#Hidden Circumstances of the Falling Incident

[detco-hell]

finally someone solved that mystery

[episode 337 - Hidden Circumstances of the Falling Incident]

[hmusunoo]

𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍'𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐒!

(✶) - smut

(♥) - series

ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴅᴀʏ ᴇᴛɪqᴜᴇᴛᴛᴇ (ᴘ.ꜱʜ) (✶) - @simpjaes

▏Park Sunghoon is not dull, nor is he the clean cut neighbor your mother thinks he is. Oh, the horrors of if she found out that the man she set you up on this date with immediately took you home and rendered you unable to walk...he'd never be able to defend himself without a swift slap to the head.

ʙᴜᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜰ ᴘʜᴏɴᴇ ꜱᴇx ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱᴜɴɢʜᴏᴏɴ! (ᴘ.ꜱʜ) (✶) - @munivrse

▏phone sex. kinda public. mutual masturbation, mentions of breeding, face fucking, degradation & praise sandwiches, reader cums once, sunghoon is a whore so he cums twice.

ᴜɴᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀʙʟᴇ (ꜱ. ᴊʏ) (✶) - @heehoonies

▏you and sim jaeyun have been academic rivals for as long as you can remember, competing intensely to beat the other in every class you've ever shared. for years, you've hidden your feelings for him, burying them deep down where jake can't find them, and you're hellbent on ensuring he never discovers your secret.

ʏᴏᴜ % ʜᴇᴇꜱᴇᴜɴɢ (ʟ. ʜꜱ) - @postalenha

▏heeseung’s new gaming console has been a hinder to your relationship. but you know better, and tries to understand that he’s just enjoying the new equipment he worked so hard to have.

ᴘᴀꜱꜱᴇɴɢᴇʀ ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇꜱꜱ (ꜱ. ᴊʏ) (✶) - @cupcakedkiss

▏Your boyfriends job was dangerous, you knew this. Putting his life at risk every night at exactly 12 am had never been ordinary to you, thus never stopping you from being his passenger princess.

ꜱᴀꜱꜱʏ (ᴘ. ᴊꜱ) - @jaysng

▏jay trying to re-gain his drama queen daughter’s attention after she got mad at him.

ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ (ᴘ. ᴊꜱ) (✶) - @ja3yun

▏visiting your tax fraudulent dad in prison and nothing was new, except the boy being carted in to the police station in cuffs. when you follow your connection on a reckless whim, it opens you up to a world filled with crime, love, and realisations about who you are.

ɢᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ (ᴘ.ꜱʜ) (✶) - @i2sunric

▏just like eva did in the garden of eden, you fell under the serpent's court and now are under his spell. you knew you shouldn't betray your boyfriend, jake, like that when he was (not) so right for you, but seeing that he spent more time out for work made you seek the love and affection you needed, and who if not sunghoon could give you what you deserved?

ᴍᴇʟᴛɪɴɢ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ (ᴘ.ꜱʜ) (✶) (♥) - @ja3yun

▏when circumstances unexpectedly bring you and your brother's long-time ice skating rival, park sunghoon, together, you discover a surprising connection. However, your brother forbids any relationship between you. Will you heed his advice or follow your heart?

ꜰᴀʟʟᴇɴ ꜱᴛᴀʀ (ꜱ. ᴊʏ) (✶) (♥) - @h5eavenly

▏after being fired and blacklisted from the entertainment industry your life is on the verge of falling apart. An opportunity arises to save you when you get a job offer to work as a personal assistant for ex lead singer of the rock band PARANOIA! and now turned model, nicknamed the nation’s sweetheart- Jake Sim. However his image crumbles quickly when you discover he’s nothing but the devil in disguise.

ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ ꜰʀᴀɢɪʟᴇ ᴛʜɪɴɢ (ᴘ.ꜱʜ) - @stllmnstr

▏After an ankle injury lands you in mandated physical therapy sessions instead of on the ice where you should be training for nationals, you're absolutely certain you must be the most frustrated, emotionally volatile figure skater on the planet. Park Sunghoon proves you wrong.

ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴄᴇ (ꜱ. ᴊʏ) - @jaylver

▏Punching a guy in the club then kissing him not long after at a hockey game wasn't exactly a fairytale, but for you, it was your reality. The worst part of all it wasn't even the incidents that happened, but the fact that you didn't know him or his name. That was until another stir of events that happened which caused you and him to actually meet, so what was the best way to break the ice after a disastrous punch and a shocking kiss together? A date. It could be love at first sight, or more accurately, it was love at first punch, or … kiss?

disclaimer - if any of the mentioned authors do not wish to be on this list and want to be removed please dm me and ill remove it! This is just a appreciation post (:

[brucewaynehater101]

Ok Tim Time Travel AU or just Tim Travel AU. Tim gets sucked in a similar event that got bruce un the Time stream. But it only makes Tim land in various events that takes place since bruce beginnings as batman.

The first event is bruce getting shot, Tim pops in and helps young bruce. As it the first time, tim didnt prepare in any way to hidrñe his identity. But bruce was out enough not to recognize him. (He wouldnt anyways)

The next time, tim is more prepared, he hacks into the drakes account to get money and with that crafts a new suit. And writes down a list of ideas of how to hide his face. As bruce can't have tim's face in his memory. (He goes from ghost maker blindfold to red hood'd helmet). The only distintive is an "R" in his suit.

And that's how it goes for a little while. Tim appears out of nowhere to help bruce with smthng. Usually to save him from posible deaths

Then he's throw in Dick's parent's death day. Then when dick almost falls off his line. Then some dick' kidnapping. And so on.

Bruce ofc doesn't trust this elusive evident experienced vigilante. But it grows on him. For the robins is this cool big brother and stuff.

Tim doesnt want to think what this means for how he interacts with his family.

Ideas are buzzing!

Cool! Anyone can feel free to list out canon events you think Tim could have helped lessen the impact of (in this AU, he doesn't have that much control. It seems more like he's helping in the aftermath). He will prevent their deaths in some cases, but let's say, for plot's sake, that he can't prevent certain outcomes.

To be extra fun, perhaps all the Bats knew about Future!Tim. Imma call him Raven just for the hell of it.

Tim finds out when he gets sucked into the time thing, that he was Raven all along. The older vigilante left him a clue that was only decipherable after Tim's first time jump.

Regardless, Tim slowly builds up a reputation with the Bats. It's difficult because he has no control on when he stays or goes. He just pops up when he's needed.

It's difficult to establish trust with someone who is untraceable and never stays.

It's heartbreaking for Tim because there are some incidents he can't change despite going back in time (like Jason dying). Tim has no control.

There's also the fear of destabilizing the timestream or whatever.

Then, as Raven, Tim learns a fuck ton about incidents that his family has hidden or never talked about. Traumas they don't or wouldn't mention (perhaps Raven learns about Tarantula and similar shit). Since Raven pops up whenever and isn't actually a Bat, there's a different type of relationship that vigilante has with the Bats. It helps them to admit shit they wouldn't to their family (which you can then get into guilt, protective anger, horror, etc).

Raven slowly starts getting close to the Bats as much as he can given his circumstances. Older Tim watches Robin debut, Nightwing debut, Jason become Robin, the aftermath of his death, Tim becoming Robin, etc.

Having an "outsiders' perspective" on all of these events must feel weird as fuck.

[yandere-daze]

I´m back to my Collar x Malice obsession (currently playing the FD) and so I just had to write something for my favorite boy! And since he already shows some yandere tendencies in the game, I decided to run with it. Hope you enjoy <3

gn reader

1.3k words

tw yandere, obsession, possessiveness, jealousy, manipulation, implied stalking, overprotectiveness, brief mentions of violence

General Yandere! Kei Okazaki headcanons

Okazaki strikes me as the type of person who could take an immediate liking to someone when meeting them for the first time but then needs a lot of time for true love to materialize. Or in this case, obsession.

He´s quite fond of you from the very beginning, he likes seeing you smile and enjoys being around you. But the true obsession only starts once you two get to know each other better.

He has been in a lot of relationships before and while he had liked all of his partners, he never felt like he could show them his flaws, he never felt comfortable being true to himself, always hiding away a part of himself in fear of rejection. It´s like that at first with you as well, he only wants to show you his charming and cool side as he wants to make a good impression on you. How would you ever fall for him if you knew about his past and his mental troubles? About his possessiveness and jealousy?

You inadvertently sealed your own fate when you encouraged Okazaki to be honest with himself and that you would accept him for all his flaws. That you wouldn´t turn away from him, no matter what. That you won´t judge him.

How can you say these things and not expect him to become absolutely obsessed with you?

For the first time, he feels this deep connection to someone else, he feels like he can be himself around you, even if it´s scary and difficult. So you wouldn´t mind if he let his obsession with you show, right? If he got clingy and possessive with you. You said you accepted all of him, right?

Okazaki for sure is a protective yandere. He works as a bodyguard so he´s an expert at making sure certain important people are safe. And you most definitely count as a very important person to him!

Whether you´re actually dating or just acquaintances, Okazaki will insist on accompanying you wherever you go so he can "keep you safe". And he´s quite persistent when it comes to this as well, not taking no for an answer and just tagging along anyway with a smile on his face.

It doesn´t even matter if you were planning on meeting up with him or not, he´s somehow always there whenever you go out to wander the streets. How does he always seem to know when you´re about to head out?

In truth, Okazaki keeps tabs on you even when you believe you are alone. Due to all his training, he´s more than capable of staying hidden in the shadows while still keeping a watchful eye on you. Even if you say you need some alone time, he just can´t risk anything happening to you. He´s still shaken up from that incident all these years ago where his inaction caused his coworker to die on the job. He can´t let something like that happen to you, his dearly beloved.

And next to making sure you´re safe from harm he also has to make sure you´re "safe". What does he mean by that? He has to make sure that no other men try to approach you to ask you out. He knows they´re no good for you, so just leave it all to him.

Okazaki has an uncanny ability to swoop in out of the blue whenever a man tries to talk to you, inserting himself in the conversation and making the other person uncomfortable with his unnerving smile and underlying threats. He can be quite scary when he wants to and thus it´s easy for him to scare people off. He also isn´t against using violence to get them to back off, whether it´s punching them or twisting their limbs until they crack, nothing is off-limits. Under no circumstances will he allow anyone else to sweep you off your feet, you´re meant to be with him after all.

Afterwards, he will explain that the person that tried to talk to you was dangerous. There had been warnings going around at work and so he tried defusing the situation immediately. You see what happens when you´re out there without him? Really, you were in luck that he just happened to be around! Maybe ask him to tag along next time again, okay?

Of course, that´s all lies. No such warnings about a suspicious person existed, he just needed a convenient excuse for chasing them away. He can´t let those people possibly get in between the both of you.

Okazaki is also just really really jealous in general. He doesn´t like it when you spend time with others and if you´re dating, then he would directly tell you this, though he tries to word it in a way that sounds more reasonable than "I want you to cut ties with all your friends". He hates seeing you smile and laugh around people who aren´t him, it makes him fear that you might be getting sick of him.

And he can´t have that. He vows to never let go of you. Strangely enough, he will actually tell you this many times (like he does in the game) but you just take it as a bit of cute possessiveness, nothing too concerning. You just don´t know how obsessed he is with you.

He canonically has thought about locking the player up so they´re for his eyes only so a kidnapping would not be completely out of the question I believe, though I do still see it as a last resort, something he would only do if he felt an immediate threat to your relationship or if he was close to snapping. For now, he would much rather use words to try and convince you to spend more and more time together.

It´s normal for a boyfriend to want to spend all of his time with his darling, right? He just loves you so much! He wants to spend every second of every day with you, aren´t you being a bit cruel by depriving him of that? Why do you insist on being with people that aren´t him? Isn´t he enough? Don´t you love him?

He can get quite manipulative if he feels like it will bring results. But also, he just genuinely feels like that. He just can´t fathom it, how can you bear to stay away from him when he feels like he´s being ripped apart every time he has to part from you?

So to no one´s surprise, Okazaki is very clingy, even before a potential relationship. He loves being close to you, wrapping his arms around you or resting his head against you. He also loves holding your hand in public, both as a way to show affection but also to show anyone else that you´re unavailable. He´s also shameless enough to kiss you in public while people are most definitely watching.

Resting his head in your lap while he falls asleep is also another favorite of his. He´s often exhausted from his job as a bodyguard and tends to not get a lot of sleep, so he treasures being so close to you while he gets to rest up. Please run your fingers through his hair too, he will sigh in bliss if you do!

Also very affectionate in the way he talks to you. Once he realizes his feelings for you, he won´t really try to hide that he likes you, perhaps only the extent to which he does. He loves calling you cute pet names, especially if they make you flustered. He loves teasing you, it makes him proud to know that he can have that sort of effect on you.

"You´re so cute when you get flustered. Tell me I´m the only man that gets to see you like this~"

He will truly never let go of you for as long as he lives.

[freefallfiction]

File: Masterlist (Criminal Minds)

Last Reviewed: 5/16/2024

Originally posted by tinywolfcoffee

rules No Pedoph!l!c Content No Minor Interaction Send Requests Through The 'Asks' Channel Fem!Reader Unless Requested Otherwise Don't Like Don't Read Mind The Warnings Have Fun

S. Reid

United In Grief

How long can two hurting people hold on with only love keeping them together?

Late Night Concessions

Someone broke into your place; it was just past midnight and the rain was near deafening, but you were sure that was the sound of your front door window being shattered. With your phone on silent and Spencer’s number already dialed, you can only hope they’re here for your purse and tv and not the hiding girl beneath the bed.

Re-Run Special

Spencer finds love with a genius hedonistic girl who turns his world upside down, but their clash of personalities can leave him feeling a little left behind.

Play Your Cards Right

Y/n always loved Yu-Gi-Oh. From watching the show as a kid to trading and playing the card game, it’s always been a part of her life-- she should have known her boyfriend would try to learn it for her.

Coffee, My Secret Admirer

He had been wanting to try out the coffee shop on west and third for a while now, and he finally had the chance. He never thought he’d be caught up in a romance when a beautiful girl hopped over the counter and took his order, nor did he think they’d turn into not-so-secret admirers of one another.

Scale of Mental Stability

When a string of murders pick off where a long-arrested serial killer left off, the FBI’s first stop is the children of the cursed family. The problem? The only person who hates the man more than the son they arrested, is the daughter who’s out for blood.

My Hermes (Sending Me Letters From Above)

A coincidental meeting years ago leaves Spencer enthralled by a voice heard in the most unfortunate of circumstances. Y/n couldn't forget the man who gave her the best gift of all, the phone call of a lifetime.

The Seven Stages Of Loving You

A seven part series where Spencer falls in love with the BAU’s CI, or, Spencer finds out just how hard it is to build a future with someone constantly attacked by their past.

Absquatulate

Years had passed. Cases opened and closed, books were written and sold, the world spun and spun until... until it didn’t. The world kept moving until three am on Halloween night-- six shots of whiskey deep-- the world crashed down. 

A. Hotch

Last Man Standing

No matter what it takes, even as bodies fall all around him and blood paints the streets, he will come home to you.

Just Like The Movies

It was a rare sight even before what will henceforth be known only as 'the incident' for Aarons smile to stretch so wide his eyes crinkled in a boyish manner that everyone believed was lost to time. It must have been a miracle.

The Egg Crusher

Serial killers in their own backyard had a tendency to start fires within the team that burn hotter than usual; one targeting pregnant women was practically begging them to shut him down. Aaron had begged her to take off work and finally start maternity leave. The worst part was she listened; the constant messages to his work email that set of ‘nesting’ alarms in his head had him convinced she had dived head first into it. Then he gets one signed off with the hidden moniker used when one of them gets themselves in trouble.

D. Morgan

Where You Go (I Wanna Go With You)

Derek always believed the job came first; complete the mission however he needed to for the case to close and the rest was simply collateral damage. Even now, when all is said and done, he couldn't say when his priorities shifted.

Where You Go (I Go)

Derek knew what it meant to be a great soldier. He knew how to follow all the rules and take initiative when appropriate; he’d learned these things as a means of survival. Even if the country he serves has dwindled down to one person, he knows to do everything in his power to get to her till his dying breath. (a part two)

Domesticated

The people at work tried to be more encouraging than envious when her boyfriend insists on driving her to and from work some random Tuesday. The imposing figure the man struck was intimidating, yet they all called him her ‘doberman puppy’.

J. Gideon

The Heart

He thought he'd lost it forever; for years it had been pegged as just another thing the horrors of his profession had stolen from him, a risk his mind simply wouldn't allow him to take. He should have known the brain had no power over matters of the heart.

E. Prentiss

Dancing With The Stars

Maybe in another world, when Emily crossed the dimly lit ballroom with a cutting smile and wandering hand, she did it without the mic in her ear.

E. Greenway

Comfort, Come Forth, King Forge

It was a dangerous field; that was all anyone ever said- you're a small girl, they'll eat you alive. For years after the academy she was always a girl first agent second; then she met her.

D. Rossi

Bella, Ciao

He may have chosen the wild life, but his heart remained every faithful in her hands.

These Trembling Hands

He thought it might be over; similar fates have happened to men far more successful than he. A mission gone wrong and they're sent to recovery, a mandates psych eval that already is stamped 'denied' to send him into retirement. He never thought he'd last this long in the first place, and if the pretty psychiatrist was his parting present he'd be a fool to look the gifted horse in the eye.

P. Garcia

Something Lost, Something Gained

It was a gilded reassignment that brought the new liaison to the team; she was, perhaps, the only agent who loathed the idea of being tacked on to the BAU's list of revolving-door members. The Cyber Response Unit had been home ever since the academy, but a single misstep had started the spiral towards madness, better known as the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Hopefully there would be someone on the team that wouldn't inherently know every little secret which had been carefully tucked away.

[idiopathicsmile]

didn’t know to send this here or to your fic blog but OBVIOUSLY i must know where the cream cheese thief/disaffected cafeteria worker divide falls for enjoltaire and for arkady/violet, although i’ll be honest i have a solid guess for the latter but i feel like the first could swing both ways

HELLO!

the former is addressed here; the latter raises some additional interesting questions. this may imply some deep deficiency about my own character-creation skills, but when we're talking Starship Iris, the main problem i run into is that the scenario kind of stipulates that the cream cheese is being stolen badly.

like, listen, do i think that a modern college AU Arkady Patel is above lifting an entire brick of cream cheese for her own nefarious ends? of course not. but i will tell you this about any version of Arkady Patel that i can imagine: that girl covers her tracks. you wanna catch her in the act, you better have extensive use of security cameras and the ability to freeze-frame, motherfucker.

i am inclined to think that Violet Liu would also, under at least the majority of circumstances, harness her own anxieties to foresee every possible complication she could humanly foresee, and guard against them. i think the one exception to this is if she is having A Mental Health Incident, like the anxiety has spiraled to full-on terrified depression, and she is approaching that condiments bar like a woman with a hunger for the soothing powers of cheesecake deep in her heart, and absolutely nothing to lose.

Violet drops the cream cheese into a tupperware hidden in her purse, Arkady witnesses this, Violet witnesses Arkady witness it and absolutely makes a break for it, hyperventilating all the while, and Arkady literally leaps over a cafeteria table to follow Violet outside the cafeteria, and just when Violet's paranoid fears have crested into full-on "am I about to be arrested?" mode, Arkady's like, "hey. a purse is maybe the worst vessel for this caper, can I interest you in a bagel? pile your cream cheese on the bagel and then scrape it into a secondary container once you're out of the room" and Violet's like, "uh are you giving me thieving tips" and Arkady says, "at least make it a little challenging, i mean right? game on" and it doesn't cure Violet's mental health issues, i mean come on, of fucking course it doesn't, it doesn't even lead to a breakthrough, but the thought that she might need to have her emotions stabler before maaaaybe going on a date with the cute cafeteria worker is one additional straw on the camel's back of "check in with your university's mental health services."

meanwhile, Arkady's fellow cafeteria workers, Brian Jeeter and what's-their-name—that French exchange student with the purple hair—are giving her so much shit.

[elsecrytt]

Obey Me Theory:

Simeon and Michael are the same person.

Disclaimer:

Yes, I know about the "But then wouldn't..." objections to this theory; I'll present my evidence and then address those at the end.

I came up with this idea after going through specific things in my personal MC lore, but there ended being so many things that fit that I actually really liked it.

To be clear, this idea is to say: Simeon is Michael's alternate identity. Simeon as we and others know him has always actually been Michael; there's no "real Simeon" hidden in a basement somewhere while Michael impersonates him.

Evidence (spoilers for Obey Me and Nightbringer):

There are hints and suggestions throughout the story - confirmed in hard mode in NB - that Simeon is actually a considerably powerful angel. Powerful enough to be a seraph like Lucifer was.

In Season 1 and 2 of the original Obey Me, Simeon acts as the representative of the Celestial Realm in the Devildom. He's obviously high up.

Diavolo says that Simeon is the one person he doesn't want to anger. Diavolo. The would be King of the Devildom.

Note that Diavolo can tell when someone is lying. Simeon does an excellent job of tip-toeing around issues and details, not disclosing the full truth, etc.

Diavolo says he finds angels in general difficult to work with. He finds Simeon difficult. And Simeon does live up to that difficulty (hard mode Season 2) - and he puts it a very interesting way.

He tells Diavolo that if a matter (the dangerous information Diavolo's been hiding from Lucifer all Season 2) concerns the Celestial Realm, then of course they'd interfere...

...that's what Michael told Simeon to tell him, anyways. Simeon speaks with a lot of authority for someone who's not even a seraph.

Pretty much all the information we get about Michael and his current intentions come from Simeon.

And after this - what happens?

The incident with the Ring of Light.

Mighty coincidental that Simeon happened to be able to stroll into Michael's Lucifer fan-shrine and nick the ring from there, huh?

The explanation Simeon gives for knowing that the ring existed - "Michael would never let something of Lucifer's go" - is also interesting.

If Simeon were Michael, then he would know the solution of giving MC the ring from the very beginning. It'd be easy for him to stay calm, cool, and collected - Michael already gave a mortal (Solomon) his ring, and he knows Lucifer's ring can do the same thing.

Additionally, we have the sequence where a voice - almost certainly Michael - speaks to MC in a vision sort of sequence.

The voice specifically says that it would have expected MC to be an awful person, since Lucifer and co. care about them so much.

Notably, Season 2 is also the turning point for several of the side characters. Diavolo and Solomon get some ship tease for feelings, and Simeon steals the ring for you...

But this conversation could also be Michael/Simeon acknowledging his feelings for you - a human. Simeon confesses to you in Season 3...

...where it's also revealed that his worst fear is his (and Lucifer's) father.

If Simeon is Michael, this makes a lot of sense. Michael, like Lilith, has fallen in love with a human. He's even also - technically - interfered in a human's lifespan by saving you. He would fear his father, for the same reason Lucifer would.

Now, this also makes plenty of sense if Simeon isn't Michael... but just imagine.

The bone-chilling terror of having fought and beaten Lucifer and his family, having killed Lilith...

Only to eventually fall into the same circumstances that she did.

But who will fall with Michael? Who will rebel against heaven to protect him? He expunged those who were guilty of this sin, and now he is guilty of it himself. He erased all possibility of change or rebellion with his own hands.

There are other reasons to be suspicious.

In Nightbringer, Simeon and Diavolo each attempt to tempt Solomon to their side. But Diavolo's angel counterpart in the Celestial Realm is Michael, the authority figure; not Simeon, the powerless archangel.

Simeon and Solomon get along pretty well. Michael liked Solomon enough to give him the Ring of Knowledge.

What else do we know about Michael?

Most people describe him as eccentric.

Simeon wrote?? A whole book series?? About Lucifer and his brothers????? Why???????

For bonus eccentric humor: in Season 2, Simeon writes a play. He puts Lucifer and Diavolo (who have been on bad terms with each other) into a love triangle with MC.

Season 2 marks a big breaking point for Luci and Dia's relationship, with MC at the center, and both of them develop feelings for MC.

Simeon recognizes it when people tease Luke - and he is basically Luke's guardian - and pretty much says it's okay up to a point.

"Sure, tease this little kid I'm responsible for, a little taunting is good for the soul." He even seems to imply he likes to do it, too XD

He actually takes a lot of weird antics and wacky hijinks with stride. I don't think it's because he's a responsible adult. I think it's because he's another weirdo, masquerading as a responsible adult.

Several characters also talk about Michael working Raphael very hard, and having very particular demands.

We see exactly how extreme and demanding Simeon can be in Season 2, when we put on a play. He has a vision. And he's going to make EVERYONE do it, RIGHT.

We also see Simeon the taskmaster with quite the temper in Season 3 when he's running a cafe. He gets EXTREMELY mad, to the point of getting everyone to sit down and obey him, despite being normally very calm.

Michael is a huge Lucifer fanboy.

Simeon is constantly texting Lucifer ingame, even when Lucifer ignores him. He also joins Diavolo in on complimenting Lucifer's looks as an angel.

He admits that he does care about Lucifer and the brothers. We get hints that Michael feels a similar way.

In Nightbringer - Simeon ruminates deeply over a specific day where he, Lucifer, and Raphael were spending time together.

Lucifer confirms to him that he had a nice day, that day - that Simeon did notice his discomfort, and it was a relief that Simeon reached out in the way that he did, even if Simeon is rethinking it now.

It makes more sense for Simeon to be ruminating over this if this day is just a representation of his inability to reach Lucifer, to make Lucifer see his side of things.

Anyways, that's most of the things I noticed that make it look possible.

So, why doesn't anyone recognize him?

There are a few different possibilities.

They don't know what Michael really looks like.

I've seen screenshots of a devilgram floating around where angel Mammon is chatting with angel Lucifer, and he mentions that Lucifer actually has twelve wings - he just doesn't have all of them out at once.

If Michael has a similar number of wings, and does use all of them, then it's possible no one ever got a good look on him.

Also notable is that Lucifer's angel outfit is pretty conservative - if Michael was similarly clothed, with the addition of gloves, and some kind of veil/mask (he is supposed to be eccentric), they actually may just legitimately not have a good picture of him.

For personal reasons (I want to know what Michael looks like), this is my favorite theory.

Michael has used a glamour to change his appearance.

I'm relatively sure that angels can do this; they can "wear" their wings or not, and demons have similar abilities, so I don't think it's out of the realm of reason.

No one remembers what Michael looks like.

When we meet Michael in the finale of Season 2, we see just a glowing light from above. It's possible that we did see Michael then, but we just don't remember it.

Lucifer and his brothers might have forgotten Michael's appearance post-fall.

Michael texting himself? Simeon's punishment?

The text from Michael to Simeon was the most obnoxious dramatic conceit in the game.

We don't see ANY more communication between the two, at all, and are only informed of any of it afterward. It was literally just there to be a cliffhanger/source of excitement.

I think the hint is in season 3, where Simeon's greatest fear is his father.

Because if Simeon is Michael, then there's only one higher power who can punish him. The fact that Simeon was hiding who he was - that could also really explain his dodgy behavior in Season 4.

After all, after punishing Lilith for doing exactly what he just did, it'd be extremely hard to face them and be honest about what happened.

There's probably more to this theory to iron out and explain, but yeah. I do like the idea, and find the possibility fascinating - for some reason, I've picked up a bit more on Simeon these days.

Nightbringer really has made the side characters soooo much juicier >.>

[bots-and-cons]

Welcome My request is about a human female

She can change hir size and become the size of robots, and she meets the robots by chance, and the two are shocked by the other, and when they try to talk to her, she just turns away, and they cannot find her. With

——————- Ratchet ,Optimus ,Megatron

I've got these HCs about an s/o with size altering powers as well, but these are a bit different to that

~Megatron~

•When you and Megatron met, you were just staring at him, but you were the size of a normal human at the time

•You weren’t really sure what the hell you were seeing, but you did get the feeling you might be in danger

•Megatron doesn’t really care about humans at all, so he pretty much tried to kick you out of his way

•But you quickly changed your size and suddenly you were looking at him in the eye

•Megatron of course would not admit that was startled by that, but he did have to blink a couple of times to make sure he was seeing correctly

•A human that was his size? Had he been shrunk down or had you gotten bigger? And if so, how?

•You then turn really small so you can make your getaway and Megatron is left standing there, angrily rumbling “Where did you go?”

•He’s more interested in your powers rather than you, but he is pissed that you managed to get away, because you could’ve been useful

~Ratchet~

•You’d been keeping your powers hidden since you’d figured using them would just get you in trouble

•Either with the government or with some other party like M.E.C.H

•So you hadn’t used them before, even to help the bots, but the circumstances demanded it

•It was during the scraplet incident and you saved Raf from a falling piece of pipe by changing your size and shielding him

•Ratchet is just looking at you like “Mmmmm, what in the name of Primus?”

•You just turn away and basically disappear because you turn small enough to hide away from him

•You’re kind of scared now that the bots know about your powers, but when Ratchet finally finds you, he acts like it’s no big deal

•He assures you no one is going to tell Fowler and it’s going to be kept a secret and he has sworn the kids to secrecy as well

•You thank him and he does tell you if you want to talk about it he would be interested to hear about it

~Optimus Prime~

•Optimus wasn’t really sure how to react when he met you, it was basically in the middle of the woods and he had no idea what a human was doing there, let alone why you were almost his size

•He had just come there for a walk and to clear his head, but now he was standing next to a huge human

•He sort of figured you would be okay even though you saw him in his robot form, because he thought you were one of those cryptids that Raf had talked about and that you didn’t want to be seen by humans either

•Like you were about as much of a mystery to him then he would be to normal humans

•You actually lived pretty close to where you were so it wasn’t as remote of a place as one might have thought

•You just stared at him and you thought you were hallucinating or something

•Optimus tried to greet you, but the moment the first syllable left his mouth, you disappeared

•He thought you had teleported or turned invisible or something, but you had actually just turned very small and hid behind a nearby rock

•You peeked out from behind it, but the giant mech didn’t seem to notice you, even though he was looking around

•You kept hiding until you heard his footsteps disappearing into the woods

•It was a bizarre encounter and you weren’t really sure what to make of it

[dearweirdme]

Hi Rain!

in light of what's happening to Yoongi:

I have read your opinion reagarding the possibility of taekook coming out, and although I'm not obsessed with that at all, I can't help but wonder how would that even be possible in their circumstances? For such a minor incident, Yoongi has been thrown to the wolves in such a ridiculous way, only because he's a BTS member held at an insane standard and only because it would bring clicks and money. The number of times he has apologized when he barely did anything wrong, knowing Korea's drinking culture, how slow he was driving, how this was blown so much out of proportion...I can't help but think of taekook in moments like these. How incredibly painful it's gonna be, how they are going to literally tear them apart, how they are gonna be the targets of religious anti-LGBT groups, how conservatives are gonna lash at them. And yes, despite everything they have done for their country, they are still gonna be treated like trash because with success comes responsibility in people's eyes. BTS are somehow expected to act a certain way, people see them as an example for society. How you want to live your life on your terms doesn't matter to them. The only thing that matters is the image they have of you, and if you dare stray from that, they will do anything to push you off your pedestal, and the fall hurts way worse when you're as high in the sky as BTS. I would think that Taekook want to pursue their group and solo carreers further. The day their relationship goes public, I fear, might bring way more pain than anything else (I don't want to speak for them and what they are comfortable with, I'm just worried)

For Yoongi to think he did so much damage to BTS image and power with such a minor incident...what will it be the day Taekook come out? They've been coming so hard at him for this tiny mistake...None of the members ever even talked about a relationship let alone a homosexual one. To me that thought materializes in such a distant future!! What do you think?

Hi anon!

I think Tae and Jk coming out (unless it was an unintentional outing or discovery) would be a different situation from Yoongi's case. The whole ridiculousness of standards Idols are supposed to live up to is a whole conversation in itself. I've been appaled at the way Yoongi has been treated, as have many of us. My heart hurts for him big time, and I truly hope he feels and sees Army's support. I don't even care that this is supposedly SK's culture.. if an aspect of culture is wrong we should speak up on it.

I don't expect Tae and Jk to come out soon. I'm thinking more along the lines of in ten years time. Contracts aside (which might limit them in ways), I think their teams would advice them to stay hidden because of their careers. It kinda depends on what their ambitions are also maybe? I suspect they will do a two years of BTS after enlistment, and maybe after that more of a combination of solo work and group work. Do they want to get huge HUGE as solo artists? They would know that queer artists are (sadly) still less likely to become huge HUGE. It's unfair that sexuality is part of a business decision, but it's also part of reality still. Maybe they don't even have a plan yet and will decide when the time comes what they want to do. Feelings are ever changing, and they could feel the benefits of staying hidden at this moment, but perhaps in a few years time they would feel more like being able to be public.

I think at this point in time them coming out would be.. mayhem-ish. Members having a relationship is something that will be controversial in general, but having a queer relationship with a bandmember will probably be too much for many.. not only SK army. Jkkrs and homophobes will go straight to anti's. There will be people who have a problem with them having lied to them. There will be people asking them to leave BTS just like they have asked for Yoongi leaving. I don't think it will be pretty and I think Hybe will not let them at this point in time.

In ten years though.. when they reach the end of their thirties... things might be different. When they get media cooperation (and media can be bought), when they no longer need to be seen as every girls boyfriend. I can see them do it then (maybe sooner if they want to start a family). There's ways to prepare the public for a coming out. It will be small steps to get the public used to the idea.

I'm always hoping for freedom to come early for them, but maybe in some way they are able to feel free while being private as well. They are able to be together, they are able to travel together (Hawaii), they are probably able to just be them amongst friends and family. For a celebrity couple being public limits freedom in some ways as well.

There is always the possibility of them never making an announcement and going more into a 'glass closet' kinda situation. It would entirely depend on how public they as a couple would want to be. They don't owe us or SK any explanation about their relation.. no matter how much we would like to know.

[mslanna]

Who Has been Sleeping With My Shape?

Chapter 6 of Be My Guest now up at AO3

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, is Raphael's kink.

The incident doesn't repeat itself for some time. Tav almost thinks they imagined it. But then it happens again the day the second intruder appears. Tav greets him, well-prepared as ever, but the high elf is haughty, above dealing with simple minions.

He insist on seeing Raphael, so Tav complies. He doesn't even see the hit coming that knocks him out cold. Tav drags the unconscious elf through the house by the scruff of his armour, greaves and boots bouncing and banging on the floor the whole way.

Since they have leave to disturb the devil under these very specific circumstances, Tav drags the elf right into the war council. Raphael actually preens, showing off his well-trained human. Despite their annoyance of being reduced to "the mortal" Tav feels a flush of pride. A small wave of pink that definitely shows on their face as Raphael takes the intruder of their hands.

"Well done." Rare praise from his lips and in front of an audience.

Tav tries to shrimp up into themself, embarrassed and unwilling to show the effect of two simple words on the colour of their face. "It is as we agreed," they get out, each word a stumbling stone on their tongue.

"It is indeed." Raphael lifts their chin with a clawed finger. His smile is mesmerising, indulgent and commandeering at the same time. "I knew we would understand each other."

In response, Tav only tries to nod, but their chin is caught on the fiend's finger and not moving. "Do you need me for anything else?" Tav tries to make him look good before the other devils while they fight the pull of his black-hole eyes. They grow deeper, coronas blazing at their words and it feels good to have found the right ones for once.

"Not now, my -" Raphael stops himself. "Not now. You may leave."

Dazed, Tav turns and leaves the room, acutely aware of the many eyes following them. The door falling into its lock behind them is a blessing. Tav takes a deep breath and returns to their room. The set of armour returns to its place in the wardrobe and they fondly run their fingers over the metal that always feels a little too warm to the touch.

Later that day, reading a most gory murder spree for later sharing with Haarlep, Tav feels it again. A soft tingle, the caress of warm air, almost non-existent. They slap at it like at a bug, which doesn't help. Without wine to dull their senses, Tav sits it out, squirming on the chair they fled to from their comfortable nest.

Some patron must have really liked their performance. Tav winces. But neither ignoring the recurring hints of touch work, nor does concentrating on something else. At least this time the end is clear, like a soft kiss to their very core resolving all hidden tensions. Tav buries their face on their arms and can't even cry. This, they chose themself; this, they brought on themself.

They carry on best as they can, but even Raphael notices they are distracted and dismisses them from their literary skirmish sooner than usual. That hurts. Tav enjoys the conversations on the balcony, battling with words over words and none of it of consequence. They pull themself together and leave dejected.

Haarlep offers no explanation and Tav is not keen on divulging which of the attending fiends fond interest in their shape. At least they are safe at the side of the incubus. While they share their gory novels with giggles and bloody jabs, nobody else can demand Haarlep’s services.

"This is not very well researched," Haarlep chuckles. "How much blood does the author think an average human holds?"

Tav lies on their belly, chin propped up on their hands as they read to the incubus. Not a necessity, but fun. They like doing the voices and Haarlep is a grateful audience. As long as they can drag for inaccuracies of which there are many. "At least 15 litres by the descriptions so far." Tav rifles back a few pages.

"Plus a major organ punctured and the blade removed."

"For an extra five litres of blood," Tav nods.

"Alright, go on." Haarlep nudges them. "But be aware that poor Adoralina is dead at least two times over by now."

"Somebody should start a fund for the cleaning crew." Tav runs their finger down the page to pick up the story again.

"Maybe get some spawn on it? I heard you know of a hand bunch?"

Tav giggles into the pages, wagging their feet in the air. When a voice behind them booms, head and legs drop flat.

"What is going on here?" Raphael makes a strategic pause after the first word and comes towards the bed with long strides. "Haarlep?"

On the one hand, Tav is glad to be out of the line of fire for now. On the other hand it burns to be so ignored. They turn to their back and glare at the approaching devil. "What does it look like?"

"It looks like you are wasting Haarlep's precious time," the devil snarls. He takes in Tav's figure rolled out over the red sheets, book pressed to their chest.

Under the devil's glare, Tav might as well be naked. They hold the book tighter though it doesn't even cover anything important. Black and gold eyes lie on them heavy enough to force the air from their lungs. Tav swallows, ready to defend themself and Haarlep but the incubus is faster.

"As we are want to. Tav and I share delight in literary exploits. Maybe not on the same level of, ah, learning as you do." They open up their front in a peace offering. Raphael does not take it, though.

"There are patrons waiting," he says and points towards the closed curtains. "Patrons who will leave, unlike our – little house guest."

"Alright, alright." Haarlep rolls over seductively, showing off all assets their body has to offer. "Just mentioning here, that usually Tav gets a whole hour of my attention and we are way under."

If devils could turn red, Raphael just might have. "You will do well to remember your station, incubus."

"Oh, but I do," Haarlep smiles easily s they help Tav off the bed. "At the beck and call of every wish our little mousling may have. And humans have such interesting needs. You leave now, dear. We will continue the physically impossible exsanguination of Adoralina Bellheart at a later time."

"Okay," Tav mumbles. "Sorry."

"Don't fash you little head about the inscrutable problems of fiends. It will only give you a headache."

Tav only winces a little, when Raphael's hand descends between their shoulder blades to lead them away. "I will take better care in the future, I promise."

"You, I will forgive," the devil growls, "but Haarlep knows better. The war has many fiends on edge and there is a very easy way to smooth things with them. What are the needs they alluded to?"

Tav tilts their head but Raphael looks straight ahead. Still his presence is somewhat comforting in a boudoir brimming with fiends – some of them making their own entertainment, none of them wearing anything. "Companionship, I guess? I talk a lot when the day is long and every day here is long."

Raphael drops his hand from their back. "Is that so."

"I am not blaming you, as you said, war." Tav shrugs. "And-"

A devil prowls past without a care in the world, almost tripping into Tav. A protective wing snaps up around them, pushing the wayward fiend aside. Tav moves closer to Raphael. "Thank you." They didn't like the look on the other devil's face one bit and are glad to pass into the corridor.

Raphael doesn't leave them though. "To the library?" he asks, scanning the hall for more rowdy patrons.

"Yes, please." Unthinking Tav slips a hand into his. "They usually leave me alone. Maybe I should remember how heated tempers are next time I hog Haarlep."

"Nobody will dare touch you in my house," Raphael assures Tav. "If anybody oversteps their boundaries, you let me know. Immediately."

Tav nods. "I will. Thank you." They smile at the devil at their side, But Raphael still stares straight ahead. "I will see you later then?"

Raphael snaps out of whatever reverie he was caught up in and looks down at them. "Later, yes, as per usual."

"Great." Tav smiles. "Looking forward to it."

They catch themself just before rising on tiptoe to peck him on the cheek. A most inappropriate urge that only abates when they close the heavy door behind them. That was close. One day they will slip up and that will likely earn them a claw down the face. If Raphael feels lenient.

For days Tav has dropped little signs, like saying they look forward to seeing the devil again and he picked up on none. All he eve does is lay those black eyes on them with the weight of the universe behind the gaze.

With a sigh they sit down to read. But Tav's mind can't settle. Something is nagging at the back of their mind. After reading the same paragraph three times, Tav gives up. Maybe a nap will help. It's not as if there is anything to miss.

As soon s Tav stands the nagging feeling returns with a vengeance. The familiar ghost of a touch is more insistent than ever. Where at first it was but the memory of wind, the touch now hones in, seeps with practised ease under their skin and moves through their body with singular intent. Tav finds themself lurching as the feeling crests inside them.

For a moment they close their eyes to gather themself. Never before has the experience been so intense. They can almost make out fingers in the caress ghosting over their skin. And the feeling lingers, does not retreat as it used to but builds up again. Tav curls both hands around the backrest of the chair and tries to breathe deeply. They give up on the idea of walking anywhere, least of all out in public.

Aeons pass until the touch vanishes with a last deep impression. The lingering longing makes Tav's face burn. This is not tenable. It doesn't matter who wanted their shape for whatever reasons. It needed to stop if they are to function properly. It needed to stop, full stop.

It is something to bring up to Raphael later. The thought of that conversation keeps Tav's face from cooling down for a long time.

[chaoscradle]

Winter Is Not Eternal

(um. this is really short, and i wrote this in one night at like 11pm so if it makes no sense/is too fast paced/ooc etc please excuse that i am very sleep deprived + i never write this kind of stuff so out of my element)

---

It’s snowing hard.

That’s not going to be stopping Mike from seeing Will.

It’s been too long, in Mike’s opinion – two months since they’ve been able to see each other on their own and talk without someone else with an open ear around.

Two months since the Mindflayer was sealed in the Upside Down.

Things have been a little hectic since then. Erratic and overprotective siblings and adults, paranoid friends, everyone still trying to come to terms with everything that’s happened.

It’s not that Mike isn’t upset – he really is, like really really is – but seeing Will has always just made everything so much calmer. Made his mind less clouded, more discernible and manageable. Nancy’s been following him around since the incident though, and that doesn’t exactly make his quest of spending time alone with Will any easier.

“I know what you’re going through, Mike, I’m trying to help! Why don’t you understand that?!”

She was the one who didn’t understand. Nobody does, nobody except Will. Even El doesn’t understand, she hadn’t been there – she hadn’t seen Will in the hospital, screaming and crying and struggling. She hadn’t seen Will in the shed, tear tracks staining his cheeks as he desperately tried to fight against the Mindflayer’s control. She hadn’t watched Will slowly forget who he was, and who he loved, and be completely helpless to stop it. None of them got it. Even Joyce, who had been there for every single one of those moments, didn’t get it.

But Will understands everything. He understands him on a level nobody else ever has and nobody else ever will. It’s scary sometimes, but at times like now, it’s everything he needs.

And if it takes Mike having to sneak out into the cold night snow to be able to see him without his sister breathing down his neck, so be it.

There’s more snow coming down than Mike had originally thought, and he’s come close to losing control of his bike and crashing several times as the patches of ice become less and less visible under the fresh snow.

He pedals faster.

His mind is going at a manic speed, his thoughts indiscernible besides the clear sound of all too familiar guttural screaming and the ever-present and increasingly panicked mantra of Will, Will, Will, Will playing on loop.

He’s almost there. Almost to Will.

It doesn’t take too long for him to finally reach his destination, dropping his bike under a tree by the side of the road, hidden enough for it to be left alone by any drunk teens. Taking a deep breath, he makes his way across the snow, trekking his way down a path that had unfortunately made itself all too familiar in the past few months. A path he had walked down time and time again with Lucas and Dustin, Joyce and Jonathan, sometimes Nancy – but never once he had walked down alone.

Every headstone in the cemetery has a fresh snow covering their tops, making them indistinguishable to an outsider, but not so much to Mike. He’s always been able to find Will, no matter where he is. It’s no different now, even if the circumstances aren’t the same.

He brushes the snow from the top of Will’s headstone, more for the sake of doing it than actually getting the snow off.

“Hey, Will,” Mike says, his voice breaking mid-sentence, “I… keep seeing you in everything. It’s like you’re still here, sometimes. We promised to go crazy together, but… you’re not here anymore.”

Time still passes. The world still spins. People still live their lives.

None of them care for the death of Will Byers.

But the night sky weeps alongside Mike. Its tears fall in soft, white specks, flooding the world with its sorrow for what could have been.

It snows, and it snows, and it snows, and Mike cries, and cries, and cries.

And when Mike finally heaves himself up, forcing himself back onto his bike to return home, the snow stops.

It will snow many more times – it’s only December – but for now it’s calmed down, and eventually, snow will not fall as often. 

Winter is not eternal.

Neither is spring or summer, for that matter. Eventually it becomes winter again, but after that, spring follows once more.

It will take time, but eventually, Mike will learn the same thing.

[armpirate]

The Only One || JJK || Ch. 28

Pairings: mafia!jk x fem!reader

Genre: smut, angst, mafia, contract relationship

Warnings: Prostitution, torture, blood, use of drugs and weapons

Summary: You've always wished for a better life. Every single day at work, you were hoping something would change. Although you didn't think that change would come in the form of one mysterious man and a contract.

His controlling and selfish behaviour only wanted to keep you away from any other man that wasn't him, and you only had to wait for him.

Too bad you really thought you'd be smarter than Jeon Jungkook.

Previous || Next

MASTERLIST

Aprox. time of reading: 11 minutes

Jungkook quickly checked the person under him, neither of those bullets caught Y/n in one of those several trials. She didn't seem to be hurt, at least not physically, the teardrops piling up in her eyes showed how scared she was after the incident. He then checked over his shoulder, realizing there was no one in the room anymore.

But that man wasn't what worried him at that moment. Checking on her again, he tried to find something, the slightest wound in her body.

—I'm okay —she kept repeating, holding Jungkook's face to force him to stop and focus on her.

But when he looked down, seeing her lower body for the first time, he saw her covered in blood. His heart raced against his chest as he thought of the fastest way to get her out of there safely.

—How can you say you're okay? You're bleeding.

—It's not mine —she sobbed—. Stop moving.

When he was too busy protecting her to be aware of his own pain, Y/n kept feeling something liquid falling over her body. The first drops hit her collarbone, and it was then when she was aware of the thick line of blood that kept rolling over his shoulder down on her.

Trying to be as careful as possible, she moved under him, dragging her body to the side to be finally able to stand up while he sat on the bed, only being then when he was aware of his wound. A throbbing pain in his shoulder, and that ran from his bicep to the tip of his fingers, made him groan when he moved his arm to get his body to get up from the floor. Feeling that same pain after a few seconds when Y/n pressed one of the sheets in the bed against the wound.

His hand took her hand's place, pressing over the white fabric while he saw her getting dressed with his shirt and her panties that were still somewhere in the bathroom as fast she was able to, and ran outside. The only thing she wanted in that moment was to get help from anyone who was watching the house. But the five men that were supposed to be looking after Jungkook were all lying on the floor in different spots of the house, lifeless bodies surrounded by a pool of dark blood.

In any other circumstance, she would've panicked and would've been frozen on the spot. But there was something else that worried her more than the danger she was in, and it was the fact that Jungkook was bleeding out upstairs.

When she peeked inside her room breathless, he looked at her over his shoulder. The consequences of the wound started being more evident with every second that passed. His tanned skin turned paler than when she left him, and his face was covered with a thin coat of sweat as he clenched his jaw, trying to deal with the pain by himself. Just a look at her face and his suspicions were confirmed. All his men were dead.

—We need to get out of here —he whined as he made the attempt to stand up—. I need you to listen to me, okay? Get me a pair of jeans, and look at the drawer on the right of my bed, there's a gun hidden in it.

Y/n didn't think it twice, her body was moving to his order before she was able to think them through -not like she had time for it either. She had to get used to living like that, so the sooner she made the effort to adapt, the better.

She helped him put his pants on, and handed him the gun that she had left on the mattress before she started to dress him. Making sure that the wound would still be covered and pressed by the fabric, she ripped off the fabric and made a knot on his chest.

His instructions after that were clear: they needed to get out of there, and she'd be the one taking them both away. Jungkook knew it was probably too much to ask for, knowing she had never stepped outside without being guided by others; she suddenly had the responsibility to look after him until they got to the safe place.

Her driving was clumsy and abrupt, making it obvious that she didn't own a driving license back in Spain and that was her first time driving a car. With every turn, she'd turn to him after she heard him groan and hold his shoulder -as if that would make the pain fade away.

—Park inside —he instructed her.

Pressing her lips tight together, she tried to have as much control over the car as possible, getting inside the parking lot of the small building. She stopped the car at the first spot she found, not caring in the slightest if it was crooked, misplaced or upside down.

—Joonwoo is already upstairs —he let her know.

She didn't know, but she had driven them to one of the safe houses the Bangtan family had all over the country, placed as far away from any of his business so it wouldn't be too obvious. At least, he thought no one would think he was hiding at Insadong out of all the places.

While they got to his flat, and she handed Jungkook to Joonwoo, finally being able to see her hands completely turned red, she was aware of how scared she actually was of something happening to him. She had never felt so terrified of losing someone. The only time she had a similar feeling was when Jorge was hospitalized for the first time two years ago, and even then it felt different from what she was feeling at that moment.

She had always seen Jungkook with that tough and invincible facade, so hard to reach that it annoyed her most of the time, but seeing him lying in the bed, in such a poor state made her whole body shake with the worst thoughts that could cross her mind. Even if she knew the bullet didn't penetrate him, and it was only a superficial wound that would get easily healed after taking care of it.

While looking at the bright lights from some of the shops that were still open so late into the night, she kept thinking what were the chances of dying that night. Whoever attacked them, got them distracted and vulnerable, with no possibilities of getting help anyway, yet the only thing they got was a wound that'd get healed after a few days -and that, at most, would leave a scar on his scapula.

Whoever attacked them, didn't actually want them dead that night.

—Step away from the window —he finally told her, leaving the tiny bedroom to join her in the living room.

—How are you feeling? —she asked, walking to him with both of her arms crossed over her chest.

—High as fuck —Jungkook's head fell back on the backrest—. I need more of that shit for my day to day.

—That could lead to dependence and attachment —she raised her eyebrow.

—I'm already dependent and attached to you, and I'm fine —he joked—. I'm sure I'll be able to deal with tranquilizers as well.

—Well, you're being fine... It's quite subjective.

Jungkook raised his head as he heard her voice getting closer, until he heard it over him. Unable to hold himself back, and despite the pain he felt on his shoulder after moving his arm that way, he dragged her body to the armchair, making her straddle him.

—I'm okay —Jungkook assured her with a calming voice—. Those assholes need more than that to kill me.

But still, his words didn't have the effect he was expecting. Her eyes softened with his tired smile, but they also were shiny because of the teardrops piling on the corners.

—I thought you were going to die —she admitted, her voice cracking mid sentence while she fought the sob from coming out.

—I thought that idea would make you the happiest —he joked again.

It was bittersweet. Because she smiled, shaking her head at how he was pulling that attitude even in the situation he was in, something that also caused her to blink and let some tears roll down her cheeks.

—At this point, I'm the one who should kill you —she cleaned her teardrops with the reverse of her hand—. Otherwise, it won't count.

Despite joking around, and even giggling, Jungkook could tell there was a glimpse of concern tinting Y/n's eyes. And while he'd love to take that worry away in any other way, he took her hand and stretched her index finger, pointing directly at him.

—I got this one when I was fourteen —he pointed at the bullet scar on his right collarbone—, I wanted to learn how to shoot and obviously it didn't turn out great. The bullet bounced.

Y/n sighed in relief when she heard it was his mistake, almost as if he shot himself, instead of being attacked by someone else when he was just a kid.

—This one —he moved her hand lower to his ribs—, I was stabbed three years ago when I tried to meddle in a fight. The guy hit on his girlfriend in front of everyone, and I just couldn't help myself.

—What about this one? —she moved her hand under his, reaching the bullet mark on the left side of his abdomen.

—I got it the day my father died —he mentioned—. We were suddenly attacked, I guess it was something similar to what happened today. My dad got in between, trying to protect me, but one of the bullets got through him and reached me. I was unconscious for three weeks, it was a bad one.

His trembling lip got her attention, out of all the features of his face, when he finished telling the story. She understood why it was something he never spoke about, or that he never mentioned before. He saw his father sacrificing himself for him, dying in front of his eyes without Jungkook being able to do anything to avoid it.

She had seen all those scars every time she had seen him naked, but she never cared that much about them. Not until she was reminded of his lifestyle that night, and how each one of all those scars got him pending between life and death.

—That's why you shouldn't worry —he got her attention again—. It's not that easy to kill me —taking her hand in his tight, he continued—. Why don't you show me a scar, too? I feel like I'm the only dumbass in the room.

—You're the only dumbass in the room.

She then giggled softly, slightly tilting her head before she took his hand in hers, moving, placing his index the same way he did with hers. Y/n pointed to the small mark near her hearline, and that she'd always try to cover with her bangs. Her skin tone on that three centimeters long scar was slightly lighter than the rest.

—I fainted in the middle of the street the night Jorge found me —she informed him—. I was in a poor condition, and probably I would've died if it hadn't been for him.

Jungkook traced her scar gently, trying to link the short glimpses of her story she has allowed herself to share. Not being able to have kids, the non-existent relationship she had with her parents and the strange connection to Jorge... And how all that ended up with her being in that club. She was a mystery he wanted to discover, slowly. He wanted to see all the uncured scars, he wanted to see every inch of her exposed for him.

Suddenly, owning her body wasn't enough anymore.

—And the tattoo you had already seen. I don't have any more scars —she dropped his hand—. Sorry to disappoint.

—You'd never disappoint me —he smiled, moving his thumb down to her cheek.

Y/n tried to make the attempt to get up, and sit somewhere else, but Jungkook's hands resisting her movements got her sitting back on his lap properly. Not like she didn't like being there, but the intimacy around them all of sudden, while they looked into each other's eyes in silence, made her nervous. Not uncomfortable, and she didn't dislike it either. She wouldn't even be able to describe it.

—What are we going to do now? —she whispered.

—I don't know —he sighed.

—Don't you think it's weird that the person didn't kill us? Or you? —she asked, bringing back the topic that had been running through her head since they got there— They killed the bodyguards, they got inside the house and shot at us. They didn't even get near to be sure either of us were dead.

—You think it was a threat?

—I mean, what's the point of doing all that, but still allowing you to escape? That person probably won't have another chance like that one.

Jungkook frowned, feeling stupid for not being aware of such a small detail until she mentioned it. If someone had wanted him dead, he for sure wouldn't be there in that room at that moment, he probably wouldn't even have made it out of his place.

—You messed with Sanhyuk's men, and hours later this happens? Doesn't seem a coincidence.

—I'm not even sure Sanhyuk was the one behind it.

He then remembered Namjoon's text, and how it sounded like a threat against her. The attack also happened in her room, so it could be it was meant to add pressure and force Jungkook to get rid of her.

—What do you mean?

—Y/n... I think you're already deep down my shit to involve you even more.

—I think you're speaking a bit too late, aren't you? —she replied back.

She was deep down all of his issues and deals, and the least he could do is speak to her about it.

—I know I'm in no position to say this, but you can trust me...

Her comment made him instantly raise his eyes to hers. If he didn't trust her, he for sure wouldn't have taken her to that place. He wouldn't have risked his life to keep her from being hurt. And she also saved him that night. Jungkook was able to understand what led her to take the decisions she did, he was sure he'd have done the same if he had been in her position.

—Namjoon, one of the members of Bangtan, sent me a text tonight. He told me to get rid of you, or else he will —Jungkook answered.

Silence.

Not only did his answer prove the trust she had on her, but also helped her realize she was dangerous for him. Being around Jungkook could even turn him into a target for people from his own crew.

—Maybe you should —she mentioned, a thin voice breaking the silence that formed between them.

—Maybe, but I won't —pressing his thumb over the spot where his messed tattoo is on her chest—. You sacrificed things because of me, and I will sacrifice things for you if I have to. I promise everything will work out, I'll keep you safe no matter what. 

Taglist: @kaiparkerwifes @sheylamc @amy2006jones @allamericanuniverse @00frenchfries00 @massivelyfullenthusiast

[ladywavecutter]

Diamariel Wavecutter - High Elf Ambassador, Patron

“She seemed sweet enough but I couldn’t help but feel I was in a pool with a shark.” - Lieutenant Kyalan of the 6th regiment of the Silver Helms

Diamariel Wavecutter

Motivation: See the Asur take responsibility as mediators of allegiance between the mortal races. Short Term Ambition: Liaise a better trading relationship between Ulthuan and the Empire. Long Term Ambition: See Ulthuan rise to once again be the supreme global power.

The second eldest daughter to Lord Bel-Haner Wavecutter, Diamariel’s lot in life—one of privilege and prestige—was all but secured upon her birth. The only unseen variable was Diamariel herself. A hidden seadrake among her siblings, Diamariel proved herself ambitious and driven enough to secure herself a place in the court of the Everqueen as both dutiful ambassador and confidant to Allarielle the Radiant. Gifted in both the custom of court and the winds of magic, Diamariel has readily proven that eventually her machinations will, through charming diplomacy or arcane mastery,  come to fall in line with her decided outcome.

Background

Diamariel was expected to follow the path of domesticity taken by her mother and eldest sister: find a husband of good standing, raise his children and run a household of her own. It was perfectly ordained to the norms of her people - it was also regretfully boring and the very thought of such an existence made her skin crawl.

Through her guile, wit, and success in study of the arcane arts, Diamariel established herself as not only the rebel of the Wavecutter family, but made a name for herself as an agent and diplomat of the Everqueen Alarielle. She earned the Everqueen’s favor very early in her career, by way of an incident in which the then young Diamariel returned a great stag to the menagerie of Avelorn, from which point she slowly rose to see herself tasked with managing the Queen’s interests and affairs across the Great Ocean in the Empire and beyond.

On these endeavors, the Lady Wavecutter has found herself entangled in circumstances that have each given her a perspective of life outside of Ulthuan that so very few of her kin can boast of. One such expedition into the empire led the Lady to be embroiled in the unraveling of a conspiracy targeting the Supreme Patriarch of the Imperial Colleges of Magic, cementing the alchemists of the Gold College as a valuable personal ally. It was also during this expedition that through less than pleasant means she was first confronted with interpretations of the Asur, and their less than favorable depiction among the zeitgeist of the disenfranchised of Imperial society, as well as a keener understanding of how far behind the times Ulthuan had seemed to be becoming. 

The East of her Troubles

One of the things that puts Diamariel in stark contrast with many of her kin is her overwhelming sense of empathy to  both elf and man alike. This almost otherworldly emotional intelligence has positives and negatives which have manifested in the Lady’s complete willingness to pause her life in the face of unresolved turmoil. The most debilitating case of this occurred upon a series of burglaries against Asur residents of Altdorf. Upon confronting the thieves, instead of handing them over to the authorities, Diamariel did as she as most who know her would expect her to - engaging them in conversation.

It so happened that these thieves held Brustellite politics, disenfranchised by the systematic poverty experienced in the East End of Altdorf. They  attributed the economic inequality to the forced movement of established communities into this slum following the creation of the Colleges of Magic—an act of meddling by the Asur. Whilst she disagreed that the colleges and the Asur were solely the reason for the city’s ever broadening gap between aristocrat and urban poor, she sympathized with their plight, that their suffering was enough that they felt the need to lash out. In an attempt to put to bed at least some of the bad blood between the residents of the East End and help bring more wealth into the area for its residence, Diamariel established the Wavecutter Company Outreach Initiative.

This initiative began as a way to reach out to locals and get them working alongside Asur traders and sailors, picking up skills and trades starting with apprenticeships that would later on develop into employment. While currently in its infancy, she plans to expand the project to have generational impacts, though some, namely her fellow Asur, would regard her as more than a little eccentric for going this far simply due to the plight of some petty thieves with shaky political motivation.

Diamariel as a Patron

Characters serving Lady Diamariel will find their patron a warm and empathetic, but wise and tactful leader. As an accomplished diplomat, characters will find themselves embroiled in political intrigue, and, when the timing calls for it - action and peril. The political landscape of Ulthuan is a spider web of interconnected threads, weaved together to create a turbulent picture, irrespective of its orderly facade. It is a bureaucratic tumult that demands a great mind to fully understand and traverse, only becoming more daunting when outside influence and interests reach out to entangle themselves within it. 

Once having achieved the seemingly impossible task of learning to maneuver in this vipers den of princes, nobles, guilds and politicians, characters will find Diamariel both guide and taskmaster in understanding and exploring life within Asursociety. She may charge characters as messengers between lords that she is currently petitioning on behalf of her mistress the Everqueen, bodyguards to nobles who have received threats of violence from rival families (or even Druchii rogues), private investigators into matters of legal intrigue of corrupt politicians, and potentially mercenaries tasked with protecting missions of trade and diplomacy between Ulthuan and the Empire.

In short, the Lady Wavecutter is sure to provide her employees with duties to challenge or intrigue them. That said, she is highly attuned to the emotional and physical wellbeing of those who serve her and will equally look to push her employees into opportunities in which they can better themselves, as well as act as counsel for those who have earned her respect. This of course comes with the understanding that characters have earned her respect, and she is not above having those in her service prove their worth to her before any real investment is made on her part.

Traits: Weapon (Quarterstaff) +5

Skills: Charm 100, Cool 95, Dodge 89, Endurance 78, Gossip 100, Intimidate 46, Intuition 102, Leadership 100, Melee (Basic 55, Polearm 55), Navigation 65, Perception 102, Evaluate 102, Channelling (Azyr 80, Ghyran) 80, Language (Battle 100, Classical 100, Magick 85, Reikspiel 100), Lore (Magic) 85, (Ulthuan) 100.

Talents: Acute Sense (Sight), Arcane Magic (Azyr, Ghyran), Attractive, Commanding Presence, Etiquette (Nobles), Night Vision, Noble Blood, Petty Magic, Read/Write, Savvy, Schemer, Second Sight 

Spells: Petty: Dart, Dazzle, Drain, Gust, Shock. Lore of Heavens: Comet of Casandora, T’Essla’s Arc Lore of Life: Forest of Thorns. Trappings: Grimoire, Staff of Diplomats, Best Quality Courtly Clothes, Map, Dagger, Magical License. 

Staff of Isha’s Envoy A staff expertly crafted to be bespoke for its weilder - gifted to Diamariel as a proof of office by none other than the Everqueen Alarielle the Radiant. This staff provides +1 SL to Channeling (Ghyran) Tests and +2 SL to Fellowship Tests

[furious-rogue-stuff]

Heat Chapter 37: Everything

I’m back-back-back, back again~! 🥴 Pedro’s hosting SNL, dominating media, claiming 2023 as his year, and I’m over here ready for some more Heat, baby 😁

Pairing: Javier Peña x OFC | Javi x Querida

Disclaimer: Written in 2nd person narrative, you can safely assume our heroine and love/lust interest is a Latina, written by a Latina. Here's my philosophy on my writing, for further context.

Rating: Mature/Explicit 🔞

Word Count: 19,500+

Summary: You’ve been each other's safe harbor, so when the spectacular circumstances that lead to the end of the Cali cartel's influence oust everything you have Javi had been looking forward to, can your gravitation survive the fallout of events?

Warnings: Javier Peña being the our flawed AF king. Graphic descriptions of sex, including explicit depictions of unprotected sex. Mentions of hurt/comfort, resentments, toxic coping mechanisms, heartbreak and hidden motives. Descriptions of pining, light dom/sub play, cum play, size kink, praise kink, and dirty talk. Allusions to triggering events, vindictive behavior, foreboding threats, and emotional trauma. Some Protective!Javi, Dom! Javi, Sub!Reader, Wrathful!Javi. In the vein of Narcos being a bilingual show, and Javier Peña being fluent, I felt it was apropos to include Spanglish and Spanish throughout.

Heat Masterlist

Previous chapter - Chapter 36: Pésame

Chapter 37: Everything

After the capture of Miguel Rodríguez, things seemingly fall into place, as if they'd always been planned that way.

You go into work the next day and hear about how Chepe Santacruz surrendered to the authorities and was taken into custody to La Picota, and by the following afternoon, after a purported massacre at a Norte del Valle ranch, Pacho Herrera is arrested at a church without incident.

All four Cali godfathers were in prison. By all appearances, the Cali cartel had been subdued and their operation had been halted.

Javier doesn't tell you anything to make you think otherwise.

Instead, he spends these days seemingly finalizing work on the case, but in reality, he and his agents are gearing up resources for the tracking and capture of a missing asset:

Guillermo Pallomari. The Cali cartel accountant. The only person left alive – and on the lam, who could decode the ledger and unravel Cali's web of influence – and hopefully keep all four godfathers locked up for real.

You know about Javier's plan to locate and secure the man into DEA custody, but you don't know why he seems so intent to do so without the assistance of CNP, nor why he's so sure he has to get Pallomari to ensure the government doesn't go through with the surrender deal after all. At one point, you'd assumed he would eventually tell you everything that transpired that day – the sequence of events that had left him feeling so demoralized after what should've been a celebrated success. But then days go by and he doesn't detail a thing.

Really, there's no true opportunity for you both to sit with everything and discuss it. Not with how busy you both are. Passing like two ships in the night. Only when you're in each other's arms are you figuratively at port, and even then, you relish the time making love and wanting to get lost in each other. During the mornings, you'd give each other brief updates on where you both were at work. Javi used the time to check in on you about things back in Medellín while you both got ready for the day. He'd assure you things were going fine on his end, and you wouldn't push him.

It was your chance to share a quick, unguarded moment – not to do a deep dive.

Javi wasn't really lamenting that. Not when he wanted to bury his feelings and tend to yours as best as he could.

It'd been easy for Javi to bury the details of what happened the day they'd caught Miguel Rodríguez, and while he sensed you hoped he would eventually tell you, he had chosen to obfuscate. To let you believe he'd moved on from it and discussing it now would only drudge the self-loathing and acrimony back up.

His ability to keep that to himself was made all the much easier by the fact you were trying to cage your own feelings up as well. Things were still raw for you, but you'd had to deal with your grief the best way you knew how – by bottling it up, and compartmentalizing it into the deepest, most secluded shelf within yourself. It was a necessity for you to do so.

Combined with the swiftly approaching deadline of Ellis leaving with Anita and her family to Puerto Rico, all of the upheaval of preparing for the departure at work, fiscal bureaucratic responsibilities needing your attention, and the obligations you have to deal with regarding your grandmother's estate, you simply have no room to let the sorrow take hold of you for long. Even when the realtor calls to let you know the apartment you'd loved was no longer available, you hadn't let the pang of sadness stew in you for more than a few seconds before you thanked her for the update and said you'd be in contact once you were ready to look at more places.

You'd mentioned it to him, but Javier had nodded and changed subjects. Choosing to treat everything not part of 'the now' as something neither of you should dwell on.

He chooses to act like he hadn't crumbled before you and needed your grace to stitch him back together, and when he quickly redirects away from himself and his work to ask about you and yours? Or when he scoffs at your mentioning of his "takedown of Cali" being the talk of the embassy, you don't take umbrage, especially with the latter. You know him well, and figure he's deflecting because boastful accolades make him cringe, and he'd rather take the shine off of himself and focus on your success.

After all, you have your own milestones to celebrate these days.

The pilot program has been a success, and with the close of this first round, you are touted by the ambassador for achieving such a formidable goal – and under budget. It's such a lauded achievement, that your department gets the proposed funding to add headcount and expand operations for the next fiscal year. And when you walk into the conference room for the big bi-annual interagency head of department meeting this very morning, you are surprised by the series of claps you receive when you come through the door.

Everyone congratulates you, shakes your hand, and share varying well-wishes for more to come for your department. The Mil Group and Centra Spike fellas especially shower you with cheers, and you are smiling irreverently as they propose a big happy hour get-together to celebrate for real when Javier comes into the room – in his dark gray suit and with the blue and gold-striped tie you'd steamed the wrinkles out of for him this morning – hair already tousled from him running his fingers through it in pent-up stress.

It's times like this you wish you could go to him and kiss the frown off his handsome face. But, instead, you all sit once the ambassador enters.

You can't help notice how Javi goes out of his way to sit closest to the door, and avoids Crosby's gaze. He swivels his nonchalantly about the table before connecting with yours briefly to then force himself to look down at his watch busily.

He's so tense. You internally frown, wondering if something big is about to go down at this meeting, which would explain why he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else—

The ambassador calls your name, and when you snap your attention to the head of the long, oval conference table, he smiles. "—Fantastic work, as always. State Department is so pleased, they're already trying to poach you from here! I hope if anyone over there tries to snake their way to you with a direct offer, you'll kindly tell them to buzz off," he jovially remarks and jokes, earning a few wry chuckles from around the table. He then directs his gaze over at Javier as he drawls, "And, as you all know, congrats are in order for Agent Peña and his team. Without his tenacity in capturing the Rodríguez brothers, the rest of the Cali leadership wouldn't have folded up shop. Great work."

Everyone claps to that, including you, and Javi tries his best not to squirm under the terse praise, forcing a half smile to the people sitting closest to him that pat him on the shoulders. You know he hates this, but there's something in his dark coffee-brewed eyes that is almost pained by the acknowledgement. But as quick as it was given, so was the attention diverted away to other bureaucratical topics.

By the end of the meeting, you intend to weave over to him and suggest having a one-on-one in your office, but the ambassador comes over and thwarts you. Once he's finished regaling you with some of the positive comments he'd received from heads in DOS, you look back and see Javier is long gone from the room.

This morning, he'd mentioned spending the day meeting with his guys in order to go over tactics for the Pallomari case, so you decide to risk the impropriety of going up to see him without an appointment as an excuse. Instead, you enter the DEA department with a to-go tray carrier with four coffees and a couple of creamers, stirrers and packets of sugar nestled in the center. However, when you find the secluded meeting room they tend to use for these hush-hush sessions, only Stoddard, Feistl and Van Ness are in it.

"Hey, fellas! I come bearing caffeinated bliss," you chime congenially as you enter, smiling brightly when they look up from the mess of papers and files strewn over the table and gawk at the coffee cups as you set them down on an uncluttered corner. "Where's your fearless leader?" you jibe as you hand Stoddard his cup.

"He stepped out for a quick call," Stoddard answers and eagerly preps his coffee with the cream and sugar he likes. He sips from his cup and practically swoons before he tells the other agents, "You guys, if you haven't had the director's coffee, you've been missing out."

The two junior agents are dressed casually, wearing jeans, sneakers, and well-worn t-shirts under very busy-looking patterned button down short-sleeved shirts. You don't see how Feistl ogles your hourglass shape as you're carefully removing the cups from the carrier to hand one to his partner before handing the other to him.

"It's not my coffee, but yes – it's excellent, and I wanted to give you my congrats on your successes, and show my appreciation by bringing you guys a little pick-me-up," you sardonically lilt as you hold out the tray with the creamers and sugars after you've removed the remaining cup meant for Javi.

"Thanks!" Chris gives you his most winning smile as he plucks a creamer and two sugar packets, along with a wooden stirrer, from the tray. His features are covered in dark stubble, and the Hard Rock Café t-shirt he has on under his garish palm-leaf print button down looks rumpled, like it'd been on the floor rather than in a drawer before he'd pulled it on that morning.

Dan politely takes the tray from you so you can hold the remaining cup in both hands less awkwardly, nodding his thanks and doing everything to not look at your cleavage thanks to his tall stature that gave him a perfect view down your sage-colored crepe V-neck blouse, even from his vantage point on the opposite side of the table. And when he pivots to place the tray down on a storage cabinet, his geometric-print button down shifts to reveal more of his shirt, and you notice the logo on it.

"Oh! Is that the Red Hot Chili Peppers?" you inquire, smiling wryly when he balks before looking down at his Blood Sugar Sex Magik shirt like he's just realized what he had on.

"You know 'em?" the tall man inquires with a charmed little smirk pulling at his pouty-pink lips, eyeing you now as if impressed.

"I mean, don't let the stuffy outfit fool you, agent. I have many a band shirt in my collection as well," you jibe and wink at him. "I saw them live once. Right before I came down here. I've been meaning to get that album," is your affable remark as you put a hand on your hip and continue in light conversation – expanding on the concerts and music festivals you've both been to, not noticing the amused glower Chris is shooting his partner at being able to chat you up like he's secretly wanted to for a while.

You do notice how Stoddard glances at the door behind you, and before you can turn, Javi is drawling, "Are you trying to poach my agents into the next round of your pilot, director?"

Raising your brows innocently, you turn and scoff, "Poach them? Never. No, in good time, you'll all be unable to avoid my department, and will fall in line just like everyone else."

Stoddard chortles into his coffee cup while Chris grins behind his hand and Dan flattens out his lips comically at your audaciousness.

Javier just grunts and gives you a challenging look, so you hold out the coffee cup and smile angelically as you chime, "I bring coffee as a show of good will. I'm gonna need it to convince you to let us on-board the rest of your staff before the year ends."

He accepts the cup and has to fight the impulse to pull you close so he can plant a kiss on your goading, rouged lips. Instead, he nods his thanks before inquiring, "Actually, got a minute? I wanted to go over something mentioned during the meeting earlier."

"Of course," you remark before turning and giving each of the men a smile goodbye. "Good luck, boys!"

While the three men remain in the conference room and exchange varying degrees of amusement – including Chris elbowing Dan and bouncing his brows crassly at him while Stoddard shuts the conference door, Javier gestures for you to walk ahead of him in the hall as he directs you to a different room just off from his office. It's a small room with horizontal blinds giving privacy in a department with a lot of vestibule-styled conference spaces. It looks like it's been outfitted to be a make-shift audio equipment surveillance room, so the lights were low-lit when he flicked them on, and there were two swivel chairs tucked into place by the retrofitted work station.

As soon as he shuts the door, Javi plops the coffee cup down on the counter and pulls you into his arms before kissing you with all the bottled-up passion he'd been stowing since seeing you earlier.

Gasping a giggle, you pull back to saucily whisper, "Javier! This is much too risky—"

"I don't give a shit," he retorts gruffly and picks you up so he can whisk you to sit on the countertop, shoving a swivel chair out of the way so he can stand between your parted thighs. You swoon, feeling so aroused and titillated by his possessiveness, as well as his masculine scent and the heat of his body pressing up against you. "Been dying to kiss you," Javi husks as he paws his touch from your waist up to cup your face before burying his hands in your hair and tilting your features up so he can press salacious kisses over your cheeks, jaw, and neck while you pull him into you and stifle a breathy sound of delight. "Looking so fucking sexy, showing all of us up earlier," he husks after teasingly flicking his tongue along your bottom lip after you exhale needily. "Making my guys lust after you—"

You hiccup a scoffed sound before pulling back and giving him a sassy smile. "Oh my god, you're so ridiculous," you scathe sardonically and affectionately wipe your lipstick prints from his mouth. "Tan celoso—"

"Goddamn right, I am," Javi grouses in that gravelly pitch that makes you ache between your thighs for him. "You don't see the way they look at you," he murmurs heatedly, pursing his lips when you tenderly caress the back of his neck and hum amusedly. "I'm serious—"

"I don't care how they look at me. I only belong to you, querido," is your silky murmur, eyes sultry as you teasingly nuzzle his cheek. "Now, I don't want to keep you. I just came up to see why you were so grumpy," is your soft musing as he rests his forehead to yours and encircles your waist. "I know all the attention annoys you."

"…Just could do without the bullshit, is all," he rumbles in an even tone before shaking his terse mood off. "Thanks for the coffee and smooches, preciosa," is his purr now before he presses a doting kiss to the top of your hairline.

"Well, I didn't intend to smooch you, chulito," is your snicker as he leans back and grunts smugly at you. He has a blush-toned apricot lipstick smear on his chin, so you beckon him closer as you slink off of the countertop and smoothen out your pencil skirt. "Come here, and let me get you sorted so it doesn't look like I had my way with you in here," you drawl cheekily.

Javi chuckles and lets you swipe your thumb to remove the smear before you smoothen out his collar and straighten his tie. "You say that like it's a bad thing," he laconically quips, and you snicker irreverently before leaning up to nose his lapel, and end up huffing with a grunt. "What?" he asks when you lean back and pout.

"You got my perfume on you!" you admonish in a hushed tone and idly make sure you don't have lipstick smudged outside the line of your lower lip before scrunching your nose at him blowing a raspberry at your worrying as he brushes his fingers to comb your hair back into place behind your ears.

"I don't plan on letting anyone get close enough to sniff me, mandona," he jibes as he leans against the counter and picks up the coffee cup to take a long pull.

"I saw that room, chavón," you coolly drawl, adding with musing humor, "Not gonna be able to help smell each other once the coffee runs out."

He hums at that and showily pats his free hand down the side of his blazer to make sure he has his cigarette pack. "I'll have a smoke to camouflage your sexy scent," he rumbles in a canela-brined timbre before towing you with a hand at your hip to lean into him when you purse your lips at his plan. "I can't wait until everyone knows and we don't have to sneak around anymore," is his sincere mumble, leaning close so he can nose into the hairline at your temple.

"So do I," you murmur and lean back, eyes twinkling as you sigh, "Not much longer now."

Javier grunts, and leans his forehead into yours. "I might be late tonight, so don't wait up," he tells you in a smooth baritone.

You nod, wanting to kiss him so bad, but the risk of getting anymore telltale proof of your canoodling on him keeps your desire in check.

He lets you slip from his embrace, but gently caresses his touch to your cheek. Quickly, you turn so you can kiss the inside of his palm and give him a mischievous smile as you bat your lashes, hands teasingly skimming down to lightly graze your touch over his tensing abs as you purr, "Alright, Don Celos. Try and keep that in check so your guys don't get wise to you."

The searing look he gives you is too gratifying. "I'm outta here before I punish you for being such a sexy little atrevida," is his gruff drawl before picking up his coffee cup and exiting first to make sure no one notices you both breeze out and go your separate ways.

While you stride out and turn down the hall to make your way out of his department, Javier is already lighting up a cigarette and taking his time to make his way back to the small conference room.

By the time he's saturated enough of his person with the clinging smoky scent and is settling in for a long day of planning with his agents, you're riding down in the elevator, head full of daydreaming thoughts involving life after this last supposed hurdle.

Of course, that is quickly swept aside when your cell phone rings once you're about to settle in at your desk. The estate attorney reels you down into a heavy sadness as he updates you on the latest, and confirms with you the need to meet in person to sign documents and finalize things. With an upcoming bank holiday and other bureaucratical legalese you need to deal with, he suggests you taking a trip to Medellín and getting your family together in order to complete required steps for passing the property over to them. He offers to make himself available the next few days, so that spurs you into calling your aunt with the news, and after some more tender discussion about the house, you end up agreeing that flying down the following day and having the weekend to get these things done would be best.

Ellis is more than happy to cover things while you're away, so you book a flight and make it all the way home to Javier's at the end of the day before realizing he might take umbrage to you going out of town on such short notice. It nags you as you get out of your work outfit and put on a slinky purple housedress. And when you busy yourself with washing the dishes you've both let accumulate in the sink, it keeps needling you. It doesn't let up, even as you tend to the laundry that's piled up. The stress it conjures up has you ironing his dress shirts on autopilot while you ruminate.

You're so preoccupied with your thoughts about everything that when you're hanging up all the freshly ironed shirts into his closet, you absently bump your hand against a box tucked onto the top shelf, causing it to tumble down.

Managing to catch it with minimal fumbling, you scoff at yourself and are about to pop it back onto the shelf, but the wobbling weight of it and the rattling of the contents within grab your curiosity.

You've never really snooped through Javier's things. Well, there was that time you'd had to search for a hamper, and then hunted for those raunchy pantaleta keepsakes he'd squirreled away. But it wouldn't be too terrible to take a peek inside the box, right?

Pulling the lid of the shoebox open, you look in and find a few folded up visa documents, a laminated prayer card of the Virgin Mary, a glass paperweight with a painted-on relief of La Virgen Santa, a red-beaded rosary, a postcard-sized envelope, and three photographs. With a fawning sigh, you wander to the bed and sit, place the box onto the surface and carefully retrieve the photos so you can peer at them more closely.

Two of them are already familiar. Your smiling expression as you posed for the picture Javi took of you in Cartagena is mirrored on your face now as you look from it to the photo of you both lying side by side on the bed. That weekend floods back to you in warm memories that stir a tingle into your heart, making it skip a beat. But it's the third photo that has you fawning now.

Javi is smiling brightly in it while leaning against a green wooden barn fence. He's standing next to an older man who's wearing a white cowboy hat, standing as tall as Javi, but with a greying moustache. His features are distinguished, but exuding a warm easygoingness to him that you've seen the resemblance of in Javi's expression countless times. They're both wearing light coats and standing in what's obviously a horse pasture on the Peña ranch during a cooler season, considering the overcast sky in the background and the brown horse idling behind another barn fence within its paddock in the back.

"You wanna come to Laredo and meet my Pops sometime?"

Your heart flutters at the recall, and you smile fondly at the photo. The envelope gets your attention next after you return the pictures to the box. Retrieving it, you note the neat handwriting scribbled in bold penmanship on the front, with several stamps denoting it's come from stateside. You can't help smile that it's postmarked from Laredo, Texas, and after cataloguing the address and the name Jesus Peña, you return the envelope to the box and fawningly sigh.

Hours later, Javier drives down into the garage and parks in his spot, feeling dead tired. He lumbers out and makes his way up to his apartment, annoyed but rescind to the next phase of things he has to undertake the following day.

He's not looking forward to telling you about his plans to go to Cali.

No, he is begrudging the fact that all the planning of the day had boiled down to one conclusion: They needed Jorge Salcedo to help them locate the rogue Cali accountant. Feistl and Van Ness were reluctant to admit it, and Javi recognized their protectiveness as being the main factor for resisting recruiting the man into their last-ditch effort to keeping the Cali godfathers locked up permanently. It made sense, especially after the man and his family almost met their demise. They felt personally responsible for putting them in harm's way, so Javi had agreed to be the one to go personally to Salcedo in the morning to ask for his cooperation.

As he lopes down the hall from the elevator towards his door, Javier worries that he'll have to finally tell you what happened, in order to justify his somewhat covert operation in Cali. When he unlocks the door and enters the apartment, he finds the space dark, save for the ambient glow of the television. Once he locks up and sets his things aside on the credenza, he lets his eyes adjust to the dimness, and makes out your sleeping form, curled up on the couch. He approaches quietly so as not to startle you awake.

It looks like you'd put your head down on the armrest and simply dozed off unintentionally. Telling by the glass of water and the plate with half of a sandwich sat on the coffee table, he thinks it's safe to say that you'd decided to wait up for him after all.

"Cariño," he murmurs softly as he sits on the edge of the cushion and gently tucks wayward strands of hair behind your ear before brushing his fingertips along your jaw. You stir and hum as you unfurl from under the throw and adjust to blink up at him. "Sorry to wake you," is his rumble as he leans over to kiss your forehead. "I told you not to wait up—"

"I know," you sigh after you yawn and sit up, scooching close to him so you can curl into his side as he loops his arm around your waist. "How'd the rest of the brainstorm session go?"

"Not ideal…we have a plan, but we'll need to get Salcedo to help us. I'm going over to the hotel he and his family are being guarded at in the morning to get him on board," Javier tells you soberly, steeling himself when you pivot to look up at him worriedly. "We're going to Cali as soon as I get him to agree."

"Oh," you retort softly before pensively looking away and resting your head against his shoulder, trying not to get lost in the smoky scent clinging to his collar. "Ok…well, I guess we'll both have our hands full the next few days," is your musing remark. Javi grunts curiously, so you sigh and resist the impulse to cuddle into him protectively to instead sit up and look into his dark eyes as the glowing cast from the TV illuminates his handsome face. "The estate attorney? He called with an update; wants to take advantage before the bank holiday to finalize things, so I'm flying out to Medellín early in the morning," you pause when Javi's features tense up. "I'm sorry, I know it's short notice—"

"No, it's alright. I just wish I could go with you," Javi retorts as he rubs his palm along his cheek before pinching the bridge of his nose with a tired exhale. "I'll drive you to the airport—"

"Oh, you don't have to," you assure, but Javier shakes his head and scoops you up in both arms so he can pull you onto his lap and embrace you with a contrarian grunt.

"I'm taking you. Do you have someone picking you up once you land?" he asks and holds you close as you loop your arms around his shoulders so you can card your fingers into the back of his hair while he nuzzles your jaw.

"Since everyone will still be at work when I get there, I was going to just take a taxi—" you begin to reply.

"Not a chance," Javi mutters with finality and leans back so he can eye you, the authority of his glare so fierce that you feel a shiver skitter down into your tummy. "I'll arrange for someone to pick you up and drive you to where you have to go—" he starts to state firmly until you pout at him, so he assertively insists, "After what happened last time? Either you have an armed escort I trust, or you're gonna cancel and wait until I can travel with you. There's no way you're going without me ensuring your safety, querida."

You feel heat simmer in your chest before tickling a yearning burn down into your core, making you shiver slightly as you nod obediently and bite your bottom lip.

It shouldn't turn him on to see your breath hitch and features flush from how his intense, albeit provoking gaze gets you before he drawls almost goadingly, "Really? Not gonna argue with me?"

"Well, if you're going to be a jodón about it," you scoff and daringly nudge him as you shift to straddle his lap. He chuckles, eyes crinkling fondly at you as you loosen the knot of his tie with a sassy flare, undoing it while he caresses his hands to the small of your back. But then your gaze becomes sheepish, and you divert it to where you're working the buttons of his collar open. His hands cup the small of your back, and he thinks about how insufferable it'll be – being separated from you, when you lean close until your lips graze his, and whisper, "I wish you could come with me, too…"

He encircles your waist and kisses you, full lips capturing yours tenderly before pressing his forehead to yours. "I know, corazón," he sighs and just holds you, nosing into your hair and getting soothed by your soft perfume.

You hug him, nuzzling his neck, breathing his skin; melt into him when he starts caressing his touch along your sides. He kisses your shoulder where the housedress has slipped down to expose the round of it, and you tingle from the heat that zings down into your core.

The glow of the TV pulls the contouring shadows in around your face when you lean back to sultrily gaze at him before brushing your lips sensuously along his cheek. "I have a surprise for you," you purr and kiss the corner of his mouth, smiling when he shakes the lustful daze off in order to give you his undivided attention. "Can you guess what it is?" is your teasing lilt.

His brows arch as he leans back and stares at you before glancing around at the dark apartment. "Uh…did you clean?"

"Yes, but that's not the surprise," you chuckle and lean back to balance your seated position onto his thighs.

He grunts and eyes you curiously, until the ambient glow from the television catches on your silhouette, backlighting you. That's when he notices it, and his eyes flare up to yours.

"…Fuck me, querida. Are you bare under this little dress?" Javi husks, voracious gaze flicking back down your body to stare at the revealed swell of your breasts under the cotton fabric to see the unmistakable press of your hard nipples against it. And when his hungry stare ventures down to the hem, he realizes you've sat in a way to avoid pressing your crotch over him. His eyes flick back up to you and they're dark with lust, features carving into that smoldering look that makes want pulse into your center. "Show me," he orders in a low rumble that tickles excitement up your spine.

You nip at your bottom lip as you pull the hem of your slinky house dress up your thighs to reveal that indeed, you are completely nude underneath, and the lowlight provided by the TV illuminates the slick heat honeying your cunt.

He's enthralled by how wet and flushed you are for him already, admiring the soft curls on your mound and how inviting your glorious pussy looks, when you chime, "To your liking, mi patrón?"

Javier's eyes snap up to bore incandescently into yours as he sweeps you up against him and effortlessly stands, large hands cupping your ass and forcing you to squeal and loop your limbs around him as he rushes to take you to bed.

"After this morning?! Teasing me the way you did? And you still have the audacity to be a naughty little thing – showing me how wet with need your pussy is – asking if I like it?!" Javi is growling freshly as he bounds across the space before tossing you onto the bed. You exclaim with carefree delight as you bounce on the surface and scramble up onto your elbows to watch him hastily remove his blazer as he kicks off his shoes. "Tan chingona y coqueta, when you know how fucking wound up you get me—" is his surly snarl as he unbuckles his belt and swiftly discards it in order to hurriedly undress.

While he's not looking, you sit up to lean back on your haunches and shed your dress overhead and off before brazenly tossing it to sail in the air and land on his head. He snorts and turns when you laugh impishly and watch him flick the dress to the floor before he cocks a challenging brow at you.

"Come here," you purr and crook your finger beckoningly at him.

He does so, loping over while busily unbuttoning his dress shirt whilst eyeing you smugly as he nears. The bedroom is dark, and the only illumination is coming from the open opaque drapes. The window beyond them lets in the moonlit night that filters through the sheer curtains. You look like a sprite, sitting up on your knees, completely nude and alluringly gazing at him.

Once he's within reach, you snag the open front plackets of his shirt and tow him closer so you can dutifully tug the hem loose from his partially undone slacks, leaning in to brush soft kisses along his exposed sternum as you unbutton the shirt cuffs for him before pushing the garment off of his shoulders.

"I want you, hermoso. But I also want to take it slow so we can savor it, since I'm going to miss you so much," you murmur, staring up at him through your lashes as he shrugs the shirt off to the floor.

"You just don't wanna get punished after being a fuckin' tease," he rumbles puckishly and holds out his wrist so you can take his watch off for him while he smirks at you trying to keep your plush lips from pulling into a cunning smile.

"I love how you think being a bossy grouch in bed with me is punishment," you snicker as you remove his watch and scamper over to the foot of the bed to reach the dresser and place it on the surface. At Javier's charming chuckle, you turn back and watch him unzip his pants while he wryly shakes his head at you.

"Fine. I'll dominate the hell out of you some other time, then," Javi drawls in a gravelly tone as he sheds his slacks, then removes his socks one by one before tossing them in the empty hamper to stand in his gray skivvies with his hands on his hips. "Now, you c'mere," he orders in a grouse and smirks when you prowl like a tigress back towards him before sitting on your knees so you can hook your arms around his shoulders and lean into his warm, broad torso.

Pulling you against him more, Javi kisses you, relishing your little mewl of yearning as he claims your mouth voraciously with his own. He seamlessly hoists you up so that you can wrap your legs around him as he clambers onto the bed and balances you in his hold before easing up on the passion of his kiss to lay you on your back and hover over you. The moonlight and the glean of the city's lights illuminate your nude form now stretched out under him, and catches on his broad shoulders as he sits up to cup his hand between your thighs and touch your tingling center.

You hiccup a whimper when his fingers glide through your drenched folds before parting them. He groans lustfully, "Fuck, you're so wet," pausing to admire how the slick dampening your cunt gleams in the lowlight. He presses his thumb over the hood of your clit and grinds against it just right, just like he knows you like it, and watches you shiver with pleasure as you simper out a little noise of need. "Gonna make sure you come so hard that you soak my fingers, preciosa—"

"Mmph! Javi," you react to his declaration, clinging to him and trying to shove his underwear off with your feet so he can be totally naked and on top of you. "Oh, take this off—"

"I thought you wanted it nice and slow?" he taunts, slipping two fingers into your silken cunt. "Something about savoring it?" is his leering drawl as he curves his thick digits up to brush that spot you can't quite reach yourself, drawing out a moan from you. "Keeping 'em on is the only thing stopping me from railing the fuck out of you like I want—"

You arch and toss your hair back on a groan, blushing at how a new wave of arousal floods your sheath and makes the squelching of your cunt being finger-fucked by him even louder than your panting breaths. "You want that?" is your pitchy mewl as you tighten your grip on his biceps before undulating your hips in time with the plunging pace of his fingers. When his eyes narrow on your luscious smirk, you goad, "C-Can't control yourself any other way?"

His fingers are yanked from your eager pussy so quick that the needy whine that comes out of you has you writhing in flustered heat, but you jolt when he reels back, thinking he's going to leave you like this, but then see he's rushing to get out of his boxer-briefs. He's kicked them off and yanked you by your waist up into his lap in seconds, and before you can gather your wits, Javier is grinding you down on his throbbing, ramrod cock.

Your cry is of titillated hunger, feeling singed through by how the thick of him has stretched you so good while your yearning cunt clenches around him.

He groans, arms encircling your waist tight and keeping you flush to him as you bury your face in his neck. "Feels like you're the one who can't control yourself, malcriada," he husks against your ear, exhaling an amused chuckle when you squeeze your arms around his neck and protest with a weak hum. "Huh, that doesn't sound convincing, mi amor."

Oh, he's so damned cocky. You decide to get him back the way you know will have him caving to you instantly.

You clench your floor muscles around his cock hard and graze your teeth down the side of his neck before nipping the slope that connects to his broad shoulder, then suckle with a lascivious hum.

The world spins and your back hits the bed before you've finished blinking, and Javier has buried a hand in the back of your hair and fisted the strands possessively as he moans shamelessly before he snaps his hips back and slams his thrust full force into you. You see stars and arch as you cry out, nails digging into the backs of his shoulders as you cling to him.

His pupils are blown out when he plants his free hand next to your head so he can adjust the cant of his thrusts in order to barrel into you with abandon in this new angle that has his cock hitting the cluster of pleasure nested within you dead center, over and over until you are spun up into an incinerating orgasm.

"Fuck! Oh god-oh god—" you wail, completely lost to the throes of your climax as he prolongs it and watches you sob, "Jah-Javi!"

He bows his head into your chest with a snarl of accomplishment as you gush warm slick in your raucous release and whimper airily. His cock is pulsing with need, but he slows his pace in order to draw you down from the stratosphere of pleasure and start working you back up.

"Tan brava," he huskily growls against the valley between your breasts before he nuzzles your sweaty skin and trails his tongue down to trace the cup of your left tit, where he leaves a love bite on the swell of it. "Eres mía, tiernita," is his molasses thick purr before he nuzzles over to your right breast and suckles hard on your nipple.

Your pussy clenches around his throbbing shaft as your breath catches in your throat. "I'm yours, Javi," you drunkenly cry as you bury your hands in the back of his hair and arch into his mouth. "All yours," is your sigh when he frees your nipple and traces the tip of his tongue over the pebbled flesh.

Javi teasingly grazes his teeth over your studded nipple, earning a breathy gasp to catch in your chest. "Yeah, you are," is his velvety purr before he suckles the underside of this breast, then nips you lightly before soothing the bite with his tongue. It's a possessive show of dominance, and it makes your silken sheath clench around him.

When his gaze flicks up to you, his eyes are smoldering with desire, and you think he's going to fuck you with abandon. Instead, Javier adjusts so he can hook one of your legs over his forearm and hold you open to him as he rocks into you, then out, then back in – setting an exquisite pace, taking his time so he can feel his cock grind against every ridge inside of you. He wants to feel you pulse around him as he fucks you nice and slow – to watch you clench around him and get revved up into a titillated tizzy.

You grip the bedding and arch when his thrusts angle upwards, bringing him to rut against your thrumming clit in time with the plunge of his cock hitting your pleasure point nestled deep inside you.

Javi thinks he can hold out. That he can get you to climax again before he chases his own need, but you moan and gaze up at him in the throes of your pleasure before you reach for him and pleadingly grip his chest. The whimper you let out inarticulately beckons for him – to have him on top of you and his mouth claiming yours while he fucks you so good.

He gives into it. Leans down to capture your lips and delve into your hungry mouth as he gives into the carnal desire zinging through him. You passionately kiss him back, sucking on his bottom lip before mewling when he rapaciously drags his mouth away to suckle hard on your sloping muscle.

"Javi!" you cry out in ecstasy, overcome by the ravenous pleasure as his thrusts have you careening over the edge into another blistering orgasm.

Your pulsing cunt clamps down on him and floods over with your climax, stoking a ferocious pride in his chest at having you come apart so fiercely. But the moment you whimper rapturously under him and drag your nails down his back? Javi loses the tether of control and fucks into you with need, pace stuttering under the onslaught of his pleasure overtaking him as he comes hard inside of you, groaning your name hoarsely while in the height of his bliss washing over him.

The taut heat that flutters in you when he spills his release is amazing, and you moan a sated sound when he loses coordination and clumsily unhooks your leg from his hold as he collapses on top of you.

The sound of the air-conditioning kicking on muffles your staccato breath and his ragged panting against your neck, and the cool air soothes your scalding, heaving bodies as you both recover from the euphoric and sublime high of falling into bliss together so ardently.

Once he's able to think straight, he grunts huskily before propping himself up so he can nuzzle a path up from your neck to your lips, where he presses adoring kisses before smiling against your cheek at your satiated sigh as you languidly rub his sweaty back.

"Nice and slow is fucking hot," he husks puckishly before brushing his nose impishly against yours.

You giggle breathily and graze your teeth over his plush bottom lip before suckling the morsel with a sensuous hum. "Told you, guapito," you silkily murmur, earning a hum from him before he starts trailing kisses along your jaw. You comb your fingers through the back of his hair and let him kiss a path down your neck to the love bite on the slope towards your shoulder.

The heat of his mouth when he presses a tender kiss over it makes you tingle and swoon.

When he can move, he shifts up and off of you to lie on his back next to your nubile form, taking a deep breath and letting it out through his nose. You turn your head so you can kiss the top of his shoulder. He smiles, and you admire his moonlit profile, fawning over how handsome he looks when he's relaxed – savoring the post-coital serenity that gravitates you two closer to each other.

It remains while you both shower, basking under the warm water and your tender, soft touches.

While you dry your hair, Javier goes out to the living room to make a call. Once you're done and in your cozy robe, you find him on the couch in just the towel he'd tucked around his trim waist, finishing the other half of your sandwich.

"Oh, that's gone cold! I'll make you a fresh one, babe," you tut, but he takes your hand before you can rush off and pulls you in to sit on his lap while he shakes his head.

"Nah, this is perfect," he assures when he's done chewing his current bite. "All set for tomorrow. Trujillo will pick you up at the airport in Medellín—"

"I don't want to trouble him, Javi," you sigh, and he rolls his eyes before finishing the sandwich with two big bites. "Doesn't he have a shift to work?"

He grunts before swallowing. "Shit in Medellín is so low threat now that they've scaled back on hours, so a lot of the guys are picking up side gigs. I owe him big time, and he has the flexibility, so quit fretting," he drawls and gives you a cheeky squeeze before patting your thigh. "You get in bed. I'll shut things off."

Smiling, you relent with a musing hum and peck him on the lips before getting up and loping on tired, sore muscles to the bedroom. By the time Javier has shut the TV off, brushed his teeth, hung up the towel from around his waist onto the rack, and turned out the bathroom light in order to feel his way back into the semi-penumbra of his bedroom, he finds you sans robe and fast asleep on his side of the bed, illuminated by the dim nocturnal glow sifting through the sheer curtains. He snickers at the sight, figuring you must've been so tuckered out that you slid into bed with the intention of shimmying under the covers over to your side, and just didn't make it before dozing off.

He crawls onto the bed and eases himself under the covers next to you, and finds himself easily drifting off to sleep once you've snuggled closer to him and looped your arm around his waist.

The next morning, the rays of dawn filtering through the curtains slowly stirs you and have your eyes fluttering drowsily. Your cheek is resting on Javi's chest, and you realize he's awake when you feel his fingertips caressing lazily along the back of your shoulder. You stretch your legs and sidle against him, not in a rush to part with his warm skin.

"We never keep the drapes open. Waking up and being able to watch the sun come in, seeing the light warm you, was nice," Javi murmurs, timbre rough with disuse.

You hum, kissing his chest before tilting your face up to his while you glide your affectionate touch up from his side to his other pectoral. His eyes are warm pools of dark chocolate with flares of chestnut as the sunlight accentuates his handsome features. His tousled strands of hair that stand askew are earthy cocoa shades, dark brows relaxed while the stubble along his jaw makes a scraping sound when you cup his cheek. Your thumb sweeps over to trace his full lips after skimming over his moustache, and he grunts softly when you scratch affectionately at his cheek while you smile.

"It's not as nice as my view right now," is your smoky purr as you caress your fingertips up to trace along his brow before brushing them up his forehead to toy with the unruly whisps of hair fanning across it.

His eyes close and he sighs serenely, always soothed by your touch. You take advantage and lean up to kiss him chastely on the lips. Javi encircles his arms around you when you go to slink away, pressing you against him so he can chase your lips and deepen the kiss.

When he pulls back to comb his fingers through your hair and gaze lovingly at you, admiring how the sun catches in your hair and casts you in golden relief, you smile brighter, feeling that effervescent feeling of contentment that only Javi gazing at you so is able to stir up in you.

"I was thinking. Maybe we can take a trip – after everything here is settled – and you can take me to Laredo?" you find yourself blurting, then quickly becoming sheepish when his expression softens with surprise. "You know, take you up on your offer to meet your dad?" is your elaboration, and when his eyes crinkle in confusion, you scoff and smirk, deadpanning, "Ah, you don't remember that, huh?"

His eyes narrow in concentration and his brows scrunch together, but he still parcels, "Sure I do."

"Such a liar," you snicker before shuffling up against him to playfully bop him on the nose with your finger before gliding it down to his lips in order to trace his bottom lip when he pouts. "You said it when I brought your drunk ass home after movie night. Asked if I'd want to go to Laredo and meet you dad."

Javier wracks his brain, and can vacantly remember staring down at you in the elevator, and you smiling alluringly.

Before he can retort, you sardonically sigh and go to maneuver away. "Oh well, never mind then—"

Sparing a glance at the alarm clock and seeing there's ample time to spare, he rolls so he can be on top of you. "C'mon, drunk or not, you know that's what I want, cariño. We'll do it," Javi insists, soulful eyes lowering to your lips as he rumbles, "Let's do it."

When he leans down and tries to kiss you again, you chuckle and coquettishly turn your face, smiling when huffs. Tracing your touch down his neck to the hickey you left on him, you change the subject by chiming, "We should take advantage of being up early, stud. I'll finish packing, then make breakfast—"

"Fuck breakfast," he interrupts boldly and tosses the comforter back so he can sit up and pull you along with him. You squeal comically at being bare in the very chilly room, and cling to his warm form, which earns a smug chuckle from him and his hands to wander over you possessively. "C'mon, we have plenty of time," he drawls in a honeyed timbre that turns an octave lower when he grinds you down on his lap as he whispers, "Need to have you, querida."

Want blooms in your core and spikes arousal down into the clutch of your cunt as you feign absentmindedness. "Oh? How so, dulzón?"

His coffee-brewed eyes narrow and his mouth pulls into a cunning smirk. "I was gonna get on my back and let you ride me, but now that you wanna play, and pretend to be a silly girl?" he rasps in a dark pitch, the kind that rakes desire over you like sinful silk, and you feel yourself get shamelessly wet as he suddenly manhandles you onto your hands and knees on the bed, facing the wall.

Your breath catches excitedly in your chest as he hitches up behind you and spanks his hand down on your plump glute. "I'm gonna dominate the fuck out of you instead, malcriada," is his grouse against the back of your ear before he nips it lightly and ruts his cock against the tight cleft of your ass.

Yes, there's plenty of time for Javier to possessively fuck you on all fours while the early morning comes through the curtains, washing you in golden light as you arch before him and beg, "Oh please, please, please!" while he pounds your pussy from behind and grips his hands tight on you shoulder and hip. And he takes his time crowding over you to leave a fresh love bite to the back of your neck as he rails you so hard that you can't even hear anything over the loud squelch of your cunt being plundered jubilantly by him along with the filth he's growling gruffly into your ear.

"That's it. That's my girl. Fucking take it," he rumbles, tone assertive yet loving as he hammers his cock into you with rough abandon, getting high on the power you've allowed him to take, alight with how you moan and flood with warm slick and clamp around him.

He groans as you whimper desperately while mindlessly rocking your hips back and arching, features melting into the throes of ecstasy as you cry, "Javi!"

Your pussy ripples around his throbbing cock as you're propelled towards the precipice of orgasm, and it springs cloying savage need in him – pace becoming feral as he growls, "Yeah, j-just like that. Take it, fucking take all of it—!"

Pleasure tears you asunder into a blazing climax that has you tossing your head back and grappling to ground yourself as if you're grasping to not fall blindly into bliss for real, gripping his wrist at your waist and the pillow before you as you wail his name. The way you gush your orgasm and writhe has Javier primally triumphant. It's also his undoing, because he tries to soothe you by nuzzling your neck, but ends up wrapping his arms around you and chasing his own fervent release when you moan, "Give it to me, Javi."

His mind hazes over when he fills you with his cum and hunches over you, drunk on the high and lightheaded as you melt down onto your tummy and take him with you. You turn your head dazedly to seek out his mouth with your own, dragging your lips across his jaw and cheek before he hums into kissing you. Javi then nudges his head affectionately against yours and exhales an accomplished sound before curling you both sidelong to recover – sweaty and sticky as you both lie in post-coital repose, pressed skin-to-skin as you lounge in the afterglow.

The bliss of it – being taken apart by him and pulled back together by his doting kisses and adoring touches – is short-lived when he lifts his head enough to look at the clock again and groans. Not enough time. Never enough time…

It weighs on him, and while you both rush to shower and get ready, he finds himself reluctant to part with you, especially with the foreboding feeling pressing in on him.

Javier doesn't know where things will go today, or how securing Pallomari will turn out in the long run, but moreover, he doesn't know how he can reconcile the truth he knows – how the deck has been stacked against them from the start.

He doesn't want to tell you.

Even so, when he drives you to the airport, the truth of it sits like a weight on his tongue, but he endeavors to keep that buried down. So, when he pulls up to the departures entrance of the terminal, he gets out and chivalrously takes your bag out of the car in order to give it to you on the curb. Before he's finished placing it down, you've wrapped your arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight and kissing the side of his neck before leaning up on your tippy toes in your leather flats to kiss him with unabashed love.

His hand buries in the back of your hair and deepens the kiss, pulling you into him by the small of your back.

The anxiety that springs up in your chest is lancing, and you internally admonish yourself as you pull back and caress his cheek. "I love you," you susurrate before melting a little when he leans down to press his forehead to yours, arms encircling you tight to him. When you nuzzle him and sigh, he holds on to you, not wanting to part, and you find that the worry needles up in your chest again, and it has you pleading softly, "Please, Javi. Please be careful. All of you need to watch your backs."

"Don't worry, querida. I promise, we'll be careful, and all this shit will be over soon," Javier proclaims, kissing you one last time before he forces himself to let you slip from his embrace. "I love you," he tells you, and you smile with genuine serenity, because you believe him.

You trust everything he's said, so you collect your purse and suitcase, playfully caress your touch to brush his hair back from his forehead, and lilt, "Buena suerte, agente."

He watches you stride off into the terminal, and once you're out of sight, he gets in the car and drives himself to the Hotel Centro Internacional, where Jorge Salcedo and his family are currently holed up, under DEA security protection.

While you make it through the terminal towards your gate after getting your boarding pass, Javier parks at the hotel and steels himself for a difficult conversation. He's not had much personal interaction with Salcedo direct, not since finding out during the San Jardín raid that he was the C.I. codenamed Natalia. And since, he's had his moments of trepidation about the man. Truthfully, he feels guilt for what could've happened to him had Feistl not insisted on storming the building. But the persistent part of him compartmentalizes the guilt and justifies the experience only lending itself to being a great motivator for convincing Jorge to help them locate Guillermo Pallomari.

And, once he gets the man one-on-one up on the terrace of the hotel to chat? As soon as he's confirmed that the paperwork is almost ready at the embassy and that he and his family will be on the first flight out in the morning, Javi hits Salcedo with the question.

"Guillermo Pallomari. You have any idea where we can find him?"

"No. Why do you need him?"

Javier details how the Rodríguez brothers gave 6 million dollars to the Samper presidential campaign, and makes it clear that without Pallomari testifying in the states – going on the record in order to generate new indictments, it's not likely that the Cali godfathers will remain in prison. Salcedo doesn't balk. If anything, he's exasperated, and makes it clear his top concern is about his family's safety. Javier thinks the man is going to hedge back – turn him down, but then, he looks him in the eye and tells Javier the biggest lead. That Pallomari's wife was having an affair with a man at her office. That the phones in the cartel safehouse he'd stashed Pallomari and his family had been tapped.

Then, he hits Javier with the question: "And he can keep them in prison?"

"We find Pallomari or the godfathers walk."

"You're not going to find him without me," Salcedo counters, resolute.

Javier can't help acerbically huff, before slightly smirking as he chuckles, "You're right."

Salcedo is resigned, but stressed. He tells Javier he's in, but wants to discuss it with his wife. So, once they head back down to the hotel room, Javier leaves him to it and calls the fellas with the update while he waits out in the hall. By the time he and Jorge are in the car, driving to the airport in order to meet Feistl and Van Ness at the cargo plane hangar to ride down to Cali together on a chartered flight, you're just landing in Medellín.

You exit the terminal and see Trujillo, dressed in plainclothes, with a light jacket that hides his shoulder holster and badge. He waves you down, and you hustle through the crowd to greet and thank him.

"—I'm so sorry Javier troubled you—"

"No trouble at all!" he assures and places your bag in the backseat before opening the passenger door for you.

Once you're in the vehicle and driving down to your appointment with the lawyer, you take the chance to call Javi and check in.

He's just finished securing the secondary charter to be on standby for the extraction in Cali when his cell phone rings. Signaling that he needs to take the call, Javi strides to the side of the open hangar and answers, "Peña."

"Hey! Just calling to let you know I made it in, boss man," you chime affably into his ear, and the tension in his shoulders subsides. "Everything ok on your end?"

"Yeah. Just about to board the plane. I won't be able to check in the rest of the time I'm down there," he tells you, hand on his hip as he paces. "I'll call you once we're back. It might not be until late, though—"

"That's fine. I want you to call and let me know you're all right as soon as you can," you insist, then sigh fretfully. "Please be safe, mi amor."

"I will, querida. You take care, ok?" he assertively rumbles, and when you hum in agreement, he husks, "I love you."

"I love you too, Javi."

"We love you very much, Peñita!" Trujillo shouts good-naturedly so Javi can hear, and he blows a raspberry while you giggle irreverently.

"Take care, and talk soon," you retort before you both exchange goodbyes.

He feels a little lighter after the call, and with renewed pep in his step, he rushes back into the hangar and is soon boarding the plane with the other three men.

The flight to Cali gives him a lot of time to think, and the closer they get to their destination, the more he can feel the collective tension amongst them.

So, as they begin their descent, Javier assures, "Once we step off this plane, whatever goes down is on me. We are way off the well-lit path."

Minutes later, they land in a provincial airfield with a single runway tarmac. Deboarding, they get in the waiting SUV Suburban and start prepping for the day – divvying up portable radios and handguns. Salcedo rejects Dan's offer to carry one of the pistols, and while Chris drives, Javier goes over the plan once more. As he details how they'll split up so they can try to track Pallomari's location via Salcedo's wiretap connections at the telephone company, you're just arriving to your grandmother's – well, now more officially, your cousin's soon-to-be-house, after finishing with the attorney. Your aunt is already there when you arrive, so you assure Trujillo that you'll be fine, and after you confirm some updates with him, he gives you his card with his cell phone number on the back and insists that you call him if you need anything.

You spend a while sitting in the kitchen catching up with your aunt about things regarding the house, the changes in the accounts for the utilities, and your plans for packing up things. The subject regarding sorting through decades of memories and personal effects starts to bog you down in the mire of overwhelming sadness when mercifully, your cousin arrives from work and gives you a needed reprieve. While your aunt makes an early supper, you and your cousin work around the house together, dusting and cleaning while you talk. Every so often, your mind wanders to Javier, and you have to quell the anxious worry that fizzles up within you. He's going to be safe. He said this'll all be over soon. Trust him.

What you don't know is that Javier is just linking up with his agents and Salcedo after successfully baiting Fredy Moya – who called Pallomari's wife and warned her of the DEA coming around asking questions and looking for her, and with the call he made traced to an apartment north of the city, they were on their way there. Unbeknownst to them was that the man would seek out David Rodríguez to trade information, and that with David torturing it out of him, it was now a race to get to Pallomari.

Parked on the street and remaining in the SUV as a lookout, Salcedo places his radio in close reach and takes the driver's seat as the agents head up to the apartment building in formation. Feistl takes the lead, with Van Ness covering him and Javier at their rear, making sure no one can sneak up on them. They hustle up the stairwell and locate the apartment door. With a nod of consent, Chris bangs on the door. They can hear muffled rushing and anxious chatter from within, so Javier gestures for Chris to try to enter. Finding it locked, he decides to kick it open, and once he does, Dan is at his side as they come in weapons drawn, shouting for Pallomari to put his gun down.

Javier breezes in between both agents with his DEA badge up, coaxing the harried man and wife to calm down, and assuring them he's there to help. Once the wife makes sure their sons are safe and closes the door to the bedroom, she and Pallomari warily sit in the living room to talk with the three agents. Really, it ends up being an exasperating session of haggling and semantics between Javier and Guillermo. He's barely keeping his patience – everything in him is simmering with the annoyance of controlling his temper while the man questions about what kind of house they'll get, even having the gall to say that his family are accustomed to a certain square footage. But when Javier tells him he has no option other than what he's presenting him, and that this is the only way to keep his family safe? Guillermo seems to get it, so Javier tells them to pack their things, but the wife – Patricia – begins to spiral. She rambles about needing a week to get her affairs at work in order, that they need to give them a week to get things organized, that she cannot just up and leave like this. Her voice gets harried and the more Guillermo tries to diffuse her, the more hysterical she becomes.

Before Javier's even realized it, his temper has boiled over, causing him to bellow, "Okay!" rendering the couple into stunned silence while Chris and Dan bristle where they stand at the ready. He realizes he needs to rein everything in quickly, so Javier tells Guillermo to go pack his children's things while he talks to Patricia. As soon as her husband is out of earshot in the next room, Javier hits her with, "I know about Fredy Moya. It's none of my business—"

"You're right. It's not your problem," she snaps back.

"You realize what happens if they find you?" he levels evenly. "And your kids?"

She flounders, getting frazzled, insisting she can't just leave without saying goodbye. That they're in love. Javier then tells her with finality that if she stays, she will die.

That sinks in. She nods and rushes to pack, to corral her two sons and hustle them to get ready to go while she hastily gathers belongings and shoves them into a suitcase. Javier feels that cagey tension ebb in him, but he knows there's still ways to go. Dan and Chris start pushing them to pack it up to leave, and once Guillermo snaps at his wife that they're done and there's no more stuff to grab, that it's time to head out, Javier radios in to Salcedo.

"We're on our way down."

Chris leads the way down the stairwell to the first landing overlooking the lobby and halts so Javier can sprint down ahead of him to get to the door and radio to confirm, "Salcedo, we're in the lobby now. Are we clear?" There's no immediate response. Javier attempts again. "Salcedo." Still no response, so he radios more adamantly, "Jorge, we clear or not?"

There's a pause before the radio engages. "All clear."

"Copy," Javier confirms before turning to the others and pressing, "All right, stay close."

Javier is the first out the entry door, and once the Pallomari's come out, Dan and Chris flank them to check both sides of the intersection before confirming nothing is amiss. Up ahead is the SUV. It'd been raining when they'd driven over to this part of the city, so the windshield was covered in condensation and water. The pavement smelled damp all around him, and there was no breeze. Everything seemed still – until the gunshot.

They all take shelter behind the nearest car at the opposite side of the street, huddling down at the curb. Javier ducks down and peers around it to see Jorge unload his pistol down into a man on the ground next to the open passenger door he'd seemingly fallen out of. Once the shooting stops, Javier bounds over cautiously and recognizes the now dead sicario to be Navegante.

Staring at Salcedo, he barks, "What the fuck happened?"

With his arms outstretched in a stance of compliance, Jorge gestures to Navegante. "He has the keys."

Without missing a beat, Javier looks over his agents and shouts, "Let's move!" before kneeling to scoop up the car keys Navegante dropped, tosses them to Chris, and rushes with Dan's help to drag the dead man's body away from the car to the opposite side of the street while Patricia screams at her kids not to look and Guillermo irately questions why Salcedo is there. "He saved your life! Get in the fucking car!" is Javier's barked response as he orders everyone to get in, shoving the nervous man to the back seat while Dan piles the kids to the back and Chris jumps into the driver's seat, with a stunned Jorge getting in behind him.

They're speeding off and away as the sounds of police sirens grow nearer. Javi spares a look at the side mirror and watches Navegante's lifeless body disappear with distance. The depraved, sadistic satisfaction he gets knowing the bastard who'd kidnapped you – that had been the triggerman-for-hire to every lowdown fucking cartel – had been gunned down and left on the wet pavement like he'd done to countless others? It should make him question his morals. But for once, Javi feels gratified, and is sure he'll sleep just fucking fine tonight.

The sendoff of Pallomari onto the chartered flight that would ferry him and his family stateside into DEA protective custody went seamless, all things considering, and once they were off the runway, he, Jorge, Dan and Chris boarded their waiting plane and headed back to Bogotá.

They're not even finished deboarding the plane when the unmarked SUV with the security detail ferrying Salcedo's wife and daughters arrives to board the other awaiting jet Javier had coordinated. Stoddard was in tow with their embassy documents, so with paperwork in hand, Javier ushers Jorge and his family onto the other plane.

"Chris and Dan are going to escort you. They'll see to making sure you all have everything you need," he's telling Jorge as he hands him the documents. "Take care of yourself."

Jorge shakes Javier's hand, nodding curtly. "Thank you, Agent Peña."

After huddling with Chris and Dan one last time, he shakes both their hands and pats them on the back before gesturing for them to climb aboard. "Stay in touch. My old partner, Steve Murphy, will meet you on the tarmac when you land," he tells them before joking to Dan, "Try and be more patient than I was with Pallomari."

"I can't make any promises, boss," Dan quips before hustling up the plane's stairs and ducking his tall frame in to enter the cabin.

"Thanks for backing us, boss," Chris tells Javi with a nod before he follows his partner up into the plane.

Javier rides back with Stoddard to the office and hears more great news.

"—David Rodríguez was gunned down in a drive-by, along with several of his associates."

Again, it shouldn't please him so viscerally to hear, but he feels the warm embrace of sweet retribution come over him, and by the time he gets to his apartment, only a few hours before dawn, Javi is buzzing.

Your cell phone rings loudly on the bedside table, and you groan, rolling over to face it when panic leaps up in you. Javi!

Scrambling up and reaching for it, you answer, "Hello?"

"It's done."

You feel a wave of vertigo before excitement punches it away once your anxious mind registers how teeming with exuberance Javi's tone is. "You got him?"

"Yes. He'll be in court testifying in a sealed grand jury in a couple of hours. My guys are escorting Salcedo and his family into witness protection," he tells you in a rush, breath stuttering before he rumbles, "It's done, everything I needed to do…"

Your heart soars, and the happy tears that crest your eyes dampen your lashes as you flutter them. "Oh, I'm so proud of you, Javi!" you gush, absently wiping at your cheek when a couple of tears drop. "You've worked so hard, have done everything – gone above and beyond to succeed and make a difference. You should be proud," you tell him, overcome. When he exhales tensely, you scoff derisively, "Oh my god, c'mon, chavón. Don't make the first thing I do when I see you be to wring your neck and browbeat you! You should be proud, dammit."

His husky, honeyed chuckle makes you smile. "I am, chingona! Just wish you were here. Dying to put my arms around you," he retorts with sincere, albeit crooning warmth. "I know it's late, so go back to sleep—"

"What're you wearing?" you interrupt sultrily.

Javi hums a gruff sound of protest. "Fuck, don't tease me like that, baby—"

"I want to know what you're wearing, guapito," you silkily press and lean back in bed, tingling from the heat of your arousal for him, still sore from the sexy romp that morning and now idly caressing the love bite he left on the sloping muscle connecting your shoulder. "Paint a picture for me."

His snort is rueful, but he answers in a canela-brined drawl, "I just got home. Wearing the same clothes from this morning: dark blue jeans, a button down – the one you said is nice and soft…"

"The chambray blue one?" you chime, pressing your thighs together. He grunts in confirmation, and you can hear him shuffle backwards onto a soft surface. You picture him stretching out on his bed.

"You wearing that sexy batita?" he husks ruggedly, which makes excitement flutter in your tummy.

"I wouldn't call it sexy, but yes – I'm in the batita, all alone in bed," you sigh, wishing he was there with you. That he was hiking up your nightgown and settling between your welcoming thighs. His huff becomes muffled by the heavy yawn he lets out. "Oh, I'm such a jerk. You haven't slept! Go take a shower and get some sleep, mi amor."

He grumpily hums, but you can hear the smirk in his voice when he drawls, "Alright, you wicked little tease. I'll call you tonight. I love you."

"I love you too," you murmur. "Goodnight, stud."

Javi chuckles. "Goodnight, querida."

You find out the breadth of Javier's successful raid later that afternoon when you and your cousin finish going to town hall and transferring over the utility accounts into her name. The covers of every newspaper on the newsstand tell of a violent night in Cali, of the DEA spiriting away sources who've turned evidence and testimony against the Cali cartel, of grand jury indictments and U.S. federal backlash to come against the Colombian government amidst charges of corruption.

And when you get back to the house? You are glued to the television as the evening news details how financial evidence presented to a U.S. grand jury implicated members throughout all echelons of government – public officials throughout the entire country – as being on Cali's payroll. And when they splash a bulletin that alleges possible knowledge of said corruption within the halls of the Nacional Palace and that the surrender deal was entertained for so long in bad faith? Your mind flashes to how distraught Javier had been after capturing Miguel Rodríguez. Did he know? That the corruption went all the way up to the President? Is that why he was so disillusioned—

The ringing of your cell phone makes you jump, and you rush to quickly retrieve it from the coffee table and answer it.

"Hey, corazón. How are you?" Javi's rich baritone washes over you, subduing all the questions that had been galloping wildly in your mind.

"Better, now that you've called," you tell him honestly, smile clear in your voice. "I miss you."

"I miss you too. Everything with the house go alright?"

"Yeah. I just have an appointment in the morning to transfer a few more things. I'll have to come back soon to start packing things up and seeing what we should donate, what they'll want to keep in the house, and what will go in storage…" you feel a lump start to tangle in your throat, so you clear it and sink back into the couch. "I was just watching the news."

"Hmph, yeah. I got a meeting with Crosby in the morning about it," he mutters, and you can make out the click of his lighter before he inhales and puffs out the smoke from his freshly lit cigarette. "What time is your flight?"

"Not until the afternoon, and I figured you'd be busy, so I'll take a cab," you tell him, and at his grumble, you tut, "Nope, I don't want to hear it. Trujillo was a great escort, but now that you've effectively nailed the Cali cartel for good, I think I'm free and in the clear of ever getting snatched up—"

"Not by the assholes from before, no. They're dead," Javi tells you in a tone he's never used with you before. It's a mixture of cutting and gloating, and it raises the little hairs on the back of your neck. He seems to catch it, at least by how he reproachfully huffs at himself. "I'm sorry, that wasn't right—"

"They're dead?" you ask, the macabre curiosity prickling you to know more as you sit up straight.

Javi hesitates, annoyed with himself for being so callously flippant. He sets his cigarette down on the lip of his ash tray and scrubs his fingers over his moustache before dragging them down to his chin. "Navegante? I saw it happen for myself. He got taken out…and the little fucker who'd ordered it, David Rodríguez – he got killed along with a few of his guys in a drive-by," he tells you, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk. In a low, bass-pitched baritone, he confesses, "I only wish I could've been the one to pull the trigger—"

"Javi," you breathe out, pitch tremulous. "It's over. We don't have to worry about them anymore. You kept your promise, and now it's done. There're just good things to look forward to, and it's up to us what we want those things to be," is your assurance, and hearing it said so concisely but with so much hope fills Javi up with your loving, protective grace. "I love you, Javi," you susurrate, and he exhales in relief, eyes closing as your words wrap around him.

He says your name with amorous feeling before telling you, "—Te amo con toda mi alma. So much so, that as soon as we can, I'm taking you home. Want you to come to Laredo with me, because, well, fuck – I'm going to need a vacation after all of this, and I can't be without you."

Your effervescent laugh is charmed and loving, and it makes him feel so deserving. That he's done what he needed to, and is now worthy of the life he wants to build with you.

"I want the same, Javi. I can't wait," you retort, the cheeky smile evident in your tone as you add, "And I can't wait to get my hands on your baby pictures, finally!"

He laughs, and it feels so good to laugh after everything, and even though he sees some heads turn towards his office, he doesn't care. "I'll see you tomorrow, hermosa."

"Good luck with Crosby. Bye!"

Javier feels like he's free of the proverbial albatross he'd hung around his neck since he'd agreed to come back to Colombia. All the acrimonious fury, the stress, the failures and disenchantment haven't gone away, but have become less potent within him. The loathing and doubt go quiet, allowing him to tie up bureaucratical matters in regards to the Cali cartel investigation, and by the time he's getting ready the next morning to head to the embassy and meet with the ambassador, the hope he feels sits prominently in his chest, pushing him forward – holding out that full justice will be served to all who deserve it.

But, of course, nothing is as it seems, or goes as it should.

Crosby comes in smug. For some reason, Javier knows immediately things are not going to go as he'd hoped.

"Y'know how many times I've gotten a call from the Department of Justice and State the same morning?" the man drawls, pausing to smirk as he adds, "Count 'em on one finger. Guess we have you to thank for that." Javier glances down at the conference table, already steeling himself for how this is going to go. "I'm headed over to the National Palace right now to make it clear to President Samper himself that the godfathers stay in jail. At least for the foreseeable future."

"But that's as far as it goes?" Javier queries, and when Crosby narrows his glacial stare on him, he forges on with, "We drew up a draft indictment outlining President Samper's ties to the Cali cartel."

"Alleged ties," Crosby counters, expression sharpening as he presses, "And I suggest you keep that draft to yourself. The DOJ's not going to topple a government, Agent Peña."

Javier's expression hardens, and when he has no retort, Crosby gestures glibly as he goads, "You can't tell me you're surprised by that."

"Some part of me was holding out hope, I guess," he rumbles, hands folded together over the table to keep them from fidgeting in his perturbation, left thumb tapping absently while he trains the muscles in his face to remain as stoic as possible. But his jaw has been ticking – corner of his lips twitching against the deep scowl that wants to take over his features.

Crosby is snarky as he lopes around the conference table, gesturing wryly at Javi as he simpers, "Well, you should tell that part to grow the fuck up." Javi is forced to keep his gaze low, for fear of giving the man the furious look that speaks volumes for how he currently feels. His lips purse as the ambassador drawls, "No, I mean it, Agent Peña. You should be happy. You played the system like a goddamn fiddle."

Javi looks up at him then, head slightly cocked to give him a sidelong glance as Crosby gives him a resigned, musing smile. "You won," he tells him, good-naturedly pattings Javi on the left shoulder as he rounds behind him, and makes his exit.

Disillusioned and debased by the conversation, Javi mutters distantly, "Yes, sir."

He's alone when he says it, the ambassador long gone and not intending to pay the DEA country attaché any more of his time.

Or so he thinks.

The entire exchange demoralizes Javier all over again. But now, it's far more denigrating, because he's being told that his complicity is expected. As if he has no choice in the matter. That everything he'd undertaken, every decision and outcome truly had not mattered, because it'd long been decided that sacrifice and injustice were the small prices to pay for corruption, greed, and political dominion – that everything was fungible as long as those with the right authority did what they were told.

He was supposed to take the win, look away, and move on.

It takes the entire smoke break out at the embassy steps, looking faraway as he stares vacantly at the street beyond, to make his decision.

Javier would not be complicit.

After making two calls, he drives over to El Tiempo, and meets with Carolina. She has a tape recorder, and after she sets it down and warns him of the consequences that will befall him once he goes on the record, she tells him concernedly, "You're going to pay a price."

With an unruffled, albeit ruminating look, Javi tells her, "Press the button."

The story is able to run by the evening news. El Tiempo drops the issue within less than a couple of hours of Javi's interview, and by the time he gets back to the embassy, all hell has broken loose in the DEA. Calmly, Javi finishes clearing out his desk, and manages to keep his stoic ease as Stoddard rushes in with a flurry of questions, updates, and a demand from the ambassador's office that he report upstairs to him immediately.

"—What's going on, sir?! Is it true?" the young man exclaims, about to unravel a litany of questions when Javi holds out his hand.

"You were a great deputy, Stoddard. Thank you for all your work."

Neutralized, the man dimly shakes Javier's hand, and watches as he places his cell phone and satellite phone on his desk before exiting his office in order to go up to the ambassador's.

Now, it's Javi's turn to be glib.

He has no illusions. Nor has he thought beyond this point about what happens next. But as he sits across from Crosby, and goes through the motions, he is so resigned to his decision that he can't allow himself any thought further on what this means for him.

What this will mean for you.

"I want you gone, Peña. So do the Colombians."

Javier's faraway as he nods and replies, "I understand, sir."

There a terse, resentful pause between them before Javi gives a curt nod and stands, beginning to exit towards the door.

"You know…any aspirations you had for your career…just got dragged behind the barn and shot," the ambassador levels, almost ruefully, at Javier.

Turning, Javi weighs that, lips slightly parted musingly, before he retorts, "I resigned from the DEA this morning."

Crosby looks taken aback, and with one final once over, Javi turns and resumes his exit, without a cursory glance backwards, as he leaves. He returns to the DEA department only long enough to grab the box filled with her personal effects, and exits out the side door to avoid the chaos he's unleashed as staffers field calls from counterparts at DOS and DOJ.

You're completely oblivious as you exit the gate with your carry-on suitcase and purse. Swinging the strap of your purse to be cross-body over your silver silk blouse, you're hurrying through the crowd in the terminal to make it out and grab a waiting cab, eager to get to the embassy, catch up on some work, and then rush home to shower Javi with celebratory kisses and hugs. As you round towards the main causeway of the terminal, where amenities like the newsstand, airport bar and lounge, and giftshops are, you've just pulled out your cell phone and turned it back on. You start when it begins to ring immediately, so you slow in your rushing pace and answer.

"—Holy shit, girlie! Where are you?! Did you just land? I've been trying to call—"

"Whoa! Yes, I just got off the plane. What's going on?" you query, feeling trepidation well in you at how harried Ellis sounds.

"You gotta get to the embassy. Shit just hit the fan and it's pandemonium here after the news broke—"

As you hurriedly resume your pace and listen, your gaze fans over the newsstand you're about to pass when you stop dead in your tracks, almost bumping into other hustling passengers as they now breeze by you. Every single newspaper's cover overrides your previous thoughts. But it's the El Tiempo headline that sucker punches you.

"—No one knows what's going on and the rumors are insane—"

"I'm on my way, Ellis. I gotta go!" you tell him quickly and hang up as you shove the phone in your purse and retrieve your pocket book to fish out enough money to pay for a copy, tell the man to keep the change, and snag the issue of El Tiempo up as you now bustle with your things towards the exit.

Once you're in a cab, you skim the intro of the story while you anxiously dial Javi's cell phone. It rings as if the call cannot be completed, so you try his satellite phone, then his office phone, and when none work, you call his apartment number. It rings and rings, but no one answers. What's happening?!

Unable to do anything but be ferried to the embassy, you vacantly stare down at the article before the analytical part of your mind takes over, skimming through.

By the time you arrive at the embassy, you feel like you're in an alternate universe.

Highest-ranking DEA official goes on the record…

U.S. government complicit in knowledge of rampant corruption withing Samper administration…

Tapes reveal how a campaign contribution of six million dollars went into the Samper presidential campaign, funneled by an art dealer acting as a liaison between the current president's staff and Gilberto Rodríguez in exchange for virtual immunity…

DEA country attaché Javier F. Peña went on the record with this reporter to disclose the U.S. government's lack of interest in holding Colombian officials accountable for flagrant corruption….

When you enter your office and ditch your belongings, Ellis gallops in. "Jesus Christ, kid. What the fuck is going on?!"

"I'm going upstairs," you tell him as you rush around him and head to do just that, calling over your shoulder, "I-I'm going up and asking him what happened—"

"He's gone."

Your leather-flat-clad-feet skid as you pause in the middle of the department's workspace and whirl around, not believing you heard him right. "What?"

"We just heard. Javier resigned from the DEA this morning. When the news about the article hit, he went up and told Crosby, and then he left," Ellis tells you haltingly, as if the information will cause you duress.

It's then that you feel the eyes on you. Devon and Jackie peer over from their stations, and the techs who are at their cubicles try to divert their gazes when you fan your stare about.

The world shrinks in around you.

Rushing back into your office, you yank out the copy of El Tiempo from your purse and look for the reporter credited with the interview.

Carolina Álvarez.

Your mind inundates you with recall after recall. The business card with her name on it that had been on Javi's coffee tables so many months ago. How cagey Javier had been when you'd pressed him on talking to a reporter for leads. It all shakes loose into jigsaw pieces that fall into place, allowing your mind to come to some troubling, horrible conclusions.

Javier never gave said conclusions thought. Didn't think about what would happen now that he'd committed career suicide, albeit with a reprieving flourish of quitting before going on the record and napalming things.

In all honesty, he'd been so brought low by the ambassador this morning, that he hadn't thought about what would happen now that he was out at the embassy, or how any of this would affect you.

All he knows is that he has to be out of the apartment in forty-eight hours, and he figures it was only a matter of time before the Colombians revoked his visa. He was wondering if they'd do it immediately and send CNP to collect him and deport him back to the states when he hears the key going into the lock of the front door.

Snapping out of his stupor and standing from where he'd been sitting on the bed while dimly sorting through his important papers he keeps in a shoe box, Javi hears the door open and the rushing footfalls over the jangle of keys as you burst in.

"Javier!" you call out as you drop your purse and keychain to the counter to sprint through the apartment.

You come to a halt in your frenzied pace as he appears in the doorway of the bedroom.

He's sans his blazer and tie – dress shirt rumpled with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The look in his eyes is haunted, and he vacillates, tense and conflicted before you.

"Javi, what happened? What the hell happened?!" you exclaim, incredulous and shaken as you stalk towards him. "They're saying you quit—t-that you quit your job this morning, and that you leaked things to the press—"

At your harried expression, Javi approaches you now in order to explain himself, hands slipping around you in attempt to ground himself. "I know, I'm sorry…everything's happened so quick. I'm sorry for not telling you first—"

"It's true?" you shy away from his embrace, staring in shock. "After everything…after all that's happened, everything we've talked about…how could you do this?" Your eyes plaintively stare at him, and when Javi diverts his gaze shamefully, you snap. "You quit before you went to that woman—that reportera, because you knew you were going to do this? Why? Why would you do this?!"

"They gave me no choice! After everything – they were going to let the government walk after they took a fucking campaign payoff from Cali for blanket immunity!" he exclaims, tempestuously smacking his palm into the wall as he shouts, "They wanted me to be complicit and ignore what they've done—what they'll continue to do unless they're stopped and held accountable!"

You are dismayed and left reeling, truly stunned into disbelief.

"You just destroyed everything we had here," you exhale, backing away from him. "Did you always know you were going to do this? Were you biding your time until now?"

"What?!" Javi is aghast. "No—"

"You've been talking to that reporter since the beginning! And now she's the one you go on the record for, and firebomb your whole life here without even thinking of letting me know?!" you accuse, hands curling into fists as you begin to shake with your fury. "You've never intended to do this—to make a life together, did you?"

"That's not true!" Javi shouts and rushes forward, but you back away and shake your head at him. "Goddammit, that's all I've cared about—"

"You didn't even tell me what happened after you caught Miguel Rodríguez, because you knew since then that you were going to do this. That if things didn't go the way you dictated that they should that you'd expose it all, at the cost of your fucking life here! You knew that no matter what, there was nothing else you could do to force the issue aside from hanging yourself out to dry—to sacrifice your fucking career and make yourself the goddamned martyr, without ever thinking about what would happen to us! What would happen to me," you pause, tears catching in your throat as you waver in your upset whilst Javier woefully flounders before you for what to say. "I trusted you, and you didn't trust me to be honest with what you were doing, with what your intentions were and what you were willing to do to get the results you wanted—"

"No, dammit, none of that is true! I never intended to do this," he tells you emphatically, and you scoff, furious now as you rush past him to the bedroom, smacking his hands away as he tries to stop you. "—Wait, wait! Please, just listen to me, querida!"

Javi whirls and follows you, quickly becoming disheartened when he sees you retrieve your duffle from the closet and start yanking items from hangers to be tossed in a pile on the bed. "I don't want this! I never meant to hurt you or not think about how this would affect you—"

"THAT'S EXACTLY IT! You didn't THINK about me or how this would affect me!" you scream, vehemently incensed as you rail, "Did you think I would drop everything for you and follow you home?! Abandon my life here and just shack up with you in Laredo until you decide that's not enough for you either?!" Irate now, you level him with, "That I would give up my entire fucking life here – throw away everything I've worked for and leave the only family I have left that matters to me – all because you don't care about your own fucking reputation or career over your immature moral principles about what should happen in a country that's not yours?! How dare you presume to tell me about complicity when you think yourself above all authority enough to discard the people around you in the fallout of your fucking decisions!? You're complicit in forcing an issue that was not yours to mandate! You did your fucking job, but you want to be judge, jury and executioner! It wasn't enough to take down the cartel and take your retribution. Doing your job successfully and coming home in one piece wasn't enough. Oh no, not without you deciding to do everyone else's job, and fuck the consequences—!"

Javier stands there, shoulders slumped, gaze wilted and expression downtrodden as you tear him asunder, and when your voice cracks, you whirl away from him to hide the tears as you squeeze your eyes shut and feel them roll down your cheeks. You resume shoving the items you'd retrieved from the closet into the duffle before fumingly going to the dresser drawer and hefting everything out of it to be unceremoniously thrown in the bag.

"I love you so much…please, I don't want to lose you."

You pause with your back to him after shoving the last of your belongings housed in the bedroom into the duffle. His proclamation was the most upset you've ever heard him, and it hurts your heart, but you find yourself shutting that part of yourself off now.

"Why did you do this. Tell me the truth," is your shaky demand, voice thick with your resoluteness.

He doesn't know the answer. Not the right answer that will keep you there. But he has to try, so he breathes out a tense exhale before blurting, "Because I couldn't live with myself if I let them get away with it."

It hurts. Somewhere within you – that you've walled off now in order to preserve yourself from the devastating fallout, something tender – withers and dies at his answer. Because it's not that simple, and it kills you that he would feel that way. But it also devastates you to know being with you wouldn't be enough for him to hold his head high and know he'd done enough.

"I understand."

The flat, hollow response creates an ache in his chest, propelling him forward. "Querida—"

You hastily shove the duffle flap shut and zip it closed before whirling on him when he's approached you from behind, desperate to pull you into his embrace. But you keep him at bay by swinging the duffle as a buffer between you, and then pivot around him to exit the room.

"Fuck's sake, please stop!" Javier thunders, and you made it to your keys and purse before you halt in your retreat. "I didn't think beyond resigning and sitting down for the interview. I didn't care anymore, because everything that's wrong here isn't just with the cartel or the administration. I've been a part of what's wrong, and I couldn't let it go on. But that doesn't mean I wanted it like this. I never wanted anything else but the life we've talked about – I still do! I just wanted to be worthy of it—"

"You're never going to be satisfied. Whether things change here or not, it was never up to you," you cut in, voice hushed but scalding with your repressed anger. When he doesn't say anything, you wipe at your face and turn to stare at him, and Javi's heart breaks at seeing how bereft you are. "It was Medellín, then Cali, and after it'll be something else – someone else you burden yourself with taking down, no matter what it costs. You still think it's all on you—I see it in your eyes. Even everything you did today, it wasn't enough. Nothing will ever be enough," you pause when your breath stutters and you swallow down what you want to say; what's booming in your head.

I'm not enough for you.

"No matter what, you will never be content, and you'll keep lying and omitting what you really feel, hide the things you believe you need to do. Because you don't want me to know or have a say—"

"I swear, on my life, that's not what I want!" Javi adamantly swears, moving to excise the distance that's suddenly eroded the gravitation between you. "I just wanted it to matter—"

"And I hope it does," you whisper as you mechanically grab your purse and keys from the counter, unable to look at him any longer. "But I can't do this anymore…I've had enough with not being enough."

Javi is decimated, relegated to standing on locked legs as his throat constricts and a devastating pang wreaks through him at your words.

You dazedly work two keys off of your keychain and leave them on the counter before turning to the door, going on autopilot as you exit with your belongings and don't look back.

At the sound of the door clicking shut, Javier's breath stammers raggedly out of him, and before he's realized it, he's sunk down to the floor and propped his back against the wall, taking his head in his hands as he tries to reconcile all the damage he's done.

"You're going to pay a price."

He doesn't know how long he sits there, but when he dejectedly looks up, his apartment is dark, the haze of twilight heavy in the space. It's an even longer time before he snaps back into himself, having gone into a bit of fugue state after his mind walls up his heart, for fear he'll fall apart under the weight of everything tangling around it.

By the time he's had a cigarette and stared out into the void of the bustling traffic of the avenue under a starless night sky from his open bedroom window, Javi hears it.

The self-loathing creeps in like an old friend, ready to tell him all the truths he's chosen to ignore about himself.

It was only a matter of time before she saw it. Everything she said was true. You just couldn't see it for yourself. You never wanted to. Because if you did, you'd know everything was pointless—

The phone in his apartment rings. Javi is so out of it, that it takes him a moment to register it and turn from the open window in his bedroom to lope out into the main room and answer it. When he does, he irrationally hopes it's you, and it weighs like a stone in his chest that quickly drops into his stomach when it's not you.

"Jav, what the hell is going on, man?"

It was Steve. Only Steve. You ruined everything with her, because you don't deserve her—

"—Just what the fuck did you go and do now, Jav?"

His partner did always have a way with words. "Sounds like you already heard."

"Leave it to you to take a big win as a failure of epic proportions…"

They talk for a while, and mercifully it's not until close to the end of the call that Steve asks him.

"What about her? How're you going to make things work?"

"Well…I'm not. It's over," Javi mumbles, hoping saying it himself would lessen the blow, but it doesn't. If anything, it makes him want to crawl inside of the whiskey bottle he's currently overpouring himself a glass of, and never come back out. He gives Steve the cliff-notes of what happened.

The first glass of whiskey goes down like nothing, and when his former partner asks what triggered him to think things between you both were totally FUBAR now, Javi tells him while he pours himself a double to try and take the edge off. The more he drinks though, the more he volunteers, telling him how things came apart at the seams between you earlier, and the loathsome part of him grinds it deep – the feeling of being adrift.

"…Like you said, there's still loose ends. Even if shit hadn't gone down the way they did today, I'd have to be gone, work stateside for a while until all the indictments and cases were in full swing—"

"Javi…listen to me. You fucked up. Royally fucked up here. But you can't just walk away—"

Hackles rising at that, Javi growls, "I didn't walk away. She did, and I can't fucking blame her, and I can't fix it—"

"You let her walk away. You didn't fight for her, didn't give her a reason to believe you wouldn't do this shit again. She's given you chances before, right?" Steve presses, and Javi reluctantly huffs. "C'mon, man. She's worth it, and you're going to hate yourself if you don't try…"

While Javier grapples with his guilt and how to move forward, you're completely drained, lying on your bed with only the lamp on your nightstand on. It's been hours since things had gone sideways without warning. That seemingly everything you'd been working towards in your personal life had dissolved – sifted through your fingers like they'd never truly existed.

Ellis had called you, but aside from telling him you were alright and would see him the next day, it was crystal clear that you didn't want to talk, so he'd let you off the phone, and you'd been thankful.

Now, once you've forced yourself to get up from wallowing to start unpacking your suitcase and duffle, you allow your mind to go blank and concentrate on the mundane task.

It's a while later when you're mechanically finishing with the ironing for all your rumpled work clothes from the duffle bag, and you've just gotten done sorting everything into the closet, that you feel a bout of profound, unsettling emptiness.

A knock at your door startles you out of your vacant daze. Tiredly, you pad on bare feet down the hall, dimly thinking it might be your downstairs neighbor checking in after you'd gone so long without staying at your apartment.

You don't expect to open the door and find Javier standing in the lowlight, eyes red-rimmed and still in his clothes from earlier. The five-o-clock shadow on his jaw and cheeks is darker now, and so are his eyes as he stares at you with plaintiveness from under his brows. Disarmed, you look up at him forlornly.

"Most of what you said? You were right. But you were fucking wrong when you said this isn't enough," Javi is blurting out to you, pressing a hand on the doorframe and the other on the door itself in case you try to slam it shut in his face. When you just stare at him with incomprehension, he insists, "I think you're scared of what this could be, and what happened today is your excuse for breaking things off—"

"…Excuse me?" you hiss, balking up at him. "Are you fucking drunk?"

"No!" Javi snaps and rails, "I don't fucking expect you to give up your life here. I never even asked you to do that! You always say my job isn't me, so why are you fucking pushing me away like this?! I love you, goddammit—"

You are floored by his audacity, and Javier notices too late how your shoulders wind back with fury and you level him with a seething stare. "You have the fucking gall to come over here and put this all on me, again?! Like you always fucking do?!" is your slashing accusation, truly irate now as you shove him back from the threshold of your door and harangue, "The one who is scared here is you, you fucking cabrón! You show up at my door after everything you've put me through? Not just today, but over and over again the entire time I've thrown in with you?!"

Javi's expression sets into a hard mask, but his tone is teeming with suppressed angst as he draws out between clenched jaw, "We can make it work. You're pushing me away before we've even tried—without even trying to give me the benefit of doubt. You automatically decided I'd been lying to you. Didn't even give me a chance to explain—"

Incensed, you excoriate, "Explain?! That you poured your guts out to another woman on the record without a single thought about what would happen or how that would demolish everything we've planned together?!" You're spiraling into a level of rage you've not been at in a very long time, and before you can lose yourself to it, you scoff, hold out your hand, and demand, "Give me back my key, and leave."

That sobers Javier up.

He digs into the left pocket of his gray slacks, retrieves his keychain, and fumbles to remove your apartment door's key from the bunch. "I'm going to keep trying. I'll keep trying, and I'll hold out until you talk to me and give me another chance," is his hushed growl as he plucks the key from the ring. "I'll tie up loose ends on Cali and then we can focus on making this work, and talk about—"

You snatch the key from his fingers and sneer, "There will always be loose ends. Always something else to justify your impulsive, destructive fucking whims, and I've had enough of it. Just pretend I'm a loose end you can skip trying to resolve."

With that, you slam your door shut and lock it.

But you don't pull away from it.

Javier leans distraughtly into the other side of the door, and rests his forehead in drunken frustration against its cool surface while he feebly props his hands on either side of the frame. "I'll prove it to you. You matter to me, querida. I love you, and I'll keep trying to win you back. I'll fix things and earn back your trust. Just don't shut me out…"

Tears are running down your face, and you discard the key to the side table hastily so you can run down the hall and bury your sobs into a pillow.

The liquor is finally hitting Javier enough that he has to force himself to resist the urge to slide down your door and sleep it off. Instead, he trudges down the steps and stalks out of the courtyard into the gusty breeze to get in his SUV and sober up. Once he musters the concentration and sobriety to drive back to his apartment, he sullenly goes upstairs and makes his way to the door before he stumbles up through the cold and dark space.

He finds his way to his room and crawls into bed, forgoing undressing, and passes out face-first on his stomach.

As unconsciousness begins to weigh him down, he sends up a silent plea.

Please don't shut me out of your life forever…

You don't hear from Javier.

In the days after the story breaks, rumors at the embassy are rampant and fierce, but with the political fallout from the exposure of the article, Javier's notoriety is quickly replaced by other headlines that impact relations with the Colombian government. However, it's during this time that you relent, sit down, and read the entire article that put everything into motion.

Seeing that Javier alleged DOS and DOJ were aware of the corruption – that the ambassador had played him a tape given to him by the CIA, documenting the deal Santiago Medina brokered with the Samper presidential campaign and Gilberto Rodríguez? It fills you with cold, sickening dread.

After all, if Crosby knew about the Colombian president being in Cali's pocket and kept playing along – as if something that nefarious didn't justify severing all ties between the U.S. and the Colombian government, what if he'd known everything Stechner had been up to. Could he know Stechner gave my name to the Cali cartel? That they'd snatched me up as an indirect favor to the CIA station chief, in order to try to knock me down a few pegs?

It made you question your convictions. Put everything you'd ever thought about the politics, wielding and dealing at the embassy into a new, discordant perspective.

And if this is how you felt, you can only imagine how torn and betrayed Javi had felt.

Just when you're feeling inundated by your guilt and resentment, Marisol approaches you at the end of the day and waves you over into a secluded corner of your department.

"I didn't want to tell you this…" she prefaces before divulging how over a week prior, on the night Javier's agents had apprehended Miguel Rodríguez, he'd been in his office's bullpen, all alone, just staring at the suspect board. One of the custodians had walked by and seen him and thought it odd. When they'd circled back around a few minutes later, Javier was no longer alone.

The CIA station chief had been talking to him. From what they saw, Javier looked none too happy, and the little the custodian heard and could understand, it sounded like Stechner had patronized Javier, because the seasoned agent had given the balding man a withering look before turning and stalking away from him.

Your heart aches, knowing just how much Javi had wanted to defend your honor and get retribution against the man for everything he'd done, and the fact he'd come to kick Javi while he was down? And that at his lowest, Javi didn't take the bait, and walked away from the bastard?

You thank Marisol for telling you, and before you can muster the composure to keep your tears at bay, she leans in for a hug, squeezes you tight, and whispers in your ear, "Go get your guapo descarado."

It was the encouragement you didn't know you were longing for.

You get your purse and rush out of the embassy, driving over to Javier's and yearning to undo everything that you allowed to untether you both apart. The traffic is heavy, so in your impatience, you opt to park on the street across from his building, dash over to it and down the parking garage ramp to head up to his apartment's floor. You sprint down the hall and feel your pulse racing as you get to the door and knock on it.

There's no answer.

You knock again, and again, trepidation growing in you, so you knock once more and call out, "Javi, it's me," then strain to hear through the door.

"Excuse me, señorita," a voice calls down from the apartment on the opposite end of the hall. You blink over and see a man dressed like he'd just come home from the office, peeking from his open apartment door at you. "The man in that apartment moved out."

Your senses dull over at hearing that, mind straining incredulity. "…When?" you find yourself asking.

"A few days ago. They've already posted it up as available for lease," he retorts, looking curiously at you.

At your vacant nod, he frowns and goes back into his apartment, leaving you alone in the chilly hallway.

Wavering, you lean back into the door and bury your face in your hands, stifling a sob as you realize what you've done.

You've pushed Javi away, and he's left.

You're all alone, and it's your fault.

You never got to tell him that he was enough.

________________

Read Chapter 38: Enough

Spanish-English Glossary:

Tan celoso = [You're] so jealous

Querida/querido = Affectionate term, akin to expressing one's want and desire

Preciosa = Gorgeous; precious

Chulo/Chulito = Cute guy; little cutie

Mandona = Bossy lady

Chavón = a man that's pestering you

Canela = Cinnamon

Don Celos = Mr. Jealous; a "Don" is used as a title of respect for a man with a high reputation, so she means it like a "sir", so aka "Sir Jealous"

Atrevido/Atrevida = Daring man/Daring woman

Pantaleta = Panties; undies; skivvies

La Virgen Santa = The Virgin Mary; The Virgin Mother

Cariño = Darling/sweetheart

Jodón = pain in the ass [male]

Corazón = Heart; pet name to signify how deeply you love someone

Mi patrón = My master/boss

Tan chingona y coqueta = Such a badass, flirty lady

Hermosa/hermoso = beautiful (female); beautiful (male)

Malcriada/malcriado = Brat/spoiled

Mi amor = My love

Tan brava = So feisty; So tough; refers to a "tough girl" 

Eres mía, tiernita = You're mine, my tender little girl

Guapito = affectionate way of calling a man handsome (in the diminutive term)

Dulzón = Sweetheart [male]

Buena suerte, agente = Good luck, agent

Batita = Nightgown

Te amo con toda mi alma = I love you with all my soul

Reportera = Reporter [female]

Cabrón = Asshole

Guapo descarado = Handsome cad

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