#//Can't hurt to have a backup...at least; that's what she'd say

[oceanxveiined]

Her obsession with the Abyss, as well as each and every undertaking she's tasked herself with always had pretty much one common denominator and purpose–to assure her own well-being and safety. To ensure she would never be powerless in the face of a threat on her life ever again, however she can. It has been that way since she'd received her Vision, since she'd had to fight to protect her family, and each and every lethal encounter after that. At her very core, she wants to survive.

Admittedly though, even that will be secondary to not only whatever knowledge she seeks to gain from an encounter, but the assurance that her brother, or more recently her group will survive, regardless of whether it will doom her or not. Hence, it is why she will take such horribly reckless and seemingly thoughtless extremes of risk to herself in her information gathering. It's never been just her maddened drive to succeed and achieve that fuels it, but in fact because at least one of her most precious allies either stand behind her in the endeavor or happen to be one who will benefit most if she pushes to return to them with something to show for her efforts.

That, she will consider worth more than her own well-being, any day.

[titanicfreija]

"These will be more personal questions, and possibly upsetting."

"Oh-kay?"

"When you die, are you frightened?"

"... No. Haven't had a good reason to be. There's places where I would be, but I haven't been."

"Is it painful?"

"Sometimes. I'm pretty good about dying fast, so not often. Surviving to flee hurts, though. Poor Sunny'll about cry if I do it too much, pretty sure she'd rather repair a corpse than heal a bullet wound that didn't kill me. Don't really blame her, they get pretty ugly. Crucible was hard on both of us for a while, but I'm pretty good at running before my shields break, these days."

"Is there a preferred or most hated death?"

"Ummm. If I've just really gotta die -- I don't like it. Even if it's not painful or scary, it's inconvenient-- but if I've really gotta pick the best and worst, it's Drop Pods and getting sniped by psions."

"You flatter us. Why?"

~

"Drop Pods are so fast they feel more like teleporting than dying. Psion snipers-- there's a few others that do this, but the psions came to mind because of you, I guess-- but so, the ones with the right firepower, I guess they're LFRs , they open whatever they shoot on the first hit. Sometimes it'll take them two, but they bust shield and plate and hit flesh before I can even register I've been shot, too busy reeling and confused, much less can I tell where it came from. Opens my helmet, ruins my visual feed, fucks with my hearing; clears armor off a chunk, at the very least a deep bruise; cripples or takes off a limb. They never kill me outright, though, so it's only going to damage and hurt. A lot. If I move fast enough, can get my barricade up-- and I have to start that as soon as I hear the charge up, I can't wait 'til I've been hit--and they're gonna hit me while I'm doing it-- I can save my ass and Sunny can heal me up before I try to run. Odds are decent that they'll pop me again before I can escape or chase me out of cover and into their allies. Prefer they get me than allies."

"How visceral."

"What's that mean?"

"It means the way you're talking about it makes it easy to imagine."

"Oh. So, yeah, I hate those things. They take juuuuuust long enough to kill me to be particularly memorable, and they're some of the hardest to escape and kill back with any kind of plain reaction-- gotta aim, they usually have friends a lot closer, and just... Yeah."

"Are you ever frightened on the battlefield?"

"... Of what? Consequences of loss, sometimes? Stakes aren't always high, but they get that way."

"Does dying frequently affect your mood?"

"... I get pretty angry after a minute. I'm usually trying to get something done, some loot or clearing somewhere important to Vanguard or civilians, and having to start over or start and stop, any time I can't get a job done when I wanted to, I get. Uh. Mean. And angry."

"It's okay. By the time she's lashing out at me, she's throwing herself into death head first over and over and I can just listen to her scream without having to hit back."

"Oh-ho!"

"Did you just make her laugh?"

"Shh."

"Hmph! Are you concerned for the lives and physical well-being of your Guardian friends?"

"Yeah to an extent. Rise hates being shot. And she's better at helping me up than I am at helping her up, so it's better for her to live than me. It's generally best to keep as many alive and healthy as possible just for the backup."

"What would you say was the worst death you can recall?"

"Woof...."

"I think that one--"

"I'm fine. It bothers Sunny more than me, because of when it happened but I was weak and reloading and a pair of Taken Knights rushed me, screaming fire all over. My shields were hardly up in the first place so it sank in quick and took way too long to kill me. And my own fire made it worse, trying to save me."

"I take it this is the advent featuring the shell with whiskers?"

"Yep. Sank deep. Hurt. Worth it! It's perfect and there's at least ten shaders that fit her look and even more that just look good. You've seen the bouncing and bobbing, we should have named her Bunny. Only thing she really asked me for, and I got it."

"Hmph. Is this pride common in Guardians?"

"I dunno? Probably?"

"Do you feel fear at all?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why, half the time? And I have a phobia that you will hear nothing more about."

"I already snitched. She defended you."

"I'm still not talking about it."

"Truly?"

"I-- no. Nope. Nope, don't wanna, even if I could, and I can't 'cos my mouth is doing a thing."

"Ha!"

"I know, right? What's it gonna do, kill me?"

"The methane would have."

"True. But nope. Just can't and don't wanna. How about you?"

"..."

"Sorry. Nerves."

"Forgiven. Do I frighten you?"

"Uh... I think the word is intimidating? Imposing? You being in a room makes me want to be smaller."

"I will accept this. Do you fear pain?"

"I mean... Yeah? Certain kinds and levels, I guess, getting shot hurts a lot, but I hardly think about that anymore? It's... No. I don't. I should and I don't. I didn't wanna tell you that but Sunny just 'matted out of my pocket to drive her little eyeball into my visual, and I'm pretty sure that shell is strong enough to beat some dents in."

"Your Ghost intimidates you?"

"I have to live with her. Whole other kind of damage, trauma, and fear."

"She says as though she's not the one that lashes out inappropriately."

"You knock stuff over when you're grumpy, and push stuff off the fridge."

"Freija!"

"You snitched on my thing!"

"Sunny has a temper?"

"Caiatl!"

"I'm not gonna tell you it's worse than mine, but when I piss her off, she punishes me by talking over my head, refusing to help in combat. When we're all but in love, she'll put a requested gun in my hands, but when she's mad at me, she'll put it on the ground nearby. Steps away nearby."

"Can't believe this..."

"Gives me the silent treatment and vague visual cues. The first one that goes is coordinates-- she makes me punch in my own autopilot settings and coordinates. First clue, a thing she does when she's upset and my first chance to apologize, she has a nook on the fridge she runs to. I don't blame her, I am an absolute ass sometimes."

"sometimes!"

"Do Ghosts often "punish" their Guardians?"

"Rex is fuckin' mean. Sorry."

"You also know this Rex."

"Him and his Guardian live with us. Or I live with them. They make me feel bad, won't even be in the same room most of the time, but they're not the worst. I've heard about a hundred year silence, before. One that left hers down, that's probably the worst. I've heard a lot but I don't know how true any of them are. Comfortable guessing the Ghost is at least sometimes in the right."

"Hmph! Would Sunny leave you 'down'?"

"I won't say no, but I will say that if she ever does, I trust that judgement. Whatever I've done, whatever's gone wrong, it'll be for the best."

"Hmph! This is enough. I thank you for your time and honesty, Guardian."

"You're welcome...?"

"Freija...."

"It feels weird to say!"

"Try!"

"She's laughing again, relax."

"She's laughing because she thinks it's funny that I have to beg you to stop being a smartass at the leader of a multigalactic militaristic empire that blows up suns and has the technology to disrupt us!"

"I'm a kinderguardian with a popgun on a private comm channel septillion clicks away. I've also happened to be around for some really shitty days in the last couple years. She doesn't have to hold stature and I'm powerless. She likes that part, that's why she gets to ask all the questions she isn't allowed to ask Zavala no matter how friendly they get."

"That doesn't mean you can be rude!"

"It still feels weird to say!"

"I would allow something more natural if that is what the Guardian would prefer."

"Don't encourage her!"

"Now who's mouthing off the Empress of a multigalactic legion? No problem! Happy to help."

Hard Questions

New Angle

Honest

Radio Chat

Scripted Questions

Battlefield

Fear <-

Enlightening

More like Interrogation

(In)humanity

Underlying

Ghost Affection

@annieruok94 there's multiple again, I'm gonna do links.

[httyddragonfox]

About that dream sequence in the finale...

Let's break this down, alright...

First off, Luz heard the titan speak to her. That implies that not only can you peer in reflections from the in between realm, but that you can also appear in dreams. Let the fanfictions commence!

Second, a question. How did stringbean enter the dream? Everyone had spell on them so that if you surrounded them with glowing eyes you were in the dream with them. Of course, you still had your powers in the dream...odd, thought you'd be powerless in a nightmare. Another question, how'd Amity just give Luz a glyph? Is it dream logic, they just thought it and it appeared? Why not just wake everyone up then?

Okay, now for the TED-Talk.

It seems the deeper Luz went the more specific and guilty she felt about the accusation. First, she was confronted by Amity, who claims her to be just as evil as Belos for helping him, that she is the real villain. It's Amity saying something her friends already voiced that they don't blame her for. First of all, Amity is someone she's hurt the least. Luz only made her life better. What would Amity say to make her feel guilty? 'I lost my Dad because of you?' That's too similar to Gus. Also she just patched things up with him, on her own, Luz didn't have much to do with that. If anything, Luz gave her the confidence to do it. Amity would have nothing to shame Luz about, so of course she tells Luz the most general thing Luz has been feeling guilty about all season, something Amity said she doesn't blame her for. Luz was more confused than scared seeing Amity, Amity even apologizes before attacking her. Luz knows she's obviously having a bad dream. Not deep into the guilt trip yet.

The second person Luz ran I into was Willow. Luz has had Willow's back since day 1, outside of Amity she's probably her best friend. Luz helped Willow become who she wanted to be, the downside of that is pushing her too much. Luz probably feels that despite all the progress Luz helped her with, now Willow doesn't have a home or family, she has no future. She feels guilty for ruining Willow's life, despite wanting to help her have a better one. Still kind of general though, she feels that way about all of her friends. She'd feel worse about Willow than Amity because Luz has seen Willow at the bottom of the barrel, and she believes she brought her back there.

The third person Luz runs into is Gus. This is where it's starting to get specific. Gus calls her a hypocrite. She has her mom, he's lost his dad. Luz and everybody knows how much Gus is worried about and misses his dad. His dad was his only family. Willow had two dads, Amity has her dad and the twins. Gus has brought up several times in the season how he misses and worries for his dad, this call- out actually has backup. Luz would feel guilty about separating Gus from his only family while she was reunited with her only(?) blood relative. In 'thanks to them' she pointed out how she was home, "but they're not" with a guilty look on her face. She's upset about displacing her entire friend group, but gus is the evidence. She's starting to get nervous here. She tries to defend herself, saying they could still fix things and "get everybody back". Gus then tells her "tell that to him!" He then pushes her so that she falls to the deepest part of the dream, the thing she feels the most specifically guilty for. The one friend they can't bring back.

Here she meets Hunter. She knows Hunter has had a hard life because of Belos, which she looks like now. He's her most traumatized friend. He's also like a brother to her. He tells her how bleak his life was: no school, no friends, just following orders. Then he met flapjack. A cracked Flapjack is on the horizon as a mountain that Hunter was gazing at, a permanent monument in her subconscious to his death. Flapjack was a friend to all of them, especially Hunter, but all of them. Luz was there when they met, she was the one using him which allowed him to be close enough for Belos to attack. Hunter tells her that Flapjack was his best friend, more than his palisman, then blames her saying he lost flapjack helping her. This is technically correct, although Luz was more helping him assuage his worries, they were planning on figuring our a way home so she didn't have to worry about them anymore. Luz is probably thinking that they regret trying to help her. He then points out she got a palisman the next day, which would be hard for him to deal with in his grief. Of course, he's not like that. When stringbean hatched, he was giving a small but sad smile, showing he missed flapjack but was happy for her. She obviously feels guilty for having a palisman so shortly after losing his. He then collapses to the ground I tears, and she has no response. She probably feels she hurt hunter so much he can't even attack her. This is probably the other side of the coin on how she feels, hurting hunter, her friend who is already hurting so much.

The last note, everyone then comes in and surrounds hunter as he cries. This is body language for defending him and supporting, it's the equivalent of side hugging him and glaring at Luz. They are defending him from the villain the dream claims Luz to be, like they defended him from Belos before. It's fitting here, that she's dressed as belos. Amity claims that "for the sake of everyone you hurt..." makes it seem like they want justice for what happened to flapjack and hunter, as well as everyone else. All Luz can do is cry and beg them not to fight her, as she feels bad enough already.

Of course, then they wake up. What I like is that Hunter is the first to smile at her, showing he doesn't blame her for what happened and she hasn't hurt him. He has faith in her to fix this. That's sweet of him to assuage her worries and shows he supports her.

Tl;dr, the dream shows her most prominent guilt was happened to flapjack and hunter and the dream builds up to them.

[cloveredhope]

@hxpelessnurse asked "C-Can't you give us bigger cells?" She complained. "It's so c-cramped in here. J-just come a little c-closer and unlock this door for me, okay~? I promise I w-won't hurt you... A lot." Mikan smiled up at him wickedly, hands clutching the bars of her holding cell so tight her knuckles had got white.

Makoto would have foolishly believed her had it not been for both her words of hurting him and her smile. However he did have to agree, the cell did look much too small for anyone too be in. "I'll move you to a bigger cell, but, for my own safety i'll have to put you in cuffs." Would it be a bad move for him to make? More than likely but he was placing his trust on the fact that he'd actually be able to slip the cuffs onto Mikan before she could do anything, or at least before she'd be able to harm him should things go wrong. Which he knew probably would. He walked away from the cell, making hell well sure turned on the radio he carried with him just in case he did need to call in for backup. He wasn't going to take any chances, it was too risky. As he left the cell block he'd make note of any cells that were bigger than the cell Mikan was currently in, and which ones were the closest to her current cell. The closest place there were cuffs was the guard room next to the cell block. He took a pair of cuffs and the keys as well, Kyoko was probably going to chew him out if she learned what he was gonna do (or had done, if things didn't go horrible wrong). He quickly returned when he had gotten what he needed. "Sorry for the wait." He'd say to her while cautiously opening her cell up, cuffs at the ready to restrain her once the door was fully open.

[weregreatatcrime]

I'm sick and rereading Two Halves and I know I leave a lot (A LOT) of stuff in the end notes but there's actually lots of stuff I still never mention or talk about so here's a long sick (midday) ramble about things I didn't get the chance to talk about but wanted to (in somewhat of an order reminded by rereading) or at least just some lines I particularly enjoyed

It's time for chapter 7 while I fight off the sick urge to Nap. Warning for VERY dark content including suicidal ideation and Murder

I really enjoyed this chapter because I got to fully embrace and showcase some of Karai’s sadistic, bloodthirsty nature that I just hadn't been able to show yet. She's a changeling and a raised and trained assassin who hates humans. She can get NASTY when she's given the opportunity to, and the fic hadn't allowed that before this chapter. Finally I got to write my true murder girl 🧡

The very secret game between Shredder and Karai over what Foot ninja are loyal to whom. Some genuinely would rather follow Karai than him, while others just see her as a lesser of two evils. Of course this isn't all very up front- Shredder is in charge first and foremost, so of course, they all obey him. Some just... prefer to listen to the heir, when given the chance...

Shredder allows the heresy only because it's something of a game between father and daughter :) Plus she'll inherit the clan anyways, it's good to have men who will be immediately loyal to her when she does. The majority are still loyal to Him.

Even ninjas forget to look Up sometimes. Especially in their super secure throne room that shouldn't be Capable of having spies around

"Prime indicator that [Shredder] was smug about something that probably violated the Geneva Convention."

Xever was my FAVORITE villain in 2k12 as a kid. Nowadays it's Stockman, but I still have a lot of fondness for the evil murder fish

Changeling Karai makes a game of tormenting her father's Lieutenants, and Xever is her favorite toy. He's thoroughly petrified of her. He's one of the few who knows even a bit of just how far her sadistic nature goes

Karai’s first reaction to hearing she'd been *seen* while doing a secret mission was to launch herself headfirst off the roof and I wish I could say that's hyperbole, but uh, nope, that's quite literally her greatest fear and can result in her death so suicide can potentially be a better way to go than risking being hunted down by the Order

Xever thoroughly believes Karai is just manipulating the turtles so she can get in close and stab em where it hurts. From his experience, this is absolutely what she would do, and Karai has never proved him wrong about her malicious streak before

Xever equally as terrified of the Shredder because of the fact that she CLEARLY got it from him

Karai WISHES she could blow everything up on the way out like Stockman, but she can't risk the Order sticking their noses in before she's done. So she's gotta settle with dropping a metaphorical bomb instead

Karai, maybe leaving Shinigami on read is actually the WORSE option than not leaving her any sign at all

While thinking of what Karai would make into her changeling key, it didn't take me very long to think of something she would frequently have on her that would be inconspicuous. Eyeliner. That red is fire

Changelings have a LOT of backups and backups for backups

"Xever was fond of severing fingers, and she didn’t want to have to cauterize anything mid rescue."

The entire rescue scene just makes me happy. This is Karai in her element. Killing people right in plain sight without being caught, disappearing with their corpses before they're seen. This is changeling Karai doing what she was trained her whole life to do and she is GOOD at it.

Donnie was in fact drugged a second time to keep him down for a bit

Karai personally when picking a hostage turtle would've picked either Mikey or Leo, but she doesn't know about Shredder’s own plan for Donnie, so she's a bit puzzled

Personally, if Karai had designed it, rather than a bomb she would've used a biochemical agent that could've been pumped right into his bloodstream on either a programmed signal or upon someone attempting to remove it. What that agent would be would entirely depend on how much she hated the person in question

Karai has a real love for poisons that doesn't get a lot of time to shine, but it DOES pop in here and there

Despite her fucking with him, Karai did always respect Xever more than a lot of other Lieutenants. He's a lot more cunning and willing to use underhanded tactics which of course appeals to her

Ngl tempted to write a whump one-shot of what would've happened if Karai HAD shown up a bit later for the rescue

I ranted enough about fish biology in the end notes, I don't need to go on about it again here

Karai paralyzed Xever with he sword through the neck, but he WAS still alive. Just completely unable to do anything about it. Hence why she initially assumed he was dead. Sword through the skull was enough to end it though

Actually sending a sword through his thick skull required a lot of muscle, hence why she needed to put some oomph into it. Her changeling form would've managed fine but human form is a lot weaker

Imagine the scene they walked into later. Two dead foot ninja, Xever dead with Karai’s sword placed dramatically through the top of his head, the turtle missing, NONE of the cameras working, and the ONLY thing they have is a few clips of Karai sneaking in and one single shot of her dragging Donatello out of the lab while flipping off the camera. Fucking amazing

Yes, I play dnd. Sometimes when writing I use a d20 to make decisions when I can't decide because all my options are tempting. It's a great writing hack- especially because if you REALLY hate your roll, you discover that you actually did have a preferred option

[possiblyhomer]

End term exams are next week, I have a Secret Santa gift to finish and about 6 separate WIPs that needs to be worked on. Yet my brain chose to not focus on ANY of that and decided to give me dad!Cain brainrot instead.

Enjoy the drabble.

"It's the 10th time this year someone's tried to break it out of containment. We have to do something to stop this before it becomes even more of a problem."

"What do you suggest we do then? We're powerful, but not powerful enough to control how people feel. The fact that she's an innocent child subjected to cruel experiments makes her that much more sympathetic."

"Let robots take care of it then."

"We're cold, not cruel, remember? Plus, I doubt the ethics committee would just let that happen."

"Not to mention, the kid might become uncooperative if we do that. And considerating it can connect to the foundation's database without much trouble, I'd rather deal with the occasional rouge employees than that."

"How about we put someone who can't leave to take care of her then?"

"... Elaborate."

"I'm saying we let SCP 073 take care of 191. It wouldn't matter if a familiar bond forms if he can't leave."

It's been a day or two since that nice doctor took her out for a walk outside, he hasn't showed up after that day. It's always like that. Whenever a doctor becomes close to her, she'd never get to see them for long after. She must've done something wrong.

SCP-191 made a mental note to ask the doctors what she did wrong as the door slides open. She didn't recognize the person behind it, but that was par for the course. This man was a bit stranger than most though, there was something drawn on his forehead.

"Hello, my name is Cain, I will be your primary caretaker from now on. Nice to meet you, 191." The man smiled.

The cyborg child shied away, he seemed to be a nice person, so she didn't want him to get in trouble because of her.

The man didn't seem to understand though, because he still approached her and knelt down so he was as tall as her.

"It's okay little one, you don't have to worry." He said, removing his long gloves to reveal his metallic arms. "See? I'm just like you, I even have my own SCP designation!" He held out one of his hands to her and showed her his ID card, which had his picture above "SCP-073/Senior Researcher Cain."

The girl looked at the ID card, then at the outstretched arm, and finally at Cain himself before pulling up a hand-held monitor.

"Did someone hurt you too?"

It read, while 191 gestured to his cybernetic limbs.

"Perhaps, but I cannot remember, but I can, however, say for certain that nobody is going to hurt either of us from now on." He patted her head gently. "I'll make sure of it."

Only a few week has passed since Cain was assigned SCP-191 and already, his office was filled with dad-themed items from his colleagues. Some were there as a joke, but some were genuine. He didn't mind them at first, he was just happy that the girl was happy, but when some of the researchers told him how the cyborg child also saw him as a father figure, the Wanderer took it upon himself to fulfill that role as best as possible...and he didn't just fulfill it, he overfilled it

...

...

...

The two ancient humans sat silently across from each other, for a while, the only movements were their eyes blinking and the rise and fall of their breathing. Finally, the woman sighed and spoke up.

"Look, Cain, I know you're just being protective of her, and there's nothing wrong with that, but you're still seen as a SCiP, you have to be more careful with what you do, I can only overlook so much before I'm forced to issue disciplinary action against you, you know."

"I simply put the researcher in a closet with one of director Bright's backup bodies, it was just meant to teach him a lesson, and no harm was done." Cain replied calmly. "At least not physically." He kept that part out.

"You didn't just lock him up with Bright's backup body. You locked him up with a brain dead body and poured green slime on it, from a tub you labeled "447". He's still recovering in the pshyc ward as we speak!"

"But mother, you know I can't just leave that researcher be after he treated Edan so poorly."

O5-1:Eve raised a brow and tilted her head. "Edan?"

"Why yes, 191 told me she felt she didn't deserve a proper name, so I gave her one that would remind her just how perfect she is to me." He smiled.

Eve managed to stop herself from aw-ing out loud, but couldn't stop herself from softening when she heard that. "You've grown into such a wonderful person, I am so proud of you my child." She sighed. "I really need to be stricter on you. Where is she by the way? Edan I mean."

"She's with Leora and the other children of the site, they're having a tea party in the cafeteria. Able is watching over them so they should be safe."

"Come to think of it, you've become more than just Edan's father figure, it seems that all of the children here see you as their father now, Able's been embracing his role as uncle shockingly well too."

The wanderer chuckled. "Yes he has, the kids love it when he gives them a ride around the site on his shoulders especially!"

O5-1 smiled, then pulled out an envelope and gave it to Cain. "I have some more work to attend to now, here are your new assignments as a researcher. Please try to not traumatize people too much next time alright?" She said, before exiting his office.

Cain waved her goodbye, then opened the envelope, read it, then looked at the various drawings Edan and the others drew for him, then at the mug with "Robo-dad" painted on it(that one was courtesy of doctor Rights), then back at the drawings and the documents, and then he smiled.

The Father of SCiPs took a mobile reality anchor with him and headed to the cafeteria. He didn't want to ruin the tea party, but he couldn't wait to tell his children the good news.

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

Forget Me Not Jim Mason x Reader 50 First Dates AU Pt 9

@michael-langdon-appreciation

There was this itchy sensation at the back of her brain screaming it was past time for this to be over. Not only the baby's arrival, but all of it. Her family had taken control of the waiting room down the hall, but they still managed to hover. Between the anxious glances and the well-meant but annoying suggestions to make her feel better, she was ready to kick their collective oversized asses out of the hospital.

She was having a baby, damn it, not on her deathbed. There was too much going on now that labor had started. Too much, and yet not enough to distract her from thinking about what she wanted.

Or more specifically who she wanted.

"I can’t do this anymore." Y/N eased her way down the hall, holding tightly to Medina’s arm.

"I don't think you can cancel at this point, hon." Medina paced slowly, her head dipping closer as her volume went even lower. "Although, if you want me to encourage anyone to leave, tell me, okay? Anyone," she said pointedly as one of Y/N's brothers stepped toward them.

Here they went again. Y/N eased a hand over her rock-solid belly as she paused to deal with another contraction. "Oh damn, this hurts."

Her brother Alex wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You're doing great."

She couldn’t answer for a moment. It was nice to know they cared, but really? Her brothers and her dad? Y/N blew out the final moment of pain and straightened to look into Alex's concerned eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement, but please. Go home, and we’ll let you know when the kid arrives."

"Take the other guys with you too," Medina suggested. "Because, dude, none of you are going anywhere near the delivery room when the actual event is happening."

"Ick, that is so true."

Y/N squeezed her brother's hand. "I'm glad you want to be there for me, but this is going a little too far, if you know what I mean."

Only, Alex wasn’t watching her, he was watching the nurses' station. "I don't mind hanging out for a while."

Jeez, good to know his reasons for being here weren’t all about wrapping her in cotton. "Go home, Alex. Or at least pretend to go so I don’t have to look at you. We'll call when there’s news." Y/N  stepped away and ignored him, easing through the next few contractions.

It wasn't her family she wanted around. She wanted Jim. She'd allowed him to be sent way, and she'd thought it was the right thing to do, but now that the moment had come she wasn't so sure.

Medina led her down the corridors in an endless loop. Her brothers had at least obeyed the part about getting out of sight, although knowing them, they’d probably only hit the coffee shop on the second floor and were tormenting people there.

Between contractions and pacing, she paused to look out the window. Spring had already passed, easing into full-on summer, and it was time for all kinds of new things.

Maybe a new chance as well.

Medina leaned on the wall beside her, arms crossed over her chest. "You want to call him?"

Was she that transparent? "Jim?"

Her best friend shrugged. "Honey, you love the guy. I think he loves you, and I doubt at this point anyone here at the hospital is going to call the cops if he shows up, restraining order or not." She made a rude noise. "I think we'd all lie our asses off for you two right now."

"I can’t...” Y/N thought really hard about what she wanted to say to finish that sentence.

She couldn't what?

I can't do this without him.

She lifted her eyes to her friend's. "Do you think he wants to be here? Even if it might get him arrested?"

Medina held out her cell phone, Jim's number already up on the screen. "I bet he'd go through hell itself to be here if you asked."

It really wasn’t that hard, hitting the button to make the call.

“Medina?" Jim sounded breathless. "Is she okay? Is the baby there? Tell me they're both fine."

His obvious concern had Y/N's throat closing tight, and she had to force out the words. "Jim, it's me. I'm doing good, but ..."

“Y/N? Thank God. You had the baby?"

"Not yet." She paused, wondering if it was right to even offer him the temptation. It wasn’t her who could end up in jail. But he'd told her once she should reach out and take what she wanted, and damn if she wasn't going to do exactly that. At least to offer him the option and let him decide if the risks were worth it. "This could get you in trouble, but do you want to be here? I mean, be with me when the baby arrives?"

"Oh, yeah." Loud clattering rang in the background, something like a door slamming. "Are you asking me to come to the hospital?"

"It might be a terrible idea, but yes, I want you here-oh, shit..." Another contraction hit, and she had to bend over and concentrate on breathing.

Jim's anxious voice blared from the phone as she held it against her thigh, his frantic questions getting louder and louder.

Medina somehow helped support her and at the same time grabbed the phone. "Stop shouting. She's busy for a minute." A pause, then Medina snorted. "Well, I don't know, sweetheart. Hold on to your knickers and I'll ask her." Her friend held the phone against her chest to cover the speaker. "What should I tell him?"

Y/N blew out a long breath as she found her feet, reaching for the phone. "Jim, me again. Sorry about that. I want you with me, if you still want to be here."

"You know I do."

Y/N twisted to the right in surprise. His answer had come not from the phone, but from the man himself who stood only two feet away. He was breathing heavily as if he’d been running stairs.

Y/N was breathing pretty hard herself. "Seven fucking hells, how did you do that?"

"If he's got a transporter and he hasn’t shared until now, I'm going to be pissed off." Medina held out her hand and gave Jim a quick handshake. "Now that you’re here for backup, I'm going to do a little distracting of the nursing staff and warn the people who will help us. I'll return in a moment to be an awesome baby catcher. I suggest you two hide out in the birthing room."

"Good idea."

They paused as Medina backed away, briefly flashing them two thumbs-up before she twirled and disappeared around a corner. Jim let Y/N guide him quickly into the private room she'd been given.

Only once the door was shut did he answer Y/N's question. "I was in the parking lot, waiting in my truck. Hoping that you'd call." He was there, the bruises on his face fading, his dark eyes taking her in from head to toe, and he reached out... And stopped. His hand fell to his side. His big strong body trembling as if he were afraid. “Y/N, I'm here for you. For you and the baby." His eyes-God, his eyes. Full of pain, and yet hope. "I promise with everything in me that’s true."

She was going to be bawling in a minute, which wasn't going to work great with the whole labor thing still happening. "I know."

Y/N caught him by the hand and tugged them together. She had to twist sideways to make room for her belly as she stepped into the warmth of his body, but he had his arms around her and that was all she needed right then. The solid assurance that he was there. That he was hers.

Jim stroked her hair as he held her. "I hate that we’ve had to be apart."

She nodded. "If you see the PVPD coming, hide in the bathroom.”

A reluctant laugh escaped him. "No more hiding. This is too important an event for me to spend it in the parking lot waiting for news."

"Were you really just going to sit there?" Y/N didn't want to let go of him, his touch soothing her more than any breathing techniques.

Jim stroked her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. "I was planning on sneaking in, but this is so much better than hiding behind a mask and staring through the door. And if I do get in trouble, it'll be worth it."

They had to pause each time a contraction hit, but the distraction of their conversation helped make the pain fade a little.

He rubbed her back before she even asked him to, touching her gently, supporting her. His strong hands that were capable of inflicting pain giving such tender care. And when he cupped her face in his hands and leaned in to kiss her tenderly, she lost it.

"It was bad enough that I had to lose memories, now I've lost these last weeks with you." She held his hand against her cheek. "Damn Rick to hell."

"Forget Rick, Angel Eyes. He doesn't matter, or he won't in a few days. What does matter is I love you."

She gasped out a laugh past the tears. "I love you too, Jim."

"Forever," he added, stroking her cheek and wiping away her tears. "I'm going to love you forever. And that's not going to change, and if I have to spend the next sixty years reminding you again and again, it'll be worth it."

"It'll be worth it," she repeated. There were still questions they had to answer, but right now, he was there and the kid in her belly was posing the most demanding request. "Ahh, Jim? I think it's time."

"Time for what?"

She wanted to laugh, but the pressure was building too fast. "The baby?" she reminded him.

His eyes widened. "Now?"

"Now."

[ihavenonamehalp]

Chapter 5: - You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world...but you do have some say in who hurts you. John Green, The Fault in Our Stars - - Huey: When Huey got back home that day things were normal, or as normal as you can possibly be in this family. Dewey was like normal Dewey with the volume too high, Della was supposed to bring out the best in him but it turned out to bring out the cocky in him "I couldn't just ignore a dare right? So I do the double flip right into the basketball team, sure I got detention for it but it was still pretty awesome". Della smiled as if she was proud of this for some reason "I'm glad you had a good day Dewey"She said, turning to Louie "How was your day Louie?" "Meh, normal, boring, loud."He said still looking at his phone; He still wasn't really use to this whole "mother" thing just yet but he's at least making some progress. "Well how about you Huey?" He kinda hoped she'd focus on Louie, now he had three choices, he could make up some story about how he had a great day like Dewey, he could act like it was no big deal or he could tell her the truth, "It was ok"He said. "Just ok?"She asked. Now things started to escalate, "Yeah, things were fine, it's just predictable"He said hoping she would buy it. "Well it's only Wednesday "She said, "We can only hope tomorrow is better" She hugged him from behind the chair and kissed his forehead. Wasn't bad advice for someone with no parenting experience, and very few real life experiences. Now he felt worse about not telling her, but then again, how could he possibly tell her that her son is a worthless coward? Huey walked into the kitchen to get something to drink but then thought twice after seeing Webby and Lena. 'Why did she have to live here?' He thought. He didn't hate Lena or anything but she can be...difficult. "Sup red hat"Lena said. "Hi Lena"He said without eye contact. Grabbing a glass of water. "Water, interesting. You know the jr woodchuck guidebook states that you should have at least six ounces of water every day"She said in her best Huey impression. Webby laughed "Science fact!" Huey rolled his eyes trying not to be offended or upset "It's actually eight ounces a day Lena, if you had the common sense that was bestowed on a goat, you'd know that". "That was rude Huey!"Webby said. Huey walked away without another word. He already had enough problems at school, he didn't need them at home too. Not like Webby would ever defend him. Violet: "Your boyfriend can't protect you forever". She was sick of letting those girls get to her! She doesn't want to be hurt anymore, she's done! Nobody personally thinks of her, she's not special and nobody was fooled into thinking she was. Erica really hurt her today, she wrote it down in her journal, it's better to write it down then to waste her time telling someone else who wouldn't care. She looked at the bruise on her arm. Violet was walking home from school when Erica tripped her, she hurt her arm on the concrete, she didn't crypt anything, she wasn't weak. But everyone laughed for some reason. Nobody cared she was hurt, they laughed. Lena and Webby are no better then they are. She promised to study at the mansion and if she said she couldn't make it they'd ask her why. She did want to go but It would be nice to get away from the stress at home so she went anyway. Big mistake. They said there hellos and did their homework as normal but then things started to go very wrong. They started jabbering on, talking about how funny it was when they made fun of Huey earlier, the only guy who dared be nice to her and they make fun of him. She was already annoyed with them without this and now she sorta wanted to kill them. "Can we stop talking about this please?"Violet asked. "Are you ok?"Webby asked. "Yes, I'm fine"She said aggressively. "Violet, don't talk to Webby like that"Lena said, "She was just asking." "Sorry I forgot I'm last on your ranking system"She said. "What?"Webby asked. "I'm not stupid webigail, I know I'm just your backup friend!" "That'