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hehe-69 · 4 months

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Tangerine x Reader

Warnings: cursing, mentions of death, blood, some ptsd from the reader. Maybe a tad bit suggestive at the end. (Couldn’t help myself I guess)

Reader and Tan are already in an established relationship. He comforts her in this one. (Also sorry if it’s butt cheeks I tried)

~•~

“Lemon what the hell is going on? It’s supposed to be an in and out kind of job. You two have been in there for way too fucking long. Call me back!” You throw your phone into the passenger seat of the get away car your in. The Twins were supposed to clear out the wear-house, get the info and get back out. Usally that takes them about an hour minimum.

But it’s been two and 37 minutes.

Your phone rings and you snatch it with the first two.

“Lemon, what’s-“

“Don’t got the time, we’re pined down. Looks like our client lied about the amount of security this shit hole has.” You can hardly hear Lemon over the sound of gunfire in the background. “We’re got the info but we’re running low on ammo…and we’ve got no way out.”

“Fuck” A pit grows in your stomach, you don’t want to lose them. Not after everything you’ve been through together.

“Listen Lemon, what floor are you on?”

“The second, why? Wait don’t tell me you’re going in after-Hey!”

“Luv?” It’s Tangerine, he snatched the phone from Lemon. “You’re staying right where you are, we’ll be fine.”

“Tangerine you’re both pined down, low on ammo, with no way out.” You’re already out of the car and in the trunk grabbing two guns and some knives. “I’m not going to just sit here and do nothing, I should’ve know it wouldn’t be that simple. This is my fault and I’m going to fix it.”

“(Y/N), I said n-“

“Tan I would never forgive myself if either of you got hurt, or worse...” You trail off, “Just sit tight, I’m coming.” You grab a bullet proof vest and put it on, hanging up the phone before Tangerine can say anything.

————————

“Bulocks!” Tangerine tosses the phone back to Lemon. “She hung up on me!”

“She’s worried about us bruv. She has every right to be too.” Lemon shoots two more guys. “Because right now we are fucked.”

“Yeah I know that Lemon, but you know how she gets! We just need-“ All the sudden a bomb goes off and the room fills with smoke.

“How the fuck is she up here already!” Tan whisper yells.

“Well, I’m pretty sure all the assholes are in this room with us bruv!” Just as Lemon says that one of said assholes is coming after then through the smoke. But before he can reach them he falls to the ground, a knife in his back.

“Shit! That was way too close-” Lemon exclamation fall short as the smoke begins to clear and they see you. Your eyes blank and you’re covered in blood, there’s a body at your feet and you’re just staring at it. Like you’re in a trance.

_____________

“Luv?” You can her someone call out, but it’s like they are calling your through a thick wall. Muffled and disoriented, you can’t move, all you can focus on is the man at your feet.

His wallet in his hand.

The family photo now soaked in his blood.

This is why you don’t do jobs anymore, all you see is the lives you’ve taken. And the family’s you’ve ruined.

___________

“Lemon, go get the car started, yeah.” Tan says a couple feet from you. “I’ll bring her out.”

“Yeah…” Lemon can’t stand seeing you like this. You’ve always been so caring and sensitive to others feelings, how someone as good as you got wrapped up in this life is beyond his comprehension.

He’s more than okay with getting the car at this point.

“Hey luv,” Tan says softly putting his hands on your cheeks, making you look up again him. All he is met with is a blank stare. “we’re going home. Okay? You’ve saved our asses.”

Tangerine knows you’re not in the state to listen to a word that comes out of his mouth. But the sound of his voice comforts you.

“Just…stay with me yeah?” He offers you a small smile, all you can muster is a small nod.

Once you’re in the car Tan is holding you in the back while Lemon drives.

“You know…” Lemon begins. “You’re definitely an Emily. Kind, caring, helpful and intelligent. Your sensitive to other’s feelings and and quick to right your wrongs.” You know what he’s doing, he’s trying to make you cheer up. “You’re sensible and you care about our safety. You always have. That guy back there, it wasn’t your fault he chose this life.”

“Lemon, I don’t think they want’s to hear about your fuckin trains right now mate!” Tan snaps, holding you closer as you shake.

“(Y/N) always does, plus if they’re Emily I guess that makes you their Thomas.”

___________

Once you reached your room you went straight for the shower. You’re shaking and your vision is foggy but you somehow managed to make it into the hot water.

It’s hot enough to burn a bit, but you welcome the bit of pain. It grounds you, pulls you out of the fog just that bit more.

After your done, you notice that you got shot in your leg. Bullet still logged in your flesh you’ll have to get it out, but the ned kits are down stairs. You’ll do it later.

Your movements are clumsy and sluggish once you finally get around to dressing yourself, putting on shorts and an old shirt. Sitting on your bed with a towel under your leg, you let yourself think.

——————

Just as you’re about to go down and grab a med kit, Tan enters your room with one in his hands.

“Figured you’d be too worried about us to take care of yourself luv.” Tan chuckles lightly in attempt to cheer you up. “And it looks like I was right.” You offer him a small smile, but it does not meet your eyes. “I’m assuming the bullet is still in there?” Tan asks knelling before you.

He’s cleaned up, his hair is curly with out a drop of gel in it, it’s always beautiful sight. And he’s in sweats and a shirt a huge contrast to his fancy suits. Which means you’ve been just sitting on your bed staring at the wall for a while.

To answer his question you just nod, and Tan sighs. “You know luv, you always say that it’s bad to keep things bottled up.” He begins as he gets out the clamps. “And…I know I’m not as good with feelings as Lemon is. But…I care about you (Y/N). We both do, and seeing you like this is hard for us.” He looks up at you to make sure your listing, but also to silently ask if you were ready. You nod and he goes in to get the bullet out of your leg. You let out a hiss in pain. “Sorry.” Tan says softly, a tone he doesn’t use with anyone but you and Lemon.

“What I’m tying to say is, we’re here for you luv. Whatever you need, we’re here.” Tan finishes his little speech, which may seem lackluster. But it speaks volumes for his own feelings. Tan says he’s bad with feelings but really he just has so many walls that it’s hard to decipher them.

“That’s my line.” You attempt to joke, a hiss follows after as Tan pulls the bullet from your leg.

“It’s a great line dove.” Tan smiles. “One you’ve used on me quite often, but I know you mean it. And I mean it too, I’m here for you.” Tan’s change from we’re here to I’m here, may seem small, but it’s enough to warm your cheeks and make your stomach do flips.

“You’re going to need some stitches, want me to get Lemon to do them?”

“No, let Lemon rest, I’ll do then myself.” You begin to reach for the needle but before you can grab it Tan snatched it from the med kit.

“Oh no you don’t dove, I’ll do them.” You don’t even try to argue, he patches you up in silence. It’s a comfortable one, interrupted a couple of hisses and grunts followed by an apology form Tan.

Once he is done he, Tan puts everything back in the med kit and cleans up the mess. You expect him to leave afterwards, but he sits next to you in your bed instead.

“I mean it luv. Whatever you need, whatever you want…I’m here.” Tan once again has a softness in his voice, but there is something more glimmering in the striking blue of his eyes. Something that makes your heart skip a beat. Something that has remained unspoken between you for months.

“I’m sorry Tan,” you look down at your lap. “I should’ve known the job wouldn’t be that easy. And I almost got you two killed-“

“Hey,” Tan lifts your head to look at him with his hand on your cheek. “We should’ve never gotten ourselves into that situation to begin with…” he moves a strand of your head out of your face. “I just wish you hadn’t gotten involved like that.” His hands frame your face as he looks at you, nothing but admiration shines in his eyes.

You let out a hum in response and close your eyes, letting yourself enjoy the weight and heat of his palms on your cheek.

“Could you say here, with me for a little bit.” You mumble out.

“Always.” Is all Tan says before he leans in to kiss your forehead. Something he’s done before in the past, but it never fails to make you swoon. You let out a soft giggle.

“There’s my girl.” Tan mutters as he leans back, he’s met with your smile. You narrow your eyes at him. “Your girl huh.” A playful tone in your voice, which causes a smile of his own to form on Tan’s face.

“Yeah,” he says leaning in this time to kiss you on your lips. “My girl.” You hear him whisper right before your lips meet.

The first kiss is a short but meaningful one, a quick peck.

When Tan moves away from your lips you pull him back in for another kiss, an action that pulls a breathless chuckle from Tan.

When your lips meet let yourself melt into it, all your tension and fear gone, as his hand cups your cheek with a delicate touch. He’s other goes to your hip. You let your hands run through his hair, and you hear the soft groan leave Tan’s lips at the feeling.

When you pull back you let your forehead rest against his. “I love you.” Tan whispers out. That’s something neither of you have said before, but it’s always been there. Just hanging in the air between the two of you, neither bold enough to say it till now.

“I love you too.” You respond softly and Tan grins genuine and bright, blue eyes shining.

God he’s beautiful you think as he kiss you again, this time pulling you into his lap.

~•~

BOOM!

I did it anyway, I count help it.

Sorry if it bad, I tried. I cannot tell you how long I’ve been thinking about this scenario.

But I hope it was enjoyable.

Thanks for reading, your a camp🥳

Also if there is anything you have been wanting to read about when it comes to tangerine please feel free to comment it or something and I’ll try my best to do it justice.

#tangerine bullet train #tangerine x reader #tangerine #tangerine x you #tangerine x y/n #aaron taylor johnson x reader #aaron taylor johnson

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finn-writes-stuff · 6 months

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Hiii~ I saw your requests are open for Baldur's gate and I was wondering if you can write a one shot about wyll when tav/reader gets injured...

Thank u so much<3

Reckless

After a risky play in a battle and a temporary death, Wyll takes care of you.

Wyll Ravengard x Reader

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Format: Oneshot

Gender Neutral Reader

Masterlist

Not to go insane about a man on main (Lying) but god I love him so much. The genuine hero archetype is so good and sweet.

No matter how long you had been adventuring, the poisoned sting of a goblin arrow never hurt any less. A lucky shot from an archer up above you, you hissed as it sunk into your shoulder. This had been a long battle, with your enemy calling in unexpected reinforcements, and your whole party was running out of health and energy.

A crackle of magic whipped past you and crashed into the archer's chest. Their rattling yell as they were knocked down let you know they were taken care of, and you were free to turn and grin at your savior, rushing to his aid in return.

Wyll had his own group of goblins he was trading blows with, his rapier clashing against another blade as you reached his side. He was better off health-wise than you were at the moment, but his shot at your attacker had cost him precious time to fend off the group.

"Thanks for the save!" You called gratefully as you dived into your own attack, trying to take out the enemies that seemed worn down.

"I've got you," he called back, ducking away from another blow. "But we need to get that ritual stopped, do you have any way to break the circle?"

Doing your best to run through your options as you danced back from a sword, you grimaced. Everyone was out of spell slots by now, and other resources were too limited to spare on a goblin ritual.

Or maybe not. As you shoved a hand into your bag, your hand fell upon a smoke powder bomb, one you had almost forgotten about.

"Yep! I can do it, Wyll! Just keep me covered," you said, already sprinting towards the ritual circle.

"The Blade provides," he laughed, carving down a goblin trying to slash at your retreat. "Do try to keep close then, love."

"It's on you to keep up," you shot back, relishing in the banter and the adrenaline of the fight. You needed to get close to set this off to maximum effect, with the arrow in your shoulder, you couldn't throw the bomb at a distance with any certainty. You just had to get close enough to toss it and back off before it set off. A piece of cake.

Not quite a piece of cake, you realized as you had to dodge and dive around goblins, hearing your companions slashing and seeing the familiar crackling red energy knock down enemies trying to rush you. But the day that a battle went smoothly would be the day Avernus froze over.

The attackers in your way didn't manage to get any solid hits on you, but they did succeed in slowing you down, enough so that you saw magic rising from the circle, pulling up like walls around the caster in the centre. Shit, if they got this spell off, that would be deadly. You barely took a second to think before diving in, crashing to the ground over the circle with the bomb in your hands.

The bomb that did not take kindly to the hard landing and magical heat around you. This was going to hurt. A lot.

Your last thought before being thrown back by the explosion was that at least the magic walls should contain the blast enough so that it didn't catch the rest of your party.

---

Being revived always hurt like hell. Feeling your heart forcefully start back up and your injuries repair themselves under magical guidance was excruciating when it was done quickly. You came too coughing up blood and was that a tooth? You hoped not, but if it was could the healing magic replace it?

Your thoughts were ended quite quickly by a familiar face dropping into your view as Wyll knelt in front of you, grabbing your face to look you over. His touch was so gentle, even as he turned you back and forth, and his sword callouses ran over your skin.

"Gentle? Yes, I'm trying my best, love," he replied, clueing you into the fact that you'd spoken aloud. Maybe the healing magic hadn't quite finished its work.

But it was hard to complain when he was so close to you like this. Carefully pulling you up to your feet and leaning you into his side as he watched you blearily gain your balance.

"Alright, no, we're not making you walk back to camp like that," he said, steadying you. "Let me carry you? I promise I won't drop you on the way there."

All it took was a nod for him to slip his arm under your knees and behind your back and scoop you up into a bridal carry. His arms were steady and you had the impression this was not the first time he had done this. Perhaps it was a staple of daring rescues in his past.

You giggled at the thought, resting your head against his chest and he looked down at you with concern. "You alright there? I'm a little concerned you got a concussion that hasn't been healed."

"Perfectly fine. But you must answer me honestly. Are you Prince Charming?"

"Alright, I'm quite concerned you got a concussion." He didn't bother to hide his smile though, keeping you steady against his chest. As you let your eyes drift, you heard him say something softer, not the brash and heroic Blade of the Frontiers, but just Wyll. "Don't do that to me again, love. You terrified me."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"I would rather swordfight that whole group at once than see you blow yourself up like that again. I was worried you would shatter yourself too much to be brought back." His pace was steady as he carried you, keeping you from jostling or rocking around too much even on the uneven ground. "Be careful for me?"

"If you'll be careful for me," you murmured back, leaning easier into his chest. It was all too easy to fall asleep in his arms.

#finnwrites #baldur's gate 3 x reader #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 x reader #bg3 #wyll x reader #wyll ravengard x tav #wyll ravengard x reader #wyll ravengard #oneshot #gender neutral reader

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notgonnaedit · 4 months

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Healer's Heart

Reunion

Summary: When Order 66 ushers in a new era, Althea and the Batch must find their place

Pairing: Bad Batch x Teen!OFC (clones being good brothers/dads)

Chapter summary: Crosshair and the Empire attack, and Althea realizes the Crosshair she knew is gone for good

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, Crosshair, flamethrower, ordnance, main character injury, Cad Bane, scared Omega(If I miss a tag LMK)

Master list

"And that's how you disassemble a thermal explosive." Wrecker explained to Omega. The two were standing in the scrap yard on a rare piece of ground. Sunlight streamed through the old ships, creating a picturesque landscape of the ruins of war. Before them was a disassembled but active explosive. All the parts were laid out neatly and ready to go off at the right time.

"There's tons of live ordnance buried in this shipyard." Continued the demo man. "If you trip one, you need to know how to disable it."

"Seems simple enough." Omega said as a smirk painted itself on to her expression. With the skills her brother's and Althea were teaching her, she felt confident in her ability to survive.

Wrecker grabbed a pair of wire cutters and tossed them to the curly haired girl. "Well, if you're so sure, here. Disarm it."

Omega's confidence wavered. "Me? But I only watched you once–"

Wrecker ignored her concerns, grabbing the remote and pressing the button. "Ten seconds till we're both goners. Ten, nine..."

Omega fumbled as she looked over the bomb in front of her. "The conductor feeds the coil expander,"

".... eight...."

"This connects to the transmitter." She followed the wires, at a loss for what to do next.

"...seven..."

Omega turned back to Wrecker, panic rising in her chest. "Then what?"

The demo man ignored her, casting a stern stern look. "...six, five, four..."

Omega turned back to the bomb and cut a wire she vaguely remembered Wrecker teaching her about. The explosive began to beep. The blonde turned back to Wrecker. "I don't know which wire to cut next."

"Better get it right."

Omega whimpered lightly as Wrecker's countdown continued.

"Three, two, one!"

Deciding just to go for it, Omega cut a random wire. The beeping accelerated, earning a look of worry from Wrecker.

"Obviously not that one. Too late! Run for it!"

Omega stood and ran as fast as she could for cover, tripping over a metal pipe in her frenzy. She barely made it behind a scrap wall before the beeping halted and a poof! was heard.

Wrecker laughed loudly. "Gotcha!"

Omega peeked behind her cover to see a plume of smoke drifting away. She let out a scoff as she walked over the demo man. "Why didn't it explode?"

Wrecker grinned. "Because it's a smoke bomb. You think I'd let you train with a live explosive? Not after Thea almost singed off my eyebrows." He laughed again. "You should've seen your face."

"Wrecker, Omega," A voice from above said. Echo was standing on top of a scrap pile. "Pack it in. Hunter wants us back at the Jedi cruiser." The ARC jumped down, now on the same dirt as the other two. "How'd the test go?"

Omega clenched her fists, her face twisting into a dispute frown. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Wrecker patted her shoulder lightly as they walked back to the cruiser with Echo. "Cheer up, kid. I failed my first disarming test too. With my help, you'll be a pro in no time."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Althea flipped her knife between her fingers, lacing it through like a thread. Her brow furrowed in concentration. No matter how much she practiced, the small fear she would lose a finger was always present.

"You're getting better." A voice to her left said. Hunter stood by her, helmet rested between his arm and his hip. Tech wasn't far off, reading something on his datapad.

Althea hummed, her eyes still trained on her blade. While her focus appeared to be on her skills, the medic was replaying the events of the previous night in her mind.

Wrecker's rampage, seeing Hunter, Echo, and Tech limp and hurt, the fear in Omega's eyes. But what replayed the most was how Althea had almost pulled the trigger. She was mere centimeters away from ending the life of someone she considered a brother.

How had it come so easy?

"Thea,"

Althea looked up from her knife to see Hunter looking at her, concern evident in his expression. The medic realized he must have been trying to get her attention for awhile in her daze.

"Yeah?" She asked. She did her best to hide the way her voice thickened.

"Are you alright?"

She pursed her lips. The idea of lying and giving a standard I'm fine crossed her mind. But she had a gut feeling that Hunter could see right through her and wouldn't stop until she confessed.

Heaving a sigh, Althea slid her blade into the strap on her thigh. "I just keep thinking about last night."

Hunter leaned against the wall of the cruiser, saying nothing yet imploring her to continue.

"I was so close to actually pulling the trigger." Somehow, her voice remained steady. "I was so scared, but I just wanted to protect Omega."

A moment of silence passed between them. The light of the setting sun illuminated the scrap yard, casting an ethereal light over the rusted ships.

"I don't know if I can do it again." Althea said, breaking the silence.

Hunter looked over to her, his steel brown eyes glinting with intrigue and worry. "Do what?"

The medic folded her arms over her chest, holding her elbows in her hands. "Lose another brother." Her hands gripped herself harder. "What happened yesterday, after spending forever trying to find Thao, and then it feels like Crosshair just left a day ago, but an eternity at the same time."

Hunter let out a sigh as he turned back to looked at the littered horizon. "Yeah, I know what you mean, kiddo." His own arms were folded, his hands resting on his biceps. He didn't need to say anything to tell Althea he was thinking about the war. She had fought in it too, after all.

It wasn't an uncommon sight to see reg troopers grieving their fallen brothers. It was an interesting sight, millions of people with the same genetic code, yet they all grieved differently. Some cried, others focused on their jobs to an almost unhealthy extent. Althea often found herself doing the latter whenever she was stressed. Anything to distract her from her own pain.

It was one of the reasons she thrived as a medic on the front lines. She could use the skills she learned on others to save them, yet she couldn't save the ones she held closest to her.

The cruel irony of reality. She could heal anyone of their pain, even soften the blows of grief. But she couldn't heal herself.

The medic thought back to when she and Echo were talking about it a while ago

"You can't carry a burden over it, Althea." Echo said. "Let the dead rest, and let their memory live in you." His shoulders fell slightly as he spoke, as if his own burden was weighing him down.

Althea let out a sigh. "Yeah, maybe you're right. But where I'm from, you put dead in the ground and leave them there—or they follow you."

A beep of the comms brought the medic out of her thoughts. "Hunter, Tech, Althea," Said Echo. "We were spotted by scrappers."

"Wrecker's in pursuit." Omega added. "He says he has it under control."

Tech looked up from his datapad. "That's not comforting."

"Echo, get a visual." Hunter ordered.

"I'm on it."

•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Night had fallen on Bracca as Wrecker set the unconscious scrappers down.

"Rex warned us about the scrapper patrols on Bracca." Said Echo. "We should leave."

"In our present situation, we need money." Hunter said, one hand on his hip. "And we have a chance to make a lot of it right here."

"Ha!" Wrecker scoffed. "In this dump? How?"

The tracker turned to his brother. "Tech, what's the potential haul inside this cruiser?"

Tech looked up from his datapad. "My scans indicate the armory and artillery bay have not been fully off-loaded."

Althea nodded. "The dianoga must have kept the scrappers away."

"Just a few of those weapons should clear our debt with Cid." Hunter said.

Echo scowled. "We're soldiers, not arms smugglers."

Hunter looked at him. "There's no Republic for us to rely on anymore. We're presented with an opportunity here. We have to take it."

"I would also add that the intel from the bridge's central system has the potential to be worth far more than any weapon." Said Tech.

Wrecker scoffed. "Not to me."

Hunter slipped his helmet on. "Tech, get to the bridge. Get the power online and whatever intel you can gather."

"Uh, what do we do about them?" Omega asked, pointing her thumb to the unconscious scrappers.

"We'll grab what we need and be gone before they even wake up." Hunter told her.

With that being said, the squad ran into the cruiser, eager to find loot.

As they walked through the abandoned ship, rats squeaked in surprise and ran away. Omega and Wrecker took a look at the proton torpedoes while Althea scanned her flashlight over the random boxes and crates of things.

The lights clicked on, causing everyone without a helmet to blink, for the sudden flash stung their eyes.

"Power's back on." Said Tech over the comms.

Hunter grabbed a crate and shoved it onto the small cart Echo had found. "With a haul like this, Cid will owe us for a change." He wasn't able to hide the smile in his voice.

Echo, however, could be heard frowning a mile away. "If we'd left with Rex, we wouldn't have to owe Cid at all."

"He's on a different path than us." Hunter replied.

"Hunter, we're soldiers. What other path is there?" The ARC asked.

Hunter suppressed a sigh. Being a soldier was all they had ever known, but they had the choice to choose. Isn't that what clones fought for so hard? The right to be seen as a person, not just a number.

They were created for a single purpose, but they could choose to find another, like Cut did. That's all Hunter wanted, to have a life of their own. But even now, when they were deserters, a group of rogue clones, their lives were still controlled by a debt that they had created, not some Republic.

Omega deserved a childhood, and so did Althea. The medic may have chosen to be soldier, but Hunter still felt a responsibility for her. After all, if they hadn't been too late they could've saved her family.

Hunter shook those thoughts away. The past couldn't be dwelt on, they had too much to focus on in the moment.

Tech's voice clicked on. "Hunter, we've got company."

"Is it more scrappers?" Asked the Sergeant.

"No, it's the Empire."

•°•°•°•°•

Althea, Echo, and Wrecker made their way through the dark corridors, each pushing or holding something of value. Hunter, Omega, and Tech came in through another door.

"How many troopers we talking about?" Althea asked.

"Three attack shuttles worth." Tech answered.

Wrecker shifted the torpedoes on his shoulders. "We already got what we came for. Let's get to the Marauder."

Hunter shook his head. "They're already on board the cruiser. We need a covert way out."

"They'll do a forward-to-aft sweep." Said Echo, reciting reg protocol. "We can alternate corridors. Come on."

They ran down the halls, Hunter leading with a light attached to his blaster. "Talk to me Tech."

Tech's datapad beeped lightly. "I'm trying to tap into the regs' comms so we can monitor their movements."

Hunter halted when a heavy thud sounded down a junction. He clicked off his light. "Someone's coming."

They turned around, ducking behind the wall. All lights were shut off as the regs made their way through the hall. Althea's heart pounded in her ears. She knew Crosshair was there, but what would he do? It had been weeks since he betrayed them for the Empire and now they were on the same ship.

The regs continued their sweep, missing them entirely. The blue glow from Tech's datapad illuminated his covered eyes. "I'm in."

Static crackled, but one voice was clear; Crosshair's. "All squads,"

"Yes, sir." Responded the troops.

"Push the targets towards the hangar. We'll pin them down."

"Roger that."

"So he's hunting us." Althea couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice, but Omega raised a much better question.

"Aren't we headed to the hangar?" She asked, eyes wide with worry.

"Not anymore." Said Hunter. "We'll cut through the artillery deck."

They ran through the dark corridors, stopping and hiding when the moment called for it. The artillery deck was an open room with cannons lining the open area that should have a wall.

Wrecker looked down to the steep drop off that was just past the cannons. "Uh.... Okay, I'm not going out that way."

"There they are."

Althea turned to see ergs surrounding them, and a few troopers in an armor she didn't recognize. It was black, and from the sound of their voices it was clear they weren't clones.

"Stand down." Said a black armored female.

Hunter pushed Omega behind him slightly as he stepped forward, standing beside Althea. Crosser stood in front of them, more black armored troops behind him as he wore an umber armor of his own.

"Tapping our comms to track our movements?" The helmeted sniper asked. "So predictable."

Wrecker scoffed, his and everyone else's blaster trained on him. "Nice to see you too, Crosser."

Tech nudged Echo. "Echo, scamp in and reroute reserve power to the cannons."

The ARC looked at his intelligent brother. "If these cannons fire, this whole deck will collapse."

"Exactly."

Althea's hand begged to shake as she aimed it at Crosser, but she wouldn't give the sniper the satisfaction.

"Look at you all," He sneered. "Scavenging like rats. How pathetic."

"Why come after us?" Hunter asked, his hands steady but not on the trigger.

"You're traitors." Crosshair replied simply.

Around them, troopers fell into place, surrounding them in small groups.

"Done." Echo whispered.

Althea knew Crosshair could see her anger, even if only her eyes showed. "Crosshair, wake up. You're being controlled by an inhibitor chip."

Omega stepped forward. "She's telling the truth. The Kaminoans put chips in all the clones." Her gaze softened. "Remember what I told you back in the brig? You can't help it."

Hunter moved forward, now standing in front of the girls. Althea had no recollection of Omega and Crosshair speaking, but she knew the kid wouldn't lie about something like this.

The medic had seen many things, some good, a lot bad. But nothing could have prepared her for what Crosshair said next.

"Aim for the kids."

Althea nearly choked right then and there as Hunter moved to guard them against the blasters trained on them.

"Your issue's with me, not them." The Sergeant snapped.

"Hurry up." Wrecked murmured to Tech.

Echo began to count. "Systems online in three, two, one–"

"I suggest you drop your weapon." Crosshair said slowly, but in an instant the cannons went off and shook the entire floor.

The Bad Batch went to work in an instant, shooting down as many troops as the could before they could recover.

"Go!" Hunter ordered. Althea blasted as many as she could before the supports fell. She rolled out of the way of the falling metal as Hunter grabbed Omega. As soon as they were all standing again, an umber trooper readied their flamethrower.

The fire danced dangerously close to them as it was shot. Wrecker took one of his torpedoes and threw it at the operator, knocking them out. "Direct hit. Yeah!"

Safe for now, they made their escape.

•°•°•°•°•

Tech opened to door to reveal a large open area, far bigger than anywhere else on the ship. There was a steep drop and the foothold was barely a foot wide.

"The ion engine chamber?" Althea asked. "Why'd you bring us here?"

"Because this is our alternate egress off the cruiser." Tech answered.

Wrecker groaned as he balanced his load. "I don't even know what that means."

They made their way through the chamber, finally coming to the thruster. Althea slid down the ring after Omega, coming to a short halt.

"We're almost there." Said Hunter. "Just a little further."

Wrecker let out a groan as he prepped his cargo for travel. Echo turned to Tech. "I didn't think you meant we'd be escaping through the engine."

"I could not have been clearer." Replied the mechanic.

Wrecker stammered as he slid down on the crate. "W-Whoa!" Once he was recovered, they made their way through the giant open space.

"Whoa," Breathed Omega as she shone her light around. "I've never been inside an ion engine before."

Wrecker chuckled. "It'd be weirder if you had."

"These chambers are quite the engineering marvel." Tech admired. He kneeled to feel the floor of the engine. "This blast primer is coating is capable of withstan–"

"No one cares!" Wrecker announced as he shoved Tech forward. "Keep movin'."

When they reached the end of the engine, Althea couldn't help but ask, "Well? Now what?"

Tech moved to look outside, but was immediately met with a blaster shot an inch from his head. "Whoa! Whoa!" He stumbled and Hunter had to pull him back.

"Try again, Hunter." Crosshair shouted from across the way. "I told you before, you're surrounded."

Althea gripped her blaster tightly. Crosshair was good enough to hit smaller targets from further away. He wasn't trying to hit Tech, that was a warning shot. Knowing Crosshair, there wouldn't be anymore warnings.

"Double back." Said Hunter.

They were about halfway through the engine when a low rumble and the high pitched hum hum of technology stopped them.

"What is that?" Omega asked.

"Sounds like the engine's coming online." Hunter answered.

Althea froze. "But that's not possible, right?"

Tech tapped his datapad as if impending doom wasn't staring them in the face. "Technically, it is. I restored the ship's main power core when I accessed the central system, which means engines can be activated."

Omega looked up at them with worry. "Crosshair wouldn't do that, would he?"

"How much time do we have?" Echo asked.

Tech glanced up from his datapad. "I estimate less than two minutes."

The engine began to glow with a blue light and heat could be felt accumulating.

"What do we do?" Omega asked, panic rising in her voice.

"Uh, what about Plan 7?" Wrecker suggested.

"Plan 7 has nothing to do with this situation whatsoever." Echo snapped.

"Well...Well you think of something!"

"Can we use the explosives from the armory to disable the engine." Hunter asked.

Tech didn't look up from his datapad. "It won't cause a large enough reaction to affect the thermal chamber." He took his flashlight and scanned it over the large ring. "But if we place a series of charges around this cone, we may be able to break away from the cylinder while destabilizing the core."

Omega stopped. "Break away? You mean fall? All the way down?"

"It's that or be incinerated." Althea said with a shrug.

"Everyone, take an explosive." Hunter ordered. "Tech, Omega, up top with me."

Wrecker set down the case and everyone grabbed a bomb. The ARC placed one near the bottom. Wrecker jumped as high as he could to place another. Althea was thrown up by the demo man, placing one before landing safely in his arms.

Once they were all ready, Wrecker gripped the detonator. "Everybody, get down!"

Instantly, they fell away, tumbling and rolling everywhere. Althea regretted every decision she ever made that led her to not have a helmet. Luckily, Wrecker shielded her from most of it.

During the tumble, Hunter and Omega got separated from the rest of the team. The Sergeant stood, checking over Omega to see if she was injured.

"Hunter, we landed on the port side. Are you and Omega okay?" Althea's voice sounded over the comms. Hunter released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. They were safe.

But Hunter and Omega weren't. "We're by the engine, and we've got company." An attack shuttles flew by and blasted at them, sending the tracker and girl scrambling for cover. "Meet back at the Marauder."

•°•°•°•°•°•

Bodies of clone troopers surrounded the Marauder.

"What happened to them?" Omega asked.

Hunter checked one of them, finding no pulse. Something pricked his senses, but not enough to get a good idea. "Someone's here. This wasn't the scrappers' handiwork."

"Wasn't much work." A new voice said. In the doorway of the ship stood man with blue skin and a brown hat. He chewed a toothpick, staring at them with red eyes.

"Omega. Get behind me." Hunter ordered.

The man walked down from the ship, a little droid following him. "I've taken down so many clones over the years. Once you figure it out one, the rest are easy."

Hunter stepped forward. "You're in for a surprise."

The man looked out from under the rim of his hat. "I doubt that."

"He's a bounty hunter." Omega realized.

"Ain't you smart?" He said. "The kid's got it all figured out."

"You're in trouble now." Said the little droid.

"Who hired you?" Hunter asked.

The man flicked have toothpick away. "Son, that's confidential information. Now hand her over."

Omega stepped back, crouching as Hunter's hand lingered over his blaster. "She's with us. She's not going anywhere."

"That's unfortunate....for you." The man's hand rested above his own blaster, his fingers tapping his belt.

They squared off, staring each other down, daring the other to make the first move. Omega felt a smirk make it's way into her face. Hunter was one of the best shots she had ever met, there was no way this man would beat him.

Bang!

The little droid's leg was shot off by Hunter, but the Sergeant was on the ground, a smoldering whole in his chest plate.

"Hunter!" Omega ran to him, shaking him to wake up. Tears welled in her eyes when he didn't wake up. "Hunter! Hunter?"

Why wasn't he waking up?! She took her fingers and pressed them to his throat. What did Althea do? Omega desperately tried to remember, but then she realized she wasn't alone. She grabbed her bow, ready to shoot the man who shot her brother, but the little droid knocked it out of her hands, even with one booster.

The man switched his blaster to stun. "Sorry, little lady."

Omega gasped as she was stunned, then everything went dark.

•°•°•°•°•°•

"Hunter. Wake up!"

Gunfire everywhere. Hunter opened his eyes to be met with the inside of his visor. His chest hurt and everything was fuzzy. He heard a groan, was that him?

Someone helped him up. Althea, he thought. Wrecker was standing over him, Omega's bow in his hand. "What happened? Where's Omega?"

Hunter gasped at the realization, then quickly regretted it. Omega had been captured by a bounty hunter. He needed to find her.

"He was shot in the chest plate." Althea's voice said. She sounded like she was under his left arm, but it was hard to tell.

"We have to get him on board." Tech's voice ordered.

"Incoming!" Wrecker yelled.

Hunter found himself leaning on Althea as she guided him to the ship. Tech prepped them for take off as Wrecker and Echo held off the regs.

"We got him." Echo said from somewhere on the ship. "Tech, fly us out of here!"

His hearing returned as someone took off his helmet. Althea stood there, tossing his helmet down and grabbing a bandage.

"He...he took Omega." Hunter panted.

Althea's yellow eyes filled with unbridled rage. "Who? Crosshair?"

His hand found her shoulder and gripped it tightly. Partly for support and partly to remind himself that she was safe. "No. A bounty hunter." A groan escaped him, earning a worried look from Althea.

Hunter fought the urge to cough. "We have to find her."

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#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #bad batch #oc #tbb hunter #fanfiction #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb tech #star wars tbb #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #healer's family series

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lexosaurus · 1 year

Text

Phic Phight: To Fail at Saving

For @ebonyheartnet

Title: To Fail at Saving WC: 1444 CW: Bombs Summary: When a ghost fundamentally fails at their obsession, they can fracture. Most fade from it, but halfas…they cling.

[ao3]

****

There had to be someone to save, Phantom thought, his eyes ablaze. He rubbed his palms against his thighs, feeling the slippery material through the tears in his gloves. His fingers stung as dirt smeared into the micro-cuts on his skin, but he could hardly feel it through the hurricane that was in his mind.

Please, let there be someone to save.

“Phantom?” a voice said, but it sounded confused, not in distress. Therefore none of his concern.

He pushed forward blindly, stumbling over loose rubble. He caught his balance on a boulder of fallen concrete and gasped for breath despite the fact that he hadn’t run. Still, his chest tightened its claw around his lungs and he coughed up the dust, smoke, grime that clung to the air in clouds.

This was his fault.

And now he was paying the ultimate price.

“You should have ended me when you had the chance!” Spectra’s cackling echoed in his mind. He could feel her claws around his throat, hoisting him up higher and higher in the air.

He remembered how much he wanted to scream, to wail her away. But he was weak, and she was not, and he couldn’t do anything else except watch her plan come to fruition.

As he watched the explosions. The fire. The chunks of rubble toss into the air. They were silent. Why were they silent?

And then the booming sounded. It blistered his eardrums, lighting up the sky with fireworks and crackling and the worst sound imaginable.

And then the building tipped over. Falling to the ground. Crumbling under supports that no longer existed.

He was too weak.

“This is your fault, child. You failed them. And now I will feast.”

His fault.

“You couldn’t protect them.”

His fault.

“Delicious!”

His fault.

There had to be someone to save

But he could hardly expand his senses over to the overwhelming despair that fogged the air. Even if there were someone trapped, he would never know. He couldn’t hear them, smell them, see them, feel them.

He had lost.

But he couldn’t give up.

He pushed himself off the used-to-be wall and walked forward. Obsessively, maybe what once had been. But his Obsession was Ruined and he would never be able to rest again. He knew this, not because anyone had ever told him so, but because he could feel it.

He was an Abomination, the other ghosts called him.

He went against the ecto-laws of physics.

He shouldn’t have existed.

When a ghost fundamentally fails at their Obsession, they fracture. But Phantom hadn’t. Because Phantom was a halfa, because he was a mistake, because he was a freak of nature.

What happens when someone who toes the line between dead and living fails at their Obsession?

No halfa ever had. So no one knew. But Phantom knew that he was still here, still dragging his feet along the cracked pavement, broken but still moving like a zombie thirsting for blood.

There had to be someone to save…

He fell onto the ground. The sound of crying was too much, the feeling of death was too much. He had never lost anyone like this before, he had never failed before, and this was too much, too much, too much.

“You should have ended me when you had the chance.”

He should have ended her before when her greatest evil was haunting Casper High. Before she set her sights greater, grander, deadlier. Before she decided to go to these extremes for the sake of her disgusting vanity.

The explosions deafened the world, vibrating every molecule down to his core.

He was going to kill her.

“Phantom!”

He opened his eyes and whipped around. Spectra was gone, and Bertrand too, nothing more than splatters of green on the pavement. She can’t hurt anyone again, but it’s too late. I failed. I didn’t protect them.

“Phantom, come here!” The voice said again, this time more urgently.

Phantom finally locked eyes with the man—a police officer—who was standing by a pile of rubble with a crowd of onlookers.

“Someone’s trapped under there!” the officer shouted.

They…need me?

Trapped…

“Alive?” Phantom croaked, his vocal cords surely bleeding after what he had put them through.

“Yes, someone’s alive! We need you to phase her out!”

His knees nearly buckled right then and there. There had to be someone—there was someone to save.

The force of his core lifted him from the ground, it zipped him forward, it stitched his suit back together and cloaked his shimmering aura back around him. He was weak, so very weak, but there was someone to save and he couldn’t save them looking like a broken excuse for a ghost.

“Where?” he asked.

“Down there.” The officer pointed to a pile of rubble. “Be careful. The rocks are unstable, and we don’t know who else is trapped down there with her.”

Even if he couldn’t see them, he knew his eyes were glowing alight. He lit a low-powered ball of ectoplasm in his fist for light, turned his body intangible, and dove down into the concrete jenga. He passed through a slab leaning on another before coming into a clearing. Broken desktops, tables, and scrambled manila folders greeted his eyes.

“Phantom!” a new voice gasped.

Phantom tried to not turn around too quickly. He forced himself to stay in the air, to take stock of the scene, to see the one conscious woman in a pencil skirt smeared with blood and one unconscious woman slumped against the shattered wall.

“You’re here,” she whispered, her eyes growing shinier against the ecto-light. “You’re here. Oh my god, you’re here. We’re gonna be okay.”

She hunched over the other woman, her tears spilling onto her cheeks.

“It’s going to be okay,” Phantom said.

It was going to be okay. There was someone to save.

“Please, take Marissa first,” the woman said. “She needs an ambulance. Please.”

“I got her.” Phantom flew down, hovering over the duo.

The woman pushed back to reveal her friend whose once-white blouse had tie-dyed red.

“She got hit with something. I don’t know what.”

Phantom let the green fizzle away in his fist. The room dimmed but didn’t darken as the white of his aura took over. He fitted his glove over the unconscious woman’s abdomen and lowered his temperature until ecto-ice bubbled at his fingertips. He pressed his glove down, letting the ice latch onto its new host.

The conscious woman didn’t say anything, but Phantom felt the need to explain anyway, “That will stop her bleeding while I move her. Don’t worry, it will be okay. I’ll save you both.”

He wrapped a gentle arm around the older woman, Marissa, and spread his aura over her, switching it to intangibility the moment she was fully covered in white. Slowly, to not jostle her, he flew up the way he had come, passing through slabs of concrete and broken wires until the dust-covered sunlight and cheers from the crowd greeted him once again.

He made quick work of setting her down in front of the officer. “There’s someone else. I’ll be right back.”

He couldn’t have returned underground soon enough.

There are people to save.

“You ready?” Phantom asked.

“Yes.” The younger woman wiped the tears from her eyes and reached out to him, not even pausing to shiver as they finally made contact.

“Let’s get you to safety,” Phantom said.

His aura bathed her body just as it had the older woman before her, and he pulled her up through the concrete the same as well. The crowd cheered, and he tried to not preen like a peacock as he set her down on the uneven ground.

“Thank you,” the woman said. “You saved me.”

His core buzzed with newfound life, and he felt some of the nicks on his hands and skin begin to heal.

“You’re welcome,” he responded, his voice far less grated than before.

The officer put a hand on his shoulder. “Alright, Phantom?”

Perhaps he should have been embarrassed at his previous display of weakness, at the way he had stumbled around this building like a lost lamb searching for its mother. But there was someone to save and he would do it, he would save them all.

He Had To.

“Let’s find the others,” he said, staring determined into the officer’s eyes. “We’ll get everyone.”

The officer handed him a radio. “You search underground. We’ll radio you from above if we find anyone. Be careful.”

“You too.”

The officer nodded once, then turned back to his team. “Alright, you heard him! Let’s find the survivors!”

He had people to save.

****

[read more of my work here]

#danny phantom #phic phight 2023 #angst #HEAVY angst #mind the tags #my writing

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justsomeclintasha · 2 years

Text

(Early Shield Days)

“Shit.” Clint skids down the rooftop, ducking under bullets pinging off the shingles. He shoots a grappling arrow and swings toward the next building, tucking and rolling on the ground and coming to a stop around the corner. He spots the bright red hair, crouched down low behind a car. She’s pinned. “Widow, tossing a smoke bomb. Be ready.”

“Got it.”

He pulls one from his waist pack and tosses it her way. Immediately the alley fills with purple smoke. She darts out from her hiding space, running towards him. Time slows down. Her body twists, falling sideways in the smoke as a bullet tears into her side. She chokes back a scream. Immediately, he’s on his feet. He manages to grab her and yank her around the side of another building. She hunches over, a hand clasped over the wound. Her dark suit is slippery with blood.

“Go. You have to go.”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

“I’m not worth it. I’ll slow you down.”

“Shut up,” he mumbles, gathering her in his arms. She whimpers in pain. “Okay, I got you,” he says, softer this time. “Keep your head down.”

He pulls his hood up over his face as he makes his way quickly through the streets, zigzagging in the darkness. It’s important to put distance behind them, but he can’t spare too much time without addressing her injury. Finally he comes across a warehouse that seems suitable.

“Hey. I gotta set you down, okay? Can you stand?” She hums noncommittally, face pale and sweaty as he sets her on her feet. One hand grips onto his shoulder. He pulls a lock pick from his pocket and makes quick work of the door. His eyes scan the empty room. It will do.

“B-Barton..”

He catches her before she hits the ground.

XXXXX

She blinks her eyes open slowly. A hot, searing pain pulses through her abdomen, but the rest of her is freezing. Her fingers shake as she fumbles for the knife strapped to her thigh. It’s gone.

“Hey, relax. You’re alright. It’s me.”

Grey eyes come into view above her. The med kit lays by his side, contents splayed out, and she drops her head back on something soft. His jacket.

“Fuck,” she whispers.

“Yeah. Sorry. I was hoping you would stay out for this part. The bullet is still in there. I have to get it out.” He hesitates. “I don’t have-“

“Just do it.”

Quietly, he slips on a pair of gloves and picks up a long set of tweezers. Her breath quickens as he pushes up her shirt, peeling it away from her skin. He curses. Her eyes dart towards him as he starts to unbuckle his belt and he freezes, reading the fear in her gaze.

“You’re going to want something to bite down on,” he says apologetically. She nods and takes it between her teeth. The first touch of the tweezers is ice, and fire, and pain, all at once. She squeezes her eyes shut. It doesn’t help. Nausea pushes up in her throat and she fights it back. “I know, I know, I’m sorry,” he whispers, one thumb rubbing soothing circles against her skin. The leather is bitter in her mouth. She chokes back a sob. The tweezers dig under her skin. He’s tearing her apart and it’s not his fault. Please make it stop.

XXXXX

Firelight dances over her eyelids. She breathes in slowly, a dull ache and pinching in her side. Stitches, probably, under a thick wad of bandages. Someone brushes her hair away from her cheek. “Clint,” she mumbles.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

It takes enormous effort to open her eyes. He’s resettled her on a some sort of cushion, an emergency blanket between her and the fabric. His jacket is over her shoulders and she pulls it closer. It smells like him. She doesn’t want to analyze this at the moment.

Despite the fire burning a few feet away, she can’t seem to stop the shivering running through her bones. A fever, probably, which likely means infection.

“Take these.” He helps her swallow two pills and wash them down with water. “Extraction isn’t until tomorrow. I got in touch with Coulson. We have to lay low in the city for a few hours.”

“What time is it?”

“Little after one in the morning.” He passes her a protein bar. She manages two tiny bites before wrapping it back up. His face is dirty and exhausted, a smear of dried blood on his right cheek. Her blood.

“Is he going to be mad?”

“Coulson? No, why would he be?”

“Cuz we failed. I failed,” she corrects. He looks at her for a long time.

“No, Natasha. You got hurt. That’s not a failure.” Her lack of response indicates that she believes otherwise. “That’s not how it works here. Shield doesn’t punish you for getting hurt. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Why did you come back for me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” The response is so honest, so genuine, that she doesn’t know what to say. It hadn’t even occurred to him to leave her. She takes the chance and moves a little bit closer. Her hair barely brushes his knee where he sits beside her.

“I’m tired,” she says instead. He sets a hand on her back, between her shoulder blades, fingers rubbing gently to ease the tension there.

“Sleep.”

#clintasha #clint barton x natasha romanoff #clintasha fanfic

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mandomover · 2 years

Text

The Rookie

Part Fifteen - The day after the night before

You try to come to terms with what happened last night and you wonder how to play it, while news comes in of the Avianca bombing.

Warnings: swearing, smoking, mention of alcohol, mention of sex, mention of plane bombing

Words: 4750ish

Next ¦ Masterlist

The phone rings, pulling you from a deep sleep. Your hand reaches out for the phone, but you feel only an empty bedside table. You open your eyes and squint at it. There's no phone, because it's not your table, and it's not your bed, and you're not alone.

You freeze when you hear a rustle behind you, before a lamp flicks on, and hear Javi's gravelly voice as he answers the phone.

"Peña."

You sit upright slowly, pulling the sheet up around you to cover your bare body.

"What?" Javi hisses.

You turn to him on the bed at the brusque sound of his tone through that one word. He's sitting on the edge, his side of the sheet pooling around his waist covering him, revealing his bronze back, muscular and taut.

"Yeah, fuck- I'll be right in. Er-" he looks over his shoulder at you, heavy brown eyes looking at you from under tousled locks.

"Yeah, I'll er- I'll pick up Rookie, no- I'll call her and tell her. See you soon."

Javi sets the phone down before standing, the sheet falling and you avert your gaze, wanting to give him some privacy as he searches for his discarded clothes, despite what occurred between your bodies not hours ago. You look for something to cover yourself with and as you spy Javi's shirt you had borrowed, you reach for it, pulling it over your head and standing, letting the bed sheet fall as the shirt does, dropping to your thigh. You flick your messy hair out from the collar and look up to see Javi eyeing you lustfully, his mouth agape. You catch him just as he pulls his jeans up over his bare hips, buttoning them closed. You force a smile on your lips when you notice him looking at you.

"So, what was that about?"

"Fuck, hermosa," he breathes as his eyes trail up and down your body. You feel naked, despite being in his shirt.

"Javi!" you snap, and he stirs, mouth snapping shut.

"Oh shit, right, um, there's been a bomb… a flight… all passengers dead… " He trails off and shrugs as your own mouth drops open.

Fuck. That's huge. A bomb? Who could have…

Your own thoughts trail off as you piece it together, mouth dry from your slight hangover, so you rasp out, "Escobar can't be behind this, can he?"

Javi nodded slowly, swallowing thickly as your eyes widen in shock.

You didn't think he could stoop any lower but piecing that together, he had bombed a flight? This fucking man.

"Shit. So, are we heading in?"

"Yeah, we need to hit the ground running, get on top of this."

"OK. Um, I need to go home first."

You gesture to the shirt you're wearing as way of an explanation and let your hand fall limply to your side.

"Sure, I'll take you there on the way," he says easily, handing you the sweats he had peeling off your legs and thrown onto his side of the room last night.

You slide them over your calves and pull them up to easily cover your hips as Javi pulls out a shirt from the wardrobe, tossing it over his head.

You search for your shoes in silence, finding them still in the bathroom where you discarded them last night. You eye yourself in the mirror as you stand from lacing them up, eyes heavy from lack of sleep as usual, and too much alcohol, but there's something else in your features that lets you take an extra second in front of the mirror. Your lips are plump and full, kiss-swollen, and your cheeks are rosy. You smile at yourself. You feel satisfied. More than satisfied, for Javi was as good as the rumors suggest, and you had fun, and you haven't had an orgasm (or two) like that in at least a year, but you feel cold fear creep in at the edges, pushing away those happy thoughts. What if Javi was looking in his bedroom mirror but feeling something entirely different? What if he felt disgust? Or regret? What if he was thinking of a way to keep distance between you right this very second while you mooned at yourself in the mirror? You caused this. Anything he felt was because of you and your actions. You let this happen, begged for it to happen. With Javi? This wasn't what your relationship was about. Purely platonic, for nothing had led to suggest that anything more would ever occur, right?

Until it did.

Now what?

You rush from the bathroom and your expectant, hesitant reflection and wait by the front door as Javi gathers his things. You shift from foot to foot, not sure if you should help tidy the place and the mess you made before you go, but when Javi enters the living room, bringing the smell of his spicy cologne, you forget about it, turning to the door instead and rushing out before him.

The car journey is relatively quiet, much of it spent staring out the window, forcing yourself to think about what you might have waiting on you when you get to work and hear the official reports on what has happened.

You can't think about last night.

Before long, Javi pulls up in front of your apartment and you turn to him.

"Do you wanna wait here for me or would you rather come in, or?" You leave the question open, unsure of what you can offer him and he shakes his head.

"It's OK, I'll wait here for you, have a smoke."

"Sure, I'll not be long."

You jump out and slam the car door closed behind you as you sprint up the steps into your apartment. As you turn to close the door to your home, you notice Javi is watching you, cigarette already lit and dangling between his lips, eyes locked on you.

After the quickest shower of your life, so quick the water didn't even have time to heat up properly, you grab a change of clothes and slip into them, piling your wet hair into a bun on top of your head and flicking the tiniest bit of makeup on to make yourself feel more alive.

As you head to the door of the bedroom, you scoop the clothes you discarded on the way to the shower and toss them in the hamper, Javi's shirt crumpled on top. You're almost out the door when you pause, and backtrack slowly to the hamper. Peering down into the basket you see the shirt on top and you inhale slowly.

You slept with Javi. You. And Javi. Javi Peña. Notorious womanizer. What the fuck are you supposed to do now?

You know Javi's reputation, well known as a 'hit em and quit em' type. You didn't want that though. Javi had been such a good friend to you in your time in Medellin, and you didn't want to suffer the same fate as most of the women you saw in the office, glaring through slitted eyes and whispers to gal pals about what a dick he was for never calling them back, never even to speak to them again. But what could you do besides hope that that wouldn't happen to you, hope that your friendship had meant more than an accidental one night stand. You asked for it, you fucking loved it and you would need to be a big girl and ride out the consequences.

You shut the bedroom door, closing the shirt and your thoughts in the room behind you and head back out to the crisp morning air, sun weakly trying to break through the clouds.

Javi's truck isn't where you left it not fifteen minutes ago. You glance around, peering up and down the street but you don't see his truck anywhere.

"Fuck," you sigh, starting off down the street towards the bus stop. You shouldn't really be surprised he wouldn't even stick around long enough to drive you to work after he had told you he would.

Leaving you has just confirmed that he definitely regretted last night. You hoped your friendship meant more than last night but it doesn't look like Javi thinks the same when he's done to you what he does to all the other women he sleeps with then moves on immediately from.

A part of you had hoped you were different to the other girls, the ones who sidled up to him in the hopes of taking and claiming Javier Peña. This was a one off. Could be ignored and forgotten about as if it didn't happen. You know it happened, and your legs certainly do, stiff and sore from the activities a few hours ago but you could be a fucking adult about it, could he not do the same?

As you trudge along the street towards the stop, you get more annoyed, unwilling to believe that Javi has abandoned you this quickly. Annoyed at Javi, and annoyed at yourself for pushing yourself on him and causing this.

Were you that shit in bed he couldn't even stand to stay the length of a journey to work? You didn't think he had complained last night, quite the opposite, but maybe in the harsh light of day things were different.

You lean against the bus stop once you get to the end of the street, poking through your purse for some spare change for a ticket. Just as you find the last bit of shrapnel you hear a honk and look up surprised. Javi grins at you from behind his dark aviators, leaning on the steering wheel and looking at you with amusement.

You huff audibly as you slide into the passenger seat.

"You OK?"

"I thought you'd gone on ahead," you snap, buckling yourself in.

"No hermosa, I got you coffee, thought we could both do with it this morning."

Javi holds out a steaming cup of takeaway coffee with a sweet smile, and your fingers curl gratefully around it.

"Oh."

There's a knot tightening in your stomach as you feel instantly foolish for jumping to conclusions based on stupid rumors. You weren't the same as the girls in the office. You were different in so many ways, and you were actually friends (fuck Murphy for making you question your meaning of friendship yet again, like a teenager), assuming wrong yet again with Javi. When had he ever given you the impression he would let you down? Why start now just because of what happened last night?

These thoughts were tumbling round your brain, slowly looping over one another in your hangover tinged mind. You didn't know what to think.

"Thanks," you mutter, taking a sip and instantly scalding your tongue.

"Did you really think I would have just left you there?"

He frowns, brows creased tightly and lips in a confused and suspecting 'O'. He touches your arm gently, his fingers curling round your forearm.

Those curled fingers, curled like they were curled inside you last night.

You shrug as a response, slipping your arm from his touch, face reddening as you recall the intense feelings and heat of last night, slight guilt for ever doubting him.

Javi sighs but leaves you alone with your thoughts, the air hanging heavily as you try to organize them. Despite feeling guilty, your friendship has probably been irreparably damaged by one night's lust filled misdemeanors.

You were drunk, but not stupidly drunk you did anything you didn't want to do. You were the one who initiated it, and more than willingly so.

But what would this mean for Javi? Now he ticked off another conquest, even if it was you, would he treat you like the other women were treated, another notch on the bedpost? You still had to work together for fuck sake, you couldn't handle the cold shoulder from him. Not when you had been so vulnerable with him. Not when you were always the most vulnerable with him. And you had to admit, you'd been vulnerable with him alot longer than just last night.

Your friendship had long kept you going when things seemed too tough, tied together by the horrors you had both seen and lived. And you couldn't lose that. That, you were sure of.

No one else made you smile or laugh the way he did. No one made you believe in your own ability the way Javi did, the subtle nods and encouraging words cast your way like they didn't brighten your whole day. No one else was a patch on Javi.

Murphy was also your friend, despite pushing almost all of your buttons on the daily. But there was something about Javier that made you realize you cared a little bit more about him than you maybe did for others. You had allowed yourselves to be more vulnerable with each other in ways you hadn't been with anyone else before and that's what stood you apart.

And that's how you'd ended up together in the first place. Knowing there was a part of you that only Javi could fix, Javi could soothe, with drink, with his words, by his mere presence alone.

The crippling vulnerability which you had exasperated by alcohol, encouraging you to cling to him as he consoled you, and you pushed it further by pushing yourself on him. He hadn't exactly said no either, but it just messed things up from here on out.

But he was simply your best friend. And you didn't want to ruin that. You couldn't ruin that. You would fix this.

When you push the office doors open, there's a quiet hum of chatter, and the air is already thick with smoke. Your brain is throbbing with a headache from all your jumbled thoughts but you swore to yourself you would concentrate on work; that was more important right now. You follow the noise and at the back of the room outside the office Carrillo claims for himself, is an old TV set, tuned into the breaking news report about the airplane explosion. Too many bodies are huddled in front, trying to catch a glimpse of what the reports are saying but you can hear some bits of information float towards you.

"107 pasajeros…. esto es por culpa de Pablo Escobar… ¿Qué hará el gobierno para poner fin a los crímenes?..."

What were the government going to do to stop this shit? The polls were closing this week and a new president would be appointed. It looked like it could be Gaviria, but that's a hell of a welcome. Have to address the country and tell them that Escobar- the peoples Robin Hood- was responsible for the deaths of 107 people? And why the hell had he done it? What logical explanation could there be to take down a commercial plane with civilians? You needed to find Javi and Murphy to work it out, but you had run like a coward into the building the second you'd parked up, claiming you had to pee quickly, and you hadn't seen Murphy yet. As you round the corner by your desks you notice Murphy slumped in his chair, cigarette in hand, staring blankly ahead.

"Murphy?"

The ash falls from his cigarette onto the desk below and Murphy makes no sign to move, so you lift the burning cigarette from his fingers and take a deep drag before you stub it out in the ashtray on his desk, sinking heavily into your own chair, jarring your ribs. You hiss and then raise your fingers to your temples to try and ease the stress away.

"Murphy."

When he still doesn't move, or even blink, you lean forward and snap your fingers in front of him, vying for his attention.

"Murphy, c'mon man, what's up?"

His eyes snap up to look at yours and they're wide, and he finally opens his mouth, as if he's about to answer when Javi comes round the corner and throws a stack of papers onto the desk. Murphy drops his gaze to the desk and shrinks slightly.

"Got them," declares Javi.

"Got what?" you snap, shifting your attention to him as he sits, shrugging out of his leather jacket.

"The full list of passengers on board that flight. Carrillo has some CNPO's down there and got the list. We're going to have a look and see if we can connect anything to Escobar."

"Right," you sigh, and "Thanks Javi."

You wait for him to look up from the stack so you can motion towards Murphy, but he just flicks through the stack. You clear your throat but neither men look at you.

"Thanks Javi."

He still doesn't look up.

"I said, 'thanks Javier'," you said pointedly, and Javi squints in confusion as he finally looks up at you.

He notices you flicking your eyes at Murphy and he cocks his head as he takes his partner in.

"What the fuck's wrong with you Steve?"

Murphy takes a deep breath and finally talks to you.

"I had a bad feeling last night."

You just stare at Murphy expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.

"You and Rookie were in Cartegena and I was assigned as security for Gaviria. Both Gaviria and Sandoval were meant to be on that flight, until I told them I had a fucking feeling in my gut telling me to stop them. I don't know why they listened but I'm sure as hell glad they did. But someone was on that flight with that bomb and I'm willing to bet it all it was because of them."

Fuck.

You share a glance with Javi, before he grimaces at Murphy.

"You did well Steve," he says, curtly.

Murphy looks wrecked, looks like he hadn't slept at all, and his pale, sweaty face has slight stubble you can see from the other side of the desk.

Murphy always shaves no matter what.

He plucks another cigarette from the box on the desk and lights it, throwing the lighter back down. You creep closer, carefully, afraid you might startle him like a wild animal and you take his hand in your own, his large fingers engulfing yours.

"Murphy, you did do well. This is what it's all about. You had a feeling and you acted on it. You saved their lives. You-"

"I got 107 people killed Rookie."

He inhales and taps the cigarette harshly at the ashtray, ash skittering everywhere but in the ashtray.

"You didn't get 107 people killed Murph, Escobar did. And we're going to find out how and why. If anything, you saved two of those people, and one is about to become Colombia's next president so you've done a great honor to the country we're trying to help protect."

Murphy snorts but squeezes your hand slightly, and you return the gesture with a light smile.

"I still could have stopped it," he whispers. "I could have spent more time looking around to see why I had a bad feeling and who was on that flight. I might have seen a sicario and could have stopped the flight and saved them all."

"Forget it. You didn't look, and what's done is done," Javi interjects.

You glare at him, his cutthroat approach maybe not the vibe you need right now but you say nothing to see how this will play out.

"They're all dead and you can't change that. I doubt Escobar told one of the men he trusts to guard his life to just go on board a flight and blow it up. They've involved someone else. Someone they trusted, but not as valuable to Escobar."

"And now we're going to go through that list and see who it might be, OK?"

Murphy clears his throat and nods.

"OK, let's start looking."

Jaime Carrera.

That was the name that came up short.

47 passengers had return tickets back to Bogota.

34 passengers were on the return leg back to Cali.

15 were businessmen who had open tickets but were accounted for by their places of work and business.

4 weren't on the flight; Gaviria and Sandoval had come off at the last second, and two were accounted for in their homes with a bad bout of food poisoning.

6 were crew members.

The last passenger was a young father from the comuna, who picked up work via odd jobs to provide for his wife and newborn daughter. So why, or how, did he have a one way ticket to Cali?

You had got straight onto the list of names Javi had received from Carrillo, and you had gone full investigation mode on it. It's taken you just under forty-eight hours, but that wasn't a feat; you hadn't been working all that time.

Javi had given you and Murphy a lift home, thankful for Murphy's presence in the car so you didn't need to talk to Javi about what had happened and grateful he didn't even try to bring it up, and then last night, you insisted you would make your own way home when he offered to drive you home again, citing you would rather get stuck into your work.

He had hesitated, eyeing you dubiously as you stared him out, your own eyes caving and dropping to your work before you, before he was pulled reluctantly away by Murphy.

The cleaning crew had woken you up with a start at your desk at 5am, and you got straight back to it, ignoring the creak in your neck and your crumpled clothes. You worked it out just before Javi and Murphy arrived, telling them immediately who the bomber was. A little more research gave you a back story and a family, and you agreed it would be beneficial to pay his wife a visit to ask questions.

When you pulled up to the dingy house, a scrawny girl answered, 19 at most, with a fussy baby in her arms. She eyed you all suspiciously, even more so when you flashed her your badges and asked could you come inside. As you sat opposite her on the couch, you noticed a shelf with a portrait of Escobar sitting proudly on it with candles littered around. She had a shrine to Escobar here like he was fucking Jesus Christ himself.

Pulling yourself away now from the smug face of Christ Escobar, you look at the girl before you, but she's giving nothing away, looking at the blonde baby instead of you.

"Where is Jaime?" Javi asks.

She shrugs, "Don't know."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Don't know." Another shrug.

"Are you aware he was on the Avianca Flight 203?"

Shrug.

"Your husband is dead. Do you not care as to why?"

"Javi," you growl, placing a hand on his arm as if to restrain him. He scowls but his mouth snaps shut, jaw ticking.

You sigh as Javi leans back into the couch, rubbing his hands on his thighs before he rubs his brow, jittery from lack of answers from the girl.

You try a softer approach, and plaster a fake smile on your face as you grin up at the shrine.

"You like Escobar huh?"

Shrug.

"Have you met him before?"

"No," she answers quickly.

"Ah. Have you ever met any of his men perhaps?"

Shrug.

You feel a twitch at your eye, her lack of anything bothering you as it clearly had Javi.

"Any of his friends, ever come to see you or your husband at the house?"

"No, why would they?"

It's your turn to shrug. Your neck is prickling, you can feel both Murphy and Javi's eyes on you and you lean in close to the girl.

"They won't protect you, you know." Her green eyes look up at you, unfazed and unfocused, like she's not really taking you in but you plough on. "We can protect you, and your daughter, but you need to be honest with us."

"I need to feed her."

"We can help you, we-"

"I need you to leave so I can care for my daughter please."

Javi grunts and gets to his feet, the chair scraping on the floor as he lifts himself out of it and out of the door. You hear Murphy sigh and follow Javi, and you look pleadingly at the girl before you nod your thanks and reluctantly follow the men outside, sure you're not going to get anything from her.

"She doesn't know the danger she is in," you tell Javi and Murphy when you catch up to them as they walk toward the jeep.

"Oh I'm sure she fucking does," Murphy spits.

"I have a bad feeling about this, guys."

"What is it with you pair and 'bad feelings'?" Javi bristles. You ignore him but you know you're onto something. You feel an uneasiness creep over you as you walk away from the house, guilt settling in the pit of your stomach as if something bad has happened already.

"She's not safe here. We need to move her before the sicarios get her."

"We can't help her if she doesn't admit to knowing anything," Javi muses.

You know you can't, but you don't like this feeling washing over you and you want to protect the young mother. Javi slows so his pace matches yours as Murphy stomps on ahead and he offers you a cigarette.

"You OK, hermosa?"

"Frustrated," you grouse, taking the cigarette from him. "I don't know how I'm supposed to help but I know she knows something."

"Not what I meant," he smirks, jostling you with an elbow. "We didn't really get a chance to talk about the other night."

Your face burns and you retort, "There's nothing to talk about."

You haven't slept, you're in yesterday's clothes and in dire need of a shower and a drink, and Javi bringing up the two of you sleeping together, right now, is the last thing you need.

You haven't even had time to think about it yourself, other than fantasize about how great it was, let alone talk to Javi about it. You inhale the cigarette quickly, and hand it back to him as you approach the jeep.

"Don't worry about it, was a one time thing, won't happen again."

Javi's steps falter, and you leave him behind you as you shove your way past Murphy right as his hand goes out to the handle of the rear door and you pull yourself into the seat, staring out of the opposite window so you can't see Javi when he finally gets into the car.

Oh god, that was one way to stop that conversation.

You know you're crimson but you refuse to look anywhere but out the window as you drive through the streets of the comuna on the way back to the compound, Murphy making small talk that neither you nor Javi respond to. You feel Javi's eyes burning into the side of your face from the mirror but you refuse to look at him, hiding from his glare.

It's the safest thing to do. Play aloof so he knows you feel the same way he does. Act the opposite way all those other women act so he doesn't think you're a clingy mess, which, you're not, so hopefully it doesn't wreck your friendship and you can go back to the way you were before that night.

If you play it this way, cool and unaffected, like it meant nothing at all, Javi might drop it, and then you can go back to the way you were. Granted it was definitely the best sex you've ever had, absolutely mind blowing, and that keeps niggling in the back of your mind, but you can't keep thinking about it, it won't get you anywhere.

Christ, it got you nowhere when you were in the shower and had to use your own fingers to help ease the tension thinking about it brought you. It wasn't the same though, your own fingers pale in comparison to how Javi's worked you, how everything Javi did worked you and made you feel so damn good, in so many ways. You have to stop thinking about it. Have to get back to how things were, and if that means pretending it didn't happen then that's what you would do.

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alex-dontknow · 1 year

Text

An Unplanned Reunion

Characters used: Agoti, Tabi, Daddy Dearest, Mentioned: Aldryx Andromeda, Solazar, Girlfriend and Boyfriend

Type: Hurt / Comfort

Necessary warnings: emetophobia, graphic depictions of violence

This certainly was not the reunion Agoti had in mind.

—

The air was thick and humid with smoke and intense heat, strangling Tabi's lungs from the inside as he forced himself to keep running away from the dilapidating restaurant. His body felt like it was going to split apart, burns, bruises and cuts simultaneously flaring all over his limbs and torso. The agony in his snapped horn only intensified as he fled the burning site, clutching his side as he felt blood seep through a jagged wound.

He stumbled into an alleyway, too exhausted to keep going. In the near distance, he could hear the sirens and shouts of various emergency vehicles, the flashing lights barely breaching the darkness of the alley. Tabi leaned against the wall behind him, the cold brick pressing against his exposed skin through the rips of his clothing. He coughed violently into his hands, breathing heavily as he tasted blood on his tongue, some of which stained his gloves in small splotches when he pulled them away.

Why did everything have to go so wrong?

As the sirens drowned out all other noise, the gravity of what he'd done finally sunk in. So many people were in that restaurant. Sure, he had rented out all the tables in the room, but that only covered a small portion of the building. And he still failed to kill her. If only that blue haired brat hadn't interfered, he could've gotten it all over and done with. Maybe he wouldn't have even needed to resort to the bomb in the first place!

Tabi remembered the screams of terror as the bomb exploded. The rush of frantic footsteps towards the exit. He faintly recalled the wails of a small child.

... All those people...

A pit of dread deepened in his stomach.

... So many of them were injured when he ran out...

He felt bile rise in the back of his throat.

... Did he see a body bag as he fled...?

Tabi swerved and bolted to a nearby dumpster, promptly throwing up the contents of his stomach inside. His legs were trembling and his mouth was on fire. Sweat beaded his invisible skin and tears stung his eyes. His head filled with an uncontrollable cloud of grief and despair, of frustration and sorrow. He couldn't breathe. Tabi slumped to the ground and bundled himself against the wall, hugging himself tightly and sobbing heavily. He rocked himself to try to calm down even a little, but he was too overwhelmed. He cursed himself for being so foolish, so reckless, so wrapped up in his desire for revenge.

He killed them.

He killed those people and she still managed to escape.

He was a fool.

A reckless, half-witted, blinded-by-hatred fool—

"Found you."

Tabi froze. He didn't even need to look up from his spot to know who the voice belonged to. The very man that tore everything he loved away from him, along with his very humanity. Once he faced this man with fury and spite.

Now he faced him with utter terror.

A gnarled hand grabbed Tabi by the still-intact horn and yanked him to his feet, making him cry out and pain shoot through his skull. He didn't have enough time to react as another hand balled in a fist collided with his stomach, winding him as white spots filled his vision. He could hardly hear the voice above, dripping with venom and wrath.

"You don't get mercy from me, little lamb."

A hand suddenly closed around his throat before he could catch his breath, squeezing tightly. Tabi choked, clawing at the hand as several alarms blared in his mind at the thought of the inevitable.

I don't want to die...

Tabi squeezed his eyes shut and braced for his impending doom...

But it never came. He was suddenly tossed to the concrete, sprawled on the ground as he coughed and sputtered and gasped for air. His heart pounded in his ears. The demon towered over him, and he didn't have to turn around to see the seething glare piercing the back of his head.

"You don't deserve the luxury of death, you wretched creature," Dearest hissed, raising a heeled boot to stamp down onto the man's ankle. Electricity shot up Tabi's leg and he shrieked, feeling an audible crack in his bone. He heard wicked laughter above him as he felt his body become restricted and bound, coiling around his limbs and lifting him into the air. Chains, crimson glowing chains wrapped around him in a prison of steel, digging into his fractured ankle and causing more pain to wrack his nerves.

Through a haze of tears and dust, Tabi could make out the unforgettable figure of Dearest standing over him, his glowing red eyes illuminating the heinous grin on his face. The demon slowly stepped towards him, glaring darkly into Tabi's petrified eyes. He raised a single hand as Tabi could fully witness the expression of pure, unbridled contempt and rage channeled through a single grin, hissing with a seething tone:

"Did you not learn from the last time I punished you?"

The demon snapped his fingers. For an instance, it appeared it was in vain. Then Tabi heard the cracks and whipped his head down, the concrete beneath him splintering and crumbling. He screamed and thrashed about to no avail, the chains dug deeper into his skin and the hole in the ground widened to reveal all but a deep, endless void without an end.

"See what happens when you endanger my daughter."

He barely heard his tormentor's victorious cackle before the chains suddenly loosened and he dropped into the void.

Nobody heard the man's screams as he fell.

———

With a frustrated yell, Agoti slammed his fist into the stone beneath him, the cracks once again reforming the instant they appeared. How long had he been trying to dig through the platform? It was a near-suicidal mission, but so long as he didn't have to spend another second in this hapless prison, it would be worth it. Every time he tried to jump off, he would land on the platform again, right at the very beginning. He'd lost count of the days, weeks, perhaps even months he'd been trapped here, alone and angry at the very demons that imprisoned him.

It felt like with each passing moment, his sanity chipped away a little further. Any longer in this hellhole and he'd go mad. Or had he already?

Maybe that question was answered when he heard echoed screams about the place, gradually becoming louder and louder until something crashed into the platform with such force that it rocked beneath his feet. Agoti looked up at whatever landed, slowly rising to his feet to get a better look. Had he truly imagined it?

Instead of something, it was rather someone. The tensed body of what almost seemed human laid there on the stone ground, their ankle bent at an awkward angle that made Agoti wince at the sight. He saw no flesh beneath the holes and tears in their clothing, a floating goat skull where a head should've sat with large horns curling around a decrepit blue hat. They had equally bony hands that clenched into fists, and as it opened its stark-black eyes, yellow irises abruptly met Agoti's eyes.

The digidevil froze, the stranger unnerving and speaking all sorts of possible threat, which then became screams of danger when he saw the serrated point of a dagger poking out of the pocket of their hoodie.

The stranger had no chance to get up before Agoti launched himself at them, wrestling them to the ground and pinning their wrists above their head. If they screamed, Agoti didn't hear it over his own determined yells.

Did they send someone to finish him off?!

Agoti growled through gritted teeth as he looped his tail around the stranger's wrists to hold him down, reaching to unhook one of his chains. Like Hell they were going to let him die down here! He swiftly wrapped the chain around the stranger's neck and pulled. They made a terrified choking noise, and Agoti couldn't help but stare at their frightened expression as they grasped at the metal around their neck.

"You think I'm going to let you kill me for them?!" Agoti snarled at the person below, rage surging through his circuits. He would never give them the satisfaction. "Not before I kill you before you even get the chance!" He shouted as he tightened the chain again, but not before they forced out a strangled scream of his name.

"AGOTI!!"

Agoti stopped. He dropped the chain and uncoiled his tail from the person's wrists. He felt his circuits run cold at the mention of his name, at that oh-so familiar voice. There was no way.

"... Tabi...?"

There was no way on Earth that the person he just tried to kill was his best friend. It looked nothing like him! Tabi didn't have a skull, nor was his body invisible. Hell, did he even have yellow eyes?!

Even so, he quickly pushed himself off the person as they shakily sat up, glowing golden eyes staring into his pupilless white ones in a fear Agoti could recognize in himself. There was only one way to find out if that thing really was Tabi. Agoti spoke softly, his voice wavering, "Is that really you, Tabs?"

The person seemed to shrink into himself, wrapping his arms around his torso and turning away, trying to pull away from Agoti but letting out a pained yelp as his bent leg dragged across the ground. By the way the sock was displaced, Agoti reckoned it was swollen and likely broken. The digidevil inched closer, but the goat-headed figure only cried out in protest, "Don't look at me!"

Agoti stopped moving, now resting on his knees, but still persisted with the question. Bewildered, he asked again, "Tell me, is that really you?" Still, the person didn't respond to him. Sighing, Agoti tried to think of a way to get an answer. He briefly looked away and dragged a hand down his face before fishing in his pockets for his phone. He tore off the case and carefully tossed it towards the person. "Pick it up."

The figure reluctantly did so.

"Look, that's us and Aldryx together!" Agoti pointed towards a small Polaroid photograph slotted into the back of the case, displaying three people arm in arm with each other: Agoti, his brother Aldryx, and Tabi— at least how the digidevil recalled him looking. It was taken a year ago, the date scribbled on the white card beneath the photo: January 6th. "It was Aldryx's birthday, so we'd planned an entire day for him at the arcade. You won a cat plush from the claw machine, but he insisted you have it because you loved the exact breed the plush was." Agoti couldn't help but smile as he recalled the fond memory.

The person looked at the photograph with wide eyes, his hands beginning to shake as Agoti asked, "Do you remember?" to which he slowly nodded as they dropped the phone case and looked up at Agoti.

"Well," Agoti swung back on his feet, huffing slightly, "this is not the reunion I had in mind." The digidevil almost couldn't believe it. However, the fact that his best friend was down here meant—

"They got you too?"

Tabi turned away again, trying to cover his skull with his hands as he pleaded, "Please, go away..."

Agoti scanned Tabi's new features, from the grazed bone of his hands to the snapped horn. He looked nothing like how he did a year ago. Agoti felt anger bubble up inside him, but for entirely different reasons.

"What did they do to you?" he asked at a low volume and in an accusatory tone, sliding closer to his best friend and outstretching his hand. To his dismay, Tabi immediately flinched away, shaking even more.

"How can you even sit here with me...?" Tabi whispered, looking up at Agoti again. "I look nothing like your best friend. You can't even call me that anymore, look at me!" He suddenly shouted and opened his arms, allowing the digidevil to stare in shock at the inhuman skull and blood coating his invisible limbs. His eyes widened at the wound on his side. "I'm a monster! A freak! I don't look human to you at all, do I?! Nothing like your best friend!" His voice started to break as tears filled his eyes, barely stifling a sob as he covered his face again.

Agoti's heart was aching. This really wasn't how he wanted to reunite with his best friend again, and in the same prison of all places... but he didn't care about the words Tabi spat out. All he knew was that his best friend sat in front of him, after countless hours of solitude in this wretched void, and he needed him to stay.

Agoti placed his hands on Tabi's shoulders, ignoring the latter's flinch and attempt to shrink back into a ball. "I've been trapped here for so long, Tabi," he said, "and I haven't seen you or Aldryx or Dad in months, maybe even years. Now you're finally here with me, I don't care what happened to either of us," he felt his own tears prick his eyes, "all I know is that you're my best friend, no matter how you look to me, and I can't ever lose you again or I'm pretty damn sure I'll lose my mind!" He gave a half-hearted chuckle at the last few words. Tabi didn't respond, looking up at Agoti as the tears began to stream down his cheeks.

Agoti couldn't help but wrap his arms around Tabi and hug him tight, despite the latter freezing with a fearful squeak. "You'd be dumb as Hell to think I'd ever think of you differently, Tabs," he whispered, his own cassette tears streaming down his cheeks. To his delight, Tabi slowly slid his own arms around the digidevil and pressed his face into his chest, several choked sobs muffled by the latter's hoodie. Agoti wrapped his tail around them both so they were as close as possible, embraced in the cold void after so, so many endless days of being alone and apart. They wept together, finally able to release their shared sorrows into trusted arms.

Agoti was the first to speak after a few minutes, voice slightly scratchy, "So what happened while I was gone, eh..?"

Tabi sniffled, arms lightly tightening around the digidevil before he replied, "Th-That demon of a girlfriend... and her equally evil family..." his voice shaking in anger as he dug his fingers into the back of Agoti's hoodie. "She was only playing me for a fool! She lied, they all lied to me!"

Agoti's heart sank. Of course the girl had to be as wicked as her parents. It was almost expected of her.

"They took everything from me! My life, my career, my body...!" Tabi's voice trembled even more as Agoti felt his tears soak into his hoodie, "They killed my little котенок!!"

His cat? If Agoti wasn't already livid at the Dearests, now he was even more pissed off. How dare they hurt his friend like that?! They made him unrecognizable. To the point you tried to kill him, he silently reminded himself, feeling guilty.

"I tried to exact my revenge, Agoti, I really tried, but of course it had to fail because she found someone else, that cocky little brat had to stand up for her!" Tabi inhaled shakily, trying to compose himself. "Then her father found me and... sent me here," he added with a sigh.

"Tell ya what, Tabs," Agoti loosened his tail so Tabi could pull away to look at him, "once we get out of this place, you, me, and I know Aldryx and Dad will want to as well, we hunt those bastards down one by one and give them karma!" He grinned determinedly. "Ya know exactly what my brother and dad are capable of, so it'll be no difficulty! I'm sure Dad'll scare them well away from this city before we can even get within ten meters," he added jokingly. Tabi's eyes narrowed at the edges in what Agoti assumed was a smile, and the digidevil wiped away both of their tears. "I promise, Tabs, we'll get outta here. Y'know I don't break my promises, don't ya?"

Tabi nodded and hugged Agoti again, even tighter than before. The digidevil eagerly hugged back, wrapping his tail around them. Agoti's smile only widened when he heard Tabi murmur,

"I missed you so much, Agoti..."

To which he gratefully replied,

"I missed ya too, Tabs."

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liviavanrouge · 4 months

Text

Trauma(Livia Lore)

'Cause I know that we fall apart, when nothing's new

Livia: *Smiles sitting with her friends*

Ortho: Livia, your vitals seem low like my brothers whenever he's not okay-

Livia: *Chuckles* I'm fine Ortho, don't worry

Ortho: But-

Livia: Ortho, I promise you I'm fine!

Ortho: O-Okay...

Nothing's new

Livia: *Sits in her room, staring at her beds canopy*

Deevin: *Shifts human, walking over to her* Livy?

Livia: *Looks at him then turns over, hugging her pillow to her chest*

Deevin: Master-

Livia: I'm fine, Deevin

Deevin: *Fiddles with his fingers then nods* Okay...

~~~~

Nothing's new, nothing's new

Livia(5): *Runs after the two boys, her eyes wide*

???: STOP THEM!!

Livia: *Looks back her eyes wide as a sword came at her face*

Ash: *Knocks the sword off course standing in front of Livia* Go...all of you...

Livia: *Hurries away, running out of the back door*

Lucien: Come on, Livia!

Livia: *Runs after him*

Nothing's new, nothing's new

Livia(8): *Walks through the darkness*

???: *Leaps out at her, startling the child*

Livia: *Shrieks in alarm, falling over, her eyes wide*

Livia: *Trembles then shields her head* I wanna go home...

Livia: *Rubs her eyes then gasps when she found a head in front of her*

Livia: *Shoots up, quickly running away*

Nothing's new, nothing's new

Livia(10): *Stares with wide eyes as Maleficia laid unconscious on the ground blood coming from her mouth* Gran...Gran...

Mayhem: YOUR MAJESTY!!

Nilo: MAL!!!

Livia: *Stares down at her stunned*

Mayhem: Livia! Livia! Come on, let's go back to your room

Livia: *Walks after him stunned, her head down*

Nothing's new, nothing's new

Livia(10): *Walks through her garden then freezes feeling a pain in her chest*

Livia: *Throws up blood, falling to her knees, her eyes wide* Huh?

???: BUMBLEBEE!!!

Livia: *Looks up as Mayhem rushed towards her, magic bursting from her chest*

Mayhem: *Crashes into a wall after being thrown backwards*

Nilo: *Stares at the Magic Bomb alarmed*

Nothing's new

Livia(10): Papa?

Lilia: LIVY-

Ambert: *Grabs Livias arm and tosses her at Lilia*

Livia: *Shrieks in alarm, an explosion coming from her*

Mayhem: *Glares at Ambert as the smoke cleared* Son of a BITCH!!

Aural: *Scowls, a hand on Livias chest keeping her magic under control*

Livia: *Coughs, feeling the pain subside*

Nothing's new

Livia(11): *Sits on her knees, gripping her hair, tears streaming down her cheeks* Leave me alone...

Livia: Go away....I hate this...please

Livia: *Looks at the butterfly fluttering closer*

Livia: *Slaps it away, her eyes wide* GET AWAY!!!

Livia: *Looks away, covering her face*

Nothing's new, nothing's new

Livia(14): *Sits in her room, her arms crossed over her chest*

Livia: *Looks out the window, letting out a small sigh* Papa....

Mayhem: Bumblebee?

Livia: *Looks at him then looks away, her hands trembling*

Mayhem: *Kneels down* Hey, talk to me...

Livia: It's fine..

Mayhem: *Stares at her then sighs* Alright...

Nothing's new

Livia(16): *Coughs up blot, sitting on her knees*

Deevin: Master...

Livia: I'm fine, Deevin....

Bado: *Sniffs Livias hand concerned* Not normal...

Livia: *Coughs, Snowie staring at her* Alright...

Snowie: Livia...

Livia: *Sighs, burying her face in her arms* I hate this....

Livia: Good thing my time....is almost up

@queen-of-twisted @yukii0nna @zexal-club @teddymochi @pekoetiikapu

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geostelar5 · 8 months

Text

Shades of Twilight P1

Link let out a cry of shock as he slammed his Club against the Bokoblin’s head and it shattered, sending the red monster flying to the ground before its body vanished in a puff of smoke like always. Looking around at the other two enemies who were charging him, the young hero gulped as he reached to his back to try and pull out any weapon. A spear, sword...Even a shield would do right now!

“No!” He couldn't find anything! How had he let himself run out?! Letting out a yelp Link flipped backwards as one of the Bokoblins swung his club at him and the young man had to start ducking and diving around the wooden weapons. Fumbling with his Sheika Slate, the young man started up the Bomb Runes and quickly threw it into his enemy’s face detonating the thing mid air and blasting them back again.

The young knight letting out a sigh of relief before he heard a sound behind him and saw the Bokoblin’s club raised and swinging down towards his head. Was this it? Was he going to survive those hundred years, getting through the calamity just to be killed by a simple Bokoblin? Because he had forgotten to pack backup weapons? He couldn’t move in time, even if he side stepped. Time seemed to slow down for those few moments before the Bokoblin was tackled away by a Dark Grey form and a growl.

Tackling it to the ground and gnawing down on the throat of the monster, Link let out a loud sigh as he recognized the creature. It was the Wolf...That strange Wolf who appeared to help him now and again. One of his few consistent companions in this strange, destroyed Hyrule. Smiling at the canine as he finished off the monster and looked at him, Link sauntered over with a hum while pulling out some prime meat, some of the good rare stuff. The pup deserved it for saving his life after all!

“Come here boy! You deserve a treat don’t you?!” He laughed as the Wolf’s attention was brought to him and he tossed the meat up into the air, only for it to be caught on the way down by the wolf with a jump in the air.

“Good boy!” As the thing tore into the meat, Link grinned and hummed, going around and collecting the discarded weapons from the camp like usual, desperate to restock his supply of them while the Master Sword on his back recharged, he felt its calm thrumming. It was going to be restocked soon, good. Looking back at the Wolf again, he stared at it while sitting down on one of the stools the Bokobins crafted. Just what was it? And why did he come to help him?

Staring forward, Link traced his eyes along the Wolf for the first time really and noticed it was strange. The thing had a shackle on its front paw and a green...Mane? That transitioned into gray fur. It was odd, looking at it he felt like there was some familiarity. A connection and an itch in his forehead that he couldn’t explain.

“Well better get going...The Divine Beasts won’t free themselves now will they Wolf? Maybe my sword will last me longer next time eh? Enough time to beat one of the Gannons at least.” Chuckling to himself, he didn’t notice Wolf’s new more vicious stance.

Deciding to travel his way to Hatteno to rest for a couple days. He had just freed Vah Ruta, which meant he had two more of them to free and he would feel confident enough to take on the Calamity. He had noticed that Wolf was following him at a more wary distance than usual, and that made him frown, had he done something to upset his canine companion? Once there and near his bed, Link set down his equipment with a sigh before turning around to see Wolf there, growling and about to pounce his left paw glowing with a bright light.

“Oh Keese shit!” Diving for the Master Sword, his hand just barely managed to wrap around the handle as Wolf Pounced right for his neck and everything seemed to fade to white and Link felt his body collapsing backwards onto the bed.

After what felt like hours, Link found himself face down on what felt like the softest grass he had ever touched. It was so soft, so comforting, he just wanted to sleep on it...

“Get up. You don’t have time to spend dreaming do you?” Hearing a gruff voice, Link lifted his head and saw a man, no not a man. A Ghost? A Stalfos? He couldn’t tell, its what little skin was see through and faded, and the rest of it was covered in a tattered green tunic, with small bits of chainmail clearly visible where the fabric had torn. He was wearing a pair of riding boots, and the Skeleton...Ghost? Spirit. The Spirit looked at him with expectation in the closest thing Link could approximate was eyes, and the young knight couldn't help but want to live up to them.

#legend of zelda #video games #nintendo #link twilight princess #twilight princess #breath of the wild #link breath of the wild #fanfic #hero's shade #master sword

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thethistlegirlwrites · 11 months

Text

Dark alleys don’t bother Shane Barrett anymore.

They used to, when he was a kid running home from wrestling practice. Some of his teammates used to tease him for it. He was the tallest and biggest in his class, at least until they’d switched the high schools into one building when he was in tenth grade, but he always refused to take the shortcut that would have saved him a twenty-minute trip home.

There was something about the shadows that scared him, that some instinctive part of him knew to stay away from.

He wishes his instincts had been a little more accurate about what to be afraid of. Because danger had never found him in a dingy shortcut, never leaped out at him from behind an overflowing dumpster. It had walked up to him holding a red Solo cup and laughing in a room full of neon lights and crowded with witnesses.

So he’s not afraid of alleys anymore.

It’s a good thing, too, because the fastest way from his and Sierra’s shared apartment to the Luna Club is mostly composed of them. It’s not like they live in the best part of town to start with (they can’t afford it even with both their paychecks, and Shay wouldn’t be allowed in most of the buildings, and even if he was, he’d be looked at like a ticking time bomb), and the club’s district is no better.

Usually, Sierra drops him off on the way to work, given a hunter and a vamp club bouncer’s schedules line up pretty well (or he’s on his way to Chimera too if a case needs them all hands on deck). But after the fight they just had, there’s no chance a ride will be anything but strained silences or a continuation of the sharp words flung back and forth between them.

They both need space. Sierra needs a chance to drive to work alone, turning her radio up to a volume that would make Shay curl into his seat in agony and blasting her screaming rock mixtape at full volume. And he needs to walk in the dark.

Not that it’s dark to him. He can see perfectly fine, even as the sky edges away from the red shades of evening to replace them with the indigo and gold of city nights.

There’s someone ahead of him in the alley. Leaning on a wall, smoking a cigarette he can smell from where he is. A stray ray of the last sunlight catches on her hair, and for a moment, it turns the crimson of fresh blood, of a cup of terribly mixed frat house punch, of the age-old human knowledge of something dangerous and deadly. Something bred as deep in the bones as the fear of dark places.

It can’t be her.

But even as he turns, to avoid the corner, to find another way, he knows it is.

He can feel her.

He’s felt her for days. It’s her voice that’s haunted his dreams, crept into the cracks in his thoughts, sharpened his words and raised his defenses like the darkness used to.

She turns, the only red still illuminating her the faint glow of the end of the cigarette she tosses in a flickering arc to the ground and smashes under the heel of her boot.

She still looks like she did nearly twenty years ago.

“You came,” she says, voice smooth and velvet with the sharpness of a knife hidden somewhere in its depths.

He’s not thinking like himself. He doesn’t think like this. She’s in his head.

She has been for hours. Days.

Maybe weeks.

He needs to run.

But he can’t.

“I knew you would,” she says. “I just had to tear you away from that human.” Her lip curls in disgust. “But I’ll make sure you’re free of her. Then it will be just us. Forever.”

Somehow, some part of him can still register that she’s lying. That she’s said this to a hundred people just like him, over centuries of cruelty and conniving and selfish lust.

But he still can’t run.

She moves toward him, a shadow peeling itself from the dark wall and taking on physical form. A combination of crimson and pitch darkness. Fear itself taking form.

He hates that he sees her how she sees herself.

That her voice twists his thoughts and turns them into her lyrical, entrancing phrases.

That he can’t push her out, because by the time he saw her, it was too late.

It was so much too late.

That he didn’t see his short temper, his flashes of anger, of fear, for what they were.

That he let her tear him and Sierra apart.

That whatever happens next, it’s his fault.

(Don't worry, this is part 1 of 5. It's going to get worse. *evil laughter*

@catwingsathena @nade2308 @whumptober

#whumptober 2023 #no. 23 #it's gonna get me by the end of the night #shadows #stalking #original characters #shane barrett #vampires #compass

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chapterbychapterstories · 9 months

Text

Hero X Villain

Chapter 1

KABOOM! The person behind the explosions laughs. “Another one!” A boy bent down lighting the fuse on the next boom holding it up for them. It lifted on its own blowing past the only one of them not enjoying the destruction. KABOOM!

It is a beautiful day outside the personal residence of the Queen. Sun is fighting against the city smog. This far above ground you got away from the buzz of Undercrust lives. The drones that usually stood out front were long gone. They were not able to put up much of a fight against the three Hero Program drop outs. WC held up another bomb, they weren’t easy to get a hold of. Some were stolen from some Drone bases, others were made by Undercrust volunteers. A pipe she held was made by a friend whose power was to make things.

KABOOM! More laughter. “Hold it right there Villains!” A girl in a white and gold leotard with a white cape dropped down from the sky. Whoever was running the Hero Program was really leaning into the sex appeal. Her hair was an unnatural gold. In her arms was a boy in a masculine version of her suit. He looked like he hadn’t slept in years. “Hit them Blast!”

Blast’s (the tired boy) hands came up, blue light condensed in his palms until “BOOM!” WC was ashamed to say she flinched. But a blue and purple barrier was up around them, protecting them. “Ha! You stupid Heros,” Tele’s bomb left their box, flying through the barrier and energy blas, “you’re done for!” Their purple, brown, and black locks flew behind them as always when they got excited. The bomb was aimed for Flight. She tried to dodge, the bomb was too fast.

Once the smoke cleared they saw her holding Blast like a human shield. “Heal, take this.” She tossed the boy like a rag doll towards the sidewalk. A man in the hero’s uniform leaned against what was left of the garden wall. He was much bigger than Blast, his skin was midnight, his hands glowed a green as he tended to the dying boy’s wounds.

Tele and WC glanced at one another. That wasn’t in the Hero Program’s training. But they supported a “competitive” environment. WC already had her hands behind her back, pulling them up to reveal a Drone laser pistol.

“You are all disappoints to the hero program! You could never defeat a true hero.” She came flying at them.

“The Hero Program is a disappointment to the people.” WC shouted. She fired at Flight with accuracy that was foiled by the other’s speed.

She was closing in. They didn’t have time for this. Holding her pistol behind her back she came up with a sword. Flight flew over them, reaching for Tele. WC for once, was faster. Blood spilled from a wound going from one bare thigh to her barely covered breast. She teetered off course, taking another bomb to the face. “HEAL!” She screamed racing to him.

Another energy blast hit them, but Barrier was on top of it. “We should go.” He pointed to the empty bomb box.

“Darn it, I was hoping to kill one of them today.” Tele sighed. But they ran.

“One last bomb.” WC held up the bomb still in her grasp.

“Ooooo, give me give me!” The bomb floated, held firm in the person’s power. It flew towards the heroes covering the villains’ escape down the side street. A manhole cover lifted from its place moving just enough for WC and Barrier to fall through, followed by Tele. “Woohoo, I’d say people and individuality for the win!” They cried as their boots sloshed in the grim coming from the Uppercrust manors.

#superheroes #Heroes #villains #curruption #superpowers #creative writing #fantasy

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imashoe69420 · 2 years

Text

Those Eyes: Rise! Leo x OC

Chapter 3

L͟a͟l͟a͟’̲s͟ P͟.̲O͟.̲V͟.̲

I had left my apartment at 10:30PM and it’s now one in the morning. I can’t find the urge to sleep. I did go back home at midnight, but I kept tossing and turning, and eventually, I found attempting to sleep frivolous.

I’m going home anyways, as I just finished watching an unpopular movie so I could have the entire theater to myself. It felt like I was in the apocalypse, where everyone was either infected or dead except for me. True isolation; the one thing that makes me feel like nothing matters and none of my actions have consequences.

That would be something, wouldn’t it? Your actions never being able to affect anybody because no one is there to be affected?

On my way home, there’s a street vendor selling shiny, intricate, and dainty golden bracelets. The vendor himself is knocked out, seated in a lawn chair with his legs and arms crossed, head tilted backwards with a trail of drool starting from the corner of his mouth to the bottom of his chin.

Easy target.

I’m not sure why I steal. As long as I’m well behaved, the Foot will get me whatever I want. Maybe it’s the thrill, because I never steal anything I couldn’t pay for. I’m not sure, but what I do know is at least ten of those fake-ass bracelets are mine.

But as I’m walking up to the street vendor’s products, a group of teenagers I recognize from school beat me to it.

Damn!

I spin on my heels and walk the opposite way, thinking they’re going to just take all of the jewelry, but I soon hear screaming and cursing coming from the vendor. I turn back around to see my pupils pulling the guy by his feet, attempting to rob him of his shoes. They completely disregard the jewelry and go straight for the Black and White Dunk Highs which couldn’t have been less than $125.

I may not be the greatest or most honest person, but not the Dunks! Those specific ones sell out in hours and drop again two months later!

“What the hell?! Stop!” I shout, but they ignore me and start to take off. The man tries to chase after them, but he constantly trips over himself and eventually falls to the ground.

I once again forgot my weapon, so I pull out a smoke bomb and throw it in front of the group. The one in front staggers backwards. The rest of the group doesn’t notice and runs into his back, causing the whole group to fall down.

That was a little too easy. I almost feel bad.

I causally walk over to the group and push them off of each other one by one until I see the Dunks in the loose grip of the kid who tried to run off with them. I snatch them away and then walk back over to the vendor.

“Here. Be more careful. People around here don’t care.” I point the shoes toward him before he takes them with a smile.

“Thank you so much!” He bows in respect and rummages in a duffel bag behind his lawn chair. The man soon pulls out an actual legit looking silver bracelet adorned with a crescent moon and sun charm. “I could never repay you, but take this as thanks.”

I hold out my hand and he drops the dainty bracelet in the palm of my hand. Staring at the intricate charms, I feel a pang of guilt. I was about to rob this man. And I only stopped those kids because they stole his expensive shoes. Shoes! I didn’t care about his man or if he has any family or children or anything like that. I still don’t. And I can’t help but feel bad about that.

With a long sigh, I set the bracelet on the vendor’s table. “Thanks, but I can’t. You don’t owe me anything.”

“No, no,” the vendor grabs the bracelet and my hand and sets it back in my palm, “I insist, I insist. Keep it. I couldn’t maintain a clear conscience if I didn’t repay you in some way.”

I don’t care about his conscience either, but I know this man won’t leave me alone unless I take it. I shove the dainty jewelry in my pocket and continue my journey back home. The vendor yells another “Thank you,” before his voice fades away in the distance and I watch the teens run away from the scene.

On my phone, I get a ping from the Lieutenant and a location for a Foot base that sprung up downtown.

What could he want at this hour?

Despite my irritation, I have to go. But as I turn the corner, I see a large black mass drop down in front of me. Already on edge because of that vendor incident, I instinctively throw a blind punch at the mass and it groans in pain once it connects.

When I regain focus, I realize who I had punched.

It’s the same mutant from before.

He rubs his cheek and winces in pain before saying, “God, you have a hellva right hook.”

“Oh, shit!” I covered my mouth in surprise before becoming more annoyed than concern. “Why did you drop down in front of me like that?! Is that how you normally greet people?”

The mutant turtle pops up with a strange amount of energy. “Do you punch people in the face when you first meet them?” His face held an amused yet smug expression.

“Only when they drop down in front of me.” I say sarcastically with a soft chuckle.

Wait.

This is the time!

This is the time to ask those questions I’ve been wanting to ask; the questions that have been dancing in my head for the last four hours.

I open my mouth, but nothing seems to come out. The very same thing that happened the first time is happening again. He seems to feel the same, the interaction growing awkward after several seconds. The turtle’s visage falters a bit, nervousness passing over him.

“Uhm, well, I’m Leo.” He finally says, attempting to regain his composure.

I snicker at his demeanor. He’s funny.

“Listen, Leo, I gotta go. I’m gonna be late.” I turn away from him, but he soon darts back into my field of vision.

“That was pretty badass what you did back there. With the guy and those kids. That was some pretty cool ninjosity.” He nonchalantly rested his blade on his shoulder like he did last time. “I didn’t think there were any other ninjas in the city.”

I cross my arms and copy his smirk. “There are other ninjas here?”

Leo reduces his smirk into a look of surprise as if he had said something he shouldn’t have, the grip he has on his Ōdachi handle tightening. “I-I mean, well, yeah. Like The Foot and whatnot. Anyways, what did you say your name was?” He says the last part quickly.

I scoff as I had never mentioned my name in the first place. And I didn’t really show my “ninjosity”. I already have my questions answered so I don’t feel like I need to keep talking to him. But that curious look in his eyes masked by smugness keeps me captivated.

“I’m Lala.”

“Wait, like a song? Like ‘lalala’?” He chuckles at his own quip.

What a schmuck.

“Sure. Anyways, like I said, I’m busy. I have to go.” I take a few steps forward.

“At almost two in the morning? What does anyone have to do right now?” He teases.

I shrug. “I could ask the same thing about you, Leo.”

He copies my shrug the same way I copied his expression. “I’m a busybody.”

“I guess that makes two of us.” I brush past him and continue on my way.

“So, uh,” he stammers from behind me, “I guess I’ll see you around then?”

I only shrug again and shove my hands into my jacket pockets, leaving Leo behind.

*Third Person*

Leo let out a sigh of relief once you were out of earshot. He had spotted Lala ten minutes before he approached her.

Was that creepy?

Of course not… no way…

Ok, it’s creepy. Super creepy. But he didn’t mean anything weird by it. In fact, he had spent those ten minutes trying to figure out how to talk to her. What to say, what to do, and how to do it.

He mentally facepalmed himself for stuttering so much, but overall, she seems to like him. She meets the same level of snark and sarcasm as him. Even though he stuttered terribly, he felt like it was so easy to talk to her and vise versa. Maybe it was easier because he couldn’t see her eyes that time.

He didn’t expect her to punch him, though. He barely recovered from that. Leo had tried to land somewhere where she’d see him; he had a quip and everything ready, but Lala knocked it out of him and it metaphorically cascaded from the cold cement of the pavement to the edge of the empty city street.

He had to improvise a bit. But it had gone well… right?

Leo shook his head in an attempt to abandon his thoughts. He quickly returns home to get the sleep that he could. It’s now 2:35AM.

When he goes into the kitchen look for a snack, he sees Mikey downing a quart of vanilla ice cream. Leo’s ice cream. He can’t care less, though, he wants some of the leftover pizza anyways.

Mikey notices his brother’s lack of pajamas and becomes curious of his whereabouts. “Where did you go?”

“Into the city.” Leo answers vaguely. “Why are you up eating my ice cream?”

Mikey hurriedly licks the evidence off of his face, his fingers as well. “Don’t know whatcha mean.”

Leo rolls his eyes as he rummages through the fridge, but it seems his family had finished the leftovers. Like, all the leftovers to ever exist.

“You’ve been gone for for, like, ten hours. You said you were gonna get Mike Tony’s! Where’s the Mike Tony’s?!” Mikey demanded, throwing the empty pint to the side. He grabs his brother by his biceps and begins to shake him. “WHERES THE MIKE TONY’S?!”

“Mikey, relax,” Leo pushes Mikey off of him and raises a finger to his lips, “and keep it down. You’re gonna wake everybody up.”

Leo gazes at the entrance of the kitchen for a few seconds. God forbid his family wake up and ask him where had been. Especially because he had promised the Mike Tony’s he had completely forgotten about up until now. Mikey notices this and his brother’s lack of quippage, causing him to grow suspicious.

Mikey sits down on one of the barstools, watching his brother open several cabinets in search for good food. He wants to continue questioning Leo, but what would get him talking?

“Sooo… just ‘into the city’? You had to seen MT if you went through the whole city.” Mikey attempts to lead him.

Leo doesn’t make eye contact with him when he replies, “Not the whole city, Mikey. I’ll get you Mike Tony’s tomorrow, I promise.” He tries to say anything that’ll get his younger brother off his back. He doesn’t have money for Mike Tony’s. He doesn’t have any money at all. Broke as a joke. Maybe he could get Donnie to help him, but probably not. Donnie told him to get a job last time.

“Cut the shit, Leo!” Leo jumps at his younger brother’s swearing. “You were with someone, weren’t you?”

Leo, confused on how and why he deduced that, spins around to finally face Mikey. He chuckles, half shocked, half trying to mask his shock. “Whaaat, of course not! Meet someone? Like who? We don’t know anybody else. Who else would I meet?”

He had talked faster than he wanted. He knows his brother will continue to question him, so he tries to further defuse the situation. “We’re ninjas, Mikey, we stay in the shadows. And that’s what I did. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in my room, in my bed, getting the beauty sleep I deserve. These ravishing features don’t come from just anywhere.” Leo finally steps out the kitchen and makes his way to his room, sighing in relief that Mikey didn’t follow him.

L͟a͟l͟a͟’̲s͟ P͟.̲O͟.̲V͟.̲

“So, what could you possibly need me for at this hour? What if I was asleep?” I sit crisscrossed on the cold cement floor of the base and the Lieutenant appears from a portal he created.

He scowls at me. “Watch your tone, child. This is something important that I only trust you to do.”

I sigh as I stand to my feet and fold my arms across my chest. “Like what?”

The Lieutenant walks toward me and hands me a strange ancient-looking device. I stare at it for a few seconds before he explains what it’s for. “I need you to put this on one of the turtles.”

“What is it?”

“Can’t you just do as I say?”

“What is it, though?”

He groans before further explaining. “It’s a tracker. The plan is to find where they reside. Once we do that, we can find the armor piece they stole and irradiate them once and for all.”

I shrug and point it back towards him. “I’m not good at things like this. I don’t like talking to anyone and I won’t get close to them enough to put it on them without noticing.”

“But you are the only thing… person—that has peacefully interacted with them that is also on our side. They will trust you more than they’ll ever trust any of us.”

I bring the small device back and stare at it again. Would I really do this? Could I really do this? I understand that those mutants are our enemies, but they don’t pose any danger to everyday civilians. I even talked to one of them an hour or so ago, and he was…

Charming.

Leo wasn’t threatening at all. A little dickish, but so is everybody else in New York. I enjoyed that interaction despite it being brief. Maybe I want to get to know him better; who knows?

But what if he’s trying to do the same thing the Lieutenant wants me to do to him? Does he even know I’m a part of The Foot? No, he couldn’t. He had brought them up earlier, so he obviously knows we exist. Was it weird to him that I didn’t question what The Foot were, or did he assume I knew because I’m also a ninja? Is it a normal thing for all ninjas to know each other?

God, why is this so stressful? Why can’t I just think straightforward like everybody else?

The Lieutenant breaks me out of my mental prison. “Why are you so hesitant? Don’t tell me you’re still thinking of betraying us.”

“I was never thinking of betraying anybody!” I exclaim. “This is just unnecessary and time-consuming on my part. I still have school and homework and other important shit to do. And what if they don’t end up trusting me?”

He sighs, annoyed. “Fine. I will give you a reward if you complete this mission.” The man points at my neck where the metal ring around it glistens in the moonlight.

“If you complete this mission, I will take that thing off. For good.”

• • •

Chapter 4 will be up soon! Take care!

-ℍ𝕒𝕟𝟟𝕒

#fanfic #rottmnt #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt fluff #rottmnt leo #rottmnt leo x reader #rottmnt raph #rottmnt reader insert #x reader #rise leo x reader #rise donnie x reader #rise movie #rise of the tmnt #rise of the turtles #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles

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scorpiolight-madd · 2 years

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Laid-Back Battle

Sonic Rebellion: Chapter 1 - Scene 1 (1st Draft)

I’ve been wanting to upload drafts, so I can show the progress I make on the series as I go. This’ll be queued, so it’s not going to upload exactly when I finish the draft, but I’ll be sure to upload them in order. Eventually, there’ll be updates and more drafts, until I finally upload the completed thing, but for now here’s the first draft!

Sonic shoots through the forest like a rocket, zigzagging through its maze-like paths as if it were second nature, the dense foliage barely managing to slow him down. He can feel the familiar rush of adrenaline rush through him as he flips upwards, crashing into two badniks before landing on the third in what he hoped to be a really cool-looking pose."Quit showing off!" Amy calls from the forest floor below. Her stance is wide, feet planted firmly in the ground to steady herself as she swings her hammer, smashing another badnik to pieces."Wait, are we showing off?" Knuckles turns his head to blink at Amy, and an opportunistic badnik swoops down on him the moment he looks away. He snatches it out of the air, slamming it into his fist and crushing it with his bare hands without even glancing in its direction. "Hang on, I gotta think of something cool to do."

Sonic rolls his eyes, flipping over backward to send the floating badnik he had been posing on hurtling into a tree. He lands deftly on the grass below, backflipping to kick another badnik out of commission. It spins off into Tails' direction, who quickly crouches to catch it. He reaches inside the smouldering hole Sonic had made, yanking out a handful of wires and sparking cords.

"Hey, did you change the types of circuits you use in these?" He calls, making Eggman pause his lazer fire."Well, yes, you mentioned last week that you were having an easier time after switching to a new type, so I thought I might give it a try.""It looks really good! Though you may want to rewire a few things, I noticed you're probably overloading the-""Tails!" Sonic interrupted, giving his little brother a what-on-mobius-do-you-think-you're-doing type look."Oh, yeah, sorry." Tails tosses a bomb over to two advancing badniks, shorting them out with a blast of electricity. They collapse in the grass, their metal shells falling off and piling around them. Eggman heaves a sigh, staring down at the mechanical carnage."Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to clean this stuff up?"Sonic simply shrugs, his snickering destroying his attempt at feigned ignorance.

"Well, now I'm gonna..." Eggman glances around his Eggmobile for something, anything to attack them with. "... Go back to my lair and think of something to destroy you with. I'll be back.""Seeya, Egghead!" Sonic waves, shouting at Eggman's retreating form. The moment he's out of sight, Sonic turns back to his friends. "How much do you wanna bet he's gonna come back with a robot we've already beaten before?""It's likely." Tails shrugs. "Honestly, it seems like he's starting to run out of ideas.""Maybe it's a budget issue?" Amy suggests, resting her hammer over her shoulder as she turns to head back to the village. The others chuckle, close on her heels.

The forest grows silent as the team of heroes leave to return home, only the quiet sparking of broken machines and wind rustling the leaves above. Sunlight glints off their metal exteriors, the smoke slowly dissipating in the gentle breeze. A rustle finally breaks the silence, a cloaked figure stepping out of the shadows to survey the destruction. Heels sink into the soft dirt below as they circle the robots, kneeling beside one to run their hand against its shell. They frown, looking over to the opening between the trees. They could just barely make out the heroes' retreating forms.

#paracosm: sonic rebellion #type: writing #sb:u writing #type: drafts #sb:u drafts

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carrion-carry-on · 2 years

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Whumptober No. 27

Pushed to the limit - Stumbling

The second part to the narrative will take place at the same time as the previous - this time focusing more on Echo and Tech. Basically they get caught up in the raging herd and try to get to a tree to lay low (or rather, high), like Hunter and Shift.

Certain events in this part of the fic are inspired by a video I’ve seen of a leopard coming in and stealing from hyenas (and other similar acts of animal dickery lol)

AO3 Link

The sound of thunderous paws hitting soft ground is not unlike metallic marching of droids. Only that had been organized footfalls, each in step with its neighbor; the rank and file never broke until battle was reached. This was a stampede - a clamorous web of sound which slightly confused his audio sensory hub. And he didn’t quite understand why it was happening.

Echo had backtracked to Tech’s position - hiding down in the low brush which came to knee-height - after doing his part in the hunt. Then there’d been a vague shout, the deafening sound of tens, if not a hundred, bodies, and he was running. Tech was beside him, keeping pace even whilst occupying his hands with something. He’s about to ask when his brother nonchalantly tosses the something over one shoulder and speeds up slightly, if it were possible. Echo doesn’t dare say anything and pushes his legs to carry him faster, farther.

One loud pop later, and Echo is following Tech’s lead as he banks left, towards a small copse of trees. Then the ground is ripping and he barely spots something that’s caught up on Tech’s right foot and he’s falling, stumbling. Echo narrowly avoids sprinting past his brother and hauls the younger clone upwards by the gorget of his armor. But it’s no use, his foot is tangled in the weeds. It’s not getting loose.

Echo bends down and begins frantically tearing at the snarled flora with both his hand and scomp arm. Tech’s hands are there, slightly thinner, fingers lithe and spry. His eyes barely have time to wander to the side and behind them. The object Tech had fiddled with and subsequently thrown appeared to have been a smoke bomb. Noise and smoke would only deter these animals for a short time. They knew that from their talk with the locals. Once these animals saw you as a threat, they’d waste no time running you down.

Working together, they’ve managed to free Tech from the green and muddy not-quite-ground. Only Tech does not move to run. His face, what Echo can see of it, is twisted into a grimace. He knows that look. An injury. Likely the foot had been yanked the wrong way, or twisted as he fell. Tech glances over at Echo and they again work together. Echo turns his back to Tech, who brought both arms up and over to rest on Echo’s shoulders. After, Echo stooped forward again, moved his arms back, and tucked them around Tech’s legs. With a jump to arrange, Tech was settled safely up on Echo’s back.

Echo took off at a brisk trot which picked up speed as he went. He’s running, making again for the tress that could be their only salvation. No time - Echo realizes this as he hears, then sees, a confused bolwog coming as death through the smokescreen. Echo freezes immediately. It’s not charging them. Likely only the creature’s uncertainty and Echo’s sudden stillness keeps man and beast apart.

It watches the pair through deep brown eyes, now black in the darkness of night. Echo notices the animal’s nostrils flaring to take in the scents. He prays to whatever might be listening that the mud and shredded flora covering him and Tech are enough to confuse it. One paw stretches out, and it makes a cautious halfway move toward them.

“The smoke will be irritating its nose and eyes,” Tech whispered in his ear. “The animals likely won’t be too keen to follow us further. However just to be safe, I suggest we find those trees to shelter in till they pass and we can regroup.”

“It’s safe to move?” Echo asks.

Echo can feel Tech nod affirmation against his neck. “Go slow, and back away.”

The older clone shuffles his boots through the treacherous tangle of growth. It clears away just enough to begin the painstaking-slow pace backwards. The bolwog watches them charily. They are still predators to it. But the idea they are moving away might mean -

An explosion of sound and a heavy body slamming into them from behind cuts Echo from his thoughts. Claws - not belonging to any bolwog - scrape and shudder against Echo’s back. Where Tech had been.

It’s a massive wave of confusion as Echo strikes out with his scomp arm. He hears a surprised, pain-filled yelp and can barely feel the hint of warmth. It must be a predator. Another predator, or a scavenger, trying to take advantage of the confusion. Bolwogs are highly prized prey - but this one may have just been settling for a human.

Echo pulls away from those claws and whirls round to face his enemy. Another part of his focus goes to finding Tech. Both meet “satisfaction” as he spots them. The carnivore is big, not as big as the bolwog, but enough. Four limbs, each ended in a padded paw. The fur is matted and sodden, appearing grey in the moonlight; likely a lighter color during the day. Bristling spines ran down its back, hind legs, and tail, rattling as the creature moved. Bright eyes appeared to shine as they watched Echo and Echo watched it. There were large teeth, their formidable tusks pointed out and down. Between them, clamped in the animal’s mouth, was Tech.

His shoulder, to be specific, had been taken almost entirely into the predator’s jaw. There’s blood in the water and on the air. Tech is moving still, despite the staredown Echo and the creature are having. And with no small amount of relief, Echo notices the animal mainly has a grip on the clone’s armor - not Tech himself.

The bolwog, nearly forgotten behind them, snorts loudly. And then Echo moves. He lunges for the predator at the same time Tech manages to find one of many hidden latches to pop the armor free. It’s a fake-out, only a sudden movement to hopefully spook the bolwog into action. It doesn’t disappoint.

While the predator had been half-focused on Echo and on the bolwog behind him, each of the latter had only to focus on one thing. Echo on Tech, and the bolwog on the bigger animal. Echo grabbed Tech, and the bolwog managed to drive into the carnivore.

“They can tear each other apart,” Echo spat, as he raised to his feet and took off at a dead sprint. Tech didn’t say anything - he was breathing too hard - but nodded the same.

#whumptober2022 #whumtober #no.27 #pushed to the limit #stumbling #fic #star wars #star wars the bad batch #the bad batch #clone force 99 #echo ct1409 #tech

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