#@halt: hug your tiny son dammit

[roguelibrarian]

anyway i’m reading ranger’s apprentice again and these two are gonna be the fucking death of me

[crispyimagines17]

“Maria Bonita” - [ Timothée Chalamet  | One Shot ]

Summary: We invite you to take a glimpse to the Chalamet’s house. A teenage parents who would do anything to protect, love and take care of their little one despite all the eyes of society. 

Written by: Crispy Imagines.

Soundtrack: main theme

Notes: A promise is a promise ppl, after two years of waiting Maria Bonita is finally here. First of all I want to thank every single person who was asking for this masterpiece, I hope i don’t let you down. Feedback is always welcome and nothing, enjoy it cause y’all deserve it.  Also, we attach several audios to make you feel part of the story, so contrast them just as a background sound. 

Tags: @miss2001babe ; @lg-vangogh ; @expectodonuts ; 

[1]

The creaking of the bed came to a halt as your two-year-old Maddox weigh crashes down the mattress; his tiny feet pressed on daddy’s back, sending a burst of chills down Timothée’s spine. Maddox hands traveled to mommy’s cheeks, pitching or stretching them as he let out a chuckle.

“Mommy?” he whines, kissing your cheeks softly “Mommy” he repeats, nuzzling his face on yours.

“What’s up champ?” Timothée speaks, his groggy voice echoing the room as he stretches his body.

“Daddy!” the little one leaves you and jumps all the way to Timothée.

“Good morning.”

“morning.” Maddox repeats.

You opened your eyes, and the first picture your eyes capture was little Maddox hugging tightly his daddy with a Woody on his right hand. When he saw you, you could see his eyes glowing and leaving daddy’s side just so he can be with you. Immediately you open your arms, letting his tiny weigh crash on yours as he looks at you with pure happiness.

“Hi mommy”

“Hi momma.” You hear Timothée’s voice as you rolled your eyes. He slowly approaches to you two, snugging and earning laughs from both of you. “How’s my family?”

“We’re fine. You need to get Maddox a shower bef-…”

“Noo…” the little kid as soon as he heard shower leaves the bed in such a hurry, leaving his favorite toy in bed. Both of you laughed.

“I’ll make some breakfast and I want you ready by the time I’ll call you.”

“Yes momma.” Timothée gets up from bed and before leaving the room he approaches to give you a tiny peck, then a kiss and later a passionate kiss; grabbing towels from the drawer.

“Come here little man, before I’ll catch you.” You could hear Maddox giggles all over the apartment and timmy’s footsteps running around.

…

“Come on bub, we’re late for school. Just put some damn clothes.” Timothée’s voice came out as desperation as Maddox was running in circles butt naked. He tried everything, baby shark song, let Woody shower with him and even doing some funny voices, but none of them work. He sighs, face palming as he listens to the little one singing “You’ve got a friend in me”.

“Love.” He speaks. “Can you help me with Maddox?”

“Sure, just watch the scramble eggs.” He sighs in relief, and lifting himself from the wet floor walking carefully. When he clashes glazes with his son, he mumbles him

“You’re going to get in big trouble, mommy is coming.” Maddox smile fades and the fear got in his eyes, so he quickly runs to his bedroom bringing the first piece of clothing he found.

…

“Dammit.” You whispered as you tried to adjust the child seat. Timothée was right behind you, holding Maddox; both of them watching you getting pissed.

“Let me try, love. Here, hold Maddox.” You sigh, extending your arms as little Maddox lunges towards you. You lay your head against his, as you rock yourself back and forth. “we’re ready.”

Today was going to be a long day due to your shift, leaving early sounds nice, but also means going to the grocery store, doing laundry, cleaning the house, teaching Maddox, do some paperwork. Although timothée helps you in every way he can there’s still more job to do, like you’re working nonstop all the year. As you drive towards Maddox daycare Timothées hands were on your thing, resting peacefully as he slowly reads some scripts.

“Shit” he mumbles, you looked at him with an arched eyebrow. He realizes his mistake and quickly covers his mouth and watches Maddox, who’s been gazing at the window without a clue of what happened. Timothée let out a sigh as he slowly began to read his duties when the little one laugh.

“Shet” Maddox said giggling as he smashes his toys. Both of you close your eyes in regret, he will now say the word to nonstop and the ladies from the daycare will complain, like always.

“Oh no.” you let out “Maddox, honey.”

“Wa mommy?”

“Remember when we said that kids shouldn’t say big words?” he nods. “You need to stop saying that, it’s rude and people will not like it.”

“Shet.” He repeats giggling.

“Love, say something to your child” you said looking at Timothée.

“Me? Why?”

“Cause you said the big word.” You insist.

“Why I’m always the bad guy…” he whispers as he take a breath. “Bub, what do we talk…”

“shet shet shet shet!” Maddox said out loud causing both parents to sigh.

“Well, we tried” Timothee said as you parked at the daycare.

[2]                                 

Picking up Maddox from daycare was the heavy stuff of the day, receiving each and every day complaints from the teachers about his hyperactivity, molesting other kids or yelling in story time. Today was not the exception, despite the look of irritation from the teacher you were calm and hugging a tired Maddox rocking back and forth.

“Maddox is… a special kid. His behavior today concerned the other teachers due to the fact that the child said the word shit many times. That cause the other kids to follow him and my job here is to ask you, Is everything okay with your… boyfriend and you?” you arched your eyebrows surprised.

“Y-yeah, we’re fine, Maddox is like a sponge absorbs everything, including the bad stuff.” You chuckle nervously.  She shakes her head.

“Kids at your age don’t know how to raise a child, it surprises me that you’re still together and with Maddox temper…” you were in shocked, does she tell you that? And in front of your kid? Oh, you’re so mad you’ve couldn’t hold your tongue.

“Believe me that my kid is surrounded by love and emotional stability lady, you have no right to judge me or my husband. We’ve been swallowing some bullshit since I was pregnant, but I will not tolerate to insult me in front of my kid. So, fuck yourself and your stupid business.” You raised your middle finger and walk towards the exit without looking back.

After you put Maddox in his chair, he looked at you in a lovely way, touching both of your cheeks and smiling.

“Love you mommy.” Your eyes watered as you kiss him on his forehead.

“Love you too.”

…

Going to the grocery store was Maddox favorite thing; the thrill of daddy pushing the car so fast; when mommy buys his favorite cereal and the music that always calms him. So when you said your next destination a chorus of happiness filled the entire car.

“Okay, we’re supposed to get the basic. Love, get a car and I’ll see you on the aisle 2.” You grab Maddox hand but he didn’t walk. “What happened?”

“Daddy.” He points with his little finger towards Timothée direction.

“Daddy will come soon. Come on, let’s go.” But Maddox stayed, making his little body heavier so you couldn’t walk.

“Daddy.” He repeats.

“Love he will come back, let’s go.” You tried once more, but he let himself fall on the floor, starting a tantrum that led all the eyes of the store on you two. You smiled awkwardly picking up Maddox as you tried your best to avoid the judge of the people’s eyes, walking down the first hall as you let him down with tearful eyes.

“Maddox, honey, you need to listen to me.” You cup his cheeks in an attempt to catch his attention. After he saw you his concern became evident.

“wa hapen?”

“Here you are, I thought you said aisle 2.” After he saw your eyes, his smile faded and he kneels with you two. “What’s wrong, baby?” you shake your head.

“Nothing, I just-“ you immediately tried to recover yourself and got up wiping your eyes. “We need to hurry up, we still have to make dinner.” You grab the car. “Love, please take Maddox with you.”

And so were you grabbing everything you need and both of your boys were trying hard to cheer you up by singing or listening to Timothee saying stuff like “Mom looks pretty today, isn’t she?” “We’ll make dinner so you can take a rest”

You were in line ready to pay and behind you there was a nice lady pampering Maddox. Timothee smile to her.

“Taking care of the little brother, huh.” She said waving at him. “what a handsome man.”  You both look at each other without saying anything. It was normal that many people believed one of you was babysitting a younger sibling or a cousin so you didn’t bother to correct the lady.

“Mommy sleep.” Maddox said, looking at you with tired eyes. Your eyes immediately watch the lady who was quite skeptical. “Mommy.”

“Oh” she only said. Your eyes travel to her, you’ve could see her disappointment on her face, it was something you’ve got used to it. You tried to recover yourself, this was too much for one day and it hasn’t ended yet.

“Love, can you pay? I’ll have to take some air.” Timothee’s eyes were concerned.

“Sure love, here, take the keys. Maddox will stay with me.” You grab the keys and exit the store as soon as you can, fighting hard to keep the tears from falling.  

When you get into your car you let yourself go, tears streaming down your face and allowing yourself to feel this way.

The migraine you’ve been dealing with was in its best moment, due to Maddox screams and the tv in all the volume it has. Timothee was in the bedroom with a script; he left you with all the toys, crayons and food on the floor. You sigh, frustrated and just when you were calming yourself you saw Maddox torn one of Timothee’s scripts and laughing. Timothee was behind him with a red face, taking him the pieces of paper to look directly at you.

“Seriously? Are you not watching this kid?” after those words your blood began to boil, throwing him the nearest object.

“Are you fucking serious? I fucking make dinner because you “innocently” forgot, I’m doing laundry so you can go to your fucking auditions clean; I’m washing dishes cause you’re so busy reading your stupid scripts and you can’t watch Maddox. And you’re implicating that it’s my fault that I don’t watch our kid? Unbelievable.” You said furious. “I don’t fucking have a break, I work my 8hr shift, pick up Maddox; do all the chores; helping Maddox with his homework; shower him, giving him dinner; make us dinner; shower myself if I have time; and checking some paperwork. You’re… You’re just auditioning, promising that one day we’ll be in a mansion and lived happily ever after, you do not do anything unless I asked you for.” He was shocked, avoiding all eye contact with you.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” You sigh, leaving the kitchen, taking one of your coats and leaving the apartment.

…

You could hear Timothee’s footsteps behind you, but you just keep on walking, breathing deeply so you can’t say something you regret.

“Wait, love.” He tried to grab you softly by the arm.

“So now I’m your love, huh?” you rolled your eyes, stopping yourself to look him in the eye.

“You’ve always been my love. Sorry for behaving like an asshole. You were right, I’m a completely shitty father. I leave you with all the heavy duty while I focus on a stupid dream.” You could see the sadness of his face, eyes beginning to water. Immediately you cupped his cheeks and touched your forehead with his, staying in silence for a couple of seconds.

“You know I’m the biggest supporter of your dream.” You said in a whisper. “But you have to be a responsible father and husband. We are a team; we’re supposed to help each other in every way we can. I’m not asking to give up on what you are passionate about.” you sweetly pressed your lips against his.

“I love you.” He said, with eyes pure of love that your stomach curled up.

“I love you too, handsome.” You stayed hug for a while, while you feel like there was something missing. It was Maddox!

“Oh my god… where’s the kid?” you lift the head to catch his eyes.

“I left it with Maddie, I think we should pick him up before she calls us.” You nod.

An so where you, walking back home holding hands having the warm sensation that everything from now on will be just fine.

 [Soundrack] [3]     

The sound of nature calms both of your boys, you suggest to travel to the nearest park to set up some wood fire. And now you are carrying Maddox tired body, the little one is closing his eyes so often, and it will not take too long for him to sleep; since he’s got his thump already in his mouth. Timothée was watching the stars, with a sad tone on his face he said:

“Sometimes I forget that I’m a dad. When they invite at some restaurant for brief seconds I forget that I’m someone’s dad, that I change diapers or fed him. And that feels weird, not good weird, like something is missing. I’ll never going to regret being a father at my age, I will have a long way to watch him grow and become anything he wants; and somehow that makes me happy.”

“I don’t regret either. I feel that this kid connects us in beautiful ways; we are his mentors to teach him the good and bad. I think we’re more than ready to take the challenge.”

“I love you. And I’m so happy I chose you to be the mother of my child, even if that means by accident.” You couldn´t help but laugh.

“I love you too. Come on, let’s go to our house.”

“At least let us heard one more song before we go.” Timothee got up shaking the dirt from his pants, he went to the car and shuffle a couple of songs before he found out the one. “This one will work. Let me get Maddox on the car.”

After he let the baby he slowly approaches to you, touching his forehead with yours, rocking back and forth as Maria Bonita was playing on the back.

“Even if this song is made for a Maria. In this park, at midnight with the stars and moon as witnesses you’re my Maria Bonita. The one I will always be in love, beyond my body and soul. I’m all yours baby. Just say the word and we will go to the nearest chapel.”  You smile.  

“Yes.” You whispered on his lips

“Promised me that you don’t lie just because you feel idolized.” You kissed him. “I love you Mrs. Chalamet. Let the world know I Love this woman.” You shake your head, chuckling, the song ended and to seal the promise he kissed you passionately taking from his coat a jewelry box; knealing.

“Will you marry me?”

[concussed-to-pieces]

The Mettle Of A Man; Part Sixteen

Fandom: Fallout (4)

Pairing: Eventual Paladin Danse/Female Sole Survivor

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: A very special shoutout to @anonymouscosmos for all of their encouragement and support! You are a god among insects. I’d also like to thank the discord chat for enduring my nonsense, as ever. Enjoy!

Part One: ArcJet

Part Two: The Prydwen

Part Three: Orders

Part Four: Finding Brandis

Part Five: Weston Water And Oberland

Part Six: Meeting Preston And Matthew

Part Seven: Radstag And Radstorm

Part Eight: The Return To Sanctuary Hills

Part Nine: Domestic Ruminations

Part Ten: Institutionalized

Part Eleven: Two Weeks, Three Days

Part Twelve: Haylen’s Warning And The Glowing Sea

Part Thirteen: Under Fire

Part Fourteen: Dichotomy

Part Fifteen: The Litany Trial

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains graphic depictions of gore and detailed descriptions of previous abuse. Stay safe!]

Her head had been blown open, or at least it felt that way. The explosion was so close to her face that her helmet had just peeled off like it was made out of shrapnel-laden papier-mâché.

  Sergeant Shaun 'Lucky' Cathan was flat on his back hardly a foot away from her, pinned under the weight of the debris that was slowly crushing his armor. 

  She couldn't move. Her arms and legs wouldn't respond. That blow to the head had been nearly fatal. She was trapped on her stomach, inches from him.

  "Backhand-" Cathan choked, his voice wet. His gauntlet fumbled for her own, large metal fingers gripping her hand. "End of the line for me, eh Handy?"

  She gurgled something, trying to talk. One eye still worked. Barely. It felt like it was full of glass every time she forced herself to blink. It was too dark to see much anyway, even if she squinted. Her head throbbed with the beat of her heart. 

  "Save--your strength, Vega." Cathan instructed. 

  She wasn't sure what strength he was even talking about. Her armor felt like it had collapsed down on her spine. "Sir-" Vega managed to say. "S'been an honor-"

  "Don't give me that-- shit , Vega." Cathan chuckled. "I was just another dog of war. You'll get out of this. Go back to that man of yours, have a few kids, live your life." He coughed, wheezing, "my time is up, Handy."

  "No, no I'm-" Backhand tried to pull him closer, tried to get upright. Pain jolted down her back and legs and she halted, trembling. "I c-can't leave you here, Sarge." She groaned, knowing deep down that it was futile but refusing to give up .

  Cathan's grip tightened briefly. "It's alright, Handy." Her CO murmured. "It's alright. Make sure Tabitha has me buried on American soil. Or chuck my ashes in the harbor, yeah? Piss off all those Cambridge fucks." He chuckled.

  Backhand nodded as best as she could, the tears stinging painfully against the flayed skin of her face. "I will. Promise."

  The rubble overhead creaked and groaned, dust falling down on top of them. "Won't be long now." Cathan mused faintly, "Not long at all…"

  …

  Danse struggled to sit up and roll Vega onto her back. His own injuries faded to the background of his mind as she laid unresponsive, blood slowly pooling in the dirt beneath her left side. Her mouth opened and closed in a spasm; her eyes had rolled back in her skull and her fingers twitched erratically. 

  Have to hold pressure. Stop the bleeding. Danse numbly pressed his shaking hands down on her side just below her ribs, his body suddenly awash in a cold sweat as he realized just how much blood she was losing. He could almost hear Haylen rambling about the arteries, internal bleeding, penetrating damage, Worwick and Brach and Dawes and Keane and Danse felt like he was going to be sick. 

  "H... Haylen! " He yelled desperately. It was the only thing he could think to do.

  Then, against all odds, startling the everliving daylights out of him, Vega sat up . " Oh , you fuckin' asshole! " She hollered at Maxson around Danse's body while the paladin scrambled to attempt to stem the flow of fresh blood that her motion sent spurting out. "You really fuckin' shot me?! You're the worst kind of dick! " 

  Danse was flabbergasted. Her state was clearly compromised, how was she even conscious-

  "Fuck!" Vega growled in pain, dropping her forehead to rest on Danse's chest. "Oh fuck, fuck fuck you, you told me Danse was fuckin' dead, you liar! You expect me to just stand by and let you kill him in front of me?!" She continued to rant at Maxson, her voice muffled somewhat by Danse's shirt. "You dumb fuckin' prick, you stupid fuckin' dipshit motherfuck son of a cockass! This ain't exactly my first time gettin' fuckin' shot, you fuckin' fuck!"

  Danse realized that Arthur hadn't said a damn thing, possibly just as bewildered and awestruck by Elizabeth's impressive grasp of blue-streaked vernacular as he himself was.

  "Paladin Brandis, if I may…?" Haylen's voice was almost inaudible over Backhand's continued snarling. Danse jerked his attention away from Elizabeth, trying to blink the sweat out of his eyes in order to determine the field scribe's location.

  "Scribe, get the hell back behind the line!" Maxson barked. 

  Heavy footfalls heralded the arrival of Rhys and Haylen, the knight using his power armor like a shield to protect the scribe as if they were out in the field. Haylen was suddenly there , on her knees in the gravel next to Danse and Elizabeth. The paladin's eyes were now blinded with tears of gratitude and he huffed out a breath. "Danse, I'll get to you in a second." Haylen said softly, patting his hand. "Let me have her, okay?"

  "Haylen, I…" the large man didn't know what to say, his words failing him. He clutched pitifully at the scribe's hands, sure that he was gripping too tight.

  "I've got her, Danse. It's okay." Scribe Haylen soothed.

  "Yeah Danse, s'okay." Backhand said blearily, "s'Haylen, she's great. We love Haylen." Her head lolled back like it was too heavy for her to hold up. "Haylen made sure I got to eat and stuff."

  " What? " Danse rasped. 

  "The tactics Elder Maxson used during her incarceration…" Haylen trailed off, grimacing and then continuing in an undertone, "I made sure Rhys smuggled in something for her when he brought Brandis' meals."

  "Vega, Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry." Danse apologized needlessly, resting his forehead against Elizabeth's as he supported her neck. "I didn't think anything would happen to you. I...I didn't think in general, I guess." He admitted.

  Vega smiled . "Hey, I'd say whatever shit I went through was a pretty decent tradeoff for finding out that you didn't bite it after all." She slurred. "Missed you."

  " Christ , Vega." Danse muttered in dismay, fighting to untie her hands. Haylen took over after a moment, the scribe's fingers infinitely more steady than his own.

  "I need a Stim and a bloodpack!" Haylen announced after examining Vega's abdomen, looking up worriedly. 

  Not a soul moved. The only sound was the noise of Maxson wriggling in the grip of the armored knight who finally had him secured. "Listen to the scribe!" Brandis shouted to the mute crowd. "You have a sister bleeding in front of you and you would be still and silent? Where are the brave, compassionate soldiers I once knew? Knights! Scribes! Are you not Brotherhood?"

  Two aspirants finally elbowed their way through the throng, making a wide berth around Maxson. One of them bore a large canvas bag. "Good, good work. Drop it here." Haylen instructed, unrolling her field kit. "Can I get a scribe with steady hands and another knight for the opposite side?" She called. 

  A knight thundered past Maxson, the man throwing Danse of all people a haphazard salute before he took up his post at the other end of the group. Maxson practically seethed with rage. "Knight, how dare you salute that--that thing! "

  "That thing is still Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel, Maxson." Brandis growled. "He won the trial fair and square."

  "I will not allow it to live!" Maxson shrieked hysterically, struggling against the iron hold of the knight bear-hugging him. "I don't care how many of you I have to take down, Danse dies today! "

  "Maxson!" Brandis chided. "Do you even hear yourself? You sound insane! Think about what you're saying before you do something you'll regret!"

  "Not before he dies! "

  "Which would you rather be known as, Maxson? The abuser or the synth fucker?" Maxson froze at the sound of Danse's voice. The burly paladin shot the elder a bloodied sneer, his head tilted to the side at an almost arrogant angle. "After all, you got fucked by a synth." What the hell was he saying? Danse felt unhinged , words flippant, his tired limbs barely cooperating as he forced himself up on his knees and then to his feet. "You let a synth fuck you, Arthur." 

  " Abomination -"

  "You ordered a synth to fuck you." Danse reminded him, voice grating as his words came faster. "Demanded it to fuck you. Abused it. Threatened it with a certain death mission if it didn't. Then gave it that mission anyway." Danse rubbed at some crusted blood beneath his blackened right eye, grimacing. "Does it make it better if you didn't know I was a synth? Because then , you have to justify the reality that you molested a soldier in a compromised emotional state utilizing your privileged position of authority. Can you accept that , Maxson?"

  "You...Maxson, is this true?" Brandis asked incredulously.

  "That thing is clearly lying!" Maxson scoffed, looking around at the spellbound crowd like he expected everyone to agree with him. "Dammit, I am the elder -"

  "Did you hope that I would die out here, Arthur? Or did you assume that I would come crawling back to the Capital Wasteland after my inevitable failure in the Commonwealth?" Danse cut him off bitterly. "Did you think I would be easier to break once I had lost everything , Maxson?"

  "He always fights with Danse!" A tiny squire chimed in. Danse hadn't realised that Maxson had Ingram summon the damn children to watch their trial. "We heard them fight!"

  "Silence, brat! " Maxson screamed, his face purpling with fury. "I am the elder of this chapter, last of the Maxson line, and I will be given the respect I deserve! "

  "Cade's records can verify my story!" Danse shouted hoarsely for everyone to hear, his shoulders heaving with emotion. "Every time we engaged, I did not escape unscathed. Nearly every injury was documented. The dates will align with high-stress situations, and I'll stake my life on there being a long stretch of shit mood during the absence of your preferred punching bag, Elder! "

  " Liar! "

  "Abuser!" Danse yelled in reply, "murderer! You killed Cutler, through your biased orders! You killed Knight Astlin, Scribe Farris, Knight Varham! You killed my brothers and sisters!" Danse's fists clenched tight enough to ache. "And for what, Arthur? For a synth? Or for a man that had no interest in you? Either way, I refuse to accept their blood on my hands, Maxson!"

  " You killed them and you know it!" Maxson shrieked, kicking his legs desperately. "All you had to do was obey me, Danse! Was your pride worth their lives?"

  "There was once a time in my life where I would have done damn near anything you asked of me." His anger petering out, all Danse felt now was weary and bruised. "I loved the Brotherhood, Maxson. I still do. But the path we have taken under your leadership is heinous."

  "Don't you dare to lecture me about devotion, you mechanical mockery! " Maxson retorted.

  "This body may be synthetic, but my heart and mind…" Danse paused, saluting once more. " Those belong to the Brotherhood, Maxson. To my brothers and sisters in arms. Nothing can change that. Not even the knowledge of my true identity."

  "That's what you think!" Arthur flailed in the knight's grip, trying in vain to escape. No doubt so he could pitch himself at the paladin one final time.

  "Elder Maxson, through your words and through your deeds, I deem you unfit to lead our chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel at this point in time." Brandis announced abruptly. "As the senior ranking officer, I, Paladin Brandis, will function as the interim elder until we receive proper instructions from our superiors." He removed his helmet, staring down at Arthur sternly. 

  The young man was quite the pitiful sight, bedraggled from trying to beat Danse within an inch of his life as well as from his struggling afterwards. He still looked mad enough to kill, those blue eyes almost crackling with pent-up fury. "You planned this, didn't you?!" His paranoia on full display, Maxson made no attempt to maintain any sort of composure. "Just how many synths have infiltrated our chapter? Well Brandis?! "

  "Arthur, that's enough ." The senior paladin said in reply, his tone measured. "Don't make an even bigger fool of yourself. Bow out while you still have some dignity." He sighed. "Perhaps the stress of this campaign has been too heavy of a burden to bear for you. I sympathize, but I cannot permit you to carry on in this manner, Maxson." Brandis raised his eyes, scanning the crowd. "Cade! Knight-Captain Cade, please see to Maxson. He is obviously unwell."

  …

  Vega flickered in and out of consciousness. The weeks of abuse culminating in this final (though inadvertent) attempt to end her seemed to have nearly been successful. She only barely remembered Haylen treating her wound, mumbling out an apology to the younger woman for leaning so much weight on her. She caught snippets of Danse and Maxson shouting at each other, bits of the trauma that Danse had endured coming tumbling out and making Vega wish that she wasn't half-dead so she could at least flip Maxson off.

  " Rest , Vega ." Haylen had ordered. " You need rest ."

  And really, who was Backhand to refuse? 

  When next she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a canvas ceiling overhead. Vega squinted a little at the brightness of it. How long have I been out for?

  "Welcome back, General." That familiar voice snapped her out of her staring contest with the tent above her and she rolled her head to the side, unable to help her smile at the sight of Danse. Still a little bruised and banged-up, but alive . 

  Tears streaked down her cheeks and Backhand wished that she could have stopped them, sniffling loudly and covering her face.

  "General Vega, there's no need for that." The paladin chided her softly. Something bumped against her knuckles and she realized after a second that Danse was attempting to give her glasses back. 

  Vega accepted the glasses mutely, grabbed Danse's hand and used his arm as leverage to pull herself up off the cot. 

  "Wait, Elizabeth you-" The paladin began to protest, rising to his feet to stop her. Her legs nearly gave out but Danse managed to steady her, one large hand splayed on the small of her back. "You shouldn't be upright yet, Vega." He scolded.

  I missed you. I thought you were dead. The words tangled up in her mouth and instead Backhand mumbled, "I thought I missed you." Danse's brows furrowed in confusion and she hurried to correct herself, "I mean--I...I thought you were dead!"

  "I needed some time to regroup. Straighten my head out. Heal." The paladin explained quietly. "The O'Brians nursed me back to health."

  "What happened , though?"

  "What happened to you , Vega?" Danse asked instead, gripping her elbows carefully to keep her upright. 

  Backhand shrugged weakly. "Maxson thought I knew you were a synth."

  " I didn't even know I was a synth." Danse huffed, thick eyebrows raising once again. "How on earth would you have known?"

  "Maybe he was going on a witch hunt, trying to get me to confess even though I wasn't guilty of anything." She closed her eyes as she mumbled, "I missed you."

  "I thought of you every day." Danse replied bluntly. Her head shot up and she stared at him, watching as a flush crept up his neck. "I er, I...I am not good at these sorts of things," he admitted. "But it's true. I thought of you and...and of your son. Of the life you should have had. When Preston tracked me down, we realized that something must have gone wrong. So I...came back." 

  Oh . She hated the disappointed pit that yawned open in her stomach. She should have known that he wasn't thinking of her in the same way that she had thought of him. 

  Backhand rested her forehead on his chest, willing her tears to abate. "We need to get them out of the Institute." She said thickly. "All of them. Anyone that will come, Danse."

  "I think you and I should speak to Pal-- Elder Brandis. He has expressed interest in working with the Minutemen." Danse sighed heavily, then continued, "I cannot recommend that we work exclusively with the Brotherhood. There are years of prejudice that have been beaten into these men and women. The allowance of my presence is a show of good faith, but I don't know if I trust the rank and file to storm the Institute without turning it into a massacre." He gave her a wry smile. "I cannot blame them. Even knowing what I am now, it's going to take me some time to remove my knee-jerk reaction."

  "There's always something else to do." She wasn't trying to complain , but God she was tired .

  His facial hair brushed against her forehead, scraping the skin lightly. "I know. What was it you said in the Glowing Sea? 'A run ashore'?" He queried while giving her forearms a gentle squeeze, as if to comfort her.

  "I thought you were dead." She hadn't meant to say it again, watching his eyes go dark and kicking herself for bringing it back up.

  "I suppose I was, for a time." Danse murmured, his expression troubled.

  "I... please don't do that to me again." Vega begged. Her hands fisted in his fatigues, wrinkling the worn fabric. "This is going to sound really dumb and really selfish, but please . Don't."

  "When you thought I was dead, did you..." Danse hesitated. "I mean, did you really miss me? I'm not even...well, I'm not a..." He cast his eyes around, narrowing them like he was physically searching for the word he wanted to use. "Human." He finally managed to say, the admission obviously paining him. "I'm a freak of nature, Vega. A perversion of science and an example of where mankind has gone wrong--"

  "Danse." Backhand cupped his jaw, her palms smoothing over the bristle of his stubble as she coaxed him to look at her. "No offense, but you cannot be this stupid."

  "What do you mean?" The paladin asked, his confusion endearingly evident. "I'm not...how am I being…?"

  Backhand blinked. Maybe he could be that stupid. "You're probably the most human person I've ever met, Danse. The way you care about your squadron, the way you've helped me...look, I wasn't upset about you being a synth, I was upset about you being dead ."

  "Oh." Danse breathed. "Really? You... really? Me being a synth wasn't…?" His words kept faltering, uncertainty shining through with every hitch. 

  " You , Danse. I cried about you being gone ."

  "Elizabeth…" 

  "So don't you dare scare me like that ever again, got it?" Backhand leaned forward, boldly pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

  "I--yes. Understood, Knight. Uh, General." Danse stammered, his fingers absently touching the spot she had kissed. "W-We should...go speak to Elder Brandis. If you believe you can walk a short distance? I know better than to ask you to stay put and be patient."

  "Permit me the usage of your arm to keep me upright and yes, we can absolutely go."

  ...

  Please don't do that to me again .

  She had missed him, she said. She had mourned him, even. Cried over him. Danse's head was spinning.

  How could that even be possible? How could she...he was a machine . 

  No time left to consider such weighty problems, unfortunately, as he found that far too soon the two of them were approaching what had formerly been Maxson's quarters and now served as Brandis' war room.

  "Ad Victoriam, Paladin Danse and General Vega!" Elder Brandis greeted them warmly with a loose salute, gesturing around the war table afterwards. "Kells, Cade, Ingram, Quinlan, Doctor Li, I trust you all need no introductions?"

  The briefing was, as they usually were, tedious. Nothing brief about it, if he was being brutally honest. Vega held her ground though, which was all he really needed.

  "You boys aren't tyrants or fuckin' warlords. Not while I have any sort of say in the matter." She said sharply. "If you want Minutemen support, we are working as a team and the Minutemen have uninhibited access to all information as it is gathered. That means we'll need Quinlan's full cooperation." She held up a hand, staving off Quinlan's outburst. " Only in regards to the Institute. We don't want your super-secret Spec Ops sealed Brotherhood case files, so don't get those boxers in a bunch." Cade snorted and Proctor Quinlan looked absolutely scandalized, even as he grudgingly nodded. 

  "Now, General, this is all well and good but what does the Brotherhood get out of this bargain?" Kells asked pointedly. "As far as I can see, we're the integral piece in this plan."

  "' As far as you can see ' is an apt phrase, Lancer-Captain Kells." Backhand's tone was cool. This was General Vega for certain, the woman who had whipped the Minutemen back into shape. "Because what you can't see are the rest of my operations. The Minutemen aren't the only force I have at my disposal, just the most obvious." She leaned in a little, her eyes cold as ice behind the lenses of her glasses. "Do you really want to test me on my home turf, Kells? After everything that's happened?"

  "Not testing you, General Vega." The lancer-captain clarified, "simply identifying what seems to be an imbalance in the negotiations."

  "I got you Doctor Li." Vega retorted. "Without her, your Liberty Prime would still be a pile of junk. I've gotten your scribes tons of information to sift through, I've done everything the former elder asked of me."

  "Lancer-Captain Kells, if I might also interject?" Danse asked hesitantly, cringing on the inside as everyone turned to look at him like they had forgotten he was even there. Kells inclined his head after a moment. "Sir, we cannot be so quick to discredit our position. Due to our aerial location, we will be within the perfect striking distance to any sort of localized, above-ground assault."

  "I am more than aware of our position, Paladin . But that does not negate the fact that we have a much larger stake in this than anyone else-"

  "Larger than the locals who have been getting body-snatched for years?" Vega cut him off. "Let's not forget that myself and your new elder were starved and tortured for weeks , while the rest of you sat around and twiddled your thumbs out of fear and respect." She spat. "Don't fuckin' come to me with your scale-tipping bullshit . It took a synth to make you all sack up, and I don't intend to let you forget that." The woman straightened up, looking grim. "I'm not giving you anything else. You can either work with us, or you can keep pitching yourself against the Institute until they've all slipped away and you're left with nothing but an empty facility and unanswered questions."

  "She's right." Doctor Li affirmed tersely. "They won't just wait around to be pummeled. This isn't the Enclave. The board of directors will do everything in their power to avoid you and waste your resources at the same time."

  "We cannot afford to entrench ourselves in a drawn-out assault, Kells." Brandis reasoned. "When we strike, we have to do it decisively. Give it everything we've got and cut off the head."

  Kells nodded, seeming satisfied. "Understood, Elder Brandis. I meant no disrespect, General Vega."

  "None taken. I'm still recovering from getting the shit kicked out of me, so my manners aren't up to par quite yet." Vega rested her elbows on the table, steepled fingers tapping her chin. "I won't take anything from you that you're unable to give, Lancer-Captain Kells. If I can avoid using the BoS altogether, I will." She murmured, tilting her head. "I need to get in touch with some people before I can offer anything concrete, but once Lieutenant Garvey knows I'm alive I'm sure the rest will learn fast. We'll rally and plan accordingly." 

  "Well then, what are we waiting for?" Ingram asked eagerly. "C'mon Vega, let's head to the comm deck and get things squared away!"

  "Excellent plan. You two are dismissed." Brandis agreed, making a shooing gesture at the two women. Once they had departed, he turned his attention to Cade. "Do you have faith in our medical capabilities, Knight-Captain?" 

  Cade nodded. "We had been planning to attack them head on anyways, Brandis. If we're truly going in a little less 'shock and awe', we may actually tip more towards over-prepared."

  "I'm not certain how useful their teleporter will be to us once we get inside. I'm sure they'll lock it down with great expedience. However there is another possible egress." Quinlan spread the old blueprint out on the war table, fingers indicating a small service tunnel. "Now, if their measurements are accurate, power armored troops will not fit in this tunnel. But unarmored individuals most certainly will. This includes any…" he hesitated, like he was preparing himself to say it, "... refugees , or non-hostile denizens." 

  Quinlan referring to synths as anything but had Danse's head spinning. Vega was an absolute marvel .

  "It will be heavily guarded." Doctor Li warned. "They like to pretend that there's only one way in or out. Their precious molecular relay ."

  "Danse, I think you ought to take point when it comes to securing this tunnel." Kells remarked, making the paladin straighten up. "We won't be able to gauge our level of involvement until we have a full muster from Vega, but I'd like a senior-ranked soldier in the mix. And I know how much you enjoy being boots on the ground." The older man offered Danse a thin smile.

  Danse was so moved he needed to take a moment, finally choking out a ' yes sir ' with his hand over his heart. That Kells, even after all the years of growing to despise synths, would trust him with such a task-!

  Perhaps they did stand a chance, after all.

Part Seventeen

[arsonanddahlias]

Maybe you could be my mom

@molinaswilson (I believe) made a post about a mother/son relationship between Alex and Victoria, and I couldn't help myself really. I wrote this to productively procrastinate my other wip, so it's not the best but I hope it's okay! Implied homophobia and child ab*se (sort of) and if I remember right there's a little blood, just from grazed knees. Please be careful lovelies!

Alex stared at the door in front of him, and heard the lock click. It felt wrong, being outside looking in. He clutched the backpack tightly in his hands, before pulling it round onto his back and wiping his eyes. He took one last look at the house before turning around.

This wasn't home anymore.

He grabbed his bike from his, no not his, their front yard, and started peddling furiously.

His eyes were blurry and so much was going through his head that he thought it would explode and he didn't know where to go and the weird mix of whispers of "Luke" and "Reggie" playing in his mind where overwhelming and oh god his sisters and I-

He tumbled off his bike, panic attack now encasing his entire body and trapping him in a tiny box.

Breathe, Alex. Breathe.

When he looked up, he realised he was completely lost. God, he might as well be in France he was so lost. And he was cold too, so cold, and a glance at his watch told him it was way too late to be out.

Now, Alex wasn't a rulebreaker. His dad, no not his dad, Mr Joyner, told him it was just him being a good lad. Keep up those grades. Don't make trouble. But his late night Google searches told him it was RSD. He always got anxious about these things, and God his boys made him anxious.

But... Right now, he didn't really have much choice, if he didn't want to get kidnapped or murdered or... God he didn't want to think about it.

Looking around he saw one house that seemed particularly welcoming, and particularly empty without a car in the driveway and without any lights on.

And it had a garage, perfect.

On cue, his stomach grumbled in protest. Maybe, he could find a way into the main house and grab a snack, then sneak into the garage and be gone by morning.

Dropping his bike in the grass, he stepped quietly towards the big house in search of an open window. God, what he'd give in a time like this to have Reggie's uncanny lock picking skills. He found one round the side, and tumbled through it into a clean looking bathroom.

***

Victoria would do anything for her niece and nephew, so it wasn't uncommon that her and Carlos would be left alone In the house.

Ray and Rose had taken Julie out for a meal, but Carlos had decided to stay behind because "I love you jules but, I know it's gonna get mushy, and Tia said she'd order pizza". God, she loved that kid.

It was getting to midnight, and Carlos was in bed. Victoria didn't usually stay up this late, but she wanted to finish her book, and so was sitting in the conservatory.

It was all quite peaceful, until the massive crash that came from the kitchen.

She quickly rounded the corner, to scold Carlos gently for staying up so late, but instead she was faced with a very scared looking, very dishevelled blonde boy staring at her like he couldn't quite decide between fight and flight.

"What are you--" she cut herself off as she saw the ripped jeans over grazed knees, the tear tracks on his tired looking face, the overflowing backpack on his back.

The boy started stepping backwards, like he was trying to run but couldn't figure out an escape route.

" I- uhm I wasn't uhm" he tripped over something and collapsed, luckily onto the sofa behind him. He instantly jumped up as if the sofa was red hot, and glanced towards the door to the bathroom, which Victoria was now blocking.

He took in a shaky breath, evidently trying his best to calm himself down.

"Right" Victoria sighed, realising a little too late that she was definitely keeping this one. She raised her arms slowly, halting for a second when he flinched, god, he flinched, before gently wrapping her arms around him.

He stiffened up for a moment, anticipating... Something, but softened when he realised that something about this felt.... Safe?

"I'm sorry" He muttered into her shoulder "I promise I wasn't breaking in I- well I was breaking in but I didn't want to steal any- well I was going to steal something but only-" he cut off his rambling, pulling away from her.

"Sit down" She said, and felt guilty when he flinched and immediately sat.

She moved smoothly towards the fridge, which was containing goodies she'd made for the Molinas. She looked backward at the boy, who was switching between watching her and his own lap. His leg was jittering anxiously and he was picking intently at the skin on his hand.

She pulled out a plate and uncovered it, moving over to the microwave to warm it up.

She considered for a moment, and picked up her phone from the kitchen side

"Wait- please don't call the police I-" he stuttered, looking alarmed

"Don't worry, I'm not calling the police" She said soothingly. Now was not the time to try and be harsh with this boy, she had realised. She continued picking up her phone and scrolled down her contacts to find her sister. She moved into the next room so that the boy couldn't hear the conversation she was prepping for

***

To say he was scared would be quite the understatement, Alex thought. He was getting very mixed signals from the woman who had caught him. She, she gave him a hug, then snapped at him. She said she wasn't going to call the police but then went into the next room. Maybe she was trying to convince him not to bolt.

God, he should have just gone to Luke's place. Sure, his relationship with his parents wasn't the best, but the Pattersons were always welcoming. Now he was going to get arrested and they were going to call his parents and- would his parents even care? They'd said they weren't his anymore. They'd said they didn't care about him.

He wouldn't have anyone to bail him out. How long are you in jail for for breaking and entering? Sure, he hadn't stolen anything, but it was technically trespassing and-

His thought was cut short when the woman came back into the room and have him a long, indescribable look and moved over to the microwave. She pulled out the plate and a fork and set them both on the coffee table in front of him.

"Eat, mijo"

Alex hesitated for a second, but, on cue, his stomach grumbled and he couldn't really protest when his own body was working against him

And he must admit, he didn't regret it.

"What's your name, sweetheart"

"Alex. Alex Joyner"

"I'm Victoria, what are you doing out here? It's very late"

He paused from eating, looking down at his lap, then up at Victoria, then down at his lap again.

"I got kicked out" he muttered, speaking carefully like he was considering every word. He was desperately hoping she wouldn't ask why, because he felt like that could go one of two ways, him being kicked out yet again, and having to find somewhere else to sleep, or maybe her calling the police, If she hadn't already.

"Why, mijo" dammit

He looked straight past her, at the white wall. He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he was going to say got caught in his throat. Or maybe around his throat, choking him with the guilt he'd felt. He looked back down at his lap, and picked at his skin, pushing back his sleeve to fiddle with the rainbow bracelet that Reggie had made him when he came out to them. Victoria's eyes locked on to it, and she sat next to him, before hooking her finger under the bracelet for a second. "Anything to do with this?"

Alex nodded, tears welling up in his eyes, a d splashing onto his lap. He darent look up at Victoria, he was scared that her look would match his mother's, disgust and shock mingling together in her grimace.

Instead, though, she pulled his head gently onto her shoulder and wrapped her arm around him, whispering quiet comforting things into his hair.

Eventually, when Rose and Ray got home, they were only slightly surprised when they saw Victoria asleep with a blonde boy resting on her shoulder. Huddled up in blankets.

Rose leaned over to Ray and whispered, careful not to wake up the sleeping boy, "Looks like we've got 3 kids now"

[kissjane]

ANIMAL COMPANY / (Not so) Short fic

#13 from this prompt list

Guys! That’s it! This is the last one from the list! I did it! The file for these is 64.5k words, and I did them all in two months. It was super fun, but not gonna lie, I’m glad to be done with it. And as promised to a certain evil mastermind, “Mouse AU” is the last one posted. 

Both going to grab the same thing and touching hands, then making eye contact

For all Lucas’ lamenting about wanting to live alone, so he could walk around naked, eat pizza at every hour of the day, and never have to listen to any of his roommates get it on ever again, now that he actually was living out that long-desired dream, he was… lonely, for lack of a better word.

When he had realized he was talking to himself, and replying, he had figured he needed something alive to keep him company.

And so he had decided to go to the pet store, to see if he could actually commit to the immense job of keeping an innocent animal happy, healthy and alive.

It was, however, not an easy task. He’d had a staring contest with a black-and-white cat, and he’d been playing for a while with a cute Pomeranian, but he hadn’t fallen in love. The birds had been entertaining for a while, and he actually felt a connection with this yellow puff that kept flying into the cage and seemed to love taking baths and ruffling its feathers, but when the store clerk had started explaining about shells to sharpen their claws and different grain mixes and fake eggs for the bird to breed on, he’d given up.

The fish were pretty, but boring, and the tortoises had a temper. Lucas didn’t feel like sharing his flat with a snappy, mean animal – he was perfectly fine filling out that slot all by himself, thank you.

He had tried to find the walking sticks between the non-walking ones, and given up after a few minutes. The ant farm reminded him too much of a middle school science project. A chicken sounded good in theory – a fresh egg daily was a big boon – but the idea of a chicken in a flat was preposterous. And while he was all for recycling and taking care of the environment, a worm composting station just sounded dirty.

So he was getting a bit desperate, wandering further down the aisles. He turned a corner, and suddenly found himself in front of a cage with one single white mouse in it.

The animal was sitting up on its haunches, looking at Lucas, its whiskers trembling as it sniffed. It looked kinda cute, and Lucas wanted to pet it, to see if maybe he could take this tiny thing home. He opened the cage and reached out for the tiny animal, when suddenly a large hand, with silver rings on multiple fingers, carefully grabbed the mouse right before Lucas could.

“Hey!”, Lucas protested without thinking, turning towards the intruder. “I was going to pet him!”

“Well, I guess…”, a male voice replied, and the hand was extended towards Lucas, not letting go of the mouse.

Lucas gingerly extended a finger towards the animal’s fur, and touched it, trying hard to stroke the frightened little thing, who was now squeaking loudly. However, the hand of the guy was kinda in the way, and so Lucas looked up, and – promptly forgot all about the mouse.

The hand with all the silver rings appeared to belong to some sort of ethereal creature right out of Lucas’ gayest fantasies.

“So did you pet him enough?”, the god in front of him said, but Lucas suddenly had difficulty understanding French.

“Huh?”, he croaked out, undignified, sounding rather like the frogs he had given wide berth earlier.

The guy laughed, and fuck, if it wasn’t like the sun broke through the clouds and lit up the whole store.

“Did that satisfy your urge to pet him? I mean, I don’t mind if you want to do it again, but I promised Brian a mouse soon, so, yeah…”

His voice died off apologetically, and Lucas swallowed back a lump.

It was stupid, really, to get disappointed. Men like this weren’t put on earth for Lucas, as much as he might wish it to be otherwise. Of course this guy had better things to do than stand in a pet store with a mouse in his goddamn sexy hands, being drooled over by a total stranger.

“Oh! Oh, uh, yeah,” he said, praying his cheeks weren’t as red as they felt. “Sorry, uh, yeah, sure. Wouldn’t want to keep Brian waiting.” He chuckled in embarrassment.

The guy nodded emphatically.

“Yeah, my baby boy gets a bit impatient sometimes, so…”

Oh. Lucas hadn’t given too much thought as to who or what Brian might be, but it made sense. He pictured a cute toddler with the same messy hair and grey eyes as his dad – fucking adorable, there was no other word for it, waiting anxiously for its new pet. His vivid imagination played the scene out with full-colour detail – a spacious flat somewhere in Paris, a pretty wife holding on to Brian, the guy stepping through the door with the mouse in a small cage, Brian escaping his mom’s hold and hugging his dad’s legs, jumping up and down in excitement.

He had to swallow down another lump.

“Oh, yeah, I understand,” he said, while stepping aside so the guy could pass him on his way to the register. “Does he like mice, your son?”

“They’re his favourite,” the guy said, putting the mouse in a small box and moving past Lucas. “And it’s been two weeks, so you can imagine he’s pretty hungry. Have a nice day!”

Wait. What? The scene in front of Lucas’ eyes changed screeched to a halt, and then picked up again, this time with a creepy toddler biting into the mouse, blood smeared around the corners of his mouth, while the pretty mom wiped the back of her hand around her own lips, stained red, as the guy looked on proudly.

“He’s gonna… eat… that mouse?”, Lucas squealed in horror. The guy, who had almost turned the corner, slowed down and looked over his shoulder at Lucas.

“What else would he do with it?”

Lucas’ mouth fell open. He pinched himself, convinced he somehow entered a fucked-up horror dream, but he flinched at the pinch, so he must be awake.

“What… fucking parent lets his kid eat mice?”

The guy stared at him for a long beat, and then suddenly, that sunshine smile broke through again. He stepped closer to Lucas, who recoiled in disgust.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”, the guy said as Lucas kept backing away from him. “I guess I did call him my baby, didn’t I? Brian is not my son, though, he’s my pet snake!”

Lucas’ head spun.

“First of all,” he spluttered, “who the fuck calls his snake Brian? What kind of a name is that?”

The guy shrugged.

“It suits him. If you saw him, you’d know.”

Lucas shivered visibly.

“Oh, come on,” the other man said. “Don’t tell me you don’t like snakes. Brian is cute, I swear.”

Lucas wasn’t convinced.

“If you say so… But anyway, more importantly, you can’t just let that tiny mouse be eaten by a snake! Look at him!”

The guy did look at the mouse, and then back at Lucas.

“But Brian needs to eat.”

“But I wanted to buy that mouse! I wanted a pet!”

It was a lie, because Lucas had in no way committed to the wretched thing, but he couldn’t just let it be taken to an early, gruesome death.

“Ah.”

The guy seemed to understand the issue, as he looked from Lucas to the mouse with his piercing eyes, biting his bottom lip. Dammit, Lucas really couldn’t look too closely at that, because he felt his resolve weaken. He might just agree to be fed to Brian himself, if only to keep the guy’s eyes on him.

“What if I helped you find another pet?”

Fuck. Suddenly Lucas didn’t give a damn about the fate of the poor little mouse – it seemed to look at him with hurtful eyes now, upset at Lucas’ betrayal – if the alternative was staying close to this guy while they wandered through the pet store together, discussing the pros and cons of each animal.

“Uh… well, I would have to warn you. That mouse was kinda my last hope.”

“I will take the risk. For Brian.”

Lucas dithered for only a few seconds, in which the mouse didn’t deign him worthy of another look, before he caved.

“I guess.”

“Okay, let’s go then! I’m Eliott, by the way. Brian’s dad.”

He laughed, and the sound of it made a shiver roll deliciously slow over Lucas’ spine. He managed to keep himself mostly in check though, rolling his eyes as he extended a hand.

“Lucas.”

And they set forth on another tour of the aisles, Eliott trying to emphasize all the advantages of the creatures they came across, and Lucas nixing them all with a sad shake of his head. Eliott had to agree with lots of Lucas’ arguments – spiders were too creepy to keep willingly in the house, hamsters were smelly, and chameleons sounded cool, but all they did was lounge around under a heat lamp.

So when they found themselves back where they started out, they both looked at the small box in Eliott’s hand.

“I mean, maybe Brian could wait another day to eat… He did seem very hungry but I’m reasonably sure it wouldn’t kill him…”

Eliott looked at Lucas with a pout and honest-to-God puppy dog eyes, and Lucas couldn’t help but laugh.

“I guess I can survive without a pet, too… It might be a close call, though.”

“Yeah,” Eliott nodded, suddenly serious. “Not a risk I’d be willing to take, though.”

Lucas’ breath hitched. Eliott was watching him intently, and Lucas was pretty sure this time he wasn’t succeeding at keeping the blush off his cheeks.

Suddenly though, Eliott jumped.

“Oh, Lucas! I know! I know exactly what you need!”

He grabbed Lucas’ hand, and for a dizzying second, Lucas was too distracted by the contact to move. But Eliott tugged, and Lucas had no choice to follow him, and before he knew it, Eliott was showing him an enclosure with a grand flourishing gesture.

“What’s that?”

Lucas peered in, and then –

“A rabbit! It’s perfect, Lucas!”

Inside the cage was a tiny grey rabbit with floppy ears, and Lucas felt his heart melt.

“Oooh, you’re cute! Look, Eliott, he’s so fucking cute!”

“He is,” Eliott said, his voice low, and Lucas looked over his shoulder to see if anything was wrong, but Eliott just smiled, his eyes sparkling.

“What do you think, then? Worthy alternative for a mouse?”

Lucas pondered for a minute.

“Yeah. Come on, help me flag down an attendant so I can take him home.”

Together, they listened to a tired-looking clerk enumerating the important points in rabbit care, and loading their arms with the necessary equipment and food before finally taking them to the register where Eliott paid for his mouse and Lucas for the rabbit and all its accessories.

“So,” Eliott said, as they stepped outside. “What are you going to name him?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lucas truthfully replied, looking at the ball of grey fur. “But it’ll be better than Brian, I know that. I’m a way better pet dad than you.”

Eliott laughed brightly.

“I feel like I’m kinda his dad, too. I mean, I helped pick out his house and his toys and everything.”

Lucas was inclined to agree, but sadly, this was as far as things were going to go. Eliott would go home and feed Brian the mouse, and Lucas would pour all his affection into his new roomie.

“Maybe, uh…”

Eliott hesitated.

“What?”, Lucas asked curiously.

“Maybe I could come visit him sometime? And you, too, obviously.”

Lucas whipped his head up in surprise.

“And, you could come see Brian, too, I mean, if you wanted…”

Lucas smiled widely.

“Is this your way of asking my number?”

Eliott mirrored Lucas’ smile.

“Yeah. After all, don’t you think our pets would be better off with two dads?”

And as he punched in his number into Eliott’s phone, Lucas’ imagination got kickstarted again, showing him vividly another flat somewhere in Paris, with a rabbit enclosure next to a glass aquarium in which Brian was leisurely devouring a mouse, and two boys cuddled up in front of them, kissing each other. It beat living alone, for sure. 

[whitewitchdani]

Infinitely Different: Chapter 6

Read Chapter 5 Here

Word Count: 1,782

Pairing: Winchester!Sister Reader x ???

Warnings: angst, language, descriptions of violence and injury

A/N: Reader... what did you get yourself into? (: Chapter 6 is here! I hope you guys enjoy and as always feedback is welcome and let me know if you’d like to be tagged. 

Infinitely Different Masterlist 

You ended up sleeping well into the afternoon. Who knew a real bed could make such a difference? As it was closing in on time to begin the hunt, you made your way out to the arsenal in the trunk of your car. It was nothing compared to the one in the Impala, but it worked for just you. As you were rummaging around inside, you felt a presence behind you. You reached for your gun intending to attack until,

“Damn, I know you described this to me but you really do have an arsenal back here.” Stefan said with a laugh. 

You dropped your gun and spun around, hitting Stefan in the chest, “Dammit Stefan! Don’t sneak up on me like that, I almost ventilated your undead ass.”

Stefan laughed, “While that wouldn’t have actually done any damage, I’m glad you didn’t shoot me. It still smarts a little. What are you doing?”

“Gathering stuff for the hunt. Flare gun, flares, my gun, extra rounds. While a gun doesn’t really do any damage, just like you it still hurts and will slow them down a little. Has Damon calmed down from last night at all?” you asked, stuffing everything into your duffle and slamming the trunk shut.

“He’s currently nursing a bourbon in the library, so I’m gonna say not really.”

“He’s completely overreacting. I’ve been a hunter all my life; this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ll go talk to him, maybe calm him down before I leave.”

“Do you really think you’re going to be able to do that?”

“Probably not but I have to try because if my brothers show up while Damon’s pissed, I’m coming home to someone’s body on the floor and I’d really like to avoid that.”

Stefan let out a small laugh at that but also gave a small nod, as it was most likely the truth. “Come on, I’ll take you to my brother.” 

He slung an arm around your shoulder and walked you back into the boarding house and towards the library. There you found Damon sitting near the fireplace, watching a fire crackle with bourbon in hand. 

“If you came here to talk, save it. My mind has not changed. You going out there alone is still stupid.”

You sighed and made your way over, sitting next to him on the couch. “Damon, I never said it wasn’t stupid. I know it is. Hell, half of the things we do as hunters are stupid but its what we signed up for when we chose this life. I’ve done this before and I’m going to be okay. The only thing that will cause me to not be okay is if someone is out there with me and causes my focus to not be 100% on that Wendigo. That will get me and whoever else killed.”

Damon clenched his jaw and swirled the bourbon in his glass, refusing to look at you. “I’m a vampire, Y/N. Unless that thing carries a wooden stake or has the wherewithal to rip out my heart, I’ll be fine. I should go with you, you need backup.”

You stood from the couch and began to pace in front of it. “Damon, it doesn’t matter that you’re immortal. The only people I could take out there and not worry about would be my brothers, but they aren’t here and probably won’t be. I’m going out there alone and that’s final. I don’t understand why you’re being so difficult about this; you’ve never fought me this hard about a case before. I mean, I was here for two years and took several cases but you’ve never –”

Damon stood suddenly from the couch and sped to be face to face with you, “THAT’S BECAUSE I DIDN’T LOVE YOU BEFORE!” He launched the tumbler at the wall, sending tiny shards of glass across the floor.

You flinched as the glass shattered but kept your gaze on Damon. You knew your mouth was just hanging open in shock, but you couldn’t find any words to fit what you were feeling. You both just stared at each other for a moment until Stefan cleared his throat, reminding both of you he was still in the room. 

“I know this is really bad timing, but it’s getting late. If you’re going to go Y/N, you need to go now.”

You sighed. You needed to talk to Damon, but the hunt took priority; people were dying. You grabbed his hand, “I have to go, Damon. I’m sorry. Save me a drink for when I get this son of a bitch.” You smirked and gave his hand a squeeze before dropping it and following Stefan out of the library.

“What do I do, Stefan?”

“I’m not sure, I did not see that coming. But please don’t die on this hunt. It would devastate him and I’d kinda miss you too.” He said with a smirk.

You rolled your eyes and shrugged on your green army jacket over your flannel and turned to leave. As you opened the door, you turned back to the younger Salvatore with a sigh, “I don’t have an answer for him Stefan.”

He walked forward and enveloped you in a hug, “Don’t focus on that right now. Just focus on the hunt and coming home, Y/N. Just make sure to come back to us.”

                                            A Few Hours Later

Sam shook his head. Dean had been grumbling the entire time they had been in Virginia about Y/N and Mystic Falls and now that they had finally entered the town it had gotten even worse.

“Dean would you stop? I know you aren’t thrilled to be here but we’re here to help Y/N alright? Now I think you take this next turn.”

Dean turned the Impala down the path that lead to the Salvatore Boarding House. When the house came into view, Sam let out a low whistle. “This is where she lived for two years? No wonder she likes it here so much.”

After the Impala was parked, they made their way up the driveway, Dean pausing to admire the two classic cars: a 69 Chevy Camaro and a Porsche 356B. “Who the hell are these people? These cars alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus this house?”

“I don’t know Dean, she never got to tell us remember?” he shot at his brother. 

Dean glared at Sam and followed him to the front door. They looked at each other before Sam raised a fist to knock. Before his fist made contact, the door swung open to reveal a young blonde man.

“Can I help you?”

Dean cleared his throat, “Yeah, we’re looking for our sister Y/N. Is she here?”

A look of recognition flickered across the man’s face. “You must be Sam and Dean. Please come in.” He stepped aside and allowed the brothers to enter the house. They took in the massive house around them. Y/N sure left out a lot. “Um, come with me to the parlor. I think we should talk.”

“No, not til you tell us where Y/N is. She said she’d be here now where is she?” Dean said gruffly.

“She isn’t here. If you come with me I can explain more.”

Dean went to protest but was cut off with a look from Sam who then followed the man. As they entered the parlor, they saw two other men and three women. Everyone’s conversations halted as they entered. 

“Guys this is Sam and Dean, Y/N’s brothers.”

A blonde got up from her place on the couch and moved to the brothers. She shook Dean’s hand first and then Sam’s. “Hi, I’m Caroline. I’ve heard a lot about you both, it’s nice to finally meet you in person. I’m assuming you don’t know who anyone is?” The brothers shook their heads. “Well like I said I’m Caroline; the guy who walked you in is Stefan and the dark haired broody guy over there is his brother Damon, this is their house; the guy on the couch is Alaric, we just call him Ric; and then the girls are Elena and Bonnie.”

“Thanks for the roll call sweetheart but someone needs to tell us where our sister is or things are gonna get ugly.” Sam elbowed his brother and muttered Dean under his breath.

“She’s not here, pretty boy. Took off a few hours ago to frolic through the woods and kill monsters,” said Damon as he downed his newly poured bourbon and immediately poured another one.

Dean’s jaw clenched and his face turned a bit red. To say he was furious was an understatement; you called them for help but went after the Wendigo alone anyway? 

“Look I know you’re both probably pissed, but another camper went missing last night. Y/N said she couldn’t wait any longer and she didn’t know if you were coming or not. She said if she had any chance of saving any of those campers she had to go tonight.” Elena pointed out.

Sam sighed, “Well she was right. It’s what we would’ve done. It’s too dark for us to go after her to try and help now. She’s on her own.”

You were running through the woods clutching your abdomen. How far had you ran? Where even were you? It didn’t matter; you could hear the Wendigo behind you. Just keep running. You were getting so tired, running and blood loss was not a combo you’d recommend. 

You only had one flare left. Fuck it; you wouldn’t make it if you kept running. You stood behind a tree and waited. The Wendigo began to creep closer to where you were hiding. Once he was close enough, you jumped from your place behind the tree and fired. 

You hit him! But not before he had got another swipe in, this time down your right arm. You cried out and fell to the ground as the creature burned to ash. You managed to pull yourself up and hobble farther through the woods. You had to find someone or you would die here in the woods of Mystic Falls, and you didn’t want to give Damon, Dean, or the damn monster the satisfaction.

You made it a ways before your vision began to darken. You stopped to lean against a tree, blood loss trying to pull you under. No! No, no, no, you hadn’t found anyone yet! Your body didn’t listen as your adrenaline finally wore off and you fell to the ground. In your semi-conscious state you thought you heard footsteps. If only. You finally lost your fight against the black spots in your vision as you succumbed to the darkness.

Read Chapter 7 Here

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