#I stayed on the series until the end but these tapes were released right after the last videos dropped i believe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wkemeup · 3 years

Text

The Kid from Queens

summary: Bucky and Y/n take a trip to Queens in search of the boy Bucky saved on the day that changed his life pairings: bucky x reader warnings: none! 🧡 series masterlist / series playlist

“I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Bucky sank further into the backseat of the taxi, rubbing his palm against his jeans as he turned to look out the window. He was nervous, more anxious than you'd seen him in months. His eyes were unfocused as he tried to count the windows on the buildings, though they were little more than a blur. You curled up closer to his side, wrapping your arms tightly around his bicep.

“He’ll want to see you, Bucky,” you told him, brushing the hair away from his face. He was tense, firm muscle under your grip. “Did you know he lived so close by?”

Bucky shook his head as the taxi crossed the border into Queens. “It never came up.”

It was a Thursday evening when Bucky overheard one of the older guys down at the VA talking about a kid named Parker. He’d nearly frozen dead in his tracks, enough that his grip pulled you to an abrupt stop in the middle of the lobby, squeezing your hand so tight it began to ache. He was as rigid as you’d seen him the day Rollins stormed in the front door and nearly destroyed everything Bucky had built for himself. Only, this was different.

Bucky didn’t look as though he wanted to retreat, to escape out the back door and run until his feet couldn’t carry him. He was curious, a hitch in his breath, eyes glued to the men as they spoke fondly of a young kid who often hung around the VA in Queens, fixing up the computers with broken tech he’d swiped out of dumpsters and garbage bins.

It took a full five minutes before you could gather his attention again. He was too focused on listening to the men speak amongst themselves as he stood just on the edge of the room at a careful distance. His lips were curved into a frown, but his eyes were a little lost – sunken, sad. The dots were there on the wall, the red tape drawn along the board from Bucky’s time in Afghanistan to the kid he saved on the worst day of his life. You could tell by the stunned look on his face he never once considered the possibility of running into the boy again.

You carefully withdrew Bucky back to the kitchens where you sat him down and forced coffee on him. He was painfully quiet, his mind clearly running through every worst case scenario. While he was distracted and stirring sugar into his mug, you stepped outside to ask whether the men knew more about where Parker was staying.

It was Bucky’s idea to go find the kid, though it took him nearly a month to come around. He battled with himself for weeks about it; pacing along the living room, murmuring to himself about whether anyone from his old unit would even tolerate seeing his face after that day. He’d had enough experience with Rollins to tarnish whatever strand of hope he held onto that Parker might be an exception. Even though he saved the kid’s life, he still blamed himself for the loss of eight of their friends. He wondered if Parker did, too.

“Maybe we should go back,” Bucky started again, his hand quivering a little as you gripped it tightly. Excuses began to pile up, the dozens he’d considered since the moment he stepped into the back of the taxi. Maybe you would have let him back out if it weren’t for the cab rolling up to a steady stop in front of an old, brick townhouse with broken shutters and a baseball bat lying on the stoop.

You quickly paid the driver before slipping out the door, Bucky in tow. He stared up at the apartment for a while before either of you moved. The taxi was long gone, the gentle glow of a sunset just beyond the skyline. You could smell the fresh scent of oregano and garlic wafting from the open window in the living room, giving way to the garlic bread toasting in the oven.

“Bucky? You ready?”

He clenched his jaw, a deep breath filling his lungs as he started to shake his head. Bucky turned away from the door, facing you as you gripped his hand a little tighter.

“I haven’t seen him since it happened,” he admitted, shame seeping into his voice. “I don’t know if he would even—”

“Sergeant Barnes?”

Bucky took a few steps back as he looked up to find Peter standing on the doorstep of the apartment. He seemed to be surprised the boy had recognized him at all. It had almost been two years since they last saw one another, but Bucky had changed significantly from the picture you’d seen on Sam’s desk. His hair was longer now as it hung loose down by his shoulders, a scruff of beard covering his cheeks. He dressed in loose clothing and the absence of a limb in his left sleeve did not go unnoticed. He shifted himself to put his right side forward.

“Peter,” Bucky acknowledged tensely.

Peter bounded down the steps in feather light skips until he stood in front of Bucky. A smile lifted high into his cheeks as he looked Bucky over, a hand swiping through his untamed hair. He started to laugh, almost as if his body couldn’t quite contain the excitement, or maybe it was the nerves. His eyes flickered briefly over to you, though they didn’t last long. His smile didn’t falter for even a second.

But Bucky didn’t say a word. He held his ground, stone as a statue. Peter swallowed, a little nervous now in the silence.

“What can I do for you, sir?” Peter asked, his back straightening and for a brief moment you could imagine what he would look like in a military uniform, in beige camo and forty pounds of equipment on his back. He went from a kid to a man in a matter of seconds.

Bucky cleared his throat. “Just checking in on you.”

Peter’s brow furrowed. It didn’t seem like an answer he was expecting.

“Meant to do this a long time ago,” Bucky exhaled, scratching at the back of his neck, “just wasn’t sure if you’d want to—I mean, after what happened that day—”

“You mean when you carried me seven miles through open terrain while you were bleeding out?”

Bucky froze. You tried not to let the shock manifest on your features. It was the first time you’d even gotten a glimpse of what happened to Bucky on that day outside of his incoherent mumbling in his sleep. You glanced down to find Bucky’s hand trembling ever so slightly and you quickly slipped your fingers against his, giving him an anchor to hold onto.

Peter smiled, though it was softer than before. “Sir, you saved my life. I never got a chance to thank you for that.”

As Bucky looked at Peter, you could tell there was more he wanted to say. Whether it was to argue over how much of that praise he deserved or to remind the kid that he also lost eight others from his unit in the same attack, you weren’t sure. But before Bucky could part his lips, a woman appeared in the doorway of the apartment; long brown hair, wire rimmed glasses, and a wooden spoon stained in marinara in her grip.

“Sauce is getting cold, Peter!” she called, pointing to the kitchen with the end of the spoon.

“Sorry, Aunt May.” Peter grimaced, a flush of pink in his cheeks.

She narrowed her eyes upon Bucky, glancing over the army jacket hung over his shoulders and his last name woven into the emblem over the right chest. Her stance slacked. “Oh my God.”

She raced down the stairs. Before Bucky could get a word in, she threw her arms around his shoulders. He stumbled backwards a few paces, his hand slipping from yours as he stabilized her with a hand to her spine. He was rigid for only a moment, the physical contact of strangers not something he was entirely welcome to, though when you heard her whispering ‘thank you, thank you, thank you,’ as she held onto him, he started to relax.

He brought her nephew home.

“Stay for dinner,” she insisted as she finally released him. “There’s plenty.”

“Oh, I don’t know...” Bucky mumbled, a quick glance at you.

“Your girlfriend is more than welcome, too,” May said, a wink in your direction, before she headed back up the stairs and into the apartment. The smell of garlic bread drifted out into the street and you could practically hear Bucky’s stomach growling.

“I talked to Pietro recently,” Peter offered, a small piece of bait to draw Bucky inside as he began to ascend up the stairs. “He said he saw Rollins in county lockup last week.”

Bucky’s ears perked up, intrigued. Pietro must have been another from their unit and it seemed Bucky wasn’t the only one with a distain for Jack Rollins. He glanced over at you, almost as if asking for permission, and you gave him a smile in return, nudging him towards the door.

“Alright, alright,” Bucky conceded, a slight laugh in his tone. You followed him up the stairs; another stone loose from the baggage chained at his feet.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x y/n

683 notes · View notes

babyjamiebarnes · 3 years

Text

Build-A-Bear

Part Twelve

Featuring: Bucky x Stark!reader, dad!Tony, Steve, Sam, bff!Peter Parker

Warnings: language, mentions of smut/sex tapes, blackmail/threatening

Summary: With Tony now on your side, you and Bucky are able to take steps toward stopping your blackmailer — until things take a dark turn.

Author’s Note: Ugh, it’s not as long as I’d like it to be but it’s a good lead-up to the final chapter and I won’t feel so bad about taking forever if I finally get something out there 😖 I haven’t been in the best headspace lately but things are kind of looking up so hopefully I get the conclusion out faster 😞

Series Masterlist

Tags: @amourmarvel @fangirlvoice @kennedywxlsh @devilswaldorf @what-the-hap-is-fuckning @alyispunk @fredweasleysbitchh @wearegroot @sunflowerbebe107 @prestigious-tea @brckenmemories @angelbabymed @charmedbysarge @cruelsummer-s @fandomlovver @ahahafudge @thebivirgin

You thanked every deity in existence that there wasn’t enough room for you and four grown men in the Jeep because your dad had to drive separately from you, Bucky, Steve, and Sam. Once the doors shut, however, there was one question lingering in the air.

“So… how’d it go?” Sam asked.

Bucky let out a sigh.

“I’m still alive,” he deadpanned.

“Are you gonna… you know… stay that way?” Sam asked slowly.

You couldn’t help the giggle that escaped your lips at the question. And when Bucky glanced over at you, he laughed quietly too. Which led to Steve chuckling at him and Sam smiling at the way he (unintentionally) relieved some of the gravity of the situation.

Bucky’s shoulders relaxed a bit for the rest of the drive, but you caught him growing tense again when you all met your dad in the underground parking garage. It was the only place in your apartment building with no windows and no audio, but you knew there was video surveillance. There was a chance your stalker had access to the video, most likely through hacking the system, but they wouldn’t know what was being said. As you approached your father, he pulled what looked like two sniper rifles out of the backseat.

“Barnes, Wilson. You’re coming with me,” he said.

“Dad,” you chastised, assuming he was only taking Bucky with him to keep him from you.

“He was a World War II sniper, [Y/N]. It makes sense to have him using a scope to check where this psycho was watching you.”

You were silent in response, mostly because you knew he was right. And you’d still have Steve with you in your apartment, so it’s not like you’d be left alone.

Bucky immediately checked the safety and pulled back the bolt handle to make sure it was fully unloaded. He didn’t expect it to have anything in the chamber since there was no magazine, but he learned to take extra precaution. And just like when he cleared your apartment all those months ago, something about seeing him wield the power of a firearm made you shiver. How very American of you.

“These are all connected to a secure line,” Tony continued as he handed everyone the type of flip phone you had in middle school. “I hope you all remember how to text the old fashioned way because we’re not calling unless absolutely necessary. Considering what was in the video,” his jaw clenched as his eyes shot daggers at Bucky, “there are probably audio and video devices all over the apartment.”

“We scanned for that when we first started staying with her,” Sam said. “I just figured the video was taken before her identity was released.”

What he said just solidified Steve’s assumption. You definitely knew who was blackmailing you.

“It was after,” you said. “It was… that night was shortly after the…” you hesitated. Everyone looked at you patiently, but you could see Bucky take a subtle step away from your dad. He knew when the video was taken. “Um, it was shortly after the, uh, the pregnancy scare.”

All eyes moved to Bucky and Tony. The emotions that flickered across your dad’s face clearly showed his thoughts: shock, confusion, realization... You wouldn’t be surprised if this was the straw that broke the camel’s back; Bucky must’ve had the same thought as he darted to stand behind you.

“The what?!” Tony barked. “You — Barnes! I’m gonna —” He cut himself off and just huffed out a heavy breath, his hands curled into fists by his side and his jaw tight in an attempt to calm himself down.

“Not to make things worse but it takes two,” you said. “I was a willing participant.”

“But did it have to be with him?!”

“Dad!”

“I’m just saying, pumpkin, it could’ve been Parker!”

“He’s a kid!”

“And he,” your dad countered, pointing at Bucky, “is a senior citizen!”

“Oh my god,” you groaned. “I’m not having this conversation now. We’ll argue about my taste in men later. Go check out the buildings.”

You twisted on your heel and pulled Bucky down for a very unnecessary kiss. You knew it pissed your dad off, but he was being so frustrating! With a snap of his fingers, Tony got Sam and Bucky to follow him out the doors to the street where they would split up and check out the buildings within view of your kitchen and bedroom to see which one the photos were taken from.

Steve led you up to your apartment so you two could stand in the kitchen for everyone to look for from their respective buildings. You hopped up onto the counter while Steve leaned against the fridge across from you, arms crossed and brow furrowed as your eyes met.

“I think you’re right,” you said plainly. Steve held his finger up to his lips and pulled out the flip phone. You were kind of shocked he knew how pre-smart phone texting worked, but he continued to surprise you.

What makes you say that?

It’s not easy to get in this building. It’s even harder to get in my apartment.

Right as you hit send, a familiar jolt of realization shot up your spine. There was one major thing all of you were forgetting. You leaped off the counter and ran to your bedroom with Steve hot on your heels. In your earlier panic, none of you thought to look for a camera in the bedroom. There’s only one angle that video could’ve been taken from and it would’ve had to be inside your room.

If your memory served you correctly, the camera would’ve been set up somewhere on or near your bookshelf. Steve stood in the doorway while you scanned through all your books. You practically knew your setup by heart, so catching the skinny book that was out of place didn’t take long.

You turned to face Steve as you said, “I don’t have a hard cover copy of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’” You turned back to glare at the book and mumbled, “I actually hate ‘Romeo and Juliet’.”

The book was pretty thin, making it stand out even more in your extensive collection, but the title was written in a clear, elegant script along the spine. It almost made you question your own memory — until you noticed the ballpoint-sized hole near the bottom. The black background made it almost indistinguishable, but when you pulled it from the shelf, the hole was evident. And when you pulled it open, you found wires inside the cut-out pages and a small camera tucked against the hole in the spine.

“That fucker didn’t even clean up after himself,” you spat, throwing the pseudo-book onto your mattress. Steve picked it up and checked it out before calling Peter.

“Hey, if I send you a camera, can you see if it’s being wirelessly streamed to a separate device?” Your head snapped back to Steve at those words. When did the old man become so well-versed with tech? The last you knew, he struggled to take an iPhone video. Just a few months ago, he asked what the difference was between a flash drive and a hard drive.

While Steve talked to Peter, you walked back to the kitchen to see if the other boys were all in place. You didn’t have the scopes and binoculars they did, but you could still take a guess at which building your stalker took the photos from.

There weren’t many buildings high and close enough for that kind of angle and clarity, but the one you eyed most was just a bit to your left and a couple stories above where your apartment sat in your building. It wouldn’t be cheap to get a place like that, which made you start to doubt Steve’s assumption.

As you stood in the floor-to-ceiling window frame of your kitchen, your flip phone started buzzing in your hand.

“Yeah?” you answered.

“Don’t say anything that might give us away, in case there’s a recording device in your apartment,” Tony said. “I’m in the building right across from you but the angle doesn’t feel right. I think your boy toy is in the right place.”

As if on cue, Steve stepped beside you and answered his phone.

“Hey, Buck.”

“Sounds like you’re right,” you said to your dad. “He just called Steve.”

“We’ll meet you in the parking garage.” With that, your line went dead.

“Okay, meet us downstairs,” Steve said before ending his own call. “Buck’s pretty sure he found the apartment the photos were taken from. Sent the address to Parker so we should get contact info soon.”

You just nodded and headed downstairs again. Things were finally starting to look up. You had two new leads on top of anything Peter, Pepper, and Happy had found and prayed they somehow linked back to Steve’s accused.

Unfortunately, your optimism was shattered when everyone met back up in the garage. Before anyone could say a word, your personal cell started ringing, but the caller ID was... Bucky.

No one said a word as you all met beside the Jeep and you showed everyone the “James 🐻” ringing on your screen, resulting in a lot of confused looks. Bucky pulled his phone out of his pocket and proved he wasn’t accidentally butt-dialing you, freezing your blood in your veins.

“They’re spoofing,” Tony concluded.

“Answer it,” Steve said.

“Put it on speaker,” Sam added quickly.

You nodded as you pressed “accept,” doing your best to keep your voice steady and unbothered.

“Hello?”

“You’ve really done it now, [Y/N].” The voice on the other end said slowly. They were clearly distorting the sound and you’d bet they couldn’t be traced. They’d never be that stupid. “Have your boyfriend search your name.”

You looked up at Bucky who was scrambling to search your name on his phone… and immediately paled. He almost looked like he had seen a ghost, though you’d argue what he actually saw was so much worse.

“They released the video.”

Your throat constricted as you tried to not literally throw up at those four words. And when Bucky shuffled beside you to show you the top results under your name, you weren’t sure how long you could hold it back. The first page of results was just news articles about your sex tape even though it had been released only 20 minutes ago. You snatched Bucky’s phone and clicked the link to the video and sure enough, it was you and Bucky. Two hours of you and Bucky.

“You son of a bitch,” you practically growled into the phone. “That wasn’t part of your fucking deal.”

“You took away my first bargaining chip so I played my second. And believe me, I’ve got plenty more videos. You two are quite the pair,” the unnaturally deep voice snarked. “But now you also know lives will be lost if you don’t listen. You now have three days or that man and his family die.”

The line cut out then, leaving everyone standing in stunned silence.

“I’ll get Pep on taking down the video,” Tony muttered before pulling his phone out to text Pepper. “We’ll have to swing by a couple banks and pull out the money.”

“Dad, I don’t want you to bail me out,” you practically whined.

“We don’t have any other option, [Y/N],” he snapped. “You don’t have to give a shit about him releasing sex tapes of you and the Vibranium Vibrator,” Bucky cringed at that nickname, “but I know you won’t let that other kid’s family die. We’ll keep trying to track them down, but we have to be prepared.”

You sighed. You knew he was right. If you ended up finding the culprit, if Steve was right, you could just put the money back. Plus, two million out of your father’s billions wasn’t enough to break him.

“Okay, fine. Let’s get ready,” you mumbled.

Steve interjected before anyone moved too far.

“I have a plan.”

#bucky x stark!reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x stark!reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes series #Stark!reader

196 notes · View notes

maseshine · 3 years

Note

Oii! Você poderia fazer a fic da música "You Belong With Me" com o Ben? :)

Right for you, Ben Chilwell

Prompt: You being his best friend and at karaoke singing "You Belong With Me" to him indirectly.

Warning: Disappointment, Sadness

Words: 1811

Notes: I was really excited to write this one. It's one of my favorite prompts and I already had it written, I don't know if that's how you imagined it, but I hope you like it a lot because I loved it so much🤍

Author's Note: I know a lot of people write with the use of quotes, but I'm used to using the dash, so I hope it's not a problem.

Being in love with your best friend is one of life's biggest clichés. And sometimes it really hurt to see him and his "perfect girlfriend".

You sure as hell wouldn't have gone to karaoke if you knew she'd be there too. Ben was perceptive in hiding it from you. Really insightful.

You tried to keep your attention on Mason's out-of-tune presentation, but his eyes always seemed to betray you when they landed on the couple sitting across from you.

━ If you keep looking at them like that they'll think you're a maniac. ━ Christian said giving his shoulder a little push.

━ I don't know what you're talking about. ━ You changed the conversation.

━ And Mason can sing well. ━ The brunette joked. ━ We already know of his crush on Chilly, only he doesn't seem to notice it.

━ Or he knows and just doesn't talk about it because he doesn't feel the same way about me. ━ His voice came out dismayed, and Christian looked at her sympathetically.

━ If he doesn't notice, maybe he's not right for you, Y/N.

You didn't say anything else, Christian's words running through your head. Maybe he was right. She and Ben had been best friends for years, but maybe they couldn't be more than that.

━ Our next singer is Y/N Y/L/N. ━ You looked at the stage with surprise, you didn't put her name in the performance list.

His eyes fell on Mason who smiled innocently. Motherfucker. The boys made noise encouraging you to go on stage. You took a deep breath before getting up from the table.

Your hands shook a little as you took the presenter's microphone. His eyes scanned the available songs, stopping at one that fit his situation perfectly. His ears picked up the beginning of the melody.

You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset

She's going off about something that you said

'Cause she doesn't get your mood like I do

━ Babe... baby! Come on, please calm down and listen to me! ━ You heard Ben plead in the next room, your phone pressed firmly to his ear as he tried to reason with his current girlfriend. All you knew was that he had shown his sincere side - apparently, not everyone knew he didn't have a filter.

But you knew the athlete more than anyone else, and he might need to stop and pull himself together occasionally, but it all came from his heart.

You were brought back to reality when you heard Ben grunt, dropping the phone against the table and running a hand through his hair. You looked at him with sad eyes, reaching out and placing your hand over his so gently.

━ Want to talk about it, Chill? ━ You asked him, watching as the corner of his lips twitched into a small smile with the nickname you gave him.

━ I don't believe you can save me from this situation, Y/N. ━ Ben manages to say, clearing his throat to help transition into a new conversation.

You didn't want to push it any further - knowing that if Ben was comfortable enough, he would talk to you. Hell, he told you everything. Maybe it was because the two of you grew up together, so he had to hit puberty much faster.

Ben got undeniably hot fast, all the girls at his old high school noticed that. You were about to ask him if he'd like to watch a movie, but his ringing phone interrupted, making you keep your mouth shut for now.

Ben suddenly straightened before grabbing the screen, a hopeful look flashing in his eyes as his girlfriend's name was projected in capital letters and a series of heart emojis. You rolled your eyes with a small smile and gestured for him to take the call, swallowing your pride seconds after he left the room. You left the house not long afterward, knowing you probably won't see your childhood friend for at least another week.

Walk in the streets with you and your worn-out jeans

I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be

Laughing on a park bench thinking to myself

Hey, isn't this easy?

You kicked a few pebbles off the path as you walked, with Ben by your side. It felt strange for the two of you to be together – but a strangely comfortable stranger, as if life was supposed to be like that.

He was trying to chat a little about the weather, which quickly turned into a funny story of how he fell face first in the rain during last Friday's football game.

Her eyes were mesmerized by him as he threw his head back in laughter, his hands maneuvering in strange ways as he portrayed how the event actually happened. You returned his laugh as you placed your hand on his bicep to steady yourself, little snorts following after.

━ I can't believe you still do that. ━ Ben said, his hand briefly resting on top of hers to hold her against him. You raised your eyebrows in sync with the corners of your mouth, your laugh dwindling to a small laugh.

━ Do what? You'll have to elaborate, Chilly. ━ With his free hand, Ben lightly tapped the tip of his nose while smiling at his nonchalance.

━ That cute snort you make when you laugh too much. I hadn't heard this since we saw Madders get stuck in the invisible wall of tape.

The memory provoked her to put her hand to her forehead as she chuckled her iconic laugh once more, remembering poor James' shocked expression as he recovered from the seemingly transparent 'door' and the few seconds that followed where he was frozen trying to understand what had just happened.

━ This is definitely the sound of joy. ━ Ben said as he looked at you, just for you to poke him playfully.

Oh, I remember you driving to my house

In the middle of the night

I'm the one who makes you laugh

When you know you're about to cry

The end of the week approached faster than expected, especially since you spent most of your time pretending you didn't get Ben's text messages.

You needed time to pull yourself together and organize your priorities, and having him suddenly want you back in his life was an unexpected twist. You've always had a stupid crush on Ben, but unlike the vast majority of girls who did, yours started when you were both young ━ when you had just gotten rid of the braces, and he had already started playing for a football team for the first time.

It was Friday night, and you had just curled up under the sheets, trying to get comfortable as an oncoming storm began to form outside. Your phone was constantly indicating that you had a new message, but it was just Ben asking if you were going to the football game tonight. Like the other messages, you ignored it and continued your favorite show on Netflix.

It was midnight when your phone woke you, realizing that you must have accidentally fallen asleep. You could barely hear the phone ring due to the weight of the rain outside, but you answered anyway, surprised to hear a familiar, desperate voice on the other end of the line.

━ Y/N… I'm down here… me, something happened. I didn't know where to go... I just drove, and I ended up here... something in me, I needed to see you. Let me in, please.

He looked distressed, perhaps because he was crying. You went down to the front door and opened it carefully, suddenly coming face to face with a saturated Ben Chilwell. You reached out and dragged him inside, your eyes scanning his wet, shivering body.

━ Ben... you're freezing, you're going to get sick. ━ You exclaimed as softly as you could, not letting go of his hand, as you led him to your room.

You gestured for him to stay put before grabbing a clean towel from the bathroom, running back and closing the door before wrapping it around your shoulders. You sat on the edge of the bed as he stood in front of you, seeming to have something to say, but couldn't think of how to start the conversation.

━ Why are you here? ━ You finally said after a long period of silence, Ben's eyes strayed to the ground. He cleared his throat a few times before realizing he was just whispering.

━ I saw Charlie with one of the Aston Villa players. She was on top of him. I... I asked her what the hell was going on, she basically said I wasn't good enough. Do you believe that? ━ He said exasperated, his hands pulling at her wet hair as it stuck to her forehead.

You closed your eyes for a moment as you took in this information, able to feel Ben's pain from where she sat. But it wasn't a new pain, it was like it was the kind that was finally released after being repressed for too long. As if it knew it was coming and would hold out until the dreaded day.

You pursed your lips and rose from the bed, standing right in front of him before taking his wrists and pulling them down between the two of you, your thumbs gently stroking the skin of his knuckles.

━ But why are you here? At home? You could have gone to Mase or called Madders. ━ You muttered, hoping his tone of voice would calm you down.

Those eyes you fell in love with as a teenager were looking at you, taking in your details, your passion, your heart. They were kind, just like you always knew he was.

━ Something attracted me to you, as if I was destined to be here. Do you know? ━ He spoke so low you could barely hear him, but you could hear him clearly.

Were you obsessing over him by running out of words, confused as to what he was trying to say – was it a confession of love or some pity plea because you were the only one who cared? You nodded your head to understand what he was saying, feeling your own radiance toward him for a long time.

A week later, he had returned to his girlfriend.

Standing by and waiting at your backdoor

All this time, how could you not know, baby?

You belong with me

His eyes traveled to the table where all his friends were sitting, everyone paying attention to his presentation. Except Ben and his girlfriend. A pang of pain whistled through her heart. At Christian's words coming back to her mind.

If he doesn't notice, maybe he's not right for you Y/N.

Have you ever thought just maybe

You belong with me

Maybe Ben didn't belong to you. Not how you wanted it.

#ben chilwell #chelsea fc #christian pulisic #football #football imagine #imagine #mason mount #ben chilwell x reader #you belong with me #angst #kai havertz #chelsea #london #music #timo werner #premier league

98 notes · View notes

frostedfaves · 4 years

Text

Repercussions (4)

Masterlist

Pairing: dark!Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Summary: Natasha gives you a good night that leads to a hectic morning.

Warnings: dark themes, gaslighting, a bit of smut (18+ ONLY)

A/N: idk about y’all but...I am enjoying this so much. I think this series might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever written! anyway please please let me know your thoughts (not to be thirsty but I survive solely on water and your feedback), and don’t be afraid to let me know if I missed any warnings too! I don’t want anyone to accidentally read anything they aren’t comfortable with!

Previous part

Opening your eyes felt like peeling the end of a piece of tape from the roll, difficult but satisfying once it happened. It took a minute to adjust to the darkness and you shot up when you did, realizing you were in an unfamiliar room, your body covered in sheets of a bed you don’t remember climbing into.

“Everything okay, printsessa?”

You turned at the familiar voice, unsure if you should feel concerned or relieved at the sight of Natasha sitting up next to you. Her hand gently touched your back and you flinched away, which only made her move closer to you.

“Did you have a nightmare--”

“Where am I?” you cut her off in a shaky tone, and she sighed before reaching over on her side of the bed to turn on a lamp. Your eyes wandered around the room, empty except for a couch, a dresser holding a television and your bag in the corner.

“Baby, don’t you remember?” Her soft tone brought you back to her gaze, green eyes that pulled you in every time. “You told me you were off for a few days and I suggested we spend that time away from the city.”

“I don’t remember anything after meeting your best friend.” You shifted in bed slightly, wincing when pain shot through your lower leg. “Why does my ankle hurt?”

“You stumbled on your way in before I could warn you about the tricky step in the yard.” She chuckled quietly, her smile fading a bit as her hand ran along your arm and tangled your fingers together. “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem nervous.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.” You took a deep breath and attempted a smile. “I just feel like a chunk of memory is missing, or that I just hit the fast forward button through the rest of the day.”

“How about I turn on some insignificant little show to get your mind off of everything?”

You nod and she reaches for the remote, turning the television on with one hand and using her other arm to pull you in, securely hooking around your waist as you rest your head in the space between her shoulder and neck. She finally settled on a show and left it on a low volume, returning the remote to the bedside table and resting her hand on your thigh after pulling your leg across hers.

Focusing on the late night comedy became difficult as the hand on your thigh ran higher until it was suddenly under your shorts, gone again before you could react. The hand on your waist reached under your shirt to unclasp your bra, and in a split second you were on your back on the mattress with two of Natasha’s fingers under your waistband.

“I want these off,” she practically growled in a way that made you grip the sheets in anticipation.

She used both hands to rip away your shorts in an aggressive fashion that had your hips lifting to help her on their own accord. Her torso pressed against yours as she leaned in to kiss you, one hand holding your wrists together above your head while the other dipped into your underwear. Your mouth fell open against hers when you gasped, and she wasted no time inserting her tongue and fingers simultaneously.

Your eyes squeezed shut as your hips rocked against her hand, and Natasha found herself pulling away from the kiss to admire you. She smiled at the way your head pushed further into the mattress as pleasure washed over you, hands pushing and fighting against hers and losing every time.

“Open your eyes,” she demanded as she picked up her pace inside of you and you moaned loudly in response. “I want you to look at me.”

You followed her orders, meeting her intense eyes once more that held just the right amount of softness, and a loud squeak escaped you as your release came. She worked you through the sudden orgasm, a tired sigh falling from your lips as she slipped out of your underwear. Your hands stayed pressed into the mattress as they were released from her grip, a light slap felt on your cheek just as your eyes began to close.

“No resting yet, pretty baby. I’m nowhere near done with you.”

The next time you woke, the room was lit by the sun. You carefully stretched your aching body as you sat up, taking in all of the little bruises scattered across most of your skin that reminded you of Natasha’s wish to “show everyone who pleases you”. You searched on your side and crossed the vacant side of the bed to check Natasha’s nightstand for your phone, coming up empty handed. It was then that you noticed a silk robe on the end of the bed and slipped it on, opening the door to find your girlfriend.

You smiled as you rounded a corner downstairs and spotted Natasha at the kitchen table, quietly reading a newspaper while sipping coffee. She placed her mug on the table as you approached, moving her arm to leave room for you to climb onto her lap, which you did happily.

“Morning, printsessa. Did you sleep well?”

“Just woke up a little sore, but I feel rested.” You adjusted yourself and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning your head against hers while she grabbed her mug again. “Do you know where my phone is?”

“Did you check your bag?”

“No, it looked empty. But that’s okay, I can find it later.” You twirled a few strands of bright red hair around your fingers as you daydreamed, your eyes drifting over to the newspaper and widening when you noticed the date on the top. “Um, I think I’m going to take a shower. Be right back.”

“Okay, hurry.”

Her teasing smile pressed against your skin when she turned to quickly kiss your cheek, and you slid out of her lap while forcing yourself to walk away normally. A week had passed since the day you went to the tower and you didn’t remember anything before last night, if it even was just last night. You had no way of knowing anymore.

When you reached the room you moved quickly to look for your phone in your bag, urgently searching every pocket before moving onto the bed. You looked under it and in between the mattress and box spring, shifting toward the nightstands next. Nothing. When you opened the closet doors, you nearly fainted.

It was full of your clothes, shirts and pants that you knew you didn’t pack a week ago. Even dresses you hadn’t worn in months were here, and your entire shoe collection was on the floor underneath it all. Shakily opening the drawers of the dresser, you discovered underwear, bras and sleepwear of yours as well.

You began pulling a few things out to make a full outfit, heading into the bathroom to prep for the shower you’d used as an excuse to escape. Not only did you need to keep appearances before Natasha could catch onto your nerves, but you also needed time to think about what was happening to you. More importantly, what were Natasha’s intentions with you?

You were doing a final rinse in the shower, your mind racing as you tried to remember anything that would help you make sense of what happened, when you heard the bathroom door open. You forced yourself to stay calm when you heard Natasha’s voice on the other side of the glass door.

“Printsessa, I need to get groceries. Should I wait for you?”

“No, I’m still pretty tired. I think I’ll go back to sleep when I’m done.”

“Alright, but I’m making you eat when I come back.”

You counted ten seconds following the bathroom door closing and turned the water off, stepping out of the shower and drying as quickly as you could. Your clothes were on in no time and you ran downstairs just in time to see her pulling out of the garage through the window of the front room. You noticed another car parked beside the one she was driving, and you quickly made your way over to find the keys.

Luckily they were hanging on a hook on the wall, and you snatched them up hastily, pressing the button on the remote and yanking the door open as soon as it unlocked. Within minutes you were out on the road, driving to who-knows-where. You just needed to leave, get as far away from that cabin as possible and find out why you couldn’t remember anything before something worse happened to you.

Tags: @littlegasps @imnotasuperhero @nat-km-mh @emilyprentisswife @cherrieloco @fayhar @muted-stoneheart @witchxaf @sakurat123 @bebe404 @its-a-long-way-to-ba-sing-se @trikruismybitch @darkangelxoxo @becka107 @seventeen0 @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve

#dark!natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #black widow #black widow x reader #avengers x reader #avengers #avengers fanfic #avengers imagine #the avengers #avengers x you #avengers x fem!reader #marvel x reader #marvel #marvel imagine

418 notes · View notes

sugaxela · 4 years

Text

AN ACCIDENTAL FIC REC LIST

So.. I’m a lurker who reads a lot of fics and I get annoyed when I can’t relocate my fave ones. I started making this list of my faves mostly for myself but then figured I’d share it...

I’m Yoongi biased and gravitate towards angst fics so it’s mostly that but there’s fics for every member tossed in here. Some of these are pretty popular so you might have seen a few.

Also, I realized I need to read more Jin, Jimin, and Hoseok fics so if you have recommendations let me know!

Once again it’s a LOT of angst so I would just like to say... CRYING IS GOOD FOR U.

***

KSJ

Start Anew - @gukyi

Seokjin x Reader. Angst. Summary: it’s been five years since you left your hometown, vowing never to return, but a simple invitation to a christmas party and a yearning to know whether or not you’re truly over the heartbreak you left behind has you wondering if, maybe, the christmas spirit and promise of a new beginning can change your mind.

No Limit - @sailorbellewrites

Seokjin x Reader. Fluff. Summary: you and jungkook don’t even look alike. how was seokjin supposed to know you were off limits?

Lovely Little Mess - @guksheart

Seokjin x Reader. Fluff, smut. Summary: telling seokjin of your pregnancy should not be so daunting, but you hide it as long as you can—at least until you are sitting with him in a bathtub and the secret comes spilling out.

No Parking - @jungshookz

Seokjin x Reader. Fluff. Summary: “to the asswipe who owns this mini cooper - do you know how to read signs? this is a no-parking zone. no. parking. zone. that means you are not allowed to park in this zone. DO NOT park here.” (also I made up the title bc it doesn’t have one)

MYG

Seasons Change - @taetaesbaebaepsae

Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: Min Yoongi and you, through the seasons, break up and come back together. Nobody said love was easy.

I’ll Float Away - @ppersonna

Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: years after the breakup, yoongi, a successful award-winning rapper with an unhealthy addiction, finds your wedding invite on Facebook.

Memory Lane - @hayjeon

Yoongi x Reader. Fluff. Summary: grumpy husband yoongi au aka lots of fluff (mentions of sex)

Do It Again - @kimnjss

Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: months after deciding to end their three year long relationship, a sex tape hits the internet. fans go wild speculating that rap star, min yoongi and aspiring model, yn are the stars. old feelings arise as the couple try to figure out a way out of this.

Cuddles and Kittycats - @dinoyoongi

Yoongi x Reader. Fluff, angst. Summary: After a night of drinking, you go to Yoongi’s dorm for some quality cuddles. Unfortunately, you’ve forgotten that you are currently giving him the silent treatment.

Overstayed Welcome - @kkaep-jjjang

Yoongi x Reader - Fluff, smut. Summary: Y/N decides to get over her crush by getting under someone else. Sounds fool proof right? Wrong.

Ghosted - @bloomsuga

Yoongi x Reader. SM AU. Summary: your new roommate is everything you could ask for: quiet, never makes messes, a killer dry sense of humor... and oh yeah—he’s dead.

Wildest Moments - @joonbird

Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: “Min Yoongi is forbidden territory. And although you both know better, the two of you just can’t seem to stay apart.”

Romance is Dead - @dinoyoongi

Yoongi x Reader. Angst, fluff. Summary: You try to surprise Yoongi with a night full of romance but he manages to ruin all of your plans.

Fools Rush In - @sailorbellewrites

Yoongi x Reader. Drabble series. Summary: min yoongi, music executive and perpetual bachelor, marries a las vegas stripper he’s only known for six months. chaos ensues.

Pretend - @gimmesumsuga

Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: “You know what they say: the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else, right?”

Aquiver - @floralseokjin

Yoongi x Reader. Idol AU. Summary: Yoongi can’t remember the last time he was able to successfully bring himself to the point of orgasm, then Namjoon gives him a business card advertising ‘Healing Hands’, and that’s where he meets you; pretty and innocent looking, who gets paid to provide hand jobs for a living…

Hidden Stars - @jungblue

Yoongi x Reader, Jungkook x Reader. Angst. Summary: It started out simple, but when your feelings start to grow for the idol who isn’t allowed to date, things get complicated.

Talk To Me - @btsrpp

Yoongi x Reader. Fluff, angstyish. No summary. But it involves a silent treatment.

No Title - @jungxk

Yoongi x Widow!Reader. Angst. No summary.

JHS

Hobi’s Girl - @v-hope

Hoseok x Reader. SM Au. Summary: after attending a bts concert and very clearly catching one of the members’ attention, you can’t help but get flooded with hate comments once people find your twitter account. who would’ve thought that would be the reason jung hoseok would find his concert girl, too.

Bloom - @jungxk

Hoseok x Reader. Smut. Summary: you’ve always had a crush on hobi and he’s always handled that gently. what he can’t handle is you now, nine years later.

Blue Side - @minyoongone

Hoseok x Reader. SM AU. Summary: when you get a text from a heartbroken boy who you mistake for your ex

KNJ

Confirm or Deny - @dinoyoongi

Namjoon x Reader. Angst. Summary: You’re a member of the rising group FRNZEE. You’ve been dating Namjoon for years when Dispatch releases an article exposing your relationship. Your company confirms the relationship. Big Hit denies it.

You’ve Got That - @mikrksmos

Namjoon x Reader. Angst. Summary: After making a life-changing decision for your career, you’re unsure of how exactly to bring it up to your boyfriend after your relationship and communication has not really been in sync. Namjoon is ready to take this relationship to the next stage, and he is sure that what he needs to ask you will be the solution to all the problems you have been having. Both know this next move is the right idea, but are unaware of how parallel those ideas really are.

Duck and Cover - @versigny

Namjoon x Reader. Fluff. Summary: There were two things you never dreamed would become your biggest worries with your new job: Kim Namjoon, and that god damn camera.

Inked - @1997jk

Namjoon x Reader. heavy angst, slow burn, soulmate au. (no summary).

Try Me - @jjkfire

Namjoon x Reader. Fluff. Summary: You wanted nothing more than to leave behind your old self when you graduated from high school and moved on to college to play rugby but when you see your high school classmate, resident fuckboy and captain, Kim Namjoon, at the rugby department orientation, you feel like everything might fall apart.

Stitches - @glassbangtan

Namjoon x Reader. Angst. Summary: People always said getting married at a young age was a mistake - could they have been right?

All In - @kookiesjoonies

Namjoon x Reader. SM AU. Summary: you aren’t usually one to give out your number to strangers (let alone customers), but after you start talking to Namjoon and getting to know him, you decide that there’s no way you’re going to let him leave without it. however, he fails to mention that he’s one of the most popular rappers in South Korea. and it just so happens that one of your best friends ends up with an extra ticket to one of his shows.

PJM

Come Home to Me Darling - @roses-ruby

Jimin x Reader. Angst. Summary: Jimin cheats and you try to make him stay. But whatever you do, it’s never enough.

Attention and Care - @your-daily-biaswrecking

Jimin x Reader. Fluff, angstish. Summary: Jimin must be the only person in the world who complains about his girlfriend not complaining... When Amy doesn't pester him to come home early (like the rest of the members) he starts thinking she might not care for him as much.

Daisies - @silverlightqueen

Jimin x Reader. SM AU. Summary: You’ve had a long-running feud with fellow idol Park Jimin, saving all the anger and bitterness for the yearly award shows and shooting each other a few dirty looks, not bowing when you walk past each other, or just generally throwing shade. After one particularly obvious encounter between the two of you, the fans start to notice, just in time for The Rose Tour!

Doubt - @heartkook

Jimin x Reader. Fluff, angst. Summary: Jimin gets jealous of your relationship with Jungkook, and needs reassuring that he’s the only one you love.

KTH

Of Lace and Lust - @hobidreams

Taehyung x Reader. Smut. Summary: friendship rule number one: don’t imagine how amazing your best friend’s cock would feel inside you. except that’s all you can think about after accidentally discovering taehyung’s kink for panties. specifically, the lacy ones you’re so fond of wearing.

Queen Cobra - @fantasybangtan

Taehyung x Reader. Gang AU. Summary: when your boss offers the chance to take down the nation’s most lucrative gang from the inside out, you know you’ll do it no matter what the cost… even if that means entering an arranged marriage with the kingpin himself.

See You - @gimmesumsuga

Taehyung x Reader. Smut. Summary: The one where Taehyung notices you at a concert, and can't help but want to see you again.

Who Cares? - @floralseokjin

Taehyung x OC. Angst. Summary: what happens when Taehyung falls for someone who’s already taken? Can he control his feelings or will they take over and render him powerless? In the end is it all her fault or his…?

Color of Your Shirt - @firebettercallnct

Taehyung x Reader. SM AU. Summary: when you're close to your soulmate your shirt changes to their favorite color. yn hates taehyung's favorite color.

JJK

Comfort Inn Ending - @joonbird

Jungkook x Reader. Angst. Summary: “It was you who Jungkook gave his heart to- that is, until the day you broke it. And it is you now, hoping that some faultlines can be repaired, and that some broken hearts can be put back together again.”

After I Left You - @latetaektalk

Jungkook x Reader. Angst. Summary: “when you decided to meet up with taehyung for dinner to reconnect, you didn’t expect to see jungkook, your ex, on a date with his current girlfriend and not to mention, end up fake dating taehyung.”

Rattled - @gukslut

Jungkook x Reader. Genre: Single dad AU, Angst, Healing, E2L, F2L, Smut. (no summary)

Risk It - @kookiesjoonies

Jungkook x Reader. Sm Au. Summary: a drunken text ends with you wrapped up in the arms of your ex-boyfriend. aka the man that you dumped two years prior, after he refused to marry you. suddenly, all of the feelings that you’d seemingly had buried come rushing back up to the surface, and you’re not sure how long you can ignore them.

Damn the Delivery Boy - @deerguk

Jungkook x Reader. Fluff. Summary: Jeon Jeongguk is a computer science major working as a pizza delivery boy, and you are an uninspired published author who has just started an art degree. When you realise that the delivery boy is your old high school crush, he keeps coming back, but with more to offer than just puff pastry and vegetarian supreme. Though little did he know that he would end up giving you something much more that flips both of your worlds completely upside down in the form of two blue lines and nine months.

One Thing Right - @hobios

Jungkook x Reader. Angst, fluff. Summary: desperate to get your ailing mother into the best care possible, you ask your childhood friend turned enemy to marry you for his health insurance benefits. the only problem is it’s illegal. and he’s the sheriff. and you swore to hate him since the day he broke your best friend’s heart.

Hidden Stars - @jungblue

Jungkook x Reader, Yoongi x Reader. Angst. Summary: It started out simple, but when your feelings start to grow for the idol who isn’t allowed to date, things get complicated.

Tamped - @chimoona

Jungkook x Reader. Smut, fluff. Summary: You and your business partner/best friend Jin have struggled to find good help to run your coffee shop. Employee after employee, it just never worked out. However, Jungkook is determined to impress and deliver. He wants this more than ever, and it always feels good to want something. To need, well, that’s even better.

Strawberry Kisses - @kimnjss

Jungkook x Reader. SM AU. Summary: an online dating app pairs him with the perfect girl. the two quickly start falling for each other and when things are getting good, he finds out she’s his best friend’s little sister.

Crush - @jungxk

Jungkook x Reader. Fluff, light angst. No summary, amnesiac jk.

Look Alive - @jamaisjoons

Jungkook x Reader. Angst. Summary: a year after you and jungkook break up, the two of you meet at your brother’s party.

***

I got a lot of these from some fic rec master lists.

Here’s a namjoon angst master list by @bts-ficrecs

Also this bts fic rec list by @platinumjeon

An infidelity list by @hellreads

Fic-Recs by @joonapeach

Top fics compilation by @xjoonchildx

There’s more but I’ll add those when I find them, and I’ll either update this list or make a new one when I have enough new fics.

335 notes · View notes

astrovian · 3 years

Audio

Richard Armitage interviews Harlan Coben for the Win audiobook (released 18/03/21)

Full transcript under cut

RA: Hi, I’m Richard Armitage. I played Adam Price in the Netflix series The Stranger, which was adapted from Harlan Coben’s novel of the same name. With me is the man himself, Harlan Coben, number one New York Times bestseller, the author of over thirty novels, including the one you’ve just listened to. I’m delighted to be talking to Harlan about his book, Win.

Okay Harlan, thanks for taking the time to chat about your audiobook and thanks for sending me a copy of the book. Um, it was so nice I ended up wrapping it up and giving it to my brother for Christmas.

HC: *laugh* You’re supposed to read it first, but okay, thanks Richard.

RA: No, I got the electronic version so uh, so I’ve had a good read. Congratulations, a great story. Brilliant, brilliant central character. I mean the first question I’m gonna ask is – because people listening to this have just been listening to the audiobook – are you, um, a big audiobook listener yourself?

HC: I – I go through stages, um, because my mind wanders, I sometimes have trouble focusing. But when I’m in a car, um, that’s most of the time that I’m- that I really love to use the audiobooks because it does make the ride just fly by. However, I’ve set up my life that I don’t have to commute to work every day, so I don’t have it steadily – it’s usually when I’m doing a nice long ride, I get a really good audiobook and time just flies by.

RA: And have you- have you got any favourite audiobooks that you’ve listened to recently, or any podcasts or what is it that floats your boat?

HC: You know, it’s funny. I still remember when I was a working man, way back when, when audiobooks were really first starting out and we had them on cassette tapes, I listened to the entire Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, um, it was about thirty hours long, going back and forth to work for almost a month. And I still have memories of that experience, and it’s probably, well god, it’s probably 1990 I did that, 1989, something like that.

RA: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean I’ve got a- I’ve got a few journeys up and back from Manchester this year, we’re about to start working on Stay Close, so I’ll happily – I’m happy to take any recommendations of any good books, so maybe I’ll listen to Bonfire of the Vanitites.

HC: Well I tell ya, a lot of people – first of all, it’s a brilliant book, it’s maybe a bit dated, but I doubt that, um. I think Richard, I get more people telling me to listen to any book that you read.

RA: *laugh*

HC: I said, “Hey, I spend a lot of time with this guy, I’m about to do my second television show that stars Richard Armitage. No one I think has starred in two shows that I’ve done ever, so I get a lot of him anyway.” *laugh*

RA: You don’t need my voice in your head when you’re driving, that’s – that’s torture.

HC: That’s right, I’ll be hearing notes on, on scripts in my head if I hear you going. For those who don’t know who are listening, y’know, Richard starred in The Stranger, um, and now is going to be starring in Stay Close, uh, based off two of my novels which I’m sure you can get on audiobook.

RA: And on that note, what um, you’ve had so many adaptations now that have moved from page to screen – what is it like when you go through that process? When you’re – ‘cause you’re very hands on in the way that you kind of collaborate with not just the actors, but with the producers and y’know, the writers. I mean, you’re – you’re writing it yourself. Um, what is it like through, through that whole process, from starting to developing to seeing it kind of realised on screen?

HC: I think the key for me is not to be slavishly devoted to the novel. I think that’s a mistake that a lot of people who are trying to make an adaptation make. So, I go into it, ‘what is the best TV series we can make?’, if it’s true to the book, great. If it’s not true to the book, also great. Um, so I move my stories to various countries, we’ve changed characters around, we’ve changed motivations. Because they’re two very different mediums – a book is a book, and a TV series is a TV series. They should not be the same. One is a visual medium, one is not. Even, even um, audiobooks are slightly different um, than what you read. And they should be. Um, y’know, there’s a performance involved.

Also, because I’ve spent most of my life alone in a room coming up with writing a book, um, where I am just everything – I’m writer, director, actor, key grip. I don’t even know what a key grip is, but I’m that. Um, it’s really nice to collaborate. So um, you’ve worked with me, I hope you agree – I like to collaborate, I like to hear the opinions of other people and um, I really enjoy that aspect of it. I look at it like I’m – like I get to be captain of a World Cup football team, rather than being a tennis player where I’m standing there on my own, which is what happens with a novel.

RA: Yeah, and actually it’s the same when I get to narrate an audiobook, like you say – you get to be director, you get to be the cinematographer to an extent ‘cause you’re setting the scene, but one thing that I’ve – I really appreciated about working with you was having read your, your books and sometimes you’ll pass by a character that is useful to the, to the narrative that you’re telling, but when that comes to developed for TV or film you’ll take a bit more time to investigate that character, and you’re very open to treading those paths, which makes for a very kind of dense narrative with the screenwriter.

HC: Well that’s what I think we’re trying to do. If you think about The Stranger, um, y’know in the book the Stranger is a sort of nerdy teenage male.

RA: Mm-hmm.

HC: And that just – we even tried out some people, and that just didn’t work. And it was really my idea – and I don’t say it in a bragging way, I say it as a way to show how open we all are – to change the character from being male to being female. And once I saw Hannah John-Kamen do it, then I pictured her in a room with you in that first great scene in the bar, um, or at the club when she tells you the big secret, it just worked. Um, you have to be willing to, to sort of stretch your imagination all over again and re-think your story. Which is also fun.

RA: Yeah, and also I suppose because y’know, as much as we love a faithful adaptation of a novel, um what you don’t wanna do is just deliver the novel in screenplay. You want to, for everyone that has read it it’s a new and exciting surprise, and for everyone that hasn’t it’s, y’know, it’s gonna be the same. So, um, it’s nice to kind of have a, to have your audience ready for people who have read a lot of your work, and there were, y’know, a guaranteed audience of people that had, had looked at The Stranger but what you gave them was something really surprising.

HC: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. A lot of fun. And Stay Close, there’s a change in the ending to that which will hopefully shock everybody but especially the people who have already read the book, who will smugly think they know exactly what’s going on.

RA: *laugh* And me, probably. I haven’t read it yet. Um, so when you’re writing – I’m gonna double up on this question now, so when you’re writing, do you write in silence? Do you have any music playing in the background or are you – do you have like a, a kind of sacred writing space?

HC: Um, my routine is not to have a routine. Uh I, I do whatever works until it stops working and then I change up. It’s like I’m riding a horse really fast, and then the horse dies so I gotta find a new horse. So most writers will tell you ‘yes, I use this space, I do it at this time’. Um in the days before Covid, I would go to different coffee shops all the time, I would try out different… any place. Y’know, my favourite example is the end of – when I was writing The Stranger, um with about three weeks left to finish it, I had to take an Uber for the first time. This was a number of years ago. I had to take an Uber in New York City, and I felt really guilty about spending the money on an Uber and trying to justify it, so I was sitting in the back of the Uber and I was writing down notes, and I start writing really well. So for three weeks, I took Ubers wherever I went just so I could finish the book *laugh*

RA: ‘Cause that was the magic formula.

HC: Yeah, that worked! Then that stops working and then I have to find the new, a new place. So my routine is not to have a routine. If you’re trying to write out there, the key to anything is ‘does it make me write more?’ – if the answer is yes, it’s good. If the answer is no, it’s bad. It really is that simple.

RA: I’m gonna make a note of that for when I start writing myself. Um, do you – do you speak any of your characters out loud, your dialogue or your prose passages, do you say it out loud?

HC: The very last stage um, of editing. Okay first of all, no writer gets it right the first time. I know a million writers, I don’t know any writer who doesn’t re-write and re-write a lot. Well, I know one but he’s the guy none of us wanna hang out with, you know what I mean?

RA: *laugh*

HC: So um, the last stage that I do, and it’s usually after I’ve done all the editing with my editor and everything like that, we’re ready to go. I will sit in a room and I read the entire novel out loud to myself. Um, because what happens is, it’s a little bit like a musical score. Where you can – if you read it out loud, I can detect false notes that I may have missed along the way. Um, I can hear them. So the last step is that. I rarely y’know, I’m not – I’m not crazy, I’m not sitting there maybe talking out loud to myself, I’m maybe testing out lines by doing that, and I do that a lot when I’m helping with the screenplays on our shows. But um, for the most part that’s how I do it.

RA: So, in that case, would you ever narrate one of your own audiobooks?

HC: I did narrate one, uh, many years ago called Promise Me. What had happened is we had - my Myron Bolitar series we did seven with the same reader and he retired. I hadn’t written um, I didn’t write Myron for about five or six years it was. And so they said, ‘hey, why don’t you do it?’ which was a huge mistake in many ways. One, I’m not a professional. But two, the people who were fans of Myron Bolitar liked the first guy, and it felt to them liked they had tuned into their favourite TV show and every actor had changed.

RA: *laugh*

HC: It’s really difficult to re-do or start a series, uh, when people know the- the old reader. So um, I also figure- it was also, Richard you know this of course, so for people who don’t know, it’s a lot of work. I’m a guy from New Jersey. I speak very quickly, which does not go over well in audio. I don’t do voices. I would have to sit with a pillow on my stomach because uh, my stomach would sometimes grumble and that would be picked up- *laugh*

RA: Oh, yeah!

HC: By the microphone. And it took me um, a week to record it because – and I don’t know if this is still the case – but back then, the abridged version wasn’t just a cut up version of the unabridged, I had to do a whole different reading for it. So um, it was – it was a lot of work. Um, and it’s a skill that I’m not sure I’m best to do.

RA: Yeah, it does take a lot of stamina. I mean what’s interesting is, having gotten to know you, and when I, when I now read your work, I can hear your delivery, I can hear your voice. And there’s humour in the dialogue, and there’s humour in the as well, and I – it’s an instant ‘in’ for me, so I – ‘cause, ‘cause often I read and I speak aloud when I’m reading alone in the dark, I say things out loud but I think people approach it differently. But I definitely hear your voice in, in these characters. And I think particularly in Windsor Horne Lockwood.

HC: That’s so interesting because Win, I think of my heroes that I’ve had, Win is probably the least like me. I mean um, when you think about Adam-

RA: *laughing* You have to say that! You have to say that because he’s such a badly behaved person, isn’t he?

HC: *laughing* Yeah! ‘Cause I usually like to think of myself as more of like Adam in The Stranger, who you played, or some of the other characters that – the ‘I’m a father or four’ or those kind of guys. What I love about getting into Win of course is that Win is something of an anti-hero. Um, he sort of says and does things that are not necessarily prudent or appropriate, and he can get away with that. Um, so I really loved – I loved getting in his head, it was really an interesting experience. But on the surface anyway, he’s probably the least like me of any uh, main character that I’ve ever written.

RA: Yeah, I mean I- I relate to that totally. It’s a little bit like- it’s probably a side of you, you daren’t investigate, but- but when you get the chance to do it in a fiction um, you can tap into those things that we’re not allowed to do or say in your, in your regular day. But um, where did that character spring from? What was the seed that germinated into his story do you think?

HC: Rarely is this the case, but um, Win is actually – y’know, he’s the sidekick in my Myron Bolitar series but um, when I first created him I based him off my best friend in college roommate, who has a name equally obnoxious as Windsor Horne Lockwood the Third-

RA: *laugh*

HC: Very good looking, blonde guy who used to say before he would go out to parties when we were in college, he would look in the mirror and say, “It must suck to be ugly”. And so I took him and I tweaked him and made him more dangerous, uh and that’s how I, I kind of came up with Win.

RA: And does this person know that you’ve based this character on him?

HC: Oh yes! In fact, some people know who he is, he uses it. He’s still a-

RA: Oh, really?

HC: Owner of all these fancy golf clubs, he’s president of one of the most famous golf clubs, um, in the world right now. He looks the part. In fact, he one time came to one of my books signings years ago and um, he’s sitting in the back, and I tell people the story of how I created Win, and I say, “I’m not gonna tell you who, but Win is actually in this room right now”. It took the crowd about four seconds to figure out who he was, and he had a longer line to sign books that I did *laugh*

RA: Amazing. I mean I have to say, it’s- you, you start reading the story and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna like this guy’ but he really grows on you, warts and all. I wonder how many people are gonna go into Saks on Fifth Avenue and go looking for the vault.

HC: *laugh* Yeah, no, I made that up. But there is place in Saks-

RA: I know, so brilliant!

HC: -but the rest of it is completely made up, this involves an app that you’ll read about when you- hopefully when you, when you read book. But yeah, it was fun to do an anti-hero where he makes decisions and does things that you don’t like, and yet you still wanna hang around with him. I always think the key to a fascinating character is not um, that he’s likeable necessarily, but that you wanna spend time with him. Not that he’s a nice guy, but if you were at a bar and you could sit with somebody and have a conversation with them and learn about their life, would this be a person you’d wanna do that with? And that’s sort of the test whenever I do a character. And Win, I think, passes that with flying colours. There are people who love Win and wanna be just like him and there are people who loathe him! But everybody, or I hope many people, are fascinated by him and his life.

RA: Well, also you’ve given him such an incredible kind of tool kit, like a skill set. I mean, I think everybody would look at that character and wish they could do the things he does, maybe not in the way that he does them, but I mean he’s- he’s exactly the kind of character that you’d hone in on, certainly from an acting point of view. I look at that and if I was, y’know, like fifteen years younger, I’d be leaping on that character to play. Which is, it means – it means he’s sort of relatable or aspirational in a kind of anti-hero way.

HC: I’ve heard this a lot, and I think it’s one of the most flattering things that I hear from my actor friends – I think everybody would want to play Win. I mean, I think the- it’s an interesting challenge, um, for a lot of actors. More so than even Myron Bolitar who is my lead series character. Um, everybody kind of wants to play win and kind of wonders who would play Win. Uh, and I take that as a – as a compliment.

RA: Are we gonna see more of him? Is he ge- are you writing more stories for him?

HC: My guess is the answer’s yes. I plan each book as it comes, so I never know until I’ve started. Is it gonna be a stand alone? Is it going to be a Myron Bolitar? Is it gonna be a young adult? Mickey Bolitar is now going to be a Win, and I don’t know until I – each book, y’know when I finish a book, I’m like a boxer who’s just gone fifteen rounds and can’t even lift my, my arms anymore, I gave it everything I had, I can’t even imagine fighting again or writing another novel. So I don’t know is the answer. Probably? I do wanna see Win again, separately or at least back with Myron, so I do think we will see Win again. But the book I’m writing right now is a sequel to The Boy From the Woods, which is the book that came out in 2020, so that’s what I’m writing now. Will I return to Win? Maybe. Maybe. We’ll see how- we’ll also see how people react. Not that I would work necessarily off of commercial interest, but it people really love this book, y’know, we don’t live in vacuum, that would probably somewhat influence what I do.

RA: Right. I mean, because so many of your- your books are being developed and being snapped up to be turned into film or television – I mean, Myron Bolitar is, is a recurring series waiting to happen, and then you’ve got your spin off of Win – I, I- I wonder if, y’know when your first ever, uh novel, did you write with kind of cinema television in your head? Is that something that as modern storytellers we can even avoid? Um, did you ever dream that these would ever turn into sort of film and TV?

HC: Well, everybody dreams, but there’s sort of two answers to it. The first answer is when I’m writing a book, I never ever, ever, not for one second do I think ‘Ooh, this would make a really good movie’ or ‘Ooh, this would make a really good TV series’ because that’s the kiss of death for a book. It really is. It’s, it’s- it’s just a disastrous thought, and if you’re out there writing really don’t try it, because it’s, it’s a big mistake. At the same time, to be realistic and honest, I grew up watching TV. Who didn’t? That’s my – I mean this is what we grew up with. To pretend you’re only influences – y’know you ask a writer ‘What’s your influences?’ “Oh, Shakespeare and Proust and Yeats” – come on. You watched TV growing up. And so that’s an influence on how you tell a story. To deny that is silly. So writers today do think in terms of cinema more just because they grew up with it. Where writers of a different generation did not, so they wouldn’t have that influence.

RA: Yeah, I mean I- I think this all the time – it’s impossible to even de-program your brain not to imagine scenarios in terms of cinema. I mean I- I often think about sort of Victorian novelists that didn’t have y’know TV, and their trying to describe something that they’ve never seen or experienced. And we have references for so many things – I mean it’s almost impossible not to, we’re- we are and will always be influenced by one or the other, especially in the written word. But I- I find that it means that you can kind of uh, put aside the investigation and just get on with the storytelling. And maybe go even a little bit further. It’s like instant access. Y’know, I know exactly the world that you’re talking about when you’re y’know at the beginning of Win, but- but y’know at the same time I felt there was something very Agatha Christie like about the um, the backstory of uh, of this book, I really liked the fact that there was a historic event that was really informing what was happening right now.

HC: Well, y’know when I start a book, there’s- I’m always- I have a bunch of ideas and I’m trying to think which ones are going to go in the story, and it ends up being several. So for example, in this book, I wanted – I’ve always wanted to do an art heist. Y’know, like the Gardner Museum Heist, where they still haven’t found the paintings that were stolen, the Vermeers and the Picassos that were stolen in that particular – I can’t remember if it’s Picasso now, I know it was a Vermeer – um, stolen in that- that, heist in Boston years ago, I wanted to write a book about 60’s radicals – the Weather Underground and what would happen to people who were involved in that so many years later. I also wanted to write something about a kind of Patty Hearst-type character who was a famous kidnapping here in the 70s. So those were like three of the things that I wanted to like – to delve into. And I ended up delving into all three *laugh* which sometimes happens.

Oh, and the last one I wanted to do – I always wanted to do um, a hoarder that was actually someone famous. There was actually um, something of a case of this in New York City where somebody died who was living in a top floor of an Upper West Side building, and it ended up being the missing son – not really missing, but had just kind of gone off the rails – of a very famous American war hero. And so, I took all of these aspects, which would seem to make three or four different novels, and I make it into one novel if I can. It’s not that different from – again, I’m referencing um, um – The Stranger y’know, because you’re here and provably a number of the people listening to us have seen The Stranger on Netflix, but it’s the same thing with The Stranger a little bit, where I had a lot of ideas for secrets that could be revealed by the Stranger, and each one could have been a separate novel. And instead, the challenge is put them all in one story and find a way to hook them together.

RA: Yeah. I mean, it’s rich in a way that when I- I’m reading it and the producer head in me is saying ‘gosh, this is gonna be a great TV show’ ‘cause you know, you’ve got the present day, you’ve got the near-past and the um, the heist story, which uh, is kind of crying out for – you just want more of it, which is brilliant in a book. When you’re – you’re leaving the reader wanting to know more and wanting to, to know more about that family and what happens to them. It’s – it’s the perfect recipe, really.

HC: And so much of it does come from your life in ways that you don’t expect – right now, maybe a lot of people are watching this uh, the Aaron Sorkin movie about the Chicago Trials from the 70s, Abbie Hoffman, who is played by uh, I think Sacha Baron Cohen played him in, in the movie. When I was in college at Amherst, Abbie Hoffman was on the run, um, but he still showed up one day at our college and gave a speech, then disappeared again. And boy, that stuck in my head always. Man, I’d love to write a character that’s kind of like Abbie Hoffman. ‘Cause he had that charisma even then, y’know on stage he was funny as heck, I must have been eighteen or nineteen um, when I – when I heard him speak. And so that – I never consciously back then, I didn’t think that, but every once in a while those experiences come to head and you wanna write about it.

RA: Mm-hmm. You’ve been writing for quite a few years now-

HC: *Laugh*

RA: -you’re – I don’t know if you can even remember what it was like when you first stated your very first book. Um, and some people have said that books are like children in a way, you sort of rear them and then the more you do, the more familiar you are with that process. But would you – I mean, it’s difficult for you to answer this, but would you say you have a favourite book that you’ve written?

HC: I don’t have a favourite book that I’ve written. Um, this – this sounds self-serving, but it’s usually the book, the most recent book, that I like the best. Um, it’s a little bit like – and the way I try to explain this is – maybe you wrote a paper, an essay when you were in college which you thought was brilliant. You remember that moment in school and you wrote a paper and you thought it was brilliant and you find it now and you re-read it and you go, ‘wow, this wasn’t good after all’. It’s not that it’s not very good, it’s just that you have sort of moved on and you’re not that sort of person and so you see all the flaws. So in the older books, which I don’t re-read, I see all of the flaws. I always think, y’know even if you think of yourself, what you thought ten or fifteen years ago – you sort of go ‘ugh, what did I know back then, I’m so much smarter now’. So the same thing a little bit with books, where I think I’m learning more and the current book is better. One of the interesting experiences of working on these adaptation is having to go back and read a book – in some cases we’re doing one, the next one I think uh comes out in France for example, is Gone for Good, which I think was released in 2002! Or 2003. So I wrote it twenty years ago. And to have to go back and read it now, I’m always kind of cringing at some of the stuff-

RA: Mm-hmm.

HC: -some of the stuff I’m kind of thrilled with, like ‘wow, that’s an interesting twist. You don’t have that kind of ending anymore’ and some of it I’m like, ‘wow, why’d you go there?’ so it’s an interesting experience.

RA: Yeah, I feel the same. I very – I, uh, very early on in my career I would watch my work back in quite a lot of detail, thinking ‘I’m gonna learn something’ and then as I got older it was – it was almost unbearable to just do that. And I actually haven’t been able to do that, but it’s because when you’re – when you’re first starting out you throw everything you’ve got into that first breakout role that you do, and then your realise that you’re always in danger of repeating yourself and you think – ‘gosh, people are gonna suss me out that I’m only capable of doing one or two things’, but you live in hope that you can, y’know, find that one thing that you can completely reinvent. Y’know I still hope for that.

HC: I still think that everyone who I’ve ever met who is successful at what they do has imposter syndrome. If you don’t um, you’re prob- you have a false bravado and you’re in trouble. I always say, “only bad writers think they’re good”. The rest of us really suffer with that, and really questioning and always think we’re gonna be sussed out. And I can tell you, um, Stephen King sent me a book not that long ago because he’d nicely put my name in it and wanted my reaction. But even Steve, after all his success and whatever else, he still worries about the reaction, that he’s as good as he used to be, that people will still like it, he’s – I know him. He still worries about it. And when you stop, that’s when you’re in trouble I think as an artist, when you’re starting to doubt what it- when you don’t have the doubts, you start having an overconfidence that you sort of got this. It’s a little bit like my golf game, frankly.

RA: *laugh*

HC: There’s moment’s when I’m about to swing, y’know, I’m gonna be okay and then you get out there and you stink all over again. So-

RA: Yep

HC: -you’re constantly trying to get better and so I imagine it must be difficult to look at your old roles and you – you’re kinda cringing, right? You see all the mistakes you’re making. You see through you so to speak, right?

RA: Yep. Absolutely.

HC: And then someone will come up to you, right, and they’ll say, “Oh, my favourite thing you ever did was-“ and then they’ll list something you did twenty years ago, and you want them to pay attention to what you’re doing now *laugh*

RA: Yep. Yep. Seeing through you is, is one of the things that is quite haunting because I do, I see through me. I can’t shake myself off, if you know what I mean.

HC: Well, you are very cool, you don’t watch any of it until it’s all over. Uh, that’s correct right? You never watched any of our rushes or I remember trying to tell you that you’re doing great and all that-

RA: No, I watched, I watched the first shot-

HC: -and you had not seen any of it and I watch you every day when you’re on set working on our shows and I’ll comment if I see something or whatever, to either you directly or the director, uh, and most of the time I’m – I’m complimenting you, but you don’t – you don’t know either, because you’re not watching, you’re not getting lost in that.

RA: Yeah, I don’t like to watch or be somebody that studies myself to much, I don’t think that’s my job. I think my job is to be inside the character looking out, rather than the other way around. I leave that to the experts like you and the director.

HC: Also, I think it’s- I think if you start worrying about what – you’re right – and also you don’t have the distance. This is always an issue when I – I first start watching the cuts of the first episodes, and I read the book while I’m editing it, while I try to take time between my writing it and then seeing it, I have to sort of put myself in the position of being somebody who knows nothing about this, and doesn’t come in knowing the story already that I’ve already read or seen a thousand time. How do I keep it fresh in my head when I’m trying to be objective and watching it so we can make edits. Uh, both on the screen or on the page.

RA: Mm-hmm. What draws you to crime/thriller? What – I mean is that – I, I can’t often imagine you writing a romantic novel, but what is it that draws you to this particular genre?

HC: Well, y’know to me it’s uh, not really a genre. It’s more like – it’s a form. It’s more like saying it’s a haiku or a sonata.

RA: Mm-hmm.

HC: And within that form I can, and hopefully have, done everything. Um, I think The Stranger for example is more a story about family, uh, and the secrets we try to hide, rather than it is about who killed who – y’know, the mystery angle of it.

RA: Yeah.

HC: One of my most, uh well-known books, my first bestseller, was a book called Tell No One which was made into a French film starring François Cluze, and that’s really a love story, it’s about a man who’s madly in love with his wife and eight years earlier, she was murdered. And then eight years passed, he gets an email, he clicks the hyperlink, he sees a webcam and his dead wife walks by, still alive., And the pursuit, the wanting to get back, the hope for full redemption is really what drives the story more than ‘who killed who’.

RA: Mmm-hmm.

HC: So different stories do different things. But the great thing about the form of crime fiction is that it compels me to tell a story. I’m not getting lost in the beauty of my own genius, my own kind of navel-gazing. I have to continue to tell a story and entertain you. So any of the themes that I wanna tell, any of the things I wanna discuss, has to be slave to that story. And I think that’s probably a rich tradition. If you think about Dumas really, wasn’t that all crime fiction? Even Shakespeare is mostly crime fiction.

RA: Yeah.

HC: Most great stories, if I ask you to name a favourite novel that’s over a hundred years old, Dostoevsky, whoever, you will find that there’s almost always a crime in it. There’s almost always a crime story.

RA: I mean it’s one of the things that I get very excited about, um, I mean obviously I haven’t read your entire canon but I – there’s a signature, or a theme that you love to play on which is this idea that – that um, the people you know aren’t telling you everything about themselves, or that there’s something to hide and that in our modern world, with technology, we have this sort of ability to – to sort of lead multiple lives of truths or lies. And it’s something which I think we immediately recognise. ‘Cause I think we – we’re living that, that reality, and it’s a theme that I really enjoy about your writing.

HC: Well, first of all, thanks. Second, um, there’s a lot of things we’ve heard about the human condition. One of my favourites about the human condition that I used to write, is that we all believe that we are uniquely complex and no one knows the inside of us. And yet we think we read everybody else pretty well. We all think we are uniquely complex and the person across from us, we can kind of figure out. They’re not quite like us. Um, and that’s something I love to play with when I write. Because you’ve gotta remember that everybody is uniquely complex and on a humanity level, and on an empathy level, I raise my kids and I’m always teaching them that every person you see, the richest, the poorest, the happiest, the saddest – everybody has hopes and dreams. Just think that, when you see a stranger on the street, when you’re going to interact with somebody, when you’re getting angry at somebody, whatever it is – just remember, they have hope and dreams. Um, small little thought, but it helps me create a character as well.

RA: There’s also a- a kind of very strong level of self-deception involved, which I think can be quite surprising. Because you always read a character and go, ‘I’m not like that’ or ‘I would never do that’ and then if you really think about it, we – there’s a truth we tell ourselves about ourselves which isn’t always honest.

HC: Well, exactly. It’s really come to fruition in the world the last few years, where I kind of joked that I’ve been working too hard on making my villains sympathetic, the villains in today’s world don’t seem to be very – very complex at all.

RA: *laugh*

HC: But for the most part, people don’t think they’re bad guys. Even the bad guys don’t think they’re bad guys.

RA: Yeah.

HC: They have some way of, of justifying. It’s one of the great things about human beings, or one of the most prevailing thing about a human being, is we all have the ability to self-rationalise, to self-justify. Um, and so I’ve always tried with my villains, and I hope that I did it in everything that we’ve done together, to try to make even the villain – you may not like the villain, but you get them. I don’t really write books – I don’t write books where the serial killer is hacking up people for no reason, that doesn’t really interest me. I prefer the crimes where you can say, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t have done it maybe, but I can see why that happened. I can see if I was put in that position, um, where I may have done something similar’. That to me is a much more interesting villain than somebody who’s just cruel and evil.

RA: Yeah. Um, final question actually, is – I mean, as a listener/reader yourself – are there any other authors whose books you love and just go back – I mean, you’ve mentioned Stephen King, um I’m with you on that one – but are there any other authors who really kind of inspire you and, and y’know, like a little guilty pleasure reading for yourself and not for work?

HC: Yeah, well the problem always is that I start listing authors, and then someone will say, ‘well, what about so-and-so who’s a friend of mine’, and then I say ‘oh shoot, I forgot – I forgot that one’.

RA: *laugh*

HC: Y’know I saw recently that it’s the eleventh anniversary of the death of Robert B. Parker, who wrote the Spencer novels, if by any chance you haven’t found the Spencer novels, and I don’t know how popular they are overseas – they’re fantastic, wonderful detective series. Um, so that’s one guy I would go back in time and try to find for audio. But I actually like Philip Roth a lot on audio, even though he doesn’t do crime fiction. I’m a big Michael Connelly fan and I like Lee Child, um and Laura Lippman. Y’know, I could sit here just naming um, people all day. I’m always curious also – who is reading – who does it because of the reader and who does it because of the writer. I know there’s a number of people who will listen to anything you read, Richard, because it’s you. Um, which is really quite nice, but it’s interesting the combination of the audio reader. I have Steven Weber, he’s been reading most of my novels, though I’ve had a female lead – a woman named January LaVoy who’s fantastic – and I think Weber captures my voice. He sounds a little bit like me, we both have a similar background, similar sense of humour, so part of it with the audio is also the match you end up making.

RA: Yeah. It’s interesting, isn’t it? Because I certainly find I don’t often get to read something which is purely my choice, I have a stack of things that are work-related, or that I’m about to record. So I don’t think I’ve – I’ve chosen a book recently which is just been- I don’t know how I would pick something, it’s usually a recommendation, so I’ll certainly have a look at the Spencer novels, they sound – they sound brilliant.

HC: Yeah, and they’re fun – there was a TV series in America for a while called ‘Spencer for Hire’ – this is s or going back to the, I guess the 70s or 80s I think. Um, those were not great, but the novels themselves were sort of – Raymond Chandler to Robert B. Parker to the guys who are working now. So he’s a huge – he was a tremendous influence on most of your favourite crime writers. I said in his obituary eleven years ago, I said, “90% of writers admit that Robert B. Parker was an influence and 10% lie about it”. So um, if you can find Robert B. Parker Spencer novels that would be a good clue for everybody out there.

RA: Brilliant. Well, that just about wraps it up. And uh, thanks for talking to me. I really enjoyed the book and no doubt it will be another best-seller and fingers crossed it ends up as a TV series.

HC: Well, thanks Richard, and I look forward to seeing you work on uh, Stay Close. I know that uh, Armitage Army out there *laugh* that – your, your loud uh supporters and fans who just adore you are going to go gaga cause you get to play somebody quite different from Adam in The Stranger. Um, it’s-

RA: Yeah. Looking forward to it.

HC: Yeah, it’ll be a lot of fun. Thanks very much.

#this was actually more interesting that I thought it would be #sorry the audio ain't great I had to compress it a lot #it is longgg #richard armitage #harlan coben #win

53 notes · View notes

teamhappyme · 3 years

Text

a series of promising events (4/5)

aaron hotchner x female!reader

word count: 6.7k

a/n: happy new year!! we’ve made it to part 4! this part differs from the 3 previous ones, as it takes place all in one (and a half) days. But there are flashbacks, represented with italics. if anything is confusing with the timeline, or anything else is confusing you in general, please let me know! my brain is a weird place and does not connect the dots when i post for a public audience. i hope you guys enjoy this part, it was really fun for me to write!

get ready, let’s go friends!

here are the links to part 1, part 2, & part 3

****

October 2012

“Some people care too much. I think it’s called love.” - Winnie the Pooh

You’re known for your predictability. Yes, you’re overly kind, extremely perceptive, and a little bit of a literary genius. But those closest to you knew the predictability of your life.

You craved routine. You woke up at 5:30 every morning, had breakfast, watched the news, and caught up on some domestic things before heading into the office. You stopped at the same bagel cart every morning, an Asiago bagel with butter for you and a coffee for Spencer. Monday’s, you treated the whole team. You got to work at 7:12, second only to Hotch.

The team knew how you would react to every case. Missing or dead children would cause you to go silent, families being the target would choke you up, and anything including a scumbag with a signature kill made you nauseous.

So it was safe to say they were more than surprised to find out that you’d left for a month long european holiday, from an email, with Strauss cc'd on it. The team couldn’t remember the last time you went on vacation, because you hadn't gone further than two hours in one day.

In your travels through Europe, you stopped in countries that you’d only dreamt about visiting in your dreams. You saw Nyhavn, Denmark, the colorful canal right outside of Copenhagen. Hopped through Warsaw and Gdansk in Poland, before being silenced by your tour of Auschwitz. Next was France, the country you always said you would flee to once you aged out of the system. Besides hitting all the touristy attractions in Paris, you traveled through the alps, and made sure you stopped to see Giverny, the little village that inspired Claude Monet and his water lily paintings. The last true destination was Spain, jumping at the chance to flex your spanish minor muscles. You roamed Barcelona and Madrid, feeling a little like the Cheetah Girls as you stood in front of La Sagrada Familia.

The more you travelled, the more you’d thought about quitting. Thought about sending your resignation to Strauss through an email, leave your desk full of the mementos and picture frames, and continue falling in love with the continent you’d never been to before.

But then you made your final stop in London, to the sister who you missed immensely, and lost the nerve entirely.

“You’ll regret leaving them for the rest of your life,” Emily said to you, and you wondered for a second if she was projecting her decisions onto you.

“They don’t deserve me.” You’d mumbled out, just loud enough for her to hear. “I can’t continue on like this.”

You’d given the team everything you had for seven and a half years. The job demanded personal sacrifices you never thought you’d be capable of, until you met the people who signed on for this before you. The people who shared the same commitment to helping others, the responsibility to improve the world around them before the one that housed them. It was the first time you felt at home in your quarter century existence.

But the work never seized. The jet began to feel more like home than your apartment, hotel beds provided more comfort than your own pillow covered mattress. And no matter how many people you saved, no amount of gratification from loved ones could quell the loneliness building back inside you.

So you listened to Emily, and came back to the states on your original return flight, October 23, 2012. You returned to the real world in less than seventy-two hours and promised Garcia you would brush up on the next case before debriefing on Monday morning.

You were betting on the fact that the team wasn’t lingering around the office, considering it was seven thirty on a friday night as you headed up in the elevator, fresh off your flight from the UK. The last thing you wanted was someone to corner you, when all you wanted to do was sleep off the lingering memories of your last night here.

The glass doors leading into the BAU gave you a view of the bullpen; empty. Opening the door, you walked over to your desk, quickly glancing around the other spaces to see if anything had changed. It hadn’t.

Grabbing the files Garcia left on your desk and your car keys from the drawer, you tidied up the space the tiniest bit. You made sure everything was squared off to your monitor, updating the days passed on your desk calendar. You wrote a reminder on a yellow sticky to thank Reid for watering your small desk plant and stuck it to the screen for Monday. Everything looked like it was in its place, until you saw a blue stress ball sitting on your chair. Your head whipped up to the office at the top of the stairs, but the lights were off and the door shut. He wasn’t here.

But you could feel the stare of his eyes from four weeks ago on you just the same.

You guys were working a local case in the District.

The unsub had murdered three men, each with one shot to the head execution style. There were no signs of torture, and all three men were found with their eyes closed and arms crossed over their torsos; signs of remorse.

It took the team thirty hours to stick the profile and find the woman responsible. Her name was Kathryn Downey, a forty two year old mother of three, with a law degree that hadn’t been used in fifteen years. After digging into the victims personal lives and her own, the motive and stressor became clear to everyone; her husband had cheated on her.

You found Kathryn with a gun pointed to her husband’s head, his hands and feet duct taped, and a strip around his mouth keeping him silent.

Her hands were shaking, and you knew from the second you saw her that she didn’t want to kill him. She was angry, and full of rage, but she wouldn’t be able to follow through with this.

As long as you use the right language.

“Kathryn, put the gun down, we’re with the FBI.” Hotch started in a calm voice, but she shook her head, hands shaking faster.

“No. I have to do this. He,” She took a breath, pushing the hair out of her face with her free hand. “He has to pay.”

You glanced at Aaron before taking a step closer, slowly lowering your weapon. She needed to feel safe, and she needed to feel like an equal.

“Kathryn, my name is y/n l/n. I’m with the Behavioral Analysis Unit from the FBI. I really want to help you through this situation, so I’m going to put my gun down, alright?” You slowly lowered the gun to the ground, kicking it back gently to Hotch.

“Now Kathryn, I know your children are here. I don’t want anything to happen to them, and I know you don’t either, so could you tell me where they are so we can help them?”

“In the basement, I locked them in the basement. I didn’t want them to,” She let the thought end, not wanting to manifest it into the universe. She didn’t want them to see their mother kill their father.

Hotch spoke gently into the comms, getting Morgan and Rossi down to the kids.

“Kathryn, I want to know why we’re here in this situation. I’ve read the file, I profiled you and your family, but I want to know your side of the story. Why are you holding a gun to your husbands head?”

Her eyes widened in the slightest, and you were sure it was from the empathy in your voice. But this was your specialty, and you were determined to talk this woman down.

“He cheated on me,” She whispered, and for a split second, you thought this was going to be easy. But then she pressed the gun harder into his head, and let out a low laugh. “After everything I’ve done for this family, for him, he just takes his pants off for another woman?”

You heard the safety click off, and Hotch’s own in return. Please do not end in a shootout.

“Kathryn, don’t look at him. Don’t think about him kneeling in front of you. Just focus on me. Tell me how you got to this moment right now.”

“How did I get to this moment? I got here by following around this sad excuse for a man for the last twenty years. Like a moth to a flame, I couldn’t escape this life of mine.” Her eyes started to water, and you internally sighed. You were getting somewhere. “I have a law degree, you know. Fifth in my class at Columbia, and I only used it for a year. And it was in sleazy corporate law. Because I got married, and I got pregnant, and Sean wanted someone to stay home with the kids.

“I went from the intelligent corporate attorney with her eyes set on the attorney general’s office, to a cliche housewife who spends her days cleaning and dotting on her husband and kids. I never wanted to be this woman,” She closed her eyes, letting the tears fall down her face freely. She looked so young in this vulnerable state, too young to have three children. Yet she looked so tired, and so defeated. “I gave up everything for this family. I gave up my career, friends, bucket list dreams, and a life that was waiting to be lived, for this man. I cater to his every need, I listen to him drone on about work, assure him when he’s feeling anxious, and give in when he needs a release. I am my children’s rock; when they need a shoulder to cry on I’m there in a second. They need help with their math homework, I’m the number one girl. But when it’s my turn to fall apart, when it’s my turn to be lifted up and supported, nobody is there for me. And he should be able to be there for me.”

If you hadn’t undergone intense training at Quantico, you would’ve been in tears by now. You empathized with this woman more than you should, and you were trying so desperately to help her out of this situation. So you continued to dig your fingernails into your palms, and spoke again.

“I know what you’re feeling, Kathryn.”

“You don’t know what I’m feeling!” Wrong move. She ripped the gun away from her husband and fixed the trigger on you. Hotch moved so that he was only one step behind you, trying to get her to lower the gun. “You have no idea what this is like!”

“I do, Kathryn. I promise you I do. I may not be a wife, or a mother, but I know what it’s like to give yourself completely to a person. I know what it’s like to hold onto the stress and fears of the people you love. I understand, because I’m this person too.

“People like you and me, we feel the need to be the emotional support for everyone we love. We never want to see them struggle, and we never want to see them in pain. So, we listen. We overcompensate to make them feel better, and we check in regularly to make sure they’re okay. Our happiness, as strange and sad as it may be, is directly linked to theirs. We can’t be happy unless they’re happy. But once they come out of their depression, once they thank us for being the light in their lives, they walk away, and take the happy rainbow with them. And they don’t leave any for us.” Tears continued to fall down her face, but you needed to go further. She was going to break if you kept going. “Kathryn, I was in your position not long ago. I remember what it feels like when you realize that the love you have for someone won’t be reciprocated. That after everything you’ve done for them, all the small moments that you succeeded in taking their grief away and bringing happiness back into their life, they still don’t appreciate you. And it’s heartbreaking.

“But I’m standing across from you today, on the other side of that pain, trying to tell you that it gets better. It doesn’t go away, but it gets a hell of a lot better, Kathryn. So please, do not let this one moment that you couldn’t take the pain away ruin all the times you did.”

You expected the tears. You expected an emotional end to this situation. You didn’t expect Kathryn Downey to drop her gun in the middle of the room, and collapse onto you. But that’s exactly what she did. And instead of letting go to untie her husband, instead of joining Hotch in cuffing her, you held her for a minute. You held her breaking heart in your hands, and tried your hardest to take away all her fears and pain for once in her life.

After a minute, you pulled away and grabbed a hold of her upper arm. She gave you a slight nod, knowing this is what was always going to happen. You led her down the stairs and into the back of a squad car, as Aaron helped the husband to his children once outside of the house.

You were leaning against the suburban that you came in, watching as the team debriefed with the local pd before being dismissed. But amongst the chaos, Hotch found your eyes, and gave you a knowing look. One that meant you were going to talk through the very personal negotiation you gave.

The team arrived back at the office just shy of ten o’clock, Penelope waiting for Derek at the elevator. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as you led the gang into the bullpen, everyone dropping their go bags at their desks.

You lingered for a moment as Hotch made his way up to his office, knowing you’d be joining him in a few seconds. You grabbed your blue stress ball, complimentary from the C.A.L.M. department meeting, as through the curtains you could see him drop his bag before checking his phone for any messages from Jack.

“L/n,” Here it comes. “Can I talk to you in my office please?”

You and Spencer shared a look, and he gave you a comforting smile in return. You took the steps two at a time to his office, and shut the door behind you once you arrived. He was standing behind his desk, so you didn’t feel the need to sit yourself.

You waited for him to speak, since he was the one that called you in. It was a little childish, but you weren’t the one who wanted the discussion.

“I want to talk about the negotiation.”

“I thought it was pretty successful. I empathised, I got her to drop her weapon, and no one was injured in the process.”

“Y/n, you know that’s not what I meant.” He uncrossed his arms, letting out a sigh. The two of you were too exhausted to have this conversation, but that wasn’t going to stop Hotch from going on. “I told you that you could lean on me when it all became too much.”

“That was six years ago, Hotch.” Defensive, but not rude. A fine line. “And this wasn’t about work, this was personal. You’re not obligated to listen to our personal issues that take place outside the office.”

“And you are?” Stop spinning my words, Hotchner. “I know you, y/n. This isn’t just something that can be brushed back under the rug.” You scoffed. “You don’t know me.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t know me, Hotch. None of you do. You know my file. You know that I got a full ride to Bowdoin, that I was a social worker before transferring here, and that most of my life before eighteen was sealed away. I confided in you six years ago about my childhood and now you think you know me?”

“Why are you getting so defensive?”

“I’m not-” You paused, knowing that if you finished that statement it would, in fact, be defensive. “I’m just really tired and I don’t want to be having this conversation right now.”

“It’s not healthy for you to keep everything in while people spill their lives to you. And you know that.”

“Hotch,” You warned, your exhaustion quickly turning into rage.

“What, you really think I’m just going to drop this after hearing you confess to a serial killer that you have no joy in your life? And now you’re going to try and convince me that I don’t know anything about you? Bullshit, y/n. I know that you talk to your foster siblings every sunday to check in and make sure they’re all doing okay. I know that you volunteer with Garcia to help the families of victims cope with their loss. I know that you cling to Spencer like gum wherever you go to make him feel less insecure in a bar.”

“Stop it,”

“I know that your favorite color is purple, that you still write articles for CNN and The Times under a pseudonym. And I know, more than anything in the world, you want to be the mother that you never got to have.”

“Stop it!” You threw the blue ball into his builtins, hitting one of his stupid administrative awards in the process. He didn’t even flinch. “You don’t get to know me like that.”

“Why not?” You let out a low laugh as tears started to fill in your eyes. He was oblivious, and that's what made it hurt even more. You cracked your knuckles for a few seconds, waiting for him to connect the words you spoke at the Downey house and your frustration with him in this moment.

But his face softened, the wrinkles disappeared from his forehead, and you knew he figured it out. He didn’t need to say the words for you to know exactly what was going through his head. But he was with Beth, and you were not going to interfere. This wouldn’t change anything.

“It’s late, I should head home. I’ll get you my report before monday.”

You left his office without saying goodnight, and you tried to ignore the rest of your team huddled around Morgan’s desk, pretending not to be eavesdropping. But they totally were.

Instead you grabbed your bags, giving Spencer a reassuring smile as his gaze lingered on you for a second longer. You had no intentions of turning around to see Hotch’s face. But if you had, you would’ve seen the same heartbroken expression across his face, realizing he let you walk away.

You tore your eyes away from the office, not wanting to relive the memory any longer. You stashed the stress ball under your monitor before turning out the light, and making your way back to the elevator.

Once you were settled back in your apartment, you sent a text to Reid and JJ, letting them know you got in okay and that you’d see them at the office on Monday. After getting a thumbs up and a ‘glad you’re home’ in response, you turned in for the night, trying to dream of nights in Paris and Barcelona instead of at the BAU.

---

It was hard for you to get back in the routine of consulting and profiling. Garcia had left you copies of three cases the team was going to be working on when you returned, and you’d barely worked through the first one in two hours.

Three teenagers went missing from their small town in Idaho, and all were found in Seattle in the same week. Of course, your first case back included kids.

You resorted to calling Spencer when you really had no idea where to begin. You felt like a rookie all over again, asking for help when creating a geographical profile or running new negotiation tactics. But your best friend was quick to help, assuring you that once you got back to the office, you’d fall back into the routine.

“Did you have a good time?” He finally asked, albeit apprehensively. You didn’t leave on the best terms with anyone, and they all seemed to know what pushed you over the edge.

“I did. It’s amazing to know that there is a whole other world out there that we don’t even know about. It’s so different over there, Spence. It’s peaceful, and beautiful, and everything the place you call home should be.”

You could hear the intake of breath over the line. “Does that mean you’re moving to Spain?” A smile crossed your lips just thinking about Barcelona. But, it wasn’t home.

“This is my home, Spencer. I’m not leaving anytime soon.” You left out the part about contemplating a new life for the better part of three weeks, knowing it would only cause him more paranoia. You were staying in Quantico, continuing what you were born to do.

After drafting a rough profile and reviewing family statements, you took a break from the paperwork staring back at you all morning.

You made your way into the kitchen to find something for lunch, the afternoon approaching quick. All you really wanted to do was crash on the couch and watch old movies for hours, until monday morning inevitably rolled around. Selfishly you wanted your vacation to last forever. But your mind, and your bank account, thought differently.

After consuming a sandwich and some chips, you brought back the fresh mug of hot chocolate to the kitchen table, ready to take on the second file. Two women raped, tortured, and murdered outside of Miami. Why the fuck did it always have to be Florida.

Halfway through the family statements, there was a knock at your door. You grabbed your gun from the side table, just in case. Only three people had a key to your apartment. One of them was in England, one you just got off the phone with, and one… you didn’t exactly know where you stood with him.

After checking the peephole and seeing Hotch on the other side, you let out a sigh of relief. No one is coming to muder you. But it was quickly replaced with the memories of your last encounter, and the unspoken realization of feelings unrequited.

You placed your gun back on the table, and unlocked the door for him. He was wearing a navy blue quarter zip, jeans, and sneakers, the ultimate Aaron Hotchner not on duty look. It made your heart beat just a little faster noticing his hair was free of any gel, flopping naturally as he walked.

“Hi,” You greeted him, half of you hidden behind your front door.

A shadow of a smile crossed his lips, and he placed his hands in his pockets. “Hi. I’m sorry for stopping by unannounced. I know you must be tired and getting ready for Monday.”

“No, it’s okay. Did you want to come in?” You opened the door a little more, stepping out to show your sweatpants and sweatshirt look from behind the door.

“Thank you.” He murmured as he walked through the entrance, moving to take off his shoes. You told him a million times that you didn’t follow that rule, and that you hated it when people made their guests remove their shoes. But he told you once that it was a sign of comfort, that he felt at ease in someone else's home.

“Can I get you something to drink? I have some tea bags left over I think, or I can make you a cup of coffee.”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? It’ll only take a second. Oh, are you hungry? I still have some sealed crackers from before I left, might have something in the freezer if-”

“Y/n,” He interrupted you and you stopped in the middle of your path to the kitchen. “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” You nodded, making your way back to the living room. “Oh, I um, got something for Jack while I was in England with Emily. I know it’ll probably keep him holed up in his room for a week, but I couldn’t resist.”

You pulled out the bag of souvenirs you got for the team, grabbing the London attractions lego set you bought for the young boy. Aaron smiled when you handed it to him, knowing the two of them would no doubt be starting this when he got home.

“You didn’t have to get this for him. But he’s gonna love it.”

“I know.” You reached in the bag once more, pulling out the gift you got for Aaron. “And I know you’ll probably never wear this, but I had to get it for you.”

He opened the box, a british flag tie on the inside. He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his lips, the tacky gift really meaning a lot to him. “Thank you. I can honestly say this is the most unique gift I’ve ever received.”

“Glad to hear it.” You tucked your foot underneath you as you settled onto the couch, letting Aaron set the gifts aside. You knew what conversation was coming next, but you didn’t have the courage to start it. Especially since he was the one to come to you.

He settled in on the couch, a cushion between the two of you, a clear boundary that he’d set.

“Did you enjoy your time over there?”

“I had a really great time. I can’t believe I’d gone thirty two years without leaving the country. You don’t realize how much of the world there is to see until you go and uncover a small fraction of it.”

He smiled while beginning to pick at his fingernails. This was a new tell of his, he was usually extremely reserved with his anxiety. “You sound like Emily.”

“I’m going to take that as a complement.” You said with a small laugh, adoring the woman across the ocean.

“It is. She called me a few days ago, told me you guys had a nice visit.”

“We did. Prentiss knows how to have a good time no matter the city. It was a little too much for me, though.”

“Nobody can quite keep up with Emily.” He added before letting out a breath.

“She also told me that you were contemplating leaving the BAU.” There goes the first shoe, dropping from the ceiling. “Are you still thinking of quitting?”

“No.” It was the truth. Em had spoken some sense into you, and you knew deep down, like you told Spencer, this was your home. “I just needed a break from everything. And Europe was an amazing distraction. But I’m back, and ready to get back into the swing of things.”

He nodded, some tension slowly released from his shoulders. He couldn’t lose another member. It was too soon.

“Was it because of me?”

“What?” Even though you were expecting this conversation, it still caught you off guard.

“I’m not conceited enough to think you fled to another continent because of a fight, but is that what pushed you over the edge? What led you to want to quit the BAU?”

In a word, yes. The argument was the last straw on the camel's back. You’d spent years with this unit, fulfilling a destiny that you made up for yourself so that you wouldn’t feel guilty for not having a family or friends to confide in. You spent the better part of the last three years pining for a man you couldn’t have, trying to fill the holes in your life by playing pretend. So yes, it was Hotch that pushed you over the edge. But you learned a hell of a lot about yourself in those four weeks.

“Hotch, did you know that this was the first time I went on an airplane for my own enjoyment? This was the first vacation I’ve been on in my life. I booked a flight on a Thursday night that left at six a.m. the next morning. I was spontaneous, and in control of all the moves I would make for the next thirty days. I’ve never felt more liberated in my life.

“But then I landed in Copenhagen, and had an anxiety attack. I can’t speak Danish, I have no idea how to get around a new country, and I only had thirty dollars in cash to my name. And the only thing I could think of to help me get through it, was calling you. I had your contact pulled up, ready to call you and tell you what a stupid fucking mistake I made. But then I could hear your voice in my head, saying ‘I know you’, and I’d never turned my phone off faster.”

“Y/n,” He sounded exhausted himself, but you weren’t going to give in to the apologies. Not yet.

“I had the time of my life there. I went to places that I never thought I’d get to see in my life. Places that my foster parents told me I’d never be important enough to go to. But I made it. I made it to Giverny, and I saw what inspired Claude Monet to paint the Water Lilies series with my own eyes. I went inside La Sagrada Familia and walked on the steps that Gaudi dreamt of. I saw everything I wanted to, and I wept every place I went to. Because I got myself there. I persevered and worked my ass off my whole life, to get there. I didn’t have any parents, I didn't have any siblings, a spouse, or children. I did it all by myself, and it felt pretty amazing to accomplish that.

“No one knows me like I do.” You finished. Your walls were back up starting to feel secure in your own skin again.

He stayed silent for a few minutes, maintaining eye contact with you the entire time. He was calculating his response, trying to formulate the perfect response to get the two of you back on track. It was exhausting watching his brain work, and you wondered how tired he must always be.

After another minute, he sighed and dropped his hands into his lap. “Beth and I broke up two weeks before you left.” The other shoe had dropped.

“What?” For the second time tonight, you were rendered speechless by Aaron Hotchner. This was not the response you were expecting, and not the news you expected to hear anytime soon. The two of them were obsessed with one another, how could they just end it?

“We ended it two weeks before your trip. She accepted a job in Kyoto, and didn’t want to string me along with long distance. But she also said she knew my heart wasn’t in it anymore.”

You stood up from the couch, not being able to sit still with this new information. Hotch and Beth were no longer together, he said all those things to you as a single man, understood what you felt for him, and still let you walk out of his office. For four weeks.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” It was his turn to stand, still leaving enough distance between the two of you to continue your pacing.

“Don’t deflect to another conversation.”

“You’re the one that brought it up!”

He sighed, running a hand through his perfectly shaggy hair. “I don’t want to have this conversation with you again. So please, get it through your thick skull when I tell you that I know you. And I don’t mean that on a bureaucratic superior level. I know you, y/n. And just because you’ve been alone your whole life, doesn’t mean you deserve to be alone for the rest of it.”

Your eyes started to water, so you looked away, gluing your line of sight to the wall next to you.

“You give us all one hundred and ten percent of your attention when we need you. And when I say all of us, that includes Jack and Henry. I’ve never met someone so intune to another person's feelings, who exudes so much empathy with one look and a smile. And we’ve taken you for granted for seven and a half years. Me the most.” Your eyes found his brown ones, begging you to continue looking at him. “I couldn’t have gotten through Haley’s death without you. And that is the biggest understatement of the decade. I am eternally grateful for all that you’ve done for me and Jack. But at the same time, I’m so sorry that it pushed me further and further away from you.”

His own eyes started to water, and he choked out a laugh. “What you said to Kathryn Downey, about giving yourself completely to a person and not getting the love reciprocated. I felt like an absolute idiot for not realizing that you felt the same way I did.” You closed your eyes with his confession, letting the tears roll down your cheeks.

“There were so many times I wanted to tell you. But then Haley took Jack, and Foyet came, and the world got away from me. And I’m so sorry that you’ve felt the need to carry all our problems on your own.”

“Hotch, you don’t have to apologize.”

“Please, don’t call me Hotch right now.” He took a step toward you. “It’s Aaron, when I’m standing in front of you, begging you to just let me in.”

“I don’t,” Your voice cracked, and you rubbed your hands over your face in frustration. “I don’t know how to let someone love me.”

“I know,” He took another step closer. “You’re just going to have to trust me when I tell you I’ve been in love with you for years.”

He didn’t see the rest of your tears fall, because you threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around his neck and burying your face in his shoulder. His arms found their place around your waist, pulling you two impossibly close.

“I love you, Aaron.” You could feel him laughing with his chest pressed against your own, and he moved to kiss the side of your head.

“I love you.” He whispered back, causing the last of your tears to fall onto his sweatshirt.

He started to pull away, just enough to get a look at your face. His eyes were no longer filled with tears, but his cheeks still glistened when the light illuminated the damp spots on his face. He brushed a piece of hair behind your ear, letting his knuckles gently graze your temple. You caught his hand in the middle of his movement, lacing your fingers with his own. You’d been dying to know what it felt like to hold his hand like this for years, when you found yourself comforting him in his office one night, lightly holding his hand in yours. But this was so much better.

“You good?” He asked, and the corners of your mouth turned up the slightest.

“I’m good.” He traced the lightest check mark on your laced hands, causing a true smile to grace your face.

“You have a tally to see who can make me smile the most?”

“It’s just mine. Been keeping it for years. But I’m always in the lead.”

You laughed while letting go of his hand, wrapping your arms back around his neck. His eyes flickered to your lips for a second before looking back at you. You gave him a small nod, knowing he was asking for your permission.

When his lips met yours, you knew this was the feeling that all the fairytales sang about. He was gentle at first, slotting your upper lip between his own. It was slow, and full of love from the years of knowing one another inside and out. He bit your lower lip softly, barely there, and you slowly parted your lips, letting him trace your tongue with his own.

All you could think about was how warm he was, how his breath was actively leaving his lungs and entering your own as if you were one person. It was all consuming, and you were grateful that he took the lead, because you couldn’t focus on anything but him.

His hands slipped under your sweatshirt, resting on the skin just above your hips. You let out a small gasp as his cold fingers made contact with the sensitive skin, but it only made him laugh into the kiss.

After a few more moments of getting lost in the feel of one another, you reluctantly pulled away, needing air to fill up your lungs. But Aaron didn’t go far, gently resting his forehead against your own.

“I love you. And I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to stop telling you.” You closed your eyes and tilted your head up, slowly kissing him again.

“I’ll never get sick of hearing it.” You mumbled, your lips still grazing his own. He smiled into the kiss, which only made your heart glow brighter and brighter the more he showed you how he felt.

You pulled away first, tracing the outline of his jaw with your thumbs. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He tilted his head to the side, just enough to press a kiss to the palm of your hand.

The tenderness this man exudes is beyond belief. “I really love you, Aaron.”

He laughed while pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I’m glad to hear that.”

You let him hold you for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes. “I promised Jack I would take him out for ice cream to make up for missing his soccer game last night.”

“Okay,” You said and started to pull away, but his grip on your waist only tightened.

“Really? You’re just gonna let go without a goodbye?” You laughed at his fake hurt expression, so incredibly happy that you get to see Aaron in this light, enjoying his son, his life, and you.

“I’m not about to stand in the way of Jack Hotchner and a sugar rush. That guy loves his sugar.”

He let go of your waist, but not without a light squeeze to your sides. “I know we literally just started this, but I really would like to tell him. I don’t want to keep any more secrets from him than I have to.”

You smiled at the thought of Aaron telling Jack how in love the two of you were. It made you feel complete, in a way you never thought you’d get to experience in your life.

“Tell him. As long as he doesn’t blab about it to anyone on the team just yet.”

“You sure?” You nodded while passing him the souvenirs as he slipped his sneakers back on.

“Aaron, he’s your son. I’ve loved him as long as I’ve loved you, maybe even longer.”

He stood up once again, that stupid smile not willing to leave his face any time soon.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Must’ve been something pretty good.” You said with a laugh, which he silenced by placing his lips on yours. You hoped the butterflies you felt now would be there every time he kissed you, no matter how many years have passed.

“Like that.” You said once he pulled away. His dimples were showing now, and you wished that you could take a picture of him in this happy moment and remember it for the rest of your lives.

“I’ll call you tonight.” He said and opened the front door.

“Okay. Have fun, tell Jack I said hi.”

“I will.” He kissed your cheek before starting the walk back down the hallway. He didn’t even make it halfway before turning around, and giving you one final kiss in the doorway.

“Love you,” He said and gave you one more peck, before you shoved his shoulder. “I love you too. Now get outta here, Hotchner.”

****

tags: @simplyprentiss @michaelahah @ssahotchner99 @svrgicalhands @hotchtopic @unionjackpillow @philcoolson @tommhollandzxhaz @kathleenjasmine @canimarrypizzaornah @reaperwalking @inlovewithaaronhotchner @shelbymm11 @mrshotchner23 @tropicalwrites @averyhotchner @dreamy-moments @softhxtch @crazymar15 @theinsanespaceship15 @wecouldbreakthedistance @jeor @funnycuteandannoying @andherestograce @thisisntjuliana @captwilson @kennedyblair @lovelysunflowerxoxo @rcompton @iifaequeenii @iwaizumiee @mrsaaronh0tchner @abbeyannsmith-blog @becausehello @rinacriedpower @ssa-raye @ephemeral-barnes @slxtherinchxser @baueoud @lieswithoutfairytales @hug-a-bug-boo @blogmythoughts @freebanditghostcalzone @sugarbutterbailey

#aaron hotchner x female! reader #aaron hotchner x female!reader #aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner fic #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #jules writes shit ??

68 notes · View notes

walkerwords · 4 years

Text

“The Savior Sessions” Part 5 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: With a storm approaching, you offer to house Negan for the duration and maybe in the process deal with all the nagging thoughts that have come up during all the sessions so far.

Word Count: 2232

Warning: None

Song I Wrote To: “Keeping Your Head Up” by Birdy

Note: This one is more like an intro to the next one, but I thought I’d post it cause I’m posting these in between some angsty stories!

---------

The constant arguing was finally getting on your nerves.

Sitting in the meeting hall, you listened to the council and other key members of Alexandria argue about the same thing as always: Negan. This week’s issue was that there was a storm coming in that would most likely bring lots of rain, at least that’s what Eugene was thinking. Whether he was right or not, there was still the question of where they were putting their prisoner so he didn’t drown in his cell.

There were those such as Aaron and Rosita who couldn’t care less about what happened to the man, but then there were people like Gabriel who were still mildly concerned. They had locked him up, kept him fed, and Gabriel didn’t think it was fair to keep him in such a vulnerable position during the potential downpour.

Nobody wanted to leave him alone in an empty house and Aaron had even suggested tying him up in the watch post, but Michonne had shot that down immediately.

You sat in the back row of the hall, waiting for them to stop hollering at each other. The last conversation you had had with Negan hadn’t ended well. You were tired, he was curious, and you were not in the mood for his...negan-ness at all. The realization that you and the former leader were similar had rocked you a bit. You weren’t sure what to do with the information.

There was a part of you that wanted to just walk out the front gate and not look back. Running away had once been a pattern for you before the world had ended, but you had fought to break that streak once you joined up with this group of survivors. However, spending a few days in the woods alone seemed not too bad right now. Daryl did seem to have the right idea at times, you thought.

The hum of arguing continued and you fought against everything you had not to yell at them. If Alexandria didn't have strong walls, you were sure the Dead would have been called from miles away with this volume.

"I'll do it," you said, more to the wall than anyone. The yelling continued so you stood up and projected your voice louder, "I'll do it!"

Everyone in the room turned to look at you, Michonne pausing mid-sentence. "What?" Aaron asked.

"I said, I'll do it. Negan can stay with me at my place for the duration of the storm." Nobody knew what to say as you offered your home to be Negan’s temporary cell.

"(Y/N)," Gabriel began, unsure how to continue.

"I have an extra room," you explained, "my fireplace works, I live alone, and I'm already his therapist, might as well be his warden too."

"It's not your job to...house him," Rosita said.

"No, it's not," you agreed. "It's probably Michonne's considering she's head of security, but she has two little ones. Now, I doubt Judith and RJ would care if Negan stayed in their living room, but this way I keep him from all of you and y'all can stop bickering like a PTA meeting."

"And if he tries to leave?" Aaron asked, but you rolled your eyes.

"He won't," you assured him, "though, if he managed to sneak past me, all the other houses, and get over the walls in the storm, then hell, he would deserve the escape."

"Let's try not to let that happen," Michonne said and you nodded. "Are you going to need extra supplies?" She asked simply. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at how easy it was to take on the responsibility. You knew it was just a matter of time before someone spoke up and you also knew that person was going to be you.

"I think we'll be okay. I'll wait until the sun goes down and then drag Alcatraz on over.”

You didn’t wait for a response before grabbing your jacket and exiting the hall. All around Alexandria, people were prepping for the storm. There wasn’t much they could do considering there was only a few hour warning. These were the days when you missed The Weather Channel the most. Since the world had ended, it was the small things that you missed about the old world rather than the big ones.

Waving to Gracie who was sitting on the steps of her house, you continued on your way to your small home near the South wall. It wasn’t much and it was smaller than the rest of the homes, but you preferred it. Rick had once called it your “crows nest” which was appropriate considering your time as a sniper.

Rosita’s house was locked up tight as you passed it and jogged up your front steps. There wasn’t much more to do as you tended to keep your house secure most of the time.

You spent the next couple of hours taping down the windows, grabbing firewood from the communal supply, and taking inventory of your food stock. The whole thing was becoming...odd. It was as if you were a kid again, making sure the house was clean for company so your parents didn’t feel embarrassed.

The thought alone made you chuckle as you finished off your chores by grabbing extra blankets from the hall closet. Glancing outside, the sun began to dip and droplets of rain were already spattering against the windows. With a sigh, you grabbed your coat and began the walk over to the cell.

There were very few people out on the streets and you had a feeling Gabriel and Michonne had spread the news that public enemy number one would be lead out on his leash tonight. Walking by the Grimes’ house, Judith looked at you through the window. You sent her a wink and she grinned back, giving you a thumbs up.

You often wondered where her constant optimism came from because it definitely didn’t come from being raised by Rick or by her biological father. Shane was never one to see the glass as half full for as long as you knew him. However, now that you were thinking about it, Lori did have that little spark deep down...very deep down. Perhaps Judith Grimes was one of a kind after all.

Pulling the keys from your belt, you shuffled down the steps and unlocked the large door. Stepping inside the cold room, you were surprised to be met with silence. You stepped closer to the bars and then you understood why.

Negan was fast asleep.

You took a moment to watch the sleeping man. There was something so innocent about the way a person slept. It was like a reset button for a night and right now he didn’t look like the monster Alexandria and others feared, he was just a man trying to get some rest in a screwed-up world. Rest that you felt bad about interrupting.

Pulling the right key, you inserted it into the cell door and pushed it open. Negan remained asleep as you crept forward. Leaning down, you gently shook his shoulder, trying to wake him. Negan’s eyes flew open and his hand tightly gripped the arm that was resting on him. “Ow,” you grunted at the pressure, trying to pull your hand back.

“What’s going on?” He muttered, blinking in the darkness.

“I’ll tell you if you let me go,” you hissed. Negan finally focused on you, his brows furrowed.

“(Y/N)?” he asked.

“Negan, hand,” you reminded him.

“Oh, right,” he said, releasing you from his grip. You stepped back, rubbing at the skin that was sure to be bruised later. He slowly sat up and glanced at the open cell door before looking back at you. “What? Has the Queen of Alexandria finally agreed to a public execution?” he asked bitterly.

With a roll of your eyes, you reached over and grabbed the thick jacket Gabriel had gotten for him a few weeks ago. You threw it at him.

“There’s a massive storm rolling through and Eugene thinks it’ll flood some areas. You’re staying with me until it passes. No more than two days,” you explained, crossing your arms. Negan was silent as his fingers played with the thick material of his jacket.

“Why?” he asked.

“Why what?” you asked, exasperated.

“Why would anyone care if I succumbed to the elements?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“You don’t want to come? That’s fine. I don’t mind being alone,” you said with a challenge in your eyes. Negan quickly stood, shaking his head.

“No, no, a warm house sounds very nice,” he quickly said. “I’m a great house guest.”

“Right,” you said, still feeling the awkwardness that remained between the two of you from your last conversation. Negan shrugged on the jacket and then you walked to him, producing a pair of cuffs.

“Seriously?” he asked, staring at the chains with disdain.

“Either this or learn to swim,” you said, dangling the cuffs. Negan huffed but offered you his wrists anyway. You quickly fastened them and then took hold of his arm. “Come on, it’s already started to rain.

Negan followed you out of the cell, hesitating on the threshold for a moment. You squeezed his arm briefly and he kept walking. The two of you pushed out into the damp air and you let go of him for a second to close up the room tightly, trying to reduce the amount of water damage that was sure to come.

Turning back to Negan, his attention wasn’t on you, but on the overcast sky. His head was tilted back as he breathed in the night air. A look of content was on his face and you almost thought he was smiling slightly. It was then that you realized this was the first time he had been outside in...you didn’t know how long.

Taking his arm again, you pulled him away from his thoughts and tugged him after you. Negan kept pace with you as you began the walk home. The streets were completely empty now, but it didn’t stop Negan from looking around with those curious eyes of his.

You didn’t know what compelled you to do it, but you easily slowed your pace, letting the walk take twice as long as usual. Looking up at Negan who was completely focused on Alexandria, you let yourself feel a bit sorry for the man. Obviously, Michonne had her reasons for keeping him locked up. You knew them and so did Negan, but you thought that perhaps he should be let out a bit more often.

Michonne had asked you to start visiting him because she thought all the isolation was bad for him, but she also didn’t realize that it wasn’t just being alone that wasn’t good for him. He needed to be out and even if it was starting to pour, you were going to let him have this moment.

Sliding your arm off of his, you let him wander ahead of you a bit, keeping him close, but not so much him being a dog being lead on a leash. He took the paths with grass on them and ran his hands down light posts and across fences. It was like watching someone rediscover the world and it made you oddly happy.

“This way, genius,” you called when he began walking down another street. He quickly walked to your side with a grin on his face. “What?”

“I just never imagined you’d be taking me home so soon,” he joked and you rolled your eyes.

“Well, I didn’t think you would enjoy spending the night in the stables,” you explained, kicking at a loose stone on the road.

“And Michonne and Gabe probably told you that I needed a babysitter.”

“That too,” you agreed. You finished the walk in silence. There were moments when you had to steer Negan in the right direction, but overall, you let him walk on his own without a guard. Arriving at your house, you pulled him up the steps, ignoring Rosita who was glaring at him through her window. Negan didn’t seem to notice or if he did, he didn’t say anything.

“Home sweet home, huh?” Negan said as he stepped into your house. The fire was already burning as your pulled of your jacket and lay it across a chair near the flames. Negan was looking around at the warm room when you walked to him and grabbed his wrists, the key to the cuffs in your hand. “Really?” he asked, surprised.

“Did you expect me to keep them on?” you asked, removing the cuffs.

“Kind of, yeah,” he admitted.

“Well, this is not the cell, it’s my house. My house, my rules, and I say that nobody needs to wear handcuffs. So, here you go. Two days of whatever you want. The kitchen is stocked, there’s decently hot water, and the spare bedroom is the final door on the left. However, you touch my weapons and I will put the cuffs back on, deal?” Negan stared at you for a second before nodding.

“Yeah, no problem,” he said and you gave him an awkward thumbs up before leaving him be in your living room. Walking into your kitchen, you wished for whiskey, another small thing you missed from the old world.

“This is going to be a long two days.”

TAGS: @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @sophia-gwendolyn @ritajammer21

#walkerwords #savior sessions #twd fanfiction #twd #twd imagines #negan x reader #negan imagines #The Walking Dead #reader insert

141 notes · View notes

argumentl · 3 years

Text

The Freedom of Expression Radio version - Ep 9, Nov 2015.

Kaoru begins by introducing the concept of the show, and then immediately introduces Joe. Kaoru says the show has become quite interesting for him, and he gets less nervous each time.

After reading out the shows contact info, he reads out a message which was sent in by a listner. The message asks how Kaoru feels about the fact that photography is allowed during shows overseas. Doesn't it bother him? He says at first, he wasn't used to it at all, especially the flashes going off from the audience. These days you can take a decent photo on a smartphone without necessarily having to use flash, so he doesn't see as much flash recently. But when they first started going overseas, the amount of flash from the audience was incredible, and he wasn't very fond of it. He doesn't mind it as much these days though. He thinks its ok if fans post images of live shows online because it spreads awareness of the band. On the otherhand, its not good if people see these photos and make a judgment about the band, because these photos do not catch the real feel you get when you actually go to a live. In the end, he thinks it can have pros and cons. Joe says it reminds him of a band he loves, Grateful Dead, who let fans tape their shows. Fans would make bootleg copies of material and exchange it among themselves. Then after that, even if the band didn't have a new release, there would be people who knew them from bootlegs where-ever they went. But Joe doesn't think we should equate bootleg footage with going to an actual live. Kaoru says, this may be his own selfishness, but he at least wants people to wait until after the show is finished before they post photos online. The original question also asks if Kaoru wants photography to be banned in lives overseas, like it is in Japan. Kaoru says its mainly down to a culture difference, and he thinks its best to just follow the culture when they are overseas. ('When in Rome...' I guess).

He then moves to his next topic about a man named Neil Thomas Douglas who discovered his absolute doppelganger after getting on a flight heading to Galway, Ireland. Kaoru says this isn't related to Freedom of Expression, but he just finds it amazing, and asks Joe if he's ever had this experience. Joe says he was recently mistaken for the comedian Naoki Matayoshi, when he was in a cafe. The staff wouldn't take payment from him because they thought he was Matayoshi, and wanted him to have it for free. He says he's worried if he goes back and they ask for his signature. Joe then says there is an urban ledgend that everyone has three doppelgangers in the world. He finds it fascinating that as DNA is finite, there may at some point be a person out there with exactly the same DNA arrangement as your own. It may or may not be at the same time you are alive, but he thinks it may be possible. He also thinks that De ja vu could be explained as, for example - if he went to Kyoto, had a great time and didn't want to go back to Tokyo, the part of him that wants to stay in Kyoto would stay there emotionally. And although these two parts of him shouldn't ever meet, whenever they do cross paths, thats what causes de ja vu. He says there must be more to it than just science. Kaoru (possible slightly sarcasticly) expresses his awe at such an idea.

After this they are joined by Dobashi from Tokyo Sports. They comment that the murder story from last week was a little creepy. Dobashi brings up the story that Osaka now has its own 'Lupin'. On the 22nd of October, an unemployed person had been arrested in Osaka, suspected of being responsible for a number of thefts and illegal entries. This was after a series of 14 different investigations by the prefectural police. He had been responsible for various sneaky thefts over a few months, and was eventually spotted in a shopping zone by the police, but ran for cover to a friend's house nearby. When they went to find him, he shouted, 'Im called "Naniwa Lupin!!" '. (*Naniwa is an area in Osaka*) They wonder why he wanted to be called in that way. Naniwa, and Osaka itself has a kind of tough image, especially compared to Kaoru's home prefecture, Hyogo. Hyogo does have its dark side, but no-one ever imagines that. They think about Kobe, or the theatre group Takarazuka, nice things like that. Its nothing compared to the tough image Naniwa has. But when Kaoru, as someone born and raised in Hyogo, hears the phrase 'I'm Naniwa Lupin!', he thinks it sounds crazy. On the otherhand, it could just be the uniquness of people from Kansai showing. After all, the guy is exercising freedom of expression by saying it, which links the story right back to the theme of the show.

Then they move onto one more story. The story that the celebrity Takabe Ai had been arrested for cocain possesion and use. This news had been widely reported, and promted the question of whether there is a celebrity war on drugs taking place. Kaoru says he didn't really know much about Takabe. Joe asks Dobashi if Tokyo Sports have any juicy info regarding this issue. They do, apparently. Dobashi then hints at various famous persons he knows of whom the authorities suspect of drug use, without actually saying their names. Kaoru says he knows that someone who Dir appeared on a tv show with several years ago is also suspected. Dobashi then stresses that these are just people who are suspected. The police need solid proof before they can raid someone's home, because if they don't find anything in a raid, they will have to admit publicly that the suspect was innocent of drug use. Simply put, a famous person won't be raided unless the police know for sure that they have drugs, which is probably what happened to Takabe. Kaoru adds that an arrest will be possible if two people testify against a suspect. Dobashi then talks about how the singer Aska used to do drugs at his mistress' house, to keep it a secret. Joe says that from the day after Aska's arrest, his songs were no longer played on radio. Of course doing drugs is bad, but should that crime also extend to the artists work? Does it become a crime to even play the songs on radio after that? Joe says its very difficult to have any meaningful discussion in the Japanese media about a convicted artists' previous body of work. Kaoru says Dir en grey are the type who people often imagine would be doing drugs, as they often also go overseas too. He says whenever they get back to Japan from overseas, the drug detection dogs at the airport come straight over to them. He's kinda scared of them as they are so big.

Kaoru finishes by promoting the Budokan shows and Chinese tour, and reminds listeners about the Arche cover design topic, and that some of designs are being posted on the show's blog. He tells listeners that as the next show will be the 10th episode, there may be a kind of special announcment to look forward to. He ends by saying he thinks the recent episodes have been going pretty well.

Songs - Dir en grey/Un duex, Mastadon/Divinations.

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression

23 notes · View notes

itsuki-minamy · 3 years

Text

“K - THE FIRST STORY”

CHAPTER 7: THE BLUE KING (Complete)

* K - The First Story (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

When he woke up as the "Blue King", Munakata's first impression was "I see."

He understood it and became convinced that he was a "king". There was no shame or fear.

Since he was little, he had been thinking about who he was and what he should do.

It can be said that the confusion has cleared up after becoming the "Blue King". Munakata, who was wondering who he was, found a way out when he received the answer: "I am the King."

After becoming "king", he was not mistaken for anything. Even if something doesn't go according to plan, it doesn't upset his emotions and, as an "event that didn't go as expected," he figures out where it should fit and puts things on top in an orderly fashion.

Just except that man is involved.

Munakata was sitting in a tea room set up in his office and thinking about it.

He wondered if he was confused now.

Certainly he is a bit confused. When his emotions are altered, Munakata calmly analyzes his spirit.

Now, in the basement of "Scepter 4", finds the "Red King" Suoh Mikoto. At the moment, the suppressor's hand of different ability is still, but it amounts to a rest. His intention was to stay there.

Yes, if he really wants to stop the royal authority, the royal authority itself must continue to lay down with all its might. Interestingly, as Suoh playfully put it, he stayed for 14 hours. However, even if it was done, Munakata and Suoh's powers are almost the same. It is impossible for Munakata to always beat Suoh, and it is only an act that increases the risk of the swords of Damocles falling.

So, what to do?

Before the red clan finds the "Colorless King" who is Totsuka Tatara's assassin, Munakata must find him first. What will happen to the Weissman deviation from the "Red King" who would have lost the brunt of the revenge? And how likely is it that the man will quietly stop exercising his power and choose a way to hide, even if it is a grain of sand? It is unknown if he is or not, but at the moment there was no other way to do it.

There are other ways, except for Suoh Mikoto's survival condition. However, Munakata has no intention of giving up.

He will not die and, of course, no innocent will die, and the case will be solved. He keeps thinking and acting because of it. It was because he judged that he was "the right thing" as the "Blue King", and at the same time, because of the personality of the human being named Reisi Munakata.

Munakata exhales slowly and opens his eyes.

When Munakata reached for a tea utensil to calm his mind and make tea, the office door was hastily slammed.

"Captain! The Yuishiki (Wisdom) System" once again caught the alleged assassin of Tatara Totsuka!"

Enomoto, a member of the special task force, reported with a short breath. Munakata lifts his eyes with an "Oya."

"The suspicious child is still moving while he was caught in "Yuishiki's" surveillance net several times after being caught passing from the school side to the mainland side under the connecting bridge of Ashinaka High School!"

"Is he still hiding at Ashinaka High School? Awashima-kun reported that the suspect did not belong to the school, but even though he was not a student, he made Gakuenjima a hiding place. Is there any reason why he could?"

"What about you, Captain?"

Munakata got to his feet quickly.

"It's a dispatch. Let's set up a siege net so the suspect won't notice it. Keep the suspect in a place that doesn't involve the general public, not even in battle. Fushimi-kun will be in charge of personnel. Awashima-kun She was scheduled to go home today, so sorry, call her back as an emergency."

"Understood!"

Enomoto greets him and hurries.

Munakata looked out the window. The rain washes the window pane and the other side sinks into darkness.

"A mysterious boy. Let me show you your true identity."

Munakata pulled up his glasses and stood alone, adjusted his shoes and left the office.

++++++++++

He couldn't see the downcast boy, and he said something to cheer him up.

As he looked at the boy, who seemed to have recovered a bit, Kuro gently touched the sheath of the "Kotowari" sword entrusted to him by his master, Ichigen Miwa, with his left hand.

It is true that he cannot kill him until it is determined if the new "Colorless King" is good or bad. Ichigen Miwa would never punish based on suspicion.

But more than that, Kuro knew that he had placed himself on this boy's shoulders. Seeing the confused and trustworthy boy, he wanted to be purely useful.

If, after investigating the truth, it turns out that the boy is really the culprit and has lost his memory, could he kill him?

(Ichigen-sama. I will keep my promise. I am prepared to carry out the mission that Ichigen-sama gave me to the end, even if it costs my life.)

But this guy... at least this guy in front of him, he's not evil. Even if this boy's past may be that of a sinner, now that he is anxious because he cannot understand his past and his true identity, he is an ordinary person who loves and appreciates his friends.

(Will I be able to find the true identity of this boy's past, and if it turns out that he was evil, can I forget his appearance in front of me and cut him off? I wonder if I am a mature and weak-hearted person who thinks about such things. Ichigen-sama…)

He wanted an answer from Ichigen Miwa and he wanted to press the button on the tape recorder.

However, at that moment, a strong light fell on Kuro and the boy.

Suddenly, the strong white light hit his eyes, and Kuro covered his face with his arms. At the same time that they knew that the night lights were all on at once, they realized that they were surrounded by darkness.

"God of the night sword, Kuro! And his accomplice!"

A woman's voice with a clear pitch flew through the speaker.

A stretched-back woman, dressed in a blue uniform, stood at the edge of the stadium with members who seemed to be her subordinates. "Scepter 4", Lieutenant Awashima Seri.

"We are 'Scepter 4'! According to Article 2 of the Special Phenomenon Management Act, we will take them into custody!"

Awashima holds up a PDA and projects his "Scepter 4" membership card into the air with a hologram to prove his identity.

"Wel,l uh... I don't know what's going on, but I'm sorry..."

"We refuse!"

After being dragged away and interrupting the boy who apologized for not understanding the meaning, Kuro said that out loud.

Awashima must have expected resistance as a matter of course. As soon as she stepped on the procedure, she changed the air she was carrying for a combative one and touched the handle of her sword.

"Everyone, draw your swords!"

Under Awashima's command, the members of "Scepter 4" lined up in a row draw their sword one after another.

"Awashima, batto."

The sword that carries blue light is gently drawn. The spirit that overflowed from Awashima's body was a bit different from the other members. Feeling that it was quite well done, Kuro was ready. He takes a step forward to hide the restless boy behind him.

Defeat Awashima while he protects the boy and breaks the siege of other members of "Scepter 4." The world was distorted when Kuro was slightly frowned upon under difficult conditions.

When he realized it, the view of the stadium had disappeared, and Kuro and the boy were in the middle of the jumbled intersection in front of Shizume Station.

"What's going on...?"

The boy leaked a confused voice. The empty night stadium suddenly became a crowded city during the day. It seems like he was dreaming during the day, but if he looks closely, he can see that there are members of "Scepter 4" behind the crowd, and they are also surprised and confused. If it is a "dream", then the city scene he is looking at is a dream.

Kuro remembered this feeling, chasing the boy in Gakuenjima and being teased by Neko.

Kuro was at the mercy of the illusions that were unleashed one after another.

So this is it.

Neko ran in from the other side before Kuro searched her. The boy rolls his eyes at her.

"Oh, Neko."

Neko emerges from the crowd, shaking her long hair and exposing her naked and white body, just like when they first met. She quickly took the boy's arm and ran to guide him. Kuro also followed them silently and ran through the crowd.

A phenomenon like they suddenly moved to a different place, "Scepter 4" was confused by the appearance of a large number of ordinary people, this was a perceptual interference caused by a person with abilities, and it seems that they realized that the people passing by were not real human beings.

The members lined up at the place where the exit "should be", and began to put a shield with their blue power to not let the boy escape.

"The exit is over there."

He consults with Neko.

"Yes! Beyond that blue boy!"

After that, she turns into a kitten to make it easier to escape. Kuro gave a visual cue to the boy, jumped up alone and knocked down the members who raised the shield.

No matter what fallen limbs they were, Kuro ran in the direction that seemed to have a way out. The boy and Neko also immediately follow Kuro.

However, a blue slash attack passed in front of him as if he was going, and Kuro, who was running in front, took a step forward and stopped. Immediately the blade of the sword passes over the tip of his nose.

The blue bar was sharp and straight. There was a deep straight crack in the concrete, but it was not destroyed. It was a sharp force that accurately pierced only the target.

Kuro turns towards the direction the bar was released. As expected, Awashima was holding her sword.

"I'll take care of this! Go protect your place!"

Awashima gives the instructions while she looks at Kuro. The fallen limbs quickly recovered and attended.

After all, it seems that the fight is inevitable, and Kuro took an offensive stance, holding "Kotowari's" sheath with his left hand. Behind the scenes, the boy's annoying breathing sounds.

"Back off."

Amid the phantom crowd, Kuro confronts Awashima.

Whether the woman with the sword is standing or the man with the sword is holding it, the phantom passersby walk without worrying about it. Kuro disappeared from his consciousness.

"Draw your sword, I don't care."

Awashima makes a cheering gesture with her jaw, as he keeps his sword in his sheath. But Kuro doesn't move.

"This sword is not to cut you."

"If so, you will be cut off by someone like me!"

Awashima closed the distance in one step. The distance between the two instantly disappeared, and Awashima's sword, radiating a blue glow, pierced the place where Kuro stood. Kuro jumped at that moment. He kicked the surface of the street with his landing foot and Kuro made his way to Awashima. He didn't draw his sword, but he swung a fist with Colorless power. The opponent is a strong fighter. He shook the fact that she was a woman out of his head and shook his fist mercilessly, but Awashima squirmed and shook it.

Awashima, who flew up and took distance, fired another slash from a distance. The blade of blue light came flying, but during the period of the sword, the trajectory of the cut is changed by the power of spatial manipulation in the right hand.

It is a retreat.

Neither attack has reached the other yet. She didn't feel like losing, but there was something that was a bit difficult for Awashima as it was still a fist. It is not good to have a long-term battle.

Still, he had no intention of overtaking her. This sword cannot be drawn due to Kuro's circumstances.

That's something to scoop and shake only when Miwa's mission is accomplished.

Even though it was at Kuro's waist, it was not Kuro's sword, but Miwa Ichigen's sword.

++++++++++

As he listened to reports of what was happening inside the stadium, Munakata sipped relaxed tea.

Traveling to the assigned place in the specially equipped command vehicle is a good thing, as he can enjoy the tea he missed at the office. The field in the rain has a strange atmosphere.

The sound of the rain hitting the umbrella is not bad either.

"You are missing a deciding factor."

Fushimi said from inside the command vehicle. Munakata replied with a "Hm."

There is no distinction between private time and public time for Munakata. If the fights are every day, bedtime is for the well-being and order of the greatest number of people. Members who know the nature of Munakata are no longer surprised that Munakata brews tea and drinks on site.

"Please go to work now."

He is not surprised, but Fushimi says that with a slightly displeased voice. Munakata said "Hm." Again.

The situation inside the stadium that can be heard is quite interesting.

A crowd that suddenly appeared, what appears to be an extraordinary sensory interference ability.

Awashima, who has the best sword skills of "Scepter 4" except for Munakata, and Kuro Yatogami, a vassal of the predecessor "Colorless King" who fights more than equal without drawing his sword.

And the boy who is suspected of killing Tatara Totsuka, who claims to be the new "Colorless King" protected by them.

The night sword god, Kuro, is unlikely to serve the new assassin king, even if the "Colorless King" has been replaced, even if the person with the unknown perceptual jamming skill is left behind.

Munakata also learned about Kuro Yatogami's story. He is a vassal called "loyal dog" who has sworn "allegiance" to Miwa Ichigen.

Why is he doing this? Was there any instruction from Miwa Ichigen in his life?

Munakata remembers the "Colorless King", Miwa Ichigen, that he once saw.

He was a kind man dressed in Japanese clothes. He seemed to be ill and had a dream related to it, but he also sported an aura that was more than compensated for. He had a mysterious dignity, a power opposed to violent power, it can be said that his figure generated confidence.

The unique power of that "King" was "prediction". Certainly, he was an impressive person with eyes that looked through everything.

"I wonder if this situation was also foreseen."

Munakata muttered, carefully placed the empty tea bowl on the floor and stood up.

++++++++++

Awashima's cut was intercepted by Kuro.

Awashima began to show annoyance at Kuro, who continued to deflect the attack when he was slimy from space manipulation.

She can feel the movement of the muscles throughout her body, the blue light that envelops her body becomes brighter and the hand holding the sword gains more power.

Along with the exhalation of smoke, she put force on the blade and launched a cut through space.

"This is not a problem!"

The blue bar turned into a grid and attacked Kuro. In a deadly attack similar to a throwing net, Kuro also put his luck in his right hand.

Attacks with such a wide range are difficult to deflect from the trajectory.

He extended the power of the colorless extraordinary ability in his right hand in a way that made the palm huge, caught the bar in a grid shape from the front, and canceled it later with a countermeasure.

With that impulse, Kuro kicked the ground.

When he gets close to Awashima, who had a gap right after launching a big move, he tries to punch with her.

The color of his mind changed.

Horribly, Kuro stopped moving.

A blue sword hovered over the ghost town of Shizume.

A mysterious, majestic giant sword that is made of mineral, but has an organic atmosphere.

"The sword of Damocles!"

The landscape around the sword began to distort into blue like a paralyzed image. The blue distortion constantly spreads around the sword and erodes the world of lies created by Neko.

Slowly, a man walked under the sword.

He was approached by a man with glasses and a fearless smile, with a blue light pouring out of his body. He was a man with beautiful eyes, but there was a terrifying horror hidden behind his eyes.

Kuro took a deep breath and involuntarily stepped back and braced himself.

The "Blue King" Reisi Munakata.

Munakata approached in front of Awashima and stopped.

"Thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you, I was able to understand the situation."

"Huh."

"Let's go to work, because Fushimi-kun is loud."

Munakata's bottomless eyes turned to Kuro, the boy, and Neko in the form of a kitten that the boy is holding in his arms.

Munakata looks at them with interest for a while, then laughs and takes a step forward.

As soon as Munakata's foot stepped on the surface of the street, a blue distortion spread out from under Munakata's foot. He repaints the surface of the street blue with the force of the water that overflows and spreads suddenly and spreads through the air. The "correct world" appears from the blue distortion.

The scrambled intersection at Shizume disappears into a wet lawn, and the clear daytime sky turns into the rainy night sky.

Neko, the kitten the boy was holding, turned into a human girl.

"Nya!"

Neko, who has reverted to her original form, hides behind the boy as if she is scared to see Munakata's figure.

"I see, there is an unknown third person involved, a Strain? It exerts a force in a specific area centered on itself, and interferes with the perception and recognition of humans in it at the same time and manipulates it freely. It is a dangerous ability."

Munakata quickly raised a hand. The bustling and bright city of Shizume, which had been disappearing, completely disappeared, and returned to the original stadium at night when it was raining.

The members who gained power with the appearance of the "King" set out to capture the boy.

Before the swordsmen, the boy raised both his hands to show them that he was not harmful to them. Neko next to him, she imitates him without knowing why.

"Um... do you want to join us?"

The boy said that looking at Kuro.

Kuro makes his expression steep and takes off the unpleasant situation in front of him.

The "Blue King". He is not an opponent that he can fight and win against. However, it is difficult for three people to escape. Neko's ability is effective for subordinate clansmen, but not for the "Blue King".

However, if only members other than a "King" are involved, there is a strong possibility that they can escape with Neko's power.

Kuro rolled his eyes on one of the subordinates.

"I'll stop him. You defend yourselves."

The boy made a confused voice, but Neko showed an understanding demeanor. This guy is stupid, but he's such an easy-going guy that he doesn't refuse what is important. Assuming he could take the boy and escape, Kuro quickly glanced at the members blocking the exit.

He activated his extraordinary ability, grabbed the head of one of the two limbs blocking the exit and used his ability to withdraw his body from the exit immediately. The member whose head was grabbed by the strange hand, was thrown against the other.

"Let's go!"

The breakthrough has opened. The boy was still confused, but Neko grabbed the boy's hand without hesitation and ran out the exit made by Kuro.

Kuro stood in a position to protect the exit where the two of them came out on their backs, and looked at the colorful limbs at a glance. Awashima calmly orders her subordinates outside to block the entrance passage.

Munakata was smiling an amused smile.

"I see. So you chose to sacrifice yourself."

As if swallowed by Munakata's intimidating feeling, Kuro inadvertently grabs the handle of the sword.

"The celebrated sword, "Kotowari"."

Munakata narrowed his eyes and looked at the sword at his waist that Kuro touched.

"The seventh king, the 'Colorless King', the sword of Miwa Ichigen. It is a good idea to cut me with this sword, but you decided never to take it out except to fulfill Miwa's mission."

However, ashamed of himself that he lost his temper and touched the handle of the sword, Kuro removed his hand from the sword and attacked Munakata.

The attack was evaded without raising an eyebrow.

The lower part of the palm, which was stretched over and over without rest, could be easily avoided. Munakata, who was still in a position with his hands folded behind him, even seemed to be waiting for the moment to remind him, watching the childish ruckus.

Munakata's room for maneuver increases Kuro's impatience and increases the number of attacks to desperately eat him.

When the bottom of his palm, which was pointed at his jaw, cut across the sky, his cheeks stretched. His face was fine, so he hit it with a flat hand.

Instead of punching, a slap that does not recognize the other as an opponent fighting on an equal footing damages self-esteem more than the cheek.

Gently biting his back teeth, Kuro jumps up. Munakata avoided the spinning kick that tried to hit him and dodged it with minimal movement, and grabbed Kuro's head that was landing with his palm.

"Did you get it? I'm saying you still lack."

Putting strength into the hand that grabbed his head, Kuro feels pain when he seems to hear the sound of the piercing of his skull. He suddenly tried to reach for the sword again. He heard Munakata say satisfactorily: "Okay."

He realized what he was trying to do and stopped his hand.

Munakata frowned at the scene.

"You are an indistinguishable child."

From under Munakata's palm, Kuro stands up.

As if to shake himself off, Kuro shakes his head with all of his might. He could easily remove her hand from him. No, he was separated.

Is he playing or testing him?

Gritting his teeth, Kuro challenges Munakata again. He slaps the palm of his hand, fires a kick, and keeps shaking, biting and killing the sense of helplessness that seems to sprout, whether Munakata's move doesn't crack one bit, or there is a gap.

Munakata removed the sword from his waist and swung it slightly like a guard stick to attack Kuro. Kuro puts the scabbard on the protruding arm and moves it, grabs the kicking leg.

At the moment when Kuro was slightly unbalanced, Munakata, who turned around slightly, hit him hard with the sword sheath.

Even though it didn't seem like he had put much effort into it, the blow was strong, choking Kuro's breath and his spine screaming at him. He managed to drop it.

"You can't help being so stubborn."

Speaking in a sighing voice, Munakata seemed to give up on Kuro drawing the sword from him and turned to attack. He used the sword that was still in the sheath to push it out, and used the tip and body of the sword to throw it where Kuro avoided it.

His world spun around and he slammed into the damp ground without being passive. He jerked to his feet, lost his sense of balance for a moment, swallowed the ironic blood that had spilled from his mouth just now.

"God of the night sword. Let's finish the game here."

For Munakata, it was just a play.

He didn't reward him, but he didn't throw it away, and Kuro took off Munakata and rushed in with a loud voice.

"I refuse!"

With power in his right hand, he struck head-on. Munakata stood upright and no longer tried to dodge it. Just before Kuro's fist reached Munakata, Munakata moved only his right hand. He defeated Kuro's attack with his sword sheath with a thin layer of blue power.

He could see the black night sky as he flew out and raindrops kept falling. The view changed, and this time the green grass moved closer to his eyes and slid away as he rubbed his face against the ground.

Shortly after getting up, he felt weight and pain on his back. Munakata's boots were trampling on Kuro's back from above his arms that were spinning behind him. His internal organs were compressed and an involuntary voice leaked out.

"Well, let's move on to the main topic."

Munakata said that with a calm voice that he couldn't believe he was trampling on people.

"You stayed to face me. It's a wonderful personal sacrifice. Is that boy the Lord you serve now?"

Kuro lowered his head and didn't reply.

"The "Colorless King". The seventh and weakest "King". Although he is not a powerful entity in himself, he is a clown "King" who has the property of controlling the balance of power between "Kings". In other words, one of the most vigilant for me. That boy is the new "Colorless King" who replaces Miwa."

Munakata leaned over and approached Kuro, touching the back of his neck.

"Please answer."

The hand that touched Kuro's head is full of power. Kuro was small.

"My master Ichigen-sama said to examine it."

"Well, what is your decision?"

Intent on opening the gap, Kuro taps Munakata's foot on his back and leaps like a spring. However, the moment he turned to Munakata, Munakata's sword sheath calmly pierced Kuro's groove.

"Guh… No one will lay a hand on him until they can identify him."

"I see. That may be your intention."

The tip of the sword sheath pointed at Kuro's throat. Kuro didn't move, didn't change his expression and looked towards Munakata.

The sword at the throat twitched and Kuro's jaw lifted.

"As long as he maintains such a warm situation where he is neither good nor bad, you can join the guard as the 'Black Dog'. He couldn't ask for a stronger worse. It's easy to fool yourself and the people around you with that Strain girl. We may be in on that boy's trick. Don't you think?"

For some reason, Kuro felt a bit weird.

His whole body hurt a lot. He has the feeling that he is doing it, he is protecting him until he is in that state.

"That could be it. The only things that come out of his mouth are lies and a constant laugh. That's the kind of person he is."

"Is it worth risking your life for such a man?"

Kuro relaxed his expression and smiled a selfish smile.

His job is to identify it and he cannot give it to "Scepter 4". That's true, but it doesn't make sense that Kuro himself is restricted by "Scepter 4". After all, he realized that he believed him and protected him because of his personality.

Kuro opened his mouth to reply.

The lights shining in the stadium suddenly went out and darkness fell before Kuro spoke a word.

++++++++++

The boy was dragged by Neko and ran down the hall of the stadium. The members of "Scepter 4" who come to catch them are defeated by Neko's illusion, and Neko's detection ability finds a path without people and points to the exit.

Escape, escape.

(Oh I'm just running away.)

Escaping from "Homura", escaping from Kuro, escaping self-suspicion, escaping from facing the truth and trying to surrender, and now again, he is leaving Kuro where he's trying to escape from.

(Are you running away?)

Feeling scolded by someone, the boy stopped.

"Shiro, hurry!"

Neko rushed over, turning to the boy who stopped and stopped moving.

"I'm sorry, Neko. After all, I can't escape."

"Why?!"

The boy turned to Neko.

"Neko. Please help me. I will return to rescue Kuro. With your cooperation, I am sure I can do it."

You are a director. Do you understand the production? It's about decorating and coming up with various things to make it look "like this." Even if you are not strong, you must be strong, and if you are not a king, you must do your best to look like a king.

The boy told Neko like that and told him his strategy.

First, he turns off the stadium lights. He really didn't have to turn it off, because he didn't have time to search for a power source. Neko's power made it seem like there was no electricity.

Next, the boy appeared in the public seats of the stadium with a small emission of light. This emission of light is also Neko's power. All the people with mysterious powers are glowing in various colors, so she decided to make the boy glow as well. She enveloped him in a colorless light.

From the public seats in the high place, he can see the stadium.

Kuro looked hurt, holding on weakly, his clothes ripped and kneeling. The hair that he was always tied up is also frayed and falling out.

The boy frowns when he realizes that he has caused an unreasonable battle.

Among the members of "Scepter 4" who were upset when the lights went out, Munakata stared at the boy without moving.

"Oh, did you forget something?"

"Idiot! Why did you come back?!"

Kuro, who started to get up in a hurried voice, was knocked down by the sheath of Munakata's sword and fell to the ground. He looked painful and the boy frowned.

"Oh, I guess I can't abandon my friends, right?"

The boy smiled as he scratched his head, Munakata raised the edge of his mouth in a laugh and pulled up his glasses.

"I see, so you shared your destiny again. What a noble gesture, but it doesn't make sense."

"No, it's not that it doesn't make sense."

"What?"

The boy clasps both hands imitating the movement of thanking for the food.

"Kuro, I'm sorry! I've been lying to you! Actually, this is who I am!"

The boy slowly releases the combined hands. Then, a small sword-shaped illuminant appeared between the boy's hands, as if it was a substitute for a business card.

As it grows, it rises upward, becoming a powerful sword and shining brightly on the boy.

Everyone in the place looked at the sword with a shocked face.

The Sword of Damocles Colorless.

(It's false.)

"Kuro... can you hear me?"

While everyone's conscience was focused on the boy's sword of Damocles, the boy borrows Neko's ability to speak with Kuro's conscience. It is a pseudo-telepathy that makes Kuro recognize that "the boy is speaking directly to his head".

"From now on, I will make a momentary hole in the 'Blue King'. Follow him and flee the place."

The boy smiled and unleashed the vibration of "King" power from his body.

Munakata erased the fringe of his expression and developed blue power with a serious face. To receive the boy's power, he turns his palm towards the boy and focus the power on it.

However, the moment the boy's power and Munakata's power came into contact, Munakata looked on suspiciously.

Kuro correctly captured that moment. He jumped from under Munakata's legs onto his back and struck Munakata's side with his fist.

The blow went straight to Munakata, who was aware of the boy. He didn't stagger, but his glasses flew off.

From the place where the glasses fell to the ground, Kuro ran out and slipped between the stunned and useless members.

The boy took a breath. Then the boy's body disappears as if he is melting in the night breeze. The boy who appeared in front of the people from "Scepter 4" was a ghost made by Neko. The real boy would hide behind the public seats and observe a number of situations. He exchanged a quiet "high five" with Neko who was hiding next to him, and we also began to move to escape.

He went through the passage of the stadium while he hid with the power of Neko. As he ran, he heard the sound of destruction and the voices of various men. The boy turns his foot in that direction.

"Kuro!"

Sure enough, he saw Kuro running while he defeated the members of "Scepter 4."

When Kuro notices the boy, he stops and waits for the boy and Neko to catch up.

Kuro's appearance seen in the immediate vicinity seemed to be more damaged than when he saw him from a distance, and the boy tried to hold his breath and say thanks and apologize.

However, Kuro controls the boy who is about to open his mouth and turns to the front.

"Save the talk for later. Let's go."

"Yes."

"Nya!"

It was not difficult to break the siege without the "Blue King" and the main force.

They escaped the stadium, shook off their pursuers, and finally stopped and breathed into the back alley away from the scene.

Kuro staggered a bit and knelt like a broken thread.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?"

"It's nothing serious. I'll be back in two minutes."

The boy was in a hurry, but Kuro said that in a calm voice.

Maybe "Scepter 4" is also closing in on the police, the sirens of police cars have been heard for a while.

The three of them were silent for a while in the dark and gloomy alleys, bathed in unstoppable rain.

The boy looked up at the sky. The sky seen from the back alley was like a thin, unreliable crack. The falling raindrops reflected the light that filtered through the building's windows and sometimes sparkled.

The boy caught the raindrops on his face and turned around looking into their eyes.

The three of them ate a delicious breakfast prepared by Kuro and a lunch box. He thought he could prove his alibi. He found a bloody shirt. Kukuri told him that she didn't know him. He did not have a family home. He lost sight of Isana's existence, the one he believed in. He was cornered by the "Blue King", but Kuro protected him. He knew what he could do with Neko's power.

The boy lowered his eyebrows and smiled. He spoke gently to Neko to show her that he had no intention of blaming her.

"You know, Neko… you were great a while ago."

Neko shook her shoulders in surprise. She looked down with an anxious and crying face.

"The people in blue were amazing, but the sky suddenly cleared up, the landscape around me changed and a lot of people came out. And you helped us."

"What do you mean?"

It's not always how Neko wants it, she said that quietly and backed away.

The appearance of being afraid of something makes him want to leave it as it is. But the boy can no longer escape.

"The 'Blue King' talked about how you can interfere with people's senses, was that what he was talking about?"

"It's not just about hallucinations and hearing. She can even manipulate memories."

Kuro was silent for a moment and slowly stood up.

"What do you mean?"

"This girl can implant false memories in your mind, making people you just met believe that they are old friends."

The boy came to mind, all the faces of the friends he made in Gakuenjima. They kindly called him "Shiro", shared the side dishes from the lunch box and laughed together.

Although he was a friend, Kukuri said on the phone that she did not know the boy. That was true of Kukuri, who had fallen outside of Neko's range of abilities.

"Oh... I see. I understand. The story finally connected... So, Neko."

The boy turned to Neko with a smile on his face.

"It's like my amnesia, heal it a bit. Then it will be clear if I am the bad king they are chasing, right?"

Kuro was pleased that he led the way to the truth, but he remained bumpy, then said...

"If you are found to be the evil 'King', I will kill you on the spot."

"Well... that's correct."

"It's life threatening. Why don't you think about it and calm down a bit?"

"I'm calm. I…"

The sound of rain is strengthened. For some reason, Kuro had a confused look.

"It's okay to talk about the matter after we've escaped from this place for now..."

The boy smiled bitterly. He seems like he is a kind person who tries to give the boy an escape route, even though he is trying to find out. Honestly, he is happy for that kindness. However, he already felt that he had "escaped" enough. He thought that he shouldn't run away anymore.

"I'm tired of it. For the moment, this place is for the moment. Even if I extend the conclusion as usual, there is no way forward. If I don't clarify it here and now, I'm not going anywhere."

Ever since he met Kuro, he has been engulfing himself in smoke. However, Kuro continued to face the boy seriously. He should reward that honesty. The boy said in his own words, the conclusions he had drawn seriously and his feelings.

"I don't know what kind of person I was originally, and no matter what I did in the past, I feel like now I have to take responsibility."

"What good words… they don't fit you."

The boy laughed.

Kuro's hesitation was only for a moment. The next time he looked at the boy, his eyes were full of determination. Kuro touches the handle of the sword.

"It's okay."

"Very good, everything settled. Do it, Neko."

The boy laughed as Neko cowered fearfully. Kuro also turns his serious eyes towards Neko.

"Undo your spell completely. No tricks."

Neko's eyes trembled.

++++++++++

Neko was confused. She was more confused and lost than ever.

Neko thought that she had "the power to really lie". Then, she with that power, she made the boy and the people around her believe in lies and she made them a "truth", and she stayed with the boy "like a white cat".

But Neko's lie didn't turn into "truth". The boy seems sad because the lie was still a "lie". He smiles at Neko, but the boy is really sad. Neko got it.

Neko has been alone the entire time. She has been wandering alone for a long time, so long that she cannot remember when she was a lonely stray cat.

It was a little better after she came to Gakuenjima and made it her territory. There weren't many people who bully cats and it was easy to steal food from the coffee shop. The man in the coffee shop would immediately get angry saying "thief", but even if he raised his fist, he didn't actually hit the cat.

If she doesn't want to anger him, she simply leaves the island and goes to the nearby cafe "Yamadaya", where usually goes to school people, and the cat-loving merchant helps her. Even the people of Gakuenjima were quite interesting to see. She also thought that everyone preparing for the festival was funny.

However, since Neko was a cat, she was alone looking at people who seemed to be having fun from outside. Even if the people there didn't intimidate Neko, she was scared, so she didn't want to get close to them.

Just the boy. Neko wanted to get closer to him, and stay by his side forever.

(But Shiro is sad, even though I am Shiro's cat. It would be difficult if he lost the "true". I can no longer hold on to a lie out of selfishness.)

Neko closed her eyes.

(I don't like Shiro being sad. Therefore, I will return the "true" before Shiro became Shiro.)

Neko banishes the false memories she implanted in Shiro.

It was a lie to be a student of Gakuenjima.

It was a lie to be friends with Kukuri and the others.

The boy's memories were also a lie. What Neko saw in Gakuenjima and what the boy's own memory related in a spongy way to make him look like this.

His name Isana Yashiro was also a lie.

Neko met the boy who had fallen from the sky.

That day was a cold night.

Gakuenjima was relatively safe and comfortable territory that Neko found during a long journey, but cold winter nights were no different than anywhere else, and Neko wanted a warm and soft bed. She got into the gym and curled up on the mat.

Suddenly, the roof of the gym cracked with a loud noise and something large fell.

Neko was amazed, jumped up and flew away.

It was a child who had fallen.

At the boy who fell on the gym mat, Neko panicked and lifted the hair from all over her body, curled her back and raised her ears and tail to look bigger, and puffed up her entire body.

The boy got up slowly. He lifted his half body onto the mat and looked mysteriously around him.

Whether it was a demon or a monster, Neko was even more intimidating.

"Hm? Hey… what about you?"

The boy spoke to Neko in a soft and somewhat relaxed voice, despite the ridiculous appearance of going through the ceiling and falling. He apologized to the intimidating Neko and lowered his eyebrows.

"Ah, were you surprised? I'm sorry."

The expression of the boy who scratched his head and smiled like he was in trouble was so gentle that Neko suddenly didn't know what to do.

The boy's eyes looking at Neko were deep and soft. Neko was confused by the eyes that seemed to absorb all of Neko's fear.

He was different from a cat-loving person (that scared her) that has a desire to stroke a cat all over her body. Her alertness melted and disappeared, his gaze seemed to catch Neko. Neko stopped threatening him and gently approached the boy's heart.

Neko's power begins when she touches the other person's heart. She touched his heart and assembled the parts and memories of him, giving it the shape she wanted.

There were many blank spaces in the heart that Neko touched, and in those spaces the feeling of "loneliness" rolled without protection. She felt that it was very similar to Neko's heart shape.

The boy looked at Neko with a kind smile.

Neko was afraid to approach the boy. The boy did not hesitate to approach, he just approached and showed his willingness to accept her.

Neko dares to jump onto the boy's arm. The boy took Neko and caressed her with a soft hand.

(Hot.)

The boy's hands were hot. It was someone else's temperature, which she felt after a long time.

In the gym at night, when the moonlight pierced through the perforated ceiling, the moment she felt the boy's body temperature, she felt as if were the two of them alone in the world.

The boy who made Neko recall his memory, was confused.

He certainly remembered the moment when he became "Isana Yashiro". It also means that the memory of him as "Isana Yashiro" started from that moment. He also remembered that he for some reason broke the roof of the gym and when he fell he ran into Neko.

However, the previous memory is still pure white.

"This is the end? What are my memories before this?"

"This comes first! Shiro fell from the sky!"

"It's over...?"

Kuro also seems confused.

"Wagahai found Shiro! Wagahai picked Shiro up! That's why Shiro's mine! Shiro's from Neko!"

Neko appeals with all her might from him. But she can't convince him here. What the boy needs is the truth before he becomes "Isana Yashiro".

"I wonder if I can remember what happened before Neko found me. I want to know that."

"So... will Shiro disappear somewhere? Will Shiro no longer be Shiro?"

Neko said that while being filled with anxiety.

However, the boy smiles. Isana Yashiro was a non-existent person. But still, the fact that Neko called him "Shiro" was not a lie. The boy's existence won't go away.

"Okay, because I'm Neko's Shiro, right?"

Speaking proudly, Neko smiled again.

"Then I'll try!"

The boy's body was exposed to strong winds.

The hem of the boy's hair and clothes were violently fanned by the cold, strong wind. It is a high place. He was in a very, very high place. The sky where the stars are scattered was near. The air felt thin. In such a place, the boy clung to somewhere with just his arm. Somewhere? Things that fly in the sky. It was not an airplane. It was not a helicopter. That was an airship. The boy barely clung to the floor of the airship's open hatch, his legs swinging in the air.

A great laugh was heard.

There was a man standing in the hatch, looking at the boy and laughing.

A white man with long silver hair blowing in the wind.

He looked at the boy with a distorted smile, lifted one leg slightly and kicked him.

"Goodbye."

The boy who was knocked down falls. He could hear the roar of the wind cutting off his ears. The silver-haired man quickly walked away, and when he thought that he could see the full image of the airship, it soon became smaller and farther away, the sky was far away, a tall building was reflected on the edge of the field of vision. He then he hit his back against something and broke it.

Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes.

The boy's consciousness, who made a brief journey through the memories, quickly regained his sense of reality. Whether in the cold air behind the rainy alleys or in the brief, but shocking memories he remembered, the boy winced.

"Now... who was he?"

Neko eagerly looked at the boy, and Kuro also turned his eyebrows and dropped his hand on the sword's handle.

"Shiro...?"

"What happened? Do you remember something?"

The boy couldn't answer immediately and looked at the sky silently. A ship "flying" crossed the narrow sky between the buildings.

++++++++++

Inside the airship, the man was humming a song.

The airship was quite comfortable. However, he lay down on the couch placed on the large floor and looked through the monitor.

Many photographs were projected on the monitor located on the ground.

"I wonder if the chaos has been reduced well."

Looking down at the ground, he laughed deep in his throat. When he rolled over on the couch and lay down, his long silver hair flowed softly from his shoulders and fell to the floor.

"But I don't like you, Isana Yashiro. Why are you still alive?"

The images on the floor monitor were of a boy with a red umbrella.

#K #k project #k the first story #k novel

19 notes · View notes

dumbbitchenergy17 · 3 years

Text

Extra Part 10

U.A. a school for students to learn how to become the best Pro-Hero. When young Y/n Midoriya returns from her traveling to be accepted through recommendation. What awaits her when she meet the explosive blonde Katsuki Bakugo

Words- 4471

Katsuki Bakugo x Midoriya!Reader, Izuku Midoriya x Cousin!Reader

Warning-Spoilers from show and Hero license Arc, and fighting scenes.

Series Masterlist

After everyone had joined they continued on with the exam, “Oh, right for the hundred of you who passed the first test, please turn your attention to the screen,” The screen in front of you lights up showing the arena.

“It’s the test arena,” Izuku comments.

“What happens next?” Uraraka questions. You all watch as buildings begin to explode as well as other parts of the area get destroyed.

“What the hell.” You watch as structures collapse destroy the entirety of the arena.

“There’s only one more round to the exam. Your goal is simple: Undertake rescue exercises and save the bystanders who are trapped in these disaster sites.” The announcer explains the next exam.

Both Kaminari and Mineta look confused “Save the what now?”

“Bystanders. We learned about them in class, remember?” You try to spark their memories, “They’re people at a disaster scene.”

“It can also simply refer to innocent citizens on the street.” Momo adds.

The announcement continues. “Use this time to show us how you will carry out successful rescue procedures once you receive your provisional licenses. Treat this as though it were a real thing.”

“Look on the screen.” Shoji points out

“Little kids and old people?” Sato gasp.

“That’s so dangerous, why are they here?” Mineta adds.

“These specialists have been trained as professional ‘persons in need of rescue’ They’re very popular introducing the ‘Help Us Company’, also known as HUC for short”

Sero crosses his arms looking at the Tv “So, they’re basically actors, I guess?”

“It’s the kind of job you never think about, ribbit.” Asui points out

“But a necessary one in our world, since they support our hero training.” Ojiro noted

“The HUC bystanders have dressed up like injured victims and will be located throughout the disaster site. We'll be judging on how well you keep them safe as you go about your mission, We’ll be scoring you on a point system. If you have more points than the benchmark at the time the exercise ends then you pass the exam. We’ll start in ten minutes and take care of any necessary preparations now.”

Most of your classmates head off to go prepare for the next part of the exam. You head over to one of the tables to grab some water and a quick snack. You could feel a presence next as you went to go reach for some water when they grabbed the one you were going to. You turned and saw it was one of the students from Ketsubutsu you think you met earlier. He hands you the water bottle and you nod confused you could have grabbed it.

“Uh thanks..”

“Yo Shindo.” You nod using your quirk to get a piece of milk bread to come to you as you were too lazy to walk over. Shindo watches in awe as the bread floats to you and you grab it taking a bite from it.

“Um bye.” You said turning around heading towards your classmates, he rushes to follow you getting in front of you.

“Uh your quirk is pretty cool.” He stumbles over his words trying to remain calm in front of you.

“Thanks only gets better with training.” You state taking a sip of your water.

“I’m Yo Shindo.” He holds out his hand.

“You already said that earlier.” You smile when his face turns red and he stumbles over his words rubbing that back of neck.

“It’s fine really, I’m Y/n Midoriya.” You shake his hand giving him a smile he nods.

“I didn’t see you at the sports festival, did you not participate?” He questioned not remembering your face on the TV.

“I only joined this summer, I used to travel so I got in through recommendation.” You explained and he looked more impressed.

“Wow.” He looked at you as if you created the stars.

You heard shouting and you turned seeing Kaminari and Mineta harassing Izuku, you sigh turning to him. “Sorry I gotta deal with stuff I’ll see you around during the exam.” You give him a wave, him giving you one back and you make your wave to the boys. You throw out the empty bottle, finishing up your bread as you use your quirk to pull Denki and Mineta away from your cowering cousin. “What the hell is going on?” You look at the two boys glaring at Izuku.

“Midoriya got to see that smoking hot babe’s body naked.” Mineta pointed over to a girl from Shiketsu still waving. You release them from your hold pinching your bridge nose sighing.

“I don’t have time for this boy drama.” You turn away from them, Izuku crying out in distress as they go bombarding him again.

“Oh, hey it’s Shiketsu.” Kirishima munches on a piece of bread as their school comes over to you all.

“Bakugo.” Mora greets him. He was the one who was covered in hair

“What.” Bakugo grumbles,

“I think you met Shishikura in the test. My classmate with the flesh-molding power?”

Bakugo looked uninterested “Yeah. I took him out.”

“I thought so. I’m guessing he may have acted rudely, or perhaps offended you. He has a tendency to try and push his own values onto others. He probably couldn’t help it in your case, since you’re pretty famous. I apologize for him, I’d like to build a good relationship between our schools.” The way he spoke chilled you and it was hard to tell his expression with all that hair.

“I-I guess he wants to be friends?” Mineta shuddered

“So he says.” Izuku is exactly as fearful, “But the way they were fighting, it didn’t seem that way.”

Mora nods walking away “Anyway that’s it.”

You and Kirishima look at each other and shrug and he went to get more food as you watched the Shiketsu students leave. The way Mora acted seemed to hide hidden ideals, you didn’t get to think more as an alarm went off before you were directed to the TV.

“Villains have performed a large-scale terrorist attack spanning all of Insert City Name Here. Since most buildings collapsed there are many injured,” The room around begins to open up again just like before in the beginning “Due to heavily damaged roads, the first responders have unfortunately been delayed for the time being. Until emergency services arrive, the heroes in the arrive will lead the rescue efforts. Your task is to save as many people as you can and help the injured. And with that..” A loud blare goes off and everyone begins to run “BEGIN!” He never stated how this whole point system was going to work so every action counts.

“Let’s start by heading to the nearest urban area. We’ll work as a team as much as possible.” Ida calls out to the class

“You’re going on your own again?” Mina calls out to Bakugo who starts leaving the group and then turns next to you “Are you not going to follow?”

You shook your head following the group in front of you. “Ida’s plan for us to all work as a team will benefit all of us with what the judging is.” You explain.

“Even though this is just a test, it feels pretty real.” Asui looks around the area as you try to find anyone.

“Stay alert!” Ojiro calls out, “be careful of falling debris and explosions.”

You see Izuku stop in front of you turning to face one of the buildings and you go up to him. “What’s wrong Izuku?”

“Do you hear that?” He asks as the group tries to listen and then you hear faint crying. “I hear someone.” Izuku heads in the direction of the cries with the group following behind.

“Help me, please!” Someone calls out and you rush over to him. “My grandpa! He’s been crushed. I think he’s hurt.” He cries and you can see that there is some blood on his forehead.

“Oh no. This looks bad. Where is he?” Izuku analyzes the situation

“This looks bad?” The HUC actor yells breaking character, “That’s points off your score!” and Izuku yelps at his reaction. “The first thing you should do is see how bad my injuries are and if I can walk. I’m breathing kinda weird, too, aren’t I? And didn’t you even notice that I’m bleeding from the head?” He yells at your class, “People with Hero licenses should be able to judge a victim’s condition in an instant!” Are the members of HUC going to be the ones scoring us? “Your gross lack of training is all too apparent right now. You better shape up and pay attention, newbies! You’re not just here to provide aid. Until the police and firefighters show up, you need to exercise authority and make sure this goes off smoothly. Think of the victims here. They must be terrified. There are many aspects of being a hero. But take note, there is one thing to keep in mind above all else. Anyone in need of reducing is having the worst day of their lives. And the first thing you said was ‘This looks bad’? Seriously?” He scolds you all and you see Izuku slap his hands to his face.

“Hey! It’s fine!” Izuku gives him a smile bending down to his level. There is a brief pause before the actor gets back into character crying

“Over there! My grandpa!”

“Don’t you worry. We’ll definitely save him. I can carry this boy to the first aid station myself. You guys, go on without me!” Izuku reassures the actor while addressing the group. You nod heading off to go find more bystanders. It had been a while traveling through the rubble and debris being wary of explosions and such.

“Wait, look, someone is trapped under here.” Momo points over to where you see a elderly man under debris, “I believe he is still conscious.” She deduces.

“I’ll use my quirk to get him out.” Uraraka begins to make her way over but Momo stops her.

“That wall near him looks like it will collapse.” Momo creates metal poles and directs Sero to use his tape to stabilize the wall, then Uraraka went and removed the rubble slowly. There wasn’t much for you and your other classmates as the three of them worked.

“We aren’t going to save anyone just standing here.” Mineta whined and for once the little creep was right.

“It would be smart for our class to split up into smaller groups.” Shoji suggested and you all nodded.

“Our best way of passing is communicating and working together with the other schools to save the civilians.” Ida states. You go off into smaller groups, you are with Mina, Jiro, and Ojiro. You had to travel further into the city looking for any victims.

“Hear anything Jiro?” Mina asked the girl kneeling her earphone jacks inserted into the ground. She stood up and pointed towards where the highway you fought at in the beginning of the exam was destroyed.

You headed over to the location and that when Mina called out the three of you. “Guys I found someone, hey you’re going to be okay I have friends here to help you.” You went to where Mina was and she was calming down an older man.

“He doesn’t have any abnormal responses but his leg is pinned down and we have to be careful if the highway has any falling rubble.” Mina explained pointing to the location where you could see his leg was pin down his pant leg was red but you knew it wasn’t really blood.

“Please help me I can’t feel my leg!” the man cried.

“It’s going to be okay sir, Ojiro you and I will lift the rubble up and Mina and Jiro as soon as you can pull him out, this area isn’t that stable so we need to be careful but also quick.” You ordered and they nodded. Mina and Jiro got into position, Mina holding underneath his arms and Jiro by his legs. Ojiro placed his tail underneath the rubble and your hands glowed red. “Ready, 1..2..3!” You and Ojiro pulled the rock up and Mina and Jiro pulled him out. The two girls pulled him a safe distance for you both to let go of the rubble. They helped the man up to his feet letting him put his weight on the two of them. “Okay let’s get you to a safe location.” You all made your way out of the destroyed highway zone to more clearer areas. Suddenly you could feel rumbling and loud explosions towards the area where you all started at the beginning of the exam.

“Isn’t that where the shelter zone is at?” Jiro commented and an announcement came over the stadium.

“Villains have appeared and they are wreaking havoc on the city, the heroes must suppress them as well continue carrying out rescue maneuvers.”

“Villains and continuing rescue operations? They really want to make this as really as possible.” Jiro points out as you head away from the explosion.

“The only thing we can do is find a new location for civilians and hope any students nearby are dealing with the situation.” Ojiro adds and you all focus on the task at hand. You had found the other examinees setting up a new shelter area and more students with bystanders showing up. You were a reasonable distance from the fight and you could see the occasional gust of wind and fire. You had looked over the examinees and citizens trying to see if you could find Izuku.

“You should go help them.” You turn and see Mina looking at you, you shook your head turning back to people resetting up the shelter zone.

“I’ll be better helping here if we need to move again. Anyway my quirk is better for defense then combat.” You go back to helping pass medical equipment to one of the examinees checking a bystander.

“I’ve seen you fight in training during school and when we don’t have classes. Your quirk is definitely more than just defense, you can move things with your freakin mind. You could end that fight in seconds, they need you Y/n.” She pulls you away from helping and pushing you into the direction of the fight, “So go over there and show those people in the stands that you are going to be the next number one.” You smiled taking a deep breath in and turned back to her.

“You are literally my favorite.” She laughed, shooing you off and you sent a quick wave before turning towards the fight and taking off running. You could see both Shoto and that one student from Shiketsu trying to fight the “villain” who was Gang Orca. You remember seeing him during the Kamino Raid. Whenever Todoroki tried using his fire and Yoarashi with his wind they both cancelled each other or didn’t affect Gang Orca at all. Todoroki tried using his fire again but Yoarashi used his wind quirk which deflected his flames in the wrong direction.

Heading towards a paralyzed Shindo “No! He’ll be incinerated!” Todoroki thinks unable to stop the flames heading towards the student. Right before the flames can reach two people reach there at the same time. Izuku using his enhanced speed to rescue Shindo, and Y/n landing previously where the boy was using her quirk to stop the flames.

“Dammit what are you two doing!” Izuku yells at the two of them, bringing Shindo to a safer distance.

“Are you two really bicker during a fight.” You commented as Gang Orca’s goons came your way. They had fired their cement guns towards you but you stopped the cement mid-flight sending it back their way. You stuck multiple people together with the cement, keeping your distance to not get over crowded with a more mid-range attack. While you were focused on his sidekicks, Gang Orca grabs Todoroki and uses his soundwave on Yoarashi, knocking him out of the sky. You send a wave of energy towards Gang Orca’s sidekicks sending them flying back rushing over to a falling Yoarashi. You used your quirk to soften his impact with the ground. Facing Gang Orca you got ready to fight your eyes turning red as energy surrounding your hands.

“You're foolish thinking you can take me on by yourself.” He tries to intimidate you.

“As long as those civilians are safe I’ll fight you with everything I got!” You call, a smirk appears on his face as he makes his way towards you. He uses his sonic wave to immobilize you, bringing your hands up to block his attack with a force field getting pushed back by the strength of it even when protected. Running to him going into a close combat fight, throwing punches mixed in with the psionic energy. Gang Orca is pushed back when you throw a ball of energy at his chest, his feet digging into the floor. ‘Just keep fighting until everyone is safe and rescued’ You remind yourself. Punches and kicks are thrown, Gang Orca using his Sonic wave but you keep putting up a force field protecting you.

“How long will you be able to last?” He sees your reaction time getting slower to his attacks. You get back up to your feet ready to keep fighting. Gang Orca sends another Sonic Wave towards you stronger and faster than the other ones. You are not going to be able to protect yourself. Bring your arms up hoping that you have a small force field so you are not fully immobilized. You don’t feel any pain or effect of his quirk, then you hear struggling.

There was Gang Orca cover in a light red haze, your hands had energy a darker red than it’s ever been. “My quirk..” you hear him struggle trying to use his sonic wave to break out of your grasp but he couldn’t.

Dropping your hands the red disappears and he quickly attacks while you are confused on what happened. You flew back, rolling landing on your back looking up to the sky. Your ears rang and you could hear you breathing most noise muffled as the fight continued around you. Why can’t I hear? Turning your head when you felt a wave of heat and there was a huge fire tornado, when did this happen? You couldn’t do anything but watch as the blazing whirlwind is destroyed by Gang Orca who was inside it. You didn’t get to view the rest of the fight when your vision was turned away by Mina who is kneeling above you. Her mouth was moving talking to you but everything was muffled.

“What…” you gazed up at your friend as she helped you up from laying down to sitting up.

Slowly her voice became more clear and the noise around you returned. “Y/n are you okay when the rest of us came to help I saw you on the ground and thought the worst.” You nodded and looked around and saw Izuku standing next to Gang Orca but they weren’t fighting. Before you could question the loud speaker came on.

“All your scores have been tallied. For those who have suffered injuries, head to the infirmary and for those who aren’t to change back into their normal clothes and await for further instructions.” So the exam was over and all you did in the end was stare at the sky.

“Come one let’s get you checked out.” She grabbed your arm helping you to your feet. You both made your way out of the arena when you felt eyes on you. Looking back you saw Gang Orca looking at you, looking back forward you let Mina lead you away. How did I do that? After being checked out you had a bit of a concussion when you got hit at the end of the fight, but it didn’t explain the bloody nose and blood coming from your ears.

You got cleaned up and changed back into your school uniform gathered in front of a screen. “Okay. Everyone, thanks for your hard work in today’s exam. Now before I announce the results. I should probably explain the way we evaluated you, between HUC and those of us at the Heroes public Safety Commission. We had a two-fold demerit system that we used to determine your total scores. In other words, we were evaluating you based on how few mistakes you made in a crisis situation. Anyway, the names of those who passed are listed here in alphabetical order. Keep my words in mind as you search the screen for your name.” The screen in front of you all turns on with a list of names. Come M.. Midoriya. You look through all the M’s and there it was Midoriya Y/n. You passed!

Mina tackles you into a hug “We both passed look at us! One step closer to being Pros.” You laugh as you other classmates freak out about passing. You glance through the board and can’t find Bakugo’s name.

“Todoroki!” You all turn to see Yoarashi slamming his head into the ground in front of Todoroki. “I’m sorry! It’s my fault that you failed the test. My focus was too narrow minded.”

Todoroki doesn’t move before stepping forward. “You’re fine. I was the one that got us off to a bad start. And thanks to the things you said to me, I have a lot to think about.”

“Holy crap. Did he really fail?” Mina asked

“How could our top two classmates not pass the exam?” Sero said out loud.

“Shoulda been more careful what you said. Words are important, you know.” Denki teases Bakugo and Bakugo looks ready to kill.

“Shut your mouth before I murder you.” He hissed and Denki's face went pale.

“Those entitled people at the top think so highly of themselves, don’t they?” Mineta joins into the conversation, “Their own egos are their worst enemies.” He grabs onto Todoroki’s shoulder “Looks like our class hierarchy is collapsing”

A red haze surrounds Mineta and he’s thrown away from your classmates. Todoroki gives you a nod and thanks and you respond, but a sharp pain in your head has you hissing pressing a hand to your forehead.

“You okay Y/n?” Mina looks over at you but you wave her off.

“I’m fine, I probably shouldn’t use my quirk with a concussion.”

“When did you get that.” Sero asked as you stopped rubbing your head feeling better.

“When I was fighting Gang Orca.”

“You fought Gang Orca!” Denki and Sero yelled, making your head hurt more and they lowered their voices.

“He’s like the number 10 Hero and you like actually fought him.” Denki asked and you nodded.

“Todoroki and Yoarashi were down and everyone was busy with the evacuation. I did what I could but then…” You froze remembering Gang Orca struggling unable to use his quirk, but you can’t stop people’s quirks right? Your friends look at you confused when you stopped talking to tell what happened, “Um… all I remember after a bit was that I was on the ground with Mina there and the exam was over, not a big deal.”

The boys nodded and Mina squeezed your hand and you didn’t see Bakugo still staring at you. What really happened in that fight.

“So next we’ll give you the printouts of your results. They include a breakdown of your scores, so you’ll know exactly what areas you need to improve going forward.” People came out handing out papers to each of you giving a breakdown on your profile during the exam. “We lopped off points when you did something wrong. Fall below 50, and you’re done. These demerits are itemized on your result forms, as you’ll see so I’d look at them.”

“Mina what did you get?” You looked off your paper turning to your friend who was glazing over hers.

“I got a 80 seems I’m pretty good at these things, what about you?”

“Eh I got a 85 they mainly took points off when I went to fight by myself instead of helping the evacuation or at least bring someone with me.”

Mina's arm went over your shoulder pulling you into a side hug. “I think you did the right thing. You were able to single handedly fight a Pro on your own, that’s freaking awesome.” you smile thanking her and the announcer continued on,

“Anyway, moving forward those of you who passed can exercise the same authority as pro heroes, but only during emergency situations. In other words fighting villains, saving the victims of criminal acts or accidents. You may act using your best judgement with no direct orders. Keep in mind that your every action from now on carries with it the deep responsibility toward bettering society, and that the world is watching you. I’m sure you’re aware that All Might, our greatest hero, no longer has his incredible power. One of the reasons crime in this county has been so low is due to his presence. With that deterrent gone, criminals are sure to become bolder and more widespread. Expect the balance we currently have in our world to be destroyed, and for things to change quickly.”

“You young people will be the hope for our future. It’s Imperative that you become exemplary heroes. That your reputation grows to suppress crime as did his. Remember the license you earn today is provisional and you still have much to do. I would like for you to think of yourselves as fledglings, and be even more diligent in your studies. And as for those who fell short and did not pass. We don’t have time for you to feel bitter about your loss. Instead, we offer you a chance to redeem yourselves. After you attend a three-month-long special course and pass an individual test, we plan to issue a provisional license to those of you who failed as well. In order for us to reach the idyllic future that I just spoke of, we’re going to need as many good heroes on the streets as we can get. The first round was one to weed people out. But we would like to grow the 100 selected in that test as much as possible. That's' why we watched you all until the very end. So we can see for ourselves that you each have promise. That once your shortcomings are corrected, you have the potential to be as great as your fellow classmates. This special course will keep you busy as it will run concurrently with your normal studies. You’re welcome to retake the exam in April if you prefer to wait.” He had finished his speech and with that the provisional license exam was complete.

#mha #bmha #mha bakugou #mha quirks #mha x reader #mha x y/n #bakugou katsuki #Katsuki Bakugō #bakugou x reader #bnha bakugo katsuki #katsuki bakugo x reader #my hero academia #izuku midoriya #bakugo x midoriya!reader #x midoriya!reader #katsuki x midoriya!reader #izuku x cousin!reader #deku x cousin!reader #hero license exam

13 notes · View notes

cutie1365 · 4 years

Text

Winchester Part 4/4

Winchester Part 4

Pairing: Sherlock x Winchester!Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: It’s supernatural, blood, death, gore, you get the gist.

A/N: This is the last part :) I hope you enjoyed this little mini series that was supposed to just be an imagine request that's loooong overdue. Like I think it was requested almost 5 years ago and I’m the worst.

Any and all feedback is welcome and encouraged :)

-----------------------------------------------------

After working through another plan with your brothers you’d decided you needed some fresh air. You needed a refill on some supplies and to get some spray paint so you decided to accompany John and Sam to the store. Of course you elected to don a turtle neck so as to not raise any questions at the shops for the bruises scattering your neck. It only throbbed slightly when you touched them, god knows you’ve had worse, you could handle it. Plus you didn’t want Sherlock to see you in pain and feel even worse about what had happened.

Dean and Sherlock stay behind to iron out the plan and wait for word from his homeless network. You were slightly worried about leaving them together, you knew how protective Dean was over you. Likely you’d be gone for an hour or two, having to frequent a new shop to not raise suspicion over the bulk of items purchased.

The moment the three of you leave, silence falls over the flat. Dean is sitting in the kitchen doing some research on his laptop. Sherlock silently makes his way over to him.

“Dean.” Sherlock says, getting his attention as the Winchester brother turns toward him with a raised brow, “There’s something I want to do...”

----------------------------------

You walked back into a silent flat... too silent. It looked as if Sherlock and Dean hadn’t moved, occupying the exact same spots as when you left. You placed the bag of spray paint and other supplies onto the desk as you turned and examined Sherlock.

You noticed some gauze and tape peeking out from his shirt on his chest.

“What happened?” You asked, eyes going wide, thinking he’d been hurt, or his company had gotten a little over protective.

“Dean!” You turn towards him, scolding him, for what you weren’t sure.

Dean’s expression was unchanged as he lifted his head for you to turn back to Sherlock. He had peeled back the covering to reveal a fresh tattoo.

“Sherlock!” You gasped, your hand immediately went to the collar of his shirt to examine the new anti possession symbol on his ivory skin.

“What did you do?” You asked softly.

“To make sure what happened can never happen again.” He stated, grabbing your hand.

“You didn’t have to do that, I-” You weren’t sure what to say.

“I wanted to, so you never have to doubt-” Sherlock began, but you cut him off.

“But you know that’s there forever now.” You raised your voice slightly.

“Yes, I know how tattoos work Y/N.” He smiled, looking down at you.

You simply shook your head with a frown, and turned, pulling your hand from his and heading down the hall.

You couldn’t understand why he would do this.

“Did I do something wrong?” Sherlock asked your brothers once you left the room.

“No, no, you did good.” Dean nodded, as Sam stood next to him, still a little shocked himself.

“Then why?” He motioned off to where you’d fled.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for her,” Sam explained. “Nice doesn’t exist where we come from, she’s just not used to it. It freaked her out, that’s all.”

Sherlock looked off towards the closed bedroom door that you had retreated behind. He didn’t mean to upset you, he didn’t know how broken your past left you, but he was damn sure he wanted to be the one to help put you back together. After tonight, all this would be over. The demon would be dead, and you could go back to a different kind of hunting. There wouldn’t be any more secrets between the two of you, there’d be nothing holding you back.

He started walking towards the bedroom door, he wouldn’t just let you run off this time.

“I wouldn’t-” Dean tried to warn him, but Sherlock had already opened and closed the door, “Ok.”

Sherlock found you sitting on the edge of the bed, with tears in your eyes.

“Y/N...” He sat beside you, “Look at me, please.”

“Why would you do this for me?” You motion towards the tattoo.

“Because I love you, and I never want to hurt you.” Sherlock explained.

“But-” You still didn’t understand.

“Y/N, you’re worth it, can’t you see that?” Sherlock said, with a frown when he realized the answer was no.

“I just... I’ve never been in a relationship like this. I’ve never... cared for someone like I care for you. When you’re a hunter you’re going from town to town, for no more than a week or so. I’ve never had anything permanent until I met you and I just... I can’t lose you.” You cried, Sherlock wrapped his arms around you. He’d never seen you cry. He wasn’t the best with words or these kinds of emotions, so he held you and rubbed your back and let you cry. Hopefully, this will all be over tonight.

------------

A few hours later the trap was set, and you were as determined as ever. You were looking off towards the door of the abandoned factory, reviewing the plan in your head. You knew you still had one more card to play.

“Y/N, I know that look, what are you going to do?” Dean asked with a raised brow.

“Whatever it takes.” You muttered, not turning to face him.

“Y/N...” He warned, but he was really more worried than anything.

“Just trust me, please.” You whipped around and your eyes met his.

He tossed you the can of spray paint for you to finish the devils trap and wardings. And with a few sprays you were all set.

“We’re gonna get this guy, finish this once and for all.” Dean tried to reassure you. You simply nodded, not wanting him to press further.

You all got into position and Sam cut the lights, if your intel was correct the demon would be walking into his den at any moment.

Before you knew it, the door was pushed open, letting a sliver of light into the room. The demon strolled in, totally unsuspecting and walked right into your trap... literally.

The demon let out a growl as he was forced backwards when trying to leave the circle. Suddenly Sam switched the light back on and you all jumped into place. So far everything was going to plan.

Sam began reciting the exorcism, causing the demon to squirm.

He began glancing around the room, seeing if there was anything he could use to escape, any sort of weapons. And as if an idea popped in his head, his eyes lifted making contact with you and smirking. He pulled out a dagger from his pocket and threw it towards the end of the circle. It stuck into the wooden floor, smudging the wet paint and breaking the circle.

“No!” You shouted, reaching towards Sherlock as the demon pulled him towards him.

Before you could move, the demon had a knife to Sherlock’s throat.

“You really thought it would be that easy?” The demon chuckled darkly.

You shared a look with your brothers, you all stood still, waiting for him to make his next move.

“You weren’t this quiet last night little hunter.” He smirked, licking his lips.

Dean stepped forward in anger, his fists clenched. The demon applied the knife to Sherlock’s throat, causing him to hiss slightly as a small drizzle of blood made its way down his neck.

“Stop!” You yelled, raising your hand and taking a deep breath.

“You want me right? That’s what this whole thing is about?” You nodded, keeping the demon's attention on you.

He raised a brow, letting you know he was listening and ready to consider your offer.

“Him for me, ok?” You nodded, desperately.

Before your brothers or Sherlock could protest, the demon pulled a gun from his back pocket.

“Ok.” He smiled, immediately pulling the trigger without a second thought.

Your body dropped to the floor like a ton of bricks as the demon pushed Sherlock forward, releasing the blade from against his throat.

The commotion gave Dean time to catch the demon by surprise, jumping to sink the demon blade into his chest. He screamed in pain as he died a painful death, dropping to his knees.

Your breathing became heavy as you felt the blood pouring from your abdomen. Sherlock fell to the floor, kneeling beside you as he assessed your injury.

“Why the hell would you do that?” Sherlock screamed, almost in tears as he realized how bad the wound was.

“It’s ok, I’ll be fine.” You choked out slowly, trying to reassure him but obviously not doing a great job.

John appeared on your other side, bending down to examine the damage. His eyes glanced up and met Sherlock’s, and his face said everything... it wasn’t good. John sighed as he made his way to his feet.

Sherlock looked up to your brothers who were standing wide eyed, unmoving.

“Do something, she’s your bloody sister!” Sherlock yelled.

“Sher-”, You reached for his hands, they were wet, covered in your blood, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Y/N-” He cried, a tear slipping down his cheek.

“I love you,” You whispered, but you weren’t sure if you even made a sound as everything went dark.

“No!” Sherlock yelled as your eyes closed and your hand went limp in his.

Dean now slowly knelt next to you.

“Is she?” He looked up to John, the medical professional.

John slipped his fingers onto your bruised, cold neck.

“No pulse,” He shook his head somberly.

Dean rose to his feet, sharing a look with his brother that Sherlock was unable to decipher. He wasn’t thinking about deducing them, he could only feel the anger bubbling up inside of him.

He jumped up, grabbing Dean by the lapels of his jacket before ramming his fist against his jaw. Dean stumbled back as Sam helped steady him.

“She brought you here to help, to fix this, and now she’s dead and you don’t even care? Your sister is dead!” Sherlock screamed, his rage making everything cloudy.

“Because I didn’t believe her,” His voice dropped as he turned back to look at you lying lifeless on the floor, “I didn’t believe her.”

Sherlock dropped to his knees once more, pulling you into his lap as he stroked your hair, his voice shaking.

“I didn’t believe you, I’m so sorry.” He cried.

After a moment he glanced back towards your brothers. They’ve been quiet, too quiet. Sam glanced down at his watch and Sherlock furrowed his brows as he watched the brothers share a look.

He nearly jolted as he felt you moving in his arms.

Suddenly, you gasped, sucking in a large gulp of air and beginning to cough.

“What the fuck?” Sherlock muttered, looking down at you in shock.

Now your brothers jumped into action and were both at your side. Sam lifted the edge of your bloody shirt to reveal what would have been a gaping bullet wound. Instead it was replaced by a circular scar.

“You alright?” Sam asked, you nodded as he helped you sit up.

“Hold on, what the fuck just happened? You were shot, you died, you had no pulse.” Sherlock raised his voice.

“Crowley owed me a favor. I cashed in.” You explained, glancing down to see Sherlock’s hands covered in blood, your blood.

“Who is Crowley?” Sherlock asked, shaking his head in confusion.

“King of Hell.” Dean answered for her, rubbing his sore jaw.

Sherlock’s confusion turned back to anger.

“You knew she was going to do this? You knew she was going to be fine?” He yelled at Dean.

“I knew she was going to do whatever it took to save your ass, and I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.” Dean retorted.

“You went to Hell?” Sherlock asked softly, his red, puffy eyes meeting your own.

“Darlin, I'm no saint.” You smiled sadly.

“And you came back?” He asked, still not comprehending how just a minute ago you were stone cold.

“I’m here, aren’t I.” You shrugged, feeling your wet clothes sticking to your body, knowing you must look like Carrie at the prom.

Sherlock’s face was stuck in shock and confusion, and he didn’t move for almost a whole minute.

“John, I think he’s short circuiting. You might want to check him for a concussion, or maybe he needs an MRI.” You smirked, repeating his words from just days before.

“So it’s true? All of it?” Sherlock asked.

“All of it.” You nodded.

“Demons, ghosts, vampires...” He began to list off.

“All of it.” You repeated.

He was quiet for a moment, taking it all in.

His next two words shocked you, something you never thought would come out of his mouth.

“Marry me.” He said suddenly.

“What?” Your brothers said in unison, but you only smiled.

“Y/N, you took a bullet for me, you died for me.” Sherlock shook his head, you wouldn’t do that if you didn’t love him.

“And you got a tattoo for me,” You smiled, pulling him closer until your lips met. You took a bullet for him, and you’d do it again, any day... but you may need to do Crowley a couple favors first.

#sherlock x reader #sherlock imagine #sherlock imagines #Sherlock Holmes x Reader #winchester #supernatural #winchester reader #winchester sister #dean winchester x reader #sam winchester x reader #dean #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester imagines #sam winchester imagine #sam winchester imagines #sherlock holmes imagine #sherlock holmes imagines #reader insert #x reader

127 notes · View notes

feotakahari · 3 years

Text

My Name is Ethan

Most participants--some would say victims--in the Infinite Loops embrace a continuity of identity. What’s them is what’s always true, and what changes each time is false. One boy takes a very different approach. (Not based on any existing series.)

My name is Ethan Wilson, and I’m going to die on this rooftop.

I had a pretty good run of being a hero. Twenty-four hours of making friends and escaping henchmen and stopping that bastard Baldwin from flooding the city with a madness-inducing neurotoxin. Not bad for a teenage boy who was never in a real fight before. But Baldwin shot me twice in the gut before Jess threw him off the roof, and now the adrenaline’s wearing off, and the corners of my vision are starting to creep in.

Jess is trying to stop the bleeding. Robby’s on the phone with emergency services, his cool facade cracking for once in his life. “Just stay awake, Ethan,” he tells me shakily. “Don’t go to sleep. They’ll get here soon.”

“Am I part of your club now?” I joke. He was a million times more popular than me, and he wouldn’t have given me the time of day before. He wouldn’t have fought armed goons for me, either. I guess we all did a lot of things we didn’t expect to.

“You’re the freaking club president,” he tells me. “So don’t die on me now.”

Jess doesn’t say a word, but her expression looks grim. It’s out of my hands now, and out of hers, too.

“It was worth it,” I mumble as the world blurs into nothingness. My life, for the life of this boy and this girl. All worth it . . .

My name is Ethan MacKenna, and I remember this rooftop.

It wasn’t me who was here before. It was someone named Ethan Wilson. He liked rap, and hated spinach, and had a scar on his left shoulder that he never let anyone see. But he was on this rooftop, and Baldwin--another Baldwin?--shot him, and he died.

I hesitate, and Jess rushes forward. The first bullet hits her in the throat.

Running back down the staircase, waiting for the gas to flood the city, I wonder where it all went wrong.

My name is Ethan Sanford, and for once in my life, I have a plan.

I’m already on the roof when Baldwin comes out the door. I’m not strong, but neither is he, and I manage to overpower him. Now the gun is in my hands, aimed squarely at his head.

“Don’t move,” I warn him.

He calls my bluff, or so he thinks. But I remember what another Baldwin did to another Jess, and that’s enough for me to fire.

My name is Ethan Grumbacher, and I have a different plan.

I don’t remember what happened after Ethan Sanford left the rooftop. Did he win? Did he somehow die? So I’m going to avoid that confrontation at all. I’m going up to the roof early, and I’m going to perform some calculated sabotage on Baldwin’s machine. Worst comes to worst, I’ll botch it up and overdose on neurotoxins. It’s not like the universe will punish me for getting killed ahead of schedule, right?

My name is Densuke “Ethan” Mifune, and I’ve been asked to join some kind of “Eiken club.” I have the feeling the other Ethans aren’t going to want to remember this time around.

My name is Ethan Blanchard, and I hate every one of these fuckers.

I’m not going to stop Baldwin. In fact, I’ll release his gas ahead of schedule. I’ll watch as the bastards around me tear each other apart with their teeth.

Let the games begin. My move first.

My name is Ethan Silverman, and I remember everything Ethan Blanchard did.

Maybe there will be Ethans like that sometimes. Maybe some cities will end in fire. But not now. Not today.

I’m ready for you, Baldwin. Things won’t go your way this time.

My name is Ethan Trueheart, and I’ve loved Robby since we were eight years old.

That’s not usually true. A lot of Ethans didn’t even know Robby that well. Some of them love Jess, for reasons I’ll never understand despite remembering them. But I thought Robby was the coolest boy on the face of the planet, and then he grew up a little, and he got too cool--and too bigheaded--to remember me.

I wait until we’re on the roof after stopping Baldwin. Things seem to end there, win or lose. So there won’t be much time for me to be embarrassed if I go down in flames.

I had some kind of plan for how to do this. But I get caught up in the moment, and I kiss him full on the mouth instead.

He kisses me back, just before my memories end.

My name is Ethan Zabrosky, and her name is Jess. Just Jess. She remembers Jess Cole and Jess Ramsdale and Jess Fogarty, and she says they’re all Jess, all one.

I can see why each Jess would need to believe it. Their pasts are quite varied, and honestly, most of them were miserable in different ways. So they latch onto the few things that are always the same, and call those the things that are real.

As for me, I’m always an Ethan. But I’m fine with being separate Ethans. We live, and we die, or else the story plays out to its end. Then we start again, with another day, and another Ethan.

My name is Ethan Farrow, and I’m content with my life.

I don’t know what happens when I escape the rooftop. Does the world end there, like a tape run to its end? Does the quintessential Ethan leave that world for another, leaving behind some Ethan-less husk? Or does it continue into a future I never remember?

I don’t really care. I’m today’s Ethan, and I have twenty-four hours left. So what will I do today?

#the infinite loops

4 notes · View notes

imaginingsoftly · 4 years

Text

Baseball Trivia Pt. 2 - Josh Anderson

Type: Y/N insert shorts, strangers to enemies-ish to lovers, series

Requested: No

Warnings: standard swearing

There was no fucking way. Y/N stared at Thatcher as he talked, but the words he was saying weren’t computing. No fucking way was Josh Anderson on his way to Vancouver. It was like fate had heard her think that they would never meet again and laughed as she sent Josh in Y/N’s direction. “Earth to Y/N, where the fuck did you just go?” She snapped back to the present, shaking her head and smiling at the mountain of a man in front of her instead of responding. Thatcher gave her another weird look before continuing. “We’re gonna have the end-of-summer barbeque at my place after the last day of training camp, and I expect you to be there. Someone’s gotta help me man the grill.”

It was tradition. End-of-summer barbeques had become a thing beginning their sophomore year at BC, after the pair had become close during their freshman year. Almost eight years later it was still a yearly tradition, though now the barbeque was extended to the entirety of the training-camp team rather than just a few friends. “Took you long enough to pick a date,” Y/N retorted, slapping the bill of Thatcher’s baseball hat. “ I thought I was gonna have to have a barbeque all by myself.” Thatcher slapped the bill of her hat in response, and it turned into an all-out war. As an only child, Thatcher had become the closest thing she had to a brother, shenanigans included. It was refreshing to have someone to mess with who wouldn’t get upset when she roughhoused a little.

Even while trying not to let Thatcher and his professional athlete muscles overpower her much smaller frame Y/N found her mind wandering back to Josh. There was really no reason for her to be freaking out as much as she was. It was one hook up. There were no strings implied, no numbers exchanged, it’s not like she ghosted the guy, not really. Thatcher had never really expressed any distaste towards her dating other NHLers, but it was different when it came to his teammates. They were like his brothers, and were therefore her brothers by extension. In other words, off limits.

She really just needed to relax. He wasn’t even on the team when they got together. Everything would be fine. Josh was part of the family now, and she would follow his lead. If he wanted people to know they hooked up then fine, but if he wanted to act like a stranger that was even better. Thatcher was a little bit too protective of Y/N at times, and she religiously avoided getting into it with his teammates just to make sure she didn’t mess with team chemistry. Honestly, there was a chance Josh wouldn’t even remember her. It’s not like the guy had a glowing reputation anyway, and they had been drinking. It would be fine. Maybe if Y/N repeated it to herself often enough, she would start to believe it.

Y/N sighed heavily, giving in as Thatcher managed to wrestle her into a headlock. “Seriously, Y/N, are you okay?” Thatcher released his arm and turned her so they were facing each other. Crap. Here comes the interrogation. “You’ve been on another planet since we started talking. What gives?” She shrugged. There was no way she was going there right now.

“I guess I’m just tired, bro,” she said with a shrug, “conference play just started. I’ve got a lot on my plate.” Thatcher reached up to squeeze her shoulders, and Y/N struggled not to cringe at how easily he ate up her lie. It sucked to lie to him, but there was no way she was going to tell him about Josh, not without talking to Josh first. Her response seemed to placate Thatcher, and he gave up on that line of questioning after making Y/N promise to take care of herself.

Keeping things from Thatcher was tough; he was there for her after her boyfriend of three years broke up with her halfway through their junior year of college, he drove her down to UConn the summer after graduation so she could begin her first internship as a college grad, and he’d been the one to welcome her to Vancouver with open arms after the completion of said internship. He was there for every important part of her adult life, and now the one thing she hadn’t told him was going to bite her in the ass. The universe was out to get her.

Training camp would begin tomorrow, and in a couple of weeks Y/N would have to face Josh in the same backyard she was sitting in at the moment. There went any sleep she had planned to get before basketball was added to her workload.

---Josh POV--------------------------------------------------

“So there’s no one in your life? No girl at all? Not even a hookup?” The questions were getting annoying, to say the least. It wasn’t the guys’ fault; they just wanted to get to know him. The problem was that he shouldn’t be doing this. He was supposed to stay in Columbus, live his life there until he retired and then move back to Canada.

Josh shook his head. “No hookup. Although there was this one girl,” he said with a small smile, “she was something else. We talked for hours at the bar, and she knew so much about baseball and hockey history. We hooked up, and then she was gone when I woke up the next morning. No note, no number, nothing. And she was from out of town, so I couldn’t even try running into her at the same bar again.” All of the guys groaned sympathetically, and they finally let that line of questioning go. Truthfully, he hadn’t thought about that girl in months. She had been fun to talk to, and tough enough to dish back everything Boone and Seth had thrown at her, but it wasn’t like he wanted to fucking marry the girl or anything. Mostly, it was the fact that she had left that stuck with him. He was always the one leaving. The girls usually tried to hang around, maybe try to get more than one night. It was an asshole thing to think, he knew that, but damn it sucked to be on the other end of it. He didn’t even know where she lived. In all of their time talking he only learned she worked at a university. He didn’t even know if it was in the States or Canada.

A tape ball connected with the side of his head, and Josh shot a glare at Bo from across the locker room. A middle finger almost followed, until he noticed video cameras catching the exchange. Josh waved at the intern behind the camera sheepishly. They would have had to cut that for their welcome back video if he hadn’t caught himself. Another tape ball came flying at his head, courtesy of Stecher, and Josh whipped that one back at his teammate with a grin. The guys were alright, even if some of them could be pretty childish. Even Hughes acted older than some of the guys, and he was the team baby. A body slumped down into the stall next to Josh’s, and he looked over to find Thatcher watching him. “‘Sup, Dems?”

Thatcher smiled up at Josh, a shock considering the choice words he’d thrown in Josh’s direction after a particularly nasty dangle he’d put past the goalie at the end of practice. “Barbeque at my place this afternoon.” Shit. He’d planned on exploring the city, maybe finding a hookup tonight. “Non-negotiable, everyone comes,” Thatcher interrupted, almost like he knew Josh was about to refuse. “It’s a tradition. One of my college friends and I get together and man the grill. We’ve been doing it for almost eight years now. Bring yourself and your booze of choice if it isn’t beer or wine.” Josh nodded. Your goalie says you come to some end-of-summer party, you go to the party. Don’t mess with a goalie’s traditions or superstitions. Thatcher stood, punching Josh’s shoulder. “Everybody starts showing up around 4. See you then.”

Thatcher made his way around the locker room repeating the same announcement, and it was met with shouts of excitement and reminiscing on barbecues of year’s past. Clearly it was a hit. Brock and Petey somehow roped Josh into riding to the party with them, promising that Josh would be happy he’d taken an Uber with them instead of driving himself. “The drinking is legendary,” Brock had promised, a solemn nod of agreement coming from both Petey and Stecher, who flanked Brock. Legendary parties were his thing. This would be even ground, and he could keep up. Bring on the drinking.

--Y/N POV----------------------------------------------------

Y/N woke up the day of the barbeque feeling sick as the Dropkick Murphys blasted on her alarm. It didn’t matter how many times she told herself it would be fine, running into the guy she had ghosted was going to suck. Hopefully he was as interested in revealing their hookup as she was, and it would never get mentioned again.

She groaned as her alarm continued to scream the lyrics to Rose Tattoo, reaching up to swipe the alarm off her phone. Thatcher was expecting her at his place before he left for camp in an hour with a list of groceries for him to pick up on the way home. The desserts Y/N had prepared the night before were sitting on the counter when she stumbled into the kitchen for coffee, mocking her with their chocolatey stare. It was going to be one of those days. She caved, shoving one of the cupcakes into her mouth with a groan. If she didn’t get a handle on herself before she made it to Thatcher’s he was going to get suspicious. The last time she acted this strangely some poor kid from the Comets almost got punched for flirting with her. The guys had good intentions, but sometimes they took the caveman shit too far.

With her coffee brewed and cupcake eaten, Y/N shuffled into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She washed her face and brushed her teeth on autopilot, debating if mascara were really necessary. The guys had seen her at her worst, and she didn’t really care what they thought about the sprinkling of acne on her jawline that just wouldn’t go away. It’s not like she was interested in any of those idiots. Well, any of the idiots that had been with the team before a couple of weeks ago, anyway.

A hat would be necessary, even if she was just going to be in Thatcher’s house until it was time to grill. Her nose would burn something awful if she didn’t wear something with a bit of protection, and the soccer games she was working that week would just add to the burn. Hat protection for sure. She slapped on an old BC Hockey hat, one she’d stolen from Thatcher, and looked into her closet with a sigh. The decision on what to wear took far too long. The guys loved to throw her in the pool, especially Brock when he got drunk, so her bathing suit needed to be reliable. The problem was that they also loved to take photos for their social media pages, and her most reliable swimsuits were also the least flattering. The black and white striped bikini was the most durable, but Y/N really wanted to wear the strappy midnight blue one-piece she’d gotten on a whim during a day trip to Seattle. Durability won out in the end, and the bikini was stuffed into her bag beside the pajamas that would inevitably find use when she didn’t want to go all the way home at the end of the night.

Y/N’s drive to Thatcher’s was relaxing. She lived in the middle of the city, fond of the ability to walk down the street to the grocery store or the bars, but Thatcher’s place was right outside the city, on a quiet sidestreet that better resembled a neighborhood in her hometown. She stopped at their favorite coffee shop on her way out of the city, picking up another coffee for her and a breakfast sandwich for Thatcher. It didn’t matter how many times the nutritionist told him to knock it off, Y/N knew he relied on those sandwiches to get him through morning skates. In no way was Thatcher a happy camper in the morning. His attitude rivaled even hers. Thatcher was waiting outside when she arrived, sitting on his front stoop like she had missed curfew or something.

“You’re late,” Thatcher called as she opened her door, “and you’re gonna make me late for camp if you don’t hurry it the fuck up.” Y/N raised her middle finger in response, leaning back into the car for the desserts. Thatcher appeared behind her to help carry things, and Y/N had to slap his hand away from the trays when he tried to reach for a cookie. If he ate one now, he’d eat them all by the time the actual party started. She’d learned that lesson the hard way. Y/N placed the breakfast sandwich on top of the tray of cookies Thatcher was carrying, and he leaned down quickly to kiss her cheek. “You’re the bomb, bro, my saviour.” Y/N rolled her eyes. He was so dramatic about his breakfast sandwiches.

Y/N finally managed to get Thatcher out the door and off to camp with a promise to get the backyard ready for that night, so long as he grabbed the necessary groceries on the way home. It was their agreement since they’d both settled in Vancouver; she brought dessert and got the house ready for guests, Thatcher bought all the food and alcohol. Everything was ready for the night, really, with the exception of the grill. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since she cleaned it last summer, so Y/N grabbed all of her cleaning supplies with a sigh. She needed a clean grill if they were going to make burgers tonight. That was non-negotiable.

---Josh POV--------------------------------------------------

Brock and Stecher were far too loud when they were tipsy. Petey was fine, if anything even more quiet than normal, but the other two were borderline obnoxious. The pregame had begun the moment everyone rolled up to Brock’s place, and Josh had to admit he hadn’t expected it. Pregaming a team party was a little weird, but hey, he was with a bunch of fellow hockey players. They didn’t always do things that made sense. Herding them into the Uber waiting on the street outside Petey’s apartment was no easy feat, and Josh felt himself sweating a little bit as the responsible one of the party. This never happened. He was always the one being herded.

The ride was long, as apparently Thatcher lived outside the city, and Brock kept Josh entertained with stories of barbecues past. “I think the worst, though, was that time Jake almost drowned.” Stecher started laughing, and Josh stared at him uncomfortably. A teammate almost drowning was funny? Brock must have caught his expression, because he hurriedly continued. “He wasn’t actually drowning, he was just so drunk that he sat in the shallow end and yelled for help. It came up to like his chest.” Stecher roared with laughter again, and Josh joined in a little bit. That must’ve been a sight.

Thatcher’s house was far too nice for a bachelor, a moderately large home that was built for a small family and not a single hockey player who basically lived on the road. It was homey-looking, covered in gray wooden shingles and boasting a wrap-around porch Josh envied. It was perfect for sitting with a small group of friends. He could only imagine the inside, if the outside was any indication. The landscaping and yard decorations gave away that Thatcher hadn’t decorated the place himself. The inside probably looked like a design catalogue vomited on it.

Cars lined the long driveway and the street in front of it, all Range Rovers and fancy sports cars guys who didn’t know how to spend their money splurged for. Josh caught himself as the wave of negative thoughts continually rolled over him. These were his teammates, not the enemy. Those thoughts weren’t helpful.

Josh was pulled out of his line of thinking by the stopping of the Uber, and he was the only one to thank the older guy driving as they all piled out of the car. Petey led the way into the house, though Stecher made his presence known with a shouted hello as he brought them through a hallway that indeed looked like a design catalogue and into a bright and airy kitchen. The cabinets were white, as were the countertops, though most of the walls were covered in some kind of dark teal tile.

Thatcher was slumped on a countertop, flicking the bill of the baseball cap on the girl in front of him. He laughed when she raised a middle finger at him, flicking the hat again. The girl mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a threat, in a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. She reached up and smacked Thatcher’s hand when he went to flick her hat again, and Thatcher laughed harder as he swept three beers off the counter and walked back outside through the accordion doors to his left. The girl shook her head after him, though the moment was broken when Brock stumbled into the room behind Josh.

“Y/N!” Brock yelled enthusiastically. He threw his arms around the girl from behind, and the laugh she let out made Josh freeze. It couldn’t be. “Babe,” Brock continued, “you’ve gotta meet our new teammate. He’s your kind of player. Likes to hit things.” Brock began to turn the girl around by the arm still slung over her shoulders, and Josh almost shouted at him to stop. He knew that laugh, and the girl attached couldn’t be here. Their eyes met, and Josh saw the panic he felt reflected in her eyes.

He was so fucked.

#josh anderson imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #baseball trivia

57 notes · View notes