#Dahlia Don’t Toy with Me

[riktorart]

🏠.

[emo0lly]

Huxley: *makes whatever self-deprecating comment he can think of* Dahlia: and I took that literally

[bed-wed-behead-your-fave]

Dahlia from Dont Toy With Me

[moonstonemoonlight]

Dahlia from Don’t Toy With Me :D

[suziehearts]

Drawing of Dahlia for cringetober!

[confaesi]

I made a funny little edit based on one of the endings in the game :D (meaning this is indeed spoilers!!)

[aweirdfan101]

Hello dearies! I got a suggestion a little while back from @catboy-wadanohara about the ending where Huxley kills Dalhia and reader walks in and Huxley says “Don’t worry I wouldn’t do that to you. I just had to get rid of her.” So here I am finally doing it. Enjoy!

About: Read the text above!

Type of writing: Fanfiction, love( sort of..), Huxley x GN!Reader

Warnings: Doll death, cussing, and one inappropriate joke

Characters: Huxley, Dahlia, Y’n(Your name)

Well deserved (Huxley x GN!Reader)

Y/n’s (Your name) POV

I yawned as I heard arguing coming from downstairs. I groaned. It was Huxley and Dahlia, again. Most of the time it was Dahlia being unreasonable, Huxley never tried to de-escalate the fights, but he never started them. He stood up for what he thought was correct in his eyes, and I admired that about him. I went down to stop the fighting. I saw Whisker laying beside the entryway to the kitchen shaking, he didn’t like them arguing, reasonably so.

I walked in and both Dahlia’s and Huxley’s attention turned towards me. “Y/n! Will you please tell Huxley how I’m in the right here!” “Y/n! How about you tell Dahlia here that she’s being a bitch!” Dahlia’s eyes widened and so did I. It was odd to hear him call Dahlia a bitch just out of the blue like that, he cussed, but never really called anyone a curse. “Hold on everyone! Tell me the situation first at least! I’m not just gonna side with one random person till one of you tell me what happened!”

“Dahlia here said I could pick breakfast, but then she didn’t like what I picked and started arguing with me about it!” “Now Huxley don’t act like I wanted to argue! Your taste is just horrible!” “This is just like the time with the games! What is it with you and letting someone pick, but if it wasn’t you like you start arguing with them?!” That was all I needed to hear, Dahlia was like this, and I was use to it. “Here, how about I make Huxley his food, and Dahlia you make your own.” “Why won’t you let Huxley make his food and you make me mine?!” “Cause you know how to cook Dahlia, you make your own food and I’ll make Huxley’s after.”

Dahlia huffed, but made her own food. Once she finished cooking and was out of the room I began making Huxley’s food once he told me what he wanted. “Thank you, Y/n..I appreciate this a lot, and thanks for being there.” I smiled at him, “Huxley don’t worry about it at all, I know Dahlia can be mean to you and I want to be there for you.” Huxley’s cheeks reddened when he heard what I said. “Welp, the food is done. I think it’s pretty good.” I was proud of what the eggs I made, and made Huxley a plate.

Huxley took a bite and let out a loud ‘Mm!’ I smiled knowing he enjoyed my cooking. “It’s amazing, Y/n. A whole better than Dahlia’s that’s for sure.” He spoke that last bit a little quieter just incase Dahlia was nearby. “No way, she’s much better than me.” Huxley smirked, “Yeah well I don’t find broken bits of porcelain in your food. My eyes widened and I let out a laugh. “Oh my god Huxley. I can’t with you.” I smiled at him, he made me so happy.

“Well, I need to do some things. Thank you for making food for me and chatting with me.” I was confused about what things Huxley was gonna be doing. “What are you gonna be doing?” Huxley smirked, “You.” My eyes widened and my face got all red and flushed. Huxley laughed, “Just joking Y/n.” “W-well! Don’t make jokes like that Huxley unless you want to have a nice slap mark on your face!” Huxley let out a chuckle, “Alright, alright. Sorry for the crude joke.”

The arguments they would have kept becoming more and more frequent, but me and Huxley’s friendship grew and grew. Dahlia, Whisker, and I, where up in her room chatting, well Dahlia and I were chatting. Whisker was laying on my lap. Suddenly, Huxley walked in. His eyes widened for a minute, but quickly relaxed. “Oh hey Huxley!” Dahlia’s greeting surprised Huxley a bit, I studied Huxley for a bit, it seemed as thouh something was off, like he was hiding something.

Whisker rushed over to Huxley. “Man, Whisker really likes you Huxley.” I told Huxley, “Y-yeah I guess.” “Huxley is something wrong?” Dahlia questioned him, “No, not at all!” Then Dahlia’s diary, dropped on the floor, from Huxley’s hand, and Dahlia saw of course. I froze, I could tell this wouldn’t end well. “My..diary..” Dahlia’s expression became coated with pure anger. “I can’t have any privacy can I?!” “Dahlia! I’m sorry I just wanted to know why you were upset! I know I should’ve asked you! I just wanted to know what was going on in your head, and if I was do something wrong, or you were!”

The argument became more and more blurred, I got scared, this was serious. ‘Huxley why..why would you do that..’ That was the single thought in my mind. But reality smacked me in the face when Huxley pushed Dahlia and gave her minor leg damage, and soon, Huxley was being picked up out of the dollhouse. “HUXLEY NO!!.” Tears in my eyes welled up, I was scared for Huxley. The owner plopped Huxley back into the dollhouse, but his spring was gone. My eyes widened.

Dahlia screamed at him to go sleep in his old box, and Huxley left. I followed after him, and saw him at the entrance of the dollhouse, laying beside his box. Tears were in his eyes and I felt my heart break. “Huxley..” He looked at me, but didn’t say anything. “Huxley, oh my god..I’m so sorry..” I hugged him as if he was going disappear at any moment. He began to cry in to the crook of my neck. My heart was in shambles, I cared for him so much, I loved him.

I laid down on the wood and fell asleep with him in my arms. But I woke up in the middle of the night when I heard porcelain shatter. I froze for a minute. Huxley was gone, and the only other doll here made out of fragile material was Dahlia. I ran up the stairs and entered Dahlia’s room. I saw Huxley sitting on the edge of Dahlia’s bed with an empty expression. I went closer and he noticed me, and I noticed something else as well.

Dahlia’s face was shattered. Her hair was a mess and I saw a fragment of her face on the ground with an expression that has fear imprinted on it. I realized what Huxley could do. “Huxley..w-wh-..” I couldn’t mutter anything out, I didn’t know what to say or ask. He could tell I was scared. “Don’t worry, I would never do that to you. I just had to get rid of her.” His voice was soft when he told me not to be scared, but harsh when he mentioned getting rid of Dahlia.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and Huxley’s expression softened when he saw how scared I was. I then realized that anyone could do that to me if I was asleep, I was so fragile, and Huxley could control whether or not I would wake up or not. “Don’t be scared..You saw how cruel she was, we don’t need her. It could be just us.” “B-but..” “I promise I will never hurt you, you’ve always been kind to me and showed me love.” I walked up to him, and sat on the edge of the bed next to him.

I laid my head on his lap. I cried softly, “I love you, Y/n” I loved him too, but I couldn’t mutter anything out my mouth. Was it shock, fear, did it matter? It probably didn’t. I raised my head and looked at him. I didn’t say anything, I just kissed him. He was shocked at first, but closed his eyes and I closed mine. I broke the kiss and looked at him. “I love you, too..But..I don’t even know what to think anymore..or say, or just..I know why you did it, I understand..I’m not mad, I’m just..” I let out a breath, “I’m tired..”

Huxley kissed my forehead and laid my head down on his lap. I let myself melt into his touch, he comforted me, I didn’t think he was horrible for what he did, Dahlia treated him horribly, he was at his last straw. It doesn’t make what he did right, I just knew why and that made it easier to forgive him. I closed my eyes. But let out a quick, “I love you, Huxley..” “I love you, too..” I didn’t care about the owner, only Huxley..

Holy shit there are 15 paragraphs wtf, but I loved writing this so much omfg.

[b4b3tte]

hello!! i love ur writing, and was wanting to give a request!! I would love a rocky balboa x reader, with a reader that is very shy. just a soft little moment between them. super fluffy!! maybe reader sees some flowers she loves so he gets a bouquet for reader? tysm and of course u don't have to do this if u don't want!!

— JUST FOR YOU

꒰ ⊹ ˚ Summary — All Rocky does is try to win your heart, but your shyness makes it 10 times harder, he decides he’ll show you his love by observing your likes and dislikes

Pairing — Rocky!Balboa X Fem!Reader

Contains of — Fluff, mentions of self-doubt, Boxing Matches, holding hands, unintentionally watching reader in secret,

Babettes note — AA ANON I LOVE THIS SM AND YOU ARE THE SWEETEST!! I love this idea and I hope I was able to fulfill your desires with this scenario!! I didn’t know the flowers you liked so I picked some random ones I hope that’s okay!! If there is anything you don’t like you can tell me and I’ll be happy to fix it, don’t be afraid to request more things! Not proofread so sorry for any mistakes

You’ve always been a shy character, it was something you couldn’t help, you had friends growing up but you just liked your own company so you avoided social interaction during your years of transitioning to a teenager to an adult

It didn’t take you long to realize that it bit you in the ass, you became even more shy than you were as a child, and social interaction was more scarier then ever.

you only had one friend from childhood, Fiona, she certainly was a snarky character but she helped you move to Pennsylvania, she got you a job at the pet shop but she didn’t mention that you’d have a dog following you around everywhere

That dog was a Local Fighter Rocky Balboa, yeah he was attractive ( like extremely attractive ) but you never received male attention ever, it was a shock to you that someone so extroverted, loud and energetic liked your type of personality

You didn’t mind the attention he gave you it’s just you didn’t know how to respond, and what’s crazy is that he never stopped his chances with talking to you, or asking you to come to one of his fights

You felt like you were in a point of your life was to keep working and getting out of the poor side of Philadelphia, you thought you weren’t able to get a partner in this stage ( it’s your shyness stop the cap ) but on the other hand rocky was in awe of you

He likes the drastic differences in your guys personalities he definitely believes in “ opposites attract “ and not to mention the fact he found you insanely pretty, he just had to have a chance with you, but it seems like no matter what he does you always brush him off

He knows you don’t do it purposely but it still sorta bugged him, but he only viewed it as a sign to keep proving to you until you guys went on a date together so that’s exactly what he did on your Saturday off work

But it was unintentional, none of you guys knew you both liked to go to the fancy rich downtown side of Philadelphia, you liked the stores, the lights, the way the sun shined down it and the atmosphere, meanwhile rocky just walked around to clear his mind, two different reasons but it works!

While rocky walked down the sidewalk of the fancy town bouncing the blue toy ball he looks up at this flower shop, he noticed a lady staring at a certain bouquet of flowers, a mesmerizing combination of white lilacs and red dahlias. He couldn't quite explain why he was fixated on this seemingly random lady, but an inexplicable familiarity drew him in. So, he patiently waited for this lady to turn around.

When “ this lady “ was you and you did turn around, Rocky's face lit up with joy, and a warm smile graced his features. He intended to approach you, but just as he was about to, you turned on your heel and walked away. A frown crept onto his face, but he decided to visit the flower shop's window instead. There, he inquired about the price of the lilac and dahlia bouquet.

Back in Rocky's apartment, he grabbed a couple of ice cubes from the freezer and placed them on his forehead. His love for you drove him to want to provide everything you needed and deserved, but he faced financial constraints, struggling even to take care of himself. Determined, he knew he had to find his next fight to secure the money for that special bouquet.

Night fell, and Rocky continued his routine of stopping by at the pet shop. Each morning and evening, he'd pop in to check on the animals and share his daily joke with you. However, this time, he didn't show up. Worried that he might have given up on you, you asked Fiona about his whereabouts, trying not to arouse suspicion.

"Hey Fiona! Do you happen…to know where Rocky is?..by any means?.." You nervously inquired.

Fiona glanced up from her magazine, still somewhat engrossed in it. "Hmm, no, hun, I don't. I think Paulie mentioned something about a fight earlier at the bar," she replied casually.

You oddly forget that he fights for a living, It was one thing to enjoy watching others in the ring, but the thought of him enduring punches and blows for a paycheck weighed heavily on your mind more than it should if your being honest

Sweating and panting, Rocky waited in the locker room with an ice pack on his forehead, eagerly anticipating his earnings as the victorious fighter. The sum was $200, but after deductions for showers and towels, he was left with $100.

“ hey rocky, here’s your share for tonight ah, so 200 dollars but with shower, towel, etc fee that’s a hundred dollars less, but with you being the winner I’m living you with 100 “

Either way His excitement soared, not because he was thinking of paying his rent, but because he finally had enough to buy you the bouquet you deserved.

The next day, he returned to the flower shop, joyfully paid for the flowers, although the cashier might’ve thought he was too excited because after she said the price he slammed a 20 dollar bill on the counter with an eager smile

( AUTHORS NOTE!!! 20 dollars might not seem ALOT but I tried doing some research of prices back then and now, and the economy has changed alot, so back than 20 dollars would have the modern value of 120 dollars so it was extremely expensive back then )

and brought them back to his apartment, placing them in a vase. He patiently waited until your shift ended, timing his arrival perfectly. As you locked up the store and waved goodbye to the puppies in the window, he hid the bouquet behind his back.

"Yo, Y/n!" he called out, surprising you with his presence at this hour.

Startled yet delighted at his voice, you turned around to see Rocky's beaming face and noticed his concealed hands. "Oh, hi, Rocky. Um, what are you doing out here so late?" You asked hesitantly, eager to engage in conversation for the first time.

Rocky chuckled warmly and replied, "You think I can't protect myself? Well, I got you something. I hope you like them; I think they're really special."

In an instant, you was presented with a dazzling bouquet of lilacs and dahlias, exactly the one you had admired in the downtown shop. Your smile radiated happiness as you gratefully accepted the flowers. This thoughtful gesture made you see Rocky in a whole new light.

"Wow! These are absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much!" You exclaimed, overflowing with joy. You hugged him tightly, prompting him to shift the bouquet to his opposite hand, laughter bubbling up at your unexpected reaction.

Unable to contain your gratitude, you continued, "I can't possibly thank you enough. You didn't have to, and how did you even know I loved these?"

Rocky, slightly bashful, replied, "Well, you see, I can be very focused on things, and I thought you'd like 'em you know and uh they are just for you. " He offered to walk you home, and you accepted. As you guys strolled down the sidewalk, you subtly inched your pinky closer to his hand, a silent invitation from your shy nature. He smiled and, taking the hint, gently held your hand.

"You tryna hold my hand now, babe?" he teased. You chuckled and warned, "I can stomp on these, you know." He bent down to leave a kiss on top of your head, and together, you guys continued walking, talking about his fight the previous night and forging a deeper connec

Thank you so much for reading this!!! I really hope it gives you rocky vibes and fills your scenario desires!! Sorry if this took longer than you expect I was focusing on my YouTube channel for awhile!! I appreciate the love and the support and feel free to request anything any time you want<3 bye guys ❤️‼️

[madlittlecriminal]

I have 5 cats, so I have a problem. But how ‘bout I use that for a request. Headcanons for Jonathan with a spouse that has a lot of cats and spoils them like crazy. Treats, cuddles, constant love, as you should treat a cat. I feel like John would be such a cat person and melt over the sound of a cat purring contently on his chest/lap.

I understand this is pretty close to kinktober, so feel free to deny this if it’s too late

Cats ↦ Jonathan Crane × GN!Cat Person!Reader [headcanons]

it’s still September, so im gonna release these, especially since i feel like he really is a cat person & it’s cute!

Warnings: if you’re allergic, hate or have a fear of cats, these headcanons aren’t for you, mention of animal abuse (obviously not from Jonathan or Reader), stray cat, mention of fleas/ticks

When you moved in with him and brought your two cats with him, he was reluctant at first.

However, when he saw your orange cat get hit with the zoomies, be couldn’t help but laugh when she stopped on his lap.

He cautiously scratched her chin and she quickly began to purr.

“Looks like she likes you.”

He chuckled at your comment.

Shortly after, your white and black cat rubbed his head against Jonathan’s legs and you rested your hands on your hips.

“I guess my fiancé is being taken away from me!”

Then you both got married.

You adopted a brown cat to add to your family of cats.

They told you he was abused by his previous owners.

Jonathan being Jonathan bought a bunch of treats and toys for Brownie.

Jonathan said it suited him because he was brown and very sweet.

Your other cats; Peanut (orange cat) and Dahlia (black and white cat) loved Brownie.

They welcomed him with open paws and played with him.

Then, Jonathan brought home a stray cat, but told you he took her to the vet and she’s tick/flea free.

He named her Shadow because she’s dark gray.

Your house was filled with the sound of bells from the collars of your cats

Your bedroom was filled with toys and their begs were in the living room so they were closer to their litter box that was in the back room.

You kept the door open through the night so they wouldn’t wake you both up with desperate meows to use the bathroom

There was one time Jonathan woke up in fear (ironic) because he heard glass break.

Thinking it was the fear toxins, he stormed out of the room.

He didn’t know how the toxins would effect the cats since he only tested his toxins on humans.

However, he was relieved when it was just a mug you got him that said ‘Cat Dad’

When he saw Brownie looking scared, he picked him up and kissed his head.

“You’re okay, buddy. Don’t worry. Dad is right here, okay?”

Brownie looked up at Jonathan with sad eyes

But when he poked Brownie’s little nose, the cat began to purr

Jonathan took a treat from the bag and gave two to Brownie and the others.

He walked towards the couch and sat down with Brownie on his lap.

He played with Brownie’s ears and scratched the top of his head.

Jonathan ended up falling asleep on the couch with Brownie still on his lap

When you woke up the next morning, you took a picture and made it your lock screen and home screen.

Once he woke up, you showed him the picture and he laughed.

All the cats were around him either on the couch or at his feet.

“My husband looks great as a cat dad.”

He chuckled and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I really do. And you’re the best cat parent they could ask for. I’m glad we’re together raising these rascals.”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Information Retrieval

A JSE Fanfic

SepticHeroes AU: Part 29

First Part | Previous Part | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Time for more of this AU! Yay! This chapter is all about the guys finding stuff out. Trying to figure out more about Anti-Virus. He's clearly still around, after all, and he's probably planning something. That's what villains tend to do. Jackie visits a hospital, trying to see if he can track down Timekeeper from the records there. And meanwhile, Schneep dons his Specter disguise again and sneaks into SepTech to have a look around. Just in case Marvin is right about McLoughlin being connected. Hope you guys enjoy :)

===============

It felt very strange to casually walk into a hospital wearing his supersuit. Jackie was certainly attracting a lot of stares from people in the waiting room. But he remained calm, walking up to the reception desk like this was the most normal thing in the world. He glanced around the waiting room as he did. St. Ellen’s Hospital was an older one than Greengate General Hospital. That was the one he was used to, the one Schneep worked at. That one had sleek modern furniture and lots of glass decorations, this one was more closed-in, with boxy furniture from the 70s or earlier.

“Ah... can I help you, Windstorm?” Asked the nurse behind the reception desk. He looked nervous—young, too, probably still doing his studies or whatever people did to become nurses and doctors.

“I need to look up the records for some patients who were admitted about two and a half years ago,” Jackie said, silently impressed at how calm he was. 

“Of... course.” The nurse nodded. “Um... one second. Let me... page someone more qualified for this.” He reached down to his belt and fumbled with something.

“Right right.” Jackie nodded. “Take all the time you need.” He shifted on his feet awkwardly, looking around the waiting room again. Yep. Everyone was staring. Literally everyone. They all glanced away once he noticed, of course. Except for a couple kids waiting, sitting next to their parents on plastic chairs and holding coloring books and small toys. He smiled at them. Their eyes lit up and they waved back.

Another nurse hurried over from a hallway to the side, joining the first one behind the desk. “Hello, Windstorm,” she said cheerfully. “We’re happy to help. What did you need?”

“I need to look up some records for patients,” Jackie said.

“Which ones?”

“The ones who were admitted after that fight with Timekeeper and Earth Shaker.” Jackie had decided last night to ask for all the patients. It would seem less like he was looking for Dahlia specifically. “The one that knocked down the East SepTech building.”

“Of course.” The nurse smiled. “Ryan here will be happy to pull up the records for them.”

“Um, can I see the physical copies as well?” Jackie asked.

“Of course. Ryan can take you to our records room.”

The young nurse—Ryan, apparently—raised his eyebrows slightly, clearly not expecting to be told to do that. But he nodded. Jackie smiled at him sympathetically. “I’ll be as quick as possible so you can get back to work.”

“No, uh, it’s no problem, sir,” Ryan said. “Follow me this way.” He walked around the desk, down another hallway of the hospital. Jackie followed him silently.

They walked a short way to an elevator at the end of the hallway. Ryan pressed the button to call it, then they both stepped inside when it arrived. Ryan tapped a keycard against a scanner in the elevator then pressed a button for the basement.

The ride was more than a bit awkward.

“So... I guess you don’t get many Heroes visiting,” Jackie said, trying to make conversation.

“Um... not at all while I’ve been here, actually.” Ryan laughed a little. “But uh... June—that’s the lady who showed, uh, showed up at the desk—she said that they used to get Heroes here. Like, uh, Moonstone? Have you heard of her?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah. She’s cool.”

“Y-yeah, seems like it.”

The elevator arrived, and Ryan led Jackie out into a hallway leading to a +-shaped intersection. This was clearly a more administrative part of the building, with short dark carpet and walls painted pale blue. The lights were a bit dimmer than upstairs. Or maybe they were normal and the clinical lights upstairs were especially bright. “So, uh... the records are archived in, like, alphabetical order,” Ryan said as they walked down the hall and turned a corner. “So it’ll probably be hard to find the people related to this incident just using that. But, uh, I can pull up the records on the digital database and you can look them up with that.”

“That’d be great, Ryan, thanks,” Jackie said.

“No problem.” They arrived at a door with ‘Records’ written on a plaque nailed to the front of it, right under a tinted window. Ryan pressed his keycard to a scanner next to it, then opened up the door. The room was dark. Even turning the lights on, it was still a bit dim. Aside from a desk to the side with an older-looking computer—though not old enough to require a boxy monitor—there were rows and rows of shelves filled with boxes. Ryan hurried over to the desk and sat down at the computer. “The East SepTech incident... wh-what was that, June? May?”

“Late May,” Jackie said. “The date was somewhere in the twenties.”

“Right.” Ryan typed for a while, then nodded. “Here’s a list of everyone admitted because of that super fight.”

Jackie walked to his side and peered at the monitor. He gave a brief scan of the list, but then his eyes landed on a singular name. Jackson, Dahlia. So she was admitted here. As herself, not as Timekeeper. There were a ton of names besides hers. The numbered list ended in the thirties. “I had no idea there were so many people.”

“W-well, do you have any other information you want to know?” Ryan asked.

“Can you narrow it down to the more serious injuries? Like... the really bad ones?”

Ryan nodded. He clicked a little box on the side and most of the names disappeared, leaving only six, Dahlia’s name among them.

“Perfect,” Jackie said. He could pretend to be interested in five other people. “Let’s go in alphabetical order.” He stood up straight. “You stay here, I can do everything myself.”

“Are you sure, uh... sir?” Ryan asked.

Jackie laughed. “Just Windstorm is fine. And I’m sure. I’m a superhero, after all. If I can’t handle looking through some boxes, what can I handle?”

Ryan laughed nervously. “Just... let me know if you need help.”

“Of course.”

Jackie hurried through the first three files. He felt a bit bad just skimming them, but he didn’t really have to know about these guys. And he didn’t want to look at random people’s medical files without their permission, even if it did help disguise what he was really looking into. He occasionally asked Ryan if there was any additional information on the digital database, and Ryan pulled it up in turn. There were no differences for these first three files. The digital database was just as accurate as the paper copies. 

Then it was time to look at Dahlia’s. Jackie found it in the J’s—right next to another file with a familiar name. Jameson Jackson. Jackie started slightly, and then noticed two other names nearby. Philip Jackson and Elsbeth Schneeplestein Jackson. So... this was the Jackson family’s preferred hospital. Made sense, then, why JJ would take Dahlia here. Jackie hesitated, then decided to leave the rest of the Jackson family untouched, only taking Dahlia’s—and promising to only look at the information related to the incident.

According to the file, Dahlia had been admitted to the hospital by her brother, Jameson. Just as Jackie suspected. Rubble had landed on her, causing severe injuries, including to the head. That’s what put her in a coma. She also had some broken bones, but given how this was two and a half years ago, those had healed by now. She had been stable besides that, no show of recovering or getting worse. And... nothing more. No records of transfers or anything. “Hey, Ryan?” Jackie called. “Any more information on Dahlia Jackson? Like... this seems pretty serious.”

Ryan already had the file pulled up. “Um... well, it seems she’s not in the hospital anymore.”

“Oh?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah, this says she was transferred to Overridge Hospital in Evoritch. It’s a specialty place for long-term care.”

That was not in the paper copies. “When?”

“Back in July of this year.”

That was also not in the paper copies. But it seems like the paper copies had also been updated in July—probably right before Dahlia disappeared. It was possible that someone forgot to file a notice about the transfer... but Jackie doubted it. He looked back down at the paper copy. The doctor in charge of this was one Dr. Eric Simmons. A neurologist, of course. “Hey, actually. Do you know if I can contact any of these doctors? If I want to follow up on their injuries.”

“Um... I-I’m sure you can find them on our website,” Ryan said slowly. 

Website, huh? Not good. Jackie wanted to keep this as offline and away from technology as possible. Who knew what Anti-Virus would do if he knew Jackie was looking into the hero he was holding hostage? “Can I talk to them in person, you think? Since I’m already here?”

Ryan froze, looking very confused for a moment. “Um... you’ll have to talk to June about that, I think?”

“Right.” Jackie nodded. “I’ll do that once we get back up. For now, let’s keep going. Who’s next?”

He quickly passed over the other two files. He pretended to take notes on them, the same as he’d done for the others—and actually done for Dahlia’s—then put everything back and told Ryan he was ready to go. The two of them headed out.

Honestly, the whole thing had slightly disturbed him. The fact that he could just say he was a Hero and walk in and get access to all this private information. It did make things easier, but... there had to be a few other safeguards. They didn’t even ask him to show his League badge, and he’d at least expected that.

He shook his head, pushing the thoughts away. He had to focus on Anti-Virus and Timekeeper. If he could find her, if he could defeat him, then Anti-Virus wouldn’t have any power over Jameson. He wouldn’t have to stay in prison, and could come home... or at least get transferred to a prison with less security, one where Schneep and the others could visit.

Jackie spent the rest of the morning getting information about the various doctors from that nurse, June. She was even kind enough to write down their office hours for him. Apparently the doctor who treated Dahlia, Dr. Simmons, wasn’t in today. This was his day off, he wouldn’t be called in unless it was an emergency. Jackie made a note of that, and said he’d be back tomorrow to talk to this Simmons guy (and, supposedly, the other doctors) in person. Then he turned and left, heading home.

===============

Jackie returned home through his bedroom window. Chase was at work, so he had some time to himself. He didn’t do much, though. Changed out of his supersuit, took a nap, then called the police again to ask about the evidence he’d turned in. The operator directed him to Ace, who said that they would finish examining the tape later that day. “Call back again in the evening, I’ll have an update for you then,” Ace said. “And uh, remember to use the non-emergency line.”

“Right. Sorry.” Jackie had been so worried about the evidence and possibly getting JJ a real trial that he dialed 999 right away. The poor operator probably thought something was really wrong.

Not long after that, Jackie heard the front door open. He stood up from where he was lying in bed and opened his bedroom door, just in time to see Chase and Frosty walking down the hall towards him. “Hey, bro,” Chase said, giving him a tired smile. “You had that hospital thing today, right? How’d it go?”

“Well, turns out I’ll have to go back tomorrow,” Jackie said, sighing.

“Aw, really? That sucks.” Chase shook his head. “I know all about frequent hospital visits, trust me. Never gets more convenient.”

Jackie laughed. “Yeah. How was your day?”

“Dude, I’m exhausted. I’m gonna change out of work clothes and take a nap.”

“Your work clothes aren’t that different from your regular clothes,” Jackie pointed out. “Just another T-shirt and jacket. You could totally nap in that.”

“Shhh, it’s the idea of it. It’ll help me get more comfortable. Gotta change into some sweatpants, too.” Chase headed into his room... then hesitated. “Uh... actually, first, maybe I want to get a snack or something.” He took his phone out of his pocket and set it on the desk. Then looked at Jackie significantly. “Want anything?”

Jackie nodded slowly. He’d left his phone charging on his dresser, so no need to leave it behind. He understood what Chase was getting at.

The two of them went into the kitchen. “D’you think he can affect our TV?” Chase whispered.

Jackie glanced at it. “Maybe if we had a smart TV,” he muttered back. “I’m actually glad we have an old model like that. The game consoles can connect to the internet... but I don’t think they can do that while they’re not on.”

“Let’s keep quiet anyway, just in case,” Chase said, still in that low tone. “Um... so... did you find out anything about Dahlia?”

“Nothing all that new, just that what JJ said on his video about her being supposedly transferred is true,” Jackie confirmed. “The transfer only exists on the digital records, not the paper ones.”

“What if someone just, like, forgot to print that out?”

“It’s possible. But knowing what we do about you-know-who, I’m willing to bet he got into the hospital system and made a fake note about a transfer.”

Chase shivered. “It’s... really fucked that he can do that.”

“Tell me about it. I’m going to talk to the doctor who supervised her tomorrow. Try to see if there’s anything he can tell me.”

“Um...” Chase paused, looking uncertain. “Do you know if... if there were... other people, uh... recovered from the... building? Like... with Dahlia?”

“Yeah, a whole lot,” Jackie confirmed. “And I’m sure there were more in other hospitals, too.”

“Y-Yeah...” Chase trailed off.

Jackie narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

“I, uh... You know, I was... in that same incident,” Chase said quietly. “That’s how I... lost my memory. And uh... why I need Frosty.” Frosty wagged his tail at the sound of his name, ready to spring into action. “I keep thinking about this... the fact that... I was there. I wonder... if I... saw her.”

Jackie blinked. “Timekeeper?”

Chase nodded. “The outfit... wh-when I saw it, and when I smelled the, uh, concrete dust, I... for a moment, it was like... I was somewhere else.”

“Well... smell is linked to memory, apparently,” Jackie said.

“Maybe... maybe she saved me?” Chase wondered. “Or... something like that?” He shook his head. “I... I want to find her to... know if... we met. Or if... she would know something about me. I-I doubt it, but... I don’t know. It’s worth a shot. But... I know that’s really selfish. So, if you don’t want me to help anymore because of that, I understand.”

“...wait. Are you telling me this because you think I’ll like... kick you out of the search if I find out?” Jackie asked.

“I just... thought you should know about my secret reasons,” Chase said. “My ulterior motives.”

“I don’t think that counts as ‘ulterior motives,’ really,” Jackie said. He put a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “It makes sense that you’d want to learn more about yourself. It’s not a bad thing that you want to find Dahlia so you can talk to her about that.”

Chase hesitated. “I... But like, it’s not... it’s not like I’m just doing it to help—”

“But you’d still want to help even if she didn’t know anything about you, right?” Jackie asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then it’s not ‘ulterior motives.’ That implies that you wouldn’t be doing this if you didn’t think she could help you find out about yourself. But you still would. So it’s like... additional motives.”

Chase looked down at the ground, shifting slightly on his feet. “I just... feel bad about it.”

“Why?”

“Cause it’s like... it’s selfish, like I said. And I don’t want... to bother you... with my shit. You know?”

“I don’t think it’s selfish at all,” Jackie whispered. “And I’d never be bothered by that. I want to help you find out more about your past. I mean, unless you wouldn’t want me to. It’s up to you.”

“I... if you want to help me, I’d like that,” Chase said slowly. “But like... I don’t... I’m not too concerned about actively seeking out my past. I mean, if no one came looking for me after I got fucking... horribly injured, then... it’s probably not much of a past in the first place. But... now that there’s a chance right in front of me... I-I think i have to take it. Does that make sense?”

Jackie nodded. “Yeah, of course. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like you’d leave her if she didn’t have anything for you.”

“God no.” Chase shook his head, looking aghast at the very thought of it.

“Exactly. So it’s not selfish.”

“Not even a little?”

“I guess technically, but everyone deserves to be a little technically-selfish every so often. The trouble begins when you stop caring about people other than yourself. And I know you care a lot about people, Chase.” Jackie smiled, and put a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “So head up, okay?”

“Head up.” Chase nodded. “Uh... do you think I’ll be able to help much? I mean, I dunno what I can do... compared to you and everyone else. Like, you’re all... super at what you do, you know?”

Jackie laughed. “Yeah. I guess so. But you’re super in our hearts, Chase. And hey, who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to find something that the rest of us can’t.”

“Maybe.” Chase smiled weakly.

“...hey.” Jackie lowered his voice. “Don’t... don’t compare yourself to others. Especially not the rest of us. It’s not... i-it’s not fair.”

“I know, I know, it’s not fair to compare myself to, uh... guys with your abilities,” Chase muttered.

“I-it’s not just...” Jackie hesitated. “One of the reasons I put off telling you about... my secret for so long... was because I... I didn’t want you to feel bad about yourself.”

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “That’s... nice.”

“I had a feeling you might do this comparison thing if I told you,” Jackie continued. “And I really didn’t want you to do that. You don’t—there’s nothing you—Y-you’re really great. A-and you shouldn’t beat yourself up for not being an exact copy of the rest of us.”

A bit of a smile flickered across Chase’s face. “Thanks, Jackie.”

“No, I really, really mean it,” Jackie insisted. “You’re really great. You’re like—the first roommate I’ve ever lived with who I’ve a-actually been able to make friends with. Y-you’re so supportive and fun and—and—I-I can’t stress how much you’ve done for me, like, letting me stay in here, a-and being so chill about my secret—You were so genuinely concerned that I was getting into something bad, and so caring in how you approached it—and—and—” He took a breath, and shook his head. “I just... really care about you, and I don’t want you to think that you’re less than the rest of us, not after everything you’ve done.”

“...oh,” Chase breathed.

Jackie nodded. “You’re great, man. I love how chill you are, and how you’re so dedicated to your channel, but how you still have time to have fun with me and Schneep and everyone... even though you have work, too, like, that’s gotta tire you out, but you just don’t give up, you know? I mean, you should rest, of course. I don’t want you to get too tired. And you’re real funny, too, you know?”

Chase laughed. “Alright, alright, I-I get it. You don’t have to pile it on, you know?” He rubbed his eyes. “But... really, thanks. You, uh... really went off there.”

“I’ll gladly go off on this,” Jackie said firmly. “You’re great, Chase. And I don’t want anyone to tell you otherwise. Even yourself.”

“Thanks.” Chase gave him a crooked smile. “Now, uh... I’m actually a little hungry now that I think about it. So I’m gonna heat up some leftover pizza before my nap.”

Jackie laughed. “Oh hey, that doesn’t sound half bad. Maybe I’ll heat up a slice, too.”

“Great, we can put two slices in.”

About ten minutes later, Chase had returned to his room for that nap, and Jackie sat down on the sofa to play some games until dinner. He probably should have been working on finding Anti-Virus, but honestly, he wasn’t even sure where to start. Maybe if he had some time to relax, he’d figure something out.

The problem was that they had absolutely no leads on Anti-Virus. Other than him being a technopath. And that didn’t tell him much. Normally he’d be doing research on weird stuff that might be because of a technopath, but... all that information would be online. And Anti-Virus would probably know that Jackie was doing research on him. It was a bit of a Catch-22, really, he had to look online for information, but he had to avoid being online to keep Anti-Virus in the dark.

He would have to look around the city in person. He highly doubted that Anti-Virus lived outside of Daindover. Otherwise, why would he be so interested in attacking it? SepTech had businesses all over the country. Even if this was SepTech’s home turf, Jackie knew they had big locations elsewhere. And even if Anti-Virus was originally from out of town, Jackie had no doubt he would want to be close to his target.

Jackie’s mind began to wander. Yes, he should look around town for anything suspicious. Maybe this guy had a base of operations somewhere. He’d have to be pretty thorough. Maybe he could get help from Schneep and Marvin on that. The two of them were certainly experienced in sneaking around.

===============

After a couple days of scouting, Schneep felt confident enough to actually venture into the North SepTech location. Only at night, though, when almost everyone had gone home. Apparently the building was never totally empty. There was always a security team guarding the area, even after all other employees had gone home. And the security system seemed pretty high-tech. Schneep recognized a couple camera brands during his scouting—though many of the cameras were nondescript, no doubt made by SepTech themself.

Donning his Specter outfit again felt strange. The last time he’d worn this, he’d tried to break JJ out of jail, tried to convince him that living on the run would be better than living in prison. He couldn’t help but think about that last conversation while he pulled on the coat and boots. But also, he’d done many things he was proud of while wearing this outfit. Maybe it was unusual for him to think of his heists as things to be proud of, but he was. The suit felt like an old friend every time he put it on... even if he couldn’t help but be reminded of Jameson this time.

But that was why he was doing this, wasn’t it? If he could figure out if McLoughlin and SepTech really were connected to Anti-Virus, then he could rescue his cousins. Protect them from him.

Schneep took the train most of the way to the North SepTech building. It was very easy; he just had to hop on when it stopped at the station. He didn’t have to worry about the fare. After all, you could only check people’s tickets if you could see them. Schneep just had to be quiet as he sat there, completely invisible, and waited for his stop. 

Some of the SepTech buildings were fancy. The North location was not one of them. It looked like an ordinary office building with a yellowish facade and big windows, the SepTech logo plastered to the top. Schneep circled around to the side. Even while invisible, he preferred to avoid cameras, just in case one of them had infrared vision he didn’t know about. And something he’d learned from years doing this: businesses tended to put their cameras around doors and windows. Which made sense, because most people would need a door or window to get into a building. But Schneep was not “most people.” He could walk right through a wall, where a camera blind spot was.

After walking through his chosen wall, Schneep ended up in a small unisex bathroom—just big enough for two stalls. He headed through another wall and into a ground floor hallway. This was just going to be a short excursion to get the lay of the building. Figure out where they were keeping things, and how much time McLoughlin spent here.

Jackie let it slip to the rest of the group that McLoughlin had a lab here. Schneep was very curious as to where that was, and what was in it. He figured that was a good place to start. Now... where was it? Would it be high in the building? Or below ground? Was there a directory in here somewhere?

There was—Schneep found it in the front entrance hall—but it didn’t say anything about a laboratory. Even so, he looked it over. Nothing much of note. A couple floors of call centers, a couple floors dedicated to SepTech’s marketing, some offices for company bigwigs—oh, there was a floor in the middle completely devoted to file storage. That was worth noting. But no laboratory anywhere, even though every single floor was covered. Meaning either the directory was lying about the contents of its floors, or the lab was underground, in an unlisted basement.

Schneep started looking around for the stairwells and elevators. He’d managed to find an old copy of the SepTech blueprints from a contact of his, but they were, as said, old. The building could’ve been renovated since then. Best to get a lay of the land.

A couple security people were patrolling the area. Every time one approached, Schneep made sure to stop walking and remain intangible so they wouldn’t run into him. He eventually found an elevator at the end of a hallway that wasn’t on the blueprints. And as he looked it over, he saw that the call button was undecorated, unlike all the others that had an arrow pointing upwards. Hmm... suspicious.

Schneep leaned forward, sticking his intangible head through the closed doors and into the elevator shaft. He looked up, then down. The elevator was currently on the next floor down. And the shaft didn’t extend upwards at all. So this must just lead to a basement, not the rest of the building. Jackpot. This must be the lab.

He considered his options. He could just call the elevator and hope nobody noticed, or that they waved it off as a glitch in the system. But he didn’t want to risk that. This was too important. So instead, he took a deep breath, and walked through the closed elevator doors.

Halfway through the short fall, he became solid again, and landed on the roof of the elevator. “Oof!” The elevator jolted a little. He felt the jolt travel through his legs, knees and ankles aching for a moment. But he soon recovered. He became intangible again, dropping through the roof of the elevator and into it. As expected, there was only one button on the inside. There was only one destination. Schneep then stepped through the doors, into this basement floor.

Well, wasn’t this a change of pace? Instead of the office decorations he’d seen on the floor above, this area was more industrial, with white walls and perforated metal for a ceiling and floor. There was only one destination, at the end of a short hallway. Schneep walked down it to a set of double-doors, poking his head inside...

Well. This was definitely a laboratory. Schneep looked around at the wide space, decorated with conveyor belts and monitors and robotic arms. He started wandering around, getting a lay of the land. Looking for anything suspicious. 

There were doors lining the sides of the room. Schneep poked his head into them one by one. There were too many to investigate thoroughly, but he could at least figure out what their contents were, if there were any that might have helpful information. The first few he checked had nothing interesting, just a bunch of robotic and metallic parts. One had a bunch of SAMs inside, all turned off. Many of them had compartments open on their side, with half-completed attachments sticking out. SAMs were well-known for their variety of functions, but... something about these attachments... bothered him.

Schneep stepped farther into the room, examining the nearest one. A SAM with blue casing, two compartments open on either side. The lights were off in the room, but Schneep reached up and pressed a button on his goggles, activating night vision. He leaned closer to examine the attachments coming from the compartments—

And jolted back in surprise. “Heilige Scheiße,” he muttered, the words slipping out despite his need for stealth. He recognized these attachments. These were weapons. Specifically, these attachments looked pretty similar to some weapons he’d seen for sale in the underworld. The design was first made by the villain Riot Queen, and it fired beams instead of bullets, but it could still pack a punch.

Schneep quickly turned and examined the other SAMs. He recognized a couple more weapons that were often sold in the black market. And the ones that he didn’t still looked like guns or cannons of some kind. What the hell? Weapons were definitely not part of the SAMs shared with the public!

He quickly left the room, returning to the main lab. The weaponized SAMs weren’t concrete proof that McLoughlin was working with Anti-Virus, but it certainly wasn’t a good sign! Especially since they were tucked away in a side room off his own lab. That probably indicated they were a secret.

Taking a deep breath, Schneep decided to continue checking the rooms. But quickly. He ran into the next side room, and from there continued passing through the rooms through the walls, not even bothering with the main lab. He ran through them quickly, finding not much else of note—

Until he ran into a room with something slightly different. It was still full of mechanical parts, including a big monitor on the wall, but there were a couple more things. A small side room with a toilet and sink, a desk piled high with paper dishes and cups stained with old food, and a bed shoved in the corner of the room. And sleeping on it... was a man.

Schneep stopped in his tracks, staring. Was that... Dr. McLoughlin? He’d done some brief research in preparation of it, and the man’s face resembled the pictures he’d seen. Why was he sleeping here? Didn’t he have his own place? Maybe... this was a spare bedroom? In case he worked late in the lab?

He couldn’t help but step forward, leaning close to McLoughlin. Yep, he was fast asleep, tangled up in the gray blankets on the bed. It felt wrong to just... stare at a guy while he slept. He should get out of here. He could come back some other time, when the guy wasn’t here. With that in mind, he started to turn away—

The monitor on the wall suddenly turned on, its screen pure red. BRAP. BRAP. BRAP. “Intruder alert,” said a robotic voice. “Intruder alert.”

Schneep stiffened. How?! Was there an infrared camera in this room?! Why?! Who would put that in the room they were sleeping in?!

McLoughlin jerked awake with a strangled scream. Over on the desk, something flew up from the surface—a smaller SAM, green and blue, which had been sitting on a small pillow partially hidden by the dirty dishes. “What?! How?!” McLoughlin’s eyes darted around, and Schneep froze. Would he hear his footsteps? McLoughlin pressed a hand to the side of his head. “God...damn it. I told you to change the sound of my alarm! I-I don’t want to hear that sound ever again!”

“Intruder alert,” continued the robotic voice.

“...oh fuck it’s not my alarm,” McLoughlin whispered. He scrambled to his feet—yep, he was probably just crashing here, given how he was still wearing his day clothes. “Intruder alert?! Where?!”

“Motion detection set off in Storage 18,” said the robotic voice.

McLoughlin blinked. “My room? That was probably just me rolling over.”

“Unlikely. The motion was outside the field of the deliberate blind spot.”

McLoughlin looked around the room, not seeing an intruder. “Is it still being set off?”

“No.”

“Display main lab cameras on the monitor in Storage 18.”

The monitor changed from red to a series of boxes—views from security cameras. Schneep’s eyes flicked over to it, quickly taking in the information. Maybe he’d be able to figure out where the cameras are from their view.

McLoughlin leaned close to the monitor, squinting. “Turn down the brightness, fucking hell.” The brightness lowered on command. He scanned it. “Turn on infrared view.” The cameras all switched to the distinctive blues and greens of infrared view. There wasn't much giving off heat in the laboratory. Some comes from machines, some comes from the overhead lights, and that’s just about it. “I don’t... see anything. Can you point out any differences? SAM, you help, too.” The small SAM flew over to his side.

A moment passed. Schneep tried not to move, tried to breathe as evenly as possible. Then the robotic voice returned. “No movement or anomalies detected.” The SAM also shook side to side, a bit like it was shaking its head.

McLoughlin sighed. “Where in Storage 18 was the motion detected? Show me on the camera.”

One of the views filled the whole screen—thankfully, this one didn’t seem to have infrared vision, otherwise Schneep would have been in plain sight. It was a view of this very same room. The footage rewinded the past couple minutes, and a red circle appeared on the screen next to the bed—right where Schneep had been standing. “Here.”

“Yeah, that’s probably just me passing out of the blind spot for a moment,” McLoughlin said. He glanced around the room uneasily. “...I hope.” A moment passed in tense silence. “It’s... 2 o’clock, right? Uh... I’m gonna... go home for the night. Deactivate all security protocols so I can leave. And remember to reactivate them after I leave.”

“Security deactivated,” the robotic voice said.

Schneep immediately turned and left the room, carefully stepping quietly until he passed through a wall back into the main lab. Then he bolted. He ran all the way to the elevator in the hall, where he pressed into the corner. McLoughlin walked into the elevator a while later, activating it, going back to the ground floor. Luckily, the ride was short. Schneep let McLoughlin walk out first, then quickly followed, walking straight through the nearest exterior wall and back out into the night.

God, he hoped McLoughlin hadn’t figured out he was there. He didn’t want a man involved with weaponizing flying robots to know he was in his lab.

===============

“There were guns on the SAMs?!”

“Don’t shout so loud,” Schneep muttered. He’d been unceremoniously awoken that morning—on his day off, mind you—by a knock at the door. Marvin said he was in the area and wanted to stop by to talk about “that stuff I mentioned in your office.” But he’d probably just gotten anxious for results or something. Schneep knew his apartment was pretty out of the way, there was no way Marvin would just be in the area.

“Sorry.” Marvin glanced around. “You don’t... have a computer in here, though. And I left my phone in my bag in the hall. Do you have your phone with you?”

“I do not, I left it in my bedroom, but I want to go back to sleep after this.” Schneep rubbed his eyes. He was leaning back against his sofa while Marvin stood nearby. “I do not have work today, and I had a late night, as you just heard.”

Marvin winced. “Sorry,” he said again. “I didn’t... think about that.”

“Is fine.”

“...but seriously. Guns on the SAMs?” Marvin asked.

“I do not think they were the type to fire bullets, but yes,” Schneep said. “There would probably be no room to store them in a SAM and have them still function. But a couple may have been functional for darts.”

“That’s... very fucking concerning,” Marvin said. “D’you think Anti-Virus asked McLoughlin to do that? Or—do you think he did that on his own as Anti-Virus?”

“I have no idea.” Schneep shook his head. “I found no direct link to Anti-Virus before I had to leave.”

“What would serve as a direct link?”

“Hmm... that is a good question,” Schneep said slowly. “Anti-Virus never directly appeared, so it is not like we will be able to find a supersuit stored somewhere. He may not have one in the first place.” He frowned. “And all of Anti-Virus’s actions have been digital so far... So there may not be physical proof at all. The SAMs may be the best we are getting.”

Marvin shook his head. “Still. Guess we’ll have to look some more. Um, I can probably get into the SepTech buildings and look through files and shit. But... I think you really need to keep an eye on McLoughlin.”

“I will do all I can, but I cannot spend every waking moment spying on him,” Schneep said.

“I wouldn’t make you,” Marvin said. “I just... Jackie really trusts this guy. A-and I don’t... I don’t want to see him make a mistake.”

Schneep looked at Marvin thoughtfully. “You do not want to see him make a mistake you would have.”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marvin said, his face expressionless. But Schneep picked up on that slight tremor in his voice. “Um, I’m sorry for waking you up. You can... go back to bed. Let me know if you find anything.”

“Of course.” Schneep nodded. “See you later, then.”

“See you.” And with that, Marvin turned and headed towards the door. But then he hesitated, turning back. “Should we tell Jackie about this? It’s concerning, even if it’s not Anti-Virus related.”

“I will think about it,” Schneep said. “I think it would sound better coming from me, so do not approach him, yes? If I want to share, I will. For now... I need rest.”

“Right.” Marvin nodded. “Bye, then.”

“Goodbye.”

And Marvin left.

Schneep got up, stretching, and headed back to his bedroom. Should he tell Jackie about the weaponized SAMs in McLoughlin’s lab? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want Jackie to trust the wrong person. But he knew that Jackie would want solid proof. This seemed pretty fucking solid to him, but he didn’t know if it would pass Jackie’s standards.

He’ll think about it some more once he woke up again. For now, sleep. And later, more planning. McLoughlin was doing something. And they had to figure out what. If he truly was in league with Anti-Virus... or if he was the face behind the mask.

[imaginedreamwrite]

Werebear!Ari helping his pup write letters to Santa… did he write them to Santa as a kid, or did his mother and him not celebrate Christmas and it’s his Honeybee who told him about the holiday and they started doing it together?

Ugh, I’ve missed him… maybe I’ll be greedy and send in some more requests for this 😈✨

In this drabble I decided to include Ari’s upbringing of celebrating Hanukkah, and making him celebrate Christmas

Christmas countdown day 6 — Help your kid write a letter to Santa

“Papa?” Ari pauses, and looks at his sweet baby bear, the darling little girl with his eyes. “Is it okay to write Santa?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Ari hummed, watching your sweet baby girl circling things she wanted in a toy catalogue.

“Mama said you celebrate Ha-nuuu-kkah.” She tried desperately to pronounce the celebration, and Ari had felt himself overcome with pride.

“Hanukkah,” he brushed her hair back and leaned over to kiss the top of her head, “my ma and I celebrated Hanukkah and Christmas. My papa was not Jewish but my ma was.”

“Are we celebrating both?” Her wide eyes had been fixated on him as she slid the catalogue toward him, everything she wanted to add onto her list was there.

“Mhmm.” Ari confirmed and grabbed the magazine with her choices, quickly looking it over. “We’re celebrating both. They’re both important to mama and I. But right now, we’re working on your list.”

“I’ve been good, I’m on the nice list.” She rose from where she was sitting and switched positions to sit on her legs, tucking her feet through the opening in the chair. “Will Santa bring me everything on my list?”

“We can ask,” Ari picked up the pen and started writing, starting at the top with her name, “what would you like?”

“A Barbie doll, and legos. I want a stuffed bear that looks like you, papa.” She leaned over the table and squinted at his writing, her lips pursed. “I don’t know what any of that says.”

“I’m writing it for you, bumblebee.” Ari watched her, he studied her as she continued to frown.

“But what if you don’t get everything I said? What if you miss something?” Her hands slid across the table to rest on his, her fingers intertwining with his. “You can’t miss anything, pap.”

“I won’t,” Ari picked up her hand and kissed the back, muttering softly against her, “you’re such a sweet girl. I think Santa will bring you everything on your list.”

“Really? You think so?” She preened, and then pulled away. “Mama! Papa says I’m getting everything on my list!”

Ari chuckled under his breath and helped pull out the chair for her, watching her take off running toward the stairs to find you. He turned back to the letter and finished writing, then once he was done he folded it up before slipping it into the envelope.

“If she gets everything she wants,” Ari looked over his shoulder, watching you carry her down on your hip, “then what do you want?”

“Another one.” Ari purred, inhaling your scent slowly. “God, I want another one so bad.”

“Lucky for you…Dahlia wants to babysit.” You set your daughter down and not a moment later had she taken off toward the playroom. “I think I can give you what you want.”

[zozo-01]

Where I'm from, Rehna means to stay.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all y'all glorious bastards and bitches!!! Is this a Christmas fic? No, it ain't even a winter themed fic. Butttt, it's a fic I promise to write for @sri-rachaa that I finallyyy decided to finish! So, Rae Rae!!! Here's your surprise (even for me) Christmas fic, featuring your favourite headcanon (that's basically canon), your Lovely OC and my Darlin' OC.

[Thank you soooo much to @daveyistheloml for being my beta reader, and tagging @gingerbreadmonsters and @haradasaya to prove that yes, this is fluff. ;-; I am capable of fluff. ;-;]

CW: Fem! Darlin' and Lovely, both characters have names and use she/her pronous, canon divergent (this takes place in Rae's 'Southern Sibling' AU), Sam is still a freelancer, mentions of Quinn and what he did to Darlin' + Momma Collins talking about asshole Papa Collins, my Darlin' OC is a Toronto girl and for once, I am not ashamed of that

--

The lack of… anything in the countryside always left her unnerved.

Where are the buildings? The people? The random squirrel trying to cross the street? All there was for the eye to see was farmland, farmland and the occasional horse.

Maybe part of the reason she was uncomfortable was that there wasn’t anything to distract her from her thoughts. Back home in Toronto (despite living in Dahlia for a decade, she still thinks of Toronto as home), there were a million things to pay attention to. 

The crowded streets and equally crowded sidewalks. The cars honking at each other. The trains running beneath her feet. The occasional crackhead that was spewing some wisdom to the people walking by. The guy hiding in the alleyway with something… whether it was a knife or gun, she wasn’t gonna stick around and watch.

Ah, the good old days.

The country didn’t have any of that. Unlike the dangerous city, there was nothing of note to focus on. And the fact she couldn’t focus on anything made her brain go haywire.

In her mind, there was nothing in this world that could make her give up her city ways and live in the middle of nowhere.

“You doing alright, darlin’?”

Or maybe there was someone who could.

Zohniyya looked over to the freelancer driving. She shook her head and said, “nah, I’m good, handsome.” Her gaze returned to the vast nothingness outside. She strained her ears to find signs of life, but all she could hear was the heartbeat of the man next to her.

That ain’t a bad thing to listen to.

Just for tonight, she’ll keep quiet about how much silence bothered her. Sam finds the cornfields and the flat lands comforting, the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves was the sound of home.

But that wasn’t the only reason she was unnerved. She was meeting Sam’s mother for the first time. She is going to have to introduce herself, make a good impression and not fuck up everything like she usually does. It wasn’t like parents didn’t like her, aunties of her childhood adored the girl she was. Always perfectly in control of everything, whether it be of the children or of herself.

But that had been when she was the obedient, depleted girl. Now she was a little wiser, a little colder and knew that the opinions of others didn’t define who she was. 

…But holy fucking shit, Zohniyya will drown in her own tears if Sam’s mother showed any kind of disapproval towards her.

She reached into her bag and fiddled with her concealer. Occasionally, she’d look up into her mirror and eye the scars on her face and neck with disgust. The ones he left behind. 

‘Maybe I should hide the scars… maybe just the bites…?’

“Put the damn makeup away, Zohniyya.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying Sam, the bite marks? I don’t want your momma to think I’m some sorta chew toy.” That comment caused her a sharp pinch on her thigh.

“You’re not a chew toy, let alone that leech’s,” he snarled. It was his default tone of voice whenever her last relationship was brought up. His knuckles were turning white from how tightly he was gripping the steering wheel.

She grabbed one of his hands, and placed a gentle kiss on it. It wasn’t much, but the simple kiss was enough to relax him, slightly. “I know, meri Chandh Raath. It’s just,” her voice trailed off and she turned back to look out the window. “I want your mom to like me, and the scars… ya know.” 

Sam took the concealer from Zohniyya’s hand and chucked it to the back seat, ignoring the complaint from the wolf to be careful with the bottle. “Darlin’, my momma’s gonna love ya. You’re her perfect woman, and she’d kill me if I broke your heart.”

“Ok, but like, wouldn’t you be concerned if our kid brought home a partner with a shit tonna scars?”

“I’d be concerned about our child’s partner rather than judge them.”

Neither of them noticed that they’d said ‘our’ and not ‘your’.

She let out a soft laugh. “You’re such a stubborn piece of shit. Let me loathe in peace you southern bastard.”

“No can do, my darlin’ princess. I made a promise to make you happy, safe and loved. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing, so get that pretty head back onto earth.”

She groaned, “I am not a princess, Sam. We’ve talked about this.”

“Well sure as hell gorgeous like one, Zo.” He barked out a laugh when his darlin’ tried to hit him from her seated position. “There’s that smile of yours.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Despite the harsh words, she was smiling and blushing and feeling light and airy and giddy and she just wants to kiss him and oh God Sam is the best and-

“REHNA!!! She’d be terrified of the scars!!”

Sam scoffed. “Please, Missy likes the weirdest shit, and you are far from weird.” He pulls up to the quaint but beautiful house in the middle of farmland. He stopped them from opening her door, and quickly came to her side of the car, opening it for her.

“Thank you, gentleman.” 

He held her hand and helped her out of the car, but before she could walk to the front door, he pulled her close to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. “I know you’re nervous, and I get that.” He rubs her back in a soothing manner. “But I promise you nothing bad is gonna happen in there, I won’t let it.” He kissed her hairline to seal the promise.

She smiled at the reassuring words and let out a deep breath. “Ok, handsome.” She pecked his lips and dragged him to the front door. Was her heart pounding so loudly that a human like Sam can hear? Were they three seconds away from shifting and running back to Dahlia? 

‘Get your head in the fucking game! You’ve fought people way worse and you were a hockey player and figure skater. You so got this.’

Sam rang the doorbell and she heard someone rushing to the door.

‘Oh I so don’t got this, ami help!!!’

Sam placed both his hands on her shoulder to ground her. He didn’t have to be Avior or Gavin to feel the anxiety roll off her. “You are the Zohniyya Qadir. Toughest wolf from the north. And the only person crazy enough to call me your boyfriend.”

“Hey! If anything, you’re the crazy one for accepting me as your girlfriend!”

She tries to ignore the wolf within her, the one screaming at her to call Sam her mate.

Before Sam could rebuttal, the door opened and a golden blur bolted out the house towards Sam’s legs. “SAMMY’S HOME!” A young girl latched onto him with a death grip and nearly knocked over the healer. 

Sam chuckled and patted the little lightning bolt on her back. “Hey there ducklin', happy to see me again?” He didn’t get a verbal response, only a sniffle and a nod. He gave a small smile and lifted her up to carry the little girl. “I know I am, ducklin'. Missed you so much and it’s good to hold you again.” 

Little Rehna rested her head on his shoulder and clung onto his neck. “I don’t want you to leave again Sammy… Please don’t leave again…” She started tearing up and Zohniyya had to steel herself to stop herself from crying. She knew the pain of losing a sibling, and she would never wish that pain on anyone.

“Rennie, I’m never gonna leave ya. Sure, I’ll be leaving you once in a while, but I’ll always come back to you and momma, I promise.” He held out his pinky, waiting for Rehna to wrap her own smaller pinky around his. She does, sealing the promise and love between the two siblings. 

‘Awww, this is kind of cute… Oh fuck, bitch, do not get baby fever now-’ 

“Now, I want you to meet someone. Darlin’, this here is my baby sister Rehna, but you’re free to call her Rennie.”

‘Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck, do not fuck this up Zo! Or you can start running, whichever works.’

Rehna turned her head to see the brunette and brown eyed shifter standing to the side. She watched as Rehna went wide eyed and her mouth fell open. The worst thoughts filled her brain. That his little sister didn’t approve of her. That she was right, the scars scared her and that the concealer was necessary.

That despite everything she tries to do, she’ll never be enough for Sam and his love.

“Are you a princess? You’re so pretty!”

Oh, so that wasn’t what she expected.

Zohniyya’s shocked expression dissipated when she saw the cocky smirk on her cowboy’s face. She opened her mouth to tell him to ‘fuck off’, but his eyes gestured to the child in the room. It wouldn’t be the worst thing if she swore, it wasn’t like the people around her when she was a child kept it PG.

Right, she had to make a good impression.

“Aww, I’m no princess, kid. I’m just Zohniyya.” She smiled at Rehna, hoping to appear less scary. Her scared and expressionless face tends to terrify people, and little Rehna was the last person she was trying to push away.

The young girl let out a loud and exaggerated gasp. “You’re Sam’s lady! He talks about you all the time! Is it true that you can turn into a wolf? Can you do it now? Please, please, I wanna see!” Sam barely held onto her with all the thrashing and moving she was doing in his arms.

“Alright missy, no need to blindside her like that. She can show you her wolf form if she chooses to, ok?” Despite the pout and puppy dog eyes on Rehna’s face, she nodded in understanding. He put her down onto the ground and continued. “Run along ducklin’. Why don’t you head inside and tell ma we’re here.” Rehna yelled out an “okay” and ran into the house, leaving the wolf and her freelancer outside.

Sam pulled Zohniyya in by her shoulders and rested her head on his chest. “See? Now was that so bad? I told you everything will be ok.” He kissed her forehead and smiled reassuringly. 

She let out a shaky breath and whispered, “yea, it wasn’t bad.” She did what she always did when she was overwhelmed and buried herself in his chest. The warmth in her chest brought forth by his heartbeat and scent was enough to bring her down from her spiral. “I’m still worried about your mom.”

He chuckled, “don’t you be worried about ma. She’s been waitin’ to meet you since I told her about us.” Sam gently moved Zohniyya’s head from his chest, needing to look into her eyes. It was his way of telling her that everything will be ok. He kissed her on her lips, wanting to see and adoring the smile that came soon after. “Let’s get inside before the heat knocks ya out, you winter wolf.”

She gasped in offence and punched his shoulder, resting her hand there. “I ain’t ever gonna tell you my southern adventures ever again if you keep teasin’ me about that shit.” Her hand slowly trails down the length of his arms, holding his elbow. “Shall we head inside?”

The southern freelancer pulled her close and straightened his back. “We shall head inside,” he said, and the two walked inside Sam’s childhood home.

The first thing they noticed was the plethora of photos on the wall. Some were as recent as a few months ago. Others were as old as the ranch house. She assumed that every picture was of the Collins family. Sam had mentioned that the Oklahoma ranch and land had belonged to his family for generations, it only makes sense for so many memories to be captured in this space.

It also felt like the old generations of the Collins family were judging her.

“City Scum.”

“Whore.”

“Vampire fuckthing.”

‘No no, do not let those thoughts mess with you now. You’re about to fucking rock this shit and Sam’s mom is gonna love you… Just… don’t fuck it up.’

“See, I knew I was right callin’ you princess.” His smug smile brought her back to reality, if only to want to smack the cocky grin off his face.

“Meri pyaari, meri dunya aur meri akhirah. I love you deeply. But I swear if you don’t knock this shit off, I will smack the shit out of you.” The threat didn’t have its usual heat because of her beaming smile. He didn’t need to know that he’d be the only one who can call her princess. 

The couple stepped foot into the living room, where an old woman was fussing over the throw pillows on the couch. She turned to the sound of footsteps and cried out, “dear Lord, you made it!” She launched herself at Sam and pulled him into a tight hug. “Are you ok? How was the drive in? Are ya hungry? Thirsty?” Her lips couldn’t hold back the flood of questions that poured out of her.

The only thing that stopped her borderline interrogation was Zohniyya shyly standing behind Sam. The Collins’ mother shoved her son out of her way to approach the wolf. “Oh where are my manners, my name’s Delilah, Sam’s mother. And yours darlin’?”

“My name’s Zohniyya, ma’am and it’s an honour to meet you. Sam has told me incredible things about you.” She tried to keep her city accent from dripping on her words, something she knew Sam noticed, judging by his quirked eyebrow aimed at her.

Delilah laughed and wrapped her arm around Zohniyya’s shoulders. “No need to be so formal with sugar! Call me DeDe, that’s what all my friends call me.” 

Her bright smile made the white wolf relax. “Well in that case, you can call me Zozo, it’s been my nickname for a long a- long time.” 

‘Ok, ok this is good! We’re exchanging nicknames, so that means she must somewhat like me.’

Delilah pinched the wolf’s cheeks. “Aww, aren’t you a beautiful precious thing. Sam’s told me a ton about you as well but I wanna hear it from you! Where ya from?” Delilah turned her back to the couple and went back to organizing her living room.

Before Zohniyya could open her mouth and give an answer that bends the truth of her city status, Sam shot her a look that screamed one thing. 

“Don’t you dare hide anything about yourself darlin’. All of you is wonderful and I want my mom to understand that.”

She sighed. “I was born in Toronto, but I moved to Dahlia when I was 16. It’s where I live now and I’m in law school to be a lawyer.”

“Ohohoho, my son managed to snag a city slicker like you? And a pretty one at that!” Delilah chuckled at the embarrassed expression on Sam and Zohniyya’s faces. “I hope our humble home is to your liking. I know it ain’t compared to city houses.”

“No, no, your home is wonderful! It’s cozy and I like it!” She was honest when she said that. The Collins’ family home was warm and bright, unlike the harsh grays she’s used to. Every room and crevice had proof that there was love in this house. It was a foreign concept, but not an unwelcome one. “Besides, it reminds me of my uncle's ranch. He had one and we went there all the time as kids.”

Delilah’s eyes widened as her curiosity piqued. She asked, “you have family in the south?” 

Zohniyya’s eyes sparkled at that question. “Yea! My mom’s sister and my grandparents lives in Texas and my dad’s brother lives in Louisiana! We used to go down every summer to see’em! The only shit thing was the damn heat. I swear the amount of times I passed out was fucking insane!”

Sam smiled at the sight of his mom and girlfriend conversing as if they were old friends. The more and more Zo spoke, the stronger her accent, one that he loves very much, became. It made him feel giddy to see his wolf laughing with no care in the world, a stark contrast to when he first met her. And sure, part of her laughter was from the stories his mother was spilling, but he’d become a court jester if it means his princess will smile.

Especially if it means she saves that smile for him.

Delilah smacked her thighs and got up. “Gotta get the food ready for us to eat. Sam, come with me and we can let Zo relax for a bit,” she said while walking to the kitchen. 

Zohniyya let out a quick “wait” that made the two southerners stop and look back. She shifted her weight between her legs and stuttered, “it’s just- Sam’s been driving the whole way here, the least I could do is help out with dinner?” She said the last phrase hesitantly. She was acutely aware of how seriously ‘southern hospitality’ is taken (it’s no different than ‘Canadian niceness), but truly, she wanted to give the stubborn healer this one break. 

“Darlin’, it’s ok. I can set up a table-”

“Sam, why don’t you take Rennie and unpack your truck?” He tried to argue, but his momma gave him the look, the one where you don’t dare defy her orders. 

He sighed in defeat. “I swear, y’all are two of the most stubborn women ever.” Sam kissed Zohniyya’s forehead, mumbling, “I’ll see you later.” He called out to his baby sister and left the living room.

Delilah stared at the stubborn yet determined shifter and chuckled. “You remind me of when I was younger.” ‘Is that a good thing? That better be a good thing!’ The old woman started to walk to the kitchen, beckoning the winter wolf to follow her. 

The two women started to set up the table before Delilah spoke up.

“There is… Something I wanted to ask… Only if you want to answer.”

Zohniyya quirked her eyebrow and tilted her head. “Of course, ask away.”

“The scars… what happened?”

Her heart dropped to her chest and for a moment, she wanted to shift and run as far as she could. Away from her past that kept her from moving on. Instead, she used her words to try and make things right.

“I’m so sorry, I know the scars are intimidating, but I promise that I’d never let anything like that happen to him. God, I love him so much to ever hurt him like that. I’d burned myself from the inside out than let Sam go through any kind of pain. But if you want me to never speak with him again I totally understand and I’m sorry and-”

Her panicked blabbers were cut off by warm and loving arms wrapped around her. “Darlin’- No, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re perfect for my son, and if I’m being honest, even if I tried to keep him away from you, he’d rip heaven and earth apart to see you again.” She cupped Zohniyya’s face and wiped her tears, like a mother would do for her child. “I wanted to ask because I was worried. Wanted to make sure you were ok.”

Zohniyya choked back a sob that was rising from her throat at the tender words that Delilah was saying. How long has it been since the shifter felt the kindness of a mother? She’d argue that she’s never received that warmth. 

Holding the shifter steady, Delilah said, “and if Sam ever lays a hand on you, you come to me and I’ll set that boy straight.”

A pained but quiet laugh came from Zohniyya. “He would never do that, but I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good, it means I raised that boy right.” Delilah went somber. “Sam and Rennie’s father, he… he was a bad man. And I couldn’t bear thinking about if my boy was like him too.” She scoffed, “I know it’s stupid, but there’s a part of me wondering if I left earlier… then maybe it be better for them.”

“Hey.” She held Delilah by her shoulders. “If there is anyone who gets not leaving earlier it’s me.” Zohniyya took a deep breath, preparing her to talk about that asshole. “It took my last boyfriend nearly killing my best friend for me to come to my senses, and the shit I let him do to me…”

Delilah grounded Zohniyya. “We didn’t let anything happen to us, it was their fault, not ours. We didn’t want to get hurt, just to be loved.” Delilah played with Zohniyya’s dark, curly hair. “And I’m glad you got out and that you’re happy.” 

“I am, Sam’s to thank for that. I just… You must be such an incredible woman to raise a man like him and I am forever thankful for that.” Her eyes may have been watery, but her smile shone as bright as ever.

Delilah rolled her eyes at the praise. “That’s all him, I didn’t do anything.”

“Sam would call bullshit on that. He always goes on about how you’re responsible for the man he is today, I can see why.” 

It was more than the eyes and facial shape the mother and son shared. She could see where Sam got his compassion, his kindness, his stubborn nature and his capability to love from.

Despite his fears that he shared with her, Sam was nothing like his father and now she has the proof to back it up.

Delilah wiped her own tears from her eyes and sniffled, “we should set up the table before Samuel and Rehna get back.”

Zohniyya nodded and picked up where she left off, and for the first time since she got to the house, the weight on her chest was lifted and she could finally breathe again.

“Also another question, I heard that wolves had a thing… mates was it? So am I getting grandkids anytime soon?”

Zohniyya’s stuttered and embarrassed answer was all Delilah needed to let out a good laugh.

-- 

It was pitch dark and silent that night.

Way too silent than the shifter was used to. 

Once she untangled herself from Sam’s arms (she had to put a pillow in her place to make sure he didn't wake up), Zohniyya walked down to the kitchen for some water.

As she drank, she heard another set of footsteps coming up behind her, kicking her senses into overdrive. She damn near shifted at that moment, anything to make sure her man and his family is ok.

But she calmed down when her dark eyes met the watery eyes of Rennie.

She dropped to her knees and opened her arms for the little girl. Rehna ran into her arms and held onto her like Zohniyya was her lifeline. “Hey, hey, you’re alright meri jaan. Wanna tell me what happened?”

Rehna’s voice was muffled from her burying her face in Zohniyya’s chest, but she was able to make out that she said, “scary nightmare.” And that was all she needed to act.

Carefully, she tightened her arms around Rehna and stood up. She ran her hand through the young girl’s blonde hair. “Want me to take you back to bed?” She felt Rennie shake her buried head, a no. Zohniyya stopped for a bit and said, “what if I stay with you tonight?”

That made Rennie pause before nodding her head, prompting the wolf to carry her back to Rennie’s room. Once she got there, Zohniyya tried to put her down, but the blonde had a death grip on her. 

When Rennie said she wants Zohniyya to stay, she meant she wants her to hold her while she falls back asleep. She racked her brain for ideas on how to get Rennie to sleep again, until the perfect idea struck her.

“You know what my pack Alpha used to do whenever I couldn’t sleep?” She asked the question quietly, but it was enough to grab Rennie’s full attention. 

Her eyes sparkled. “What did he do?” Her voice dripped with childish curiosity, a sort of innocence that Zohniyya will die defending.

“He’d shift for us and let us cuddle his wolf form.” Her eyes went misty from remembering her old Alpha. “Gabe’s wolf form was huge, so even as teens, he’d cuddle us. Something about having wolf fur surrounding you made the nightmares… go away. Or maybe it’s a wolf thing.”

Rehna fiddled with her blanket and shyly asked, “can you give me wolf cuddles too?”

She smiled. “Pyaari, it be my honour. First I need you to close your eyes and no peeking, or else you’re gonna get it.” As with all of her threats from today, it was empty as hell.

Rehna giggled and covered eyes. 

Zohniyya got off the bed and removed her clothes. The tension left her body when she shifted, always a welcome feeling. Thankfully, Rehna’s bed was big enough to fit herself and the wolf. 

Gently, she climbed onto her bed and nudged the little girl with her snout. It was her cue to finally open her eyes and see the beautiful white wolf in front of her.

“You’re so pretty! You look like snow on a mountain top!” Rennie curled up beside the wolf and buried her face in her fur, her littles gripping the wolf for dear life. She rested her head against Zohniyya's fluffy stomach. “Thank you… for this… I’m gonna go to sleep now…” Rehna’s breathing went quiet and soft snores filled the room.

‘Sonay jao, chunni se munni. Khal, ap tumhari daraona khawab yaad nah rehna.’ 

-- 

“Samuel, go get the damn camera now!”

“I’m grabbing it ma, I can only move so fast! I ain’t a damn vamp.”

“Are you giving me attitude Samuel?”

“No ma’am.”

“Good.”

...

“You did well loving her and making her feel loved.”

“Momma, I think it’s my life's greatest achievement having the honour to call her mine.”

“Good, I want her in our lives for as long as possible. Besides, I need grandbabies Samuel!”

“Momma!!!”

[aweirdfan101]

The Main Character selling off the Dollhouse after Dahlia kills Huxley.

How would Dahlia react to a new human?

Heyo dear! How are you? Thanks for the ask and I hope you like this!

About: How would Dahlia react to a new human

Type of writing: Fanfiction

Warnings: None really

Characters: Dahlia and you!

Dahlia reacting to a new human headcanons

💜She felt no emotions.

💜She was hurt and missed the owner, missed their affection, missed their love, missed doing mundane things with them. But their love shifted to Huxley, so she did what she did.

💜She didn’t care at first, why would she? Nothing would change. It was just someone new that probably wouldn’t care for her at all.

💜She’s very cold to you at first, not interacting and always having the same dead look in her eyes. She didn’t realize it, but she was still grieving a bit.

💜However, once you started to be kind to her, give her small gifts, communicate with her, just generally hanging out with her as best you could.

💜She would start to warm up to you, she would talk with you and maybe pop a few smiles here and there. She’s a lot more kind once the two of you build a friendship.

💜However, she’ll always be a little wary. How could she not? She will never forget what happened, how everything changed. Yet, she’ll begin to love you too if you give her time.

[wvbaandtheboys]

thinking about dahlia talking MAD shit about the girls behind their backs when she’s alone

like dahlia seems like such a benevolent endearing dumb dumb but the sheer envy she has to hold back in front of the other girls is fucking CRAZY

like she wouldn’t go after anyone else besides dollie (unless she felt the urge to, as in if they pissed her off whether intentionally or by accident, her thing is all about jealousy towards everyone she thinks will ruin her chances of becoming famous like dollie after all) but god if she did it would be such a shitshow

catch dahlia talking shit about adarna, mane, luna (not a fame thing, think of it more like luna’s just caught in the crossfires of her anger), bessie, and ESPECIALLY dollie, and any other person that gets on her nerves (boxer or not, fame is her main motivator but she’s also just. a mean bitch you know?)

since I’m feelin it lemme write examples!

“Mane Event?…. Mane… Event? …Mane… MAIN Event? Heheh!” Dahlia giggles, feeling her teeth grit. “Silly, silly Miss Event… You’re a sideshow at best!”

“I mean come on! You wear that ugly piece of porcelain you call a mask, and then you have the nerve to mock all the other girls. Especially Big Sis Dollie… Oh, what a bully… what a meanie!…”

“…Heeheehee. So really, who would ever even wanna be around a nasty, trashy piece of garbage like you? Let alone like you? And when someone tells you that truth, suddenly you can’t say anything for yourself. I bet you even cry underneath that mask you wear… what a sad bitch you are. I’m gonna make you know why you don’t mess with Big Sis… just you wait, Miss Event.. Playtime’s over.”

“Aww… Miss Adarna is soooooo sweet. How could you hate such a kind, beautiful girl like her? Everything about her is just so pretty! Her hair, her face, her eyes, her clothes, her voice… She really is like a bird…”

“…Oh yeah, I hear her voice a lot. Cause birdies love singing. But I hear her crying instead. Crying because someone hurt her feelings or did something mean to her… and whenever she starts, it’s almost like she has people rushing to her… doing whatever she wants like she’s a wailing little girl…”

“Maybe some people think she’s so precious that they have to put her on a little pedestal… After all, she clearly doesn’t like being bullied… But! Maybe people would stop being so mean to her if she stood up for herself! I mean, why is she a boxer if she doesn’t protect herself when they’re mean to her? She’s got a strong body, but such a pathetic mind and heart.”

“Nope! Instead of standing up for herself like a lady, she just cries, and cries, and cries. It’s like she knows she won’t do anything and just wants everyone to do the job of protecting her for her…! Haha! Oh silly Miss Adarna, what a wimp! I’m surprised that anyone even talks to a crybaby like you.”

“Since you looooooove crying so much, and you just looooove having people come to snuggle and coo at you that everything’s gonna be okay, I’ll give you a reason to cry!”

“In fact, I’ll make you cry so much that your eyeballs will be all puffy and you’ll get a splitting headache! Not a dainty little sob that you’d usually do, a full on ugly cry! And I’ll even film it for you! So everyone will see how much of a spineless, helpless idiot you really are!”

“So who cares if I’m a bad toy? I’ll do anything to outshine Big Sis Dollie. And if any of those brainless, dolled-up morons think they’re gonna stop me from getting there and overtaking that freak?… Ehe! I’ll just have to ruin them along the way! That’s easy! I’m real sneaky when it comes to playing tricks! Everyone thinks I’m sweet as pie, and I am! But if you’re a naughty kid and treat a toy the wrong way, they’ll always remember even if you think they’ve forgotten! And trust me, I don’t forget anything you do to me! No matter what, Dahlia will always remember… Always.”

I wish I was more creative with the insults but this is the best I got 😭 uhh lemme just credit those creators rq but I wont ping them

Mane Event belongs to the swaggy @/sukippershipper

Adarna belongs to the wonderful @/nesssblog

[crimsonlyinglilly]

No. 19: “I’ll take one final step, all you have to do is make me.”

Floral Bouquet | Psychological | “I’m not as stupid as you think I am.”

On good days it's almost peaceful.

On bad days they were all aware of her eyes watching for a slip up, the tense feeling in the air and in the undercurrent of the magic binding them all.

Dahlia makes Freya hurt for every sin Esther had done against her and Freya wished she could reply that Esther had thrown her away too, but Dahlia cares not for Freya on those days. 

It’s worse when Dahlia targets her brothers, when the memories of what their father’s people had done to her is particularly strong that day, or a nightmare had brought it back or Finn and Elijah had done something to remind her of their blood, then she turns her experiences into a weapon and forces the boys to relive them, and in the aftermath they are left tense and feeling phantom shackles.

Time may be a great healer but not when the wounds are still being inflicted however over time things can be learnt.

Freya cries when Dahlia tears through her mind, looking for any rebellion she can use as a reason to punish them, in her tired state afterwards she lets Dahlia run her hands through her hair.

It takes years but Freya learns to leave small rebellions at the forefront of her mind so Dahlia leaves sooner. 

Finn bites through his lips every time to stop the cries, the cries come later when Dahlia uses the weakness she found to wreck him, but still knowing what she plans he doesn’t pull away when she wipes the blood from his lip.

 Eventually Finn learns to stop fighting, to lay himself open offering all his weaknesses so she doesn’t know which one to use, and doesn’t get as much twisted enjoyment. 

Elijah smiles and chokes on his sobs as his nails tear through the flesh in his palms, he never has what she wants, they don’t tell him anything because why tell a person of your plan for freedom when the person doesn’t remember what freedom is, never really had it. When she stops he leans into her touch and accepts her words with an honest “thank you.”

Elijah will admit to himself he may have lost touch with what honest truly meant at some point, but he has no one to check it with so he learns to lock away all his own thoughts and feelings deep in his mind and reflects her own back. 

Later when alone, when Dahlia is bored of toying with them, Finn and Elijah hold Freya as she apologies to them, Freya and Elija will climb onto Finn, force their way under his arms and let him hide in them for a while, Freya and Finn will talk Elijah back out of his own mind as they patch up his palms.

They’re broken, but their siblings and together, and no matter what they aren’t going to leave anyone behind.

It's easier to put themselves back together when they have eachother's help.

[mrsaltieri-real]

His Perfect Victim (Mickey Altieri x OC!Dahlia Levine)

Chapter Ten: Hello?

Words: 2.2k

Warnings: not a lot of warnings here, language, brief mentions of Dahlia’s trauma, therapy, making up, mentions of sex, mentions of angst, etc

A/N: More of a filler chapter than anything, but it’s still important. We’re making some serious progress and it’s a big push forward so don’t miss it! Next chapter is going to be heavier, smuttier and have some angst thrown in for good measure. You’re not going to want to miss it! Thank you once again to @bisexual-horror-fan for your help, beta reading and editing this for me. I appreciate your help more than I can put into words!

@lizey-thornberry as you want to be tagged.

Therapy sucks. Therapy sucks even more when it wasn’t even your choice to attend sessions to begin with.

Sitting in front of a stranger staring at me with faux concern was agitating to say the least, especially when she’s getting paid a hundred dollars an hour to do just that, stare at me until I break and confess all my deep dark secrets and let my trauma seep through the cracks left behind from Woodsboro. The only reason I attended in the first place was due to my parents and my doctors.

I’d spent the first few sessions sitting in silence, watching as the arms of the clock ticked and tocked until an hour went by, and I could go back to moping in peace.

I was getting better now, slowly. That wasn’t down to the therapist, the doctors or my family. It wasn’t down to Sidney or Randy. It wasn’t even really down to Mickey as much as at the time I believed that to be the case. No, I now know it was down to me, giving myself the opportunity to be raw and open with another human being, completely vulnerable in ways I never had before.

Life’s too short for regrets, so I don’t regret it at all.

The one thing I did regret, however, was how I’d left things with Randy.

I’d been seriously neglecting my friendship with him, and I knew reconciliations had to be made sooner rather than later. The issue was the two of us were both too stubborn to make the first move into forgiveness. Even as kids, when we fought, we simply wouldn’t talk to one another until one of us would throw a toy at the other and hit them across the head. But we were adults now, and I don’t think I’d get very far if I threw a Barbie doll at him anymore, as amusing the image in my head was.

“Dahlia Levine?” The sweet looking receptionist called my name with a warm smile, to which I half-heartedly returned as I forced myself to stand up, making my way down the familiar hall to my therapist's office, Dr. Lorraine Galloway.

The door was already open, but I still tapped my knuckles lightly on the wood twice, and she twisted around in her chair, nodding and smiling politely when she saw me, loosely gesturing toward the huge armchair across from her. I obeyed quietly, settling down on the comfortable cushion and folded my hands in my lap.

“How are you doing today, Miss Levine?” She asked, the notebook already settled onto her lap, simple, small, lined paper and one of those curled metal spines that binds the pages together, looking like a coiled phone cord. Her hand rests on the page, holding her dark blue and gold fountain pen, her position in her chair is relaxed, one leg folded over the other as she observed me, waiting for my response.

I shrugged, eyes trained on my hands as I responded, “Better, I guess? And please call me Dahlia.” I’d already had a fair number of sessions with her and asked to be referred to by my first name every single time, it was beginning to annoy me and that must have been evident in my tone, judging how I heard the light scribble of pen to paper, making me suppress the urge to roll my eyes. Was she seriously making a note of that?

“How’s college treating you, Dahlia? I haven’t seen you in a little over two months.”

Shrugging again, fingers itching to twist my ring, I replied, “Things have been good. I haven’t felt the need to bother coming in.”

I could feel her eyes fixed on me, and it was already pissing me off. Dr. Galloway wasn’t like my old therapist back in Woodsboro. She actively tried to engage with me, try and get me to speak and fucking feel, although she learned fairly quickly I was completely unwilling to discuss Stu. No amount of therapy will ever make me want to consciously relive any of that.

“Is there anything you’d like to discuss or share? You have the whole hour, remember?”

I hesitated for a second, teeth sinking into my bottom lip. Dr. Galloway seemed to grasp at the straws and quickly added, “I’m here to listen,” before lightly placing her notebook onto her desk, leaning back in her chair and pushing her glasses up her nose.

“I… Uh…” I shifted awkwardly in my seat, settling on playing with my ring to try to comfort myself, push myself into talking. “Could I talk about my friend, Randy?”

“You can talk about whatever and whoever you want to, Dahlia. These sessions are yours.” Her hands opened, as if inviting me to go on, to which I awkwardly did so.

With a small sigh, I began to tell her about the last few months. About Mickey and Randy, and how impossibly guilty I felt that I’d been neglecting my friendship with the latter, practically threw him aside for some guy I was dating. She listened intently, and it honestly felt good that someone was listening to what I had to say with no judgment, even if she was getting paid hundreds of dollars to do so.

“Has Mickey ever given you or any of your friends reason to think he’d hurt you?” Dr. Galloway asked once I’d told the tale. Hesitating again, I nodded my head once, and she rested her chin against her hand, eyes urging me to go on.

“Well, a few months ago, before we started dating, Mickey fucked-” I cringed slightly at the word choice before correcting myself, “-sorry, slept with this girl at a party. Tricked me into going into the bedroom, so I’d see it.” I physically flinched at the memory, seeing that girl's face twisted in pleasure and Mickey fucking her from behind, eyes fixed on my face with that sick smirk on his face.

I hadn’t thought about that in a while, suppressed it to the dark dusty corners in my mind along with my other painful memories I’d sooner forget all about.

“And did Randy know about that?”

“No, I never told him. But I think he had an idea because it was after that night he started having reservations about Mickey and I- I just don’t know what to do.” Fuck, is this why people went to therapy? I could feel so many suppressed emotions rushing to the surface so fast it was making my head spin.

“Maybe your friend has a reason to be concerned, then.” She suggested with a small shrug.

“He doesn’t.” I insisted firmly, halting the twisting of the ring and shaking my head, “Yeah, Mickey can be kind of a dick, but no one else sees the side of him that I do. How patient and gentle he can be.”

“Then maybe that’s something you need to talk about with Randy. Communication in friendships is important, and it’s clear that he’s important to you.”

Randy was important to me. I thought about it as I walked back to campus, shivering at the crisp air and silently cursing myself for forgetting to bring my jacket with me.

He was important to me, so was Mickey in a very different way. I thought about how much I missed Randy, discussing everything and anything with him until the day turned to night. How he was a huge part of the reason I was even able to recover, him staying at my bedside whilst I was in the hospital, doing everything he could to make me smile, the perfect friend.

Once on campus, I found myself making a beeline toward the one room I knew Randy would be in; the theatre. He enjoyed working on film projects there, so I wasn’t surprised to walk up the steps and see him perched on top of a prop wall, legs swinging and brows furrowed in concentration as he squinted into the lens of his camera.

“Hey, Rand.”

He jumped at the sound of my voice, camera nearly tumbling out of his hands as he looked at me, blue eyes wide. His face twisted to something akin to indifference as he eyed me up and down, lips pursed, before he mumbled, “Hey.”

I anxiously inched closer to him until I was leaning beside him, looking up at him seriously, “I’m sorry.”

His expression changed to shock as his head cocked to the side, and he exclaimed, “The fuck did you just say to me?”

The grin broke out across my face before I could even register it, playfully pushing Randy’s leg with a, “Shut up, dickhead.”

“Sorry, I just never thought I’d live to see the day Dahlia Levine apologizes to me.” His tone was only half teasing.

“It’s long overdue. I’m sorry, I’ve been a really shitty friend lately, Randy.” I said with a sigh, eyes dropping.

“Dahlia, it’s not you I blame, you know that.” His tone had an edge to it, and I instantly knew who he was in fact blaming.

I looked back up at him, practically pleading now as I spoke, “Randy, please, you don’t have anything to worry about. Mickey isn’t going to do anything.”

Randy rolled his eyes with a scoff, carefully placing the camera down beside him, “So you actually are dating him? For fuck's sake, D.”

I was getting mad, but I kept it inside, taking his free hand that wasn’t gripping the camera slightly harder than was probably necessary into mine and squeezing it gently.

“Even if it is a mistake, it’s my mistake to make. He makes me happy, Randy.”

Randy frowned, looking down at me with his brows knitted together, “He really makes you happy?”

“Yes, he really does.” I spoke honestly, maintaining eye contact with him all the while. Randy knew I didn’t lie, so he had no reason to suspect otherwise. He simply sighed, placing the camera in his other hand down beside him before moving it to place over the top of mine and nodded his head, saying softly, “Fine. For God’s sake, I still think he’s a fucking dick, but if anyone deserves happiness, it’s you.”

“So we’re friends again?” I asked hopefully, biting my lip as I awaited his response.

He rolled his eyes at me again, this time affectionately and released my hands, jumping down from the wall and pulling me into a tight hug. I closed my eyes, my arms wrapping around his waist as I hugged him back and his chin rested on the top of my head, the feeling comforting and familiar.

“Of course we are.” He said. I could tell he was smiling, but I know it didn’t quite reach his eyes in the way it should have, but at that moment, I was too happy to have my friend back to take much notice.

If only I’d noticed. If only I’d listened and was more critical.

After that, things were better, at least for a while. Mickey and I were growing closer with every passing day, listening to music in his dorm and just chatting mindlessly about anything and everything. He showed me some bands I’d never heard of when the movies got a little too much. I could tell his built-up wall was gradually beginning to crumble, allowing me to really get to know him, or the part of him he wanted me to know, but he was still always just a little distant. Not as much as before our night together, but a hint of detachment still lingered in the air.

Something was happening. I knew that was the case, something about it just spells it out, you know, like when a storm is coming in the summer? The lack of sound and the feeling in the air tattles on what is to come, announcing it long before a single flash of lightening or clap of thunder does.

One night, Mickey had already fallen asleep, but I simply couldn’t, so I just laid flat on my back, staring unseeing at the dully illuminated ceiling from the streetlights outside, when my phone began to buzz quietly on Mickey’s bedside table.

I glanced at his alarm clock, the bright letters stating it was three thirty in the morning.

Who the fuck would be calling me at this time.

I still felt uneasy about receiving phone calls and everybody in my life already knew that, but the anxiety that it could be an emergency got the better of my, so I flicked the phone open, taking in the unknown caller printed across the screen for a second before answering it, pressing the phone tentatively to my ear with a whispered, “Hello?”

No response.

I swallowed thickly, trying to get rid of the lump forming in my throat before asking again, a little louder, “Hello?”

Nothing.

Mickey stirred next to me, rolling onto his side and groggily opening his eyes, lifting his hand to rub them gently.

I sat up, hand shaking as I repeatedly whispered “Hello?” into the speaker.

“Whose that?” Mickey's voice was thick with sleep and the minute the words were out of his mouth, the line went dead.

Read Chapter Eleven HERE