#I just KNOW wymack was a step away from a heart attack living with that boy

[rekikiri]

neil is very quiet for a long time after joining the foxes. no matter how vigilant wymack tries to be, he never heard neil coming while they lived together. he got very good at hiding his flinch because neil definitely scared him more than he scared neil

[kevindayisafrog]

What if Neil never made it home? (Kevneil pain)

TW - physical abuse (choking), panic attacks, hints of suicidal thoughts, grief and loss of a MC, anxiety

“Where is he?”, Andrew’s monotone voice chilled Kevin all over, making his already rapid heart beat faster. “I-I don’t-“, Kevin put his head in his hands and let out a shaky breath. He didn’t know where Neil was and he was dreading the worst. He was holding his hand just minutes ago but the fight broke out and..Kevin let out a strangled sound and squeezed his eyes shut. “Andrew-“, Nicky’s fear made him look up in time to see Andrew marching towards him up the aisle of the bus. “Andrew, I promise I don’t know where he is”, Kevin pleaded as Andrew ran into him and grabbed his throat, “Andrew, please, I don’t-“. He let out a choked whimper as Andrew’s hands grew tighter around his neck. A million tortured moments of Riko flashed behind his shut eyes making Kevin want to disappear; run away from this place to find his Neil. “Andrew”, he tried to whisper, the name barely coming out. “Where the fuck is he?”, Andrew’s voice barely changed, his deadpan face still remaining; boring into Kevin’s memory. “His father-the butcher-“, he knew Neil would hate him for telling everyone his past, but if it would get Andrew off him, he’ll try anything. As soon as Andrew lets go he can run; he’d run faster than he ever has, until his legs break beneath him. He won’t care about the pain, he’s lived through pain his whole life, what’s a bit more? If it helps him get Neil back he’ll walk through fire, he’ll go back to the nest, he’ll kiss Riko’s feet and smile as he slowly dies. “Baltimore-the butcher of Baltimore”, Kevin closed his eyes and let a tear fall out. Who cares if the foxes see him cry? He doesn’t give a shit. They mean nothing to him. “Andrew get off him”, Matt looked between the two and wrapped his arms around Andrew’s waist, pulling to no avail, “fuck”. Kevin looked up into Andrew’s empty eyes through his blurring vision and prepared for the pain he’ll get before whispering: “please, Andrew, I can’t lose him”. Andrew’s hands grew tighter than before, making Kevin let out a laugh fueled on pain and fear. He looked over Andrew’s shoulder fleetingly as Matt, Aaron, Nicky and Coach finally pulled Andrew off; his throat bursting with a numb pain. “Kevin, sweetheart”, Abby kneeled beside him and pulled his head gently onto her lap, “if you know about Neil’s past we need you to tell us now. It’s important”. Kevin closed his eyes and swallowed through the burn in his throat, silently apologizing to Neil for his truth. “His father..is the butcher of Baltimore. He just got out-“, he pressed a hand against his mottled throat and swallowed the taste of blood, “out of prison. We need to save him”. Nicky let out an inhaled ‘fuck’ as Matt got ready to hit Kevin. “For fuck’s sake, Kevin, why didn’t you tell us before? Is that why he was scared of his own shadow? Because he was fucking running away?”, Wymack ran a hand down his face and swore. Kevin nodded and cleared his throat, “yeah, he ran away with his mom when he was eleven. But she died and..”, he shrugged and let out a pained sigh as Abby began to rub lotion onto his bruising neck. “Fucking great”, Wymack turned his back to the team and shook his head before turning to glare down at Kevin, “you should’ve told us sooner, Day. What if something has gone wrong and we’re too fucking late?” Kevin winced at his words and slowly closed his eyes; he’s been blamed for a lot of shit in his life, but Neil’s possible death stabs deeper than anything before. “I’m sorry”, he whispered, desperate for someone to believe him. “That’s not good enough right now. Everyone get in your seats”, Wymack barked as he strode to the front of the bus and sat down with a loud sigh. Kevin stood up slowly and sank into his seat, watching out of the window as his fear and anxiety choked him once again.

Kevin sunk into the corner of the hotel room and dropped his head into his hands; his left hand red raw from his anxious picking. He didn’t want to stay in this room, he didn’t care if the FBI forced them to, he needed to get out. They reassured him that Neil would be okay, but he didn’t believe them. Kevin flinched as a hand was placed on his shoulder, a gentle squeeze making him want to crawl out of his skin. “He’s going to be okay”, Abby smiled down at him and placed a gentle kiss on his temple, “I know what he means to you”. Kevin blinked up at her and tried to hold his anxious tears in; he didn’t want anyone to know what Neil meant to him. Neil was his and he was going to protect him until the day he dropped dead. “Fuck’s sake”, Wymack grumbled as a loud knock startled everyone up onto their feet. They all stood in silence as their Coach opened the door cautiously and grunted when two FBI agents walked through the door with annoyed facial expressions. “I’m Special Agent Browning and this”, the smug suited man gestured to the taller man beside him, “is my partner Special Agent Towns. We are working on the Baltimore case and can officially announce that the butcher has been executed”. He said it so proudly, so smugly that Kevin wanted to rip the man’s face off with his bare fucking hands. “But this information is not to leave this room, do you understand?”, Towns glared at each face before nodding and pulling a notebook out of his jacket pocket, “we would like some information on Nathaniel Wesninksi, the butcher’s son”. Nathaniel. That name alone brought too many bad memories up that Kevin wanted to scream. He wanted to scream that his name is Neil, he hated that name and he ran so far away to forget it; but now they’re pinning him back down with it. “His-his name is Neil”, Kevin spoke up and felt everyone’s eyes turn to him, “and I want to know where he is”. He tried to stay formal and authoritative but his voice cracked in fear. Both agents shared a small look, a silent conversation being spoken right in front of their faces, before Browning nodded and turned to face the room. “We are sorry to say that Nathaniel did not make it. Our condolences”. Kevin felt the air leave his lungs as if he’d been shot a million times in the chest. “What?”, he whispered as the Foxes turned to shoot him death glares. “For fuck’s sake, Kevin. You should’ve told us”, Matt spat as Dan physically held him back from killing Kevin. “I didn’t-he didn’t want me to, I was just-“, Kevin took a step back in instinctive fear as the Foxes began to shout over each other, each word ripping deep into Kevin’s skin that they began to merge together into a numbing ring in his ears. “He’s okay, they’re just-“, Kevin gripped his chest with his left hand and replayed all his memories with Neil, “they’re lying. He’s okay”. Browning shook his head and sighed, “I’m sorry, kid, but his father got to him before we could infiltrate the building”. Kevin fell to his knees and covered his ears, his lungs bursting in his chest. “No, he’s okay, he’s okay”, he whispered hoarsely, bile slowly creeping up his bruised throat. His ears began to ring with shouts and cries as he watched his Neil slip away behind his eyelids, the blue eyes that he fell in love with slowly closing shut to never open again.

“He’s okay”, Kevin whispered as his body began to shake, painful sobs ripping through his chest, “he’s okay”. He replayed every interaction with Neil, his body still humming with his touches, his cheeks still blushing from the soft kisses. “He’s okay, you’re lying”, he whispered though it came out barely audible, his throat burning with the bile. He felt like he was dying and he was leaning into it; hoping that this will finally be the moment where he’ll die and won’t have to live without Neil. The boy that he fell in love with the moment he saw him swagger onto the court when they were eleven. The boy that mouthed off to the press, to Riko, but would kiss him so gently; would hold him with such tenderness that it would sometimes make him want to cry. His reason to fight back who has lost the battle; who proved that life would never get better, at least not for them. He let out a wail as he felt his lungs collapse, his body shaking so much that he felt as if he were leaving it; finally being freed. “Kevin”, a blurry voice broke through the deafening ring in his ears, a voice so soft that it made his heart break more, “Kevin, sweetheart, give me your hand”. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked through the tears, his head swimming with his fight or flight reflexes. He wanted to do neither; he wanted to disappear. “Give me your hand”, Abby gently took ahold of his hand and placed it against her neck, “feel my pulse, can you feel it?” It took too much energy for Kevin to nod so he squeezed his eyes shut instead. “Good, now match my breathing, I know it’s hard but you can do it”, Abby began breathing too loudly for Kevin’s ears and he just wanted to push her away, but he tried anyway; she always makes him want to try. “Good, that great, you’re doing so well”, Abby whispered through breaths, a sad smile in her voice. “I don’t want to do it”, Kevin whispered as he felt his chest sag in defeat. “No, you’re doing great, I’m so proud”, Abby cupped his face and wiped away the tears that were infinite. Kevin shook his head and dropped his head on her shoulder, opening his eyes to watch as the other Foxes had turned their backs on him. Neil was the only one that made him want to stay here, so why did he let him go? All he had to do was hold a little tighter, but Kevin always let good things slip through his fingers, “I’m sorry”, he whispered though no one heard him.

Kevin strode onto the Ravens court with his head held and with a victory already in his grasp. “For you”, he whispered to the sky before tapping the butt of his racquet against the floor and changing hands, “you gave me your game and I won’t let you down”.

[honoraryfox]

Hey!! Can you please write a fic where neil is having a panic attack in front of the foxes and they don't know what to do and then andrew steps in. I would love to read this

Great prompt! I’ve gotten everybody else’s asks, and I promise i’m going to try and write them all, but it’s slow moving. here’s the first one.

Neil awoke with the image of a burning car in his mind. Dark smoke still stained his view, billowing up to the ceiling of his room. He rubbed his eyes, clearing away the pictures still surfacing of his dream, and he reminded himself how to breathe again.  

Neil climbed swiftly down his ladder, careful to be quiet and not wake any of the other sleeping boys. Once he was out of the room, he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and headed for the roof.  

The chilly morning air hit his face as he went to the ledge, dangling his legs toward the ground, and he pulled his hood up over his head to block out the cold.  

Neil could feel it was one of those days. He had heard some of his teammates calling them his “off days” in whispering tones in the locker room when they happened. He didn’t know why they happened, and sometimes it wasn’t even a nightmare that threw him off. What he did know was that these off days were driving him crazy.  

On days like these, things didn’t feel real. It was like looking in a mirror and having the deep realization that it was actually you who you were looking at. Neil pressed his hands harder against the ledge just to prove to himself that he could; just to remind himself that he was real, and he was still there.  

It didn’t help much.  

The loud crunch of feet on gravel alerted Neil to Andrew’s appearance, and he didn’t bother looking at him when he reached his pack of cigarettes out for him. Neil watched one of Andrew’ long pale fingers pluck a cigarette out of the box, and he couldn’t help but turn and watch as he lit it, placing it against his chapped lips.  

Andrew let out a puff of smoke into Neil’s face before saying, “You’re not going to practice today.” It was a demand not a question, and Neil narrowed his eyes at him, taking in the image of Andrew’s physique against the rising sun. Andrew frowned.  

“Yes I am,” Neil responded.  

Andrew stared at Neil, his eyes dark and empty. “I’m not going to help you when you’re breaking down later,” he deadpanned.  

“What makes you think I’m going to breakdown later?” Neil asked, trying to convince himself more than Andrew that he was going to be okay at practice.  

It was Andrew’s turn to narrow his eyes at Neil, and Neil sighed, turning back to the parking lot. Andrew knew Neil better than himself, but Neil would not let him be right about today. He had lost too many days to this overwhelming panic that he couldn’t control, and he wasn’t about to lose another one.  

Everything was over now. Neil was Neil Abram Josten, and he was safe. His mind knew that, but sometimes his body still forgot. Sometimes he saw one of his scars and hurtled back to a time when he thought he was going to die and was still clinging onto everything that he held dear.  

He was not going to let this day get to him.  

So Neil went to practice despite Andrew’s warning, and all he got out of Andrew was a cold glare and silence on their drive there. Neil was fine with that because he felt like if he even opened his mouth to speak, he was going to fall apart.  

He held it together through practice, pushing himself harder than usual, which meant that by the end of it, he could barely lift his arms. He ignored Wymack’s sharp warnings across the field to not overdo it since they had a game coming up. He also ignored the worried looks his teammates were giving him as he sprinted hard down field, scoring another point on Renee. He reminded himself that this was his day, and he was not going to give it up to whatever force was making him feel this way.  

He was feeling okay when they all started heading to the locker rooms. He had buried his strange feeling deep down, and he walked with clipped uneasy steps, forcing himself to put one foot in front of the other. He wanted to prove Andrew wrong. He was not going to break down that day.  

As Neil opened his locker, a sharp image flashed in his mind, and suddenly he was back to his birthday, and there was blood spewing out of his locker all over him, coating his orange jersey. He saw words smeared onto the bathroom wall, and he felt the shocked gazes of his teammates as he frantically tried to clean away the blood on his jersey.  

Neil swallowed back his tears. He wasn’t there right now. That was so long ago. He had spent so many days in the same locker room, and it had been fine. He was fine.  

But he wasn’t, and as that realization hit him, Neil felt his knees giving out, and he fell to the ground, his breath suddenly growing rapid and choked as the tears began to stream his face. The more that he struggled to calm himself, and the more that he told himself to stop, the more his panic rose up, bubbling over in uneven sobs.  

He heard his name being said, and he saw Nicky and Matt in his peripheral, asking I’m what was wrong, but he couldn’t respond. The thought that his teammates were all watching him only made him cry harder.  

“Just breathe, Neil,” Matt instructed calmly, and Neil tried to listen to him—he really did—but he couldn’t.  

His mind betrayed him, bringing up images from his dream last night, and flashes of his old life. He saw a dashboard lighter, a hot iron, a gun, a cleaver, a knife. They flashed across his vision just as fast as they had sliced across his skin so long ago. Except some of them hadn’t even been that long ago. He panicked more as he wondered how he was ever going to get over these things if he still wasn’t even over his childhood.  

“What do we do?” Neil heard someone say.  

He wanted to repeat the question back. It filled up his head, repeating on an endless loop. What should he do? Because he couldn’t keep living like this. He heard Andrew’s name being mentioned and latched onto it like a life preserver.  

Before he could continue his line of thinking, strong hands were grabbing onto Neil’s jersey, and he was being pulled up onto shaky feet and dragged towards Wymack’s office. Neil watched as Andrew let go of him, locking the door behind them and drawing all of the shades shut.  

“I’m sorry,” Neil sobbed from his place on the floor where he had folded in on himself. “I’m sorry.”

Andrew entered his tear-stained vision, his face cold and unyielding. Neil focused on it through his panic, and followed the cold lines of his face to his solid constant gaze.  

“Junkie,” Andrew mumbled, scooting closer towards Neil.  

Neil watched as Andrew’s hand reached out, his palm flattening on Neil’s heart. Neil could feel his heart beating against Andrew’s fingers, and he tried to focus on it. He was alive, and he was here. He felt his breathing becoming a bit steadier, but the overriding thoughts that had overflowed him were still swimming around his mind, forcing tears from his eyes.  

Andrew frowned and reached out with his other hand, tugging Neil’s up so that it was covering Andrew’s heart.  

Andrew’s heartbeat was slow and even under his palm, and Neil found his breathing slowing to match the cadence. He found himself pressing his hand more solidly against Andrew’s chest, and soon their hearts were connected, Neil’s beating against Andrew’s palm at the same time that Andrew’s was beating against Neil’s. Neil took one last shaky breath, and let his head fall against the wall.  

“Thank you,” Neil whispered.  

“Let’s go,” Andrew responded, tugging Neil onto his feet by the hand.  

Andrew didn’t let go of Neil’s hand as they left, and he pulled Neil along behind him.  

“Neil, are you okay?” Matt said instantly when they got into the hallway.  

Neil opened his mouth to respond, but Andrew fixed Matt with a glare that silenced him and the others. The girls had joined the group now and must have been filled in on Neil’s panic attack.  

“Yeah, I’m okay now.” Neil said anyways, watching as Andrew motioned to his group that they were leaving.  

“About time,” Aaron muttered.  

“Neil,” Dan said, reaching a hand out to his arm. Andrew fixed her with a glare too, and although she took her hand away, she watched Neil carefully.  

“Honestly,” Neil said specifically to Dan, and his voice was sincere as he continued. “I was having an off day, and it sort of hit me, but I’m going to be okay.”

Later in the car, Andrew still hadn’t let go of Neil’s hand. As Neil looked at their entwined fingers, he could remember the feel of Andrews heart beating against his palm. He remembered his words to Dan, and for the first time in a long time, Neil realized that maybe they were true.  

He was always going to have bad days, but Andrew and the foxes were always going to be there to pull him out of it, and he had his whole life ahead of him. He realized that maybe it was okay to have bad days, and he decided that it was better to be alive with a few bad days than not alive at all.

Neil squeezed Andrew’s hand lightly, expecting a glare or a low-spoken percent, but after a few minutes, Andrew squeezed back.  

Neil sighed softly, and let relieving words that he never thought were possible wash over him as they drove back to fox tower.  

I’m going to be okay, not now, and maybe not soon, but eventually.  

And that was enough for Neil.  

[kumarapanda]

Okay listen! I have this in my head for a while now and i have to write it down! Its an other idea of the adult Foxes. Im sorry for all the typos and the bad english. English is not my mother language. So have mercy.

Neil is sitting outside his home in his yard. A beer in his hand. Watching the sun going down. Their dogs (yes after he and Andrew stopped playing Exy professional he convinced Andrew to get two dogs) laying by his side. A few weeks ago their yard was full of their family. They were celebrating his 53th birthday. 53. Holy hell. He nevet tough he hit his 20th birtday.

They where all there. Matt and Dan with their two boys. Still madly in love. Neil doesn't know how they do that. Dan is still on the foxcourt. She took Wymacks place after he retired. He died a few years ago of a heart attack. Sad day for all of them.... Matt works in a Box club near the foxcourt. After a leg injury he stopped playing Exy and started to coach young boxers. His mother supported him. Their kids play Exy as well. Maybe they will be court some day.

Nicky and Erick were there. Those two married shortly after Nickys graduation and moved back to germany. But they stayed in touch. Nicky called at least twice a week. Nicky loves his family and never fails to show them. He worked a few year as a salesman. But he always wanted a big family and in the end they adopted 3 children. Hes such an awesome dad. And so is Erick. The kids are all grown up now. A few years ago they moved back to America only a few streets away from Neils and Andrews home. Nicky never told them why but Neil was happy to have Nicky and Erick close. Andrew always bitches about Nicky but Neil knows Andrew loves his cousin and secretly enjoys his company.

Kevin showed up alone. He and Thea got divorced after 3 years of marriage. They have a daughter together and Kevin loves her with all his heart. Even more than Exy... Sometimes. But his little angel (who is now 21 and has her own life) never liked Exy. Shes one of the big newcomer models for Channel and other big labels. It drives her dad badshit crazy. He is now coach for the National Exy Team and does a great job. Due to his bad drinking habits he had to quit Exy earlier than Neil and Andrew did. His liver...

Aaron was there with his son and his new girlfriend. When his son was 3 years old Katelyn died in a car accident. She was pregnant with their second child. After that Aaron was a mess. He felt back in drugs but Andrew intervened. Neil and Andrew paused their Exy careers for a year and helped Aaron. Neil never thought they could actually help Aaron but wonder! Andrew used his own methods and involved Betsy. Neil was often looking for the kid and even bounded. Actually he kinda loved the little shit. But he would never tell.

And then there were Allison and Renee. Together. Neil didn't understand their relationship in the beginning. It looked like Renee was all over Jean. But they were just good friends. The Foxes had no idea. The two girls started dating in their last senior year. After graduating Renee dedicated her live to charity. She did everything to help young adults. She worked as a streetworker and helped homeless people. And Allison? She supported Renee on every step of the way. The scary one and the cute one made a pretty good team.

Wymack and Abby finally got married five years after the victory over Edgar Allen. They were so good together. But time doesn't stop for anyone and Wymack passed away. One year after Abby followed him. Just felt asleep and never woke up again. Neil missed them.

Betsy is still alive. Andrew never lost contact. After Rikos death his nightmares were bad. After a few months of bad sleep Andrew tricked him in a session with Betsy. Oh hell this was no fun. Andrew stayed and really tryed to help in his way. It took them four more sessions till Neil finally started to speak. And honestly he thinks Andrew saved him again that day. He still doesn't "like" her like his family but Andrew does. And so he is still looking for her. Now shes in a really nice retirement home payed by him and Andrew.

Neil sight. Live was really good for him after his father died. He smiles of thinking back of his and Andrews careers. They played Exy. For a living. And always together. It was perfect. Andrew was such a great goalkeeper. After he started communicating with his teammates nothing could stop them. They won National League, Champions League, World cup and won the Olympics gold medals for US. Kevin was most of the time with them. The deadly tree.

After Kevin had to retire Andrew and Neil played for a few more years but finally they agreed their time in pro league was over. They bought a house and settled down. Now they coach Exy junior league.

Sometimes he imagine his life with many "what ifs". What if he ran that day and never came back? He shakes his head. Not today.

The sun was almost down, the twilight surrounding him. Its still warm. One of the dogs lifts his head and looks back. He hears footsteps behind him. A hand touches him slightly on the shoulder. He looks to his side to see Andrew take a seet besides him. Cuddling one of the dogs head. His face shows a slight smile. One that is reserved for Neil. Only. He smiles back. They never hand kids or got married. But they are happy. They have matching rings. Neil wears his on his finger and Andrew his on a chain arround his neck.

Neil leans forward and takes Andrews hand. He kisses his cheek and wisper a "i love you". Yeah he learned a lot over the years of feelings and how to express them. Andrew only grunts a "shut up" but squeezes his hand and entwine their fingers together. They sit there in silence for a while. A "yes or no" from Andrew breaks trough and Neil smiles. "its always a yes". A soft chuckle from Neil then their lipps are together...

Yeah i had to write this! Sorry not sorry!

[wematch]

Avatar: The Legend of Neil CH6

For many years, the four nations lived together in harmony.

Then, everything changed when a conspiracy to start a war began.

Only the avatar, master of all four elements, could stop it, but when the identity of the new avatar was found, he vanished.

Many years passed without anyone knowing where he was. Then he appeared on a farm in the Earth Kingdom, disguised as a firebender named Neil. And although his bending skills were weak when he got there, with practice he grew stronger every day that passed.

Now with a war looming by, Neil must find his own path into becoming the new avatar and bring balance to the world.

***

As always, a huge thank you to @tntwme​ for being an amazing beta! Your feedback truly makes a difference <3<3

This fic was inspired by this amazing piece of art by @aymmidumps​, go check it out! [here]

You can also read it from the start on [AO3]

Book 2: Water

Chapter 2: Visitors

Neil suddenly jolts awake. He sits up and looks around, startled. It takes his brain a moment to understand what woke him up but then he hears someone shouting in the distance, so he jumps to his feet and rushes outside.

Neil freezes the moment he sees the massive tree on fire near the entrance to the farm. He looks around, trying to make sense of what is happening, and that’s when Kevin creates a whip of fire, the light of it making it possible for Neil to recognize him. A fire blast is thrown in Kevin’s direction. He stops the attack with the whip and uses it to counterattack. Wymack suddenly becomes visible when he steps closer to the burning tree and it’s in that moment that several shots are fired in their direction.

Kevin and Wymack block the attacks and are quick to retaliate. More fire shots are fired in rapid succession. Wymack avoids the fire by launching himself into the air but he’s caught on his arm by an attack coming from his back. Neil watches in shock as Wymack barely manages to defend himself in time with his other arm, from another attack coming his way. Kevin screams, outraged, and tries to move closer to help him. Kevin proceeds to attack with multiple fire punches in the direction of their attackers but he’s outnumbered and his attacks are blocked and fire is shot from multiple directions back at them giving him no time to breathe.

Neil starts to run in their direction, his heart beginning to race a mile a minute. He’s too far away to see their attackers but he has a sinking feeling that he has been found. But there’s no more running away. He’s not letting them hurt anyone else in here because of him and they’re not getting him without a fight, not anymore. He runs as fast as he can hears someone shouting behind him to wake up everyone else. 

Andrew passes at his side so fast that Neil is slightly thrown off by the sudden movement of the ground caused by his earthbending. He’s halfway there when Andrew catapults himself to the middle of the fight, makes a wall to shield Wymack, and starts to attack viciously. Neil falters a step when he sees Lola turn to face Andrew and send fire in his direction. She had finally found him.

Neil keeps running towards Andrew’s side and throws a fire punch when he sees an opening. Romero blocks it and begins to grin when he notices who he is. “I’ll be damned if it isn’t Nathaniel,” he says.

Lola shifts places with Romero and starts attacking in his direction. They punch, one after the other, and Kevin and Neil take turns to block them. Andrew builds another wall to protect them for a moment and sends it in their opponents direction and that’s when Neil and Kevin attack together. Wymack proceeds to blow wind so strong in their direction that Lola and Romero fall and keep getting thrown further away into the trees.

Neil runs in Lola’s direction, anger beginning to boil inside him. He hears someone calling his name but he doesn’t look back. They can do whatever they want to him but he isn’t letting them hurt anyone else here because of him. “Leave them alone,” Neil shouts at her between launching fire blasts in her direction, “it’s me you want, not them.”

Lola gives him a cold smile. “Things have changed, Nathaniel,” she fires back, “now I’m just here to kill you.” She continues to attack and Andrew puts himself in front of Neil to block her attack with a massive wall.

Neil didn’t even notice Andrew coming his way. He shares a glance with Andrew behind the wall. He doesn’t know what to think at this moment. Had his father found another way to dethrone the firelord? If that had already happened he’s sure they would have heard the news. So whatever new plan he has, it’s yet to happen.

“Focus,” Andrew tells him. Neil gives a quick nod and prepares himself. Andrew punches several times through the wall to send the rocks in her direction and Neil fires some punches too.

Romero is about to attack them from behind when an arrow is thrown at him, pinning his trousers to the ground, and making him fall. Andrew takes the opportunity to trap Romero’s hands and feet with earth and Aaron grabs a rock and moves past them to hit Romero on his head, making him fall unconscious. Neil glances at his side and sees Renee lowering her bow. The others are already fighting the other two firebenders that came with Lola in the middle of the field. Renee gives him a reassuring nod and Neil focuses on the threat in front of them.

“Leave now,” Neil warns Lola.

“Oh I don’t think so, not when I just realized who your new friend is.” She attacks as soon as Kevin reaches their side, throwing fire punches in his direction. “Riko will be pleased to know where you are hiding, Kevin.”

In the corner of his eye he can see Kevin freeze for a second, and then he begins to look around in a frantic motion, panic immediately taking over with what Lola just said. This is all his fault and he won’t stand for this. He will not be the cause for Kevin to go back to the Ravens. 

It’s been years since Neil ran away but he heard enough stories about them to know that it’s a death sentence to go back there after you run away. Neil steps next to Kevin, and the others start to make a circle around Lola. She glances around, noticing how severely outnumbered she is but keeps fighting in every direction.

“Kick and then punch towards the sky,” Kevin muters. He follows Kevin’s lead as he kicks fire in her direction. As expected by Kevin, in order to avoid the fire, Lola jumps over them, but they’re prepared and as soon as they see her in the air, they punch. 

Lola is quick and uses their fire to blast herself further away but she runs into an ice wall made by Dan, the impact making the wall shatter all around her. Neil watches as she falls down, looking unconscious. When she hits the ground she opens her eyes and begins to get up when she seems to fall into a hole in the ground up to her waist.

Neil looks at Andrew right by his side, blank expression giving nothing away of what he’s thinking while he holds her down. Neil, panting, walks up to her. “What new plan does he have now?” he questions, because above all else, he needs to know what changed.

She begins to laugh. “You look so much like him, too bad you’re such a disgrace to your family,” she spits.

“Answer him,” Andrew says, stepping closer. When she doesn’t say a word he adds, “I won’t ask again,” and sinks her further into the ground, leaving only her head up.

“You think I’m scared of you?” She begins to grin.

Andrew gives her a cold smile. “Wrong answer,” he comments, and fully sinks her under the ground.

Seconds pass and they all walk closer towards where she was.

“Andrew, that’s enough,” Wymack warns.

“Not yet,” Andrew waits a few more seconds and then brings her head up to the surface.

Lola gasps for air and Andrew moves one step closer. “Answer him, or next time I’ll leave you three feet underground.” 

She glares at him, no longer thinking that Andrew is someone to give empty threats. “There’s a comet coming,” she lets out, still trying to catch her breath, “and with it the power of one hundred suns.”

“When?” Neil demands. A comet changes everything. Nathan won’t need him to do his dirty work, he and his men will be much more powerful than the other type of benders. Neil can’t believe it, he’s been on the run for this long and his mother died for the Moriyama's plan not to happen. It couldn’t have been for nothing.

“There’s nothing you can do,” she begins to grin coldly at him, “Not even you, the avatar, will be able to stop it.”

He feels everyone staring at his back. Neil doesn’t know what to say or do, he never asked for this and now he feels helpless. He looks at Andrew and for a moment they lock eyes. How is he going to stop this from happening? Andrew breaks eye contact and throws a rock at Lola’s head, knocking her unconscious. 

“You knew who I was, didn’t you?!” Kevin accuses him and pushes Neil, “and you led them right to me!” he shouts, looking desperate.

Neil clenches his fists and doesn’t say a word. He knew he shouldn’t have stayed for this long. Not after Wymack discovered who he was and definitely not after Andrew saw him practice airbending. But he’s tired of running. Kevin pushes him again, this time harder, throwing him to the floor and Neil does nothing to stop him. “Riko’s going to find me and I'll never be able to leave the Ravens again,” Kevin shouts and Neil can feel the panic in Kevin's voice.

“Enough,” Andrew says and steps in front of Neil. “Go pack, now,” he tells Kevin.

“What?”

“We’re leaving, go pack.”

“Wait, hold on!” Nicky says and jumps next to Kevin. “What the hell just happened here?” He turns to the others and points at Neil. “And lets not forget she just told us he’s the avatar?! Is no one else freaking out about that?”

“Neil, are you really--” Matt starts.

“Yes,” Neil interrupts him. 

Allison whistles. “Damn, Neil.”

“What are we supposed to do now?” Aaron questions.

“Andrew is right.” Everyone turns to Wymack. Dan is already at his side, looking apprehensively at his injured arm. “Go pack, none of us can stay here,” he tells everyone. 

“But where are we going? Those people are going to chase us now!” Kevin yells, pointing at Lola on the floor.

“He’s got a point,” Dan comments, while she bends water around Wymack’s arm and suddenly the water begins to glow under her hands and Neil is transfixed. He had never seen a waterbender heal someone before.

Wymack turns his head towards Andrew. “We can give them to the guards. It won’t hold them long but it can give us some time.” 

Andrew nods and turns to Renee. “We need to figure out where we’re going.”

“Omashu is close, we’ll be safe there. We can warn the earth nation from there?” She offers.

“No,” Neil interrupts and everyone turns to him. “Didn’t you hear her? The comet is coming. I can’t hide anymore, I need to stop them before it happens.”

“What exactly will happen?” Matt asks.

“War between the nations,” Everyone stops for a moment, letting it sink in. “If she’s telling the truth--”

“She is,” Andrew informs him.

“Then there’s no other way, I have to go back to the fire nation and stop them.”

“But for now, we need to get out of here,” Wymack reminds them. 

Dan removes the water from Wymack’s arm. “It wasn’t severely burned so I don’t think you’ll get a scar if I can do a few more sessions.”

Wymack puts a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, Dan.” Wymack calls Blue and they put their attackers on the Bison’s saddle. “When we get back, we need to figure out where to hide near the fire nation.”

“If you want to go to the fire nation,” Allison starts, “we can go to my island and hide there.”

“Your island?” Nicky asks, with his mouth open.

“It’s my family vacation house.”

“You’re joking,” Matt starts, “who owns an island?”

“It’s very small,” Allison dismisses him with a wave. “We can hide there, my parents won’t go there until next summer.”

Neil is taken aback. “I can’t ask you to come with me--”

“Just, shut up,” Andrew interrupts him. They stare at each other until Andrew turns around and catapults himself into Blue’s saddle just when Blue begins to lift into the air.

Matt and Dan focus on putting the fire out, while everyone else starts to run around to grab their belongings and food for their journey. When Wymack and Andrew return they seem to have made a plan on the way back. Since Blue can’t fly with all of them they have to split up. Wymack and Kevin are going to get Abby and then they will be travelling to Ba Sing Se, with the mission of discovering when the comet is going to arrive and after they find the information they need, they’ll join them in the fire nation.

Allison points out the location of the island on a map and gives it to Wymack. While the others pack their belongings, using Neil’s ostrich horse and Allison’s to carry most of the weight.

Before they split up, Dan walks up to Wymack and gives him a careful hug. “Don’t worry, Abby will take good care of me,” Wymack reassures her. Dan nods and steps back into Matt’s arms. Wymack looks around. “Be safe, we’ll see you soon.” He jumps to Blue’s saddle and everyone wishes them a safe trip. 

Kevin is about to climb up on the bison when Neil walks to his side. “Kevin, wait.”

Kevin stops, but he refuses to look at him. “I won’t let them send you back to the Ravens,” Neil tells him quietly. A moment passes and Kevin glances at him. “I won’t,” Neil repeats more fiercely and Kevin nods before he climbs to join Wymack.

They all watch them disappear into the night sky for a moment, then one by one, they start to walk away. Neil takes a step but notices something on the ground and stops. It’s a small notebook, dirty and wrinkled. He feels Andrew pause at his side while he picks it up. It’s open on one page but Neil can’t quite figure out what he’s looking at so he shows it to Andrew. 

“That’s Kevin’s,” Andrew informs him. “He’s going to go mental when he finds out that he lost it,” and Neil is surprised to find the hint of a smile in Andrew’s expression.

He looks down at the page again for a moment. He doesn’t understand the oval divided in half with the elements drawn on the side. “What do you think this is?”

Andrew ignores his question and begins to follow the others. Neil puts the notebook in his pocket and takes a deep breath. In just a few hours everything changed. Now he’s on his way to face his father, something he never really thought of doing, but as he watches everyone abandon the farm because of him, he knows he has to do this. He can’t let Nathan start a war without doing everything in his power to stop it.

[jeni182]

Know

Betsy Dobson died on a Tuesday morning. Andrew was still asleep when his phone rang. Neil answered, because Neil was always up early. Even though they’d both retired, he never missed a morning run.

It was Wymack. Neil shook Andrew awake and handed him the phone with a look that immediately had him on alert. He was still not prepared.

Bee had a heart attack. Her second one, but this one she did not recover from. She was too old now. Her body too frail. It took its toll and left her empty. The doctors said it was quick and it was painless.

For who? Andrew wondered.

Now he stood under an awning set up to keep the sun out. Neil by his side, a retinue of his past behind him. His old teammates were here, Wymack was here, his brother was here. Nicky couldn’t make the trip from Germany, but he was devastated to Andrew’s satisfaction. Because the world had lost something wonderful and pure and bright and the fact that there were people who did not know this.

Who did not know  her.

Made Andrew want to scream. But he didn’t. He stood next to Neil and let him rub soothing circles into his back. He listened to a person he did not know and Bee did not know say things about her he could not have possibly known. He watched as her casket was lowered into the ground. He stayed when everyone else but Neil walked away. Until finally his husband pulled him toward the car. Toward the wake.

At least so you can get some food. You need to eat something.

Andrew did not eat anything.

They left early, Aaron in the backseat. He was staying with them for the funeral, but was flying back out to Chicago in the morning. He wasn’t close to Bee like Andrew was close to Bee. But Andrew was glad he came. He was glad everyone came.

Andrew made a detour back the the cemetery. He felt pulled. He didn’t really know why. Neither Neil nor Aaron said a word about it as he pulled over to the side of the drive nearest her grave. It was already covered. A dirt mound with a fake green grass blanket over it. Like someone was trying to hide something they’d done. Like Andrew was trying to hide the pain behind a green grass blanket of cool indifference. Bee wouldn’t have wanted that.

So he got out of his car, and Neil followed.

“I want to go alone,” he said.

“I know. Just...we’ll be right here okay? Take whatever time you need. Here,” Neil said, reaching into the car and pulling out a thermos from the cupholder. It was still warm and Andrew could smell hot chocolate wafting out of the lid.

“Tell her I said thanks for everything.” And Neil put a hand on either side of Andrew’s face and kissed him once. Twice. Three times after searching his eyes. Andrew could feel the cool smoothness of Neil’s wedding band against his warm cheek. He nodded.

He walked over to Bee’s grave, hot chocolate in hand and sat down in the grass in his suit right next to her. He put the hot chocolate down between them and began to speak.

“I don’t know if you know, Bee. But that moment was made possible by you. All of the moments with him. The moment I told him I loved him was because of you. The moment I proposed to him was because of you. The moment I finally kill him for his smart mouth will be because you’re not here to talk me out of it.”

Andrew drew his legs up and crossed them at the ankles. He was a grown man sitting in the grass next to a mound of dirt. And he felt like right here was exactly where he needed to be at this moment. He pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes to try and stop the burning behind them.

“I don’t know if you know, Bee. But I’m alive today because of you. Because you took all the broken pieces and you helped me put them back in the right order. You helped me accept that some pieces were just missing, and that’s okay. I would not have made it. I would not have lived to see twenty-one if it wasn’t for you and for Neil.”

He didn’t try to stop the burning this time. He let the tears come. It was no use. He took a shuddering breath and put his hands over his face. He allowed himself one sob before he tried to get himself back together. He had to finish this. He had to tell her.

“I don’t know if you know, Bee. But I’ve always said Cass Spear was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a mother. She was kind to me. She was the first one to care. But in the end I was not hers. In the end she ignored my hurt in order to keep her illusion of the perfect family. But you, Bee. You were my mother. You held me together and you celebrated my milestones. When I played a great game. When I got straight A’s. When I stopped drinking and smoking. When I ‘let the love in’ as you always like to say. You were my mother, Bee. I don’t know if you ever knew that.”

He heard someone coming and saw them plop down beside him in the grass. He thought it would be Neil, but it was Aaron. Andrew was about to ask him what he was doing when he opened his mouth to speak.

“I don’t know if you know, Bee. But you’re the reason I can sit next to my brother without one or both of us plotting a murder.”

Andrew let out a surprised, wet laugh. They were rare, but it was so true he couldn’t help himself.

Aaron grinned at him. “Just wanted to let you know Josten is on the phone with Nicky and he’s losing it.”

“His name is Minyard now, you know.”

Aaron shrugged. “He’ll always be Josten to me.” The he stood and left Andrew alone again.

Andrew stayed sitting for a few more minutes. He had lost something so fundamental. It was like a little piece of him was missing now. Like there was a hole where Bee used to live inside of him. He didn’t know if it would always be this way or if this was just the grief. But in the end, he found it hard to be much of anything besides grateful. Bee was the person he needed in his life. She was the thing that saved him. And the fact that he got to have her? He couldn’t keep Cass, but he had kept Bee. He thought maybe the universe knew what it was doing after all.

Andrew stood up and brushed the grass from his pants. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a crystal figurine of two foxes, one big and one small. He placed it atop Bee’s grave and stepped back.

“I don’t know if you know, Bee,” he whispered. “But I love you.”

[gluupor]

Ally the Vampire Slayer, part 2

Read part 1 here.

This is a tiny prequel to an exclusive story I wrote for the @aftgapocalypsezine. Interested in reading a full story set in this universe? Order the AFTG Apocalypse Zine which features artwork and fic by 19 contributors, with proceeds going to support Rainbow Railroad!

Allison was hyped up for a fight. Wymack had sent her down to one of Palmetto’s thirty-seven cemeteries to stake a baby vamp and it had been easier than she expected. Now she was all revved up with no way to expel her extra energy. She’d already looped around the rest of the cemetery, but no other supernatural activity caught her eye. She could just go home.

Or she could go check out The Monster, a bar that Wymack had expressly warned her away from.

Oh, well. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

It didn’t take her long to cross town (nowhere in Palmetto took her long to get to; she was still having trouble adjusting to such a tiny town after living in LA all her life). The bar didn’t look like much from the outside, no different from every other dive bar in every small town in America. It was grimy enough that she reconsidered going in. She’d worn black jeans that she didn’t care about getting grave dirt on, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to expose them to whatever was in that bar.

She was still undecided when the bar’s side door opened and a drunk girl stumbled out, followed by a short, bleach-blond teenager. He looked maybe nineteen and East Asian in origin, but his pale skin and the way he moved that pinged her senses. She highly doubted he was as young as he looked. Vampire.

The girl leaned against the brick wall of the bar and beckoned the vampire closer. Allison had Mr. Pointy in her hands and was rushing forward before he even leaned in to his victim. She forced him away from the girl as soon as he bent his head to drink.

“What are you doing?” demanded the victim, not at all grateful that Allison had probably just saved her life.

Allison didn’t answer, too busy keeping the vampire at bay.

“You’re making a mistake,” he said, lisping slightly around his pointed teeth which had come out in anticipation of a meal.

“So did you, when you decided to feed on an innocent,” she said, kicking him away. “And I’m going to make sure it’s the last one you make.”

She raised her stake to drive it into his heart and was hit by something solid tackling her to the ground. She rolled and recovered, doing a double take when she saw who had attacked her. It was another bleach-blond vampire, one that looked too similar to the first one to be anything but a sibling. He was younger than his brother, maybe only sixteen.

The would-be victim had fled and another two men had entered the alley, their “vamp faces” giving away what they were. She took a step back, uncertain. She hadn’t been expecting to face four vampires. Maybe there had been a good reason that Wymack had warned her not to come here.

The second blond vampire didn’t give her time to reconsider, going immediately on the offensive. She was stronger than he was but he was fast as a snake and clearly more experienced. He may look sixteen but he had likely been alive for decades before she was born. She kept losing ground until she stumbled over her heels, falling at his feet. He got his hands around her head, poised to snap her neck.

Another form flew into the fight, wrapping itself around Allison.

“Andrew, no,” said the newcomer. It was the vampire Renee, who Allison had met once before.

The blond vampire sneered. “She attacked Aaron.”

“She’s new,” said Renee. “She doesn’t know about the humans who feed you willingly.”

“She broke the bargain.”

“She won’t do it again,” promised Renee.

“Andrew,” said one of the other vampires tentatively. He was tall and Hispanic, although unnaturally pale. “She’s Wymack’s. If you kill her, him and his Scoobies will come after us.”

“Listen to Nicky,” said Renee. “You don’t want to get on Wymack’s bad side.”

“Plus the next Slayer will be gunning for you,” added the fourth vampire.

“Then I’ll kill her too, Kevin,” replied Andrew.

Allison looked up at him, not letting herself betray any fear. She was probably going to go down in history as the Slayer with the shortest tenure, but she wasn’t going to die begging and crying.

“Andrew, I’m bored,” said a new voice in a British accent, one of the classier-sounding ones. Another apparent teenager, this one red-headed and maybe eighteen, sinuously stepped out from The Monster. He was dressed in form-fitted leather pants and a loose, gauzy shirt that showed off his sharp collarbones.

The tension snapped. Andrew’s attention immediately transferred to the newcomer as soon as he spoke, his face smoothing out until he looked human. “Abram,” he said, sounding chiding. “I told you to stay inside.”

“Stop playing with the Slayer and come entertain me,” Abram continued, barely paying attention to the crowd of people surrounding them.

Andrew let Allison go and walked over to the man, seemingly forgetting her existence. His back was exposed; she considered going after him but odds were still skewed against her, especially if the newest addition to their group was also a vampire.

Andrew reached for Abram and reeled him close; they gazed into each other’s eyes as if they were completely alone. Allison felt vaguely like she was intruding.

“Come on,” whispered Renee. “Let’s go.”

Allison nodded and stood stiffly; if the vampires were going to pretend she wasn’t present then she’d return the favour.

“Slayer,” said Andrew without taking his eyes off Abram. “If you ever touch me or mine again I’ll rip out your lungs.”

“That lacks poetry,” complained Kevin.

“It doesn’t have to,” replied Abram. “I’m sure something rhymes with lungs.”

Allison scoffed and turned away.

“Welcome to Palmetto!” Nicky called after her.

Want more? Order the AFTG Apocalypse Zine.

[rewritingthestars]

A/n: whats up guys im not dead and I finally wrote a thing

 The kingdom of Evermore shines brightly underneath the never-ending light of the sun. Golden cities and silver towers cover the lands in spades, shimmering blindingly across the horizon. The City of White. The Sun God’s Temple. The half of the world that never is to sleep, and never to wake, as the moon will never come.

In the heart of Evermore, it’s castle sits high and proud, a golden marvel of wealth and power. It stretches far more vast than any other building for hundreds of miles, a city of it’s own making. In the center of the castle, a large square of land takes space within.

They call it the Garden for reasons unbeknownst to Neil, as not a single living thing grows on the marbled floors and chiseled statues. Neil places his hand on a nearby pillar, steadying himself with it as he tentatively steps into the Garden. A thick, warm liquid soaks between his toes and underneath his feet, unpleasantly sticking to his skin and sloshing around on the floors of the Garden.

Neil can’t see what it is but years of living in the castle and the sickening smell is more than enough insight into what is currently staining his skin. He ignores it as it is, pushing off of the pillar and slowly walking forward, step by counted step, reaching his hands out cautiously until they bump into a fountain made out of gold.

Neil sits down on the edge and stretches a hand out to press it into the waters that run from the structure, wondering if that too is stained red with blood. He thinks the dress he slipped on today was white but now there’s no way to tell what color it might have become.

“Seer.” Comes a voice from Neil’s left, and Neil sighs in aggravation.

“Tell them if they want me for another vision they’ll have to wait. I’ve spent the last twelve hours pushing my limits, I have no more to give.” Neil says sharply.

The guard bluntly ignores this, his steps making a disgusting sound as he treks through the blood and grabs Neil by the arm. “The King will not be denied.” The guard says before dragging him to his feet.

Neil slaps away the guard’s hand with a growl, glaring in an approximate direction of the man. “I’m blind not cripple, I don’t need you to walk me.”

“You know that’s not how this works.” He says, once again grabbing Neil’s arm and pulling him to follow, ignoring Neil’s curses and struggles.

Evermore has owned him since birth. A bird is branded into the back of his heel, one that’s been there since he was a baby, symbolizing the royal family. His father made him with every intention of him being a seer, a prophet. His mother’s bloodline has a history of seers, randomly passed down throughout generations, and Neil just happened to get the unlucky draw of power. Seers are rare, only a few ever around at the same time, if there are any at all. Wars have been fought and kingdoms have fallen for the control of a seer. The moment Neil revealed he had true sight he lost whatever hope of freedom he could have had.

His mother, foolishly, desperately, died for that dead idea of freedom. Neil wonders how long it will take before he will do the same.

He’s the reason the Moriyamas are still on top, are still fighting and winning wars and territories. It leaves a sickness in Neil, an anger knowing he’s helping the very people who have him held as their prisoner.

The guard throws him down with little warning and Neil falls to his knees painfully.

“You are dismissed.” A voice says blandly, but stern. The guard takes his leave, leaving Neil alone with the King.

“Seer,” Ichirou says, ”I need your eyes once more.”

“I have no more sight to give.” Neil says back. “My lord.” He spits out after.

A hand grips his chin harshly, tilting it up and forcing his neck to bend. “That was not a request. If you refuse me again Riko will have you for the week.” Ichirou says coldly, and Neil can’t suppress the shutter that takes over his body.

Neil lets out a shaky breath, “I will try, my lord.”

“Don’t try, do.” He says, releasing Neil’s chin, and presses a bowl of water into Neil’s hands.

Neil nods, gritting his teeth but holding his tongue for once.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, lowering his head and slipping a hand into the water.

His fingertips dance over its surface, feeling the ripples and waves it creates. Neil focuses on the dismal amount of power left within him after days of forced visions, and rips at it harshly and painfully, gasping hard at the tear, blood dripping out of his nose and into the bowl.

There’s a swell of burning heat to his flesh, but Neil can tell it won’t hold for long.

“What do you want to know.” Neil says, or probably says, maybe says. Neil is lightyears away from sound, infinitely removed from space and time itself. Ichirou’s words pass through and out of his memory, something of foxes and twilight, and Neil opens his eyes and sees.

The world is dark and misty, a tavern in front of him with rain falling around him. Palmetto, the kingdom of the night, the City of Twilight. The half of the world forever purged in darkness.

The tavern is filled with soldiers and people of importance, people that really shouldn’t hold a meeting in a shitty hole in the wall bar. King Wymack holds a conversation in the back room, surrounded by men and women arguing loudly, a shouting match soon to turn into a fist fight.

“Enough!” The King bellows, and the room goes quiet. He rubs at his temples harshly with a sigh. “We need ideas, not to kill each other. This was suppose to be a meeting on taking down the Moriyamas, once in for all, not a pissing contest!”

“We have an idea,” A man argues next to him. Kevin Day, Neil’s insight tells him, the traitor of Evermore. “You just aren’t listening.”

“It’s not that I’m not listening, it’s just a suicidal plan!” The King argues.

“We need to take out their seer.” Kevin plows on. “As long as they can predict our every move we have no chance.”

“And I agree with you.” The King says, “But there is no one here who can walk into that castle and come back alive!”

“If I volunteer can we wrap up this bullshit.” Another voices says boredly, almost emotionlessly. He’s short compared to his comrades, blond. Andrew Minyard, his insight supplies him though that doesn’t really help him know the man.

“You’ll die.” Reiterates the King.

“Anything is better than this.” Andrew replies blankly, and a man next to him, Nickolas Hemmick, makes a protesting noise, flailing his arms wildly.

“NO! No! What the fuck, Andrew, you can’t just walk into Evermore, are you serious?!” He shouts. Cousins, his insight says, and Neil hums in reply.

“Actually, out of all of us Andrew is the best candidate for doing this.” A girl says. Natalie Shields, his insight says, before pausing. Renee Walker, it corrects.

“He’s the only one here with any shadow training.” Renee explains, “If we can cause a distraction, it shouldn’t be as much of a risk.”

“But what distraction?!” A man identical to Andrew, Aaron Minyard, shouts out in frustration. “We don’t have the resources nor the men to stage a false attack!”

“But we don’t need the resources.” A woman says grinning with an idea. Danielle Wilds. “We just need to look like we do.”

“An illusion spell?” Says the man next to her, Matthew Bloyd. “Do we even have someone who could do that much magic?”

“I can do it.” Kevin says arrogantly.

A woman, Allison Reynolds, scuffs, ”You can barely light a candle, how the fuck are you gonna manage a full bodied attack?”

Kevin glares daggers at her but doesn’t relent, “I can do it.”

“With some help,” Renee suggests, “If we can get Jeremy from the Trojans in on this we might have a fighting chance.”

Sight leaves Neil suddenly and starkly, darkness flooding his vision and his body aching to remind him of reality. The bowl falls from his hands with a shatter and he gasps out, and chokes, his mouth full of blood and he coughs it out onto the palace floors. Blood steadily falls from his nose and the wetness on his cheeks warns him it’s also falling from his eyes.

It’s rare for Neil to be pushed to such a deadly extent and he can feel his body shake as it starts to fail on him.

“Tell me.” Ichirou says without remorse and Neil holds back a sob as pain rings throughout his body.

“Attack,” He grits out, “East side of the nest. They’re taking all the magic users they got and pushing through that point.” Neil lies.

“Is that all?” Ichirou presses.

“If I look anymore I’ll die.” Neil slurs out, right before collapsing onto the floors already slick with his own blood.

[kar3npage]

Sewing Scissors and Throwing Knives

What would have happened if Neil stopped playing Exy? If he kept running after his mother died? Neil Josten is working as a janitor at Palmetto State University when he gets the opportunity to work as a fashion designer for an up and coming brand. It's a dream come true, if it wasn't such a public position and if he wasn't still running from his father and the Moriyama's. Aka, the Fashion Designer AU that no one asked for but I couldn't help but write.

I will be updating this fic once a week, so keep tuned! You can read this on ao3 here

Chapter One: Alli Rey

There’s something about empty public spaces. The feeling that comes from being the only person in a building that’s meant to hold thousands is eerie and calming all at once. Neil Josten loves his job for this aspect, and this aspect alone. The less enjoyable part of the job was the more important part: cleaning after other peoples messes. Neil’s been working at Palmetto State as a janitor for 3 weeks now, and he’s become very aware of how messy people are. Despite the obvious drawbacks to his current situation, he feels at home here. This could be a dangerous feeling and no one is more aware of that than Neil himself, but he can’t help himself but cling to the small comfort that is having a key to somewhere. Having a key means he belongs, that he’s not only allowed but desired in the building. It’s been 15 years since Neil first started running, 7 since he’s been on his own without his mothers company and harsh words. He never thought that he would make it past the age of 20, but here he is. Maybe not living, but alive for the moment.

Neil is achingly grateful for the fact that he’s usually in charge of the Art wing of the university. It’s one of the least liked areas due to extreme amount of mess that appears every single day, which is why the newbie got it, but Neil was okay with cleaning literally anything as long as it kept him away from the Exy court. Exy carried far too many memories, most of them negative. Today was different though. Through a series of unfortunate events (the person who usually cleaned it was sick, their backup won’t come in, etc) the court has been given to Neil to handle. This is the other most hated area to clean, thanks to the mess that’s left after games. The past few hours have passed in a blur with Neil counting in different languages and using various other coping mechanisms to keep his head firmly in the now. His fingers itch for a pencil and paper. He doesn’t have any grand ideas, but sketching out his thoughts has always been soothing, which is why he began it in the first place. The facts are these: after the fateful night when he scrimmaged with Kevin and Riko and his mother took him away, he decided that Exy maybe wasn’t as enjoyable as he initially thought. This opinion was hammered into place 8 years later, right after his mom died. He had been grieving and stupid and passionate, and decided that attending just one year of university for Fashion Design couldn’t possibly hurt. Somehow Riko found him near the end of the year, and he was ‘invited’ to spend two weeks with the Raven’s. Neil hasn’t touched a racket since then, and at the moment he has no desire to. This particular court couldn’t be more opposite to the one in Edgar Allen, but something about the scent and the sound of his footsteps echoing in the court brought memories that he would rather forget right to the front of his mind.

He’s almost done when it gets to be too much. The lights, the empty bleachers, all of it together is just enough to push Neil over the edge. His skin feels like it’s two sizes too small, his whole body is itchy and he’s overly aware of exactly where each scar starts and ends. Not only does his skin not fit, but now his ribs seem to be shrinking, forcing much needed air out of his lungs. Neil drops the massive mop where it is and practically runs out of the stadium into the foyer, desperate for air and a break. It’s not until he makes it outside that his ribs start to go back to their normal size. He had grabbed his bag during his panicked escape (the duffle that he still brings everywhere he goes. He has a small apartment to put it in, but there’s no way he can trust anyone enough to just leave it there), and he fumbles for his sketchbook and pencil case. His hands ache from work, but the sound of pencil scratching on paper is so comforting that he can easily ignore the discomfort. He isn’t trying to do anything groundbreaking, just drawing out idea after idea for fun. He draws suits with unique pockets and prints in fun places, dresses with elegant coats and dresses made out of fabrics with stupid prints on them. He goes through five pages of tiny drawings before his heart settles down and he stops jumping every time the light from the lamppost flickers. It’s torturous to go back into the empty building to finish. Neil goes as quickly as he can and sprints home with his duffle clutched to his chest.

Morning sun makes the little apartment cozier than it is, though not by much. He’s been living here for three weeks, and he’s not expecting to be here for any longer than a month from now. Neil never buys anything more than what he deems absolutely necessary. Most of that fits into his duffle. Whatever doesn’t will be left behind, such as the duvet set that he got on sale at Target. Another perk of the janitorial job is the hours: he doesn’t start until 10 pm, so he can avoid most human life a good deal of the time. Even though he works late, Neil can’t kick the habit of waking up early. It’s only 7 am and he’s wide awake and ready for a run. He does a quick check of the apartment to make sure that everything is in its place and ready to go if he needs to leave at a moments notice. This is when he notices that one very important item is missing. The sketchbook that has been Neil’s lifeline for the past year is nowhere to be found. With a sinking feeling, he realizes that he must have left it outside after his panic attack last night.

His running routes are always random but well thought out, to avoid getting jumped. Unfortunately, today’s route has to be to the university so Neil can find his sketchbook (if he was a praying man, he would pray, that’s how desperate he is to get it back). The university is a terrible place to run, since it’s so crowded and there are so many campus security around. It takes twice the amount of time to get to the court now than it does at night. The sketchbook isn’t where he left it last night. Neil scours the outside of the building, even checking the garbage bins. With a sigh, he decides to go inside as a last ditch effort. Logically Neil knows that it isn’t a necessity, so he really shouldn’t be heading straight into a trigger for it, but this sketchbook holds more information about him than almost anything else (other than the binder that sits at the bottom of his duffle). The black book practically has his soul in it, lame as that sounds. After that year in the Design program, Neil hasn’t shown anyone any of his designs. Not that he’s had anyone to show, but still. It’s a private thing, and not knowing where it is makes him feel vulnerable. As expected, the university Exy team is practicing when Neil goes inside. He can hear shouts coming from the court where he stands in the room that holds the TV and couches. Keeping one ear in the direction of the court, Neil starts methodically going through the room. He’s checking under one of the couches when the soft sound of a footfall makes him reel around. Standing in the entrance to the room is a man around the age of his father. His wife beater shows off tattoos that cover his arms. They’re intricate and Neil would think they were beautiful if they weren’t attached to the person blocking one of his exits. The person who looks strong and a little bit pissed off, who reminds Neil of his father for no reason other than his age. “Who the hell are you and how did you get into my court?” the man says. Neil flinches when he takes a step into the room. “Janitor. Keys,” Neil says, holding up his key ring for the university. He stands up and takes a careful step back, eyes darting to the other exits in the room. The mans posture softens, though his face still looks suspicious. “As far as I know, no one called for a janitor.” Neil considers just leaving without answering. But he really wants his sketchbook back. And maybe the man knows where it is. “I left something here last night.” The mans eyes gleam and Neil has an uncomfortable feeling that today might turn out much differently than he was expecting it to go. “The something you left doesn’t happen to be a black sketchbook, does it?” Neil takes another step back and nods. The man grins and jerks a finger toward the office door, where he must have come out of. “I found it outside this morning when I got here. I was flipping through it to see if there was a name of the owner and I saw your drawings. They’re good.” Goosebumps raise on Neils arms when he hears that this man looked through his book. He knows that he had a legitimate reason to look inside, but anger still rises up. “I didn’t realize that you were an art connoisseur,” Neil snarks, trying to avoid thinking about someone looking at his art without his permission. The man snorts. “I’m really not. But my son knows a lot about those kind of things, and I’ve picked up a thing or two from him. I’m Wymack, the coach of the Foxes.” That is just really too bad, Neil thinks. He was really enjoying getting to stay here, and now he has to leave a month earlier than he was planning to. The thing is, Neil knows exactly who Wymack is. After his little scrimmage with Kevin and Riko, he kept a close eye on Kevin. He wasn’t stalking him or anything, just checking up on the poor kid who had to see his father do such terrible things. He heard about Kevin’s injured hand almost as soon as the press heard about it. Not long after that, it came to light that David Wymack, coach of the Palmetto State Foxes, was his biological father. Kevin faded from the Exy scene a few months after that when it became clear that he was giving up the sport and Neil stopped checking on him. Wymack is watching Neils internal breakdown carefully and he shifts to the side so he isn’t blocking the exit anymore. If Neil wants to leave, he can, but he’ll have to get in arms length of Wymack. They have a silent staredown while Neil decides on his course of action. Wymack speaks before a decision can be made. “I hope you don’t mind, but your work was really impressive. I’m not an expert or anything, but I would like to think that I’m pretty good at spotting talent.” “What are you hoping I don’t mind?” Wymack scratches the back of his neck, the first time that he’s looked anything but confident. “Well, as I said, my son knows quite a bit about that sort of stuff. Actually, he’s a designer. At Alli Rey, the fashion company. And I sent him a few photos of your sketches.” Neil’s stomach plummets through the floor. Unless Wymack has another mysterious son, he just sent his artwork to Kevin Day. Neil had no idea that Kevin was a designer now, he didn’t even know that Kevin was interested in that. Neil tries to school his emotions and makes a beeline to the exit, tensed just in case Wymack decides to try to stop him. “He was really impressed.” Wymack says, and Neil freezes. “You had no right to go through my things, or to send them to anyone.” Wymack doesn’t even have the decency to look guilty. “He wants you to intern at Alli Rey, he thinks you have potential.” “I don’t want that.” “Why not? It’s a great opportunity, and you’re obviously passionate about it.” “I don’t need your help.” Wymack raises an eyebrow. “Maybe I wasn’t trying to help you, maybe I was trying to help Kevin. The company needs another designer, and he thinks you would be a good fit.” Neil searches for a legitimate excuse to decline an offer that in any other world would be like a fairy tale. “I’m not good enough to work with Kevin Day.” Wymack looks almost pleased with himself. “I never said his name. The fact that you know who he is is proof enough that you’re passionate. And who cares if you think your good enough or not? Kevin thinks you are. And he doesn’t say things like that lightly.” “I just came back for my sketchbook. If you could give it to me and let me leave, that would be great.” Neil can tell that Wymack is analyzing him. He has been this whole time. Finally, Wymack sighs and his shoulders slump a bit. He looks exhausted. “Is there a reason that you’re trying to push away an amazing opportunity that you want to take?” “Who says I want to take it?” “I recognize that look from my Foxes. Do you know how I chose players for the team?” Neil shakes his head no, even though he’s heard tons about the damaged players who are recruited for Palmetto’s Exy team. He wants to hear Wymacks side of it. “Everyone here has a bad past. The team isn’t about the sport as much as it is about second chances. Second, third, fiftieth. As long as it’s one more chance than the rest of the world wants to give you. Taking this offer could be your chance.” “You don’t even know my name.” “I know that you’re skilled, that you did a hell of a good job cleaning up last night, and that you have the same look in your eyes that most of my Foxes do.” Neil straightens his spine like that might prove that he isn’t broken, that he’s different than the aggressive team that’s currently arguing in the court. “Look, you don’t have to answer right away. Just think about it.” Wymack turns around to rummage around in the office for a moment. He comes back out with the sketchbook and Neil feels a spark of relief at seeing it in one piece. “I left Kevin’s number on a sticky note on the front. Take the week, he’ll give you until Friday to decide.” Neil snatches the book out of Wymacks hand and speed walks out of the building, breaking into a sprint the minute he’s out of Wymacks sight.

[knox-knocks]

home alone au

i was going write an entire fic for this but then i ran out of time so have this instead! also this got kind of long so i put it under a keep reading

neil lives with matt and dan his sophomore year of college

this is a couple years after his father was executed by his uncle, so neil is free to be neil josten without having to worry about his father finding him

matt and dan are going to paris with allison and renee

they offered for neil to go, but neil declined and decided to stay home

alone

after making sure he’s really really going to be okay by himself for two weeks, matt, dan, allison, and renee go off to the airport 

neil’s okay

really

maybe a bit lonely

but he did survive on the run for eight years so he’ll be fine

insert andrew

or “the monster” as matt and dan call him

andrew lives alone a few houses down from neil, matt, dan

rumor has it he killed his parents and his twin brother out of cold blood and buried their bodies in the yard

too bad there just wasn’t enough evidence to convict

so andrew minyard walks free 

now neil is NOT scared of andrew

he’s short, he’s grumpy, and he’s an asshole

but he’s not scary. not to neil

so he just kind of leaves andrew alone and andrew leaves neil alone

a couple days into neil being alone, he’s watching tv in the living room when he hears voices outside the house

neil freezes and goes to investigate

he nearly books a plane ticket to argentina when he sees who’s lurking outside

riko moryiama and romero malcolm

neil thinks they found me they found me they’re going to kill me

he quickly flicks on the light and runs upstairs to the find a weapon before he hides 

but they don’t follow him

they thought the house was empty and good to rob, but when the light turned on they got spooked and left

they actually had no idea neil was there

the next day, neil is walking back from the grocery store

a bit spooked after seeing andrew, but andrew didn’t pay him any mind

neil isn’t paying attention to where he’s walking and is nearly hit by a van

driven by romero with riko in the passenger seat

neil immediately recognizes them of course

but they don’t seem to know who he his

he goes home, confused and more than a little freaked out

when romero and riko return to the house that night, neil quickly finds out that they turned to thievery after falling on hard times after the moriyama/wesninski empire was dismantled 

and this is just some horrible horrible coincidence 

once the mobsters-turned-bandits are gone, neil goes to the nearby court 

it’s the middle of the night so he doesn’t expect anyone there, which is what he wants

he never played exy again after he and mary ran

but sometimes he’ll sneak into a court when he feels bad to hit some exy balls around with a borrowed racquet 

it’s not the same but it’s something

except the court isn’t empty

and that’s when neil has his second heart attack in a week

kevin day is on the court, firing balls into an empty goal and going through several intense drills by himself

everyone knows that kevin’s career was ruined when he broke his left hand in a skiing accident. he tried to play a season with the palmetto state foxes, but he was never the same and he stopped playing after the foxes’ failure

neil never thought he’d see kevin pick up an exy racquet ever again. but now that he has, neil is in awe

kevin doesn’t see neil, he’s too absorbed in his game

but the person in the bleachers does

andrew minyard is watching him from his spot a couple rows up

when neil sits to watch kevin practice, andrew hops down the last couple rows and settles a couple feet away

neil tenses, but andrew doesn’t say anything. they just sit in silence until kevin is done and neil leaves before kevin can spot him

neil returns every night after that, and eventually they do start to talk

andrew drops kevin off at his house but he finds neil again and joins him on a walk

they start to talk

neil asks andrew if he really murdered his family

andrew confesses his mother died in a car accident, but she deserved it because she was beating aaron and andrew promised to protect him. but he never met his dad and andrew hadn’t talked to aaron or his cousin nicky since he graduated highschool

neil understands killing in defense, so he doesn’t hold it against andrew. if anything, it helps him understand andrew better

in return, neil tells andrew about how he got his scars after andrew asks about them. he tells him the basic gist of who is father was and being on the run with his mom

he tells andrew about mary’s death and the burning car. the kidnapping and the dashboard lighter. the execution and neil’s freedom

they learn to trust each other, even though it hasn’t even been that long since they officially met

a couple days later, three days before christmas, riko and romero return

neil just barely fends them off by making the house seem full, using mannequins allison left over and the life-size cut out of jeremy knox tied to a roomba

he hears romero say that they’ll come back on christmas eve, giving neil two days to prepare

that night, neil doesn’t tell andrew about riko and romero. instead he lets andrew talk about his family, and how he adamantly refuses to admit that he misses them

neil feels a pang at that. his mother wasn’t good, but sometime he still misses the good parts of her. and he misses matt and dan so much, even though they’ve only been gone for a week and a half

neil tells andrew that he should contact his brother, but andrew refuses

aaron has katelyn now, and nicky has erik. they don’t need andrew anymore

and andrew promised to protect kevin, no matter what. nothing will come in the way of his promises

the next day, neil begins to set up a bunch of traps

he ices the steps to the door, and puts an iron on the doorknob to make it super hot. he sets up a glue-and-feather trap in the living room and tar and nails along the basement stairs

when riko and romero show up on christmas eve, they don’t stand a chance

they both quickly figure out who neil is, and they really, really want to kill him

neil doesn’t call the cops of course. he doesn’t trust the police, not after those two cops that were paid off when neil was sent to his death by his father’s hands

so he lets riko and romero go through his traps

and, if he’s being completely honest with himself, it’s really funny to watch romero get hit in the face with a flying paint can and the outline of an iron on riko’s stupid face is hysterical 

plus he shoots them with a bb gun, so that’s pretty great too

but neil’s fun ends pretty quickly when romero and riko catch him in the neighbors house

neil knows it’s the end for him

he’s trapped and romero has a gun. riko has two wicked-looking knives 

neil squeezes his eyes shut, silently apologizes to matt and dan, and waits for death

except it doesn’t come

neil opens his eyes to see andrew with a blade against riko’s throat

neil takes his chance and dives for romero

the gun goes off and hits riko in the leg, causing him to drop his knives

neil snatches it before riko can and drives it through romero’s palm before he can shoot andrew

the cops come, and romero and riko are arrested for all the robberies 

luckily, the cops know exactly which houses they hit, since they left the water running in all of them

neil and andrew go home to neil’s house, completely safe 

that’s when andrew kisses neil

and neil thinks that this is definitely something he could get used to

the next morning, neil wakes up alone

well 

with andrew borrowing the couch in the next room

neil goes downstairs. everything is quiet, and it’s snowing outside. it’s really peaceful

then he turns around and sees matt

and matt runs to him and gives neil such a massive bear hug that it takes neil off of his feet

matt tells neil that he didn’t want neil to spend christmas alone so he decided to come back to be with him. he tells him that he had to catch three different planes and had to get a ride with two other guys and it was crazy!

neil laughs and he really is grateful that matt is here

then a man with tanned skin and dark curls walks in with ... andrew?

no not andrew

his twin. aaron

matt introduces them as the guys he got a ride with, nicky and aaron

and that’s the moment andrew decides to come downstairs

matt stops because w t f why is the monster in his house and why does neil not look alarmed

he is even more confused when nicky immediately runs to andrew and stops just before he goes to hug him. andrew nods once and nicky pulls his cousin into a simple hug and doesn’t let go until andrew basically shoves him away

behind them, aaron and andrew nod at each other in acknowledgement 

and THEN

dan, allison, and renee pop up behind them

they caught the morning flight and made it back just in time

neil, matt, dan, allison, renee, nicky, andrew, and aaron all decide to have christmas dinner and exchange presents

andrew calls kevin and bee and they come over with kevin’s dad, wymack, and his step-mom, abby

neil doesn’t think he could ever be happier than he is in that moment, surrounded by friends and family

for the years to come, they all get together and have christmas dinner with each other

and it’s perfect

[minyardfluff]

Here is my gift for Megs @st-draco for the @tfc-net 1 Year Anniversary event! She requested something involving steampunk/dystopian society, so here is a graphic with an accompanying ficlet below the cut! I’m so sorry it took literally almost a year but I hope you like it! <3

Steampunk AU where The Fox is an airship in need of a pilot and Neil is an airship pilot who doesn’t need a crew (or at least that’s what he tells himself).

War has broken out between the upper and lower classes worldwide, leaving no inch of land unscathed and no person unaffected. In this new age, Nathaniel Wesninski has been raised an airship pilot. His father was a famous battalion leader, the right hand man to General Moriyama. Growing up, Nathaniel knew he’d one day have to join his father’s ranks, but he didn’t care too much. Mostly he was just happy he was being taught to fly airships, even if Lola did punish him when he did something wrong - he just learned to do it better next time. At 12 years old, Nathaniel and a few other boys his age were given the chance to fly a ship called The Raven. It was evident that Nathaniel and two of the other boys, Kevin Day and Riko Moriyama, were the best of the lot so they were invited back for an additional chance to fly the next day; however, before that day came, Nathaniel’s mom stole one of his father’s airships and ran away with him in the night.

Fast forward five years and you’ll have found Neil Josten, suddenly alone in the world, pushing his mother’s body out of the airship to fall into the flame-infested landscape. It gutted him, but he didn’t want to risk landing so soon after they were attacked nor could he bear to leave her lying on the floor of the gondola in a pool of her own blood. A few months after that, Neil was in a bad state, both mentally and physically. Having only one person on board meant every responsibility fell to him; keeping stock of food and parts, repairing the ship, navigating the ship, checking the radar for other ships, listening to the radio for insights on war zones, making sure he doesn’t accidentally fly into a wildfire zone so his gas cells don’t blow up. It was hard enough with two people, now that he was the only set of eyes, ears, and hands, it was downright brutal.

It happened when Neil was executing a plan he and his mother had run many times before. He learned from the radio about a skirmish nearby that resulted in three airships crashing to the ground with no survivors detected. It was the perfect opportunity to scavenge for parts. 

Neil slowly lowered his ship as close to one of the downed ones as he could, stopping it so it was hovering just above the earth, then lowered his goggles, grabbed his satchel, and pulled his gas mask over his face. Any place with a recently crashed airship, let alone three of them, was sure to be filled with toxic gas. He opened the hatch in the floor and threw down a rope ladder, quickly climbed down, and scurried to the nearest ship.

He made quick work of loading up his satchel with different sized bolts and gears, when he heard a loud crash followed by some muffled swearing.

Neil jumped between the ship and a large piece of metal that had come off it and crouched down. It wasn’t long before the voices got closer, they were still muffled - most likely due to also having to wear masks like himself - but he began to be able to make them out.

“-d’you try to climb that, it was obviously unstable!”

“I was going for a higher vantage point! He has to be around here somewhere.”

All of Neil’s senses, already on high alert, went into overdrive at that statement, but he forced himself to stay calm. Just because they were looking for someone didn’t mean it was him. There were many dead bodies laying around that they could be searching through.

The thing is, though, that when you’re being hunted, you tend to keep track of the people who are hunting you, and it just so happened that there, standing no more than five steps away from Neil, was Kevin Day.

Neil choked on his breath and must have made a sound because Kevin and the man he was with both swung around and stared right at him.

Neil’s heart was rabbiting. The moment drug out and he could almost pretend that they hadn’t seen him, except Kevin took a step forward, “Hey are you a pilo-”

Neil shot up out of his crouched position and used his momentum to angle the piece of metal he was hiding under to fly in the direction of the two men. He took off at a sprint in the opposite direction, but he wasn’t fast enough. He saw the sun glint off the metal pole only moments before that pole was swung into his stomach. He doubled over and fell to his knees, his body trying to dry heave and pull in air at the same time and being unable to do either.

His attacker stood over him with a bored expression on his face, as if he hadn’t just sealed Neil’s fate.

“Dammit, Minyard! We need him alive!” The older man scolded as he and Kevin caught up to them.

The attacker shrugged and lifted the metal pole over his head. Neil glared at him in defiance and Andrew held his gaze. The moment stretched on, then, Andrew’s expression tugged down in a frown and he swung the pole like an ax down towards Neil.

“Andrew!” Kevin yelled and made to lunge at Andrew, but Andrew stopped the pole from hitting Neil just inches above his head.

Neil, through sheer determination, had managed not to flinch and continued to glare at Andrew.

“Oh no, you might actually be interesting,” Andrew appraised him, then threw the pole off to the side.

The older man came around to stand by Andrew and Kevin was a bit off to the side. Neil could make another run for it, but they were now in his path between himself and his ship. Besides, there could be countless others around here. He couldn’t stay here, but he was better off waiting for an opening. He slowly stood up and looked between the three men warily.

“Andrew can be a bit violent,” this was the older man speaking, who Neil guessed was also a pilot based on the cap he wore on his head accompanied by goggles. “My name is David Wymack, I’m captain of the-”

“Fuck you,” Neil cut him off, “I don’t care who you are, I’m not going with you!”

“You’d be an idiot to refuse us.” Neil shot his eyes over to Kevin, “your ship is in shambles. You clearly either don’t have a crew or anyone on it needs to be fired, but going by your own ragtag appearance I’d say it’s the former.”

“Your men killed any crew I ever had,” Neil sneered.

Wymack glanced towards Kevin, who had gone pale, and cautiously replied, “You know who we are?”

“Of course,” Neil glared at them, “Kevin Day, prodigy of The Raven Fleet who was honorably discharged a month ago after an injury.”

Neil noticed Kevin flex his left hand, but it was Wymack who spoke, “Kevin was discharged after he fell off his ship, he was lucky the ship had been grounded at the time. That’s the story you’re talking about, right?” When Neil gave a curt nod he continued, “Kevin didn’t fall. He was pushed.”

___________

so. I’m actually awful and can’t finish a fic (not even a ficlet) to save my life, but this is so overdue and has been weighing on my conscience since it’s a gift for someone and I want to be able to give them something rather than nothing who knows maybe this is worse than nothing so I’m being optimistic and decided to post this, incomplete as it is -- but Neil joins the Fox, ensnares Andrew’s and everyone else’s heart, Andrew gives Neil the adorable little fox figurine from the graphic, Riko and Nathan die in an airship battle, and everyone lives happily ever after~

[allforthecourtt]

writing prompt (if u want) : andrew and neil met before while neil was someone else and broke andrew's heart by leaving/vanishing/faking death/idfk and then neil just shows up like no ?? u are like chris or some name and u r dead what is going on and how dare u

so we’re going to pretend im not the shittiest person ever and didn’t take like a week to write this 2000 word thing but anyways hope u like it :)

(PART TWO)

—————————————————————————————–

The shock of the exy racquet crashing into Neil’s stomach was secondary to the shock that came from seeing Andrew Spear again.  While his lungs screamed for air, his brain screamed for an escape.  To run.  And never stop running again.

The edges of his vision turned as black as the shirt Andrew wore the first time they’d met those few years ago.  It had been a startlingly warm day, aided by the fact that Nathaniel and his mother had just migrated south again from Montreal.  California was everything and nothing that Nathaniel, no, Chris, had expected.  It was hot, and there was the smell of salt in the air from the Pacific Ocean – that Chris had known would be there.  He hadn’t counted on people being so open.  Maybe that’s why he was so drawn to Andrew, a spot of darkness against the ever sunny sky.  Andrew had never been an easy read.

The first time Andrew spoke to him, it was because he had gotten into a fight with a teacher.  Neil had left the classroom at the end of the day with his head down, hugging his books close to his body.  He didn’t know how long he’d stay here, but the fact that his mother had let him attend school was a good sign that they’d be in California for a while.  Still it wasn’t a good idea to make friends or have ties here.  Nobody should remember his face.

“You know,” Neil had heard him say as he passed a tree on the edge of the school’s property, “For someone who’s trying to keep a low profile you sure do love to get in a fight.”

He turned and came face to face with the blonde.  Andrew hadn’t mastered the look of complete apathy yet and his eyes revealed the tiny spark of interest Neil had put there.

“For someone who’s barely four feet tall you sure do love antagonizing people,” Neil responded.

“A talent.” Andrew narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

“Christopher Bassett,” Neil lied.

Andrew’s hand rubbed absent mindedly at his inner forearm, covered by long sleeves.  “No.  That’s not it.”

“That’s all there is,” Neil lied again.

“You’re a bad liar.” Neil scoffed, but Andrew ignored him and continued, “but I mean, California is supposed to be full of actors, so what’s one more, right?”

“Why do you care so much?” Neil finally snapped at him.

Andrew sighed. “Because I don’t trust you.”

“And that matters to me?” Neil asked.

“It should.”

Neil laughed under his breath.  “Okay, well, let me know when you have a real reason and maybe I’ll talk to you.” Neil turned and started to walk away from Andrew when he felt the other boy grab his arm and stop him from leaving.

“I recognize the look on your face, okay? I’m…” Andrew took a deep breath, steadying himself, “I’m a foster kid too.  I just want to…. You’re safe right?”

Neil paused, “What?”

“You’re safe, aren’t you? You… The place is safe, right?” Andrew asked quietly.

Neil’s brow furrowed as he searched Andrew’s stoic face for a reason that he’d be asking that question, but there was nothing present in his emotion.  No matter how hard Neil tried he couldn’t get a read on him.

“Yeah,” Neil finally answered, “I’m safe.”

Andrew nodded once and then released Neil’s arm from his grip before leaning back against the tree.  “I’ll see you here tomorrow,” he said.  Not quite a question, but not quite a statement either.  Neil just nodded and then started on the path towards the house he and Mary were squatting in.

He met with Andrew every day for the next month and somehow in that time the two of them had formed, if not a friendship, then a mutual understanding.  Andrew lived in theoreticals, as Neil discovered, and he spent the majority of his time with Andrew hypothesising about what they would do in the case of different situations.  Like a zombie apocalypse or something as equally stupid.  Neil didn’t actually care about the hypotheticals as much as he just enjoyed taking a break.  It was nice to think about surviving something other than his father.

One day, Neil got particularly into detail about how he would survive an attack on the school by Al Capone-like mobsters when Andrew interrupted him.

“Who are you really running from?” Andrew asked.

Neil paused, forming a lie in his head that he didn’t quite finish before blurting out the truth. “My father,” he confessed.

Andrew didn’t say anything.  He just nodded and then encouraged Neil to continue his daring attempt to save the 9th grade math teacher.  That was what Neil liked most about Andrew.  He knew when to stop pushing for answers.

About a week later Neil approached Andrew with his own theoretical when Andrew stopped him from talking with a hand over his mouth.

“Chris, I need you to just shut up and listen.  Don’t respond, because I don’t need to deal with your shit right now too.  Understand?” Neil nodded and Andrew took his hand off of his mouth.  Neil noticed how warm his skin felt under where Andrew’s contact had been, but he ignored it.

Andrew continued, “I have a brother.  An identical twin apparently.  And I don’t know what to do.  He wants to meet me but I can’t let him anywhere near this town.  He found about him.  About Aaron.  And he’s going to hurt him.  I want to see him, but… but I can’t let subject him to this.  I… I couldn’t subject anybody to this.  To him.  I need to tell him to stay the hell away from me, don’t I?  Don’t I?”

Neil blinked, taking in what Andrew was saying.  What his words were implying, and everything suddenly clicked.

“Andrew,” Neil said calmly, “You need to get out of that house.”

Andrew stared at Neil. “What?  No.  I can’t.  I can’t leave Cass.  She’s worth it.”

Neil swallowed, trying to figure out how to get Andrew through this break down.  He watched Andrew methodically fiddle with the long sleeves on his shirt and wondered silently how Andrew had been dealing with this alone.  Andrew made eye contact with Neil again and seemed to calm slightly as he took in Neil’s startled face.

“What will make this better?” Neil asked, “What do you need from me, Andrew?  Take it.”

Andrew’s hand found the back of Neil’s neck and he surged forward, pulling Neil down to meet him and clashing their lips together in the middle.  This wasn’t Neil’s first kiss, but it was the first one he ever felt like participating in.  He kept his hands at his side, unwilling to touch Andrew more than he knew was okay.  When Andrew broke away from the kiss he just glared at him before turning quickly and starting to walk away.

“Andrew,” Neil called after him, “Andrew, please.”

“I hate you,” Andrew replied without ever turning around.

Neil got back to the house late after taking time to run and clear his head.  He was confused about the kiss, and especially confused about the fact that he wanted to kiss Andrew again.  While he had expected to be chastised by Mary about being tardy, what he hadn’t expected was to have his duffle bag thrown at his face the moment he stepped the through the door and to hear Mary’s panicked, “We have to go.  Now.”

Neil froze in place. “What?”

“Abram.” Mary stepped forward and squeezed Neil’s shoulder hard enough to hurt. “We have to leave.  I saw one of his men today.  It’s only a matter of time. We have to get out.”

“But…” Neil started to object before Mary’s grip tightened enough to quiet him.

Neil’s face must have given something away because Mary sighed and loosened her hand.  “No but’s.  We can’t stay any longer,” she said, “I know you made friends and everything but we have to go.”

“Yes mom, I… I understand,” Neil said quietly, “Just let me use the bathroom first, okay?”

Mary nodded and returned to checking to make sure all of their guns were loaded.  She was so focused she didn’t even notice Neil slipping through the bathroom window and running off towards Andrew’s house.

It took a few minutes for Andrew to open his window after Neil insistently tapped on it several times.

Andrew rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he took in Neil’s state.  “What the fuck?”

“Andrew, I have to leave.” Neil’s tone was urgent. “My past found me.  So I can’t stay anymore.”

“You can’t run forever,” Andrew said softly.

“No,” Neil agreed, “I can’t.”

“So stop running.” Andrew said.

“I can’t.” Neil answered.

Andrew closed his eyes for a moment, taking time to center his thoughts.  “Who are you?” He finally asked.

“The only name I can give you is Abram,” Neil told him.  “I’m sorry, Andrew.  I really am,” he said.  And then he turned and did what he always did best.  Neil ran.

——–

Neil’s thoughts returned to the modern day with the oxygen in his lungs.  He had liked being Neil Josten.  Why did this asshole have to ruin everything?  Why did Andrew turn up every time?  Like sobriety after months of wallowing in the intoxication of a normal life.  Of an identity.  He was a somber reminder that Neil Josten didn’t exist, and could never.  A reminder that Neil could never have anything in his life.

“Fuck you,” Neil choked out between gasps.

“So where have you been for the past five years?” Andrew asked, “Running?”

Neil glared up at him.  “Surviving.”

“Dammit Minyard,” Wymack said storming into the room, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”

“Oh, Coach, if he was nice, he wouldn’t be any use to us, would he?” Andrew said mockingly.

Neil zoned out of the rest of the conversation.  Taking the time to studying Andrew’s reaction to him.  He’d heard that Andrew had been put on medication, but seeing it was different than just knowing about it.  And it hurt to look at Andrew like that.  He looked so broken with a forced smile that could never quite reach his eyes.

“Do you know him?” Neil overhead Kevin whisper to Andrew.

Andrew scoffed.  “I’ve never met Neil Josten in my life.”

Neil walked away before the promise of the Palmetto contract could tantalize him any further.  He planned to keep walking until he left this town and the identity of Neil Josten all together but Andrew caught him in the parking lot, tossing the unsigned contract at his feet.

“I thought I told you once that eventually you’d have to stop running.” The smile had vanished from his face, as though Andrew’s system was blocking out the effects of the pills momentarily.

Neil shook his head. “I can’t, Andrew.  It’s not that simple.”

Andrew laughed, a bitter and teasing sound. “Then make it that simple.  Do you want to play exy?”

Neil took a deep breath but like he always did he told Andrew the truth that mattered, “Yes.”

“Then sign the fucking contract.”  Neil stared openly at Andrew, drinking in the sight of his face after so many years.  Thinking briefly of the only kiss his mother had never beaten him for.

“Stop that,” Andrew said suddenly.

“Stop what?” Neil asked.

“Stop looking at me like I’m your fucking answer.”

“Maybe you are.”

“Just sign the contract, Abram,” Andrew said walking away, back to the foxes. Back towards the promise of a future that was just within Neil’s grasp.  And he wanted to badly to reach out and take it.

Maybe Andrew was right.  Maybe it was time to finally stop running.  Neil took a deep breath and sat down in the parking lot outside his school, knowing full well that he’d already made the decision about what to do with the contract.  And all he needed was a pen.

[jojen-hewitt]

“Better luck next time.”

Bank Robber AU for @ambiguous-eyepatch for the Valentines @aftgexchange!

I had a lot of fun drawing these and I hope you like it! 😃

I realized too late that this wasn't exactly what you meant by your prompt, sorry about that, but I hope it's still okay!

The rest of my mini-fic/headcanons/ramblings about this AU are below the cut:

Okay, so right off the bat I got a little carried away with this AU and its way longer than I thought it'd be, so tldr version; Andrew and Neil are rival thieves who sometimes help each other out. Neil gives fake names, Andrew finds him interesting. Two finger salutes are used back and forth. The others make appearances. Neil's a little shit to Riko. Totally impractical, illegal, and very convenient scenarios ensue. Exactly what you'd expect from what was supposed to be a Bank Robber AU but turned more into a Cat Burglar AU. Again, sorry about that!

So, *rolls up sleeves*

Andrew, Aaron, and Nicky are a gang of thieves (Aaron is the tech/medic guy, Andrew's the thief, Nicky is usually the distraction/get away driver). The three of them have been doing this since the twins were in high school. ("It's expensive raising two twin boys as a single parent. Especially when one has expensive tastes in cars and the other wants to be a doctor!" "For the last time Nicky, stop telling people we're your kids!!")

Although Andrew has been doing this on his own for a while (it's how he got himself thrown into juvie)

Neil takes to becoming a thief after his mom died. They still went on the run because they stole from his father, so he thought that would be the best way to keep up some kind of income. He changes name and appearance to avoid police and his father (heads up now, this is the last time Nathan's mentioned, didn't know how else to add him).

Neil threw his outfit together at a thrift store (Orange was the only colour of bandana left, ok).

Andrew of course bought nice, expensive, dark clothes that can blend easily in a crowd. Also to make him look ninja like, not like anyone but Nicky would dare to admit it though.

These two first meet at the Hernandez Museum in Arizona. Neil tries to steal a painting; Andrew whacks him in the gut with his poster portfolio before grabbing the painting and high tailing it outta there, (Not before he gets a fake name from Neil (probably Stefan)),

"Better luck next time." *two finger salute*

As Neil moves on to South Carolina, sometimes the orange gets recognized, so the papers have taken to calling him The Fox ("Really, Matt? That's what they call him?" "Yeah, you know, orange face mask and he's a thief. Dan came up with it. Makes sense if you ask me.")

Side note, Neil is Matt's new roommate and Matt has no clue what's going down, but accepts that his roomie runs at weird hours and prefers to keep things surface level in conversation. They're still bffs during the day when their schedules intersect.

Dan, the investigative reporter interested in this string of robberies, lives with Renee next door to the cousins, those shifty looking guys who are always angrily whispering in German at each other and coming and going at weird times, but Nicky seems nice enough and Dan thinks Renee has a thing for Andrew, (she does not, they just spar together once a week, and Renee may or may not teach Andrew some lock picking techniques... maybe), so they let it go. 

Allison is a close friend of the girls and owns some of the valuables/buildings that get targeted. She's sort of confused when some of these items return a few weeks after Dan reports about them stolen, with a fox sticky note attached

(Neil may steal for a living, but he feels bad when he finds out some of that stuff is hers, so returns the more sentimental items. Andrew does not.)

Kevin is the detective trying to catch these thieves with his new partner - Andrew, who uses info to get a good location/hit or cover his trail. (also puts that criminal justice degree to some use).

*I debated making Kevin a security guard but liked the idea of Andrew being his partner while also being the criminal they're trying to catch dynamic better*

Kevin eventually joins up with Andrew's crew because Riko (Kevin's old partner, also on the robberies case) just took things way too far and sort of snapped, almost injuring Kevin. He won't take part in the robberies himself, but he'll help give a lead or distract the attention of the other officers when Andrew needs it. (He just wants Andrew to help keep him from Riko again.)

Kevin takes his job very seriously, but when he finds out Neil, an old childhood acquaintance, is The Fox he warns him to run before more trouble starts up with Riko (Neil does not, he's found a life here, even if some of its a lie, and he's gonna fight for it).

Kevin starts drinking around this time. (seriously, all he wanted was to be a good detective like his mom and dad, now he's covering for two thieves he's supposed to be apprehending for lord knows what reason)

Seth is a security guard who Nicky takes great pleasure in knocking out (he overheard the guy said some shitty things about gay people while they were staking out the place earlier)

Erik is the cousins' international seller.

Wymack is the police chief/commissioner and doesn’t get paid enough.

Now back to the thieving.

Neil keeps running into this guy at his heists and it turns into a sort of one sided rivalry of Neil trying to case the joint before Andrew gets there.

It barely works, Andrew always beats him there, but he gets better at it. (and someone would be lying if they said Andrew doesn't wait sometimes to see if the Fox shows up)

Neil's taken to calling Andrew the Monster because Allison hates whoever keeps stealing her stuff (also, getting hit by a portfolio tube hurts, Andrew, of course he's gonna think you're a monster at first) but after one time he hears Aaron yelling over Andrew's earpiece, he extends the title to "the Monsters".

which is also roughly when Andrew gives him some sort of name in return to Neil's alias (Chris this time around) because this has been going on for months now.

Andrew eventually makes a deal with him to help each other out because this thief is a train wreck and is gonna get them caught eventually (Andrew will keep the police off his tail and Neil just has to help Andrew with some of the trickier robberies).

Andrew tends to chat a little with this weird Fox named Alex or Stefan or Chris or Duncan or whoever he is today, just 'cause these robberies have started to bore him, but this,

this guy is something interesting

And they start to learn little seemingly inconvenient things about each other

("Oh, there's knives in those? Good to know." "Your mom's dead? Same for my brother. Paid for my car." "Favourite color is grey actually!" "You're more a raccoon than a fox." "Actually my family never celebrated holidays. What brings you to a jewelry store on Thanksgiving?" "I don't like being touched." "Tell your friend that I can in fact understand what he's saying in German... And fuck him too." "Ice cream is the best goddamn food in the world and I will gut you for saying otherwise!")

... Ok, last one is more context than verbatim, but you get the point...

As he gets better, Neil starts to leave little fox sticky notes behind with insults towards Detective Moriyama (because fuck that guy, he keeps bad mouthing The Fox in the news and saying it'd be easy to catch "an amateur like this flea"!!)

Kevin and Andrew have mini heart attacks when they find them ("why agree to my protection when you clearly have a death wish?!")

Eventually, Neil has perfected the art to the point where he can get the item/money before Andrew arrives, but against his better judgement (and the screams of his mother in his head to "Just run! Run! Get out of there while you can!") he stays, even just to leave Andrew with a new fake name.

One of these nights Neil almost gets caught by Riko on patrol, (who is still rather enraged by the last note; how does the Fox even know about his daddy issues?), so he has to change his appearance last minute to not get recognized on the streets.

Matt is the most surprised by the new auburn hair and blue eyes, but again, he rolls with it. Recommends that his girlfriend's roommate is really good with dying hair if he wants to mix it up again though.

Andrew and Aaron get into some trouble (*cough*Drake*cough*) so the Monsters are out of commission for a while.

Neil feels slightly responsible (somehow his tip off to Andrew leads to it, I don't know).

They haven't seen each other since that night.

Andrew eventually gets back into the swing of things ("Andrew are you sure..?" "Yes Nicky, now get in the fucking car.")

One night Kevin gets him a tip off about an opportunity at the EVRMR Private Bank (inside info from Jean who just so happens to hate working there and the Moriyamas, who own the place).

So as Andrew makes his way to the roof, he hears something below (hurried foot steps from all too familiar worn out shoes below) and he takes a glance and sees a flash of orange.

And there's that bothersome shadow who was only supposed to be a brief distraction from routine,

but now he's got a slightly new look and what appears to be a duffle full of what's supposed to be Andrew's cash.

Neil senses eyes on him and sees a figure on the roof and just knows.

Cue two finger salute. "Better luck next time!!"

And he's gone.

(Andrew still checks the vault and finds a fox sticky note that says 'Abram')

*cue Aaron's screams of annoyance and Nicky's demands to know if this guy is at least hot if they keep letting him take their marks*

(Kevin probably is downing a vodka bottle somewhere, but that's a given)

Next day, Riko is out for blood. Jean eventually quits and goes to work at the Trojan Bank.

Later, Dan decides to throw a house party for reasons (maybe a successful article? Matt got a promotion? A doomed attempt to get Renee and Andrew together?)

Renee calmly asks Andrew to come and he agrees for the sake of free booze (also Nicky has been making annoying puppy dog faces at the door ever since Dan asked him and he had to say no)

He's bored and tired and hates that his boss and Kevin are there

(Dan spends so much time hounding the police station for stories that Wymack has essentially adopted her)

Then Matt comes in with a quiet, auburn haired roommate called Neil.

That's when things start to get interesting.