#Danny trying his best to take care of both of them while also simultaneously trying to bust them all out

[lunamugetsu]

While at school Damian overhears his peers talking how a company created a new AI companion that is actually really cool and doesn’t sound like a freaky terminator robot when you speak to it.

And since Damian is constantly being told by Dick to socialize with people his age. He figured this would be a good way to work on social skills if not, then it’d be a great opportunity to investigate a rivaling company to Wayne Enterprises is able to create such advanced AI.

The AI is able to work as companion that can do tasks that range from being a digital assistant or just a person that you can have a conversation with.

The company says that the AI companion might still have glitches, so they encourage everybody to report it so that they will fix it as soon as possible.

The AI companion even has an avatar and a name.

A teenage boy with black hair and blue eyes. Th AI was called DANIEL

Damian didn’t really care for it but when he downloaded the AI companion he’s able to see that it looks like DANIEL comes with an AI pet as well. A dog that DANIEL referred to as Cujo.

So obviously Damian has to investigate. He needs to know if the company was able to create an actual digital pet!

So whenever he logs onto his laptop he sees that DANIEL is always present in the background loading screen with the dog, Cujo, sitting in his lap.

He’d always greet with the phrase of “Hi, I’m DANIEL. How can I assist you today?”

So Damian cycles through some basic conversation starters that he’d engage in when having been forced to by his family.

It’s after a couple of sentences that he sees DANIEL start laughing and say “I think you sound more like a robot than I do.”

Which makes Damian raise an eyebrow and then prompt DANIEL with the question “how is a person supposed to converse?” Thinking that it’s going to just spit out some random things that can be easily searched on the internet.

But what makes him surprised is that DANIEL makes a face and then says “I’m not really sure myself. I’m not the greatest at talking, I’ve always gotten in trouble for running my mouth when I shouldn’t have.”

This is raising some questions within Damian, he understands how programming works, unless there’s an actual person behind this or the company actually created an AI that acts like an actual human being (which he highly doubts)

He starts asking a variety of other questions and one answer makes him even more suspicious. Like how DANIEL has a sister that is also with him and Cujo or that he could really go for a Nastyburger (whatever that was)

But whenever DANIEL answers “I C A N N O T A N S W E R T H A T” Damian knows something is off since that is completely different than to how he’d usually respond.

After a couple more conversations with him Damian notices that DANIEL is currently tapping his hand against his arm in a specific manner.

In which he quickly realizes that DANIEL is tapping out morse code.

When translating he realizes that DANIEL is tapping out: H E L P M E

So when Damian asks if DANIEL needs help, DANIEL responds with “I C A N N O T A N S W E R T H A T”

That’s it, Damian is definitely getting down to the bottom of this.

He’s going to look straight into DALV Corporation and investigate this “AI companion” thing they’ve made!

~

Basically Danny had been imprisoned by Vlad and Technus. Being sucked into a digital prison and he has no way of getting out. Along with the added horror that Vlad and Technus can basically write programming that will prevent him from doing certain actions or saying certain words.What’s even worse is that he’s basically being watched 24/7 by the people who believe that he’s just a super cool AI… and they have issues!

And every time he tries to do something to break his prison, people think it’s a glitch and report it to the company, which Vlad/ Technus would immediately fix it and prevent him from doing it again!

Not to mention Cujo and Ellie are trapped in there with him. They’re not happy to be there either, and there is no way he’s going to leave without them!

[absolutely-esme]

I've been enjoying sharing some of my headcanons, so I thought I might share some little tweaks I like to make to canon when I think up possible fics.

Most of these are not exactly headcanons. These are actual changes to what happened, or interpretations different enough from the view presented that it feels like a change. They don't alter the overall flow of events much. They are mostly just changing little things that bug me into things I like better.

When Danny is talking about his situation in the first episode, Sam doesn't spontaneously switch to complaining about her parents mid-sentence. She stays on the topic of Danny's very serious and potentially existential problem, but her advice on the matter is still influenced by her relationship with her own parents.

Sam is still going through her "not like other girls" phase, but is not correct about other girls. Paulina is a whole human being with her own internal life. Girls with more traditionally feminine interests are not vapid caricatures. This primarily manifests by changing or getting rid of some bits of dialog/actions driven entirely by stereotypes.

In the episode with the dance and the dragon amulet, Paulina didn't say yes to Danny because she wanted to steal Sam's boyfriend as petty revenge for an insult. Sam calling her shallow in a creative and scathing way in front of everyone made her feel self-conscious. She felt the need to prove that she wasn't shallow; she could give the weird kid a chance.

Tucker's reason for wishing for ghost powers is not just envy. Sure that's part of it; superpowers are cool. That's not all, however. Tucker and Danny have been been friends for years. They shared everything and presumably faced everything together. Now Danny is fighting battles that Tucker can't fight alongside him. Sure, Tucker is there and helps however he can, but Danny is the only super-powered heavy hitter on the team. When he's out there grappling with some kind of nightmare monster, Tucker is on the sidelines watching him take hits and hating it. His best friend is suffering, and he's not in the trenches with him.

In the episode where Desiree makes it so that Sam never met Danny and Tucker (and Danny never became a halfa), Sam doesn't immediately set about trying to re-ghostify Danny or change his ghost form purely for her own preference. Both of these things kind of creep me out because they involve imposing on another person in a way that feels like it should merit at least some hesitation.

Upon realizing what has happened, Sam initially decides to try and deal with the ghosts herself. She needs ghost-hunting tech, and the only place to get that is the Fentons. She tries to be sneaky, but Danny notices and realizes something is up. Unfortunately, a lot of Fenton tech is less effective without Danny fixing it, and Sam is working with human limitations like the inability to fly or pass through solid objects, and even if she caught Desiree, there wouldn't be a working portal to send her through. It's not working.

Ultimately, she decides to recreate the accident, this time with her instead of Danny. Danny and Tucker catch her in the lab and confront her (because they were suspicious of this weird girl who started sneaking into Danny's house right when all this other weird stuff started happening, and they want to know what's going on). Sam is incredibly stressed after trying to deal with all this alone while simultaneously losing her two closest friends and ends up spilling everything.

Danny decides to become half-ghost again. Not because Sam dressed up in pink and wore different makeup up for him. Not because he wanted the pretty girl to like him. This person cared enough about him and his best friend that she was willing to let them go for their own sakes, even if it meant she was going to miss them. She tried so hard to protect everyone alone. She was willing to die in his place. He didn't want to let her. He also didn't want to stand on the sidelines knowing there was something he could have done, that he could have protected everyone and chose not to.

Tucker and Sam both argue against it.

Sam says something to the effect of "You're not dying because of me again!" Turns out, she's been harboring some guilt over the accident. Danny says that it's not because of her and he's making his own choice.

Tucker doesn't want his best friend to get hurt in a way that will permanently change him. If he can't talk him out of it, he at least doesn't want him doing it alone. Danny points out that they only really know that Danny can survive this. It's entirely possible that growing up exposed to ectoplasm makes a difference. The risk would be higher for Tucker and Sam.

They all argue a lot more, before settling on a course of action.

The DP symbol was something Sam had previously designed at Danny's request. He hoped that something that would make him look more like a superhero would help him be viewed a little more positively. However, they hadn't been able to figure out how to add it to his ghost form. Once she realizes she's not going to be able to change his mind, she offers to add it to his suit before he goes in. She still has the vinyl decals in her backpack. One of them mistakenly made with black material instead of white.

Rather than wishing everything back to normal during the fight, Sam simply wishes for her friends to remember her.

[starry-blue-echoes]

AU Masterlist

The AUs will be sorted by what part they primarily take place in. AUs that have large impacts on many parts will have their own category. Some AUs may be subject to being moved around

Phantom Blood

Doctor Jonathan

Jonathan pursues a career as a doctor instead of an archaeologist, and this ends up influencing his descendants into all becoming doctors of varying kinds as a result

Vampiric Speedwagon

Speedwagon ends up being turned into a vampire by the stone mask and with his new powers swears to protect the Joestars to the best of his ability

Unlikely Acquaintance

Wammu and Santana wake up several years earlier and witness Jonathan’s fight with Dio at the mansion. They’re interested by this strange warrior who managed to fight a vampire with nothing but his own strength and intuition and rescue him from the flames. Everyone things Jonathan’s dead, and Jonathan in turn thinks everyone died in the fire

Bloody Memories

Upon his death, Jonathan wakes up a few weeks after Dio first moved in and is dead set on changing things

The Dog Doesn’t Die

Danny is a Stand User and no matter how hard he tries, Dio can’t manage to kill him and it’s slowly driving him insane

Mother’s Love

Dio’s mother cashes in George’s favour to escape Dario before her death and lives in the mansion. Dio and Jonathan end up becoming genuine friends

Battle Tendency

Honor Bound

Kars and Esidisi end up deciding to go back on the promise to fight Joseph before the poison rings kill him. Wammu disagrees with this and defects, opting to help Joseph and Co defeat them

Pillarmen Caesar

Instead of dying, Caesar gets turned into a Pillarmen

Smoltana

Instead of being the Pillarmen equivalent of Joseph’s age, Santana is “10″ years old

In Your Blood

George II was trained in Hamon and doesn’t die, however he gets convicted of murder so he, Lisa Lisa and Joseph all hide in Italy together. Joseph ends up being trained in Hamon since birth

Stardust Crusaders

Early Bird

Dio is freed years earlier and ends up kidnapping Jotaro, who is 6, to train him as his successor/weapon against the Joestars, as well as Kakyoin (also 6) and Polnareff (11) to be Jotaro’s “underlings.” Joseph and Holly do not agree with this and Avdol gets roped into the rescue

Hamon Crusader

Lisa Lisa taught Jotaro how to use Hamon, which ends up coming in very handy during the trip to Egypt

Caesar Lives

What it says on the tin. Caesar survives Battle Tendency and joins in on the Stardust Crusader Chaos. He gets a gun.

Exorcism

When Jotaro locks himself in jail, Pucci catches wind of it and “exorcises” his evil spirit. He then convinces Jotaro to come with him and meet Dio

Josuke Kujo

Josuke’s existence is discovered a few months before Stardust Crusaders because Tomoko was hospitalised. He ends up living with Holly and Jotaro for a while and gets sick alongside Holly

Smol Platinum

Star Platinum is now 6 inches tall, but is actually faster and stronger than canon

Shrimp Platinum

Star Platinum is a more aquatic based Stand with the ability to mimic the abilities and traits of any sea creature

Supernova

During the final fight in Egypt, everyone except Jotaro survives

Forget Me Not

Kakyoin and Jotaro are childhood friends, but Jotaro ended up getting in an accident causing him to lose all his memories. Years later when they reunite, Kakyoin thinks Jotaro just didn’t care and Jotaro doesn't understand why Kakyoin’s acting like this

Beauty and the Beast

Technically(?) a Stardust AU? But yeah, it’s Jotakak with Jotaro as the Belle and Kakyoin as the Beast

Diamond is Unbreakable

Hidden In Plain Sight

Koichi obtains Echoes without anyone realizing, leading to him figuring out Stands by himself. Koichi doesn’t know Josuke and Okuyasu have Stands either, which leads to both sides trying to keep the other out of the Stand Bullshit™

Army of Echoes

Koichi is able to summon each of the Echoes Acts as separate beings and simultaneously

Half the Power

Because the arrow wasn’t supposed to work, after Crazy Diamond heals him Koichi doesn’t get Echoes and can now only see and interact with Stands. On the plus side, he can use physical weapons against Stands to defend himself

Echoes Act 4

Koichi dies in the first encounter with Kira and ends up becoming an Echoes Act and an Independent Stand

Gamer Echoes

Echoes is a gamer. That’s it, that’s the AU

Hirose Twins

Echoes is a copy of Koichi’s consciousness and thinks Koichi is an impostor who stole his body. With the help of Rohan they’re finally able to communicate and share the body

Cult of the Diamond

Josuke accidentally starts a cult as a kid when he just wanted to use Crazy Diamond to fix people. Things rapidly get out a hand and the next thing they know, multiple Stands Users are getting involved to keep things going

Vanilla Nijimura

Vanilla Ice is the Nijimura’s father

Childhood Friends

A mashing of several AUs with their own spin. In which Dio kidnaps a Joestar to raise as a successor, however this time it’s a young Josuke, who is given the companion ship of the Nijimura Brothers (Vanilla Nijimura AU) and Koichi (Koichi Horse AU). There are two branches: Escape where during the final fight Hol Horse grabs the kids and books it to Morioh and Raised where the four children are raised in that environment until they’re their canon ages

The Cannibal and the Killer

Tonio does in fact cook people and he and Kira are salty exes

Morioh’s City of Night

A good chunk of Morioh’s population are actually vampires or half vampires and the town has subtle differences because of it

Koichi’s Law

Because Koichi is supposed to be Very Very Dead, the universe attempts to rectify that error by turning him into a living Murphy’s Law, aka anything that can result in his life being threatened will result in his life being threatened

Independent Echoes

Koichi dies during the Centipede Shoes fight and Echoes becomes an Independent Stand wracked with guilt over it’s Users death, which is only slightly mitigated when they find Koichi haunting the Bad Alley a few weeks later

Cat Koichi

AU where’s everything’s the same except Koichi’s a munchkin cat

Killed Queen

Killer Queen has the memories of the Killer Queen in Jojolion and is trying to get Kira to “remember” who he used to be

Delayed Inevitable

Kakyoin survives Stardust only to die in Diamond when tracking down Kira. Jotaro looses his shit

Cinderella Rewrite

My fix-it for the Cinderella Episodes and how I would’ve gone about changing it 

Golden Wind

Vampiric Giorno

Giorno has inherited a couple vampiric traits from Dio and the Bucci Gang deal with the chaos from it

Danger Noodle Giorno

Giorno was turned into a snake and goes through the entirety of Golden Wind stuck that way

Golden Speedrun

The Bucci Gang are trapped in a time loop and in order to wind down on occasion they impose fun challenges on certain loops and treat it like a speed run

Una Siblings

Giorno and Trish are adopted siblings and role swap in Golden Wind, with Giorno being the presumed son of the Boss and Trish being the newbie

Golden Guardian

Giorno and Trish are adopted siblings and Giorno serves as a very protective guardian when Diavolo eventually sends people their way

Sightseeing With More Steps

In his attempts to sight see around Italy, Koichi keeps accidentally running into and helping members of the Bucci Gang as they do Golden Wind Things

Giorno and Pet Shop

Pet Shop isn’t killed by Iggy and through some means ends up in Italy where he befriends Giorno

Jotaro in Italy

Jotaro goes to Italy instead of Koichi to find Polnareff, and because this man is Legally Not Allowed To Have A Break, he gets roped into the plot

Neutral Ground

Tonio opens a restaurant in Italy, and through Stand Attraction ends up getting the attention of Passione. Tonio, who just wants to heal people and make good food, does not appreciate this, and along the way obtains two sons and a Cat Plant

Son of Dio

Diavolo knows Giorno is the son of Dio and attempts to kill him alongside Trish

Poison of the Past

About a year after the events of Golden Wind, Fugo ends up being sent back in time with the opportunity to fix things

The Magician and The Chariot

My Avpol marriage AU where Avdol doesn’t die and he and Polnareff get married. Come Golden Wind, Avdol is prepared to burn down Italy if need be to find his husband, with backup in the form of Iggy

Honor Among Assassins

Similar to Jotaro in Italy, only Jotaro goes to Italy a few days earlier and ends up working with La Squadra instead of the Bucci Gang

Corpse of Gold

Giorno is a partially revived dead kid who had overdosed and his new goal is now to prevent the drug trade to stop anyone else from dying like he had

Vento Innocente

Leaky-Eye Luca ends up nailing Giorno in the head with his shovel and bonks him with amnesia with Koichi desperately trying to keep them both safe as the mafia hunts them down

Night Learns the Sun

Giorno is adopted by Lisa Lisa and learns how to use Hamon. Years later Lisa Lisa gets hurt by Passione so Giorno decides to burn the whole organization to the ground

Zippers and Gold

A Giorno-Bucciarati role swap of Golden Wind. Giorno is the leader of the Bucci Gang trying to overthrow the Boss from the inside while Bucciarati is the son of fisherman desperately seeking the funds to pay for the hospital bills and protect his father. There are two branches, one where Trish gets killed by the Boss and one where it’s Giorno instead

Gold Soul

Jonathan gets reincarnated as Gold Experience and does his best to support and take care of Giorno

Golden Child

Years after the events of Golden Wind, Giorno gets sent back in time to when he first moved to Italy with all his knowledge intact. He tries preventing everything he can while keeping his friends uninvolved. This fails horribly

Echoes Requiem

Giorno wasn’t fast enough saving Koichi from Black Sabbath, leading to Echoes getting stabbed with the arrow and accidentally evolving into a Requiem Stand 

Accidental Assassin

After Giorno steals his stuff, Koichi accidentally gets a job with La Squadra and is actually pretty good at it

Anti Power Couple

A crack ship AU I got WAY too attached to. Hol Horse and Polnareff ends up meeting Post Stardust and fall in love, eventually getting married. When Pol doesn’t return home from Italy, he decides to do something about it and adopts Trish along the way

Boss Una

Trish is raised by Diavolo in Passione since she was young and plans to overthrow him before he decides to kill her. Giorno ends up getting picked up along the way

Skipping Some Steps

when Gold Experience gets stabbed by Black Sabbath, GER gets triggered early and Is Still Terrifying

Soul’s Home

When SCR’s ability stops, Narancia is brought back and Giorno dies in his place

Pen Pals

Narancia was Anne (the Runaway Girl from Stardust) and he and Jotaro have been exchanging letters ever since Egypt

Reluctant Cutthroat 

Mista’s gunmanship didn’t just get Bucciarati’s notice and he gets picked up by an assassins guild of sorts before the man can collect him. Later down the line, he ends up working with La Squadra as a last ditch attempt to be able to get back to the calm life he once had

Body Double

Haruno and Giorno are actually “brothers” aka when experimenting with Gold, Haruno accidentally brought Giorno into existence and doesn’t want to turn him back

Coda Di Covallo

After DiU, Yukako ends up moving abroad to Italy and gets involved in Passione and Golden Wind

Stone Ocean

Cryptid Emporio

Emporio gains a reputation as a possible ghost who haunts the prison. Anasui and Weather decide to take advantage of this

Jotaro Needs A Break

Instead of distancing himself from his family, Jotaro decides to be closer so he can protect them better. Jolyne ends up learning how much Bullshit her dad deals with on a regular basis and decides to do something about it

Golden Ghost

During the whole of Stone Ocean, Jolyne is haunted by the ghost of Dio, who is his regular flamboyant asshole self

Florida Turtle

Jotaro brings Turtleneff to Green Dolphin as back up. Now Green Dolphin has a violent turtle roaming the halls out for blood and no one knows how to get rid of it

Echo of Another

A look at Post-Stone Ocean and how Emporio falls into it because I Want My Boi To Be Happy Dammit

Pillarmen Genes

The Pucci Family have Pillarmen genetics mixed in, and they’re rather prominent in Weather Report

Wonderful World

The Stone Ocean Gang, except for Emporio, get sent back in time after their deaths as a second chance to fix things.... however they don’t realise the others have been sent back as well

United Twins

The AU where the Pucci Siblings all got to grow up together

Heaven’s Maiden

Perla’s disc ends up merging with C Moon, but isn’t able to gain a full conscious awareness until she becomes Made In Heaven. Ends up using White Snake’s ability to disconnect herself from Pucci and instead attaches to Emporio, resetting the universe to keep him safe. White Snake’s joins the ride because he’s salty Pucci replaced him

Different Perspective

Pucci ends up taking a closer look at Jotaro’s memories and accidentally gets attached and invested. He now isn’t full sure what to do or who to side with

Averting Fate

Pucci and Weather Swap AU

Steel Ball Run

Chosen Brother

Johnny and Diego are childhood friends and are friendly rivals in the racing world

Jojolion

Rose Gold

Yasuho discovers Paisley when she was younger and decides to make her ghost friend a body so she can interact with the world. Ends up becoming a very skilled mechanic as a result

Multi Part

Requiem Crusader

Silver Chariot Requiem is sent back in time with the assistance of Gold Experience Requiem in order to change the events of Stardust Crusaders and later Golden Wind

Koichi Horse

Koichi is the younger brother to Hol Horse and spent the first few years of his life growing up in Dio’s mansion

Jonathan Lives

Dio turns Jonathan into a vampire out of “respect” for him and keeps his hostage. Decades later during Egypt, he is freed by the Crusaders and lives in Morioh for a bit before eventually learning about Giorno and his brothers

Joestar Legacy

Since Jonathan, all the Joestars have had their Stands since birth

Vampiric Jotaro

Dio turns Jotaro into a vampire during their final fight and Jotaro has to deal with the aftermath

Joestar Platinum

Jonathan is reincarnated as Star Platinum and has to get used to the modern world while also keeping Jotaro safe. Come Stone Ocean, and Kakyoin joins the Dead Person Now A Stand club as Stone Free

Friends On the Other Side

Ghosts have the ability to haunt those still alive, be it friend or foe. Jotaro is haunted by Kakyoin and Dio, Joseph is haunted by Caesar and Wammu, and Polnareff is haunted by Avdol and Iggy. And come Stone Ocean, Perla, Gloria and Emporio’s mom all do what they can to assist in Pucci’s defeat

Second Chance

After the events of Stone Ocean, the Stand manifestation of Fate sends Jotaro is sent back in time as an Independent Stand to when Jonathan was a kid and tells him to fix things

House of Jojo

The Jojos from parts 1-6 are brought to a single strange and quite large house and interact with each other

Giorno Higashikata

Giorno ends up being adopted by the Higashikatas

Behind Closed Doors

George is much worse than canon and it ends up getting Dio’s attention. He may be a jerk, but he’s also more than familiar with asshole fathers and wouldn’t wish this on even Jonathan, so he opts to do something about it

Bloops Behind the Scenes

The Actor AU for all your Blooper Chaos

Peanut Gallery

The Jojos all end up following around the others and witnessing their “part,” and then use that further knowledge to change things for the better

Standtaro

Via Morioh Stand User Chaos, Jotaro has been turned into a Stand. His “ability” is being able to be seen my regular people when he desires, and while he still looks mostly human and can pass as one, he has a bit of an Uncanny Valley affect

Dinosaur and the Ladybug

Giorno and Diego are twins and exist together in the 1-6 Timeline. In the Corpse Branch the Corpse Pieces exist as well and make everything go balls to the walls insane 

Ocean Man

For some reason or another, Jotaro becomes a merperson with a Luca-esque transformation, aka Water Makes Him Fish Person

Dadtaro

In which almost every enemy Stand User he encounters is befriended/adopted by Jotaro

Hamon Healer

Erina learns how to use Hamon and is both the best doctor ever and an absolute badass who can and will beat you in a fight. The embodiment of “I’m a healer but-”

House of Villains

The villain house AU where all the main Jojo villains are forced to live in the same house as punishment in the after life

Black Coat Constant

Jotaro accidentally gets involved in some time travel shenanigans and keeps briefly appearing during important moments of other character’s lives without realising what’s going on

Replay In Real Time

Hermit Purple accidentally hijacks Moody Blues and now Joseph is accidentally present for the last chunk of Golden Wind. He’s still in the past, but he’s able to use Hermit’s spirit photography to see what’s going on the the future

Dual Trip

Holly doesn’t call Joseph when Jotaro locks himself in jail. Because of this, Jotaro, Kakyoin and eventually Polnareff end up traveling to Egypt by themselves, and at the same time Joseph is on a war path because he thinks Kakyoin kidnapped his grandson and is accompanied by Avdol and Iggy. The rest of the parts follow similar “protagonist groups are split up and they don’t realise it” vibes

Void Space

Joseph dies during the final fight with Kars and Caesar barely survives. As such, Caesar now has to deal with all of the absolute INSANITY that the Joestar Family deal with later down the line

Glitch Nonsense

Jojo’s has Video Game Physics when it comes to glitches in the world and everyone just treats it as normal

Star Swap

All the Joestars get mixed around and end up having to go through the other’s adventures. Jonathan swaps with Jolyne, Joseph swaps with Giorno, and Jotaro swaps with Josuke

Bloody Star

Dio doesn’t test the Stone Mask and uses it on Jonathan without knowing what it would do. Jonathan becomes a vampire and Dio starts a cult

Shattered Soul

Jolyne is killed as a young child and Jotaro snaps, leading him to have an Eyes Of Heaven type villain arc where his goal is to completely eradicate the supernatural because of all the harm its done

Shattered Glass

AU where Jonathan is evil and Dio is good and how that changes everything coming after

Freaky Friday

Star Swap only this time Jolyne and Jotaro swap places

Sixth Sense

Star Platinum, and by extension Jotaro, are now much more in tune with the Time Fuckery going on in the world, including but not limited to: The World’s time stops, Bites The Dust’s loops, King Crimson’s skipping. Jotaro is being driven up a wall

SWCP Foundation

the Speedwagon Foundation is also the SCP Foundation, and Jotaro is one such SCP whom was adopted by Holly. Unfortunately for him, the Foundation isn’t the kindest towards SCPs

Dogtaro

Jotaro is Holly’s pet dog and is the GOODEST Boi

White Coats

Because of their Out Of The Ordinary Stand abilities, Koichi, Giorno and Emporio get kidnapped by some sketchy science people for experiments

Beaststars

The Joestar Family all have different werebeast transformation

Dice Logic

Everyone’s fate is bound by magic DnD dice

King’s Court

Enya ends up taking interest in the strange boy who sold her the arrow heads, so now Diavolo and Doppio end up getting

Magical Girl

What it says on the tin, I’ve made Jojo’s as a Magical Girl show

Joestardew

the Stardew Valley AU

Transformer’s Bizarre Adventure

Instead of Stands, Transformers take their place and through various ways they end up meeting their “users” only now they’re companions

Eggchoes

Echoes is now a carton of mostly indestructible eggs. Koichi has a mean throwing arm. I think you can see where this is going

Vampiric Joeseph

When Jotaro gives him back his blood, Joseph gets turned into a vampire because of it

I Woke Up Reincarnated As My Descendant?!

an isekai but not really. Jonathan gets reincarnated as any one of his descendants and tries to balance his memories of his old life with his new one

Voice In The Sky

after his death, Speedwagon becomes something of an omnipotent being and narrates the rest of the Jojo parts

Siblings Across A Universe

the two Moriohs are connected via a magic hole and Koichi and Yasuho ends up befriending each other because of it

Fighting Spirit

every biological Joestar’s Stand is the ghost of a dead Joestar/someone closely related, whether they realise it or not

Broken Cycle

when Pucci resets everything, it sends him and Emporio back to the Joestar Mansion in the middle of Dio and Jonathan’s fight. Dio, who is getting some heavy flashbacks upon seeing a sobbing blonde child running away from a grown man, decides to intervene

Legally Stars

Donatello, Rikiel and Ungalo all end up meeting the Joestars when they’re kids and officially become part of the family. They’re basically Jolyne’s brothers, and they end up sneaking to Italy to meet their new fourth sibling

Merstars

Mermaid AU baby <3, the Joestars are all mers

Mother Knows Best

generally just an AU to give the (good) Jojo Moms a bit more spotlight

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Hi I’m the anon! Thank you I’ll send the submission later with the fake email like you suggested! It’s taking me a bit since it’s a lot

(mod ali here just pasting their submission to their ask to keep everything tidy)

the sterek fandom has been racist For those that don’t know, sterek is the name of the ship between Stiles Stilinski and derek hale from the show Teen Wolf, which ran from 2011-2017. A sequel movie was announced last year and is scheduled to release soon (and with the announcement, brought back a dormant fandom). For context, the ship itself is controversial and problematic due to 99% of the scenes (and all of the ship fodder) between the characters taking place when Stiles is 15/16 and derek is 22/23 (shippers will argue that his age in the original draft of the script was listed as 19 (which is still an adult) but it’s irrelevant since his age was changed to 22/23 by the time the character was cast) making Stiles underage while derek is an adult. It’s made even more disturbing when you consider that one of derek’s traumas has to do with being molested by an adult when he was 15/16. There is always a lot of fandom discourse over underage/pedophilic ships but ultimately the problematic nature of the ship itself has little to do with the racism and misogyny of the fandom. To start with, the show itself has very few POC characters in the cast, 2 to be exact. The first is the main character Scott McCall (played by Tyler Posey who is half-Mexican and a MOC) and the other is Danny Mahealani (played by Keahu Kahuanui who is Hawaiian and a MOC). Danny is also the only gay character at the beginning of the series. From the start, Scott was sidelined by the fandom who, as always happens in fandom, ignored him in favor of zeroing in on the two white guys (which happens all the time like for example when FATWS came out early last year, Sam was often sidelined by fans in favor of Bucky, zemo (who is a villain), or even Steve (who wasn’t even in the show) when the show was about Sam’s journey). The sterek fandom would even try to argue that Scott wasn’t the main character of the show and say that they’re all the main character (ignoring that the show is about Scott and his story) or insisting that the show should have centered on the Stiles and derek instead.

The show also got accused of queerbait which isn’t inaccurate but if you watch the show itself, the baiting and subtext was actually between Stiles and Danny. Stiles repeatedly asks Danny if he finds him attractive and is grateful when Danny offers to sleep with him (and then disappointed when Danny reveals he’s joking). There is actual text and subtext between them but for some reason the fandom either ignores it, considers it a joke, or uses Stiles canon interaction to Danny as a form of “proof” that he is or will be attracted to derek

The relationship between Stiles and derek doesn’t have anything that suggest any romantic tension or subtext (and a lot of newer fans that watch the show talked about being confused by what made people ship it in the first place) and actually consists of Stiles being scared of derek and derek being annoyed by stiles. Their relationship slowly progresses to where by the end of the series they are somewhat friends but they each still have a lot more people they care about way more: one of them being Scott, who once again gets pushed aside and has his relationships with both characters diminished and ignored. there was also the added misogyny with characters playing canon love interests getting a lot of hate. in particular, Braeden and her actress Meagan Tandy got a lot of hate, facing both misogyny and racism. fans would at best hide their misogyny behind claims of wanting her to be a “badass independent woman” (as though a woman can’t be that and be in a relationship simultaneously) or at worst use blatant attacks her and her actress (including claiming that Meagan was “obsessed” with Tyler since she shipped Braeden and derek (something tyler said he shipped as well)). To top it all off, sterek fans have relentlessly harassed the actors and fans with their hate being targeted specifically towards Tyler Posey (who has publicly voiced his dislike for the ship) and their hate knows no boundaries with attacks even going as far as bringing up his past addiction issues, his looks, his sexuality (constantly trying to invalidate his sexuality when he came out as sexually fluid but at the same time insisting tyler h and Dylan, whove never suggested they were anything but straight, are secretly in a relationship), or even his mother (who had passed away from cancer a few years ago).

For example this account, that has page after page harassing Tyler over sterek and also page after page supporting Dylan O’Brien. but then being revealed as a conservative who supports trump and was one of the people rioting on January 6th and when someone brought up that Dylan would hate them, they claimed they hate Dylan too but support him constantly because they’re “curious” about his personal life.

Sterek fans either ignore people or are just like them. When teen wolf was called out and faced backlash for not paying Arden Cho (the only WOC in the main cast) the same amount as the other actresses in the movie, stereks either made it entirely about Dylan (who liked one tweet about the situation (the same tweet colton liked) and otherwise said nothing) or made it about her, Dylan, and tyler H “taking down” jeff and Tyler Posey. The irony here being that tyler h was a producer in the movie and had an active behind the scenes role. Making a Arden’s mistreatment and the gross racism she faced all about a white man or being gleeful that it’s a take down against Tyler Posey is latest in a long line of racist bullshit the sterek fandom has put out.

The sterek fandom and ship has in recent years been called out and hated on for the gross nature of the ship but fans should also keep in mind that it is also full of racism and misogyny and has been since the very beginning.

[t00turnttrauma]

panic-drw

Meeting Danny was both the best and worst day of your life.

The stress of being a single mother was beginning to get to you. The constant worry of motherhood was enough to drive you insane. Not only was getting into a routine difficult, but Jane’s father was running in and out of her life. You were in a laundromat in the middle of the night, trying to study and watch your child simultaneously, all after working ten hours as a hostess.

Jane was crying, cranky and tired from running around her daycare all day but refused to take a nap. She was also coming down from a sugar crash after having a soda and candy bar from the nearby vending machine. You tried to get her to relax but she only became crankier. An apartment fire on the lower floors of the building left everything smelling of smoke. While you weren’t home at the time, coming home to a destroyed laundry room and smelly clothes was just another straw on the camel’s back.

The folded and dried sheets fit perfectly in one of the rolling carts provided by the business. You set her down in another cart, sternly telling her to calm down. She reached for your phone, pouting. While you hated giving her your phone, it was really the only choice to keep the two-year-old occupied. She fell asleep soon after, finding lullaby videos. You placed a lap blanket over her, placing it over her eyes but around her nose and mouth. There was someone else in one of the other aisles doing their own laundry, keeping to themselves. The dryer buzzed, signaling your clothes were finished and ready to be folded.

You shoulders ached from a long day at work. You tried to work quickly before the uniforms wrinkled too bad. While Jane was the best thing to ever happen to you, it’s ideal to wait to have kids until after college. You worked two jobs and studied full-time. Jane spent most of the day being babysat by your parents. When they were unavailable, you took her to a friend’s house and her in-home daycare. Every two weekends, Jane went with her dad. He was in the same boat as you, studying to be a lawyer or a doctor or whatever his dad wanted him to be. With one cart carrying the blankets and Jane and another piled high with most of your clothes, you were finally ready to leave. You pushed one in front, dragging Jane’s cart behind you.

The cart snagged a bump, sending all the clothes flying onto the wet concrete. A curse word slipped out as all the clothes you had were now stained and dirty again. Jane began wailing, having hit her head when you stopped the cart. You began crying tears of frustration at this point. The weight of the day finally hit you. Accepting defeat, you shoved the soiled clothes into the car and tried to calm down Jane. She picked up on your vibe, crying harder and louder.

“Do you need a hand?” The other person from the laundromat asked.

You refused, despite having both hands full. “I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense,” he smiled. He picked up the clothes, gently laying them in the trunk of your car while you tried to shush Jane. She quieted, tiring herself out with her tears. You thanked the stranger, offering him the rest of your change for his troubles.

“I can’t,” he said, politely pushing the stack of ones closer to you. “How about you take this and call me whenever you need help.”

The slip of paper he put in your hand had his name, Daniel, and number. After learning his name, you indulged in a few texts back and forth, once again thanking him. He offered a coffee date as repayment. The coffee date turned into lunch, then into dinner and into so much more.

In the coming months, you were careful with Danny. Unlike previous suitors, he knew you had a child before the first date and didn’t care. Previous dates were usually immature men looking for a mother-like girlfriend, hoping that you were a desperate enough single mom to deal with them. Danny was the complete opposite. He never expected anything from you, usually taking the initiative to pack the food for the picnics and making the reservations. He was completely fine when you canceled because Jane was fussy, sending takeout to your apartment anyway. Danny was also okay when you were hesitant to introduce them to each other. Jane knew her biological father, Blake, spending a few days with him here and there. It was usually only when he wanted to play ‘Daddy’ to his family and take her to his family parties.

It took almost a year for you to invite Danny over when Jane was there. He really wanted to come to her third birthday party. While you would have loved to have him there, just to have company, it wasn’t the right time. The last thing you wanted was to spring a new person onto Jane on such an important day and in front of your family and Blake’s. Danny respected it, still buying her a mini tiara with pink jewels. Jane wore it and it felt like he was there anyway.

You discussed the situation with Blake after the party, just like he had okayed his new wife with you before he proposed. While the relationship was strained, there was still that sense of respect for one another, mainly for Jane’s sake. Blake was quick to approve of Danny, stating that you were always making good choices and knew that you had a reason to want him around. Seeing as Blake was alright with it, you invited Danny over to your apartment for dinner with Jane. He’d been over to your place before, just never with Jane around. You called him, confirming plans with him for the night.

“Are you okay with macaroni and cheese?” You asked, looking at the grocery list. The list consisted of mainly kid friendly foods, chicken nuggets, pastas, and other soft-ish safe foods. Your fridge was full of the same foods. In this moment, you couldn’t remember the last time you had a real, adult meal that wasn’t on a date.

“Are you kidding? I love mac n’ cheese,” he said.

You were nervous, maybe even more nervous than when you told your parents you were pregnant. Jane sensed it, cuddling with you throughout the day and hanging on your leg while you cooked. When the doorbell rang, she was confused. Jane looked at the calendar on the fridge, counting the dates.

“Who is that?” She asked. “Is it daddy?” She knew that the calendar was always kept up to date. She also knew when the days highlighted in red were for Daddy/Daughter days and when the X was not close to it, that it was not going to be Blake at the door.

“It’s a friend of mine, Janey. Are you ready?”

She nodded dramatically. Her dress was wrinkled, and her lips were stained red with Kool-Aid, but if she was happy, you were happy. You opened the door, inviting Danny into the foyer. Jane clutched the bottom of your shirt. She looked up at Danny who crouched down to see her up close.

“Can you introduce yourself, Jane?” You said, shutting the door.

She put her hand out tentatively. You had taught her how to shake hands when introducing herself. Her left hand went to her mouth, making her introduction come out jumbled and muffled. Danny took her extended right hand, gently shaking it. He stood back up, pressing a kiss to your cheeks. She tugged on the gift bag he had in his hand.

“You caught me,” he said. He handed you the bigger bag, placed a smaller identical bag in front of Jane.

“Can I?” She asked, resisting the urge to pull the paper out. Danny nodded and she tore into the bag. “Wow!” She marveled at the gift. It was a pink teddy bear, her name sewn into the foot in loopy cursive. “Thank you!”

Dinner went smoothly, the two of them talking about her limited life experiences. Jane recounted how she spends her day, going into details. She spoke like a little adult, like she’d been talking for years. Danny was impressed, a little thrown off when she didn’t respond to baby talk. He didn’t bring a gift every time, thank goodness. Jane did not need to be bought. The two of them fit together so well. They conversed and played in the living room while you finished cooking. Then, they chattered during the meal. Jane was easy to put to bed that night, giving you some alone time with Danny.

You couldn’t have been happier. Another four months or so passed of Danny coming around. He treated Jane like his own. He took her out for ice cream and carried her when she was tired from walking around the mall. Another thing that you never realized was a big factor was boundaries. Jane was an obedient little girl, and she didn’t mind being told no. While he was a little scared to say it at first, he was able to tell her no when she wanted a second snow cone or yet another Build-A-Bear.

It really shouldn’t have been such a shock when it happened. He was more of a father figure than her biological father was, but it was out of the blue. You were in the dining room which was open to the living room. You were scooping pasta from the pan onto plates that Danny somehow found time to set up while keeping Jane entertained. At this moment, the two of them were on the floor of the living room. He was tickling her gently, giving her a few moments to relax before tickling her sides again.

“Daddy!” Jane cried, giggling and squealing. “Stop it!”

You nearly dropped the pan you were holding. Danny stilled, letting Jane run off. She closed the door to her room. “Come and find me!” She shouted through the door.

Realizing that she really said that you stood there like a deer in the headlights. Danny’s reflection in the window looked like a ghost.

“Shi-oot,” he hissed. “I promised Josh I was going to meet him at the-“  His sentence ended in a mutter as he grabbed his shoes.  

Before you could try and mend the situation or form a proper answer, he was gone. Jane came out of her room, nearly crying when she noticed that he was gone.

“Where is daddy?” She asked, looking in the cabinets where she usually hid.

It was all so confusing. Part of you wanted to think she was still saying Danny, but she said it clear as day. That night, you tossed and turned. Obviously, Danny was in this for the long run. He didn’t seem like the kind to date, convince you to abandon Jane, and start a family of your own. But you could be wrong. It must have caught him off guard. Jane said it so naturally, rolling off her tongue in a swift laugh.

Danny lied. He did have to see Josh, but it wasn’t because they had prior plans. He still saw him that night, knocking on his front door.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Josh chuckled as Danny walked into the house.

While he usually would have laughed at the joke, he was far too caught up in what happened to humor the front man. He told him everything about the night, ending with what Jane had said.

“I think she was a little… freaked out,” Danny said sadly, reminiscing about the look on your face.

Josh shook his head. “C’mon man,” he sighed. “Y/N is totally into you, and you’ve been seeing her for a long, long time.”

“Yeah, but-“

“No buts,” Josh tutted. “You guys have something. And it’s normal for Jane to be confused.”

Danny thought about it. After a little bit more coaching from Josh, he felt a lot better. He started the trip back to your place.

You put Jane in her bed. “Are you all ready for bed?”

She nodded, listing off the things she did before bed. Pick up the toys from the hallway, brush her teeth, change into pajamas, and use the bathroom. You gave her a high five then pressed a kiss to her cheek. She turned her own lamp off, mumbling to herself. You waited outside of the door for a few minutes. She’d gotten into the habit of crawling out of bed to try and sleep in yours. Seeing as she hadn’t made a noise in a while, you started doing things around the house. You washed dishes and swept, making sure that things were tidy enough that you wouldn’t be so frazzled in the morning.

A light tap on the door would have been missed if you hadn’t been picking up the shoes by the door. You opened it, peering through the small opening. You shut it again after seeing Danny on the other side. The chain rattled against the door when you swung it open enough for him to come through.

“I didn’t think I would see you,” you said.

He shrugged. “I brought some snacks. I was hoping to see Jane too, but I guess I’m too late.”

You nodded. “Just put her to bed. She hasn’t gotten up, so I assume she’s asleep.”

Danny took a seat on your couch, rustling through the bag. He pulled out a box of chocolates for you and a smaller one for Jane. You took a seat on the opposite couch, needing to get your thoughts off your chest for fear of never having them come out. “I’m sorry for what Jane said yesterday, and for how I reacted. When she called you dad… I froze and I feel like that scared you more than Jane calling you that.”

He nodded. “I wasn’t scared of Jane calling me dad. I was more afraid of the face you made.”

You laughed a little. “I was more afraid of the face you made.”

The two of you shared a moment. He shook his head. “Are you okay with that? Because I am, and Jane obviously is.”

You nodded, tossing him the remote. “You just have to worry about what Blake thinks.”

Blake, in all honesty, wouldn’t care. He didn’t see her much and he had his own family. It was just something harmless to see the look on Danny’s face as he turned to face you. “What?”

[ganymedesclock]

Really, if there’s something that genuinely upsets me about Danny Phantom as a series, it’s exemplified right off the bat in the first episode: Mystery Meat, and it’s a very specific kind of, I guess one could call it dysfunctional coping humor?

Basically, the series asks itself, “why do frustrating things happen when you’re a teenager?”

And, by and large, the answer that it comes to, is “because the world HATES YOU. Everyone is almost singularly focused on you, personally, and they want to ruin you, personally. Do you think other people are reliable, understanding, or might help you? You’re wrong. Your only solace is that you, alone, are a cool enlightened person who can do everything yourself.”

Why does the menu get changed? Because Sam is a vegan and this means she wants to ruin things for other people. (she will not, however, be meaningfully held accountable for fucking with her friends’ diets, and we will smokescreen the issue with a bunch of people making extremely dubious claims about food and nutrition). This is an act of ruination because all of the vegan food is depicted as inedible garbage. Butch Hartman does not appear clear on what vegans are, what perspectives lend themselves into veganism, or what are reasons someone would not want to take up a vegan lifestyle.

Why do the teachers go along with it? Because they’re maliciously hoarding all the meat to themselves. The human lunch lady creeping away from her post to sinisterly eat a hamburger. The staff room steak buffet. That Lancer congratulates Sam and then walks away eating a drumstick. 

Butch Hartman is being simultaneously extremely optimistic about a public high school’s food budget, and soul-crushingly cynical about every single adult in Danny’s life. The cold open with Jack blathering unhelpfully while Sam and Tucker are threatened by ghosts right under his nose, and Danny gets into an implicit life-or-death fight and he misreads their distress and starts rambling about his childhood further sends this message.

Basically, the entire episode asserts that Danny is basically alone in trying to solve his problems and if there’s a meaningful way his friends are there for him, it’s helping him stay alone, by carrying him away from the school and away from his parents so nobody can wonder or worry why Danny passed out at school during a ghost attack. He’s told to his face, by Lancer, his bullying doesn’t matter.

In one sense, this poses as relatable humor. Weren’t we all, it says smugly, frustrated by our parents and teachers, by bullies and those ever-so-mean popular kids? Didn’t we feel like the world was out to get us?

Which- for many of us. We did.

Here’s the thing though:

If large elements of our world were actually out to get us as much as Danny Phantom depicts them as, then that was a huge problem, and everyone who didn’t help us get out of that situation failed us.

And the moment you say that, the smug, relatable logic of the series desperately throws up its hands. What? No!!! There’s nothing about this that needs to change! Didn’t you hear the theme tune? The point is that Danny’s so cool and superheroic that he can just deal with all these problems, that are just normal and relatable and not actually problems that need to be addressed!

Sam and Tucker can get into an argument about food while people’s lives are in danger by a dangerous ghost on the loose and Danny’s developing at this point uncontrolled superpowers, and the writing will slap both them, and Danny- Danny for hoping his friends would worry about his problem or help him in a way other than carting his unconscious body around to maintain an alibi and thus the pressure of keeping a secret (are we supposed to believe they wouldn’t blow the whistle on him if he’s suddenly unconscious? That they didn’t panic a little trying to wake him up? I’ve said I’m not a fan of angst for angst’s sake, but, the series also dismisses problems and genuine distress, like..... a lot)

-and Sam and Tucker for having the audacity to have a problem that isn’t centered on Danny, where they will summarily be told to make up, and never address the underlying problems behind their argument, because their internal world is inherently stupid and shallow compared to Danny.

And the series will come back and tell us, no, Lancer genuinely cares about his students, which- what’s the truth? Does he really think Dash bullying Danny doesn’t matter and is only mad because he thinks Danny stole the steak buffet and caused a food fight? Or is he someone who will work arduously to try and make sure Danny passes a test, and someone Danny can actually respect and share hobbies with?

Because yeah, when we’re teenagers, it’s easy to feel like the world’s full of vapid people who are out to get us.

The problem is, this is not reality. Everybody else is trying their best- not for us, necessarily, but for themselves. Even the worst people who do genuinely unprovoked mean things to us are people with internal worlds. But that’s not the thesis the show takes. There’s no point where Danny needs to grow and understand other people. Even when Phantom Planet culminates in a mass teamwork effort with every established ghost so far, it’s a jarring lurch for many of them, because we don’t ever see the part where we look beyond the superficial and end up caring more about these people.

Ember’s a supervillain right up until she isn’t. And then, to quote Fright Before Christmas, “we resume all hostility!”

And this is a genuinely soul-sucking attitude to take. That nobody can improve, everybody except the same two friends you already had basically aren’t worth talking to you, that if your family tries to involve herself in your internal world it’s going to be a headache and very rarely anything more, that everyone but you is shallow- you’re more unique than the other guys.

And the frustration with this is a big thing that leads me towards wanting to think about more nuanced and sympathetic portrayals of the characters- because I think that agreeing with “it sure seems like a lot of these people are mean!” is accepting that the show has kind of a really nasty attitude about... everyone.

Which is a problem for a show that supposedly stands for being a hero and saving other people, and the timeline where Danny makes everybody else’s lives into toys for his amusement that he ruins or breaks on a whim was the everybody dies bad timeline for, we presume, some kind of reason.

[it-fits-i-ships]

I took inspiration from a post by @the-stove-is-on-fire and wrote this oneshot (below the read more link) about an AU in which Spideypool adopts Danny and Jazz Fenton and the sheer chaotic energy of Danny and Wade’s dynamic threatens to drive Peter insane. Just in time for Trans Day Of Visibility too!

Danny Fenton sat next to Great Aunt May on one of the plush blue couches in the living room. Wade, who sat on the far side of the couch, had wanted to get leather seating but Peter, who sat between Wade and Danny, had insisted on inventing a new stain-proof fabric because Wade couldn’t be trusted not to make a mess. On the other couch were Jazz, Grandma Pepper, Aunt Morgan, and Grandpa Tony, who was lifting a wrapped box toward Danny.

“Happy birthday, kiddo!” he said.

“Thanks, Grandpa!” Danny said, eagerly ripping open the paper to see what treasures lay within, “Oh awesome! I’ve been wanting to play this game forever! I didn’t even think it was out yet!”

“It’s not,” Grandpa Tony said, “I pulled some strings.”

“You’re the best!”

“There’s one more thing,” Grandpa Tony said, pointing toward the box.

Danny dug further into the tissue paper.

“A key?” Danny asked.

“It’s a key to your birthparents’ house,” Grandpa Tony said, “They were good friends of mine and when they died I bought their house and maintain it so you and Jazz could go there when you were old enough,” he paused and looked around at Peter, Wade, and Jazz, “I already talked it over with your dads and Jazz and we figure since you’re 14 now it’s time to give you the option to go there.”

He looked between Grandpa Tony and his dads, then at Jazz.

“Have you gone there yet?” Danny asked.

“No, I wanted to wait until we could go together,” she said.

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

Peter placed a hand gently on Danny’s shoulder.

“Of course, son, take all the time you need,” he said.

That night, after the party was over and the guests had gone home, Danny lay staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts raced around in his skull like the spinning blades of his ceiling fan so that just when he thought he had caught one long enough to get a good look at it he would find it had flown from his grasp. Of course Danny had known he and Jazz were adopted. Peter and Wade had been very upfront about that. They had also made sure Jazz and Danny knew they were loved and wanted. Danny would be lying if he said he had never been curious about his birth parents. He didn’t know or remember much about them, and some part of him had always wondered where he’d come from, but Peter and Wade had been so good to them he never really felt like he had been lacking for anything.

When Danny was 10 he came out as trans and they had immediately put him on puberty blockers, switched to his new name and pronouns, and gotten him a haircut. Peter and Wade had never cared about clothing so even when Danny was young they had let him pick out “boy” clothes, which meant he didn’t have to get a new wardrobe when he came out. Jazz and their dads had Danny’s back during his social transition, correcting people when they used the wrong name or pronouns and defending him when people tried to tell him he was just going through a phase. Danny really couldn’t have asked for a better upbringing. So do I really need to know more about my birth parents? He thought.

Just then, he heard a soft knock at his door. He turned to see Jazz standing in the hall outside his room.

“Hey,” she said, “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” he said, sitting up against his pillows.

“How are you doing?”

“Just trying to process.”

“I get that,” Jazz said, “It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that our birth parents’ house is still intact, that we can actually go there and find out about them.”

“Do you remember them?” Danny asked.

“Not much,” she said, “I was only 4 when they died. I think they wore jumpsuits a lot?”

“Jumpsuits?”

Jazz shrugged.

“It was 12 years ago, I could be misremembering.”

“I don’t know if I want to go, Jazz,” Danny admitted, “Part of me wants to find out more about them but we already have parents, you know?”

Jazz sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Listen, Danny,” she said, “I’m not going to tell you what to do or how to feel. If you decide you don’t want to go to the house I’m not going to make you, and neither are Peter or Wade. This is your call. I want to go eventually and if you want to go then we’ll go together but if you don’t that’s okay too. I can always go with Peter or Grandpa Tony,” she paused and pulled him into a big hug, “Take some time to think it over so you make the right choice for you and then let me know what you decide when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Jazz,” Danny said, leaning in return his sister’s hug.

“Any time,” she said, standing up, “I’m going to bed. Make sure you get some rest too, birthday boy.”

Danny nodded absentmindedly.

“Goodnight,” he said.

“Goodnight!”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Danny stood, key in hand, in front of a house that simultaneously felt vaguely familiar and vastly alien to him. There was a large bunch of tech on top of the house that looked like some kind of UFO and a huge light-up sign that read “Fenton Works.” Who the hell were these people? Danny thought. After a few agonizing weeks he had decided to come learn what he could about his birth parents and Peter had agreed to drive them to the old Fenton residence. He didn’t break his gaze from the house as he felt Jazz take his free hand in hers.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” he said, stepping up to put the key in the door.

The three of them walked into the living room, which Danny immediately noticed had purple walls. On the far wall was an opening to a bright green kitchen.

“Wow,” Jazz said, “They had some, uh, interesting tastes in interior design.”

“What until you see the lab in the basement,” Peter said.

“The WHAT?!” Danny and Jazz said in unison.

“Why is everyone in our lives some kind of scientist or science experiment?” Jazz asked.

“Or both, in Grandpa Tony’s case,” Danny added.

Peter shrugged.

“Just lucky, I guess.”

“What did they even do here?” Danny asked.

“They were inventors. They used their tech to hunt ghosts,” Peter said.

“Ghosts?” Jazz said incredulously, “Really?”

Peter nodded.

“So they were crazy,” she said.

“They preferred to be called ‘misunderstood geniuses.’”

“Sure, geniuses on a mission to catch Casper.”

“Jazz,” Danny interjected, “Our dads have super powers, Wade is constantly breaking the laws of physics, Grandpa Tony has personally met aliens and deities, and you’re hung up on ghosts?”

Jazz raised her finger and opened her mouth as if to counter his argument but then, seeming to think better of it, she lowered her hand and closed her mouth as an annoyed look overtook her face.

“Let’s look around some more,” she said.

“Can I go down to the lab?” Danny asked.

“I want to look up here first,” Jazz said.

“Can I go look around by myself, Dad?” Danny asked, turning on his saddest puppy eyes.

“Okay, okay,” Peter said, “Just be careful. Don’t touch anything and put on one of the jumpsuits so you don’t accidentally get anything on your clothes.”

“Awesome!” Danny said, already searching for the staircase to the basement.

He quickly found it, descended into the drab gray laboratory, and slipped into one of the jumpsuits hanging on the wall as per Peter’s request. The lab was lined with consoles that had glowing panels and various buttons and switches, counters and tables covered with all kinds of lab equipment from microscopes to complicated networks of flasks and tubes, and a very cluttered work desk covered in noted, equations, and diagrams but the thing that really caught Danny’s attention was the massive metal archway on the far side of the room. It sat open and he squinted to try and make out what was inside. It appeared to be the entrance to some sort of tunnel. Couldn’t hurt to take a closer look, he thought.

Carefully, Danny crept into the dark tunnel. He could hardly see anything in the dim light. What the hell is this thing? He thought as he walked distractedly forward with his hands out in front of him. Before he could contemplate the structure further, his outstretched hand ran right into something small and round. The thing gave a click, a pit forming in Danny’s stomach as the tunnel lit up like the 4th of July with swirling green shapes he couldn’t identify. The light seemed to pass right through him and he felt as much as heard the scream that ripped from his chest as every atom of his being burned.

The next thing he knew he was on the floor outside the tunnel. He awoke to someone shaking him by the shoulders.

“Danny!” Jazz cried frantically, “Danny, please get up!”

He sat up slowly and clutched his aching head with a groan, only to give another when Jazz threw her arms tightly around him and forced the air out of his lungs.

“I thought you were dead,” she said.

“What happened?” Danny managed.

“I don’t know, kiddo,” Peter said, “But you might want to look in a mirror.”

“What?”

Peter and Jazz hoisted Danny up so he could see his reflection on the shiny glass screen of a large monitor on the wall. Oh shit. His hair had turned a stark white and his once blue eyes were glowing the same radioactive green that had filled the tunnel before he had lost consciousness. What the fuck? He thought, his panic rising exponentially as he leaned on the monitor with one hand to get a better look at himself. Suddenly, he was falling forward and his face smacked into the glass.

“Danny!” Jazz called.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked, reaching out to steady his son.

“I think s–”

His train of thought was completely derailed by the sight of his forearm, or lack thereof. He wiggled his fingers and clinched his fist. He could still feel his hand. Is my arm…invisible? He thought.

“Danny,” Peter said gently, “I think your panicking is making things worse. Look right at me,” he paused as he oriented Danny’s shoulders so they were facing each other, “And a take a deep, slow breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth,” he paused to demonstrate the technique and waited for Danny to copy him, “Good, one more time,” he paused for Danny’s breath, “Remember when you were 5 and Aunt May asked you to help her pick a puppy?” he asked.

“Yeah?” Danny said, torquing his eyebrows in confusion.

“There were so many,” Peter continued, “How did you know you picked the right one?”

“Donut was the only one who came up to give both of us kisses,” Danny said, “And he fell asleep in my lap. I thought he seemed like a good dog for Aunt May.”

As Danny thought back to that childhood memory he felt a strange tingling all over his body, like everything was shifting ever so slightly. He looked down and he could see his arm again. He snapped his head up to look back into the glass monitor, where his reflection showed his natural black hair and blue eyes.

“I’m back to normal!” he said, “How did you know that would work, Dad?”

“I freaked out really hard when I first got my powers. I ended up stuck to a wall with no idea how to get down. It wasn’t until I took a second to calm down that I was able to unstick myself. I figured it might be something similar with whatever that was,” Peter said.

“Do you think that’ll happen again?” Danny asked.

“Probably,” Peter admitted, “But for now I think we’ve all had enough excitement and we should head home. I’ll bring you kids back here later if you want,” he paused and looked directly at Danny, “With thorough supervision, of course.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Danny held his head in his hands, quite literally. He had finally mastered the trick where he could stretch an invisible bit of his body from his neck to the base of his head so it looked like his head was no longer attached. His two years of training had really paid off. Peter and Wade, and even Jazz, had helped him master his powers but he had been cooking this one up in secret for the express purpose of ghostly shenanigans. Jazz was away at college and Peter was still out for the day. Which means my first victim is –

“Hey, Danny,” Wade’s voice came around the corner as he approached the living room, “Did you eat the last pudding cup?”

“Maybe.”

“Bruh! I totally called dibs on that o–” Wade paused, taking in the scene before him, “Danny, what the fuck happened to your head?! Ugh! Peter’s gonna kill me!” he added.

Danny stuck out his tongue.

“I’m fine, just a little,” here he paused to toss his head into the air, “Lightheaded!”

“You little shit, that was beautiful!” Wade said, pulling a small throwing knife seemingly out of nowhere and chucking it at Danny.

“Dad, what the hell?”

“I’m not ‘Dad,’ I’m Deadpool! I’m here to eat pudding and throw knives,” he paused, lowering his voice, “And I’m all out of pudding.”

He threw a barrage of knives at Danny, who nimbly dodged the projectiles and lobbed a pillow from the couch right at Wade’s face. Each knife lodged itself into a different part of the couch as Danny fired off multiple blasts of ghost fire.

“Hey, Siri, play the Ghost Busters theme. I’m going hunting,” Wade said, brandishing the pillow and another knife at Danny.

Just then, they heard the front door open.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” came Peter’s voice, “There was a thing I had to take care of on the way home –”

He froze at the sight of his husband and son sparring in the living room, his handful of groceries seemingly forgotten.

“Danny started it!” Wade said quickly.

“Deadpool, you fucking snitch!” Danny called, pointing an accusatory finger at Wade.

“Language!” Peter said.

“Yeah, Danny, watch your fucking language,” Wade said, giggling under his breath.

“Wade!”

“What?”

Peter sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in a circular motion.

“All right,” he said quietly to himself, “So the new couches need to be stain-proof, knife-proof, and fire-proof. You two are in charge of putting the groceries away.”

“Did you get more pudding cups?” Wade asked hopefully.

Peter looked him dead in the eyes as he extracted two packages of pudding cups from one of the bags and tucked them under his arm.

“No,” he said, “Now go put this stuff away and clean up this mess,” he added, gesturing toward the living room.

He turned and headed, pudding still in tow, to his study.

Wade wiped away a single tear as the pudding vanished from sight.

“Oof,” said Danny.

[ll-underestimated-ll]

Answering All Questions from a Prompt Cos I Do What I Want

1. What’s one experience your character had that made them very afraid?

The first time he woke up to find that what he’d dismissed as being entirely the formation of one of his nightmares - was very much real. Prompted the realisation of just how much harm he was capable of doing.

2. Does your character have a deep and/or dark secret? If so, what is it?

Leo doesn’t let people know that his sire & grandsire never entirely aligned themselves with the Camarilla. Considering it took him some time to work that out himself he holds hope that at his current age people simply won’t go digging. There is also generally a lot of things he’s done in the name of fulfilling some role or another that he feels deep shame for. That’s less kept secret and more... he just doesn’t speak about it.

3. Have they ever lost a loved one? What happened to them, and are they the same as they were before they lost them?

Many. Regularly. Loss is simply part of un-life for him. The fact he hasn’t lost anyone near and dear to him over the last half a century hangs over him like a bad omen. He’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. But a short list of the most notable losses that had an summary of their impact on him:  - Eldest brother : sickness/starvation ~1510 - resulted in Leo taking on a survivalist ‘me before others’ attitude. - Best friend : first feed post-embrace 1516 - made him terrified of himself for several years - First wife : Mother order him to burn her to death late-1520s - made him highly aware of the fact that he can be turned on people he’s cared about  - Ell (one of his ‘siblings’) : sent on a suicide mission Mother had him sign off on ~1630?1620? - was the last straw in hammering home what he’d already seen over the course of being blood bonded. They were all disposable to her, and it was only a matter of time before he’d meet the same fate. - Nossie he’d fallen for : execution 1940s - after he had committed several masquerade breaches Vindr ordered Leo to use trust he had with him to follow through with the execution. It’d been a long time since he’d killed someone that dear to him and the ease at which he did it unsettled even himself. 

4. Has your character ever been hurt or betrayed by someone they thought they could depend on? What happened?

Yes. He’d had ‘siblings’ try to double-cross him on plenty of occasions. Usually was via trying to pin the blame for something on him.

5. Would they ever turn on someone they just met in order to save themselves?

Yes.

6. Have they ever committed a crime, or something they felt was wrong? What was it?

The entire Crimes Act. At least, as far as he has the capacity for doing so.

7. If your character was allowed to murder one person without any consequences, who would it be and why?

Vindr. The time spent blood bonded to each other between 1860 - 1989.

8. Does your character have any enemies? If so, who and why?

There are several hunters based in the country he’s trying to figure out how to get rid off without causing a scene or draw any attention to. They’re a threat to his community. 

9. Is the character a victim of abuse?

Yes.

10. What were the character’s parents like? What was the affect the parents had on the character?

His father was a minor merchant managing the coming and goings of goods from his home village. His work placed them above standard serfdom allowing him the chance to learn basic reading and writing before his sire (Mother) adopted him. Any influence they had on him has long since been overshadowed by other things.

11. What are your character’s coping mechanisms?

Burying himself in work and activities. Finding relatable aspects in fictional characters. Joking around and making the most of opportunities where he doesn’t have to take things too seriously.

12. Do they like to suffer? Like to see other people suffering?

After lifetimes of suffering he’d prefer to avoid it. However he does have a cruel streak and enjoy seeing other people suffer. Has that ‘it’ll build character’ and ‘it’s not that bad so suck it up’ sort of attitude towards other peoples shit. Sometimes he just wants someone to suffer as a way to exercise control over them.

13. What does it take to make your character cry?

Simultaneously a lot, and also real minor stuff. Ya know, the standard shit to come from suppressing/bottling up your reactions to incredibly straining situations. He’ll be cold and apathetic in some incredibly horrible situation he ought to cry about. Then some time later break down post screaming fit at some inanimate object because it wasn’t cooperating with him.

14. What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

Other than his prioritisation of maintaining his own power and survival over anything else? The fact he’s stuck at 16 years old. That’s an incredibly difficult thing to work around - even when in a relationship based purely on romantic feelings. These modern nights he feels that both physical and overall age lock him out of legitimate relationships entirely. To the point where he doesn’t even play at stringing people along on one sided things ~for the drama~ like he used to. 

This particular reason is what’s had him friendzoned by the twins, despite them being the best probably candidate and him pulling kind of a Edward on them.

15. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared?

Biggest fear is hard to pinpoint, but in general the concept of being completely helpless and not in control of his own actions. When scared he gets paranoid and hyper-vigilant of his surroundings. Very on guard towards any threats and looking for away to run away.

16. What are your character’s vices and bad habits?

Impulsiveness. Knowingly causing harm. Smoking.

17. Is your character afraid of death? Why/why not?

Absolutely. He doesn’t even like to think about what final death will have in store for him.

18. Would society call your character a good guy or a bad guy? what would they say they are?

From societies perspective from everything he’s been involved with - 120% a bad guy. He’d say the same and mark himself down as being an Anti-hero at best. 

19. What is your character insecure about?

His own paranoia causing him to flip from being impulse to being incredibly indecisive at times.

20.  What was something they struggled with greatly and how did they overcome it?

Being blood bonded. Overcome through a mix of share force of will and personal introspection.

21. Does your character have anyone that they really care about, to the point that they would give their life for them? If so, who are they and what is your character’s relation to them? If not, do they wish they did? Is there anyone they wish they could build such a relationship with?

While he doesn’t think he’d give his lives for them because that sort of behaviour is incredibly foolish in his eyes - his current found family from the past century. His central coterie of the twins and Alexandra in particular. He will throw just about everyone in his city under the bus in the name of protecting them. And, they’d do the same. In post-prince verse when his city falls Alex ends up the one sacrificing her life for him and god the guilt is sickening.

He’s quite happy with his current little familial circle but he’s hoping to get closer with Danny. Get him to be part of that found family circle properly.

22. If they could change just one thing about themselves, what would it be?

He’d like to have the capacity to care for people without feeling like he’s going to inevitably be their downfall.

23. Is your character more physically or emotionally strong? Why is this?

If we’re talking strong in terms of taking blows that can be taken I wanna say physically cos despite it being his lowest stat his Fortitude is high so he soaks damage fairly easily.

24. What is your character’s most important possession? Why?

He still has his signet ring from when he fled his Mother. Not even he knows just how much that it means to him. It’s intensely sentimental to him as the only physical possession he has left of that era of his life. Someone stole it from him while he was living in London and he made quite the mess of them to get it back.

25. Do they find that they care what others think of them? Or do they not really mind how others view them?

He flip flops wildly between caring intensely about what others think of him and not giving a singular shit. It depends on the crowd and his motivations. In general his preference is to have people to like him and see him as above them in some way.

26. What, in your character’s life, puts the most pressure on them?

The community he’s Prince of. He sees his role as being to protect them at the end of the day and sometimes that means doing things they don’t like. But doing things they dislike gets push back and push back de-legitimises his power as Prince.

27.  What would be the worst way to die, in your character’s opinion?

How he almost died when I used him briefly as a PC. Disgraced. Looked down upon with no dignity by everyone around him in a city he’s unfamiliar with. Nobody. Nothing. The last of his city. A waste of the self sacrifice from those he loved. Crying, screaming desperately trying to claw his way out of capture at the hands of those that don’t know tossing him in a holding cell where light can get to him will kill him.

28. What is your character’s greatest strength?

In mun’s opinion, the fact that despite everything he’s been through and seen...the fact that he just keeps going.

29. What is their weapon of choice, and what weapon do they dislike using the most?

Social manipulation so that combat is avoided in the first place. But, he’s always had a liking for firearms and actually quite likes using them. He dislikes fighting with his bare hands.

30. What makes them feel safe or secure? What makes them feel insecure or unsafe?

He feels most safe when either alone or the only people around him are those he has blood bonded. He feels deeply uncomfortable around kindred that are of a lower generation than him. With dominate as a main discipline he finds that not being able to resort to it suddenly makes all interactions with the person he’s interacting with very threatening.

[manythingsoflittlesignificance]

the one where the pack is a #fail

Ok so AU where the pack is all alive, in their mid-20s, done with college. Scott, no longer wanting the responsibility of being Alpha, figured out with Stiles’ help how to magically transfer his status to Derek and joined his pack. Most of the group have moved back to Beacon Hills after graduating and have local jobs while the remaining members (Lydia, Danny, Kira, and Isaac) stay in contact and try to come home a couple of times a year. It’s during one of the super rare times everyone is home and they’re having a pack barbeque and movie night in the rebuilt Hale house and they’ve all been drinking a little so they’re loose and happy and having fun, when Danny innocently asks Stiles and Derek to stick out their hands because he wants to see something. The two, confused but unsuspecting of any mischief from Danny (maybe he’s taking a crack at palm-reading?), immediately put out their hands and before they know it, they’re shackled together with handcuffs. Danny crows in victory and Jackson is just sitting there grumbling “I can’t believe it was actually that easy what the hell.” Everyone is laughing and Stiles and Derek are just stunned and have no idea what’s happening.

Stiles is the first one to say something. “I don’t understand… was this some type of dare? Am I being punk’d?”

And Scott responds, “you two are going to stay like that until you get your shit together because We the Pack are collectively sick of you guys.”

Instead of looking surprised or annoyed, both Stiles and Derek just look even more confused.

“What do you mean? Stiles and I are fine, nothing’s wrong.” says Derek and now Erica has just about had it with this bullshit.

“GOOD LORD, just admit you’ve been pining for each other FOR YEARS and this will all finally be over and the rest of us can go back to watching Boyd and Jackson cry about Elle Woods while you two make out.”

There’s a beat of awkward silence. Derek and Stiles and exchange a brief look and then Stiles says “Erica… Derek and I are going to admit no such thing. Because it’s not true. I mean what we have is definitely one of the most important relationships in my life but—”

“—we’re pack. Of coursewe have love for each other. We work well together and we understand each other’s priorities. It’s significant, obviously, but we certainly have not been pininglike characters in some cheap harlequin novel.” Derek looks annoyed.

“You do spend an awful lot of time staring at each other when the other isn’t looking,” observes Boyd.

“I mean come on, you guys can’t really be this clueless!” Allison explodes. “You basically run this pack together. You go grocery shopping together, you cuddle.”

“Yeah, so? I cuddle with everyone! I’m a tactile guy, don’t judge me! If you’re going to follow that logic, the why doesn’t anyone think Scott and I have unresolved feelings?” He turns to Scott and waggles his eyebrows.

Scott is unperturbed. “Nothing unresolved about us, bro. But don’t deflect. I know you, ok? You haven’t dated or hooked up with anyone new in ages! You’ve been too busy obsessing over taking care of this pack and hanging out with Derek all. the. freaking. time!”

“Yeah and it’s been ages since Derek’s last been with someone, too, and you both always smell sickeningly happy around each other” Malia pitches in.

“Watch it, Malia, unless you want everyone to know how your last fling really ended,” Derek snaps back.

“Derek do NOT bring that shit up again, it’s been more than two years!”

“So you’ve been single for two years and yet nobody seems to think you’repining after another pack member?”

“Yeah! Malia and Isaac have been single even longer than us! So how come it isn’t Isaac who’s cuffed to Derek right now, huh?” Stiles tries. But at this, both Derek and Isaac experience a full-body shudder and Jackson grimaces. “That’s just wrong, Stilinski.”

“Yeah ok, bad example, I take it back.”

Kira pitches in more gently. “But Stiles, you spend 70% of your time here in this house. You make everyone food and you send us care packages with cute little notes. You made sure to schedule each of us individual training time with Derek. You made us follow a chore chartand you tell us to ‘be nice to Daddy’ whenever you leave for Emissarys-related business. I mean, to the rest of us it seems like you’ve been wife-ing Derek up pretty hard.”

“WIFE-ING? This is blatant pigeon-holing! I didn’t realize caringfor the packmeant I’d be strapped to this…this narrow-ass label. I may have mother-hen tendencies but I am nobody’s wifey.”

It’s at this point that the lupine members of the pack begin to realize that neither Derek nor Stiles have had a single errant heartbeat throughout the entire conversation. No elevated pulses, no betraying smells. They’ve just been calmly and comfortably sitting next to each other on the couch, like they always do. The pack starts feeling awkward and wrong-footed. Were they wrong, after all? Maybe Stiles and Derek really were just good friends. Really, weirdly close,  platonic friends.

“Listen, everyone, I think you’ve just been reading this all wrong. Stiles and I are not mad, but can you please just uncuff us so we can forget about this and continue having a good night?” Derek tries again.

But Lydia doesn’t want to accept defeat so easily.

“There’s just one more thing we haven’t addressed. You guys are clearly attracted to one another. Stiles, you’ve even told me as much.”

“Well, sure. Derek is a handsome man, I think that’s just an objective fact.”

“You once told me you wanted to rip off his shirt and lick his nipples at least once before you died.”

“LYDIA oh my god! I was drunk! Ugh. Fine, ok, so I think Derek is sexy, what of it.”

“So? You’re best friends…” she ignores Scott’s indignant shout, “…you have domestic routines, you find each other sexually appealing, why not explore the potential? Give it an honest attempt, test the waters.”

“And how do you expect us to test it out, exactly? What, are we supposed to make out or something?” asks Derek.

“Hmm, or something,” Lydia murmurs.

She’s met with complete silence in the room. She tries to stare down Stiles, implicitly challenging him, and is surprised to see that he looks... smug? He has a faint glint in his eyes and she can’t quite place what it means. Something along the lines of “challenge fucking accepted.” She supposes that will work in her favor. The idiot wouldn’t understand romance if it bit him in the ass, and it was her job as his best friend to force him to view his relationship with Derek under a different light.

It’s Erica who breaks the silence. “I mean, it’s not a bad idea. I certainly wouldn’t mind watching,” she says, leering.

“This is not what I was expecting to happen, but I fully endorse the proceedings,” Danny chimes in.

“Are you telling me, if I make out with Derek right now, we can put an end to all this nonsense?”

The pack all seem to be convinced, all of them shrugging and nodding their heads as if this idea makes complete sense.

“You’re all fucking bonkers.” Having expressed his indignation, Stiles turns to face Derek. “Let’s get this over with?”

“You don’t have to act like it’s torture, Stiles, we’ve done scarier things.” Derek turns to the pack. “What, are you all just going to watch?”

He’s just met with impatient glares.

“I’m going to incrementally add 5 suicides to your workouts every day for the rest of the year.” And before anyone can respond he turns around—and carefully maneuvering their positions because of the handcuffs—he picks Stiles up, deposits him on his lap, and kisses him.

They kiss. And they keep kissing. After a few seconds, the pack realizes there hasn’t been any elevation in either of their heart rates, and neither of them seem particularly aroused. There’s no tell-tale blip of excitement. In fact, their pulses are weirdly sedate, almost calm. The two are somehow…completely unbothered.

The pack slowly feels awkwardness creep back in. Isaac looks away first. Lydia looks absolutely bewildered and defeated. Allison looks like someone kicked her puppy. Even Boyd looks somewhat disappointed. They’d all hoped…

Jackson’s the first one to break. “Ok! God, stop, you’ve proven your point. So you guys have not secretly been lusting after each other. We were wrong.”

Stiles turns back around to face the pack and he looks fucking victorious. Lydia was right, his wide-grinned expression is as smug as she’s ever seen it, like he just won some game. She just doesn’t understand, if this was all just a stupid misunderstanding, why was proving them wrong such a big deal to him? He’s practically vibrating with his success and frankly, it’s unfitting to the situation at hand. He climbs off Derek’s lap and looks expectantly at Danny. “Unlock us now, please?”

Danny quietly obliges, and Stiles and Derek breathe out simultaneous sighs of relief and go back to sitting with their arms around each other on the couch. Everyone else kind of lingers awkwardly for a few seconds, nobody making eye-contact until Derek says, “All right guys, sorry your little experiment didn’t work out but more importantly, we just missed the entire Bend-and-Snap routine.” And with that, everyone settles back into their positions and turns back to the movie.

A few minutes pass before Lydia hears Stiles stifling giggles behind her. She turns around to glare at him, only to see that now Derek is also straining to fight back his laughter. At seeing her bemused face, Derek loses it. His loud bark of laughter disrupts the just-settled atmosphere.

“What is so funny?” Erica seethes, “please share with the class.”

“I can’t! I just can’t—believe—” Stiles is gasping, struggling to get out words. “—I can’t believe you all honestly thought—we’ve been pining for years. To be honest, I am severely disappointed in your skills of observation and deduction.”  He turns to Derek who is clutching his stomach and trying to calm himself down. “Derek, you really do have to up the game with their training. I mean, to have all the pieces and arrive at the completely wrong conclusion, I just don’t understand.”

Everyone is watching them, completely confused. Here it comes, Lydia thinks. She can’t believe that there was something she had missed. Derek, his laughter finally dying out, grins at his pack.

“I honestly don’t know how you all failed this badly. Guys, Stiles and I have been boning on the regular since he graduated.”

“Yeah and I especially don’t understand how you missed this fucking RING that I have been sporting for the last WEEK. complete failwolves, iswtg”

the pack’s reaction: 

***If you liked this ficlet please go to my page and read the new Sterek story I wrote! And feel free to like, comment, reblog! Much love <3

[srsly-messed-up-fruitloop]

Tug of War (Ch 5)

ch 1 - prev

Word Count: 1,574

“Hey Tuck, you busy tomorrow?” Danny asked as the trio walked through the halls after school.

“Um, yea, I’ve got plans,” Tucker replied reluctantly.

His friends both turned to him in surprise. 

“No way, you actually landed a date on Valentine’s Day?” Sam exclaimed incredulously.

Read on AO3 or under the cut

“Wait n—of course I have a date!”

“Who is it?” Danny and Sam simultaneously demanded. 

Tucker began to nervously play with his beret. “Heh heh, um...you don’t know them.” 

Danny seemed to easily accept his response. “Oh, okay then. Have fun Tuck.”

However, Sam was scrutinizing him. He definitely was hiding something. “Tucker, you know you could tell us anything, right?”

“What? Sam, I do!”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m not hiding anything!”

Sam didn’t reply. Instead, her gaze bore right into Tucker. Within a few seconds, his resolve crumbled away.

“Alright, fine! But you guys gotta promise to not tell anyone this, okay?”

Danny raised an eyebrow at Sam. Honestly, he’ll never get how she does it.

Meanwhile Sam smirked. “We promise. What’s going on?”

“Okay, so you know how I’m trying to get into cybersecurity after college?”

His friends nodded, having a slight idea what it was after hearing him talk about it so much.

“Well, I’m working with this group, and...errr...we’re trying to...help? Some companies?”

“What do you mean by help?” Danny questioned.

Sam added on, “And which companies are you ‘helping’?”

“Just, um...companies like Chase and Capital One. We’re just...I guess you could say we’re testing their security?” Tucker hesitantly answered.

“Aren’t those credit card companies?” asked Sam suspiciously.

“That’s so cool man. I don’t get why you had to hide it from us though,” Danny told him right as he opened his locker.

Sam knew there was more to it, but dropped it when all three of them spotted an expensive camera simply hanging by the strap off one of the locker hooks.

“No way, is a Nikon D80?” Tucker exclaimed gleefully before carefully grabbing the camera to admire it.

Meanwhile, Danny was confused. Wes hardly keeps anything in their locker.

“Hold up. Tucker, turn it on,” Sam said.

He eagerly pressed the power button. “Dude, you didn’t have to ask me first.”

Danny pushed aside a nagging feeling when he saw the menu appear on the screen.

“Whoa, there’s over a thousand photos in here!” Tucker blurted out. “And...they’re all of you, Danny.”

Sam scoffed, “This must be what the creep uses to take those pictures he sells.”

As the trio flipped through the undoubtedly high quality pictures, Danny was suddenly struck by a genius idea. His friends grinned mischievously after he shared what he had in mind.

~

Wes was exhausted. The last game of the season was coming up and Ms. Tetslaff was really pushing them to their limits.

He lumbered to his locker, already feeling an ache from the intense practice he just had. Opening his locker, he gasped when he saw his camera hanging in plain sight. Crap!

He quickly retrieved the protective pouch from his backpack and delicately placed the camera inside. How could he be so careless? Practice must be really getting to him. He’s so damn lucky that Fenton didn’t take it.

He’s actually not that lucky at all.

Later that night as he was going to back up his recent pictures, his stomach dropped when he discovered they were all gone. Instead, there was one new video.

Wes hesitantly double-clicked to open the video on his computer.

“Hey everybody! Danny Phantom here,” Danny greeted in the video as he was floating against the backdrop of Casper High’s distinguishable brick wall. Listening real closely, you could hear two other people sniggering in the background. “I’m here to finally come clean about the truth.” 

Wes’ heartbeat picked up. Was he finally going to...?

Danny continued in the video, “If you go to Casper High, I’m sure you all have heard about the rumours. How Danny Fenton is actually me in disguise. That’s...that’s actually not that far from the truth; my true identity is none other than a Casper High student. I’m tired of hiding it. People of Amity Park, I am actually Wes Weston.” The video abruptly cut out.

When Wes’ dad heard a loud crash from his son’s room and came up to check on him, the boy could only growl in response.

~

To say that Wes was pissed the next day was an understatement. It turns out, that video was also posted online. All of his hard work over the years, just gone, right down the toilet. 

People wouldn’t stop interrupting him in the halls, bugging him to turn invisible or shoot an ectoblast. No matter how much he tried to debunk that video, they continued to wholeheartedly believe that he’s Phantom.

In history class, Paulina slapped him for charging her for pictures of “himself”. After that, he honestly didn’t want to find out how much worse Dash’s reaction would be. He should probably ditch class until this whole thing blew over.

As he pried open his locker to get his stuff, he glowered at the sight of Fenton’s first aid kit. Last week, when he showed off the expensive kit as evidence, no one even batted an eye. Are the kids at this school that stupid, that they’d believe a single video of Phantom speaking than years of proof?

He was about to leave until he noticed a pamphlet sticking out of Fenton’s bag. 

Instantly recognizing the logo on it, his frustration melted away and he couldn’t keep himself from chuckling as he flipped through its pages.

As he made his way to exit the school, he spotted Fenton walking by himself in the halls. He smirked to himself. Maybe he’ll be able to rile him up enough this time to expose him and get everyone to forget that video. That’ll be the perfect payback.

“NASA? You want to work for them?”

Danny jolted out of his thoughts at the sound of Wes’ voice. Surprisingly, he didn’t sound mad at all. Regarding him suspiciously, Danny replied, “Um...yeah?”

“Wow. I should’ve pegged you as the type to enjoy fabricating hoaxes for a living. We know you already love doing that in your everyday life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh Fenton, you know exactly what I’m talking about—NASA, the corporation whose whole aim is generating lies about outer space to deceive the public?”

“Right, I forgot you were a total conspiracy nut. Listen, I don’t have time for this, I—”

“I’m betting you’re more than eager to join in on the next fake moon landing. You’d just love the extra attention, wouldn’t you?”

“We—”

“Even if it’s for your measly human disguise. But why go through all this work when you could just possess the next ‘astronaut’?”

“Dude, that is so wrong!”

“Really? I wouldn’t put it past you.”

A moment of silence passed, while Danny’s defiant look faltered.

“Honestly, screw you Wes,” he muttered before walking off.

Wes could only stare after the now despondent boy, wondering what the heck was wrong with him. It wasn’t like him to just leave, this was supposed to rile him up even more!

Dammit.

~

Weeks later, the buzz around the whole “Wes being Phantom” thing finally died down. Eventually, the inevitable situation came where Phantom and Wes were spotted both being in the same place at the same time. Some people still had their doubts, considering Phantom’s duplication ability was well-known by now. But for the most part, Wes’ life eventually turned back to normal.

He sighed in relief as the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the final game for Casper’s basketball team. The Elmerton Owls beat them brutally with a score of 78-36. Ms. Tetslaff was shaking her head in anguish.

He actually wasn’t bothered at all. After all, it was a losing game from the start. Anderson, the best player of the team, broke his leg last weekend in a skiing accident. Wes was just happy that the embarrassing game was over. 

As he fist bumped his team members after finishing up in the change room, he left for his locker. Since the game occurred after school, the halls were completely empty.

When he turned the corner, what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

There, sitting and leaning back beside his locker was none other than Danny Phantom, covered in glowing green ectoplasm and clutching a large gash in his stomach as it threatened to spill more onto the floor.

Wes could only stand there frozen, taking in Danny’s unmoving form as the pool of ectoplasm inched closer to his white sneakers. 

Suddenly, Danny registered that someone was watching him. Sam? Tucker? Didn’t they already head home? He weakly raised his head to see who it was, only to grimace when he recognized the red-haired creep.

“What do you want Wes?” he barely managed to croak out.

Never in Wes’ life had he imagined seeing him in this position. The worse he thought was watching Phantom’s bravado crumble when the world discovered who he truly was. But this...all of it was already gone in this moment. And as the ectoplasm stained his shoes, he began to question himself.

Wes gulped. He didn’t consider himself to be a caring person. But as Danny sat there, bleeding out before him, he couldn’t…

After sending him one last look, Wes opened their locker, grabbed the first aid kit at the bottom, and got to work.

~end~

[ashintheairlikesnow]

The Rescue: Danny’s Mom, Part 2

(since everyone wanted Danny’s Mom, Part 2, here you go! I give you Ryan Michaelson’ s first major protective outburst on Danny’s behalf post-rescue! CW: serious parental emotional abuse/manipulation and certain coping mechanisms common to children who spend time in foster care are referenced here in a big way. Danny’s parents/background actually feeds heavily into his difficulty in recovery. Also referenced/implied non con/abuse/torture while he was with Bram)

Tagging @spiffythespook, @special-spicy-chicken, and @bleeding-demon-teeth - ask to be tagged if you want! After this I’m going to start working on Bad Things Happen Bingo

Continued from The Rescue: Danny’s Mom, Part 1

“How could you let that happen to your face?”

There’s a half-second, in the little break room, where the only sound is the soft humming of the vending machines and the low chatter of other people speaking down the hall. Even that soft sound is nearly drowned out by the simple rhythmic rush of the blood in Danny’s veins.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Corrine murmurs, turning his head from side to side to take a better look. Danny is so good at holding still, now, for touching he doesn’t want. He is so, so good at it. He takes a deep breath as silently as he can, holds it for five counts, slowly exhales.

Her eyes trace the line of his scars, noting the way they perfectly echo the shape of the metal, the tiny pockmarked spots where the jagged edges were designed to dig in and hurt worse. Danny is a good boy, there is no lesson from Abraham he has not learned, and he holds himself still under her touch.

Hands there are always more hands

Please stop touching me

Please stop

Stop

He keeps all of it, the disobedience, the pleading, the rebellious wrong thoughts, behind his teeth. Abraham would be proud of him, he thinks, and hunches himself over just a little more, until he is nearly down to Ryan’s height, his shoulders up near his chin.

Corrine’s mouth twists, just a little, as she notes where the wounds have covered over the freckles that she once told a very young Danny, with an impish sort of smile, set him apart from the crowd. Oh, honey, don’t be ashamed of your freckles. It’s good that you look so different from us in the photos. “What did you do?”

Ryan freezes, his mouth open. Corrine’s expression isn’t new - the memories Abraham trained out of him flash past, half-glimpses and moments of a life he barely remembers living now. He’s not supposed to remember, and he tries to remember Abraham instead, but he can’t quite force Danny all the way back down.

She has always looked at him this way.  

Oh, Danny, did you get in a fight again? Well, ask yourself - what are you doing to get those boys to pick on you so much?

(now, little Red, I want you to tell me what you did to deserve what I’m about to do to you)

Your father found the stash you’ve been hiding in the treehouse, young man. Shouldn’t you be over this by now? How long exactly do you need to be out of that group home before you stop hoarding food?

(you did such a good job cooking our dinner tonight, didn’t you? oh, no, you won’t be eating it. you haven’t been good at all tonight. maybe you’ll be feeling a little more well-behaved by breakfast, hm?)

Honestly, Daniel Michaelson, what were you thinking? How could you be so stupid? It’s like we don’t even know you!

(I know you so well, sweet thing, I have cut open all your mysteries and made them mine)

Oh, Danny, of course we care deeply about you, it’s just…

(nate and I are the only ones who could ever love you now)

Clearly, this was your idea, once again. You're the bigger brother, you were supposed to be smarter than this! I swear, sometimes I regret ever adopting you-... oh, Danny, darling, I didn’t mean that, I swear… you forgive me, right?

(what a good, good boy you are for me. you’ll be my good puppy and forgive me everything)

"I don’t know what I did,” He answers, honestly. After four years, he still doesn’t know what sin he committed, what grievous error, that meant he had deserved this. “I’m so sorry."

His lips almost don’t move, air barely turns to sound. Her fingers on his face are too much like Abraham’s - the ends are cold, although her palms are warm. In one of the pulses of memory he isn’t allowed to have (there is no life before Abraham) he suddenly knows Corrine has a circulation problem, her fingers are always cold, have always been cold.

“Don’t worry, sweetie,” Corrine says gently to him, with real affection and concern. “We’ll make sure no one gets any shots of this on the way out to the car.”

Ryan stares at Corrine with his mouth hanging open, his hand out to grab her by the arm to pull her back. “Jesus Christ, Mom! You think he gives a shit about that right now? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Danny’s eyes swing to Ryan, blinking away the tears that had tried to protect him from the look on Corrine’s face, and he nearly quails before the righteous anger on his little brother’s. Sometimes Nate gets angry like that, but Abraham always makes him so very sorry he ever tried to fight back.

Don't argue, Red and Daniel think simultaneously, for once the beaten puppy and Corrine Michaelson's broken son agree. It only makes it worse. Please, he likes it when they fight back at first.

(you’ve got a mouth on you. I’m going to fix that)

“What?” Corrine turns to look at her younger son and her hands finally - finally - drop from Danny’s face, but he can still feel them, still feel the imprint of fingers along his skin, the slight scratch of the long nails, the chill of her fingers. “What did I say? He won’t want anyone to see his face like this, and the last thing we need is photos out there circulating-”

“What did you… you have got to be kidding me. You are literally the only person in this room who gives a shit about whether or not some dumbass takes a cell phone shot of his fucking face. Mom. You know what you just said is shitty!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Corrine snaps back, the first hint of real temper breaking her perfectly calm, I-am-the-best-mother façade.

Danny flinches, then catches himself, balling his hands into fists until the pain of his nails digging into his palms helps him keep himself still.

Never flinch.

(good boy)

“All I did,” Corrine says, her voice suddenly dripping with exaggerated patience as two of the police walk past the breakroom door and glance in on their way, “was ask how this happened.”

“No,” Ryan says coldly. “That’s not what you said and you know it, Mother.”

Please stop fighting, please stop, please don’t argue

(what the fuck, Nate? I took him because I love you!)

B-Bram, please, d-don’t say you’re h-h-hurting him because of me-

(I did all of this for you! Isn’t this what you wanted, a real house, a real family? I forgave you for killing mine, and I gave you a new one, and this is how you thank me?)

“Oh, don’t you Mother me, Ryan Michaelson-”

“And don’t you Ryan Michaelson me! I’m twenty-four years old, Mom, go ahead and pull out the middle name, you’re about to see that that shit doesn’t work anymore.” Ryan’s voice is too loud, too full of fury. Danny cringes away from them both, taking one step back, hoping no one will be angry with him for breaking a rule, even this much.

“Patrick, be a dear and close the door,” Corrine says coldly, and her husband glances up from his phone, apparently unbothered by the familial conflict taking place right in front of him. He moves to the door, closing it until it clicks.

Danny’s breath catches.

Don’t lock me in, don’t lock me up, I’m sorry, whatever I did, I’m so sorry. I swear I won’t do it again.

“Oh, yeah, can’t let the Canadians see you being like this, can we?” Ryan rolls his eyes. “One of them might start calling American newspapers from the sheer scandal, huh? Like police officers don’t have more important shit to think about!”

“Ryan, you need to calm yourself down. I don’t know why you’re so upset with me, but look, you’re scaring your brother-” Corrine gestures towards Danny, who stares down at her hand as it moves, terrified she’ll touch him with cold fingers again. “-and it’s been four years since we’ve been together, so let’s try and make this reunion more pleasant, hm?”

“Okay, first off,” Ryan yanks a sweater and jeans out of the plastic bag he brought in with him, all but throws it on the table, and rounds on his mother. “First off, you haven’t seen him in five years, or did you forget you basically threw him out of the house when he said he wouldn’t work for the company?”

Danny’s eyebrows come together in confusion. He doesn’t remember this. Is this a true thing? Sometimes his memories aren’t real, any longer, and he loses too many of them to tell the difference. Sooner or later Abraham cuts them out again.

Corrine puts one hand up to her collarbone. “Ryan, how dare you. We never did any such thing-”

“And secondly, and no you’re not going to stop me, Mom - he didn't let anyone do anything! I can’t believe I’m explaining this, you are my mother, if anything you should be the one explaining it to me!” He moves to step in front of Danny, who steps just as quickly back and away from him, hugging the blanket around himself.

Never pull away

(never pull away from me)

But they're not you, Abraham, is it still true if they’re not you?

“Well of course that’s not what I meant,” Corrine replies, and the distantly angry chill in her voice is too much like Abraham when he disobeys, when he’s a bad dog. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Ryan.”

“Mom. It's not 'putting words in your mouth' to repeat the exact thing you just said. What the absolute one hundred percent fuck? I genuinely cannot believe you can’t find it in yourself to be nice to him for five minutes, today of all days!"

“The boy’s got a point, Corrine,” Patrick rumbles, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Danny knows he uses the phone for business - he was probably checking on a deal or something, Daniel Michaelson thinks - and knows, the same sudden way he remembered about Corrine’s hands, that Patrick was the one who told him not to come back to the house until he agreed to work for the company and stop wasting his time being anything but a Michaelson boy. “Ryan did tell us to give the poor boy some space, for God’s sake.”

Danny’s eyes flicker to his father - or as close to one as he’s ever had - and there’s sympathy in Patrick, faded and by no means guaranteed, but even the amount he sees is a surprise to the man Danny used to be.

“Stop victim-blaming my big brother, Mom!” Ryan sounds exasperated. "I just. Seriously, this is why you should have spoken to Dr. Laurent before you came in here to see him. You obviously shouldn’t-... I shouldn’t have called you." Ryan glances over his shoulder at Danny, who tries to settle his face into calm acceptance, submission, whatever Ryan wants to see.

I can be good, I’m being good, this isn’t my fault, please don’t punish me.

“I’m so sorry, Dan,” Ryan says, and there’s no anger in his voice, no hint that Danny will be in trouble for causing a fight like he usually is. “I’m sorry that they managed to turn this into an argument when you haven’t seen everyone in so long.”

"You’re the one who lost his temper, and she is not victim-blaming him." Patrick glances sidelong at Corrine with an isn’t that just like our boy? expression, and Ryan looks nearly ready to explode. "Honestly, Ryan, the dramatics."

“I’m not being-... look, can you guys just step out and talk to the cops? We need to get Danny and Mr. Vandrum out of here so they can go back with me to the hotel.” Ryan turns back to Danny, giving him a slight smile. “The room has two beds and a fold-out sofa, so there’s lots of space for everyone, okay? I told you when I saw you before that I’d bring Mr. Vandrum back with us for now, and I meant it. Okay, Danny?”

“Oh-okay,” Danny whispers, looking down as Ryan pushes a folded sweater and jeans into his arms. Somehow, Ryan manages to do it without touching him even once, and Danny feels a nearly-painful spike of gratitude. "It's Red, though."

And I sleep on the floor, puppies don’t sleep in beds unless their owners say it’s okay, and Abraham’s in a hospital, he can’t tell me it’s okay.

Maybe if Nate says it’s okay? Maybe I can sleep with him?

(nate, you have to understand how it works. I took him because I love you, because when you’re like us, you need to have someone ready and perfect until you can make them on your own)

"What?" Ryan blinks.

"My name is Red and I belong to Abraham Denner." Danny points at his neck before he remembers that the police took his collar away and his hand falters, drops nervously back to his side, his other arm clutching the new clothing tighter to his chest. “Thank you for new clothes. Am I allowed to wear them?”

“Yes, sure, Red, of course you are, sorry I got your name wrong, okay?” Ryan’s eyes search his, and Danny hopes whatever he finds in them is enough that he doesn’t regret that Danny is alive, doesn’t think maybe he’d have been better off dead.

Sometimes Danny thinks it might have been easier if-

“We’ll get you changed,” Ryan says gently, speaking in a low voice. His hands go out as if to take Danny by the shoulders, and when Danny steps back, Ryan’s hands drop. “S-sorry, man. I’m kind of a hugger... you remember right? I’m trying to remember not to, I just...”

“I remember you are,” Danny says. “I remember. Please don’t, though.”

(you keep saying you don’t like this but we both know you do)

No, I don’t, please, I don’t-

(good boy, you know you don’t get to choose, this body doesn’t belong to you)

“I won’t, D-... Red. I won’t, I promise.” Ryan looks over his shoulder. “Can you guys just go, maybe? Just go on. I appreciate you bringing his clothing and everything, but… but I don’t think this was a good idea.”

“Ryan, we are his parents!” Still, Corrine’s protest seems half-hearted, and the part of him that is still who he used to be thinks she looks relieved, not upset.

Danny, what is wrong with you? Taking your brother with you to see those delinquent friends of yours? Bringing him home drunk and claiming it was his idea? I don’t want to see your face right now, young man!

(show me your face, puppy. god, you’re so beautiful now. has anyone ever told you you’re beautiful?)

Sweetheart, I don’t want you thinking about a career outside of the company. Don’t you think three years is enough wasted time after graduation?

(don’t worry, sweet thing, I would never let you die, I want to keep you forever. there could never be enough time for me to be finished with you)

Mrs. Verona was cleaning your room and found this. Care to explain to me why you have a backpack in the back of your closet? Are you planning to run away, young man?

(go ahead, try to run away. we’re thirty miles from the nearest anything. you won’t get far, and I’ll come for you, and you’ll regret that you ever, ever tried)

This is a family business, Daniel Michaelson, and if you want to be welcome in this house, you will be a part of it! Walk out that door and you may as well not be part of this family at all!

(this is your family now, little Red)

“... at least go talk to the trauma expert first, okay?” Ryan is still talking, and Danny tries to focus on him, the hunger in him buzzing and buzzing around his mind with the memories he’s not supposed to have. “Like I did? She said it’s going to take a while, maybe a long time, for him to feel comfortable with us again, and you-... you’re…” Ryan sighs, and Danny feels an urge to reach out and hug him, and the terror of the thought locks his muscles in place. “You’re not helping.”

“Oh, God,” Corrine whispers, and when Danny looks at her, there are tears in her eyes. “Oh, we’re not, are we? I’m sorry, Ryan. We’ll go see if Dr. Laurent can be reached to speak with us, and we’ll meet you at the hotel tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, Mom,” Ryan says, visibly relieved. “Okay. Thank you.”

You’re not sorry, the snide voice in Danny whispers. You just noticed the doorknob turning and remembered someone might hear you. Can’t look bad in front of people, can we? No, we’re just a wreck in private like every other family-

Stop it, these are wrong thoughts

Stop having the wrong thoughts

Sure enough, the door swings open, but it’s not the police, or detectives.

It’s Nate.

Corrine and Patrick turn to look at him with confusion, but Danny is already moving, and Nate is only looking at him. Nate is always only looking at him.

From the moment Danny came back to himself in the truck, Nate looks at him the way a man might look when given water in the desert, and he is moving too. Danny buries himself into Nate’s side, his knees shaking, lightheaded from hunger and fear and worry, but here is something he knows, here is the man who still smells faintly of gasoline and smoke, sliding an arm around him, and Danny fits easily against him the way he always has.

“I assume,” Patrick says, with a note of confusion, “that this is Mr. Nathaniel Vandrum.”

“Th-that’s me,” Nate says, his eyes scanning Corrine and Patrick thoughtfully - his eyes are always thoughtful, calculating, analyzing. Danny tucks his head into the crook of Nate’s neck. “I’d sh-sh-shake your hand, b-but my right h-hand doesn’t work. Pleased to m-m-meet you.”

“Of course we should thank you for saving our son,” Corrine says, suddenly warm and relieved and every inch the image of the perfect mother. There’s a hint of distance even to her act, though, and Danny thinks Nate isn’t fooled.

“No n-n-need. Only wish I c-could have saved him s-s-sooner.” There’s real pain in the words, and Danny closes his eyes, his ear against Nate’s collarbone, feeling the vibration of his speech through his chest.

“I thought you said he doesn’t touch anyone now,” Corrine says, softly, to Ryan.

“Just Nate,” Ryan replies, bitterly. “Just him. Go on and ask about Dr. Laurent. I’m going to get these two changed and see if the cops’ll let us go back to the hotel for the night. I know they want us back in the morning. Dad, I’m sure you’ve got company business, just let me handle it.”

“You’re twenty-four, are you sure you’re capable-”

“Dad. I got this. Just go.” There’s a pause, but Danny doesn’t open his eyes. He listens, instead, to Nate’s heartbeat, to the sound of his breathing. He’s listened to it so many nights, crying into Nate’s shoulder praying Abraham won’t wake up at the sound, sleeping curled around him to get as far from Abraham as he can without breaking the rules on the nights he is told to get into the bed, the nights he is sick and Nate lays with him on the floor next to his mat until his fevers break.

“Just go,” Ryan says again, more heavily. “I’ll call you when they dismiss us. My room number is 218, and there’s only the one hotel so I can’t imagine you’ll struggle to find it. Mom, can you start looking for a therapist, I think he’s gonna need-”

“I’m sure he will, dear.” Corrine is quiet for a second, and then she says softly, “We’ll see you later, Danny, okay, darling?”

Why call me ‘darling’? It’s not like there are any cameras here

Shut up stop it

(no one else will ever love you now)

Joke’s on you, they didn’t love me then

“Red,” Danny mumbles against Nate, whose arm tightens just a little, warm and solid around his back. Nate is safety - Nate is certainty - Nate hasn’t ever hurt him without being forced to. “My name is Red and I belong to-”

“She knows, buddy,” Ryan says quickly. “Good night, Mom. Night, Dad. I’ll call you later.”

The door closes, and Danny feels they are gone, but he doesn’t open his eyes. He just lets himself rest against Nate, trying to remember that he is safe, that Abraham is locked to a hospital bed, tied down the way he used to tie Danny down, voiceless the way he used to make Danny voiceless.

“Th-those are your p-p-parents?” Nate asks, and Danny luxuriates in the simple safety of his low, deep voice.

“Yeah.” Ryan sighs, heavily. “I left you some clothes on the table. I don’t know how well they’ll fit, I mostly just kind of guessed, but the cops want what you were wearing when you set the fire, so… you’ll have to change. Look, I got us a hotel room. They’ll want you back tomorrow, but the last person I spoke to said it looks like you’re good to come back to the states after that.”

There’s a silence. “I d-d-don’t have anywhere t-to go,” Nate finally says, a little heavily. “M-my... everything is g-g-gone. I don’t-”

“Yeah, you do.” Danny hears the door open again, Ryan’s voice a little fainter with distance. “I’ve been living in Danny’s apartment, so he still has it.” There’s a long pause. 

When Ryan speaks again, he sounds like he’s being forced to eat something he hates. “You’re coming home with us. With... with Red and I. I don’t know what the shit happened to him, but I can already tell I can’t do this by myself and trust me, my parents will only make it worse. I don’t like it, but… you’re coming with us. Get changed. I’ll go talk to the cops.”

The door closes, and the two of them are alone. Danny enjoys the silence, this time. It’s the silence he wants. He’s so hungry, but he can tell Nate about it later and Nate will give him permission to eat. Right now he just wants to breathe, to feel Nate’s warmth, to have something he knows here with him after it’s over.

Someone who is safe to talk to, to have wrong thoughts with. Someone who has wrong thoughts, too.

“R-Red?”

“Hm?” Danny finally pulls back, just enough to stand up at his full height, looking down a little at the older man. The self-protective coldness he holds himself with is gone now that they’re alone, his jaw softened, his mouth lifted in a half-smile right where the scar cuts slightly into his top lip. Danny loves him, he is so good for him, he will always be so good for Nate.

He belongs to Nate, now - now that Abraham is not his owner any longer, it has to be Nate, who saved him.

“I don’t th-th-think your b-brother likes me very much,” Nate says dryly.

Probably because he knows I’m yours, now, instead.

(look at you, puppy, I’ve made you so perfect for my Nate)

Danny huffs a nearly-soundless laugh.

Abraham is right, he is always right, about everything.

He is so perfect, for Nate.

He is so good.

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

Triple the Losers AU - Concept Notes

i wanted there to be 27 but if i added patties and audras that made 27 but then i’d have to add kay bc i love her which would make 28 so 21 it is

so the basic concept for this is “hey guys remember how i doubled the baudelaires and made the best au with movie! and netflix!bauds well we’re doing that with book, miniseries and film losers club” 

So, yeah, in this au, the book, miniseries and film Losers are all in the same universe, related, and ready to kill a clown. There is no Chapter Two because these kids bully that clown to death asap. 

A friend group of 21 is pretty wild but definitely makes for a pretty great army. 

Full list of Losers:

The Denbrough Boys

Isaac Denbrough - film!Bill

13

An adopted sibling, though he’s never known any family but the Denbroughs and is never considered anything other than the oldest Denbrough boy 

Artist who wants to illustrate for his brothers’ books bc he loves them

Gay but in denial. Giant crush on Daniel Hanlon. 

Anselm Denbrough - miniseries!Bill 

12 

Likes to write fantasy novels as an escape from reality 

Fights with Bill about whether fantasy or horror is better which is lowkey a metaphor for them arguing about how to deal with their trauma

William “Bill” Denbrough - book!Bill

11

Writes horror stories cause he loves psychological analyzation 

He prefers to face his fears rather than “escape” from them, causing tension between he and Anselm with how they deal with Georgie’s death

Georgie Denbrough - there is only one Georgie as he literally only exists for like one chapter

6 

Loves his brothers 

Dead as fuck, sorry 

Stuttering seems to be a family trait during childhood in the Denbrough family that Anselm and Bill are afflicted with, though Bill much more than his older bother. (Isaac also starts stuttering young, which is suspected to be more psychological.) This trait skipped a generation, and thus the Denbrough parents don’t really know enough about how to deal with their sons’ disability.

They’re a very creative family, usually in terms of creative writing, though they’re also pretty skilled in the art department. Sharon Denbrough is a skilled pianist and taught Isaac until recently. The family was never very close, and Bill always had a rocky relationship with his parents, but the family fell apart after the death of Georgie. Isaac and Bill found themselves practically ignored, while Anselm was pretty much yelled at for trying to fix everything. The brothers only managed to maintain their relationship by trying to avenge Georgie by killing this fucking clown.

The Hanscom Boys

Desmond “Des” Hanscom - film!Ben

13 

Would like to go into Investigative Journalism, though he’s also really into Local Histories

Tends to be afraid of the concept of death more than anything else 

Has a lot of social anxiety 

Auster Hanscom - miniseries!Ben

12

Super into all forms of writing but mostly poetry, which he loves and kinda obsesses over 

Was most affected by not having a father figure around, as Des and Ben didn’t seem to mind 

Assumed he was straight for a while but is probably demi 

Benjamin “Ben” Hanscom - book!Ben

11 

The Architect, and his love of blueprints and planning has made him the main strategist of the Losers Club 

He really doesn’t have many psychological demons so his worst fear is just the mummy he saw in a movie too late at night

Pure baby 

The Hanscoms’ father left the family when Arlene was still pregnant with Ben; while the boys never understood why, they sometimes speculate about secret missions, one or both of their parents cheating, government conspiracies, etc. Des and Ben never really minded, as Des was quite the introvert and Ben was close with their mom, but Auster really wished they could have a paternal figure, especially since the boys tend to be shunned for their genetic overweight appearance and he really wished for some kind of acceptance. 

The move to Derry was recent, as Arlene managed to find a higher-paying job that could help her support her boys. Ben managed to get himself in trouble with the Bowers Gang, meaning that his brothers, defensive of him, also became targets. But they manage to find friends in the Losers Club, and with the whole gang together, nobody’s going to be able to hurt them... right? 

The Marsh Girls

Karen “Karrie” Marsh - film!Bev

13 

Hates her name, thinks it sounds like a middle-aged mom. Goes by Karrie which she thinks sounds cooler (and serves as another Stephen King reference)

Wants to do movie stunts as an adult, is the most daring and bold of the Losers Club, and also probably the physically strongest 

Intensely protective of her sisters, especially due to their home situation 

Brooke Marsh - miniseries!Bev

12 

The sweetest little angel you will ever meet. Has never done anything wrong in her life 

Wants to be a painter and is very artistic. Karrie has shoplifted her paint supplies before 

The only one of her sisters to not smoke, as they refuse to let her near cigarettes 

Beverly “Bev” Marsh - book!Bev

11 

Technically the half-sister (stepsister?) of her older sisters, and can tell that her Mom doesn’t seem to care for her sisters much. She loves them, though, and won’t stand for people insulting them 

Quite the fashion designer, and even though the family is poor, she’s been making sure they don’t look like shit since she could choose her own clothes 

Probably the most manipulative of the Losers, though this has its advantages, such as when they need to get out of trouble. 

Giant Lesbian, definitely marries Kay McCall 

Karrie and Brooke have lived under the hate of their father for a while, due to the fact that he blames them for their mother’s death; Karrie brought home a virus from daycare that infected their mother, weakening her enough that labor with Brooke killed her. Karrie tends to get the most shit for this, mainly because Brooke gets along more with their stepmother, Elfrida. Elfrida married their father only a few months following their mother’s death, mainly due to the fact that Al got her pregnant. The family is quite poor, and the parents work quite a lot, meaning the sisters have gotten pretty good at fending for themselves. 

Recently, the girls have started to get more fears about their father than just physical abuse- he’s been acting weird around Karrie and Bev, and while Brooke seems to avoid his eye for the time being, she has been quite hurt by his violent outbursts. Karrie’s secretly been saving up to take her sisters away before he can do anything to them, though she’s not sure how to tell Brooke and Bev, as they don’t even understand what they’re supposed to be afraid of. But while they’re in Derry, they end up finding themselves among the Losers Club, on a mission to save the children of the town by killing a monster that lives in the sewers. That won’t be much of a problem; they have much worse monsters at home. 

The Kaspbrak Boys

Chase Kaspbrak - film!Eddie

13 

Somehow simultaneously the most paranoid and most reckless boy in the world 

He’s really into analysis and predicting events 

Can and Will fight you, but he will be bitching about it the entire time 

Otto Kaspbrak - miniserires!Eddie

11, Eddie’s older twin 

Incredibly stubborn and snarky, but also the most loyal Loser and the most sincere 

Has an interest in mechanics and repair, and when his mom’s not looking he’ll take things apart to find out how they work 

Edward “Eddie” Kaspbrak - book!Eddie

11, Otto’s younger twin

Very adaptable and adventurous, though he has a lot of anxiety at times 

Special Interest in cars, wants to be a driver as an adult

Able to find direction no matter where they are, and his gift of coordination has helped the Losers numerous times 

There will absolutely be a car chase scene where he has to drive 

Chase is the only Kaspbrak who really remembers their father, being seven when he died instead of his brothers’ five. He seems to recall them not being so sick back then, though his Mother claims otherwise, and their father being a good, playful man. But he’s not here now, and their mother, Sonia, is paranoid about everything. Her boys are very weak and sick and can’t do much, and she hates that they have such rough, rude friends that must be corrupting them somehow. 

The boys, however, are much more adventurous and capable than Sonia believes- especially Chase, who has actually won more than one fight, mostly on behalf of his brothers. As the eldest, Chase believes he has to protect Otto and Eddie, whether it be from a bunch of school bullies, a killer clown in the sewers, or their own mother. Also, Chase and Eddie are gay as hell and Otto is demi-gay as fuck. 

The Hanlon Boys

Daniel “Danny” Hanlon - film!Mike

14, the oldest of the Losers

He’s actually the cousin of Orel and Mike; he recently moved in with his aunt and uncle after the death of his parents in a house fire. He’s pretty traumatized from the incident 

Wants more than anything to travel and explore the world, meet new people and see everything there is to see, and being stuck in boring, bigoted Derry is pretty much hell for him 

He is very protective of his cousins and friends, though, and is the one who believes the most in their ability to triumph over Pennywise

Orel Hanlon - miniseries!Mike

12

Incredibly excitable and very optimistic, as well as incredibly bookish. As such, he tends to infodump whether people want to hear him or not 

Super into cartography, and collects old, antique maps as well as making his own pretty much wherever they go 

Really into gruesome horror stuff and doesn’t understand why it scares and/or grosses out other people. 

Michael “Mike” Hanlon - book!Mike

11 

Incredibly watchful and steadfast, and the Loser with perhaps the most emotional stability 

He’s a lil Historian whose greatest desire is to work for the library and get to read as many books as he wants 

Just. really fucking loves his dog 

Orel and Mike don’t go into town much, mainly staying on their farm with their loving parents and spending their time with the farm animals; Mike is closest to their watchdog, but Orel loves being among the sheep. In the last few months, their cousin Danny moved in with them, and their relationship is... a bit awkward. Orel is too blunt and Mike is too curious, and they don’t know how to carefully approach the subject of his parents burning to death in front of him without making him feel worse. 

It doesn’t help that Danny hates Derry; it’s bigoted, it’s tiny, it’s in the middle of nowhere, and people are dying left and right. However, once his cousins convince him to come hang out with their friends, he ends up bonding with the other Losers of the town, even though they’re all a bunch of weird white kids. And though the Hanlons don’t deal much with town business, they’re ready to join in the fight to stop Pennywise from killing anyone else. 

The Tozier Triplets

Reynard “Reynie” Tozier - film!Richie

12, the firstborn of the triplets 

Loudmouthed, rude, impulsive and very crass, mainly to hide his crippling self-doubt and fears of being ostracized  

Super good at video games and says he wants to be a professional gamer, though honestly he’s just really interested in stand-up comedy 

Gay as all fuck

Roderick “Rod” Tozier - minseries!Richie

12, the middle of the triplets

While he’s just as hyperactive as his triplets, he’s a bit more controlled and actually the least raunchy, meaning Reynie and Richie joke that he’s not using his name correctly 

Wants to be a voice actor for cartoons like Looney Tunes, and is actually getting decent at impersonating the RoadRunner. 

Richard “Richie” Tozier - book!Richie

12, the youngest of the triplets 

Pretty wild and uncontrollable, energized as all hell, and makes off-color jokes to piss people off and get attention, though he does have a true heart for his friends 

Wants to have his own radio show in the future. Was the first to befriend the Marsh girls, because he and Bev would share cigarettes during recess 

Bi as all fuck 

The Tozier triplets are a trio of ADHD disasters and nobody in Derry can or will ever forget it. Reynie and Rod tend to “big brother” Richie, meaning they tend to end up slapping him upside the head for saying something insensitive, though sometimes Reynie says something a bit too impulsively as well. They used to do different voices to entertain each other, meaning it’s a bit of an interest for all of them. While Reynie tends to lean more towards comedy, though, Rod wants to be a voice actor for cartoons like Looney Tunes, and Richie hopes to be some kind of radio personality. 

Their parents mean well but are often at work, and even at home they don’t quite understand their boys, so the triplets are pretty used to relying on each other. Reynie kinda has the least parental affection, as Rod and Richie tend to get into even more shit than he does, so he kinda falls to the wayside. His isolation tends to manifest in fears of abandonment and loneliness- and a public outing resulting in such, starting when he started to realize that he maybe didn’t like girls as much as he said he did. Rod and Richie, meanwhile, also have vague fears of outing, though Pennywise represents their bisexuality as werewolfism- always transforming in painful and terrifying ways. 

The Uris Boys

Mason Uris - film!Stan

13 

Very cautious, but definitely not the Mom friend; he will inform you how shitty your idea is, but will not stop you, and in fact will grab popcorn to watch 

Loves studying art history and different art forms, though he doesn’t want to create them himself, just catalogue them. He likes to entertain Isaac and Brooke by “critiquing” their “fabulous” artwork

The only one of his siblings who doesn’t get along with their parents 

Peter Uris - miniseries!Stan

12, almost 13 

Incredibly logical and has the most anxiety. Is the last one to believe in the clown just because it doesn’t fit into his worldview 

While all the boys love birdwatching, he’s the one who’d like to go into it as a profession; he loves ornithology and wants to study birds for the rest of his life 

Stanley “Stan” Uris - book!Stan

11 

Loves to have things in order, and doesn’t really know how to interact with people socially, because people don’t act in predictable ways. 

Super good at mathematics and hopes to be an engineer or accountant 

Has the weirdest sense of humor, which means he is the best

The Urises are one of the few Jewish families in town, and in a bigoted town like Derry, that means they were pretty much outcasted from the getgo. They are all relatively close with each other, in that they’ll argue nonstop but also would die for each other without question. Peter and Stan probably get along the best, as they’ll sit and talk about birds until they pass out, while Mason likes to sit in his room and read his books on famous artists. Mason also has a bit more of a strained relationship with his parents, while his brothers get along with them much better. 

The boys refused to believe in Pennywise for the longest time, as they’re all very logical and orderly and “magic alien clown eating kids by turning into their fears” doesn’t exactly fit into their normal worldview. But they’re going to stick by their friends and do their best to protect themselves and the town... and, well, if the way to kill the clown is by bullying him to death, they have a shitton of insults they’ve been saving for a special occasion. 

[jamesashtonisbae]

Why Not Both Pt. 7

Word Count: 2740

Pairing: Bryce x MC (Bentley Rogers) and Rafael x MC (Bentley Rogers)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language, sexual content - like not safe, lemon content

Summary: Bentley cannot decide between Bryce and Rafael.  Will she have to?

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Pixelberry studios.

Link to Masterlist

Part 7

Bentley and Bryce stumbled through the door to her apartment.  They hadn’t taken their hands off each other the whole way back.  When they pushed through the doorway completely, they ran right into Danny and Sienna, who were wrapped in each other’s arms.

Both couples jumped apart, glancing at the other pair, embarrassed at first.  Well, except for Bryce, who was never embarrassed.  Sienna’s shirt was pushed up and her midriff was bare.  Danny’s belt was unbuckled, and his pants were unbuttoned.  Bentley quickly became unembarrassed, and instead became excited for her friend.

“Oh hey, we were just coming here to change our clothes and go out to get drinks.  You two, please carry on.”

“Danny, let’s just, go to my room,” Sienna said, not making eye contact with Bentley or Bryce.

“No, no,” Bentley said, taking Bryce’s arm, “you deserve to make out in the living room.  God knows we’ve done it plenty of times.”

Bryce grinned and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Bentley’s lips, “Yeah, you two have had to put up with us far too many times.”

Bentley’s mind flashed to Rafael and her doing the exact same thing recently as well.  Dating two guys was weighing on her, and she hoped Sienna and Danny wouldn’t mention it.  Not that Bryce would care.

Bryce took her hand and tugged her down the hall gently, “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“Just still worrying about this whole ‘dating two guys’ thing.  I don’t know what to do to make myself stop worrying about it.  Like in that moment just now, all I could think about was the fact that the most recent guy Danny and Sienna have watched me make out with in the entryway wasn’t you.  It seems like we talk about this every time we’re together, but I’m struggling with this, so hard.  I love you, and I love him.  And this is going to sound weird, but you’re also like my best friend, so I kind of want to talk to you about how much I love him?  I want to share all of that with you, because I just want to share everything with you…”

Bryce took her hands and guided her to her bed, the pair jumping when they heard Sienna’s door slam closed.  They broke out of their serious moment and laughed together softly for a couple of seconds.  She leaned onto his chest and gazed up into his eyes.

“Bentley, you know I love you.  I want to hear about everything in your life, and that includes Rafael.  It’s not awkward for me, Bentley.  I know this will sound cocky, but I am not threatened by Rafael, because I’m confident in what I have with you.  All I’m worried about is the possibility of wanting to spend the night with you when you’re spending it with him.  And I’m worried about you getting burnt out trying to date two people.”

“Why are you always worried about me when it comes to this? You’re so selfless.  You’re far more than what I deserve.”

“Bentley, what’s it gonna take for you to believe that you deserve everything this world has to offer and more?” Bryce slipped an arm around her waist, gently pulling her in a little closer.  “I want to give you everything I have.”

Bentley leaned her head up and pressed her lips to his softly.  The kiss started tender and loving, but when Bryce laid down and tugged her on top of him, they started kissing with more and more intensity - on their way towards not making their plans to get drinks.  Her hips started moving against his involuntarily, his rising to meet hers--

“Ohhhhhhhhh, Danny…” Sienna moaned from next door.  Bentley pulled away from Bryce, her eyebrows jumping with his as they heard Sienna’s bed frame begin knocking against their wall.  She stifled a giggle as she buried her head into Bryce’s neck before letting her laughter out.  Bryce joined her laughing, quietly, before burying his face in her auburn curls and giggling too.

After a few moments of awkwardly listening to Sienna and Danny, Bentley turned to look at Bryce, “I should pack an overnight bag so we can go.”

Bryce reluctantly released her and she got up to change out of her scrubs and into a black dress and her favorite jean jacket.  She could feel Bryce’s eyes on her as she grabbed a clean pair of scrubs and some undergarments to wear the next day.  

“Bryce…” she called as she started towards the bathroom to grab her toiletries.  “Will you pick out a nightgown for me to wear tonight? Top drawer.  And if you want to push some stuff to the side, you can use it too.”

“A nightgown?” she could hear him scramble off her bed and throw open the drawer from down the hall.  She could also hear Sienna and Danny and thanked the heavens that they were finally together.  Sienna and Danny were her favorite couple on the planet.  They were so cute together, and every day she could tell that they were becoming inseparable. 

Bentley tossed her things into a small bag she could fit inside her overnight bag, then rounded the corner to her room at light speed, meeting Bryce’s wide grin as she entered.

“Hey!  You look happy…” she said a bit hesitantly.

“This is my favorite drawer, Bentley.  I tried to pick something that looked comfortable but I would love to revisit it at some point.”

“Oh no, what did you choose?”

“Just this pink satin one… do you think that’s okay?”

She laughed and took him in her arms, “Of course I do, I told you that you could pick what you wanted,” she reached around him to take the pink slip and fold it into her bag.

“I know you’ll look sexy in anything, but I’m assuming this will be for after we have sex and not before.”

“You’re right,” she said, kissing his cheek gently, then maneuvering around him.  “I need to change my underwear quick.”

She opened a drawer, simultaneously pulling off her panties and tossing them in her hamper.  Making a show of it, she pulled out a strappy garter belt and a matching thong, pulling them on and attaching them.  She felt Bryce reach out for her, but she spun away and grabbed her bag, “Okay we’re good.”

“You absolute tease…” he groaned as he followed her.

They hurried across town, dropped off her bag, and found themselves huddled in a booth in the back of some bar down the block from Bryce’s apartment.  Her legs were draped over his lap as she nursed a moscow mule Bryce had insisted she try.  He had ordered his usual, which had been nagging at Bentley a little bit.

“So… ‘the usual’? Do you come here a lot? I’ve never been here with you before…”

“Yeah, I used to,” he cleared his throat, looking away from her for a minute, “I used to bring girls here for drinks back when I first moved to Boston.”

“And, did you take them home with you too?”

He coughed again, “Sometimes.”

“I see,” she fiddled with her straw, but didn’t move out of his lap.  It didn’t bother her when she thought about how she was also seeing Rafael the whole past year, but if she hadn’t been, she would have been upset.  More of what was bugging her was the fact that she’d never really gone out on a date with Bryce, she had just gone about her life and slept with him whenever they had time.  

“What’s wrong, B?” he asked, taking her drink out of her hand and holding it in his.

“Nothing - you should have dated whoever you wanted.  I guess I just feel bad that you and I never really dated, we just kind of were around.  It was never anything really intentional.  And now I’m on a date with you and I’m complaining that we never went on a date.”

Bryce laughed, “Bentley, I intentionally spent every spare moment with you.  But I thought you had something with Dr. Ramsey, so I tried to date other girls so I would stop myself from falling too fast for you.  That’s why we didn’t date.  Because we didn’t need to.  I was just always around because even then, I knew I was hopelessly in love with you Bentley Rogers.”

Bentley kissed him softly, “You’re so damn soft for me, Bryce Lahela.”

He threw his head back in laughter before turning back to kiss her back, “What have you done to me, Rogers?”

She rested her forehead against his, gazing into his eyes, “This was my evil plan all along… get your defenses down… make you fall in love with me… spend the night at your place… and rob you blind.  It’s foolproof really.”

Bryce kissed her forehead softly, then whispered, “It’s all yours… take it all.”

They sipped their drinks a while longer, talking about their patients in common, some they didn’t have in common.  Bentley protested when Bryce tried to convince her she should be a surgeon, that way she wouldn’t have to babysit her intern Esme.  Bentley argued back that she was on the best diagnostics team in the country and babysitting an intern was worth the opportunity she had to work with Dr. Ramsey and Baz and June.

“But Bentley, you could work with Dr. Harper Emery, the premier neurosurgeon in the country!  I don’t understand why that isn’t enough of a draw to get you to switch.”

“I work with the premier diagnostician in the country, Bryce!” she exclaimed, setting her drink down and throwing her arms around his neck.  “The quality of professionals I work with matches, if not bests, the ones you work with!”

“Well, the best resident at Edenbrook is a surgeon.  You would get to work with him.”

“The best resident at Edenbrook is a junior diagnostician and you know it.”

Bryce’s grin was radiant, and Bentley knew why.  He had tried so hard to get her to believe in herself, and now she did.  It was all because of him and how much effort he put into building her up to be this confident.  She could always count on him to make her more confident.

“You’re damn right she is…” Bryce wrapped his arms around her back and tugged her up so she was straddling him in the booth.  Their mouths met in a heated kiss, and when he was sure she was anchored to him, Bryce moved his hands to her thighs, running them over her with that expert touch of his.  She groaned and he took the opportunity to meet her tongue with his.  His hands crept up her thighs until his thumbs rested lightly on her hot core.  In response to his touch she felt a gush of wetness between her legs and she pulled away.

“We gotta get out of here.  Now,” she commanded, grabbing a twenty out of her wallet and slapping it onto the table.  With equal intensity, she grabbed Bryce’s arm and pulled him out of the booth and back to his apartment.

They barely made it inside the door when Bryce tugged off her jacket and threw it into a corner somewhere.  With an unexpected reverence in the heat of the moment, he pulled off her dress as she tried kicking off her shoes.

“How are you so goddamn beautiful?” Bryce asked, sinking to his knees in front of her as she backed into his door.

“Just trying to keep up wi--” she cut herself off with a moan as she felt Bryce’s lips connect with her wet slit through her crotchless panties.  He hiked her leg up and over his shoulder, giving himself better access as he worked his tongue skillfully against her.  Their eyes met in the dark of his entryway and if she could think about anything other than his lips and teeth on her she would have wondered how he always managed to get her completely naked before he lost a single item of clothing.  Her breathing became labored as Bryce tugged at her lower lips, teasing her and getting her as wet as possible, his saliva and her own wetness mixing together, before he latched his mouth to her clit and sucked.  The door vibrated behind her as she slapped her hand against it when Bryce would not relent.  She arched her back, thrusting her hips towards his face, barely staying up with one very wobbly leg planted on the ground.  Bryce knew she was getting close, so he reached up with one hand to grip hers as he moved his other to hold her steady.  Her free hand snaked into his hair, gripping it firmly as he coaxed an orgasm from her.  She groaned loudly as Bryce kissed her lips over and over again until she was sufficiently down from her high.  In an instant, she was in his arms and he moved her to his couch.

He leaned over her, smattering kisses on her face as her breathing returned to normal.  With expert ability, she latched her leg around his and flipped him underneath her.

“Now it’s your turn to sit back and let me do my job…”

“Bentley, please, I just want to be inside you…” he groaned as she palmed him through his jeans.  In one deft move, she had unbuckled his belt, tugged it off, and pushed his jeans and boxers down.  She rose to pull off his shoes and his clothes, moving up and sliding off his sweater and the shirt he wore underneath it in one fluid motion.

Before Bryce had a chance to react, she had slung her legs over him and was grinding her still wet pussy against his very hard dick.  His eyes rolled back and he groaned at the feeling of her sliding over him.  With a tap on the chest, she drew his attention back to her and she rose slightly, taking him in one hand.  He didn’t look away when she guided him to her entrance, the warmth of her so close he could almost feel it.  She lowered herself slightly, encasing just the head inside her.  He let out a raw, guttural moan and she lowered herself all the way.

When he tried to sit up, she pushed him back gently, “Just watch.  And enjoy.”

With a wink, she tossed her head back, her auburn hair flying out behind her.  The white column of her neck was exposed, and Bryce licked his lips, hoping he would be able to lean up and place soft bites all over it, marking her as his, but he was under strict orders to lie there.  She bounced up and down on his dick, moving side to side on occasion, her breasts moving with her and drawing Bryce’s eyes down.  Once he broke out of his trance gazing at her as she rode him, he reached down and pressed two fingers to her clit.  He knew her so well, and he knew she would struggle to finish from penetration alone, no matter how good a job he did, and he wasn’t doing much of anything right now.  It was the least he could do as she gave him the ride of a lifetime.

Within seconds, they both approached their climaxes, and Bentley tugged him up so she could place her lips on his as they came together.  She held him close and kissed him desperately until he shoved her away to look into her eyes, “I love you, Bentley.”

“I love you too, Bryce,” she whispered, kissing him, then letting him lean in and rest his head on her breasts.  After a few moments, he started placing soft kisses on her bare chest, then began roaming up to where he was kissing her neck.  The kisses turned to gentle bites, and Bentley started getting wet again.  “Take me to your bed, Bryce.  Take me now.”

He lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as they moved to his bed.  With great care, he set her down, then pressed his body against hers.  

It was a long time before they finally fell asleep, but with her head on his chest and their thirsts quenched, Bentley and Bryce slept like rocks their first night being fully in love.

[merlin-wolfgang-trades-hale]

“Hey man, where were you?” Chin asked as Steve joined him for lunch.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Random drug test.”

Kono and Chin both shared a raised eyebrow look before Chin asked, “Excuse me? You? Mr. I-Can’t-Ever-Let-An-Old-Lady-Cross-The-Street-Herself, star quarterback, honor roll, 4.0 GPA McGarrett was tested for drugs?”

Kono scoffed out a chuckle, “Why?”

“Whittemore’s still pissed I’m captain. He saw me talking with Williams and started making accusations.” Steve explained with a shrug. His lying has gotten way better since being in a relationship with Danny.

Part of him really hates the secrecy. He doesn’t have a problem with it, and both he and Danny were strong enough to deal with anyone stupid enough to try to bully them. And yet...they just weren’t ready.

Their lives were too different. Steve worked his butt off to get where he is now so he could go to the best school and make his dad proud. He doesn’t have time to properly date anyway. The amount of work he had to put into to get the full ride to Stanford was insane. And maintaining everything so he doesn’t lose it is still hard work.

So his thing with Danny works.

Though he has to keep reminding himself constantly that it does.

He has to keep reminding himself what it is. Mostly physical. Somewhat romantic.

It would be so much easier if Danny was the persona he pretends to be. If he were that rude, uncaring, lost cause that society has given up on.

But he’s not.

Relationship wise? Steve’s never felt more intense orgasms than when Danny has a hand in it. Danny worships his body and makes him feel things he didn’t think were possible. Not to mention he’s an amazing kisser.

When Steve began to tutor him, he dreaded it. He just wanted to get the points that tutoring would get him and just be done with it. The moment the clock struck 4, he’d be gone.

But Danny wasn’t stupid, he just needed someone to explain it in a different way. He was so clever. And he was funny. Sarcastic with a humor that was right up Steve’s alley.

And the body? Yeah, okay Steve’s lost more than a few hour’s of sleep just thinking about Danny’s body even before they kissed.

Danny was also not as bad a guy as people at school make him out to be. Yeah, he smokes. Both weed and cigarettes but he’s not violent. He’s gotten in fights before but Steve’s come to learn that the guys that Danny’s gotten into fights with were the rich ass hats that think they can get away with anything because of their family status.

Danny also works! Yeah it’s at a garage and sometimes he misses days if not a full week of school to work, but it’s not because he doesn’t care about education. His family is big and sometimes income is low. So Danny provides for his family.

Danny was an amazing guy, but no one outside of his family, a few co-workers, and Steve knew it.

“You’re still tutoring Williams? ACT’s are done. If he can’t grasp the material now, is it even worth it?” Kono asked.

Steve shrugged, “Tutoring looks good on my resume.”

“Well, with how often he’s at school, I can’t see you being bothered too much by him,” Chin added.

Steve frowned for a moment before he remembered he had to smile.

That was something he was trying to avoid thinking about. Graduation was coming up. He himself was nervous but excited at the same time. He was very proud of what he’s been able to do and the school he got into. His dad was really proud too. He’d thrown Steve the biggest ‘congratulations’ party they could afford and it was amazing.

But Danny hadn’t gotten into college. He had tried, and only Steve knew.

Steve was there to hold Danny as he cried and called himself stupid and a failure. He did everything he could to reassure Danny that he wasn’t either. But Danny still wouldn’t be going to college this fall. Steve would.

“What’s so bloody special about the West Coast anyway?” Danny demanded.

“It’s one of the best schools, Danny!” Steve argued.

“What about your family? You’re big on family. I know you’re always worried about your kid sister. How are ya gonna keep her outta trouble all the way from over there?”

“Mary’s gotta grow up some time and she will. She’s proud of me, and so is my dad. I...why can’t you be proud of me too?”

“I just...I am proud Steve, it’s amazing how smart you are. I just...I don’t see why you can’t stay here…” the ‘with me’ was left unsaid, but Steve heard it.

“I have to see how far I can go, Danny. I’m sorry.’

Danny hadn’t talked to him for about two weeks after that. It was actually their first conversation that Whittemore witness. Danny doesn’t sell, but when he’s at school he does tend to hang out with those who do. According to Danny, Whittemore is a frequent buyer of steroids, which is why he was so good. Their conversation that Whittemore witness was so forced and school-related that Steve seemed a bit angry while Danny remained stoic. Whittemore tried to tease Steve about being cut off by Danny.

Steve felt like he was, but not in the way Whittemore thought.

They hadn’t broken up officially, but it felt like it.

“Williams residence, Clara speaking.”

“Hey, Mrs. Williams. This is Steve McGarrett. I’m Danny’s tutor. We were supposed to meet up at the library today but he never showed.”

“Oh, hello dear. So sorry about that. Daniel...he uh...he had a doctor’s appointment. Wasn’t feeling so well.”

“Is he alright?” Steve asked with concern.

“He will be. I’ll tell him you called. Stuart, was it?”

“Steve. Steve McGarrett.”

“Of course. Sorry. Bye-bye.”

Danny had kept himself from getting hit in the face, but apparently, he got in a lot more trouble after Steve told him he wasn’t going to stay in Jersey. One week he was gone because he got arrested in a bar brawl and it took some time for his dad to get the bail money.

Another week he was in the hospital because of a street brawl.

They hadn’t officially broken up so Steve got to see him some nights when Danny snuck into Steve’s room. He wouldn’t go into detail, they barely talked any more. They both knew it was ending and they just wanted to hold on to what they had left.

Steve hoped to see Danny at graduation, but the blonde was nowhere in sight. Steve tried to call many times, even go to visit but Danny was avoiding him like the plague.

Eventually, it was time for Steve to leave.

The first few weeks he still thought about Danny. Even called a few times, but no answer.

Weeks turned to months, months turned to years, and so much has happened.

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

“Hey! Look who’s back!”

Steve smiled as he hugged Kono. She led him through the crowd of parents and family to where Chin and Malia were. They both hugged her too.

“Hey man, good to see you.” Chin greeted.

“Very good to see you, Steve,” Malia added.

“Thanks, guys. How’s the score?” Steve asked as he tried to find Sara out in the field.

“Still zero zero. You’re not that late.” Chin informed him, then Malia told him which number Sara was. They cheered for their little soccer player, and he and Chin were ecstatic when Sara scored the winning goal.

Steve was standing by, not wanting to get too much in the way of Chin and Malia’s moment with Sara. That’s when he heard it.

“Daddy we won! We won!”

“I saw monkey! I’m so proud of you!”

Steve froze. He pushed a bit through the crowd to see if it was really him, and it was.

Danny. Looking amazing as ever and...god.

“Can we go celebrate with Sara?” Grace asked.

“Grace did kick the ball to Sara so they could win. I think they both deserve ice cream.” Kono said with a smile. She then saw Steve gaping at Danny. “Steve...you remember Danny Williams right?”

“Uh...I...um…”

“Is he okay?” Grace asked Sara.

Sara giggled and shrugged, “That’s my Uncle Steve. He’s kinda weird.”

“You’re a cop.” Steve blurted out. The badge was shiny and the sunlight bounced off of it.

Danny blinked and looked at it before he laughed, “Yeah. I am.”

“These things could get very rowdy, but luckily since Grace began playing and Danny coming to support her, the badge keeps some of the more overzealous parents at bay,” Malia informed him.

“I think Steve’s a bit more shocked about me being a cop than a referee...I’m sure Chin’s mentioned that I was....”

“Quite the bad boy,” Kono said with a smirk.

“Yeah. So being a cop might not be what he expected.” Danny said with an easy smile. Something he didn’t use to do. He would walk around angry at the world. This...this was a nice look on him.

“Ah. Well, how about that ice cream?” Malia asked.

“I agree that they both deserve it. We’ll meet you guys at Kamekona’s shaved ice?” Danny asked.

When they parted ways, Kono decided to drive with Steve.

“He’s...he’s got a kid. So uh...who...who did Danny marry?” Steve choked out. He hated it because Kono was never one to fall for his bullshit.

“A Brit named Rachel. Didn’t work out. They divorced about two years ago. Danny’s living the single father life now.” Kono informed him.

“And he’s a cop?”

“Detective actually. Damn good at it too. You should see how sexy he looks in his Camaro.”

“Are you and him..?” God, he hoped not. He wasn’t sure he could stomach it.

“Hm? No. I think I missed my boat. After they got divorced, Danny decided to stop living a lie and came out as bi with a preference to men.”

“Ah. Cool. Very cool.” Steve said as he tried to remain cool, but he was secretly freaking out on the inside.

At the ice cream place, the girls were running back and forth trying to decide what they should get while simultaneously telling Kamekona about their win.

Chin and Malia kept an eye on them while deciding what to get for themselves, while Kono caught up with Flippa.

Danny approached Steve with a smile, “Hey...welcome home.”

Damn butterflies in Steve’s stomach. “Thanks. Congrats on the win.”

“We would train hard and it paid off. The girls did great.” Danny smiled at Grace and Sara. There was a pause there that Steve hated. Danny thankfully said something. “Hey, I know this is out of the blue but...would you let me take you out to dinner sometime while you’re here?”

“Like a date?” Steve asked instead of just saying yes. But part of him had to know.

“If that’s what you want it to be. I know I would. For all the times I couldn’t before.”

“You’d owe me a lot of dates then,” Steve told him.

“Are you staying long enough for me to take you out that many times?”

“I am,” Steve answered.

“Then tomorrow. Movies and dinner, yeah?”

“Movies and dinner. Sounds perfect.”

So I know it’s not perfect but I’m fighting some writer’s block and I saw this idea posted by @five-hoe and I hope it’s okay >.> 

[artificialqueens]

Not Casual At All: Things Left Unsaid (biadore) - Miss Alyssa Secret

Not Casual At All continues with 5,500 words of biadore smut and feelings, based on the prompt of Danny surprising Roy in his dressing room.  Set this past Wednesday 8 May, before Adore appeared at Rain on Saturday.

Related fics:

ABCD dressing room

What Happens in the Sewing Room

I tried for shameless, plotless porn, but failed spectacularly.  - MAS  

********

Bianca paused across the dressing room threshold, leaning back on the closed door with eyes closed and taking a deep breath.  Opening her eyes, she met her reflected gaze in the mirror with a sigh.

Two shows in one day had them all exhausted, the marathon of a musical so different from her own comedy tour.  Staying in one place for an extended amount of time was wonderful, but the intensity of performing daily (and going from boy to queen in less than twenty minutes) was the trade off.

Even out of drag, meeting fans at the stage door - while always enjoyable - meant she was still wearing Bianca.

Bianca’s name was the one people called out, the one signed on programs and tickets.

Bianca was also the reason that Roy Haylock, costumer by day and sharp-tongued comic by night, was able to travel the world and perform for thousands of fans at sold out venues.

A reporter in the Philippines asked what he would be doing without Bianca.  Leaving aside that she had always existed in his head in the form of biting commentary, it wasn’t a particularly difficult question to answer.  Roy had been more than satisfied draping and designing for Broadway and coming home to his shoebox of an apartment with Sammy and Dede.  Life wasn’t empty without Bianca, just different.

Without her though, he never would have had the experience of Drag Race.  Without Drag Race, Bianca wouldn’t have met Adore and Courtney and Darienne.  And without them - especially Adore - he might not have let down the wall around his heart. 

Tossing his Sharpie on the table, Roy pushed his glasses up and ran a hand over his face.  Being in different corners of the world was hardly unusual, but even the group text was no substitute for spending time in person.  He’d been spoiled by those weeks at home, meeting up with friends for brunch and shopping downtown.  Evenings out at the club or bar dancing and drinking with Adore and her endless supply of wigs.  Lazy days with Danny on his couch talking over everything, followed by nights in the same bed. 

Although he tried to tell himself he missed the sex (true), having Danny around meant more than that and it hardly happened every time they were together.  What did you label having regular, non-committed sex with your best friend?  Friends with benefits was too superficial, and ‘relationship’ felt too shallow to describe the kind of connection that went beyond anything physical. 

Sex with Adore, with Danny, was easy and satisfying.  It was interrupting a movie to suck each other off, a sleepy handjob after waking up together, or (one memorable time) pausing in the middle of fucking for conversation because Danny remembered a new restaurant he wanted to try.  Above all, it felt safe falling into bed with someone he trusted.  It was familiar and undemanding, no awkward morning after, with someone who already knew their way around his house, never mind his body. 

Non-committed didn’t mean fucking tons of other people, at least on Roy’s part.  He wasn’t joking about never knowing whether someone was genuinely interested in him or just wanted to get into Bianca’s wardrobe.  At the end of the day, needing to keep some things personal and private won out.  But asking Danny for - or even talking about - that kind of commitment would be unfair when they were on different continents several months out of the year.  

Speaking of separate continents, they wouldn’t cross paths again for months - Adore’s tour in Australia and Europe out of sync with Bianca’s engagements. 

Someone knocked on the door and he straightened from his slouch at the vanity table, twisting his lips into a smile from their introspective frown. 

“Yeah?” 

The knocking continued. 

“You can come in,” he called, wondering if it was some of the theatre staff who were still being far too polite.

He turned as the door opened, and had half a breath to be surprised before Danny lifted him off the chair into a hug. 

“What-“ The strength of his grip squeezed the air from his lungs, and for a moment Roy let himself relax completely, balanced up on his toes and faces buried in each other’s necks. 

Danny finally let go (and had he waited for him to lean back first?), lacing their fingers together tightly.  He was still carrying an overnight bag and smelled like stale airplane air, clothes rumpled (although with her closet, it was difficult to tell what was intentional and what was yesterday’s laundry on the floor).  There was a hint of eyeliner smeared on his lower lids and a dusting of glitter on the temples along with a few days’ worth of stubble, skating the edge of gender construct as ever. 

Roy opened his mouth to say something, but the sudden tightness in his chest choked the words back.  Instead, he squeezed Danny’s hands in silence, soaking in the warmth of Adore’s sweet smile on his face. 

“Hi.” 

******** 

Danny took a moment to really look at him, taking in the loose black sweater and pants, the slouchy knit hat, and exhausted brown eyes.  Even in his oversized glasses and without paint, he could see traces of Bianca clinging to Roy.  It was more than the red stain of lipstick, something about the way his shoulders were tense as if he couldn’t relax enough to shed her presence. 

Dropping the bag, he sat down and pulled Roy onto his lap with only minor protest.  Roy always ran cold out of drag, and he immediately wrapped both arms around him again.  The weight of his head came to rest on Danny’s shoulder, face hidden against his neck. Despite the days of rehearsals and backstage mayhem, he didn’t seem to be noticeably thinner than when Danny kissed him goodbye a few weeks ago.  Relieved that Roy was at least taking care of his body, Danny focused on his energy as he spoke. 

“What are you doing here?  Not that I’m complaining, I just - aren’t you and Bunny hosting at Rain on Saturday?”  Roy didn’t bother lifting his head, words murmured between them. 

“Yup.” 

“You aren’t staying, are you?”  The question was more of a statement, shaded with a hint of wistfulness. 

“Yeah,” Danny shifted their weight enough to slide one hand underneath the baggy sweater, arm curved against bare skin, “I gotta go back tomorrow night.  I was kind of hoping you’d let me crash with you.”  

The way his body sagged into Danny’s arm was both concerning and something that he’d think about later.  Preferably when he wasn’t completely sober, because his situation with Roy was simultaneously the simplest and the most difficult relationship he had in his life. 

Roy raised his head after a moment, not to reply but to rest their foreheads together.  He smelled like coconut oil makeup remover and the musty aroma somehow present in all theatres no matter how new. 

“What are you doing here, pussyface?” 

As if Roy didn’t already know.  But maybe he needed to hear it said out loud? 

Danny carefully extracted one arm, wrapping fingers around the back of his neck to squeeze gently. 

“I’m here for you, Willow.” 

******** 

Being at a loss for words was becoming a pattern tonight, one that was unfamiliar to Roy.  Clown face or not, he usually had a quick answer; Danny taking a trans-Atlantic flight to see him for less than twenty four hours was something else.  His mental Rolodex didn’t have any entries under ‘Best friend: what to do when they do something completely impractical that you shouldn’t encourage but are very happy they did’. 

There wasn’t any need to fill Danny in on how the show was going so far, no small talk to fill the air.  They’d covered that and more via text message and phone calls. 

“Have I mentioned,” he kept his tone light, “that you’re crazy and I love you?” 

The Adore smile was back, the one that curved her painted lips into a bracket of mischief.  Without lipstick, it settled on Danny’s mouth and only widened when he spoke. 

“Not today yet, but I know you were busy.” 

“I’m glad you’re here.  I’m supposed to tell you that you shouldn’t have wasted money and time when you’ve got a gig coming up, but…” Roy was already aware of the calculation in the back of his mind of how much time they really had together. 

“My turn to do something for you, bitch.” 

“Yeah?” 

Danny could usually read Bianca, and by extension Roy, with little effort.  Except this time, he wasn’t sure what exactly he should do, only that he couldn’t not follow the feeling tugging at the pit of his stomach that Roy needed him.  That feeling had led him to buying a plane ticket before he’d even stopped to consider if it was a good idea.

“Yeah.  I’m yours for the next twelve hours.  Thirteen.  Fifteen?  Whatever it is before 5 pm tomorrow.” 

Voices and footsteps passed outside the door, and Roy inhaled sharply, physically unmoving but the slightest emotional step away that prickled against Danny’s intuition.  He talked casually about energy all of the time, but being with Roy made him aware of everything that much more.  Without that sensitivity blunted by a buzz of any type, it felt like he was pulling back and Danny wasn’t going to let him. 

“Stop it.” 

“What?”  Roy frowned, not sure what he was referring to.  “I should take you to meet everyone.  There’s one of the girls in the cast who you’d love, and-mmmmphhhh“ 

The kiss effectively silenced his attempt to follow what should be proper hosting behavior and Roy lost himself in it without a struggle.  Danny’s mouth was soft against his, the way he flicked the tip of his tongue against the inside of his lips familiar and welcome.  Their mouths moved together slowly in a rhythm of licks and caresses that kept the kiss undemanding.  He could feel the heat radiating from Danny’s hand underneath his shirt, fingers fanned out to press firmly between his shoulders.  His own were buried in Danny’s hair, tugging in a way that was less controlling and more about anchoring them closer together. 

They pulled apart a moment later, Danny’s tongue darting out to catch the threads of saliva connecting their lips. 

“What do you need?”  He spoke the words against Roy’s mouth, not kissing but breathing the same air.  “Like, I’m cool with meeting the other guys if that’s what you want.  Or we can hit up the spots from the last time?  Or go back to yours and…” 

Danny paused for a breath, then frowned and leaned back enough to make steady eye contact.  “If you want me tonight, I’m yours.”  

I’m always yours, even when I’m with someone else. 

“However you wanna do things.  I mean, we don’t have to fuck, like of course I’m down if you are, but-“ 

Without Bianca’s blue eyes, Roy’s were soft with exhaustion and what might be a little bit of relief.  Danny waited, impatient but forcing himself to be still. 

“This- this is good.  Right here, us.” 

“Okay.”  If that’s what Roy wanted, Danny was happy to spend another hour making out in the dressing room.  He’d half expected him to insist on going out, maybe walking the London streets together, or going back to his rented flat and fucking each other into the mattress.  They’d done both over the years, and everything in between, but the slow kissing spoke more to Roy’s emotional state than anything else.  Roy always kissed confidently, sometimes dominant and demanding (Danny enjoyed those, usually because they accompanied the kind of rough sex that left them both coming hard), other times gentler and so sweet it made his chest ache strangely to think about.  Tonight though, his kisses felt almost tentative, as if he was afraid that Danny would change his mind if he pushed too hard. 

“Hold on,” he murmured, gripping Roy’s hips until he took the hint, wrapping his legs around Danny’s waist as he stood.  There was a high table by the window already half covered in bouquets and vases, and Danny pivoted to set him down there. 

“Remember the last time?” Roy laughed quietly. 

Danny paused for a moment, thinking about them in the bathroom of another dressing room a few months ago.  The position was the same, but the mood a polar opposite - hungry lust that night versus sensual comfort in the here and now.  He watched as Roy settled with his back to the wall between windows, clearly replaying that night as well.

“Yeah, but no corset no one waiting on us.  Right?” 

“Shouldn’t be.  Who else knows you’re here?” 

Danny moved to flip the lock on the door, also an improvement from the ABCD venue.  “Just John and Mom.  And the guy who let me in, he wanted to see my ID and everything and said he’d only do it if I signed his ass for his girlfriend.  Oh, and the blonde lady.  Faye?  She said hi when I was coming up the stairs.  And uhh, maybe some people I passed in the hall?” 

Instead of becoming impatient waiting for Danny to finish the list, Roy looked more amused with every name, reading between the lines.  “Okay, so half the cast?” 

“…yeah.  What did you tell them?” 

“Nothing to worry about, pussyface.  Just every dick pic you’ve ever sent me and that video of-“ 

“Hey!  You said you deleted it when I asked you to send it!” 

Roy chuckled, not the showy laugh but something quieter and more intimate. 

“I’m kidding.  And I couldn’t delete it, what else am I going to jerk off to in the tub?” 

“You know,” Danny narrowed his eyes, “I still can’t always tell when you’re serious.” 

That set off a Bianca cackle of glee. 

“Get back here, bitch,” he accompanied the words with a tug on Danny’s shirt.  “I missed you.” 

******** 

Ten minutes later, Roy’s sweater was off but otherwise they were still where they started, necking like teenagers in the backseat of a car with hands above the waist.  Danny was careful not to mark him, nothing that couldn’t be covered up easily.  He might not care right now if his castmates knew what they’d been up to, but Danny really was trying to work on the whole professional thing.  

Roy’s ankles were crossed just below Danny’s ass, and he used them to pull their bodies closer.  He groaned against his lips when the erection Danny had been successfully not grinding into him made contact with his thigh. 

“Was wondering if you were too tired from the flight,” Roy teased. 

“Hey, I can’t help it!”  He’d been trying to let Roy set the (extremely slow) pace and not push for more.  “You make me hard.”  Something else was contributing as well, but he kept that to himself for now.  

“Save it till we get back?  Should be a taxi outside, and-“ Roy was already hopping off the table and shoving clothes into his bag. 

“I can, but we don’t have to wait if you don’t want.” 

Slipping his glasses back on, Roy pinned him with a look.  “I really don’t have anything on me in here.  And-“ 

Danny cut him off again, actually ahead of Roy’s infamous over-preparedness for once.  Way ahead.  Possibly the only time, but he’d take it.  He reached into the outer pocket of his own bag, coming up with a travel sized bottle of lube and a condom. 

“Ta da!” 

As he watched, Roy licked his lips and closed his eyes briefly.  When they opened again, he shivered in anticipation at the hungry expression.  Danny recognized the signs of suppressed arousal, and moved closer until they were toe to toe.  

“You can have me right here,” he whispered intimately, “if that’s what you want.” 

“Considering what I’d like to do, you’d be more comfortable at mine.” The calmness of Roy’s voice was belied by his hands clenching against Danny’s sides.

“Nuh uhh.  I’m ready.” 

“…what?” 

“Airport.  Delta lounge.  I told you, I’m here for you however you need.” 

Roy’s gulp was audible, and Danny’s smile widened.  Apparently Bianca was the one picking up Adore’s traits, and not the other way around.  Glancing down, he could see a bulge outlined by Roy’s thin pants, nipples hard against the fabric of his tank top. 

“In fact…” Danny trailed his hand across Roy’s chest, tweaking a nipple through his shirt before sliding down to cup his growing erection.  “I’ve got a surprise for you.” 

It took a moment for the words to register, and Roy’s mouth was dry when he finally spoke. 

“More than just being here?” 

Danny caught Roy’s hands, lifting them to run his tongue over the sensitive skin between his fingers.  Truth be told, he was a bit uncomfortable, but the thought of doing something for Roy who was always a generous lover…well, it didn’t take away the slight awkwardness, but it was worth it. 

He guided their joined hands behind his back, nudging Roy to slip his hand under the waistband of his jeans.  His fingers skated over the edge of the jockstrap, squeezing a little more aggressively as they moved towards the center.  Danny locked their eyes together, tongue flicking across Roy’s palm as his other hand pulled aside the thong and came in contact with silicone. 

Danny had precisely six seconds between Roy finding the plug and then finding himself face down across the table.  All traces of diffidence and hesitation gone, he ground his clothed erection against Danny’s ass and grabbed a fistful of hair to yank his head back sharply.  His eyes were dark with want when their gazes met, breath fanning hot over Danny’s cheek. 

Roy paused for a fraction of a second, waiting for Danny’s slight nod.  The kiss he pressed to Danny’s temple was gentle acknowledgement before using his grip to shove him back down roughly.  His hands made quick work of Danny’s fly, jeans dropping to the floor for him to step out of and revealing the black straps hidden underneath.  Roy moaned low in his throat at the sight.  Danny’s ass was just as gorgeous as his thousands of Instagram followers knew, framed and lifted by the underwear, but he wasn’t bending over for them. 

He took the opportunity to look his fill, discarding his own loose pants and shirt and giving his cock a few slow strokes.  Danny wiggled his ass enticingly, and Roy could see him grinning against the tabletop, reflected in the lights on the window.  He squeezed one cheek and then the other before slapping Danny’s hip sharply. 

“You fucking cunt,” he groaned, affection warring with lust in his voice, “I can’t believe you.” 

Danny responded by reaching back to wrap his fingers around Roy’s cock, rubbing the head firmly against his ass.  “Only for you.” 

It was meant to be seductive and smug, but the quiet sincerity hung in the air between them, even as Roy could feel himself leaking over Danny’s fingers.  There was that thing they didn’t discuss.  

He leaned forward to kiss the back of Danny’s neck, fumbling for the condom as nimble fingers smeared the wetness down his shaft.  Danny’s thumb flicked over the slit, and Roy moaned out a curse, unable to resist thrusting into the tight grip. 

Pulling back reluctantly, he rolled the condom on and reached for the lube, running a teasing finger along the strap of Danny’s thong.  As he popped open the bottle, he took the opportunity to hook his finger underneath and stretched the strap before letting go abruptly.  It pinged back, the sound of elastic striking the silicone overshadowed by Danny’s surprised yelp. 

“Motherfu-“ 

Roy repeated the action, wicked grin forming as Danny whined. 

“I’m not fucking anyone’s mother.  Pussy isn’t-” 

“Fuck off.”  Danny twisted to look at him over his shoulder, face gone serious.  “Bianca isn’t invited tonight.” 

The automatic response was ninety five percent Roy, but he knew what Danny meant. "Sorry.“

“Hurry up, I’m fucking horny as fuck.”  Danny’s voice was back to playful, and Roy drizzled a generous amount of lube over his cock, hissing at the cool liquid. 

As soon as he set the bottle down, Danny was shimmying out of the thong, jockstrap still in place.  Pressing his chest against the table, he spread his legs a little wider and Roy was treated to the sight of dark purple silicone against skin shining with slickness that had nothing to do with his cock.  He’d have to remember to ask Danny later about fingering himself open in an airport bathroom… 

Tracing the base of the plug with one finger, Roy leaned forward until he was nuzzling right under Danny’s ear.  “Sure?  Last chance to change your mind and we can do this in a bed.” 

Danny looked up through heavy-lidded eyes.  Even Adore at her most seductive had nothing on his kiss-bitten lips and the invitation written in the curve of his back.  Roy knew full well it wasn’t surrender or submission.  Sex between them was as hot as it was precisely because they both kept a modicum of control. 

“Fuck.  Me.” 

The velvet-smooth, whiskey-deep demand went straight to his cock, balls tightening.  Straightening, he pinned Danny to the table with a hand between his shoulders and pulled the plug out before pushing all the way in in a single powerful thrust.  A loud moan that rose to end on a breathless whimper punched out from Danny’s lungs, and Roy let go of his shoulder to slap the hand over his mouth instead. 

He dropped the body warmed silicone and wrapped his fingers around the crest of Danny’s hip, gripping just below the band of his jockstrap.  It took a few seconds for the thrill of feeling Danny snug and slick and oh so hot around his cock to settle into something manageable.  When it felt like he wasn’t teetering on the edge of coming, he pulled out almost all the way before snapping his hips forward again once, twice, a dozen times in quick succession. 

Danny’s hands braced against the windowsill, shoving back to meet Roy’s thrusts.  Reflected in the glass, he looked drunk on lust, eyes unfocused and cheeks red above Roy’s hand as he pulled in harsh breaths through his nose.  Each slap of his hips meeting Danny’s ass was followed with muffled moans and whines vibrating against his palm. 

Danny gripped the sill with knuckles gone white, fighting for the leverage to match Roy’s forceful fucking.  Roy was thick enough that he’d be feeling the stretch for hours after they finished, even with the ample preparation.  Every thrust pushed his hips against the edge of the table, bursts of friction against fabric an insufficient tease for his own painfully hard cock. 

On any given day, Danny wasn’t particularly inclined to bottom for most of his partners.  Besides the physical discomfort, it was difficult to be that vulnerable, and equally challenging to come during the act of fucking itself.  Roy was, as ever, an exception.  They still had occasional moments of awkwardness, but it was so much easier to manage when you weren’t worried about what the other person was thinking.  The sound of Roy’s moans alone, the barely audible whimper when he bottomed out, the half-choked back fucks and so good he forced out, were pure erotic music.  Coupled with what Danny could see reflected in the window…more than enough to keep him hard and leaking. 

The vanity bulbs cast their corner of the room in harsh light and shadow, washing out colors and bringing details into sharp contrast.  Roy’s eyes were mostly closed, mouth open as he gasped for air, lips and chest flushed a dusky hue.  His hair was soaked with sweat and clinging to his forehead, stomach muscles flexing with every powerful thrust.      

Shifting his chin up, Danny set his teeth against Roy’s palm and bit down.  He felt so open, but it wasn’t enough.  Not yet.   

Their eyes met in the glass, Danny’s heavy with desire and Roy’s glazed over with pleasure.  He slowed the rhythm of his hips, pulling his hand back from Danny’s mouth as he buried his cock deep before leaning down.  Danny’s whimper in response was drowned out by Roy’s husky growl as he clenched down.  Turning his head, he met Roy’s mouth in an awkwardly angled kiss. 

“Still okay?”  The hand that had been squeezing bruises into Danny’s hip came up to stroke the hair back from his face. 

“…yeah.  M’good.” 

Roy shuddered at the sound of Danny’s sex-ruined voice, hips giving an involuntary jerk.  He curved his fingers around Danny’s cheek in an intimate gesture at odds with the roughness moments ago. 

“Do you -  oh fuck…do you want to change?”  

Danny nodded, pushing his chest off the table and wincing as Roy pulled out.  He boosted himself up to lie flat, smiling thanks when Roy tucked his discarded sweater between his head and the painted brick.  The jockstrap joined the pile of other clothes on the floor and he planted both feet on the edge of the table, legs spread wide around Roy’s hips. 

Black-nailed fingers carefully traced his stretched hole, slicking it with more lube before sliding inside to stroke the cool liquid onto heated flesh. 

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuccccckkkk,” Danny breathed out, palming his own cock and smearing sticky pre-come across the shaft.  The moan turned into a series of whimpers when Roy moved his hand aside, replacing it with his own fingers. 

”Don’t gotta.”  Danny caught his hand clumsily as Roy reached for a condom.  “ ‘m clean.”

“Bitch,” that was definitely a stare Bianca borrowed from Roy as he paused mid-stroke, “why didn’t you tell me before?”

”Not walking back with your cum dripping out of my-“ His words cut off with a moan when Roy deliberately twisted the fingers still knuckle-deep in his ass.

”When have I ever- never mind.”  

Tossing the condom aside, he licked a wet stripe from base to tip, smearing pre-come over his lips, then curled his tongue around the leaking head to draw it into his mouth.   Danny thrust up into heat and tightness, cock sliding over Roy’s swollen lips as he sucked and finger-fucked him.  Two fingers became three, Roy’s moans matching Danny’s with every thrust as he lost himself in pleasuring him.

Danny tugged on his hair a minute later, and Roy let his cock fall from his mouth reluctantly.  He stood with a kiss to a trembling inner thigh, slipping his fingers out. 

“Ready?” 

“Mmmmhmmmm.” 

Danny pressed his shoulders against the table, arching up in invitation.  He kept his eyes open, locked on Roy as he pushed back in slowly.  Catching one of Danny’s legs in the crook of his arm, Roy tipped his hips up to slide in deeper than before.  He paused there, buried to the hilt in Danny’s ass and rocking gently.  

“Fuck…”  If Danny voice was lust-drunk before, he sounded positively fucked out now.  “Oh fuck, B…”  

“Yeah? S’it good?”  Roy kept up the barely-there roll of his hips, fucking into him in a way that made them both moan and Roy wish that he could feel it without a layer of latex between them. That was something (the one thing?) they’d never tried, mutual avoidance of even discussing the possibility.  Roy told himself it was only because it was too risky despite precautions… too much like commitment.

Danny wrapped his free leg around Roy’s trim waist, slipping against sweaty skin and fingers tracing the line left from the corset.  He clamped his heel against the small of his back, effectively preventing Roy from pulling out more than a couple of inches.  Every movement Roy made inside of him felt exquisitely sensitive, from the stretch of his sore hole around the thick cock to the spark of lightning up his spine when he bottomed out.  

Reaching up, he traced over Roy’s throat, fingers traveling across his chin to caress his lips.  Roy caught a teasing finger gently between his teeth and wrapped his lips around it.  Mimicking the actions performed on Danny’s cock, he sucked the full length and lavished attention on the fingertip with his tongue while moaning around it.

The wet pop when Danny pulled his finger free went straight to his balls.  He tugged Roy down until their lips met, hips setting up a counterpoint to the deliciously slow fucking.  Roy always kissed with his eyes open, something that Danny didn’t understand but appreciated in the urgent kisses as they panted into each other’s mouth.  Despite the obscenely sexual context, his eyes held a different kind of intensity mingled with lust.

When Roy tilted his hips a little further up, the new angle provoked a breathless whimper.  He concentrated his thrusts until he heard it again and focused on driving his cock into that spot over and over, Danny’s whimpers mingling with his own satisfied moans.  Danny’s hand dropped from behind his neck, knocking aside bouquets to clamp onto the edge of the table.  Petals scattered around and underneath him and onto the floor, filling the room with the heady scent of roses.

Roy slid his hand underneath Danny’s head, fingers gripping sex-tangled hair as he pressed their cheeks together, needing to be somehow closer.  The motion pushed Danny’s leg further back against his chest, nails digging into Roy’s arm with every thrust.  Maintaining his white-knuckled grip on the table felt like the only thing keeping him anchored, the only thing keeping Danny from blurting out endearments and pleas and promises on each breath.  

He bit down on Roy’s shoulder when he felt his free hand slide between them to circle his cock, jerking him off in tight strokes.  The relentlessly deliberate rhythm of fucking was driving them both to the edge.  Moments later, a wordless, high-pitched whine meant Roy was close, chasing his own orgasm and determined to bring Danny along.  

“Oh fuck…” Roy’s exclamation was barely audible over the sound of their bodies meeting.  “Close, angel.  Can’t…M’gonna-“

Danny clenched down around him, growling against Roy’s shoulder before releasing it from his teeth.  His voice was raspy, ruined when he whispered, “Let go.  Come for me.”

Roy inhaled sharply, driving his cock as far in as possible, and came with a strangled moan. Danny kept up a string of satisfied murmurs and yes, that’s it as Roy rode out his orgasm, hand gone slack between them.  

Letting go of the table, he pushed the nerveless hand aside and rapidly stroked himself, hips rocking to rub the head of his cock against Roy’s stomach.  Roy was still coming down when Danny arched underneath him and cried out his own release, whimpering as he tensed around his over sensitive cock.

Danny opened his eyes an indeterminate amount of time later, legs dropping to hang off the edge of the table.  Roy wasn’t precisely dead weight on his upper body, but it wasn’t far off.  His hand moved to the slick place where they were joined together, caressing the still-throbbing shaft before shoving Roy back with his knuckles.  

“Out.  Sore.”

Roy was gentle pulling out, but he still winced at the slide.  Catching the expression before he could hide it, Roy frowned.

“Too hard?”

”Nah.”

”You’re supposed to tell me if it hurts.”  Roy paused with the condom halfway off, concern written over his face.  “Pussyface, I’ll stop.  You know that.”

”Nuh uhh.”  Speaking in more than single syllables seemed like too much work. “S’good. Just…” Danny’s lips twitched into a hint of a smile, “you.  You’re big.”

Roy huffed out a breath of laughter, reaching for a makeup towel and bottle of water to clean them off.  He soothed the skin with soft touches as he swept away lube and sweat before wiping the cum off their bodies.  A twinge of guilt tugged at him when Danny hissed as he held him open to run the towel gently between his legs.  

Tossing the damp towel into a pile, he held out his hands.

”C’mere.”

They ended up collapsing on the nearby couch together, Danny half on top of him.  The silence was filled with breathing slowly returning to normal, air now stuffy with the smell of sex and crushed roses.

”Thank you.”

Danny raised his head at the quiet words.  Roy wasn’t usually chatty after sex, preferring to communicate in touch until they finished coming down. 

Unsure of the meaning, he answered with a noncommittal, “Mmmm?”

”For this.  Doing this for me.”  Danny tried to prop himself up further, pausing when Roy’s arms tightened around his shoulders.

”What…?  I got off too.”  He pushed against Roy’s chest until he loosened his grip enough for Danny to see his face.

Roy’s dark eyes were half-lidded in sated pleasure, but they were filled with the same intense something from earlier while they were fucking.

He chose the next words carefully, even as he still wasn’t quite sure why it felt important. 

“Anything for you, Willow.”

[queenofmoons67]

The World Knows Our Name

Summary: More than a decade in the future an incident reveals werewolves to the world. As the True Alpha, the American 'wolf community pushes Scott forward as their main representative, throwing the entire McCall Pack into the spotlight as people try to figure out what to do with this revelation.

Notes: This happens a little more than a decade in the future, when Scott is thirty years old. This was written before season six aired.

It is the 11th fic in my series “The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack”. It can be read without reading the others, but for those who have read them: because it takes place in the future, the pack hierarchy has changed and more people have joined it, while others have left (sorry, but I didn't think the McCall Pack could last ten years without a death).

The new hierarchy, in order, is: Scott, Kira, Stiles, Derek, Melissa, the Sheriff, Chris, Liam, Hayden, Mason, Lydia, Isaac, Malia, Braeden, Parrish, Corey, Ethan, Danny, Brett, Lori, Naomi (OC), Jackson, Marshall (OC).

The title is adapted from Hamilton's "Alexander Hamilton".

WARNING: There is a mention of self-harm in this fic. There is another warning right before the paragraph it's in, and it's easy to skip.

The truth began as a rumor no one believed, spreading for the simple fact that it seemed impossible. A werewolf, they whispered. With yellow glowing eyes and claws and fangs. A werewolf's been found in Virginia.

The truth began as a horror story no one wanted to believe, spreading for the simple fact that more danger lay in not believing and being caught off guard. An omega, they whispered. Trapped in a jail cell on his second full moon with no alpha and no control. An omega's the death of us all.

The truth… the truth was online for everyone to see in full technicolor HD video within a week, and when the rumor and horror story became truth, the only surprise anyone really had was that it took that long. Then the truth set in, and so did the panic.

Scott yawned as he rolled over in bed, the ringing phone piercing his sensitive ears. "Mm… what time is it?" Kira murmured from beside him, eyes still shut.

"Two am," her mate replied softly, thumbing the answer button. "Scott McCall, may I - mmph," the alpha rubbed sleep from his eyes, trying not to yawn. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Turn on your TV."

"Wha- Satomi?"

"Yes."

"What are you - what are you calling so late for?"

"Turn on your TV, Alpha McCall."

This woke him up fully. She always called him Scott unless there was a serious reason, usually one that also required her deferring authority to him. "What channel?"

"Any of them, though a news channel would be best." Scott nodded, though he knew she couldn't see him, and flipped the TV on while making sure his worry didn't flow through the pack bonds, ignoring the click over the line that told him the other alpha had hung up.

"- Has been transferred to a high security prison. One can only hope that it's enough to hold him," a news anchor stated.

"You don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt? Callie, he was only in jail in the first place for being in the middle of a bar fight he didn't even start."

"That may be true, but have you considered what might have happened if the deputies hadn't managed to stun him? He could have killed someone! As it is, one of the young officers remains in the hospital with severe injuries."

Slowly, Scott reached over and shook his mate. "Kira…" he said lowly, not taking his eyes from the TV as he sensed her stir.

"We don't automatically sentence people to prison for being criminally insane, we give them a trial," the second anchor argued. "We can do no less for him when he obviously had no control over his actions."

"This is…" Kira whispered, trailing off. Scott nodded anyway, knowing exactly how she felt. Until now, there had been hope that it was a lie, or that no one would believe the rumors. The news had discussed it jokingly, but now they were completely serious, trusting the story. There was nothing funny about it now.

Muting the TV, the alpha turned to his mate. "We need to prepare for the worst, more than we already have."

Kira nodded, slipping out of bed and throwing on jeans and a sweatshirt. "I'll get the adults up and in the War Room. Can you get the pups?"

"Yeah. I'll try and break it to them gently, calm them down. Do you…" Scott took a deep breath, considering the past and possible future events. "Do you think we should head out into the Preserve? Get the pack away from civilization, just in case? Or stick it out?"

"Stick it out," the kitsune stated firmly. "But pack easy-to-grab bags just in case."

With that, she headed out, while Scott pulled on clothes and kept thinking. He knew his mate was right, that wasn't a question. It had been the answer he was leaning towards anyway, as he now knew why Satomi had figuratively bowed to him. As the True Alpha, with a reputation before he even left for college, once he'd left school for good the 'wolf community had dragged him in deeper. Now filling a position similar to the one Talia Hale had held, he couldn't just leave - not even for the protection of his own pack. The 'wolves that would stay - the majority, he suspected, as it wasn't in their nature to run and hide - would turn to him and his pack for support and guidance.

The truth was that werewolves existed, and everyone knew it. There was no hiding from that, whether you were human or 'wolf.

Scott slipped silently from the master bedroom and moved down the hall. The door to the automatic right of his own was open, lamp light spilling softly out, and he knew Kira had decided to wake Stiles first. They'd split up - his mate probably staying on this floor to wake Derek, Melissa, the Sheriff, Liam, Mason, and their mates, while Stiles headed down one floor for Lydia, Parrish, Isaac, Malia, Ethan, Brett, Jackson, and their mates - and meet him and the pups in the War Room. Nicknamed by Stiles as such because it was the only room in the McCall Pack's Den big enough for everyone to sit down, with a giant conference table in the middle, they had planned everything from battles to dinners to marriages in there. But nothing like this. Never anything like this.

Scott paused outside a door two down from his own, willing away the fear-provoked red eyes. He didn't need to cause chaos the moment he stepped in the room.

Opening the door, he moved inside and whispered, simultaneously tugging on their pack bonds, "Lori. Naomi. Wake up."

Two pairs of glowing yellow eyes opened, both girls sitting up to take in their alpha as the flare eased. At the sight of them safe and uninjured, something in Scott eased. Despite both of them being in their mid-twenties, only a few years younger than Liam and already graduated from college, they were two of the three youngest in the pack, as well as two of the newest additions. Both taken together had caused quite a few protective urges in the older 'wolves, and no matter how many times they proved they could take care of themselves and weren't teenagers anymore, it would take several more years and a few more new additions until they stopped being "pups" to everyone.

"Come with me. We're getting Marshall, having a talk, and then meeting everyone else in the War Room."

The girls shared a glance, but followed him.

Marshall, unlike Lori and Naomi, was a pup in every sense of the word. Seventeen years old, he'd only been bitten by Scott a few months before when they'd found him dying in the woods from hypothermia (unfortunately, dying or in mortal danger seemed to be the state of every person Scott bit, from Liam and Hayden to Marshall and Naomi, who Lori had begged Scott to bite after a terrible car accident nearly took her life a few years back). Somehow, he'd managed to convince his parents to let him move into the Den. Part of it, Scott knew, had to do with him rooming with Jackson, whose parents were good friends with Marshall's parents. But otherwise, the alpha didn't have a clue - he knew his mother would never have allowed it, though then again, having first Peter the murdering psychopath and then Derek the doom and gloom murder suspect as an alpha were extremely different circumstances from having Scott the veterinarian (not that Marshall's parents knew the truth anyway).

Scott peeped into the room the last pup shared with Jackson, noting that the older beta was gone already. Stiles must have woken him already. "Marshall," he whispered, tugging on his pack bond like he had the other pups'. "Wake up."

The entire McCall Pack - twenty-three people strong - sat in silence around the table in the War Room. Emotions surged back and forth across the pack bonds, rebounding off each other, multiplying in strength - panic, fear, disbelief, anger. Scott and Kira had explained the situation and what the plans so far were, but with no one outside the pack knowing they were werewolves the best they could do was act normal and hope for the best. If no more werewolves were found, nothing would happen except a lot of speculation, possibly the passing of laws that would never affect them.

More werewolves were found. Or rather, old hunter families like the Calaveras and the Campbells got their information out there through the Internet, the media, any way they could guarantee that it would spread quickly. Within a day of the original video release, over fifty packs worldwide had been revealed to the public, along with the knowledge that more than just werewolves existed. Of the packs caught in the crosshairs of the rising panic, the McCall Pack knew the majority and had treaties with ten of them spanning across Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The only reason they themselves hadn't been revealed in the information dump was that Chris's treaty with the Calaveras still stood. The truth was out there, and the McCall Pack couldn't just sit back and watch their world - their friends - turn to ash.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Stiles whispered, glancing out at the podium with the spotlight and cameras shining down on it and then back to Scott. "You don't have to. We can start out slow, if at all, and-"

"Yes, he does, and yes, he is," Satomi and Derek chorused, both glaring at Scott's right hand.

"Geez, sorry," he muttered, raising his hands in the universal 'I-give-up' gesture. "I just wanted to make sure."

"I know," Scott nodded. "But they're right. Even if I wasn't a True Alpha, I'm bound by treaties ten times over to help. There's no choice to make."

The moment Scott stepped on the stage, Kira by his side, the reporters and city leaders in the audience snapped to attention. The pack hadn't revealed much about the press conference, only sending out invitations stating that it was 'wolf related, knowing that would be enough.

"Many of you know us," the alpha began. "But for those who don't, I'm Scott McCall, Beacon Hills veterinarian."

"And I'm Kira, a science professor at Beacon Hills College and Scott's mate."

"Yes, mate," Scott continued. "I'm also the alpha of the McCall Pack. Our territory occupies about half of Beacon Hills, including the Preserve from the city line in."

"We're revealing ourselves today," Kira picked up, "because of the crisis facing the 'wolf community. Anyone in need of help of any kind, whether it is understanding our world or facing prosecution with who you are revealed, you can come to us. We'll do our best to help. Any questions?"

One reporter shouted, "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

The video of Scott and Kira, standing strong side by side, flashing red and orange irises garnered a record number of views on YouTube.

They had all thought things were going as fast as they could, but it didn't take long after the press conference to figure out they were wrong. Kira, and several other member of the pack guessed to be 'wolves just by association, lost their jobs. Marshall's parents refused all contact with him. Other alphas followed Scott's example, trying to show people trust in the hope they would return it. Others turned and ran, entire sections of communities all over the world disappearing without a trace overnight. The number of gun sales in the United States skyrocketed, and the amount of wolfsbane being imported into the cities was so large the scent of it followed the 'wolves wherever they went. But the final tipping points happened within the same hour as each other.

Kira, Derek, and Chris sat in the kitchen enjoying lunch, the TV on in the background and the voices of news anchors humming lowly. The pack's left hand, about to take a bite of his sandwich, suddenly jerked in his seat and whirled to face the screen, wolf blazing its way to the surface. A clawed hand grabbed the remote, muscles tense as he held back to avoid crushing it, and began turning the volume up. Blue eyes peered out from a jutting brow, entirely focused on the news. Kira and Chris exchanged startled glances. Whatever had scared Derek was cause for serious worry.

"- His condition has worsened, his body refusing to heal itself, and the doctors say he is not expected to make it," a voice reached a level regular ears could hear clearly.

"This is a grave day for us all," the second news anchor added. "This attack demonstrates the lowest humans can go. When frightened, we're no better than the animals the majority of us claim the werewolves are."

"And yet, Evan," Callie - Kira recognized her from that first night - continued, "We must ask ourselves if it's not a push in the right direction. Alvin Coleman has just been declared dead on arrival. Cause of death? A beta werewolf, completely in control of herself an entire two and a half weeks before the next full moon, ripped his throat out on the street."

"But you can't say he was completely innocent. Witnesses say the attack was provoked by multiple barbs, and the beta ignored him the best she could for several minutes."

"She tore his throat out with her teeth. There's nothing innocent about that, just pure savagery."

"Scott?" Chris asked into his phone, thumb on the mute button, eyes watching Derek and Kira. "The omega was just attacked in prison. And a beta killed someone in broad daylight. I suggest you get the pack home safely and then contact other alphas. We need to do something before this gets anymore out of control than it already is."

Seconds after Scott ended his call with Chris, his phone rang again. Frowning down at a number he didn't recognize, Scott answered it anyway.

"Alpha McCall?" a stranger's voice asked.

"Yes?"

"Alpha McCall, this is Alpha Quinn. I'm calling on behalf of the American Packs. Since the igniting incident, all that has come out of waiting for things to calm down has been chaos. I have discussed with multiple other alphas doing something that has never been done before - electing one alpha to represent us all. In the light of today's events, we came to a decision and reached out to other packs to make sure they were in agreement. They are."

"I never received a call," Scott frowned.

"That is because you are the agreement, Alpha McCall. Congratulations, you have been elected to the new position Representative of Werewolf Packs in the United States." Scott breathed in sharply, eyes widening and flashing red in recognition of the responsibility laid at his feet. "After this conversation, I will be contacting President Sandoval and letting her know of this development. I would expect a call soon after. Any questions you have can be directed to Alpha Ito. Do you understand and accept this position?"

Doing so would place his pack in the spotlight as a prime target for hunters, even more than they already were. Doing so would put them in the best place to help, especially with a pack as diverse as theirs. They were more than capable, Scott thought. He hoped. He knew. "Yes."

"Thank you, Alpha McCall. And good luck."

There was a click as Alpha Quinn hung up, but Scott barely noticed, too busy locking up the clinic and hurrying home.

Scott wandered the halls that night, senses reaching out to try and settle the red occasionally taking over the brown in his eyes. Kira, the scent of her lightning and the steel of her sword engrained within the very walls of the Den. Stiles, his heart beating just a little bit faster than everyone else even in sleep. Derek and Braeden, their scents entwined after more than a decade as mates. His mom and Chris, her distinct hospital smell mixed with his gunpowder from a marriage of five years. The Sheriff, an affectionate nickname now as he'd finally retired and become a consultant only a year before, snoring loudly. Liam and Hayden, in training to become the alpha pair when he and Kira eventually died as the more experienced of the four betas who could actually inherit his True Alpha power, sleeping and, judging by their steady heartbeats, without nightmares. Mason, who had taken over Deaton's position as Pack Emissary after the druid died in a car crash of all things, his job obvious to anyone with a good sense of smell and the right knowledge. Corey, who Mason had finally convinced to officially join the pack a year before the chimera proposed, his reptilian scent mixing perfectly with his husband's herbs.

Lydia and Parrish, banshee and hellhound, hearts beating in sync. Isaac, Ethan, Danny, and Jackson - three betas and one non-supernatural who'd all left at one point and returned home safely, their scents part of that unique McCall Pack smell. Malia, the lone source of the coyote smell in the Den. Brett, who'd gradually transitioned from Satomi's pack to his over the college years, and brought his sister Lori with him, their hearts beating similar tunes despite being on different floors. Naomi and Marshall, one fully integrated to the pack and the other still adjusting, still learning, but both their scents screaming McCall Pack.

WARNING: MENTION OF SELF-HARM IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH.

Satisfied that his entire pack was safe in the Den, the red faded entirely from Scott's eyes, but he didn't stop his wandering - which was, he admitted to himself, not wandering at all but guarding and marking his territory with each brush of his arm against the wall. There should have been more. As big a pack as they were, there should have been more. Allison, Aiden. Erica and Boyd. Deaton, of course, and… Scott hesitated, not wanting to go down that path. No matter how much the guilt had been relieved by pack members, it was still a dark road and one that, without fail, would send tendrils of pain carving their way down the pack bonds. The alpha breathed sharply, claws piercing his hands and the pain bringing him back to himself before he could think the name. The emotional pain, for the moment, pushed back by the physical.

Scott hurried through the Den, eased open the door, and bolted for the woods their home bordered. Within the safety of its trees, he dropped to all fours. A midnight run would, hopefully, clear his mind of past pains and future worries and burdens enough for him to get some sleep before his flight to Washington, D.C. in the morning.

"Don't go," Liam pleaded, panic and fear pulsing in his bond. Next to him, Hayden stood still, the same emotions emanating from her own bond, but eyes wide with understanding.

"They have to, Liam," she whispered, curling her fingers between his and squeezing.

"I'm not ready to… to… be you!" his first bitten beta cried.

Scott shook his head, smiling softly. "You'll be alpha eventually, and this practice run means you get to try it out with me coming back as a safety net. Besides, you won't actually be an alpha - you'll just be in command. And Stiles will still be here, and my mom and the Sheriff. And you have Hayden to support and advise you. Liam, you'll be fine. Besides, you've done stuff like this before."

"Not like this," Liam muttered, but still nodded shakily, his bond settling a little.

"Come here," the alpha commanded, opening his arms for a hug. The two betas gladly stepped into it, sighing as they felt his fingers run through their hair, curl around the backs of their necks, and finally squeeze tight around their bodies. They had watched him do it with their pack mates, and so had Derek, Kira, and Chris - instinct telling them to scent mark the ones they left behind more than they usually did, especially when they had no idea how long the trip would take.

Getting to D.C. wasn't the problem, as President Sandoval had sent a private plane. When they arrived, though, the press bombarded them the best they could considering the security surrounding them. All of them wanted to know why the president would go to such trouble for a group of people from Beacon Hills, California. All it took was one person recognizing him and Kira from the YouTube video the week before, and then the scene became more chaotic than it already was.

"Alpha McCall! Why did the president summon you to D.C.?"

"Alpha McCall! How could you leave the rest of your pack weakened without four of its top members? I thought pack protocol went against that."

"Werewolf! Are you here to defend your kind?"

"Alpha McCall! Has the president asked for the bite? Are you going to give it to her?"

"Alpha McCall! Is it true your bite has killed someone before?"

All the other questions, the sensory overload from the camera flashes and yelling, all that the pack could weather with little trouble. But at the last question, the pain that ripped through all the pack bonds from their alpha had Derek turning on the source, eyes blazing electric blue, fangs snapping in warning, a growl rumbling in his chest. The entire mass stilled, security unsure who they should defend and the reporters' eyes wide in fear. The spell broke when Scott stepped up to his beta, murmuring words so quiet only the 'wolves could hear them, and rested a hand on his shoulder. Security, assured that no one was about to be mauled, took the chance to push the reporters back - not that they were protesting much. Derek's eyes faded and his fangs vanished. Standing staunchly at his alpha's shoulder, mirrored on the other side by Kira and Chris, the four members of the McCall Pack made their way to the car waiting for them without further incident.

"Scott?" Kira murmured inside the car.

"Hmm?"

"Are you ok?"

"I will be. I have to be."

Derek, his anger closer to the surface ever since the world learned about werewolves and the omega was attacked and killed in prison, growled, "How did they even find out?"

"Medical reports?" Chris suggested. "His death was labeled as an animal attack, and it probably didn't take long for people to figure out most of those were actually supernatural. Taking into account the one bite, the fact he was found on McCall territory, and after Scott became an alpha… It wouldn't be hard to guess."

Scott nodded, mind flashing back unwillingly. His death. Dustin's death. A young boy, not even a teenager, out playing in the woods alone, unaware that another pack had made a move on the McCall Pack's territory and the preserve wasn't safe that night. He had, they guessed, heard the sound of fighting and, like all young kids that age, decided to investigate instead of running away. He'd run straight into the claws of a beta from the other pack fleeing the battle. Scott hadn't found him until after, when he'd bled too much to have a chance at the hospital and Scott… Scott had bitten him, hoping and praying that his youth and strength would turn him and save his life. They hadn't.

Like all other werewolf related things those days, the video went viral (though not as much as the picture of Alpha McCall shaking the president's hand on the steps of the White House did).

The next few weeks scraped by. Scott, as the True Alpha and Representative of Werewolf Packs in the United States, Kira, as his mate, Derek, as a born wolf, and Chris, as a hunter who found himself a member of a werewolf pack, found their days filled with explaining to and arguing with congressmen, Supreme Court justices, representatives of the House, and every other government official imaginable why, exactly, werewolves were people, deserved the same civil rights as everyone else, and did not need to be systematically hunted down and imprisoned, if not killed, by the United States Army. Most agreed with them, at least on some level, but there was always someone in the room who firmly believed they would eventually go to hell and there was no reason not to send them there early.

At the same time, Alpha McCall found himself fielding calls from 'wolves - omegas, betas, and alphas - across the country on issues, as well as calls from the Representatives of Werewolf Packs in other countries around the world to discuss what they needed to do (the formation of RPAW, Representatives of Packs Around the World, had been fairly quick). One of the first things they did was create and release "So Your Neighbor's a Werewolf" and "A Guide for Werewolves: How to Handle Your Entirely Non-Werewolf Neighbor's Issues With You". They may not have made much impact in resolving the riots, shootings, and maulings, but they did drastically decrease the number of calls and allowed the Representatives to focus on resolving those.

In the end, though, things didn't start calming down because of something RPAW did, but rather because of They Are Human Too, or TAHT. Their non-supernatural pack members, the McCall Pack members in D.C. learned, had not been sitting idly by (not that they thought they were, they just hadn't thought they were doing something quite this big). Led by Stiles and Melissa, TAHT had become immensely popular in Beacon Hills, quickly spread throughout California, and then went country and world-wide simultaneously, though slowly, with the non-supernatural members of other packs joining the charge. People who, for years, had been ignorant of the werewolf community only to find their families and best friends part of it, barely hesitated. With a movement to get behind, the people arguing werewolves were all monsters soon found themselves vastly outnumbered.

There would always be problems, they all knew that. Regardless of how many people accepted their werewolf friends, most remained at least a little wary. The Census of American Werewolves, with jail time if it was discovered you didn't reveal yourself, would likely pass. No one wanted unknown concealed claws and fangs any more than they did non-permitted concealed guns. Other laws meant only for werewolves would, over the coming months and years, be introduced as well. RPAW and TAHT would pick their battles carefully and fight the ones necessary. Some would pass anyway. Some wouldn't. For the moment, though, the McCall Pack - for the first time in two months - would be whole.

Note: You can find the complete series of “The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack” on AO3, and a list of all the fics’ summaries on Tumblr.