resemblance had you hesitating to utter your own greeting.

An immediate cold sweat erupted over your body. The man looked eerily similar to the one who had lost his head at the gala. The gruesome memory flashed in your mind as you watched the lifeless eyes stare at you. Courtesy of your husband, but almost as fast as it hit you, the feeling faded. Almost as if he disguised himself when he saw your discomfort with his appearance. Those fully black eyes now had irises, the color still coal, but some ivory peeked out.

Perhaps your mind was playing tricks on you, you thought to yourself.

As he spoke, he clasped your hand within his own and brought it to his grayed forehead. There was something different about them as you took in the odd faces of the civilians. All looked different than each other, but it was as if they weren’t entirely real. A mask over their true selves. You weren’t entirely sure. But your guard was immediately up.

For being in such a bright and warm environment you couldn’t help but fight the chill that shot up your spine from the ice cold grasp he had. Their eyes almost one solid color, bordering on black, but not quite fully gone. They all appeared grey, no hint of color anywhere on their forms. The palace behind them appeared desolate.

The stark green vines enclosed around the sandstone brick that was almost completely gone beneath the never ending greenery. The varying creatures and animals chirped through the forest, cocooning the group in a symphony of songs. Not one of comfort, but one of warning.

A warning you ignored to heed.

Your hackles were raised without so much as a second thought. “It is our pleasure, Monton. I hope you don’t mind the short visit. We don’t have much time together, but I am looking forward to getting to know you and your people more intimately.” His smile stretched across his taut skin, making him appear less human as he did. Your pleasantries second nature to you despite the overwhelming sense of dread filling each of your senses.

A few hours was all you needed to muster through. Then back to the scheduled trip. You echoed that lifeline in your mind over and over to keep your nerves rested.

Stepping to the side, he gestured towards the ancient building. “Shall we?” Nodding in reply, you turned toward your guard. “We won’t be long, if we need assistance I will call.” His helmeted head only bowed before turning on his heel and ascending the stairs back aboard the ship.

You prayed you wouldn’t need his assistance. A few hours.

Tamsyn and Calista trailed behind you, not interested in any of the information this man was offering. Yet, they did not seem the least bit put off by their odd appearances or behaviors. It ran through your mind that you were being overly cautious. His similarities to the man from the gala had knocked you off your game, but no one seemed to pay that any mind.

You were hardly listening either. The entire time he spoke your thoughts were occupied with what rubbed into your wrist. The bracelet so delicately clasped around your skin felt as though it was burning an indentation, leaving its permanent trace behind in its remembrance.

“Your presence has been requested by the Supreme Leader, Empress.” You were sat in your living quarter, the final details of your galaxy journey had been finalized that afternoon and you were beyond spent. Pulling yourself up from the comfortable cushion, you followed the Order official to wherever they were leading you.

When you arrived at a section of the ship you didn’t recognize, you spoke. “Where is the Supreme Leader?” He stopped walking as he approached to extremely large doors that were monitored by three different entry systems. “Supreme Leader Ren's quarters, Empress.” He turned towards you with a subtle bow before turning and leaving you standing alone in the darkened corner.

You could recall the doors from your private tour with Kylo, but you had been brought an entirely different way and didn’t recognize where you were.

Not sure what you were supposed to do, you walked towards the different identification panels and attempted to solve how to enter. You weren’t entirely certain how long you were stood there, but when the door receded into the walls with a loud whoosh accompanying, you jumped up.

There he stood, helmet removed, gaze immediately pinned to you. “What are you doing?” He spoke, not a crack of emotion on his face, voice the standard deep monotone you were accustomed to. “Um, they said you requested me. I couldn’t figure out the door,” you nervously responded.

A slight tilt to the corner of his mouth was all you received as he returned inside. “Come with me.” You followed a few steps behind him. Eyes darting around to the new sights, the smell of him wafting over you entirely. It was incredibly neat, like no one had ever resided there.

The dark furniture was exactly what you expected. Everything drenched in reds and blacks, his signature colors of course. Almost cliche, you giggled to yourself. The sound alerted him, causing him to turn and face you to see what had you laughing. “What?”

Only shrugging you were still smiling. “Nothing. Just that your quarters are exactly what I expected. The blacks and reds, you know?” Your fit of giggles continued as he eyed you, eyes narrowing in your direction, a slight tilt to his head. Faded remnants of a smile graces his plush lips for only a mere second.

His head dropped, a small box sitting on the corner of a table. “Come here.” You immediately followed his orders, walking towards him and closing the distance. Knowing better than to try and battle him, you were nearly flush against him.

Grasping your wrist with his bare hand, electricity jolted through you. You despised when that would happen. Unable to hide the effect his simple touch had on you. This had been happening more and more. The more time you two spent together, which was occurring much more frequently, it only riled you up more.

His touch was incredibly delicate, the long and nimble fingers worked quickly and effortlessly. It was gone as fast as it had appeared. A slight twinge of sadness nestled in your stomach at the loss of contact. Your eyes never left the new addition on your arm.

It was simple, just a black string with a fabric you were not sure of, a small gemstone sitting squarely in the middle. A glow cast out around the unidentified stone, sitting on your skin. Eyes finally peeling away, you cast your gaze upwards to see his features already studying your own.

He never faltered despite the close quarters you two were currently in. “Specially made by request of myself.” Your brow furrowed in question, looking back down at it. “It’s a beautiful bracelet, Kylo. Thank you.” Offering a genuine smile, you felt warm.

Kylo had specifically gotten something made for you. Gifted to you by Kylo himself. You couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit more…special. That he was going out of his way to please you, bring a small sense of joy. Even if it was a stretch to anything more than him trying to appease you.

“This is for…my piece of mind while you’re gone, dove. If you are in danger, I can only use the Force to communicate with you when I feel the need to. I cannot always sense if something is wrong. I’m still attempting to sort out what this bond means and how to use it. For now, this will do.” His hand cupped your wrist once more, his thumb hovering over the gem.

Clearing his throat he continued. “You press this gem down and to the right. It will immediately track your location and notify me that you are not well. Promise me you’ll wear this the entire time you’re gone, dove?” The gentle tone in his voice had butterflies erupting in your stomach as he spoke so plainly with you.

A knot formed in your throat, but you nodded eagerly. “Of course. Thank you for this. So, just down,” he nodded, his hair lightly falling forward at his motion. “Down and to the right.” You smiled at the demonstration and peered back up at him.

Holding eye contact for the following few seconds was the most intense interaction you two had yet. Peering into one another, it was almost like you were able to communicate with him through look alone. A silent heartfelt thank you for caring about my safety. A glimmer of an unknown emotion first registered in his eyes, then his entire face, before fading.

Admiration? Joy? Something you didn’t quite know how to label because, well, it was Kylo. He only ever showed two emotions. Rage and annoyance. Nothing more, nothing less. A side to him that no one else ever got to see. Reserved solely for you. In these private moments.

Pride bubbled in you at the knowledge that no one else in the entire galaxy saw Kylo in states like this. His hardened facade broken. Not without great effort on your end. In fact, it had been painstaking work for months on end.

After Kylo request to attempt a new beginning with you, you decided to agree to his offer. Whatever that meant for him. After the first couple of days and no changes, no sightings of him, you reached out.

An invitation to accompany you at dinner that evening in your quarters. No response had been given and you were quickly losing hope that anything was going to change, an empty guarantee from him. Then, just as the table had finished being set and you were notified that dinner would be served as soon as you were ready, he entered your quarters.

Not able to fight against the smile that took shape on your face, Kylo looked extremely awkward. Unsure what he was supposed to be doing. Yet, attempting to make the effort. Even though it was almost pitiful to see his obvious discomfort.

Deciding to take the lead for the night, you welcomed him in. You weren’t quite sure of yourself enough to try anything physical like a hug, but you lead him into the dining room. Sitting at opposite ends of the table, you mainly ate in silence.

But he was there and that was a victory all in itself.

You didn’t ask him back the following evening, but he came back anyways. And nearly every night since then. Unless he was gone on a mission, it was almost a grantee that Kylo would be at your dining room table, enjoying a dinner with you.

As these meals happened more frequently so did the conversation. At first, extremely basic and generic, testing the waters to see how well you two could communicate. It didn’t take much time for you to warm up to him enough that you were constantly sharing stories of your childhood, upbringing as a royal, funny experiences you had since joining the Order as their Empress.

Kylo pitched in with conversation despite choosing to let you fill the void of his lack of words a majority of the time. Even cracking smiles, his eyes and features more life like and softened with happiness. You know you had made great progress when you got a laugh out of him for the very first time.

It had been like striking gold. A melody of tone you had never heard and weren’t sure you would ever again. Such a beautiful sound you never wanted to forget it, never wanted it to end.

The following night he had arrived at your quarters for dinner, you eyed the table set up. Grabbing your plates and utensils, you ushered yourself down to his end of the table, sitting on his left side just like at the meeting tables. His eyes watched your movements daringly, unsure of what exactly you were doing.

But when you seated yourself and gave him a large smile, he felt an almost sense of…relief. Having you choose to be so close to him. Something no one had ever done. Dinner carried on like nothing had changed.

The new behaviors of the infamous Kylo Ren had started to bleed out into other aspects of your relationship as well, including professional. One afternoon, you two walked the corridors of the ship together, chatting about your upcoming travel plans, when his hand landed on your hip, pulling you away from a wall of storm troopers rounding the same corner. His hand firmly pulled you into his side, his helmeted demeanor seething at the group. “Watch your movements.”

Instant apologies to Kylo and you were spoken. Your heart rate never went back to normal after that. At one supper, Kylo had asked you if you had ever flown a ship. He was instantly taken aback at your response of no. “When I return from this mission I will be teaching you how to pilot a ship.” You were giddy for his return, counting down the cycles until we was due back home. Unable to contain your excitement when Kylo had entered your quarters for dinner, you crossed the room and embraced him. A warm smile greeted him in accompaniment despite his entire body stiffening the way it did.

It didn’t phase you in the least. Speaking about how you had missed his presence at dinner. His cheeks warmed to a pink hue at the terms of endearment. He spoke, clearing the waver in his voice as he did. “I’m taking you flying tomorrow.”

The following day had been the best you two had ever spent together. That morning, Kylo appeared at your door and you followed him. What was supposed to be just a flying lesson turned into an entire formal tour of his section of the ship. He showed you where his training facilities were, where the Knights of Ren were located, the entry to his residence. You didn’t enter, but at least you now knew where he was located at.

The tour wrapped at the massive bay of ships in the hanger. You were nearly jumping for joy when you knew what was next. Wandering eyes monitored the two of you as Kylo led you towards the ships. A duo that was unanticipated. The Kylo Ren watching as the Empress of the First Order looked like an excited school girl.

You truly didn’t care. As you approached one of the ships on the fleet, you turned and beamed at Kylo. “This one, right?” He shook his head, motioning for you to follow him. Stopping in your tracks, your jaw hung ajar.

“You’re going to let me fly your ship?” The smirk that danced across his mouth had your heart doing somersaults. A squeal escaped your lips, rushing towards the tall man and crushing him to you in a hug. Your arms wrapped around his neck, feeling the soft locks of his raven black hair tickle you, your cheek pressed against his neck. It ended as quickly as it had happened. You didn’t look at his reaction before quickly climbing aboard the Supreme Leaders personal ship.

With only one seat in the cockpit, you weren’t sure how this was going to work for you to learn. Kylo followed you in and within a minute was situated in the pilots seat securely. Standing off to the side, you were about to ask where you were supposed to sit when his arm wrapped around your waist.

Grabbing you from behind, he dragged you effortlessly to his lap. You were in a fit of giggles at the fast motion. Adjusting yourself to sit comfortably for however long you two were about to fly, you were ecstatic to get on with your lesson.

Both of Kylo's arms came from the sides, caging you in as he grasped the controls and swiftly left the hangar. Despite thinking you were going to be taking up too much of his space and view, he flew the ship like it was nothing.

He was silent behind you despite your constant chatter and observations of the planets that flew by. As you two settled on a desolate planet, you were ready to begin. His warm breath fanned across your cheek and neck as he spoke, goosebumps erupting over your entire body.

Fighting the chill that shot up your spine, the slight tremble in your hands you were able to play off. “I’m nervous,” you chuckled, rubbing your hands across your pants. “It’s simple. Here,” he lifted your hands to grab the controls, his sitting over your own.

Given the nature of his sheer size in comparison to your own, you could hardly see your own flesh beneath his own. “Alright dove, you always want to make sure that these lights are on,” Kylo fell into his detailed explanation of the control panel and what each thing meant.

You weren’t sure you could place the exact moment he called you dove for the first time, the term of endearment awarded to you by friends and family, but it was almost second nature to him now. Mainly using it instead of your name or your titles.

It sounded different coming from him. Felt different. Like you only wanted him to use it. Holding a different meaning than everyone elses uses. You adored it. Waited for it to fall from his lips with baited breath each time. Knocking the wind out of you with each muttered dove.

It was safe to say that the flying lesson had not gone well. Apparently it was more of a natural talent activity than you realized. After nearly driving it straight into the ground, you erupted in laughter.

Kylo held onto the controls as you lost control of your laughter. He chuckled smally to himself. “Alright, we’re done for today. I don’t need you destroying the best ship in the fleet.” As your chuckles faded, still seated firmly in his lap, you smiled widely at him.

“Thank you for today. It was a lot of fun,” without so much as a second thought, you leaned in, hand cupping his jaw and turning his head towards you. It nearly happened in slow motion, that first kiss. Feeling the soft, tender flesh of his lips meld to your own. The shock waves that exploded over your body was unlike anything you had ever experienced. You never wanted to stop. But you did and when you pulled back and opened your eyes, you watched as his grip tightened on the controls, you smiled to yourself.

He cleared his throat, refusing to look at you. “You’re welcome.” Kylo left the next day for a mission that he desperately needed. Some space from you so he could catch his breath, readjust his bearings, figure out what was happening between you two. Why he wanted to be sitting at a dining room table with you instead of making progress that he needed to make.

Why he was dreading your trip. That he wouldn’t be near you for so long, unable to do anything to protect you while you were so far. He had his own copy of your schedule, but that wasn’t enough.

Instead, he assigned one of the highest regarded troopers to be your personal guard through the duration of the trip. One he knew you wouldn’t accept unless it came from someone other than himself. Waylan quickly agreed and you accepted with little word otherwise.

Perhaps he was slightly obsessed. Which is why he constructed the bracelet on his own. Something that would allow him direct access to you should you need him. Not that he wanted to bother you, but he still didn’t know the limit of the bond you two shared. Wanting nothing more than your protection covered while away from him.

Seeing your reaction to it as he placed it on you was a relief. Seeing that you seemed more sure of yourself wearing it. Knowing that you could contact Kylo as quickly as possible. A slight weight off your shoulders.

If only you knew what was in store for you.

The tour had dragged for so long and was so dull, you had sent Tamsyn back to the ship to prepare for your departure. The stories shared with you were sending alarm bells tolling your head. Far too similar to the mans from the gala to be purely coincidental. You knew at that moment why they had wanted you to come here.

When you had returned back to the palace you began to take note of some alarming things. Guards blocking each doorway and nearly every window, being led further and further through the maze of doorways and twisting hallways, the men that were directly behind you and Calista were seemingly moving closer and closer.

You knew something was seriously wrong when you entered what appeared to be a drawing room with no furniture present in it. Offering as polite of a smile and interruption you could, you spoke. “Would you mind allowing myself and my lady speak privately for a moment?”

The king nodded, ushering his men out with him, one last eye locking glance in your direction before shutting a door. You wasted no time, whipping around to face her, fumbling to unclasp the bracelet.

“I need you to listen to me very carefully, Calista. I need you to remember every thing I’m about to tell you.” She looked bewildered as you began to speak quickly. “You are going to leave this room as soon as I am done talking,” as the bracelet fell off, you cupped it. “You are going to board the transport and tell the pilot to not, I repeat, not go to the next destination.”

Calista had no idea what was happening. “What are you talking-” you cut her off. “Calista, please we don’t have a lot of time. They are going to be back any minute. These are the same people from the gala just with some sort of disguise on. They are going to attempt to track the transport which is why you are not to go to the next destination.” Her eyes quickly began welling with tears.

Stuffing the bracelet into her palm, you forcibly closed her hand around it. “You are going to get as far away from here as possible. An unknown world or moon or something, okay? As soon as you get there the Order will have already been notified that we have not arrived at our scheduled destination.”

She sighed, going to speak. “But Kylo-” You shook your head. “They won’t tell Kylo because they know he will not be happy and they will want to solve it themselves. When you get to wherever you go, you will activate this.” Calista opened her hand to look at it.

“Push down and twist to the right. It will immediately send a signal to Kylo with your exact location. He will get there very fast and when he does, he will be furious. Kylo will read your mind after you tell him about the events that have happened. You must tell him this was my plan, do you understand?”

She sniffled as you continued on. “I’ll be fine. I want you all to get to safety.” Calista pulled you into an embrace, whispering in your ear as she did. “I’ll-I’ll tell him everything,” you offered a relaxed smile to try and qualm her nerves. “Kylo will find me. Now, go. You need to go.” Pushing her towards the doors, she glanced once more at you before rushing away.

A shaky exhale escaped your lips, fear pummeling you at what was about to happen. The leader returned mere seconds later, a large inhuman smile on his features. “Ah, where did the beautiful Calista go?”

Smiling politely you spoke. “To ready the ship for us. I want to thank you for your generosity and enthusiasm today, but we do have a schedule to keep to.” As you took a step back, the leader and his men made one towards you.

“So soon, Empress? We were hoping to enjoy supper and share more tales of our people. Our traditions.” Sweat dripped down the back of your neck. “Unfortunately, it was a fast trip. Perhaps next time we can extend it.”

His smile fell immediately. All warmth snapped from him in an instant. “No. I think you don’t understand.” In the blink of an eye, both of your arms were restrained by the guards he had brought back with him.

The king crossed the room leisurely. “You need to let me go. You know they will look for me.” He smirked as he approached you. Twirling a strand of your hair around his straggly finger, he inhaled deeply. “No, I don’t think they will, Empress. None of you will be leaving here today.”

As soon as he finished, the roar of the transports engines flooded the palace. Barking out an order in an unfamiliar tongue, you let a devilish smirk cross your face. A snarl emulated from him as he whipped his hand back before making contact with your cheek, drawing a surprised gasp.

It was just the start.

Nearly two full days later, their transport ship collided with the rocky terrain of whatever desolate planet they had found. Calista activated the gem as soon as they landed and just as you had said, Kylo ship touched down not long after.

The burnt landscape around them displayed his anger that he had unleashed with his saber upon discovering you hadn’t gone with them. Almost the entire area around them had been decimated.

What you didn’t realize was that Kylo had been unable to connect with you. Despite all of his efforts, the moment he had been notified of your missing status, he couldn’t find you. Connect with you. Speak with you.

Perhaps too far from him. Given you weren’t Force sensitive, this was uncharted territory. One he didn’t realize had a location cap. When you had sent him the ping of your location, it was lie salvation had washed over him.

Upon discovering you were not onboard that ship and had sent them off without you, it only ignited his rage. Far beyond the point of anger, he couldn’t believe you had put yourself in this situation. One he didn’t know how to solve. Fix. Get you back to him where you would be safe and protected.

Kylo's robes whipped around him as he turned and stalked towards the group who had watched the entire scene unfold before them. “Notify all of the Order that my Empress has been taken and is missing.”

He climbed back into his ship, beginning the search for you. His Empress. His dove.

[ficthots]

Ahem, hello hello! Well, it’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? Between personal life, work life, and all the fun little things that happen in life, I stepped back from my blog for a bit.

But I am back! I have another chapter of Bonded coming soon, another Peter fic in the works, a Danny fic in the works, I have posts lined up!

Thank you everyone for the kind messages in my inbox during my absence. I missed you guys! 💖

[ficthots]

Ahem…hi 😅

[ficthots]

Tracking

A/N: Wow, just yeah. I know it's been a long while since I posted for Peter, but like I promised, I was working on things for him and here it is! Now, I'll crawl back into my cave until my next writing is ready. As always let me know what you guys think and enjoy!

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence

Word Count: 6.4K+

Time is a fucking thief. Really, it is. Waking up with the rising of the sun, getting ready to go to a job you despised, remaining in a windowless cubicle for eight hours, making dinner, then time to sleep again. Watching the clock as each passing minute was taken from you over and over again. Now when you throw being a superhero into the mix, it makes it even worse.

Holding down relationships, careers, any and all of the important things in life were always seemingly snatched away when it came to the personal life of crime fighting vigilante Spider-Man. That’s why when you entered his life it was like getting another opportunity to engage with time he had never experienced before.

Looking forward to coming home and eating dinner, stopping by on patrol nights to give you a goodnight kiss no matter what, to Peter Parker, he would do everything in his power to devote as much time as he possibly could to you.

Perhaps you were the time thief in his life now. Either way he didn’t mind when it came to you.

Were there times when it just simply wasn’t possible to shovel all of his waking energy towards you? Of course! The problems came when it had been that way for months. Yeah, you read that right.

In the span of four months, Peter had become so ravaged with his other entities responsibilities that his time with you was drastically rescinded. Unanswered text messages for days, not a peep from him for a week at a time, no more windowsill kisses. It was like he had vanished into thin air.

You understood at first. Hell, you had been dating the man for three years! What was happening, though, was unlike anything he had ever dealt with before. A group of men, identities undisclosed, were wreaking havoc throughout New York City. For months on end, like clockwork, every other week a crime would occur.

Each more gruesome than the last.

Peter had never really been on a deadline like this. Knowing that with each ticking second it was growing closer to the next attack. Spending all nights on the streets, trying to spot whoever could be responsible for this.

The worst part was that he had no leads. A few locations that were all pointless distractions. No semblance of an inkling as to who was committing all of these atrocities. In the span of time since their starting, over eight lives had been taken. A mind boggling number for such a short span of time.

Police were just as useless and he had decided to not take up any more time than necessary with them in tow simply because they weren’t taking this as seriously as they should have been. Instead of confronting the public, reminding them to be careful and not to wander alone past sunset, they were sweeping it under the rug.

Not wanting to cause a public disturbance. No need to fear monger they had told Spider-Man. Assuring him that all of those victims were tied to a gang in one way or another and it was criminal activity work. Something that he shouldn’t spend too much time dwelling on.

That was not a good enough answer for Peter. He didn’t believe them. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure it was a group behind all of this. It could have been a serial killer that was on one hell of a spree.

There was no pattern with their victims either. Randomly selected from the streets. What you didn’t understand was why Peter was involved with all of this. Of course, you knew he wanted to do all in his power to save as many lives as he could, but you warned him to be careful after the initial police warning.

Sticking his nose in places it didn’t belong was not going to end well. It had been the first time you two had argued to that extent. Shouting at the top of your lungs you weren’t ready to lose him and that’s what you were afraid was in the works.

He called you silly for thinking such things. That you needed to have more faith in him than you were giving. It still didn’t answer why he was so invested in this. You knew there were details he was purposely not giving you. Maybe he didn’t want to frighten you or maybe he thought you wouldn’t be able to handle it, but to you, you were a partnership, a pair.

All you wanted was to have Peter back around. Who knows, you might be able to actually help him if he came to you and showed you what he did and did not have. Instead, he hid it from you. Becoming cold and aloof. Distant and consumed.

If there was something you knew about Peter it was that he did not like being bested. Truly holding himself to a standard that was near impossible. Knowing he was above average intelligence, to put it lightly, when people tried outsmarting him, it was always a humorous effort. No one bested Spider-Man.

This time, they were.

Following that night of your monstrous bickering, you hadn’t seen or heard from Peter in over a week. Honestly, you weren’t making much of an effort yourself. Having no interest in being around him when he was in a head space like this. Knowing that there really was no way to help him if he presented nothing to you.

Peter on the other hand was not okay with you going dark on him. Despite knowing that the clock was dwindling down before their next attack, it was the first time in weeks you had been at the forefront of his mind. The little voice in the back of his head was telling him he needed to smooth this over with you or he would regret it.

Which is why he was climbing into your living room window with a bouquet of your favorite flowers, opting to take the night off even though it could be a crucial turning point. He ended up convincing himself it would be alright because if he didn’t have a direction to go in an hour before arriving at your apartment, then hunting tonight was pointless.

He didn’t have a direction.

Even though you hadn’t spoken to Peter, your thoughts were consumed by him as well. What was the bit of information he wasn’t giving you? Was there even anything he was leaving out? There could be the slim possibility he had actually divulged all he knew to you. But you knew better than that. Peter was hiding something, you just couldn’t figure out what it was.

The notes.

Discovered next to each of the victims he had come across. Given he was the only individual to find them and when he tried bringing it to the attention of the police, they had shrugged him off. They were trying to get to him.

Sheets of white printer paper, the typical horror movie fashion of assembly. Varying letters from magazines, newspapers, old letters, all taped and pasted on the paper in a note. Each one was different, but told in a fashion of a word problem. Some were like riddles.

Either way, with each new victim that appeared, so did a new note. It was one of the things he dreaded the most. Seeing what possibly innocent person had been selected in order to deliver the paper to him. His stomach turned just at the thought of it.

Tonight was not for that, though. Instead he chose to bury it in the back of his brain and spend some much needed time with you. So why weren’t you home?

If there was one thing Peter knew and loved about you was that you were a schedule person. Totally type-a, your day planned to perfection and given it was just after six o’clock that evening, you should’ve been in the kitchen plating your dinner.

Except, there was no you in the kitchen, there was no music or television playing in the background, it looked as though nothing had been touched all day. Until he stepped further into the kitchen.

When his eyes darted over to the corner of your counter, partly covered by your fridge, he froze. There it sat. An uneaten bowl of cereal. The milk on the counter next to it, the cereal box still opened and there.

As he approached it, observing the contents, you hadn’t even gotten a spoon out yet. It was filled to the brim, more so than you would’ve liked, but given it hadn’t been touched some of the cereal had inflated from the milk.

“Bug?” His voice, calm and collected echoed out into the quiet flat. Finally prying his eyes away from the alarming sight he had just seen, he was stumped. Everything else in the living room and kitchen was exactly as it should have been.

Maybe you were running late this morning and didn’t realize until after you had made your breakfast. Yes, of course! That’s exactly what it was.

Peeking into your bedroom, his heart rate decreased, a sense of relief and ease settling over him at the entirely bogus reasoning he had used to calm himself down. Until the most unusual sight of all was spotted.

Your phone sitting soundly on your nightstand, still connected to the charger. His hand rubbed at his closed eyes, trying to will his breathing to return to a normal rate. Tapping the screen, it lit up with dozens of texts. Some from Peter, some from coworkers, a few missed calls from work.

Never would you ever forget your phone. Never would you ever not put the cereal back in its place. Something was wrong.

His trembling hands removed his own phone from his pocket, before entirely losing any semblance of sanity, he dialed your boss’s number. It picked up on the third ring and Peter did his best to sound as normal as he could.

“Hey, Guy! It’s Peter Parker,” he was instantly cut off by his chipper voice on the other end. “Peter! How the heck are you?” He sighed, a shaky laugh escaping him. “Great, great. I just have a quick question for you,” as Peter asked if you had made it into work today, Guy responded fast.

“No, actually she didn’t today or yesterday. Didn’t even call. It’s not like her at all. I think a few of her team members tried texting her and didn’t hear from her either. Everything okay?” It was the worst thing he could have been told at that moment.

Clearing his throat, he tried to remain calm. “Mhm, yeah, yes. She’s just, uh, very sick. It might be a few days before she’s well enough to get back to the office. I didn’t call earlier because I wasn’t sure if she had or not.”

Guy’s laugh of relief was palpable. “Whew, thank goodness! Okay, well tell her to rest up and we’ll see her when she’s all better.” Thanking him and quickly ending the call, Peter tore your apartment upside down.

Any clues he could think of, any sign of forced entry, anything at all. But there was nothing. It was all still in the pristine condition it had been left in. Not a single thing out of the ordinary despite the two big red flags. Even going through every app on your phone, just in case, but it was fruitless.

Alarm bells were chiming in his head, he knew something was wrong. He knew you were in some sort of danger. He collapsed on your couch, wracking his brain for anything that could have given him something to work with.

Then he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye. A small piece of white paper stuck to the tongue of a running shoe you never wore. Turned on its side. He couldn’t remember if he had knocked it over during his rushed search of your apartment, but as he picked it up, his blood turned to ice.

Taped to the shoe were the letters he dreaded seeing. Had been haunting him in his sleep for weeks. When he could sleep that was. Unlike the others, it was almost a clue as to where to go next. His eyes quickly saw the time and knew they were going to strike again soon. Far too soon.

One step forward, three steps back, find her quick before she’s the next attack

It was an anger unlike anything he had ever felt before. Not when his parents had died, not when uncle Ben died, it was so overpowering, Peter truly didn’t know how to control it. Darting out of your window, knowing he was on limited time, he began his search.

A near pointless search. A pill that was hard to swallow. Knowing the chances of actually finding you were so slim. He had the list in the back of his mind, places he had scouted previously that he knew they had used at one point or another.

That was the only thing he could think to do. Which is exactly what he did. Searching one by one individually, spending no more than thirty seconds to one minute at each location before going down the list. Did he destroy some of those places during his searches? Absolutely.

He only grew angrier with each location he arrived at that you weren’t in. His hope was running out. Knowing he was at the last two possible places you could be at that he knew about. It was an abandoned warehouse by the river. The first place he had ever tracked them to, but it was far too late when he made his discovery. They had been out of there for over a week by the time he found it.

They were always just a few steps ahead of him and it drove him mad. His masked face searched the premises from what he could see. Through one of the partly shattered windows, there appeared to be a figure on the far end of the building.

A single light shining on them, their back facing where Peter stood. Sitting in a chair, only a wisp of a shadow, no identifying features to be made out. Assuming it was going to be a fight he was about to step into, Peter broke the remainder of the window and launched himself in.

Eerily silent. No noise in the entire building apart from the howling wind outside. It was beginning to become mid-fall in the city and it was always your favorite time of year. No one was enjoying the crisp autumn air that evening.

It was unbearably stuffy in there. No fresh air had swept through the place in years. The stale scents made that abundantly clear. Peter hesitantly approached the figure, the lighting just so he couldn’t make anything out until only a few hundred yards away.

The minute he saw the tied hands behind the back of the chair, his heart soared. “Bu-bug!” His voice shouted, relief flowing off of him in waves, but they came crashing down just as fast.

He wasn’t even sure if it was you. Incredibly deformed from obvious beatings, your face was swollen, bruised, and bloody like he had never seen before. The zip tie around your wrists had cut into the skin, pieces of flesh hanging from it.

As he looked down, the sticky floor was a deep crimson, continuing to pool from your countless open wounds. No shoes were on your feet, they too were cut and dangling from your seated position, totally limp.

He wasn’t entirely sure what was in your mouth as a makeshift gag, but whatever it was had been there so long, your skin was raw and bruised around it. It was the first thing he removed and as he did, your chipped teeth entered his view.

A blanket was draped over you that was covered in things Peter did not even want to begin to imagine. It was the next thing he went to remove, but he halted the moment it was off your body.

There, stapled to your bare chest, was his next note. The same haunting letters, covered in either your own or someone else’s blood. Based on the missing fingernails, he assumed it was a fight you had given which made him silently pray it was someone else’s, yours already spilled too much.

It took him a second longer than he realized to see that your toes were mainly all facing the wrong way. Your arms bruised from newly broken bones, legs in the same condition.

His trembling voice was the first thing you heard as he cut the tie from your hands, whimpers and choked cries trying to escape your hoarse throat. Immediately going limp, Peter caught you. Your body was convulsing in ways he had never seen, unable to open your eyes and see that Peter had found you.

His tears made heavy tracts on his sweat riddled skin. His gloved hands smoothed over the inflamed sections of your face. “I’m-I’m here bug, I got you. I found you, baby. I got you, okay? It’s okay now, baby.” Despite knowing how difficult and incredibly painful his next actions were going to be, he had to get you out of there.

Medical attention was the only way you were going to be able to survive. That meant Peter was going to have to carry you to the hospital. No possibility of emergency services being able to get to you before it was too late.

He was right. Had he waited for emergency services you would have died. You had been in the hospital for three weeks now. Finally in a state where you were fully conscious, despite the pain that never subsided, you were doing better than everyone thought.

It was unclear how long you had been in their “care” before Peter had found you. Based on the little memory you had from the snatching, it was assumed you had been with them for at least forty-eight hours, possibly more.

Peter hadn’t left your side since. Growing tired of hearing the nurses and doctors praise Spider-Man for having found you and saving you when he did. Hardly. He had hardly saved you.

In fact, this was his fault. It was the conclusion he had made. His careless and reckless behaviors had led them straight to you. He hadn’t spoken to you in a week and look what they had done. They thought they had killed you. There hadn’t been another attack yet. It meant nothing though.

No, the note left for him said otherwise. You’ve made it three steps back, how long until the grand final act?

Peter was frightening you. Since you had been awake and aware of what was happening, he had hardly spoken to you. The deep purple bags under his eyes were only growing worse, skin a sickly gray you had never witnessed in a human before, face hollowing out from lack of rest and food.

All he did was write in his notebook.

Curled up in a chair, he stared at the pages for hours on end. Occasionally writing and scribbling in it. His eyes never rested, constantly darting around the pages. It had been weeks of this. Total silence from him, not sure how to talk to him when he was like…this.

It was another late night in the hospital, having drifted in and out of painful sleep all day. Based on the lack of staff and visitors present, you assumed it was the middle of the night. The hospital floor just outside your door was quiet. An easy night for the staff, you thought.

Trying to figure out how to eat a pudding cup, one of the only things you could keep down, was your current task at hand. The tv playing with hardly any sound, it being the only main light in there, Peter silently re-reading whatever was in that book. That was the current mood of your room.

Eating was difficult. Only having three working fingers on your non-dominant hand, luckily one being your thumb, you struggled to pick up the spoon, also knowing you couldn’t move your arm to bring the spoon to you or bend over to get closer to consume anything. Just trying to move to secure the spoon in your mangled fingers had you on the verge of tears, losing your breath along the way.

You could do nothing without help. Not wanting to ask Peter for any assistance because of how poor his mood was. That was where you two currently sat with one another. Scared to speak to him more than absolutely necessary. Hardly speaking since being here.

His eyes briefly glanced at you before realizing what you were trying to do, throwing his notebook onto the side table. “Hey, hey, hey! What are you even trying to do, bug?” His voice was soft, a slight laugh in his voice, exhaustion evident with each word spoken. Taking the spoon from your hand, he pulled his chair closer to the bed, beginning to bring it to your lips.

It was silent until your eyes darted back at the book, deciding to take a leap. “Whatcha writing?” Your cracked, gravelly, and weak voice echoed through the silent room.

It made him want to revert to a blind rage attack. Your voice that was usually so full of life and excitement. Strong and loud that could command an entire room with only a few words. Now, he could hardly hear you, understand you, look at you. Jaw clenching at the question, his teeth grinded together.

When he closed his eyes, he saw visions of you beaten in that warehouse, left for dead. The immense pain you had been suffering through ever since then. Scars that would never fade, both physically and mentally meant he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. Not until he found them.

Your face was doing better, still black and blue, but healing. Able to open your eyes and look at him despite the popped blood vessels. Bandages littered every inch of your skin, wrists tightly wrapped with special medicine for the skin loss.

“Notes,” he murmured, eyes darkening as you asked your question, obviously not wanting to speak about it more. Changing the topic as your pudding came to an end, his hand brushed through your hair, knuckles lightly brushing against your cheek. “What do you need? Anything?”

It was silly. A simple question to see if you really did need anything. It didn’t stop the tears from hurriedly falling down your face. “Yo-you, Peter. I need you. I don’t know where you’ve been, but it hasn’t been here with me. I feel like I’m healing on my own. Like you’re not even here. You sit in that chair, staring at that notebook for days on end. You’ve hardly looked at me, spoken to me, listened to me. Please, just come back to me. Please, Pete.” It was borderline begging, but months of pent up frustration had broken the dam.

Peter’s heart continued to crack with each additional word you said. Realization of what he was doing to you, slamming into him all at once. He nodded, chin resting on one of the side rails, sniffling himself. “I’m here, bug. Whatever you need. I’m so sorry.”

Your only non-fully broken hand you extended towards him, wincing in pain from the movement. Scared to touch you, he only placed your hand back down, removing the side rail to get as close as possible to you.

The rest of the night, you two sat chatting ,watching whatever movies you wanted. It was a glimpse at the man you had seemingly lost all those months ago. Peter was back.

You were released from the hospital just shy of a week later. Peter’s plan to nurse you back to health was his moving in with you. While it was just supposed to be while you recovered, you two ended up enjoying it so much, he was now permanently living there.

It felt like your relationship was shooting by leaps and bounds, spending time together like you had never experienced before. Him being there when you went to bed at night and his face being the first thing you spotted when your eyes opened was a treat you didn’t know you needed.

Feeling content, cared for, respected, and loved like never before. Peter admitted, with your confession to him in the hospital about how distant he had become, tore him apart. He had never seen you moved to tears in such a way, especially over him.

He didn’t realize how deep he had been sucked in until that moment. From then on, Peter swore to keep his other persona on the sidelines for a bit whilst you healed and needed him. Did that mean he was going to stop being Spider-Man in the meantime?

Of course not. It meant that side of him was reserved for the span of time from when you fell asleep to about forty minutes before you would wake up in the morning. Absolutely clueless as to the fact that he had been out all night.

Hunting. Stalking. Tracking.

It was the first night in which you didn’t need him to help lay you down in bed. Peter knew his sleep schedule was already fucked, each time his eyes would drift shut all he could see was you strapped to that chair, nearing death.

And the fact that he hadn’t caught them.

Keeping him up at night, when he could sleep it was plagued by nightmares. Peter knew that there was no opportunity for him to rest while these scumbags were still wandering the streets, looking for another prey to select for their sick games.

Which is why he was doing this without you knowing. Not wanting to worry you and cause you further stress. No, Peter could do this. Would do this. Had to do this. He had made amazing moves. Truly spectacular given the place he had been stuck in before.

They had no idea he had found them, watched their every move, plotted what he was going to do to them. Honestly, when he first spotted one of the three he had discovered had been involved in your…incident, it took every ounce of strength he had to not murder the man right then.

He had to remind himself that all he had to do was provide some patience and the reward would be unlike anything he imagined. And imagine he did.

It was what plagued his thoughts every single day as he watched you hobble around such short distances that only offered pain and tiredness from. His eyes would drift over your still bruised skin as he helped you bathe and it was like witnessing it all over again.

Your hand would tip his chin up, forcing him to lock eyes with you. It was nearly impossible to not see the sadness and hurt in his eyes. Disappointed in himself for letting this happen to you. It didn’t matter because what had happened was now in the past and all you were looking forward to was healing.

The emotional and traumatic scars left on you were not easy to mask. Perhaps that was another reason why Peter was so furious as well. If he moved too quickly behind you, you jumped and a small scream would follow. Trembling for upwards of an hour before settling down. Peter would have to tell you small things to gather your thoughts.

Feel my hand? I`m right here, bug. Here, I want you to use the remote and put on whatever you want. You feel the couch under you? You’re home, baby. You’re safe.

If it weren’t for Peter, you weren’t sure what you would do. He was your rock, your other half, offering reason for unreasonable thoughts. He was your Peter.

The rain was pattering against the window, a sort of white noise you weren’t expecting tonight, but were grateful for it nonetheless. It helped you drift off to a dreamless sleep, exhaustion from trying to do some basic things today taking too much out of you.

Peter was already out of the house before he knew you were soundly asleep. He couldn’t risk being late. Tonight was the night.

Weeks of following them, understanding and breaking their odd patterns, he watched as they went according to plan perfectly. A construction sight for a new high rise. This was their new rendezvous sight for the next attack.

There wouldn’t be another attack.

Counting silently in his head, as he saw a flicker of a small light near the top floor, his count was perfect. They entered exactly on schedule. Crawling down the side of the building and using the thunderstorm to his advantage, he shattered a window a few floors up.

There was no other way that he knew of other than how they had entered and that was far too risky as they had all other doors blocked. As he slowly descended the staircase to scout the floor and determine which room they were in, his hair stood on end as a voice hit his ear.

Three of them. All there. The monsters who were behind your attack. Simply waiting for him.

Except, they didn’t know they were waiting for him. No, tonight was a setup night. Preparation for the coming days of their next plan. Peter had determined fairly early on it was not going to be their final act like they had claimed.

The door was kept slightly ajar with a cinder block, no handles on them yet meaning if it closed, there was no way out for them. Which was their plan for their next victim. Leave the poor soul trapped here with no means of getting out alive.

Peter’s skin was crawling, every instinct shouting at him to just do it. End them now. It would be so easy. He shook off those thoughts, knowing his plan was the correct one.

He dropped to the floor behind them, one of them catching him out of the corner of their eye, a smirk taking over his face. “Spidey boy finally found us, boss.” The thick accent made him hard to understand. Peter kept silent. Very silent.

The other two turned to face him, matching looks on their hideous faces. “How’s your girl? You otta be more careful next time or she could get seriously hurt.” A chuckle escaped them. Peter still didn’t move, watching them from a few paces away.

Quickly deciding they weren’t a fan of the silent treatment, the largest man in the center who Peter knew to be their ringleader drew his gun. In the blink of an eye, web flew towards the gunman, pinning the weapon to the wall behind him.

“Come on now, you didn’t think I knew what you have on you? Just like how I know tweedledee over here is about to throw a knife at me,” Peter ducked out of the way as the blade hurdled towards him. “Now how about we all play nice and introduce ourselves?”

An over exaggerated sigh escaped Peter’s lips as the three men darted towards him, but he acted quickly, webbing them to the surrounding walls, letting one approach him to fight him. “Guess not. Okay, then. I guess I’ll be the one making the rules tonight then.”

Peter grabbed the three chairs from one of the corners of the room before leisurely strolling towards the door and pushing the cinder block from the opening. He whistled a made up tune as he removed them one by one, webbing them to the seats to the point of them not being able to move an inch.

“You know, it’s such a shame sometimes that I wear this mask because I would love you guys to see how big of a smile I have right now. Scouts honor, I am overjoyed that we finally get to do this!” He took his own seat directly across from them.

His head scanned them before pointing at the one on the right. “Let’s start with you bumblebee. What’s your name?” His black and yellow striped shirt was what appointed him his nickname. “You think we’re going to talk? I have nothing to say.”

Peter nodded at his words before looking at the other two. “Same goes for you two then, I assume?” When they didn’t respond, instead only seeing spit hurl towards him, he dropped his head, shaking it. “Such a shame. Alright, last chance. Just give me a name.”

Silence.

A shrug. “It brings me no joy to resort to this, fellas. I’m truly not a violent person. I pride myself on being as gentle as I can be. " He began pacing around, his chair discarded behind him now. “Igor, Viktor, Sasha.” He pointed at each of them individually as he divulged their names.

He gave himself a small satisfactory pump into the air at his success. He could tell he was correct by the little one on the lefts eyes growing slightly wider. It was just the start. As Peter continued on, he got tiny tidbits of information. Only when he presented to them what he knew. Which at this point was everything.

Names, date of births, addresses, spouses, children, education records, dental records, you name it, Peter had it. It still wasn’t enough to get them talking like how he wanted. Instead, Peter fell into the second part of his plan earlier than he had expected.

With seven toes, five fingers, three teeth, many beatings, and an ear, they were beginning to squeal. The leader, Igor, was suspended from the ceiling by his bound hands submerged in webbing. He was entirely nude, body cut up in ways that had blood spilling from him ferociously.

Viktor was webbed entirely to the floor, his entire body covered in fluid despite only one singular nostril. He was the one who cracked first which Peter expected after his reaction to his grandmothers home address in his tiny village in his home country. It was quickly discovered that he was mainly an action man, simply doing what he was told, not a mastermind of any sort.

The other one, Sasha, was who most of the beatings had gone towards once Viktor had divulged it was him who had mainly been the culprit in your beating. Webbed to the wall with no chance of escape, Peter mimicked all the injuries you had sustained on him and then some. Just missing a few fingers and toes now as well.

As the night drew to a close, Peter admired the work he had done. He wiped his gloved hands in a motion to signify he was wrapping up. They were hardly conscious enough at this point to understand what was happening to them. To understand the fate they had drawn themselves to.

There was just one final thing he needed to do. Grabbing the needle and thread he brought with him for tonight and tonight only, he walked slowly towards the nude man. “Did you know that I sew all of my suits? Crazy right! How in the world does he have the time to do this, you might ask. It’s a valid question, but you know what, if I took it to lets say a seamstress, I would be unbelievably broke. Not to mention, how does one drop off the Spider-Man suit without drawing suspicion. First world problems, am I right?” 

The man didn’t respond, but as Peter pierced the needle into his skin, his yelp rang in Peter’s ears. “Ah, ah, ah, don’t be moving around now, you’ll make my stitches go all out of wack here.” Peter took his time, but as he finished he admired the handy work.

Sewn into the man chest was a letter of his own. Crafted just for them. A message curated specifically for their enjoyment.

“How time flies, boys. Suns coming up here shortly. Time for me to be heading out.” He smashed a window, ready to crawl out, but he remembered one final thing he needed to do. Walking back over to Igor, he pulled his head back by the hair on his scalp, making him look into the bug eyed mask.

The whimper that fell from the grown man was laughable to Peter. “If you or your dogs come near anyone I love again, our next visit will not be as enjoyable as this one. If you get out of here, I mean.” Tears fell from the corner of his eyes as Peter released his head to fall back into its resting position.

“See you later, guys! Make better choices!” He called out behind himself as he crawled out the window, webbing it shut behind him before making his way home to you.

It was the first time in months that Peter felt like he could breathe. Taking in the fresh morning air, just minutes before the sun began to peak on the horizon, signaling the arrival of a new day. His lungs expanded with the deep breath of air, wanting to sob at the weight removed from his shoulders.

As he made his way back into the apartment, he spotted you in bed. Still curled up in the comforter, sound asleep, none the wiser of his whereabouts the night before. The brusing getting less and less noticeable by the day.

When he crawled into bed next to you, he refused to fall asleep, not tired in the least. No, instead as the sun began to shine through the curtains, he watched you. Watched as your chest rose and fell with each breath, grateful you were taking those breaths.

Because Peter knew that it wasn’t long ago where those breaths weren’t guaranteed. Now, he counted each one, to make sure you were okay. Of course you were okay now. Peter just needed to make sure.

It wasn’t too long after when you began stirring, eyes blinking open to see his golden eyes staring down at you with the softest gaze Peter had ever had. “Morning,” you mumbled, he whispered it back to you.

“You sleep okay?” He asked, to which you nodded, asking him the same. “Of course I did.��� You smiled, getting up and ready to start your day.

You just needed to pretended you didn’t see the bruises adorning his knuckles. “What’s for breakfast?”

[ficthots]

Starred reading your kylo fic bonded. Just so good! Can't wait to read more

Thank you so much!

[ficthots]

Begging for bonded chapter 6

In the que I promise!!

[ficthots]

just finished reading “Bonded” and omg I’m obsessed😭 will we be getting ch.6 soon?👀

You're so sweet thank you! Yes, it is in the works and will be out soon!

[ficthots]

I miss your greta van fleet fics so much.

What if I told you that I have a Danny piece near completion that could be up as soon as this weeks end…👀

[ficthots]

Bonded: Chapter Five

A/N: Well hello everyone! I know it has been a hot minute since I've posted. Life gets hectic every once in awhile and I apologize for my absence. The slow burn is getting better! As always let me know what you guys think and enjoy!

Word Count: 6.5K+

Chapter Four, Chapter Six

There was no sound explanation to what had happened the night before. It wracked your brain for days, producing a horribly eerie sense of paranoia. Constantly looking over your shoulder to see if someone, that man in particular, was lurking in a corner, memorizing your movements from afar.

You were careful to not mention the occurrence to either your ladies-in-waiting or an Order official like General Waylan. It was consuming you whole, the hair on the nape of your neck permanently standing at attention. You ended up trying to see if that drink of choice from dinner that evening all those nights ago was known for being a hallucinogen. Nothing. Perhaps after consuming it in large portions like you had? No. You had ended up reaching a dead end in your research.

It was proving difficult to sleep. Staying up at night, trying to see if there was a secret entrance to your room that perhaps only the Supreme Leader had access to. You had torn your room upside down the morning after the vision. Calista and Tamsyn were shocked when they entered your quarters and saw the state your room was in.

There were no clues, no hidden hatches, nothing to give way to an answer. Trying to plan the final open house of the season had been placed on the back burner for you. In fact, it wasn’t on your mind at all. Handing things over to Kenzoto manage for you while you tried to get to the bottom of this. To ease yourself back to a place of normalcy.

The worried whispers and gazes did not fall on deaf ears with you. You had heard them, listened to their explanations, and then went back on your own hunt. Another restless night was ahead of you, eyes wide open, staring at the darkened ceiling, mindlessly counting the tiles once again, when the familiar sensation from before washed over you.

Like being transported somewhere else while not moving an inch. The echoes of another voice and their thoughts bounced in your head. Your hands began trembling, sweat beading on your forehead and upper lip. Fear wracked your body, squeezing your eyes shut, trying to will this to stop.

“Dove? Are you awake?” You knew that voice, recognized it immediately. Refusing to open your eyes and see if he was the one standing at the foot of your bed, you lay completely still. Your heart was racing, the blood rushing in your ears still couldn’t drown out the voice that lingered behind.

After laying in silence for a fleeting moment, you thought he might have left or stopped whatever this was. Peeking your eyes open, your breath caught in your throat in a choked sob as you witnessed the towering figure looming over you.

Hand clamping down over your mouth, your eyes darted to the securely closed door, the servants entrance also still locked from the inside. How did he get into your room? Again?

Your weak and meager voice broke through the barrier, but it too registered just like his. A distant voice being carried through an open space that you could not recognize. “Wha-what do you want? How are you doing this?” Willing your voice to remain even and steady, you questioned him.

His eyes squinted, looking around before settling back on you. “Can you see my surroundings? I can’t see yours.” Shaking your head, you pulled your covers up slightly higher on your frame. “You-you’re in my room, Kylo. What do you mean you can’t see my surroundings?”

Irritation started to lick and seep into your words. He was the one who entered your space, frightening you in the dead of night, and now he was teasing and harassing you? Yet, he only hummed in contemplation as a response.

When you blinked again, your eyes darted to your door, hearing footsteps approaching on the other side. As you looked to where the shadow of him once was, he was gone, vanished entirely before your eyes. An entity of your imagination.

Your bedroom door flew open, a worried Layana standing in the doorway. “Em-empress, are you alright? Who were you speaking to?” She looked around at the room, seeing that you were entirely by yourself.

Shaking your head, you laid back down in utter disbelief. You didn’t respond to her, letting her leave on her own. You had turned and faced away from where she stood, staring out at the vast space before you.

You counted the ships leaving and entering the hangar to lull yourself to sleep that night. It didn’t work.

Pushing the food around on your plate, General Waylan spoke excitedly about something you had stopped listening to the moment he sat at your dining table. All you could think about was Kylo. How he had disappeared right before your eyes. 

It reminded you of your fifth birthday party. Of course, growing up as a royal meant having more extravagant events, not silly childish birthday parties, but after too much begging your parents finally caved.

Entertainers from all over the galaxy were hired to put shows on for you and your friends in the palace gardens. The one that had drawn your attention most was someone who claimed to be a wielder of magic.

His silly tricks had done little to impress the princess, but he assured you he had saved the best for last. Putting a small creature into his bag, you couldn’t recall the words he used or the story he told, but your eyes blew wide when he turned the bag upside down and there was nothing in there.

A magician.

Perhaps that was what Kylo was. An odd hobby for the Supreme Leader, but maybe that’s what it was. A hobby of some sort? Yet, what did he mean he couldn’t see your surroundings? You knew that the Supreme Leader was odd. Secrets and rumors littered the Order and speaking honestly, the entire galaxy, about special abilities he possessed. You weren’t aware of what these powers were, but they were being used to seemingly stalk you at night.

It began to fill your thoughts. The idea that maybe magic was real. That there were in fact people around us that were able to wield the magic and bend it to their whim. All of those fairy tales could be true from your childhood bedtime tales.

Would Kylo be in a fairy tale though?

Dropping your fork to your plate, it left your mouth hurriedly. “General, what can you tell me about Kylo Red?” You had cut him off mid-sentence, startling him. His eyes fell down to his nearly empty plate, wiping his mouth with the cloth napkin before setting it back on the tabletop.

“What would you like to know, Empress?” Leaning back in the wooden chair, you shrugged. “What is that thing that sits on his hip?” He followed your lead, resting back in his chair casually. A small sigh escaped his lips before speaking. “A light saber.”

The word was foreign on your tongue. “Light saber? Is that a weapon?” It was one of the things you had noticed last night when he somehow visited you once more. It was bulky, but as you thought more of it, the more you realized it was always in his possession.

Waylan nodded. “Yes. It is a special type of weapon that only a select few individuals get to adorn.” Browns furrowing, you leaned forward on the table, eyeing the General. You didn’t mean to speak so bluntly, but you did. “Because of his powers, right?”

The General laughed, but agreed. “His powers, yes. They are not what you would describe as powers though. Do you know of the Force?” It rang a bell in the deep crevices of your memory, perhaps having learned about it in education long ago.

“I’ve heard of it, yes. He has the Force?” You weren’t even sure you were using the term correctly. General Waylaninterlinked his fingers, resting his hands on the cool wood of the table top, pushing his plate back. “The Supreme Leader is a Force user. Has been since he was just a child, but he uses the Force to aid him in his missions as the Supreme Leader.”

Gnawing on the inside of your cheek, you narrowed your eyes. “What can the Force do?” His head cocked at your question, obviously wondering where the sudden interest in the Force, let alone Kylo, was perplexing to him.

“Why? Do you have something in particular in mind?” Battling within yourself and wondering if you should just tell him, you ultimately decided to be as vague as possible. “Would it allow someone to be in a place where they are not?”

His aging hand rubbed at his graying beard, thinking it over in his head. “I’ve never heard of that. Why do you bring up that example?” Trying to mask your curious mind, you plastered a large smile on your face. “No, this is just fascinating to me and I am not well versed about the ways of the Force.”

General Waylan immediately bought your excuse. “Ah, well a curious mind you do indeed have, Empress.” The General departed only minutes prior, letting your thoughts consume you as you rushed off to your office.

You spent the next two days straight going through every book and file you could get your hands on. Yet, it all led to not. There was little to no information about the Force or the users at all. Only an occasional sentence here and there, buried deep within the contents of whatever you were perusing.

What did that leave you with then? What answers or rational conclusion could you come to with what little you had to go on?

Sleep deprivation.

That was all you could assume it was. Trying to reason and rationalize with yourself, you remembered watching him leave your residence just a bit prior to seeing him in the corner. It was a dream or a nightmare. More likely a hallucination than anything, but given it had happened two nights where you could admit being more than tired, your brain had given you this strange vision.

You had spent too much time dwelling on it. Even missing your mother’s departure just the day after the first hallucination. Kenzo’s plate had become loaded down with tasks that you had been all but neglecting during your obsessive rampage.

When you finally walked into your office, seeing Kenzo worriedly sorting through papers, electronic files, and you could see his data pad lighting up with various event tasks, you felt horrible for leaving this all to him for as long as you had. How long had it even been? A week? Two weeks? You didn’t have the slightest clue, but it didn’t matter.

Walking towards him, you grabbed a catalog sitting on the edge of the desk, you quickly flipped through it. “Ah, Empress, that is for-” you cut him off, pointing at the centerpiece. “We need forty of these ordered and expedited here. Is the guest list finalized? What have we decided in regards to catering?”

A breath of relief exhaled from Kenzo, standing from your seat and filling you in on all of the details you had missed. You sat in that chair for countless hours that night, making finalized plans and executing your decisions as quickly as possible. 

The final event of the season was fastly approaching which meant hours, days, and weeks passed in a blur or lists, meetings, and trips. Not being able to recall the last night you had been able to sleep soundly in your own bed, enjoyed your own bath, or ate the food you so desperately craved.

Having missed the amount of time you had, it meant you were continuously playing catch up. Tasks that should have been handled weeks ago were still sitting at the top of your lists. Invitations sent late, but more confirmed attendees then the last meant hosting an event so large it was near record breaking for the Order. 

A small blessing in disguise honestly. With you being as busy as you were meant that Kylo and you were not interacting. You simply weren’t around enough to bump into him, cross paths with him, anything of the like.

This was the event that was going to catapult you into the next phase of your work. A massive party, as many Order officials as possible to fill the halls of the magnificent venue you had chosen. Nearly every planet you could think of was sent an invitation to attend.

Nearly all had agreed. 

Following this open house, you were going to be embarking on a galaxy tour. One that would take you to the farthest corners of the galaxy to observe where these individuals called home. Your list was growing so fast and so long you were worried you would never be able to finish. 

The endless possibilities of these new and old alliances excited Order officials in away that you had never seen. Sharing your plans in your meetings, as you updated the ever growing list, eyebrows raised in surprise. Shock evident that you were capable of performing any duties at all to this magnitude. 

When they day of had finally arrived, you were eager to get to the venue as quickly as possible and being placing orders on those who needed them most. There was no room for any mishaps or errors tonight. No, this was far too important for even the wrong serving utensils to be placed out. 

Heading to the room designated as your getting ready spot, you would let one member do a section of your hair before removing yourself once again to double and triple check on every minute detail. You could easily tell that your ladies-in-waiting were growing frustrated with your antsy tendencies. 

Finally, Tamsyn was able to glue you to your seat to begin finishing your touches for the evening before guests were due to arrive shortly. One final walk through before getting dressed, you were pleased to see the decorations almost completely put up around the ballroom. Finishing touches here and there were being completed right before your eyes and the breath of relief that escaped from your lungs was palpable in the room. 

It was gorgeous. The dome that covered the dance floor was entirely made of glass, showcasing the wondrous lights of the skyscrapers that surrounded this ancient building. The suns beginning to set had wondrous colourscapes dancing through the glass ceiling setting the room in a warm glow. 

While the building itself was large enough to house everyone, it would be tight fit, but the various hallways and gardens would be of great help. Large groups of workers ran around the building, putting final touches on what you pointed out to them. A slurry of specialized suits for the servers dashed around you when your head snapped to the side. 

It was there again. The feeling that crawled under your skin and sat deep within your bones. Kylo was in your head again. You had no idea how he was able to do this, knowing he was somewhere else in the galaxy after declining to attend this event as well. 

But he was there. Echoing into the blank corners of your mind. Your hands began to fidget, the color entirely draining from your features, unable to peel your eyes away from where they had instinctively gone to. 

Calista appeared from behind, drawing you back to the present, and informed you that with the first guests set to arrive shortly, it was of utmost importance to get you dressed. You have no idea how you were able to walk away from where you had been standing, the connection that had been there gone just as it had appeared. Yet, it always left that feeling lingering behind.

There sat the breathtaking gray tulle gown, one shouldered, embellished with dazzling stars over the pillowy skirt. The gold of the stars left dazzling dust behind, trickling down the bodice and onto the top of the skirt. Layana had ensured your hair would be partially up, away from the shoulder of the gown, letting the features be showcased how they were meant to be. It had been custom made for you tonight to put your best foot forward as you encountered many a people who needed the best impression of you possible.

As the final touches were done to your hair, your dress placed on you perfectly, you couldn’t bring yourself to smile at the reflection in the mirror. Feeling as though he was there, standing directly behind you and watching your every move. No one else could see him, but you could. Eyes locked in the mirror. Your hand caught the shine of your simple band that had sat on your ring finger for months now.

Brow slightly furrowing, you moved your hand back and forth as it caught the light, his eyes followed yours as well. When you looked back up, he was gone. The girl quick chatter was mumbled in your ear canals. Your attention only able to feel the slim band as it weighed your hand down. A false facade to put on for the people of the galaxy. Although the marriage itself was in fact quite legal and true, the emotion and feelings were not.

No one knew that you had personally invited the Supreme Leader to the event the week before it was set to occur. You caught him after a committee meeting as he was leaving the room. All others had long since left, but you had stayed back, a small glimmer of hope in you. After announcing how many had planned to be in attendance, you were feeling proud and as though perhaps he too was impressed and would want to be present to see what this was going to entail. 

A branch of some sort that you were placing between you both. Asking him to be there, thinking that all of these meetings and random visits over the several months you had been around meant something. What could they mean? That you did not know, but you were willing to find out. Had to find out. For your own sanity and childish hopefulness that still sat deep within.

He looked at you behind the black visor, unmoving before finally responding. “I leave for a mission the day before.” And with that, he left. Not another word muttered or thought. Crushing disappointment you had set yourself up for.

You tried not to think about the reality of your situation too often. The reality of your life. How you were married to a stranger of a person. A person you had seen without his helmet less than a handful of times. Who never showcased a flicker of emotion in the cold case of himself. Someone who hardly spoke to you, just nods as you passed in the halls of the Supremacy. A man who would never be by your side for these public nights. Important events that you had planned, but those details meant nothing to him. A monster that is your husband.

Jumping in your spot, you startled as Tam peeked her head in the door of your room. “Dove, we’re ready for you. Are you alright?” The shift in your demeanor was slim, but because of how long you had known one another, if you breathed the wrong way, she would know. Seeing you were off kilter, had been for weeks, she didn’t understand what was causing it. At times worse than others. 

Nodding in response, you turned on your heel, making your way to the large staircase that would lead you to the heart of the party. The music was already loud, hearing the thunderous chatter of party goers, you smiled to yourself at the sound.

General Waylan offered to escort you that night which you gladly agreed to. Your matching gold headpiece was thin but stood at attention on your scalp. A small headband with a halo of stars to match the embellishments of your gown. Waylan offered sincere compliments, but as you began walking down the stairs, the music halted and cheers and clapping erupted below.

Your shocked expression turned to one of surprise as General Waylan began addressing the crowds after it had began dying down to listen to one of the most important men of the Order. One you were proud to call a friend.

“On behalf of the First Order we want to welcome you all to our open house, the final of the season!” More cheers, your own clapping being audible as you stood next to him. “However, I believe the greatest thanks and praise belong to you, Empress.” Turning his attention towards you, he continued on.

“For planning these wonderful events, where we can catch up with old friends, make many new ones, and build relationships that span the galaxy. Becoming one of the most adored faces of the Order, to you Empress, we owe many thanks.” As he finished his small speech, you gave a gracious grin to your friend.

Clearing your throat you began speaking. “Thank you for such kindness and your most generous words, General Waylan, they are not taken lightly. To you all,” turning to face the crowds, your smile only grew, “thank you for taking the time to come and visit after traveling from all across the galaxy, to be here tonight. Your friendship and partnership is the most valuable thing to myself, the Order, and my husband, the Supreme Leader. Please, enjoy the evening! I look forward to chatting with you all.”

Graciously accepting the biggest bow from the crowd and Order officials you had ever seen, you made your way down the final steps and were immediately engulfed in the swarm of people. It wouldn’t be for many hours until you would be able to catch your breath.

The evening was going off without a hitch. No arguments, fights, or anything of the like had happened meaning the heightened security you had ensured would be present was all for not. Engaging in more dancing than you thought possible, it seemed as each dance finished, you were swept up into another. The only reason you had gotten away now was because you claimed to needed to briefly step away to freshen yourself up.

Even still, claims on you for following dances had already been hastily made. These men knew that it was the only way to get your ear for a few uninterrupted minutes. Many under the impression you held the greatest influence over the Supreme Leader and whatever was relayed to you would eventually make its way back to him. How little they knew. 

It also meant your feet were screaming in pain and begging for a few minutes of relief. Eyes scanning the crowd as you sipped from your goblet, you weren’t sure who you were looking for, but weren’t surprised when the disappointment wormed its way into your gut anyways.

Snapping out of your thoughts, a dashing older gentleman stood to your side. “Hello Empress.” His accent was thick, one you had never heard before. “Oh! Hello there.” His smooth complexion was not quite human, but not sure what other species he could be. One you had never set eyes on before.

His blonde hair was entirely slicked back, eyes all one deep black, no irises to be seen. He was older, but not old, perhaps middle aged if he were human. When he smiled at you, his teeth were not normal, but you did not want to appear rude and stare. “May I have this next dance, Empress? It seems as though this is the only time I’ve been able to spot you alone all night.”

Immediately agreeing, you let him take your arm and lead you towards the ballroom floor. Your heels echoed on the tiled floor as you once again found your spot in the lines. Directly centered as was the rule for the Empress, you began listening to his vague explanation of his home planet, instead more focused on his people.

“We are a prideful folk, very rooted in…tradition.” He was incredibly soft spoken, even toned, not a raise in his voice even as the music occasionally drowned him out. “Our traditions are what we base our daily living around. The teachings of the elders to us begins from birth and we then assume the role of the elders. It continues this way for all eternity. Our teachings come from the ancient scrolls,” it was at this moment you knew exactly what type of people they were.

Religious groups. Extremists that have been chased away by other societies. Not comfortable with their outrageous ideologies that were harmful to outsiders, they were banished to desolate planets that did not exist on maps. Instead, they live their lives planet hopping, trying to find the answers to ancient questions posed in their texts, killing any and all species and creatures that could stand in their way.

People you knew not to get involved with. Recalling the lessons from your adolescent education as Princess, your father made sure you knew the danger that lurked with these groups. They were rarely spotted in public, let alone at massive events like this. In fact, he was the only one you had seen so far. 

Why was he here? 

Noting that the dance was drawing to a close within the next minute, you knew the remainder of this traditional dance was finished in close quarters. Trying to remain impartial and calm, your chest was within a hair of his.

His gaze bore into yours, long hands cupping your elbows, growing tighter with each word that left his lips. “Make no mistake, Empress. We will stop at nothing to fulfill our prophecies.” As your eyes widened, beginning to try and pull away from the bruising grip that had began to hurt moments before, it all halted as screams echoed into the air around you.

It was a blur, all that happened next.

The creature’s hands tried to pull you with him, wherever he was going, but was unable to move you. The screams only grew louder as people began rushing all around you in a haste to evacuate the building. Wind filled the once enclosed space. The once glass dome was raining down from above in the most dangerous rainstorm you had ever encountered.

Except, it was not rain that lightly kissed your flesh, but instead tiny and large shards of glass that bit as they cascaded around you. In only another breath, the room spun fast, turning upside down as you tried to understand your surroundings.

Were you upside down?

Only for a brief moment as your back was pressed firmly against anothers. The material was familiar as it brushed along your arms and bare back. The scent you knew too well filled your senses. As you opened your eyes, turning your head to try and get a look at who this was, you had no chance.

Another breath, a new location. A pair of arms wrapped securely around your torso, having flown through the air at a speed you didn’t know was possible. You hadn’t even moved your legs. Your back collided with their chest.

It allowed you the perfect view of what was happening in the ballroom.

There he stood, back to you, but clearer than ever as to who your savior was. People stood rooted to their spots in fear at the sight of him while others rushed to leave the building as hastily as possible. Realizing now that all exit points were secured by none other than the Knights of Ren. There stood Ren himself.

His light saber ignited in a flash of fury, rising far above his head before moving down towards the man that had just been dancing with you only seconds prior. Your hands held firm to the forearms that rested on your stomach. Gasping as you saw the blonde head roll to the side of the room, the dark eyes looking directly at you.

Whoever held you began moving in a hurry with you still in his grasp, acting like you weighed nothing, just another weapon in his artillery. You knew it was a Knight you were with, but which one was still a mystery to you.

Attempting to catch your breath as you enter an unfamiliar ship, you finally croaked out a response. “Vic-Vicrul?Wha-what's happening? What wa-was that?” Your thoughts were coming out faster than you could speak, trying to catch your breath.

He ignored you entirely, getting the ship out of there as fast as humanly possible. Understanding that his main priority was getting you to safety, you couldn’t help but pester him with questions. All of which went unanswered.

What happened? Who was that? Why were you all there? How long had you been there? Why won’t you answer me? Is Kylo in danger and in need of help?

That last one had a small chuckle escape under his breath at your ridiculous questioning. While you were happy he thought this was a joking matter, you did not. “Victual, as your Empress I demand an answer! Now!” Your raised voice shook with seething anger, hands trembling as you tried to piece things together.

His masked head slowly turned towards you, only giving you this response before returning to utter silence. “The Supreme Leader did his duty.” You sat immediately after, stewing in your own silence, trying to understand what the hell that meant.

When you touched down on the Supremacy, you hurried towards your residence, but were met by your ladies’ worried and fearful expressions in a hallway. They embraced you hurriedly, Tamsyn cupping your cheeks and checking you for any serious wounds.

“Goodness, how are you? Are you okay? We need to bandage your arms, but otherwise are you okay? Thank the stars you aren’t more injured. We heard about the incident when they came and searched here.” Your brows drew inward at her words. “When who searched here?”

Layana spoke next. “The Knights. They searched here first before going to the event. Orders of the Supreme Leader they said.” Your jaw set, nostrils flaring in anger. Feeling your blood boiling, you pushed through the girls and continued towards your residence. They followed on your heels closely, badgering you with questions about the events that had transpired.

As you informed them of the evening, leaving out the heroic entry of Kylo, the girls worked slowly at removing all of the bits and pieces from your intricate hairstyle, excess jewelry, and gaudy makeup. Layana stood at attention when an Order official made her way into your chambers, requesting your lady in waiting.

When she reappeared only a minute later, her wide eyes were unsure of what to tell you. “Empress?” You hummed in response as Tamsyn went to pick your night clothes, Calista still trying to find all remaining pieces in your hair. Your headpiece had fallen from the crown of your head when Kylo had flipped you. “The Supreme Leader is here and has requested a private word with you.”

Eyes locking with hers in your vanity mirror, you nodded after a brief moment of silence from all in the room, sending all three of them out of your chambers via the servers entrance and announced he was allowed into your chambers. As he stepped into your room, the doorway was seemingly dwarfed by his presence.

His all black garb made him stand out from the white furniture and decor in your quarters. “Layana said you wished to speak with me?” You posed to him as you continued removing your hair from the styling, the pins that she had missed, but you could still feel.

“You are upset?” His calm and even tone hardly sounded like a question. Perhaps an observation of your motions and movements, which led him to believe you were…annoyed with him? The door was firmly shut behind him, you knew all workers in your quarters had filed out the second he stepped inside, so you went with your emotions.

Speaking through gritted teeth, your gaze never lifted to his. “Angry is more accurate.” He did not move, did not speak again, simply watching you. When your eyes finally bounced up to his, he took the chance to speak. “About?” Still no hint of emotion, seemingly staring into a droids face as your blood boiled over.

This was one of the longest conversations you had ever had with him. He was acting as though this was an entirely normal encounter between you two. As though he hadn’t cast you adrift the moment you were legally bound to him for the rest of your days. 

Exploding in frustration, you decided this was your only chance to voice your complaints. Not knowing when if ever you would have another chance like this to speak privately with him where you held more control than ever before. 

“About? You have got to be toying with me, Kylo! For star’s sake, I have everything to be angry about! How you knew the exact moment to be there when things went awry? The fact that for months and months I have been here and have been ignored and belittled by you and your men. Dealing with your ridiculous mood swings that border on child like behavior. The work I have been putting in here has been exhausting and you show not one ounce of appreciation or thanks. That I am your wife and have been treated as some commoner to you! We do not even reside in the same sector of the ship! We have dined together once before in our entirety of marriage. You dare ask me what I am angry about? Everything! I am angry about everything, Kylo!”

Catching your breath, you watched as his jaw clicked, knowing it took all restraint he had to not respond mid complaint. His nostrils flared in his own showing of irritation, prickling his skin as you hurled this information at him. Your anger still pummeled you, wanting to say more, but knowing it was best to keep still until he could respond. Knowing you had already signed your death warrant anyways by speaking to him in the fashion you had.

Yet, he was careful, taking his time to conjure up a response to you. Actively attempting not to anger you any more. A show of restraint he had never had to do before. One that he did not know he was even possible of exhibiting. 

“Do you know about the Force?” Blinking rapidly, you were confused as to where this had come from. “The For-force? Yes, I have heard of the Force. What does this have to do with anything I just said.” He sat on the edge of the stool by your bed. Removing his gloves, he took his time before speaking again.

Setting his gloves next to him, his dark eyes watched your figure as he began speaking. “I am a Force user. Which means that I am capable of abilities that others do not have.” Your confusion was etched on your face, arms crossed over your chest, leaning on your vanity as you listened.

“It comes from my family lineage. My grandfather was the greatest Force user to ever exist. I will surpass him in that sense. That is my goal as Supreme Leader.” You didn’t have time to respond as he continued speaking. “The Force, at times, does things that make little to no sense. I try to make sense of these things by way of meditation. It is a large sector of my training. It is a large portion of my missions.” He was explaining things to you that you never thought he actually would take the time to speak with you about. You knew to remain silent to let him speak further. More than you had ever received from him before.

“There is a part of the Force called a bond. Do you know what a Force bond is, Empress?”

Shaking your head hesitantly, you saw him slightly nod before lightly sighing, jaw clicking one more. “It can happen between two Force sensitive individuals. It is rare when two people are connected in such a way via the Force. In fact, it is exceptionally rare.” He paused, as if he was trying to word things before talking again. Eyes locking on yours from the small distance you shared in the room, his nostrils flared. “It is entirely unheard of for it to happen between one Force user and one non-user, nor even remotely sensitive.”

Your heart was racing, pounding uncontrollably in your chest as you listened to his every word. His eyes never left your own, trying to determine your reaction despite your cool demeanor still. 

His next words were ones you never expected to hear from anyone, let alone KyloRen. It was like everything had stopped at that moment, forever changing your life from that moment forward. “We are bonded. In a way that I do not understand. I was unaware of it until the day I landed on Bar'leth and it was…powerful.”

As your brain began connecting dots, Kylo continued through gritted teeth. “Too much. It distracted me,” you breathed out a response, sitting in your stool. “Which is why we did the private ceremony.” He only nodded, jaw set, before releasing a shaky breath.

“It has been distracting me ever since. I have fought with my entire being to ignore it, but during training and meditation it is all that occurs and fills my mind. When we were leaving on our mission there was something screaming at me that you were in some sort of danger. It was why I connected with you before you went downstairs, to check to see if everything was okay. It didn’t go away, even after I had seen you. I sent the Knight’s and troopers to search your residence and when they found nothing, we went to the event. Which is why we got there when we did.”

The explanation you had been waiting for. Fingers nervously picking at each other, you spoke in a hardly audible way. “Why did you not tell me this, Kylo?” He shot up from his seat, crossing the room to you, encroaching on your space. Your neck craned to keep eye contact with him as he approached you.

“Because I didn’t want to. I thought I could ignore it, but it will no longer let me.” Your eyes narrowed at him, a loud, exasperated breath expelling from your lungs. “What does this all mean? You tell me this elaborate tale of why I’ve been treated so poorly, because of some thing I’ve never heard of that we apparently are tied together from. What do you want me to do with this?” You spoke hurriedly, but halted when his warm hands grabbed yours.

He swallowed thickly, taking a beat before uttering his response. “To give me an opportunity to try again. I know not to ignore the Force.” You fought the tremble that was becoming present in your body, temperature spiking at what he was about to say to you.

“Can I try again, my Empress?”

[ficthots]

One of your followers checking up on you. Doing okay? Hope your health has been on the upswing; it can be so so hard to deal with the everyday when one is feeling poorly. Sending positive thoughts your way! Take care!

Hi hon! Thank you so much for your messages, I truly appreciate them. Yes, I am doing much better! I have some things coming very very soon 🫶

[ficthots]

Will you be writing any gvf stuff soon? I adore you

Hi there! Yes, absolutely. I have a couple of things in the works that I’m hoping will be coming very very soon 🫶

[ficthots]

Hello!! I'm the one who asked the question about Rey's part in the Bonded fic and I just wanted you to know that your answer was perfect! Don't worry abt it being too indirect. I'm so excited to see what happens next 💗

Chapter Five is being posted this weekend!! Thank you for your interest ❤️

[ficthots]

Hello!!! Hope you've been doing well! I have a few questions abt the Bonded fic. I was wondering that since Kylo Ren is the Supreme Leader at the beginning of the fic, that means its set after ep 8, so I was wondering if he still had feelings for Rey at that point since they've already encountered a bunch? Also, if he is still attached to her in some way, will that become a conflict in later chapters? Maybe where he has some sort of internal struggle between the mc and Rey? Or if the reader was jealous of Rey and Kylo's situation? It's 100% dandy if Rey isn't involved in the story at all, I was just curious on if she'll play a role later! Thank you for your time

Hello and thank you for this marvelous ask!

I don’t want to give too much away, but let me just say that no Rey does not play a part in this story. It will become abundantly clear why in the coming chapters. I promise I am working on it and chapter five is near completion!

Sorry it wasn’t more of a direct answer, but it will be worth it I assure you!