#'if their daughter is still brainwashed then maybe he should pick her up next time he's out of arkham.' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

my-unmanageable-mischief · 4 years

Text

New Norm

For the Anon who requested : Hey can I get a Sirius black x reader fic where their parents arrange their marriage.

Part 2

Trigger warning : Vomiting

Sirius Black x Reader

You were practically inconsolable. Sobbing deeply into your pillow as your mother rubbed your back, your grandmother was behind her standing in the doorway with her nose slightly in the air. She was never fond of you- a troublemaker since you could walk. The family disappointment. The moment you were sorted into Gryffindor you expected to be disowned. Your paternal grandparents took it hard, your father even harder, but your mother- a soft spoken and at her core, kind hearted woman, still loved you. You were her only daughter after all.

“This is no way for a young lady to behave.” Your grandmother tisked, and your mother looked over her shoulder, eyes pleading, “You’ve been given a gift greater then you deserve, to marry into the noble house of Black is a great honor.” That’s all she kept saying. How honorable it was, how lucky you were. You didn’t feel lucky. You choked slightly on your tears and your mother rubbed your back slightly harder.

“I don’t want to be married! Not to a Black, not to anyone!” You sobbed, punching your pillow before shoving your face into it and letting out a scream.

“Despicable.” Your grandmother scoffed. “You should be grateful, for a girl like you to marry a man like-”

“Mother.” Your mother spoke firmly, never raising her voice, “Give us some privacy please.” Your grandmother was displeased but she turned and walked swiftly from the room, allowing your door to slam shut behind her. It sounded like the lid of your coffin closing. Once you were alone your mother wrapped you in her arms, pulling you to her chest, allowing you to cry it out. When you were good and done and fully exhausted she pulled back looking at you.

“I am sorry.”

“Then why are you doing this to me?” You asked, voice pleading as you looked at the woman who was supposed to protect you. She smiled sadly, wiping the tears from your face with the sleeve of her robe.

“We’re not doing anything to you, my love. This truly is for your own benefit. A good husband with a good name will take you far in life. You know, your father and I had an arranged marriage. We turned out alright, and we had you- and all your lovely brothers. Good will come from this.” You wanted to argue with her. To tell her that your father was a bastard and that they didn’t turn out alright. Your eldest brother hadn’t spoken to your family since he graduated and your youngest brother was so brainwashed he had never had an original though in his life. Nothing about your family was fine. “Besides, your father has already set these plans in stone. This summer you are going to marry Sirius Black. That is final, my love.” Final. If the door was the lid to your coffin closing then those words were the nails keeping it shut.

“Okay,” You croaked.

“Wash up and come downstairs for dinner, we will talk more then.”

“Okay,” Your voice was broken and hoarse from your sobbing. “Will grandmother be there?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

On the other side of London Sirius Black was having a very similar and entirely different conversation with his own dotting parents. Much more screaming, and a lot less sobbing but the sentiment was the same. He did not want to be married. Not to you, not to anymore, especially not to someone his mother picked out for him.

“I’M NOT GETTING MARRIED!” He roared at his mother who threw another curse in his direction, Sirius dodged it.

“You will do as you’re told your ungrateful bastard! You bring shame on this family every single day, this is the least you can do!” She screamed back, his father sat in the parlor reading the Daily Prophet, ignoring them both.

“I haven’t even graduated! And you expect me to be married? To some bitch you’ve picked out for me?” His mother sneered.

“A bitch she is, perfect for you. I couldn’t get anyone worthy of the Black name, since you’ve disgraced yourself. You will be marrying Y/N Y/L/N. I think you’ll have more in common then you know, both pure-blooded family disappointments. The bottom of the barrel. You deserve each other. Maybe you’ll learn then.” He stopped when she said your name, surprised. He knew you, sure he did. A fellow Gryffindor a year below himself. He knew you were smart, and pretty and as far as he could tell, kind. Frankly, he didn’t even know you came from a pure-blooded family. When Sirius said no more his mother lowered her wand slightly, still sneering.

“Go to your room immediately and do not leave until you’re fetched. We will be dining at the Y/L/N’s house later this week to finalize the plans for the ceremony. You will be ready to go, and you will be on your best behavior. Or else.”

“Or else what?” Sirius muttered, moving towards the stairs.

“Or else your father will have to deal with you.” He wouldn’t admit it but that frightened Sirius to the bone. He and his mother could fight and yell their heads off for hours uninterrupted, but once his father got involved it ended swiftly and painfully. Sirius nodded once before stomping up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom, content to lock himself inside for the remainder of the week.

A week later you sat in your kitchen fidgeting awkwardly in a dress you would have never voluntarily worn. But your grandmother had bought it, and your mother insisted saying it was a gift and a kind gesture. You were convinced it wasn’t. A green light flashed from the next room over, where your grandfather and father were waiting for the Blacks to arrive, and you heard an unfamiliar voice going through introductions.

“Get up,” Your grandmother snapped at you, and you stood but didn’t move. “Go!” She barked out, “If you’re to be the lady of the house it’s high time you learned some manors. Go greet your guests.”

“Yes, grandmother.” You muttered, walking from the kitchen into the sitting room. You knew Sirius from school, mostly from the gossip of your dormmates- according to them he was a god and could do no wrong. You couldn’t deny he was fit and he and his mates were a laugh, but the Sirius you saw in your home was not the Sirius from Hogwarts. Gone was his usual laid back demeanor and it had been replaced with cold eyes and a painfully neural look. You were used to the rule breaking wild child you heard epic tails about. You were surprised he wasn’t brought here kicking and screaming. His parents looked just like him, and there was a younger boy with them, something with an R if you remembered correctly.

“Hello,” You greeted them, glancing at your father and grandfather sideways as you attempted to muster a smile- it came out more of a grimace. “Welcome to our home, Mrs. Black, Mr. Black. Sirius. R-erm...”

“Regulus.” The mother spoke curtly. You nodded.

“Regulus. Welcome.”

“Thank you child,” She was a stern looking woman with a voice that cut through your thin dress, chilling your bones. But the father was even worse. He barely spoke a word, only stared at you disapprovingly.

“Come to the dining room, dinner is ready,” You father offered, gesturing, the Blacks filed past him and you into the other room, Sirius glancing down at you and meeting your eye as we went. Dinner was awkward, the talk was strained and sparse. You ate your food quietly, keeping your eyes downcast and only speaking when directly addressed, which was rarely. You caught Sirius’s eye a few times during the meal and offered him a small shrug and halfhearted smile which he barely returned. At least you had one thing in common; your shared misery.

“The wedding will be in July,” Mrs. Black stated, and that got both of your attention, two heads turned.

“This summer? I’m-”

“Thrilled.” Your grandmother completed for you, sending you a chilling look. You swallowed thickly and looked back down at your lap for a moment as the conversation finally shifted to why you were all gathered.

“We can hold it here, if you’d like, in the yard.” Your mother offered, eyes misty with tears of joy at the idea. You were going to be sick.

“May I be excused to go to the loo?” You managed to choke out, everyone looked at you, and your mother nodded.

“Of course, dear, everything alright?”

“Fine,” You spoke but you were already out of your chair as you practically ran from the room. You heard your grandmother’s voice before you shut yourself into the bathroom.

“She’s just nervous, you remember how it was.” Nervous wasn’t the word you would use. Disgusted was more accurate. Destroyed. Completely and utterly devastated. You retched into the toilet, spilling the contents of your dinner you had forced down. When you were done you laid on the floor for a few minutes, trying to calm yourself.

“Sirius,” His mother pulled him from his thoughts.

“Yes?” He asked boredly, pushing his food around with his fork.

“Why don’t you go check on your fiance.” It wasn’t a suggestion as much as it was an order politely delivered for the sake of their company.

“I’m sure she didn’t fall in,” He responded dirly and his mother’s face darkened.

“Go. Now.” Sirius tossed his napkin down onto the table and glared back as he got up, following you in the direction you had went. He knocked on a door and opened it when no one responded and was met with a large office. Not the loo. He found another door and knocked sharply.

“Be out in a mo,” Your voice called weakly from inside, he frowned.

“It’s Sirius. I’ve been sent to make sure you’re not trying to escape through the pipes.” He joked lamely and listened to some shuffling on the other side of the door, when you opened it, it was from a seated position on the floor. He smirked slightly. “What are you doing down there?” He asked, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him, “Alright?” You scooted back towards the toilet and shook your head going green.

“I think I’m going to be sick again, you might want to go,” You warned, gripping the toilet bowl with white knuckles. Sirius felt something for you in that moment- pity maybe. You seemed so young sitting on the floor of your bathroom, and that’s because you were.

“I’ve seen worse,” He assured, wincing as you began to heave into the basen. He came forward awkwardly, scooping your hair into his hands, trying to keep it out of your face. “You should see James after a bottle of firewhiskey.” You snorted out a laugh before retching again violently. When you were done you sat back and wiped your mouth and Sirius dropped your hair, going to the sink to get you a glass of water.

“Thank you,” You croaked, taking it and sipping it slowly, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s alright. Are you okay?” He asked, knowing the answer but wondering if you would grace him with honesty.

“No,” You whimpered, “This is all... too much.”

“Understandable,” He agreed, sitting on the bathroom floor beside you, “I am sorry. About this, the situation we have found ourselves in.” You shrugged meekly and continued to sip on the water.

“According to my grandmother marrying you is a blessing for a disgrace like me,” You spat the words, not looking at the boy. “Like I’m supposed to be grateful I’m marrying virtually a stranger. Like I’m supposed to be happy to be married right after I turn sixteen for Merlin’s sake.” He nodded sympathetically.

“Well trust me, being seventeen doesn’t make it much easier. And according to my mother this is my punishment for being the family fuck up, no offense.” You waved him off with a hand, “So at least we’ve got that in common.”

“What a wonderful thing to share.” You mused and he chuckled. There was another knock on the bathroom door before it opened your mother poking her head in. “Mum,” You greeted her, how long had you been gone?

“Y/N, are you alright?” She asked, coming fully into the bathroom eyes worried.

“I think I’m ill, must be grandmother’s cooking.” You quipped and Sirius hid his laugh behind a cough. Your mother looked at you sternly for a moment before her eyes went soft.

“Poor dear, come back to the table, say your goodnights and then go to bed, we can finish the planning without you, it’s not a worry.” You wanted to tell her you weren’t a part of the planning to start with but refrained.

“Yes, mum.” Sirius got up first and took the glass from your hand, setting it on the sink before offering you his hand, which you took, allowing him to pull you up. “Thank you,”

“Don’t mention it.” He assured and your mother led you both back to the dining room.

“Y/N isn’t feeling well,” She announced, and at the look of you no one could accuse you of lying, you were pale and clammy and still a bit green.

“My apologies, Mrs. Black, Mr. Black. I wish I could have been better company.” You didn’t. Mr. Black simply nodded and you while Mrs. Black managed to barely hide a sneer.

“Poor dear.” She stated drily, but you had an inkling that she could simply care less. “Feel better and worry not, your wedding will be taken care of, nothing for you fret over.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” You managed a weak smile at her which she did not reciprocate. Your mother ushered you off towards your bedroom and you managed to send Sirius a thankful glance over your shoulder as you went.

You took solace in the little things over the next month of wedding planning. Mainly, that your mother allowed you to choose your own wedding dress much to your grandmother’s dismay.

“It’s hideous.” She commented when you had brought it home.

“I think it’s lovely,” you answered smugly before being forced to sit through another lecure about how ungrateful you were. She was right, you weren’t grateful for the torture they were putting you through. Your birthday came and went with little fuss, the only gift you received came late at night by owl. You went to your window, letting in the unfamiliar owl, and taking the small simply wrapped parcel from his leg before opening the attached note.

Happy Birthday Y/N,

My mother said I should get you a gift for your birthday, and you’re lucky I talked her into letting me pick it out on my own, she’s got awful taste. You should see the dress robes she wanted me in for the wedding, even my father had to veto them. Anyroads, hope your birthday was good, happy sweet sixteen. Enjoy the wedding planning, I sure am. (Sarcasm if you didn’t pick up on it,). I will see you in a few weeks.

Sirius

You smiled at the kind words, thankful for them. You set the letter aside and opened the package genly, revealing a small jewelry box, you opened it and allowed yourself a small gasp. It was a simple gold chain with a small ruby pendant, Gryffindor colors. You smirked, knowing it was a direct disrespect of his parents to get you such a gift, it made you love it more. You put it on and looked at yourself in the mirror, touching the jewel gently.

The two weeks flew by sickenly fast and you found yourself laying in bed wide awake at three a.m. on your wedding eve. Your grandmother had denied your request to have some of your school friends attend, citing that there was no room on the guest list for half-bloods and blood traitors. When you finally slept, it was restless and you kept waking up, a pit in the bottom of your stomach. Finally, about the fifth time you woke up it was light enough outside that you could call it morning, so you dressed in a dressing gown and tiptoed downstairs.

Your house was spotless, covered in flowers and decoration even though the ceremony would be held outside. You snuck into the kitchen and snagged an apple before going to the window to look at the backyard. Every bush was meticulously manicured. Chairs were set up with a white runner between them, leading to an altar adorned in more flowers. It was a bit too frilly for your taste but it wasn’t bad. You ate your apple, staring out over the scene before you, trying to picture yourself walking down that aisle, Sirius at the other end. You shuddered.

“Y/N, you’re up early.” You turned to look at your mother and shrugged.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Too excited?”

“Something like that,” You murmured and your mother looked at you with pity.

“Come here dear child,” She offered you a hand and you came forward, taking it. She pulled you into a hug and you went limp in her arms. “It will be alright. I promise you.” You didn’t believe her but you still tried to seek comfort in her words. You found none.

“I don’t want to be married,” You whispered.

“I know, darling, but this is what is best for you, you must trust me.” You continued to cling to your mother like you were a little girl again. “You will return to Black manor after the wedding and I will miss you dearly.” You’d already had this conversation, this argument. “You will go to school, Sirius will graduate, and you will have a home of your own to return to by next summer. One more year of school for you and you’re done. You’ll be all set. A home, a husband, a life. It will be fine.”

“Right,” Fine.

You spent hours getting your hair and makeup done perfectly, all the while micromanaged by your grandmother who was in full force. If she couldn’t pick your dress out she was going to have a say in the rest of the ensemble. Finally, you were left alone for a few moments. You looked around at your bedroom, most of the important things already packed into a few trunks to be moved to Black manor. Your door opened and your father stood there, he was to give you away- literally and figuratively.

“It is time. Come.” You walked to him taking his offered arm. He led you through the home you had grown up in and you felt a swell of emotions within you that you did your best to suppress. He stopped at the doors to the garden and waited for the music to start. One of your cousins was a flower girl and she stepped out first, throwing more petals onto the runner as she went. You were next. You took a deep breath, trying to steady yourself as your father covered your face with your veil. Another few seconds past and he began walking, taking you with him. It felt like a dream- or maybe it was a nightmare. Either way you didn’t feel like it was real. The guest list was small and intimate, which made it easier. You kept your eyes trained forward as you walked and they landed on your soon to be husband. He looked handsome, standing there in his black dress robes, a flower pinned to his chest. He was looking back at you, an unreadable expression on his aristocratic features.

You stopped just in front of him. Your father turned you towards him and lifted the veil again, leaning down to kiss your cheek with an emotionless face. This entire event was all for show, to fulfill some meaningless expectations that didn’t matter. He turned you back towards Sirius who offered you his hand, you took it, allowing yourself to move up to stand across from him. You didn’t listen to a word of the ceremony, only tuning in when your hand was squeezed.

“Do you, Sirius Black, take Y/N Y/L/N to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?” So many promises in such a fleeting moment for a union without any love. Sirius looked at you, holding your gaze.

“I do. I take you, Y/N, to be my wife from this day forward, to join with you and share with you all that is to come, and I promise to be faithful to you, to protect you, until death do us part.” He went off script. The script you had been forced to sit down and memorize for the last three weeks. What did you need protecting from?

Do you, Y/N Y/L/N, take Sirius Black to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?” You felt your throat closing up with panic as you looked at the man-the boy in front of you. As long as you both shall live, you repeated to yourself. He squeezed your hand again and you took a deep breath.

“I-I do. I, Y/N, take you, Sirius, to be my wedded husband, with your faults and your strengths, as I offer myself to you with my faults and my strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life." As if it were a choice.

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride. May Merlin bless this union.” Sirius took your other hand in his as well, so he was holding both in his. You never expected to be kissing your husband for the first time in front of a crowd of people- and you certainly didn’t expect the man in front of you to be Sirius Black. He leaned in and you fought to keep from pulling back. He pressed a gentle kiss to your lips, letting it linger for a moment as the guest applauded. When he pulled away he offered you a gentle smile which you returned.

The reception was dull, even with Sirius by your side and the several glasses of wine you managed to consume. You danced when you were ordered to dance, socialized when you were ordered to socialize and ate at the designated times. Pictures were taken and you couldn’t help but wonder how they would look tacked up on the wall of your future home. Together. It was a weird feeling, to think about a future with the man, but it was becoming slowly less unpleasant. Towards the end of the night, Mrs. Black approached the two of you, placing an iron grip on Sirius’s arm and you didn’t miss how his entire mood shifted.

“You will go inside, and floo home. There is more business to tend to here, for the adults. We will be home in an hour or so, you two will be in bed.”

“Alright,”

“Yes mother.” She corrected and he merely rolled his eyes at her. You began to panic. You were leaving? Now? You hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye to your mother. Sirius lead you into your house, into the quiet stillness that was welcomed. You stopped just inside, putting a hand on his shoulder as you slipped off your heels, holding them in your hand offering him a slightly lopsided and halfhearted smile.

“I’ve been waiting to take these off all night,” You admitted, and he chuckled, offering you his arm as you walked through the house.

“I don’t blame you, I couldn’t imagine going through that torture with the added bonus of being on stilts.” You snorted and he gave you the first genuine smile of the evening.

“You’re cute when you do that.” Your cheeks burned as you entered the parlor where the fireplace was. Sirius helped you inside and took a handful of floo powder before announcing ‘Black manor’ and you were gone. Gone from your home you had grown up in, gone from your mother and your life and everything you were used to. You were now in an unfamiliar sitting room, surrounded by unfamiliar walls. Regulus sat on one of the sofas a book in hand.

“Congratulations to the happy couple,” He drawled.

“Shove it.” Sirius muttered, taking your hand and leading you from the room, up the stairs, and down the hall. He opened his bedroom door and ushered you inside. You looked around your husband’s room. You were hit with a wave of something. Sadness? It was the room of a boy, not a man, not a husband. A boy, because that’s what he was after all. Quidditch posters littered the walls, along with a grand Gryffindor banner that looked like it was stolen straight from the great hall- hell it probably was. Knick knacks and books and magazines littered his desk; at least he managed to put his laundry in the hamper.

“It’s not much but it’s home.”

“It’s lovely, very... you.” Sirius went to his bed, pulling a box out from underneath, opening it to reveal a full bottle of firewhiskey. “Shall we have a toast?” He asked hesitantly and your shoulders relaxed.

“God yes,” You breathed and he chuckled, opening it. You came to the bed, sitting down beside him. Sirius took a long swig from the bottle before handing it over to you, and you did the same.

“So... wife,” He started and you smirked slightly, handing the bottle back and watching him take another large gulp.

“Yes, husband?”

“Weird isn’t it?” He asked and you nodded, accepting the bottle when he handed it back.

“Really weird.”

“Bad?” He asked and you smiled slightly, nudging him with your shoulder.

“Could be worse. They could have married me off to a Malfoy.” He laughed at that. You continued to talk about anything besides the wedding, besides your future. You became more and more relaxed in his presence as you drank and finally got the chance to properly talk. You moved from sitting awkwardly on the edge of the bed to lounging across it, you laying on your stomach and Sirius laying with his back against his pillows. You felt light and happy for the first time in a month. You two sat, giggling as Sirius recounted one of his finer pranks against Severus Snape. You snorted again, covering your mouth as you pictured the look on the slimy gits face.

“Have you always done that?” He asked and you quirked a brow at him.

“Done what?”

“Snort when you laugh, I never noticed it before.”

“I didn’t think you noticed anything about me before..” You admitted. Sirius nudged you.

“Course I did. Smart, funny, and pretty. You’re a trifecta my dear.” You felt yourself blush again, looking down at the half empty bottle between you.

“Thank you,” You murmured and he shrugged. You stifled a yawn as Sirius looked at you softly.

“Sleepy?”

“A bit.”

“We can go to bed.” He offered and you nodded. You looked around, suddenly aware that your trunks weren’t there in his room, they had probably been delivered downstairs, if they’d been delivered yet. Seeming to read your mind Sirius peeled himself from the bed, going over to his dresser. He took out a t-shirt of a muggle band you didn’t recognize and tossed it towards you. He went to another drawer and rooted around for a moment before coming up with a pair of boxers.

“These are old, they should fit you,” He stated, tossing them as well, you caught them, rosy cheeks. He pointed to the door that was slightly ajar, “Bathroom is in there,” You nodded, and climbed out of the bed, smoothing out your dress.

“Thank you.” You went into the bathroom and once you were changed you reemerged. The t-shirt was long on you, covering the boxers you were wearing. Sirius was lounging on the bed in a pair of sweatpants, shirtless. You averted your gaze, scratching the back of your neck. Sirius sat up, seeing you hesitate.

“Do you want me to sleep on the floor?” He asked and you shook your head, going to place your dress over the back of his desk chair.

“No, that’s alright.” You promised. He looked handsome basked in nothing but the light of the moon and the small oil lamp on his bedside table. You climbed into bed beside the boy and he pulled the covers over both of you, reaching over you to turn the lamp off. You flushed again with him so close to you. He moved away and you a moment past where you missed the proximity. Sirius laid back into his pillows, and you curled up on your side facing him. He turned his head and smiled at you.

“Goodnight, my wife.” He raised a hand, brushing a lock of your hair away from your face.

“Goodnight, Sirius.” He leaned over then, placing a small kiss on your cheek before settling back in with a large yawn. You remained curled up on your side until well after he had fallen asleep. You were exhausted but being surrounded by so much unfamiliarity you couldn’t sleep. Eventually you drifted off to the tune of your husband's light breathing. Your new norm.

#Harry Potter #Sirius black #sirius black x reader #sirius black x y/n #sirius black x you

273 notes · View notes

athingthatwantsvirginia · 4 years

Text

If James Bond Was Bruce Springsteen

PART FORTY-FOUR OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: plentiful pop culture references

Word Count: 2.6K

Summary: Ella tries to focus on the future.

A/N: Surprise! Here’s the epilogue way earlier than I thought! Seriously, I have loved writing this story. Thank you so much to everyone who went on this journey with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

five years later

Biting at the inside of her cheek, Ella struggled to keep her eyes open. One hand was on her stomach, and her free hand went to her mouth. Ever since getting pregnant, the nervous nail-biting was nonstop. She didn’t know exactly why, and she didn’t know exactly how to get it to stop, either. After Jess finished another passage, he cast her a glance and frowned when he saw her fingers resting on her lips. He scoffed and gently reached over to bring her nails from her teeth.

“You need to quit that, Eleanor,” he said.

Rolling her eyes, Ella shifted and readjusted her position with her head on his shoulder as he read. “Fine. I’m sorry. I’m just nervous to see your mom tonight.”

“Why?” he asked, furrowing his brows.

She sighed. Things had been tense between Jess and his mother as of late, since she had accidentally landed in a religious cult with her husband and daughter. They had managed to escape before being totally brainwashed, but the incident left a bad taste in Jess’s mouth. It reminded him a bit too much of his childhood, and the thought of Doula having to experience any of what he had made his insides squirm. The atmosphere of frustration had resulted in Ella and Jess waiting as long as possible to tell Liz and TJ about the pregnancy. Seeing them at Luke and Lorelai’s wedding was simply inevitable, and the news would be obvious. Ella was a little over four months along, and had a clearly pregnant belly, which showed in the simple gray dress printed with small black flowers she was wearing. Jess, Ella knew, was more likely worried about exposing his own baby to Liz, even before she was born.

Ella shrugged. “I don’t know. I just don’t want seeing her to make you too upset. We’re the ones who get to decide how involved she is.”

Jess let a small smile across his lips. He leaned down to kiss the crown of Ella’s head. “Don’t worry about me, honey. I know.”

“Okay,” she said in earnest. “Just let me know if that changes.”

“Will do, Stevens.” Then, he shut the book, saving his place with his finger, and looked over at her inquisitively. Her eyes were tired, and she was a little pale. “You can sleep if you want to. We don’t have to be at Liz and TJ’s any specific time. No one here is gonna care if you rest for a little while.”

“Maybe, Mariano,” she said, running her hand over her stomach absently. “I just hate being so tired during the day.”

“Hey, at least the puking finally stopped,” Jess said with an opportunistic chuckle.

Letting her eyes flutter shut, she laughed with him. “That’s true.” Up until two weeks earlier had seen Ella constantly slammed with morning sickness. The tide was recently changing to crazy cravings, barbeque sauce on top of a banana being the highlight of the last week.

A couple minutes later, with Jess back to his reading, Ella did end up dozing off. She was cozy on the Gilmore couch, wrapped in a black cardigan over her soft, worn dress. The autumn chill had just arrived in the Northeast, and Ella had yet to adjust to it once more all the way. The air smelled crisp and familiar in Stars Hollow. It was the first time they had been back in over a year, busy trying to get pregnant, and then freaking out once they finally did. But distance had indeed made the heart grow fonder. Ella was happy to be able to see everyone again, and the idea that she was free to leave whenever she wanted, guilt-free, made the trip infinitely more enjoyable. The little blue house was finally sold to a young new family over eighteen months prior.

She floated back to reality at the sound of Luke’s heavy footfalls down the stairs. Opening her eyes, she didn’t move. Instead, she watched with Jess as Luke descended from the upstairs in his wedding suit. They’d barely arrived for the visit when Lue had raced upstairs with self-conscious requests for honest opinions. Then, he’d remained upstairs for twenty minutes fussing over himself before finally returning. Ella fought back a laugh as he came down, but he did in fact look decent in the suit. A fond smirk came over Jess’s face as he shut the book with a snap, putting it beside him.

“Well, where’s Right Said Fred when you need ‘em?” he drawled dryly.

Ella snorted, finally raising her head from Jess’s shoulder. “I second that.”

Luke barely noticed their compliments, instead fiddling with the small silk square meant to go in his pocket. “The guy who sold me this suit put this thing in the box. I don’t know what the hell to do with it.”

“It’s a pocket square,” Jess explained, brows furrowed. Even he knew that one after being forced to wear a tux at the launch party for Dave Eggers’ collection at Truncheon last year. “Do the math.”

“Oh,” Luke said, looking down at it. Realization dawned on his face and he put the pocket square in its rightful place. “Oh, it looks kind of nice.”

“Sure does, boss,” Ella said, biting back giggles. Luke was like a deer in headlights.

“So, this is the big outfit for tomorrow,” Luke announced, finally turning to them and putting his arms up to show them the look. “Get it all out now.”

“I like it. You look like James Bond if James Bond was also Bruce Springsteen,” Ella said.

“That’s what it is!” Jess said with mock excitement and wide eyes, pointing to Ella.

“But, I think it’ll make Lorelai’s whole life, Luke. Seriously,” she said with more sincerity, almost pride.

“Thanks, kid,” he said shyly. Then, he looked at his nephew. “Jess?”

Jess paused for a moment, then stood up and spoke with gravity. “Turn around?”

“Jess,” Luke said, sighing in exasperation.

Raising his eyebrows expectantly, Jess gestured in a circle. “Turn.”

Luke did as Jess said, spinning in a slow circle. “Well?”

“You are a very handsome man,” Jess answered.

Luke rolled his eyes. “All right.”

“I mean, very hot,” Jess continued emphatically.

“I got it,” Luke said.

Jess chose not to take the hint. “Rande Gerber hot.”

“Enough, Jess,” Luke warned.

Jess’s face softened with sincerity. “Hey. You look good.”

“Yeah?” Luke asked, surprised.

Jess clapped Luke on the shoulder and then went to sit back next to his wife. “I only do sincere once, man.”

“Right, thanks,” Luke replied.

Ella laughed, feeling nostalgic but not letting it overtake her. Since finding out about the pregnancy, Ella had been trying to focus on the future instead of the past. Even if it scared her a little. She was overjoyed at the idea she was going to get to see Luke and Lorelai marry. Before the conversation could go in any other direction, Kirk rushed into the house unannounced, taking a seat on the armchair opposite Ella and Jess. He put his head in his hands and gave a distressed groan.

“Luke! Everything is under control!” Kirk screeched.

“What happened to knocking, Kirk?” Luke asked.

“Yeah!” Jess said ardently, picking up his book again. “What if we were naked?”

Ella nudged him playfully with her elbow as a soft, sly smirk came over his face.

“Don’t say that,” Luke admonished him.

Kirk shot up and headed in the direction of the downstairs bathroom.

“Where are you going?” Luke asked.

Ella watched from her spot, her head back on Jess’s shoulder, as Kirk shouted about how he was going to throw up because he had messed up the wedding decorations at the gazebo, where the ceremony was to take place the following day. In the midst of the argument, Lorelai wandered in from the kitchen with a Pop Tart in her hands. She wordlessly handed one to Ella, who had been telling Lorelai about her recent sweet tooth during their frequent phone calls. Smiling gratefully, Ella raised her head and threw the wrapper away in the bin next to her as the scene unfolded in front of her.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Luke asked.

“I live here,” Lorelai said plainly. “You look hot.”

“Rande Gerber hot,” Jess chimed in without looking up from his reading.

Ella snorted a laugh.

“Yeah.” Lorelai continued munching on her pastry.

“You’re supposed to be at the Inn!” Luke insisted. Lorelai was meant to be spending the day at the Dragonfly, before Luke, Jess, and Ella departed to sleep in the apartment above the diner for the night.

“I was,” Lorelai said. “They don’t have Pop Tarts.”

“Get outta here!” Luke exclaimed.

“Why?” Lorelai’s brow crinkled.

“I’m not supposed to see you before the wedding,” Luke explained. “It’s bad luck.”

“Oh, are we doing that?” Lorelai asked.

The confusion went on, as Rory entered the room as well and was equally surprised Luke wanted to partake in the superstitious tradition. The two Gilmore women pretended to leave lamely before Luke gave into letting Lorelai stay. At talk of pizza for dinner, Ella’s stomach growled, despite her having just finished the Pop Tart. Jess heard it and chuckled, standing and putting his book in his back pocket before holding his hand out for her to grab.

“We should get going. Liz is making dinner and we won’t have the heart to leave if you threaten pizza,” Jess said.

“You sure? There’s still time to back out,” Lorelai said.

Ella sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear after rising. “No, I think we’re stealing enough thunder telling her the night before your wedding, let alone the day of.”

“Well, considering you didn’t tell anyone you got engaged until after you got married,” Luke said gruffly, “she probably won’t be as shocked as you think she will.”

“Agreed,” Lorelai said, nodding.

They both still threw in the occasional jab about Jess and Ella’s elopement, having missed it. Mostly, it was good-natured. Mostly.

“You guys got copies of all the pictures!” Jess said defensively.

Ella could only laugh along with Rory.

“Yeah, and you can keep Liz’s thunder,” Lorelai assured her, back on topic. “I don’t think I’m interested in it.”

Ella laughed, but followed with her hand back in Jess’s grasp as he went over to the doorway. “We should be back in a couple hours.”

“Hopefully,” Jess added, sullen.

“Hey, look alive, Mister Sunshine,” Ella teased.

He rolled his eyes playfully as he grabbed their coats and Ella’s bag. Lorelai, Luke, and Rory began bidding them goodbye (while Kirk lay on the couch, wailing and wallowing). Ella’s smile faltered a bit as she looked at Rory. They spoke semi-regularly, but it was sometimes very hard for Ella to bite her tongue. Rory was floundering in her career, burnt out from her intensity in school, and back to sleeping with unavailable men. Her affair with Logan, who was engaged, had been going on for a while, and Ella tried not to judge her. Instead, she just felt sad that her childhood friend was struggling. Rory had experienced meltdowns over bad grades even when they were in kindergarten. She had just begun working as the editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette, though, which Ella thought might actually be perfect for Rory. She hoped things would brighten up soon.

Jess held Ella’s coat up for her to put on chivalrously.

It made Ella roll her eyes at how adorable he was. If she didn’t know it was only because of what a good dad he was already becoming, it would have been irritating. But she couldn’t help the way her heart glowed at the thought. He was a natural with kids. Always had been, even when he had no experience. And after the baby came, Jess and Ella were going to split time off, since Ella didn’t want to miss the summer semester at the University. Both of them would be part-time, and Ella was glad for both herself, and also, the baby. She was lucky Truncheon had finally picked up enough speed for significant taking of prolonged leave.

“It’s only a couple blocks, Jess. I think I’ll just carry it. I’ll be fine.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “That’s what you said last time. Then you got a fever!”

“God, you have no concept of weather! You can’t get sick from it! We’ve been over this!” she argued warily. “It was a coincidence! And it was just a cold, anyway!”

“Seems like a pretty big coincidence,” he said.

“Yeah, seems like it,” she retorted flatly.

He sighed. “C’mon, Elle. Help me out. What’s the point in risking it?”

After a calculating look, she finally relented and turned, slipping her arms into the plaid peacoat’s sleeves. “Okay. But I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for you, James Dean.”

She faced him again, and shot him a look, as she pulled her blonde waves from beneath her collar.

“Thank you so much,” Jess deadpanned.

“And, for Rhiannon,” she added, putting a hand to her stomach again with the extra layer on.

Jess was donning his jean jacket, and he scoffed. “C’mon, Elle.”

“Rhiannon?” Lorelai asked.

“I’m trying to convince him,” Ella said, tilting her head to her husband.

“I just think it’s a bit of a mouthful,” Jess said, shrugging.

“But we can call her ‘Annie’ for short, like I said,” Ella continued, unwilling to back down. The name had been on her mind forever. And they had already decided the baby’s middle name would be ‘Sophia.’

Jess sighed through his nose, then glanced at her earnestly. For once, Ella saw him actually consider it. Very seriously. Fleetwood Mac still wasn’t his favorite, but as he looked at her back in the Gilmore house, a reflection of who she had been over a decade earlier, he could hear her playing the song on Miss Patty’s piano the night of their first Thanksgiving together so vividly. It was like he was there again. And his eyes shone with love. It seemed he might like the name for their daughter after all.

“Maybe,” he said finally.

She smiled widely, dimples showing and hazel eyes dancing. “Progress. I’ll take what I can get, cutie.”

“See you guys later?” Jess said, eyebrows raised at the other three.

They uttered various confirmations and Jess turned to open the door as Lorelai came up behind them, blowing a kiss. Ella and Jess walked out the door, hand-in-hand, towards the dark green Volvo, which now seemed like it had been their car forever. As they descended the front porch steps, orange leaves crunching under their feet in the yard, they talked amongst themselves.

“I can’t believe I finally converted you to good taste, Mariano!” Ella teased. “Your daughter’s gonna be named after a Stevie Nicks song!”

Jess scoffed. “Yeah, right. Like you’re anywhere close to indoctrinating me, Stevens.”

“So, you’re not denying the name thing, then?” she asked.

“No, I’m not denying the name thing,” Jess answered after a moment.

Ella pressed a kiss to his cheek. He rolled his eyes, but eventually became genuine, turning her head with a gentle hand on her chin so he could kiss her on the lips just before they made it to the car. From the doorway, Rory shook her head and laughed at their familiar brand of bickering.

“Guess some things never change,” Lorelai said, chuckling with her daughter.

Luke smiled fondly from behind the two women, while Ella and Jess prepared to drive away. He watched them go. “Yeah. I guess not.”

#gilmore girls #gilmore girls fanfiction #gilmore girls au #gilmore girls oc fanfiction #jess mariano #jess mariano fanfiction #jess mariano au #jess mariano x oc fanfiction #oc fanfiction #original character #x oc #luke danes #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore

33 notes · View notes

queenjunoking · 3 years

Text

Wolf Taming Pt 49

CW: Noncon - Petplay

I heard the whir of the gears as the arm started to move. Despite my convention, I didn't move. It wasn’t the gear that solidified my status. It wasn’t even being locked in this device or giving up the hopeless attempt at running a few moments ago.

It was taking this first step. Taking this step meant that I was willingly going along with what they wanted. I had made compromises with Z, but this was different.

Unfortunately my first step was taken against my will as the arm yanked me a few feet forward before the machine stopped. I heard the door swing open and Clarity walked into my view.

“What was that about?” She asked, her big sad eyes staring right at me.. “You need to walk with the arm, Callidora. Aren’t you going to be good?”

I tried not to sigh as I decided on what to say. Clarity seemed strict but she could be sympathetic. Despite what she did, she also seemed a bit sad about doing it. I decided to try honesty to see if it would score some sympathy points.

“This is the first thing I’ve had to do on my own since I was taken and it is… difficult.” It wasn’t the full truth. Part of my pride was still getting in the way. But admitting that would probably get me worked twice as hard.

She stroked my face again and nodded. “Taking the first step is hard, but you have to take it. This is your place now. If you don’t walk the next time I turn on the machine, I will punish Lucky and Clover.”

I felt my heart jump into my throat. “Wait! Why them? I’d be the one not listening.”

Clarity gave me a look that was somehow sadder than usual. “You’re useful, Callidora. A race horse is valuable to Mistress Eos and her farm. We don’t want to hurt you if we don’t have to hurt you. Hurting you is a last resort. Instead others will be punished in your place.”

The weight of Clarity’s words pulled her down. What she was saying seemed so stupid, but it made sense to her. Eos obviously wanted someone like me to do some kind of race. If I got hurt then I couldn’t race. She was hoping that the threat of other people getting hurt would keep me in line. Something I hadn’t fully expected.

I was strong. The shock collar Z had placed me in had hurt. It could be debilitating. But I could take it. I was sure I could take whatever punishment they wanted to inflict on me.

But could Lucky and Clover?

Who else might be punished for any slight these monsters saw?

“I’m starting up the machine, Callidora.” Clarity’s voice broke through the thoughts swirling around her head.

I heard the machine start back up. I felt it pull forward. I took a deep breath and, with some hesitation, I stepped forward.

Giving in almost hurt. I felt like I was pounding a nail into my coffin with each step I took. The exercise felt unnatural. The arm kept me moving in a perfect circle around the pen, there was no room for deviation.

Clarity was silent for the first few rotations. I was only able to see her when the rotation brought her within my limited field of vision. I could see the other woman in the pen next to me after I passed by Clarity. She avoided making eye-contact. I wasn’t sure why specifically, maybe it was shame?

After I finished the forth rotation Clarity stopped the machine. I came to a stop in front of her. She said something to another one of the stablehands and they ran off. I had no choice but to stand there and wait. It wasn’t until then that I really felt a new kind of helplessness. The cage in Z’s basement was one thing, I could move around in that. I was strapped to a chair in the stable last night, but it didn’t feel like helplessness.

This did, My arms were tightly bound behind me. I was outside, but the machine kept me in place. The chains attaching me to the arm kept me standing straight, forcing me to present my body to the woman in front of me. I knew any wrong move was going to get people punished in my place.

“I’m proud of your first few steps as a true race horse, Callidora.” Clarity gave me a gentle smile, but her eyes still looked sad. “You can probably imagine what racing will be like. You’ll be in a pretty similar outfit, the only difference is it’ll be designed to show you off. Frosthoof, for example, was in her new racing attire. Mistress Eos will be commissioning some for you as well.”

“Aren’t I lucky.” I couldn’t swallow the sarcastic remark. But if Clarity picked it up, she didn’t show it.

“You definitely are.” She paused as the stablehand came back with a small bag. She rifled through it and took out a brush and began to use it on my hair as she continued to talk, much to my annoyance. “We both have high hopes for you. Someday you’ll be on the track, racing against the other race horses. Society members of course place bets on the different horses. Doing well will earn Mistress Eos a lot of renown. She is a very important person in the Society and serving her is an honor.”

“So why am I walking in circles instead of running.” I asked as I tried to pull away, not that there was much space to move.

Clarity sighed and put the brush down. “You will race on those specially made hoof heels. You did well on your marathon, but you’ll need to get used to them enough that you may as well have been born with them. Tripping or mistepping can hurt you very badly.”

“I could just walk up and down the road out there to get used to them.” I said as I gestured to the path outside the pen with my head.

“Maybe. But this pen serves two purposes. I can set this to keep going. I could leave you in here for hours with no choice to walk forward. Something that’ll probably happen as part of your training.” I grit my teeth as Clarity casually told me about the hours I’d spend everyday walking in circles.

“So what’s the other reason?”

Clarity reached into the back and pulled out a crop before entering the pen. “Mistress Eos requires all her ponies to learn how to walk correctly. Back straight. Knees up high. Looking straight forward.” She harshly corrected my posture as she talked, poking me with the crop. “This is something important for show ponies, incorrect posture deducts points. Race horses are expected to walk correctly when entering the track though.”

“So there’s no real reason to learn this aside from Eos wanting to make this as humiliating as possible.” I couldn’t choke back the bitterness. “Why do w- OW!”

My question was interrupted by Clarity hitting me on the ass with her crop. “You do it because Mistress Eos tells you to do it.” Clarity’s voice had developed a dangerous edge to it. “You do not need any other reason to do it. A pony does not question their owner’s decisions.”

I felt some kind of mix of rage and pity. There was obviously something wrong with Clarity. She always looked sad, she had emotions and seemed to have some kind of twisted empathy for the slaves forced to be ponies. But questioning Eos like that set her off. I couldn’t imagine why she would care so much about someone questioning Eos, it was like she was brainwashed or something.

“Fine.” It was all I could manage to say without risking getting into more trouble.

Before Clarity could continue another stablehand walked up with an arm full of what I could only think of as belts. “Thank you, you may go now.” Clarity’s voice returned to it’s sorrowful tone as she took the belts from the other slave and sent her on her way.

“New fashion accessories?” I asked, unsure what else they could be for.

“If you want to think of them that way.” Clarity knelt next to my feet and placed one on each of my ankles, then another one just below my knees. “There are sensors on the posts around the pen. They’ve been calibrated to your height. When you walk your knee has to go a certain height. Those things I just put on you will be able to tell how far away they are from each other and using that information they can tell if you’re lifting your leg high enough.”

My eyes widened when she showed me the next thing.

A phone.

“I can keep track of how many correct steps you take out of how many total steps you take.” Clarity left the pen and went back over to the machine controls. “We’re going to start with two hundred correct steps before you can take a short break.”

Without warning I felt the machine start back up and drag me forward. My mind should have been on the task. I didn’t want to get in trouble this soon. But all I could think of was the phone. Clarity was trusted, it could be a real phone with the ability to call people.

Which meant I might be able to call for help.

Eos

“What do you mean my ownership is being contested.” I asked Morton as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

The little worm had come onto my farm uninvited. He said he was afraid of discussing it on the phone, or even calling to warn me he was coming. I could see why, but it didn’t make me any happier.

“W-well, Mistress E-Eos.” He stuttered. “I was given a tip by someone close to the council that someone was pushing back against your ownership claim of your new pony.”

“Who would push back against me!” I slammed my hand against the desk and watched Morton jump. “Who gives a fuck about Z? Who would help her file a claim against me?”

“M-master Rayne and Lady Flora. She seems to have enlisted their help and they’ve hired Molly DuBois’s group to fight against your claim of ownership.” Every word out of his mouth spiked my blood pressure.

Of course Rayne and Flora wouldn’t just be satisfied with sinking one of my own family members. They also needed to interfere in a matter that didn’t even concern them.

Which meant I also had Z to blame for what happened to Rhiannon.

“Morton. Get out of my sight. If I ever see you again I will make sure that no one in your family ever achieves membership again. I think your daughter would make a wonderful statue on my lawn.” I watched his eyes go wide and he sprinted out of the room.

I felt a little better after Morton left, but my problem remained. Rayne and Flora weren’t a group I could simply fight against. They were powerful. They were someone who were regarded as being on the same level that I was. Some idiots thought they were more important.

I couldn’t simply brush them aside. I needed to take a different tactic.

There was a loud screeching sound as Morton peeled out of my driveway and down the road. I turned around and looked towards the pens. I could see Clarity standing outside one, watching Callidora walk in circles on the inside.

I smiled as I realized what I needed to do. The trick to rebuffing Z’s attempt at getting her slave back wasn’t to fight her, Rayne or Flora.

No, the path to winning was through Callidora.

5 notes · View notes

starrysupercell · 3 years

Text

Heavily based off of @aroacenita's headcanon post, about Belle and Byron's sibling status and background. In honor of the Gold Arm Gang Season starting today, and Belle's debut.

Warning: slightly heavier than what I've written before. But not much detail, just implications really.

--------

"If you don't shape up, young lady, what future will you even have?" A male voice scolded.

"Anything I want, I guess." She said, off handedly.

"Oh, why can't you behave more like your brother?" That was their mother, she sounded so distraught. "Why can't you be well-mannered like he is?

A scoff, "Oh that'd be perfect, wouldn't it? A flawless replica of you."

"What's with you and thinking we're just controlling you-?"

"Because that's exactly what you're doing!" She exclaimed, "Why do you think I don't want to dress up, and go out to social gatherings and 'leave a nice impression for the gentlemen?'" She air-quoted. "You've always dragged me along, and I'm sick of it!"

"Now don't be ridiculous, Belle." Their mother said. "When you were little, you loved dressing up and coming along with me to places."

"You forced me when I was little, and you're still trying to now! And now you're forcing him too! Do you honestly believe this is okay!?"

"We aren't forcing anything on you two. Studying is a must. You're only being dramatic, Belle."

"This more than just the damned studying! I'm talking about everything! I'm not stupid. I know your tricks--!"

Byron heard a smack, and he flinched where he stood outside the closed door, eavesdropping.

"You watch how you talk to your mother." Came the stern, simple command.

There was a stunned silence, and then hurried steps to the door. Byron ducked away further down the hall out of sight.

Belle passed by, a hand on her cheek. Her long black hair trailed behind her as she hurried away, and stomped up the stairs to retreat to her room.

"God, what are we going to do with her?" Byron overheard. "I have no clue.... she's beyond all reason."

"...Do you think that school will be able to handle her? What an embarrassment it's be if she's expelled from there...."

"...." The younger kid frowned, unsure of what to make of what he was hearing, and then slunk away.

_________

The tears shed were anger more than anything. Humiliation and outrage made her bury her face in the pillow she hugged now.

She could just hear their criticism. 'How unbecoming. Dry your face. You look highly unpresentable.'

They've been trying to mold them into perfect cookie cutter shapes since they were little. She hated it, and fought it because that wasn't her.

But sometimes... she miserably wracked her brain over what else she could pursue. She's been corralled into this lifestyle against her will, Maybe... her parents were right..? She should just... accept it?

She would just conform to this sense of defeat.

There was a knock on the door.

"Leave!" She barked, not caring if it was a serviceman, definitely either of her parents, or...

"It's me." Byron.

She paused. "What do you want?"

"May I enter?"

She sat up, annoyed. "For what? Go away, you brat."

"I brought chips."

"...." Belle wiped her face, and compromised to herself that if Byron even mentioned her red eyes, he was being kicked out. She stood, and walked over to the door. He was leaning against it, and stumbled at the sudden entrance, but quickly fixed himself.

'Nosy,' she thought, and snatched the bag he offered. "You sneak," she commented, looking over the bag. "They don't allow junk food like this."

"It's great for bribery." He smiled, walking past Belle. Case in point.

Belle opened the bag, and grabbed a handful. She smirked and rose her voice into the 'proper speak' she was taught. "Oh! Preposterous! How greasy! This will smear the walls and fatten one up in a mere hour!" She snickered and bit into the chips, making some crumble and fall onto the carpeted floor.

Byron thought the mess itself was quite distasteful, but decided that it was well deserved. Besides... that did sound like their mother. He also laughed along.

---

She hated her hair. It was waist length, got in the way, tangled easy, and when it was loose, windy days were the worst.

Like right now. She couldn't even sit on the roof without it going wild.

'But proper women have long hair.' Oh, whatever. Proper women have it shitty then.

Belle sighed. There was around a month left before she'd be shipped off like the porcelain doll they wanted her to be. A month until her 18th birthday. A month until...

"Are you going to jump?" She heard. She looked up with irritation to the balcony outside of Byron's room, where he stood.

"No, dumbass." She told him.

Byron's look of concern turned to a very offended one. "Mom says cursing isn't becom..."

"Mom says cursing isn't becoming," she interrupted him to mock. "Yeah, I know. I've heard it before, you wuss." She looked back out to their vast yard, hoping he'd either leave or shut up.

Byron frowned, glaring at the top of her head.

"Being angry only hinders your thoughts," she snarked again, just as insulting a tone. "Since you can only have one at a time, you should listen to that." Byron narrowed his eyes down at her and he went back to his room.

About time.... Belle lost herself back in her thoughts. The sun was starting to set. A month left to plan. Unless her parents suddenly began to care, nobody was none the wiser to her plot. She was going to get out of here.

Unbeknownst to her, Byron walked back out quietly with a beaker filled with some concoction from his chemistry set at hand. It was harmless, but he had gloves on and his nose covered with his other hand for a reason. He leaned over the balcony and tipped out the contents over his jerkish sister. "Ugh! You little shit!! What even is this!?" She exclaimed in disgust.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were still out here." Byron said with a shrug. "I guess you didn't know that rooftops aren't for people to lay on. Dunce." He said, stepping back now as Belle angrily scaled the tiles. He miscalculated her speed, because she managed to reach him and grabbed his sleeve. He pulled back. "Let go of me!" He struggled to get away. There was a ripping sound and he stumbled back in surprise. Belle nearly fell forward too, but she clung to the railing. Byron ducked back inside to the safety of his room, sticking out his tongue at her.

Belle fumed, using the sleeve to wipe at least some of the disgusting-smelling chemical off, and then chucked it at his glass door.

____________

The week of her birthday, Belle feigned innocence. She apologized, and dressed well and "came to terms" with their final decision.

"I'm so happy that you're finally listening to reason." Her mother fawned over her, stroking the cheek that had been struck some time ago. "It makes me feel proud to have a daughter."

"Hmm," their father said. "It's about time."

Byron stayed quiet. Something was off, but it was rude to speak out of turn, and unwise to fling unproven accusations.

The night before she was set to get on the plane, Belle was ready. She packed everything she could into a single backpack. She didn't want to take too much. It would slow her down and she needed to get as far away as she could in a few hours.

The last thing she wanted to do was leave a written message. Not for her parents- they deserved no goodbye. No, it was for... Byron.

The problem was, she didn't know how to say it. She read over what she's written so far.

*Sorry for leaving you with them. I just couldn't bear it any longer. You need to wise up too, Byron. Don't let them brainwash you, okay? Get out of here when you can. Later.*

...It didn't feel right. He wouldn't agree with what she had to say. He would see it as an insult. This was somehow a lot more difficult than deciding to leave. ...She didn't 'have' to leave a note, did she? Belle sighed in frustration.

She tore the paper to remove the message and was left with a scrap piece. She balled up the message and shoved it in her pocket. Using the smaller piece, she scrawled out her message and got up. All she had to do was drop this off, and then leave. She stepped out of her room.

The house was dark and quiet. She stepped lightly toward Byron's room. Sound asleep. She was simply going to leave the note, but then spotted that treasure pile of snacks. Darn it. It wasn't a part of her plan, but she couldn't resist. She lifted a bag of chips very carefully, and a twin pack of sweets for the road. She placed her little note down in place of those with held laughter, then left to return to her room.

She opened her window, and hoisted her pack over her shoulders. Next she picked up the fashioned rope she made of quality cloths to tie to her heavy bed.

Typical, sure, but this would make a lot less noise than stairs and doors. Plus, in this way she could ruin the many precious dresses and skirts she was made to wear on her way out.

She threw the long cord out and climbed out as it rolled down the slope and then over the edge. She treaded carefully over and stared down at the yard.

Almost there. Belle began to climb down. As she made her way down, the heavy anticipation she felt at her chest alleviated. She was doing this. She'd be free.

As her feet hit the ground, she had already decided. Come morning, the first thing she would do was get a haircut. Chop it as short as she always wanted it to be.

---

Byron always woke up early. This time around, he was awoken by the surprised exclamations of his parents.

"She's gone!"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"I went to make sure she was getting ready, and there was a rope of clothes out the window!"

Gone. She left.

He stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling in deep thought. Why didn't... she just listen? And stay... He would never understand her fighting at every turn.. nor his parents' subtle shift in their attitude toward him after that, like they almost expected him to do the same.

It'd be around two weeks later when he'd get a craving for a treat. They were intent on making sure he didn't even step out of line- he was ticked off.

The last package of his favorite dessert was gone, along with a bag of chips. Just a torn piece of paper was in its place.

"thanks, dumbass." was all it said.

Byron.... didn't know what to feel.

#Brawl Stars #Brawlstars #Belle #Byron #Goldarm Gang #Season 6 #Fanfiction #Writing #ask to tag #can someone talk in depth to me about byron and belle lol

8 notes · View notes

iwantutobehapppier · 5 years

Text

Nobody Loves No One (2/?)

Pairing: Bucky x Female Reader

Summary: You know one thing, James Buchanan Barnes was trustworthy and you weren't. When he inserts himself into your family drama and past can you show you're worthy of his trust or deign to hurt him as most of life has?

Word Count: 4,219

Warnings: Eventual Smut, night terrors, angst, canon typical violence, implied child abuse and cursing. 18 and older only

A/N: Hey guys! Thank you for coming back for chapter two! 💖 I am trying to get these out weekly and I don’t see that being an issue. Things are still building and the smut is coming. Hahah If you’re holding out hold out just a smidge longer. 😘

The drive should have been short but Bucky got a bit turned around or at least that's what he claimed, blaming the change in road names from his more formative years. Though you doubted that had truly changed.

"Your dad gets into trouble often?" Bucky's casual tone did little to hide his curiosity. He had always prided himself on being shrouded in mystery but you were just a mystery.

"Not lately but the old man seems to think to make deals with the local gang is better than taking money from his Avenger daughter." You miss Bucky's eyebrows raising, you weren’t kidding on having father issues. “Even if they’ll kill him when he fails to pay back.”

"Too much pride?" You remain silent, "too much guilt then?" You feel a stab in your chest, Bucky was too observant and it was impacting your ability to keep your private life just that, private. You couldn’t find it in yourself to be upset over it, after all, if you trusted anyone to know these parts of you it’s him. However, you weren’t going to be forthcoming.

"Listen Bucky I'm all for team building and such but this isn't a ‘let's get to know the weird father-daughter relationship’ moment." You look out the passenger window making air quotes, the familiar run-down buildings setting you on edge for the second time tonight.

"This is a ‘help your teammate kill a bunch of local thugs from killing her lousy excuse of a father’ moment." When Bucky stops the car he turns his head towards you as you continue.

"And then maybe," you emphasized by pushing your pointer finger in his chest and he had to hold back the smile that would certainly piss you off, "Maybe we can talk about aforementioned fucked up relationship."

"Annoyed always looks good on you," Bucky steps out of the car missing the way you ground your teeth together at his smart ass response. Stepping out of the car you mutter, "I will not kill my teammate, I will not kill my teammate."

"What was that Toots?" Bucky calls out setting Betsy’s barrel upside down on his shoulder.

"Nothing," Bucky smirks, able to hear you clear as day but to miss an opportunity to tease you wasn’t in Bucky.

Rolling the silencer on your handgun you make your way around the corner to the front of a building you had thought left in your past. The double doors had one guy with a bat in his hand guarding. You held back a scoff if they knew you were coming clearly they forgot how you took care of business. Though back then your business was taking care of their issues, not them.

Walking up to the man before he could raise his bat you shot him dead center in the forehead. Bucky whistled as the body slumped to the ground.

Opening the double doors you took out two more mob thugs while Bucky pulls the bat-wielding thug into the building by his metal arm.

“This is gonna get messy huh?” Bucky trusted you wouldn’t kill an innocent or lure him to do the same but he had to express his concerns.

“Anyone in here would shoot you and your family before you could ask for mercy.” Bucky signaled towards the hallway on your right, his hearing picking up the sound of oncoming footsteps.

“You used to do the killing for us.” A short older man pointed a machine gun at you three others behind him. Without a response, you shot him in the chest and then in the head as Bucky’s gun went off three times in a row taking care of the gentlemen’s back up.

You didn’t dare look at Bucky, not wanting to answer the questions he probably had until this was all over.

After plenty of bullets, snapped necks and broken limbs you cracked your knuckles at the "final boss" door. This door was familiar though, you had spent a good portion of your youth protecting the people behind it and fighting their battles for them all at the expense of your humanity just to pay your father's debts.

"I'd rather you stay out here Bucky." He chortled and shook his head in disbelief.

"Not gonna happen." He stepped up next to you bumping his shoulder against yours. You sighed, your shoulders raising at the growing anxiety of what Bucky may hear. Turning your head towards him he looked at you from the corner of his eyes then turns at his waist.

Reaching over with his metal hand he wiped away blood splattered on your cheek once again. If he were being honest with himself he'd tell you he hated seeing that crimson red stain your beautiful face. But he wasn't always good at being honest with himself.

You study his face trying to get a read on him after so much shared carnage. There's a softness in his eyes that's misplaced in a room full of death.

"Just remember I never said I was always a good person." Before Bucky could ask any follow-up questions you kicked the steel-reinforced door in, watching it fall down.

A smile played at the corner of your lip hearing the cry of a man being crushed under the weight of the door and the following crunching coupled with a pain-filled groan as you both stepped on top of the door making your way into the room.

Bucky checked the magazine in Betsy as you survey the remaining five thugs and a weathered senior man sitting at a desk center of the room. His hand resting on a firearm laid on top of the desk. No one appeared to be making the first move.

"Well well." The old man's voice nails on a chalkboard, just like all those years ago. You had to stop yourself from charging at him when he spoke your name with fondness.

"Keep my name out of your mouth!" You command.

"Come on now, you can't be mad at me after everything?" His sun leathered hand patting the handgun still resting on the desk. Your eyes cut to the worn corner where the wood was lighter with indents from your head being slammed against it when you failed as a teenager and young adult.

"After all your father is the one who brought you into this," his other hand waved around the room, "Only fitting this world be the reason for his demise?" You curled your fingers into fists at your side. Bucky glances down with a creased brow, standing up a bit straighter in reaction.

"Whatever he owes, whatever he did isn't worth his life Marco." Marco chuckled. "Either I kill you or you let me pay what he owes, with interest."

Marco stands up slamming both hands on the desk yelling out in Italian, Bucky aims Betsy dead center in Marco’s chest. You catch the movement out of the corner of your eye satisfied at his reflexes. Always nice to have a super-soldier master assassin on your side.

"He is bad man,” his voice thick with broken English with his growing ire “You know better than any.”

“He lives?" Marco raises his hands up as he speaks. "No, no. That's not the code you swore to when you left me." He smiles keeping eye contact. You nod to Bucky and he lowers his gun, confused but trusting you.

"Badman is a dead man, no? Tesoro,” his works eerily soft causing you to flinch, “he deserves to pay for what he made you do."

"What you made me do." You gritted out between clenched teeth. Your hands flexed open and closed along your pant legs.

"A-ah. He brought you to me, a gift, a debt paid. He is just as guilty if not more." His voice was full of the condescension you were much too familiar with. It was like stepping back in time except you knew this old decrepit man held no fear over you and could do nothing in retaliation, nothing long-lasting at least.

"Just think about it, Tesoro.” the nickname rolling off your tongue makes you want to wretch. “I know he is your father but what would your sweet moth-" before he could finish a knife flew from your hand, planting firmly between his eyes. Not missing a moment Bucky fired in quick succession laying waste to remaining thugs in the room before they even knew their boss was dead.

Marco's voice cracks as if still trying to finish the word before going silent and crumpling across the ornate desk chair. Walking up to Marco's corpse you pulled the knife out wiping the blood on his shirt before putting it away.

Pulling out your phone you went to recent and waited for an answer.

"You did it, shithead?" Bucky could hear over the phone, his brow still furrowed. He had to wonder what kind of man was your father? If this was any glimpse, none at all.

"It's done, send the cleanup.” You pause watching the color drain from Macro’s body. “Don't ever call me again." You assert before hanging up still looking at Marco's face. Bucky took a step towards you. He stretches his arm out to place his hand on your shoulder but stilled when you spat in Marco's face.

Bucky caught the small tremors in your hands as you placed your phone back in your pocket. The ragged breath you pulled in left an ache in his chest. He was overwhelmed by the need to hold you in his embrace until you feel safe. Have you ever felt safe?

Even with everything he had done in the war and as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin he could still remember feeling loved and safe. The way his mother would card her fingers through his hair when he couldn't sleep as a child. Or how it felt when his sisters would dogpile on him. He felt safe.

He had to wonder once more did you ever feel safe? He wasn't so sure.

"Fucking hated this place. Let's go!" You extolled, turning around to face Bucky with a haunting smile.

This was different than his beloved murder smile. Whatever this was, he knew it was a front. It reminded him of all those smiles Steve would give him after army rejections. A smile to hide the pain.

The ride back to your car in front of your father’s shop was silent. Which between the two of you wasn't uncharacteristic but there was a newfound tension like static in the air.

What could you share with him that could ease his mind? What parts of you were left to give? Your train of thought was halted as Bucky pulled up next to your parked car.

"See you back at the compound." Bucky's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he spoke. You opened the car door, the smell of the incoming dawn wafting into the small confines of the car. You started to leave the car but paused

"I-uh," Bucky watched you from the corner of his eyes. His fingers relax their hold on the steering wheel waiting for what you had to say. "I have a place not far from here," Bucky raises an eyebrow and you grunted.

"After all that happened tonight, I'd much rather lay in bed than drive all the way upstate." Bucky nodded in agreement.

"I'll see you when you get back then Toots." You sighed, rather dramatically Bucky let out a soft chuckle.

"I'm inviting you to join you, idiot." His eyes narrowed at the name-calling. After tonight he didn't want to hear another disparaging word out of your mouth for a while, if ever. It only reminded him of how you have been treated.

"I'll come with but don't talk to me like you do your father." His tone clipped but you simply smiled back at him as you stepped out of the car texting Bucky the address.

"Thought you wanted to be my Daddy, Barnes?" He didn't miss the coquettish tone and smile but failed to reciprocate.

"From what I can tell that man was no dad." Bucky looked down at his phone surprised how close the address was. "See you there." He finalized and you shut the door making your way to your own vehicle.

When Bucky entered your fifth-floor apartment he wasn't sure what he'd find in a space that was entirely your own. At the compound you kept things pretty minimal, some jewelry on a dresser, clothes organized, a black and white poster of some European city during the day but no real personal effects. Hell outside of a photo Wanda gave you from a team outing there was nothing in your room that showed who it belonged to.

Bucky found it odd at first however if anyone came into his room he wasn't sure there'd be terribly too much to indicate it was his either outside. Maybe the workout bench and weights he kept when he didn't want to be in the gym with others. There was also that vintage New York Dodgers poster you bought for him, similar to the one you got for Steve.

Seeing your apartment, it made sense to him now, you kept yourself here. The living room was full of warm tones, throw blankets that looked dangerously soft, two giant filled bookcases and photos all over the place. Soft lighting encasing the room in comfort.

"It's not much," your voice pulling him from his analysis, "but it's mine." The soft ending in your tone warmed him, it was clear you were trusting him with something no one else had seen.

The pile of mail on the other side of the door you picked up along with dust he could see on the bookcases alluded to it being a place you hadn't seen in a while. Sensing his scrutiny you felt the need to justify yourself.

"I used to stay here more often but the compound is easier for missions," You set the pile of mail on the old writing desk across from a small kitchen. Bucky's eyes caught on a framed photo next to the mail. A young woman is holding a toddler in front of your father's butchery, the building looks newer than it does now and the woman in clothes not of a recent style.

"Who's that?" Bucky looks up to catch you stretching your arms above you with your back facing him. Watching the small of your back slowly be revealed as the shirt rises, he licks his lips rapidly losing interest in the photo. But when you turned around and caught sight of what he was referring to you wrapped your arms around yourself.

"That's me and Mom," you turn back around. Only then does he realize she does look an awful lot like you or was it you looked like her? The stark difference was her face, it appeared softer.

Your face often held hard lines that Bucky wanted to soften with his hands. Your edges so jagged, he longed to cut himself on them. Know you intimately, deeper levels you rarely showed. The times your face would soften the most recently have been over the past few months with him. A small part of him hoping it meant you were opening up to him in ways he could burrow inside and never leave.

Bucky set his duffle back containing Betsy and gear on the floor next to the one you had set down before grabbing the mail.

"Where your ma'?" Bucky trailed his fingers on the desk as he followed behind you slowly. You turn your head and he sees your side profile, the soft lights do little to hide the pain in your eyes.

"Same place as yours." He inhales quickly at your response. "Shower down the way there," you gesture towards a cracked open door. "Bed is that way." You gestured to the hallway opposite of bathroom door and make your way down the same hallway as he heads towards the bathroom. A good scrubbing sounded nice.

When Bucky stepped out of the shower he noticed the dark blue sweatpants and a grey shirt laying on the bathroom counter that were certainly not there before. A soft blush covered his cheeks at the thought of you walking in on him showering. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about you and the past few hours. Had he been so distracted in the shower that he missed you coming in? That wasn’t like him at all.

However, he left his guard down around you more so than he should, at least that’s what Steve had expressed concern over. Bucky shook his head, what did that punk know anyway? He couldn’t even talk to women.

After drying his hair until slightly damp he pulled the sweatpants on. They were almost too snug on him but clearly too big for you. The thought that someone else, a guy particularly, leaving them here caused an unsettling burn in his chest. He knew you weren't his but he'd be lying if he didn't relish the thought of you being so one day. Pushing the burning sensation down he made his way to the hallway you had mentioned he could find a bed.

Finding the first door he came across open he felt his jaw slide open. Your hair was down damp, wearing obscenely short sleep shorts and a tank top that strained against pebbled nipples. Swallowing away the dryness in his throat Bucky looked towards the ceiling before clearing his throat.

"Where's the guest room?" You tilted your head at him in confusion. Turning down the sheets you crawled into the bed.

"What guest room?" Bucky eyes stopped tracing patterns in the ceiling design to look back at you in equal confusion.

"You said a bed was down the hall." Your hand gestured to the bed in reply as you lay on your side. You tried and failed to cover the smile as Bucky became flustered with realization.

"I'll take the couch." You frowned at him and patted the open space next to you.

"Don't be silly, the bed is big enough for both of us," you couldn't help the coquettish smile that pulls on your lips, "Unless you're scared of sleeping next to me."

Bucky swallows the growing lump in his throat. He wasn't scared of you, never had been regardless of some teammates’ concerns. His main concern lay with the ever-growing attraction he felt toward you.

Bucky felt himself caving, the last time the two of you shared a bed it was after rather traumatic night terror this was different. This wasn’t comfort-based.

"I won't bite you Bucky," bending your arm and resting the side of your head on the palm of your hand, you watch with growing interest at what the super soldier will do.

Laying down next to you Bucky folds his arms under his head and turns his head towards you with that beautiful smile that took your breath away more often than not.

"That's a shame Toots." You sputter at his response and turn towards the side table under the guise of turning the light off to hide your embarrassment, feeling the warmth in your cheeks and moving down to your chest.

With your back to him, you lay down and close your eyes, trying to push down the desire to curl up to the warmth radiating off his body. Bucky let out a huff hot air pushing against your back, he wraps his metal arm over your stomach, warm flesh arm snaking under you to pull your back to his chest.

Before you can start verbal spar over his actions he locks his arms around you, fingers curling into the softness of your abdomen. The intimacy of the touch taking away any thoughts you tried to voice. There was unfamiliar security in his touch that left you wearisome. Resigning that you wouldn’t be able to stop this, and honestly not wanting to you close your eyes once more.

Bucky satisfied at your body relaxing into his hold he smiles against the top of your head.

“So is this a get to know the weird father-daughter relationship moment?” Bucky teased into your ear.

You groan a hand flying back to smack him in the head but he grabs it pulling it down to rest on your abdomen encased by his arm. You could practically hear your heartbeat thudding in your chest as his fingers intertwined with yours. Certain his superhuman hearing picking up on it.

“This is a go-to-sleep moment,” you hiss out. Trying to quell the fluttering in your chest.

“I’m not tired though.” Bucky whines in your ear, “Tell me a story,” his fingers curling into your palm between your fingers. Looking down at where he held your hand you could feel yourself giving in. Oh, how easy it would be to just fall for Bucky Barnes.

“There once was a little girl,” Bucky pulls you flush to him, leaning his head down to nuzzle into your neck inhaling deep. You were fairly certain he could feel the increasing pace of your pulse at the touch.

“Things were good for her, for a while,” closing your eyes you continue, letting his embrace soothe your growing unease at opening up. “She had a father who would pat her head sometimes but outside of that he had no love to give her but that was okay because her mother who loved her so much made up for the loss,”

“Sounds like a great mom,” Bucky whispers against your neck, his lips resting against your pulse.

“She was, she tried so hard to make her little girl happy,” you paused “But they knew something was different about their little girl. She broke bottles, toys, and cribs with the slightest grip of her fingers. One time she held a glass too tight and it shattered,” You smirked recalling the panic in your mother and father, time having a way to make the most macabre funny.

“That was the only time the little girl saw her mother cry.” Though remembering your mother’s fear was not all that funny.

“After that, her mother kept smiling and telling her how special and wonderful she was. Neither of them knew what to do with their child. As the little girl grew her mother taught her to be cautious of pressure, always guiding the little girl’s tiny but powerful hands.” Bucky pulled your hand from against your stomach eyes peering from your neck. He notices the faint scars on the palms of your hand.

“Gentle hands like your holding an egg,” you mused, “That’s what her mom would say.”

“What happened to her,” Bucky’s face so close to your neck you could feel the heat and moisture.

“She was murdered,” Bucky’s body tensed around you, your monotone recount of her death chilling. “Someone tried to rob the butchery, she stood up against them and paid the ultimate price.”

“There were no more gentle hands, just the overwhelming drive of vengeance and a cold distant father.” You felt Bucky slowly relax around you, his head nuzzling into your neck once more. “He asked the mob for help in getting the person who did it in exchange for services. I was 11 at the time and Marco was just a business associate of my dad’s to me.”

“Then I killed that man who touched my friend I held worth to my father for once, he made a trade.” You trembled at the memory of being handed off to the mob, you could almost hear your cries at your father’s retreating figure. Bucky cocoons you with his warmth and the feel of his chest even breathing slowly reeling you back to the present.

He turns you in his embrace, laying you flat on the bed as he remains on his side. You didn’t know you had been crying until the cool pad of his metal fingers and warmth of his flesh thumb wipe them from your cheeks.

“You didn’t have a choice Toots, you were their weapon.” You shake your head in his hands.

“No you didn’t have a choice, I did. I could have left,” Bucky’s lips downturn at the omission. “I choose to kill those people for them and I will work until my dying breath to kill the right ones from now on.” Not wanting to talk about it anymore, you bury your face into his chest and sigh with content at the feel of Bucky’s embrace and smell surrounding you.

“I’m not saying we had the same choices or the same circumstances that led us to do what we did but I will say,” Bucky pauses lifting your chin up but you keep your eyes closed.

“Don't ever tame your demons Toots, they keep you alive.” Opening your eyes you hold your breath at the sight of moonlight illuminating his face. You knew Bucky was handsome but coupled with his words and gentle touch you never believed a human being could be so beautiful to you. It scared you.

Burrowing your face back into his chest he lets out a soft chuckle. He wraps his arms around you, dipping his face down into your hair, inhaling deep. The two of you slowly drift to sleep.

#james buchanan barnes #james barnes #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x Female Reader #eventual smut #canon violence #james bucky barnes x reader

144 notes · View notes

amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines · 5 years

Text

Betty//a promise is a promise...no matter what

Request: May I please request a farmie reader x betty cooper where reader helps her take down the farm and rescue Betty's friends and family and the two fall in love with each other and at the end there is a big fluffy reveal of there love for each other

hey! i’m starting to sprinkle a little conversation in before you guys read anything again, because well, i feel like i don’t talk to you guys enough. and if i haven’t got anything to talk about, i’ll figure something out. anyway, i hope you like it! (i also have nothing to talk about thats got anything to do with this sooooo, i hope you like it?)

“What’s he like?” Betty Cooper’s voice distracts you mid-thought. Your hiding in one of the bathroom stalls over lunch time because sitting with the farm is too much and sitting anywhere else is frowned upon, so you’ve had to resort to eating your lunch in the toilets.

“Younger than I thought.” Cheryl replies and you stop eating, quietly putting your lunch away so you can listen to what they’re talking about. “Also, count him among the hot dads of Riverdale, because Mr Evernever is a yummy snack.” She adds and your eyes widen. They’re talking about Edgar. Ever since the farm came to Riverdale, Betty’s been two steps behind it, and honestly you’d be quite impressed, if it wasn’t a huge pain in the ass and extremely dangerous for her. “He’s also a great listener.”

“Cheryl, this is huge! You’re in with Edgar.” hardly. “Which means I have a few questions I need you to ask him, okay?” big mistake. “Why did Edgar decide to come to Riverdale now?” because he was close to being caught in the last town. “And how many members does he plan on recruiting?” the whole town...for now. “And most importantly-” Betty is cut off by the door opening and the entire room goes silent, apart from the creaky door...and then.

“Excuse you!” Cheryl shouts. “We are having a private conversation. Can you leave?” You hear whoever she was shouting at sob before leaving and then she continues like nothing has happened. Very Cheryl Blossom, and you’re not entirely sure how her and Betty could be related. “Go on, cousin.”

“You said Edgar recorded your interview. I need you to find out where he stores those tapes. If I can get my hands on my mom and Polly’s, then the farm won’t have any leverage over my family.”

“I’ll try my best.” Cheryl replies. “Tbh, I kind of enjoyed talking to Eddie.” She admits and you feel your heart drop. Not another one. Not someone else. Nobody can make the same mistake you did. You hear Cheryl’s heels clicking across the tiled floor before the door swings open and closes, and you can just make out Betty walking towards the door.

Its now or never.

“Itsnotaseasyasthat.” Your words all rush into each other as you scramble to open the stall door. Betty freezes at your words before turning to face you and you can see the terror that travels through her entire body as she realizes its you. The first student of Riverdale High to join the farm...the first one to be brainwashed by Edgar and the farmies.

“What?” She asks and takes a few steps towards you. You take that as permission to come further out the stall, your bag slung over your shoulder as you play with the straps awkwardly.

“Its not as easy as that. Edgar isn’t going to trust her, not fully. He’s going to know that you guys are related and its only a matter of time before he puts the pieces together and figures out that she’s spying. Plus, I saw Cheryl at the farm, and I don’t think its going to be pretend for much longer. They promised Cheryl the only thing she can’t have, she’s going to take it. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Is that right?” She asks, raising an eyebrow as she stares daggers at you.

“Yeah.” You nod quietly and look at the floor.

“And why should I believe you? You’re part of them. For all I know you’ve been sent by Edgar to spy on me.”

“...i’d never do that.” You whisper.

“Why? Because we used to be friends a long time ago?”

“Yeah.”

“That doesn’t mean anything anymore. We grew up, one of us more than the other.” She looks you up and down. “So, I’m gonna do this my own way, and you’re not going to say anything about what you just heard...you know, to keep our friendship.” She spits before storming out.

------

“Cheryl!” Betty’s hushed tone makes you look up from your locker and across the hall. “I called you a dozen times. I was beyond worried.”

“Why? I texted you I was fine.” She replies annoyed and you sigh.

“Well, what was in that room Edgar took you to?”

“None of your business.” She huffs. “Also, I’m done being your mole. It’s disrespectful, not to mention illegal.”

“Okay, I was gonna say the same thing. You should stop going to the Farm before Edgar catches on to you.”

“Oh, I’m still going to go. I’m just done working for you.”

“Cheryl-” She starts but Cheryl cuts her off before she can even try and talk her out of it.

“Toodles.” She says before storming away and you take that as your cue to leave also, not wanting to get on the bad side of Betty today. You walk past her as quickly and quietly as possible but she grabs your arm before you have the chance to go anywhere making you look around the hallway for any signs of other farmies.

“Okay...you can help.” She nods. “But I need to know you’re actually on my side. Meet me in the supply closet on the second floor after school.” She whispers before letting you go.

----

“Whats your deal Y/n?” Betty dragged you into the supply closet as soon as she heard the knock on the door. She recognized it instantly, despite it being well over five years since she last heard it.

“What?” You ask startled as she pins you against a shelf.

“You know what. I don’t have time to be double crossed so if anybody from the farm sent you to spy on me, I will make sure they know I’m not to be messed with.”

“Betty.” You pry her hands from your t-shirt and they drop to her sides. “I really want to help you. I hate being part of the farm. Its awful. I want out, but its too late for me. For your mom and Polly its not though and I can help them. Same with Cheryl and the twins. They can’t stay there, it’ll destroy their lives, plus the people around them. There’s no hope for me, or even my parents. But I can help you. So please, let me.” You sigh, tears welling in your eyes as you look at the dusty floor.

“okay.” Betty nods. “Y/n?” She asks and you glance at her quickly. “Thank you.”

“Its fine.” You shrug.

“And Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll get you out of there. I promise.” She holds her pinky out to you making you smile, despite the tears in your eyes.

“Promise.” You nod and connect your pinkies, the two of you giggling quietly.

----

Things at the farm move in mysterious ways.

You put an object down, leave a room and when you come back its moved from your bed to the floor. People seem to appear and disappear all the time. They go for a procedure, come back limping. Edgar is a psycho that prays on the weak and vulnerable to brainwash them into doing what he wants them to do, like he’s some sort of sick God. And there’s definitely something more to him and Evelyn that just a father-daughter bond. Its weird.

And its at times like this that you wonder why you even joined in the first place. The more you think about all the weird shit that goes on, the more you wonder what lured you here in the first place. You can’t figure out what they promised you, but maybe you’ve been hypnotized too many times to remember anything. You’re family are here, so maybe thats why you joined. But you’re parents are smarter than this. They wouldn’t let you ride a bike until you were 13 because they were worried about you falling off and hitting your head, so no way would they join this...cult. Thats what it is. Its a cult disguised as a safe place, and even then its disguised very thinly. You can see the cracks if you look closely enough, not even Edgar Evernever can cover everything up. You wonder if the rest of your family know where you are. If they think you’ve been kidnapped or if you just ran away...in a weird way its kind of both. You did run away, but now you can’t escape.

And now Betty Cooper seems to be your only hope.

Speaking of Betty Cooper, you swear you’ve just seen the sway of her ponytail pass your room making you scramble off your bed and to the door, opening it as quietly as you can.

“Betty!” You whisper shout and she freezes before turning around. She visibly relaxes at the sight of you and it makes a nice difference from the first time she saw you in the girls bathroom. “What the hell are you doing here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” You hurry towards her and the two of you look around the dark corridor for any signs of life.

“I need to get those tapes.”

“You need to wait until a safer time.” You retort and she crosses her arms. “There are farmies roaming all over this place thanks to the open house.”

“I need to save my mom.”

“You need to be alive before you save Alice. And this, is suicide.”

“Just, tell me where the tapes are Y/n.”

“Fine.” You huff. “They’re in there.” You point the door on the right to the two of you and she smiles brightly at you, her hand hovering over the handle.

“Not that one. Thats the Traitor room.”

“The Traitor room?” She repeats.

“Just a nickname.” You laugh. “I hope.” You add and she giggles a little. “Its always locked and sometimes you hear funny noises but I think thats just the ghosts.” You shrug. “The room you need is the one next to it.”

“Thank you. Was that so hard?”

“Easy for you to say.” You mumble as you follow her. “You’re not the one that they’ll punish for being a traitor if they find out about this.” She rolls her eyes at your statement before unlocking the door and you have to admit, she is pretty good at picking locks. Although you do want to know how and why she learnt how to do that.

“Brothers and sisters, good evening.” Edgars voice sounds over the tannoy and the two of you freeze to look around again. “It warms my heart to see so many new faces with us here tonight. Including our newest initiate, Cheryl Blossom.” He continues and when the two of you are sure there’s nobody around you follow her into the dusty room. “Welcome to our community, Cheryl.”

“Damn it, Cheryl.” She mutters to herself. “Why?” She asks and you shrug. You’re not entirely sure what they offered her but you knew it was the only thing she couldn’t have anymore.

“May the one become many.” She sighs when she hears Cheryl speaking but continues to look through the tapes anyway, while you search on the other side.

“And the many, one.” The rest of the farmies say and Betty pauses to look at you.

“Shouldn’t you be with them?”

“Yep.” You shrug. “If they ask why I skipped, I’ll just say I didn’t feel well and didn’t want to risk anyone else.”

“Oh...” She looks away, not really sure what to say. “Its an alpha-numeric system.” Sh mumbles to herself and you look at her confused.

“Brothers and sisters, you’ve all come here tonight under great scrutiny and judgement from your friends, and neighbors. And possibly even your own family.” You glance at Betty while Edgar drones on but she refuses to make eye contact, instead moving further into the room. “But only through great sacrifice will your lives be full. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the bounty.”

“Cooper!” She smiles triumphantly and you send her a small smile back.

“Plant your seed, brothers and sisters.” He continues and both of you scrunch your face at his choice of words. “Plant it in the Earth.”

“Two down, one to go.” She tells you and you nod, the reality of the situation now finally sinking in. This could be your way out. You’re not sure how, but it could be. And it feels like with Betty on your side you could do almost anything.

“And watch it grow.”

“Is he still going on?” She asks sarcastically, the two of you feeling a little more confident now that you’re closer to finding what you need.

“Spread it to others.”

“Does he hear what he’s saying?” She asks making you giggle softly, and the noise ignites something in her. It makes her feel light and happy and she has to take a moment to remember where she is. She hasn’t felt that happen to her since her and Jughead started to date. Maybe its this place. Maybe there’s something in the air that makes you feel lightheaded and like your heart is going to beat out of your chest. “Yes! I’ve got it. Lets get out of here.” She shoves the tapes in her bag before grabbing your hand and pulling you through the stacks of tapes. The door locks behind you, leaving you both stood in the eerily quiet corridor. “Thank you.” She mumbles and you nod before going back to your room.

“Where are you going now?” You ask.

“To save Cheryl...someone has to.”

“Be safe Betty.” You tell her and she smiles softly.

“I will. I promise.”

----

“Y/n?” Betty’s voice startles you while you’re looking in you locker and you end up bumping your head off the door as you turn to look at her. You and Betty had agreed not talk in school so it didn’t look suspicious, plus a lot of things had happened over the past few days so you were both kind of two busy to actually talk to each other, much to both of yours dismay.

“Betty? I thought we agreed not to talk at school.”

“I know.” She replies casually, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone. “But I needed to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“Well, Junior Prom is coming up and I was wondering if you were going?” She leans against the locker beside yours and you take a minute to look around the busy hallways to see if anyone is looking.

“No, its er not really my thing.” You shake your head and swap some books over. “Are you?”

“Yeah, me and Jughead are going.”

“...cool.” You reply and now its your turn to try and hide your disappointment. Whenever she mentions his name you can’t help the sinking feeling that occurs in your chest.

“Undercover reasons only of course.” She adds and you force a smile.

“Is that the only reason you’d ever go to a prom?”

“There’s one more reason.” She replies and the way she’s looking at you makes it difficult for you to breathe for a few seconds.

“An-d whats that?” You stutter.

“Y/n? Betty? What are you two chatting about?” Evelyn ruins the moment you were having and you’ve never hated her more.

“Homework.” You both reply at the same time.

“Well, thanks for the help Y/n. I’ll see you around. Bye Evelyn.” Betty smiles politely at the two of you before wandering away.

----

The loud sounds of the hall gets quieter and quieter the further away you walk from it. You’d decided to be brave and go to prom (not at all because Betty would be there and you wanted to see her in her dress), however when you got there, they were announcing prom queen (it was betty !!!!!) and she was nowhere to be seen, so you decided to go see if she was okay.

The corridors seem oddly dark as you walk slowly down them and you’re sure you can hear someone running around a little away from you, but then you see a swoosh of blonde hair run behind you and you whip your head round to see the back of someone dress, followed by heavy footsteps. You duck behind a corner and watch a man with a balaclava over his face, stops and looks around before continuing after her.

It takes you less than a minute to get to where this psycho was banging on a closet door but it feels like an eternity, especially when he turns around and see’s you staring at him.

“Shit.” You mumble. Its kind of ironic that the deathly cult you joined a year ago isn’t thing that kills you, its the weirdo with the mask and a hook for a hand. “Hey, so, is there a chance that we could maybe talk about this?” You stumble over your sentence as he moves towards you slowly, scraping his hook against the wall and the sound alone makes you want a nice, sudden death. Betty’s screaming has turned into loud crying and that brings you at least a little bit of comfort, but then again, he could kill you and then her so whats really the point. “So, is that a yes?” You ask as you start to walk backwards, you trip over your dress a little and mentally curse at the stupidly pretty thing. “Is that a no?” Your now pinned to the wall, his arm over your chest while he raises his hand and you squeeze your eyes closed, your life flashing before your eyes.

This is how you’re going to die.

Your hand presses against the cold wall and you desperately try to move...to find anything...anything that can help you. And then...

Thank God for Cheryl’s insistence on potted plants around the school.

Your eyes snap open and you look him in the eye, before looking just behind him.

“Oh, hey Sheriff Jones. Didn’t see you there.” He spins around quickly and your distraction gives you enough time to pick up the plant and smash it over his head, causing him to fall to the floor with a loud thud. You give him a kick in the ribs, just for good measure before running to the room Betty’s hiding in. “Betty?” You bang on the door. “Its me. Its fine. Please open the door.”

“Y/n?” The door swings open and she falls into your arms, the two of you ending up on the floor in an admittedly awkward position.

“Are you okay?” You scan her face for any injuries.

“I’m fine yeah.” She nods. “But he’s back. The Black Hood is back.” Her voice trembles and the two of you look behind you, the corridor now empty apart from the smashed pot.

“Its okay.” You pull her back into a hug and stroke her hair. “You look very nice in your dress by the way.”

“Thanks.” She mumbles. “You look great too. But why are you here?”

“Do you really think I’d turn down an opportunity to take down a bad guy with Betty Cooper?” You ask and she stares at you, a playful smile finding its way to her face.

“But you didn’t know any of this would happen. So why are you really here?”

“I wanted to see you.” You admit shyly and her smile grows.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” You nod. “I always want to see you.” She pulls away from you ever so slightly to look up at you. Her breath is warm on your cheek and your heartbeat hammers in your chest as you lean in towards her. She takes a deep breath before also moving, her lips grazing over yours and-

“Betty? Are you down here?” You hear Jughead’s voice all the way down the corridor and she practically jumps away from you. “Betty where have you been?” He’s beside her in seconds, effectively pushing you out the way while he hugs her tightly. She glances up at you before returning the hug, tears rolling down her cheek as she she buries her head in his shoulder and you take that as your hint to leave, wiping your own tears away as you go.

----

“Can I join you guys?” Chills travel through your entire body as soon as you hear that voice and your head instantly lifts to find where she is.

“Oh, of course, cousin.” Cheryl replies with a bright smile and everyone at the table moves a little so Betty can sit down. The two of you make brief eye contact while she sits but she just shrugs at you before making conversation with Fangs.

“Fangs, are you okay?” She asks when she notices him groaning.

“Yeah, I’m still a little sore. But the big pain is gone now.” He replies and everyone smiles at him, well everyone but you and Betty. You’re trying to eat as quickly as possible so you can go back to your room and try and figure out a way to get Betty out, and Betty is trying to figure out whats happening so she can get you out.

“What are you talking about?” She asks, glancing at you for a split second.

“Fangs had a minor procedure done.” Kevin explains casually.

“What kind of procedure did you have?” She asks and the table goes silent, everyone taking side glances at each other until finally Cheryl speaks up.

“Its a...purging of all of the pain thats been crushing us. I can’t wait for mine to be gone, too.”

“Hold on. Cheryl, you’re in pain? Like, physical pain?” Betty’s voice is full of worry and you can’t help your heart melting at least a little because of how she sweet she is. God, she doesn’t deserve to be here. Why was she even here in the first place? This wasn’t the plan. You were supposed to be her spy, you stay on the inside, she stays on the outside where she can’t get hurt.

“Well, its just part of Edgar’s methods. He transforms our emotional pain into physical pain, so its easier to treat, and banish.”

“But me first, babe.” Toni jumps in.

“Thats right. Tee-Tee’s next in line.” The two share a moment and you have to refrain from rolling your eyes. You always thought Cheryl was quite clever, and you definitely thought Toni would be smarter than this, but nope, they’ve managed to get themselves caught up in some cult thats operating on its members for reasons unbeknownst to you. But then again, you did also join so you must be just as idiotic that the rest of them.

“For me, the tenderness in my back only lasted a few days. But it was so worth it.” Kevin starts talking but you tune out, you’re watching Betty watch him curiously and then she suddenly lifts his shirt up revealing a scar all along his side.

“Oh, my God, Kevin!” Her eyes widen and Kevin stands quickly, everybody at the table staring at her. “That scar is not from a minor procedure. Thats from major surgery.”

“Don’t ever do that again, Betty.” He replies coldly before storming off, Fangs quickly following after. Cheryl turns away from her, effectively freezing her out and starts talking to Toni and so you take the opportunity to leave. You quickly stand up, starting the short walk back to your room, however your sure you can hear footsteps behind you and just when you’ve made it to your room the door closes behind you and Betty is stood in front of it.

“Betty! What the hell are you thinking? Why are you here?” You walk towards her quickly and she’s fully expecting you to shout at her, but you don’t. You wrap your arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug, and despite the fact that she’s in a dingy room, in possibly the most dangerous place in Riverdale, she feels a little safer with your arms around her, and to your surprise you do to. She squeezes you a little to hard causing you to wince and she instantly pulls back, her eyes full of worry as she scans your body for any injuries, despite the fact that you’re full clothed.

“They didn’t do anything to you right?” Her gaze lands on your left side and her fingers gently graze against the material of your t-shirt. Your breath hitches as she lifts it up a little and she looks at you, trying to find any objection in your eyes to what she’s done. When she’s sure your okay with it, she lifts it up a little to reveal your side, injury free, and she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“You just squeezed me a little to hard. Thats all.” You reply and she nods before bringing you back into a hug. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” The panic is back in your voice and her heart flutters a little.

“After everything at prom with the black hood I think it actually might be safer for me to stay here.” She laughs bitterly and you pull away slowly.

“Yeah.” You laugh. “That is surprising. Come on.” You guide her towards your bed and the two of you sit down, your legs pressed together as you wrap an arm around her.

“Me and Jughead broke up.”

“Oh.” You frown, despite the small spark of joy thats ignited. “Why?”

She hesitates for a moment, as if she’s trying to find the right words, until she gives up.

“We grew apart.” Her answer is vague, but you decide not to push her anymore.

“I’m sorry.”

“Its not your fault.” She shrugs. Lies. Its all your fault. I love you, not him.

“I’m still sorry.” You reply.

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” She asks and you move to look at her.

“What? No. Not at all. Who the hell said that!?!”

“Just, something my mom said.”

“In the nicest possible way, your mom’s been brainwashed, she barely knows the difference between the real world and dreams.”

“Yeah...I suppose so.” She trails off, seeming to get lost in thought and you squeeze her hand making her look at you.

“Whatever they’ve said. Its not true okay? Bad people don’t try and help their family and friends. They don’t help strangers, and thats exactly what you’re doing. You’re incredible Betty Cooper.” The blush that creeps up her neck seems to match yours as you look her in the eyes, you could get lost in them, so lost, and you’d never tire of them. Or of her smile, or just of her. And you need to get her out of here. “Now, come on Betty. We’ve got to figure out what they’re cutting out of us because I’m after Toni Topaz.” You grimace and her eyes widen.

“What!?” She stands up, pulling you with her. “I won’t let them do anything to you.”

“I know you won’t.” You reply, and you know she’s telling the truth.

“Y/n?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re not a bad person either.”

“Thanks.” You shrug and you so desperately want to believe her.

“Wait!” She calls after you and you stop by the door. “I got you something.”

“What?” You ask confused and make your way back towards her.

“Its just something little, and well, it was mine, hence why it has my initials on it, but I thought you might like it.” She places the small locket in your hand making you smile brightly as you stare at it. “Its got a picture of us in when we were like 11 at Archie’s birthday party, you know, the one with the bouncy castle and Reggie-”

“Reggie broke his arm.” You laugh. “Yeah, I remember. That was really funny. He cried like a baby.” Its nice to be reminded of simpler times, however much it stings at the same time. You go back to a time where everybody was friends, nothing bad had happened in the small town you called home and you and your friends were still innocent before the world had taken that away from all of you.

“So did you when you saw the bone sticking out of his skin.” She retorts making you gag.

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. That was gross. And at least I didn’t throw up, all over the buffet table.”

“Wow. Okay. There was no need to bring that up.” She feigns offense.

“I thought your mom was going to have a fit when she saw you’d thrown up over the sandwiches she’d made.”

“To be fair. Those sandwiches were disgusting. I don’t know why she made them...” She trails off and you reach a hand out to her which she gladly takes.

“We’ll get her back. I promise.”

“I know.” She nods. “Anyway, lets go find out what Edgar’s doing now.”

“Yeah.” You nod. “Hopefully he’s not harvesting organs.”

“That would be ridiculous.”

----

The past who knows how long has been a nightmare. The last thing you remember is Cheryl helping Toni escape. You’d lost track of Betty hours ago, but you’re pretty sure you heard screaming from a room no one is aloud in.

You’d tried to find her. Fought, screamed everything to get to her, but she had just vanished, and as soon as you thought you got close to her, footsteps approached you from behind and then everything went dark.

That was until you woke up in an empty room, tied to a chair with blood dripping down your head. The good thing is you’re pretty sure you’re still at the farm, the bad thing is, you can’t hear anything. Its silent, nobody is walking about outside, you can usually hear people chanting but nothing.

You’re completely alone.

Betty hadn’t had the best night either. She’s almost had a lobotomy, then she’d been kidnapped and then her and her friends had been hunted down through the forest all night until Cheryl and Toni turned up.

Now she was running through the halls of the sisters in a desperate attempt to find you. You’d been the first person she’d asked Cheryl about, and when Cheryl told her that Edgar was planning on ascending, she knew she didn’t have much time. She needed to find you and her family. And quickly.

“Help!” You cry out for probably the thousandth time. Your voice is quiet, your throat sore and scratchy from all the shouting you’ve been doing even though you know there’s no use. You’re going to die in here, tied to a bed and then you’ll be found by a bunch of kids and become another one of Riverdale’s urban legends. You can only imagine what people are going to say about you.

And what about your family? Where are your parents? Do they know you’ve been locked in here or has Edgar told them some made up story. You’re never going to see them again. Never going to see your mom’s smile when your dad does something stupid. Your dad’s never going to hug you again, or tell you stupid jokes when your sad. All the past arguments, boring conversations or amazing memories you’ve taken for granted.

You failed.

You didn’t save anyone.

Not even yourself.

Your tears fall fast, loud sobs echo through the room. Before you cried quietly in the dead at night, but now, who the hell cares. There’s nobody to hear you. You may as well cry loudly...as a sick treat before you die a slow painful death.

“Kevin.” Betty is honestly shocked to find her former best friend sat alone in the chapel. She’s shocked to see him alive to be honest, and she quickly looks around to see if there’s anybody else with him...if you’re with him.

“They left me.” He says, his voice void of emotion and the group share a look. “I wanted to go, but they said that someone had to stay behind and explain what happened.”

“What did happen?” Archie asks.

“The worthy ascended, of course.”

“Who did? Where’s my mom? Polly? And Y/n?”

“Gone.” He replies simply. “Everyone is. And we’ll never see them again.”

“No, no, no. That can’t be right.” She argues and Veronica places a gentle hand on her arm. It doesn’t feel right. Its not comforting, its suffocating, its not like yours. Your hands are always so soft and warm and she always feels safe whenever you hold her hands, or if your fingers accidentally graze her. They make her feel safe. You make her feel safe. Safer than she ever has before, and now you’re gone and she let you down.

The realization of this causes her to fall to the floor, her dress bunching around her and in any other scenario it would have looked stunning, she would have looked like a princess, despite the mud on her face and twigs in her hair. But right now she just looks broken. As broken as Kevin. She let you down. She let her family down and now you’re all probably dead.

There was so many things she needed to do.

A night of running for your life really puts things into perspective. And she finally realized whats been missing in her life.

You

Its always been you.

You make her feel safe and special and like she can do anything. You make her happy, and she feels like she can be herself around you. You literally sacrificed yourself to help her save her family, you all knew what would happen if they found out you were a traitor, but you did it anyway. And for what?

“Did Y/n ascend?” Cheryl is the one to break the silence but Betty barely hears it.

“Dunno.” Kevin shrugs.

“Well think about it.” She snaps. Everyone here knows what you’ve done for them. Betty told them all about you on the way here and now they understand how much you’ve helped them all. They can all see how much you meant to her, and its like they’re hearts are breaking too.

“She asked me if I’d seen Betty and I said no. And then there was a scream and she started running and I didn’t see her after that. But I did walk past her room and I think she’d dropped this.” Kevin holds up a necklace and Betty snatches it from his hands.

“Its hers...well mine.” He fingers trace the engraving delicately. “But she didn’t drop it, its broken.” She opens the locket, expecting to see the photo of the two of you, but when she see’s whats actually inside her eyes widen and she drops it to the floor.

“What?” Jughead asks. “What is it?” He repeats and picks up the locket. The rest of the group gather around him to look inside, all of them gasping when they see what it is. The small faces in the photo have been scratched out, and there’s a small piece of paper with the word ‘traitor’ scribbled on.

“Shit.” Toni mumbles.

“Traitor.” Betty mutters to herself and everyone looks at her. “Traitor!” She stands up suddenly and runs out of the room.

“Betty?!” Veronica calls after her. “Where are you going?”

“Traitor!” She shouts over her shoulder. “Traitor room.” She mumbles to herself before forcing herself to run faster. “I’m coming to get you.” She whispers. “I promise.”

You lean your head against the metal frame of the bed. Your wrists are killing you, your head is pounding and you really need to pee so you’ve given up. You’re pretty sure you have a few broken ribs because you rattle when you breath and you know thats not normal. And to be honest, its quite rude to beat someone up when you’re knocked out, thats cheating. And if The Farm had a complaints box, that would be the first one in. Well, after the organ harvesting, brainwashing, sacrifices, you know, the important stuff.

You’re just about to drift off when your hear the door rattling.

“Y/n!” There’s a loud knocking on the door and now your fully awake because you’d recognize that voice from anywhere.

“Betty?” You croak out.

“Y/n? Are you in there?” She pounds on the door and you can hear more people outside, all trying to open the door. “Wait.” You hear her shout and the banging stops. A few seconds pass and you’re heart is in your throat as you hear a few clicks and then the doors being pushed open and Betty is by your side instantly.

“You’re okay.” She wraps her arms around you. “You’re alright...you’re alive.”

“That I am Cooper.” You mumble against her neck. “I would hug you back but I’m kind of tied to a bed. And surprisingly, that is the first time I’ve ever said that...or is it?” You ask and she giggles, despite the tears flowing down her cheeks.

“Don’t worry.” She pulls away and unties you. As soon as the last knot is free your arms around her and she’s hugging you tighter than ever before.

“Ow!” You wince in pain and she lets go a little.

“Did they...” She trails off and lets go of your properly. Her hands graze your t-shirt, just like they did a few weeks ago and its weird to think about how much can change in just a short period of time.

“Its just a couple of broken bones. I don’t think I have anything missing.” You reply and she quickly pulls your t-shirt up a little, her breath hitching as the sight of your bruised body. “But I’m fine.” You smile.

“I love you.” She says quickly and your eyes widen.

“Wait? Is this happening? Or am I hallucinating because I’m pretty sure I have a concussion.”

“No.” She shakes her head. “This is really happening. I love you Y/n Y/l/n. And I’m never going to stop. I thought you were dead for two minutes and it was the worst two minutes of my life. I never want to feel that again, I think I’d honestly rather die, because thats what it felt like. It felt like a part of me died and I love you. I love you so damn much.”

“I love you too.” You reply and the two of you smile softly at each other. Her hands cup your cheeks gently and she leans in, pressing the lightest kiss to your lips before pulling back, and its enough to make you feel dizzy.

“This belongs to you.” She hands you the locket and you smile as you take it from her, however you grimace when you open it.

“Yikes.”

“Sorry.” She apologizes when she realizes what she did. “I’ll get you a new one.”

“Okay.” You laugh and she stands up, helping you to your feet afterwards. “Betty Cooper...you look like shit.”

“I know.” She laughs. “But if I knew we were going to have this big reunion, I would have made an effort. Put on a pretty pink dress, done my hair and makeup, dressed up a little.”

“Oh well.” You shrug. “There’s always the next near death experience.”

“I am done with near death experience.” Veronica chimes in and its only then that you realize there’s other people in the room with you.

“Me too.” Archie agrees and grabs her hand.

“There’s always going to be near death experiences.” Jughead sighs. “Its us.”

“Fair enough.” Betty agrees and wraps your arm around her waist so she can help you walk.

“So, did we save the world?” You ask as you start the long walk back to normality.

“Almost.” Betty replies.

“Better get to it the-woah.” You start to fall a little and she holds you tighter.

“Better get you to a hospital first.”

“Good idea.” You nod. “Then we’ll save the world.”

#betty cooper #betty cooper imagine #betty cooper x reader #betty cooper x you #riverdale #riverdale imagine

106 notes · View notes

saharamae21 · 4 years

Text

Never Ran Smooth (Part 24)

Two updates in a few hours! Wow! Maybe I’m just so excited to work on a sequel that I’m writing extra quick! Only ONE more chapter before the end of Never Ran Smooth!

_______________________________________

More than cool reason ever comprehends

We sat there for a while before police sirens finally ran out. Jasper ran out to the road and flagged them down. They asked me if I needed an ambulance or if I was alright to go speak to the police about John B. I told them I was fine and Jasp helped me to my feet. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but the pain didn’t seem all that bad to walk. I made my way over to the police car and got in, Jasp shortly after me. I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering as I sat in the squad car. My mind raced with thoughts of John and the others. Then out of nowhere, a radio signal interrupted my thoughts.

“Command, this is Shoupe at the suspect's residence. We just had a confirmed sighting,” my heart was beating so fast as I listened carefully. “Suspect is currently headed north on Middle Road…”

There was a long pause and I felt the anticipation eating me alive. John had escaped the police again, but why the pause?

“...in a Kildare County Sheriff's vehicle.” Shoupe’s voice said in an embarrassed tone. I bursted out laughing. I couldn’t contain it.

“Do you think murder is funny?” The cop driving yelled back at me.

“No sir,” I said and pressed my lips together. Jasp looked like he was cracking up too, but it was short lived. I gathered all of my courage and spoke loud and clear. “John B didn’t kill Peterkin.”

I had to make sure everyone knew the truth. I tried to say more, but the cop began to get more and more upset. Jasper looked at me and I could tell he wanted me to stop, but how could I? My friends' lives were on the line. I argued all the way back to the harbor.

When we got there, it was hectic. The police had brought in mainland agents to assist with the arrest of John B. Tents were set up and people were everywhere. Jasper and I were led to a tent with a couple agents. The walls were thin and everyone looked terribly stressed out. They told me a medic would be with us soon, but that they had a couple of questions for us first. I was just about to tell them the truth when Ward Cameron came into the tent.

“Where’s Sarah?” he asked me. “Where is she?”

He sounded desperate. Maybe it was because she knew the truth. I looked him in the eyes as I spoke.

“We know what you did,” I was confident. He could tell I wasn’t bluffing.

“Sir, she’s friends with my daughter and these boys have brainwashed them into believing everything they say,” he said. I began protesting and yelling at him. “She’s dating a felon. I wouldn’t trust anything she says.” “Say one more word about JJ!” I yelled. I got up, but the adrenaline was wearing off. I fell to my knees.

“Bet her boyfriend did that to her,” he said, while exiting the tent. “That boy comes from a broken family.”

My brother stormed out after him to give him a piece of his mind. When he came back, he had the medic with him. They sat me up on a cot and the medic began to examine my side. My ribs were still broken, but nothing looked too serious. I was told that I would have to go for a check up after this commotion was over, but for now they needed me to answer some questions. They gave me some very strong pain killers and sent an agent in.

“Ma'am, I’m gonna ask you a few questions,” the man said. I looked at him and nodded.

“Who did this to you? Was it a friend? Boyfriend?” he hinted at JJ and I felt rage fill me.

“JJ would never hurt me,” I said firmly. “I can tell you exactly who did this. It was Rafe Cameron’s friend Barry. They’ve been following us and they ambushed us. JJ wouldn’t touch me.”

I sat there and watched the man profile me. I knew he could tell I wasn’t lying.

“You’re friends with that man’s daughter,” the agent stated. I nodded. I watched him carefully and noticed him contemplating a question for me. “What can you tell me about the murder of Sheriff Peterkin?”

“Short version or long version?” I asked. I listened to the agent tell me that he needed to know everything I knew. “It wasn’t John B.”

The wind picked up outside and the sun was almost completely set. I heard a commotion outside. I stopped talking and heard a few familiar voices. I got up, the painkillers really taking affect and stumbled to the tent next to mine. There were the pogues, without John B. JJ saw me and pulled me into his arms. I felt tears falling down my face.

“Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded and buried my face in his chest. “Did you give you something?”

Once again I nodded. I could feel the drug really starting to affect me as I stood in his arms. The agent ran into the room after me. If he had doubts about whether or not JJ did this to me, they were now gone. The way JJ held me said it all. He held me closely, yet carefully. He had one hand on the back of my head, caressing my hair, and one on the small of my back. He was checking me out for signs of pain anywhere and he was looking at me like nothing else mattered other than my safety.

“Miss, you need to come back to the other tent and finish answering questions,” the agent said. I let out a big yawn and nodded. I walked carefully to the next tent and laid down on the cot.

“John B didn’t kill Peterkin,” I started again, only this time my train of thought wasn’t there. I was tired and I just wanted to be with JJ. “It was Rafe. Rafe Cameron did it.”

The agent stared at me. I could see the gears in his mind shifting as if he was putting something together. He eyed me carefully for any sign of lying, but I was too drugged out to care. I yawned once again and asked if I could sleep now. The agent agreed, knowing that he wouldn’t get anything cohesive out of me anymore.

“JJ!” I yelled and he ran over, Shoupe not far behind him. I lifted my arms, wanting him to bring me into the other tent to be with the others. He picked me up carefully and walked with me over to the other tent. We sat on the ground and I stared up at him. Wow. He’s so handsome. I reached up and took his hat, placing it on my head and giggled. He smiled at me.

“It looks cute on ya,” he said. “Maybe I should get you one.”

I smiled and looked over at Kie and Pope. Pope reached over and slid his hand on top of Kie’s. I stared and JJ laughed.

“Weird right?” he asked. “Stop staring. Kie kissed him earlier too.”

I stared up at him, jaw dropped. He smiled at me and I leaned forward to kiss him quickly. I laid my head on JJ’s shoulder and closed my eyes.

“So, did they get away?” I asked.

“John got on the boat,” he said. “Now all we have to do is pray he makes it.”

I sighed in agreement. I nestled my head into the crook of his neck and he wrapped his arm around me. All we could do now is pray.

________________________________________

Tag List : @jjmaybangme @thebendslikebendover@justcallmesams@jellyfishbeansontoast @obxmxybxnk @prejudic3

Get Added To The Tag List!

20 notes · View notes

gccdnews · 4 years

Text

Did you see JESSICA DREW from MARVEL walking around Limbo? The CISFEMALE looks like ALICIA VIKANDER, and is NINETY SEVEN years old. I’ve heard she can be VIRTUOUS & WITTY but also COCKSURE & REACTIVE. When I think of them I think of HELPING THE INNOCENT BY HOSPITALIZING THE GUILTY, RAISING SPIDER-BABY, THE GREATEST QUIPS OF ALL TIME BITCHCAKES. They’ve been here WITHOUT their memories as an PI & FIGHTER at BAKER STREET INVESTIGATIONS & UNDERGROUND FIGHT CLUB for SIX MONTHS. I heard they’re seeking a sanctum.

// whew. jess has a history™. it's long af and spans nearly a century so im not gonna go into crazy detail, but it's still lengthy. and i'm also gonna modify just a bit to fit in with the mcu for plotting reasons and stuff. if you don’t really care about her full history then there’s some bullet points toward the bottom.

she was born in england in 1924 and brought as a small child to the transia (it's a small, fictional slavic country) where her father was conducting research. unfortunately due to her being a small child, she contracted uranium poisoning from her father's work and had to be placed in a cryogenic chamber and treated with radiation and a highly experimental serum derived from the blood/genes of various species of spider.

she spent decades in stasis, educated subliminally with special tapes. when she was finally awakened she had only aged into her early teens, but she'd developed superhuman abilities.

grew up, moved away, met a dude, fell in love, then accidentally killed him with her powers. so yeah that kinda torments her still to this day. well, when she still remembered it anyway.

got recruited into hydra who she was led to believe were the good guys, had her memories suppressed, was told the high evolutionary basically a "god" figure, idek evolved her from a spider into a human woman, had an agent pretend to fall in love with her, etc etc. basically got gaslit and brainwashed into becoming a high ranking member until she was put out on a field assignment and told to assassinate nick fury. during the mission he told her what hydra really was and she dropped their asses.

got her memories back from mordred the mystic, then lived in a shitty apartment in london for a while. ended up breaking into a convenience store across the street at one point to get some food, but got noticed by shield agent jerry hunt who pretty much hounded her until she dyed her hair and created a secret identity to hide from him

did the hero thing for a while, moved to l.a., dated jerry, became a bounty hunter, moved to san francisco, became a p.i., superhero'd some more, met carol danvers 😍

went on a mission to finally take down longtime archenemy morgan le fay, and did so, but not before some morgan did some magic shit and separated her soul from her body ?? so she goes to the sorcerer magnus and has him cast a spell to make everyone who ever met her forget she existed.

not long later she was found and revived by two hero pals, breaking the spell, but she was left comatose. dr strange gets involved, abra cadabra, jess ain't a cadava'. but she is however, powerless.

continued working as a p.i. until an encounter with the new spider-woman mattie franklin somehow restored her powers, which came back slowly and were very unstable. meets jessica jones, accidentally zaps tf out of her, then works with her to save the new spider-woman.

eventually struck a deal with hydra to spy within shield so she could get her powers back but the skrull queen veranke was behind it and manipulating her so she could learn to perfectly impersonate jessica. jess ended up held captive for two years aboard a skrull spaceship while veranke took her place.

she and the rest of the captives got saved but because of the havoc veranke wreaked, she didn't exactly receive a warm welcome back.

spent some time rebuilding her reputation until she was invited to join the avengers (for avengers 1 in the mcu, let's say). they did some good work and she eventually fell for clint/hawkeye. they dated a while but things went sideways when he cheated on her (but obvs that's subject to change depending on who picks him up, just leaving that in for now bc it seems kinda noteworthy).

skipping comic spider-verse stuff bc how does that work with the rp, idek.

left the avengers after that and mostly stayed out of their business so she wasn't around for ultron or civil war and instead got back to her roots with some good ol fashioned p.i. work. may have crossed paths with the defenders and other street level heroes during this period.

then of course, came the snap. jess was one of the ones that vanished. using this instead of her death during secret wars in the comics. when everyone came back she joined all the others to fight thanos and damn right she was part of that moment with all the female heroes like she should have fucking been irl.

when things settled down after y'know, dying, she realized that she wanted to be a mother and raise a child, and almost never got that chance. instead of waiting, she got herself artificially inseminated. which was good too tbh because like, look at her luck with men and imagine getting stuck in one of those relationships she'd been in so far. way better off doing it on her own smh

got invited to an alpha flight maternity ward by her captain marvel but when she went there it ended up getting overrun by skrulls and being super fucking pregnant she called carol for help, but the maternity ward was apparently in a black hole?? bc ofc it was lol. so jess protected all the women there, had an emergency c-section to give birth to her son gerry, then popped right off the table to finish kicking skrull ass. carol got there just in time for jess to collapse into her arms after the fight. headcanon — there was always a crush there but this was the moment jess fell hard.

had a liiittle teensy falling out with carol tho so she ended up kissing roger gocking/porcupine right in front of her during a battle that ended up repairing their friendship. then she went on to have a party announcing she and roger were dating but lbr she did most of this sub/consciously hoping to get a rise out of carol. but her spider-baby ended up crawling out a window and roger was the one to find and save him and there were some actual feelings there too, so. complicated. she kind of distanced herself from everything else to focus on p.i. work and raising her son.

not much later, jess realized her radiation immunity was gone and her powers were killing her, so she had roger take gerry to an upstate farm in case her condition could potentially harm her son, then set out on the search for a cure. that search of course, leading her to limbo city, nevada.

upon her arrival however, her memories quickly started to fade and by the time she woke up the next morning she had no specific recollection of memories. just innate and instinctive knowledge like her emotions toward people she was familiar with, emotional trauma that manifests mostly in her dreams, maternal instincts/yearning, her abilities both physical and learned, her interests and likes/dislikes, etc. things that come naturally to her, for the most part.

interestingly though, the town’s magic seems to have cured her??

gonna say she speaks english, romanian, german, hungarian, symkarian, russian, bulgarian, polish and spanish fluently, and knows a bit about a number of other languages.

incredibly intelligent, she is after all the daughter of a genius, raised among scientists conducting research, and her knowledge/intelligence was only maximized by her stasis education tapes.

exudes a high concentration of pheromones that can attract or repulse people, to put it simply. and ignore the original heteronormative connotations bc women aren't typically the ones she wants to repulse, and men arent always the ones she wants to attract. it's difficult to control but she learned over the years. even now without her memories she has innate control over it, but if she manages to work up a sweat (which isn't all that easy for her tbh) or misses a shower or two, well… it's gonna kick in.

she probably can't do it anymore in limbo because she can't remember how, but with her pheromones she learned to control them so well she was able to elicit fear, anxiety, attraction, hatred, pleasure, etc. and even used them to convince the hulk to make her a sandwich once.

fucking loves butter. she's been known to eat the stuff straight up. and a lot of it. lucky thing she has a spider-metabolism.

hc: she loves making puns, especially spider related ones. she also likes to annoy her spider-friends by spider-throwing the word spider in front of everything though it's obviously a joke, unlike in her cartoon where im pretty sure she was dead serious lol

hates rats. so much. she will tear down a whole skrull army but if one shapeshifts into a rat it's over okay, she already lost.

allergic to flerkens. which is great for visiting her bestie/crush, and her pet flerken chewie.

still has her suit but hasn’t worn it yet in limbo. she found it under her bed a couple days after “waking up” in limbo but put it right back because she figured it was probably some weird sex thing and maybe wasn’t even hers so, gross, yknow?

#jessica drew.#limbchq: intro #jessica drew ( intro ).#death tw #gaslighting tw #captivity tw #pregnancy tw #i've come to love her so much in a short time

0 notes

nessamaurice · 5 years

Text

Simple, Ch. 10 (Loki x F!Reader)

Masterlist

Summary: Tony and the Avengers are in desperate need of something like a “babysitter” to have an eye on Loki and teach him “how to human”. He decided to stay on Midgard over the dungeons of Asgard as punishment for his deeds in New York. That’s where you swoop in. A simple receptionist at the Avengers compound. You have to share an apartment in the compound with Loki and damn, he’s a really tough nut. With your open and kind character it seems that you are slowly cracking his shell. But suddenly things are getting twists that will change your life and your relationships there irreversibly.

Story rating: M

Chapter trigger warnings: flashback/PTSD

Words: 2615

As you slowly limped onto the Quinn Jet Loki wrapped his soft, green cape around you. Inside you almost fainted fell asleep the moment you sat down. You woke up every now and then; when Loki picked you up, as he laid you down on a bed in the medical wing of the compound. Eventually you woke up. You blinked into the dimmed light and looked around. Your gaze stopped as you saw a small tube leading into the thick, blue veins on your hand. Immediately the heart monitor next to announced your rising heart rate. In the other corner of the room were Tony sleeping on a couch and Loki on an armchair, long legs casually stretched out. The beeping woke them up but Bruce was already by your side to stop you from tearing out the tube and calmed you down. You started to panic and wanted to rip everything off your body, hoarsely screaming "No, no, no! Not again! No, please god, no!" Bruce came running over to you.

"Y/N, please calm down. Look at me. Okay? Look at me!" He stretched out his arms, palms towards you, as a sign of being unarmed and not willing to harm you. "Everything's okay. You are safe. You are back at the compound."

You managed to focus on him and your heart rate slowly calmed down again. You blinked a few times and some tears ran down your cheek. Bruce sat down next to your knees, moving really slowly to not startle you. He explained every action he planned to do so you'd know what was going to happen.

"Fine. I need to observe your physical state okay? In this infusion bag right here are just some analgetics, uh, sorry, pain relievers, and antibiotics, all picked and mixed by myself. There are no meds that would influence your mind in any way. I made a new access and didn't use the one they had forced into you. There was no second you being alone, whether it was me, Tony or Loki who stayed by your side, at least two of us. There are just these three electrodes that watch your heart rate. That's it. I haven't done anything else while you slept. I wanted to wait until you're awake. You've slept for almost two days now. That's great! Your body and your mind got some urgently needed rest after all that. Besides the obvious terrible things, can you tell me how you feel? Is there maybe some not visible, physical injury we need to pay attention to first?"

The way he spoke to you, how he moved, his peaceful face helped you to calm down. He really knew how to not-upset someone. You swallowed hard and had to retch a bit because your throat was just so dry like a desert. Bruce handed you a glass of water and after a few small sips (the water tasted so fresh and pure, it was a bracing pleasure for your body) you cleared your throat. You looked at him and at Tony and Loki who stood a few steps away from your bed.

"Thank you. Really, thank you. I knew you would find me, though I wasn't sure. I feared I... I'd stay there forever..." Tears filled your eyes again, your voice getting weak. Tony wasn't able to restrain himself any longer and rushed to your side. He took your hand and squeezed it gently.

"Of course we found you, honeybun. I will keep you safe, we will. I will not lose you again..." He turned a bit insecure. "So... you remember?" He asked with a slightly begging expression. He wished it so hard to be true.

You shared a small smile. "Yes. The only good thing that happened in there. It was hurtful and violent, but they brought back my whole memory. It completes itself from time to time, I get new... flashes. But I finally remember my childhood. Dad, Mom,..." you almost choked on your words, "You. I looked forward to every time you'd visit us. I wanted to stay with you after my parents were murdered, but I was intubated and couldn't speak, then I was put to coma and when I woke up...", you started sobbing and covered your mouth with your free hand, unintentionally tugging on your tube, "I had forgotten everything. I forgot you."

Tony shuffled a little closer and pulled you into a gentle hug while you cried into his shirt. After some time you looked up and saw Loki standing in the same spot as before, arms crossed, brows furrowed (one slightly higher than the other).

"Loki. I saw you. You were in my cell, wearing my headphones. How?" You wiped your nose on the back of your hand and someone handed you a tissue.

"I...", he started but didn't know how to continue, looking across the floor as if he would find the words laying there.

"Silver tongue turned to lead?" Tony couldn't help to joke.

"Shh, shut up Tones, give him time to think." You batted Tony's arm and regretted it the same second because the vascular access on your hand got pushed a bit deeper into your skin.

Seeing how you hushed Tony to let him sort out his words made him smile a little. He came a bit closer.

"There is something with you. An unknown power. Somehow we were able to create a mental connection that continued over the distance. I felt... I wasn't able to help because everything we could do was to use this technology to make your bracelet work again. I wanted to listen to the music you liked and... I thought of you. Then suddenly I saw you sleeping there."

Tony took the word and continued, "The information you gave him helped us to reduce the possibilities where you were to a few buildings. We split up and where already on the way to those few buildings when JARVIS finally could locate and destroy the virus keeping your tracker from working we could come down to one building. It was only active for a short time, I turned it down immediately again, I thought a suddenly green glowing gem would cause some unwanted curiosity. It wasn't long enough to locate you exactly, but the indicated area was enough to exclude the other possibilities we already had. Your strange connection with him saved us an enormous amount of time and you some trouble I guess."

You were left speechless. Then it hit you; you remembered what they discovered about you. You forgot that for a few “peaceful” minutes.

"Um, Loki, is this... normal? Do you build such connections easily?"

"Well, usually not. If the development of some kind of relationship is not supported by something like Seidr it takes a long amount of time. I was... surprised, to say the least. This is something I want to investigate, but not now. Not until you are feeling better and strong enough for such activities."

"I think I know why it worked." You started hesitantly. "I... They... I can..." You didn't know how to tell. You took a deep breath. "I can feel other's feelings when I touch them. And I can make them feel what I feel. With the palms of my hands."

Everyone looked at you with the same blank face.

"What is wrong with me? Why can I do this? It started after they electrified my brain, I couldn't do it before. They shaved me directly after they dragged me into their awful lab and stuck electrodes here", you pointed at the shaved areas on your head, "like they knew exactly what was going on and what they wanted to achieve. This bastard that called himself a doctor said his father watched me from the beginning and he already knew about this. How is this even possible??"

"Wait, what? They watched from the beginning, what does that mean?" Tony's look turned from soft to serious.

You told them a rough outlining of what you were told and what you could recall. That you were being watched because that doctor thought you would be useful, that he sent a Soldier to collect you, how he changed his mind... You were surprised you didn't had to cry while retelling parts of your story. You weren’t able to tell them everything. Not yet. At the end you took a moment to let it sink in and turned to Tony.

"Tones, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't because of you that we were attacked. I'm sure you felt guilty for what happened, that my Mom had to die because she was your sister. But that's not true; she had to die because... because I... was her daughter." You realized the truth of those words as you said them out loud. You pressed a hand on your mouth to dull the sobbing that followed. Tony pulled you into a tight hug but quickly loosened it a bit regarding the numerous cuts on your body.

"Stop saying that bullshit, Honeybun. She had to die because some sick psycho sent a brainwashed marionette to do so, there are no other reasons. Okay? Did you hear me?" He pushed you slightly backwards to make direct eye contact. "Do you copy?"

A broken smile decorated your face because you suddenly remembered how you played space ship and mission control and nearly every third sentence was 'Do you copy?' followed by a crackling sound, imitating radio communication.

"Copy." You whispered, wiping away the tears from your cheeks. You looked into the face of the man in front of you, the last bit of your family. A face that brought up so many beautiful childhood memories. You smiled at him and laid your hand on his cheek. You let the warmth from your chest flow over to him. "Uncle Tones, I am so, so happy to have you back." You watched him mirroring your smile, tears filling up his eyes. You felt how your happiness now mixed up with his relief that you were still alive and that his sister and her husband didn't had to die because he was not cautious enough. You looked at him softly and tilted your head to the side as you said "You look tired, old man. You should get into your basket real soon." You turned to Bruce "Bruce, I want to say thank you so, so much. I wouldn't be here and so well looked after without you. But you look dead ass tired, too. You should get some sleep as well. Maybe Loki can stay with me?"

"Of course, Y/N" Loki acknowledged.

Hesitantly Tony and Bruce agreed to get to bed and left you alone with Loki. He hadn't moved, standing at the foot of your bed, arms crossed. You patted on the free space on your bed to invite him to take a seat. After a few seconds he followed and sat down next to you. He seemed a bit stiff, not knowing how to act, so you touched his hand. "Loki, I wanted to say thank you. For everything. I am very lucky that we met. I will always be in your debt."

With those words he turned his head to you, looked you so deeply in the eyes that it sent thousands of shivers down your spine and said, "You will never be in my debt, Y/N. It is the other way round. You are very perceptive and very kind, that is a precious combination. You easily notice how your opposite feels and if they don't feel good you want to change that immediately. I was so rude to you before you... disappeared and all you wanted to do was to ease my own burden. I am so sorry."

He couldn't look into your face any longer so he stared at his hands, one covered by yours (which was a lot smaller than his), brows furrowed. Waves of regret and shame flooded your heart and you felt his deep vulnerability. You realized he was capable of such heavy emotions that it was almost unbearable and you wondered how he could still stand up straight carrying around all this guilt, despair and loss. He still couldn't look into your eyes, being reminded of just another awful mistake he made. You had to stop that right now, so you concentrated on your own feelings. Your caring, your gratitude. You watched his features closely and your happiness increased exponentially as he lost the fight to hold back a smile. But all of a sudden he pulled away his hands, stood up and turned his back to you.

"I... I am sorry, what did I do wrong? I meant you no harm, ...I ..."

"Don't." Loki interrupted.

"...Sorry?"

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault. It's just that I... I am too wary. I don't trust others easily, especially if it seems to be simple. My alarm bells ring and I can't mute them."

"Oh. I kinda know that feeling. With me it is the other way round. I don't want to trust others so fast but I always end up doing just that. I think I don't even have alarm bells. It's okay. I just wanted to let you know how I feel about you and that you can relax around me."

"I know that. I know that you don't want anyone to feel worthless or miserable and if it is in your power, you try to change that by being kind and caring. You do that because you know exactly how that feels and you don't want anybody else to feel like this."

His open and direct words hit you like an arrow. You never thought about it but it was crystal clear just as he spoke. You tried to swallow down the tears, "How... how do you come to think so?"

"Because I am a perceptive person as well. But I used it mostly to my own advantage. I admire your kindness. I did not realize it that moment, but retrospectively I can see you always had a connection to your powers. It was when we had this fight and I disappeared. You touched my face and suddenly I felt those gentle emotions. It was like... you were digging out a part of me that I consider as weak but you... appreciated it. That was too much for me in that moment. This certain part is hidden for a reason, weakness is not something to be shown where I come from. All I learned is to be strong, glorious, victorious. Everywhere, all the time. But in this short moment, you showed me something different. That this part has a right to exist. And that you could be the person I can show it to. And then my trust issues kicked in. They still do..."

It took you a moment to process his pure honesty before you could gather some words, "Wow. You truly are perceptive. And you are right, I am the person you can show it to. I always try not to judge anybody. I understand that this will take its time, but I'd totally appreciate every try. You are someone very special and I want you to see that."

Loki smirked and simply said, "I will try my best to break my habits. I started to do so already." He walked over to the light switch next to door. "But now you should get some rest. Don't worry, I will be right here." He grabbed a cushioned chair from the corner and dragged it next to your bed. He made himself comfortable and put his heels up on the furthest corner of your bed. Softly he added, "You will never be alone again.", just before you drifted away.

Taglist: @it-jinxed-us, @humbledarkness, @lunawitch19,@redryderdesigns@rvgrsbrns

#fanfiction #marvel fan fiction #marvel #loki #Loki Laufeyson #loki x female reader #loki x reader #loki fiction #loki slow burn #slow burn #irondad #iron dad #soft loki #fanfic simple #nessa maurice

41 notes · View notes

battinsxns · 5 years

Text

Little Robin

Thank you so much to @manontheflyingtrapeze for letting me use this head canon to write on! : “Headcanon that when Dick fist has Mar’i, he calls her his “little robin” as an endearment term, and the first time jason hears him calling her that, he’s naturally angry and goes all “planning to drag her into our shit life too?!””

You can also find me on ao3 under sam_writes!

----------

Mar’i was flying. So that was new.

“You sure this has never happened before,” Jason panted, “because she seems to be pretty freaking good at it.”

“Do you think I’d bring my daughter here if I thought she could fly away?” Dick huffed as they continued to chase after the toddler, giggling and squealing ahead of them.

Dick was going to have a heart attack. One minute he was on the couch with Mar’i at his feet with her arms raised to be picked up, and the next she was airborne. Sometimes, he wondered how his life got to the point where a flying baby was just something that happened to him.

Rounding another corner into the kitchen, the boys stopped. Mar’i was still in the air, which was a problem, but she was no longer leading them on a chase. Instead, she reached for the cookie jar Alfred had taken to hiding on top of the fridge. Finding her treasure, Mar’i squealed in delight and leaned down to bite the chocolate chip cookie, only to dip forward into a spin. She giggled as she spun in the air, one clumsy tumble after another.

Dick wasted no time in climbing onto the countertop, reaching for the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and swinging toward Mar’i. With a graceful jump he flew forward and wrapped his daughter safely within his arms as he landed them both onto the ground.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her downy forehead with a sigh. “Your mom is going to kill me. Oh, who am I kidding, she’ll find this hilarious.”

Jason leaned against the back of a chair, willing his heart rate to slow. “You and your fucking ground repellant family. This is why I never come over.”

“Is it bad that I’m proud of her? I mean, did you see her form? She’s a natural flying Grayson!” Dick laughed, tossing Mar’i lightly into the air as she giggled, cookie clenched tight in her tiny fist. “My little robin!”

Jason froze, body rigid. “Put her down, Dick.”

He turned, confused. “Jay, what -?”

Louder, tenser, again, “I said put her down.”

Carefully, Dick placed his daughter in her highchair, careful now to mind the straps in case she decided to fly again.

Jason stomped his way back toward the living room until Mar’i was no longer in hearing distance. Dick followed his brother wearily.

“Jay, what’s going on?”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Jason’s fist collided with his cheek. His head rocked back with the force behind the punch, and he took a step backward to lower himself into proper stance.

Dick raised his arms up to block Jason’s fists swinging toward him and swiped his leg at his brother’s knees, sending him to the ground. He pressed his knee against Jason’s hips, arms pining his wrists.

The hold was broken by the slamming of Jason’s head against his own as their positions were flipped. Another punch to the nose jarred Dick as he raised his arms defensively. He jabbed his knee against Jason’s ribs, and took the grunt of surprise to throw his own punches.

Between the green haze in Jason’s eyes and the trading of punches, Dick didn’t know how long it was until strong arms pulled Jason from him, and another set of hands pulled Dick up from the ground.

“What the hell is going on here?” The angry grumble of Batman’s tenor slipped into Bruce’s voice.

Jason lurched, shoulders held between Bruce’s elbows and head between his father’s hands, spat red onto the floor.

“You’re just as bad as him! All of you! Always ready to let your kids die for the fucking mission. Bet you can’t wait to dress her up in the little suit and send her off to fight all those killers on the street, huh Dickie?”

“Don’t you dare bring my daughter into this.” Dick’s heart was pounding. His voice dark and dangerous. He felt Alfred grip his wrist as he took a step forward. Jason gave him a bloody smile, with bitterness in his eyes.

“Isn’t that what you wanted to do? She’s a fucking baby. How long were you going to wait? Til she could type case files? Count off rounds?”

Dick shook of Alfred’s grips and lunged at Jason. Before he could punch him in the face like he wanted, Bruce was between them, a hand gripping each boy’s shoulder on a pressure point that had them both cringing.

“That is enough! Do you both understand me?” Bruce had shouted at them before, many times as they’d grown older, but it still froze them. Once a robin, always a robin.

“Might I request we all stop shouting? Masters Timothy and Damian are trying to distract the young miss, but I think it would be best not to set her off crying.” Alfred, ever the wisest among them all.

Bruce dragged them both to the couch, tossing them both down on opposite sides. His fists clenched, but he didn’t cross his arms, keeping himself ready to intervene again.

“Now do you two want to explain what happened here? I thought all you boys were finally getting along.”

Jason responded with an angry huff and clenched fists that escaped no one’s eye.

“Golden boy here is already talking about making Mar’i a mask, and you’re both so fucking brainwashed you don’t even see the problem with that.”

“What the hell are you talking about!” Dick threw up his arms, anger smoldering with the throbbing of his nose.

“Little robin? Is that ringing any damn bells for you?”

Alfred gave a small “oh dear” that echoed in the silent room.

Jason sneered at Dick’s frozen form. “What? Didn’t think I’d hear you praise her tumble and tell her what a good little robin she was gonna be?”

“It’s what my mom called me,” Dick whispered.

Jason’s face twisted and then fell blank and second later. When he spoke, his voice was small. “What?”

“My mom. When we practiced the trapeze, she said I flew. The first time I flipped she called my her little robin. It’s the last thing she said to me. ‘Ready to fly, my little robin?’.”

Jason scrubbed his unbruised right face with the palm of his hand. “You bastard,” he said to Bruce, “you absolute bastard.”

“Bruce? You never told them?”

Here he was, the Batman, flustered and as emotionally constipated as Dick remembered. “I… presumed you would have told them yourself. And… and Dick you yourself often called it a… symbol…”

Dick let out a small, exasperated chuckle. Soon It became full blown laughter. Jason joined in as well, until they were both clutching their stomachs and gasping for breath. Bruce just stood ever so still with flushed skin and averted eyes.

“Master Dick, if you would please sit still so I may tend to your wounds so you do not frighten away your child?” Dick looked up to see Alfred’s arched eyebrow, and suddenly the laughter left him as he felt once again like a reprimanded ten year old boy.

“Sorry, Alfie. At least we didn’t break anything this time?”

Alfred gave an unamused humm and did not spare any disinfectant on the cut on his cheek.

“Oww!”

“Well maybe this will teach you boys not to roughhouse indoors anymore, least of all around children.”

Dick felt shame stir in him. God, what kind of father was he? It was one thing to go out at night while she was safe asleep, and cover up his bruises in the morning, but to bring it so close to her? With her family, where she should be safe?

“Guess that explains why you hated me so much, huh,” Jason asked as he wiped his eyes. Though the words were said jokingly, Dick could hear the tension underlying them.

“I didn’t hate you, but yeah. You were my replacement, and you had Bruce’s attention and my mom’s nickname. It stung. I was a kid. But so were you.”

Dick paused as Alfred prodded his bruised nose, wincing. It wasn’t broken, but it was definitely going to be bruised and swollen for a while. Dick cursed, and just hoped he’d left make-up here to cover it up for Mar’i.

Jason sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“You know I’d want let her out there, right?” Dick closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and tried to dispel images of his baby girl hurt from his mind. “I’d never want her hurt, or scared, and in this lifestyle there’s no going around that. I’m scared every time that Kory goes on a mission, and it breaks my heart to see her hurt. I’m scared every night I go out, because if I don’t make it back then what happens to Mar’i?

“But I am absolutely terrified that Mar’i one day is going to have to know about all of this, and that she’ll want to be a hero, and I won’t be able to stop her. Because it’s in her blood, isn’t it.”

He looked up at Bruce, eyes bright. “I mean, you never wanted me going out, but I kept doing it anyway until you decided to make us a team. But it wasn’t enough. I’ve broken bones and been shot and almost died so many times, and I still keep doing it. So what about her? I can’t protect her!”

Bruce knelt in front of his eldest son, strong hands on his shoulders. “Dick, look at me.” He lifted teary eyes to meet Bruce’s. “Mar’i is in the kitchen. She is with Damian and Tim. She is not even two years old. Whatever may happen in the future will happen then and not now. For now, just hold your daughter, do the best you can to keep her from this, and whatever happens as she gets older, she will have a family here to protect her.”

The sound of clapping broke the peaceful moment.

“Damn, Bruce,” Jason laughed. “I didn’t think you could find emotions. Thought all you did was yell and grunt.”

“Hm.”

Dick laughed and stood, stretching his back.

“Well, as fun as this has been, I better go get Mar’i before she starts flying again.”

“She what?”

#batman #robin #dick grayson #Jason todd #fic #fanfiction #listen I haven't written in months I tried my best #I just really loved this idea #mar'i grayson #ao3

32 notes · View notes

legitlaur · 5 years

Text

Sweet Dreams // Bucky Barnes

pairing: Bucky x Amnesia! Reader

word count: 3108

warnings: car accident, amnesia

summary: Bucky was in the right place at the right time and managed to save you from a fatal car accident. He keeps tabs on you in the hospital and finds out you have amnesia, because of his experience with brainwashing and amnesia he is determined to help you

Nothing out of the ordinary happens to Bucky, at least nothing that doesn’t have to do with the Avengers, aliens, brainwashing, and having a metal cybernetic arm. Until you.

Brooklyn.

Steve was constantly telling Bucky memories about their lives in Brooklyn. When Bucky wants to remember who James Buchanan Barnes was, he takes walks in Brooklyn. Sometimes he passes a building or inhales a smell, that has a familiarity with it that he doesn’t recognize. A thought that James would’ve had pops in his mind, or even snippets of memories. He sees Steve as a scrawny kid, his sisters, and his mother. Writing them down in one of his stacks of journals, he asks Steve about the memory when he doesn’t recognize anything. He knows he’ll never really be James Buchanan Barnes again, but somehow that person will always be apart of him. He needs to learn about James before he can become himself, his new semi-stable self, Bucky.

Tonight like any other night when he leaves the tower, Bucky wears his black jacket and a matching leather glove on his left hand. Even in the crazy world that was the present, he was forced into hiding the truth about himself. Sometimes he didn’t mind though, such as now. His jacket and glove kept the cool breeze out. The night was brisk, there wasn’t much traffic. A few teenagers running around, an old couple holding hands walking across the street.

A white SUV ran a red light, Bucky snorted. People have been running lights for longer than he’s been alive, some things never change. He’s thankful for that, the few constants he can remember help when he goes into dark places.

This would be the last peaceful walk through Brooklyn he would have for a while. The white SUV he was laughing at, slammed into a light blue Toyota Camry. The Camry flew through the air, hitting the pavement hard. His body was running before his mind had time to process what he’d just seen. There was a crowd of people surrounding the two cars, seeing his stature they parted like the Red Sea at Moses’ command. He stopped at the Camry, laying himself onto the pavement to see if anyone was alive or seriously injured.

He saw you, laying there with hair so soaked in so much blood it looked black, your face so bruised and bashed it was unrecognizable. He knew he had to save you. Even if you were already dead, he couldn’t leave your body smushed in a car. Pulling the cap of his hat closer to his face, he lifted the car. Normally he would just throw the car, but he was gentle. Your body was in a fragile state, you had to be saved.

The ambulance showed up right after Barnes pulled your body from the deformed car. He argued with the EMT that he had to go in the ambulance with you. It wasn’t hard, giving the man wearing latex gloves one glare and he was in. Sitting next to you, never letting his eyes drift away. When the ER docs open the doors Bucky pulled the stretcher out by himself. The doctors watched in awe, grabbing the stretcher they jumped back into action.

“Trauma to the head, we need a CT stat. Unconscious.” A doctor called out while transferring you onto a hospital bed.

“What's her name? How old is she? Explain what happened? Did you call the police? Do you know her blood type?” A nurse began bombarding Bucky with questions he didn’t have answers too.

“I don’t know. I pulled her out,” his head was spinning almost as fast as the room around him, “I’ve never met her.”

One of the EMTs pulled him aside, “Come with me,” Bucky followed the orders, “Sit down, you’re in shock.” He’d been in shock so many times, the feeling was not one he enjoyed. Sitting down he tried to remember the breathing exercises Bruce taught him. “You need to eat something then get some rest. Why don’t you go home.”

“No I can’t,” he stood up and looked through the window into the room where you were lying, “I have to make sure she’s okay. Please, I can’t just leave her.”

The EMT must have heard the urgency in Buckys raspy voice because he nodded, “I’ll tell the nurses to keep you in the loop.”

Sitting back down Bucky was feeling better, “Thank you.” He had to make sure you were okay, he wasn’t going to leave you by yourself.

“Sir,” there was a tap on Bucky slouching shoulders, he opened his eyes to see a nurse, “The doctor said you were to be kept in the loop about our Jane Doe. She’s in room 207 if you want to go visit. She’s still unconscious, the doctors are running more tests.”

Bucky nodded and followed the women in pink scrubs down the hall to room 207. “There’s a chair and TV in there.”

“Thank you.” He let himself into the small room, closing the blinds he sat down in the chair furthest away from you. Bucky knew he looked intimidating, the first thing you see when you wake up shouldn’t be a terrifying stranger. You looked a bit more cleaned up, you were no longer wearing that blood-stained tank top. The blue hospital gown covered the cuts and scrapes on your shoulders. His brow furrowed as he studied your blueberry of a face. Swelling and bruising were only beginning, and there was no way to recognize who you were. He imagined you were beautiful, that after you heal your family would come to pick up their beautiful daughter and take her home safely. That would have to wait but your face healed. He felt sorry for you, there was no way to identify you until you woke up. So until then, he was all you had.

After sitting with you for nearly five hours a new nurse came in, “Mr,” she looked down at her files, “Mr. Barnes why don’t you go home. She most likely won’t be waking up within the next few days. Come visit after you’ve gotten some sleep and some food in your stomach.”

Stretching his arms Bucky looked at your bruised face, and blood-soaked hair one last time, “Here’s my cell, keep me updated if anything changes.”

________

“Where are you always off to now? You hardly ever leave the tower.” Bruce asked as Bucky was about to slip out the door.

“I saw a car accident a few days back, there was a woman. I, um. I pulled her out. I’m just going to go check on her.” Bucky shrugged.

Bruce nodded, “Take something to eat. Here’s a plum,” he threw the purple fruit across the kitchen.

“Thanks,” Bucky caught it and left before anyone else started asking questions.

Bucky didn’t like getting asked questions, he either didn’t know the answer or didn’t want to tell anyone the answer to their questions.

“Mr. Barnes, how are you?” A familiar nurse at reception welcomed him.

Bucky’s bare hand and covered hand leaned against the counter, “Fortunate, hows our Jane Doe?”

The nurse was wearing the same scrubs and bun from last afternoon, “You’ve been here far too long, these shifts are ridiculous.”

She blushed, “Well you’re here almost as often as I am. Let’s go see your girl, her swelling has gone down just a bit, but the cuts and bruises weren't healing as fast as we’d like..”

“Thank you.” Bucky shoved his hands into his pockets. The purple and black swelling was gone. Your face looked so much softer and younger than Bucky expected. His mind began wandering again, about you and your family.

He sat down and watched you, the sound of the ECG and watching your chest rise and fall with every breath gave Bucky peace. Something he struggled to keep, darkness and tragedy often follow him.

Once you wake up, you’ll find her family and be safe. Then and only then, will he leave you.

“Mr. Barnes,” A new nurse came in. “We’ve got to do some more tests, you’ll have to sit in the waiting room.”

“If I fall asleep, wake me when I can come back in?”

She cleared the exit to the door for him, “Of course.”

He found a chair that gave him a view of you through the window of your room. The nurses opened the blinds for him. Pulling the cap of his hat closer to his face he fell back asleep.

________

There were no changes, but the doctors were beginning to wonder if there was any brain activity. Bucky pleaded with them to keep trying. The next three days Bucky was at the hospital, he hardly slept anymore. The nurses all knew him, and one of the older ones took him to the cafeteria with her when she was on break to make sure he was eating.

“You really don’t know her?” She asked again.

Bucky took a bite of a mushy apple, “No. I watched the accident happen and pulled her out. I just,” he dropped his head, “ I just feel like I have an obligation to make sure when she wakes up she is safe and has someone. No one should ever have to go through that alone.” He cleared his throat.

She took his hand, “Well that is very sweet.”

Bucky nodded and gave her a small grin.

After eating he went back into your room, sitting in his chair the furthest away from you he could possibly get. Having food in his stomach was making him sleepy. Something about the room, perhaps the smell of lavender, or the rhythmic sound of your ECG, maybe even just seeing you sleeping brings Buck into a state of calm. He closed his eyes and gripped the pager the nurses gave him. Drifting in and out of sleep he stopped focusing on the sounds in your room.

“Where am I?” a hoarse voice croaked.

His fingers were already digging into the pager for the nurses and doctors to come in. Sitting up from his slouched sleeping position, Bucky answered your question as calmly as possible, “You’re in Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York,” He gives you a moment to process this then continues, “What’s your name?”

There was a silence quickly filled by your dry voice, “I think its y/n.”

Without missing a beat Bucky stood up, “I’m going to help you, y/n.”

Nurses came rushing in, the room was flooded with chaos. Bucky tried to get closer to you, even though your eyes were barely recognizable he could see the fear in them, feel it in your mind. One that he was familiar with, a fear that no one should ever have.

“I’m sorry Mr. Barnes you’ll have to move to the waiting room.” A nurse guided his bulky body out of the tiny room.

He clawed at the door frame, “But-”

The doctor saw what was happening and gave Bucky an apologetic smile.

He couldn’t sit in the waiting room and watch you be tested and asked millions of questions alone. He couldn’t handle being in the hospital anymore so he left, willingly for the first time.

Back at the tower, Barnes was sparing with Steve and Sam. They could feel the anger and stress with every punch he would throw.

“Come on, open up.” Steve passed him a towel.

Sam gasped for air after downing a bottle of water, “What's up with you man? Does it have to do with that girl in the accident?” “How do you know about her?” Bucky grunted.

“Banner.” They spoke in unison.

They had no right to meddle in his personal business, he didn’t have to sit and listen to them, so he turned to leave, “She’s none of your business.”

Sam chuckled, “Anything that has you leaving the tower this often is my business. Besides if she’s still in the hospital, Tony and Bruce might be able to help.”

Holding his breath Bucky faced his friends, “She’s awake, I’ll leave her alone after her family comes. She just, I,” he ran his metal hand through his greasy locks, “I know what it’s like to be alone, no one should be alone. Especially her.”

Steve placed his hand on Bucks right shoulder, “Why don’t you go shower and head back to the hospital. She’ll probably be wondering who you were from earlier.”

Buck nodded, “Yeah, thanks.”

The hot shower loosened his tense muscles. The knots in his back from sitting in the hospital chairs for far too long. After changing he looked in the mirror, his appearance was so intimidating. He brushed his hair, put his leather glove on, with his favorite matching leather jacket and headed out.

Barnes was expecting to see a family in your room. Your little sister lying on the hospital bed with you, your mom holding your hand while crying, and your father talking to the doctors. When he saw you through the window his stomach dropped, you were alone.

Your doctor approached him, “Mr. Barnes, I’m legally not allowed to tell you this information, but you're the only person who has come to see our Jane Doe-”

“Her name is y/n,” Bucky growled.

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“What are you talking about?” His voice was becoming deeper.

He put his hand on Bucky's forearm, “She has amnesia, her name could just be something she’s heard while she was asleep, even something in her subconscious.”

Amnesia.

“Is it? Is it permanent?” His voice broke.

The doctor shook his head, “We don’t know yet, but Mr. Barnes, she's been asking for the man who pulled her out. Go to her.”

With three large strides Bucky was in your room, the blinds were open as well as your eyes.

“It's Mr. Barnes, right?” Your voice was sounding less rough, “The doctors and nurses said you saved me, and you’ve been my only visitor.”

“You can call me Bucky.” He inching closer to you.

“So tell me about myself. I can’t remember.” Your lighthearted shrug hurt him more than you could know.

His head dropped, “I can’t.” Your brow furrowed, “What do you mean you can’t?”

Bucky looked at your bruised face and swollen eyes, “I don’t know you. I was walking around Brooklyn when I saw the accident, I pulled you out and rode with you to the hospital. I’ve been” he looked down in embarrassment, “I’ve been keeping tabs on you.”

Your voice was barely more than a whisper, “You don’t know me?” She started shaking, “Who am I?” Her voice cracked on those last few words and tears fell.

Bucky never encountered an emotional girl before, he wasn’t sure what to do.

Comfort her, put your arm around her. Tell her you’ll help you.

Bucky's heart was racing, James had clearly dealt with emotional girls. From what Steve told him, he was quite the ladies man. Doing what James’ would do, he sat down on the bed.

“It’ll be ok,” He tried to be as gentle as possible using his right arm to put around you, “I’m not going to leave you. You’re not alone.” Dropping into a whisper he leaned in talking into your ear, “We can figure out who you are.”

Her sniffles were becoming less frequent, Bucky wasn’t sure what to do next, so he just sat with you.

You finally calmed down, “How are you going to help me?”

His stoic face fizzled into a small smile, “I’ve got lots of experience in this area.”

You were too flustered to ask any more questions. You nuzzled your face into his body. Matching your breathing his, your eyes get droopy until you were asleep in this stranger's arms.

Bucky knew the hospital would have you go through physiological therapy as well as physical therapy. He planned on asking you if you would feel comfortable transferring to Tony’s facility so you could get the best help possible. He just didn’t know how to do it.

Thankfully the nurses woke you up and asked Bucky to move from the bed in order to help you eat. His leg was bouncing up and down, waiting for the nurse to leave. With all the stress he now had, somehow when you smiled at him with your banged-up face he felt calm. Like everything was going to be alright.

“I’ll be back in 25 minutes to give you more meds.” The nurse reminded you while exiting.

Bucky pulled his chair closer to your bed, “How would you feel if I moved you to a different hospital?”

“What? Why?”

He clenched his left hand, “I am a personal friend of Tony Starks, he can get you the best treatment money can buy. Also, it would be extremely convenient for me.” His voice turned into a mumble, “I wouldn't have to leave the tower and interact with people as frequently.”

“Tony Stark, Iron Man? Why would he let me come to the tower?” You continued asking questions.

Buck slouched in defeat, “Because I work for him. Yes or no?”

“Have you asked my doctors?” You wheezed.

He shook his head, “I wanted to ask you before having a serious conversation with Tony and your doctors.”

“Let's see what the doctors say.”

Amnesia was not what you expected, it’s like all the important memories of who you are and your family are gone. Yet you still remember how to ride a bike and read, skills. You’d retained all your skills and a few ideas of memories. What you assumed to be your first name, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, what TV show you were watching. These things were supposed to help you expand your memory, remember who you were.

You may have had amnesia but you sure as hell knew who the Avengers were, somehow the man that saved you from your fatal accident knew them. Now you were getting transferred from Kings County Hospital to Stark Tower medical wing. Bucky the only face you really knew and trusted would be there, which was the main factor in you leaving the only place you knew at this point.

He wouldn’t leave your side as you were transported, his left hand covered with a leather glove was gripping the metal handle of your hospital bed rather tightly.

After you were settled down you met Tony Stark, he welcomed you Bucky hardly asked for favors so he figured you were important. That got the gears in your head greased up and spinning. Who was Bucky Barnes and could you trust him?

a/n: i’ll be doing a part 2 so lmk if you wanna be on the taglist

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #sebastan stan #the winter soilder #marvel fanfiction #marvel #legit laur #sweet dreams

84 notes · View notes

a-marlene-s · 5 years

Text

La Red: Part 4

If anyone is interested or want to support my writing feel to drop by. https://ko-fi.com/a_marlene_s

Second Chance…

Second Chance.

There are so many chances Marinette could give before she loses how many eff’s she could give about her class now. Except for Sabrina and to some extension, Chole as the bespectacled teen had more or less told the Mayor’s daughter of her past. Just enough so that Chole will not kick up a massive fuss once she returns from her trip with her mother.

Even so, Marinette is alone and needs to start putting the plan into action. The first step is to take a step back and evaluate the situation. That situation is, of course, being one Lila Rossi and her never-ending lies. Attacking the lies directly resulted in her being alienated from the class and Marinette needed to go about it differently. There was no way she is going to take Adrien’s advice. Sabrina made it clear and managed to get into her own mind, that Adrien is someone that she could no longer consider a friend.

Adrien made it loud and clear that her own feelings did not matter, that he made her feel like no one. The no one that Lila is not hurting with her constant lies. Marinette does not need that. What she needs are people that could stand by her, not push her around and force them to comply with the demands of others.

So, when Marinette took her seat in the back of the classroom and ignored Adrien as he too took a seat next to her. Adrien attempted to gain Marinette’s attention, but nothing was working, he needed to talk to her to make sure she sticks with no longer bothering Lila anymore. But no matter how much he tired, to the point of trying to tap on her shoulder, Marinette should move away from her in favor of texting with someone on her phone.

“Marinette?” Adrien said, once again trying to get Marinette’s attention.

“Did you know Jagged put on a poll on his twitter? ‘What’s your favorite animal to have as a pet?’” Marinette couldn’t help but chuckle to herself when she saw Adrien pale at the corner of her eye. “I can’t decide between dog, hamster or Fang.”

“Marinette… did you talk to Jagged about Lila?” Adrien did not bother to hide his accusatory tone from her. It appeared she was not taking the high road.

“Me? Not talking to Jagged? He commissioned me to do some work for him.” Marinette did not look away from her phone. “Are you insinuating I shouldn’t talk to him? About future work?”

For his own part, Adrien recoiled. Oh, how he had temporarily forgotten that Marinette knew Jagged personally and did some work for him. But to personally have his number… and in constant contact with him. “Have you-”

Luckily for Adrien, the teacher walked into the class, announcing they are going to do group projects.

---

❀❀ Mari ❀❀: It’s just that… there’s this new girl at my school, saying that you supposedly have a cat?

🐊 Uncle Jagged 🐊: Really? What kind of stuff is that? Please tell me you don’t believe her, I don’t even like cats. Too mainstream and dangerous to have around Fang. Plus, with Penny’s allergies towards animal fur makes it right down impossible to have one.

Marinette knew two sides to Jagged Stone. The one that he shows to the world, the rock star, and the human behind the mask. If there was one thing, she could easily count on with Jagged is his ability to temporarily drop his façade when the times come for it. He’s being really serious about Lila’s lies that concern him and Penny to an extension.

🐊 Uncle Jagged 🐊: Whenever we have people come backstage, our guards check out of they have been in contact with any sort of animals. Otherwise, we’d make sure Penny doesn’t go near them and I have to steer clear of her after the meet and greet. So not cool with what she is saying. Just say the word and I’ll come by for a visit to clear things up!

❀❀ Mari ❀❀: Don’t come until I say so, I want to keep the fact I know you on the down low right up the time to reveal it…. That and I need to finish your commission.

🐊 Uncle Jagged 🐊: That’s my girl!

---

Bugaboo2: He tried to make me not contact Jagged! I know the guy. He perfectly knew I know the man and I do commissions for him. Did he really expect me not to talk to him about what has been happening???

Little-Miss-Understood: I told you he’s not worth a second chance.

Bugaboo2: I know… It’s just that… I thought, never mind. He made it rather clear that he expects me to take the high road on this and to just roll over to comply with his wishes.

Little-Miss-Understood: Which you are not doing, I hope?

Bugaboo2: No! God no, I am sticking to the plan. He lost his second chance the moment he did not bother to take my feelings into consideration about Lila. What did you manage to pick up on the others?

Little-Miss-Understood: …not good. Lila has a very, firm grip on many of them. The only ones that show promise are Nino, Alix, Ivan and Max. The others a too far gone into Lila’s lies.

Bugaboo2: Really?

Little-Miss-Understood: Nino is following Alya and doing whatever to appease her. He has tried to talk to Alya about her behavior but gets shut down rather quickly about it and Adrien isn’t exactly encouraging his friend to seek the truth either. Alix was never promised anything through Lila’s lies. She simply is skirting around the crowd and never really putting up too much input. Ivan, similar to Nino, he’s following Mylene. Max is an expert in computers not when it comes to humans. Everyone else in the class… we have better luck convincing Alya Ladybug hates her blog than convincing them about Lila’s lies.

Bugaboo2: Understood…. Thank you.”

Little-Miss-Understood: You are welcome. At this point, you need to make a line in the sand and figure out what you are going to do with Alya. Out of everyone in the class, she is the one you need to completely be on board on cutting all ties with her. Lila has her claws gripped tightly to her that Alya will believe everything she says and will defend it to her very last breath.

Bugaboo2: That is what I am afraid of.

---

It was one thing to be around Alya when they are at school, but it is a completely different thing once they are Akuma-fighting superheroes protecting Paris from Hawkmoth. Ladybug needed to reevaluate Rena Rouge and see if her personal life is interfering with her hero work. At first, things were going okay. Nothing out of the norm.

Rena Rouge still being Rena Rouge, if she keeps this up then maybe she still has a chance. Ladybug hopes Rena will be able to separate her civilian life from her hero one. At this point, this could be the only way she could trust her.

Waving good-bye to Chat Noir after taking down another Akuma and it was time to separate ways before the last beep of their miraculous.

“Ladybug!”

‘Right now, she is not Alya. She is Rena Rouge.’ Ran though Ladybug’s mind as she turned around to see Rena running up to her. Rena’s miraculous began to beep, possibly be the beginning of the end. “Yes, Rena?”

“I was wondering if you could tell me how exactly you decide on who becomes a hero?” Rena asked she didn’t bother to hide her excitement let alone that knowing glint in her eyes. “Who receives a miraculous?”

Ladybug took in a deep breath and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. Suspicion began to fill her mind as she knew that familiar glint meant. She had seen it many times before and the outcomes of that glint always got Alya in trouble. “I am not the one who fully decides on who receives a miraculous.”

“But you could put in a good word for someone, right?” Rena asked she bounces on the ball of her feet waiting for Ladybug to confirm her thoughts. “Like with myself?”

Beep.

“More or less but… yes.” Ladybug nearly grounded out, she so did not want to have his conversation with her. She suspects that Rena knows who is Carapace, so that takes Nino of the list of who could be a possible future miraculous holder. “I pick people who I believe we, Chat Noir and I, could fight alongside with. People who have the heart of a hero.”

“Have you thought of having someone else helping us? You know, just in case if we need backup?” Rena did not miss a beat. “Giving Chole a miraculous was a very bad idea. You could have given it to someone else like…. Lila! Your best friend.”

Beep.

Ladybug sucked in a deep breath, who she needed to steer this conversation elsewhere. “Chole… Queen Bee has shown progress in being a hero for Paris. Yes, she still needs some work, but she is getting there. As for Lila… it’s a no.”

Beep.

“No? Why not?” Rena questioned; her entire posture turned defensive. “She’s your best friend, right? Why don’t you consider her as a possible backup…?”

Beep. Where Rena Rouge once was, now stood Alya Cesaire who is still ranting.

Ladybug did not bother to listen to whatever else Alya attempted to argue that Lila would become a stupendous Hero. She managed to get a word in when she saw Alya took in a deep breath to continue with her argument. “What about Marinette? She would make a stupendous hero.”

Alya did not bother to hide a snort of disgruntlement. “Like she’ll even have the time to be a hero. Don’t tell me she is filling your head with lies about Lila. Marinette is jealous of Lila, who by the way, is your best friend!”

“Are you insinuating that Marinette Dapain-Cheng is brainwashing me about Lila Rossi?”

“Yes!”

“You’re fired. Give me back your miraculous.” Ladybug finally said, extending her arm out for Alya to give her back the Fox Miraculous.

“Wh-what?”

“I gave you a second chance and you blew it.”

---

Nino did not know what Alya was telling him through the phone. He had just finished helping his mom at the family’s food mart. Nothing out of the norm for him. It brought in a sense of relief for him from constantly having to run around Alya who is constantly running after Ladybug or helping Ladybug… it’s a never-ending cycle. Then there are the fact things are becoming to become tense ever since Lila transferred into their school.

Alya became obsess with Lila to the point it is becoming a constant strain in their relationship. Either Alya is following or helping Ladybug, following Lila and when they do manage to find some sort of time to date, they both must babysit their younger siblings. There were times that he actually preferred to stay home to take care of Chris than to go out after a long day, more so to not get in trouble with his mom. He had to bribe Chris to not spill the beans that Marinette has been babysitting him to oppose himself.

Marinette… Nino felt uneasy with how things were going for her in and out of school. Every time he attempted to say something, Alya, Lila and even Adrien will quarrel down his doubts about her supposed attitude towards Lila’s words. Of course, he’s not exactly innocent on the entire matter, he knows he plays a part to it and those doubts are once again rising as Alya cried through the phone.

“What do you mean, you got fired?” Nino had to lower down his voice as he walked past a random couple. What was said next caused Nino to physically and mentally take a step back. Is Alya blaming Marinette for what happened? How did that happen? Of course, he knew that Marinette had encountered Ladybug and Chat Noir from time to time, but to be in talking terms with Ladybug? To supposedly brainwash her about Lila. Nothing was making sense to him. No, the only way to make sense of things is to talk to Ladybug about what happened. Yeah, that’s what he’ll do.

Nino looked up into the sky wondering how he would start the search to look for Ladybug when he saw her swinging by. She is probably looking for a place to power down before her own timer goes off. Lucky for him, the street is clear, and no one was around to hear him shout out for her. “Ladybug!”

For her own part, Ladybug did take a pause to land in front of a randomly closed storefront before she turned around to the person that called out her name. From what he could see from his spot, Nino could see that Ladybug is trying really hard to not cry and putting up a strong front. “Is something wrong? Another Akuma attack?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Nino measured his steps when he walked up to her. “Could we talk?”

“We are talking right now.” Ladybug pointed out.

“As Nino… not as…” Nino trailed off, he had reached up to pull on his cap to make a certain point with her. “To not raise suspicion. I just want to talk about is all.”

Ladybug looked away from Nino, chewing on her bottom lip wondering if she should talk to him. Then she remembered her plan and promise. She has yet to give Nino his own second chance. His own second chance is not connected to Alya’s own decisions, he is own person and thus, she needed to know where he stood in all this massive mess. With that in mind…

“We’ll talk during patrol tonight.”

---

“Does anyone bother to ask me about Lila? No one does! Alya… oh, Alya…” Ladybug does not know what got into her when she started to tell Carapace everything, well almost everything, on what has been happening to her. Mainly going over how Lila’s lies have been affecting her. She could later chalk it up to the fact that she and Nino were once close friends before life got the better of them. That and she really wanted to get it off her chest that is not Tikki. There are so many cookies she could bribe the little kwami so that she would not do something her own self. “She claims to be a good reporter who always verifies her sources, she never bothered to ask me if her supposed reports are true? No. She does not. Everything Lila has ever said about me is…”

Carapace rubbed his forehead as he took in Ladybug’s words. Oh, he should have seen this coming. He should have seen this coming from who knows how long ago. From the way Ladybug is describing Alya, it makes his girlfriend sound like Lady Wifi. Someone that will stop at nothing to update the Ladyblog with the next best thing, without even caring on how she gets the information.

“To top it all off… Lila had nearly caused me-Marinette to get Akumatized.” Ladybug huddled into herself, whispering out the word more to herself than to Carapace.

“What?” Carapace could not hide his shock at the news that he didn’t even take note of Ladybug’s slight slip up. “Marinette nearly got Akumatized? When? How? Is she okay?”

Ladybug looked away from Carapace in favor to look out into the city. They ended up on some random rooftop that overlooked the city. “At this point, it is hard to say. She confided to me what Lila has been saying and doing against her.”

“What has she been doing against Marinette?” Carapace asked from his spot on the roof. He knew he should not allow his emotions to get the best of him. That would only invite Hawkmoth to bring in more trouble whenever it is not necessary. “Ladybug, what has Lila been doing against Marinette?”

“…It’s not my story to say, I’m sorry. If you want to know more, you have to ask Marinette yourself.”

---

Marinette groaned into her hands as she paced around her room. She really messed up tonight. Really messed up. She said faaar too much to Carap-no, to Nino. She said far too much to Nino about what has been happening to her.

What if he did not believe her?

What if he will once again get entrap by Lila’s lies?

What if-

Tikki, for her own part, could only shake her head as she had her fill with cookies. She felt bad for Marinette but knew that what was said could not be undone. At least she did not stop Nino from continuing his work as a Miraculous Wieldier at this point. Maybe there is still some hope for him? Time will tell at this point.

Marinette’s phone rang, causing the teen to trip over her own two feet. She quickly went over to her desk where she was charging her phone to see an incoming call… from Alya.

Taking in a deep breath, she answered the call and waited for whatever Alya wanted to complain about this time.

“NINO BROKE UP WITH ME BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!”

Marinette pulled her phone away from her ear to see who exactly she is talking to. Once seeing it is Alya that is calling her, she put the phone up to her ear once more. Alya continued with her yelling on with blaming her now former best friend onto why she was blaming her for the breakup. All of which is a load of bull. Lots of it.

“Alya… Alya… Alya…” Marinette began to lose her patience with the girl on the other line. It got to the point she simply allowed Alya to scream while Marinette pulled up her messenger app to text Sabrina.

Bugaboo2: Alya and Nino just broke up. She’s blaming me because of it.

Little-Miss-Understood: I know, she created a group chat to ‘discuss’ about it with all the girls minus you. Luckily for you, Rose once witnessed them arguing about one thing or another ever since Lila came into the picture. She believes that it was something that was bound to happen is Alya is looking for any excuse to blame anyone but herself.

Bugaboo2: Really? Rose…?

Little-Miss-Understood: I may or may not have something to do with that…. Did you have anything to do with the breakup? Just wondering.

Bugaboo2: I…. I’ll text you later. Alya is losing her voice.

Little-Miss-Understood: She’s calling you?

Bugaboo2: More like screaming.

Little-Miss-Understood: Please tell me you are recording this.

Bugaboo2: What do you take me for? I’ll send you a copy late tonight. Plus, depending on how tonight goes, I may have gained a friend back.

Little-Miss-Understood: Keep me informed.

Marinette closed the app before she put the phone by her ear once more. “Are you done?”

“What the hell does that supposed to mean!!!!”

“I haven’t talked to Nino in weeks. Weeks.” Marinette didn’t bother to hold back a hiss. “Every time I’ve ever seen him is when he’s spending time together with you or Adrien. I never could even say hi to him before you drag him to who knows what. Stop blaming me for something that is completely out of my control. Maybe you’d spend less time gossiping with Lila, you would have seen the massive train wreck that’s coming your way.”

Without even waiting for a response, Marinette hung up on Alya. She was so tempted in throwing her phone against the wall in frustration but the last time she did that, she almost hit Tikki. That was the last time she ever threw anything in her room. Along with having to make several trips down into the bakery to grab cookies Tikki and many, many apologies afterward. Yeah… not her greatest moments to date.

Marinette was about to put her phone back to charge when another call was coming in. Muttered under her breath, wondering who is calling her this time. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw it was Nino who is calling her. Looking over at Tikki, who had by now taken refuge somewhere under the bed, peaked under the covers to motion her to pick up on the call when she saw Marinette’s look of complete distress.

Answering the call made Marinette wince as silence was the only thing she heard. “Hello…? Nino?”

“I take it Alya called you?” Nino asked from the other side of the line.

Oh, she is going to need to sit down for this. “I did. She is blaming me because you two broke up. What happened?”

“I… I need… How do I say this…?”

Marinette could tell that Nino is struggling with whatever he wanted to say with her by a massive long shot. There was a long pause between them. It wasn’t awkward or felt completely out of place. It was just giving someone enough time to gather their thoughts before they say what was needed to be said.

“How was your day today? How are you feeling?” Nino asked.

Marinette could hear Nino cursing at himself for not saying what he actually wanted to say. “I no longer have a best friend; she thinks I brainwashed her now ex-boyfriend and is not talking crap about me to someone that threatened me… yeah. Not so good.”

Pause…

“Could we meet tomorrow? I don’t want to say I’m sorry through the phone, I rather say it in person.”

“You just said, ‘I’m sorry’ just right now and I accept your apology.”

“Marinette… I swear you’re too good of a person for any of us. I’m serious. I want to hear your side of what’s been going on without anyone interfering.”

“Promise not to judge or jump to conclusions?”

“I’ll listen. I’ve been told I’m a great listener.”

“Alright. Tomorrow.” Marinette agreed before she hung up. She looked up at her ceiling, wondering who she is going to face Nino tomorrow. Lucky for them, tomorrow is a Sunday and classes. Or maybe that’s a bad thing… no, it’s good. The last thing she wants is to face Alya tomorrow for something that might as well be her own doing.

Marinette could not help shaking her head at the thought. She’s going to have to talk to Nino about the breakup tomorrow. To see what happened and what broke the camel’s back on their relationship. She wanted to feel bad but at the same time, she does not feel bad about what happened. At now she could honestly say, she possibly gained back a friend that is more than willing to stand by her side during this tiring time.

#La Red #Part 4 #ML #ML Salt #Lila Salt #Alya Salt #miraculous ladybug #Fanfic #Au

186 notes · View notes

peonypearls-muddled-musings · 5 years

Text

PDatSK rough draft - Chapter 1 - Unwelcome Visitors

The frost was soon approaching. Which would mean less hunts.

But today; oh today proved to be a very worthwhile excursion.

Crouching in a wooded outlook, handing a set of binoculars to his eldest child, King Rinwey grinned at the sight just out of reach.

"Happy early birthday to me." He grinned.

Crown prince Colme looked upon the prize: a camp.

A Shifter camp.

On Rinwey's other side, his daughter, Vuniper, smirked. "You're that excited, huh?"

"I haven’t seen many camps in a while; I was worried they’d started getting smart enough to wander through under the radar. It's my obligation to find and get rid of any and all Shapeshifters that I can."

"Yeah, but you're, like... excited-excited," she said, wriggling her fingers to prove her point. “I haven’t seen you this awake before breakfast in a long time.”

Rinwey chuckled. "Perhaps I am. You all should be too."

Colme, passing the binoculars to his twin brother, Olerqus, stared into the distance, his naturally bored expression unchanging. "Is this why you called us out so early?"

"Colme, you're going to be king one day. I want you to be prepared for this part of your royal duty."

"Rounding up a bunch of scared vagrants?" Asked Colme.

His siblings went silent as Rinwey's expression remained unchanged.

"Colme," Rinwey said; "I've told you everything. The histories; including our family's history- with them."

"Dad, we could be addressing real problems in town!"

"This IS a real problem, Colme!" Rinwey barked, standing up without another thought. "You know better than to question this."

"Look at them!" Colme said. "It's been two hundred years, what power do they have over us now?"

"One Shapeshifter was enough to rally the rest and send us into hiding. One shapeshifter was enough to ruin every life on earth for over a hundred thousand years. There is nothing to question, Colme. You know what needs to be done."

Colme looked away, snatching the binoculars from Olerqus as he looked once more at the campsite. He watched them through the lenses as his father talked to his siblings. A campfire was bright enough for him to see their shabby tents rippling in the October breeze. Five tents to be exact. Four small children huddled around the campfire, joined by a two adults as they held sticks over the fire. Another was out fishing on the rocks just feet away from the tents. Another was mending clothes. No doubt others were still asleep in the tents.

These were the ones the history books damned?

"I can make the call, dad," Olerqus said. Pleased, Rinwey handed him the phoning device.

"Good show. What do you think, Colme? Are you ready to make the strike?"

Peeling the binoculars from his eyes, Colme sighed, handing them to Vuniper as she peered through again.

"Fine. Whatever. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can get back to my actual studies."

Rinwey laughed, and he gently, but happily, shook his heir's shoulders. "That's my boy!" he said before turning to his second son. "Go on, Olerqus."

Olerqus dialed the number for the Gathering Forces, offering the location of the targets. In the meantime, Vuniper was seen giving her horse an extra bit of oats while Colme stood off to the side. Rinwey joined him.

"I know this doesn't seem like pressing business, Colme. But one day... one day you'll understand. For the good of Gelleshire; for the good of the world. I want you all to be prepared."

Colme stood, unwavering; in a way mirroring his father. "I know," he answered. "... I know."

Rinwey returned to his spot in the center as Olerqus finished the call. "We'll surround them. Vuniper, you'll ride in on the left with Olerqus. Colme, you're with me on the right." Rinwey then turned to his horse and he reached into a pack built into his steed's harness, where he pulled out six small spheres. He set them on the ground and pulled back his sleeve, and, with a tap of his watch, a screen appeared. With a few taps of the display, the tiny machines on the ground lit up, and he used a precise swipe of the display to guide them out from their nook, down the hill, and into position, surrounding the camp. He then faced his children."On your steed."

The family mounted their rides, and Rinwey, his eyes dangerously on the camp, prepared for one last use of the display on his watch. "On my count."

****

The fire crackled, searing the fish that were skewered through with hand-sharpened sticks. As the fire popped, one of the children looked up at the closest adult.

"When are we getting there?" They asked, their hands hovering above the warmth of the fire.

The guardian sighed. "It won't be today; but hopefully soon. We need to leave this territory by noon," he said, pulling one of the sticks off of the spit and inspecting the meat. As he did, one of the smaller children looked over the fire and lept up. "Where are you going?" He asked, but the child grinned, pointing by the tents.

"I see a roly poly!"

The guardian sighed. "Alright, but don't wander further than the rocks!" He said before shaking his head. He gave the fish a tentative nibble before handing the skewer to the boy next to him.

A strange clatter caught his attention, and he immediately took guard; but nothing was to be seen. His eyes darted around, and he heard the girl's laughter over by the tents. He turned to see her leaning over to pick something up-

"Val'ki! LEAVE IT-"

Before the child could heed warning; what she'd mistaken for a bug stopped. A blue pulsing flash nearly blinded her, and her outstretched hand became the victim of a forcefield beam, searing her skin as she screamed. The forcefields joined, surrounding the tents, cutting off the fisherman's line.

As the guardian rushed to Val'ki's aid, they all could see what was happening. A thunder of hooves racing towards them; at the center, one with a billowing red cape and regal attire charged towards the camp; behind them was a decorated Gathering Troupe; well recognized by the camp.

The Guard's heart dropped. They'd been found.

As the stampede halted in front of one of the facets of the forcefield, the man in the center dismounted his horse. He activated a display from his wrist, opened a section of the wall and made an entrance for himself and the rest. He sauntered in, looking around at the meager group, silent as the fire continued to crackle, unchanged in the sudden turn of events.

"Good morning," King Rinwey greeted, his hands folding behind his back. "At least, it is for me. I'm... dreadfully sorry to have to cut your excursion short, but; I am afraid you're on my territory. And I don't take kindly to your... kind."

"Please, sir. We don't mean any harm," the guard begged, holding onto Val'Ki as she cried, her hand still searing.

"Not yet, at least." Rinwey hummed. "I know your lot."

"You don't know us!" Shouted the fisherwoman. "You just use your power to bully us around!"

Rinwey stared at her, his eyes wide with entertainment; then his cackling erupted. "You mean like your kind did to us?! For tens of thousands of years?! Your ancestors forced us into their servitude, or into solitude, or into death?! But you have the nerve to come at us?!"

"We seek peace; please."

"Then you sought in the wrong place."

"We're just passing through!"

"I don't care." Rinwey looked back at his children, who watched the scene unfold. Rinwey then turned to the Gathering Forces. "Apprehend them."

The forces didn't hesitate. They stepped forward, cuffing the group violently. Rinwey watched, unflinching as the group was forced against the rocks; unflinching as the Guard cried out for Val'ki as were separated, unflinching as Val'Ki screamed in pain as the Gatherers mistreated her injured hand. The camp was brought forth and forced to kneel in front of Rinwey. He stared down at them, his face illuminated by the fire. His ice blue eyes stared down at the Shifters; remorseless and calm as his children walked forward to join him in the sentencing.

"I don't know what possessed you to take shelter on my land; but maybe the corpse of your camp will come to serve as a warning for your fellow demons."

"We've never hurt anyone! Please!" The man seen mending clothes begged. "How do you justify this?!"

Rinwey glowered at him.

"With the eradication of your kind, my father's death will be avenged. As will the brainwashing of my first betrothed. But they are mere drops in the bucket of what your kind wrought upon earth. And you will all suffer the wrath of the humans that your forefathers treated like dogs, generation after generation. So; enjoy your coming trip." Rinwey finally smiled. "And say hello to my sister Thanoelle. She'll be taking you to your new home. So, enjoy Hell, my friends."

More screams; more pleading as the Gatherers forcefully escorted the Shifters away. Rinwey watched as they were gathered and forced into a closed carriage. He smiled, and sighed before turning towards the camp. He gathered a bucket and some streamwater and doused the flames.

"Good job, all of you," he said, turning off the forcefield; the hums they'd grown accustomed to evaporated, and suddenly the sounds of the stream and forest chirped and babbled back to their ears. "That was our biggest hunt in a while. Your mother will be so proud of you all." Rinwey beamed, gathering his children in for a loose hug. "Hadleinn will wish he'd been here."

Colme stared at the carriage as it rode out of sight, even while his father's arms were around him.

"Can we have crepes for breakfast?" Vuniper asked as they began walking back to their horses, pulling her father's arm over her shoulders. Rinwey laughed and held her tight to his side.

"Anything for you three this morning."

**** "We're home!" Vuniper shouted as the four of them returned the palace's living quarters. By now the sunshine was pouring golden through the windowed walls, easily filtering through now that there weren't any leaves to hinder the rays with the coming of winter.

With a creak from Queen Pellnique's chair at her office nook, she smiled, walking to greet her husband and three of her four children home.

"Finally! I was worried!" She said, scooping her husband's features into her hands, leading him to a kiss that he eagerly took, along with Pellnique's body close to his.

"Nothing to be worried about," he smiled. "We had everything under control the whole time. The kids are naturals."

"Hey!" Another voice called out as young Hadleinn barreled down the stairway. He instantly latched himself to his father's cloak. "You said I could go!"

"Hadleinn, you refused to wake up," Pellnique reminded the boy. The youngest prince pouted, puffing his cheeks as he sulked. Rinwey simply ruffled his strawberry blond hair, the same shade as his mother's.

"Next time, son," he promised.

Pellnique's attention landed on her children; her twin sons and daughter, beaming. "What was it like?"

"Surreal" Olerqus said. "I haven't seen that many shifters up close."

Hadleinn bounced up to them. "Did they change? Did you see them turn into anything?"

"No." Colme quickly answered. "They didn't... they weren't doing anything." He said suddenly, retiring up to his room. Pellnique watched him walk upstairs, uninterested in the conversation at hand. "I'm going to be studying."

Hadleinn ignored him and looked up at Olerqus and Vuniper. "What did you see?"

"It was a whole camp," Olerqus said, his hands painting the picture. "Out on Cobble Beach; must'a been about twenty of them."

"Twenty!" Pellnique gasped. "That's the biggest camp you've taken in quite a few years," she said, looking at Rinwey.

"They're getting bolder." Rinwey said, sitting on the arm of the sofa. "But they won't get past me. I won't let them into the kingdom."

"One of them thought dad's force-bot was a plaything," Vuniper snickered as her father laughed. "About took her hand off."

Pellnique's expression waned as she looked down at Hadleinn; a 'plaything' meant a child; but she smiled for her husband. "Why do you think we're seeing so many?"

"It's getting colder. That; and I fear a certain neighbor of ours may be harboring them."

"You don't think he'd do that?! He's already under so much scrutiny just for being one of them!" Pellnique gasped.

Rinwey's expression turned dangerous.

"Trust me. He's not as innocent as he makes himself out to be."

#PDatSK #my writing #this is probably going to be added onto in the future #but for now it does it's job

16 notes · View notes