#...actually forget about that last tag because apparently he might be pan? sorry

[watermelonolemretaw]

watch episode four of hazbin hotel and tell me with a straight face you're not attracted to men

[lifeofroos]

Part 51. Christmas with five people sure is calm. 

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, Nico tries to have a nice Christmas with Will, but a bad memory overshadows it. The rest of the story can be found on AO3 and Fanfiction.net! And in Tumblr tags like Dionysus, Nico di Angelo, percy jackson fanfiction etc. 

This Might Be Crazy: Chapter 51: Glühwein ‘Nico! So glad to see you!’ Naomi Solace chirped while Will and I walked in. 

‘Yes, thanks, mrs. Solace, good to see you too,’ I answered. She shook her head with a little smile.  

‘You can just…’

‘Just say Naomi. Got it.’ 

She looked at Will for a second. He rolled his eyes. ‘Is anybody else here yet?’

‘Your uncle Jacob.’ Naomi Solace turned her eyes to the heavens. ‘And my poor sister-in-law Marian, of course.’

‘Figures.’

They sighed, before lightly laughing. I looked up at Will, a little panicked. He saw it and grabbed my hand. ‘We’ll just drop off some stuff upstairs!’ he said, before pulling me and our backpacks along to the second floor. 

‘Uncle jacob and aunt Marian are pretty okay.’

‘Yeah, yeah, sure.’ I dropped my suitcase on the floor. ‘Do I get a mattress, or do we make it obvious?’

‘He was here last year as well,’ Will went on, without answering me. ‘He tried to stop, eh, my other aunt from talking a few times.’

‘Yes. I remember him, he was nice.’ I think. I realised I did not really remember uncle Jacob. It was eclipsed by the memory of aunt Natalia.

‘Aunt Natalia is not coming back, Nico, thank goodness. She won’t try to slam the door in your face again or throw a cross at you.’ It sounded as if he was trying to reassure himself of that too. 

‘Not?’ I had almost forgotten about the cross.

‘No. Also, the cross might have been for me,’ he sighed.

‘Ah. I guess it wasn’t a lot of fun for you either.’ Just stating the obvious here. 

He chuckled. ‘No, not really. But Uncle Jacob is nice, really. Let’s go, shall we?’

I gave him a hug. ‘Yeah, we’ll go.’

Wills’ aunt and uncle were sitting in the living room. ‘William! Is he back again?’ Jacob waved at me. 

I took a step back. Will put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Yes.’

‘Eh, yeah, good afternoon, I am Nico…’ I rattled. 

‘We know that, we saw you last year as well!’ uncle Jacob laughed. I looked at the floor. 

‘Eh, right, I just thought…’ I shrugged. I heard Marian sigh.

‘Jacob, cut the kid some slack,’ she whispered. 

Will pushed me further into the room. ‘Come, sit down, there are probably cookies,’ he mumbeld into my ear. 

There were, indeed, cookies. I took two and shoved one into my mouth.

Uncle Jacob looked back at his wife and sister and went on with the story he had been telling, that went on for quite long. 

I had to give it to them, I had been in the room for a good seven minutes and there had been no comment about our relationship. When uncle Jacobs’ speech went on for slightly too long, aunt Marian turned to me: ‘It is very nice that you decided to spend Christmas with us.’

I shot up. ‘I am glad I was allowed to come.’

She smiled at her sister-in-law. ‘I am sure Naomi wouldn’t have it any other way!’ Naomi shrugged, with a little smile. ‘Are you two going to Nico’s family tomorrow?’

Will looked like he found that idea, to spend Christmas with Hades and Persephone, both hilarious and horrifying. I shook my head. ‘I’m afraid my family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but they don’t want to stop my fun, so I went with Will.’

‘No Christmas?’

‘No. Eh, of course, that was weird for me as a young child,’ I lied, ‘but I am glad I have someone to celebrate it with now.’

‘Well, I hope we can make it better than, eh, last year.’

‘Oh, well…’ 

A small silence fell, before Marian quickly broke it ‘So, William, how's school?’

School was fine, if you're curious. The talking went slightly better after that, they even laughed when I joked we could try to invite Santa Claus today (You probably had to be there). Still I was glad when we could flee to the kitchen. Will had to make his, apparently famous, mushroom soup.

‘I didn’t know you could make soup. Did you do that last year?’

Will rolled his eyes. ‘No. Natalia brought her tomato soup.’

‘I remember the tomato soup. It had been quite good, but I hate it now.’

Will solemnly stirred his soup. ‘How do you feel, Nico?’

I shrugged. ‘Your aunt and uncle are nice, so okay I guess?’

Will sighed while he cut up a few mushrooms. ‘Yes. That’s good. I am glad.’

‘Will, how did you feel about aunt Natalia?’ 

It might have been a little too abrupt to ask. He was silent for a moment. I looked at my feet.‘Sorry, that is…’

‘She called me non-stop for three days afterwards, trying to convince me I was sinning. Eventually I had to block her from every medium of communication I got. I never talked about it again, not a lot at least, because I just wanted to forget it.’ He lowered the knife for a second. ‘Perhaps I, too, have more troubles with it than I thought.’

‘Well…’ I shrugged. ‘Of course, I mean…’ Will stayed silent. 

I felt a little cold. ‘I’ll go to the living room for a bit,’ I muttered, before I chickened out of the kitchen. 

In the hallway, I ran into aunt Marian. When she saw me, her look got concerned. ‘Hello, Nico.

‘Eh, hello.’

She pushed a hairclip straight. ‘I just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to be nervous. I understand you are still a little shaken up about last year, but…’ She shrugged.

I nodded. ‘Thanks. Eh… You know, I thought I had taken everything quite well. It is only now that I have thought about it for a few days that I realise that it got deeper than I thought.’

Marian nodded. ‘I understand. I hope you can still enjoy some of it, at least. Did you like the cookies?’

I nodded. ‘Oh, yes, the cookies were good.’

She smiled. ‘Thanks. I made them myself.’

‘Fancy.’ 

‘Yes. I spend a lot of time on them!’

I snickered. ‘Cool.’

‘Quite.’ She looked up, at the stairs. ‘Eh, I’ll see you in a second.’

‘Of course.’ I stayed where I was.

Would my Italian relatives be celebrating Christmas right now? The thought came to me without warning. I mean, obviously, I must still have Italian family. Unless my mother was an only child of an only child, maybe.

But I had had an aunt, it dawned on me. Which probably meant that somewhere, there was an Italian branch of the family, celebrating Christmas. Hm. Weird, considering they would not be thinking about me at all...

‘Nico?’ Will yelled from the kitchen. ‘Can you help for a second? If you are still there?’

‘Eh, of course.’ I hadn’t moved a foot. 

‘Sorry,’ I muttered when I walked back in. 

‘It’s okay,’ Will mumbeld back. He threw a few mushrooms into the soup. ‘Is it a true witch stew I already?’ I looked into the pan. It looked too good to be witch stew. 

‘A little.’

‘No, Will, not at all. Okay, maybe a little.’ 

Will smiled again. ‘Just a little, as it should.’ He handed me the spatula. ‘Can you stir for me? I have to throw in these spices in the meantime.’

‘Yes.’

It was calming to cook soup together and to think about how we would be eating soup together soon. Yet, just as I stirred some weird herb through the stew, Will scraped his throat. ‘If you are getting sick, you should not be cooking.’

He chuckled, before pulling himself together again. ‘Nico, how about we just enjoy the here and now, and then talk about how we are affected by last year some other time? Maybe we could ask Dionysus to evaluate it with us. Because it feels as if we are both still hurt by it.’

‘Yes. I’ll ask him as soon as I see him again.’ 

Will nodded. ‘Good. In that case, you just need to stir slightly lighter, while I call over uncle Jacob so he can heat up his self made glühwein, which I doubt he actually makes himself.’

‘Does it contain alcohol?’

‘My mother always lets me have a small glass.’

‘And you say you aren’t rebellious!’

‘It is not rebellious if your mother lets you do it!’

‘I mean… point taken.’

‘Well then! Now, I am going to call Jacob over. Be prepared.’ 

I winked, while he went out to fetch his uncle.

While he was away, I sighed. Okay, maybe it hadn’t gone perfect. Yet, we could still make something of it. Anyway, who was aunt Natalia to not just ruin one, but multiple Christmases?

A/N: Secretly, uncle David gives Will and Nico alcohol-free glühwein because he is a responsible adult. 

On tuesday the twenty-seventh my adult responsibilities will catch up to me, AKA I will be eightteen, or otherwise said it’s my birthday :D. Also, by next chapter, I will be an adult (help).

Anyway Nico and Will having Christmas. Did you see the part where Nico thought about this Italian family? Yes ;). 

I know this chapter dragged a little. It is mostly meant to cement some things for future chapters.

[missbellaswan]

Twice Bitten Half Turned - Chapter 6

AO3

tag list: @jasondeanstwin @wishing-on-angels @yeetbean @loveofmonstersandroses @ripleythedemonfcker @big-idiot-wolf-boys @edwards-sideburns @madame-forget-me-not @525600selfies @robbers-hea1y (let me know if you want to be added!)

Edward and I spent the next morning together at my house. Charlie left for work early like he usually did, so we had the place to ourselves until I had to leave for Angela’s.

I was still working through everything that had happened the day before, so I made myself a cup of tea and sat down at the table. Edward was sitting across from me, watching me swirl the tea bag around in the mug.

“Aren’t you hungry?” He asked. He had watched me sit and eat breakfast at this table a lot over the last few weeks, so he noticed when I arrived at the table mostly empty handed.

“Not really,” I shrugged and sipped my tea. I wrapped my hands around the mug and let the heat seep into my cool skin.

“Are you sure? I could make you something,” he offered.

“Really?” I had never really seen him try to cook anything before.

“Yeah, what would you like?”

“Eggs?” I asked. I didn’t really feel like eating, but I couldn’t picture him actually cooking in my kitchen, and I was curious.

“Whatever you want.” Was all he replied. He stood up and rummaged through the fridge before pulling out the carton of eggs. I watched intently as he pulled out a pan and turned on the stove.

“Since when do you cook?” I asked as he cracked a couple of eggs and whisked them into the pan.

“Esme has always liked to cook, she taught me how.” He seemed very relaxed. I could almost picture him as a human when he had a whisk in his hand. His god-like supernatural beauty contrasting against our fading yellow cabinets gave him away though.

“What do you do with the food?”

“Donate it if we can, or sometimes Carlisle will take it to work with him.” Edward smiled.

When the eggs were done he slid them from the pan onto a plate and set them down in front of me.

“Thank you.” I said, picking up the fork and digging in. Now that there was food in front of me, I found that I actually was quite hungry and I ate it all.

Edward seemed pleased, and he hummed quietly to himself as he did the dishes.

“Why do you think I can still eat?” I asked as I drank the last of my tea. “And why don’t I crave blood the way you do? You said my eyes were red now.”

“I think the part of you that is still human is satiating the vampire part. You still have blood in your system, and that blood keeps you satisfied in a way that the rest of us will never be.” Edward said. He took my empty plate and mug and turned back to the sink.

“Huh.” It was comforting that the vampire half that I ended up with wasn’t the blood thirsty half.

“That’s why your eyes are red. All newborns have red eyes because their bodies still have some human tissue left that feeds them and keeps them strong.”

“Well at least we don’t have to worry about all that. Yet. Still nothing from Rose and Emmett?” I said, changing the subject. I knew the answer to my question already, but I had to ask. Edward finished the dishes and joined me back at the table.

“No,” he said, “be patient, love.”

I just nodded. I didn’t want to be patient anymore, but as with everything, I didn’t seem to have a choice.

I went upstairs to take some human, or hybrid, minutes before I left for Angela’s. Edward waited in my room like he usually did, and I went to the bathroom. As I was brushing my teeth I pressed my face closer and closer to the mirror, trying to see any flecks of red. With my nose pressed up against the glass I could see a few veins of deep red splintering through my irises, but as soon as I blinked they melted back into the brown.

When I was ready I went back to my room to get dressed. Edward was laying on my bed with my CD player laying on his chest. His eyes were closed and I could hear the music playing faintly through the headphones. He opened his eyes when I walked in and smiled at me. I smiled back and went to my closet to find some clothes. He made a point of closing his eyes again as I was changing, only reopening them when I was laying on the bed next to him. He pulled me in and pressed pause on the CD player.

“I love you.” He said. We didn’t say it often, it seemed silly and trivial to have to repeat something so obvious, but my heart stuttered at the words.

“I love you too.” I said. He sat up and set the CD player back on my desk where I had left it.

“What are you and Angela doing today?” He asked.

“I don’t know. Just hanging out I guess.” I said. There must have been something about my tone of voice because Edward cocked an eyebrow at me, prodding me to tell him whatever I wasn’t saying. “I’m just worried that she will notice something is off about me.”

“She won’t notice anything, Bella.” He assured me. “I know it might feel like you’ve gone through a lot the last several weeks, but to the human eye you look just the same as you always have. Trust me.”

I wanted to trust him. I did trust him. But the fear was still there, in the back of my mind. I felt like a completely different person now, so how could all of this just go by totally unnoticed by everyone else? It seemed impossible. I reminded myself of Charlie again, who had seen me every day after Phoenix and hadn’t mentioned it once.

“I should go.” I said.

"See you soon.” He asked as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Soon.” I promised.

He walked me to the car and kissed me again quickly before disappearing into the woods. I hopped in the truck and drove over to Angela’s street. I parked on the curb outside her house and took a deep breath.

Angela’s father answered the door. He greeted me and invited me in, calling Angela down from her room.

“Hi Bella!” Angela said as she hit the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey,” I said. Her dad went back to the living room and Angela towed me upstairs to her room. So far neither of them had looked at me twice.

Angela wasn’t much for small talk, but apparently she hadn’t had many people to talk to lately so she babbled to me about everything that had happened in the last several weeks. The longer we sat and talked, the more relaxed I felt.

“And then Jess gave Ben my number, so we’ve been texting like every day, but he still hasn’t asked me out so I don’t know.” Angela said. She looked up at me, indicating that I was supposed to react to her story.

“Huh,” I didn’t really have any advice for her.

“Yeah, and Jess went to see her family and won’t be back until next week.” Angela said.

"Oh,” I said, “I’m sure Ben is just nervous.”

“Maybe, but I don’t know how to tell him that I want him to ask me out without telling him that I like him.”

"I don’t know how to do that either, Ang, sorry.” I said. She just nodded and continued to vent about her non relationship. It was nice to listen to her talk about her problems. They were not nearly as life and death as mine were.

“How’s Edward?” She asked when she had talked herself in circles enough times to convince herself that she was working through things with Ben.

"Good.” Amazing, perfect, I want him to turn me into a vampire so I can spend eternity with him. “He’s good.”

Angela just nodded. It was so much easier to spend time with her than Jessica because she never asked any questions that I didn’t know how to answer. And she always accepted whatever answer I gave her.

“Did your dad tell you about the bear we saw?” She said.

“What? No,” I said.

“Me and my dad were hiking in the woods last weekend and we saw this huge black bear. It was like twice as big as any other bear I’ve seen, and my dad reported it to your dad in case it gets too close to town.”

“No, I had no idea.” I said. Maybe the Cullens could take care of it, too bad Emmett was out of town.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in her room analyzing texts between her and Ben and comparing our schedules for the next semester. Angela’s dad tried to invite me to stay for dinner, but I told him I was having dinner with my dad and left after promising Angela we could all get together when Jessica got back to town next week.

When I pulled onto my street a few minutes later, I spotted a familiar car parked on the curb outside of my house. A rabbit. Jake was leaning against the side facing away from me, and I saw Edward standing on the lawn talking to him. I parked and ran out to join them, in case their conversation was less that polite.

“Hi Bells,” Jake said when I got out of the truck.

“Bella.” Edward said, relieved to see me again. I knew the feeling.

“Hi Jake,” I gave him a quick hug and went to stand by Edward. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to take you for a drive,” he said standing to the side and motioning to the car behind him.

“Did you drive that here?” I asked.

“Yep. It’s all fixed up,” he beamed, “thanks to you.”

“That’s so cool!” I walked over to inspect the car. Not that I knew what I was looking at, but I knew enough to be impressed.

“Thanks,” Jake smirked. “Wanna go for a ride?

“Yeah,” I said. I turned back to Edward, “are you coming?”

Edward and Jake both laughed.

“I’ll wait for you here, love.” He said.

I scowled at both of them, I could already tell getting the two of them to be friends was going to be a challenge. Jake opened the door and helped me into the car, and then ran around to his side and hopped in.

“What were you and Edward talking about?” I asked as Jake turned onto the highway. The acceleration of the car was about as good as my truck, but Jake seemed thrilled.

“Oh, nothing.” He said. He didn’t seem upset or angry, so I let it go.

I watched the tall trees streak by on either side of the road.

“I haven’t seen you in a couple weeks, what have you been up to?” Jake asked, breaking the silence.

"Not much,” I didn’t have a good explanation for spending my summer wallowing in existential dread.

“Yeah, me neither,” he said. His voice changed, he seemed sad. He had such an expressive face, it was easy to tell what he was feeling.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

“Not really. It’s just that some of the guys on the rez have been looking at me really weird the last few weeks. Quil and Embry think I’m making it up, but I don’t know.”

“Do you know what they want?”

“No idea, they won’t talk to me. In fact, they won’t talk to anyone but each other anymore.” Jake adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. “We should head back, I don’t want to go too far.”

"Okay.” I said. He pulled off the highway and spun the car around, taking us back towards Forks.

Jake seemed to calm down on the ride back, and we both eased back into a more comfortable silence.

“Sorry the radio doesn’t work yet,” he said, “that’s my next project.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind.” I said. And I didn’t, I really liked just being around Jake. I realized this was the first time I had felt warm since my transition. The heater wasn’t on, it was just Jake. He radiated a kind of heat that warmed me up inside.

He drove me back to my place, and parked in the same spot as before. Edward was waiting for me on the lawn, like he had never left. I sighed, both in annoyance and relief.

Edward opened my door and held out his hand. I took it and he pulled me into his arms. I heard Jake clear his throat behind me and I broke away, turning to face him.

"Thanks for the ride.” I said.

“Anytime, Bells.”

“I’ll come to you next,” I promised.

"Don’t wait too long,” he flashed me a smile. He slid back into the car. I smiled back and closed the passenger door. He started the car and drove off again.

Edward turned me back around again so I could see him. He stared into my eyes for a moment before leaning in and kissing me. I responded and wrapped my hands into his hair. Edward indulged me, but all too soon he pulled away.

“I haven’t seen enough of you today,” he said.

“I’ve been very popular.” I said.

“How is Angela?” He asked as we went inside.

"Good. Bored, I think.”

“Summers in this town are usually boring,” Edward sighed, “but of course you’re the exception to every rule.”

“Sorry,” I said. We settled on the couch, and he wrapped his arms around me.

“It’s not always a bad thing. You are simply extraordinary in every way.” He said, smiling his crooked grin.

“You’re one to talk.”

“My kind has certain advantages in that regard,” he joked, “speaking of my kind, Carlisle received a message from the Denalis today.”

“What about?”

“Carlisle sent Laurent to stay with them.” Edward paused to judge my reaction. I nodded to let him know I was okay. “Apparently things have been going well with the adjustment, and he’s with Irina now. Tanya thought it would be a good idea to formally introduce each other to our newest coven members.”

“Does that mean they want to meet me?” I asked. I had only heard a few things about the Denalis, but I knew enough to be intimidated by them.

“Yes, Carlisle hasn’t told them about your condition yet, he thought that would be better to discuss in person. But they know you’re my mate, and they want to welcome you to the family. Carlisle invited them to stay with us next week.”

“What if they don’t like what I am?” I couldn’t help but feel nervous. “What if they don’t like me?”

“They will love you,” he kissed my forehead, “as for the hybrid aspect of things, we just have to hope that they’re willing to listen. Perhaps they can even share some insight. Their coven is older than ours, they might have heard of this kind of thing before.”

“And Laurent?”

“I will not let anything happen to you. We would not have agreed if we didn’t think it was safe.”

"Okay.” I knew Edward would always protect me, but I hated the idea of him protecting me from people he considered his family.

[keelywolfe]

FIC: A Bit of a Stretch

Summary: Edge has a few questions for Stretch after his de-aging incident. Stretch has a few questions of his own. Answers are the only thing that seem to be in short supply.

Tags:  Pre-Spicyhoney, Pre-Relationship, De-Aged, Possible Implied Past Child Abuse (nothing explicitly shown), Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Notes: This is a direct sequel to ‘Keeping Elastic’. 

Apparently I like to write de-aged fic when I am hungover. I’m rolling with it. 

Read it on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

i need to talk to u. w/out my bro

Edge looked at the text with a frown, reluctantly curious. It had been nearly a week since Stretch’s childish little incident, and he hadn’t seen him since Undyne had returned to take him away. Presumably she hadn’t had any difficulties returning him to his normal state or not that Edge heard from his brother.

So why did Stretch want to speak to him now?

Only one way to find out. Edge replied to the text, Come to Underfell.

In less than a minute, there was a pop of teleportation and Stretch was in his living room, looking, well, exactly as he was supposed to. In an oversized orange hoodie, his hands tucked into the pocket, overtop track pants and untied sneakers with the laces damp from dragging in the snow. What wasn’t normal was his tight expression and before he could speak, Edge held up a hand.

“Not here. Follow me.”

Almost, Stretch protested, his teeth parting. He seemed to rethink it and shrugged, following after Edge as he led them outside. The walk through Snowdin was brief and Stretch didn’t flinch, but Edge saw him twitch occasionally. He understood; it was strange to see mirror images of Monster you knew, ghosts of what someone could be.

He led Stretch out of town, past the bridge and to where the first of the traps were. Or last, depending on the direction of the travel. Edge pointed out a tree on the other side where a red light attached to the trunk was flashing. “Shortcut us over there.”

“you hate shortcutting.” It was the first thing Stretch said since he arrived and he sounded normal enough, that faint, sardonic note in his smoke-husky voice.

“I do but it’ll take us past the trap without me having to recalibrate it.” A moment of queasiness was worth sparing an hour of effort.

His vision blurred and when it cleared, they were on the other side. It was slightly smoother than one of his brother’s shortcuts and Edge wondered sourly if Stretch was better at it or if Red was simply an asshole. Either option was possible. In any case, he only had to lean against the tree for a moment, waiting for his queasiness to ease before they walked on. Not far away was a sentry post and Edge wrinkled his nose at the smell of burnt dog biscuits, making a note to discuss the issue with Doggo before his next shift.

When Stretch saw they were stopping, he ignored the chair and instead hopped up on the counter, long legs dangling. “why do you want to talk all the way out here? if you didn’t want to chat in the house, why not waterfall or something?”

“Waterfall is out of my territory and you wanted somewhere away from your brother,” Edge preferred to remain standing, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding his alternate evenly. “Sans…Red is the only person who does sentry duty in multiple areas because he can shortcut. He’s in Hotland right now so we are alone.”

And Doggo’s post was one of the few places Red hadn’t been able to place his listening devices. The other sentry was far too attuned to any unusual noises and was quick to find them. It was the closest Edge could come to a guarantee that Red wouldn’t be listening in, but there was no need to tell Stretch that. “Now, you wanted to talk.”

Instead of answering, Stretch lit a cigarette and normally Edge would snarl about him fouling the air around them. Today, he would grudgingly admit Stretch looked like he needed it. There was a faint, visible tremor in his hands and his eye lights darted around, almost hunted. Perhaps that could be chalked up to simply being in Underfell, but Edge didn’t think so.

He waited, clinging to patience while Stretch smoked until he finally threw down the butt and let it wink out in the snow.

“what happened when i was little?” Stretch asked abruptly. “blue won’t talk to me about it. he doesn’t not talk to me, okay, he tells me everything, but this he’s talking around and i don’t like that.” He fidgeted with his lighter, flicking it and letting the flame waver a moment before snapping it closed. “what he did say was you were there for a while and you helped out. so what gives? why is my bro so upset that i spent a few hours at knee high?”

Edge studied him. It seemed Blue wasn’t interested in solving the mystery of his brother’s past, whether in an attempt to protect him or to simply forget the entire incident, Edge wasn’t sure. But Edge saw no reason to hide from truths, even painful ones.

“Whenever you saw him, you cried,” Edge told him flatly. “It helped a little when he changed his clothes, but you still refused to let him hold you. you spent most of the day with me until Undyne returned for you.”

He’d actually spent a better part of it sitting on Edge’s lap on the floor, happily banging together pots and pans, and stacking measuring cups, but Edge saw no reason to bring that up. Blue had been deemed reluctantly acceptable when he was no longer in his uniform, but it seemed little Rus was unwilling to forgive him for having worn it before. Edge suspected it was a very good thing he’d changed before coming to Underswap or the child might well have spent the entire day behind the sofa.

To his surprise, Stretch went oddly pale, the color his magic lent to his bones fading, leaving him bone-white, and his eye lights shrank to pin pricks. He looked away, letting out a weak laugh.

“is that all?” He fumbled out another cigarette and lit it, exhaling with, “guess i'd be upset if kids cried whenever they saw my face, too.”

“I'm sure you would, but it wasn't kids, it was his brother,” Edge said slowly. “Why is that? Why would you be upset at seeing your brother?”

“beats me.” It sounded like a lie, thin and wrong. Stretch shrugged and it was somehow nervous, uncomfortable. “i don't remember much when i was little like that. hell, i don’t really remember much before i was a teenager. blue was barely out of diapers, so to speak, it's not like i knew him when i was a kid.”

“Someone who looked like him, then,” Edge pressed relentlessly.

“i...don't know,” Stretch said falteringly, “how would i know? it’s not like i remember being little either time, how would i…i don’t…”

He was shaking, his gaze wide and oddly vacant, and his cigarette fell from his limp fingers, hissing out in the snow. He looked as if he was close to fainting, all from a few simple questions.

"Put your head down," Edge told him brusquely. He moved to stand in front of him, forcing him to lean over when he didn't move.

"i don't remember," Stretch whispered, almost inaudibly, "i…i don't…"

"Easy, you're all right," Edge told him softly, the same as he had when he'd been small enough to cradle in his arms. He made the attempt now, warily sliding an arm around him, and was forced to catch him when Stretch collapsed against him, almost sliding from his perch.

Comforting him as a child had been almost a reflex, all too easy, and Edge found it was much same as an adult. The difference was Stretch didn’t cry. He trembled in Edge’s arms, the entirety of his surprisingly light weight leaning against him.

He was mumbling beneath his breath almost too quietly to hear, and Edge strained to catch the words.

There was little enough to hear, nothing more than the same words, over and over. “he’s gone, he’s gone.”

“He’s gone,” Edge agreed softly, although he had no clue who ‘he’ was. A wracking shudder went through him and abruptly Edge was reminded of being awoken by one of his brother’s rare nightmares. If they were rare. Red would never have allowed this sort of comfort, but somehow, it was easy enough to offer to Stretch, with his layer of sarcasm peeled away, leaving this frail vulnerability behind. Edge shifted, pulling him in close enough to rub his back, murmuring against his auditory canal, “He’s gone, you’re safe.”

It seemed to help. Slowly, the shivering eased. It took longer for Stretch to pull away, scrubbing against his face with a sleeve as though to clean away tears he hadn’t shed.

“sorry,” he said stiffly. “i…sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Edge told him, softly. There were more mysteries now than he’d started with and it was unlikely he’d be getting answers to them. Already he could see the walls falling back into place, the brief vulnerability he’d never suspected existed being tucked back away. The biggest mystery being left behind was ‘who’.

Whoever they were, they were someone a child was desperately afraid of, enough so that trying to remember him as an adult was nearly enough to cause a panic attack. One that had brought a too-quiet, frightened child to…well. To Stretch. He remembered that tiny baby bones, his sweet laughter as he played…his teary fear whenever his brother came too close…

Gone, Stretch had said, and that was a good thing or Edge might well have more LV for the others to disapprove of.

“i’m just…thanks, then, i guess,” Stretch laughed uncomfortably. Sitting on the ledge as he was, he couldn’t really withdraw from Edge, and though he shifted as if he wanted to, Edge didn’t remove his steadying hands. Not yet. “not sure where all that shit came from, but thanks for not ditching me to knock my skull against a tree.”

That sent a sharp throb through his soul. He’d meant it as a joke, Edge knew, but there was no humor in him when he quietly told Stretch, “I would never leave you alone like that.”

He wilted, whatever pride he’d been shoring himself up with was failing, and the way he leaned into Edge’s hands seemed somehow reluctant and yearning. That vulnerability, not yet hidden away, was soft in his voice as he said, “why do you even care?”

“Despite what you seem to think, I’m not soulless.”

Stretch huffed softly and his breath was harsh with cigarettes, sweet with magic. “i don’t think you’re soulless.”

“No, only that I replaced it with a chunk of coal.”

“you said it, not me.”

He’d never seen Stretch smile like that or if he had, it certainly hadn’t been directed at him. Stretch was an irritant, smirking and smoking and…his smiles weren’t supposed to be soft and sweet, for once not mocking but instead almost inviting him to share the joke and—

“We should get back,” Edge said brusquely, finally stepping back, and he ignored the sharp, internal twinge when that smile faded.

“yeah, i should get home.” Stretch stumbled as he hopped down, tripping over one of those stupidly untied laces and it was a reflex to steady him, pulling him back up. It left him with his face inches from Edge’s, his sockets wide. He took a step back and Edge let him, his hands reluctantly letting go. “um, yeah, i really have to go.”

He vanished without another word, teleporting away and leaving Edge standing with his own confusion in the snow.

Only to realize that Stretch had left him on the other side of the traps. An hour ago, that would have irritated him, but now Edge was almost grateful.

It would take hours for him to make his way back home and that was fine. He could use something to do.

-fin

[captainswanandclintasha]

Awake and Alive - Chapter 2 (2/?)

Summary: While Emma and the other Nevengers are leaving Storybrooke for Neverland to search for Henry, a misterious and unkown woman comes in Storybrooke, looking for a long lost man and some answers about herself. Meanwhile in Neverland Emma and Hook descover something about themselves that is going to change their lives forever.

Type: AU

Rating: M (for future chapters)

AO3 | FF.Net

Tumblr: Chapter 1

Story updated every Saturday and during the week I will post one or two sneak peeks from the next chapter.

More notes at the end!

Tagging @cinnamonduckling, @effulgentcolors and @captainswan-shipper88 . Let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters (or if you don’t want to be tagged)!

As always many many thanks to @ultraluckycatnd!

______________________________________

Neverland

Emma could swear to anyone that she was officially done with Neverland. After almost dying on Hook’s ship, she had to fight with the Lost Boys, met Peter Pan and now had to admit in front of everyone that she was nothing more than a Lost Girl herself; an orphan. She just wanted her boy back and to get the hell away from that island and everything that was linked to it.

For the moment, though, she was in the forest thinking about everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours. She told her parents that she wanted to be alone, so when she heard steps behind her, she prayed to every God that was out there listening, that it wasn’t Mary Margaret or David. She turned her head to see who the intruder was and almost rolled her eyes when she saw Hook coming from 1behind the trees.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him as soon as he saw her.

“Sorry, love. Didn’t know you were here,” he said softly.

“Really?” she said, not believing him.

“Yes, Emma,” he snapped. Then he saw the rejection on her face and he immediately regretted it. “Sorry, I’m not really myself tonight.”

“Something happened?” she said, signaling for him to sit beside her.

“Neverland happened,”  Hook said, taking out his flask.

“Must be hard for you to be here again.” Emma took a sip from the flask and then gave it back to him.

“Not as much as it is for you, I imagine. After all, your child is here somewhere.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Emma said, taking the flask from his hand again.

“That’s not what I wanted to say, love. You’ll get your son back.”

“How do you know that?”

“You are a mother. Mothers can be very determined when it comes to their children. Regina is also his mother and let’s not forget that she was, not so long ago, THE Evil Queen. Both of you have the ability to turn this place upside down in search of Henry.”

“Thank you. For this and for bringing us here.”

“It was the right thing to do,” he said without another word.

The silence started to fall between them when Emma remembered something.

“When you came back to Storybrooke with the bean, you said something like ‘maybe I needed a reminder that I could’. What did that mean?” she asked him, looking into his eyes.

“You told me back at Granny’s that I could be a part of something. Maybe I just want that. To be a part of something.”

“You know, that would mean giving up your revenge on Rumplestiltskin.”

“I know. I sort of did that when he came to my ship and I agreed to let him stay there until we made it to Neverland.”

“Will you ever tell me why you hate him so much? Because I know it’s not just about your hand.”

“I am going to tell you, Emma. One day. I will, I promise. But this story needs more rum than this flask has in it and a lot more free time,” he said with a soft smile on his lips.  

This time, another silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable one. Emma was lost in her thoughts when she yawned out of nowhere.

“You should go to sleep,” Hook said when he saw her.

“I can’t. I hear them,” she said without telling him who she could hear. She hoped he understood anyway.

“I know, I hear them too,” he said gently.

“Another long story?” Emma asked with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Go to sleep, Emma.” Hook said when he saw Emma’s eyes almost closing, followed by another yawn.

“I told you, I can’t sleep.”

“You just have to imagine something that makes you happy. Think about your boy, your home.”

“Think of happy thoughts,” she said, even if she knew Hook wouldn’t understand the reference.

“Exactly.”

“Okay. I should go take your advice and try to go to sleep.”

“Good choice.”

“Are you coming?” she asked when she stood up and saw that Hook made no move.

“I am going to stay here for a few more minutes.”

With one more look at him, Emma left the clearing and went back to their camp. She saw Mary Margaret and David on a cot talking quietly, while Regina was on the other side of the camp leaning against a tree.

Without another word to anyone, Emma sat on her cot and closed her eyes thinking about her discussion with Hook from earlier. She wondered about his quarrel with Gold, wondered why he heard the cries of the Lost Boys. Pan said that only those left behind as children could hear the cries. Was Hook an orphan too? Were they so alike? Would Henry hear the cries? After all, she left him behind when he was a child. But he was raised by Regina, he was loved by Regina, even if he thought she hated him. But he was alone now. He didn’t know they were there looking for him. He might think they left him all alone on Neverland.

She fell asleep that night thinking about Henry and what would happen to him if he stayed in Neverland much longer and, at the same time, she fell asleep thinking about Hook and the many questions she had about him.

______________________________________

The following days in Neverland were a nightmare for everyone. Pan taunted them by playing games while the Lost Boys were waiting to attack behind every tree. On top of that, Neverland’s heat was making them all crazy.

They found Neal’s old cave thanks to Hook, but they couldn’t understand the map Neal made to get out of Neverland. For that, they needed Tinkerbell’s help.

Emma still believed that everything was crazy. She still waited to wake up one morning and realize that she was back in Storybrooke and everything was a dream because things certainly looked like a dream. Neverland, Peter Pan, Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, these were all things she dreamed about when she was little. Now she was there and the place was nothing like the movie version or even the cartoons. The place was, as Hook had said so many times, a hellish place.

She still didn’t know what to think about the fairy. First, she attacked Regina because apparently they already had history together. Then she refused to help them because they didn’t had a plan for leaving Neverland after they got Henry back. Finally, the thing that annoyed Emma the most was that she flirted with Hook. Tinkerbell flirted with Hook a lot. She didn’t know where these feeling came from, she shouldn’t feel like that. But she did, and seeing Hook with Tinkerbell made her question their relationship.

“What was that?” she asked Hook as soon as Tink left them back at Neal’s cave.

“What was what?” Hook asked with an eyebrow raised.

“You two.” Emma said, pointing towards the direction Tink left.

“We know each other very well,” he answered simply.

“How well?” she asked with even more curiosity.

“You have no reason to be jealous, love.”

“Oh no, I’m not. I just want to be sure that there aren’t certain things to distract you from our true mission here.”

“There aren’t. Tink is not a distraction for me. Even if there would be something to distract me, trust me Emma. I would still care about getting Henry back.”

From that moment, Emma understood that Hook had no wish for his relationship with Tink to be in their conversations again. In fact, he made it very clear that there wasn’t any relationship to talk about.

Still, Tink wouldn’t help them as long as they didn’t have a way off of the island. Between finding Tink, finding a way off of the island, and looking for Henry, there were also the Lost Boys who were a royal pain in the ass and who attacked them every time they got close to their camp.

For instance, they were so close to their camp at the moment, she could actually see the Lost Boys and Pan. She was looking for Henry when some of the Lost Boys attacked out of nowhere, forcing her to move her eyes away from the camp. She still tried to look towards the camp while she was fighting with the boys but it was hard; one punch in the face, one look at the camp, a sword hitting an arrow, another try towards the camp, a right hook and a raised leg with a hit in the stomach, but the camp was now empty.

She stopped her attacks to take a better look, to make sure that she was seeing right. The camp was empty, the Lost Boys gone. Same with Pan. Henry was most likely gone too.

She couldn’t believe it. She swore in that moment that she’d kill Pan next time she saw him. In that moment, she didn’t care about the Lost Boys who were still attacking them; all she cared about was Henry. She was so caught in the moment that she didn't see the boy coming at her, or launching an arrow towards her. All she heard was her name being screamed and when she turned she saw a body on the ground.

Storybrooke

Ruby tried over and over again to find out who the man Milah was looking for was, but with no luck.She knew for sure that Milah hadn’t had much luck either. She was now on her way to the library to talk to Belle because if there was someone who could help her doing research about someone from the Enchanted Forest, that would be Belle.

“Belle, are you here?” Ruby asked when she entered the library.

“Yeah! Be there in a second!” Ruby heard Belle yelling back.

“Hi!” Belle said a few minutes later while coming towards her from behind a door with a few books in her hands.

“Hey,” Ruby smiled at her.

“How are you, Ruby?” Belle asked, putting down the books.

“I’m fine. I’m here with a little problem,” Ruby said, walking towards the table Belle occupied with her books.

“Oh? What happened?”

“Someone came into town, Belle.”

“What? When? How did that happened?”

“I don’t know. Yesterday. She’s looking for a man. I tried to find him, but I couldn’t. That man is not in Storybrooke, Belle. I need your help,” Ruby said very seriously.

“Okay. What should I do?”

“Help me find out who this man is?”

“Okay, but first I need to know who she is.” Belle said, taking out a few books.

“She said her name was Milah Spinner.”

“What?!” Belle yelled, dropping the books on the table.

“What? Is there a problem?”

“That woman’s name is…?”

“Milah? Why?”

“Milah? Ruby are you sure her name is Milah?”

“Yeah. I asked her myself. And then Granny asked her. Her name is Milah. Why Belle?”

“Milah is the name of Rumple’s first wife.”

“Mister Gold?”

“Who is she looking for?”

“She said he is tall, has dark hair and blue eyes. Oh! And his name is Killian Jones.”

“Ruby?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s Hook.”

“No. She said she’s looking for Killian Jones. Hook is… Hook? Why would anyone look for him?”

“Ruby, it makes sense. Milah is looking for Hook; tall, dark hair, blue eyes. That’s him!”

“I think she would mention a missing hand if she was looking for him.”

“Ruby, think about it! Hook is not in Storybrooke at the moment. He’s in Neverland with the others. That’s why you couldn’t find him.”

“But, why would she want to talk to him if you said she’s Gold’s wife?”

“I don’t know exactly. Rumple never told me too much about her, just that she was his wife and Bae’s mother. I mean Neal’s, and that she left them.”

“Well then, we just have to ask her.”

[writingwithadinosaur]

“Guard Dog” - Part 4

“Guard Dog” - Part 4

Victor Zsasz x Reader

( Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 )

My Masterlist - Here

Other Characters: Oswald Cobblepot, Edward Nygma, Harvey Dent

Word Count: 2450

Key: Y/N = Your Name, L/N = Your Last Name, Y/N/N = Your Nickname, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color

Warnings: Fluff

Summary: First day at work with Harvey Dent after the home invasion. 

Author’s Note: One more part after this one! It’s gonna be so fucking cute and fluffy. Just get ready! It will be on the lengthier side. Like around 3000 - 4000 words probably.

Also, special shout out to @theeactress for reading this before I posted it and for keeping me sane! One of my best friends and one of the people who have saved me time and time again. Thank you so much! <3

If you would like to be tagged in any future pieces, please let me know! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!

<3

- DreaSaurusREX

Tags: @luciebell-writes @welcome-to-cobblepothell

You were startled awake because of the sound of your alarm. It took you a couple of seconds to realize what exactly was going on.

6 AM. Monday morning.

You moved to hit snooze and then cuddle back up to Victor, who had apparently woken up to your alarm too. When you were back next to him, he was a bit confused.

“Aren’t you gonna get ready for work?” His voice was a bit deeper than usual, laced with sleep. It was honestly one of your favorite little things about living with him. You snuggled a bit more into his neck as he wrapped his arm around you.

“I hit snooze. I just need a couple of minutes to prepare myself. I’ll have plenty of time. I don’t have to be there until 8.” You were honestly doing that. Thinking of how you were going to find one of your blouses and skirt to wear, do your makeup, pack a lunch, and have something for breakfast. But wait, how am I getting to work? As if Victor could read your mind, he cleared his throat a bit.

“You want me to drive you to work?” He felt you nod your head yes and he kissed the top of your head. “Alright, we’ll get moving when your alarm goes off.”

You ended up wearing a simple top and kind of colorful skirt as opposed to one of your usual solid colored one and comfy heels. This was pretty normal for you. As you were finishing up your makeup, you smelled something good. You got your bag together and headed to the kitchen to find Victor at the stove, making some eggs.

Sometimes you forget what he does for a living. You don’t usually see him when he is working. You knew that that Victor was always here, the tally marks that grew on his arms were reminders. You didn’t mind it though. He was doing a good thing in your eyes.

But your Victor was your favorite. Your Victor was sweet, caring, protective, strong, and everything you had ever wanted in a man.

Your Victor was also not a bad cook at all, and he likes to cook for you. With both of your schedules being as crazy as they have been, you both didn’t really see each other when eating unless you guys made plans. But living with him meant that this might be a normal thing now. You weren’t going to object to that thought.

You just smiled and walked into the kitchen, hugging Victor from behind. You felt his chuckle vibrate through his torso.

“Well, hey there, sweetheart. Breakfast will be ready in a couple minutes.” You slid around to his side and kiss his cheek before heading to the refrigerator to grab the carton of orange juice.

Victor saw a bit of your outfit out of the corner of his eye and had to turn and really take you in. He moved the pan off the burner and whistled. You were kind of surprised by his reaction and felt a small blush rise on your cheeks. He’s seen your work outfits before. But for some reason, today’s outfit struck Victor. You knew he thought you were attractive in many different ways, but you had some trouble seeing yourself through his eyes. That being said, you never stopped trying.

“God damn!” He had a big, kind of doofy smile on his face while he really took the sight of you in.

“Stop. It’s nothing special.” You couldn’t even look at him you felt so flustered. There was no hiding the blush on your cheeks or the silly smile on your face.

You put the orange juice carton down on the counter and tried to hide your face as you reached for a glass. But Victor stopped you and grabbed your hand, lowering it a bit.

“Bbaaaaabbbbe, you look amazing! Why are you hiding?”

He pulled back a little bit while still holding your hand, so he could get a really good look at you. He spun you around a bit, causing both of you to laugh, before he pulled you into his arms. You looked up at him smiling, he had a similar smile on his face before he leaned down and kissed you. Both of you were smiling into the kiss.

You finally pulled apart and went back to getting your juice. You then went to pack a lunch since you knew you wouldn’t be able to really go anywhere alone out in the city until you were back to normal. You were remarkably improving, but there were still times when you really couldn’t be alone.

Lunch was packed and Victor finished setting the table for the two of you. You both ate and made small talk. Before you knew it, it was 7:30 and you needed to head out. Victor quickly put the dishes in the sink and grabbed his car keys.

It was only a 15 minute drive from Oswald’s, but it seemed much shorter to you for some reason. Victor soon pulled in front of the office building and parked the car. You opened your own door, but Victor did meet you for a quick kiss. You were taken by surprise.

“Wait, I thought we weren’t going to do anything public?” He sighed and put his arms around you.

“Well, considering how fast word spreads around here, I’m sure most important people in Gotham know about us by now. Why keep hiding?” In all honesty, you hated keeping this a secret from everyone. So hearing him basically say fuck it, made you very happy. You leaned up and kissed him once more.

“Alright then. As much as I would love to show some more PDA for all of Gotham to see, I do have to get to work.” He gave a fake pout and let go of you. Then there was another familiar voice that came from behind Vic. You looked a bit over his shoulders and froze a bit.

Your boss, Harvey Dent, was right there. Apparently he was going to welcome you back and walk you in. Victor just chuckled a bit before kissing your cheek and whispering in your ear.

“Sorry not sorry. I’ll see you later. Call me if you need anything.” And then he was back in the car. You turned your focus to Harvey. He was all smiles.

“So, you and the infamous Victor Zsasz, huh.” You just shoved his shoulder a bit, causing both of you to laugh.

“Shut up, Harv.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I know how much trouble that would cause for all the parties involved.” You really appreciated how chill Harvey was with finding out that your boyfriend was an assassin.

“Let’s just get to work. What did I miss?”

~~~~~~~~

It was finally time for your lunch break. You had been working like mad trying to get caught up on the cases that Harvey was currently working on and trying to help him with them. But now you could finally escape to the common room and eat your lunch that you had packed earlier.

As you sat down, you pulled your phone from your purse and texted Victor. He was probably worried like crazy.

(Y/N): Hey! Sorry for not updating you sooner. Been crazy. On lunch break now. Good thing I packed a lunch. There is no way I could have walked to the diner down the street by myself.

Victor: It’s okay, sweetheart. I figured you would be swamped. Glad to know you’re safe. Do you need me to pick you up? What time should I come by?

You hadn’t really thought about that. A slight panic started until you realized that Victor had really already taken care of that.

(Y/N): 7 o’clock please. Thank you. I didn’t even think about that.

Victor: That should be fine. I’ll let you know when I get there.

Then your phone alarm went off, telling you that your break was over. You took your last bite of your sandwich before texting Victor.

(Y/N): Well, time to get back to the mountain of files I have to sort through. Most likely will be bringing some of this back home with me. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.

Victor: I love you too, sweetheart. Be safe. I’ll see you later.

~~~~~~~~

The next few hours went by surprisingly fast. Keeping yourself constantly working probably helped with that. You were packing up your bag and grabbing a stack of files to take home when Harvey tapped on your desk.

“Hey, (Y/N). I don’t want to overstep any boundaries or reopen any wounds, but please be careful. You are just getting back into the groove of things. Please don’t overwork yourself.”

“I promise I will stay in one piece. I love this job and I will get caught up and back to normal by the end of the week.” He gave you a sort of worried look. You two had gotten very close because of this job, he was one of your friends. So it was natural for him to worry a bit.

“How are you getting home?” You looked at your watch and saw that it was 6:50PM.

“Victor should be here in 10 minutes. I told him 7 o’clock. Do I need to let you know when I get back safe?” You meant to say that last part in a sarcastic way, but it looked like Harvey actually considered it. He ended up shaking his head no and moved the conversation.

“Alright, if you ever need a ride, let me know.” He was about to walk out the door when he turned around. “Just come back tomorrow, rested and okay, okay?” You nodded your head in agreement. You said your goodbyes and sat at your desk, trying to find some more clips. Then you heard your phone go off. A text from Victor.

Victor: Before I start, I need you to not panic when you read this. I worked something out, but I wanted to fill you in. Oswald needs this hit done tonight. I am on my way to the job. I told Oswald about picking you up. Edward is on his way. I am so sorry. I will text you when I’m on my way home. It shouldn’t be a long job. I will have my phone on silent, but I will check it often. Let me know when you get back safe. I love you so much.

You didn’t know what to respond for a few minutes. Thankfully it was Edward picking you up and not making you walk alone. A couple of deep breaths.

(Y/N): It’s okay. I understand. At least Edward wasn’t busy. And I just talked to Harvey, he said I can get a ride from him if I ever need one. I’ll wait for Edward and text you when I’m home. I love you. Be safe.

Your phone rang right at 7 o’clock. Edward called to let you know that he was outside. You made your way downstairs and to the car. Edward tried to make small talk until you finally got home. You went straight to your room and changed out of your work clothes. As you were taking your makeup off, you texted Victor.

(Y/N): I’m home. Gonna reheat leftovers and watch a movie or something. Be safe. Love you.

A few minutes later, your phone buzzed.

Victor: Almost done here. This guy doesn’t have any good info. Should be home in an hour.

Sure enough, an hour passed and Victor walked through the door, gave you a kiss, and then headed for a shower. The two of you relaxed in bed while watching a movie until you eventually fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~

This soon became the routine. You and Victor would wake up together, have breakfast. He would drop you off. If he couldn’t pick you up, he would make Oswald or Edward accompany you. And in the very rare case that they couldn’t, Victor would call you and have you ask Harvey.

You liked this routine. And then, a week later, Victor asked if you could tweak it a little bit. He wanted to start training you. Self defense, hand to hand combat, weapons training, and anything else he could think of. You gladly accepted the offer and talked to Harvey. One of the many benefits of working with Harvey was the fact that he was very kind and understanding. When you explained to him that you wanted to work from 9AM - 6PM on Monday/Wednesday/Friday and then work from home on Tuesday/Thursday and the weekends, he was leaning towards saying yes but needed the reason why.

“Well, after the whole home invasion thing, Victor and I thought that it is time for me to get some training done. He’s going to work with me on self defense and how to protect myself. It will help me feel more comfortable and be able to really get back to normal. But I understand if you want me to stay to my normal schedule cause I’m already behind and–” Harvey cut you off.

“(Y/N), you’re fine. I know how hardworking you are, and I agree that this will benefit you. I’ll talk to Catherine about adjusting the master schedule. I do have three conditions though.”

“Of course you have conditions. What are they?” You both laughed at the stereotypical nature of Harvey before he responded.

“1) If there is an urgent case or if I need you in court, you have to be there. No exceptions.

2) You make sure not to overwork yourself with the training or with the cases.

3) Please keep me updated. Let me know if you need anything or if there is anything I can do to help.”

You expected stricter conditions. So when you heard these, you kind of laughed.

“I think I can manage those conditions.” You both chuckle a bit before you get kind of serious. “Thank you. I really appreciate this and everything you’ve done for me these past couple of weeks.”

“I’m just glad that I get to keep one of the best assistants in Gotham and one of my friends as safe as she can be.” You both hug for a second before you excuse yourself to text Victor.

(Y/N): Harvey is fine with giving me Tuesday/Thursday and weekends off to work at home and train with you. He was very into the training idea. He’s going to talk to Catherine and rearrange my schedule.

Victor: That’s great! We will start as soon as we can.