#◜⠀ replies ⠀⠀⠀ —⠀⠀ ،،̲ she’s got the devil’s eyes and they’ll cut you like a weapon ﹗ ◞

[naturaltalent-a]

⠀⠀⠀   *       𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒  —   there were many emotions swimming inside her at the moment,   coraline never felt like emotions were exactly her thing  .  ironic,  that now she were to experience a tightness in chest,  waves of anger and helplessness swimming around ready to burst any second .   hell,  maybe it was just the first time she finally acknowledged that she was still human,  that deep inside she was just like the rest of them,  the same as the people she felt so separated from .  lips press together as the black and white pictures stare back at her,  bright smiles and shining eyes,  a memory trapped forever in time,   they had no idea what life would bring them .    lost to a being drunk on power and domination,   forgotten by a being that simply loved to watch the world burn  .    the gods don’t care,    they’ve made it abundantly clear ... so why does coraline  ?   wasn’t she one of them ,  and yet she stands,  yearning for an end of the torment for everyone to be free of the upside down and the horrors it holds  .    the natural order isn’t what was occurring,  this was a killer with too much power  . 

⠀⠀⠀   *       she doesn’t come out of the trance right away,  unblinking,  lost to thoughts .  only as steve knocks her out of it a little firmer does she snap her head towards him,  eyes blinking rapidly as the faded world comes into view .  the distant buzz of life inside the school now having a tone to it rather than a low hum .  she says nothing at first,  staring at the other with creased eyebrows,  troubled -  she’s always been able to hold it well,   but this time it was hard  -  after everything she’s been through,   what they’ve been through,  she didn’t have the energy to pretend   ❛   you wanna know something  ?    ❜      blue hues glow slightly with the confusion buzzing beneath skin,  magic stirring within veins,  as if it were trying to make her feel better .  though she doesn’t realize that,  staring at the papers once again,  like if she focused hard enough the missing people would crawl out and at least part of the problem would be solved ...  nothing was ever that easy though,  not for them    ❛   after everything that’s happened,  from the start to right now .  i think ... i think i finally get it    ❜   eyes squeeze shut, nails digging deep into forearms from where they were folded across chest     ❛    i think i finally understand what people mean to each other . ❜                

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 .      @naturalshot​    /   STEVE & CORALINE .     

[c-e-d-dreamer]

Happy Oct. 1 and the start of Halloween! Please enjoy this spooky inspired Nessian fic! :) 

It had been an accident. A complete and absolute accident. Cassian had agreed to host a mini Halloween party at his loft apartment. They would order food in, play some drinking games, maybe binge some horror movies. It was going to be fun, and Cassian simply wanted his place to look the part. So he had bought those fake spiderwebs and hung them from the lamps and across the curtains. He bought some fake skulls and plastic pumpkins to set about the living room and kitchen. 

And he simply thought it would be funny to draw a pentagram on the floor. It looked just like in those cheesy Halloween movies, and he knew Azriel would get a kick out of it. He even set some candles around it to really make it look the part, and he couldn't help but put on his best 'spooky' voice as he said some words he'd read in one of Rhys' musty books in his library, some language he'd never heard of but sounded cool. He didn't think anything of it. 

And that's how Cassian ends up with a woman standing in the middle of his apartment. 

Cassian has no idea who she is, but he can’t deny that she is breathtakingly gorgeous. Her golden brown hair is braided up into an intricate crown, a few wisps of hair falling against her temples and framing her face. It brings out the cut lines of her cheekbones. She’s wearing a form fitting dress, the black fabric hugging her curves and arms before it flows into a deep blue at her feet. But Cassian’s eyes get stuck on her eyes, as dark as night as they pierce into Cassian’s own. 

"I am the Goddess of Death, Princess of Decay,” the woman says, her voice seeming to boom and echo in Cassian’s apartment. “Who are you who commands me?"

"How did you get in here?"

The question seems to give the woman pause, and she blinks at Cassian for a few seconds. Cassian watches as her head tilts slightly, her eyebrows pinching. 

"Excuse me?" the woman asks. 

"I mean my front door is locked so I'm just confused how you got in here."

"You summoned me."

"I summoned you…?" 

Cassian takes in where the woman is standing, right in the middle of the pentagram, her too dark eyes, and the way power seems to radiate off her in a way that rumbles in his own bones. Finally, his brain catches on. 

"You're a demon." 

The woman crosses her arms, her weight settling on her left leg. She raises her eyebrows at Cassian, her face cold and unimpressed. It pretty clearly reads ‘no shit.’ 

“I summoned a demon?” 

“Are you asking me?” 

“I summoned a demon,” Cassian mutters, mostly to himself. 

“What are you expecting? Congratulations?” the demon-woman quips. “Look, just tell me what you want.” 

“About that…'' Cassian starts, clearing his throat awkwardly and rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. “I actually didn’t mean to summon you. It was an accident.” 

“Is this a joke?”

“Unfortunately not. But I don’t need anything from you, so I guess you can just go back to wherever it is demons live.” 

“That’s not how it works. I’m tied to you until you banish me.” 

“And how do I do that?” 

“You don’t know how to banish me?” 

“I just told you I summoned you by accident. I’m not even sure how I did that.” 

The demon-woman closes her eyes and lets out a long sigh through her nose like she’s trying to stay calm. Cassian can’t help but wonder what would happen if she doesn’t stay calm. Would she attack him like demons in movies? Are the representations of demons in movies accurate? Would it be rude to ask her? After a moment, the demon-woman takes a deep breath and smooths back her hair before settling her eyes back on Cassian. 

“So, let me get this straight,” the demon-woman says. “You summoned me by accident, you don’t actually have any biddings for me to do, and you don’t know how to banish me.” 

 “Yes,” Cassian replies, chuckling sheepishly. 

“Great,” the demon-woman mutters. “I was summoned by an idiot.” 

“But I can Google it,” Cassian promises. 

It turns out, Google isn’t that helpful when it comes to actual demons. Cassian tries various different searches, but all that he’s able to come up with is a bunch of television and movie references, a Buzzfeed article comparing different celebs to demons, and a weird article about making deals with the devil. Luckily, he is able to find a local witchy shop that’s only three blocks down from his apartment. Unfortunately, they’re closed and don’t open until the next morning, so he and demon-woman are stuck together for the time being. 

He had moved to the sofa when he started his Google deep dive, and the demon-woman had stepped gracefully out of the pentagram to sit on the opposite end. She hasn’t said anything since their initial talk when she appeared, and Cassian can’t help but steal glances her way out of the corner of his eye. She looks like a queen the way she’s perched on the cream colored sofa cushion. 

“So,” Cassian drawls into the silence. “Do demons eat? I can order pizza.” 

The demon-woman turns to him, one eyebrow poised. The look sends a shiver down his spine. He's not entirely sure it's out of fear. 

As it turns out, demons do in fact eat, as Cassian learns. He also learns that this particular demon prefers her pizza topped with veggies and that her name is Nesta. 

“Have you always been a demon?” Cassian asks, taking a bite of his pizza slice. 

“Seriously?”

“You’re the first demon I’ve ever met. You can’t blame me for being curious, sweetheart.” 

Nesta’s eyes snap to his, a scowl pinched across her lips. The expression pulls a smile across Cassian’s own face, which only makes Nesta’s eyes narrow more. Cassian’s fingers itch to reach out and smooth the lines between her eyebrows. The desire is so sudden that Cassian busies himself with grabbing another slice of pizza out of the box to distract himself. 

“First of all, don’t ever call me sweetheart again,” Nesta starts. “And to answer your question, no. I haven’t always been a demon.” 

“Then how did you become a demon?” 

“I made a deal.” 

“Was it worth it?” 

Something passes over Nesta’s face then, like ghostly fingers leaving a haunting trail against her skin. Her spine straightens like steel, and when her eyes meet Cassian’s again, there’s a guardedness to her expression that speaks volumes yet leaves Cassian with even more questions. 

“Most days,” Nesta replies simply. 

~ * * * ~

The witchy shop is decidedly less spooky than Cassian had envisioned, but perhaps that’s just his biases and what movies taught him coming into play. He expects cobwebs and weird animal parts in slimy jars, and maybe a black cat that screeches at him when he steps inside. Instead, there’s an aisle dedicated to herbs and another dedicated to crystals. He squints at the black scrawled writing of the placards declaring what each crystal is for. He supposes it would be a bit too easy if one just said ‘banishing demons.’ 

Nesta sighs loudly from over his shoulder when he picks up a candle to smell. When he glances her way, her arms are crossed and that scowl from before is back plastered across her face. Slowly, he turns back around and sets the candle back down on the shelf. 

“Do you mind?” Nesta quips. 

“Alright, alright,” Cassian acquiesces, keeping his voice down to avoid attention. Another thing he learnt last night was that only he could see and hear Nesta.

He heads for the counter of the shop where a young woman is arranging jewelry in the display case. As he approaches, the woman looks up and offers him a friendly smile. Cassian tries to offer one back, but he’s sure it must look more like a grimace. Once at the counter, Cassian clears his throat, shoving nervous fingers through his tangle of hair. 

“Hello,” Cassian starts awkwardly. “This is probably a weird question, but you wouldn’t happen to know how to banish a demon, would you?” 

“Do you have a demon problem?” the shop worker asks. 

“Something like that.” 

“Well, is the demon powerful?” 

Cassian looks over his shoulder to Nesta, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. In response, she merely smiles. It’s all teeth and the exact opposite of innocent. It stirs something deep in his gut. 

“Very,” Nesta bites out.

Cassian turns back to the shop worker. “Very.” 

“Wait,” the shop worker replies. “The demon, is he here?” 

“She,” Cassian corrects. “And yes.” 

“But how did she get past my wards?” 

Cassian’s gaze follows the shop worker’s own, to the silver trinkets that twist and clink together softly above the shop’s door. He can hear Nesta’s scoff at the suggestion, and he doesn’t need to be looking at her to know that she’s rolling her eyes. 

“It would seem they don’t work,” Cassian offers sheepishly. 

The shop worker gapes for just a moment before she turns on her heel, pushing past the beads hanging over the doorway to the backroom. When she returns, she has a box of crystals that she sets down on the counter, a bundle of herbs labeled ‘sage’ and a folded up piece of paper nestled on top. 

“You’ll need to draw a circle and set these crystals around it,” the shop worker explains. “Make sure you charge the crystals under the full moon and don’t wait. Do it the next day. That’s when they’ll be the most powerful. Burn the sage to cleanse and say this incantation, and you should be free of your demon.” 

“Great,” Cassian exclaims, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket. “I’ll take it.” 

After paying and gathering his items, they head out of the shop. Cassian feels lighter already. They have a plan. Plus, the fall weather today is gorgeous and that always helps to lift his spirits, the cool breeze and canopy of yellow and reds above their heads. It definitely helps that fall and Nesta look amazing together, the golden rays of the sun bouncing off her hair. Cassian can’t help but offer her an easy grin as they walk side by side. 

“See? That was super easy. We’ll have you banished before you know it.” 

“And when’s the next full moon?” Nesta asks dryly. 

Cassian startles slightly at the question. He shifts the weight of the things he just bought to one arm and digs his phone out of his pocket with the other. A quick Google later, and Cassian takes in the date glaring back at him on the small screen with a frown. When he looks back up at Nesta, she’s staring back at him unimpressed, clearly already knowing the answer. With a roll of her eyes and what sounds to Cassian like a muttered ‘idiot,’ she takes off ahead him back toward his apartment. 

It’s going to be a long two and half weeks. 

-- 

And Cassian simps the whole time for those two and a half weeks. And there’s feelings. And Cassian makes a deal of his own to save Nesta’s soul. And they live happily ever after. 

[austarus]

Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne) x Reader Ballistic Confrontations (3/3)

*A/N: The picture/edit/gif belongs to me!

**If you understand what I’m referencing to in the end, well the Kudos to you. You win 85 Stardollars.

***Trigger Warning: Scars from mentioned self-harm

****Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

Word Count:  6397

Part 1   Part 2

Eobard said nothing. Instead, he disregarded your look as his gaze locked back onto Kara, as the Kryptonian woman threw him a hateful look. The futuristic genius did not care. His baby blue hues jumped back to where you stood before stepping away to the side tables. Now we proceed, the speedster mused to himself, picking up a scalpel and arranging his surgical tools. The stage needed to be set tonight. All the actors were in place, and he needed to complete his role. A delicate procedure, if you will. But he needed to be bought some time. Surely, Barry and the others would be back by now from Earth-X. He was, in essence, reluctant to cut up the Earth-38 Kryptonian for he held no malice towards her. She was just an unnecessary casualty in all this. And after all, if Barry Allen were to die it would be at his hands. Not on some tainted Earth at the firing range. You’re centuries late, Mr. Allen. As always.

You glared at your genius scientist for not cluing you in on whatever it is he had planned now. What was his plan? Play along until ‘Uh oh, it’s too late to turn back’ and ‘Oh, look. We’re doomed’? A grunt caught your attention, Kara was trying to break out of her restraints again. “Kara,” you whispered, now standing beside her. “Save your energy, please.” She eyed the restraints on you before taking a slow breath in. Kara wanted to throw her guts up, but she pushed back the bile caught in her throat.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

“Honey, you are looking anything other than fine.”

Kara pursed her lips, feeling fatigue wash over her once more. “Where… where are the others… that were here- at the labs? Are they…?” There it was, always concerned for others when she should be concerned about herself.

“No, no they’re fine. They’re in the pipeline. Iris and Felicity-” You stopped yourself, noticing Eobard’s head snap towards you. A pang of guilt echoed in your body. “They’re being held there too,” you lied, giving her hand two small squeezes for her to indicate the lie. If he held things back from you to entertain the Earth-Xer’s with legitimate reactions, then so would you. Supergirl nodded her head subtly in understanding. You were too focused with Kara; you didn’t notice Eobard move. “You’re going to be fine; the others should be back. They wouldn’t go out just like that.” Iris, Felicity, where’s that help? Just where are you guys? You couldn’t leave if you wanted to. Not with the others lurking around. Not when there was a chance you could tip them off about Iris and Felicity, then there was Eobard. Overgirl would instantly go after him for betrayal.

“I… I really hope not. Alex-” Kara trailed off; her eyes drooping shut as her shoulders sagged. Her hand went limp in your cuffed ones.

“Kara?” You looked up to see a tube in Eobard’s hand with a syringe in it. Empty as its contents have already worked its way into Kara’s system. “What are you doing?!”

“I’ve given her a mild anesthetic,” you pursed your lips as his statement. Eobard sighed, “Not to worry, that should have her out for 30 minutes. Strong enough for a Kryptonian, but not strong enough for too long even with the red sunlight on her.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I needed to talk to you without anyone listening.” You followed how Eobard’s eyes glanced at the door. Outside stood two more Nazi guards.

“You could have just pulled me to the other room,” you whisper-yelled at him.

“No, I couldn’t have.” He crossed his arms at you, replying in his own gravely hushed tones. “I needed to keep up the image of the bad guy in front of Kara.”

“Why? Why, when she could understand that you’re not really with them? Why let her also think of you as one of those heinous monsters?”

“Because her opinion of me doesn’t matter. Not hers, not the Earth-Xers, not anyone else.” Eobard punctuated his words before taking your hands in his, placing a gentle kiss on the back of one. The intensity in his eyes never broke as he spoke once more, “Only your opinion of me matters. You matter.”

You pursed your lips, your eyes unable to leave his heated gaze. Oh, if only we weren’t in this mess. If only we had more time… Kara crossed your mind once more, the ominous thrumming noise that came from the machine that generated the red sunlight. A frown found its way onto your face. “Wait, you said 30 minutes? Shouldn’t she need time to recover from the anesthesia to be given another one?”

Eobard sighed, letting go of your hands. He crossed his arms. You weren’t going to like his answer. “No, not in this case.” Dread welled up in the pit of your stomach.

“What…”

“The General herself requested, more like ordered, me to have our Kara awake during the… transplant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You responded slowly. Your eye slightly twitched as anger started to consume your thoughts. You wanted nothing more than to rip your friend’s doppelganger apart.

Eobard very well sensed your feelings, he always hated putting a frown on your face or seeing you upset to this extent. “Look, I don’t want to do it either,” the speedster retorted hastily as he unfurled his arms, his hands gently grabbed your shoulders, “but I can’t defy their word especially with you around.”

“Why? Am I suddenly a liability?”

“Never, but they’ll figure something is up with you here with me. Conspiring against them. You already saw how easily Oliver-X caved to his Kara regarding who you are to me.”

Technically, that’s my own damn fault, but a calculated risk to get to Eobard. I can live with the repercussions. “But that’s technically what we’re doing on the downlow, Eo.” You echoed one of the lessons he taught you years ago. “One weakness is better than none, it can be essential to creating the downfall of another.” He had mainly told you that regarding Eilling, who hadn’t ceased to stick his nose into Eobard’s lab experiments and projects. The general had eyed you as a means to get to him, but in reality you were a strength to Eobard. Not a weakness. And the speedster very well knows you can handle your own; after all, the both of you trained constantly. Pushing each other’s limits. Though where you hesitated to kill, he compensated on that, especially in the right moment. “We can have the Dark Archer on the ropes. If anything, he’s made it evident that his wife is a liability to his rational thinking.”

A proud grin ran along his handsome face. “Exactly, my little bird. But they will hurt you, even if you can hold out against them you can’t take them both on.” Even I cannot, not with where I’m at with my speed. Not with the slight dampener they have on my suit. The potential self-destruction if removed from the emblem by my own hands, is a heavy weight on my chest. If I can get rid of them, I can defuse the detonator.

“I’m not worried about me; I’m worried about you! I can’t- I can’t be the one to lose you again.” Eobard shifted his gaze away from you. “Look it’s not going to come to that.” He knew what you were suggesting. “Ok? Worst comes to worst I cause a distraction.”

“No, over my rotting corpse.” 

That sounds eerily familiar.

“We don’t have a choice, if it buys us time then I’ll be damned not to try!”

“That’s why we adapt to the situation and find alternate routes to keep off their radar. I know what I’m doing.”

“Precisely. Adapting. So let me do what I can if it comes down to it.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!” You bit back a retort at the way he raised his voice. “Just trust me.” He wasn’t asking you to.

“Kinda hard with your track record,” You deadpanned, and Eobard just rubbed his face.

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“Is that a question you seriously want me to answer?” A small cheeky smile made its way to your face. You couldn’t help but tease him right now, of all times.

Eobard huffed out a chuckle, pulling out some white surgical clothes from a drawer. Have those always been there? “Just follow my lead, ok? Whatever happens stay on their side, whatever happens to me stay with Barry and the others.” Eobard gloved his hands while the guards re-entered the medical room along with Oliver-X and Kara-X. Speak of the devil. You pursed your lips and held a stoic expression even as Kara-X sauntered to her respective gurney, smirking widely before a violent coughing fit erupts from her. You didn’t miss how Oliver-X moved towards her, yet you averted your eyes to the protruding machines the other soldiers were bringing in for the ‘necessary’ operation. Two guards held you by the arms where you stood. You swallowed thickly as everything was being sterilized and prepped.

***

Harry caught the ball once more after it ricocheted back to him. He’d been letting his frustration out on it towards the cell wall. Something didn’t feel right. He cursed himself, knowing he should have been carrying some weapon or breaching device to have gotten away from the Dark Archer. Or any intruder for the matter of this invasion. Yes, he pushed the emergency labs alarm, but he still got whacked and dragged to the pipeline. He could have done more damage to these damned Nazi’s, but he was helpless. I should have carried my gun or my pulse rifle, what was I thinking? His hand gripped tightly at the ball as regret never left his side. I should have seen this as a possible attack. It’s a simple strategy. Divide and conquer. Yet they were all too fooled, too hasty to attack to even logically see this move by the Earth-Xers.

“Wait, Thawne’s here?” Cisco’s outburst broke the Earth-2 genius out of his thoughts. Harry cracked his neck and directed his attention back to Cisco’s squabbling from the cell near him. The Wells doppelganger was getting pretty tired about hearing of Thawne. A feeling of dread picked at his insides, his thoughts going to you and what Barry had discussed vehemently earlier.

“Yeah,” Caitlin responded. “I haven’t seen or heard from her. We only briefly got a visit from Iris and Felicity not too long ago. But they didn’t know where she was either.”

“Do you think maybe she… you know?” Cisco made an implication. “I mean, does she know?”

“I don’t know,” Caitlin trailed off. “But Iris had said that she left them in the Time Vault to buy them time. Whatever that could mean.”

“Well, on the one hand, they either got to her and are holding her hostage somewhere or, on the other, she rendezvoused with Thawne and now they're going all Mengele on Kara.”

Harry rubbed his face irritably at Cisco’s words, by now you would have known. There’s a high possibility. Whether it’s from seeing Thawne face-to-face or by overhearing someone. By now, Harry’s sure, you would have made a choice. Where did you go, though?

The lights flickered in the pipeline before shutting off as Caitlin finished. A dull blue tint lit up in each individual cell as the pipeline was divulged into a dim darkness. The emergency lights were the only things on. Every person was on high alert at this point.

“Ohohoho, my girl Felicity definitely pulled that one!” Cisco chirped, making a loud clap.

Dinah tried her canary call again, but to no avail. The cell would not budge. Harry narrowed his eyes; he knew she’d try again. But Cisco had crafted these cells with Thawne cautiously for metas. Practically indestructible unless you’re a Time Wraith.

“I wouldn’t try it again if I were you.” Harry finally spoke. Dinah paused, the silence daring to be her question. “These cells are reinforced to withstand any form of meta-attacks generated within. A backup generator still supplies the power dampeners with energy to preserve the cell.” Harry looked out his cell and towards the darkness. “All we can do is wait.”

***

You took a breath, smoke and blood and electricity filled the air. Your eyes didn’t miss the rush of electricity in the distance. Red and gold, the Speedforce of the only two speedsters here. Swallowing thickly, your attention was diverted to the Waverider being chased by another. Well damn, I think someone’s having a bit too much fun. Raising an eyebrow, you watched both airborne vehicles zig-zag through the air. You hooked up your earpiece and headed for the nearest skirmish to help out. A grin plastered itself on your face when you heard Cisco on the comms arguing with Harry. I guess they’re the ones taking the Waverider for a joy ride.

You pressed the button on your communication device, “Any chance I can hop on?” You sucker punched a Nazi. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to do that all day.” Cisco laughed, weaving through the air as if he’s directing a Strike Fighter.

He’s totally Luke Skywalkering his way through this.

“Girl, where you been?”

“Let’s just say,” you huffed, generating electricity in your palm and slamming it into the chest of another soldier. “I caught some unwanted attention, and they were reluctant to release me.” In actuality, Eobard had sped you away from the Labs once Ray made a dramatic entrance to save Kara. He’d sped you to where the battle would be, at least to where the Earth-X forces would arrive from. Telling you to run and appear at an opportune moment. Meaning, go hide while the battle thickens so your disappearance doesn't bring up too many questions from your friends. “Is Iris with you?”

“Yeah, she’s in the back with Felicity, we’re still trying to maneuver in the best position possible to take down their shields.”

You breathed a sigh of relief, thinking back to her stunt with Felicity to sabotage the surgery. “So, how about that help?”

“Hmm,” Harry spoke up, pushing his glasses up. “Unless you have the capability of overloading and shutting down the entire Earth-X Waverider system without passing out, be our guest.”

“… I mean I could try.”

“No.”

You pouted, punching another soldier, this time in the nose. Someone’s particularly grumpy right now. “It’s honestly not that hard, I would just be out for a couple of days and probably on life support.” The line was quiet meaning that Harry chose to ignore your comment. Rude.

You took in a breath and reduced your being to an electrical form, traveling up some buildings to gauge the situation. Kara and Kara-X were facing off at the moment. Eobard was naturally keeping Barry busy while Oliver and Oliver-X were in an intense hand-to-hand-to-bow combat. Yeah, their fight wasn’t as impressive as the other two. You took in a breath heading back down to the fight, this time getting closer to Mick and Leo Snart, who you found to be the Earth-X resistance fighter and doppelganger to your dead ex-boyfriend.

What goes around comes around.

***

“Where were you?”

Turning back from where you sat, you sent a questioning look to Barry and pointed to yourself when no one had responded. He had specifically prompted you with the question. The look in his hazel-green eyes were distant as he leaned against the front of the Cortex desks. You recognized that look from a few years ago. The silence in the Cortex was sliced amongst the team. DeVoe was still out there, scheming. Some stopped what they were doing to gauge what would happen, others (mainly Harry) kept working away but inclined an ear in case either of you were to do something rash.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, (Y/N). You’re not that dumb.”

“Excuse me.” You narrowed your eyes at the scarlet speedster.

“Barry,” Iris whispered to him, but he shook her off as he folded his arms.

“Where were you after you left Iris and Felicity?”

Ah, of course he wouldn’t miss that. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse.

“I went to go buy them some time.”

“Buy them some time or buy yourself some time? To see Eobard.”

Your heart hammered tightly in your chest, but you made no move to indicate what you had done. In a sense, you did both. You protected Iris and Felicity while keeping Eobard company.

“Why would I want to see someone who’s allied themselves to a Nazi regime on a different Earth, Barr?”

“Why wouldn’t you do anything to see the one you once loved?”

“Are you talking about me,” you tilted your head to the side, taunting him now, “or yourself?” You referenced the events that happened last year. Barry was more than aware of what you were indicating. Flashpoint. Savitar. Iris’ predicted death, HR’s sacrifice, his time remnant’s downfall. But you’ve been wanting to add kerosene to the flames. “Are you referring to your mom,” you turned your head to Iris, “or to Iris?” If looks could kill, you would have been reduced to ashes under Barry’s gaze. Cisco put down his tools and Caitlin glanced at her friends from where she sat beside Iris. Harry capped his marker but turned his eyes towards you. “Like I said, I caught some unwanted attention, and they were reluctant to release me. How is that any different from the others getting stuck in the pipeline?”

“You left Iris to defend herself.”

“Oh my god! Barry!” You rolled your eyes at his statement, deflecting your own questions. “Iris this, Iris that. Iris is a big girl with nearly perfect marksmanship as Harry. She’s more than capable of taking care of herself. I know that. She knows that. The same goes for Felicity as well. But do you know that?” Divide them, fester the idea of unreliability between those two. After all, it’s because of Barry’s decisions for Iris that everyone gets screwed over. It’s one of the reasons for the resentment and bitterness that grows within you. Only they can be happy, no one else can.

“You left Iris and Felicity while this place was crawling with Earth-Xers just to see Thawne!”

“Fucking prove it, you dickbag,” you screamed back at him, “if you’re so certain. Prove it, because contrary to your belief, I was fighting beside you and everyone else that day in the city once I managed to escape. Ask Cisco and Harry. Ask Sara. Hell, even ask Mick and Leo.”

Barry shook his head with a cruel smile, “Do you wanna know how I know?” The speedster took out his phone and started it up, showing the screen of your location. “Careful what you wish for.” Dread gripped your heart as Barry chuckled to himself. “That’s right. I chipped you, that night I pushed you against the doorframe before leaving for the warehouse fight. I chipped you. I already had Thawne chipped earlier that night. On his suit, when I landed a few hits on him. He doesn’t know or… not until recently.” Barry did a search for any pings, but there were none except for yours. “You asked me for proof, here it is.” He slid his fingers on the screen showing a timestamp and your location pinged with Eobard’s at the labs.

“This means nothing.”

“It means everything!” Barry stepped closer to you, anger in his wake. “You left us for him.”

“Yet I still fought with you guys because it was the right thing to do regardless of how I feel for him. You don’t understand nor will you want to understand. You’d rather label us as 100% on the wrong side without acknowledging that we can dwell in a gray area. The world isn’t just black and white, Barry. Or have you forgotten about your own morally gray decisions?”

Sparks crackled in the air, whether it was from you or Barry, no one could tell. Harry took a subtle step towards you from where he stood at the glass board a few feet beside you. He was the only one that can calm you down from this, maybe Iris too, but most definitely he himself. But Harry wasn’t quick enough because the Cortex monitors went haywire while the room darkened. You and Barry were nowhere in the room.

“Barry!” Iris screamed a second after he had sped you away.

***

Eobard raked a hand through his dark locks, analyzing the future article again. He fiddled with his rightful Reverse Flash emblem in his hands, his fingers tracing over the single lightning bolt. It took the genius a full day to extract the SS emblem from his suit, but with your help he was able to detonate it a safe distance away in some open fields. While the people of Central City slept and you had assured Eobard that the Labs were vacant, the speedster had rushed into his old office and compiled all the documents he needed to keep out of Barry’s hands. He’s honestly surprised Team Flash hadn’t rifled thus far into the records he kept. The only things missing were speed theories and the equation escalation to the Speed Formula. Although, he had solved that issue for Barry two years ago when he had traveled back in time for an answer on getting faster.

Still such a naïve child, not at all like the Flash from my future. Arranging some papers together on his new office desk, without meaning to Eobard had knocked over a picture frame. The breaking of glass caught his attention, craning his neck to see the fallen frame. The frame held a picture of you and him from before the Particle Accelerator exploded around Christmas. Before you had known his secret. But now the frame was adorned with a fierce crack through you. Eobard’s mouth went dry, knowing that superstitions were just superstitions, but he couldn’t exactly place the rush of fear welling in his body.

“Gideon, pull up (Y/N)’s location.” Eobard pulled his glasses off smoothly as the AI did as told. She was at the labs. “Access the live feed cameras.” Gideon pulled up holo-images 8x8 of what seemed to be a further escalating scene between you and Barry through STAR Labs. Gritting his teeth, Eobard summoned his suit and launched himself forward into it. The Negative Speedforce fueled by his anger and hate pumped dangerously in his veins.

Barry Allen will regret the day he dared to lay a hand on you.

***

“You’re a traitor!”

“Speak for yourself.” You grunted against the wall, your electric blade dissipating in your hand. It was getting harder to breathe, to keep up with his movements. With speedsters, you preferred long-range combat, but you had to make due at times. “You’re the one who betrayed everyone first for your own selfish desires. Flashpoint, the cause of so much pain and misery. In the end, there was so much collateral damage, and you were the cause of so many lives lost.”

“Flashpoint should have wiped you away. You should have been thankful. We helped you,” Barry fumed, pressing his forearm harder against your throat. “We stood by you.”

“They stood by me.” You tried channeling your electricity, even to siphon off a lick of his in order to produce a dagger, but to no avail. Only sparks flickered from the tips of your fingers, “You couldn’t stand the sight of me when you brought me in.” You had no grievances towards anyone else other than Barry. Not Iris, not Caitlin, not Joe, not Cisco. Certainly not Ralph simply because he’s new. And not towards Harry and Jesse. Iris and Caitlin were the two people who kept you the most grounded to the world for they understood the loss of a loved one and the process of moving on.

“You’re damn right I couldn’t. I was wrong to have let you stay around after Iris and Caitlin rehabilitated you.”

“That wasn’t your decision to make, now, was it?”

“You’re a monster just like Thawne. You’re not a hero.”

You simply spit blood in Barry’s face. “I’m neither thief nor hero.” You were kind of enjoying pushing his buttons, releasing all those pent-up emotions and frustration over the years. Wiping his face clean with his sleeve, the speedster sped you out of the room, throwing punches and kicks at you. He had run you through the entirety of STAR Labs. You siphoned off passing energy from computers and lightbulbs to throw at him Palpatine-style when there was distance between you two, but there was only so much you could do in your current condition. You were getting tired; you couldn’t keep up. Every burst of electricity that burned him had drained you. Blood continued to trickle from the side of your face and sweat glistened on your skin. You healed fast, but he healed much faster.

“Barry, stop! You’re going to kill her.” Iris shouted with a gun in her hand, the others piling into the room. Cisco threw a wave blast at Barry and Frost aimed a couple of icicles his way, but the speedster had dodged them. The scarlet speedster tossed you to the ground like a bag of peanuts before turning to the others. You skidded to the side, breathing in deeply then coughed up some blood into your fist. Blood continued to trickle from the side of your face and sweat glistened on your skin. You could feel your cheek swell as well as an ache form in your chest, maybe a few cracked ribs. Could potentially puncture your lungs if this didn’t end soon.

“And why shouldn’t I? For all we know, she could be spying on us for Thawne.”

“Barry killing her won’t solve anything,” Harry shot at him with his pulse rifle to create some distance between you two before training it on you. “It’ll just make things worse.” You met his eyes, and you could see the disappointment in them. A tinge of guilt hit you, but you pushed past it as you stood on unsteady feet. Your body felt like it was made of lead, but you continued on. If this is how things are to be, then so be it.. You leaned against the wall, cradling your damaged ribcage, as Harry continued. “Regardless of her actions, she did keep Iris and Felicity safe in her own way, she still stood by us.” You were finding it extremely hard to breathe, to stay conscious. Your breathing slowed, the noise in the room between Team Flash was reduced to murmuring to your ears. Did I burst an eardrum too?

“Are you kidding me, Wells? How can you say that when-”

You blinked before collapsing onto the ground, a streak of red had filled your vision. Eobard pinned Barry to the wall, his hand squeezing at his throat while red hot anger filled his vision. “Good to see you again so soon, Flash,” the yellow speedster drawled with a rough grin in his distorted voice. “It seems like you overstepped your boundaries.” Eobard kicked Barry in the ribs and landed a few speed punches, the scarlet speedster already exhausted from his fight with you. “Isn’t this position nostalgic?” Barry was clawing at Eobard’s firm grip, suspending the young hero in the air against the wall as he had done years ago.

“I- had a feeling... you’d show up, Thawne,”

Licking your bloodied lips, you groaned as you leaned up with hoarseness in your voice, “Eo, don’t.” The man in yellow stopped, slowly turning his quaking gaze towards you. You held his gaze for as long as you could get the message through to him. “Enough.” Eobard retracted a fist that was to make contact on Barry’s face, but not before squeezing the scarlet speedsters throat tightly and throwing him towards the upper part of the speed lab. Eobard took off his cowl and generated his speed to be by your side, eyeing every cut and bruise on your broken skin. Your eyes drooped shut when he brushed the back of his gloved hand against your unwounded cheek. His eyes softened, but his insides clenched. Iris and Caitlin had run to where Barry laid while Harry and Cisco monitored Eobard with caution as he gently scooped you in his strong arms.

Standing up with your limp form, the speedster disregarded Cisco, yet glared coldly at his supposed doppelganger. The future genius then turned to them and spoke, “My love for her is what stopped me this time. Next time,” his eyes landed on Barry, “you won’t be so lucky. Lay a hand on her again and I won’t hesitate to end your miserable life, Flash.” His eyes flashed red as they met Barry’s for the last time before taking his leave in a wake of red electricity.

***

Eobard stopped his vibrational intimidation once he made it to your temporary home, Gideon had already prepared the necessary diagnostic tests that would need to be conducted to assess your health. Laying you on the gurney gently, he kissed your forehead before proceeding. The speedster had cleaned you up, replacing your burnt clothes and scrubbing the dried remnants of blood on your skin. His heart shattered. His blood turned to ice. Eobard’s baby blues scanned every part of your marred skin. Lines that tallied up right after another, scars that were too stubborn to heal correctly as if trying to serve as a reminder. Eobard’s mouth had dried as his thumb made featherlight touches before injecting the needle into the correct vein. The speedster opened his mouth and closed it, but he could not register any other emotion other than anger and guilt. His thoughts funneled fluidly, emphasizing that one certain cause that led to this escalation. His death had been the cost of your mental and physical state.

Never again. The speedster peppered kisses along your arms as all the implied images ran through his mind. A tear slipped out. It fell from his face onto the scarred tissue. My love. He needed to get back to work. With classical music dancing in the background, Eobard conducted a blood transfusion in order to replace the blood you had lost as well as administering IV fluids. He had to steal the materials from a hospital nearby in Keystone. They won’t be missing it. 

“According to my current readings, copious amounts of stress have been exuded onto her heart allowing her to retain a constant distressed state.” Gideon rattled on as Eobard sat next to you with a sleeve rolled up. He glanced over at you as the AI continued. “The X-ray scans have also been completed. She’s suffering trauma in her ribcage, a few cracked ribs, however none are broken. CT results also conclude a mild concussion.”

She’s lucky her lungs hadn’t been punctured. His hate for Barry Allen grew with every second that you laid unconscious.

“How long until a full recovery?”

“Physically it could take up to 3-6 weeks regarding her ribs. The mild concussion will take approximately almost a week and a half. Her heart might take longer. Therefore, she must avoid extraneous activity.” 

“Such as using her powers and so on.”

“Yes. Shall I assist you with anything else today, Professor Thawne?”

Eobard ran his fingers over his lips before taking his glasses off and throwing them onto the side of a nearby table. “Keep tabs on Barry Allen’s movements, I want to be alerted if he comes near Keystone or has any intention of it.” The AI nodded before shuttering away into the plinth. Yes, the speedster had been smart to chip him, something Eobard had easily gotten rid of. But to chip you as well, Thawne cursed himself for not seeing it coming. Too preoccupied with the timeline and it’s malleability. “Hopefully DeVoe will keep him away long enough.”

***

Your eyelids felt like they had been cemented shut, the stinging smell of antiseptic slapped you right in the face. Am I dead or in a hospital? A groan left your lips, your throat dry as a desert and craving any drips of water. I hope I’m not in a hospital, I hate those places. The nice thing was that a light wasn’t blinding you, at the very least not piercing through the darkness supplied by your shut eyelids. It was oddly soothing. Your mind finally processed the dull ache residing in your bones, the softness beneath you and the slight chill in the air. Maybe I am dead. Taking one slow breath in, your blood vessels throbbed louder with each fluid pumped through and the humming of machines finally registered to your ears. You didn’t want to open your eyes; you were content with just laying here.

“…” You frowned, the sound of mumbling coming to you. Who was that? “Gi… ru-… I-.” Death, perhaps? You twitched your fingers, a numb sensation set in both your arms. If I’m dead, how can I still feel? It took a moment for your brain to catch you up on how you’d been reduced to such a state. Barry… killed me? No, that’s- Eo was… You shakily formed a fist only to feel something cool against your skin. Felt like another hand. Not bony. Maybe Death gave the appearance of a human for us to pass.

“Mm,” you tried clearing your throat, but it hurt each time, inducing a coughing fit. Blinking wearily, you looked around, your vision blurry until it settled on the being the hand had belonged to. “Mm, I…”

“Shh,” the deep voice cooed. You could hear much more clearly now but couldn’t make out the image of the being. “I have some water for you,” you felt a straw tap your lips. “Drink up.”

Why is Death being so kind to me? I thought Death was swift. You drank a sip at a time before pulling back and shutting your eyes once more. The somatosensory neurons on your arms brushed against some coarse material. A blanket? That same cool touch caressed your cheek. You blinked your eyes open a few times, dizziness ensnaring your mind, but your eyes met icy blue ones. “Eo?”

“I’m here,” he whispered in a gentle tone, standing up from where he sat next to you.

“I’m not dead.”

“No, you’re very much alive”

“Barry, he…”

“I’ve dealt with him. He won’t ever hurt you again.” You watched as he kissed your bandaged hands, each finger receiving a kiss. Cracking your neck, your realized he had changed you into fresh clothes. The scent of faint lavender hung onto the fabric.

“How long was I out?”

“Two weeks.”

It hurt your head when your eyes bugged out. You patted your temples lightly. “Two weeks? What- I-I need to get back. They were going to confront DeVoe. Harry and-”

“No,” Eobard pressed his palm against your shoulder when you tried to sit up abruptly, “You need to rest. Screw Team Flash. For once, just let them be so you can recover.” The speedster did not ask for what had happened to you, knowing the implications in his mind were too strong to be false. Rather, he’d make sure it would not occur a second time

“It’s not that simple, Eo.”

“It really is,” the yellow speedster sighed to himself, rubbing his face. You gestured to the water, and he handed the cup to you. “You’re in no condition to go back there, not after what happened. Your powers and your fight did a number on you. I-…. Your heart stopped a couple of times.” You almost choked on your sip. “I had to jumpstart your heart and keep it going.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For worrying you.” For being a liability that Barry can use.

“Don’t. This,” he gestured with his hands between you and him, “is not something to apologize for. Ever. If anything, it was smart of him to use you for bait as I had used Iris and Eddie.” You pressed your lips into a thin line as your mind started to wander.

“So, we wait?”

Eobard nodded as you ran a hand through you knotted hair. Need to brush that out asap. “We wait until it’s time to strike.”

“Until it’s time for you to strike. I’m remaining neutral in whatever it is between you and Barry in the future. Even if he might not see it that way.” Tipping the scales, balancing good and evil natures in the forces of the world. That’s what He told me my role in the multiverse is along with...

“I know, my love.” I don’t know how to break this to her. “But until then, rest.” If I ask her to come with me, would what I orchestrate then work?

“Eobard.”

“Hm?” Eobard knew he needed to go back to sort a few things out. Chances of getting caught were roughly 30-70, but not zero.

You shifted over to make room for him, patted the spot next to you. “Stay.”

Or would she become collateral damage?

“Always.” The speedster leaned down to kiss your lips before moving in beside you. You laid your head on his chest, minding the slight tremors of pain. Eobard kissed the top of your head and you shut your eyes. You’d go to the ends of the multiverse for him, but you’d also protect your friends. Being at odds with Barry wouldn’t stop you. He just needed to learn to live with your choices as everyone else has had to live with his.

Eobard’s mind ran through every scenario, deciding it’s best to tell you what he intends to do. He’d rather you decide for yourself what to do. The negative speedster respected the position you held onto. Neutrality wasn’t always an easy feat, but he admired your devotion towards him and the ones you love. Eobard was just selfish enough to only want and care for you. He didn’t need anyone else. He certainly didn’t need camaraderie. Tomorrow, he’d tell you. Tomorrow, he’d make sure to take the first step towards ensuring the future.

Betrayal is a fickle thing, Barry Allen. A lesson you will learn again.

[kenganparadise]

Hi! first I wanted to say that I love your blog, I am very happy to see that there is content for this anime. Did I want to request some headcanons? Like, dating Raian. If you don't do headcanons, maybe a drabble of him introducing his s/o to his family.

I decided to write Raian’s S/O meeting his family for the first time!! I was feeling a little fluffy today! I hope you enjoy!! ❤️

Raian was actually in a very sour mood. He peeked behind the corner to see you checking yourself in the mirror again. You made sure all the wrinkles were out of your clothes and all the pieces of lint and pet hair were cleared away. You check your hair again. Fluffing it and trying to fix it. “UGHhhh. I already told you 1000 times- you look fuckin’ HOT.” Raian yelled from the other room. You paused in surprise then sighed. “I don’t want to look hot. I want to look respectable and.... honorable.” You say. You look down at your feet. There was a pit in your stomach. You were very nervous. But Nervous wasn’t a good word to describe how you were feeling. You and Raian have been dating for a long time. He’s met all your family and friends. You have yet to meet his. You had heard rumors and the legends of the Kure clan. A tight knit family of assassin, literally bred to kill. You just so happened to be dating the most powerful one. You heard of their selective breeding. You wondered if they’ll deem you good enough. You wondered if you’re good enough yourself. Raian noticed your mood dampen. You look smaller. He clicks his tongue. You sigh deeply as the thoughts swim in your head. What if they didn’t like you? You jumped feeling strong arms wrap around your waist. Raian’s forehead was in the crook of your neck and shoulder. Your heart leaped at the affection. This.... was very very very rare. Raian barely ever reciprocated your affection, let anyone be the first to act. Your breath catches in your throat. You know he’ll never say the words out loud, but this was enough comfort. Raian sunk his teeth lightly into your skin. It didn’t hurt, but it was enough to leave a small mark. He pulled away from you then. Maybe he was feeling sheepish. “Come on! We don’t want to keep those fuckers waiting.” He snarls over his shoulder. You miss the feeling of his warm arms around you, but it was enough to leave a smile on your face. You followed behind him.

The journey to Kure village was mostly silent, apart from Raian complaining a little here and there. Stepping into the village was nerve wracking. So many people with black scleras, you knew the majority were assassin. Some of them gave glances to Raian. He seemed bored- almost like he didn’t want to be here. “Raian?” You look at him. “What?” He replies not even looking your way. “Can I hold your hand?” You ask in your sweetest voice. “Fuck no.” His reply was a little quicker than you’d like it to be. “Come on Please.” You bat your eyelashes. “Fuck. No.” “Pleaseeee Raian.” You beg sweetly again. He growls under his breath. “Fuck no. I don’t want the fuckers thinking I’ve gone soft to something.” His nose curls at the thought “I’ll make it up to you later~” you purr. His ears perk up a little. His lips twitch into a Frown. “Fuck. Only for a little bit.” He agrees begrudgingly. He takes your hand roughly into his. You’ve got a goofy grin on your face and Raian is feeling completely and utterly embarrassed and slightly humiliated. Unbeknownst to you.... deep down in Raian’s heart he feels warmth. If eyes weren’t on you already they definitely were now. It made you even more nervous. Everywhere you looked black eyes were stuck on you, People whispered amongst themselves. You’re anxious now. You tried to catch whispers and the mutterings but you weren’t able to. “Hey! Bro!!” You heard from behind you. You spin around to see a young woman running towards you. “I heard you arrived! I’ve been looking all over for you!” She chuckles and catches her breath. She’s a petite you’ll girl with short black hair. she looks straight at you. “You! You must be Y/N!” Her face beams. “Oh! Yes-“ you’re cut off by the woman bear hugging you. You gasp and awkwardly return the hug. She takes your hands in hers. “You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!” She says with a smile. “I’m Fusui! I’m Raian’s sister!” She beams. You knew Raian had a sister, he’s talked (complained) about her before. Now here she was standing before you. “I’ll walk with you guys to Erioh!” She says with a smile. You intertwine your fingers with his again. Raian clicks his tongue. Fusui had a gleam in her eyes watching the two of you. Fusui struck up a conversation with you while you walked. She was kind, and genuinely excited to be talking to you. The three of you walked past a building. There more people called for your attention. You looked to see three strong looking men. They introduced themselves politely, Hollis, reiichi, and Horio. You noticed there was a stark difference between Raian and the other Kure members. They were polite and quite kind to you. Most of them were actually excited to meet you. After a brief conversation with the three men you decided to make your way to the main building. Erioh was there- the head of the Kure clan. You were the most nervous to meet him.

Heading into the palace-like building your heart started skipping beats. Raian and Fusui lead you through the building to the room where the head of the Kure was. He was sitting at a table alone with tea. He looked up at you from his teacup. “Hello, you must be Y/N.” He spoke calmly, with a small kind smile. You nodded. “It’s very night to meet you.” You reply. Erioh motions you to sit next to him. You and Fusui join him at the table. Raian goes and sits on the far side of the room, away from the conversation. Erioh pours a cup of tea for you and Fusui. “What do you do for work, Y/N?” He begins. He asks you question after question, about your family, hobbies, even your political beliefs. You can’t help but feel as though you’re being interrogated, the only thing that helped was Fusui lightening the mood with her quips. You were nervous, but answered truthfully. You hoped your answers would suffice. You heard the door open behind you. “Hi grandpa!” A young girl walked in. “Oh hello Karla my dear!” He says. His mood significantly changes. She sits down at an empty space next to you. “Karla this is Y/N, they are Raian’s mate... his remarkably better half!” Fusui jokes. Karla’s attention turns to you. “Oh wow! So when are you guys getting married!!” She says beaming. You nearly choke. Raian does as well behind you. “How many babies are you gonna make?” She radiates with wonder. “Now now Karla, those may not be questions Y/N wants to give to a stranger.” Erioh chuckles. You laugh awkwardly, not knowing what to say. You downed the rest of your teacup. Then you felt a presence behind you. “I’m tired as fuck of this. We’re going home.” Raian said gruffly. Fusui sighed and stood with you. “It was very nice meeting you, Y/N. I hope to see you again soon.” Erioh says with a tender smile. “Bye bye Y/N!” Karla says waving. Fusui walks out with you but Raian hesitates a moment. He knew Erioh had something to say. “You’ve found a good one... don’t lose them.” Erioh says as Raian huffs and walks away. “Shut the fuck up gramps.” Raian growls, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Fusui walks with you out of Kure village. The two of you laugh together, you’ve felt a bond grow between you two. You end up exchanging numbers. You hugged her again goodbye, promising to call. Then you and Raian left. The journey back was once again quiet. But you felt an overwhelming feeling of relief. Raian’s family had welcomed you. They too, we’re finally relieved to meet the only person who was able to tame the devil himself. Your name will go down in Kure history.

[hidden-otaku-stuff]

Reunion

Reunion Word count: 2k Genre: fluff! Pairing: Terushima x reader 

A/N: I just KNOW Terushima has a fluffy, soft side despite his flirtatious/fuckboy vibe and I am ALL FOR IT 🥵 (also whoops my daichi bias is showing 🥴) 

You tapped your foot anxiously. Kiyoko said that she was going to go back and double-check to see whether or not the team had forgotten anything, but she’s been gone for ten minutes now and you hoped that she wasn’t in trouble. You sighed, looking at Daichi besides you. “I’m going to go check on her,” you throw over your shoulder, as you jog back into the stadium, your black track jacket blowing with the wind. You make your way back up to the second level where you had eaten your lunch only to see Kiyoko being interrogated by two volleyball players. Your eyes widened, focusing on her discomfort as you stormed over, “Hey, leave her alone! She already said she wasn’t going to give you her number, so buzz off.” You glared at both guys, as they took a step back from Kiyoko, startled by your sudden appearance.

“Oh, you guys have two beautiful managers!” Bobata gasped, turning towards you. “You’ve got some fire, can I get your number instead?” He offered, stepping closer to you. You ignored him, looking back at Kiyoko.

“Kiyoko-san, let’s go, everyone’s waiting for us.” You grasped her by the hand, leading her away. The blonde stared at the back of your track jacket, struck to silence. 

Bobata turned back to him, noticing his peculiar facial expression. “Yuuji? What’s up?”

“Oh nothing, just a blast from the past,” Terushima chuckled, as they made their way back out. 

You and Kiyoko make your way back to your team. “Are you okay?” You glance at her, releasing her hand.

“Yes, thank you (Y/N)-chan, they were very persistent.” You nod at her, giving her a small smile as you run into Hinata in the hallway running towards you. 

“I’m so sorry, that’s my lunchbox!” Hinata yelled, bowing in apology several times. 

“It’s a cute wrap.”

“That’s my sister’s,” Hinata defended quickly, shaking his head in denial as you both laugh.

“Whatever you say Hinata,” you nod at him. “Let’s head back before the rest of the team starts to worry.” You were about to leave the hall when the two trouble-makers from earlier happened to step into the hall. 

“Oi, Karasuno! You defeated the 6’7” guy!” Hinata turned back looking at them. You tilted your head at him, looking closely as he looked somewhat familiar. The boys have a brief discussion about his volleyball team and the taller, blonde-haired one patted Hinata on the head before they walked away. 

“Did you find anything left behind?”  

“Yes, a cutely wrapped--” Kiyoko began before Hinata cut her off yelling about it. You just shook your head, laughing at them before you headed back to the school for the meeting. Sitting at the front next to Kiyoko, the sounds of heavy breathing filled the air from the exhausted players. You glanced back, seeing the other manager, Yachi, sitting in the back with Kageyama and Hinata. “Is everything okay?” You turned to face the eldest manager, grey eyes piercing yours. 

A nod as a sigh left your lips. “The games today went well, but it’s only going to get harder from here on out.” 

“We’ve worked too hard to be stopped,” she assured you. “They’ve grown and faced harder. I think they’ll make it.” 

“I think so too.”

****

Kiyoko called your name, coming to stand beside you as you handed water bottles to the second years. You turned, raising an eyebrow at her. “Do you know their captain?” She tilted her head in the direction of Johzenji, your eyes trailing in that direction. 

(E/C) eyes narrowed as you considered it, hand on your hips. “I don’t think so. Why do you ask?” 

“He’s been staring at you ever since warm-ups began.” 

You shrugged, turning back to look at your boys. They had begun with serving drills. “Maybe he’s thinking about yesterday? He seems like the persistent type.” A ball flew towards you, and your hands automatically reacted, grabbing it mid-air. A yellow jersey made its way towards you.

“Nice catch, (Y/N)!” You smiled at the praise from Tanaka, turning towards the opposing player. 

“Is this punishment for interrupting you yesterday?” Speak of the devil, and he’ll appear. The player in question had raced up to you, smirking as he reached out for the ball. 

“Not at all, just a misplaced serve. Though, you can make-up for that by giving me your number,” he winked. 

“Maybe, but that depends on you.”     

Eyebrows quipped up, a flicker of shock crossed his face as he composed himself, a hand propped against his hip. “On me?” 

You nodded. “If I like what I see on the court, maybe I’ll consider giving you my number.” You poked your tongue out at him, as a hand rested on your shoulder. You turned to see Daichi standing there. “Well hello there Cap’n!” 

“Is there any trouble here, (Y/N)-chan?” 

You waved your hand, “none at all, Daichi. We were just having a...chat.” A brilliant smile left your face as you turned back to the other player. “Good luck today, you’ll need it!” 

“Oh don’t worry, I plan on winning.” With another smirk, he made his way back to the other court, one hand resting behind his head while the other held the ball against his hip. 

You turned back towards Daichi, “you better win today Sawamura,” you threatened teasingly.

He chuckled, holding his arms out. “What about my good luck hug?” You threw your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as his hands settled on your waist. 

“I’ll do you one better,” you whispered, pressing your lips against his cheek. You pulled away, ignoring the red tint that crossed his face and missing the widened eyes and dropped jaw of the opponent. “Now you definitely have to win!” You cheered, heading back towards the rest of the group as you wish everyone good luck. Daichi smiled at your retreating back, walking towards the rest of the third-years. You joined Yachi next to the door leading out, about to head up. Only Kiyoko was allowed to remain on the floor. 

“Karasuno, fight!” Daichi yelled, rallying the boys as they cheered in unison. 

“C’mon Yachi, let’s go to the stands. This seems like it’ll be an interesting game.”

****

Interesting was saying the least. Johzenji had kept Karasuno on their toes, and it made some semblance of sense as to why they’d made it so far in the last tournament. The other team seemed to be a jumbled mess kept together by how all extremely athletic they were. You couldn’t help but eye the captain as he played. The team was disorganized, but they all played so passionately you couldn’t help the smile that came onto your face. Of course, your boys were all playing extremely well too. “Damn,” you muttered under your breath as the game progressed.

“What’s wrong, (Y/N)-san?” You glanced to your side at Yachi.

“I’m not sure why, but I really feel like I’ve seen that boy before,” you replied, tapping on your chin. The whistle blew as a time-out took place. 

“The scary looking one?” Her eyes widened as you both looked at the Johzenji captain. “You mean before today?”

“Well, we met yesterday here too, but yes, before this tournament.” Your eyes widened as you remembered. “Oh my god.” 

“What?”

“This just got even more interesting.”

“(Y/N)-chan! You can’t come over and not play with me!” A volleyball dropped to your feet as you looked up from your book. Your best friend, Tersuhima Yuuji stood in front of you, hands on his hips as he glared at the book. “Stop reading, I wanna spend time with you,” he pouted. 

“We have to do the summer reading!” You argued, smiling at him. “Otherwise we’ll get in trouble with sensei when school starts.” 

“We still have a whole month to do that,” he protested, squatting down so that he was eye-level with you.

“Maybe some of us want to get our work done early so that we don’t cram it all the week before school starts,” you taunt. The male pouted, crossing his arms. 

His face brightened as he realized something. “How about you take a break and just toss me a few balls? I’ll leave you alone after!” His lip quivered as he turned his puppy-eyes to you. 

“Promise?” You held your hand out, pinky extended. His face split into a grin as he hooked his pinkie with yours. Tucking the bookmark in, you placed the book bag into the bag as you stood. Crossing the yard to the makeshift volleyball net, you bounced the ball off the ground for a few times before you spun it in your hands. “Only a few times,” you threatened, glaring at the boy playfully before you tossed the ball. He leapt, spiking it down and as he landed, he spun to reveal a bright grin. 

Another ball tossed up. “Kids, come in for lunch!” 

“Just a minute Mom!” He whirled back at you. “One more toss,” he begged and you complied.

Mrs. Terushima stood in the door, a wide smile on her face. Mr. Terushima joined her, peering over her shoulder. “Now hurry up and wash your hands.” She laughed as both of you ran into the kitchen. He shoved you out of the way as he tried to wash his hands first. “One of these days, you’ll end up together,” she teased, “and I can’t wait for you to officially join the family, (Y/N).”

“Eww, Mom we’re just friends!” Yuuji protested. Your nose wrinkled.

“Yeah, that’d be like dating my brother!” 

Mrs. Terushima just laughed. “You say that now, but mark my words, things will change!”

Months later...

“Do you have to go?” 

You sighed, leaning against the desk as you stopped packing for a second. “Yeah. My mom got a new job so we have to move.”

“I’ll miss you.” He sat up from his position on your bed, standing up. 

“I’ll miss you too.” Your (e/c) eyes turned to him, squeezing them shut to control the water that threatened to flow. He took another step forward, an arm reaching out for your waist. 

“Can...Can I try something?” A tongue swiped at his bottom lip as he ran a hand nervously through his hair. You turned, placing your hands on his chest as you blinked up at him. A nervous nod as you bit your bottom lip. With hesitant movements, he brought his hand to your cheek, cupping it. Eyes searched yours for any form of uncertainty as he leaned forward. Your eyes fluttered shut as his breath warmed your lips. Another second before soft lips pressed down to meet yours. “Consider my first kiss my gift goodbye,” he whispered, leaning his forehead down to touch yours. “Don’t forget about me, okay?” Soft giggles and whispers of promises filled the air as lips met each other over and over again in the fading summer light. 

****

The match had ended, and Karasuno had won. Racing downstairs to meet the team with Yachi, your legs bounced eagerly as you stood outside peeking in. The Johzenji team looked disappointed, the manager in tears as they headed out. “Yuuji!” Before you knew it, your legs were already moving and you were jumping towards the boy. Legs wrapped around his waist as he hoisted you up, hugging you tightly. Hands cupped his face as you leaned down, soft lips brushing against his in a fervent kiss. “I missed you,” you breathed against him, forehead against his. Brown eyes blinked warmly at you before he pulled you into another kiss, letting the piercing run across your lips. You kiss as if it was the last time you would be seeing each other. “So I guess your parents were right about us.” You whispered against his lips, causing him to pull back and laugh loudly.

He brushed your hair out of your face. “Y’know, I always had a thing for you back then.”

“Good, otherwise this would’ve been real awkward.” 

“Does that mean I can get that number now?”

[change-the-world-someday]

Dancing With A Wolf

A/N: So this is the second part of Don’t You Go, and you should read that before you read this :)

BAU x GN!Teen!Reader (Platonic)

Summary: A year after your parents are charged with murder, you’re placed with a new foster family. However, your ‘mother’ isn’t the kind woman she appeared to be.

⚠️TW⚠️ Child abuse, Stabbing, Religious fanatic, General Criminal Minds things

Masterlist

—•—

Three hours.

It's been three long hours since everyone rushed out the room, ready to bring in your parents. The only person who stayed was Rossi, and he left half an hour ago to assist the local PD.

You sit there, messing with your fingers and playing with Spencer's keys. They make a metallic sound, but you don't mind—it's better than the silence. The deafening silence that ups your anxiety and plagues your body with shakes. Where are your parents? Did they get them? What if they're found not guilty? Do you have to go back into their care?

"Hi Y/M, my name's Derek. You okay?"

Your head snaps up, pulling you from your thoughts to be met by a new agent. You haven't met him before.

"Y-Yeah," you mumble. "What's happening with-"

The chocolate-skinned man cuts you off. "We've got your parents. You're not going back with them."

You let out a sigh of relief, running a hand through your hair. You don't have to go back with them. Morgan goes to leave the room, but you stop him at the door.

"What's going to happen to me?" You ask and the agent turns around. His eyes soften at the sight of you in front of him—you’re scared shitless. He sighs.

"Well, CPS are coming in a few hours and they'll help find a family for you to live with," he explains. You nod and go back to fiddling with Spencer's keys. You need something to keep your hands busy, otherwise you get more and more anxious. The last thing you want to happen now is a panic attack.

You hope you go to a good family.

—•—

"N/N? CPS are here, kiddo."

Your head lifts from where you had it resting on the desk to see the blonde from before, JJ. She has a look in her eyes, and you can't quite decipher if it's sadness or pity for you. Either way, you sigh and nod, getting up and following her outside. It feels ironic, almost; you were bought in for stealing, and here you are, leaving without parents and innocence. When you’re out there, you’re met with the team of FBI agents. They're all looking at you, some with smiles, others with pity, and a new woman in a smart blouse and trousers strands there.

CPS, you think.

"Well, bye, kid. Don't get yourself into any more trouble," Derek says, making a small joke. You give him a smile.

"No promises," you reply, making the small team let out a laugh. Then, you turn to Spencer. The young doctor looks upset at your departure, but also hopeful. You dig in your pocket and pull out a set of keys, handing them back. "Thanks for letting me...use them."

Spencer smiles. "It's not a problem, Y/N. Actually..." He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, "I got you this. It's a fidget cube, and something you can mess with so you don't have to keep my keys."

You look up at him, and unexpectedly, wrap your arms around Spencer and pull him into a hug. Spencer freezes, unsure of what to do at that moment, before returning it.

"Thank you," you whisper in his ear, and Spencer nods as you both pull away. A different agent clears his throat, and you look over at Rossi.

"CPS are here," he says. "I'll walk you out."

You nod and follow the older agent out the bullpen and down the stairs. Your hands shake and you desparately fumble with Spencer's gift. Dave looks down at you, an eyebrow slightly raised. Soon enough, you both reach the doors but before you can go to meet the CPS employees in the car, Dave stops you.

"Just so you know, if you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call me, okay? It doesn't matter the time, so long as it's serious enough, okay?" He asks you, handing you a small card with his phone number on it. You look at it, then him, and nod a little. "Alright. See you around, N/N."

He pulls you in for a hug before letting you go. He watches as you get in the back and the car drives off.

He prays you goe to a good home.

—•—

It's been a year since the incident, and you don't quite know how you’ve got yourself into this situation. But trauma does that to the brain—it plays with your memory.

After everything happened with your parents, you were moved into foster care. You were bounced around a little, before settling in Virgina with the Stevens. They seemed nice enough, but you soon learned that was a front for CPS. Behind closed doors, no one knows what happens. Never.

Six months you’ve had to put up with this. A religious nut of a 'mother' and a never-present 'father'. She believes that you will turn out just like your parents did, so she tells you that 'God' told her to beat it out of you, before it got any worse. She often goes to the extreme, believing blood-letting is a good way to 'cleanse' you of all the 'sins' you’ve committed.

Her latest escapade came after you attended church, and you sneezed during a prayer. That's when Mary believed the devil entered you, and now plagues you. She dragged you home by the ear and may have gone too far with the blood-letting, slashing at your arms, legs, and almost your neck.

That was the breaking point.

You ran. You ran so far away you hoped she wouldn't come after you. And about an hour later, she hasn't. And that brings us to now.

You’re stumbling through the streets of Arlington at half eleven at night, forehead gushing blood, as well as several wounds on your arms and legs, and a large bruise around your left eye. Many more litter your body, hidden by your white linen shirt or your jeans. You don't know how much further you can go before you pass out and is killed by some psycho or you bleed out.

You’d prefer the first. It'd be quicker.

"Y/N?"

Did someone call you name? No, you must be hearing things. You’ve never been this close to the city before. No one would know you.

"Y/N?"

There it is again. It's the blood loss. It has to be. The voice sounds familiar, though. Almost too familiar.

"N/N?"

Only two people called you that, and it certainly isn't a woman's voice. You turn around, vision blurred and breathing laboured. You can make out a figure; an older man. He's in a jacket, you think. You’re not sure.

"Holy shit."

The man's running now and you can make his face out.

Rossi.

"D-Dave?" You ask as the man reaches hyoum. His eyes are wide with fear as they look you over. You don't hear his response though, the blood loss and exhaustion is catching up with you, and before he knows it, Rossi's catching you and holding you. He lowers you to the ground and pulls out his phone.

"I need an ambulance to Spring Lane Park, urgent. A kid's been stabbed, a lot. I need help. Please."

—•—

The final part is coming soon, hopefully. Sorry for the massive delay—it’s been a hectic week. Send some requests if you have them, and let me know if you want to be on the taglist :)

TAGLIST:

@ogmilkis@spideygirl2003@ssebstann@herecomesthewriterwitch@garcias-batcave

[hanibalistic]

#59091D | LEE FELIX.

genre | angst, faint fluff, friends au

word count | 1684

warning | injury, blood, domestic abuse, suicidal ideation / dead dove do not eat

note | i have been meaning to write this for a long while, after i realized where my fascination with being alone in the bathroom came from. it has been a while since i was in a situation like this.

you finally got yourself a breather when you locked yourself in the bathroom.

there had been no hands around your neck this time, thankfully, but there may as well have been considering the lack of air you inhaled during the long consequences of your father's unreasonable and short temper.

you grew up learning not to cry. you were conditioned to not show a single hint of discomfort whenever you were met with the unfortunate results of your father's ill behavior, but also never forget to be scared! that was what he wanted—for you to cower, for you to be timid, for you to be afraid so he could loom over you like the devil himself and feel the authority consume him.

you learned all that for the past sixteen years; crying makes you annoying, being annoying gives you red cheeks and choked necks and big purple bruises, so never cry. not being scared makes you bratty, being bratty makes your legs give away and your body flinch and your nose bleed, so always be scared.

condemn yourself enough to feel the horrid of hell, but never cry for mercy in the face of the devil because you will get none, because you deserve none, because everything that happens to you is your fault.

sitting on the cold marble floor of the small bathroom, the bright light flickering and dimming because of your clear yet in-and-out consciousness, you extended your legs until your feet touched the bathtub and you leaned against the lower cabinet to rest your battered torso.

your nose was bleeding.

you knew the first time when your mother gasped but did not dare to interfere; it was ironic, it was hopeless, and it was infuriating that she didn't try harder to save you, but you understood why she couldn't. you watched her from the wall you were pinned against, her face distorted with tearful concern, and she stayed where she was while your father never let go of you.

you knew for the second time because you could feel it dripping down your cupid's bow, and when it got down to your lips you could taste it between your teeth.

you cared not for it. you just wanted to rest. maybe you would finally bleed out this time, and it would because you deserved it.

because you shouldn't have clipped your toenails away from the trash can, and you shouldn't have coughed too loudly when your father was on the phone, and you shouldn't have expressed your opinion when you aren't asked to and not expressing enough when you are asked to, and you shouldn't have dropped the doll in the living room floor when you are just making your way back to your room—why did you drop the doll? if your fingers are that useless, maybe you should just cut them off for good.

the empty bathroom made your thoughts spiral into a headspace nobody could enter. if you were less unhinged, you would have realized it was not the place for you to be loving it so much that you could find peace next to the toilet.

but it was a safe space, it had always been a safe space where you could bleed dry and nobody would say a word to you. the lights sent in by the gods through the window shone on you every time and you could simply sit and let yourself be.

"[name]? are you okay?"

you blinked up urgently at felix's concerned voice.

"i... i heard glass shatter from my room... i thought maybe–please let me in."

he found your hiding place.

you carefully stood up, your legs still bruised but you managed. you pondered if you wanted him to see you like this—weak, useless, humiliated. but there was truly nobody else you would rather see than him at this vulnerable moment.

he would understand. you knew he would. you have made mistakes in trusting someone on their ability to hold back judgment, but he would understand. he always has.

you unlocked the door and opened it slowly, revealing felix in his pajama standing just outside.

"hey," you greeted casually as you reached up to wipe your nose, smearing the blood across your cheek.

he breathed out a sharp gasp when the light-flooded onto your face. it was horrendous. you looked horrendous! he has never known messy red like this!

careful not to awaken anyone's senses, sparing a fearful glance at the closed hallway door, he immediately but gently pushed you back into the bathroom. he shut and locked the door behind him before he urged you to sit on the toilet.

"oh... oh, um, okay, uh... tissues, i need tissues."

he scrambled about, opening drawers and cabinets in hopes to find something he could use to treat your bleeding nose. from the looks of it, with his shaky movement and teary voice, he was even more concerned about your injury than you were.

"okay, okay, water," felix muttered to himself as he placed the curled tissue under the faucet and rinsed it with running water, then he turned to you.

he got on his knees, his neck arched up at you and his hand reached up to your face. hesitant could be felt in his movement when he got closer to your face, but even then you flinched when the cold water touched your burning cheek where you carelessly rubbed the blood over.

"what happened?" he asked.

"you knew what happened," you replied, and he shut up for the rest of the procedure.

he cleaned you up carefully. he wiped away the blood and helped to stop the bleeding. it took more tissue papers than expected, and he grimaced at the bloody pile in the trashcan before he closed the lid by letting off his feet against the lever.

"how did you get in here, felix?" you asked when he sat down on the ground.

"i climbed over to your balcony when i heard the noises, but it took me a while to pick the lock of your balcony door," he replied as he looked up at you, panting as if he just ran a mile.

his heart sure has, though. seeing you the way you were a second ago, he swore he could whisk you out of this house and keep you with him forever so he could properly protect you. but, like always, he was left with the broken pieces to deal with when he wanted to keep the pieces unshattered in the first place.

"you do know this is the tenth floor, right?" you said, nudging his thigh. "i know our balconies are super close, but you will die if you slip and drop."

"you would do it for me," he whispered. "you would do it for me if i was in your position."

you shrugged. "maybe."

he eyed you carefully, unsure what he should proceed with. he wondered if he should send you to sleep; he could tuck you in bed and wait until he feels that you would be safe for the night before he leaves. but there was something else he also wanted to talk about, something he was probably not qualified to handle but wanted to chat with you about as a concerned friend.

"but you are very keen on dying, so maybe you would drop before you get to my room," he commented, "and that would probably be more of a choice than chance."

you gazed down at him. felix was never one to be so straightforward. he was too considerate to be honest with people, and he knew a handful of people who couldn't handle the truth unless it was gentle. he was one of them.

but not all truths can be gentle. no matter how easily you lay them down, they'll still cause an earthquake somehow. and nobody should have to hold the tremors in their body to save somebody else.

sometimes you have to ensure tragedy to understand.

"it would, but i won't," you said. "i won't die. i am afraid of it."

he frowned. "you're not convincing. you were letting yourself bleed and not doing anything."

his frown engraved even further into his face when you laughed. there was nothing funny about the situation, but if anybody got to laugh about it, it should be you.

"you just came a little early! i do clean myself up after a while, i'm too scared to let myself bleed out in a bathroom," you explained, waving your hand dismissively before leaning back against the cold toilet.

"you think for a second you want to, but when it might actually happen, you get second thoughts about it. if i'm going to be numb about the world, i want it to come from me, not death."

that way at least you chose to be numb, not because death yanked the tear ducts out of you.

"that's..." felix exhaled a big, exhausted sigh. he covered his face with his hands, trying to will his frustration away. it wasn't his place to be. "that's fucked up."

you smiled. "it is. there is nothing i can do about it."

he nodded. he understood. you both were all too young; rebelling was not an option, neither was running away. all you two could have was time, endurance, and each other.

"i just wish i could help more," he uttered out under his breath.

you could hear the tears in his eyes. felix always sounded like he was going to cry when he was, he does nothing to hide his fragility. you loved that about him.

sliding down the toilet, the skin of your legs hitting the soft fabric of his pajama. you sat close to him, borderline on top of him, and you leaned yourself against his body. he accepted you, his hands placing themselves on your ankle and knee.

"i let you in my hiding place." you only said.

and felix knew that was enough. that was all he could become—a person you let into your hiding place, and that was more than enough.

[flooffybits]

Brave Face

Idol: Ha Sooyoung (Loona)

Actions always had consequences. You were just lucky that you were both ready and willing to accept the price for both your actions.

Sequel to Two Faced! I hope you like it!

Warning: blood, extreme violence, character death, torture, guns and knives

"Ma'am, I'm afraid you can't be here." The man stated calmly, but Sooyoung has had about enough of having to come back to your so called business and then going back home with nothing.

The day she came back after fully healing, she was more than surprised to find every trace of you gone from your shared home. And while it wasn't exactly a big one, she felt completely alone.

The furniture was fixed and everything was clean, almost as though her kidnapping had never happened and almost as though you never lived there. It was like you never came into her life and it drove her mad.

"I don't care what the hell Y/n told you. I am going to talk to her, so move out of the way." She said with a huff, attempting yet again to move past the man who was three times her size, only to be blocked off.

"I'm sorry, but we were given strict orders not to permit you anywhere-"

"If you think I am going to sit around and deal with this bullshit, then think again, buddy. I won't hesitate to drive my foot up your-"

"I don't think it's appropriate for you to be threatening my guards." The sound of your voice had stopped Sooyoung from her threat and her eyes immediately move over the man's shoulder to see you standing at the entrance of the estate, your arm in a sling, a reminder of the day you were shot trying to rescue her, and her anger diminishes for a split second before her glare comes back in full force when she attempts to push past the guard again, only to be held back.

The man glances at you for instructions and you raise a hand to release your girlfriend, though it wasn't clear if you really were still together.

"Kyungsan, let her go. It's fine."

As soon as she was released, Sooyoung marched right at your face, staring at you as though it could emit all the anger, confusion, pain, and frustration she's been feeling for the past days.

Her hand shoots up, connecting firmly with your cheek before someone was grabbing her arms, forcing them behind her back, and it's then that she realizes the presence of the woman who was standing a foot away from you.

"Ryujin, stand down." You quickly prevent her from doing any further harm to the other and she hesitantly releases Sooyoung before moving back to her place behind you while your girlfriend eyed her, another emotion flaring up inside of her.

But before she could open her mouth to say anything, you had cut her off.

"I think this should be discussed in private. Please, come in."

Honestly, she would rather not with all the bullshit that you've put her through, but she watches as your eyes glance around the place and that was all it took for her to agree to your request and follow you inside the large looking mansion.

While it did look clean and grand from the outside, stepping inside was a completely different story.

Guards littered the place, guns or even knives hidden under their clothes while others had them on full display, slung across their shoulders and ready to shoot if necessary and Sooyoung felt so small as she watched them. Plus all the expensive looking paintings and decorations that were put on display added to the entire house’s intimidating aura.

You lead the woman to what appeared to be an office with shelves lining the walls, all filled with different kinds of books. A desk was set directly in front of the door, a lamp on one side and papers stacked on another and on top of it sat another gun, presumably yours.

The whole place would have scared Sooyoung if she hadn’t experienced what she did a week or so prior, then she would have turned and left without looking back.

But things were different and she needed answers.

With a wave of your hand, Ryujin and the other people that were previously in the room silently exited the office, leaving the two of you alone as you leaned against the desk, giving Sooyoung your whole attention as she finally took you in.

Dressed in a white button up and black dress pants - simple as always. But the thing that keeps her attention is your arm. She remembers you getting shot, your blood staining the car she was in when you were all being brought here. You had passed out just a little before she did and she remembers the panic and helplessness she felt that day.

Sooyoung could hear the person who got you in the car shouting orders at the driver and at someone on the phone. Who they were, she had no clue because all she could think of was you as you tried to assure her that you would both be okay.

While you didn’t vocalize it, the way you were holding on and stared at her was enough for her to know.

“We’re close to the mansion, boss. Yuki has everything prepared and is waiting for you to be brought in.” The man reported and Sooyoung could see as you rested your head against the chair, the color gradually leaving your face with the more blood you were losing. “Just be sure to have her there in time.”

You were struggling, that much she could tell. Your eyes were begging to close and your hands had just fallen to your lap, no longer having the strength to keep your wound from bleeding out. And while she may have been exhausted from everything she’s been through, she felt her heart stop as she saw the way your head suddenly dropped, your eyes shut.

“Y/n.” She called weakly, but you didn’t respond nor did you move if it wasn’t for the car’s movements. “Please…” She wheezed out, her hand reaching for you, but she’s out just before her hand could touch your arm, merely grazing against it before her vision went black.

When she had come to, she was laying in an unfamiliar room, her wounds treated and covered before she saw you laying on another bed, still passed out with your side wrapped up. She was too weak and tired to move from the bed, but she remembers, clear as day, how tears managed to come out of her eyes when she didn’t know if you would be waking up or not.

No one came in to check when she was awake and you had apparently left the room some time after waking up, leaving her in the room, alone. She never saw you after that, and even when she was finally let out and driven to your shared house, she never caught even just a glimpse of you. When she asked where you were, no one replied to her and simply left her in front of your house.

Now she was back and in demand of answers.

“It’s good to see that you aren’t dead.” She starts off and you shrug lightly in reply. “There’s still some things I need to finish before letting the devil drag me to hell.” Your nonchalance unnerves her and it doesn’t help how you don’t seem to care about dying, either.

“I want to know who the hell that was and why I was dragged into this mess.” She finally says as you watch her. “Was everything he told me, real? Was I really just some pastime for you?” She spat out, hating how she even had to ask you this because she was afraid of the answer and how it would break her heart.

She remembers how you would look at her, how you would hold her. There was no way she was imagining all of that.

But you were already lying about so much to her. You lying about how you felt about her couldn’t be too far fetched.

She saw as your expression hardened and you pushed yourself off the desk to stand at your full height. “Not everything Hanjin told you was true. Did I hide my real identity and occupation, yes. But everything else I did with you was nothing but real.” While your tone remained even, there was more to your expression; hurt.

As brief as it was, Sooyoung saw it before you turned away from her.

“Maybe I denied it at first, but when Minseok said how you had been interfering with procedures and put your life in danger, I drew the line and realized that denying how I felt for you would only end up with me losing you much more than I had hoped.” You finally admit while taking a seat and rubbing your forehead. “In my line of work, it’s kill or be killed. And Hanjin was right, a lot of people want me dead and they’ll do absolutely everything and anything to make that happen, which was why I tried to keep you away as much as possible.”

“When were you planning to tell me? Did you even think of telling me?” She demanded and you purse your lips before shaking your head. “I didn’t want to tell you. I thought that I would hold on to my delusions much longer… but that proved to be a mistake.”

Sooyoung could see just how much you were struggling with all of this, and she could understand why. You were leading such a dangerous group, emotions would only get in the way, and that seemed to have been Minseok’s mindset as well as he tried to get rid of her just to remind you of where you belonged.

But she didn’t want that.

She didn’t want you to let you be consumed by only darkness. There was so much you could do without trying to be a lifeless robot.

“Didn’t you trust me enough to tell me?” She asked quietly before you looked back up at her, defeat clear on your features as you breathed out. “Would you have stayed or believed me if I did?” You retort and her mouth screws shut.

She wouldn’t have.

If she knew just who you were when you first met, she wouldn’t have thought twice about running away or declining your offer after the first night she spent with you. If she knew, she would never have approached you at the club or went home with you.

But that wasn’t the case anymore and even if she tried, there was no changing the fact that Sooyoung did love you.

“Do you mean it?”

Caught off guard by her question, you raise a brow before she bit her lip and then sucked in a deep breath. “Did you mean it… what you felt about me?” You stand properly, assessing the woman in front of you as she stared at you with an almost desperate look swimming in her eyes as she waited for your answer.

You stay silent as tears begin pooling at her eyes and she takes a step forward, narrowing the gap between you and her. “Tell me the truth. If you don’t want to see me anymore, then I’ll go. But I deserve to at least know this.”

But the truth was you didn’t want her to go. You wanted her to stay in your life and maybe, just maybe you could leave this life behind just to settle down with her and live a normal life like your parents.

Without all the weapons, the illegal business, and the secrets, you could see yourself happily living with the woman that stood in front of you without having to constantly look over your shoulder.

Taking a step closer, Sooyoung looks up at you as you use your fixed hand to reach up and cup her cheek. “I’ve done a lot of shitty things and I have lied to you about my life but the moment you told me you loved me, I could never say it back in fear that you would assume that I lied about that, too, in the event that you did know the truth.”

“Yes…” She breathed out while shutting her eyes as she gripped your hand against her cheek. “Or no. Just tell me.” Her voice fell into a hushed whisper and your expression softened when you leaned down to press your forehead against hers.

“I love you, Sooyoung, and I don’t want you to go.”

That was all she needed to hear before she placed her free hand to the back of your neck and tugged you closer, drawing your lips against her own into a much needed and passionate kiss that you eagerly reciprocated, your arm moving to wrap around her waist and pull her closer as she melted into you like she had always done before.

Was she really taking this risk just to be with you? Yes. Would she be regretting it anytime soon? She highly doubts it. Because based on your rescue alone, Sooyoung knows that you would be there for her no matter what happens and she’ll do her best to remind you that you were still human even with all the blood on your hands.

..

“Is this necessary?” Sooyoung panted while staring up at the ceiling, sweat covering her skin as she looked at you with a pout and you smiled lightly in reply. “It’s self defense, babe. While I do trust you, I would rather you can properly fend for yourself when I’m not around.”

Ever since the day she had been kidnapped, you absolutely refused to let the same thing happen again. The image of her bruised and bloody figure constantly flashes in your head, reminding you of what you had failed to protect, so you used it to further motivate you that you had a purpose to keep going this time around.

“But I’m exhausted.” She groaned when you moved to help her back on her feet. “I know, but just a few more minutes and we’ll be done for today.” She whines while getting into position. “But you said that ten minutes ago!” She complains before you let out a laugh. “Correction, I said that thirty-two minutes ago. It seems you were too focused to realize.”

A huff escapes her lips before you adjust her stance and then move in front of her. “Last one. I promise.”

Ever since Sooyoung decided to give your relationship another shot, without the secrets, she began to see more of the you that you kept hidden from her. She saw you when you worked, stoic and stone cold toward rookies who couldn’t pick after themselves and barking orders when something important came up.

The perfect partner she believed to be real was washed away from her mind and she was left seeing a real partner instead. While you were still gentle in her presence, there were times where you had to keep your guard up in front of those you didn’t trust.

But after what happened with Minseok, everyone knew that breaking your trust should be the last thing on their list unless they wanted to die early.

And another thing people started to learn was that no one messed with your girlfriend. Definitely not when it was in front of you or anywhere near your closest guards.

It just so happened that rookies never knew their place.

“That’s the boss’ bitch?” A scrawny looking male whistled towards one of his fellow rookies, who did his best to look away in respect when he saw you stop talking to Ryujin. Sooyoung stood next to you, listening to the conversation of where Hanjin could possibly be.

“Damn, how much do you think she pays?” The same boy smirked and the other shook his head with a hiss. “You should really keep your mouth shut.” He warned and the former rolled his eyes in reply. “Oh, come on. It’s not like the boss cares. They have the money to buy whoever they want, anyway.”

Your attention had shifted to the pair when you heard their conversation and Sooyoung could already see the way your shoulders tensed and she placed a hand on your forearm. Glancing at your girlfriend, you grunt before facing the rookie once more.

“You, the one with the blue shirt, what’s your name?” You call out and the boy turns to you in surprise before he raises his nose to the sky with a proud grin. “Shin Kyungwan.” You narrow your eyes before beckoning him closer.

He doesn’t think twice as he walks over. The unimpressed look on your face unsettles him, but he doesn’t show it when he keeps the stupid arrogant smirk on his face as he unashamedly stared at your girlfriend.

“Kyungwan, you’re aware of who this woman is, do you not?” You question while gesturing to your girlfriend and the male blinks before slowly nodding his head, suddenly feeling his bout of courage depleting the more your eyes pierced into him and Sooyoung sighed softly with a shake of her head.

“I see you must be a complete imbecile then.” You muttered before rising to your feet and then standing behind the male. “Tell me, what did you say a while ago about her?” The boy gulped as he stared at Sooyoung, now more terrified with the predicament he’d put himself in. “I-”

“That’s an order.” You cut whatever excuse he had off and he paled before repeating his earlier words slowly and quietly, earning a nod from you. He isn’t sure what that had meant, but when you dusted yourself off, he had assumed that he was good to head back to the side.

The sound of a loud bang echoed in the room as everyone present watched the boy’s head collide with the table in front of you, your hand on his hair before you yanked him back and let him land on his rear while he gripped his, most likely, broken nose.

“The next time any of you decide to talk shit about her, you’re getting more than a broken nose.” You growled before Taemin moved to pull the groaning boy out of the room. “Someone better clean this mess up. And Seokjin, make sure the next person you recruit has some common sense.” You order before finally exiting the room, Sooyoung follows after you to your room to finally relax after how many hours of planning.

When you arrive, your girlfriend shuts the door behind her as you grab your medicine from the nightstand and take the sling off. “You didn’t have to be that harsh.” She tells you as she plucked the ointment from your hand and gestured for you to lift your shirt.

“And let him get away for disrespecting you? You must be insane if you think I’ll allow that.” You grunt while tossing the shirt away and Sooyoung smiles when she stands behind you to apply the medicine on your wound. “You could have picked a less violent way.”

“I lead a gang, Sooyoung, I’m pretty sure nothing doesn’t involve violence here.” You mutter when her hands gently run over your skin, soothing the slight pain that comes from your injury. “You have to stop using that excuse.”

You rolled your eyes in reply before she went to grab you a loose shirt and helped put it on you. “I'm just saying that you didn't have to break the poor boy's nose." You scoff before turning to your girlfriend. "Whether you admit it or not, you liked it." And she didn't have to verbally confirm your suspicions when she rolled her own eyes and gave you a quick kiss on the lips before entering the bathroom to change her own clothes.

.. 

The sound of a loud bang woke Sooyoung from her sleep and when she turned around, reaching for you, all she grabbed was nothing but air. Immediately, she sat up and looked around the dark room, her hand reaching for the drawer next to the bed when she got up. "Y/n?"

She turned the desk lamp on to have some source of light only for her heart to jump in her throat when she saw the blood splattered on the bed and floor. "Did I wake you?" A familiar deep voice greeted her ears and Sooyoung quickly turned around, gun in hand as she came face to face with Hanjin.

The fear she once had when she was stuck in that damn warehouse whenever he would pick up a random object or ask a question sent a chill down her spine when memories resurfaced. But she saw the smoke coming from the barrel of his gun and her stomach sank when she still couldn’t find you anywhere.

“Looking for Y/n? Don’t worry.” Hanjin grinned at her as he pointed the gun at her. “You’ll see her very, very soon.” The sharp pain doesn’t register until her body meets the floor and a foot lands on her back. With a grunt, Sooyoung tried to lift her head, a hand pressed to her stomach as she gasped for air. But when her eyes reopened, she felt her heart stop at the sight in front of her as tears blurred her vision.

“Y/n…”

Staring lifelessly back at her, Sooyoung was met with your bloodied face. The bruise around your neck showed how Hanjin had strangled you and the blood that pooled around your head was enough to tell her on how he had finished you off.

And there was the helplessness again.

It gripped at her throat as she choked on her sobs, pleading, crying, for you to move, to get up and do something. But she knew you were gone, and the more pressure applied on her back and the cool metal pressing to the back of her head told her that she wouldn’t be too far behind.

“Sooyoung!”

Bolting up, Sooyoung felt sweat drip down her forehead and the taste of salt on her lips made her snap out of the images she had just seen.

Turning to her right, your girlfriend quickly found you staring at her with concern written over your face and she doesn’t think twice as her body collides with yours, forcing you to lay back down as the petite woman whimpered, cowering from the nightmare that looked far too real for her liking.

“It’s okay, it was just a dream.” She hears you whisper, your voice as gentle and soothing as ever when you run your fingers through her hair. “I’m right here. I’ll protect you.” You tell her and Sooyoung does her best to calm down with your help.

She might have seemed okay, but you knew better. A situation where she could have died was something traumatic, life changing, even. So you were patient in helping her get through everything and aiding her from the trauma you had partially induced on her from involving her into your life.

But by morning, she always assures you that it wasn’t your fault, either and that she was here to stay.

..

Sooyoung looked in confusion as you began to give out orders as though you were heading to war. The mansion had been busier than it usually was since she’s been living there and she was still curious about the newest things she’s seen. Ryujin had talked to her about the usual routine, but there were still various protocols she had yet to cover that Sooyoung found herself lost in certain situations until you or your right hand came to fetch her.

“Y/n, what’s happening?” Your girlfriend managed to catch your arm when you loaded your gun and holstered it. A knife was hidden under your jacket, the same knife you used to kill Minseok.

Your hard expression turned to her, lips pursed together before you shook your head. “We found Hanjin and I’m going to deal with that bastard, once and for all.” Hearing that caused her spine to straighten, the nightmare resurfacing, and she was talking before she could even think. “I want to come.”

To say you were surprised would be an understatement. She’s never brought the nightmare up with you. You knew she needed time to recuperate, so you didn’t pry and she was thankful for that. But she needed closure, and if seeing Hanjin finally get what he deserved was the means of getting that, then so be it.

“Are you sure?” You ask carefully and your girlfriend fixes you with a steely stare after a deep breath. “I am. Now, let’s go.” She mutters and you stare at her for a few more seconds before taking her hand, giving her one of your guns and staring right at her.

“Keep this and stay close to me.” You instruct and she nods before you both set out to finally meet the man who had been terrorizing the two of you since the day he took Sooyoung away.

You kept a hand on your girlfriend’s leg all the way to one of the houses you were told Hanjin was brought. It turns out that Taemin and his group were able to trace his whereabouts due to a slip up when he tried to smuggle some drugs in Incheon. Thanks to that, they were able to find him and tracked his routine until they were certain about where he would be next.

Getting off the van, you handed Sooyoung a gas mask before putting one on yourself. “Ryujin, have people surround the perimeter. Once every exit is secured, smoke him out.” Nodding, the blonde spoke into her comms and approached the main entrance first, making sure to keep you and Sooyoung covered as all of the people who arrived with you followed your orders in securing the area.

Once positions were confirmed, Ryujin gave the signal before smoke bombs were thrown into the windows and the first team started to enter the house. You took Sooyoung’s hand and kept her behind you before entering.

The gun was gripped tightly in her hands, her fingers trembling as her eyes looked around the smoke filled house. You walked through the halls with practice, your footsteps barely audible that Sooyoung would have thought you weren’t there if she wasn’t looking at you.

“He’s in here.” Ryujin spoke up while pointing at the opened door, grunts and coughing coming from inside and you nod your head before looking at your girlfriend. “You can-”

“I’m going.” She said firmly despite her shaking hands and you let out a sigh before nodding your head. “Alright.” Turning back to Ryujin, you told her to stay at the door to keep watch before you and Sooyoung headed inside, finding the male being tied down to a chair with blood dripping down his chin after a heavy punch was delivered to his stomach.

Seeing you before him, the man scowled while he felt his restraints tightening. “Tsk, I really shouldn’t have underestimated you.” He muttered before you took off your mask when the smoke had cleared up a bit. “Long time no see, hm?” You retort before walking over, giving the man a quick once over before letting the back of your hand connect with his cheek.

“You’re going to pay for what you did.” You growl before taking your knife out of your pocket and stabbing his hand on the seat, making the male yell out in pain before you held him in place as you threw another punch to his jaw.

At the side, Sooyoung could only watch as you gave every punch, slap, stab, and scratch on the male, giving him a much worse and torturous experience than the one he had given her. You didn’t grant him the mercy of taking him out as soon as you saw him, you made sure to make it hurt and wish he was dead.

When Hanjin saw the look on Sooyoung’s face and spat before smirking at her. “You see? This is what the person you’re dating is actually like. She’s holding you here against your will, isn’t she?” He mocked before you smacked him across the face again, your knuckles bruising from the amount of time you’d hit him, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy your anger.

“You really think you can talk your way out of this, you piece of shit?” You growled before Sooyoung gently tugged at your arm, forcing you away from the male. “What? Your lap dog calls the shots now?” Hanjin laughed despite the pain that shot up his body. “You’re just another pathetic little girl; weak and useless without people relying on you.”

Sooyoung could feel your anger radiating from you as she held your tense shoulders but she made sure to keep you calm, pressing a kiss to your temple as she ran her fingers through your hair. “It’s alright, just take a deep breath.” She whispered into your ear and you follow, sucking in a deep breath when you shut your eyes before feeling your girlfriend step away.

When you open your eyes, you’re thoroughly surprised when she was already facing Hanjin and shooting his left leg. “Son of a bitch!” The man yelled as he tried to get up, but Minwo and Jongin held him in place to keep him from moving further.

“I’m not the same girl you managed to snatch from my old life. I know better now and while I never pictured myself with this ever happening, you should be thankful.” She doesn’t flinch the second time she pulls the trigger, effectively shooting his other knee and then pressing the barrel of her gun against the stab wound you had left on his shoulder.

“I’m not as harsh as Y/n.” She stated before pulling the trigger one more time and you watch her in awe and disbelief when she uses the butt of the gun to hit the side of Hanjin’s head, knocking him out with the force of the hit before she nodded to the two men.

When she turns to you, there’s a light smile on her face before she takes your hand, gently running her thumb over your bruised knuckles before she pressed a kiss to each one. “Let’s go home. I have some work to do with you.” She says and you chuckle breathlessly before nodding your head.

“Clean this up for me. Make sure nothing comes back.” You ordered and the men nodded their heads before getting to work, spreading gasoline all over the place as you exited the house.

As soon as you entered the van to head back, you watched as the house blew up in flames before driving away and Sooyoung felt much lighter than she had ever been since she first found out about the darker side of your life.

While you made your way back to the mansion, Sooyoung was able to understand you better after what she had done. And when she realized that she really did shoot a man and helped aid in his murder, she wasn’t freaking out. It brought an odd sense of comfort to her, knowing that she was capable of doing more than she thought she ever could.

She wasn’t so scared with closing her eyes at night. With your arms around her and a gun within arm’s reach, she didn’t see why nightmares should be fazing her this time around.

[kkeidawrites]

Ice and Steel

A forewarning: Mentions of child abuse, violence, cruelty towards a child, and familial dispute. If this bothers you please do not read ahead. Thank you on behalf of p3achyheartz and blackreaderstation.

——————————————————————————

Chapter 7: A Bruised Heart; Hazel’s Estranged Upbringing

Flashback..

Hazel’s knees met the harsh ground below her and the feeling of blood beginning to seep through the scrape on her once healed scabs surfaced once more.

The taunting laughter from her older brothers made the young girl glare at the ground below her.

“We told you you wouldn’t be able keep up with us! Now look at you!” Akito teased as Daiki laughed.

“You should just stay down like a good little girl!” Daiki chimes in. Hazel’s small fists grip the rocks that laid dormant below her. She made sure that her hands hid the grey stones as she looked up at her brothers defiantly.

“Good little girl?” She clumsily returned to her feet as she continued to glare at her brothers. Her sudden question made them give her a confused look as Hazel gritted her snaggle tooth teeth.

“I’ll show you what ‘a good little girl’ can do!”

Her arms began turning like a wheel as she threw the stones at their intended targets: Daiki and Akito. The boys grunted from the pain of the stones and one ended up hitting Akito in the eye.

He grunts from the pain and falls to his knees clutching his right eye.

“Akito!” Daiki cries out as he kneeled to his brothers side. Blood was falling from the right side of his head and Daiki turned a murderous glare to their younger sibling. Hazel panted from her onslaught and straightened her back for a fight.

“You little!” Daiki storms over to Hazel and grabs the scruff of her pink kimono, bringing her face close to his.

“You’re going to pay for that!” He threatened and Hazel turns her head away.

“If it’s to get away from smell coming from your rancid upper lip, I’ll take anything.” Hazel says back, sassily. Daiki blushes in embarrassment and grits his teeth as he throws Hazel into a tree. Her back hit the rough bark harshly and she grunted as her body slid down to the grass below her.

She grunted in pain rubbing her back, then two shadows crept up in front of her and she looked up to see Daiki and Akito who was holding his bleeding forehead, glare down at her.

“You want to be a boy so bad? We’ll teach you why boys are always fighting then.” Akito spoke up as he cracked his knuckles. Was that supposed to scare her?

“Well what are you waiting for? An invitation?” She got back to her feet and into a fighting stance.

“I’m ready when you are.” She says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately, Hazel had got the short end of the stick after her fight with her brothers. It took maybe five or six guards to break all three children and Hazel escaped in time to avoid any questions from them. Albeit, she served enough punches and kicks in to break a couple of ribs on each brother and Akito’s head was going to be ringing a bit more than normal. However, it didn’t help the fact that she was limping terribly on her way back to her room.

She held the wall as she hobbles to her room and just when her day couldn’t get any worse, the wicked witch and her devil spawn were walking the same halls as she was.

Rei’s face scrunched up in displeasure as she noticed Hazel’s limping form pass her. Rei gave her a look and then noticed a bit of blood on the younger girl’s hands.

“Fighting again, brat?” Rei asked. Hazel ignored her as she continued her limp. Her hellspawn stomped her right foot at the disrespect.

“My mother is talking to you!”

“And?” Hazel glared at the girl and her step sister hid behind her mother from the scary look.

“It’s quite alright, dear. The little brat can continue limping. I’ll make sure she doesn’t receive any medical assistance from anyone. Let the animal heal on her own.” Rei smirked evilly. Her hellspawn smirked and stuck her tongue out at Hazel but the red haired girl grinned sinisterly.

“That’s fine. But, you should see your sons, they probably need the entire medical ward after what I laid on them today. I’m pretty sure Akito has a concussion right now.” Hazel says and Rei’s eyes widened then she frowns angrily.

“What did you do to my sons, you little wretch!”

“They couldn’t handle what I had and paid the price.” Hazel limped the rest of the way to her room as Rei and her brat rushed away to see to their other relatives.

That night, Hazel applied the gauze to the wounds on her arms then wrapped it up in the bandages. She had to steal these things from the medical ward because, she was forbidden by her father to have any of her wounds tended to as punishment for approaching him about wanting to learn to fight with her brothers.

Hazel grunts from the pain as she uses her teeth to cut off the bandage. Her brow furrows in concentration as she wraps her very swollen ankle up. It was no doubt sprained and it looks like she’ll need a crutch. Again.

“Just they wait,” she mutters as she stashed her medical supplies in a secret compartment by her bed.

“I’ll show them who their messing with and then they’ll be bowing at my feet!” She vowed.

End of Flashback

“Miss Hazel? Miss Hazel?” Hazel’s eyes refocused on her sake cup on her lap then shifted her gaze to Sanjiro who was sitting next to her with a concerned look.

“Are you alright, Miss Hazel?” He asked.

Hazel smiled to him and nods, rising to her feet and chugging her sake. With a pleased sigh, she placed a hand on Sanjiro’s shoulder and motioned him into their new room.

“I’m just fine, Sanjiro. Let’s go get something to eat, I know you’re still hungry, right?”

“Well, yes but-”

“Come on, come on! I want more stuffed dumplings!” Hazel pushes him inside and closes the shoji door behind them.

The kotatsu was larger than the last and this allowed more food to be piled on top of it. Toru and the twins were downing more food in their stomachs as Hazel snagged a pork dumpling, taking a huge bite. She moans in delight but, Sanjiro noticed how distracted she was when they were sitting on the balcony.

“Come on Sanjiro,” Hazel bit into her dumpling again as she spoke with a mouthful.

“The food will be gone and I’m not having any kids in my care go hungry!” She tells him, then picks up a bowl of ramen and pushes it into his chest. Sanjiro hesitantly grabbed the bowl and slowly began eating.

However, their dinner was interrupted when the shoji door opened and everyone but Hazel turned around to see who had entered the suite. Takuna gave his brothers a once over then silently made his way over to Sanjiro’s side, sitting down cross legged.

“Glad you finally decided to join us, Takuna. Steamed bean bun?” Hazel asked as she slurped up some udon while holding out a bean bun to the boy. Takuna takes the bun from her hands and quietly begins eating.

“Where have you been?” Sanjiro asked his younger brother.

“Nowhere.” The buzz cut boy replies, bored.

“Well, I’m glad your back big brother! We have more food here than the last place and the best part is, this hotel has a never ending food staff. So it’s an all you can eat.” Toru says as he bites into a chicken leg.

“Hm.” Was Takuna’s bored response. Toru deflated slightly and Hazel raised an eyebrow. She then felt a strange presence outside and turned her gaze back to the brothers.

“You guys continue eating. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my sake.” Hazel picks up her jug of sake and heads back to the balcony.

She closed the shoji door behind her and sat down in the same spot once more, pouring another cup of liquor.

“You’ve got some nerve showing your face here.” Hazel throws back her drink and sighs softly.

The clacking of sandals sound to her left and her side eye catches that of the infamous Surgeon of Death. A pirate from North Blue and the captain and doctor of the Heart Pirates: Trafalgar D. Water Law.

His nervous gaze keep up with Hazel’s deadly one and he puts his hand in his kimono, trying to act cool.

“Long time no see…Red Angel.

End of Chapter

——————————————————————————

Heyyy everyone, I know it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written a story but, I’ve been doing some things on the side but, as a way to start off a new month I decided to give you all a chapter from Ice and Steel.

Also, some good news is in order! I have finally made an account on Archive of Our Own! It’s the same name as my tumblr so be sure to check that out and subscribe to my account! And you may find something new there as well. -wink- -wink- Also, I don’t remember if I told y’all before but, my inbox is open if you want a request just head over to Masterlist 1 or 2, follow the rules stated and ask away in my inbox! I will get to your request as soon as I can!

However with good news there is bad news as well. I am currently taking new classes for this summer and will have almost little to no time to write for a couple of months, but! That will not stop me from giving you guys a chapter or two here and there! So, just bear with me and know that no matter what SCHOOL WILL COME FIRST OVER EVERYTHING! Periodt.

Also if you see that the other chapters are not posted from either this story or the others, it is because I’m so lazy to put them all on the chapters but, I promise if you search in the search bar on my account you will find the other chapters.

But, that is all I have for you guys, I want to thank @p3achyheartz, @demigoddessqueens, @smol-bluberri and many others I have not listed for supporting me this far in the game, and be sure to show some love to their tumblrs as well!

[naturaltalent-a]

⠀⠀⠀   * 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒  —  a single digit raising to stop the other in his tracks     ❛     stop right there  ⸝   shitbird     ❜       rollerblades tucked firmly but uncomfortably underarm   ⸝   when the other seemed to listen   ⸝   the hand in the air fell   ⸝   in its place is an exasperated look that crosses the woman’s face     ❛     i’m not sure at what point i gave you FRIENDSHIP SIGNALS   ⸝   but i take it back  .   i really cannot deal with strays right now  .    ❜     

◜⠀ 𝐒𝐂 ﹔ 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 ⠀⠀⠀ —⠀⠀ ،،̲   @auraknighte​    ／  ARTHUR  &  CORALINE ﹗

[big-wet-cas-eyes]

AUs: day 2 of @starrynightdeancas 's 2k followers celebration ✨ (ao3)

I didn't know what I wanted to do for this AU prompt so I had @vaxilddan send me a random job and @pixelhanzo send me a random trope and thus the monstrosity "dog groomer + enemies to friends to lovers" was born 

(wc: ~1700)

The little bell above the door dings right as Castiel hangs up the phone. Mrs. Tran is running a little late picking up her golden retriever, Alfie, but she assures Castiel that she'll be there soon. He doesn't mind much; Alfie is a polite dog, and he's been napping quietly in the corner while Castiel tidies up his grooming salon for the last twenty minutes. The front door closes loudly, causing the bell to ding again, and he looks up to see a tall man walking through the door with a scruffy ball of fluff tucked under his arm.

The man might be handsome if he didn't look so exhausted. Strong, stubbled jaw, sandy hair, green eyes… exactly Castiel's type. But the deep purple circles under his eyes make it look like the man hasn't slept in a week. He doesn't get a good vibe from the guy.

Castiel frowns slightly. Alfie was supposed to be his last appointment of the day. He glances down at his schedule, seeing nothing after Alfie. They do take walk-ins, but he was hoping to close up early. Business is business, though, so he pastes his customer service smile on his face.

"Hello, sir. How can I help you?" Castiel greets as the man reaches the desk.

"Hey, uh, you guys do nail trims right?" the man asks as the fur under his arm wiggles.

Castiel eyes the dog warily. It's filthy and matted. He can't even see its eyes. "Just a nail trim?" he asks, unable to stop the skepticism from dripping into his voice. He's trying not to judge, but if he just does a nail trim, this dog is going to leave his salon looking like it's never had a bath in its life.

"What?" The man looks up, surprise in his now wide eyes. He glances down at the dog and grimaces. "I guess she is pretty dirty. Do you have time for a bath? Or I could make an appointment for another day if you're busy?" He sounds unsure, looking around Castiel and probably noticing Alfie, who is awake now and watching the new arrivals.

"No, Alfie there was my last appointment for the day and he's just waiting to go home. I have time to do a bath." He watches the little dog wiggle even more, desperately trying to free itself from under the man's arm. "Who is this?" Castiel asks as he comes around the counter to get a better look at it.

"This is Baby. She's a, uh, pomchi," he replies, moving the dog to grip her under the arms, holding her out in Castiel's direction like she's a bomb. Castiel raises an eyebrow. The combination of dog breed and name don't exactly match this guy's rugged appearance, but he's heard weirder so he shrugs it off.

"Hello, Baby," Castiel says, reaching forward to pat her on the head. His hand snaps back immediately when the dog starts snarling.

"She's a little nervous around new people," the man says sheepishly.

Castiel frowns. He's seen a lot of nervous dogs, and they don't normally react quite this angrily. "I'll just go grab a leash for her." He grabs a clipboard from the desk and hands it at Dean. "Please fill this out."

He sends the man — Dean, according to his paperwork — on his way five minutes later with a promise that he'll call as soon as Baby is ready.

And that's how Castiel meets his least favorite dog grooming client.

Dean brings Baby into Castiel's grooming shop about once a month. She is absolutely, without a doubt, the meanest dog he's ever met. He's taken to muzzling her the moment Dean is out the door because he nearly had his hand ripped off one too many times during her first visit. She snarls and snaps and honestly just looks pissed the entire time she's there. And while she seems slightly more comfortable with Dean, he's caught the dog snarling at her owner a few times too. The dog is tiny, barely six pound soaking wet, but she's pure, concentrated evil.

This dog clearly got no training or proper socialization. He blames her Dean for that. He has no patience for irresponsible owners.

After six months of grooming the literal devil, Castiel finally decides to confront the guy. He doesn't care that it's unprofessional. He doesn't even care if he loses a client or gets a bad review. He's sick of this entitled dick bringing his asshole dog in. Baby has been snarling at him under her muzzle for a full hour, even now that he's completely done with her grooming and she's sitting in the bed in the corner. She sits and glares at Castiel, murder in her eyes. Castiel glares right back at her, and when the bell above the door dings, Castiel shifts his glare to the man walking in.

"Hi, I'm here to pick up B— woah, are you okay, dude?" Dean clearly takes in his glare and stops dead in his tracks, only making it halfway to the front desk.

"Your dog," Cas grits out through clenched teeth, "is the devil incarnate." He knows the anger is clear in his voice. He waits, eyes still fixed on Dean.

"I, uh," Dean stammers, hand rubbing the back of his neck, "I know she's a pain in the ass, but look man, I'm doing my best." He's looking at the floor now.

"I have to muzzle her. She's been snarling at me nonstop for an hour," he almost yells. He points behind him at the dog, not taking his eyes off Dean. "She's still snarling at me! I haven't touched her in fifteen minutes!" The dog growls slightly louder in the background, as if to prove Castiel's point.

Dean looks up, eyes wide. He looks horrified, and Castiel is actually starting to feel a little guilty. "Look, Cas, I'm really sorry, I had no idea. I can start taking her somewhere else. I'm not really a dog person—"

Castiel cuts him off. "Why the hell do you have a dog then?" He can tell that he's being too harsh, but he's just so angry.

The look on Dean's face shifts from embarrassed to sad. "She belonged to my neighbor. She passed away about six months ago, right before I started bringing Baby in to see you. She was always a little uneasy around people, but she seemed okay with me when I visited. That's why Mildred made me promise to take care of her when she was gone, but without Mildred around, Baby completely hates me." He looks Castiel in the eye, finally, eyes pleading. "I'm trying so hard to train her, but she's already eight years old and so, so stubborn. I have no idea what I'm doing."

And all of a sudden Castiel feels like a piece of shit.

He learns a lot about Dean in the next few months, and it turns out the guy isn't so bad now that Castiel doesn't feel obligated to hate him. He brings Baby in more frequently now that winter has come; apparently Baby makes a habit of walking through muddy, slushy piles of snow. Baby still hasn't warmed up to him, but he's more willing to work with her now that he feels guilty for yelling at a guy who was just trying to do the right thing.

Castiel and Dean start chatting more and more whenever Dean drops her off and picks her up, lingering a little longer with each visit. The conversation usually centers around Baby, but Castiel has learned a little bit about Dean's life as well. Dean clearly cares about Baby, even though the dog looks at him like she might kill him at any moment.

Castiel is starting to consider him a friend when Dean asks if he can help train Baby.

"I'm not a dog trainer, Dean," Castiel says, feeling sorry for the words when he sees the look in Dean's eyes. Disappointment.

"I know, but, and you're not gonna believe this, she likes you better than she likes almost anyone else," Dean says, holding up his hand when Castiel opens his mouth to protest. "I swear, it's true. And you're actually a dog person, so I thought maybe…" He sighs loudly. "You don't have to."

Cas takes in a deep breath. He ignores Baby growling behind him and says, "I'll do it."

The bright smile that breaks across Dean's face makes it instantly worth it.

That's how Castiel finds himself at Dean's house every Friday night after work. Baby actually is a little more bearable to be around when she's at home. The disdain she shows in the grooming salon shifts to mostly disinterest as long as Castiel keeps his distance. Dean's not sure that they'll ever get any training accomplished until she trusts Castiel, so they mostly just sit on the floor in the same room as her, scooting closer to her occasionally to get her more comfortable with his presence. Castiel figures that she doesn't need training as much as she needs to get used to human contact, so he's fine with the approach. Luckily, it gives them a lot of time to talk and get to know each other beyond the short conversations they've been having for months.

Things with Baby are slow-going, but after a few weeks she lets them sit within arms reach without snarling, at least until they try to pet her. It's not much, but it's progress. And he feels the progress in his relationship with Dean, as well. The first few times Castiel comes over are a little awkward, but eventually it feels as if he's known Dean forever. Maybe they had a rocky start, a slow progression toward friendship, but Cas doesn't regret how things played out. He doesn't mind that it took some time and effort to understand Dean (and Baby, for that matter). He doesn't mind that it wasn't easy.

And if sometimes Dean reaches across the floor and holds his hand, or kisses him on the cheek on his way out the door… Cas doesn’t mind that either.

[merakiaes]

A New Beginning - James Conrad

Pairing: James Conrad x reader

Requested: @jessiejunebug​

Prompts: None. 

Warnings/notes: This is waaay too long to be proofread so apologies in advance for any possible mistakes, I also don’t remember what I’ve written so I don’t know if it’s any good😭 Hope you like it though. 

Wordcount: 11217 (Yup, it’s a long boi)

Summary: When you board a ship to go on a geological research trip, you’re on your own. When James Conrad boards the same ship for the same reason, he’s on his own, too. But when the two of you walk down that very same ramp after having been through literal hell together, neither of you are alone anymore.

“Can you explain to me, again, in small words, why I’m being assigned to this mission?” You asked for the second time in the past five minutes, staring flatly at the two men sitting in front of you.

The younger of the two cleared his throat, folding his hands in front of him on the table. “From what we’ve read in your files-“

“My files?” You interrupted, raising an eyebrow, leaning back in your seat and crossing your arms over your chest. “What files would those be?”

He sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment in clear annoyance, before opening them again. “That doesn’t matter.” He said. “You’re exemplary intelligent and we need someone in your area of work to accompany us on this trip.”

You had to force yourself to keep back the laughter bubbling up in your throat, their growing frustration as you played with them all too amusing to you.

“A trip to an unexplored island in the Pacific Ocean, for geological research.” You replied in an amused tone, and they both nodded.

“That’s right.” The older one was the one to speak this time, confirming your unofficial question.

You let out an amused sound, leaning forward in your seat and clasping your hands in front of you on the table. “Okay.” You said, looking between them. “Let me walk you through all of the ways you could die-“

“No need.” The younger of the two interrupted you. “We’ve been lectured on the risks once already.”

You chuckled, leaning back into the chair. “Is that right?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow. “What did you say your names were again?”

“Bill Randa and Houston Brooks.” The older one, Randa, replied, and Brooks wasn’t far behind, obviously the more annoyed out of the two.

“Look, we’ve stalled long enough.” He stated, motioning for the stacks of money laying on the table. “Will you take the job or not?”

Your eyes flickered down at the green bills for a moment, but you quickly looked back up, giving them a deadpan look. “You know, I’d like to help you.” You said. “But I’m a little over-committed right now, I’m afraid.”

Your mood had switched from playful to, well, the opposite, in just a second, and Brooks wasted no time in pushing his chair back and standing up.

“Right. This was a waste of time.” He said, turning to his colleague. “Come on, Randa. Let’s go.”

Randa stood up, grabbing the money and putting it all back into his bag, and without another word, you watched them turn around and walk away from you, heading directly for the exit of the pub you were in.

You instantly turned your attention back to the drink in front of you, grabbing the glass and bringing it up to your lips to take a gulp.

When you put it back to the table, your friend slid into the seat next to you, giving you an unimpressed look. “Really, (Y/N)? You’re over-committed? To what? Being broke?” She asked, raising her eyebrows. “That was a pretty hefty stack of money they were offering you.”

Barely even sparing her a glance, you moved the tip of your finger along the rim of your glass casually. “It’s dangerous.” You replied simply, and listened as she scoffed beside you.

“Since when are you afraid of a little danger?” She asked. “You dive in unexplored caves and swim with sharks, for crying out loud. And you heard the man. They need you. They’ll probably die there if they go on their own.”

You turned your head to look at her slowly, watching her face grow serious. 

“You need the money, (Y/N). You know no one will hire you.” She continued softly, reaching out to grab your hand in hers. “This could be your chance to get back on track.”

You could only sigh, bringing your hand up to pull it over your face in frustration. You didn’t like to admit it, but you knew she was right, so a few seconds later, you were up on your feet and rushing after Brooks and Randa, catching them just as they were about to get into their car outside.

“Wait!” You called out for them, watching as they both turned around to look at you.

You jogged up to them, nodding your head once you came to a stop in front of them. “I’ll take the job, if you throw in an extra five grand.”

Randa and Brooks exchanged a glance, before nodding. “Consider it done.” Randa said, turning to his partner. “Brooks, give her the paper.”

Brooks didn’t look the happiest that you had suddenly changed your mind, clearly annoyed with the way you had played their time away. But nonetheless, he reached into his bag and pulled out a piece of paper, holding it out for you.

“Be here tomorrow, at this time.” He said simply and you nodded, grabbing the paper from him and letting your eyes flicker over the address and time before moving them back up to look at him.

“I’ll be there.” You said, and shook their hands.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Randa smiled, and then they left, leaving you to go home and pack a bag in a hurry to be ready first thing in the morning.

Come nighttime the next day, you had been called to a briefing pretty much the same minute you stepped onto the ship, during which the scientists presented you with the purpose of the trip and the soldiers let you know how everything was going to go down.

When it came to the scientists, you immediately got the feeling that they weren’t giving you the entire story, but you didn’t get much time to sneak around and get any answers, as you were barely able to keep your eyes open when the meeting was done.

And the next morning, you didn’t get the chance either, as you were joined on deck by the soldiers of the Sky Devils the same second you set foot on deck, all of whom were very interested in your background; most so of all Reg Slivko who you had overheard making a bet with his fellow soldiers that he could woo you.

In any other case, you for sure would’ve had your fun, but right now, you weren’t there to play around.

“Where are you from?”

“Here and there.”

“What do you do?”

“This and that.”

“You ever-?”

“Now and then.”

Most of your answers were short, and for every reply the young soldier grew more and more discouraged, but he didn’t give up, and as you didn’t have the time nor patience to deal with him, your annoyance was growing by the second.

“Why are you here?” He attempted to ask again, and this time, you looked up from the geology book you were reading to look at him with a sigh.

“Because I can do things they can’t.” You replied simply, and he gave you a goofy smile, one that made the corner of your lips twitch upward slightly.

“Like what?” He questioned, and you raised your eyebrows at him playfully.

“Mind my own business, for one.”

He chuckled. “Boy, you’re just full of information, aren’t you?” He asked and you chuckled along, closing the book and standing up from where you were sitting at the edge of the ship, walking up to him and patting his cheek.

“Or maybe I’m just not interested.” You said, watching in amusement as his smile fell and his fellow soldiers broke into laughter behind him.

You left him at that, turning around and heading in the opposite direction. Luckily, he didn’t follow or bother you any further, instead getting distracted by Mason as she came over and began taking pictures of them.

Above you, you could just barely make out the tracker that had been hired to come along on the expedition, leaning against the railing and looking out over the platform of the ship.

Feeling your stare, his eyes flickered down to meet yours, and he adjusted his stance at that, grabbing a hold of the railing in front of him and straightening his back.

Without looking away from him, you moved toward the metal stairs to the side, only breaking your gaze when the wall came in the way of your line of sight.

You reached the top where he was standing in no time, the winds significantly harsher up there, pulling at your hair and shirt.

The tracker’s eyes were already on you when you appeared at the top of the stairs, looking at you sideways with his forearms still leaned on the metal rail.

You had seen him briefly during the briefing the night before but only now that you got a real look at him in the afternoon sun did you realize how incredibly good-looking he was. Almost inhumanly so, with cheekbones so sharp they could cut you and eyes as green as emeralds.

While you looked him over, he did the same to you, and once your eyes met each other’s again, you nodded to where he was standing, raising an eyebrow.

“Mind if I join you?” You asked, and watched as he simply took a step to the side, making room for you next to him.

As you joined his side, you looked down to the platform where you had just been, to find that they were now fooling around to music, passing beers around and posing in front of Mason’s camera, all but one soldier who was getting his hair cut.

But the man next to you wasn’t watching the soldiers, but rather the scientists standing on the other side of the platform looking over a giant map and talking among themselves.

“You don’t trust them either, do you?” You asked, taking note of his hard eyes and the tense muscles in his jaw.

When hearing you speak, his eyebrows shot up, but his eyes didn’t move away from the scientists below.

“Doesn’t matter if I do.” He replied. “They wouldn’t stand a chance if they went against me. And the list of hazards that could kill them out there without me there to guide them is too long for them to ignore.”

You raised an eyebrow, your eyes flickering away from the scientists to look at the profile of his face instead, a playful expression crossing over your face. “Awfully confident, aren’t you?” You asked, and watched as the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly.

“I can kill every person on this ship before most of them have a chance to get to their feet. Skills like that do wonders for a person’s self-confidence.” He replied simply, and you chuckled.

“Fair point.” You said, pushing your underarms off the rail and turning your body completely in his direction, sticking your hand out in front of you. “I’m (Y/N). (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

His gaze left the scientist in just a second, flickering over to meet yours with a smile on his lips. “James Conrad. Pleasure.” He answered, taking your hand in his and giving it a firm, but at the same time soft, handshake.

“Likewise.” You returned the smile.

“So what is it you do?” He asked. “Other than mind your own business, that is.”

“You heard that?” You chuckled, raising a teasing eyebrow and playfully narrowing your eyes. “Were you spying on me, Mr. Conrad?”

He chuckled right back, leaning against the rail. “I wouldn’t call it spying.” He said. “Just listening in.”

“You must have pretty good hearing if you were able to hear us all the way from up here.” You gave him another playful look, one that he returned with an identical one.

“Or maybe you’re all just really loud.”

Another chuckle left your lips, and your eyes flickered away from him to look down at the platform again. “Maybe.” You replied softly, completely oblivious to his eyes still watching you.

“So, are you going to tell me what it is you do, or are you going to make me guess?” He asked again, and you hummed.

“Biologist, geomorphologist, geologist, physicist, ecologist, speleologist, sonar technologist. Take your pick.”

“How old did you say you were again?” He asked, and at that, you turned to look at him again, smiling.

“Twenty-eight.” You shrugged. “I learn quickly.”

“Clearly.” He replied, his eyebrows raising in an impressed manner. “So which one of those are you here for?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. They won’t tell me smack, just that they’re in need of my expertise. They won’t specify in which branch.”

“No, they’re not giving us an awful lot of information to go on, are they?”

“You can say that again.” You scoffed, letting your eyes flicker over to the scientists again. “You’re not buying their story about this being a geological research trip either, are you?”

The smile fell from his lips, his face turning serious again. “If it were true, they wouldn’t be dropping bombs.” He replied lowly, following your line of gaze. “They’re hiding something. I just haven’t figured out what yet.”

Humming, you watched with him as Randa finally felt your stares and turned around, looking caught off guard to a start and then raising his hand in a wave.

You waved back, plastering on fake smiles.

“I have a feeling we will.” You replied simply through your teeth as to not drop the smile, not being able to shake the suspicion that they were trying to wake something up. 

Randa and Brooks were both way too adamant in making the mission happen for it to just be a trip to map out an unexplored island.

And you got your suspicions proven right when, come the next day, the bombs were dropped and did, in fact, wake something up; more specifically a giant fucking monkey, something you would’ve been very excited to discover in any other case, but not so much when said monkey was attacking the choppers.  

One after one, they went crashing into the trees and to the ground at the giant hand of the monkey.

You didn’t blame him for reacting like he did. Anyone would get defensive if strangers just appeared and started dropping bombs in your territory, but you weren’t able to think of that at that moment; all you could think about was that your chopper was going to go down just like the rest of them sooner than later, and you weren’t the only one realizing that.

“Pull out now! Pull out!” James was screaming at Slivko over the loud wind and even louder sounds of the propellers above you, struggling to hold on just like the rest of you.

But Slivko was being his hardheaded self, looking back at the tracker with a stubborn glare. “I don’t take orders from you!”

You weren’t sure if it was his stubbornness in general or the fact that you were about to die that made you snap, but the second those words passed his lips, you whipped around in your seat next to James to glare at him.

“No? Well, I wonder which will get you killed faster, your loyalty or your stubbornness?!” You yelled back, your glare only hardening when he barely even spared you a glance.

Instead, he simply turned back around, and your anger quickly malted off, being replaced by panic.

Squeezing your eyes shut as tightly as you possibly could, you held on to your seatbelt, your chest rising and falling rapidly. “Oh my God, we’re gonna die.” You whispered to yourself. “We’re gonna die. We’re gonna die.”

“Hey, hey! Look at me!” The voice of James suddenly came from beside you, followed by a pair of hands on your cheeks.

Your eyes shot open, wide with stress and fear, to look into his warm, comforting ones.

“Now is not the right time to panic!” He told you, his voice rising to be able to overpower the loud noises. “You’re going to be just fine, alright? You’re going to be fine!”

“I’m going to be fine…” You whispered back and he nodded, agreeing with you.

For a moment, just for a moment, you began calming down, the sounds around you drowning away as you got lost in his stare of distraction, but the momentary calm was gone just as quickly as it got there, when James’ head suddenly whipped away from yours and his hands leaving your face to lean into the front.

“Watch out!” He called, and before you even had the time to process anything else, you could hear something crashing into the windshield, the chopper jerking violently as a result.

“Oh, God! Prepare to crash!”

The sound of Slivko’s words was enough to send you into a full panic again, your throat thickening and your chest tightening up, your heart feeling about ready to beat out of your chest. “Oh, shit, shit, shit.”

Mason was screaming from across of you, trying her hardest to hold on as your chopper lost altitude, but it was clear she wasn’t the one truly panicking.

James hurried to strap himself in beside you, before once again twisting his body in your direction to take your face in his hands. “Hey, hey!” He called out for a second time, gently slapping your cheek to get your attention when you didn’t respond.

When you looked up at him and into his eyes once again, he gave you a questioning gaze. “Do you trust me?” He asked, and your face instantly pulled into a confused and semi-annoyed expression.

“What? I- I don’t know.” You stuttered out.

“Do you trust me?” He asked again and you closed your eyes for a moment, processing the feeling of his warm hands on your wind-chilled cheeks.

After a few seconds, you opened them again. “Yes. Yes.” You corrected yourself, and he nodded.

“Okay, then just hold on to me.” He instructed, and only then, when he looked away from you again, did you come back to reality, just as he called out from beside you. 

“Brace!”

He pulled you into his arms and you squeezed your eyes shut, holding onto him with all your might and pressing your face into his sturdy chest.

A few seconds passed of the chopper violently jerking from side to side, from left to right and then back again, with big leaves slapping into the open side of the flying vessel as you crashed through the tops of the trees.

Your head was safely tucked in under James’ chin and his arms were squeezing you so hard you would’ve lost your breath if you’d had one in the first place, but you found yourself unable to breathe, the panic swelling in your chest blocking your airways.

Luckily, it was all over quickly. Not so luckily, however, was the fashion of your landing, the chopper meeting with the ground roughly and causing everything to go dark.  

But you weren’t out for a long time, coming back to your senses around the same time as everyone else by the looks of it.

When you tried to stretch your body, a groan left your lips as you realized you were uncomfortably stuck under a heavy piece of metal that had come loose as a result of the crash.

In turn, James heard your sound of discomfort and wasted no time in crawling over to you, leaving the others to get themselves out of the chopper as they weren’t stuck.

“Are you alright?” He asked, crouching down beside you and searching for your gaze.

Your eyes met for the briefest of moments, but you quickly averted them and moved them back to the metal rod when a sharp pain shot through your ankle, an aggressive jab in your head not being far behind.

You hissed, at the feeling, bringing your hand up to your head. “Apart from being trapped under here, and maybe suffering from broken bones, and a headache beyond what I’m capable of handling… I’m dandy.”

Glancing to the side to steal a glance of his face, you watched as it lit up in a small but sincere smile. “Good to see that almost dying haven’t killed your sense of humor.” He replied.

“Never.” You fired back quickly, offering him a sarcastic and very strained smile.

You brought your hand back down from your head when feeling the sudden stickiness on your fingers, realizing when they came into your field of view that they were now covered in bright red blood.

Momentarily distracted both by the sight of the blood and the feeling of your pulsating head, you barely even noticed James moving away from your side and positioning himself down by your foot, until you felt him gingerly place his hand on your knee.

Your eyes flickered over to him where he was now standing below you, his hands resting on the piece of metal. “I’m going to lift this up now, are you ready?” He asked, and you wasted no time in nodding.

“Alright.” He mumbled, moving his eyes away from yours to focus on his hands. “One, two, three.” He counted, and on three, used all of his strength to lift the heavy piece of metal, just enough for you to be able to pull your leg out.

Once he saw you were out, he dropped it back down and wasted no time in coming up to you to help you up, holding you steady while you tried balancing on your hurt foot.

“Can you walk?” He asked from above you, and after a few failed attempts, you finally managed to stand on your foot, nodding your head, looking up at him.

“Yeah.” You breathed out. “Thanks.”

He met you with a worried frown as his eyes flickered up to your head, keeping his hold on you with one of his hands and reaching the other into the pocket of his pants to pull out a handkerchief.

You stood there quietly, letting him press the soft fabric to the line of your hair, barely even wincing at the stinging sensation.

You didn’t know if it was just the lightheadedness ridding you of your common sense and playing a trick on you, or if the increase of your heartbeat when he touched you in a way so soft, like no one had done before him, was actually genuine, but whatever it was, you pulled yourself out of your daze rather quickly, suddenly getting defensive.

He was, no doubt, surprised by your sudden movements when you quickly reached up to take the handkerchief from his hand to press it to your head by yourself, then proceeding to step away from him and avert your gaze to the forest floor.

But he said nothing about it, knowing that you were all probably shook up right now.

“It’s nothing too severe but put pressure on it for a while. Just to be safe. I’m gonna go scope the area out. I’ll be right back.” He told you lowly, and you simply nodded, keeping your eyes on anything but him.

As he walked away, you moved back over to the crashed chopper, crawling into it on your knees in search of your backpack.

Rather coincidentally, you found it laying right in the middle, looking to be completely untouched, as if it hadn’t just been in a life-threatening crash.

When you came back out of the chopper, the strap of your bag now hanging from your hand, you found Slivko pacing back and forth in a frantic manner, a phone held to his ear and a radio held in his arms while Mason and Nieves kept to themselves, the former looking through her bag and checking over her camera while the latter was simply trying to regain his composure.  

“Calling all units. Is anybody airborne? I repeat, is anybody airborne?” Slivko spoke into the phone, but you paid him no mind, going over to the small stream of water in the middle of the clearing and crouching down.

You instantly flinched when doing so, pressure being put on your foot and causing the pain to radiate all the way up your leg.

To relieve the pain, you sat down fully, putting your bag down to the side and dipping your hand into the cold water to clean it free from blood, doing the same to the handkerchief to give it some moisture.

The fabric was already soft like it was, but even then the dry material was rough against the open wound on your head, and the cold moisture would without a doubt make it better; something you got confirmed when you put it back to your forehead.

You stayed there on the ground, catching your breath and trying to get your head to stop spinning, until James appeared from the treeline and walked back into the clearing.

“They're all down. Every one of them.” He said the second he got close enough.

Your eyes had found his form the second he had appeared from the forest, but the others didn’t turn to look at him until they heard his voice.

When seeing he had everyone’s attention, he stopped, turning his body and pointing into the forest. “We're on the south side of the island. There's a river a couple of klicks from here. If we stick to its banks, we'll make it to the exfil site on the north shore.”

“And then what?” Nieves asked, throwing his arms out in exasperation. “All our choppers are down.”

James turned to him and gave him a look. “We'll find a way to signal the ship. They'll send a search party.” He said. “We just have to make it by the exit window.”

Nieves could only sigh and turn back around, plopping down on a tree trunk and looking out into the distance. “I should be sitting at a desk.” He whispered, and you would’ve found the look on his face awfully amusing, had you been in any other situation.

“So, wait, are we just not gonna talk about this?” Slivko suddenly joined in on the conversation, striding back into the clearing with his radio still in his arms.

Again, just like he had done Nieves, James did nothing but meet him with a stare. “My best guess is we're scattered over a four to five-mile radius. We should head north and join anyone we find.”

Slivko pulled a hand over his head, looking around, and James turned to Mason who was standing still in her spot, asking her: “Are you all right?”

Mason let out a dry, nervous laugh, shaking her head. “I don't know how to answer that question right now.”

“I don't know what that was either.” James answered, and Mason raised her eyebrows at him.

“All that money that they paid the two of you?” She said, her head peeking around his form to look at you to where you were sitting, before turning back to James with a tense smile. “I hope you're both worth it.”

She grabbed her bag and walked around him without another word, and again, James wasted no time in coming over to you where you sat.

Your eyes followed his every move, until he was standing right above you.

“Need a hand?” He asked, offering his hand, and you wordlessly took it, allowing him to help you back up to your feet.

You stumbled for a small moment, but you managed to stay on your feet, letting go of his hand and turning around to pick up your bag.

James, however, was quicker than you, coming around you and picking it up before you got the chance to do so yourself.

“I got it.” He said, and you wasted no time in shaking your head.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Please, I insist.” He fought back, already bringing the strap over his shoulder to carry and giving you a sincere look. “The last thing you need is extra weight to carry.”

You held his stare for a moment, but found no reason to fight back as you knew he was right, simply letting out a small breath and nodding your head. “Thanks.”

He flashed you a tight-lipped smile, before walking back to the others, leaving you to follow. Without another word, he began walking in the direction he had pointed earlier, and none of you were far behind. 

Nieves went first, Mason and yourself side by side after him, and Slivko trailed behind you, still carrying the radio. “We're really not gonna talk about it? You know this is not normal, right? Stuff like that doesn't just happen!”

All of you ignored him, until eventually, Mason got annoyed and told him to be quiet when he had been complaining for ten minutes straight.

Thirty minutes into walking, you stumbled across a giant water buffalo hiding in a lake, which, if James hadn’t been there to stop him, Slivko would’ve shot dead on the spot in his momentary state of shock-madness.

After that, you kind of lost track of time, the four of you just following James as he led you through the thick and humid rain forest.

Eventually, you ended up in the front beside him, but neither of you said anything for a long time, James simply keeping an eye and ear out for possible dangers while you focused on your feet, not wanting to stumble and hurt your ankle even more.

It was only when you reached a downhill that James finally came to a stop, turning to you while the others walked ahead, now with Slivko in the lead.

“Careful. The ground is uneven.” He warned you, offering you his hand.

Annoyed by the heat, humidity and the entire situation in general, you ignored his hand, beginning to walk down on your own. “I’m fine.” You muttered, and as if on cue, your foot got caught in a tree root, causing your knees to give out under you.

A surprised yelp left your lips and your eyes widened, but luckily, James was right there by your side to catch you, his hand winding around your waist to hold you upright.

Your chest heaved up and down in a rapid motion and you clung to his side, feeling the rumble of his chest under your hand as he chuckled. “What did I tell you?” He said, and you grumbled, this time allowing him to help you.

“Are you okay?” He asked, turning serious and again, you grumbled in response.

“Yeah.” You answered simply, still clinging to his side and more or less being carried down the uneven hill.

“Good. Let me know if you need a break, and stay close to me.” He instructed, and you raised an eyebrow at the irony of his words; as if you could do anything else than that with the way his hand never left your waist.

But he didn’t even seem to notice, and at this point you couldn’t keep denying the fact that you needed the extra support in order to be able to stand on your hurt foot, so you let it slide, eventually getting so used to it you didn’t even think about it.

Not a long time later, you met up with Brooks and San, and only a while after that, you found yourself at spear-point of a dozen island natives.

For some reason, having a spear pointed at your head wasn’t half as scary as being in a helicopter crash, so you managed to keep your cool, unlike the scientists who were all whipping their guns back and forth in panic the entire time.

Luckily, “Lieutenant Hank Marlow of the 45th Pursuit Squadron of the 15th” to quote the man in question, showed up before anyone could get hurt, introducing himself with such enthusiasm you couldn’t help but feel second-hand happiness.

That was around five minutes ago, and you were currently on your way back to their village.

James had left your side to walk alongside Marlow, leaving you in the back with Slivko, Mason and, after a lot of protests from James who had insisted to keep carrying it, your bag, through which you were currently looking for something to eat.

Mason quickly claimed a granola bar when you presented it to her, and after that, you also brought out an apple and a banana.

Biting into the apple to free your hand, you closed the bag up and heaved it back up on your shoulder.

You then took a bite out of the apple and lowered it from your mouth. “Slivko.” You called out, holding up the banana when he turned to look at you.

“Uh, no thank you. I don’t eat bananas.” His face instantly turned into a semi-disgusted scowl, and you raised an eyebrow at the strong reaction.

Before you could question it, however, Mason beat you to it. “Are you allergic?” She asked, and both of you watched as he gave you a deadpan look.

“No, they’re radioactive.” He replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

In front of you, Marlow let out a loud laugh, now having tuned in on your conversation. “What? That’s ridiculous. Are you stupid?” He asked, and a deeply offended look instantly crossed over Slivko’s face. 

You had to refrain from laughing, taking another bite of your apple to hide your smile and swallowing it before speaking.

“He’s not wrong. Bananas contain potassium and since potassium decays, that makes them slightly radioactive.”

“See?” Slivko raised his eyebrows at the old, stranded soldier, whose smile fell while a smug grin stretched out over the younger soldier’s lips.

You chuckled at the pair, shaking your head. “But to die from radiation poisoning you’d have to eat about ten million bananas at once.” You continued, and this time it was Slivko’s turn to lose his smile.

He turned to you, giving you a doubtful look. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Because-“

“How many cases in which someone has died of banana radiation poisoning have you heard of?” You interrupted him, raising an eyebrow. When receiving no answer, you gave him a nod and a small smirk. “Exactly.”

His eye narrowed and for a moment, he stilled in his walk, before marching up to your side and snatching the still outstretched banana from your hand. 

“Fine. Give me that.” He said as he did so, unpeeling it and taking a bite before turning back to look at you again. “You’re a Know-It-All, you know.” He accused, and you simply raised your eyebrows.

“Is that meant to insult me?” You asked. “How do you think I got all of my degrees? By sitting silently at the back of the classroom and not participating?”

You gave him one last playful look, before speeding up to join the front of the group, ending up talking to Marlow the entire rest of the way.

He was very talkative, at least in comparison to the people you were used to, but right now, that’s exactly what you needed; first of all to distract you from the pain that was only getting worse the more you walked, but also from the flutter of butterflies that would erupt in your stomach and chest every time James would slow down to ask how you were doing, which was a lot.

You reached your destination after a long while of walking, when the sun was just beginning to set, and Marlow wasted no time in telling you about Kong and the Skull Crawlers, along with presenting you with his late friend’s plane that they had re-built into a boat back when he had still been alive.

Slivko followed him without a second thought, wasting no time in beginning to brag about his mechanical skills, but Mason and yourself lingered by the Iwi in the distance.

You were inspecting them in a discrete manner, wondering how in the hell they were able to stand so still, and that’s when you saw it; something that instantly sparked your interest and caused the kind of excitement only a scientist could feel to fill your entire body.

“No, it can’t be.” You mumbled to yourself, taking a small step closer and squinting your eyes to better be able to see the particular Iwi you had set your eyes on.

When seeing it wasn’t just a trick of the light, you turned to Marlow who was now walking back past you. “Can I go up to them?” You asked, motioning to the Iwi. “Or will they feel threatened?”

“Oh, sure. Go ahead.” He casually waved his hand. “They’re a peaceful people. They won’t hurt you unless you hurt them first.”

Your lips lit up in a smile. “Great, thanks.” You hurried out, before turning to the other woman beside you and holding your hand out. “Mason, can I borrow your camera?”

She gave you a strange look. “Uh, sure.” She said, removing the strap from around her neck and dropping the camera in your open hand.

You wasted no time in setting the right settings in, all while walking in the direction of your targeted Iwi, Mason trailing behind you to count for her camera’s safety.

When you stopped in front of the Iwi and raised the camera into her face, Mason squinted her eyes just like you had a few moments before. “What is that?” She wondered, coming closer.

The Iwi didn’t even bat an eye when you more or less shoved the camera into her face, zooming in on her left eye.

“Pupula Duplex, or Polycoria.” You answered. “It’s an extremely rare condition in which the victim has two irises and two pupils. It's so rare, in fact, that some believe that it is just a myth. Fascinating.”

Mason hummed beside you and you briefly lowered the camera down to be able to inspect the picture you had just taken that.

When doing so, you noticed James coming up behind you, and wasted no time in holding the camera up for him to see. “James. Come look at this.” You said, just as he joined your side.

You didn’t even notice you had called him by his first name, and either he didn’t either, or he just didn’t care, looking down at the camera and then up at the Iwi without even mentioning it.

“That is fascinating.” He agreed, having heard your earlier words, and you zoomed in on the picture.

“Isn’t it?” You replied, raising the camera again, motioning for the Iwi to open her eyes wide and she did as told, allowing you to take another, cleared picture.

“Oh, yeah. It’s cool, isn’t it?” Marlow joined in on the conversation, walking up to you and pointing to his own eye. “She’s had it since she was born. There are a few others who have it too.”

“Really?” You whipped around to face him. “Can you show me? I need to document this.”

He flashed you a big smile, nodding his head. “Sure thing, come on.” He said, and you wasted no time in following him, Mason, again, trailing after you, not wanting to leave her camera alone.

Slivko called James back to the boat a second later and he didn’t waste any time, keeping a watchful eye in your direction where you were enthusiastically talking about something, without a doubt about the condition you were currently so excited to discover.

Night fell and all of the Iwi returned inside, along with you, one by one, and soon enough, all but James was in the room Marlow and his late friend had made to be their own during their stay there.

Nieves was sitting by himself and so was Mason, the former just staring into a wall and the latter flicking through a book.

San and Brooks were talking quietly among themselves and Slivko was touching everything he could get his hands on, this currently being a spear that he was walking around the room with.

He was conversing with Marlow, but you couldn’t be bothered to listen in, too distracted by the beautiful Northern Lights swirling around in the night sky, lighting up the landscape outside the window.

In your hand, you were fiddling with an unlit, slightly crooked cigarette, and your other hand was tucked in under your arm, your back leaning against the edge of the opening you were currently standing in front of.

“How’s your foot?” A voice suddenly spoke from beside you, and only then did you notice that James had now joined you in the room.

You had been so lost in thought that you hadn’t even noticed him walk right up to you, hence your eyes widening in surprise at the sound of his voice.

But you quickly regained your composure, lifting your foot slightly, for him to see that it was now wrapped up.

“It’s all good.” You answered with a small smile. “The Iwi gave me some kind of root for the pain and swelling. I couldn’t identify it and neither them nor Marlow was to any help so I took a sample with me to test when we get back to the ship.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He returned your smile, and you nodded, widening your smile just a little bit.

Silence fell over you for a short moment, neither of you knowing what to say, but then he stepped up to the window, pointing towards the sky and by doing so causing you to look back outside, too.

“Isn’t it odd the most dangerous places are always the most beautiful?” He asked and you hummed, again finding yourself unable to look away.

“I was going to have a cigarette but I’m all out of matches.” You chuckled, looking away only briefly to show him the defected stick of tobacco between your fingers.

“Oh.” He said, his eyebrows creasing together as he reached into his pocket. “Try this.” He continued, holding out a small metal lighter and flicking the lid up to expose a flame.

You wasted no time in reaching out and taking it from him once he had let the lid fall back shut, your smile now wider than ever. “Thank you.”

After putting the cigarette between your lips, you brought the lighter up and lit the end, making sure it got lit before closing the lighter again.

You were about to hand it back, but stopped yourself to inspect the worn-out letters printed at the side, your eye flickering up to meet his.

“Royal Air Force?” You asked once you had brought the cigarette down from your lips, tilting your head with interest.

You watched as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants, his eyes stuck to the lighter that was still clutched in your hand.

“It was my father’s.” He told you quietly, a slight crease being created between his eyebrows. “He threw it to me from the train as he rolled off to fight the Nazis. He was like John Wayne to me. Some kind of mythic hero.”

Your face grew serious, your head nodding as you blew out the smoke of the drag you had just taken. “Did he come back?” You asked, meeting his eyes when he looked back up.

“His plane went down near Hamburg. They searched for him for months but…” He paused, turning away from you to look up at the sky. “I suppose no man comes home from war. Not really.”

You watched the profile of his face sadly, taking in the way the Northern Lights reflected in his green eyes. “He would’ve been proud of you. I hope you know that.”

You had barely even been able to process the words you were going to say before they slipped past your lips, but still wasn’t fazed, as they seemed to have done more good than harm like you’d hoped, judging by the soft look overtaking his face when he turned to look at you again.

“Thank you.” He told you, to which you smiled. “What about you?” He continued then, and you raised an eyebrow.

“What about me?”

He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back on the edge of the opening and turning his body in your direction. “Do you have any family? Or is it just you?” He clarified his question.

You turned your head away from him, taking a final drag of your cigarette and holding your breath while you dropped it to the floor and stomped it out.

“I have a brother.” You answered as you released your breath and the smoke with it, turning your head back to look at him.

“Younger or older?”

“Six years older.” You replied, crossing your arms over your chest to match his stance, once again turning to look up into the sky when seeing the expecting look on his face, asking you to go on.

“Our mom got pregnant with my brother at fifteen and she kept him. When she gave birth to me, however, she suddenly decided she wasn’t ready to have children, dropped us both off at the stairs of a catholic orphanage. We got tossed around the system our entire lives, but not together. My brother only found me again when he turned eighteen and could go off and make a living on his own. I’d been placed in a total of eleven family homes at that point, but I just landed right back in the orphanage every time. I was a bit of an ass as a child, so no one wanted to keep me.” You chuckled to yourself. “But my brother wanted me back, even though I didn’t even remember him. And the nuns wanted me out of their hair so they signed the papers quicker than I’ve ever seen anyone sign anything before.”

You took a pause, reminiscing in the memories of your life, before turning to look at him with a small smile. “He raised me on his own, worked his ass off every day to provide for me, all while studying and chasing his dream of becoming a cave explorer.” You continued. “When I reached my later teenage years, I started working too, and when I eventually picked my studies back up, we realized that I was quite a Brainiac. I had several degrees by the time I was twenty and with the job offers pouring in on me, my brother could finally stop providing for me, take a break and go after his dreams. And I tagged along with him too, when I wasn’t working or studying.”

James matched your smile with one of his own, nodding his head once you were finished. “Sounds like you’ve had quite adventurous life.” He commented. “And he sounds like a good man. Your brother.”

“He is. Better than others, at least.” You shrugged. “Neither of us ever knew our fathers. Deadbeats. Both of them.”

“So you’re only half-siblings.”

“On paper? Yes.” You confirmed, then shaking your head. “But in heart? No.”

“That must be nice.” He smiled, and you leaned your head back against the wall behind you.

“Yeah, it is.”

He inspected you softly. “Do you have anyone else waiting for you back home? Other than your brother, I mean.”

“Are you asking if I’m romantically involved with anyone?” You asked playfully, raising an eyebrow.

In return, he chuckled, but not once did his gaze waver from yours. “Yes, I guess I am.”

You chuckled with him, shaking your head again. “No, it’s just us now. But-“ You paused, raising your eyebrows and holding up a finger. “I used to be engaged.”

“Used to?” His eyebrows shot up, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Mm. It didn’t work out.” You mused.

His interest was clearly piqued now, his body turning just slightly more your way to signify that he was completely involved in the conversation at hand.

“What happened?” He asked, crossing his feet and getting comfortable against the hard stone wall.

“My knight in shining armor turned out to be a loser in aluminum foil. A criminal, more specifically.” You replied, plastering on a sarcastic smile. “He was a dealer, in the art business. I’d never done as much as shoplift a piece of gum before I met him, but the more attached I got to him, the more I was willing to risk.”

You paused, wrapping your arms around yourself to provide your bare arms with some heat in contrast to the chilly air surrounding you.

“When someone got interested in a piece, I’d pose as another buyer and drive up the price. But one day, he asked me to pose as the seller, not the buyer. One signature, half a million dollars. He said it was simple. I’d hand them the documents and they’d slide me a check.” You continued. “The whole thing would take a couple of minutes tops. And he was right, it all happened very quickly. The buyers turned out to be undercover cops and with my signature being the one signed on the documents, I was the one to go down. He made sure of it.”

You were still smiling at the end of your story, at this point completely over the pain and suffering said engagement had caused you, even if it had ended you up in prison for several years and completely ruined your chance to a successful career.

And unbeknownst to you, James was more fascinated by you than ever, only wanting to know more about you the more you spoke.

“How much time did you get?” He asked, captivated by the fact that you could just keep smiling through it all.

“Originally five years, but I got out after two and a half on good behavior.” You replied casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

He raised his head slightly at that, realizing. “So that’s why you’re here.”

You hummed. “Scientists are very stuck-up and quick to judge, if you hadn’t already gathered that.” You spared Nieves, Brooks and San a glance, raising an eyebrow at the way they were squeezed together in the corner while Slivko and Marlow sang along to some music, staring at them with expressions all resembling distaste and annoyance.

James nodded as he watched them, getting your point, and only when your eyes met again did you continue. “Getting a job in this profession when you have a criminal record, and a pretty severe one at that, is just as hard as it sounds.”

“I can imagine.” He agreed.

A short moment of silence fell over the two of you again, but it was everything but uncomfortable or tense, as both of you knew, judging by the looks in your eyes, that it was going to be broken again.

“What about you?” You were the one to break the ice this time, your words causing his eyebrows to shoot up in a playful manner.

“What about me?” He repeated your earlier comeback, and you chuckled, glancing to the side before returning your gaze to his.

“Do you have anyone waiting for you? Have you ever been in love?” Your tone turned teasing at the second question, your eyes squinting as you smiled.

James snickered at your antics, his head shaking. “No, I’m on my own, and I can’t say that I have.” He replied, his chuckling fading into a simple smile as he continued. “But there’s still time.”

At that, your playful demeanor faded into a more serious one too, but your smile remained, the two of you holding each other’s eyes for a moment longer before simultaneously turning to look at the sky once more, staying there until it was time for everyone to go to sleep.

Come next morning, James, Marlow and Slivko were already up and at it when the rest of you woke up, the spots in which they had slept now empty.

The scientists kept keeping to themselves as they had the entire time you had been there, leaving you and Mason to spend some time with the Iwi and each other.

While she busied herself with taking pictures of the native people, you brought the woman you had spotted the day before, with the Pupula Duplex condition, to the side to take notes, something she didn’t seem to mind much with the way she was doing everything you told her.

Seeing as they didn’t speak, however, it was hard to get any more information than the one provided to you by the visuals, so you left sooner than you would’ve liked, heading out to where the others were crowded on the boat.

Even Nieves, San and Brooks had made it outside by then, but by the looks of it, they weren’t doing much to help. 

You guessed they wouldn’t have been able to even if they wanted, though; scientists weren’t exactly known to be handy in the mechanical area. You were a good enough example of that.

So you stayed clear of the boat, only glancing over once in a while to meet James’ gaze when feeling his stare, but other than that distracting yourself with analyzing a carnivorous plant you had just happened to sit down next to.

You were so engrossed in studying it and drawing it in your sketchbook, in which you had already made countless of drawings during your time on the island, that you barely even noticed everyone else heading inside.

Only when they were coming back outside, James heading straight in your direction and by doing so blocking the sun, did you snap out of your little bubble, looking up at him just as he stopped.

“I brought you some food.” He said, holding out a plate looking to be made out of clay, like promised holding some kind of meat.

Your eyes squinted at the sight. “What is it?” You asked suspiciously, but nonetheless accepted the plate.

With his hands now free, he slowly bent down and sat down beside you. “Some kind of bird. It tastes just like chicken.” He informed you, and you hummed, starting to pick at it.

“What are you doing?” He asked, reaching his hand out toward your notebook and grazing his fingers over the drawing.

“Just… inspecting.” You replied, bringing a small piece of the bird-meat to your lips, the suspicion melting off once you realized that it did, in fact, taste just like chicken.

“You’re inspecting a flower?” He raised an eyebrow at you. “That hardly seems interesting.”

“Not just any flower.” You corrected him, putting the plate down in front of you and picking up a piece of the meat. “Watch.”

Slowly, you brought it out in front of the flower, and for a moment, you thought it wasn’t going to take it, but then its frog-like tongue slapped out and wrapped around your fingers, causing you to jump.

You quickly let go of the meat, letting the carnivorous plant bring it back into its mouth, and hurrying to bring you hand back, smiling and raising your eyebrows at James who was now looking at the plant with a disturbed look on his face.

“That’s… mildly terrifying.” He commented, bringing a chuckle from your lips.

“Yeah, nature has a tendency to be terrifying in the ways you least expect it.”

“So I’ve noticed.” He agreed with a chuckle of his own, averting his gaze from you to the boat.

When he did so, you did too, watching as Marlow and Slivko pulled at chains and other pieces of metal that you couldn’t identify to save your life; mechanics had always been your brother’s thing, you didn’t know shit about it.

“How’s it going with the boat? Any luck?” You asked after a moment of silence, sparing him a sideways glance.

“So far, not so much. But Slivko insists he’ll be able to fix it.” He answered without looking away from said boy.

You hummed. “Do you believe him?” You asked, turning to look at him again when catching him shrugging in the corner of your eye.

“It shouldn’t be impossible. We just have to work together.” He replied and, again, you hummed thoughtfully, pulling at a few strands of grass absentmindedly.

“I hope you’re right.” You mumbled. “I would very much like to get back home.”

His head turned in your direction, his eyes meeting yours when your head did the same.

“You will. I promise.” He told you, and you gave him a gentle smile.

“You should be careful with what you promise, Mr. Conrad.”

“James, please.” He corrected you, smiling softly at the memory of how good his name had sounded coming from your lips the day before.

“Alright, James.” You repeated, smiling and squinting against the sun.

You didn’t get the time to exchange any more words, Slivko yelling at James to come help him only a second later and cutting your moment short.

James stood up and headed off, leaving you to finish the meat you had completely forgotten up until then, having become so engrossed in the conversation.

Later that afternoon, when you were mindlessly walking around, trying to make time pass by quicker, you were fetched by Mason, who told you to grab your things and come to the boat, letting you know that it was time to go.

The boys had to give it a few tries but soon enough, the boat’s engine roared to life, and after that, everything happened so quickly.

Slivko had finally made contact with Packard and you had met up with him and the other survivors after they had fired a flare to give away their position; not before watching Nieves get ripped to shreds by some kind of carnivorous bird.

You barely made it out with your lives intact after stumbling upon the graveyard of Kong’s family, in which the Skull Crawlers also resided.

Even after that experience, Packard still insisted that Kong was the enemy, and it became apparent pretty quickly to you in that moment that he had completely lost it, something he came to pay for when he tried to blow Kong up and, in return, got stomped to death.

The next thing you knew, you were running for your lives with the Skull Crawlers hot on your trail, and as you reached the edge of the island, James came to a stop, turning to Mason and bringing a flare gun out of the hem of his pants.

“Weaver, get up on those rocks and fire a flare. With any luck, Brooks will see it.” He instructed her, and her eyes instantly widened.

“I- Wha-“

You rolled your eyes, marching forward. “I’ll do it. Give it here.” You stated, snatching the gun out of his hands and tucking it into your pants.

“No.” He wasted no time in shaking his head. “Not with your foot.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “I just ran all the way here, my foot is fine. And even if it hadn’t been, it’s not your decision to make. I wasn’t asking for your permission.” You said, holding his gaze while you removed your bag from your back and shoved it into Slivko’s arms, only then turning to look at the younger boy. “Take my bag. Do not let my notebook get wet. I need my notes.”

He stared at you with disbelief, shaking his head. “Man, you have your priorities fucked up.” He said, but nonetheless slung it over his shoulder and ran off.

The others followed his example and you turned around to head to the rocks.

“Wait.” James' voice spoke from behind you, his hand coming out to catch your wrist, causing you to turn around to look at him with a questioning expression.

He was quiet for a moment, both of your chests heaving up and down from the intense running, but then his face softened, his head nodding slightly. “We'll buy you time.” He promised, and although you were confused about the unreadable expression on his face, you knew he was telling the truth.

“I know you will.” You replied with a nod, and after you had shared one final look, he took off after the others while you started climbing the rocks.

In retrospect, all of them were happy you had been the one to go and not Mason, remembering after the moment had passed that you were, in fact, a professional rock climber; something that came with the speleology.

You reached the top in no time and didn’t waste another second, raising the gun as high into the air that your arm would allow and firing the red flare, all while Kong and the Skull Crawler were fighting below you.

Before you knew it, Brooks and San turned up on the boat, firing at the Skull Crawler. But the guns on the boat were old and rusty, and jammed, with Kong momentarily knocked out, giving the Skull Crawler free passage to the boat.

So you did the only thing you could do from on top of the mountain, loading another bullet into the flare gun with shaking hands, pulling back the safety, and firing it, watching as it lodged itself into the big lizard’s ear.

This gave Kong enough time to get back up to his feet and swing a chain with a heavy propeller stuck to the end into the head of the Skull Crawler, and you watched with wide eyes as he then proceeded to wrap the chain around its neck and swing its entire body to the side.

It wasn’t until you felt the rough tremble under your feet that you realized he had thrown it right into the base of the mountain you were standing on, and you barely got the time to progress this realization in your brain before you were thrown off the rock.

You fell and for a moment, everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion around you, but then it all sped up again, the last thing you heard being a mighty roar, followed by the sound of your own named being yelled, before your back hit the cold water and everything turned black.

Everyone watched with horror as your body disappeared into the water, James more so than anyone, and as you slowly sank further and further away from the surface, he wasted no time in sprinting in your direction, not caring in the slightest if he would get hurt in the process.

Kong was distracted, changing his agenda and moving over to the water, lowering his fist into it and picking up your body.

This gave the Skull Crawler an open window to attack, but in the end, Kong persevered, ripping the entire spinal cord out of its body and at the same time, managing to do so without harming you.

James slid into a halt on the wet grass when Kong lowered you back onto the ground, wasting no time in cradling you into his arms.

“Come on.” He breathed out, panic tightening his chest and his hands frantically brushing the wet strands of hair out of your equally as wet face. “Come on.” He whispered again, and let out a sigh of relief when your face suddenly pulled into a frown, water spluttering out of your mouth a second later.

“Oh, thank God.” He breathed out, turning you over to your side in his arms to help you get all of the water out.

Once you stopped coughing, he turned you back into his chest, and slowly, you came back to your senses, your eyes fluttering open.

“James?” You mumbled, having to blink to get the water out of your eyes, squeezing them shut when he brought his thumbs up to wipe your eyelashes.

“I’m here.” He said, and finally, you were able to see him clearly, his green eyes staring down at you with worry unlike no other. “I thought I lost you.”

His hands were cradling your face, thumbs still gently stroking the hair away.

Your lip twitched slightly at the pain that suddenly became very apparent in the back of your head, but still, you couldn’t help but ask. “What? You in love with me or something?”

A moment passed, and then you watched as his face pulled into a large smile. “Or something.” He chuckled out in a relieved breath, and you only got the time to smile back before you were being hugged tightly against his chest.

Your eyes closed briefly at the feeling, your arms wrapping around his neck. 

His hand held the back of your head protectively, his face buried in your neck, and as you opened your eyes again, you met the ones of Kong, who stayed to look at you just one last time, before turning around and walking away.

Some minutes later, you were all safely packed onto the boat, the wind drying your hair as you went. A blanket was wrapped around your shoulders, having been provided to you by Slivko and Marlow the second you had come aboard.

You were watching the scenery of the island go by in a flurry, your head heavy against James’ upper arm where he stood beside you, just lost in thought like everyone else. 

“What are you going to do when we get back?” His voice reached your ears just then, and you looked up, finding him to already be looking at you.

“I have a job lined up in Papua New Guinea.” You said, smiling tiredly. “My brother and his team found an unexplored cavern and they believe it could contain an undiscovered ecosystem.”

“Sound interesting, right down your lane.” He replied, the corners of his lips tugging up, but the smile not quite reaching his eyes. 

“It is.” You nodded, wrapping the blanket tighter around your body to shield your wet clothes from the winds. “What are you going to do?” You asked, watching as his shoulders shrugged.

“I don’t know. Just lay low for a while.” He replied, averting his gaze and adjusting his stance, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sounds like a good idea. An experience like this would make anyone want to retire.” You chuckled, moving your gaze forward too. “Have you ever tried it? Cave diving, I mean.”

“No.” He answered with a chuckle. “I’ve managed to stick to work on the surface this far.”

“You could come with me, if you’d like. Try something new.” You offered without as much of a doubt in your mind, turning your head to look back up at him.

At the feeling of your stare and the sound of your words, he turned his head back to you, too. And just like you, he didn’t hesitate for a second to answer, with a smile to match your own. “I don’t see why not.”

Your smile widened and you held his gaze for a moment, before slowly moving your hand on top of his, causing him to look down.

You watched him, awaiting his reaction, admittedly a bit anxiously so. But the stress and uncertainty melted right off at the feeling of his fingers intertwining with yours, his other arm wrapping around your waist and pulling you closer into his side.

His lips met your temple and you shared a glance, before leaning in and meeting each other in the middle for a kiss, only pulling apart with smiles on your faces when the sound of propellers reached your ears, three choppers coming to take you back to the ship.

You had started the mission off a lone soul, and so had he. But now... now you had been through hell together, and you knew that no matter how far away from each other you ended up, you’d never be alone again. 

Luckily for you, however, it didn’t end up being very far because come the next night, you stepped off the ship together, side by side and hand in hand, like agreed heading off to Papa New Guinea where your brother and his crew resided, both of you ready for a new beginning.

Like you had said, after an experience like this… anyone would be.

(Let me know in a comment, ask or private message if you want to be added to the Kong: Skull Island taglist)

[esmealux]

The Devil Doesn’t Do Children

Part: 1 / ?

Setting: About a year after 5a

Word count: 3.3K

Rating: T

Warnings: Mention of death/murder (and, quite indirectly, foeticide)

Summary: Chloe is sick and Lucifer puts two and two together (with a little help from Dan).

Author’s note: This is my longest work so far. It was meant to be one long piece, but it ended up being 10.8K (!), so I’ve cut it into three parts. And just because I can’t help myself, there’s already a fourth on the way. Enjoy!

Usually, Lucifer wakes up bathed in golden dawn light and wrapped in the warmth of Chloe’s naked body. If it’s not her raucous snoring or the demanding screeches of her alarm that rouse him from his sleep, it is the press of her soft lips against his neck (or somewhere more south, if he’s particularly lucky, and he often is). But not today. Today he wakes up surrounded by darkness in her much too cold bed, and it’s neither her snores nor her kisses which break off his slumber. It’s the sound of Chewbacca being strangled in her bathroom. 

Or, he realises upon fully awakening, Chloe throwing up.

Alarmed and slightly annoyed that vomit of all things is interrupting his peaceful rest, he sits up in bed and stretches his taut body. Grabbing the nearest phone, he checks the time and groans when it says 05.26. Somewhere in his half-asleep mind, he recalls the Danish saying ‘Før Fanden får sko på’—now officially a synonym for 05.26, he thinks as he gets up and walks to the bathroom door barefoot.

‘Detective?’ he asks in a gruff voice, knocking quietly.

‘Don’t come in,’ she commands before heaving again.

He flinches. ‘Believe me, love, I wasn’t planning on it.’

It’s mostly said in jest, because if she asked him, he would be there by her side in a heartbeat. They’ve been through far too much together to care about the other’s less appetising sides. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time he sees her ejecting her stomach contents, having once picked her up from an extraordinarily wild Tribe night. At least he won’t have to stick his fingers down her throat this time.

Eventually, there’s an intermission long enough for her to flush, put down the seat and open the door for him. He enters with reluctance, inspecting her warily as she sits on top of the toilet lid, her head in her hands. When she looks up at him, he gasps. ‘Oh, darling, you look positively terrible’—he leans a bit forward, assessing her ashen face—‘Abominable, really.’ Behind the thick mask of nausea and exhaustion, he thinks he sees her glare.

‘Fancy a toothbrush?’ he offers, already walking past her to find one by the sink. A hint of gratitude glints in her matte eyes as he hands it to her along with a glass of water. He smiles at her and leans against the door frame, eventually looking down to appreciate his pedicure as she rinses her mouth. ‘Is pwobably sumthin I ate,’ she mumbles around foam and toothbrush. He cocks his eye and looks up at her, scoffing. ‘You think?’ When he’d locked himself into her flat late last night after hosting an event at Lux, he’d been greeted by the sight of her and her spawn sleeping on the couch, remains of junk food cluttering up the coffee table before them. The logo on the Styrofoam had made him shake his head in disappointment and disgust. He’d cleaned it up and carried the ladies to their beds, but not before ripping one specific menu card off their fridge and tearing it to pieces. ‘I mean, it’s one thing you order garbage for yourself, but must you punish your offspring in the process? I may detest children, but even I think that’s no way to treat a child. Especially Beatrice. You do realise the men’s room at Lux are cleaner than that place, right?’

In response to his question, she pulls the toothbrush out of her mouth, lifts the lid of the toilet and, once again, disgorges her dinner.

‘My point exactly,’ he replies, before crouching down next to her to hold back her hair.

*

‘Lucifer! Did you make breakfast?!’ The doe-eyed creature shrieks as it appears from its nest, the brown, ungroomed mane falling messily around its head.

‘Good morning to you too, urchin,’ he greets her, looking up from the pot he’s stirring in to give her a half-forced smile as she takes a seat by the counter. He feels a strange itch in his hands to pull out the bar stool for her and help her up (mostly because he can’t be bothered with her tedious jumping), but to his surprise, she climbs the stool with ease—or at least not ungracefully. It tugs at something in his chest the same way it does when he occasionally is compelled to spend time with his nephew, and the babe’s already crawling, or walking, or making sounds that somewhat resemble actual words. For unfathomable reasons, it makes him feel uneasy—but mostly pleased; the sooner they grow up, the sooner they’ll stop being such pains in the-

‘Oh my God, is that bacon? And eggs? And pancakes?!’

He sighs and looks up to chide her for her unjust invocation, but swallows it when he sees her hungry, gleeful eyes. ‘Yes, here. Have some actual food,’ he tells her, nudging the plate and some cutlery in her direction. And some wet wipes, because longer limbs or not, she’s still a sticky child.

‘It’s chocolate chip pancakes!’ she exclaims upon inspecting her breakfast further, as if he didn’t already know. ‘Thank you, Lucifer. You’re the best.’ She’s beaming brightly at him now, and he feels threatened, foreseeing that she, any second, will launch her small body at him and enclose his middle, ruining his Armani suit with her greasy fingers. But she doesn’t. She just sits there and stares at him, her eyes twinkling with an emotion that looks uncannily related to one he has only ever seen in her mother’s eyes.

‘Eh,’ he breathes, his throat tightening. He looks away from her unsettling smiley face and returns his attention to the pot on the stove. ‘Well, it was the least I could do after your supposed caregiver fed you literal poison last night.’

Suddenly reminded of the Detective and her progeny’s shared meal, he turns his head to search the adolescent’s face for any signs of sickness. But she doesn’t look remotely nauseous as she devours her feed like a starving hyena cub. He quirks an eyebrow. ‘I’m guessing from your lupine appetite that you haven’t been praying to the porcelain gods like your mother?’

Beatrice’s brows knit together, her fork pausing mid-air. She (fortunately) swallows her food before she speaks, all joy in her voice suddenly gone, ‘Mom’s sick?’

‘Well, yes, but I’m positive it’ll pass soon. She just needs to… get it out of her system,’ he quickly reassures her, offering her a soft smile. The discomforting concern in the big, brown eyes slowly disappears as absolute delight takes over.

‘Does that mean you’re taking me to school?’ She asks, her small corpus barely able to contain her joy. ‘In your car?!’

He scoffs, feeling attacked. ‘As if I’d ever voluntarily drive your mum’s mind-numbingly boring example of an automobile.’ She grins at that, making a comment about how his is ‘definitely a trazillion times cooler,’ and he smiles at her, smug and victorious. ‘Exactly, child! So, yes, naturally, I will be escorting you in the corvette. But now, march off and get yourself ready while I finish this…’ he pokes around the grey goo in the pot with the wooden spoon, trying not to grimace, ‘oatmeal, for your mother. According to our friend Alexa it’s good for nauseated humans, although I highly doubt it.’

The teenager simply shrugs at that, finishes her breakfast and retreats to her burrow to get dressed. Once the porridge is done, Lucifer pours it in a bowl, puts it on a tray along with a cool glass of coke (also Alexandra’s suggestion) and carries it up to the Detective’s bedroom. He opens the door slowly as to not wake her, but the stubbornest of women is sitting on the edge of the bed, using all strength left in her depleted body to pull on her skinny jeans. Putting down the tray on the nearest surface, he darts over to her with a ‘what in Dad’s name are you doing?!’ and tugs the trousers down her legs and off her. ‘We have to go to work, Lucifer,’ she objects rather weakly, not even trying to put her jeans back on. ‘I have to go to work,’ he corrects her, carefully laying her down once he’s freed both her feet. ‘You, Detective, need to stay here and rest until you can keep it all inside you.’ He senses she’s about to protest again, so he places a kiss on her forehead and assures her, ‘Trust me, dear, everything is taken care of.’ Even as nausea has tinted her face green, she manages to narrow her eyes at him in scepticism. ‘Just promise me you’ll behave,’ she eventually mutters as she gives up and nuzzles into the blankets.

He lightly strokes her shoulder with the back of his fingers and quietly walks out of the room, leaving her with a dramatic sigh and an ‘As you wish.’

*

Daniel is already at the crime scene when Lucifer arrives after depositing the urchin. He’d thought he’d have to go through an entire day of purgatory—or paperwork, as the Detective pronounces it—and it was only worsened by the fact that he wouldn’t have his partner by his side. If she had been there, he could at least have distracted them both with some suggestive looks here, some subtle touches there, and—when he’d worked her into a frenzy of desire—a coffee break or two in the parking garage. Instead, he’d have to endure the agonising tedium on his own, even as there were, at a minimum, three hell loops he’d rather spend his time in than do paperwork at the precinct all day. But then Miss Lopez had called and informed him they’d got a new case. He’d been absolutely delighted (as delighted as it is allowed when someone has dropped dead), but only until he’d made the mistake of telling her that the Detective was home sick, and she’d said that she would ‘call Espinoza ASAP’ and tell him to meet them at the scene. If he had just kept his mouth shut, he could have got the case all to himself, instead of having Detective Douche tag along.

Taking a deep breath, he checks his cuffs and takes his time approaching the douche in question. ‘Sorry I’m late. Your spawn spent quite some time choosing the right attire,’ Lucifer offers in greeting. Daniel looks him up and down with raised eyebrows, his eyes landing on the perfectly folded crimson pocket square. ‘For a normal school day? Wonder who inspired that kind of vanity in her.’

‘Well, it certainly wasn’t her father,’ Lucifer deadpans and nods towards Daniel’s hoodie/jacket/jeans-combination.

With a humourless laugh and a shake of his head, Dan stuffs his hands in his pockets and turns on his heels to walk up the stairs and into the residential building. After bringing out his flask and taking a long swig, Lucifer follows him.

When they enter the flat, Miss Lopez is leaning over the body with her camera. The sight is oddly welcoming. Comfortably familiar. She’d only come back a week ago after being away for a little over a month, on a much-deserved vacation in New Zealand, and Lucifer had missed her cheerful spirit and their crime scene banter terribly. The latter is, much to Lucifer’s annoyance, cut short today by Daniel ‘Buzz-Kill’ Espinoza’s ‘So, Ella, what can you tell us about the vic?’

It’s a rather uninteresting case; a woman, Laura Greene, 26, has been murdered in her home. Stabbed with a kitchen knife, first in the abdomen, then the chest. No signs of B&E, no signs of struggle. A swift and impulsive act—no doubt a crime of passion according to Ella. The most obvious culprit would be an angered partner, but the roommate, who found the body, tells them the victim wasn’t in a relationship and rarely went on dates or brought anyone home. On top of that, Roomie can’t think of anyone who would hurt dear Laura. And the neighbours are just as useless; one is a deaf elder lady, and the others were chasing the dragon at the time of death. The rest of the floor haven’t heard or noticed anything either. Consequently, they have absolutely nothing once they get to the precinct. Ella goes through evidence and Daniel through piles and piles of papers, leaving Lucifer to stand awkwardly in the corner of Ella’s lab, with no desires to unveil or miscreants to threaten.

As to not die of boredom, he zooms out and lets his mind wander. He’s in the middle of designing a strategy for how to make Chloe finally agree to try the deliciously sinful position he considers one of his favourites when Ella’s frustrated sigh interrupts his planning.

‘Something troubling you, Miss Lopez?’ he asks her, pulling out his flask.

She tells him she has nothing. No match on the fingerprints from the murder weapon, no useful surveillance tapes, no clues at the scene that can tell her the gender, age, or occupation of the murderer. Nada. Just the fact that it was done in a moment of heat.

Before Lucifer can answer, Dan walks in with a puzzled look on his ill-favoured face, his arms filled with highlighted printouts. ‘Could she’ve been pregnant?’

Ella tilts her head. ‘I mean, it’s not impossible, but based on what her roommate told us, I wouldn’t bet my money on it. You know, because our girl Laura had no boy toyz.’

Lucifer can’t hold back a snort. ‘Please, Miss Lopez, all it takes is a boy toy, singular, ten minutes in a bathroom stall and the absence of contraceptives.’

Dan looks at him with disgust and horror before shaking his head and returning his attention to Ella. ‘Well, no,’ he answers her, ignoring Lucifer’s comment entirely, ‘but then I thought about the other thing her roommate said, about Laura throwing up during the past weeks, and I thought-’

‘But Michelle said she thought it was an eating disorder, like Laura’d had before,’ Ella interrupts him, looking to Lucifer for support. He just purses his lips and looks back. Truth be told, when they’d been talking to the roommate, the mentioning of vomit had reminded him of his feeble Detective at home and he’d excused himself to send her a text. He therefore hadn’t heard whatever explanation the woman had offered (nor her arguments for why the victim’s sickness would be relevant to them). Fortunately, Dan answers.

‘Yeah, I know, I thought that too, but then I saw she paid a bill to an OB-GYN earlier this month, and it could just be a gynaecological check-up or something, but then I remembered how badly Chloe suffered from morning sickness when she was pregnant with Trixie, so I…’

Lucifer stops listening as Daniel’s words—one in particular—suddenly whirl around him, loud and ominous. His heart starts pounding faster and his throat goes dry. He instinctively grips the edge of the lab table.

‘Surely there could be other explanations,’ he manages to get out, interrupting his co-workers’ discussion. ‘Food poisoning, for instance.’

Dan and Ella look at him with equally sceptical looks. ‘Not for ten days straight,’ Ella argues.

‘But there is a myriad of reasons for a woman to throw up,’ he defends as he starts frantically googling. ‘Indigestion, stomach bug, chemotherapy, motion sickness… aha, migraine!’

When Lucifer looks up from his phone, Daniel is looking at him like he’s questioning his sanity. Miss Lopez seems concerned too, but more in an ‘dude, you okay?’-way than anything else.

Ella slowly takes her eyes off Lucifer’s face and eyes Dan shortly. ‘Well, we can’t know for sure before we get the final results from the autopsy, but from what Dan has found, she could quite possibly be pregnant.’

‘But,’ Lucifer objects, barely audibly, like someone has knocked the wind out of him, ‘she can’t be.’ He’s staring out into empty air, unwelcome images suddenly flooding his mind, as Daniel and Miss Lopez continue talking. He’s on the verge of what he thinks might be a panic attack when a voice, her voice, drags him out of his own head.

‘Hey guys,’ she greets them. She’s hoarse and looks a little tired, but the green tinge is gone.

‘Detective,’ is what he manages to say back. She looks at him with soft eyes and it’s enough for him to come back to his senses for a moment. Surprised by her presence, he begins to ask, ‘Are you done-’

He was going to say ‘puking your guts out’ but she widens her eyes at him and cuts him off, ‘Having a bad headache? Yes, thank you, Lucifer. I just needed some rest.’

‘Right,’ he mumbles, giving her one slow nod. She walks over to stand close beside him and brushes her fingers against the back of his hand, somehow sensing that he’s tense. 

‘Okay, what have we got?’ She looks to Dan and Ella and lets go of Lucifer’s hand. He instantly misses her touch.

They fill Chloe in, telling her about everything from the lack of leads to small, seemingly insignificant details. When she’s completely up to date, she has that look on her face, eyes slightly narrowed, like she has a (historically, clever) theory.

‘Well,’ she begins, still visibly thinking, ‘it does take two to tango.’ She side-eyes Lucifer, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips. It’s clear she expects a remark or a praising grin in return, and he tries, but it comes out as a grimace and a strained ‘eh’. She gives him a funny look before continuing her theory, ‘What I mean is, boyfriend or not, there’s still a father out there. Maybe he found out and couldn’t handle the news? Maybe he was married to someone else? Or… he just didn’t want to be a dad?’

Lucifer feels his heartbeat speed up once again. An odd emotion he can’t quite name spreads in his chest. It feels like a disease.

‘Sure seems like motive, but how are we gonna find him?’ Dan asks. Not one second later, Miss Lopez’ ‘found him!’ sounds from where she’s leaning over her computer. ‘Tech just got access to her photos —kinda tricky since she had this super secure lock-’

‘Who is he, Ella?’ Chloe demands.

Ella clicks on the screen and turns the computer around so they can see. ‘The guy’s everywhere in her camera roll. I don’t know, he seems kinda familiar, but-’

‘That’s Max Steinfeld!’ Dan exclaims when he sees the photo. It’s taken in bed, post-orgasm Lucifer would say, judging from the blissful aura. Laura’s got a hand on the man’s chest who, indeed, is the chap who starred on that horrible teenage comedy show and today is trying to redeem himself by doing mediocre action movies and… settling down with Hollywood’s sweetheart. 

‘But he’s dating Simone Riley,’ Lucifer enlightens his colleagues upon his revelation. ‘They’re tying the knot this spring.’

Chloe shoots him a questioning look, and he tells her he got a mani-pedi the other day. She nods her head in understanding.

‘Well, if he’s engaged, he probably wasn’t ecstatic when Laura told him she was pregnant with his baby.’

As she asks Dan to get the actor’s current location all Lucifer can do is stand there and stare at her, as if he might find the answers to the thousands of questions in his head written on the side of her face. But he doesn’t. He only finds the familiar beauty mark, a perfectly pointed eyebrow, and the smooth, marble-like skin of the woman he loves. And it makes him yearn for those answers even more.

Part II  |  Part III  | Part IV (coming soon)

[sometimes-i-write-4-you]

je t'aime too: Eric Forman X reader

Requested by @thatsabummer02 : Could you do an Eric Forman x Female!Reader? When Eric geeks out and the reader finds it cute but the gang makes fun of him. So for Eric’s birthday the reader climbs through his window and gives him something Star Wars related and Eric gets excited and kisses the reader then gets nervous and they confess their feelings and make out or something. Sorry if that doesn’t make sense

a\n: hope you like it!

trigger warning: cursing.

We all sat at the Forman Basement, expect from Eric, who was standing in front of the freezer, talking about star wars. Most of the people around him find it stupid and keep poking fun at his love for a Movie series, but i find it Adorable. The way he gets so excited over the movie, and the way his lips moved along to the lines in perfect sync. Whenever his mission of convincing the gang to see it again… for some reason, it made me happy, and maybe I was hoping that one day he’ll talk about me all excited, and his lips would move against mine in perfect sync.

“- and that’s why Leia and Luke are perfect for each other. I mean, both are Brave, Smart, and-” Eric explains, but Hyde had enough. “Man, shut up, you’re boring my ass off” He says, punching Kelso lightly, since our tall, self-centered friend fell asleep. “Aw, man, i was having the best dream” Kelso sighed, “i was a Jedi and i went to save Leia, and then when she kissed me for luck i got to touch her boo-” “Kelso! This is so disrespectful!” Eric cuts him off before Kelso gets to finish the sentence, although we all understood what he was about to sat. “you two are fucking nerds” Steven sighed. “I’m not a nerd, I'm horny and Eric’s star wars talk makes me sleepy” Kelso corrects, and I let out a small laugh. “Yeah, Eric is a nerd. I bet you guys he is wearing star wars underwears” Donna’s turn to contribute to the conversation. “No i don’t, i don’t even own a pair” Eric says, but Donna looks at him, her eyes screaming “we both know you do so just admit it or i will pull your pants down and show everybody”. “Fine, I own a pair, but it’s in the laundry, so, you were wrong!” Eric admits, his voice high-pitched like it gets whenever the gang makes fun of him. Steven, Kelso and Donna burst out laughing, but I just gave Eric a comforting smile.

“You guys are fucking mean” i say, attempting to calm them down. “Says the girl who told Jackie she worships the Devil only to get her off of our back” Donna says. “Hey, That was for all of us” Eric jumps in, “and I worship (y\n) for that”. “Really? Will you sacrifice your star wars boxers for me?” i say, making everyone laugh. “(y\n)!” Eric’s high pitched voice is making a comeback. “I’m sorry, it’s just.. You make it so easy” i smile at him, “if it makes it any better, i think it’s cute how much you obsess over that movie”. “Burn!” Kelso screams, and I look at him confused. “Oh, (y\n), you don’t tell a guy he’s cute” Hyde’s laughing, and Eric seems to agree. “Yeah, i think i’m gonna quit the star wars talk for now” he declares and finally sits down. “Thanks, (y\n), i can always count on your non-existing boy skills” Donna smiles at me, and then Jackie walks in. she notices me and leaves so quick i’m pretty sure i was the only one who niticed.”Jackie then re-enter the room. “Hey babe” Hyde says and gets up to kiss his girlfriend.

“Hyde, Do you know she worships the Devil? How can you hang out with her? I’m so sick of this! Stop having her around, cause i refuse to let her sin rub all over me, i am not going to hell because you have a bad taste in friends!” Jackie says, and everyone’s looking at me, urging me to confess the truth. “Jackie-” “do not speak my name, demon!” Jackie cuts me off. “It was just a fucking prank” i reply, and she calms down. “Oh. sorry i called you a demon, you were really convincing when you painted a pentagon on the floor with blood, i’m assuming it was just paint, right?” she says as she’s taking a seat in Hyde’s lap. “oh , no, I dissected a frog that day in science and got some blood- I'm kidding! It was ketchup `` I say, quitting the gory lie once I noticed her eyes widened in shock.

Eric’s birthday is tomorrow, and I suddenly have the perfect idea. “Well, I have to go now, see you guys tomorrow” I say, getting up. Eric hugged me goodbye, and I knew i’m going to feel the exact place he touched for the whole day. A round of hugs and goodbyes (Jackie was still questioning me, so she just shook my finger, scared to touch hands that summon a demon ). 

It was finally the big day - Eric’s birthday, and of course I was so smart and forgot the gift. “I’ll drop it by later” I promised to Eric, since Kitty refused to let me leave the Party.  “Cool, thanks,” he replied, reaching for my shoulder’s to move me to the right so he could go talk to Donna. She’s about to leave for college tomorrow, and this party I forced Kelso to organize along with me was half a goodbye party for her, half a happy birthday Eric. Kitty had enough of her mind with Red’s heart condition, so I took over the organisation and even came by early to make him pancakes, and not toot my own horn, but at this point I don't know what he sees in Donna he doesn't see in me. Every goddamn time she breaks his heart, and every goddamn time they end up together. When she rejected his proposal, claiming that she doesn't know if they can have the future she want for herself, their relationship got awkward and they ended up breaking up for college, since she was leaving and he was staying, and when i say they decides, i mean Donna Offered so that they can date while they are far from each other. Hyde thinks they’re done for real now, but Kelso bet him a bag of “goodies” that they’ll end up sleeping together the first weekend Donna spends home. “It sucks, ha?” Kelso says, sipping on his beer. “What are you talking about?” i asked him, hoping he dosen’t mean what i think he eans, because if his idiotic ass saw right througt it, Then Eric knows for sure. “Well, you’re into Eric, who’s into Donna, much like me, who’s into Jackie who’s into stupid Hyde” kelso explains. “Shit, Does Eric know?” I sigh, and now it’s Kelso’s turn to be confused. “Knows what?” he asks me. “That i like him” i answer, “you just said it-”. “Wait, are you really into him? I was just messing with you, god” he laughs, “but you know what we should do? We should hook up to make Erick and Jackie jealous!” he says, resting his hand around my waist and pulling me closer. He closes his eyes and leans in, but I push him away before he gets to kiss me. “No, kelso, I'm not that desperate”.

Finally I get back home, take the gift and head out to the Forman’s. Eric’s window is open, as usual, however it’s less usual that he sits next to it and looks down. “I hoped you’d come” he smiled down at me. His gift was in my bag, and so I climbed up. He cleared the way and I entered his room. “Hey, sorry I ditched you at the party, it was not very cool of me” he says as I sit down on his bed. “It’s cool man, it’s your last night with Donna, you love her and all that” i reply, keeping my eyes on the wrapped gift. The paper had a space print on, and it had a card shaped like a spaceship. “No, no. I was being shitty… shity friend” Eric insisted as he joined me on his bed. No, not like that, pervs, but i kinda wish it was. I handed him the gift. “God, (nickname), this is amazing” Eric said. “You didn’t even open it” i laughed. Looking over his shoulder, excited to see his reaction to the lightsaber toy and Luke and Han solo poster, on which I glued a picture of him and me over the faces. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for him to jump up and pull me into a hug. “God, you’re the best. I’m so happy I could kiss you!” He says. “I’m so happy you’re happy, i might just let you!” i replied without thinking too much,and I was surprised when his lips met mine. He pulled away before i got the chance to sink in the feeling. “I’m sorry, that wa-” he starts, but I pull his collar to match his height and bring my lips back to his. He quickly kissed back, his fingers tightened around my waist and one of his hands brush against my stomach as he reached for my cheek to pull me closer from both my places. He spins me around without breaking the kiss, slowly bending to sit on his bed. I find a comfortable enough spot on his lap, slightly opening my mouth to hint it’s okay if he wants to turn this into a french kiss. Never really understood why they call it french kiss, aren’t they supposed to be like, polite and classy? What’s so polite and classy about having your tongue down someone’s throat? I quickly dismiss the thought since it made making out with the guy I've loved gor forever much less romantic. “je t'aime” he whispered. Looks like he was thinking about what we’re doing too.

“je t'aime too” I reply in between kisses. “Actually, you’re supposed to say je t'aime aussi” Eric says while my lips move from his to his neck, “shut up, smartass, you are ruining the moment” i say. “Make me, please, make me” he says, and since he asked so nicely, my lips move back to his.

[ex-vengeancedemon]

Averting Disasters and Other Ways to Avoid Your Problems

Chapter 6

Characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Mentions of things that occurred in Angel: The Series season 5.

Main Pairing: Buffy x Spike

Characters: Buffy, Spike, Giles, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Faith, Dawn

Summary: Set in 2008, five years after Spike’s resurrection at Wolfram & Hart. Buffy is living in Cleveland guarding the hellmouth. Spike has left Angel and company and is hiding out in Chicago. The Scoobies are scattered. When something starts going wrong with the slayers around the world, it’s time to get the gang back together.

Masterlist & Chapter 1

Chapter 6

Buffy blinked. What else was she supposed to do?

In front of her was Faith, still bristling at Spike like he was some kind of hell-spawn. And to her left was Spike, who looked just as he had the last time she’d seen him, not dusty at all. Maybe Faith was misremembering things, like she was.

Then a thought struck her. A nauseating, bone-chilling thought. What if this was The First after all? What if this wasn't Spike? What if this was all some sort of sick game? All that talk about having won the battle lies?

Buffy took a few steps away from Spike, who now looked thoroughly distressed, and moved to stand next to Faith. Buffy stood on the balls of her feet in a holding position, ready to spring at a moment's notice. In whichever direction that springing might need to occur.

"Now hold on," the thing that looked like Spike said, holding up its hands in surrender. "There's an explanation for all that."

He sounded so much like Spike, and Buffy hesitated.

Wait. He couldn't be The First. Her racing brain was finally gaining some clarity. She had touched him. He was solid. The First couldn't feel. So... what was going on?

"Nah, I don't think so," Faith growled, her stake at the ready. "And I'm thinking ‘stake first, ask questions later’ sounds like a pretty solid motto right about now."

The three stood in a tense standoff. Spike still hadn't moved, his hands held up in an non-threatening manner. But Buffy knew it wouldn't stay motionless for long. And she was freezing. God, she was really freezing.

"Look I-" he started, before cutting off abruptly. He shook his head, glancing down at the ground. When he looked back up he snapped his hands down and scowled. He ignored Faith completely, despite the fact that she had a weapon aimed directly at his heart, instead focusing on Buffy. "No. Know what? You're right. I don't have an explanation. All I've got are some bleedin' excuses, 'cause I'm not a better man, Buffy. You were wrong."

Faith was unimpressed by the declaration and lunged again. But Buffy broke through her stupor in time to stop the other woman once more as Spike flinched away from the attempted death blow. Right now wasn’t the time to stake first and ask questions later. Right now was the time to ask questions first, come up with a plan, and then stake later... if necessary. Because right now, all Buffy had to work with was Faith’s story, Spike’s story, and her own.

"Don't," Buffy told her counterpart numbly. "Just... don't."

Faith balked, about to retaliate, but one look from Buffy and she backed down. "Yeah. Alright, B. Whatever you say."

In a daze, Buffy moved back to the living room window, careful not to put too much pressure on her injured calf, and pulled the curtain aside a couple inches. It was dark out now. That middle of the night darkness; the kind you could drown in if you weren’t careful. And she could feel her head slipping under. If she couldn't fight The First, who was she supposed to be fighting? Nothing was familiar here. Nothing made sense. And she couldn’t fight herself.

Spike and Faith followed her tentatively into the living room. It was almost funny. Spike had died and Faith was in just as much trouble as she was, and yet all the two of them seemed to be able to do was shuffle their feet and worry about her. She didn’t need their worry. She needed answers.

"Could you give us a minute, Faith," Buffy asked without looking at them.

Faith hesitated, then said, "Yeah. Sure. I'll just... be in the kitchen."

She retreated to the other room, leaving Spike and Buffy alone again.

Buffy no longer had any doubt this was Spike. He knew the particulars of their conversations. How she had told him he could be a better man. And he was solid, not some ghost or manifestation of The First. Finally, she turned to face him. He looked... scared. It was a look she had seen on him more often lately - no, not lately - but only when it concerned her welfare. To his own, he was indifferent.

"Do you remember asking me if I was there with you?" she asked flatly. "That night."

"'Course," he replied, looking down at the ground.

"You asked me what that meant," Buffy continued, her voice quiet. "What did it mean?"

His head snapped up, his brows knit together in confusion. "What?"

"What did it mean?" she repeated.

"Not sure I follow."

She walked up to stand in front of him, searching his face for answers his tongue seemed to trip over. "You're lying."

"You heard trigger-happy over there," he replied, jerking his head toward the kitchen. His voice sounded nonchalant and almost derisive. But he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "Went out with a bang. Fittin' innit?"

Before she could stop herself, she slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped to the side and he rubbed at his jaw, but he didn't reprimand her or fight back. He didn't even ask why.

She thought she would have time. There was supposed to be more time. After. Time to work out what it meant. And now he was telling her she wouldn't have a say in the matter because he wouldn't be there to find out. That last night, the one she didn't remember, that would be his last night. No more chances, no more apologies, no more redos, no more anything. And he was being glib about it.

But no. It wouldn't be his last night, because he was here, standing in front of her. Why was everything so damn confusing?

"How are you here? How- how did it happen?" she demanded, the words coming out in a jumbled rush. "What is going on?"

She dropped onto the couch, holding her head in her hands. Just hoping to block it all out. This had to be some kind of nightmare.

He sat down beside her, moving to take her hand, and she immediately jumped up. "Stay away from me! Just- stop!" She paced off toward the window again. "What happened? Explain. Right now. Or I'm letting Faith do this her way."

"Likin' that plan!" Faith called from the kitchen.

Buffy grimaced. She wasn't thrilled to have an audience. But she needed to know.

Spike appeared to collect his thoughts, his face cycling through a range of emotions, few of which Buffy could place.

Finally, he spoke. "Happened like I said. You and the pack of newbie slayers fought off a hoard of beasties down beneath the high school." He paused. Why wouldn't he look at her? "Just left a few things out is all." He shrugged, eliciting another wave of anger from her. "That amulet? The sparkly rock lover boy gave you? Turned me into a regular atom bomb. Front row seat to the razin’ of Sunnyhell."

She fought back the nausea that threatened to overcome her. Oh god. Oh god. She killed him. She had become his judge, jury, and executioner. She didn't know. She couldn't have known. But was that the truth? Couldn't she have suspected? You never get something for nothing.

Angel had said the amulet was dangerous, that they didn’t know the risks. Using it would’ve been like testing the world’s first airplane by jumping it from Mt. Everest.

Maybe you knew, a little voice in her head whispered wickedly. Maybe you just didn’t care.

"But... how?" she asked weakly.

He huffed as he stood up, immediately beginning an agitated pacing back and forth. "What do you want to know? Huh? Wanna hear all the grisly details?” He scowled at her bitterly. “I put the trinket on. It lit up all bright-like. Blasted through the bad guys, fucked up whatever supports were holdin' that damnable place together. The ceiling started crashin' down. Then, poof, dust. Don’t remember much after that."

***

Spike regretted the words almost as soon as they had left his mouth. Or maybe he didn't regret the words exactly, just how he had chosen to say them. He had no right to be angry with her for asking, another notch on the bedpost of things he had no right to. Fuck, why'd she have to look at him like that?

This wasn't how he'd wanted seeing her again to go.

Alright, so he hadn't known exactly how he had wanted seeing her again to go, but he knew it wasn't this. A selfish part of him had hoped she might look at least a little happy to see him alive - undead anyway - again. Instead, Buffy looked downright mortified. And he watched in real time as that horror turned to pain turned to anger.

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped.

What the bloody hell was wrong with him? Here she was, clearly fightin' off some devil or another of her own, meanwhile here he was, sneering about the decimation of her home and his own death. Words felt like acid on his tongue. They got so jumbled together and warped beyond recognition, scarring and burning on their way out. He meant to say one thing and, by the time the air reached his lips, a completely different sentence had materialized.

"I'm sorry," he said finally.

It was like putting duct tape on a dam and hoping the thing wouldn't blow.

Only she didn't blow.

"Get out," she hissed, her voice hard.

"Buffy-"

"Leave, Spike," she reiterated, maintaining the same coolness. "Faith and I will be fine. Willow, Xander, and Giles are on the case. They'll figure it out. We don't need your help. I don't need your help."

If she noticed him flinch, she didn't let on.

"Go home. Back to LA or whatever hole you crawled out of," she continued. "Just... leave. It's what you're good at."

If he had breath, she would've stolen it. It felt like she had just kicked him in the gut and spat on him for good measure. He felt his own hurt turn to anger.

"You can't seriously be blamin' me for dustin'!" he retorted. "We don't exactly get to pick 'n choose our time, love!'

She didn't respond to that. Instead, she crossed her arms, refusing to look at him.

Spike wasn't sure how long they stood there at an impasse. Neither of them seemed willing to break the silence. But at least she wasn't telling him to leave again.

He didn't even notice when Faith re-entered the living room. She moved with a cat-like grace and he was lost in his own world of reeling thoughts, trying desperately to remind himself of the real reason he was supposed to be here in the first place.

When Buffy looked up again, her gaze passed right through him without really seeing him, like the ghost he was. He didn't think this could possibly be going any worse.

He was wrong, of course.

He realized that the second the sword seared its way through his back. He felt the biting metal grind against his spine, watched as the blade extruded from his abdomen in front of him. He wanted to crumple to the ground, but the sword in his gut forced him to remain on his feet. He understood then - too late as usual - that Buffy hadn't been looking through him. She had been looking behind him. At Faith.

He felt a pressure against his back above where his heart rested. There was no doubt in his mind that it was a stake. So this would be the end. For real this time. No miraculous resurrection. It was poetic really. Buffy would get to watch him die again. It'd even be about the same time for her as he'd died the last time. Fitting. Karmic. The fates righting the wrongs and all that.

But hell, why'd it always have to hurt?

This time when Buffy looked at him, there was no pride. There was only fear and panic. There would be no consolation "I love you's" or grand gestures. There would just be... His face paled. Oh god, he wished there would just be nothing. He wasn't ready. He needed to-

"Faith, what are you doing?" Buffy asked, holding up a hand to the slayer Spike couldn't see.

He couldn't see her, but he could feel the stake dig harder into his back, feel her breath behind him, hear her blood race. His vision was starting to blur around the edges and he groaned in pain as his knees threatened to give out, causing the sword to bite harder into his flesh. He felt the blood enter one of his punctured lungs, creating a sickly sound as he gasped like a fish on a hook.

"Put the stake down," Buffy ordered, her voice struggling to stay calm. "It's only Spike. You don't need to hurt him."

"No," Faith growled. "It's not a person, it's a demon. What the hell is your problem? We're slayers. We kill vampires. We don't socialize with them!"

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "You know Spike. He has a soul."

"So?" Faith snapped. "He's not human, B. He's a vampire. A killer."

When Buffy didn't immediately agree, Faith dug her boot into Spike's back and kicked him off the sword onto the ground. He heard the metal grate against his spine on the way out and he bit back a scream, his teeth slamming together. It felt like his insides had started on fire, leaking gasoline and petrol. He struggled to his hands and knees only to have the hard heel of the boot slam him back down, sending blinding flashes of white light flitting through his vision. His eyes made out a small pool of blood sitting next to his mouth and he felt momentary guilt at having ruined the carpet.

"What kind of slayer are you?" Faith snapped at Buffy. "This is our duty, our responsibility! You would let him, what, just walk away?!"

"He's not a threat to anyone," Buffy replied.

Spike struggled to maintain consciousness through their conversation. He could no longer see them with his face pressed to the floor and his vision hazy, all he could do was listen as they argued over his fate.

In the land of gods and monsters… What was the difference really? The gods decided the monsters’ fates, of course.

"Faith this isn't you!" Buffy insisted.

Faith scoffed. "I'm exactly what I'm supposed to be. I'm doing exactly what I was meant to do. What are you, B? Cause, right now? You sure as hell aren't a slayer."

"I'm your friend. And I'm asking you not to do this." Buffy's voice had taken on a pleading tone.

How many times had she had to ask someone to spare his miserable ass? Once was already too many, but never seemed to be enough.

"If you're a friend of mine, you'll stake him. If not, then you're no friend of mine. What's it gonna be?"

[j0eyj0rdis0n]

OH SHIT- | RH

I felt like the next oneshot I wrote had to be about Ricky since we were sharing our pictures of his bisexual bob last night lmao

Ricky Horror | 1,320 Words

It was the last year of Warped Tour and you were excited to see your favorite bands such as Motionless In White, Wage War, Ice Nine Kills, and Knocked Loose. You were out of your mind excited. So after the first show which was Knocked Loose, you were on your way to Wage War’s set. Wage War was awesome and one of their latest songs called “Stitch” really got you going. You were hoping they would play it today and you were ready to... Wage war...

You laughed at your own stupid joke as you walk towards the stage they’ll be playing at. None of your friends liked the same music you did so all of them turned down your offer to take them with you to the last Warped Tour. It was their loss and you didn’t care because this was going to be the best day of your life.

You get to the stage and there’s already a fair sized crowd gathered in front of the stage. You stand roughly in the middle of the crowd waiting for the band to make their entrance. The anticipation is fucking killing you! The butterflies in your chest are almost overwhelming. You feel the sun beating down on you. You knew it would be the worst idea to wear all black... You looked down at your black crop top mixed with black jeans and a heavy chain on the side. Your black and white checkered vans really showed your dedication. But still you decided this morning that to show your true alternative spirit you would suffer the heat.

As Chris Motionless says, “fashion over function!”

You supported that statement in full.

After about five more minutes of intense waiting you let out a scream when you see the drummer, Stephen Kluesener walk on. Next on is bassist, Chris, followed by Cody, Seth, and finally the man himself, Briton Bond.

You feel as if you’re going to pass out from all the excitement. 

The first song “Alive” starts and you lose your mind. This is fucking awesome!!

You’re headbanging along, even getting rowdy in the mosh pit. So when they close off the six song set with “Stitch” you know it’s your time to get down. You were going hard to the beat, eventually landing an elbow to someone’s face.

You immediately stop, feeling quite concerned. When you turn around you can’t even believe your eyes. You have to be dreaming. This man cannot be standing right in front of you right now... 

You rub your eyes and yet, the person in front of you hasn’t changed. He’s holding his face with a look of pain. 

It’s Ricky. Fucking, Horror. 

“I’m so sorry!” You shout over the music to him, gently guiding him away and out of the crowd. 

“It’s... Alright...” He groans as he takes away his hand, seeing blood.

“Oh shit you’re bleeding a lot... Let’s go take you to the medical tent.” You suggest as you help him along. You’re so embarrassed. You just elbowed Ricky Horror and might’ve broken his nose. He’s your favorite in the band and that just makes it so much worse.

He takes a seat and the medic looks him over, deciding that yes in fact you had broken his nose. He looks over at you with a half smile. 

“I’m so sorry! Is there any way I can make it up to-” He cuts you off quickly.

“Come to the show tonight and let me introduce you to the band.” He replies.

“What...?” 

“You heard me.”

You were dumbstruck. Why would he want you to come meet the band now that you’ve broken his nose?! He should be yelling at you. Telling you that you’re trash and that you need to fuck off. But no. He tells you to stay for the show.

“How will I see you after?” You ask.

“Go to the back of the stage and the guards will know.” He responds as the medic starts trying to align his nose.

You nod and wait for the medic to finish with him but he smiles and tells you to go on your way and go break someone else’s nose. You chuckle and make your way to the next show, and the next, and the next.

Finally the sun is about to set and you’re going to your final show of the night. Motionless In White.

You get there early and get to stand right at the barrier. You watch with a big smile as all of the members come on. Ricky’s nose had some sort of bandage over it and it looked pretty painful. You felt pretty bad about it...

Chris addresses the crowd before starting their first song, “Devils Night”. During each one of their songs you could see Ricky stealing glances at you. You tried not to pay attention as you go back to headbanging to the music.

As soon as they started playing “Soft” you were screaming every word. It was your favorite song and you had to show it somehow.

Finally for their last song on the set, they played “Eternally Yours” and oh my god where you so close to tears at that moment. You couldn’t help but scream every word to that song too. 

When the set ended and the guys filed off stage, you ran around the side, pushing through crowds of people to see Ricky. The guards stopped you from going back towards the busses. You tried to explain to them the situation but they were having none of it. You were about to walk away if it wasn’t for Ricky coming up and telling them that you were “with him”. You felt your heart flutter at those words. You knew it didn’t mean anything but it still made you feel good inside.

As you two walk back towards the busses you make small talk. First exchanging your name which he felt embarrassed he had to ask for since you two had already met. When you get there, Ricky helps you inside, him following close behind. 

All of the guys looked at you with quizzical looks, they were sweaty and tired but they all managed to look up from what they were doing to see you. You felt heat rise to your cheeks. They obviously thought you were some kind of groupie...

Ricky chuckles at the looks on their faces. “This is Y/N. She was the girl who broke my nose earlier.” 

You nervously laugh at his statement. 

The rest of the guys look at you with suddenly bright eyes, Vinny speaking up first.

“How hard did you smack him?” He asks excitedly.

“We were at the Wage War set and uh...” You pause, trying to think of a way to say this that makes you sound less careless.

“And she was moshing pretty hard. Then she elbowed me in the face and snap went my nose.” He smiles and wraps his arm around your shoulders.

The guys roar with laughter telling you that it was badass and how they wish they would’ve been there to see it.

A small smile cracks on your face when you realized it wasn’t all that bad.

You guys talk for hours, laughing and cracking jokes. Eventually they share their phone numbers and you felt like you hit some sort of jackpot. So as you say your goodbyes to them and step off the bus into the night, your phone dings and you pull it out, seeing a text from Ricky.  

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” It reads.

You glance back at the bus and he’s looking at you with questioning eyes through the bus window. You flash him a thumbs up and you see him start smiling like a dumbass. You laugh and turn around, making your way to your car.

Getting a date with Ricky Horror? No fucking way.