#Danny on the other hand is making it his life’s mission to get the woman the tastiest damn smoothie she’s ever had

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Green thumb (dp x dc)

“Why won’t you grow?” Danny asked the little corner of fresh dirt he’d been allocated when he’d signed up for the community garden project. Sam had been the one to suggest it, and with significantly less ghost-fighting to do now that he’d moved away, it had seemed like a great new hobby.

“I gave you water, and all the other things Sam said to do, what more could you have wanted,” Danny said as he poked the desiccated stalk despondently.

Somewhere far off, there was the echo of screams, and something like a crash. Danny paid it no mind, thinking it might be an event or something starting. Gotham was a big city, and there was always something going on.

“I can’t tell Sam about this,” Danny sighed as he put his face in his hands. “She’d laugh at me.”

He sat in front of his failed tomato plants for a while longer before getting to his feet with a sigh. As he did, he turned to walk away, only to see a woman with bright red hair and greenish skin standing a few paces away. Behind her there was something like a cloud of something and Danny immediately stopped breathing.

Not having to breathe was definitely his favourite power ever, he hated hay fever.

“Hey,” Danny said with a little wave.

In response the woman raised an arm and a thick vine-looking thing shot out of the ground.

“Holy shit!” The halfa exclaimed. That was pretty cool. Controlling plants was seriously an awesome power, and majorly underrated if one listened to Sam’s rants.

Wait, controlling plants?

“Can you revive my tomato plants?” Danny asked the woman enthusiastically, before remembering himself. “Uh, please?”

The woman stopped moving and frowned.

“It’s just that I really tried to keep it alive, but this is the first time I’ve taken care of plants and I was really looking forward to fresh tomatoes,” the halfa babbled.

She tilted her head.

“Please? I can get you a smoothie in exchange, I know a great place, they also do ice cream.”

The woman’s lips twitched and then she waved her hand and continued walking.

Danny turned around to find his tomato plant green and alive.

“Oh my god, thank you!” He yelled, but she was already leaving.

Danny owed her the best smoothie in town.

[spicysourchimken]

Interesting reunions

Tim and Danny are twins, Danny was given up for adoption by the Drakes when he was a baby and Tim was never told he has a brother.

After a reveal gone bad, Danny, Jazz, Sam and Tucker became thieves after closing the portal. They mainly target supernatural or cursed items. Their target, a necklace, is being held in a museum with their in being a private event to show off the piece before it's sent back to its owner.

The heist would've gone well if Tim hadn't also been in attendance.

------

'Lmao and here I thought you didn't want to be here'

It was a text from Dick.

Not exactly the strangest thing to happen when Tim was forced to attend an event.

He'd been benched after a mission resulted in a minor concussion. He'd personally been planning on going over his paperwork for Wayne Enterprises, but apparently that wasn't 'rest', instead he was sent off to be bored out of his mind at some art function. He didn't have time to prepare notes or even do any real research. But he still had Dick who had apparently been dragged along as his babysitter (And was fortunately interested in the items on display)

They'd been texting throughout the night. Dick fed him enough information to be mildly interested in topics of conversation, and when that failed the strange history of the main display. An old necklace that supposedly was connected to a string of deaths and all around misfortune.

So no, the text wasn't strange, but what was, was the photo attached. It was a picture of a man, grinning and chatting amicably with a woman whom he could barely make out as the collection's curator. His hair was longer than Tim's, tied neatly back to be clear of his glasses and to give clear view of the man's face.

Tim's face.

There was a clone at the event.

'can u get me another pic?'

Tim was now significantly more interested. Tim could identify the room they were in, housing the main display and it was about two rooms over from where he was currently hiding out. He could get there easily enough.

Dick sent him a thumbs up before replying with another, distinctly more uncomfortable photo of the man. He smiled awkwardly and Tim could finally get a better look at his face. Tim's brows scrunched together. A lichtenburg scar stretched up from beneath his collar and trailed along his jaw and in the light the man's eyes almost looked green.

He ran the photo through his facial recognition software, getting at least a few pings on himself before finally landing on Jonas Spencer, private security currently assigned to shadow one Morgan Deveraux. His history was solid, highschool records, even a spotty criminal history (points where he'd almost been arrested for bar fights) before he'd joined up with his firm.

So. not a clone. Probably.

Tim would still need to check it out. He pushed past a dark haired woman and entered the main show room. Dick, luckily had kept him in conversation but Jonas looked flighty, his eyes always drifting back to his charge.

Then he caught sight of Tim.

He froze. Staring at Tim for a moment before he tapped his ear- and what Tim assumed to be a comm. He made a move for Morgan, leaving Dick in the dust.

The lights flickered. Jonas reached for Megan, his hand wrapping around hers. Tim could've sworn his eyes darted upwards. Then there was a complete blackout. There was a clatter as a vent grate fell to the floor, shouts arose from the attendees.

Then the lights flickered back to life.

Jonas and Morgan had vanished, and so did the necklace as well as three other paintings.

Good news, its not a clone. Bad news, he might have a twin brother who is in a gang of thieves.

--

Daniel Fenton, or as his ID currently stated 'Jonas Spencer', wouldn't exactly call himself a thief- personally he was more of a collector. Or a curator, whatever the hell you might call a guy who grabs haunted and or cursed objects and dumps them in an alternate dimension.

And it wasn't exactly like he was normally the one stealing things either! That was mostly Sam, he'd done for a bit when they'd first started up (pushing his hands through the glass and taking a necklace with him, or making a painting completely invisible as he whisked it away) but then Sam started calling it 'cheating' and claimed 'his technique was lacking' and promptly took over his position.

(He didn't exactly mind, using his powers too often made his skin crawl. He may not have the GIW constantly hunting him, but he'd had enough run ins to make him sweat. He also didn't want to think about his parents.)

So maybe their entire deal wasn't completely altruistic. When you've been on the run since seventeen and had decided that you, your best friends and your older sister are going to become international thieves, sometimes you have to steal things so that you can have an income. And sometimes stealing is fun.

Unluckily their current job wasn't recreational. They'd heard word of a haunted necklace, there was a string of bad luck connected to it. Mirrors shattering, injuries popping up only days after interacting with the piece, lights falling out from the ceiling. There'd also been a case of near death.

Very clearly the latest display piece was cursed meaning they needed to grab it before it was shipped back into it private collection in France. That meant a time crunch, meaning they wouldn't be fully prepared. It was fine- they'd stolen the dagger of Amon Ra when they had half a day to plan, so three should've been fine.

He and Jazz manned the floor, Jazz kept to grifting while Danny worked as support if things went sideways on any front. Jazz, currently wealthy socialite 'Morgan Devereaux', draped an arm around a politician as he guided her through the collection. Jazz shot him a glance telling him to stay back, keep monitoring the main floor with the necklace.

That was fine. He could do that. He approached the curator and complimented the piece, letting her tell him about the struggles she had getting it overseas let alone her conversations with the owner. Ok, so definitely cursed.

Danny felt eyes on his back, and from the corner of his eye he saw someone take a photo. Tall, dark hair and a bright smile.

Sam pointed out that it was a Wayne.

At that point Danny made an attempt to leave, if he was going to get into a fight we wasn't going to do it there. He'd be too close to the necklace for Sam to get in and grab it without attention being drawn to her too. But Grayson cornered him impressively fast. He asked Danny for a photo, claiming that he looked just like his brother. Danny relented.

Then Tucker chimed in that someone had ran his face. Fuck. Dick kept him in conversation but Danny was eyeing their escape roots. Sam warned that another was coming through the left entrance and that she'd already lifted his phone. Danny turned, preparing himself for confrontation.

Then Danny saw him, his doppelganger.

Grayson hadn't been lying. That thought was terrifying.

Danny sent two taps into his earpiece and made his way towards Jazz. They couldn't risk staying any longer. Danny didn't know if they'd been made or not but he wasn't taking chances. He nodded to Sam who went for the jewels as Tucker cut the lights. Jazz and Danny took a painting each.

Sam went for the vents and Danny and Jazz disappeared through the front door.

[nightingale-prompts]

Ghostlight -DCxDP prompt

Tim only had one mission tonight.

Investigate the abandoned Monarch Theater.

There had been reports of noises inside and lights turning on. The obvious answer is that a rogue is using it as a base and will eventually use it as a stage for an overly complex scheme. Perhaps it was Riddler, two-face, or most likely Joker, but they were all still in Arkham.

The problem was that Monarch Theater was on Red Hood's turf, and he didn't want anyone in the family there. It would have to be someone really stubborn and not afraid to make Jason mad to go there anyway. Fortunately, that was Tum favorite thing to do. As his little brother, that's basically his job.

Tim snuck into the back of the dilapidated theater to a crowded backstage with people scurrying around and preparing for a show.

None of them seemed to notice him as they focused on their tasks. Tim tried to get someone's attention when his hand phased through their shoulder.

Then the woman turned to Tim her eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing back here? Audience members are not allowed before the show. Are you here to drop off flowers or gifts? Please, hand them to an attendant and they will be delivered to the actor you want. You are not allowed to see the prince before the show. We don't want you disrupting his concentration. Please go back to your seat now." She rattled off as she shoved Tim off the stage and into the audience chamber.

There Tim saw a packed room full of....well ghosts. All of them waiting excitedly for the play to begin. But right in the middle was Jason eating popcorn like this was completely normal.

Jason looked up and saw Tim, they both froze.

Then the curtain rose and a silver-haired prince dressed in royal regalia stepped forward with his arms raised. The audience cheered and applauded at the sight of him.

"Welcome, my friends and followers to this week's show of "Walking on Stars". We hope you enjoy our heartwrenching drama tonight. We have two special guests in the box tonight. Martha and Thomas Wayne our dear patrons have joined us this evening. Let me be the first to welcome them tonight." The prince bowed.

Danny knew there was no stopping ghosts from invading the moral realm and a comprise needed to be made. Appeasing them is the easiest way to do it. They needed purpose and entertainment just like they did in life. After asking a few of his people what they wished for and adding some expansions to the realm Danny stared this project.

This abandoned theater in one of the most haunted spaces in Gotham was perfect to keep the spirits happy. Many people don't know this but ghosts loved theater. It is why theaters would sometimes keep two empty seats in the back just for the ghosts to watch and close on sundays and keep a stage light on just for the ghosts to perform for each other. This consideration goes a long way for the spirits and they have a deep appreciation for the arts.

Since then Danny has put on weekly shows of plays, concerts, and talent shows. It even drew the attention of the revenant that uses the area as his haunt. Out of respect, Danny invited him to come and he has his own reserved seat.

Tim ended up sitting next to a miffed Jason as they watched the show.

"Can't I just have something to myself?" Jason grumbled offering Tim his ghost nachos.

Jason didn't know why the food was so good but these ghost nachos were the best he ever had. Tim on the other hand couldn't taste them.

(I made this prompt just to use the phrase ghost nachos.)

[ebonyslasher]

Them Thangs Thanging, Unfortunately

Basically, reader is a woman who has extremely large breast. Aka ME, this shit isn't for the weak. Just wanted to write about a few struggles we have. This doesn't even cover half of it.

Big Breast!Reader x Michael Myers, Daniel Lamb, Chromeskull, and Ghostface (Danny Johnson)

-----

Growing up was a struggle. 

That statement is true for many, especially during early teenhood. Middle schoolers were the most ruthless and awkward looking individuals to exist. However, there was an extra layer of struggle for the girls who had very progressive physical development(s). Specifically, those who developed their breasts early.

That was you. And unfortunately, your breast kept growing and growing. Even through early adulthood, with your weight fluctuating, your breast kept growing. They were always big, mind you. But now, as an adult, they were humongous. And what other people called a blessing, you just called a problem. Many problems at that included: 

Price

Bra’s, already, were expensive. For one piece of specialized cloth was $30 to $40. Add onto the fact that you had big breast? Oh, now the price wanted to double. Good luck if you were so big that you had to order custom. Prepare for your soul and wallet to be hurt. Custom bras can set someone back at least $100 easy!

With Michael, it was an odd situation. He would hear you complain about the price, but never understood why. He could just steal them for you, either from the store or from a victim. You, of course, didn’t want a bra from some random, especially with blood on it. EW. His plan could work if he would remembered your size...and if they even had it in store. 

Well, price wasn’t an issue with Chromeskull! He already treated you like a queen. If you wanted, he would have someone find bras for you. That way, you don’t even need the stress of looking. You find the bras lined up on a table every few months for you to pick from. What a life!

Daniel listened to your problems and saw firsthand how much they could get up to. Eyebrows shot up at the $79 bra that sat on your screen. After his missions, he would steal money or cards off corpses to give to you. You’d find a pile laying on your desk when he couldn’t stay, with a note saying ‘For your bra troubles!’ He was so sweet.

Ghostface didn’t care. He didn’t have to pay for the bras, so not his problem! He barely listens, pretending to only see any bras you might get next. Pervert. He wouldn't mind you getting a smaller bra, trying to imagine you as those anime girls wearing the smallest bikinis. 

“So you want me to look like I'm from One Piece??! Natural breasts in real life don’t work like that dummy!”

Size availability

Speaking of One Piece, it felt like you had to travel through the seven seas just to find bras in your size. Trying to find cute ones? You’re asking for the impossible. Most stores didn’t have your size. Forget about places like Victoria's Secret and especially Aerie. Lane Bryant may have your size, unless your band size is small. So, that means you have to order your bras online. Sucks, since you couldn’t try them on before buying. 

Michael stood in the store, comically looming behind you, surrounded by multicolored bras. He noticed that your posture fell as you spoke with a store worker. “Unfortunately, we don’t carry those sizes in store. We have them online and you could get it shipped here.” No thanks. It’d just be better to get something shipped to your house. You sighed in disappointment. Michael squints his eyes at the worker. Maybe he could come back and look to see what they really have in the back…

Availability was no longer a problem thanks to Jesse. Your masked sweetheart hired a personal designer that would make bras tailored to you. And you can tell them just how cute you’d like the bra to be.

A comforting hand lands on your shoulder as you relay the issue of finding your cup and band size in store. Daniel listens on as you rant, throwing your hands up in frustration. “Of course, I’d be the one with a small band size and huge ass breast!”  While you talk, he peruses the internet for different online stores that may have your size. You two curate a list of some, avidly reading any reviews that pop up.

“Oh well, hey, maybe this gives you the excuse to not wear bras anymore. Heh, I definitely won’t mind the view,” Danny joked after you told him the news. You roll your eyes and tell him to shut up. He really doesn’t care about your dilemma, pushing you to go braless, so he could see those juicy tatas bouncing. Although, if you get on him enough and promise him something nice, maybe he could magically get you some bras.

Clothing restrictions

There were certain articles of clothing that you couldn’t wear. Sad, since there were some cute looks that you just couldn’t do logistically. Bralettes and button down shirts were the devil. You saw the bralettes trending and said, “Nope. No way I could do that”. Button down shirts were deceptive. It would work up until the point the button around your breast would pop open. Understandable, since the small button couldn’t handle the pressure of holding back such big bouncing melons. You tried again one day, hoping that the designs became better throughout the years. As you walked around, the buttons popped open. The image of soft brown breast were revealed to the world in…

Michael’s steel blues, which immediately pinpoint the wardrobe malfunction. His head slowly tilts. Michael stoically ogles, secretly licking his lips as he enjoys the view. He notices your embarrassment and frustration. He feels a little bad, but that was overshadowed by the deliciousness of your reaction. He loves seeing you get worked up. He wouldn’t mind watching you bouncing around to throw a tantrum.

Jesse’s eyeless mask gleams. He raises his eyebrows at the incident. You try to button your shirt back up. The button only stays a moment before it gives up, bouncing off the shirt for the sweet release of death. The button clinks against the marble floor. You look down in disbelief as Jesse’s shoulders shake in glee. This was the funniest thing he’s seen all week!

Daniel’s zenith blue eyes pop wide open, mimicking the poor button that flew off. His face was a light shade of pink as he observed the scene. “Oh Shit…,” he whispers. Trying not to stare at your obvious malfunction, he peers up at your face that looks beautifully frustrated at the button on the ground. His eyes were full of empathy as walks over. “How about we try another shirt, huh?,” Daniel asks as he chuckles lightly.

“Hallelujah!” Ghostface shouts as he zeros in on this fantastic view. His perverted chocolate eyes were glued to your happy accident. You scoff and cover the malfunction with your hands. The view of that amazing bosom was now obscured, which angered Ghostface. He marches over right as he says, “Hey! Don’t cover those. Ghosty wants to see!”

Back pain

These breasts weighed heavy as gravity worked against your favor. Lugging around these gigantic bust meant the pull and strain against your back muscles. Those back muscles were only so strong, which would get weaker as you got older. The random aches in the upper, middle, and lower part of your back plagued your existence. You tried your best to keep good posture, but it was tiring.

Michael will rub your back if you ask. Well, only if he gets something in exchange. Dessert, you bent over, a good meal, or a new knife. You choose and it better be the right choice depending on his mood. Be warned that Michael is heavy handed as hell. His digs feel like he’s punching through your body. It might be a while before his massages become beneficial.

Jesse will hire a professional masseuse when he's on a spree. However, he would never turn down the opportunity to knead your supple muscles. You don’t mind if he goes a little lower, right Princess? He’ll also treat you with a doctor to get some treatment options going. 

Skilled and dangerous hands rub your back, the heavenly sensation of warm oil glides with every movement. Daniel, the sweet man that he is, gladly volunteers to bring you temporary relief. If he’s unable to caress your lovely form, he leaves you some pain medicine and healing meds that he comes across. The healing meds were heavenly. He, later, suggests having a reduction so you won’t have to suffer anymore.

Danny will massage you only because he wants his hands on that perfect body. And lowkey wants you to stop complaining all the time. God, it was annoying. He frequently offers to hold your breast up as you walk around. “I’ll even hold them up out in public. Just think, you’ll have your own boobie holder everywhere you go.” That shit eating grin on his handsome face didn’t faze you. Your face scrunches at his perverted comment. You take him up on the offer…only at home. You wouldn’t admit that it was a big help for your posture. You didn’t need to, Danny could tell how much it was helping by your relieved expression.

[faeriekit]

Health and Hybrids (XIII)👽👻💚

[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and the prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]

PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREEis here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and PART SEVEN is here PART EIGHT is here PART NINE is here PART TEN is here PART ELEVEN is here PART TWELVE is here and this is part thirteen??? Hello??

💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts

Where we last left off...

Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my nonexistent attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.

💚👻👽👻💚

…Bart doesn’t really do patience.

He doesn’t have to, so he doesn’t. Growing up in a world that wasn’t exactly real didn’t make for a real strong understanding of reality, or timing, or estimating how long something takes, or how long it would take a garden-variety human to complete a task.

He sits in the chair. He kicks his legs.

So. Bart doesn’t really do patience. When he wants to make his way through a book, it takes a few seconds to read through the whole thing at his standard pace. It’s great! Finishing the Troy Dodson series had taken ten minutes. He watched the full set of movies on quadruple-fast mode in about half an hour, and then still had the time to show up to the tower for trivia with the team that afternoon. It had been Crash!

And when—when Bart had wanted to learn how to cook, he went through half the recipes in Ma Kent’s copy of The Delights of Cooking in two days flat. And that was with missions. He even taught himself how to prepare squirrel from the back of the book! It tasted…uh, weird, sure, but that might have been his substitution of Caribbean jerk seasoning for garlic powder.

Patience is… Well, when Bart is on a mission and he has to wait for everyone to go at a human-comprehensible speed when laying out the plan of action, that’s patience. Sometimes he jumps the gun a little, maybe—but usually it all works out!

And when Bart has to wait for Barry and Wally to be free and off work for their day jobs, because they’re adults with real world things they have to do and Bart’s just—well, he’s—he tries to be patient! And he distracts himself with other things, and he takes the time to explore the world and get in new experiences he couldn’t have before in his own little virtual world, and he tries new things, and he eats new foods, and then Wally or Barry shoot him a text or ring him up and then he’s back in town in seconds anyway!

…But there isn’t a way to speed this along.

The doctor with the cute cat lanyard and Wonder Woman both have been trying to explain to Bart how bad the damage is. But Bart can tell. He has eyes.

His friend is physical now, but he’s not…right. His face is caved in, like someone hit him really really hard, or someone gouged out the whole front face of his skull—Bart can’t see any red matter, but that’s because of the pulsing green sheath that’s covered all of his friend’s open injuries.

And there’s a lot of green.

That means he’s super injured. Bart can see most of his glowing green not-face through the window of the metal tube his friend is sleeping in.

It’s not just his missing face, his crooked jaw, or his barely-moving chest, or his green-soaked fingers anyway; there’s open pits in his chest, slathered in green goo that shifts when he breathes and glows just a little in the odd light of the medical wing, lumpy and half-scarred from stitches that were sloppily applied. Utilitarian.

Tim told Bart that the sutures were probably meant more to prevent extra clean-up in a lab setting than to keep Bart’s friend alive.

…Bart doesn’t really want to think about that.

There are lime-tinged scrapes and scars across and around his friend's hands and up his arms, verdant-veined legs that aren’t exactly the right shape and orientation legs should be, crevasses in his stomach, his chest, against his collarbone, and the clawed-out pit where a face should be.

All green. So green. Like grass… Like the Earth, when Bart comes home from space.

It’s scary. It’s frightening.

Wonder Woman gave Bart a hug and said it would be okay when the Medical team started to apply white-swathed casts around misaligned legs, and Bart almost cried. The medical team thinks the green is his friend’s body working on healing him. That Bart’s friend will be okay.

Bart lets everyone say comforting things, because it’s kind when everybody’s kind. But Bart’s been an experiment in healing the unhealable and he knows as much as anyone else does that there’s simply no way to know if his friend will be okay.

But his friend isn’t alone like he was. Bart makes sure of it.

So he sits at his friend’s bedside, eats a granola bar, kicks his feet in the stiff chair Medical had to offer him, and Bart practices his patience.

By the end of this, he might even be good at it.

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I went to Taylor's first México show, I'm a changed woman now. In other news, taglist has been updated, if you want to add yourself fill out this form -Danny Words: 3,338 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter / Next Chapter Listen to: 'do all my friends hate me?' -by Mckenna Grace

III. Mom? Pick Me Up, the Kids Are Being Mean

"What's your story, Ara?"

"I was six when my satyr found me, Clarisse was his original mission."

"Clarisse was your roadtrip buddy? That must've sucked."

I look at Percy with a recriminatory glare. "She was younger and easier to scare... she kept it together for me, though."

"You've been brave so far," he points out. "Clarisse probably made it sound like a bigger deal."

"Ara's a coward," Annabeth says casually. "She's never wanted to go on quests, I'm surprised she agreed to this."

Percy scowls. "I told you not to come if it scared you."

"I'm not scared." 

The truth is that I'm okay, I have two older demigods looking after me. I don't tell him that though, I don't want to pressure him. 

"Ara..."

"I mean it!"

"I'm glad you came," Annabeth admits. "I'll take you to my quest too. You're full of surprises..."

"Thank Hades, I found you!" Lily seizes Ara's hand and pulls her in the direction of the Big House. "Piper fainted—Rachel wants to see you."

"Rachel's here?" Ara picks up her pace. "Thank Apollo!"

"Everything okay with the new guy? You didn't look very happy when he got claimed."

She shakes her head. "When we rescued this group, I got this feeling..."

"What kind of feeling?"

Ara dismisses Lily without explaining. "See you at lunch."

"You know where to find me," Lily's not pleased, but she doesn't show it. The girl squeezes Ara's shoulder before going away.

When Ara arrives, Jason's already there and Piper's on a couch, still unconscious. Rachel and Annabeth are standing side by side. 

"What happened?"

"We've got to heal her," Jason demands. "There's a way, right?"

"Of course there is, she just fainted," Ara frowns. "What happened?"

Chiron places his hand on Piper's forehead. "Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel?"

"As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera's cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then—I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice."

"A prophecy?"

"No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me."

"Chiron, what happened back there—I've never seen anything like it," Annabeth says gravely. "I've heard Rachel's prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper's shoulders and told her—" 

"To free her from a prison?" Jason guesses.

Annabeth stares at him. "How did you know that?"

Chiron makes a gesture over his heart, then he looks at the blond boy. "Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please."

Jason explains something about an old woman claiming to be his patron. "So does this happen often?" He asks after a brief moment of silence. "Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?"

"Your patron," Annabeth frowns. "Not your godly parent?"

"No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life."

If someone knows about patrons, that's Ara. Her mind itches with discomfort, she has to tell them about what she saw with Leo.

"You said the storm spirit on the skywalk—he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?"

"I don't think so. If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She's imprisoned. She's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice—"

"Not Kronos," Annabeth gazes at Chiron in alarm. "Please tell me it's not that."

He keeps his eyes on Piper. "It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But..."

"But what?"

"But now we have a new threat coming," Ara completes, sort of grumpily. "Someone else decided to shoot their shot—"

"Ara."

"Percy's missing, and the camp's in danger. Ten minutes ago I saw that old lady Jason mentioned and—"

"You saw her?" Jason interrupts her. "Did she talk to you?"

"Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later," Chiron intervenes.

"Or now," The boy presses. "Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can't possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?"

"You told him what?" Ara steps forward. "You knew this was going to happen?"

"Oh," Rachel says in a small voice. "Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason and Ara at the same moment."

"Hera?" Annabeth sneers. "She took you over? She did this to Piper?"

"And your father gave you to her?" Ara glances down at Jason's tattoo. "Like, as an offering?"

"I think Rachel's right," he seems slightly uncomfortable. "The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this—this goatskin cloak. That's a symbol of Juno, isn't it?" 

"It is?" Annabeth makes a face. "I've never heard that."

"Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier."

"So Hera is imprisoned?" Rachel questions. "Who could do that to the queen of the gods?"

"Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them," Annabeth replies heatedly. "If they can shut up Hera—"

"Annabeth, she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods' family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help—"

"Fine! Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago. And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time..."

"So Ares and Aphrodite—they have a thing going?"

"That's old gossip, Percy. Three-thousand-year-old gossip."

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well, you know... Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, and thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

"Reason why I'm good for nothing," I huff. "Why couldn't she be the goddess of... I don't know, baking..."

"She seems to like bikers," Percy teases me. "Maybe she'd favor you if you become one."

Annabeth shakes her head. "You just need to find your thing and stick to it, Ara."

"Gee, how didn't I think of that!"

"Hephaestus knows about them, then?" Percy gives me a look that's it's clearly meant to shut me up.

"Oh sure," Annabeth replies. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like... Like that."

"The tunnel of love?" I snort. "A bit cliche." 

Grover and I stand to the side while Percy and Annabeth slip down the empty pool. I stare at the cupid next to me and the Eta that's carved on it. 

A net starts to close around them, Hephaestus's kids are good at building stuff, but this is a whole other level. Tiny spider robots encircle Annabeth and Percy, cameras appear, ready to broadcast the mess. 

"Guys!" Percy yells at us. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"

I click and press but nothing happens. Then water bursts out of the tanks at Percy's orders. The cameras follow as they move at great speed toward the exit, they jump out and Grover uses his magical shoes to catch Percy and Annabeth.

I stare at the trap, a creation that's harmless but devastating to godly egos. I'm immediately drawn to the idea of making something with my bare hands that could hold this much power.

"The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth," Rachel says. "That's right, isn't it? Their fates are always intertwined with demigods." 

"But Jason's got a point," Annabeth counts. "Why him? Why take his memory?"

"And Piper's involved somehow. Hera sent her the same message—Free me. And, Annabeth, this must have something to do with Percy's disappearing."

"Let's not forget that son of Hephaestus, Leo" Ara points out. "He was with me when I saw Hera, and he saw her too."

The girls look at the centaur. "Why are you so quiet, Chiron? What is it we're facing?"

"My dear, in this, I cannot help you... I am so sorry."

"You've never..." Annabeth gapes. "You've never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy—"

"I will be in my office. I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you'd like. And girls, you should speak with Jason. Tell him about—about the Greek and Roman gods." 

Ara starts to follow Chiron out of the room, but she stops halfway. What's the point? Harassing her mentor with questions won't help, he doesn't look pleased about their situation either.

"I'm sorry," Jason mumbles. "I think me being here... I don't know. I've messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he'd sworn an oath and couldn't talk about it."

"What oath?" Annabeth frowns. "I've never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods..." Her eyes land on something next to Jason. "Is this gold? Do you remember where you got it?"

"No. Like I said, I don't remember anything."

"Hang on..." Ara draws out her compass. "Annabeth, look!" The item has golden hues, the same color as Jason's. "The element we couldn't identify before... it's gold!"

Annabeth turns to exit the room. "If Chiron won't help, we'll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means... Cabin Fifteen. Rachel, you'll keep an eye on Piper?" 

"Sure," the redhead takes a seat. "Good luck."

"Hold on," Jason says. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"

"Maybe a way to get your memory back," Annabeth raises a brow. "Ara, you're coming or not?"

"I've got no choice," she sighs, putting her compass away.

"Why are you smiling?"

"That trap was really cool."

"You liked the trap?" Percy makes a face.

"I didn't enjoy what it did, though it was a great bonding experience," I joke. "I just... I have a soft spot for flashy stuff! The cupids and the cameras... it was breathtaking."

"Yeah, and it wasn't you trapped in it," he scoffs.

"Percy, there must be a reason why my Mom married him. I know what the myth says," I roll my eyes. "But no one can control love! Hephaestus never tried to, no one's ever been fair to him, so he lets her be free and in exchange, she doesn't ask him to be something he's not."

"Aren't you angry he humiliates your mother?"

"My mother is incapable of feeling that. Anger, perhaps, but not shame," I lean my head on his shoulder. "I'm just saying Hephaestus lives for his machines, so he lets my mom do her thing. That's cool."

Percy thinks Aphrodite married the god to keep Zeus off her back. He doesn't want to mess with my optimism at the moment though, so he keeps it to himself. 

I fall asleep.

I'm walking through an ancient town, the road is busy with people."There you are!" An old lady talks to me in ancient Greek. "Arche, stop wandering!"

"But it's tiresome!" I complain. "Give me something to do!"

The woman huffs, looking skeptical. She gives me something to do anyway. 

"Hi!" The seller in the first tent I visit starts listing everything, but I can only stare at their warm eyes.

"I..." I gulp. "I am..."

"Agape!" A man yells.

The teen gives a start. "What!" They pout. "You said I could help!"

"You must excuse the child," the man approaches me. "Can't stay still."

"It's fine," I whisper hoarsely. Agape smiles, it's a sort of teasing, crooked grin. I don't want to go, but I don't know why I want to stay. "I'll see you..."

It was a promise.

The trip to Hypnos cabin confirms only Hera can give Jason his memories back, but why did she take them away in the first place? 

Since Percy went missing, Ara's expecting to get disturbing nightmares, but all she's seen so far are snippets of past lives that give her zero answers. She hates dreaming.

She stands next to Chiron during the campfire, arms crossed and scowling. She's always sulking nowadays, even before her brother's disappearance. The old campers still treat her like before, and the ones who didn't know her look at her as if she could burst into flames at any moment, neither of those two options are good.

"...alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

"What about capture the flag?" 

Ara glares at the cabin five campers. "Yes," Chiron nods. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games—"

"And kill people!"

"—However, until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

Nyssa stands up. "We're working on it." 

"How, Nyssa?"

"Really hard."

The kids start to complain and Chiron quiets them down. "We will have to be patient! In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" Someone asks out loud.

Everyone is looking at her and Annabeth, the blonde girl is the first to speak. "We didn't find Percy. He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis—everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?"

"Drew? What do you mean?"

"Well, come on!" She rolls her eyes. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?" She looks at Ara. "And it's her fault."

"Not true," Ara replies through gritted teeth.

"You walked into Olympus demanding to be crowned—You're so selfish!"

"Look who's talking!"

Drew has charmspeak, but it isn't needed, plenty of campers share the same thought and they're less than happy to have a Daughter of Olympus amongst them. "Well?" Drew glares at Rachel. "You're the oracle. Am I right or not?"

Rachel steps forward. "Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun."

Ara opens her mouth to speak, but she can't.  A new prophecy? The war ended just a few months ago! Drew's eyes lock with hers again and there is disgust in them. What if she's right? Ara asked for this, but she didn't think it would bring the next big prophecy.

Rachels raises her voice. "For those of you who have not heard it, the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this: Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—" Jason stands up abruptly. "J-Jason? "What's—"

"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he recites. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."

This boy needs to stop talking about things he isn't supposed to know. Ara wants to dissect him and make sure he's not an automaton. 

"You just... finished the prophecy," Rachel gapes. "—An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you—"

"I know those lines," Jason holds his head and grimaces. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

"In Latin, no less," Drew smiles. "Handsome and smart."

Ara's siblings laugh at Drew's remark, she remembers when she used to be just as careless. For the first time in years, she wishes she would've thought twice before stepping out of her comfort zone.

Jason sits down in embarrassment, Annabeth mumbles something to him while Rachel glances back at Chiron and Ara hoping they'll step in. The centaur doesn't move, so it's Ara's turn to speak. She's been dreaming about this... but it's not like she imagined. 

People doubt her, resent her, and her friends don't think she's got what it takes. Percy tried to tell her she wasn't built for this and she did it anyway. Why?

"Well," Rachel takes the lead when Ara finds herself speechless. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The seven demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here."

Once again, everyone looks at Ara. It's evident that even if she isn't, she has to join the quest, she can't turn her back on it, not that she would, anyway.

"Anyway," Rachel continues, "I don't think is Ara's fault. Something wants to take advantage of our situation. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad."

"Or worse..." Chiron mutters.

"What we do know," Rachel resumes, glancing at the centaur with irritation, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken..."

As she starts to describe what's happened, Rachel mentions Hedge died, and Ara's breath hitches. The campfire flickers for a moment, turning scarlet before it goes back to normal, no one seems to notice.

"Jason—Um... do you remember your last name?" Rachels questions. He shakes his head. "We'll just call you Jason, then. It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

"I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil, some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth adds. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron says, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things... stir."

"Okay," Annabeth scowls. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" An Ares kid shouts. "If he's so important—"

"He has been claimed," Chiron finally gives an answer. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

Jason steps forward and Ara knows something big is about to happen. He pulls out the coin from his pocket and flips it, a spear materializing in his hand. Annabeth steps back and frowns. "Wasn't that... I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came up tails, I think," he replies awkwardly. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" A kid shouts.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!"

"Electric," Jason mutters. "Back away."

The people closest to him oblige at once, he raises the weapon and lightning goes through the spear, redirecting itself toward the campfire. Jason puts his arm down, completely uninjured. "Um... sorry."

Chiron brushes off a bit of cinder, and he nods. Once again, he looks in pain. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"Jupiter," Jason answers. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky." 

"Ah, fuck..." Ara complains quietly.

This is why she isn't having weird dreams, Jason must be swimming in them. 

"You're a baby bird, that's all," Percy's quite proud of me, my charmspeak edged Crusty to let go of him so my friend could cut him in half. "Give it a few years, you'll be a grown dove one day—that's your mother's symbol, right?"

"It's okay if my life revolves around beauty and feelings only, I'm okay with that," I shrug.

"Then why did you join my quest?"

"I was bored," that's the answer I've been giving him since the start, but now it doesn't convince him.

"It's not safe to hang out with me," he raises a brow. "You could die, you know?"

"I'm not important enough to die," I laugh.

Next Chapter ->

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @ash-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen

[raineydays411]

So warm and tender

Tony Stark x Daughter!reader

A/n: Hello! finally the last part of Ember. I hope you guys like it and sorry for making y’all wait so long for the confrontation lol)

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

Y/n’s POV

“Aunt Pam?!” you say in shock as you stop struggling against the vine wrapped around your body.

“Y/n, is it really you?” your aunt said as the vine loosened its grip and gently lowered you on the ground. “ Where have you been? Everyone has been going crazy looking for you”

You don’t answer as you look at your aunt. You didn’t realise you missed her as much as you did but now all you want to do is throw yourself in her arms. So you did.Pam, sensing you needed comfort rather than an interrogation, wrapped her arms around you. “I missed so much my Petal.” 

With those five words, all the hurt and pain you bottled up came out. and you cried.

As you cried, your aunt looked at the girl she hasn’t seen in eight years, and wondered what she’s been going through and if she did the right thing by giving you to your father all those years ago.

“Petal, I think you need to explain what’s going on”

You look up and sniff, “ Yeah, i think an explanation is well in order.” and you tell her everything. From the years of being ignored by your father, your last argument, the two weeks you spent in captivity, and your new powers. 

“ And that’s when I found you.” You finish looking at the grim faces of Pam and the other woman, who now that you think about it looks really familiar. 

“Oh, you poor puddin’!” you found your face being squished between two ands and then you were comically pressed against a body in a tight hug. 

“Don’tcha worry bout a thing, me and Pammy will take care of everything, you just sit here and---”  This seems familiar...

“ Harley, I don’t think she can breathe.” “Oh right, now you remember, it the blonde woman who used to sneak into the apartment”. You think to yourself as you struggle to get loose from her grip. You hear someone snicker and see Danny looking at the commotion. 

“ Shut up Danny, where have you been?” You say, forgetting that you’re the only one who can see him. 

“Exploring, do you thing she could hug me like that too?” 

“ If you weren’t already dead, I’m sure they would kill you for that comment”

Pam and Harley look at each other in concern as it seems like you’re talking to yourself. 

“ Hey kid, if you’re gonna talk to yourself, try an’ do it when other people can’t see you, like me.”  The blonde says as if someone talking to themselves was a daily occurrence for her.  You explain that with your powers, you were basically dead and can speak and see other dead people. Hearing that, Pam’s expression darkened

“He let you die?” she said in a grim tone. All the vines and plants in the room started whipping around angrily as if they were looking for the person who wronged you. It was then when you realized it wasn’t your Auntie Pam who taught you how to plant petunias you were looking at, this was Poison Ivy. 

“ Men, you can never trust em’. Well, whadda say little flower, ya up for a little premeditated murder?” and that was the infamous Harley Quinn. 

“ It would’ve been nice to know that you’re related to scary criminals y/n....” Danny said in a fearful voice. And if you were being honest you just found out that your aunt Pam was also the Poison Ivy but to be fair you haven’t seen her since you were like eight. 

“I don’t want to kill him” you finally say. “ I don’t want anything to do with him. Nor his precious Spiderling.” The plants calm down as Ivy calmed down and was your aunt Pam again. “ What do you want to do?” she asks.

You think to yourself and say,” I want him to know how he made me feel, and then I want to stay with you.”  Your aunt and Harley froze when you said that. 

“Petal, there is nothing I want more than for you to stay with me again,” She started, “ But it isn’t safe for you to stay.” Your eyes started to water

“But I-I have powers now, I can defend myself! I won’t be any trouble, it’ll be like I’m not even here” At this point, anything was better than going back to being invisible. “Please...I don’t want to go back...” 

Hearing the desperation in your voice broke Pams, Harleys, and Danny's heart. Pam because this was the daughter of her closest friend. She vowed to protect you from anything the day you came to her after losing your mother. Seeing you like this just reminded her how she, in her mind, has failed you. Seeing you so desperate to get away from the man who broke your heart reminded Harley of herself. The nights she would sneak into the tiny apartment you shared with Pammy, in hopes of escape only to get drawn back with empty promises. So yeah, she had a small soft spot for you. And Danny, you were the only person who saw him after months of being invisible. He felt like he needed to help you in your mission to get your father regret ignoring you.

“Hey Pammy...maybe we should call him...” Harley started to suggest. 

“NO, I’d rather drink weed killer than go to that...orphan collector for help.” the red head spat. “ No. We’ll figure it out but she can stay here for now.”

Hearing that you had a place to call home now, gave you the motivation to go and confront your father. Not only for ignoring you, but for leaving you in that..cell for two weeks. He didn’t even attempt to look for you as far as you knew. You’d have thought at least one of the other Avengers would have came to save you. But no one came. After all those years, no one came.

“Y/n.. your eyes” Danny whispered, his cold hand touching your arm snapped you out of your mind. The neon glow of your eyes faded to your normal e/c. 

“ Aunt Pam, Harley is there any way you guys can get me to New York and back?” You ask, finally ready to confront your father. 

“ Well....” Harley say as with a smirk

~~~~~~~~~one terrifying ride on a stolen batplane later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon arriving to New York you made Pam and Harley wait a few blocks away from the tower, as you really didn’t want the Avengers to find out your aunt was a wanted criminal. You “went ghost” as Danny like to call it and snuck into the Tower with ease. You then snuck into your room, seeing everything covered in a layer of dust as no one has been in there for over two weeks. You packed a bag and filled it with some clothes, books and a picture of you and your mother. You took that bag and walked to the door, looking around at the room that was both you prison and safe space. It was decorated with multiple trophies, medals, and ribbons all from the multiple sports and clubs you joined to impress your father. Not like that ever happened. Danny wander around looking at the multiple teams photos you had hung up.

“ You’re a volleyball girl?” he said, “ Huh. I’d never have had guessed.” 

You rolled your eyes as you finished packing. “ Hey I have a job for you.” you say turning to him. “ I need you to go to the control room and turn off the power for thirty minutes. Then turn it back on and come find me in the common room.”

“ Yes ma’am” Danny says, saluting and disappearing through the wall before he comes back. “Ummm, wheres the control room?” 

You roll your eyes and explain how to get to the control room and wait. When the lights go out and you’ll make your move. Your father would have to pass through the common room to get to the control room from his lab, which you assume he’ll be. There you’ll be waiting for him. 

The lights go out. It’s showtime.

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

Tony's POV

The team spent three more days searching for you. They followed every lead and half of the team even flew out to the building that collapsed an hour ago. Tony, Steve, and Natasha stood behind to look at more clues. It was a little past midnight, and both Steve and Natasha went to bed leaving Tony to tinker in his lab. Tony was making improvements to a certain spider suit as he thought about what his daughter said to him before she went missing.

“Sir, there seems to be someone in Y/--” FRIDAY started to say when the power cut out.

“FRIDAY??” Tony questioned as he walked out to check the control room, making sure to get his nano bracelet just incase. As he walked down the hallway he thought about waking up Steve and if he was brave enough to wake Natasha when he heard it.

“Hi daddy.”

Tony stopped dead in his tracks as he looked up in disbelief. The lights turned back on to reveal his daughter. Wearing a black halter top, spandex leggings, grey boots with elbow length gloves. She looked skinny, as if she hadn’t had a proper meal in the weeks she was gone. And for some reason the air was cold in the room. But there she stood.

‘Y/n” Tony said breathlessly. 

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

Y/n pov

As you wait for Tony to walk in,you look around the common room and reminisce. You think about the time when you first moved in, and you got lost trying to find the bathroom and accidently walked into Natashas room. YOu thought she was going to kill you but ended up walking you to the restroom and back to your room. Or when you made the volleyball team way back in eighth grade, and you ran home to tell your dad but ended up telling the whole team, who were rarely all together, and they all took you out to get ice cream, minus Tony. You had to admit, even though your dad didn’t pay attention to you, Nat and Steve did. As well as the whole team, but those two really became the parental figures in your life. That’s why it hurt when not even they came for you. Even they had forgotten you.

“Hi daddy” you said in a mocking voice. Your father stopped dead in his tracks, as he looked you over in disbelief.

“Y/n”, he said in a breathless voice. 

“Oh, you remember my name?” You say in an sarcastic tone. “ Didn’t seem like you did when you left me in a hydra cell for two weeks.” 

Hearing that you were a prisoner of Hydra made Tony’s blood freeze. 

“Hydra? Oh Y/N are you okay? What did they do to you?” He asked frantically as he walk towards you with the intent of checking if you were injured. You jerk away from him, avoiding his touch and say

“ Oh, I’m wonderful. Just so fucking fantastic. I was just experimented on and injected with various liquids that caused excruciating pain. No big deal” 

“ Y/n..we spent days trying to look for you. Me and the team--”

“You and the team what Tony? I was there for two weeks. TWO WEEKS I WAS POKED AND PRODDED. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE.” You scream, anger filling your heart as you remember the agony you went through. You think about the scratches on the wall of the cells, the taunts from the guards, and screams of the undead.

“ You have no idea what I went through. What I’m going through.” You say, feeling your body grow colder as you lose control and start to shift. “ You don’t care about me. If I were Parker, you would have saved mem within SECONDS.”

“That's not true. Y/N you have no idea how much I love you.” Tony tries to say. He’s filled with the need to tell you everything he didn’t tell you before. “I know I haven’t always been the best father. Trust me I know that now. But if you give me a chance, I want to make everything right. Please.” 

You didn’t think it would go like this. In fact you were not at all prepared for Tony to say this. You expected to walk in on him continuing his life as normal, tinkering in his lab and such. You had always yearned to hear him say those words to you. But now, they just fill you with anger.

“You think you could just tell me what I want to hear and what? I’ll just act like nothing happened?? I know you’re not that stupid.” You spit, the room growing colder as you get angrier. “ It’s too late for all that Tony. I’m not the same girl i was two weeks ago.i won;t take it any longer.” 

“Y/n..your eyes” Tony says as he slowly starts to put his gauntlet bracelet on, realising that you are becoming a threat. 

“ Oh do you like them?”, You ask “ This is what happened when they injected me. I can also do this.” You shift, shades of blue taking over brown skin. Tony stared at you in awe and a bit of fear. 

“ Y/n this isn’t you. I know you’re angry but--” “ Isn’t me?” You interrupt.” You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m like. And even if you did the old me died in that cell. Literally I died” You and Tony stared at each other. and that's when you heard the doors open. Two sets of footsteps started rushing to the commotion. 

“Y/N some red head and beefy blonde are on their way” You hear Danny say as you realize you had to wrap it up. If anyone can convince you to stay, it’s Steve and Nat.

“ It doesn’t matter anymore Tony.” you say as you start walking to the window. “ I can’t stay here anymore. There’s nothing for me. You win. Peter can be the child you always wanted cause from now on, consider me dead.” and with that, you phase threw the window and let yourself fall, knowing that you won’t actually fall as you can fly. 

Tony freaks out and calls for his suit, only to see a blue blur shoot up and across the sky. Then he just sits there and stares. The footsteps reach the common room and he hears someone ask 

“ Stark..what was all the yelling. What's going on?” 

“she's gone” He says, and that's when he truly realizes his mistake. He became what he never wanted to become. He became his father. And now you were gone.

Taglist: @vxidsti1es @big-galaxy-chaos

[rowyn-writes]

Mending A Broken Heart (Jared x Reader)

Warnings: SMUT, breeding kink, unprotected sex, (wrap it before you tap it, kids,) oral sex, female receiving, slight praise kink, angst, mentions of miscarriage, mentions of non-con, mentions of cheating, reader has PCOS, fluff, strong language.

Pairings: Jared x Reader

Characters: Jared, Jensen, Danneel, JJ Ackles, Misha (mentioned only)

Word count: 3.7k

Summary: You get a call from you older sister, Danneel, saying that she is in labor. When you arrive, your first niece is being born. You call your soon to be husband to inform him of JJ's birth, only to have a woman answer his phone.

You were on a mission.

You walked with purpose through the hallways of the hospital, not even stopping when a nurse asked if you needed help. You were Y/N Graul. You didn't need help to find your sisters freaking room.

"Ackles." You said, approaching two men. "Padalecki. How's my sister?" Just as the words left your mouth, you heard an ear piercing scream. "That answers that question." You pushed past them and into Danneel's delivery room.

"Ma'am, you can't be in here!" The doctor ordered.

"She's my sister." Danneel waved her off. "She can be here." The mother to be let out another groan of pain. You grabbed her hand, letting Danneel use it to relieve some of her pain. You winced slightly. Your sister had a strong grip.

You didn't understand how women could all over the world could go through this pain. Especially those without epidurals. 

"I want Jensen!" She cried.

You nodded, quickly making your way out into the hall. "Ackles! Get your ass in here!" Jensen gave Jared a scared look before following you inside.

"I'm here, sweetheart." He assured her as he took your place. You hid your smile at brother-in-law's kindness. You and Jensen never got along, mostly because you were so alike. You were both hard headed, but you had a big heart. You'd never say, but you secretly liked him.

"C'mon, Dannie," You encouraged, coming on the other side of her. "You've got this. Push!"

Danneel yelled once more, gripping both of your hands and she tried to push. "No! No, no, no. I can't do this!" She whined.

"You can and you will!" You demanded. "You are Danneel Ackles, you are a badass, powerful woman and you will be a great mother! All you have to do is push!"

"Easier said that done!" Danneel barked, her  auburn hair sticking to her forehead with sweat.

"We're almost there, Mrs. Ackles! One more push!" And with one last scream, and one last push, Danneel fell back on the bed, panting heavily. There was a small cry that pierced through the room, which caused the three adults to look over at the doctor.

"Congratulations," She smiled softly. "You just gave birth to a healthy baby girl."

Danneel and Jensen shared wide smiles as their newborn baby girl was set into their arms. "She's beautiful." Jensen whispered. "She has your eyes."

"She has your nose." Danneel looked over at you, her eyes filled with joy. "Y/N, can you give us a minute?"

"Of course, Dannie." You kissed her forehead. "I'm so happy for you."

You exited the room, only to find Jared pacing back and forth. "How are they? Danneel stopped screaming. Is she okay?" He asked, worry written across his face.

"They're okay. Better than okay, actually. Danneel just became a mother to a beautiful baby girl." You beamed proudly.

Jared let out a relieved laugh as he surged forward to hug you. You stood stiffly in his hold, unsure of what to do. You weren't used to physical affection, as your boyfriend rarely held you anymore. The last time you had been this close to Jared was at Jensen and Danneel's wedding when you both walked down the aisle together.

You slowly wrapped your arms around him, patting his back awkwardly. "Sorry," He apologized sheepishly. "I'm a hugger."

"So I've noticed." You said, stepping away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some exciting news to share with my family."

You found an empty hallway and began to call every family member you could think of. Gino was first, obviously. You knew how excited he was when he found out Danneel was pregnant. Your parents were next, and then your cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.

You cringed as you looked at the last name on your contacts. Will.

You hadn't been on very good terms as of late. The two of you had been fighting constantly, especially after you found out Danneel was pregnant. You were beyond happy for her and Jensen; they were finally starting the family they had always dreamed about.

Fuck it. You might as well get it over with. It rang three times before it was finally answered. "Hello?" An unfamiliar female voice said.

"Uh, who is this?" You questioned, starting to get defensive. It was four o'clock in the morning in Vermont.

"Lacy," She answered simply.

"And what are you doing with my fiance's phone, Lacy?"

"Who is it, babe?" You heard Will in the background.

"It's your fiance, William. The one that I didn't know you had!" Lacy screamed. "You asshole! I can't believe you cheated! And I can't believe you dragged me into it! We're done!" You felt your throat close up, your eyes began to well up with tears.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. You kept repeating to yourself. This was the happiest day of Jensen and Danneel's life, you couldn't bring them down.

"Y/N, baby, this really isn't what it sounds like." Will claimed after Lacy threw his phone at him. 

"No, Will, I think it's exactly what it sounds like." You whispered harshly. "You cheated. After three years, you cheated on me."

"Well you didn't give me much of a choice, did you?" He growled.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't let me touch you in almost eight months. What else was I supposed to do? I have needs, Y/N."

"You know why we haven't done anything!" You hissed, tears running down your face. "You know exactly why!"

"Can't you just get over it! God, Y/N, we could always try again!" He yelled.

"Get over it? Get over it?! I lost my baby and you just want me to get over it! I can't just forget about it, Will. I should be having  my baby - our baby - in five weeks. July ninth."

"You know what I mean, Y/N. Of course I don't want you to forget about the baby, but we could always try again! It wasn't the end of the world!"

"Yes, it was, Will! You know how hard it is for me to get pregnant ever since I was diagnosed with PCOS-"

"It always comes back to that! 'Sorry, I can't have sex with you today because I feel bloated,' or 'Sorry I'm acting so down, my depression is bad today.' You use PCOS as an excuse to everything!"

You stayed silent for a moment, trying to calm yourself. "It was never going to work, was it?" You said quietly. "We both want kids, but I can't give you that. I can't give you a lot of things, apparently. When I come back, I want you out of my house. I'm going to be staying with Danneel and Jensen for a while. They're going to need some help with the new baby. It's a girl, just in case you were wondering." You hung up the phone, taking in a shaky breath.

"Son of a bitch!" You wailed as you threw your phone against the wall. You slowly slid to the floor, putting your head in your hands. You tried to quiet your sobs by biting your lip, which only caused your mouth to be filled with a metallic liquid.

Get it together, Y/N. You wiped the tears off your face, trying to calm yourself down. You couldn't believe this was happening. Your sister, your best friend, just gave birth to a healthy daughter. You should be celebrating, not crying over your crappy fiance. Ex fiance. 

You picked yourself off the floor, grabbing your phone as you did so. Of course it was shattered. You quickly went to the bathroom, your puffy face startling you. You splashed cold water on your face, which got rid of it for the most part.

You made your way back to Danneel's room, where the atmosphere was happy and joyful. Something that made your mood lighten just a fraction. "Hey Mama! How are you?"

"Doped up on pain meds," She grinned. "Having a baby really hurts. I knew it would hurt, I mean, I've seen the videos, but damn, that was awful." You laughed as you brushed her hair back.

"What's her name?"

"Justice Jay Ackles." Jensen answered, bringing your niece forward. "JJ for short. Do you want to hold her?"

You nodded eagerly as JJ was set into your arms. She began to fuss a little, reaching out for her father. "Shh, shh." You cooed. "It's okay, sweet JJ. I'm your Auntie Y/N/N. You'll get to meet the others soon enough. They're going to love you, just like your mommy and daddy love you. You are going to have a whole village looking after you, did you know that? Yeah, you have me, your uncle Gino, that's mommy's brother. Then you have your uncle Josh and Aunt Mack, that's your daddy's siblings. Then of course you have Uncle Jared and Misha. Those are daddy's best friends."

Jared and Jensen smiled at you. You were already so in love with JJ. "Danneel's knocked out." Jensen whispered. "The nurse wants to take JJ up to the nursery while she sleeps." You nodded as you handed over the baby. "Alright, I'm gonna go get us some food. You guys want anything?"

"No, I'm good." You shook your head.

"Same." Jared agreed.

And with that, Jensen left you and Jared alone with a sleeping Danneel. You grabbed your phone out of your back pocket and tried to turn it on. Just your luck, the screen stayed black. That's what you get for throwing your phone at the wall.

"What in the hell happened to your phone, Y/N?" Jared questioned.

"It fell out of my pocket." You lied. "I guess I'll have to buy and new one."

"Damn, that sucks." He frowned. You gave a small shrug, not saying much of anything. "Are you okay, Y/N? You don't seem like yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, normally you like to take jabs at me and Jensen. Hell, the only one you really like is Misha. Plus, ever since you came back in the room, you've been frowning and your eyes are still puffy from where I know you've been crying." You felt your heart sink to your stomach. "I know you don't like me very much, or Jensen, for that matter, but we do care. What's wrong?"

You stayed silent for a moment, trying to sort out your words. "I can't say it here. Follow me."

You grabbed Jared by the hand and led him to where the nursery is. You needed something happy to cheer you up.

"Let me start this by saying that I don't hate you or Jensen." You didn't take your eyes off the adorable babies, but your hand was still brushing up against his. "I have known you both for a while now, and I care about you guys. Making jabs and snarky comments is how I show that I care." You could see Jared smiling out of the corner of your eye.

"I called Will this morning to tell him that Danneel had the baby." You saw Jared's smile fade slightly. "A woman answered his phone, and usually I wouldn't think anything of it. I would make an excuse that it's his secretary or assistant, but it was four a.m in Vermont when I called. Her name was Lacy." Your voice cracked.  "And it's my fault!"

"Y/N, it's not your fault-"

"But it is, Jare," You whispered. "It is. I pushed him away for months. Do you know how long it's been? Eight months. It's been eight months, Jared. And Will 'has needs.'"

"That's the dumbest excuse ever." He mumbled.

"This next part. . . I haven't told anyone but Will. Not Danneel, not Gino, not my parents, anyone. So you have to promise not to tell anyone. I'll tell my family once I'm ready, but for now, they don't need to know."

Jared's frown deepened. "I won't say anything, Y/N, I promise. Are you okay?"

"No," You shook your head. "I haven't been okay for a while now." You took a deep breath before continuing. "Last year I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome – PCOS for short."

"Yeah, I've heard of it." Jared said softly, his eyes filled with pity.

"Will and I had been trying so hard for a baby. And when we found out I had PCOS, we stopped. And I was heartbroken. I've wanted to start a family for so long, and to get that news hurt me. And it hurt Will." You felt your hands start to shake.

"One night after I had one too many drinks, I passed out on the couch, and I woke up the next morning in my bed with all my clothes off and Will lying in my bed beside me. I don't know what happened that night, but I know I didn't want it. And four weeks later I found out I was pregnant." Jared's jaw clenched and his eyes held something malicious.

"I didn't care how it happened. I know I should have, but I was just so excited to have a baby. To be a mother. And then when I went to my OBGYN, she told me I had. . . I had a miscarriage."

"Oh, Y/N," Jared said sadly, resting his hand on your shoulder.

"I lost my baby. And I don't know what to do with myself, Jare." You cried. "W-what am I supposed to do?"

You were shaking uncontrollably now, unable to calm down. "That m-might have been my only chance!" Jared swallowed hard as he brought you in for a hug. "I want my baby!" You wailed.

"I know," He whispered as he gripped you tight. "I know, honey. I am so sorry. This is so unfair to you. You deserve so much better than this."

"What if it was my last chance?" You sniffed.

"It wasn't," He assured you as he rocked you back and forth. "There are fertilization treatments, surrogacy, adoption. . . You'll be a mother one day, Y/N, and you'll be the best mother a child could ever ask for."

"Really?" You asked in a small voice, looking up at the tall man. He smiled as he brushed back a piece of your hair and wiped away your tears.

"Really."

You felt your heart beating out of your chest and your breaths quickening. "Jared,"

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me."

He didn't have to be told twice as he leaned down to kiss your lips. He cupped your face with both of his hands, bringing you closer to him. "Mm," He moaned, pulling away. "Not in front of the babies. They're too young to be scarred this way." You laughed as he dragged you away to a bathroom, making sure no one was in there before locking the door.

Jared grabbed you by the waist and gently pushed you against the wall. He wasted no time as he pressed his lips against yours once more. His tongue slid across your lower lip, asking for permission to enter, which you happily granted.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, trying to pull him closer. Jared put his hand on the back of your thigh, encouraging you to jump. You got the memo as you lifted yourself up, wrapping your legs around his waist. He moved and set you down on the counter.

"Do you want to keep going?" Jared asked, breathless.

"Yes," You nodded, your face flushed. "Please, Jare." He groaned at the nickname.

"I love it when you call me that." He said as he ran kisses down your jaw and to your neck.

SMUT UNDER THE CUT

"And I. . . Love it when. . . You kiss my neck like that." You panted as you began to unbutton Jared's shirt. You ran your hands across his abs and looped your fingers around his belt buckle.

"You are far too overdressed." Jared complained as he tugged at the hem of your shirt.

"Why don't you fix that for me?" You smirked. There was a mischievous sparkle in his eyes as he pulled your shirt off your body.

You covered your stomach as you suddenly felt shy when Jared's eyes raked over your body. He frowned as he pulled your arms away. "Why are you hiding from me?"

"I- I dunno. It's just. . . All the girls you've been with in the past like Gen and Sandra are so beautiful and I look nothing like them -"

"Let me stop you right there," Jared said sternly. "You are gorgeous and incredibly sexy. Don't you dare compare yourself to them, because they could never be as beautiful as you. Don't let any asshole tell you otherwise. Do you understand?" You nodded slowly, fighting off the smile that crept onto your face. "Good, now let's pick up where we left off, shall we?"

Jared pulled down your jeans and tossed them aside, along with your panties. He looked at you like he hadn't eaten in days and you were a four course meal.

He began to trail kisses up your thighs, getting so close to where you wanted him to be only for him to pull away. "Quite being such a tease!" You growled.

Jared have you a smirk. "Yes ma'am." And with that he pulled you forward slightly so you were sitting on the edge of the counter. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion before a wave of euphoria hit as you felt Jared's tongue on your clit.

"Oh-" You moaned, only for Jared to cover your mouth with his hand.

"Shh, you wouldn't want anyone to hear, would you?" He questioned. You shook your head, desperate for him to return to where he was. "Be a good girl for me and stay quiet." His kissed you on the mouth before going back to eating you out. You bit your lip in attempts to silence your moans.

"Fuck," You whispered as you leaned your head back. Jared began to tease your hole with his tongue, making you gasp and grab onto his long locks.

You felt warmth spread through your stomach and a familiar coil began to tighten. "Oh, god, Jare, please keep going!" You encouraged him. "I'm so close."

At those words, Jared pulled away abruptly, making you want to cry out. "Sorry babygirl, you can only come when I say you can."

You frowned at his words. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you enjoy it." He winked. Jared began to unbuckle his belt; you could see his growing erection through his jeans. "I don't have a condom." He said defeated. "Are you clean?"

You nodded. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm all good." He assured you.

"Then we should be fine, it's not like I can get pregnant anyways."

"You never know." Jared said as he nipped at your neck. As he left love bites on your neck, you began to pull down his jeans, revealing his hardon. You pushed yourself off the counter and got on your knees, only for Jared to pull you back up.

"Not this time, kitten. This is about you, not me."

"But I want to make you feel good." You protested.

"Next time, baby." You smiled at the thought of a next time. He quickly turned you around so you were bent over the counter. "You're so wet." He growled as he grinded against you. "All this for me?"

"Yes, Jare. Only for you." You panted, desperate for his cock.

"Good," He murmured against your neck. "I've been waiting a while for this to happen, there is no way I'm letting it go to waste. Do you still want this?" He questioned, wanting to make sure you were still comfortable with it.

"If you stopped now I might have to kill you." Jared slowly pushed into you, as he didn't want to hurt you. You gasped in surprise; you had never been with someone as big as him. He gave you time to adjust to his size. "Move." You pleaded.

Jared chuckled as he slowly began to thrust into you. He grunted at the feeling of your warmth. "Fuck, Y/N." He moaned. "You're so fucking tight."

He began to pick up speed, which earned a moan from you. Jared put his hand over your mouth to silence your sounds, but you could still hear you skin slapping together.

"Oh, fuck." He growled. "I'm gonna cum. Gonna fill you with my seed, make you all round. God, you'd look so fucking sexy carrying my baby." Your eyes rolled into the back of your head at his words, causing your walls to clench around his dick. "Would you like that, huh? Being so full of my cum that it runs down you legs."

"Oh, fuck yes." You nodded. "Please, Jared, fill me with your cum. Make me carry your child." You begged.

Jared gripped your hips tightly, (definitely leaving bruises) as he rammed into you. You struggled to keep quiet, as all you wanted to do was scream from pleasure. "You're going to look so good filled with my cum." He purred.

"Let me cum with you." You whined, the coil in your stomach was ready to snap.

"I'm so close." He grunted, sweat dotting his brow. "Cum with me, babygirl. Cum." He demanded.

You shuttered as your coil finally snapped and you rode out your orgasm on Jared's dick. He followed soon after you, blowing his load into your womb.

"Holy shit," You muttered. "That was so fucking hot."

"You're telling me." Jared said as he slowly pulled out, making you feel empty. You began to clean yourself up and put your clothes back on.

You both looked a mess; swollen lips, messy hair and to top it all of, hickeys scattered your neck. You reached up on your tip toes to flatten Jared's hair. "At least our hair covers the bruises." You grinned.

"So, what happens next?" Jared questioned.

"I guess that's up to you." You shrugged. "We can either go on a date and see how this plays out, or we can forget this ever happened."

"I don't want to forget." He shook his head. "I don't think I could forget."

"Good," You smiled. "I was hoping you would say that." Jared grinned as he leaned down to kiss you once more.

"I have a really good feeling about this."

[hawaii5-0gurl]

A Marine and A Seal: Part 2

Paring: Steve McGarrett X Reader (Eventually)

Characters: Reader, Daniel Green (OC), Nick Collins (OC), John Sparks (OC), Duke Lukela, Kono Kalakaua, Chin Ho Kelly, Danny Williams, Steve McGarrett, Reader’s Parents

Word Count: 3703

Warnings: Angst, Language, hint of flirting, Minor Misunderstanding 

A/n: this is part 2 of ?? I haven’t finished writing it just yet. So I don’t have an exact number yet.

Feedback is always welcome. The Good and the Bad. It actually helps me as a newbie writer.(Yes I consider myself a newbie...)

Tumblr Masterlist  Series Masterlist

Want to be tagged in my future fics? Tag yourself Here

After getting back to base, you and Rolland were taken to the hospital. You made sure they took care of him first before they even looked at you. You were in your room waiting to hear what was going on with Rolland, when you had an unexpected visitor.

The knock on the door got your attention. You looked up from your computer to see Green standing in the doorway of your hospital room.

“What do you need Daniel?”

“Umm… I just came to check on you and let you know that Rolland is out of surgery. He’s going to make a full recovery.”

“Thanks for the update, and I’m fine. I have had a lot worse than this trust me.” When he hung around you could tell there was something on his mind. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I wanted to apologize.” He all of a sudden became shy, he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “I was a complete ass to you when I found out you were leading the team. I was more worried about the fact that you were a woman than how overqualified you are. Then I ended up getting you shot. I am more than sorry about that. You were an amazing leader, one of the best I have seen. You were going to sacrifice yourself to save the rest of us, hell you almost did.” You held your hand up to get him to stop talking.

“Listen, you’re not the only one who doesn’t like having a female leader. I have dealt with worse Marines trying to get me kicked out of missions. When I came into the Marines, I busted my ass night and day to be one of the best, while most men did only the required work.” You just shrugged. “Thank you, but if you ever have someone out in the field that is not willing to do even half of the things I did today, then they should really reconsider a career change. You don’t enlist in any branch just for the hell of it, we do it to help, save and protect people. If that means giving up my own life to save another, I’m going to do it.”

Before either of you could speak again, your commander came walking in.

“Major, it’s good to have you back.” You tried to sit straighter, but your commander waved you off.

“It’s good to be back Sir, even if I am a little banged up.”

“I know you wanted to talk to me about taking a leave of absents. I have to be in D.C. tomorrow so I figured it would be easier to come and talk to you before leaving.”

“Yes sir, I did. I need to take some time off to think about things. The marines have been my entire life at this point, and I am starting to think that it might be time to consider other things.”

“You want to be discharged?” You had completely forgot about Green.

“Not exactly. I was thinking maybe Reserves for now. I haven’t exactly made up my mind.” You sent a look over to him, hopefully he would shut up.

“Well, I will grant your Leave, but we are going to have a more private talk.” He looked over to Green who was looking down at the floor. “But if this is something that you really want to do, I’m sure we can figure it out.”

“Thank you, sir.”

After he left the room, there was this awkward tension. Green hadn’t looked up; you were just sitting there trying to figure out why he cared so much.

He left without saying another word.

“Are you really going to leave?”

“I’m not completely leaving, if I’m needed, I will be back. I have spent the last eighteen years in the Marines, I don’t know anything else. You never know I might absolutely hate being a civilian and want to come back immediately when my leave is over. This is something I need to do.”

You were released from the hospital after two days. You went home and started packing your bags. You had planned most of your trip while you were in the hospital. You just needed to confirm the dates with your hotel. When it came time to leave, Sparks and Collins wanted to drive you to the airport. They weren’t happy with your decision, but they understood why you had to do it. Green on the other hand had been avoiding you for the last week. Every time you tried to talk to him, he said he was busy, even when he wasn’t.

About a week and a half later, you had to do one last meeting before you could leave. This meant you had to be in your Dress Greens, and you would have to go to the airport in them. You hated the idea of that, but you can’t change it. After the meeting you grabbed you bags and carried them to Collins’s truck. Just as you were about to load up someone came up behind you guys.

“Room for one more?” Green was standing there, you turned around to see him.

“I don’t know, you sure you can handle me leaving like and adult now?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I was acting like a child.”

“Alright, load up.”

The ride to the airport wasn’t too bad. You were just going to miss these idiots. You started wondering if you were making the right decision, but quickly shot that down. You were, this is something you were doing for you. If you didn’t do it then you might regret it later.

Once you got to the airport, Collins parked in the lot, all of you got out and you hugged them goodbye. You went to grab your bags, but Green grabbed for them first. You looked at him confused.

“We’re going to walk you in, come on let’s go.” He said as he threw one of the bags to both Collins and Sparks.

“You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you guys have to get back.”

“No, we have the rest of the day off.” Sparks gave you a big smile.

You walked into the airport, checked your bags and got your ticket. All of you walked over to TSA, you stopped and looked at all of them.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” You gave them a small smile.

“No, it’s see you later. You’re not going to get away from us that easily. Even if you decide to leave.” Collins was the first to hug you.

“Yeah, no matter what you do we will always be there for you.” Sparks following behind Collins.

Green walked up to you and just pulled you into a hug.

“Let me know when you get there safely. I mean let us know when you get there.” You let out a small chuckle.

“Definitely, I will do that.” You let go of him, looking to all of them. “Stay safe boys. If I find out something happens to any of you, I will personally come back just to kick all of your asses.”

“Yes Ma’am.” They all said in unison, they gave you a salute.

You turned away and walked through security. They stayed there until you were completely out of sight. You had a 10-hour flight ahead of you. you were simply happy that you had nobody sitting next to you.

You had decided to go to Hawaii to visit your parents. They had retired to Hawaii about 5 years ago. You had lived there when you were in your teens. It was your favorite place that you had been moved too. You even made some friends there, that you still keep in contact now.

You haven’t seen them in a long time. Even though they only retired 5 years ago, it has been many more since you have seen them. You have been busy doing missions, training recruits, etc. You weren’t even able to go to their retirement party because you were overseas. You have tried to stay in contact with them, but those phone calls were few and far between.

Now you were sitting outside of their house. You didn’t tell them you were coming, you wanted it to be a surprise. You just wished that you could have changed out of your dress greens. You stepped out of your rental truck, adjusted your uniform before closing the door. As you were walking up to the front door you saw the curtains move, as if someone were watching you. Once you got to the door you rang the doorbell, you slightly turned away from it to look around their neighborhood.

The door opened behind you, as you turned back around you kept your head down slightly.

“Please don’t tell me something happened to Y/n.” Shit…

“I knew I should have changed.” You looked up to see your mother with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, you ass.” She immediately wrapped you in a hug. She ended up hitting you in the back while she was crying on your shoulder. “You sacred the shit out of me!”

“I’m sorry mom. I didn’t really think about it.” You looked up to see your father coming up behind you mother.

“Pipsqueak?” you mother let you go; you were in your father’s arms almost instantly.

“Dad.”

“What are you doing here? Not that we aren’t happy to see you, I figured you would be training or saving the world.” He let you go to pull you over to have a seat. You mother sat down next to you while your father sat in his chair off to the side of you.

“I decided to take leave for the first time, instead of being forced to take it.” You took your cover off and placed it in your lap. “Actually, I have been thinking of transferring to the reserves. I want to see what the world has to offer, outside of combat boots and fatigues.”

“Woah! Are you serious? Y/n, the Marines has been what you wanted to do ever since you were little. Are you sure you want to do this?” Your father sat forward in his seat to look directly in your eyes.

“I know it has. It’s just after my last mission, I started thinking about life and all the things I wanted out of it. I absolutely love the Marines and I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything in the world. It’s just in this moment I just need to figure things out for me.”

“So, are you going to move to Hawaii?”

“I think so. This was one of my favorite places to be growing up. I even called Kono and Chin to see what they were up too. I’m going to meet them after I came to see you guys, at ‘Iolani Palace. I figured while I was there, I would pick up an application for HPD.”

You could see that your mother didn’t like the idea of you going from one high risk job to another. She just wanted you to be safe.

“Are you sure HPD is where you want to go? If you are trying to get away from all of that, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“It’s a lot less risk than the Marines mom. Plus, it’s something that I can learn fast and adding my military background it’s one of the few jobs I would be good at.” You turned to her giving her had a reassuring squeeze.

You stayed with your parents for a few hours before you needed to leave. Once again you didn’t have time to change before going to see Kono and Chin like you had hoped. Your mother barely let you out the door, she made you promise to come back for dinner and to bring Chin and Kono if you could.

You walked into the Palace; you didn’t really know where to go. You saw a few officers and civilians around. You walked up to the officer behind the desk to ask where to go.

“Excuse me.” You quickly looked at his name plate. “Sgt. Lukela, I’m looking for Officer Chin Ho Kelly. He didn’t give me many instructions on where to go.” He looked up and was instantly taken back. He stood up before speaking.

“Yes, he is a part of the Five-0 task force. They are on the second floor, there are signs that lead you to them. I could call and have her here in a few minutes, or I could escort you there.” He looked at you with a nervous smile.

“No that’s okay Sir. I’m sure I can find it.” You were about to leave but turned back. “Are you alright?”

“Yes Ma’am, just wasn’t expecting to see a Marine in here today.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you nervous. I just didn’t have time to change out of my uniform.” You gave him a quick goodbye before heading up the stairs.

You followed the signs just like he had told you, you came to a couple of glass doors. You saw someone inside, but you could instantly tell it wasn’t Chin. This guy was shorter and had blonde hair. He looked up from a table to see you, he started walking over to you. You opened the door and walk in.

“Can I help you?” You could see him look you up and down.

“I am looking for Officers Kelly and Kalakaua. I’m supposed to meet them here somewhere.” You gestured around.

“There are in their offices. I’ll get them.” He turned away to go to the offices.

“Thank you…”

“Danny.” He said turning back with a smile.

“Thank you, Danny. I’m Y/n.”

He walked into an office in the left, you saw Chin’s head pop up with a large grin on his face. Danny moved to another office, while Chin got up from his desk to come out. Kono did the same, she even ran around Danny to get to you faster. She came running to you and pulling you into a hug. Chin came and hugged you both. Danny came up behind them.

“Y/n, I have missed you!” Kono practically yelled in your ear.

“It’s good to have you back here.” Chin joined in on the hug.

“Guys, umm I’m still not fully healed yet.”

They quickly let go of you, you grabbed your shoulder. You massaged the spot for a few seconds, before looking up at them.

“Sorry.” They said simultaneously.

“Are you alright?” Danny chimed in.

“I’m good, just recovering from being shot twice.” You said with a blank face, just to see his reaction. He looked shocked to say the least. You laughed a little. “I was in Afghanistan not too long ago; a few things didn’t go as planned. The important thing is that we made it out alive and we completed our mission.”

“Oh, well I hope you heal quickly. Also thank you for your service.”

“Thank you, and it’s my honor to serve.”

“Maybe we will see you around here again before you have to leave.”

“That could be fun, but I’m hoping to be around for a while.”

“Awesome. I have to get back to work before Steve comes back, but it was nice to meet you Y/n.”

“You too Danny.” He walked away and you looked back to Chin and Kono. “So, how have you guys been?”

“We are good, but we want to hear about you. How long are you here for?”

“Well, I’m here for two weeks then I go to D.C. for a little while. Then I’m back for good-ish.”

“What does that mean? Are you leaving the marines?” they had confused looks on their faces.

“Not exactly.”

You explained your plan to them. Telling them nothing is set in stone. You were going to see how the two weeks go first before making a final decision. At this point after seeing them and your parents your mind was made up. You were going to transfer to the reserves, that way if you were really needed you could still help.

You talked to them for a while. You had gotten Chin and Kono to agree to come to dinner. You made them promise not to bring up your last mission. You didn’t tell your mother the full story because you knew she would be upset. Your father knew but he knows better than to tell her what happens out in the field. Even though on some level you knew your mother knew, she was a Marine and she knows what can happen.

Just as you were leaving you asked Chin about where you could get an application for HPD. He walked you back down to the main desk and asked the officer you talked to earlier for one. After getting it, you quickly filled it out and turned it back in. Chin had to go back to work, you said goodbye to him. As you were walking out of the Palace, you weren’t paying attention and accidently bumped into someone.

“I am so sorry! Are you okay?” You took a step back and looked up at the person.

“No, it was my fault, I wasn’t paying attention.” He looked down at you, pausing for a moment before extending his hand. “I’m Steve.”

“I’m Y/n.” You shook his hand. The two of you held on a little too long, before you broke the trance. “Umm, I’ glad you’re okay but I do have to get going.”

You let go if his hand and started moving around him. He just watched you walk away. You turned back to see him staring at you. He gave you a wave, you waved back, before proceeding to your truck.

You went to your hotel, checked in before going to your room. You sent a text to your boys to let them know that you made it to Hawaii in one piece. They all got back to you saying have a good time and stay safe. You made sure to hang up your uniform before taking a long-awaited shower. You just stood there washing away the day, you finally had a chance to really relax. After your shower you got dressed in jeans, a tank top and a flannel to top it all off. You grabbed your gun and placed it in its holster, you never went anywhere without it. Then you grabbed your backpack and your keys before heading out the door to your parents’ house.

When you pulled up in front of their house, you could see Kono’s car pulling up behind you. Chin was also with her; they got out of her car and came over to you.

“You ready for this?” Chin questioned when he was you fidgeting.

“Yeah, it’s just weird being here and not in some foreign country fighting for something.”

“It’s going to take some getting used to. I think its weirder to see you in normal clothes. I think I have only ever seen you in a uniform.” Kono and Chin let out a small laugh.

“I know.” You put your arm around Kono. “I am loving it; I feel so free.” You moved your arms around just to emphasize how free you felt.

“Are you guys just going to stand outside all night? Or are you going to come in and have dinner with us?” Your father called from the doorway.

“We are coming Dad.” You looked to your friends. “We better go before he locks that door.” You quickly moved towards the door with Kono and Chin close behind.

You stayed there for a few hours. Your father was asking for stories. Of course, you left certain details out, for your mother sanity. You asked Chin and Kono about Five-0. They told you all about it. Then they talked about the people they work with, their boss Steve McGarrett and how he was a Navy Seal. Then they talked about Danny who transferred here from New York to be closer to his daughter Grace. You told your parents that you had put in your application for HPD. Your father was excited for you. Once again, you could see your mothers head drop at the thought.

You spent a few more hours there talking and having a good time. When it started getting to late Chin Kono and yourself said your goodbyes. When you left the house, you walked them to Kono’s car.

“Well, that was fun.” You smiled at them.

“Yeah, it was. We should get together again before you go to D.C.” Chin said as he gave you a hug.

“Definitely.”

“We could invite Danny and Steve. Since you are trying to get a job at HPD, you will be seeing them every once in a while.” Kono gave you a long hug.

“Sure, that sounds good.” After that you said your goodbyes and left.

Once you arrived at your hotel, you put your gun in the drawer of the nightstand. Then proceed to get ready for bed. You change into a pair of shorts, leaving the tank top on. You grabbed your laptop and climbed into bed. You started looking for apartments and houses. You may have made your decision, but you still have a lot of things to consider and things to do.

You have found a few apartments and houses that you are willing to go see. At this point you were leaning more towards the apartments; just in case you are called back to duty. One of the few pluses of being in the Marines is that you traveled so much, which means you don’t have a lot of things. So, if you have to pack up and leave it is going to be easy for you.

After a few hours, you finally decided it was time to stop and try to get some sleep. You have a lot to do in the next few days. You turned off your laptop and set it on the bedside table. After making sure your alarms were set and your phone was plugged in, you laid down and slowly fell asleep.

@Ohana (Everything) Tags:

@camillyb   @wanniiieeee  @gurkiloni​  @fanfictionaddiction99​

Series Tags:

@shipatheart @dannjulie

Steve McGarrett Tags:

@hails-halstead​ @healojane  @summer-children​ @multiplecelebritycrushesat16

[curvynerdfan]

Danny Zuko would never

Hey y’all! I am so sorry I haven’t posted in so long. Life drug me down into a routine of chaos to be quite honest. I can’t remember if this was inspired by a request or not so I apologize if I have forgotten to tag you. 

Jax x Reader 

Friends to Lovers, Sandy level makeover 

Warnings: cursing, mentions of addiction

Y/N was having a blast! Her and Gemma decided to drive into San Jose to shop for new clothes. Y/N worked with a non-profit medical assistance center in the pediatrics wing. She was off for the next four days and tomorrow was the Charming Fall Festival. Gemma had been really struggling lately, with her and Clay’s breakup and worrying about Jax now that he was President. 

Y/N was so happy Gemma asked her to join in on the shopping trip. The club mom had a habit of pushing the young nurse out of her comfort zone. Y/N was almost always in scrubs, jeans and oversized clothes. Not that it was a bad wardrobe, it worked for her purposes. But Y/N wanted to be daring and dress up a bit. Honestly she just wanted to catch Jax’s eye. Maybe even have a Sandra Dee at the Summer Carnival moment. 

Gemma said that Jax and Y/N were a pair of idiots, perfect for each other. Neither one realized they were interested in each other. No matter how much the people around them pointed it out the two remained oblivious. So when Y/N told Gemma that she was ready to do something bold, Gemma was over the moon with excitement. 

Y/N had never been the one to go over the top. Especially with her looks, but at this point she didn’t know what else to do to get Jax’s attention. She had money to burn and was ready to up her wardrobe. Gemma said if she wanted to get the title of Old Lady that they were gonna go all out. 

Y/N was suddenly very grateful that Jax insisted on sending Tig and Happy with them because she was not going to want to drive after the day Gemma planned out. Tig as Gemma’s go-to bodyguard and Happy as Y/N’s, all piled up into a Teller-Morrow rental. 

Gemma said that meant Jax already thought of her as his Old Lady, “Sending an enforcer, only happens for the President’s girl.” 

“Then why doesn’t he ask me out or claim me as his, huh? If he really thought that way then he’d do something!” Y/N protested 

“He cares for you and sent Happy! Make him step up and prove himself.” Gemma lectured.

Tig chimed in, “Sorry hun, Gem is right. Sgt. at Arms never gets sent with a random chick for a girls day, no matter how good a friend she is.” 

Happy let out a resounding hum in affirmation. Y/N gawked at the first shop they pulled up to at Gemma’s demand. It was a very nice vintage clothing and accessory store.

“I’ll buy you the first ten pieces of jewelry you find that fit a president’s Old Lady.” Gemma paused to laugh at Y/N’s shocked expression, “Move it or lose it sweet cheeks, offer ends in thirty minutes!” 

Y/N squealed and grabbed Happy’s arm tugging him along. While he was a man of few words, Y/N had a knack for deciphering his gruff responses and gestures. She knew he’d be great at helping her pick out some goodies. She’d hold a pair of earrings up to her face or model a chunky bracelet and depending on Happy’s response she’d add it to her basket or throw it away. 

By the time she met Gemma and Tig at the register she had collected a skull ring, a chain belt, crow studded earrings, a crescent moon necklace, a crow skull ring, an obsidian oval faced ring, a snake necklace, a pair of silver hoops, diamond stud earrings, and black dangle earrings. Gemma pried over the basket in judgement before giving a sharp nod and motioning Y/N to hand the items to the cashier. 

Y/N was happy to see that Gemma had found a few items to purchase for herself as well. While they were checking out Y/N saw several studded belts, a new mirror for her vanity, some vintage ashtrays and a gorgeous green glass vase. Gemma demanded that the boys load the car with her new purchases and locked arms with Y/N before strutting out of the shop. 

Next was a gigantic department store. Gemma dragged her through the store and repeatedly threw clothes at Happy and Tig to carry to a dressing room. By the time Gemma was done each woman had fifty or so items to try on and there were even a few things for the men to try on as well. 

They would all try on a complete outfit, step outside of the room, do a little spin or strut(stand and pout in Happy’s case), receive critiques or hype and then repeat. The boys ran out quickly and ended up lounging on a couch and offering opinions when asked. Gemma told Y/N that the goal was sophisticated grunge. She still wasn’t sure she understood, but she did feel very hot in everything they decided to buy. 

Next was shoes.Y/N decided to only buy four pairs and let everyone have a say.  Happy found Y/N the best pair of riding boots for women, Tig picked out some dagger-like heels, Gemma picked a pair of knee high heeled boots and Y/N picked white sneakers that matched the ones she bought Jax a few years ago. 

Last stop was a nail salon. Gemma sent Y/N straight to the back room to get waxed. When Y/N gave her a look and squawked at her, Gemma just twirled her finger and said to “do what needs to be done”. When Y/N stumbled back out of the room, Gemma had a mimosa waiting for her. 

Y/N couldn’t commit to long nails or a dark color due to her job but it was still nice to be pampered after such a long and challenging day. While getting their nails done, the girls talked through what Y/N should wear the next night for the carnival. The three pros of MC life gave Y/N a few pointers on how to own being an old lady. This still made Y/N scoff and worry that everyone was wrong. 

----------------------- 

The carnival was finally here and Jax was excited for some much needed time off with his family and friends. Gemma wanted to watch Abel for the night. This meant he could really relax and let loose tonight. No worries about staying out too late for his little man or limiting his alcohol or weed. It was gonna be great. 

At least, til he saw Y/N walking up, “What the hell are you wearing?” 

Y/N looked different, that’s for sure. She knew she didn’t look bad though. She had on a tight black wrap-around long-sleeve crop top, ripped jeans with fishnets underneath and the white sneakers she picked out. She even threw on some of the goodies that Gemma bought her. She cinched her waist in with the chain belt, the crow studs and skull ring added to the alure. Her hair was curled and she did her makeup, highlighting her sparkling eyes with black eyeliner and her plump lips with a deep red lipstick. 

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked, holding back remorse for dressing up. 

“You look like a, shit, who are you dressed up for?” Jax questioned. 

“Why does it have to be for someone? Can’t I look hot without it being for someone,” Y/N put a hand on her hip, beginning to get pissed. 

“You look like you’re trying to lock a member down! Got your eyes set on one of the guys huh? You’ve been hanging around Happy a lot lately, trying to be his old lady?” He prodded. 

“Dammit Jax! I had my eyes set on you but I guess I can’t be your old lady unless I am pining desperately for you to rescue me! Maybe I need a stalker or some form of addiction for you to realize I like you” Y/N screamed, stomping off. 

Y/N knew that was uncalled for but her anger got the better of her but not even Danny Zuko would pull this kind of douche move. It definitely wasn’t going the way she thought it would. While she didn’t necessarily believe the others when they said Jax was interested, it hurt that he was so offended by her looks. Her eyes began to sting as she pondered why she even considered making a move. 

Jax lost his breath when Y/N yelled at him. He quickly got it back when a ringed had slammed into the back of his head. When he whipped his head around he saw a pissed off Gemma staring him down. 

“Remember how you sent Happy and Tig with us yesterday? She spent the entire buying stuff because she wanted to look like an old lady. She did that for you. We all encouraged her because everyone here sees how y’all feel about each other except the two of you. If you don’t wanna be with her, cut it off now and stay at the table. But if you want her to be your old lady like we know you do, you better chase after her.”, his mom said, matter-of-factly. 

Jax stared at her with his mouth open. He was still in shock. He always saw Y/N as his but didn’t think she would want to be with him. When she left for college, he thought he lost his chance. She came back and he was with Wendy. She dated some uppity guys here and there, he assumed that was her type and she was ready to settle down. So when Tara decided to stay in Charming and he saw Y/N out on another date, he chose to go back to Tara. 

To think that he and Y/N could have been together for years now was making his head run circles around his heart. The fact that she did all of this to be with him permanently seemed ridiculous to him. She could have just told him, but looking back she must have been trying for years. The dedication to him and the club wasn’t out of friendship but love. 

“Fuck”, Jax let slip from his lips as he hopped off of the table he was sitting on. 

He marched off on a mission, searching for Y/N. He stomped through the happy crowd and scanned the flashing neon lights with his eyes. He was pissed at himself. He knew his mom was right too, if he didn’t show his feelings now he and Y/N didn’t have a chance in hell. He just hoped he could find her. 

Y/N stopped at the ferris wheel. Her eyes were still stinging but she refused to cry, especially in front of all these people. She would either get up in the air and cry or calm down. She was losing it on the inside. Every single person she talked to said Jax felt the same way, but Jackson’s reaction was the opposite of what was expected. 

Y/N was at the front of the line when Jax finally tracked her down. Jax picked up his pace and managed to get to the ticketer as she got in on her own. Jax shoved a handful of cash into the operators hands when he protested and hopped in with her and shut the door behind him. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Jackson?” Y/N huffed

Jax flinched at the use of his full name, “I fucked up. Can we talk?” 

“It doesn’t matter, you trapped me with you. You got one loop to convince me to stay on the ride with you”, she demanded. 

Y/N was pissed. First, Jax insulted her and asked her if she was trying to nail one of his guys and now he wouldn’t even let her cry it out on her own. She was waiting for him to pull the “let her down easy” lines she knew the man had memorized. Except with Y/N it was going to be… 

“We have been friends for as long as I remember. I didn’t realize that you felt that way about me.” 

Y/N cut Jax off, “Look, we don’t have to do this. I’m trying to keep my shit together but I’d rather not do this right now.” 

Confusion graced Jax’s face, “No, I, I’m trying to explain. It’s not what you think.” 

“I’m pretty sure it is, Jax. You made your point earlier, if I want to be an old lady I should look to Happy and or another member.”, Y/N ranted, this last thing she wanted was to dig into why Jax didn’t want to be with her. 

“Dammit Y/N! I am trying to tell you that I love you, too!” Jax shouted, losing it for a moment. 

He pulled Y/N in for a kiss, one had cupped her face and the other pulled Y/N onto his lap. Y/N was shocked at Jax’s announcement and even more so at his lips on hers. 

By the time Jax and Y/N had finished a loop, she was happy to stay on the ferris wheel with him. By the time the ride had ended they had become a couple and managed to mark their claims on each other. By the time the duo made it back to the crew’s table, the group began to hoop and holler. Y/N felt her cheeks heat up and ducked her head into Jax’s arm while he received high fives and slaps on the back in congratulations. 

“Let me know when to expect another grandbaby!”, Gemma said with glee as she walked past the happy couple with a sleepy Abel in her arms. 

To say the least, Momma Gemma is the best

Taglist: @justahopelessssromantic

[heauxplesslydevoted]

Fire & Desire (Ethan x MC)

Warning: NSFW, 18+

Summary: After the funeral, Naomi heads to Ethan’s apartment for comfort. Let’s pretend that 30 diamond scene in chapter 12 didn’t happen, okay? I made up 95% of this.

A/N: Guys, I have an embarrassing amount of rewrites/drafts of this on my computer. Pls enjoy.

~v~

In order to survive the past few days, Naomi has made it her mission to get through things one step at a time. Her first goal was to survive the toxin. She did. Then it was to just get well and be discharged from the hospital. The last step was to make it through Danny and Bobby’s joint memorial service in one piece. Not only did she do that, but she delivered a eulogy flawlessly, while her friends and colleagues all fell apart at the seams and waited for her to do the same.

But now that it’s all over, now that there’s no goal to work towards especially since Naveen won’t let her back in the hospital without clearance from a therapist, Naomi has never felt more lost or out of sorts in her life.

After the memorial, Naomi went home with her roommates and she regrets it. Jackie and Elijah can barely look at her without giving her pity glances, Sienna has been trying to feed her nonstop, and Aurora has convinced them all that she’s spiraling due to her meltdown at Ethan earlier that day. So she hid in her bedroom, pretending to be asleep simply because she was tired of them.

But sleep evades her. Outside of a quick 15 minute power nap, Naomi hasn’t been able to sleep, thoughts of being back in that hospital room never too far from her mind. Every time she closed her eyes, the fear took over, gripping her and refusing to let go.

So that’s how she ended up here, in Ethan’s apartment, on his couch, nursing a glass of scotch. Being at home wasn’t an option and there’s no one else she’d rather be with, so as soon as her roommates went to bed, Naomi slipped out and made her way across town to Ethan’s place. Ethan was shocked when he found her outside of his apartment at midnight, especially with the way their last conversation ended. He wanted to scold her for taking an Uber so late at night by herself, but of course he didn’t turn her away. 

“Are you hungry?” Ethan asks, opening and closing his refrigerator a few times, as if that will make food magically appear. “I didn’t cook today, but I can probably throw something together.”

Naomi doesn’t know if her appetite still hasn’t returned or if it’s her mind playing tricks on her, as she can still taste the vomit in her mouth at the mere mention of food. “No, I’m fine for now.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Okay.” Ethan wants to ask questions because she’s obviously come here for a reason, but he doesn’t want to push her. “It’s late and you must be exhausted though.” He walks back to his living room and holds out a hand, which Naomi grabs. He ushers her to his bedroom. “You can sleep in here.”

His room still looks like she remembers. The king sized bed takes up most of the space, and he still has the most amazing view in all of Boston. The night is still young and bustling, the buildings all lit up.

“You’re sleeping in here too, right?” Naomi asks.

“I was going to take the guest room, or the couch.”

Naomi shakes her head. “Nonsense, you’re sleeping with me.”

Even though there’s no light other than moonlight spilling into the room, Naomi can still see his cheeks tinge pink. “I didn’t want to assume.”

“I think after our night together in the hospital, assuming will be safe. It’s cute, but we’re grown and you won’t offend my virtue.”

“Noted.” Naomi watches him as he moves around the room, a sort of anxious energy radiating off of him. He rummages through a drawer until he finds something suitable for her to put on. “Here you go.”

It’s a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt from a charity 5k because of course Ethan is the type to participate in something like that. Naomi rids herself of the jeans and sweater she haphazardly threw on in her rush to leave her apartment and slips on the t-shirt, forgoing the pants. Their obvious size differences make the shirt look comically large on her like a nightgown.

“Fair warning, I don’t have a scrunchie or anything to wrap my hair in, so I apologize if you wake up to like...a lion’s mane of hair in your face.”

“I think I’ll survive.”

Naomi pulls back the covers and slides into the bed, moaning upon contact. Oh, to be rich and have fancy high thread-count sheets and a memory foam mattress. “God, I never want to leave this bed.”

“Keep making noises like that, and I won’t let you.” He doesn’t climb bed behind her, opting to sit on the edge. “You want to talk?”

“About what?”

“The fact that you’re here right now, instead of your own apartment.”

“Is it not enough to say I wanted to see you?”

Ethan scoffs. Naomi is charming, but she can’t bullshit him. “Sure.”

She doesn’t want to talk about herself. That’s all she’s done for the past 48 hours, and she’s tired of it. It’s selfish.

She manages to turn the tables on Ethan. “You look tired. I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“You didn’t,” Ethan assures her. “I wasn’t sleeping anyway.”

“I didn’t have you pegged as an insomniac.”

“We’re doctors, so it goes without saying that we’re all insomniacs.” Ethan sighs. “But to be honest, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep all week.”

“I get it. With the toxin, and Bobby and Danny, and Raf–”

“It’s not them, Naomi, it’s you,” Ethan argues. “I spend all 24 hours of the day with you on my brain, worrying about you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I thought you were going to die in my arms,” Ethan continues. “I tried to stay optimistic for you, but all I could think about was the fact that it could’ve been my last night with you. That night, after you finally fell asleep, I stayed up, analyzing your vitals. The only time I wasn’t looking at you is when I was looking at your chart. And every night since, I lay awake, forcing myself to not contact you.”

Naomi frowns. She’s spent so much time wrapped up in her own head, she didn’t take much time to think about how Ethan was affected as well. She’s sure she’d be a wreck if the situation was reversed, if he was the one fighting an unknown deadly agent. 

She crawls out the sheets and joins Ethan at the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think–”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me. You’ve been going through enough, I shouldn’t even be burdening you.”

“It’s fine. We shared deathbed confessions, I think I can handle whatever else you throw my way.”

Ethan turns to lock eyes with Naomi, her expression open and earnest. “I meant everything I said in there. I regret putting us on hold, and I’m sorry I wasted so much time.”

Naomi sucks in a deep breath. “Okay. So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I’m done pretending that I don’t have feelings for you. I’m done trying to hold you at arm’s length. I want you, Naomi.”

“Are you feeling like this because I almost died?”

“No. I mean, sure it was a major wake-up call for me, but I’ve felt this way for a long time. The last time you were here, the night of the softball game, I kissed you, and instead of making my intentions known then and there, I put it off, and that almost cost me everything. I don’t have all the answers, because I’m your boss, and people at hospitals like to gossip, but whatever this is, I want to explore it with you.” 

Naomi doesn’t say anything, her brain and heart trying to process all of this information. Ethan watches her, his heart pounding wildly. Did he seriously miscalculate her feelings for him? Did he pick the most inopportune moment to drop this on her?

“It took you long enough,” Naomi says.

He laughs, his relief evident and he grabs her hand. “Well I appreciate you having the patience of a saint, Rookie.”

“It’s because I am a saint.”

He runs his thumb along the inside of her wrist, tracing a pattern into the warm skin. The steady thump of her pulse is enough to soothe the anxiety that lingers. She’s here. She’s with him. She’s alive.

His other hand grips the back of her neck, forcing her to look him in the eye. Ethan’s gaze sweeps across her face, his 11 years as a doctor having given him a keen eye for detail. There’s her long, dark eyelashes, her full lips, her pronounced cheekbones, her button nose that crinkles whenever she’s smiling and laughing, a sight he hopes to see again soon. He doesn’t know what emotion is more overwhelming: the relief that she’s alive, or the fear that she was that close to dying.

Ethan is all too aware of the fact that he could’ve lost her. That he and Naomi would never share a quiet moment like this ever again. That she’d never know the full extent of his feelings for her, because he’d been too much of a coward to be honest a long time ago. The thought of the hypothetical makes his insides twist uncomfortably. He can’t dwell on it, not while she’s here, looking to him for comfort.

Without thinking further, his lips slowly collide with hers, pulling the younger woman into a kiss. She wastes no time, kissing him back with an unrivaled fervor that borders on desperation, but Ethan isn’t one to complain. He deepens the kiss, his tongue sweeping her mouth until he finds her own.

The kiss sparks something inside of Naomi, a buzz building in the pit of her stomach, so potent and all consuming, it nearly startled her. For the first time in what feels like forever, the rest of the world fades away. It’s just her and Ethan, and this magical little flame between them. So she clings to it, to him, to them, and swings one of her legs over, straddling him. One arm wraps around the back of his neck, one hand tangles in the hair at the nape of his neck as she pulls herself closer. He tastes smoky like the scotch they drank earlier, and she swears the kiss alone is enough to leave her intoxicated.

Desperate for any sort of friction, Naomi rolls her hips into his. She can feel him hardening beneath her, his erection straining through the thin layers of fabric preventing them from being completely bare with each other. Unable to help himself, Ethan breaks the kiss only to let out a low, “Fuck.”

He needs to stop this. Logically, Ethan knows that putting a kibosh in this is the right thing to do. Naomi came to him because she needs a support system, and the last thing he wants to do is take advantage of her trust and manipulate her grief.

“Naomi, stop,” Ethan gently commands, hands gripping her hips in order to keep her still.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“We don’t have to do this tonight,” Ethan says. “Let’s just go to bed.”

“But I don’t want to go to bed.”

“But you should.”

“No. I want this, I want you.”

Her lips are on his jaw, kissing and biting, and it’s becoming harder for him to stay focused. “You’ve had a very long day, it’s been emotionally draining, and I’m sure you’re exhausted–”

“Oh my God, stop!” Naomi exclaims. “I don’t need another person explaining to me what I’m going through or what I’m feeling. Trust me, no one is more aware of my shitty life than I am.” She leans forward resting her forehead against his. “I get it, I’m the one who barely survived an assassination attempt, and I’m going to walk around with that for the rest of my life. For tonight, can I just be a normal girl who wants to fuck her boyfriend, or whatever the hell you are to me? Please?”

Despite the circumstances, his cock twitches almost painfully as soon as the word “boyfriend” leaves her mouth. He’s a grown ass man, he hasn’t used the term since high school, and here he is, ready to dissolve into a puddle of goo. What the hell has Naomi Valentine done to him and who is this mess of a man that she’s replaced him with?

Whatever she’s trying to do won’t work. Pushing aside her grief and trying to avoid the problem with sex isn’t a coping mechanism he’d ever recommend (not that he has any brilliant ones of his own, but still). It’s not going to fix anything in the long run. 

Naomi’s lips brush against his before giving him another teasing kiss before pulling away. “Please,” she whines. “I want you, Ethan.” Ethan has always considered himself to be a staunch man who isn’t easily swayed. Until he met Naomi. How can he be when she’s looking at him with those big doe eyes of hers, weakening his otherwise tough resolve? It may not help her tomorrow, but who is he to deny her reprieve at least right now? Saying no to her has never been a strength Ethan claimed to possess.

Not giving any sort of warning, Ethan grips the oversized shirt she’s wearing and forcefully pulls it up, barely giving her enough time to lift her arms and help with the process. Once the piece of clothing is discarded somewhere on his bedroom floor, Ethan flips their positions, Naomi’s back landing on his mattress with a soft thud.

He sucks in a sharp breath. Ethan considers himself to be a well traveled, well cultured man. He’s seen the Eiffel Tower multiple times, visited the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, driven a Ferrari through the streets of Rome, drank wine while overlooking a Napa vineyard, and more. But none of those even comes close to the sight of Naomi naked in his bed, writhing on top of his sheets, her curly hair splayed out like a crown atop her head. She’s absolutely beautiful, and he’s a goner. He’s always known it, but this moment right here, right now actually seals the deal.

“Why don’t you take a picture?” Naomi asks, jolting Ethan out of his thoughts. He feels her dainty foot running along the soft cotton of his pajama pants before traveling higher, lightly brushing his side.

He catches her foot, his strong hand wrapping around her ankle, and yanks her forward. “I don’t need to take a picture because the real thing is just fine.” Maintaining eye contact, Ethan presses a line of kisses from her ankle to the inside of her knee, smirking as he feels the goosebumps pop up along the trail he’s set. “God, it really doesn’t take much to get you going, huh?”

“Not when it involves you, no,” Naomi replies.

Ethan drops her leg unceremoniously. His hands wander until they’re hooked into the waistband of her lacy underwear, and he pulls them down quickly, deciding not to make a production of it. A hum of approval leaves his throat when he finds her already soaked for him. He runs a finger along her spreading the wetness around before pressing the single digit into her. “I like that answer.”

Her toes curl at the contact and Naomi grips the sheets beneath her. “Oh, fuck.”

“Christ, you’re tight.”

“It’s been a while,” Naomi admits, panting heavily. “The guy I was into ran off to another continent, and put us on ice.”

Ethan can tell by her tone that she’s merely teasing, but his heart still hammers wildly nonetheless. He wasted so much time, and for what? He slides another finger into her, enjoying the moan she gives him in return. “It appears I have some atoning to do, hmm?”

Naomi nods. “A lot of atoning.”

“Very well.” 

She feels him remove his fingers, and nothing makes her head spin more. Lifting herself up by her elbows, Naomi glares down at Ethan. “What are you doing? You can’t just stop!”

“Relax.” Ethan forces Naomi back to her originally flat position. “I think you know better than anyone that I’m going to take good care of you.” She chooses not to respond, because they both know the answer to that is a resounding yes.

He spreads her thighs and Naomi shivers at the gleam in his eyes, positively engraved by the way he looks at her: all lust and hunger. Desperate for Ethan to actually do something, she tilts her hips up, hoping he’ll get the hint.

Ethan chuckles and places an open mouthed kiss on the inside of her thigh. She swears she can feel herself buzzing with anticipation, her insides on fire, and all she wants him to do is just touch her.

When he finally does, she’s shocked she doesn’t combust then and there. Her head tips back and a low groan tumbles from her lips, and her thighs clamp shut so tightly around Ethan’s head, she’d be apologetic if she wasn’t so far gone. Ethan doesn’t skip a beat though, his fingers digging into her thighs and spreading them apart, and then he’s back to his original mission.

Ethan’s tongue glides through her folds with ease, stroking her up and down a few times before closing his mouth around her clit and sucking hard. Her hips fly off the bed and she grinds into him with a reckless abandon she hasn’t felt in a really long time, but Ethan splays a strong hand across her stomach to hold her down, trapping her between him and his bed.

Trying to gain a modicum of power back, Naomi grips a handful of his hair and tugs at it roughly. It’s an action that makes Ethan growl, his mouth vibrating against her.

Her little moans and cries do nothing to help the raging ego Naomi claims he has, instead they only fuel him further. He ups the ante, his two fingers sliding back into her, curling in a come hither motion and pressing repeatedly against the spot that makes her see stars.

He can tell by the vice grip she has on his fingers and the way she’s undulating against him that she’s close. And while he’s content to draw this out for as long as humanly possible, until he’s wrung every little ounce of pleasure from her that he can, Ethan is well aware that the woman occupying his bed doesn’t have that type of patience.

Giving her a bit of reprieve, he takes his mouth off of her, only moving it slightly so he can kiss the soft flesh of her inner thigh.

“God, Ethan.”

“Say my name again, Rookie,” Ethan commands. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

Naomi obeys without as much as a second thought. It doesn’t take much to get her to say his name again, the word coming out as a shout in between a broken cry. Ethan smirks, satisfied with his work, and his tongue finds her clit, stroking the tiny bundle a few more times until her orgasm zips through her with the intensity of a lightning strike. Her entire body tenses up as Ethan continues to lap at her, as she rides out the aftershocks.

When she’s finally in control of her senses again, the first thing Naomi notices is how absolutely wrecked Ethan looks, eyes red and glossy, mouth and beard soaked, and she wants to do nothing more than kiss him. So she does, grabbing the back of his head and pulling him back on top of her. She can taste herself on his mouth and it makes her moan.

Impatient, Naomi reaches between their bodies and tugs at the waistband of his pants. Ethan receives the message loud and clear, and he breaks the kiss to strip as quickly as he can. She watches as Ethan flings his shirt across the room and kicks off his pajama bottoms. He isn’t the only one with above average observation skills, and she notices the slight tremble in his hands, the anticipation as intense for him as it is for her. She’d be lying if she said reducing this great and powerful man to nothing more than a shaky mess isn’t a turn on. Once his boxers are gone, Naomi looks him up and down, every part of him still as she remembered.

Her eyes zero in on his erection, painfully hard. She wraps her hand around him, stroking firmly. “My my, doctor, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like me.”

The other four letter L-word rattles around in his brain, begging to be set free, and with more strength than he thought he had, Ethan manages to keep quiet. He’d never forgive himself for such selfishness if he blurted out he loves her in the middle of sex. Naomi has enough to deal with already without that added layer of complexity.

Ethan’s thoughts are interrupted, a sharp hiss passing through his teeth as he feels her tongue languidly glide across the swollen head of his erection before taking him fully in her mouth.

He doesn’t know what will kill him first: how good it feels, or the fact that she’s staring up at him with those fucking Disney princess eyes again, feigning innocence like she’s unaware of exactly what she does to him.

He allows her to get in one more stroke of her tongue before he grabs a fistful of her hair and pulls her away. One of her eyebrows raises in question. “What’s wrong? I was just getting started.”

He drags them back into bed before answering, “I need to be inside you. You can do whatever you want to me afterwards.”

She grins at the promise of a next time. Whatever she wants? “Don’t threaten me with a good time, Ramsey.”

“It’s not a threat, it’s a promise,” Ethan assures her. 

Naomi feels him, poised at her entrance and she arches backwards, too overly sensitive. Ethan’s hands are back on her hips, holding her in place, and inch by inch, he fills her. They both groan at the sensation, familiar territory but something new entirely. Her hands fly to his back, nails digging into the skin as she’s stretched to maximum capacity, uncaring if she leaves marks.

Ethan is unsure of how long they’ve been like this, but he’s nearly shaking with the restraint it’s taking him to not thrust into her. He drops his head, kissing a line across her collarbone. “Fuck, baby, I need you to let me know when I can move.”

The pet name wasn’t intentional, spilling from Ethan’s lips before he could stop it, but Naomi whimpers regardless. She hooks her legs behind his back, keeping him just as trapped as she is. “Please.”

He moves slowly, partially to give her a chance to adjust to his size, the other reason because he doesn’t want it to be over as quickly as it started. This, being inside of her again, is overwhelming and Ethan can’t believe there was ever a time he thought he could go without.

“You’re incredible,” Ethan compliments.

“Okay, say it again when I’m not in your bed. Like during a team meeting where you’re shooting down my ideas.”

“You are,” Ethan insists.

He thrusts into her again, and Naomi cries out, nails raking at his back. Surely she’s broken skin at this point, but Ethan doesn’t care. He’s never been one for pain in bed, but with Naomi, he’s willing to make an allowance, especially since it leaves way for pleasure. They move in tandem, hips moving against each other, both trying to coax out the release that’s been building. Unable to do much of anything else, Ethan leans forward, kissing Naomi again. She meets him halfway, just as eager as he is.

Eventually she has to break the kiss, and she gasps in a large breath of air, her lungs constricting tightly in her rib cage. In her distracted moment, Ethan manages to free himself of her hands marking him relentlessly, and he captures both of her wrists in one fell swoop. He holds them above her head in one hand, pressing her as deep into the mattress as possible. The new angle catches her by surprise and she can’t do anything but gasp into the air above her.

“Please.” She doesn’t even know what she’s pleading for at this point, but it’s the only word her brain can comprehend so she chants it repeatedly like a prayer until she’s shattering around him, mouth open, head tipped back, skin flush and warm. She’s perfect like this, Ethan surmises. 

It doesn’t take him more than a few more thrusts before Ethan’s own release takes control and he falls forward, leaning some of his weight onto Naomi. He doesn’t trust himself to not say or do something completely stupid, so he buries his face in the crook of her neck, biting down on the sensitive flesh.

It could’ve been mere minutes that they spent in that position, or it could’ve been hours for all Naomi knows, but when Ethan finally pulls out, he’s kissing her all over: her cheeks, her nose, her forehead.

He wraps her in a solid embrace, arms circling around her and holding her close, their erratic heart rates trying to slow down. Ethan feels at peace doing just this, holding her close to him, feeling the rise and fall of her chest.

Do you feel any better?”

That isn’t a question Naomi expects to hear right after sex, and it causes her to pause.  After a few more moments of silence, she answers, “I mean, the endorphin release was great if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It’s not what I’m asking, and you know it.”

Naomi knew going into it that the sex wasn’t going to soothe all of her hurts and be the magical solution to her problems, so she doesn’t need some major “I-told-you-so” moment from him. But for the first time in almost a week, she feels like herself again. Within the confines of these four walls, Ethan didn’t treat her like some fragile little doll, and her mind was able to take a break from overthinking.

“It was nice to turn my brain off, if only for a short time,” Naomi replies. “It was nice to not be a captive to my trauma.”

Ethan’s fingers gently graze her scalp, massaging. “Do you think you’re ready to talk to me now?”

“No.”

She’s as stubborn as ever. “Fair enough. But if we were to talk about it, I would say that you went through something horrible and traumatic, and you have to allow yourself to actually feel and process whatever emotions you have. I’d also say that you are incredibly strong, but your strength doesn’t mean that you have to bottle everything inside in order to make everyone around you feel better, especially when you’re with me. Strong people have the right to be vulnerable too.” Ethan sighs. “But since we aren’t talking about it, I’m not going to say any of those things.”

Naomi curls in closer to Ethan, comforted by his body warmth. “I think I would really enjoy hearing those things if this was a conversation we were having.”

“Good. Now whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be prepared.”

“Thank you.”

“I think it’s what good boyfriends do. Or whatever the hell I am to you. That’s what you said, right?”

“Okay, I have an explanation for getting agitated about the technical definition of our relationship.”

“Oh yeah? I’d love to hear it.”

“I was impatient and horny.”

Ethan laughs, the warm and rich sound curling around her insides. It does more to help than she’ll ever be able to convey to him. “You’re also very honest.”

“To a fault at times, yes.”

A silence settled between them again, and Naomi feels her eyelids getting heavier. Maybe she’ll be able to finally get some real sleep, not the fitful unconsciousness she’s been subjected to for the past few days.

“Thank you for indulging me tonight,” Naomi says. 

He’s going to suggest she talk to a therapist. He’s going to say it multiple times, until he’s blue in the face and she’s tired of listening. But he'll leave her alone for tonight.

“You’re welcome. Now, get some sleep. The sooner you get to bed, the sooner we wake up, and I can cook breakfast for you.”

“Mhmm, sounds like a plan, Ramsey.”

Ethan can feel her falling asleep on him. He presses a kiss into her forehead. “Naomi?”

“Hmm?”

“For the record, I am definitely your boyfriend.”

~v~

tags: @maurine07 @aka-calliope @edgiestwinter @soft-for-drake @greenbean-kylie @akshara16 @mrsramseyy @honeyandsunfl0wers @blossomanarchy @takemyopenheart @fanmantrashcan @whatchique @ao719 @x-kyne-x @colourmeshy @paulfwesley @writinghereandthere @ramseyandrys @perriewinklenerdie @aworldoffandoms @thatcatlady0716 @drakewalker04 @canknot @hatescapsicum @lapisreviewsstuff @senseofduties @badchoicesposts @ethandaddyramsey @chasingrobbie @zodiacsign1 @choices-lurker @trappedinfandoms @my-heart-beats-for-ya @adrian-motherfucking-raines @riverrune @edith-eggs1 @thatysn @bellcat2010 @theeccentricbibliophile @cecilecontrera @junehiratas @choices-love-affair @openheart12 @caseyvalentineramsey @desmaranj @nazario-sayeed @aestheticartsx @ruinedbypixels @mvalentine @nooruleman @rookie-ramsey

[flutteringdreams-matw]

Out of Time (13)

First/Last

Read on AO3

Word Count: 6532

Previously: After a brief team up between Vlad, Valerie, Dani and Danny against Dan, the evil spectre goes after the Fentons. With Danny injured, the others rush off to find his family. Just when Danny starts to think he can recover he remembers the last person involved in the original future - Mr. Lancer.

Now: Fentons and friends v. Dan duplicates. Fights, observant parents enraged Dan and some relevations...maybe.

Please let me know what you think! Feel free to drop a reply or reblog whatever. Next chapter will be out on Sunday (link will be in the replies!)

Jack frowned as he destroyed two more of the shadow ghosts. In the confusion of the attacks and recognition that Danny was finally back in the city, he barely noticed when most of the ghosts disappeared. "I know you're there!" the man yelled angrily. "Show yourself before the might of Jack Fenton!" His frown deepened when nothing jumped out at him. It was too quiet. Jack brought the Fenton Bazooka down to his side and searched the skies for a familiar black and white blur. Even the fighting above the city had stopped. The worried father's left hand turned on the switch on the Fenton Phone. "Tucker, what's happening?"

The line of the Fenton Phone crackled to life. "There's still shadows around the town," his son's best friend told him. "But a lot of them are leaving to go attack the perimeter. Ethelwulf's out there, so they're probably trying to take him out."

Jack's chest tightened slightly. "And Danny?" he asked fearfully.

He heard Tucker sigh worriedly. "Gone - he's not coming up on the scanners," Tucker replied. "It's like he vanished again - but he must still be here somewhere. Clockwork lost sight of him when he, Danielle, Plasmius and the Red Hunter were fighting Dan. I don't think he would leave again without checking in with us."

Jack hummed in agreement, scanning the skies again. "There's something else going on," he said murmured. "It's too quiet."

"Agreed," Tucker confirmed. Jack heard a small beep on the line before the teen spoke again. "Mrs. F - how does your end look?"

"I've got no hostiles," she replied quickly. "Though the Red Hunter's here - they said we're in danger."

Jack frowned as he heard Tucker swore under his breath. "Does Red know where Danny is?" He heard Maddie relay the question to the ghost hunter, getting a muffled reply before she responded.

"The office building off of Third Street," Maddie told them evenly, trying to mask her worry in the face of the hunter. "Jack, how close are you?"

"Very," he replied, holstering the bazooka and taking out the scanner. There was still no sign of Danny on it. "I'll get him, Mads."

He heard some more muffled noises on the other end before his wife spoke again. "Jack, Phantom said Dan is coming after us. Be careful."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled from here Mr. F," Tucker added. "Just get to that building. I don't know why Danny isn't coming up on the scanner, but I have a bad feeling about it."

"Will do," Jack replied, hearing the line of the Fenton Phones go dead. He looked down at the scanner, changing it to scan for ghosts above Danny's ecto-levels. It pinged, showing three entities on the scanner - none of them were at that office building. "Come on Danny," he murmured to himself. "Where are you?"

"Dad?"

:-=-:

Maddie heard the line disconnect, turning to the mysterious Red Hunter with a frown. "What else did Phantom tell you?" she asked, trying to mask any emotion that would give away her concern. Jack will find him. He'll be okay.

"Not much," Red's robotic voice replied. Maddie still couldn't figure out their age nor their gender. "Just that Dan was coming for your family."

Maddie nodded, again pushing aside her worry. She needed to prioritize. "Okay. How stocked are you? I need to reload a couple of my bazookas after the shadow attacks. I think I have a couple extras if you need them." Red nodded, and Maddie led them back to the RV. "I saw you fighting up there," Maddie commented, attempting to make conversation. "Must have been intense."

"You have no idea," Red said darkly. "Dan uses this sonic power - think Phantom called it a wail?"

"Ghostly Wail, yes," Maddie agreed. "Phantom has that too."

Red stopped. "Phantom has that power too? Along with those electric attacks?" they exclaimed.

"Yes," Maddie answered. "Wait - electric attacks?" The mother paled slightly. "He was using his core powers?"

Red cocked their head to the side. "Core powers?" they said weakly. "You know what - I don't think I can handle another surprise today."

Maddie chuckled fondly. "With Phantom involved - I take it there were many." She beckoned Red onward, turning the corner to where the parked Fenton RV waited for them. She opened the trunk, tossed a bazooka to the hunter and rummaged for a Fenton staff.

"Mrs. Fenton," the Red Hunter started apprehensively.

"Yes dear," she replied, still looking for her staff.

"Your truce with Phantom started last summer right?"

Maddie stopped her mission and looked at Red. "That's not the question you want to ask," Maddie retorted, "Is it?"

Red looked at her, startled. Maddie noted that they must be young if her question made them falter. "No," they said. "But honestly Mrs. Fenton, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

Maddie smiled wryly. "Oh, you'd be surprised." She turned back to the RV with a triumphant cry, reaching inward and grabbed the Fenton Staff. "Phantom is… well he's remarkable. The more I learn about him, the more I realize how wrong Jack and I were about everything. All we needed to do was listen." She grabbed more ammo from a drawer on the left and started to change a couple empty cartridges. Maddie glanced at the Red Hunter as they looked on apprehensively. "So, have you been listening? Or did you go in guns blazing like my husband used to?"

Red shifted guiltily. "More like…observing," they said. "Phantom told us to take a shot if we had it." Red started to reload their weapons also. "And we were going at it - Dan duplicated himself into 4. I was struggling then Phantom… Phantom got hit real bad. Phantom said to take it..."

Maddie swallowed nervously. "Did you?" she asked.

Red shook their head. "There was this light - something that leads me to think… Mrs. Fenton I don't think Pha- "

"Mom!"

:-=-:

Jack's head whipped up at the voice, mouth hanging open as Danny walked towards him. There wasn't a scratch on him; blue eyes looking at him confused and a bit of something else. "Danny!" Jack called out, rushing forward in relief. "We've been looking for you! What happened?"

Danny's head tilted to one side, still confused. "I don't remember," he said. Jack stopped a few feet away, confusion and scepticism growing at the boy's response. "The last thing I remember is going to bed last night."

Patience Jack he reminded himself. "R-really?" Jack asked. He watched 'Danny' closely, realizing that he seemed to have shrunk an inch or so from yesterday. "Nothing at all?" the boy shook his head.

Jack frowned slightly, left hand inching toward his side for a smaller ecto-gun. "We're fighting an evil version of Phantom," Jack said evenly, watching the teen's reactions in front of him. Blue eyes were narrowed at Jack's left hand. He swallowed slowly, more alarm bells ringing in his ears. "From the future; he has most of Phantom's powers. But Phantom will stop him."

The boy's eyes flashed red for a second before settling back to blue. "Will he?" Not-Danny asked darkly. A Ghostly Wail sounded in the distance, a look of annoyance crossing the imposter's face as he faltered slightly. Jack pushed aside any worry from the wail and pointed the ecto-gun toward the teen in front of him.

"He will," Jack told him simply. "Just like how I'll stop you from hurting my family."

Blue eyes widened slightly before he laughed menacingly. Not-Danny's face contorted into one of anger and frustration, full of malice as he stared at Jack. "Your family? Don't you mean our family?"

"You aren't my son," Jack told him darkly. He fired the ecto-gun, hitting the imposter in the chest. The teen faltered slightly, red eyes now glaring back at the man in front of him.

"But I was your son," he replied sinisterly. White rings of light appeared around his waist, transforming him into a much taller figure. Blue skin, flaming white hair, long cape and piercing red eyes stared back at Jack. Dan Phantom had made his reappearance. The ghost frowned at Jack's lack of reaction. "You know... I pictured this going differently." He raised a hand lighting it in green energy before he was knocked to the side by a small white and black blur.

"You stay away from him!" Danielle yelled, sending a large ecto-blast toward the downed ghost. "Jack! You okay?"

Jack smiled in relief. "Better that you're here kiddo! Want to give me a hand?"

Danielle smiled back. "Oh - you have no idea."

:-=-:

Red and Maddie both turned at the exclamation. Danny Fenton was running toward them with a giant grin on his face. "Mom! I'm so glad I found you."

Red started to move toward the boy, but Maddie grabbed the hunter's elbow. "Danny?" she called out. "What are you doing here?" Red noticed how rigid the woman went and how her eyes moved as if she was characterizing a threat.

"It's - wait is that the Red Hunter with you?" Danny asked, looking between the two.

"Didn't know your son was a fan," Red said jokingly.

Maddie frowned. "When you last left Phantom," she whispered urgently. "What condition was he in?"

"Mrs. Fenton?" Red reacted.

"Mom?" Danny asked again, continuing toward them.

Maddie moved quickly, pulling the Red Hunter behind her and drew her ecto-gun, aiming it directly at her son. The boy stopped, putting his hand up fearfully. "What was the last thing I said to you," the mother asked threateningly.

"Mom? You're scaring me a bit," he said.

"Mrs. Fenton! That's your son!" Red yelled, grabbing the woman's arm.

"What was the last thing I said to you Danny?" Maddie repeated, putting her finger on the trigger.

"Wait! Mom, this is crazy!?" Danny yelled out to her. "It's me!" When Maddie didn't budge, he turned desperately to the hunter. "Valerie! Tell her she's crazy!"

Valerie stiffened, turning to Maddie with wide eyes. The elder Fenton nodded, narrowing her eyes at 'Danny.' "Dan, I presume?" Maddie questioned.

'Danny' blinked, before blue eyes became red and a nasty smile came across his face. It looked so alien on her son's face. "How'd you know?" Dan asked menacingly. His eyes drifted toward Valerie. "Oh right, you didn't know I knew. Whoops."

"Among other things," Maddie replied coolly. She turned to the teenage hunter. "Valerie Gray right? 9th degree black belt and a wicked ghost hunter?" Valerie nodded absently. "Valerie - I need you to focus right now okay?"

"He knew?" she whispered in surprise. "All this time?"

Maddie cursed internally as Dan's hands lit up in green energy. "Valerie, that isn't Danny," she told her urgently. "Dan is manipulating Danny's image - I swear to you that isn't him."

"Well - not anymore," Dan drawled, looking at his hands with fake interest. "Then again, not like either of you ever paid attention to me."

Maddie's eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare blame us for what happened to you - that was your choice."

Dan chuckled, holding out his hand toward them. "Don't you mean… it was his choice?" He fired an ecto-blast directly towards his mother and Valerie.

:-=-:

The ghost growled at the newcomer, pushing aside his cape as he stood. "You're teaming up with a ghost?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at his father.

"Danny and the Fentons have had a truce since last year," Danielle said smugly, launching herself at the ghost again. Dan dodged, only to be blasted by Jack Fenton.

Dan snarled as he got back up. "A truce huh?" He flew at the orange clad man, dodging a few of the attacks and landed forcefully in front of him. "Did he tell you who I am then? How I came into existence?" Dan stood tall, smirking into the man's gaze. "How he destroyed the entire world?"

Jack's eyes narrowed. "He'll never become what you are," he told the ghost of his son. "Never. Danny promised us he'd defeat you - just like he did last year."

Dan stood up straighter, cocking his head to the side as red eyes studied the man in front of him. Danielle flew protectively in front of the father, ecto-blast at the ready as they both glared at the evil ghost. Dan's eyes widened finally, taking a few steps back in shock. "You know?" he breathed, looking between the ghost in front of him to his father. "You know my secret?"

Jack's eyes softened slightly as he saw a small glimpse of his son in the evil spectre. Danielle frowned between the two men, her arms still ablaze with green energy aimed toward Dan. A kaleidoscope of emotions came across his face, as if he was having more than one conversation before it disappeared. Dan threw his head back as a deep unsettling laugh erupted from his mouth. Jack and Danielle tensed as his eyes focused on them again.

"He told you," Dan said, his body shifting his stance into one more animalistic. His body was hunched, red eyes looked deranged and hungry for something. "He had the guts to come clean and you and Mom accepted him?" He smiled cruelly. "Oh, this is going to be good."

:-=-:

Jazz dove behind a car, dodging another ecto-blast that came her way. She clutched the bazooka tightly, peering upward to locate Dan. "Where is he?" she murmured, teal eyes scanning the skies.

"Come on out Jazz," Dan drawled. She heard him land as she ducked behind the car. "All I want to do is catch up with my dear older sister… well I guess younger sister now."

Jazz frowned, recognizing something off in Dan's dark tone.

"I know you're listening," Dan continued. Jazz jumped as he made a car explode with an Ecto-blast. "Isn't that what you always told me? 'I'm here for you Danny,' 'Talk to me Danny,'? Well I'm talking!" Another explosion, closer this time made Jazz turn, watching as a flaming car rolled across the road.

She swallowed, mind racing. Why does he want to talk? Why is he so fixated on me listening? Jazz frowned again, ignoring her pounding heart as Dan's footsteps came closer. He's referring to me as his sister… the last time he spoke about us it was in past tense. Jazz's eyes widened. Could it be? Jazz gasped as the car she was hiding behind was lifted into the air. The red-head scrambled upright and away, staring up into the face of the older Phantom.

"Found you," he sneered, throwing the car to the side.

Jazz raised the bazooka and took aim. "You were saying," she said, eyes narrowing.

Dan scoffed. "Really Jazz? The bazooka? I thought the peeler was more your speed."

Jazz put her hand on the trigger. "You said you were talking," Jazz repeated. Her adrenaline and nerves were squashed by her burning curiosity and theories as she looked the ghost over. She felt slightly vindicated to see that he looked injured. Danny must have gotten him. "So talk."

Dan's eyes widened incredulously, tilting his head to the side. "Braver than I thought," he said darkly with a small chuckle. "It won't help you. Don't you want to know where your Danny is? I can see those wheels turning in that big brain of yours."

Jazz's glare faltered for a second before she shook her head. "It's not Danny I'm thinking about," she said evenly. "It's your sudden change of tense." Dan looked at her in confusion. "Your timeline doesn't exist anymore - but you don't belong here. Your friends and family died."

Dan snarled in her direction. "And yet you're right in front of me!"

"But I'm not your Jazz," she said gently. She saw what she was missing now. "I'm his big sister. Not yours."

Dan roared, making Jazz flinch as he released a blast behind him. "He'll lose you too. He doesn't deserve this timeline - what good did he do to deserve this? Not cheat on a test? He should suffer, just like I have!"

"You're different people," Jazz continued. "Danny made his decision a long time ago. He's come a long way from the darkness you caused."

"I caused? I caused!?" Dan shouted. His ghostly aura flared at her words. It took everything in her not to run away. "This was all his fault. Danny Fenton - playing the hero. He's no hero Jazz. All that good you think he's done? He'd throw it away in an instant if it was hard work. Why'd you think he never told Mom and Dad?"

Jazz moved backward slowly, bazooka still aimed at Dan. Come on, use your research and knowledge of the subject, she told herself matter-of-factly. This is still a version of your brother - you know his insecurities, his fears. "You might not have," she told him. "But my brother did."

Red eyes widened at her words. "What?" he whispered. Something shifted in the air around her, making Jazz shiver. "What did you say?"

Jazz swallowed again. "Danny told them last summer," she said, confirming her theory. "We've been fighting as a family ever since."

Dan's wide eyes looked through her, the blue flames on his head flaring dangerously as his temper rose. "Why does he have it so easy?" he roared, ecto-energy exploding around him.

Jazz was thrown back at the display of power, skidding across the road with a yelp. Her ankle twisted beneath her as she fell, bazooka sliding a few feet away. She was right - Dan was jealous of her brother. She reached for the bazooka and finally fired, hitting true. Dan didn't register that he was hit, dark red eyes staring directly at her. She moved to get up, wincing as she felt a twinge of pain in her ankle. Dammit. Her teal eyes widened as Dan smiled cruelly, walking toward her. I'm a sitting target!

"He will pay for what he did to them," Dan vowed menacingly. "He's barely much of a threat now anyway. Once he watches you all die, he'll be too broken to stop me."

"Not today Phantom!"

:-=-:

Maddie pulled Valerie to the ground, dodging it before returning fire. Valerie, finally breaking out of her stupor, summoned her sled and pulled the Fenton onboard. She turned, flying away from Dan.

"Hang on Mrs. Fenton!" Valerie yelled, making the sled go faster. Maddie frowned, turning back to see the now familiar white light come alive around Dan's waist, before transforming him into his true form. The ghost snarled as he took off, giving chase behind them. Maddie fired, watching Dan dodge as he gained.

"Valerie, we need to split up," Maddie said.

"Nope - not happening," the girl retorted. "That thing wants you dead remember?"

"I do," Maddie replied. "But we need to divide his attention. I hit him low, you hit him high?"

Valerie turned; head tilted a little before she understood. "Got it." Valerie dived, coming close to the ground as Dan let out a volley of attacks. The teen dodged them, nodding to Maddie. The elder jumped off the jet sled, skidding across the ground and hit a clean shot at Dan.

"I'm right here!" she yelled, shooting rapidly at the incoming ghost. "Why don't you come at me?"

Dan growled, dodging a few blasts as he landed heavily. Red eyes found violet, an eerie smile forming. "You don't even know half of what Danny's been into, have you?"

Maddie dropped the ecto-gun and took out the Fenton Staff, twirling it in place. "Perhaps - but you're not Danny!"

Dan chuckled, mocking her with a hurt gesture. "Now, that stings a little," he said sarcastically. "Just because I killed my weaker half and destroyed the world, I'm no longer a Fenton? Like I don't have any of my memories?"

Maddie's eyes softened a bit, but her voice still had an edge to it. "No," she said. "It's because you forgot who you are."

Dan faltered, eyes widening at the implication of her words. Maddie took that as an opening, rushing forward with her staff. She used it to jump up into the air, moving it fluidly to strike. Dan was thrown back with a grunt as Maddie continued to attack. Eventually, he managed to hold up his arms to block, growling in annoyance. His hands alighted in green energy as he thrust them outward, pushing Maddie backward.

"You knew?" Dan asked with wide eyes. "You knew whole time?" Maddie pursed her lips, eying Dan warily as he continued to process. The evil ghost shook his head. "No, there's no way… I would have-" he broke off, suddenly looking far away.

Maddie frowned, standing straighter and putting a hand on her ecto-gun. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Valerie coming in for an attack; she needed to stall him. "I found out last year," Maddie said. "Danny told us everything."

Dan's eyes glowed red, turning back to the mother with a small smirk. "Oh Mom," he spat menacingly. "Not everyth-"

"Eat this Phantom!" Valerie cried out, shooting one of her blasters and hitting Dan in the back. He disappeared mid-sentence, leaving a trail a smoke from where the blast hit.

Maddie let out a relieved sigh as Dan disappeared, nodding as Valerie flew back toward the ground. "Nice shot."

Retracting her sled, Valerie lifted the tint in her visor, letting the woman see her smile. "I've been waiting to do that." She inclined her head toward Maddie. "You okay? Did he say something to you?"

"Nothing that I didn't know already," Maddie replied quietly. She looked out in the distance with a frown, bringing her hand up to the Fenton Phone in her ear. "Jazz? You there sweetie?" No response. "Jazz?" she tried again, worry starting to creep up for her daughter.

Valerie frowned also. "Phantom was worried about her too," she said. Maddie's head turned quickly at to the girl's face. "He sent Plasmius over to her."

"Why Plasmius?" Maddie murmured to herself, dread creeping up within her.

"He said she was the most in danger I think?" Valerie answered. "Mrs. Fenton - Plasmius and Phantom are probably the only ones that can take that ghost one on one. With Phantom injured - Plasmius in the next best thing. She'll be fine."

Maddie was silent for a few moments. "Think you can track him?" she asked the hunter.

"Plasmius?" Valerie asked. Maddie nodded. "What are you thinking?"

Maddie rubbed her arm absently. "If Phantom's worried about Jazz and sent on his arch-enemy to protect her, then she might be in more danger than we realised."

:-=-:

Dan turned to be blasted by a magenta blast of energy.

Jazz gasped in surprise as Plasmius flew at Dan with such intensity. "Vlad?" she questioned.

Noticing the young girl, Vlad promptly duplicated in two, leaving one to clash with Dan and the other to head in her direction. "Are you alright Jasmine?" he asked.

Jazz attempted to stand again, but faltered as the pain in her ankle flared again. She winced, rubbing it as she looked up at Plasmius. "Think I sprained it," she said.

Dan roared as he traded punches with Plasmius' duplicate, getting both of their attention. Jazz frowned, noticing that Dan didn't use any of his ghost powers.

"He's getting tired," Vlad said, answering her unasked question. "Dan has been duplicating non-stop and clashing with all of us. About damn time too; don't know how much longer any of us can keep him at bay without that shield."

A whine of an ecto-gun made both of them look up as both Valerie flew into the fray, Maddie on the back of her sled with bazooka raised at Dan. She fired, hitting both Plasmius and Dan, making Vlad's duplicate disappear. Valerie continued the onslaught with a barrage of missiles toward the Dark Phantom. Dan looked up at them both, snarling before he stopped, glaring at the four foes.

"To be continued I think," he said snidely, smiling. His eyes met Jazz's, gleaming with malice. "Let's see if your precious Phantom is stronger than me." Dan disappeared, making Jazz frown.

"Jazz!" Maddie called out. Valerie flew over, retracting her sled as both women touched down. "Honey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jazz confirmed as Maddie ran over to her. "Just twisted my ankle." The mother nodded, letting out a small breath before she glanced at the older hybrid and nodded. Vlad gave her a small smile that she did not return.

"It's not like him to retreat," Valerie said, breaking up the reunion.

"He's not retreating," Plasmius said quietly.

Jazz shook her head. "He's jealous," she corrected. "I thought it was something like human envy but isn't that." She winced as Maddie helped her up. "That evil Phantom was born out of his worst failure and never recovered. Our Phantom managed to overcome that failure to get to where he is today, and has all of the future Phantom's deepest desires - or at least the desires he had when he was 14."

Maddie frowned. "So he wants to destroy Phantom?"

Jazz paled. "Not just destroy," she said. "I think he's trying to punish Phantom." Jazz locked eyes with her mother. "Mom, we need to find him. Dan's unstable and has 10 years on our Danny Phantom."

"Your father's on it," Maddie assured, hugging her daughter tightly. "Phantom will be okay."

Valerie exchanged a worried frown with Plasmius. "I know you all know Phantom a bit better than I do, but I doubt he'll be up for a fight if it comes his way."

"Ms. Gray is right," Plasmius confirmed. Valerie scowled in his direction as he revealed her identity to Jazz. The red head barely blinked at the admission. "Daniel will try to lure him out of the city by himself to try and keep you out of the way. He won't make it."

Maddie bristled at that man's assessment. "And how would you know what he can and can't do?" she snapped.

Vlad's eyes narrowed in frustration. "Really, we're going to do this again?" he retorted. "How many times do I have to tell you, we're the same Maddie."

Maddie pursed her lips. "You are not the same!" she argued. "The choices he made? Miles different than what you chose."

"And yet here we are, fighting a future version of him that embodies everything that you believe me to be," Vlad replied coolly. He sighed tiredly. "Do you even know, truly know, how many times that boy barely makes it out of these fights alive?"

"Plasmius," Jazz warned, frowning in thought as she looked between the two adults. Maddie gestured for Valerie to take Jazz, storming up to Plasmius furiously.

"How dare you," she accused. "Of course I do."

Vlad shook his head. "You've seen the recoveries, Maddie," he said softly. "You've never seen him in mid-battle. You've never seen what he had to go through to make it back."

Maddie stood, fuming silently. "And you have?" she asked at last.

"How do you think he survived Pariah?" The three women stiffened at his words. Vlad sighed again. "You've known the truth for less than a year, my dear. It's not your fault that you didn't know. The only reason he's alive right now is because I created the ecto-enhancers." Maddie frowned in confusion at the name. "Daniel is not going to stop if he believes you all are in danger - and trust me when I say that Dan will kill him without our help."

Maddie swallowed, ignoring Jack's voice in her ear as he called for anyone to respond to him; she could hear it in his voice. "If you cannot figure out how to separate their ecto-signatures, even with Plasmius' help, then you must be prepared to accept what Danny decides to do. Along with the consequences that come with it." Clockwork's warning rang in her mind as she stared at Vlad. She knew Vlad was right; Danny was going to fly into battle regardless of what was best for him.

"I believe in him," Maddie said softly. "I may not have been there for him, but I'm here now Vlad. I know what he'll do, what he thinks he'll need to do. If he's going to lure Dan out of the city, then we're going after him. Jack and I are going after him."

The adults stared at each other in grim understanding before Jazz gasped.

"You know," Jazz said softly. "Mom, you know don't you?"

"Know what?" Valerie asked, questioningly. A second later, she gasped too. She turned to Jazz. "Wait, you both know?"

Jazz furrowed her brow at Valerie's question before her eyes widened.

Vlad turned his attention to the teen hunter. "How'd you figure it out?" he asked quietly.

"What was it? 'For such a smart girl, she's very easily led.'" Valerie quoted angrily.

Plasmius sighed. "I guess there's not much to say about that then." Valerie opened her mouth to retort. "At least for now. If we're going to help Daniel, then we're going to need to get past the shadow ghosts and take out as many as we can so we don't leave the town defenceless.

"And how, are we going to do that?" Valerie asked irately. Her answer came as the ground rumbled beneath her feet and the massive energy of the Fenton Shield took over the town.

:-=-:

Jack's eyes widened, making a move to attack but Dan disappeared with a faint pop, leaving him running into thin air. "Danny," the worried father said, turning to Danielle. "Where's Danny?"

Danielle's eyes widened, realizing what Dan's disappearance meant. "I left him at an office building," she replied, pointing off in the distance to a building a few blocks away. "Follow me!"

Danielle flew, Jack following quickly behind - ignoring the burning in his legs from the amount of running he had to do. Get to Danny. "How was he?" he asked, frowning as ran.

Danielle's mouth grew thin, looking down with familiar green eyes as she answered. "Not up for a fight if one comes his way."

Dread crept up into Jack's stomach again, quickening his pace. "Then we have to find him before Dan does." They turned a corner, Danielle pausing for a second before nodding and heading right. As they came up to the building, Jack stopped, out of breath as he looked at the damage to the downtown core. The amount of debris was only amplified by broken windows, gaping holes in brick buildings and large burns above them. "Some party," he joked, narrowing his eyes as he caught his breath.

Danielle smiled a lop-sided smile - so eerily similar to Danny's that another pang of worry hit him with full force. Danielle continued, oblivious to his turmoil. "You had to be there," she quipped, her smile fading slightly. "Come on - he should be around floor 3 or 4." She flew upward, leaving Jack outside with a small frown.

"Sure - leave me to the stairs," he said bitterly, kicking the door in as he broke into the building and headed up the stairs. "Not like I'd appreciate the lift or anything." By the time he reached the top of the third flight of stairs, he huffed deeply, grabbing onto the wall to steady himself. Definitely need to train some more. He rubbed his face tiredly, remembering that he barely slept over the last few nights before adrenaline kicked in again. Danny; he had to find him.

"Danny!?" he yelled into the office. It was bitterly cold - someone had cranked the air conditioner. Odd - there's no one here. "Son! It's me!"

"Jack!" Danielle's alarmed voice made him race over to her. He saw her floating ahead of him, back toward him as she blocked a row of cubicles. As he reached her, he stopped looking at the floor in front of them.

Various bottles of water littered the floor along with an ice bucket that was half melted. Dried ectoplasm smeared the wall and part of the cubicle. A few scorch marks of thin lines were against the wall. He swallowed thickly, trying to hold back his emotions as surveyed the scene.

"He was right here," Danielle whispered softly. "We - we told him to wait here - That we would protect you from Dan."

Jack stepped forward a little bit, looking at the marks on the cubicle as Danielle kept floating in shock. "Danny," he whispered, putting his hand out to touch a bit of ectoplasm. Jack turned his head to Danielle, who stared at him blankly. "He wasn't taken," he told her matter-of-factly. He turned back to the rest of the floor, walking toward another cubicle and seeing a smeared handprint of ectoplasm along the top. "It looks like he moved this way."

"Jack," Danielle whispered, getting the man's attention. "Danny wasn't okay when I left him," she told him thickly. "He… he couldn't... Dan had him by the throat and then his hands lit on fire." Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at him worriedly. "Something's wrong with his core - something about it overheating. We need to find him."

Jack's mind raced with the implications of her words. Immediately he brought his hand to the Fenton Phone in his ear. "Does anyone have eyes on Danny?!" he said tersely, moving quickly through the office to retrace his son's steps. He stopped at the giant hole in the wall, finding no other evidence that Danny was still there. When static reached his ears, Jack's frown deepened. "Maddie? Jazz? Tucker?" Danielle flew towards him, mirroring his worry and impatience. "Fenton 2 to base! Do you read me?" Again, static reached his ears, anger getting the best of him. Jack's face darkened as he turned abruptly.

"Jack?" Danielle called nervously, floating behind him.

To hell with being patient. "We were wrong," Jack said with self-loathing. "Danny needs us - now. Where would he go?" He turned to Danielle, the girl flinching under his intense gaze. "What else did he tell you? He told Red that Dan was going after us, where would-" Jack stopped, eyes widening as another thought catching up to him. "Jazz. Who's with Jazz?"

Danielle bit her lip. "Danny told Plasmius to go to her. Said she was the most in danger."

Jack growled. "That has to be it. He must be going to Jazz - Danny doesn't trust Plasmius."

Danielle's brow furrowed in thought. "He doesn't," she agreed slowly. "But this is bigger than them. Plasmius saved Danny back there. If it wasn't for that jerk, I don't know if -" Danielle gasped suddenly, a deep rumbling from beneath them cutting through their conversation. Jack turned to the broken wall in the building to see a deep green shield appear around the town. It flew outward, stretching over the downtown area, past the part and stopped just shy of Elmerton.

Jack's eyes widened, recognizing what the shield meant. He took out the scanner, setting it for a lower level of ghosts and saw quite a few ghosts being pushed out of the town. Small optimism came back to the man as he turned to the confused half-ghost behind him. "Come on - he's must still be in the city. We'll find him."

:-=-:

It was chaos in the Fenton Lab.

Tucker looked up from the control console in a daze, watching Frostibite bandage one of the Far Frozen's ghosts from the battle outside. There was still no sign of Danny's ecto-signature on the scanner, and still no word from Mr. Fenton on if he managed to find him.

Why aren't I out there? He thought angrily as he looked at the shield code again. He sighed, resigned before he looked over to Clockwork. "Any sign?" he asked the Time Master, who still sat on his chair glancing at the screens.

Clockwork shook his wearily.

"Damn," Tucker swore.

"Tucker of Tech - I need your assistance," Frostbite called over.

Tucker sighed, rushing over to Frostbite and another injured Far Frozener. "Can you hold this still?" Frostbite asked, gesturing to a large splint on the furry ghost's arm. Tucker nodded, looking queasy at the small sight of ectoplasm from the broken arm.

The ringing phone of the Fenton's lab made Tucker jump. Shooting a quick apologetic glance to the injured yeti, he turned back to the Master of Time. "Clockwork - can you get that? It might be important."

Frostbite froze the ghost's arm, creating an ice cast as Tucker hastily retracted his hands. The ghost nodded in thanks, and Frostbite gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Now to find some more gauze," the yeti leader said.

Tucker nodded, walking back toward Clockwork. "Who is it?" he asked the Time Master. Clockwork shrugged in respond. "What do you mean you don't know who's on the phone?"

"You asked me to get it," Clockwork replied. "I have it."

Tucker looked at him incredulously. "Did you answer it?" he asked, frustrated.

"I was supposed to it?" Clockwork retorted.

Tucker let out a long sigh. "Clockwork, you're the Master of -" Tucker broke off as he noticed movement at the workbench with unmodified prototypes. "For the love of all things technology Frostbite don't touch that!" Frostbite jumped, dropping the Ghost Gabber and breaking it. "Seriously, the Fentons haven't adjusted all their weapons yet! You're lucky it's just the Gabber. Check the infirmary for more gauze - Mrs. F has them stacked." Tucker sighed, inwardly vowing to never be left alone with so many ghosts without Danny present. He took the phone from Clockwork, who red eyes twinkled as he hovered by his side. "You've reached FentonWorks Base Operations."

"Sound and the Fury - Mr. Foley!" Mr. Lancer's voice exclaimed from the other end. "What are you doing down there?"

"Mr. Lancer?" Tucker asked in disbelief. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and exasperation. "What - you know what, never mind. The Fentons have me manning coms while they're out 'kicking ghost butt.' What's wrong - there's kind of a lot going on at the moment." His eyes drifted across the lab and back to the scanner. Nothing yet. Where are you Danny?

"More than whatever evil ghost we're facing demolishing the entire town? Or rather, the school?" Tucker could hear the sarcasm in the teacher's voice and was willing to bet he had his disappointed teacher face on.

"What!?" Tucker exclaimed. He pulled the phone closer to the chair, rolling himself back to the console. He checked the scanners again. "Damn, he must have duplicated again without us knowing. You okay Mr. Lancer? How did you escape?"

Mr. Lancer started to answer, but a different voice beat him.

"Tuck."

Tucker stiffened, eyes widening. It was quiet, raw but unmistakably his voice. He didn't dare to breathe, worrying that it may his mind playing tricks on him, but he wanted to desperately believe it was him; that he was okay. Eventually a soft whisper escaped Tucker lips.

"Danny!?"

[twoidiotwriters1]

Copycat: Agent Zero —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: I like to think Cat uses her brain whenever she’s helping someone else, cause when it’s her problem she’s like “?? none of my business!” -Danny

Words: 2,140

Phase Four Masterlist

Previous chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Astronomy’ -by Conan Gray

xxii: Temporary

"Matthew, I'm not asking a second time."

"Good. I have other things to do and this is wasting my time." The lawyer walked past her, she got in his way and kicked his cane aside earning a few looks from the people around her.

"You're gonna accept the money because you need it." She whispered angrily.

"If I were defending you, maybe, but Copycat has gone missing and Peter hasn't murdered anyone, so I'm not taking the money." He replied quietly as well.

"I'll give it to your partner—"

"Don't you dare give Foggy dirty money." Matthew tilted his head as if looking around, she noticed several people were still staring at them. The man seized her wrist and took her outside. "I don't know what you did to get it, but you smell like expensive cologne and fancy furniture—"

"What's important right now is Peter—"

"How are you gonna help him with Russo's money?" Cat looked away but she knew he could still hear her heartbeat. "What the hell were you thinking borrowing money from him? Do your friends know?"

"No."

"I'm not going to accept the money, I'll make sure Foggy doesn't accept the money, and Parker will reject it as well, so you better return it, or use it for something better than bribes."

"I'm not trying to bribe you, Matthew. I want to make sure you'll have the resources to help my friend, I need this to be a certain win!" She raised her voice.

"You want him to be safe? Look for whoever sent that video to the—"

"Beck sent it while he was bleeding out and we were standing there having a moment. It took a few days for it to see the light of day because the Daily bugle didn't find it right away. Mouse figured it out."

"Good. You know what to do now, right?"

She huffed. "No, I don't think I do."

"As long as you stay in the shadows you'll be safe, but C.C. Stark's helping the guy that they believe stole her uncle's tech. You don't work in Stark Industries, so they're gonna watch your every move until they're sure you're not a suspect. Every person you interact with will become a suspect in turn."

"Am I supposed to become a hermit?"

"You'll have to, at least for a while," Matthew tried to sound calm. "Kurt won't be able to see you..." he shook his head. "But you should tell him face to face." Cat wished she could avoid the confrontations, but that was always a part of life. "I think you should go home and rest, and think about what you'll do now. And please, stop taking money from the mob."

When Matthew left, it only took about two minutes for someone to come out and find her.

"Mr. Murdock asked me to give you this," Peter approached with her helmet in one hand. "Thank you for calling him. We're supposed to have a reunion next week to see if they drop the charges."

"That's good," she took the helmet. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Hey, was this your plan?" He asked. "You said I couldn't get involved but it's not bad at all."

She put on the helmet and lifted its visor. "You know that mission where I pretended to be a rich British woman?"

"What about her?"

"Fury asked me to finish that before I started my new life, and I thought I could just— you know, frame Billy Russo."

Peter blinked. "You what?"

"I lied to him saying we could make you work for us if we paid for your bail— because Spider-man's bad for business, in case you didn't know. I rambled about how desperate you were so you'd probably say yes—"

"Wait, you're paying the lawyers with bad money?" Peter was horrified. "No, C.C! That's all kinds of wrong!"

"I'm not! Matthew won't accept it, so I guess he's going to work for free like he always does— and he forbid me from giving it to his partner. I'm using the info Russo gave me to crash an illegal auction, I'm gonna buy whatever with the check he gave me, they'll have proof to lock him up, and then the mission will be done!"

"I don't even know where to start— all you said is... that's a massive mess, Cat. Are you the same person that yelled at me for not thinking things through when we were sophomores?"

"Okay, maybe my thinking muscle is a bit out of practice—"

"It's called a brain."

"Brain's an organ, dipshit— oh, you know what I'm trying to say!" She tried to punch his arm.

He dodged her. "No! I don't! Framing a guy for something he didn't do is exactly what's happening to me and you're okay with doing that to someone else?"

"He's a bad guy!"

"Weren't you dating him?"

"It was all an act!" She lightly hit the helmet's front with her fist. "This conversation's going nowhere. Matthew already scolded me, but he's going to get you out of this, and C.C. Stark's going to be followed for a while, so I can't be Copycat anytime soon—"

"Maybe that's for the best."

"Shut up, Captain dork. I assure you Fury will give zero fucks about how I get 'em locked up as long as I fetch all of the bad guys."

"Hey, talking about him, did you know Fury wasn't the real Fury?"

Cat blinked unfazed. "Who told you that?"

Peter gaped. "You knew?"

Before she could explain, the rest of their friends showed up.

"Mr. Parker, I'll call soon. Mrs. Parker—"

"Call me May," the woman said with a smile.

Peter seemed to space out for a moment, and then, out of nowhere, he looked at Cat and questioned her. "Is he the friend you're dating?"

Matthew turned to check on her, he seemed to not have heard the boy's question, but with him, there was no real way of knowing. "Cat... Cat?"

She looked at the lawyer without being able to talk in a normal voice. "Yeah?"

"I asked if you'd like me to walk you home. You seem agitated and it's not safe for you to drive in that state."

"Oh, you got a license?" Peter asked her.

She glared at Peter to shut him up. The boy's ears turned red. "I can take myself home, Matthew, but thanks for asking."

He placed his hand on hers and squeezed a little, a way to let her know he wasn't angry after the argument they'd had. "See you later."

"Did you say a fucking year?"

"More or less," she replied quietly.

"I don't get it," He frowned. "You told me everything was over!"

"Listen, Harley, I might see you sooner if things go well..."

"What things?" He asked in frustration.

"I can't say! Some people are going to get arrested, and once they do, they'll try to get to me and I don't want to put you at risk!" The young man buried his face behind his hands and groaned loudly. To say he was stressed was an understatement. "These types of men... they torture you by killing the ones you love. I need you to be safe."

"You should've thought of that before doing all the dangerous shit."

"When I met you I was knee-deep into it. Hell, I was being followed when I stumbled onto this very same workshop! I can't walk away now, all I can do is try and be better for the sake of my friends."

Harley's mind was swimming in thoughts she could not see. "Are you aware..." he began. "In all those years of knowing each other... we didn't take a picture even once?"

"What?"

"I have pictures of Pietro, but we never thought of doing that, did we?"

She looked at him without really understanding what this was about. "I guess most of the times we hung out weren't exactly happy, and I don't like to have cameras on me, you know that."

"Some of them were good," he said, deep in thought. "But we never think of those, even though they're always happening."

"Perhaps that's exactly why we don't..." she stared at her hands. "We assume we'll always have them, until one day they go away."

Harley replied with a question. "You won't go away forever, right?"

"One time I said I would," she tried to smile, but it was harder than expected. "I came back. It's impossible to leave someone's life if they want to keep you. Especially if you try."

Harley stood from the battered couch he still had in his workshop and hugged her. Cat held onto him without moving from the tall bench. This could be temporary, or their last moment together.

"You'll be okay," he mumbled against her hair. "And we'll take that picture."

She laughed, though the knot in her throat almost didn't let her.

"Shut up."

Cat looked at Wagner with hurt. "I literally just walked in."

"I don't wanna hear it." He was facing the wall, but it didn't stop her from knowing he was upset.

"Who told you?" She frowned.

"I live under a church, Mimi, but I still have wifi," he turned around. "You suck at being a family-friendly hero."

"I know, I miss being a vigilante sometimes..."

"I wonder why I'm here sitting on my ass if you're going to do everything in your power to keep us apart."

"I didn't do it on purpose."

"Looking at it from where I'm standing, it's kind of hard to believe."

"Everyone knows I don't think things through before doing them, so if this comes as a surprise, that's on you."

"You're not being funny."

"I'm not trying to," she sat on his bed, tired. "Since I came back to earth, I've been winging it, and the only reason why it wasn't obvious until now, was that I had things carrying me through. The training, my job at the law firm..."

She lay on the mattress and faced the ceiling, Kurt sat next to her.

"Something up here's not quite right," she tapped her forehead lightly. "When I'm with any of my friends, I almost feel happy, it's easier to feel good about myself when I'm not alone, but then I go back to my place and—"

"You don't have to be alone."

"I made a promise when Tony died— well, I just thought... that I had to face my problems alone. But shit, you guys won't give me up, so I'm stuck between doing things the way I want, and the way you think it's better, and while I decide which one's best I end up getting it wrong."

"Yeah, you're right," Kurt sighed. "You're crazy." She hit his stomach, he swallowed an insult because he was still mindful that they were inside a church. "There's no way I'm convincing you to stay here, right?"

"No, Smurf. Sorry."

"Are you staying in the city, at least?"

"I need to make sure Peter's safe and out of danger."

"What if I teleport to your place from time to time to keep you company?"

"You don't know where I live."

"I would if you teleported me there first?"

She hummed. "I'll think about it. I gotta make sure Cleary won't send people to watch me, though."

"I waited eight years to see you after you escaped, I can wait a few months."

"Maggie said they'll let you wander the city if you want. I can't promise it'll be fun, people aren't used to seeing blue men walking down the street, but the world's slowly getting more visitors from outer space, so at least you won't be an extreme anomaly."

"Great way to cheer me up, Mimi."

"I'm not—"

"I know, I know, you were just being honest," he shook his head. "Why can't you lie to me the same way you do to everyone else? You'd be easier to talk to."

"I'm not done, you jerk," she sat up glaring at him. "I was going to say, that if you want to be left alone, you can use this..." Cat pulled out a small satchel from her pocket, then she pulled out what seemed to be a thin fabric. "This is a Nano Mask, it's meant to hide your face by replicating someone else's."

"Whose face would I be wearing?" He raised a brow, examining the object.

"I toyed around with the configurations, Mouse helped me do it. It's your face, but like, if your face didn't have blue fur and your eyes were honey-like instead of yellow."

"Will I be pale as paper?" He made a face.

Cat laughed. "You can change the tone of skin, you can change the features as you wish, except the shape of your face. As I said, it'll be you."

"Cool..." he tilted his head. "What about the rest of my body, though?"

"Ah, that I can't change," she gave him a small smile. "But gloves and long sleeves are a thing?"

"How am I gonna fit my three sausage fingers into a five-fingered glove?" He pouted.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to go out," she said defensively.

"I'm just sad I won't be able to hang out with you on my first night out... joining Rocket is starting to sound super tempting..."

"Tell me about it," Cat lamented. "I'd even share a room with Quill..." she shivered. "Forget it, I'm not that desperate."

Next Chapter—>

Taglist.

@mikaelsonwhxrebae​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @ieatpanicattacksforlunch​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @jesuswasnotawhiteman​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @siriuslysirius1107​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @greengarsstuff​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @itsyagirl01​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @23victoria​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @espressopatronum454​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ @jkthinkstoomuch

[greenninjagal-blog]

Deja Vecu

Hello, its been a while!! Please accept this release of the unpublished scene from Chapter Two of Deja Vu. Its basically 4k of Remus being gay for a stranger he keeps seeing die, and ain’t that a mood? :)

Summary: The Missing Scene in chapter 2 of Deja Vu, in which Remus agrees to help a stranger rob a casino.

Words: 4397

Read on Ao3 || Hero Worship Series || My General Writing Masterlist

At twenty-one years old, Remus finds out that robbing a casino is a lot less fun than Ocean’s Eleven led him to believe. It’s almost ridiculous the amount of security that went into protecting the chips and the cash on hand: following the path of the cash box from earlier, there’s two hired security guards framing the employee’s entrance, neither of whom like being touched nor can be persuaded to leave their posts together. There’s a card reader locking the door which despite looking like walnut wood, is actually steel with a clever paint job. And that’s just the first level.

“Predictable,” Dee says from where he had made himself comfortable on Remus’s bed with the complimentary note pad the hotel had supplied him. He had left his suit jacket on the desk to avoid the wrinkles but lounged on the foot of the bed without taking off his shoes. Remus had tossed himself down next to him, stretching out to gather all the pillows and built a throne for himself like he was eight instead of twenty-one.

Dee had watched him, back to wearing the face of the man who had approached him in the casino. Remus thinks he looks nice like that: hansom enough to please anyone who looked his way and charming enough to disarm anyone who might have seen him as out of place and forgettable enough that Remus couldn’t remember if they had gambled together previously.

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Remus had pointed out. “I know what the real you looks like.”

Dee’s pen digs into the paper a little harder than necessary and Remus pretends he hadn’t noticed. The smile he receives is light and joking but it doesn’t meet his eyes at all. “I happened to like this appearance.”

Remus hums, “Lame. The scales are cool.” But he had let it drop in favor of twisting the purple casino chip between his fingers.

Dee taps his pen on the comforter in thought, his borrowed blue eyes distant as he mulled over Remus’s reports from futures that won’t happen. “What else did you notice?”

“Tessa isn’t your wife anymore, Danny.”

Dee snorts, which, by all means, should not be as graceful and elegant as he makes it seem. There’s a fluidity to the way he dips his head and scribbled on the pad of paper that makes him looks dignified. Or maybe that’s just the angle that Remus is looking at him with. A lock of his dark hair slips into his eyes and he brushes it back with two gloved fingers.

Remus falls back against the stack of pillows he had built around himself, breathing deeply and settling himself. The air smells like the lemon cleaner that the hotel staff had used to clean his room earlier when Remus had been out and about, but there’s hints of something else—something sweet and spicy with an undertone of wood.

--Dee blinks at the question, shifting so that he’s lying on his stomach, his head resting on his palm. “I wonder,” He says, with eyes so bright and blue and innocent that Remus feels like he’s stuck in them, “if you mean the Cardamom scent from my aftershave.” And Remus’s heart beats just a little faster, a little harder, a little more.—

“When I ask what else you notice,” Dee says, drawing Remus back to the present, “I meant your other senses. You’ve told me about what you’ve seen. What about sounds? The smells? You said you experience this as a first-person thing, correct?”

Remus waves a hand. “Its both. I’m there in person but I’m also having an out of body experience, too.”

Dee squints. “Doesn’t that…get confusing? How can you interpret all the stimuli at once?”

“Stimuli! What, are you a scientist in your free time?” Remus mocks, but Dee’s shoulders tense at the insinuation.

“You don’t have to tell me.” He says, “I was just curious.” He’s not, though. Remus isn’t quite sure how he knows, but Dee’s curiosity is more than just a simple question. It feels like it’s more, like he’s gathering information and sorting it away for later, like he’s making decisions based on Remus’s answers that have nothing to do with the how they are going to get into a Vault protected by a six digit code that only three people have and then get back out with more money than they can physically carry.

“Shame,” Remus says, feeling the shift in the bed as Dee’s shoulders unwind. “If you were a scientist you could dissect me for all the goodies inside! Of course, you can do that without being a scientist, too, but it’s not as fun.”

“Are you speaking from personal experience?”

Remus flips the coin in the air and catches it with the same hand. It comes up heads. “Why, does that scare you?”

Dee watches him, the pen absently twirling in the air between them. Remus can feel the weight of his gaze like a physical thing, pressing on his chest and making him self conscious of exactly how many breathes he’s been taking. The cotton comforter has a square pattern on it that he hadn’t noticed before, but he can count only three squares between the two of them. For some reason that information feels important.

“No,” Dee says after another moment passes and the air simmers. “I supposed it concerns me.”

Remus swallows the urge to laugh at his face.

“You just seem to be a useful person,” Dee continues, defensively. “I would hate to see that usefulness be squandered.”

This time Remus does laugh and it’s a bumbling bubbling burst of noise in their quiet world. His lungs shake and his heart hurts, but he laughs and something about it makes Dee’s smile softly too. The air is light, but there’s an underlying tension there, lurking in the shadows and reminding Remus that for all the dashing good looks and the semi honest expressions, the man before him is a stranger wearing a borrowed face and absolutely no one would miss him if he disappeared.

He flips the coin again, watching it roll over itself too many times to count, bounce off his hand and then flop to a stop direction between the two of them. Dee pokes it with the butt of his pen, like he was expecting it to get up and walk away.

“To answer your question,” Remus says, breathing in deeply enough to smell his cardamom aftershave and wondering why no one else in his twenty-one years of living had thought to ask him. “Seeing the future does get confusing. But it’s whatever. It never causes anything worse than a nosebleed.”

Dee hums and scribbles something down on his notepad. If Remus sat up just slightly, he would be able to see it, but he finds he likes the mystery more. Was it notes to use against him? Or was it things to think about in the future? Or was it still the colossal list of numbers they weren’t even a fraction of the way through?

--They manage to draw the guard’s attention away with a faked emergency: Remus never put stock in his own acting skills so he stumbles and falls on another patron and lets his head crack against the corner of the a craps table just far enough away that the guards are drawn the few steps over to check on both of them. Remus doesn’t bother responding to any of their prompts until Dee with the face of Tim the dealer swipes his borrowed card and lets the door behind him close. They had radios from the same place where Dee had procured the keycard from, and Remus thinks he could fall asleep listening to Dee’s breaths.

“Left, right, or center?” Dee asks.

“Left,” Remus hums, watching the casino patrons around him. A woman in her thirties just won at a baccarat table and tried to kiss the dealer. “There’s a camera at around the corner, but it roves. Your future self said to wait five seconds then go.”

Remus waves down a waitress and orders a mojito while he waits. Dee gives soft laugh at the concept and Remus tries to calm his nerves.

“You’re so uptight,” He says softly, almost to the point where Remus can’t hear him over the chattering of other people. “Relax a little, Remus. It’s just my life.”

“The Elevator code is 7-1-3-2,” Remus tells him. “And you’re going to want change your pretty little face to someone of a higher ranking on the casino hierarchy unless you want Terry Benedict to know what we’re up to.”

Remus holds his breath as the elevator dings, and then as Dee repeats the code as he types it in, and then as the doors rumble closed. He twists the glass of his drink when it comes as he listens for the subtle clues on how far Dee is inside the belly of the beast. It takes him a moment to realize that Dee is humming softly, and his lips twist into a smile without his permission.

There’s some garbled conversation on Dee’s end, pleasantries and greetings and nice things that Remus never bothered to memorize. Dee glides through the conversations with ease, deceiving and grifting like he had been born to do it. And who knows? Maybe he had been. Polite conversation gets them through another three doors, including a hall wracked the cameras and the final elevator that can only be opened with two keys and a pin code graciously provided by an aware high-level friend that followed them in and was still chatting about their Perfect Child’s first steps.

Remus sips his mojito and watches the girl at the nearest roulette table eye the betting board. She’s still going to lose so Remus finds himself more entertained by trying to extract the lime from his drink than from watching her pout yet again when the ball lands on the red 36.

“Ah yes, the vault code,” Dee’s voice says, dragging Remus back to the mission at hand. He’s casual, loose, and ready, and Remus doesn’t understand how he does it. He glances down at the piece of paper in his hand and reads off the six-digit combination that was next on their list.

“5-1-3-2-7-6,” Remus presses a hand to his earpiece, listening as closely as he can. His breath shortens with each second, crafting infinities out of each passing tick. He can hear Dee’s laugh and his he listens closer he can make out the guard that’s next to him still chattering away. Each button bings when Dee presses it in, soft and charming and not at all like a guillotine that’s cut their mission off a hundred-some times before.

“Hey man you, okay?” The person with Dee asks, less out of curiosity and more out of suspicion.

“Yes sorry my finger slipped,” Dee says quickly and punches in the next number in ascending order out of blind hope that it might be the correct one but it isn’t and Remus knows it because that’s when the person next to Dee asks him to back away and demands to know who he is and Dee’s placating answers are never enough so he tries to shift but bullets are faster than he is and Remus rips out his ear piece right before the gun goes—

“Another bust,” Dee sighs, drawing a snake on the corner of his paper. “Somehow I feel like we could win more playing on the casino floor than doing this….” He trails, off eyes distant again, thinking more about money than about the number of deaths Remus has witnessed.

It seems strange, that Remus would care so much more about that then he does, but in a way that doesn’t surprise him. Its Death with a capital ‘D’ and in Remus’s twenty-one years of experience, the only people who feared death were those who were aware of how close it was. Remus was practically best friends with Death, with the taste of the asphalt on the highway, with the feeling of a free fall, with the awkward fit of a hotel bathtub. He’s familiar with the cold silver of fear, but it doesn’t make him any less afraid.

Dee knows he keeps dying, though. Dying alone, deep inside a labyrinth of a building and Remus wonders if he should stop this while he’s ahead. He knows once that half hour mark hits in the future there’s no more Dee to be waiting for, no pay out. Just the pain of seeing a swarm of S.W.A.T. officers covertly weave between the patrons and leave with a human sized black bag. But Remus still waits and watches, holding dutiful vigil over a fruitless endeavor and letting hope build just for it to shatter with reality.

“Why does this mean so much to you?” Remus asks, somewhere between the fifteenth and the hundred fiftieth casino themed wake procession. His eyes burn a little, and he tries to tell himself it’s just the brightness of lights.

“Money is everything,” Dee marks the next two number off his list on his notebook and talks without listening to his own words. Its not fair that he sounds so convinced it’s true, when his mouth moves like he’s practiced this in the mirror. “What about you? Why do you continue to watch?”

Remus sinks back on his pillows, holding on to that faint scent of wood and spice and the feeling in his gut that comes from every time Dee listens to his advice from the future, from every time Dee listens and adheres, from every times Dee just believes.

Remus wonders how so much trust could be from this stranger who’s known him for an hour or two, and yet Roman had never been able to just accept what he said without an argument. He sounds crazy when he talks about what will happen, but Dee just nods and lets his lips twitch into a smile when handing him a roll of toilet paper.

Remus rips off another length the cheap paper and folds its in half before shoving it on his face. There’s blood in his mustache, which is frustrating and tastes just as gross as all the other times he’s had blood dripping down his chin.

“Remus,” Dee says, without looking up from his notepad.

“Yes, dearest stranger taking up half my bed?” He inhales hard.

“This is a fourth, at most.”

“Tomayto-tomahto.”

Dee shoots him a look that he can just barely make out around the clomps of flimsy paper he’s holding to his face. He looks like he’s trying not to be amused. Which is funny! Because, well, Remus can’t remember the last time someone who wasn’t related to him was in his company long enough to find him amusing.

“Why are you doing this?” Dee asks. “Other than the money, which we agreed would be a fifty-fifty split, regardless of how much we manage to walk out of here with….but somehow I don’t see money being enough for you to watch me die over and over again. Otherwise you wouldn’t have stopped me from lunging for that cash box.”

Remus is twenty-one when he shrugs and says, “It’s something to do.”

Dee huffs another dazzling laugh and for a moment Remus thinks he can see a flash of sharpened teeth in that smile, fangs like a vampire come to life, but it’s too fast for him to be sure. “Ah, I see we’re both liars tonight. Ready for the next attempt?”

Remus wonders if it’s still lying when its technically the truth. He’s doing this because its time spent with this shapeshifting sham, this enlightening enigma, this confusing con artist who lies as easily as breathing. Remus has a hard time believing anything personal he says is true, and yet he finds himself eyeing the three squared spaces on the comforter again wondering if it would be too much to make it two, one, none.

For someone who trusts Remus to see the future seven billions times as they try to figure out the vault code, who follows every direction Remus gives without hesitation, who continues to act as if Death is not something that can happen to him, he is extraordinarily hard to trust in return. Words are meaningless because he flaunts them, and Remus grew up watching Roman practice lines enough to know when someone was acting. Dee probably isn’t even his real name.

But Remus…Remus hasn’t been seen the way that Dee sees him before. Isn’t that enough for him to want to spend as long as he can with this stranger? Regardless of the danger Dee is running straight into? Regardless of the slight thrill that he gets from the prospect that they might get away with this?

-- There’s some garbled conversation on Dee’s end, pleasantries and greetings and nice things that Remus never bothered to memorize. Dee glides through the conversations with ease, deceiving and grifting like he had been born to do it. And who knows? Maybe he had been. Polite conversation gets them through another three doors, including a hall wracked the cameras and the final elevator that can only be opened with two keys and a pin code graciously provided by an aware high-level friend that followed them in and was still chatting about their Perfect Child’s first steps.

Remus sips his chocolate martini and watches the girl at the nearest roulette table eye the betting board. He knows from all the other times he’s watched that she loses, although as he peaks over at the numbers she’s never far off. It must be that excitement of the near win that keeps her there.

“Ah yes, the vault code,” Dee’s voice says, dragging Remus back to the mission at hand. He’s casual, loose, and ready, and Remus doesn’t still understand how he does it.

“5-1-3-3-4-1.”

He can hear Dee’s laugh and his he listens closer he can make out the guard that’s next to him still chattering away. Each button bings when Dee presses it in, soft and charming and not at all like the bells of victory when the code is right, holy shit. The Code was right. Dee’s breath catches in his throat, and Remus nearly drops his martini on the floor. His heart races in his chest with an emotion that he can’t quiet put a name too.

They did it.

They…won. Remus makes his way towards the doors where they were set to meet back up, and Dee continues a casual conversation with the armed guard about children as he fills both his briefcases with as much money as he can fit. By the breathless excitement in his voice, Remus can guess there’s more money in front of him than he expected to be able to get. He invites the guard over for family dinner next night because he’s an asshole and Remus finds that quality admirable.

He waves down a waitress to get a second drink, Dee’s celebratory drink, because as soon as he got past the doors they were home free-

“Hey! Hey! Stop him!” A voice yells in Dee’s ear and the shapeshifter curses.

“Remus!” He yells, “The executive is in the halls! He-!”

There’s a gunshot and a thud and Remus rips out his earpiece and screams loud enough to make all the nearest games freeze in their tracks—

“Let me guess,” Dee says, rolling over, “Another bust? The next numbers ar—”

“No,” Remus throws himself into a sitting position, and blindly grabbing for more toilet paper. The back of his throat is slick with a metallic taste and his head spins a bit when he tries to stand up. “No, Dee!”

“No?”

“Dee, we did it! That’s the code,” Remus says, pretending like his knees don’t buckle when the floor rolls under his feet. Dee is there in a moment, hands under his arms and holding him up completely. Its almost like a hug, Remus thinks distantly. He’s twenty-one and he can’t remember the last time someone hugged him even as a joke. His skin itches at the contact, blistering and burning at the warmth of someone else being so close to him. The cardamom scent is so strong, but Remus thinks he might be okay if that was the only thing he smelled for the rest of his life.

“Are you…okay?” Dee asks. “Why are you…?”

Remus uses the back of his hand to wipe away the stream of blood from his nose and inhales hard. “You died again. The executive you choose to impersonate is in the building and you run into him right before getting out with the cash.”

“Who was it? I can change into someone else.”

Remus shakes his head. “Oh no. I’ve got no clue, but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s get someone’s attention.”

Dee grins, “You certainly got mine. What are you going to do?”

Remus slides his weight back and manages to stand on his own legs. Remus’s heart does a dance routine in his chest, moving like if it slows for even a second Dee will lunge forward and rip it from his body.

Remus tells him, “I’m going to go make a girl win at roulette so much they think she’s cheating. With a hundred thousand dollars on the line that should have their attentions, right?”

It’s not really a question. Remus knows from experience that the more games in a row that you win during a game involving so much luck, the more interest people start to take in it and you. He just needs to convince the girl to bet only where he tells her to, and then bet as much as she can.

He knows how to do it, too: simply walk up to her and offer her a free Barney if she bets on the square he tells her too. Once she wins, he tells her the next one, and maybe she puts a nickel down, or a quarter, just in case he’s wrong. When she wins again, he’ll tell her the next number, and she’ll put more on it. Then more. Then more. She doesn’t even need to believe that he can see the future. She just has to reap the rewards.

“Oh,” Dee says staring at him. “Oh.”

Remus isn’t sure what he’s looking at. He just knows that Dee’s eyes are as blue as the ocean and deeper than anything he’s ever drowned in. He’s looking at Remus again, like this is the first time he’s seeing him in this lighting, and when he smiles, his teeth are definitely sharper than before.

“I do believe,” Dee says, “we could make the best team of thieves there is out here.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Remus asks. “Come on. I didn’t listen to you die nine hundred times just for you to chicken out now.”

He grabs his jacket, and buttons it. With a swipe of his hands he’s hair sets back in the position before, like some type of magic act. If Dee’s the magician, Remus thinks he would be honored to be in the front row every time he performs.

“So, you’d be up to doing this again, correct?” Dee asks, with his hand on the doorknob.

“They won’t fall for the same trick twice,” Remus says, “And what makes you think that this is something I enjoy?”

“I didn’t ask if you enjoyed it. I asked if you’d do this again. Not here, but somewhere else.” Dee glances at him, side eyeing him in a way that makes the hair on the back of Remus’s neck stand on end. “You still owe me.”

“What?” Remus turns to face him, and if there’s a spark in his chest, a nudge of excitement, well who can blame him? People don’t usually want him to stay around.

Another step in the hall. “We made a deal, unless you’ve forgotten. You said that if I could figure out how you were cheating, you’d do one thing that I want you to do.”

Remus snorted and motioned between them, “What do you call this? What we’ve been doing for the past hour?”

“This?” The man gives him a shark-like smile, “You did this of your own volition!”

“I seem to recall you asking,” Remus challenges.

Dee shakes his head too innocently. “Not in this timeline.” He pulls out his pale-yellow handkerchief and offers it to him, “You still have blood on your face by the way.”

There’s something nice about the way that this man is looking at him, the way he’s still looking at him, like Remus is something more than a nuisance, more than a distraction, more than an unwanted, frustrating intrusion. It makes his knees weak and the back of his throat taste like blood again and he so desperately wants to look to the future but won’t let himself do it.

“What do you want?” Remus says, because the uncharacteristic fear in his chest is slowly turning all his organs to butterflies and he never goes back on a promise.

“Well, you did say anything I wanted right? Anything at all?”

Remus nods, rolling his finger over the snake design on the stolen poker chip. Suddenly there doesn’t seem to be enough air in the world, and he’s afraid if he inhales too deeply trying to get more, the whole reality will shatter.

Dee’s form shimmers, shivers, and dissolves into Tim the dealer as they wait for the elevator to take them back to the casino floor. It’s an entirely different person but when he looks at Remus all he can see is Dee’s expression.

“Well, Remus,” He says, “After we finish up here, I want you to come with me. Work with me a bit. Let me help you amass a bit of a fortune. Strictly professional, of course. I won’t ask about your past and you don’t ask about mine. We don’t even need to be friends! Just…”

Dee offers out a gloved hand to him. “Business partners?”

Remus is twenty-one and he thinks there might be a timeline out there where he says no, but he doesn’t even entertain that thought.

“Business Partners,” He says and shakes on it.

[thelastspeecher]

Pirate AU - Shore Leave

A coupla times this week I randomly got inspired to write some Pirate AU stuff.  And I got some good news yesterday, so I decided I’d post the stuff I wrote.  Like a gift to myself, that kind of thing.

So here’s some more Pirate AU content, but most importantly, some Pirate AU Stangie content.  Plus a bit of bonus Shermie content.  Enjoy.

(For context, this takes place a few years after this ficlet.)

——————————————————————————————

              “Thanks for watching the kids, Maria,” Stan whispered. “You can head home.”  Maria got up from the kitchen table.  On her way out, she tsked at Angie.

              “You know better, mija.  Be smarter and faster next time.”

              “Of course, Maria,” Angie said.  Maria shook her head disapprovingly one last time, then left.

              “Sit down, you gotta get off your feet,” Stan instructed his wife.  Angie obediently took a seat at the table.  Stan sat next to her.  “Angie.”

              “It’s a good thing I’m pregnant,” Angie said jovially.  Stan scowled.

              “Then we must be defining ‘good thing’ differently,” he growled.

              “If I wasn’t pregnant, I wouldn’t have been able to delay ‘em hangin’ me,” Angie said.  “Without that, you ‘n the crew wouldn’t have rescued me from the clink in time.”

              “You got caught pirating!” Stan snapped.  “You were about to be hanged!  Yeah, you were able to delay it this time, but next time?” Silently, he thanked whatever deity he believed in that day that they had come back from the rescue mission late enough the kids were asleep.

              Don’t want ‘em to see their parents fight. And judging by Angie’s already frustrated expression, this was definitely going to be a fight.

              “There won’t be a next time.”

              “You’re damn right.”  Stan met Angie’s eyes squarely.  “‘Cause you’re giving up piracy.”  Angie’s eyes flashed with anger.

              “You have no right-”

              “To what?  Want my wife safe?  Want my kids to grow up with both parents?  Angie, I can’t- I can’t live like this anymore!  I can’t watch you go to sea, knowing that you might not come back.  I love you too damn much to let you keep throwing your life away like this!”

              “This is the first time I’ve been caught,” Angie said, but her voice lacked some of the bite it had earlier.

              “Now that it’s happened once, it’s gonna happen again.”  Stan reached out and took ahold of one of Angie’s hands.  He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, feeling the thick scars from years of piracy.  “There are some injuries that, when you recover from ‘em, you’re never the same. You’ve had a lot of those.  It’s already started catching up with you. You know that.”  Angie looked away.

              “I…”

              “Give me a single reason you can’t leave piracy.”

              “You know my reasons.”

              “They were reasons you had when you first started. But they don’t matter anymore, Ang! Your name – your real one – got cleared. You’ve got a family and a home. You’ve got money.  Give me a reason that still applies.”

              “I…”  Angie looked down at the floor.  After a moment, she sighed.  Without saying a word, she got up and walked away.

              Shit.  Did I overstep?  Stan started to get up.  No. He sat back down.  Give her a bit of space.  You know how she is.  When a few minutes had passed, Stan couldn’t hold himself back any longer.  He followed her outside.  In the light of the full moon, he could see her talking to Dan. He walked over.

              “Thanks fer savin’ me,” Angie said quietly.  “Not just- not just tonight.  All those other times.  I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t fer you.”  Wordlessly, Dan enveloped her in a hug.  “Take good care of her, Dan,” Angie said, her voice cracking with emotion. They broke apart.  Dan ruffled Angie’s hair, nodded at Stan, and began to walk down the road that led to town.

              “What was that about?” Stan asked.  Angie’s shoulders shook.  “Ang, is everything all right?”

              “No!  I’m- I’m pregnant, I’m sure it’s twins again, I was almost hanged tonight, and I just gave up everything I spent most of my life buildin’ up!” Angie snapped.

              “You…”

              “Dan’s goin’ to run Sweet Viola fer a few months before easin’ her out of the game.”  Angie’s head drooped.  “This pirate king is hangin’ up her crown.”

              “Angie.”  Stan tilted Angie’s chin to look into her eyes.  Eyes the color of the sea.  “Thank you.”

              “You never thank folks,” Angie mumbled.

              “That’s how you know I’m serious.”  Stan grinned.  “And you’re not giving up all the shit you spent so long on.  You’ve still got me.  You’ve still got the kids.  All five of ‘em.”

              “No, darlin’, it’s definitely goin’ to be six,” Angie insisted.

              “What makes you so sure?”

              “A woman knows.”

              “If you say so.”

              “That’s no way to talk to yer captain.”

              “You just gave up your ship,” Stan pointed out. Angie looked away.  Stan wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  “I’m just kidding, babe.  You’ll always be my captain.”

              “Damn straight,” Angie muttered.  “By the way, I might be givin’ up piracy, but I ain’t givin’ up thievery.”

              “Good,” Stan said.  “I’m gonna need your help to keep the shop stocked.”  Angie managed a soft laugh.  The two stayed outside.  Their home was atop a seaside cliff, from which they could see the dark ocean reflecting the pale moonlight.

              Angie buried her head in Stan’s shirt, crying, as her ship disappeared over the horizon for the last time.

-----

              They walked past a shop with a number of nice dresses in the storefront window.  Promptly, Danny and Daisy made a beeline for it, cooing over the fancy fabrics.  The whole family was in town to run a few errands.  Stan glanced at his wife.  Angie wasn’t happy she had been dragged out of the house, but Emmett refused to go anywhere without her.

              “Mama, look!” Danny said excitedly, pointing at the dresses.  Angie forced a smile.

              “Yes, dear, they’re very nice.”

              “You should get it!  It would look so pretty on you!”

              “She’s got a point,” Stan whispered to her. Angie sighed heavily.

              “It would be nice to have some more clothin’ options.  I noticed the other day that I don’t have many dresses.”

              “What are you talking about?  You’ve got plenty!”

              “Yes, fer this!”  Angie gestured to her enormous baby bump.  With how big she was getting, Stan had finally begun to agree Angie was likely right, that they were having twins for a third time.  “But after I give birth?  Most of the clothes what ‘ll fit me were fer workin’ on the ship.”

              “So, something that a nice housewife wouldn’t wear,” Stan said.  Angie nodded. “Well, want me to treat you to somethin’ nice?”  Angie rolled her eyes.

              “I don’t think even you can steal a whole dress in public without bein’ caught, darlin’.”

              “I wasn’t gonna steal it.  I was gonna buy it.”

              “Buy it?”  Angie put her hands on her hips.  “Who are you and what have ya done with my husband?” she asked, aghast. Stan laughed.  “It’s prob’ly expensive.  I’m fine.”

              “After the kids are born and you’re back to normal, I’ll get you somethin’ fancy, okay?” Stan said.  He held out his arm.  Angie took it with a smile.

              “All right.  If ya insist.”  She leaned in to talk quietly.  “Darlin’, in all seriousness, yer okay with buyin’ somethin’ rather than stealin’ it?”

              “Ang, I haven’t done much crime ashore.  Only small stuff I know I can get away with. I didn’t wanna risk getting caught and leaving the kids all alone while you were at sea.”

              “…Right.”  Angie sighed again.  “I keep forgettin’ how little I’ve been on land with you ‘n the kids.”

              “You’ve got plenty of time to catch up on everything.”

              “Yes.  Since I’m now permanently on shore leave.”  Angie raised her voice.  “Girls, leave the dresses alone, we have to go to the market.”  Reluctantly, Danny and Daisy abandoned the dresses and ran back to their parents.

              “Papa, I wanna piggy-back ride,” Daisy whined.  From his perch atop Stan’s shoulders, Emory blew a raspberry at his older sister.

              “Emory’s got littler legs than you do,” Stan said. Daisy crossed her arms.

              “Emmett’s walking just fine!” she argued, gesturing at Emmett, who was holding Stan’s hand.

              “What have we talked about?” Angie asked patiently. Daisy pouted.

              “Being a good big sister,” she muttered.  Angie ruffled her hair.

              “Don’t worry, honey, when we get to the market, you can do some more pocket practice,” she cooed.  Daisy’s eyes lit up.  She nodded. The family continued walking down the street, Danny and Daisy running ahead eagerly.  Stan grinned cheekily at Angie.

              “You’re getting lazy, having the kids pickpocket for you,” he teased.

              “I’m too pregnant to be quiet and get away fast,” Angie said.

              “Fair.”

              “I’m glad that even if yer not willin’ to do much crime lately, yer not extendin’ that to the kidlets.”

              “It’s a lot easier to brush off a six-year-old taking something than a grown adult.”

              “Mm, true enough.”  Angie smoothed the fabric of her dress.  “Once I’m shipshape, I’ll get to restockin’ the shop, darlin’.”  She smirked.  “I’m damn fine at sleight of hand.  Not to mention, no one would accuse the sweet housewife of larceny.”  Stan chuckled.

              “I knew I married the right woman.”

              “Mama, what’s larson?” Emmett asked abruptly. Angie smiled at her son.

              “A grown-up word ya don’t need to worry ‘bout.”

              “Like ‘damn’,” Emory said helpfully.  Stan and Angie grimaced.

              “…We should probably work on cleaning up our sailors’ mouths if we wanna avoid attracting attention,” Stan said quietly. Angie nodded.

              “Agreed.”

-----

              Shermie walked up to the unassuming house.  A large sign outside read “McGucket’s Marine Antiques”.

              This is the right place, then.  Good.  Being a merchant, Shermie had to spend a lot of time away from his family, so he made sure to bring back souvenirs from each trip.  This trip, to a small town called Gravity Falls, had been woefully bereft of potential souvenirs.  As such, he’d been relieved when a local told him about the store on the edge of town full of fun and sparkly things.

              “Ma’am,” he said politely to the woman sitting on the porch, supervising two toddler boys playing on the front lawn.  On either side of her was a basket holding a young infant.  The woman looked up at him curiously.  Recognition flickered in her eyes.  She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, one of the infants began to fuss.  The woman quickly began to soothe the infant.                 Shermie ducked into the house.  The room he was in looked like a proper shop.  Shelves lined the walls, groaning underneath the merchandise.  Some larger items, like a rusted anchor, were set on the floor, with price tags that seemed far too high to Shermie.  Two young girls in the corner giggled to each other as they picked through a box on the floor full of even more small items.

              “Welcome to McGucket’s Marine Antiques!” a voice boomed. A familiar voice.  Shermie’s eyes widened.  He turned.  Behind the store counter was a face he hadn’t seen in over a decade.

              “Stanley?” Shermie croaked.  His little brother gaped.

              “…Shermie?”

              “Stan, what are you- how- you-”  Shermie ran his hands through his hair.  “The people in town said the man who ran this store was named Stan McGucket, not Stan Pines.”  Stan grimaced.

              “Yeah.  Uh…” Stan looked over at the girls in the corner.  “Danny, Daisy.”  The girls looked up.  One had the distinctive Pines nose.  “If anyone comes in, go get your ma and have her handle the customer.”  The girls nodded.  “All right, Shermie, come with me, I’ll answer all your questions.”

              “You better,” Shermie mumbled.  Stan pushed open a door located behind the counter. Shermie followed him into the house proper.  The living room they walked into was cozy and nautical-themed, full of décor that looked like it came from a ship.  Stan gestured to a couch.  Shermie sat down.  Stan sat in a chair across from him.

              “The people in town said this place was run by Stan McGucket because it is.”

              “But how-”

              “I’ll tell you everything, but first, what do you know?” Stan asked.  Shermie raised an eyebrow.

              That’s…interesting.  Stan’s careful dodge reminded Shermie a lot of how his brother would construct lies as a teen.  He would ask what someone knew, then build his lie around that information.  Asking first allowed him to avoid contradicting something known to the person he was lying to.  Hopefully he’s not lying to me now.  I’ve fallen out of practice seeing through Stan’s lies.

              “You were captured by pirates over a decade ago,” Shermie said, deciding to take Stan at face value.  “At some point after you were captured by pirates, Stanford disappeared at sea.”  Stan nodded.

              “Yeah, that’s right.”  He sighed.  “Ford actually caught up to the ship I was captive on.  I got free in the fight, but Ford…he…”  Stan looked down at the ground.  “Well, I didn’t see his body, so I’m holding onto the hope that he’s still alive.”

              “Stan…”

              “The people in town know me as Stan McGucket ‘cause that’s my name now,” Stan continued, talking over Shermie.  “While I was captured by pirates, one of them decided he liked my name and took it.  I didn’t like the idea of sharing a name with a pirate, so I took my wife’s last name.”

              That smells like a lie.  Shermie’s brain caught up with what Stan was saying.  Wait, what?

              “You’re married?” Shermie asked.

              “Yeah.  You saw Angie – my wife – outside.  At least, I hope you did.  She said she was watching four of the kids out there.”

              “I…”  Shermie kneaded his forehead.  “Okay. Now I need to know how you met your wife.”

              “After I escaped from the pirates, I decided to stay at sea to look for Ford.  I didn’t- I didn’t wanna come home without him, y’know?”

              “Yes, I do,” Shermie said quietly.

              “I managed to get a spot on board a merchant ship where her brother, Lute, was first mate.  He was looking for her after she got captured by pirates.  Eventually, we found the ship she was on and rescued her.”

              “You…you rescued your future wife from pirates?” Shermie asked, dumbfounded.  Stan nodded. “Why am I not surprised?”  Stan smirked slightly.

              “We both stayed at sea as merchants,” he continued, “and fell in love pretty quick.  After we had the first set of twins, I decided to move ashore with ‘em. Angie, she, uh-”  He laughed quietly.  “She decided to keep sailing.  Even after we had another set of twins.”

              “Really?”

              “What can I say?  I married a free spirit.”

              Makes sense Stan would find someone like himself.

              “When she found out she was pregnant for the third time, though, we had a long talk, and decided that she’d move ashore with me permanently.  I like having her close by.”

              “I’d imagine having her help with the kids would be nice as well.”

              “Eh.  We’ve got some former crewmates in town that love watching the kids,” Stan said with a shrug.  “That’s why we settled here.  With that help, keeping track of the kids wasn’t what I was concerned about.  I missed my wife.”  There was something more, though.  A haunted look lingered in Stan’s eyes.

              “You were worried about her safety,” Shermie said. Stan looked away.  “I can’t blame you.  It’s dangerous to be a merchant.”

              He’s already lost his twin to the sea.  Of course he doesn’t want to lose his wife, too.

              “Yeah, well.”  Stan cleared his throat.  “I’ve got Angie on shore with me now.  We’ve got six great kids.  Life’s pretty good.”

              “Yes.  I can see that.  Mom will be relieved to hear you’re fine.”

              “She’s gonna show up within a week of you telling her,” Stan mumbled.

              “Can you blame her?” Shermie asked.  Stan shook his head.

              “Not after having my own kids, no.”  The door opened.  The woman from outside, who Shermie now knew to be Stan’s wife, Angie, poked her head into the room.

              “Darlin’, should I be plannin’ on an extra person fer dinner?” she asked.  Shermie tried to hide his surprise at Angie’s strong accent.

              “No need,” Shermie said, getting up from the couch. “I need to be going back to my ship before long.  But before I head out, I should do what I came here to do.”

              “What’d you come here for?” Stan asked, getting up as well.

              “To buy something for my kids.”  Shermie raised an eyebrow.  “Might I be able to get a family discount from my little brother that disappeared for ten years?”  Stan sighed heavily.  “If I get a good deal, I might forget to mention you to Mom for a few days…”  A twinkle appeared in Stan’s eye.

              “Make it a week, and I’ll see what I can do.”

              “Deal.”

[utterlyinevitable]

Time Bomb

III.

I.  |   II.

Pairing: Dr. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Rebecca Lao) Word Count: 3.2k Warning: angst, trauma, panic attack Summary: OHSY Chapter 13 rewrite with the trauma we should have had.

A/N: I was going to have this be one long fic but it read just as jumpy as the canon chapter so imma split it up into 3-4 parts. I’ve been sitting on this for weeks and not really happy with it but yolo it’s as good as it’s gonna get! Enjoy 💗

________________________________________

III.

Following an all-too-short lunch with Jackie, Becca reposed in the residents lounge for the rest of the day, alone, save for the somewhat reassuring chime of silence which was suspended throughout the room, and a riveting new journal that she held in her hands as she waited on labs to come back for her only patient, Farley. 

Esme stepped inside the newly renovated room, closing the thick wooden door behind her and spinning a pen anxiously between her fingers. The atmosphere changed immediately - whatever calmness Becca found in this modern solitude vanished with her enigma of an intern’s presence. She moved to sit across from Becca without saying a word. 

The two of them sat there in complete silence for a bit. The only sound was the rattling of the central heating from behind the ceiling panels and the taps of the pen Esme was still spinning between her hands. 

Becca folded the article on her lap. She couldn’t focus on it anyway. 

“Esme? Everything okay?”  

It was impossible to miss the sullen look on Esme’s face - as if the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders and crushing her completely. She looked at Becca for a long moment, never meeting her eyes. Esme’s stare scanned the resident before her; the one resident responsible for her mentorship, the one she’s supposed to trust, the one who’s known to have faced great ethical dilemmas. All Esme could see was the same struggle staring back at her - only worse. 

“Not really,” she huffs, crumpling back into the couch cushion. “It's Levi. His situation... it's really getting to me.” She took a pause to lick her dry lips. Then dove into the guilt eating away at her, “He's in so much pain every minute of every day. He's miserable, Becca. His whole life is agony, and he can't even tell anyone. I put my stethoscope to his chest a few days ago, and he teared up.” 

Becca could tell Esme was trying not to cry, hiding her emotions behind the brick wall her angry tone provided. Trying to be strong. For whom had yet to be determined.   

“Could you live like that?” 

“Honestly…” Becca sighed as she bit her cheek, “I don't know.” 

The last two weeks had Becca contemplating her own existence more than ever - a unwarranted side effect of escaping death. And in all those restless hours she hadn’t settled on a solid statement. She hadn’t found the right words to completely encompass and make sense of the endless agony tearing her apart. 

She wished she could have switched places with Danny and Bobby; it was her fault they got caught in the crossfire. But Becca was selfish. So selfish for not wanting to die. 

Rebecca Carolina Lao did not want to die. She could not die.

She’d worked hard her entire life - devoted her youth to her studies and cultivating the best resume she could. Her life had only just begun. She finally had the career of her dreams and… 

What else is there to live for? 

Those around her. Her friends. Her family miles away. 

She couldn’t leave them. What would her mom be like if she had died without saying goodbye? She was strong but no one is strong enough to bury their child. Would she have her buried, or cremated and kept close to her heart? How would her roommates cope with the loss of another friend? How would they cope with taking on her share of the bills on top of inevitably losing their jobs in a few months? Who would pack up all her stuff and where would it all go? 

Becca didn’t know any of these answers because she wasn’t in that position. 

Through all of her pain, she fought like hell to stay. 

As she sat in front of Esme, Becca’s mind briefly wandered to what it would be like to be in Levi’s position. If she couldn’t hold anyone’s hand anymore, or hold a pen or a book without pain… or kiss Ethan… 

Would she be strong enough to live without everything she holds dear? 

No. 

She could not imagine her life ending any time soon. 

“So what do I do for him, Becca? How do I help?”

The pen stopped rotating and the heating system lulled to a dull hum. 

“You try... To respect his wishes,” she said with a resolute nod. “That could mean finding new experimental treatments, or it could mean accepting the fact that he doesn't want any more surgeries, even if you think they might help. He doesn't have any good choices right now. You have to make sure he knows you care about him first and foremost.”

The damaged girls looked at one another. The words settled and the air shifted.   

Esme balled her fists against the loose fabric of her scrubs at her thighs. “Yeah... that makes sense.”

“Levi's been through a lot, and it makes sense that he doesn't want to get his hopes up for no reason. But it's your job to try to get him well.” 

“I just wish I believed we could actually do that. Fix him.” Esme sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, straightening up resolutely. 

Becca’s eyes softened. She remembered how it felt with her first terminal patients. That absolute helplessness didn’t compare - not any more. 

The thing about being terminal - the silver lining - is foresight. People with incurable conditions have time to come to terms with dying. They have time to make amends. They have time to live the rest of their days on their terms. They have time to say goodbye. 

Unlike Danny and Bobby. 

Esme rose to her feet, wild determination in her eyes. “Levi's an amazing guy. I'm gonna help him... somehow.”  

“He is,” a small smile pricked the corners of Becca’s lips. “I'm glad he has you to look after him.” 

“Thanks, Becca. This really helped.” The standoffish intern smiled back and headed off towards her mission. 

And once again Becca was left alone in eerie silence.  

***

Stir crazy and mind bouncing too much for the walls of the small lounge to handle, Becca decided to make laps around the hospital. She spent the rest of her afternoon reacquainting herself with the wards and spending time comforting premature babies in the NICU. 

Babies. 

How can you be sad around babies? So full of life and promise... 

Becca was walking past the E.R. on her way to check on Farley when she ran into Ethan. 

His face lit up when he saw her; she looked better. She had pulled her hair back into a neater bun and there was a ghost of a smile present among her features. Looking up at him there seemed to be a glow about her, glowing in the faint way that only someone with a new lease on life could. Maybe Ethan was wrong. Maybe she did need to come back to work and face her fears head on. Maybe what was best for her was the distraction and promise of doing good. For once he hoped beyond all hope that his assessment would be proven wrong. 

The sweet coloring in his eyes sparkled and the small cracks of crow's feet peeping at the corners sent a joyful warmth throughout Becca’s body. Just the sight of him gave her enough purchase to let out a large gust of air and with it most of her reserved tension. 

Ethan. 

He was here and she was safe. 

For a fraction of a moment they both forgot they were still in the hospital. 

“I've just been with your landlord,” he said slightly softer than his normal cadence, giving them both reason to stand closer in the busy lobby.  

“How is he?” Becca shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her coat, keeping herself from reaching out to him in such a public place.  

Their eyes never strayed from one another. The sparkle in his azure’s matched the glow of her heart as she gazed at him. 

“A pain in the ass.” The sides of Ethan’s mouth perked upwards just a hair. “Medically, however, I'm waiting to see if any bacteria shows up in his cultures. If he has meningitis, we'll need to-” 

Suddenly, the ambulance bay doors burst open cutting him off. Their heads whipped towards the door where an EMT was wheeling a new patient in.  

With skilled precision the EMT rattled off. “I have a patient here. Unconscious female, 50's.” 

Becca and Ethan took a brief look around the E.R., but the few doctors on duty were busy with other urgent cases. 

“We'll take her,” he says just as Becca’s feet carried her to the gurney in an adrenaline-fueled rush.   

Unconscious woman. Shallow breaths. 

Becca’s muscle memory took over well before her brain could catch up, gently slapping the nameless woman’s deathly pale cheek. Everything happened so fast. Becca’s vision was filtered by a vignette secluding her from the world. The only thing pulling attention at the center was the woman before her. This patient barely breathing and clinging to dear life. This patient with frayed graying hair, soft creases and a pale white face with a structure she’s seen before. 

This woman’s not going to die. 

Becca wouldn’t have it. On the third slap to her boney cheek the darkened edges faded and Becca could finally see the bigger picture. 

The moment she made contact, it clicked. 

Becca’s jaw dropped as she registered the features glaring back at her. 

“Oh my god…” she whispered to herself. 

This can’t be. 

Nervously looking over her shoulder Becca called, “Ethan,” 

He raised his brows, ready to jump in and help at her command. 

Before he could take a step forward Becca quickly elaborated, “It's your mom…” 

Time kept spinning and every second this patient came closer to losing life. 

For the first time in his career Ethan was rooted to the spot. 

Of course this would be how they meet after 25 years. The universe had been playing a sick and morbid joke on him lately - Dolores, Naveen, Becca, and now the woman who was dead to him long ago. 

“Ma'am?” Becca tapped her again, trying to jostle her awake. 

Becca’s eyes further assessed the woman’s state. Blue lips and fingertips. Memories jolted through her on the backs of the numbing adrenaline of her first ever case with Ethan - 

She’s losing life. 

Just like Danny and Bobby and... 

Becca pushed the constricting feeling of paralyzation aside. This woman cannot die on her watch. Another life will not be taken from her. Regardless of who they are.   

Ethan watched Becca move frantically around that woman. The reassuring color she finally found had drained from her face completely. Without having to ask he knew how Becca was feeling, because he felt it too. 

He didn’t want to help this patient. He wanted to turn on his heels and let the powers that be take control. To let whatever power that took her away from them all those years ago to come and take her away now. He couldn’t look at her. The nerve of that woman. But Ethan Ramsey took an Oath and there was a patient who needed his expert care. 

With herculean effort Ethan shook himself out of his trance and leapt into action a split second later.  

“How's her breathing? Listen to her chest,” he instructed.  

“Shallow. Pupils are small and unresponsive…” Becca responds, moving to check their patient’s arms for any telling signs. 

And she finds one. 

Track marks. 

She bit back the gasp threatening to call Ethan’s attention. 

Ethan… 

As much as Becca wanted to protect him from this - from the deep seeded, constant pain his mother inflicts - her job came first. Becca was a doctor and her attending needed to know the diagnosis. 

“It looks like an opioid overdose. We need to wake her up.” 

She didn’t take her eyes off of his mother, willing her awake with every fibre of her fragile being. Calling up to that invisible force that spared her life only weeks ago for just one more favor. Just one more delay to the inevitable. She greedily needed her to survive. Needed his mother to open her eyes - there was no other option. 

Death would not come today.  

“Louise?” Ethan finally acknowledged the woman. His voice bellowing, pricking goosebumps on Becca’s skin. “Dammit!” 

Ethan brushed past Becca and ground his knuckles into his mother’s sternum. 

“Hnnng…” Louise whined; her eyes opened for a moment and Becca caught the same baby blues blankly staring at her then rolled back in her head. 

No.

Doe eyes wide and full of diluted terror Becca announced, “I'll get the naloxone.” 

She hurried to find a bottle of the drug in a cabinet by the nurses station, quickly preparing an injection in her unfaltering hands as she moved back towards the gurney in ten steps. Then without an ounce of hesitation, stabbed the needle into Louise’s shoulder. Ethan’s mother drew a deep, shuddering breath, eyes fluttering as she slowly pulled out of her unconscious state. 

Becca’s breath caught up with her. 

She’s alive.

That was all the assurance Ethan needed. 

“Alright, she'll make it.” Ethan pulled his rubber gloves off and stepped away from the gurney and where Becca still rooted beside it. 

“Nurse? Keep an eye on her. We're done here.” 

Becca wasn't done. She was sinking in the feelings surrounding her. She felt like she was drowning in the onslaught of waves overtaking her - waning adrenaline, fear, terror, inadequacy, remembrance. Death looked her in the face again today. She evaded him once more. 

Becca 3, Death 2. 

What quarter were they in? When will this duel finish? 

She doesn’t know. It’s an inevitable prolonging. A battle she won’t win for long. 

When is the end? 

She’s consciously terrified of losing. 

Becca’s rooted in place as the waves began rolling towards her. Everyone moves around her in fluid sweeps. She sees nothing and everything all at once. Her line of sight coated in blanched static. 

When the nurse took over and shook her out of her trance, Becca noticed Ethan promptly striding from the room without another word. This wasn’t the Ethan she knew; he would never leave a patient this soon. And this wasn’t a patient… it’s his mother… who nearly died if it wasn’t for him… 

Becca swallowed her bile of trauma and chased after him through the storm; 

“Ethan!” 

The haunting she felt in her core didn’t matter. The shadow taking tallies over her shoulder didn’t matter. None of that mattered. She had to push past it all and be strong for him now.

He was elusive. She didn’t even hear his footsteps stomping through the hall and rattling through her, not even the vibrations ricocheting off the steel foundations. His long legs couldn’t have taken him too far. Scanning the corridor, Becca noticed the door to the on-call room a second away from shutting. 

Ethan.   

She finds Ethan hunched over a cot in the empty on call room. The room is dark - only one clinical light is glowing in the far corner of the cramped room. His hands balled into tight fists, the whites of his knuckles reflecting the little light away from his crumpled face. 

She gingerly sat down beside him and ran a gentle hand over his back. 

“Ethan?” Becca whispered a few moments later “Are you alright?” 

Warm air flowed indignantly between them. 

“She does not get to do this to me.” He huffed in his deep voice laden with the sentiment of a broken child. ”She does not get to make me feel bad for her.”

“I’m sorry.” Becca couldn’t say anything louder than a whisper. Her own despair still gripped into her like a vice.  

“Don't be.” Ethan shrugged bitterly, though not enough for her to let up on her calming caresses. “This has nothing to do with me. That woman isn't anyone I know.”

She rested her head against his shoulder. They let silence hang and their minds clear. It was Becca who asked the most pressing question from their earlier observations: 

“Do you think your dad knows she’s using?” 

“...I don't know.” 

He grinds his hands further into his eye sockets, willing the newest image of that woman from his minds eye. Becca continued soothing rubs up and down his back and placed her chin on his shoulder so she could look at him more closely. 

“It’s okay to be sad,” she mutters. 

“I'm not sad. I'm... I'm…” Ethan dropped his hands and they hung between the gap of his legs. His eyes squeezed shut and she can make out the small droplets trapped against his lashes. “Angry.” 

“That's okay, too.” Her free hand moved to begin tracing nonsensical patterns over the thin, starchy fabric at his forearm. “Anything you're feeling right now is okay.”

His clouded eyes flew open. 

“I'm…” he begins to speak before pressing his lips together tightly. 

He huffed, shoving off her embrace and stands. 

“I have to get back to work.” 

“That was your mom, Ethan. She nearly died. You can take a minute. It's okay--” she began to plead. 

Becca was trying to beg him to stay. To lock the door and let them hold one another for a while. So that they can fall apart and patch one another up with unconditional affection. She needed this just as much as she knew he did. 

But Ethan didn’t give her the chance to ask, to make the all too enticing proposition as he bound across the room. He didn’t even bother to turn around; his eyes shut tightly and hand reached for the metal knob. He inhaled a deep cleansing breath; 

“No, it isn't. There are patients that need me much more than she does.” There was a finality in his tone that frightened her. 

Becca’s jaw slacked. 

Ethan didn’t leave a second for her rebuttal. For her to beg. Not even a quirk of the neck in her direction to see the matching brokenness in their eyes.  

The door shut loudly behind him, his footsteps echoed down the hall. 

She wanted to chase after Ethan. He needed her now more than ever. Another person in his life could have been gone in a swift, unforgiving instant. If the effects of seeing their patient on the brink of death was this bad for her she could only imagine what he was going through. Though Becca couldn't move, couldn’t force herself to run through the halls and break down the barriers he’s just put up sky high. He’s pushing her away again; she can feel it. 

Resigned, Becca gave up the great fight. 

When the rattling of his exit dissipated and all that reached her ears was an unnerving peace, she laid down, hugging the plastic wrapped pillow tightly to her body. It smelt like clean and disinfectant and morbidly hospital-like. She wasn’t able to lose herself in this horrid smell. She ripped off the case with as much strength as she could muster, freeing the mass-produced cushion. The squish of the mildly firm pillow through the hypoallergenic fabric wasn’t helping. It still carried all she needed to forget. Rolling to face the wall, curling into a tight ball and burrowing her face in the pillow she let out a vital, subdued scream. The damn was shattered and her emotions spiraled freely for the first time in days. 

Everything was all too much.

________________________________________

Masterlist

@choicesficwriterscreations​​ @openheartfanfics​​

Perma:

@rookiemarsswiftie​​ @lucy-268​​ @binny1985​​ @thegreentwin​​ @queencarb​​ @danijimenezv​​ @starrystarrytrouble​​ @terrm9​​ @interobanginyourmom​​ @adrex04​​ @maurine07​​ @mercury84choices​ @schnitzelbutterfingers​​ @theeccentricbibliophile​​ @wingedhairstylemusicweasel​​   @whimsicallywayward15​​ @mvalentine​​ @rookie-ramsey​​ @drariellevalentine​​ @lifeaskim​ @otherworldlypresents​​ @therookie​​ @aylaramseycarrera​​ @angela8754​​ @fireycookie @stateofgracious​​ @missmiimiie​​​ @uneravine​​​  @peaceinmidstofchaos​ @choicesaddict5​​​ @iemcpbchoices​​​

Ethan:

@udishaman​​ @honeyandsunfl0wers​​ @hutchereverlark23 @ohchoices​​ @dulceghernandez​​ @blossomanarchy​​ @stygianflood​​​ @caseyvalentineramsey​​ @rookieoh​​ @openheartthot​​ @senseofduties​​ @lilyvalentine​​ @tsrookie​​ @kalogh​​ @aworldoffandoms​​ @takemyopenheart​​ @casey-v​​ @ramseyandrys​​ @ethanramseylover​​ @ramseyreader​​  @a-crepusculo​​ @aarisa-frost​​ @shanzay44​​​