#I’m sorry I won’t shut up about chapter 97

[another-whump-sideblog]

Jane's Pets Chapter 97: Miracle (Season Finale)

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Puppy regrets nodding about Bunny killing Master almost immediately after she does it. This is what anger does, makes her act irrationally in ways that will get others hurt. She shouldn't have encouraged him, it can only make things worse.

She shakes her head immediately after she nods, but Bunny doesn't seem nearly as impacted by that as he was by her nod.

Master lets her and Bunny bring Kitty upstairs and take care of them. They’re hardly injured at all. Just some acid burns on their toes. It’ll make it hard to walk, but Puppy won’t mind helping.

They’re really out of it, so she and Bunny get them set up all cozy on the couch with some snacks.

“I’m sorry.” Bunny whispers over and over to them. “I’m so sorry, I won’t let this happen ever again.”

After Kitty’s settled in, Bunny pulls Puppy aside.

“I think you’re really brave, you know. And strong. And I want you to know I love you no matter what happens.”

He's going to do something really stupid. That's the only reason he'd say that.

Her worry must be visible on her face, because Bunny looks sad.

"It's all going to be okay." He hugs her tightly, then runs off to his room. He can't use his hands, so hopefully he won't be able to do anything too stupid…

She really doesn't want to have to watch him get his hands and tongue cut off. She should supervise him, just to make sure he didn't find a way to cast without hands, but Kitty also needs supervision.

She thinks that if Kitty tries to get themself hurt, she'd be able to stop them, but she's not sure about Bunny. So she stays in the living room where she knows she can be useful, as much as leaving Bunny to his own devices pains her.

~~

You've just had the most wonderful idea.

Everything has magic in it, first of all. Barron (you'll just have to push through the discomfort and think about it) and its books tended to only use twigs, leaves, and rocks, but theoretically anything could be used to cast, especially if it's less refined and closer to nature. And Puppy communicated to you that Jane's blood is important… it only makes sense to use that to cast. You're a genius!

If you manage to kill her, you probably won't be able to cast anymore, but you're okay with that. Magic no longer existing is a small price to pay in order to be free of Jane.

Oh, does that have something to do with how she's not usually affected by magic? If she was made immortal by the same thing that made magic possible, it doesn't seem too crazy to think she wouldn't be impacted by magic in the same way everything else is…

Wait. Wait wait wait wait- her blood has to do with her immortality. Her immortality has to do with the creation of magic, which means that her immortality (and therefore blood) is connected to why magic doesn't work on her the same way. So maybe, if she had enough normal blood in her body… magic might work normally on her, and she might be able to die!

"Jane! Jane! I have an idea on how to kill you! Jane!"

Jane appears sitting on your bed. "My stupid Bunny has an idea? Don't hurt yourself."

"Shut up. Have you ever tried to replace your blood with a mortal's?"

"Yes. Do you really think no one's thought of that before you?"

That's a bit demoralizing, but you continue. "Have you ever had someone cast magic on you while there was mortal blood in you? Oh, oh! And had someone cast using your blood, at the same time? So like, there's a spell on the normal blood and a spell on the immortal blood?"

Jane blinks. "I… not at the same time…" She regains her composure swiftly. "But I have tried those separately. Why would doing them at the same time work?"

You've got her. There's no way she won't want to try. "Well it would probably be impossible to replace all your blood with mortal blood, so it makes sense why that one wouldn't work on its own. As for using your blood to cast… well, did it have any effect when you tried it on its own? Or did nothing happen at all, like when I tried to make you intangible?"

"Nothing happened." Jane is sounding more and more annoyed.

"What spells did you try? I guess that since your blood works different it wouldn't be able to cast the same things the same way…"

"...What makes you so sure that my blood works different?"

Shit, you don't want to get Puppy in trouble. "It doesn't matter. What spells did you try?"

She rolls her eyes, but luckily she doesn't seem to care enough to push it. Maybe she already knew, or figured it out (did you ask Puppy while Jane could've been listening? You can't remember). "Any spell that had even a tiny chance of killing me."

"Hmm… and you cast it? Or did someone else?"

"Someone else. I can't cast, at least not the way mages can. Which I know because I tried, many times."

Oh, it's a good thing you asked, since she talks about it saying 'I' instead of 'we.' You suppose it does make sense for her to think about mortals that helped her in the past as just extensions of herself.

Another idea is starting to form. You've been forcing yourself to think about Barron a lot lately, and its death (along with the others') is fresh in your mind after thinking Kitty was dead. You think 'what would Barron do?' You think about your first time meeting it. 

"Well… your blood, uh, makes more of itself only while it's inside your body, right? So maybe using it to cast would only work if it was still inside your body? I could… I could carve a rune into a rock, then like… cut you open and put it inside you and cast, so that it would have the normal magic of the rock and the weird magic of your blood." Man, this is a pretty gory conversation… Living here has really desensitized you.

Jane tilts her head to the side. "...worth a shot."

"Wha- you've never tried that before?" You were expecting to have to give more justifications as to why it would be different this time.

"I have reason to believe my blood maintains its properties while it's outside my body, but you're right that it only replicates while it's in my veins. So it's worth a shot, even if nothing comes of it. Come downstairs."

Jane vanishes.

This could go very, very bad, but you leave your room and go down the stairs to the basement anyway, purposefully avoiding looking at Puppy and Kitty's reactions.

Jane is setting up some kind of scary looking contraption. You instinctually step back when you see it.

"Relax, it's not for you. You've seen how instantaneous my healing is, this is to hold my arm open while you… hey, your hands are still broken! Go grab Kitty and Puppy, you can instruct them on how to carve your runes or whatever. That works out better anyway, I'd have to cut off your hands if you did it yourself, or no one would believe my threats again."

You run back upstairs. You can't stop the smile starting to form on your face. This might work. This might actually work! Even Jane thinks it might work!

"You guys need to come downstairs. Not for a punishment! Probably. I suggested a way to maybe kill Jane and she agreed! But I need your help cause I can't use my hands right now. Um, Puppy, could you help me get supplies from my room?"

She looks skeptical, but follows anyway. Kitty wordlessly goes down the stairs into the basement, walking on their heels.

You direct Puppy on what materials to grab, and then you and her go down into the basement too.

Jane is sitting in a chair that wasn't there before, with the scary contraption beside her. "Alright! Tell them what to do. You two, do what Bunny says for now."

You take a moment to gather your thoughts. Your plan is complicated, so you're afraid you'll miss a step. 

You direct Puppy on what rune to draw on a leaf (you've decided engraving a rock would take too long) and have tell Kitty how to cast a healing spell with the stuff you've already got prepared. Their magic makes you taste sour candy.

You feel the bones in your hands mend. "Perfect, thank you Kitty. First I want to try casting with your blood. I want to see if it can do things like healing and teleporting, since those are the magic things you can do."

Jane scoffs. "My magic doesn't heal me. It keeps me in the state I was right before- it keeps me in this specific state. To call any of my powers healing is ridiculous, the entire point is for me to suffer."

You gasp. She said that so casually, like it wasn't the last piece of the puzzle. Has she said that before? Maybe she has, and you didn't realize the importance.

She's tried so many different ways to kill herself. If the purpose of her magic isn't to make people miserable, what could it possibly be?

Magic responds strongly to intention. Her blood, her magic… what if it only works if the end result is more suffering? 

Okay, drop the replacing some of her blood with yours idea. You just need her blood. "Do you have, like, a bloodbag in your void?"

"I have everything in my void." Jane sets up a blood draw quickly herself. "Will that be enough?"

You nod. You shouldn't need much at all. You know why using her blood to cast didn't work when she tried it before…

Well, you don't know. Which is why this first step is important. You set the blood bag aside. "Puppy, hand me that leaf you drew on like I told you."

She hands you the leaf, her expression unreadable.

Jane laughs. "You know that if this doesn't kill me I'll have to cut off your hands and tongue, right? Since you're casting it yourself."

"Yep." You examine Jane's contraption. "So how does this work?"

"It'll cut and hold the flesh open while you stick the leaf in there. You'll have to do it as fast as possible. Are you ready?" She puts her arm in the contraption and holds down a lever.

You position the leaf right above where it looks like the contraption will cut. "Ready."

She releases the lever and the contraption slices and pulls, ripping skin and then muscle and holding the rip open. You can see the flesh trying to reunite, straining against the contraption. Ew. Jane doesn't flinch.

You thrust the leaf forward into the wound (ew ew ew ew) and chant the spell words, then yank your hand away and pull the contraption off. Her skin mends around the leaf.

Magic responds to intention. Usually that means that it doesn't work unless you have the right intentions, but it can benefit you too. You want the force-field to hold her in place while leaving a hole for magic to get through, and it does. Instead of being a sphere around her, it's shaped the same as her so that she can't move, with a hole over her chest.

"...why did you do that?" Jane looks more confused than anything.

She teleports, but once she reappears across the room the force-field is still around her. It worked! You can't cast spells on her, but you can cast spells on the area around her, and since the leaf's inside her it will move with her, so the spell is always on the area around her! And she can't teleport it out, and she can't cut it out because she can't move her arms. It really worked! So long as you keep the spell up, she won't be able to hurt anyone.

You watch as the realization dawns on her. "Ha ha. So clever. Except the spell will still only work until you lose focus, and with your brain damage I doubt I'll have to wait long… And if I told my Puppy to attack you, she would, and you'd lose focus even faster."

"I know. I just needed… insurance. I need you to not be able to hurt anyone while I try this. Sit back down, I think my idea will work."

She appears back in the chair and rolls her eyes. You pick the blood bag back up.

"Puppy… I need you to cast this spell for me. You… her magic, it only causes suffering right?"

She nods hesitantly.

"That's it's purpose?"

She nods again, and you feel giddy. You were right! Puppy confirmed it!

"So if we want to cast with her blood, it has to be to cause suffering. And I think… you're the only one who can try to kill Jane and see it as a cause of suffering. I think that you're the only one here who's even capable of processing Jane's death as a bad thing." You're not positive, but based on the way she acts around Jane, and some of the things that Kitty's told you… it's possible. Her hatred for Jane doesn't seem to be as strong as yours and Kitty's, at the very least.

Tears well up in her eyes, and she nods slowly.

You hand her the blood bag. "Okay, I need you to, like, fingerpaint with the blood." You describe the rune to her and she dutifully paints it on the floor.

"And then… you need to say the spell words." There are probably other ways to cast without the ability to speak, but you don't know them.

Jane has been watching silently, but when Puppy looks at her pleadingly she speaks up. "I'm not going to give you permission to speak. If you actually think this is going to work, you don't need my permission, because I won't be able to punish you. And if you don't think it'll work… you have no reason to do it."

Tears stream down Puppy's face. You don't know what to do– if it doesn't work, you don't want Puppy getting hurt because of you.

Kitty has been mostly quiet, but now they speak up. "...Puppy. You've got this. If it doesn't work… we'll keep trying, and she won't be able to hurt you– or anyone, because of the forcefield. And… if your worry is about us getting hurt… we're willing to risk that. Right, Bunny?"

"Right."

"Please, Puppy… I can't do this anymore. I can't– I wouldn't be able to go on knowing that we had a chance and we didn't take it. Please."

Puppy wipes her eyes, unclips and removes her muzzle, and hesitantly takes off her collar. Jane doesn't say anything.

You quickly tell her the spell words, and she repeats them. Her tears mix with the blood on the ground.

When she's finished, Jane goes unnaturally still. Her eyes lose focus. Despite how hopeful you were, your first thought is oh, she's fucking with us.

If it worked… she shouldn't be able to heal (or whatever she wants to call it) anymore, right?

You take one of the many knives laid out in the basement and drive it through the hole in the forcefield, into her chest, then pull it out. The wound doesn't heal.

"Guys- guys!" You drop the forcefield and slit her throat. It bleeds and it keeps bleeding and there's not even the slightest pull bringing the flesh back together.

"She's dead. Jane is dead. She's- she's-"

It doesn't feel all that different to when you killed other people under her orders. You feel kind of… numb. Everything feels too quiet. You've daydreamed about this for so long, but you don't feel triumphant like you expected. Just… tired.

And you always pictured dying right after. Sacrificing your and Jane's life for Puppy and Kitty's. But you're alive. You're alive and Jane is dead.

A/N: Everything so far has built up to this... I hope it's at least a little good! Let me know if I should tag anything else, or if you want to be added to or removed from the tag list! Season 4 will begin April 22nd at 5:00PM EST.

Tag list: @eatyourdamnpears @whump-in-the-closet @scp-1296 @thecosmicmap @quins-whump-stuff

@fuckcapitalismasshole

[myriicae]

Are those markings on Phos’ new form’s face tear streaks. ARE THOSE MARKINGS TEAR STREAKS

[supernaturaldesires]

A Descent Into Insanity - Chapter Seven

Based on request by @sweetpotato-97

Could ask for a fic of Yandere Dean with a reader who sees him as a best friend and a form of brother for them, of course in the beginning Dean was not a yandere but he changed with the passage of time?

Note: the reader in a way is innocent and does not know that Dean is in love with them.

Pairing: Yandere!Dean x Reader

Additional characters: Sam, Bobby, Castiel

Warnings: Death

Word Count: 1,580

“You son of a bitch!” you screamed at Dean as you launched yourself at him, fist raised and ready to swing. Dean ducked out of the way of your punch just in time, and hooked an arm around your waist. He held you against him, your back pressed against his chest. His other arm wrapped around your torso, pinning your arms to your side. “Let go of me!”

Sam took a step towards you, but Dean tutted at him. “Nuh-uh, Sammy,” he hissed. “Take another step and I swear I’ll snap her neck. If I can’t have her, no-one can.”

“Then I guess no-one’s having me,” you growled as you slammed your heel onto his foot and just as he buckled, you drove your elbow into his crotch. He released you, winded, and you darted forward towards Sam, out of Dean’s reach. 

As Dean began to gain his composure, he glared at you, shooting darts through his eyes. “You said we would be together,” he bellowed. “You said you were mine!” 

“You fucking drugged me, Dean!” You screamed back at him. “Again! Since when is that your answer when someone doesn’t agree with you?”

Dean lunged at you, but Sam was ready for him and tackled him to the ground. Even Bobby darted in front of you, ready to act as the second line of defence. Cas came to Sam’s aid in restraining the elder Winchester whilst Bobby guided you away. You took several steps backwards but couldn’t take your eyes off the man who you had considered to be your brother until just a few days ago.

“How has this happened, Bobby?” You whispered softly, tears prickling at the corners of your eyes. “What happened to him?”

Bobby sighed as he watched over Sam and Cas, who had now been able to restrain Dean to a chair with rope. “I wish I knew,” the older man murmured. You could see in his eyes that he was struggling with the scene himself. After all, he was like a father to Dean and Sam, and to witness your child become a threat to his own family is difficult for any parent to process.

“I can’t stay.” The words broke the silence that had hung in the air for the last hour. You, Sam and Bobby had been sat around the kitchen table, while Cas kept an eye on Dean. Since you had all seated at the table, you’d all waited for someone to speak; for someone to find the right words.

Sam lifted his sad eyes to you. “Y/N-” he said gently, but you stopped him. 

“No, Sam,” you insisted. “It’s the only way. You can’t kick Dean out, he’s still your brother. For whatever reason, he’s acting like this because of me. If I get as far away from him as possible, maybe he’ll forget about me.”

“You’re still family,” Sam argued. “We can find a way to sort this out.”

“And even if you did leave,” Bobby added. “There’s nothing to say he will forget you, that he won’t try and look for you. Obviously we’d do what we can, but we can’t exactly lock him up forever or keep him under 24-hour surveillance.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t feel safe around him anymore.” Your voice was beginning to crack as tears resurfaced. “And you’re right Bobby, we don’t know that he’ll forget about me.” You lifted your eyes to meet theirs, tears now rolling down your cheeks. “But I have a plan.” 

Dean’s POV

“What is going on with you, Dean?” Cas asked for the fifth time. Still, I didn’t answer him, keeping my gaze fixated on the floor. All I could think about was Y/N. Where was she? I needed to see her. I needed to apologize for threatening her before. If I could just talk to her, I could make her understand. “Dean!”

“Shut up, Cas!” I growled. “I’m not talking to anyone except Y/N!”

Cas got in my face, gripping my shoulders tight. “Damn it, Dean, something is happening to you. You need to tell me what is going on.”

“Nothing is going on!” I roared. “I just. Want. Y/N!” I fought against the restraints so hard that I nearly tipped the chair over, but Cas kept me upright. I glared at the angel until he finally gave up and sat in the chair opposite me. We both sat there unmoving, in complete silence, as the hours ticked by.

There was no clock in the room so I had no sense of how long had passed, but it must have been hours - perhaps even half a day. Where was Y/N? What if she had left? My fists balled and my throat clenched at the thought. If she had left, where would she go? She didn’t have any family besides us, I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for her. Suddenly my bedroom door flung open, interrupting my thoughts. Sam marched in first, but he didn’t even look at me. His eyes immediately fell on Cas and beckoned him to step outside. Where was Y/N? I craned my head, but they closed the door behind them. I screamed at the closed door in frustration.

Only a few moments passed before they re-entered; Sam first, followed by Cas, then eventually she glided in. Maybe it was prolonged amount of time away from her, but she looked more dazzling than ever. “Y/N,” I breathed with relief. “I’m so glad you’re safe, that you’re here. I was getting so worried. Look, I’m so sorry about-”

“Listen, Dean,” she said firmly, folding her arms and addressing me in a stern tone as though I was a child. “Whatever this is needs to end. This isn’t normal. This isn’t healthy.”

“Y/N, please let me explain,” I rasped. “I’m sorry about earlier, truly I am. Please understand that I love you. I realise this kind of love I’m feeling is different, but that doesn’t make it any less real.” I was beginning to shake with panic now. I couldn’t lose her. Not now, not after everything. “Please, let me prove myself to you.”

Y/N sighed and shook her head, a forlorn look on her face. “It’s too late for that, Dean,” she mumbled in a small voice. “I’m sorry.”

She began to approach me then and for a split second I had hope that she still felt something for me. Then I saw her hand reach behind and reveal a knife from the waistband of her jeans. “Y/N, what are you doing?” Panic began to flood through me. I looked desperately to Sam who looked equally panicked.

“Y/N, wait!” Sam yelled and launched himself at her, tackling her from behind. They came crashing down to my feet in a cacophony of shouts and groans. Then came a distinctive sound. A horrific, abrupt grunt.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. The air was still, as if not a soul in that room was breathing. “Cas, release me right now!” I demanded, not taking my eyes off my brother at my feet. His large body completely covered Y/N, I couldn’t see her small frame until he shakily came to his feet. It was only then that my eyes adjusted to the pool of blood that was seeping from her body.

My heart stopped beating, my throat constricted. I couldn’t breathe. “No,” I rasped, collapsing to my knees. With shaking hands, I turned her body to reveal the dagger protruding from her chest. “NO!” 

Your POV

“I’ll see you ‘round, Bobby,” you said thickly, trying desperately not to cry. 

The older man gave you a sympathetic smile as he pulled you into a tight hug. “Gonna miss you, kid,” he said softly. “Don’t be afraid to check in every now and again.” Once he released you, he opened your car door and you bundled yourself into the driver’s seat, throwing your duffel bag into the passenger side. “Oh, and Y/N?” You looked up at Bobby. “Using a shapeshifter to fake your death? That’s a mighty smart move. You’re a bright kid - it’s almost scary sometimes. Although, I have to admit that having him bring the knife out on Dean was pretty risky.”

“I know, but if my death was in Dean’s defence, he can’t hold it against Sammy. He might be pissed to begin with, but he’ll understand eventually why Sam would come to his defence. It had to be an accident, otherwise Dean would find someone to blame, to hold a grudge against.”

Bobby shrugged with a grunt as he closed your car door. Winding down your window, you gave Bobby a fist-bump before you pulled away. You were less than a mile away from the Bunker when your phone pinged with a message; just one word from David: “Done.”

After you and the Winchesters had helped David find his brother’s killer a few years back, he had insisted that he owed you a favour, should you ever need it. Sam and Dean didn’t bother taking the guy’s number, but you did. You were never sure you would ever actually need it, but you figured it didn’t hurt to have a few tricks up your sleeve should the time ever come. 

Heading nowhere in particular, you cranked up the volume of your radio and let the wind and the smell of gasoline sooth your worries as you drove into the sunset.

-FIN-

<= Chapter Six

Dean tags: @akshi8278​, @maniacproffesor​

Divider credit: @firefly-graphics

[unloved-cadillac]

Leather Jackets and Glasses

Y/n L/n, the leader of the notorious gang called The Scouts. Placed in Rose high, Y/n is in her senior year but things take a turn when she starts getting interested in a certain boy named, Levi Ackerman. Follow the journey of heartbreak, betrayal and love between two people who were destined to be together.   

CHAPTER ONE:

There’s always someone out there made for everyone. This is something i highly believe in. Every person has their person. A boy could have had this childhood friend, who later in life turned out to be more than that. The girl who kissed her best friend because she had never had her first kiss and wanted to get it over with, only for her best friend to pull her closer and kiss her harder. Everyone had that someone. it was only a matter of time before we all found them. But sometimes, its not always that easy. Things happen that are out of your control. You won’t speak to them for long periods of time, bad fights, leaving. And this almost always happens before you get together. That’s the bad part. But that’s the wake up call to tell you that “hey. I care for this person more than myself. I need them. I can’t loose them”.

I loved the idea of love. But I never spoke on it. It made me seem weak and soft and, that’s something i did not want a GANG to know. But i have had my fair share of boyfriends, no love just a quick fuck here and there but there was one boy who captured my heart without even trying. He did so effortlessly you would think he was the biggest player out there. But no. That was just who Levi Ackerman was. 

It all began in my senior year of high school. The year had just started and i had nothing to be afraid of. My gang, The Scouts, were the notorious gang of Rose. I was their leader, mostly because my father was the main leader of The Scouts. He was The Godfather. I’d like to say that I did fairly well in school, but not A plus material, I just wanted to graduate and get outta there. This year was mostly about forming new relationships, clearing the air to certain people, and just making amends. But some people also wanted to confess to their someone. I dont want to brag or anything, but i had a lot of people wanting to be with me. Boys would try their luck and i only gave a few chances to a few people, and well, it never turned out good, mostly because my dad found something wrong with them, wanted them to join the gang or they were too scared to take things further. 

I loved the gang. They were my family. And plus I could get anything I wanted. I was a princess. In my senior I made a promise to myself that I would not date. Anyone. No matter who much they begged. Because when I hit 17, my life in the gang became a whole lot dangerous. Shootouts would occur at my house, I would get kidnapped and sometimes they would use my friends to threaten me. It was horrible to say the least. And I could ony imagine what they would do if i had a special someone. God. I would not want my someone to have this life. As great as it is material wise, shit gets serious in a split second. My dad had warned me about it. He said that the only way i would get involved with someone is if he had picked them. And naturally i told him, i just wouldnt get a boyfriend, much to his displeasure. 

Of course, my school had heard about the little, mishaps my gang had endured and that resulted in me having this huge reputation in school. I was labelled as: dangerous. I’m not gonna lie to you and say that I didnt get into fights, or break some bitches nose because they offended me. I was still a gangster, fighting is in my blood. I got suspended. A lot. And apparently, that attracted Levi. 

I had seen him around town and school. He would always be in the cafe around the corner of Trost. I knew that because my brother owned that cafe. Marco had nothing to do with the gang. He wasn’t my father’s child so my dad wasn’t so concerned about him. He was from my mothers first marriage, but that never stopped us from being brother and sister. My mother left me after three years and went back to Marco’ father.

Levi was one of the smartest people at school. Always getting awards but he never seemed to go for the functions. He had kept to himself most of the time. He had his close friends. To name them there was Farlan(his brother), Isabel(Farlan’s girlfriend),Hange(the crazy science geek) and Erwin, the jock.

The first time I actually had spoken to Levi was in Physics. I was running late because I was caught up in beating someone up at the back of the school for reasons I shall not say. I ran into the classroom, out of breathe. Everyone looked at me. Some snickered but when I shot them a quick glare, they shut up.

-Ah Ms L/n. How nice of you to join us.

My professor told me, voice laced with sarcasm.

-uh..sorry. I was busy..lost track of time.

I explained. I winced all of a sudden when I looked at my knuckles. Bleeding. Of course. But I kept that hand behind my back.

-hm. Get to a seat.

He said a bit irritated. I walked away to find one and the only one that was available was the last one by the window. I sat down and realized that..I didn’t bring my books. I cursed myself then I turned to my left and saw a boy sitting there taking notes. He seemed really into his work though, but shit, I needed something to write on.

-hey.

I say to capture his attention. He stops writing and slowly looks towards me. He seems really...shy?

-can I borrow a page? And pencil?

I ask him. He widens his eyes and quickly tears a page from his book and digs in his pencil case for a pencil. He finds one and hands me the objects.

-thanks,man.

He simply nods, a faint blush forming on his cheeks but I couldn’t really see it because he put his head down and his long ass bangs hid most of his face. I take a second to observe him. A simple t-shirt, black jeans with converse and cute pair of glasses. His hair was sort of, jet black. I smirk. I knew him. He was one of those top students.

-alright. I’m gonna pass out your tests.

My professor suddenly says. “Fuck”, I mentally curse. I hated physics. I never got the gist of it. I only knew those Newton’s Laws. But I knew that wasn’t enough. He walks around passing papers and comes to me. He looks at my paper, fucking ‘scoffs’, and hands me my paper. A 57. That’s what I got. I didn’t think it was that bad, but this teacher is makingit seem as if the world had just caught on fire and its pissing me off. Looks like someone’s car is getting wrecked today.

-Levi, well done. Keep it up.

I hear him say to the boy. Ah. Levi. That was his name. I reach over and see his mark. 97. Goddamn. He was smart smart.

-a 97? Holy fuck. I could never.

I tell him. He looks at me, kinda stunned. I must admit, if he took off those glasses, it would be one of those scenes in those shitty teen movies where the nerd removes their glasses to reveal they look like a model. But he still looks cute. I looked at him tilting my head to the side.

-what?

I ask him. He shakes his head and looks back down. What a strange one. Suddenly I flinch and look at my bruised knuckles. Fuck they were bleeding. I pat down my pockets on my jeans and check my inside pocket of my leather jacket. How marvelous. I didn’t bring a handkerchief. So I just hold the bruise down to stop the bleeding. Maybe I can make it 45 minutes. All of a sudden I see a handkerchief next to my arm. I look at it, confused, but I take it anyway. I look at Levi. He has a smile, tiny smile. Yeah, he gave me it.

-Thank you.

I tell him. I saw him visibly tense but he looks at me and smiles. I felt...warm. What was this feeling? It’s weird. I have never experienced this before. I don’t know if I want to throw this feeling away or like it. But I promised myself that I wouldn’t get involved with anyone. I may be an asshole, but I would NEVER want anyone to join a gang. Especially my person.

Throughout the day I kept my eye on Levi. I don’t know why I did, but it was just something I found myself doing. The gang and I were chilling on the stands by the football field.

-Ugh! I just want school to finish already! I can’t take it anymore.

Eren says. He was fairly new to the gang, after I found him beating up a kid in an alleyway I recruited him. He’s super hyper and gets worked up easily so he was a good asset to us.

-and I can’t take you complaining anymore.

Jean shoots back. Jean and Eren almost never got along. But I kept them in line.

-both of you shut up.

My right hand woman says. Mikasa. She matched me in strength, but she never dared put me off. We all knew that Jean had a crush on Mikasa, but he never had the balls to say anything. I ignored them and kept my eyes on the boy on the first stand. He was with Hange and Isabel, I take it he was watching Erwin and Farlan train.

-what do you say, Y/n?

Eren asks me. I look at him after a while.

-say what?

I ask.

-you seem to be staring an awful lot lately. Who caught our oh so powerful leader’s eyes?

Eren hops down to where I’m sitting.

-shut up.

I tell him and look back at the field. Eren follows my eyes.

-oh is it Erwin? I’m not gonna lie, he is hot.

-Gay much, Eren?

Jean says as he sits next to me.

-fuck off, horse face.

I don’t care for their conversation and sneak glances at Levi. He seems to be quiet most of the time, since Isabel and Hange talk his ears off. I feel my pocket and I feel the handkerchief. I’m not giving it back. It’s mine now. I seem to be daydreaming again because Jean keeps talking to me.

-what do you want?

I ask him harshly.

-I just want to know if you’re going to homecoming next month.

I scoff and turn my face back to the field.

-of course I am. There’s a lot of things I want to ruin on that night. Oh and by the way guys, home time I want to key my physics teacher’s car. He’s been acting like a bitch and I want to teach him a lesson.

Jean and Eren scream,” HELL YEAH!”, and that caused some people to look at us. That good for that because I caught Levi’s attention. He turns and looks at me. I smile and wink at him. He widens his eyes and turns around. I love fucking around with him.

Hometime rolls in and we go out to the car park and look for my teacher’s car. Luckily, the son of a bitch didn’t park where the cameras were so I pull out my key and so did the others and run it down the bonnet of the car. I run it through the driver’s door moving it to the back. Mikasa took the boot and the boys took the roof and passenger side. After our masterpiece we heard:

-HEY YOU BRATS! STOP THAT.

My physics teacher yells. We look and laugh and made a run for it. We ran to our bikes and took off. Laughing. We drove past the gate and everyone was cheering for us as well. I saw Levi. I once again winked at him and rode away. “Maybe I should mess around with him. What could go wrong?”

Little did I know, a whole lot would go wrong.

Chapter Two

[let-me-write-shit]

Like We Used To: 16

A/N: I’m super excited for the next chapter! Enjoy, and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see in upcoming chapters. :) <3

[Click here for previous chapters]

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jet lag was beginning to hit Elizabeth pretty hard on Monday as she had found herself awake at 3 AM. Luckily because of the time difference it meant that her family and friends were awake. She had decided to facetime Matt and her family for a bit, updating them on the happenings before taking a shower. Since Harry was still sleeping, she used the hall bathroom to avoid waking him, and turned the hot water up as much as she could without burning her skin.

The steam rose to her face, instantly relaxing her as she thought about her two and a half days in LA so far. After leaving the first round of interviews with Harry, Elizabeth had met up with Mitch, Sarah, and Adam who were venturing the streets of downtown LA. No one had recognized them without Harry, so they were able to do a fair share of shopping and got to know Elizabeth a bit more. She felt confident in saying that Mitch and Sarah were going to be very close friends with her, and Adam was so funny and kind. You got a sense of family when you were around him.

Elizabeth was comfortable enough around Mitch to whine that he didn’t warn her about the songs Harry had been writing about her and her friends. She tried prodding him for more details, but he didn’t utter a single hint as to what it was all about. As annoying as that was, she had to commend his loyalty. At least he’d never leak anything to the press. He was a true friend.

She stayed with them for the rest of the day, realizing that she didn’t have a key to Harry’s house, until Harry was done with the interviews and prep for the day. He had picked her up from Sarah and Mitch’s hotel, before taking her back to his house where they made dinner together, watched a few movies, and ended the night with a bang. Luckily the only thing on the agenda for Harry and his band mates was a bit of studio time first thing, then they were free for the rest of the day.

By the time she had finished her shower the sun was finally rising. Elizabeth wrapped the towel around her body tightly as she sauntered back towards Harry’s room to grab her clothes. She was right outside the door when she thought she could hear voices from inside.

“Harry?” She called out, pushing the door open, “Are you awake?” As soon as the door opened she saw Harry sitting up in his bed, shirtless and on the phone. She mouthed a ‘sorry’, quietly heading towards her bag of clothes.

She heard a woman on the other end of the line say, “What was that? Do you have a girl with you? That’s just disgusting, why are you talking on the phone with me when you have a girl over?”

Elizabeth cringed at Harry, unsure of who he was talking to but positive that it was probably awkward. But Harry just laughed, “It’s Lizzy Miller.”

“Lizzy Miller? Who’s ….Wait, LIZZY? From school?”

Elizabeth stopped attempting to search for clothes and stared over at Harry, confused. Who the hell could he be talking to that knows her from her teenage years? Because she had just gotten off the phone with Celeste and Kate, so it couldn’t be them.

Harry chuckled at the caller's response, “Yes, that’s the one! She’s visiting me for the week.”

Elizabeth scoffed and the person on the phone continued to shout excitedly, which made it hard for her to make out what they were saying. Eventually Harry pulled the phone away and looked over at Elizabeth.

“It’s my mom. She wants me to tell you hello and that she misses you loads,” Harry said.

Elizabeth clapped her hands to her chest and melted, “Oh my gosh! I haven’t seen her in ages, how is she?”

She heard more excited muffles before Harry laughed into the phone and said, “Alright mom, I’ll ask her. Yes, I’ll let her know. Alright, I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” before hanging up and smiling, “She wants to have us over for dinner when we get back to England, and she says she won’t take no for an answer.”

Elizabeth giggled, turning back to her clothes, “I miss your mom, she’s always been so sweet.”

“I’m pretty sure she liked you more than me,” Harry laughed, watching Elizabeth pull on her clothes. 

Elizabeth slipped on her a-line green floral dress and paired it with a black belt around the waist, deciding to let her damp hair air dry. She crawled onto the bed and sat criss-crossed next to Harry. 

“Your mom adores you,” Elizabeth said. 

Harry paused for a moment, looking at Elizabeth with a growing smile. “I adore you,” he said admiringly, making Elizabeth blush before continuing, “You look beautiful today.”

Elizabeth grinned at him and crawled closer to him. Harry lifted his arm so that he could wrap it around her as she rested her head on his chest.

“Did you want to come to the studio with me today?”

Sarah frowned, “I’d love to, but I think I’m going to get ahead on some more work so I have more free time later.”

“In that case, can I take you out for dinner tonight? We haven’t had a real first date yet.”

Elizabeth thought for a second before answering, “Can I pick what we do?”

Harry chuckled, “Okay, how about this. I pick where we go to eat, because I know the restaurants around here, but you can pick whatever else we do.”

“Deal!”

Harry groaned, pulling Elizabeth into him as close as she possibly could, nuzzling his nose into her neck and kissing it lightly, “I don’t want to go! I just wanna stay here all day.”

The little kisses he gave on her neck started to tickle and she giggled, trying to squirm out of his grip which started a mini game of pillow fight. Eventually Harry had to get up and dressed before he was extremely late to the studio. 

Elizabeth decided to work outside today since it was such beautiful weather, but it was hard to focus on work knowing that she was in a different country, in Harry’s mansion, with a pool only six feet from her. The only time she set foot inside the house was to use the bathroom, or make herself some lunch, otherwise, her laptop was on her legs in the lounge chair, or she took conference calls while dipping her feet into the pool. Her skin even started to burn a bit from being out in the sun for so long.

Harry’s half-day studio time turned into an all-day session, which worked well in Elizabeth’s favor as it gave her more time to get half of the week’s work done. It was 6 PM by the time Harry got home, walking to the backyard to greet her.

“I’m so sorry we ran over time,” He apologized, “We were getting really deep into new songs and I wanted to start recording them.”

Elizabeth shut her laptop and smiled, “It’s okay, I was good here.”

Harry grinned, thankful that she wasn’t upset, “You ready for dinner?”

“Yeah, I’m just gonna throw on a bit of makeup first, if that’s okay? I won’t be long.”

Within fifteen minutes Elizabeth had some makeup on and Harry had changed into a new pair of clothes and they were out the door. The drive to the city was fun with a lot of dancing to his playlist before they eventually reached their destination at 71 Above, a sky lounge that stood so tall it overlooked the entire city. Elizabeth gawked at the view as they were seated at a semi-private table and were poured two glasses of wine, eventually having their orders taken. 

“Am I underdressed?” Elizabeth asked, self consciously.

Harry chuckled, taking a bite of his food, “No, you’re perfect.”

He talked about his day at the studio, telling her about how excited he was about this new album they were making. He was being pretty vague about the songs themselves, but did mention how it was mostly related towards family and friends with this album which made Elizabeth excited to hear it. Eventually they moved on to talking about his interviews the past two days and how a good 97% of the places he went to asked about the pictures they were caught in together. 

“Normally I’d be pretty upset about it. I don’t like to publicize any kind of relationship I’m in, whether it be romantic or friendly, but I don’t know,” Harry took a sip of his drink, “I’m more worried about how you feel about it.”

Elizabeth swallowed her food, “I just don’t want your publicist to lose her mind trying to control rumors. I mean we’re not dating….”

“She says as we’re on a date,” Harry said sarcastically, shoveling food into his mouth.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and laughed, “It’s not like I’m your girlfriend, so you’re not lying when you say you’re single, but it’s also not like I’m going to be swiping through tinder, either, because now I feel invested in seeing how things go with you.”

Harry smiled, taking in what she said before saying, “We talked about you at the studio today.”

She was about to put food into her mouth before he said that, and paused, mouth agape,  and furrowing her eyebrows. Finally she said, “What about?”

“Well it started with Mitch and Sarah going on about how they really liked you, and then Adam and Ny were giving me a hard time about how I kept referring to you as ‘a friend’, saying that they noticed some ‘not-so-casual’ looks at each other and all this other shit. Then it eventually turned into me telling them about how I liked you as more than a friend and that we were trying to see how things go….” he babbled on.

“So they know we’re not just friends?” Elizabeth asked, earning a hesitant nod from Harry. “Who all knows?”

Harry winced, unsure of how she’d react, “Jeffrey, Lisa, the band, the producer... everyone at the studio.”

Elizabeth sighed, closing her eyes for a second before looking over at him, “And what was their reaction?”

“They were fine! They don’t care if I date someone. Obviously Lisa thinks we just try to keep it as private as possible for our sake, but they all love you so they were fine!”

Elizabeth nodded, trying to hide a smile, “Okay. Well, I guess it’s good that I don’t have to watch what I say or do around them as much. Let’s just continue what we’re doing before we get too deep into this whole ‘relationship’ thing, then.”

Harry pursed his lips and nodded. She didn’t know why she was so set on taking things as slowly as possible with Harry. Elizabeth told herself that it was because she just got out of a very long and serious relationship and she didn’t want to screw it up, but in the back of her mind she knew that she was just scared. It’s been said a million times, but the fact that he’s famous does change a lot. They couldn’t just do normal relationship things. Not when he’s being watched practically 24/7. And it was hard not to compare herself to the other gorgeous girls he’s dated in the industry, people who know how to deal with fame and can relate to him better than she could. I mean his whole entire last album was basically about his love for his ex model girlfriend who broke his heart. How could she compare to a gorgeous French model?

“So how will we be continuing our date?” Harry asked.

Elizabeth smiled, “Oh, it’s a surprise. But it’s going to be a long night, so I hope you’re not too tired.”

KEEP READING

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 41)

Summary: Y/N Reyes lands on Earth with the rest of the 99 prisoners. Being one of the first people to come back “home” after 97 years of living in space, she learns what it’s like to finally live in this planet.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 1395 words

Warning: swearing

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

I knocked on the door to Bellamy’s room, hoping that I was able to catch him before the mission.

The door opens, revealing him without his shirt on. ‘Oh, hey. I was just getting changed before we head to the Farm Station.’

'Uhm, about that.’ I said hesitantly as Bellamy led me into his room. 'I was thinking of staying actually.’

'What made you change your mind?’ He asked curiously.

Jasper mentioned that he didn’t need any company but I felt as though deep down, he needed a friend. It was hard to let him be because couple of months ago, I was in the same predicament; I knew what he was going through.

Monty, Harper, Miller and Bryan responded to the radio saying that they were going to Farm Station so I thought they didn’t really need me anyway.

‘Thought I’d stay behind and catch up with Raven. She seems like she needed help with patching up the ship.’ I explained. ‘Also, I want to check up on Jasper too.’

While grabbing a new shirt, Bellamy looked at me. ‘I don’t think he needs a babysitter.’

‘I’m aware.’ It was hard to give an explanation as to why I was worried about Jasper, especially now; I didn’t think I had to tell Bellamy that I saw him with a gun. ‘I figured he needed company, that’s all.’

He appeared to be upset once again and I still couldn’t grasp the reason behind it. As Bellamy puts his shirt on, he started gearing up. ‘Okay, whatever.’

‘Is there something you need to tell me?’ It was so obvious that something was bothering him and I didn’t want him to go out on a mission like this.

‘I can ask you the same thing, Reyes.’ He said in an angry tone.

Biting my lip nervously, I tried to keep myself calm. It was hard not to yell at him back especially since he was being angry at me for no reason.

'You know, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.’ Bellamy ignored me and continued to pack his supplies for the trip.

'Here we go, back to square one.’ I said sarcastically. The both of us unable to open up to each other was the reason we fell off in the first place.

Before worsening my mood and possibly shouting at him, I headed to the door. As I exited his room, I added. 'Just be safe out there.’

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

'Maybe he thought it was a date.’ Raven joked while I helped her with the machines.

I shook my head from annoyance; I can’t believe Bellamy raised his voice like that without any explanation. 'I don’t know. One day he’s cute and wants to hold my hand. Now he’s so moody.’

Raven suddenly started laughing out of nowhere, leaving me confused. 'What’s so funny?’

She grinned, 'He’s sexually frustrated.’

'I’m glad you’re finding this funny while I’m stressed out.’ I let out a small chuckle as I watched my sister genuinely happy. It was nice to see her smile after what she have been through.

'Okay, okay. Sorry.’ She apologized as she continued to laugh. 'I’m not kidding though.’

'Well, after all we’ve been through together I just wish he would just talk to me no matter what the reason is.’

She slowly nodded, 'Yeah, I get it. You guys will be fine, I believe in you two.’

'Thanks.’ I smiled, 'Have you heard anything from Polis?’

'Not that I know of.’

Skikru might of mended things with Azgeda and Trikru, but it was obvious that we were the odd ones out. I worried about Marcus and Octavia everyday but I believed that they can do just fine.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Raven staring at me with a worried look, 'I’m sure Kane and Octavia are fine. The rest of our people too, of course.’

'Yeah, I’m sure too. I just can’t stop thinking about them.’

'I’m glad you found a friend.’ Raven blurted. 'After what happened with Finn and Murphy not being around anymore, I’m happy you have someone you can lean on.’

'She’s helped me through a lot. I just wish I was there for her now like she was with me.’ Octavia had enough anger in her that she killed Pike. I can’t imagine the pain she’s going through and not having anyone by her side.

Clarke walked in the garage, as if she was looking for someone. Raven took one look at her and spoke, 'Hey, I’m tired of not having enough people to work on the ship.’

'Sorry, there’s nothing I can do about it.’

'Yes there is. Tell everyone about the radiat-’

She whispered at Raven as she cut her sentence. 'Keep your voice down.’

'I wouldn’t have to if everyone knew the truth, which they have the right to know.’

'So we can create chaos? Not a chance.’

'Isn’t this what got your dad killed, Clarke?’ Raven said as she crossed her arms.

Clarke stared angrily at Raven before she stormed away out of the garage.

'Do you want me to do something else to help with the ship?’ She was working really hard to make this ship habitable for Primfaya, I knew she needed more help else where.

'No, this is a two-man job so I need you anyway.’ She continued to work on the machine for the ship, 'She’s underestimating everyone here. I don’t understand why she won’t give them a choice for what they want to do.’

'Maybe she has something planned for us.’

Raven let out a sarcastic laugh, 'Whatever plan she has, it’s not going to be good as always.’

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Jasper, Raven and I sat together as we ate our dinner. Chugging on his third cup of moonshine, Jasper chuckled. 'You guys are making it a big deal. What’s so bad about the end of the world?’

'For starters, it’s the end of the fucking world.’ Raven jested, 'It’s kind of scary to think about.’

'Not if you just accept the fact that it’s over.’ Jasper smirked but I can tell he wasn’t kidding when he said that.

'It’s sad too. I don’t want it to be over already.’ I said as I finished my plate.

Jasper stood up and shook his empty cup. 'Instead of thinking too much into it, just live life to the fullest. We deserve that before it’s all over.’

Raven then tapped my elbow as I watched Jasper walking away to get a refill for moonshine. 'Don’t look but Bellamy’s coming.’

My eyes widened and subconsciously, I grabbed my spoon. Then I started tapping my plate with it, trying to play it off as if I wasn’t bothered by anything.

'Real smooth Y/N.’ My sister giggled and stood up as she picked up our plates to clean up. 'I’ll leave you guys to it.’

With nothing else to distract me, I started fiddling with my fingers. Then I felt presence next to me, 'Hey.’

Bellamy sat in front of me, noticing that I wasn’t making eye contact with him. As I ignored his greeting, he continued to speak. 'I deserve that... Reyes, I’m sorry about this morning.’

'Okay.’ Was all I said as I continued to stare at my hands as if it was the most entertaining thing in the world.

'While retrieving the generator, we ran into Ice Nation and it made me notice how we didn’t have a proper goodbye like we should’ve.’

'Well, I tried. You’re the one shutting these walls on me, Blake.’

He sighed, 'I know, I know and I’m sorry. Which is why I realized I should’ve told you why I was upset.’

'So? Tell me why.’

Bellamy bit his lips, hesitating and looked down on the table. He started fidgeting, perhaps he was trying to back out again last minute.

'You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’ As much as I wanted to help him, he didn’t have to force himself to do anything. 'I was only mad because you took out your anger at me.’

'I know but I realized keeping this bottled up doesn’t solve anything.’

Smiling to reassure him, I held his hands. 'I’m glad that you want to open up with me. Just know that I’m always here to talk no matter what it is.’

[virgiliananxiety]

The Dark and the Light

GUYS I FINALLY GET TO POST THIS

This is the first chapter for my fic for the @sanderssidesbang! It will update approximately every two weeks, but updates won’t start for at least another three weeks (I really need a break from this fic). Pairings: Eventual Prinxiety

Word Count: 6.2k 

Warnings: Mild violence and non-graphic gore, panic attack

Read it on AO3

This was really not how Virgil had planned on his evening going.

First off, the date he had been on was actually going pretty well. The guy was nice, and seemed kind of into the whole “dark and mysterious” aesthetic. That was, probably, until Virgil got a text with his latest assignment. Which started in five minutes.

Secondly, once he reached the location, a small concrete warehouse, which housed the head personnel of Deceit’s main rival drug ring, there were...complications. The mission was simple, go in, get the information he needed, slit the throats of whoever saw him, and get out.

Complications came in the form of the little asshole who saw him not being too cocky to call for backup.

“Deceit?” He snarled in response to the chatter in his earpiece. He was hidden in the shadows behind a crate, but by this point, the shadows were starting to fill the room. “What do you want?”

“Anxiety, dear,” Fuck, one of them is right there. “It’s come to light that some of our intel on this base was a little...off,” No shit. Left hook, hit him with a few more shadows, dart to the neck. Why the fuck did he have to scream? Think, Virgil, think! “It turns out that there are about fifty guards on the premises, and from what I’m seeing of traffic patterns, more are on their way.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Footsteps, there were more coming. But suddenly, the room went completely black. Not shadows black, that would take up too much of Virgil’s energy, but the pitch darkness was–

“Unfortunately,  I am not. Though I did shut off their power,” That would explain it. “Which should buy you a little extra time. So I would get that information and get out quick, if I were you.”

Of course, because it was fucking Deceit, he still needed to get the information. Great.

Looking down at the map on his wristband, the exit from the main storage room was only about 35 feet away. But in that 35 feet, there were seven sentries. Just fucking dandy.

The first was, well, an idiot. They charged blindly, and Virgil blocked their throws easily, flipping them over his knee. The second was more tactful, parrying as he jabbed. Their dance lasted for a while, the preamble to each move hidden in the darkness, before Virgil finally stabbed a tranquilizer into their neck.

The third was fast, but not fast enough. The fourth fell after an elbow to the solar plexus, and the fifth slashed Virgil with a jagged blade before he knocked them down. Shit, that might be deep. No time to think about it, and he hit the sixth, but they swept a leg behind him, knocking him clean off of his feet. He landed on his side. Hard. Shadows in their mouth, down to the lungs, and...release as they let out their last breath. Dammit, Virgil, why’d you have to follow that instinct? The power flickered back on, and Virgil hit the seventh with a quick dart to the neck, now that he could finally see. He could feel through his shadows, but that didn’t mean he could see in the dark.

Third left, up the stairs, override the lock, down the hall to the main hard drive. And he ran, long midnight purple jacket trailing behind him as he jumped up the stairs. In the distance more footsteps trailed behind him, but he cloaked himself in shadows, keeping close to the walls. Pressing the device Logan had given him (though he’d modified it for more...sinister usage) against the lock, Virgil took stock of his injuries. Cut in the crook between his left shoulder and neck, scrapes and bruises lining his sides, and even through his gloves he could feel his knuckles splitting. Again.

The unlocking mechanism gave a satisfied click, and Virgil shouldered the door open, reminding himself of the additional bruise he had there. He broke into a sprint again, the servers were finally in view.

But because Virgil wasn’t planning on downloading anything remotely tonight, his software wasn’t activated. So, he had to call his roommate.

“Hey, Roman?”

“What’s up Virgil? You need me to pick you up from somewhere?” It was a well know fact that Roman was the only one in their friend group with a car.

“No, I’m good. Is Logan there?” Virgil and Logan were supposed to meet up for post date (over) analysis about seven minutes ago. Logan was never late.

“Yeah, one sec.” There was a rustling as Roman’s cell was passed from one side of the room to the other, where Logan was, most likely, parked in his customary spot in Virgil’s desk chair.

“Hey, Lo, I’m really sorry I’m running late.”  He heard a huff from the other side of the line, but knew that Logan didn’t really mind. “But I need you to do something on my computer.”

“Is this a simple request? Or one that would require a seperate... technological interfacing?” Virgil could practically see him skeptically eyeing Roman from across the room. Virgil was the only one that Logan had ever told about his powers, how he was able to interface with most technology, and how that allowed him to develop some inventions of his own.

“Simple. I just need you to log in, and press activate on the window that’ll pop up.” He heard the keyboard clicking as Logan typed in his password, and then a mouse click as he activated the software, punctuated by the affirmative beep from Virgil’s wristband. DOWNLOADING FILES: 3% COMPLETE.

“What do you need remote downloading for?” Logan asked, seemingly trying to pass the time. 16% COMPLETE.

“Oh, I had to stop at the library and get a book, but I didn’t feel like getting a thumb drive out.” He felt bad lying to his best friend, but he knew that if Logan found out, it would result in a) Logan trying to get Virgil to stop, and ending up captured or killed by Deceit, b) Logan trying to help Virgil, and ending up captured and used by Deceit, or c) Logan trying to get Virgil out of his predicament, and ending up captured or killed by Deceit.

What was his predicament, exactly? Well, that traces back a long way, through many past traumas, foster homes, packed bags, and escape attempts. Back to when a man with scales on his face told a scared 14 year old boy that he could take him in and make the shadows stop. But that man ended up not being so nice, and now Virgil was trapped.

Footsteps broke through Virgil’s thoughts, but they were far off. 47% COMPLETE. “Logan, I’ve gotta go, I’ll talk to you later.” He ended the call, cutting off his friend’s goodbye, which he was surely going to hear about later.

He scanned his map, and found that there was only one other way out, straight up through an abandoned elevator shaft. Clambering onto one of the server towers, he hunched in the dark as the first hostile entered.

“I don’t see anything here,” they said into a crackling walkie-talkie. Virgil took another slow step, but the circuit below him creaked. Shit. “Wait, hold that thought.” 89% COMPLETE.

“Fuck it,” Virgil cursed under his breath, and broke into a sprint, his feet pounding against the metal. He heard the sentry yell something into his comm system, and Virgil fired a dart messily over his shoulder, he didn’t have the energy for more shadows.

93% COMPLETE. He raced to the end of the room. 94% COMPLETE. More guards charged into the room. 95% COMPLETE. Bullets whizzed past him, one passing only a few inches from his temple. 96% COMPLETE.  He skidded to a stop as he reached the end of the room, a large piece of plywood blocking his exit. 97% COMPLETE.  The running footsteps were coming closer, and Virgil traced the outline of the board with his fingers. 98% COMPLETE. He attempted to pry the plank from the wall, but couldn’t find an opening. 99% COMPLETE. He felt another bullet scrape by him, and it went straight through the plywood, which meant it was thin enough to be broken through.

“Fuck it,” he muttered, and body slammed through the opening, bursting through in a hurricane of splinters.

“Download complete.” An automated voice sounded from his wristband. Well thank god it’s complete, lest I die falling with an incomplete download.

Virgil fired a grappling hook, and pulled himself up onto the roof, surveying the city below him. The lights were beautiful at this time of night, and the lit windows framed by dark buildings looked like the stars.

But he couldn’t stand there for long, for the night wasn’t over yet.

Roman hadn't had an extremely clear vision of how his night would go, but this was definitely not it.

"There are only eight planets! Pluto is essentially a glorified moon!" He practically yelled. He had progressively grown closer to the other man, and they were now a mear couple of feet from each other.

“Falsehood! There’s a current debate discussing the redefinition of ‘planet’, which would make your every argument null and void, and Pluto securely in planetary status.” Logan crossed his arms, nudging his glasses further up his nose. “In other words, Viva la Pluto, and fuck you.” He raised an eyebrow smugly, and Roman opened his mouth to retort.

“Hey, guys,” Virgil stumbled through the entrance to the dorm, clutching his left side. “I hope I’m not too late for some spicy space symposium.” He smirked, but winced in pain.

“Yeah, you’re not participating in anything right now.” Roman walked over and clutched Virgil’s shoulders, lowering him to the bed. “I think you just need some rest,” He motioned for Logan to dim the lights, and he reached over and turned on Virgil’s desk lamp. “And we’ll have you all set by morning to talk about Pluto.”

“M’kay,” Virgil murmured, allowing Roman to shrug off his sweater, and Roman winced at the open gash in his shoulder. He didn’t know what was going on, but this was at least the fourth time Virgil had come home banged up like this, and it was starting to seriously concern his roommate. “‘M gonna sleep now.”

“Okay.” Roman took a last look at Virgil’s already sleeping form and went to go grab his medical supplies. His nursing-theater double major had few perks, but being able to patch up his friends at any time was something that he cherished. Especially after Virgil had said “no hospitals”.

Roman returned from his desk to see Logan hunched over his friend, worry painting his features. As much as the other man tried to uphold his apathetic facade, Roman had seen several cracks throughout the years, several being caused by Virgil.

“Logan, can you stroke his hair to keep him calm while I look at this cut? It may be deep and need stitches.” Logan nodded, and Roman took a look and the cut. It definitely needed stitches, which meant that Roman would have to make a quick run to the nursing lab. “Ok, Xavier, you keep him here. If he wakes up, give him water, half a protein bar, and then back to sleep. Find his phone in whatever pocket it’s in, and confiscate it. He needs to rest.” He grabbed his jacket, and broke off into a sprint to get more supplies.

Several hours and seven stitches later, Roman fell back onto his bed. Logan had left only a few minutes ago, but now Roman was alone, trying to shut down his mind. But truly, how could he when his crus–roommate was lying there with a gash in his shoulder and bruises lining his body. When the boy who put on makeup every morning to cover the bags under his eyes had come home beaten and battered once a week for the past three months, but this time was the only time that he’d let Roman take care of him.

Though Logan had assured Roman that Virgil wasn’t in an abusive relationship, he couldn’t help but jump to that conclusion. He couldn’t help but remember his mom’s screams in the middle of the night. Images of dents in plaster and bloodied tissues clogged his mind, and he felt himself grabbing a piece of blanket and balling it in his fist.

It would be fine. They, being Logan, Roman, and Patton, would ask Virgil what was going on tomorrow morning. Tonight, though, Roman just really needed to get some sleep.

“What the fu–” Virgil awoke with a start as someone shook his shoulder. He sat up and immediately regretted it, groaning as pain shot up his side and into his shoulder.

“Hey, kiddo, glad to see you’re awake.” Virgil turned to see his three closest friends standing over him. Patton gave him a small smile, but there was visible concern overtaking all three of them. Judging by the bandages on his shoulder, and the fact that he was wearing a clean hoodie, they were going to ask him what happened last night.

“Virgil, you know that we only want to best for you, right?” Logan asked.

“What is this, an intervention?” Virgil murmured. What the hell was he going to tell them? That he could control shadows and drain people’s life energy by being in physical contact with them for too long? Yeah, that really wasn’t going to work.

“No, but we do need to know why the hell I needed to put seven stitches in you last night.” Virgil looked up to see Roman leaning against the wall, and he seemed almost...hurt? Jesus, the last thing Virgil wanted to do was hurt the man he was in love wi–his roommate. This was no time for intrusive gay thoughts.

“I–I fell?” He tried to keep his his tone level, but it ended up coming out as more of a question. In response, Roman slammed his fist against the wall.

“Onto a fucking knife?” He exclaimed, and the hurt in his voice turned to anger. Patton placed a soft hand onto his arm, but Roman shook it off as he stepped forward. “You came stumbling back here, an hour late for your and Logan’s post-date. You were delirious from pain, and I had to go to the fucking storage in the lab to get shit to stitch you up, and we’re extremely lucky Terrence was there last night. I’ve seen the missing medical supplies in my kit for months, Virgil, so for the last time, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” He raised his voice to a yell at the end, causing Virgil to wince back.

“Roman!” Patton turned on his Dad Voice, and sternly turned on the other man. “I understand that you are upset, but you have no right to jump on Virgil like this!”

“Look, it’s my fault.” Virgil murmured, and felt the pit in his stomach from lying grow a bit more. “I didn’t want to tell you guys this, but after dates I’ve been walking through...some of the less accepting neighborhoods. Looking for fights, or to get beat up.” It felt awful to lie to them, but truly, what choice did he have? “I guess it’s a form of self sabotage, or something.”

“Jesus, Virge.” Roman stepped closer, this time to plop down next to him on the bed and place a comforting hand on his thigh. Which sent more tingles through Virgil than he would willingly admit. “I’m so sorry. Please, in the future, call me, I’ll pick you up from wherever, whenever.”

“It’s my fault. I’ll try not to do it as much,” Or rather, he would hide it better.

“Or at all.” Patton lovingly rubbed his back, leaning into his side. And Virgil felt like literal human garbage.

Roman had always loved the snow. But that was before he had to fight some guy who wore all dark and conjured shadows in it.

He hurled another branch at the guy, dubbed by the papers “Anxiety”, catching him in the side. He didn’t want to hurt the guy, but on the other hand, he...really wanted to hurt this guy. Or at least do equivalent damage to what had been done to his pride.

Before this, Roman had been a freelance hero, or at least your friendly neighborhood super-strengthened and bulletproof man. He was able to rescue kids from doing dumb shit, stop a couple of drug deals from going down, that kind of thing. But that was before some dumb asshole in an annoying cool jacket starting fucking with him.

At the start, it was just interfering with his anti-drug operations. But then it became active antagonization, ruining everything Roman tried to help. And when the person didn’t fight with bullets, only really bad lighting, it became an issue.

“You didn’t have to kill the people in this ring!” Roman shouted as he circled around his emo enemy. “You could have just given them to the actual justice system!”

“If you knew anything about me,” A shadow swept towards Roman, curling around his neck and slightly infiltrating his mask. “You’d know,” he motioned a hand upwards, and Roman found himself having trouble breathing, “I couldn’t do that.” Roman tried to run after him, but in a rush of darkness, Anxiety ran off through the night.

“Virgil, dear, it’s been a while since you’ve been down here. What’s the occasion?” Deceit didn’t even bother to look up from his table, writing down some formula or another.

“I need to see Elliott about the new tech and get patched up. I would go to their place, but they said they’re here?” After coming out as non-binary, the hyper-intelligent and slightly emo kid had found themself homeless, and went through the same Deceit process Virgil did. Except after much negotiation, they were paid, and so they lived in a small studio apartment in the part of town where no one asked questions, only using Deceit’s lab when absolutely necessary.

“And here I thought you’d come to see your dear old ferocious father figure.” Deceit drawled, turning around and gesturing towards the staircase at the far end of the room. “He’s downstairs, and make sure you’re good as new before coming up.”

Virgil backed towards the stairs, having known Deceit long enough to not leave his back unwatched. He finally turned to walk down the stairs, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds, and hearing a soft laugh emit from the other man.

“Hey, Ell, what’s going on?” Elliott was positioned at a microscope, and something was heating up on the bunsen burner next to it. They held up one finger, and wagged it towards a bench, motioning for him to sit. Virgil shouldered off his jacket, wincing as he touched bruised skin. Pulling up his shirt, he did a preliminary assessment, but there were just scrapes and bruises. He also needed a little energy boost, because the guy was seemingly impermeable, making Virgil’s job a bit harder.

“Ok. I’m done here. What’s it this time?” Elliott stripped off his gloves, grabbing his rather eccentric med kit off a shelf.

“Asshole threw a tree at me.” Virgil grumbled as they took a closer look. “Just slather it with your magic ointment shit and let me go.”

“No, dickhead, there’s to big of a surface area, and it’s too close to your intestines because you have a zero percent body fat.” Elliott grabbed a tube, and started applying small amounts to the already scabbing area. “This might sting a bit, start talking to distract you from it.”

“How’s...Mitchell doing?” Virgil emphasized the syllables of Elliott’s boyfriend with a particular hatred. “Any new assholic behaviors I should know about?” They rolled their eyes, starting to strap a bandage onto Virgil’s side.

“He’s fine, and we’re fine. I started seeing this new therapist, too.” They finished the bandage, and whatever that cream was really started to sting.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Dr. Picani.” Elliott nodded, smiling, they seemed to actually like this one. Unlike the last guy, who was, to say the least, a transphobic asshole. Virgil didn’t like to waste innocent lives, but there was a special place on his knife for those who hurt the one he considered a little sibling. “His methods are...unorthodox, but I think it’s going to work well.”

“And how does your boyfriend feel about you seeing him?” Virgil asked, eyebrows pinched in concern. Elliott shrunk back, though slightly, and grabbed another product to help with the bruises.

“It doesn’t matter.” That place on his knife? Mitchell was starting to qualify. “Speaking of love lives, though, how’s it with you-know-who?” They raised an eyebrow, slightly wiggling their shoulders.

“Fuck you,” Virgil lightly punched them in the shoulder, but couldn’t help the blushing grin from his face. “He’s extra, beautiful, strong as hell, and the other day he was singing to himself while he got ready. His voice is just incredible, I can’t believe that I live with an angel.” He stopped himself, meeting Elliott’s eyes and their knowing look. “And also, incredibly out of my league.”

“You’re wrong, but that’s something for another time.” Elliott stepped back, allowing Virgil’s shirt to fall over his injuries. “Those should only take a few hours to heal up, bounce coffee shops until the bandage adhesive starts to crust and loosen. Then you should be good to go home, but make sure to use the lotion I gave you every day to keep your skin okay. I just have one more thing, but I think we should talk as we walk, I need to get home.” They glanced over to the corner where they and Virgil had discovered the bug placed by Deceit. It wasn’t always running, but they had no way of knowing when it was.

“Okay,” Virgil grabbed his bag, trading his long coat for a hoodie, “Let’s go, then.”

They sat at a bus stop, waiting for a bus to pull up for Elliott. The wind blew Virgil’s purple streaked hair over to the other side, causing his companion to smirk. He watched as they fiddled with the hem of their skirt, obviously nervous for whatever they had to tell Virgil.

“I had a breakthrough.” Elliott jerked their head up to meet Virgil’s eyes, and stammered on despite his incredulous gaze. “On the fear toxin-esque chemical? Y’know the one he’s been forcing me to make?”

“Shit.” Was the most eloquent thing Virgil could muster.

“I haven’t tested it on humans, but the chemicals should act, when inhaled, as an extreme anxiety amplifier.” They looked so small, and so scared. Elliot had once said that their brain would be the death of them one day, and by their current state, Virgil couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t be. “Virgil, this thing that I’ve created, it could cause panic attacks that paralyze people. I–I don’t want him to have it.” At the last part their voice dropped to a whisper, and tears started to track down their face. Elliott sniffed and rubbed their cheeks, not looking up to meet Virgil’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Hey, hey,” Virgil crouched in front of them. “Breathe. I’ll figure something out, I promise. Just keep breathing.” They took a shuddering breath, matching Virgil’s strokes on their hand. “It’s okay. Just go home, hug your sister, and take a shower. It’ll be okay.” And as much as he wanted to believe that, Virgil didn’t know if he could.

Roman burst the door to his dorm open, expecting the apartment to as empty as he left it. Instead, he was confronted with his purple haired roommate. Shirtless. From the back, he was all lean muscle and sticking out shoulder blades, the curve of his hips falling into his perfectly shaped–

“Roman?” Virgil turned, pausing the toweling of his hair. Roman ripped his eyes up to Virgil’s (only after a glance at his abs, Roman could appreciate art), and nervously scratched his neck. “I wasn’t expecting you to come home this late.”

“Ditto, dude.” Look anywhere but him, you gay motherfucker, anywhere but him. “You’ve been like a ghost the past couple weeks.” It was true, they’d barely seen each other except for studying and occasional ramen breaks since Thanksgiving.

“Yeah, that’s my bad, I’ve been working on a film project that’s mostly being shot at night.” Virgil explained, pulling on a hoodie. Roman walked over to his bed, dropping down and kicking off his shoes. “What’s your excuse, Mr. Double Major?”

“Well, my fucking double major,” Roman laid back onto his pillow, relaxing a bit for the first time that day. “But also, trying to think of a Secret Santa gift for Logan?”

“Oh, that’s a toughie. I got Patton, and I have no ideas, ugh.” Virgil sighed into his hands, plopping cross legged onto his bed. He stuck out a lip, blowing the bangs out of his faces, which was far more endearing than Roman would ever admit.

“But then of course there’s finals,” Roman pulled out his laptop, opening the study spreadsheet that Logan had helped him make. When they had been roommates Roman’s freshman year, the tension and hatred between the two would take a knife to cut. But over time, new friends, growth, and two “frienterventions” (the name was Patton’s idea), they had overcome their differences.

“Oh god, don’t remind me,” Virgil stretched up, his hoodie riding up above his hips, and Roman found himself staring. Not at his body, but rather the faded purple bruises that adorned his hips. Virgil’s eyes narrowed in confusion, but after following Roman’s eyes, he dropped his arms, pulling his sweatshirt over his hips.

“Virgil–” Roman started to reach out, only to be cut off by the other man.

“I need to go shower.” He all but sprinted out of the dorm room, leaving Roman to fall back onto his bed, a million thoughts racing through his mind. And not a single one was good.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. He saw the bruises, even though Virgil had been so careful. He’d been so careful for two months not to come home if he was too beaten up, he’d been so careful to slather on Elliot’s cream whenever he could. He’d been so fucking careful, and yet Roman had still seen the marks.

He threw his towel over a hook, stripping down and turning the shower up as hot as it could go. It burned his skin, but he deserved it, deserved to have all his flesh stripped from his body for hurting him. Deserved to feel the ache on his sides turn to a roaring fire as he pressed inwards, curling into himself. Deserved to feel the hard force of metal on his back as he slammed into the wall of the shower stall, doing his best to breathe as the tears fell, but the oxygen was catching in his throat, and he couldn’t force it down. He stood there for a few minutes, and felt shadows start to envelope him, holding, comforting.

Slowly, he turned the water down, his energy drained from the tight spiral of shadows that still curled around his body.

“Virgil?” Logan’s voice filtered through the steam. Virgil heard the “shink” of the outer shower curtain opening and a muffled “What the hell?”

He turned, trying to collect his racing thoughts. “Logan, what the fuck are you doing?” Virgil thickened this shadows around his body, and he felt the energy leave his body. Logan pushed through the last curtain, a look of pure shock coming over his features. “This isn’t gay fanfiction, you can’t just waltz in here.”

“Well, at least explain all of this.” Logan asked, waving his hand through the lingering shadows. “Is it–is it some sort of concentrated element? It’s fascinating.”

“What? Okay, no, that isn’t–they’re shadows, Logan.” Virgil clenched and unclenched his fist. “Will you please let me put on some damn clothes?”

“Fine. But you are going to explain everything to me as soon as you’re done.” Logan crossed his arms, and Virgil wrapped a towel around himself, the shadows finally dissipating as he exhaled. “Seriously, though, how does it work? Do you conjure them, what the range on it–”

“LOGAN!” Virgil yelled, more forcefully than he intended. “I just had a fucking panic attack because Roman saw the bruises and found out I’ve been lying to him for months. Also, yes, I can manipulate shadows, it’s a sort of dark mattered energy that I’m not exactly certain how works.” Logan just stared at him, eyes wide in front of Virgil’s outburst. “It’s the reason that I kept running away from the homes, until I was fourteen and a fucking criminal mastermind or whatever you want to call him picked me up off the goddamn street.” He could feel the words slurring as he worked himself up, but he needed to tell someone, even if it was just shouting it at his best friend. “You know that guy, the one the news has dubbed ‘Anxiety’? That’s fucking me. I’ve been doing this shit for nine. Fucking. Years. And I’m trapped, and the only thing I can do is keep working for him, keep killing and stealing and breaking for him. I have to keep doing this because if I don’t, he’ll torture and kill everyone I love, and make me watch. I’m so scared, Logan. I’m so fucking scared that I can’t breathe sometimes.” His voice cracked on the last words, and a sob finally escaped his body. Logan reached out, but all Virgil could do was push him away, throw on his clothes, and escape into the starless night.

“Hello?” Phone calls from unknown numbers were something most people were accustomed to, but Elliott didn’t get four in a row from the same number at 1:37 in the morning most nights. Well, five, counting this one.

“Hello. I am attempting to reach Elliott?” They weren’t sure what was going on, but the person on the other side sounded panicked, so they sat up and closed their laptop.

“Yeah, that’s me. What do you need?” Elliot replied, and a heavy exhale came through the phone speakers.

“I’m Logan Xavier, and I’m trying to find Virgil Sanders.” As soon as they heard the words, something clicked inside Elliott. Virgil’s best friend Logan, who appeared to have been affected by the same injections that Elliott and Virgil had, and that his powers were interfacing with technology. How Logan didn’t know about their mutual friend’s shadows, and how Elliott was saved in a private section of Virgil’s computer and phone that could only be accessed if you knew where to look. Or, they guessed, if your brain could automatically hack any system you touched.

“He told you?”

“Yes.” Logan paused, and the weight of his words settled on Elliott’s shoulders. “And now he’s gone. I’ve looked everywhere, and you’re the only one in his contacts I don’t recognize.”

“Yeah,” Elliot threw on a pair of jeans and ran a hand through their hair. “Give me two hours, I can find him.” Logan let out a relieved sigh as Elliott pulled their jacket off its hook. “Oh, and Logan?”

“Yeah?”

“Just let me talk to him, okay? I know where to look, and I know what to do.” They could practically feel the older man opening his mouth to interject. “As good as you are for Virgil in a lot of situations, this isn’t one of them.”

“I understand. Thank you, Elliott. Goodbye.” The line went dead, and Elliott opened their door, stepping out into the city at night.

“You know, sitting on the roof of an abandoned building at 2:30 in the morning kind of marks you as emo.” Virgil looked up from his stare at the tops of surrounding buildings to see Elliott climbing up the last rungs of the access ladder.

“And you joining me kind of marks you as one too.” He responded, smirking through his chapped lips and smudged makeup. “How did you know to look for me?”

“Logan called.” Virgil felt the smirk fall off his face as he turned back to the streets below him. “And we don’t have to talk about him.” He heard footsteps come closer as they neared the ledge he was perched on. “Just scooch over.”

“Well, how did you know where to find me?” Virgil couldn’t help but lean into his friend as he stared at the cars passing by.

“There’s trackers embedded in all your coats, and this was the third abandoned rooftop I checked.” Elliott chuckled under their breath. “Pigeons are much less impressed with my witty one-liners.”

“I have to keep them somewhere, and there’s a lot of abandoned rooftops in this city.” Virgil said in half-hearted protest. The coats were good, they had everything he’d ever needed on a job. And the fabric was warm and comforting, an he didn’t have the energy for any more shadows to blanket himself with.

Elliott leaned back, raising both hands in mock submission. “I wasn’t judging, just observing.”

“Well, they are made by a master of all seam work.” Virgil laughed, a real smile finally adorning his face.

“You flatter me, V.” They joined in his laughter, and Virgil cracked a few more jokes, letting the conversation flow into the night, the sounds of the city drowned out by the sounds of their happiness.

By 3:26, Roman had completely given up on sleep.

After Logan had left around 1:15 with Virgil’s contacts on his phone, Roman knew the night would be long. He’d poured a cup of tea, and cracked opened his textbook, attempt to read about possible respiratory issues in postanesthesia care unit.

By 1:43, Roman had completely given up on studying.

He opened his laptop, a fresh face mask applied to his skin. It was going to be a long night, so he figured that a little bit of Riverdale couldn’t hurt. As it turns out, after watching an episode and a half in his bed, Roman didn’t really care about who was a Southside Serpent and who kissed who. So, naturally, he decided to go to sleep.

That had clearly not panned out.

So that’s how he’d ended up at here, at 3:26, scrolling through his music library to find something to soothe his ever-heightening nerves. He clicked on a random Spotify mix, and opening guitar chords filtered from his speakers, Rihanna’s voice resounding through his speakers.

I think I’ve had enough.

I might get a little drunk.

Roman smiled, and for some reason the song reminded him of others. He started queuing up what he needed, slowly beginning to sing along to the woman he hailed as a queen.

Cause all of my kindness,

Is taken taken for weakness.

He laid back onto his bed, closing his eyes and losing himself for a moment. For a moment, every thought of Virgil, every thought of the purple clad villain almost constantly plaguing his thoughts, every thought about his classes and his upcoming show, they all dissipated. For a moment, he was lost in the beats and instrumentals and melodies. For a moment, he was lost and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be found.

But that moment was shattered as a very tired looking, beaten up Virgil stumbled through the door. He looked up with surprised as he saw Roman was still awake, and fumbled to pull off his headphones.

Roman stood up, his instinct telling him go to him, comfort him, before the events of earlier came crashing down onto his shoulders. He pulled back, giving Virgil some space, and ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“Virgil, I’m sorry about earlier. I overstepped my bounds, it was really uncool of me. I just want to apolo–”

“Roman, stop,” Virgil cut him off, his voice firm and low. Roman looked up at him, and watched a tense, forced smile plaster itself on his friend’s face. “Please. Can we just, can we just talk about this sometime else? I can’t–I can’t really talk about it right now.” He moved to sit on his bed, shedding his long coat and headphones. “Oh, is this that album you wanted me to listen to?”

Roman had completely forgotten the music that was still playing, and he tuned in to hear the first chorus of a song he’d been begging Virgil to listen to for months. Deciding to let the subject change, he switched his queue to the rest of the album, leaning back on his bed once more.

He wanted to say something, to comfort Virgil, but every time he opened his mouth the words died in his throat. There was nothing he could say, nothing he could do. There were his powers, of course, but how could he use them to protect Virgil when he didn’t know who was hurting him? If he asked, he could end up in a state like tonight, or worse. There was just no right thing to say or do, and Roman turned the thought over and over in his mind until a restless sleep finally claimed him.

[bruciewayne]

it’s not about deserve (1/?)

established winteriron, developing stuckony, light angst, pining, 1.7k, multi-chaptered

ao3

Tony and Bucky were happy together, Steve wasn’t going to come between that, regardless of his feelings towards both of them. So he leaves.

But Bucky and Tony have feelings for him too.

Steve was happy for them, he was, he was! He just…no! He repriminded himself, he refused to even think about it. They were happy together, they loved each other and they deserved each other.

Both of them deserved love and peace, after Tony’s trainwreck of a relationship with Pepper and the endless betrayal and neglect from the people who ‘loved’ him and every damn thing Hydra forced into Bucky’s head, it made him irrationally angry but further proved to him how much they needed this and each other.

The last thing he was going to do was come between them, regardless of his feelings, he can't and he won’t.

When Tony and Bucky eventually announced that they were dating it never really came to a surprise to anybody. They had been spending more and more time together in Tony's workshop - initially just fixing Bucky's arm and helping him maintain it but after a while they (begrudgingly) admitted they were friends and then a few months after that, a happy and proud announcement that they were dating.

During the time they were - courting? flirting? they never left Steve out, always taking him along to their pseudo-almost-dates. And even now they take and invite him to places with them, but he can't, not when he has feelings for them.

He's stopped going out with them as much now because Bucky or Tony make a comment, usually sexual, sometimes sweet, towards him and he can’t help but think that they know. But he also knows that they weren’t the type of people to make fun of him. He refused to let his feelings ruin this for them and if it was choosing between having them, but they weren't together because of him and him being out of the picture, but they were happy together, everytime, every damn time, without a doubt, it would be the latter. They deserved each other more than he deserved them.

“Hey! Hey, Rogers! Where you going?” Tony yelled across the room to Steve who was putting his blue-common-room-sketchbook that was (previously) on the coffee table in his bag. He, in all they time Tony had known him, never left the tower with that particular book, on longer missions he took the maroon A5 one and all his black ones never left his room and he never let anybody look in them, the blue and maroon ones, anyone could, but never the black ones.

To say Tony noticed every minute detail about Steve was… fairly accurate. But so did Bucky, so, he wasn’t entirely alone.

“DC,” Steve replied, pulling Tony out of his thoughts. Steve zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder but not before Tony caught a flash of a corner of a black sketchbook.

“What!?” Tony said, distressed, “You can’t leave!”

“Who’s goin’ leavin’ where?” Bucky, not entirely awake, entered the room and gravitated towards Tony, hair messed up and shirt crinkled.

“Heya baby,” he greeted Tony with a kiss on his cheek and slipped and arm around his waist, holding back from touching Steve as well.

“Steve,” Tony started accusingly, leaning into Bucky’s side, “is abandoning us.” Bucky and Steve both huffed out a laugh at Tony’s dramatics, “I’m not leaving, I took the job Fury’s been tryna get me to do since 2012 in Shield HQ and I'm not going between DC and Manhattan everyday,” he explained.

“But you won’t be going there every day, right?” Tony tried to reason with him. Bucky hummed in agreement with Tony, tilting his head towards Steve.

He couldn’t leave, he and Bucky were so close to asking Steve to be in a poly relationship with them, or at least up until recently when Steve started going out with them less and less.

Bucky had said that Steve was ridiculously dense and obtuse when it came to people romantically liking him and having feelings for him.

“He doesn't think he deserves it, or that they’re lying to him, or that they just don't like him. Or he cant have them.” Bucky told him one night, when Tony, curled up in his arms, fingers trailing random patterns across tanned skin littered with scars, asked Bucky why Steve hadn't taken them up on any of the suggestive things they'd said. “It comes from being a little guy,” he continued.

“He's so ridiculously obtuse it's ridiculous,” Tony had mumbled sleepily, Bucky laughed, told him to go to sleep and that they would get Steve's head out of his ass eventually.

“Tony, Buck,” Steve said, his voice bordering dangerously into fond, he chastised himself, in his head, immediately after, coming close, way too close, to revealing his feelings, “I’ll either be there pretty much full time or overseas,” he hesitated, too many emotions flashed over his face, too fast for any of them to decipher, “I- I will miss you, though.” His voice was steady but he refused to meet their eyes, turning around quickly, hesitating again, but this time walking away.

Tony made to call out at his retreating back, but Bucky stopped him, turning to face him, and curling his hand behind his neck and the other staying on his waist. “Don’t, baby, he has to come to us and if this is what he wants, then...” he trailed off, unable to think of anything more.

Tony sighed, “I’m gonna miss him, a lot,” he buried his face in Bucky’s neck, arms wrapping around him and breathing him in.

“Yeah,” Bucky mumbled into his hair, “it’s gonna be a tough move.”

Steve stepped out onto the balcony if his old-current apartment, fumbling out a green zippo lighter and a pack of Lucky Strikes. He lit a cigarette and took what felt like his first breath since leaving Tony and Bucky.

“I will miss you,” he muttered on the exhale, smoke tumbling out of his lips. What an idiot, a complete and utter fucking moron. If they hadn’t known, they definitely knew now, he couldn’t’ve made it any more obvious if he’d tried. They were probably relieved he left.

They were to two most important people in his life, the only people in this century he’s ever, truly, loved. There have been other people, he was 97, not dead after all, but he never really loved them, only Tony and Bucky. But this, this distance and time apart was good, it was, Tony and Bucky could be with each other without him getting in the way.

And he could focus on his career.

His mind kept running through all the reasons why this was a good idea, despite how much it hurt to turn away, Fury had told him, way back in 2012, a few months after Loki, a few months before the team began living in the tower, when he’d let slip that he wasn’t doing much, apart from catching up with the times and going on missions, that the job he could give him was incredibly demanding, he wouldn’t have time for anything in way of a social life if he took it but he would actually be doing something.

He wanted to be doing something that wasn’t painful (external injuries, he could handle, but emotions would never be his forte).

He flicked the ash off and took in another drag, long and deep.

He tilted his head back, felt the rain hitting his face, let his eyes go almost-closed and release the smoke, watching it curl around itself and disperse into the troposphere.

“They ever tell you those things cause cancer? Did they give you the The Fault In Our Stars in your ‘Welcome to the new century, pal’ care package?” Tony called out, across the roof to Steve and uncaring of the rain walked out to the edge and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, leaning against the railing. Steve smiled and tilted his head back down, he took a drag and said, “I got prescribed ‘em for the asthma in the 30s, and now there’s PSAs and billboards sayin’ it’ll kill you but…” He shrugged. Tony felt the drag of wet leather on slightly damp fabric against his shoulder.

It annoyed him less than he thought it would.

It suddenly dawned on Steve that Tony didn’t has superhuman regenerative properties and a third of his lungs weren’t a network of alveoli but an engineering marvel of glass and metal.

And that the PSAs were probably right about second-hand smoke.

“Shit, Tony, your lungs,” he hurriedly stomped out the cigarette and waved his hands about to dispel the smoke, “Tony, I’m sorry, you shouldn’t be around me right now, your lungs-”

“Steve, Steve,” Tony cut in, smiling softly at him, thinking about how a teammate he’s known (personally) for only a few months cared more about his health than Howard when he was a few months old, remembering how he always came into his nursery with a lit cigar filling the room with grey smoke.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, smoke if you want to, I came out to ask just, you know, how you’re doing, you seemed, quieter, even more subdued on this one ” he continued, he didn’t smoke anymore, not after Afghanistan and the arc reactor, but he remembered how relieving and relaxing it felt, although, he mused, for Steve it was probably all psychological now, remembering something he’d said about coffee last week, when they’d both run into each other at the Shield cafeteria.

Steve cocked his head to the side, and gave him a, confused look, as if, if this was the first time in a while someone’s asked him that.

Please don’t let that be the first time in the 21st century that someone’s asked him, genuinely asked him how he’s doing, Tony thought.

Steve swallowed, looked at the ground and then met Tony’s eyes, he looked so, so vulnerable and trusting and, it took that second for Tony realise just how young Steve was, in that moment he was, biologically speaking, only in his 20s. Jesus.

“I’m, I’m doing ok Tony, how are you?”

Steve ground the spent cigarette under his heel and turned back to face his apartment, exactly as neat and tidy (and lonely, but he told that part of his mind to shut up, this was a good idea, he was sure of it) as he’d left it, save for a thin layer of dust, but he’d tidy later, right now, he had a meeting with Fury and his next mission.

[janeofcakes]

Chapter 97

**God, I’m the worst! I’m going to start posting ever 2-3 days because I’ve made you all wait so long. SORRY.**

(John does not hear from Greg or Mycroft. In fact, neither he nor Sherlock hears anything for weeks. Greg has been on sabbatical for nearly two months. John and Sherlock have worked with Sally on many different occasions. The three have developed a good rapport, and Sherlock and Sally talk to one another almost as easily as John and Sally do. He and Sally never did have that conversation about Greg, but perhaps it is for the best. In truth, John isn’t sure what he would tell her and believes Sherlock would deduce it all immediately if John knew any details. Although, it’s possible that the detective has already seen it all on Sally’s face.)

(A loud grumble interrupts John’s musings on Greg, Sally, and Sherlock. His brows arch almost evilly and he smiles, turning from where he is slicing onions on the kitchen counter to face his angry helper. Sherlock is sitting in a chair with a bowl of peas in their pods and a bowl of just pods on the table in front of him. In his lap is another bowl being slowly filled with little, round peas. John watches as Sherlock cracks open a pod with his long and graceful fingers. His eyes shift up to look at John from under a brow creased in wrath. The detective’s lips are pursed and he looks absolutely thunderous. John’s smile widens, beginning to show teeth.)

J: You’re doing very well, Sherlock. Isn’t it nice when we can make dinner together?

S: I thought I made it clear the first time you requested that I perform this task that it would never happen again.

(John opens his mouth to speak when there is a knock on the door. He turns half to the counter and puts down the knife he had used on the onions. Heading out of the kitchen, he points a warning finger at Sherlock.)

J: Stay there and keep shelling.

S: Not much doubt of that, is there? (He raises the wrist John has manacled to a table leg, fuming.) The table won’t fit through the door.

(John grins and blows a kiss on the way out. Sherlock watches as he disappears. He makes a fist and pulls against the cuff around his wrist, pulling the long chain between it and the matching cuff taut. He huffs angrily. John knows he has this pair because it is not pickable. The bastard. Sherlock casts a glance at the kitchen door again, rolls his eyes, and picks up another full pea pod.)

(John is about half way to the flat’s front door when there is another knock. He jogs for the last few steps.)

J: Coming.

(His mouth drops open before he can stop it, quickly followed by a smile. Standing in the vestibule is the long-lost Greg Lestrade. He wears his usual light grey trousers and white button-down with a light-colored trench coat. He looks so casual and commonplace that it’s almost like he hasn’t been essentially missing for two months.)

G: Evening.

J: Greg. Come in, come in. (He steps aside and the DI enters.) Please, let me get your coat.

G: (removing it) Thanks.

(John hangs the coat and turns to his friend with open arms. The two share a hug. John notices the man’s hands are shaking ever so slightly. It adds to the list of small items that tell him Greg is good, but not at all okay. They both look each other up and down at a glance as they part. Greg smiles.)

G: So, you look good. Everything went well with Donovan?

J: Yeah. Yeah, good. She and Sherlock both made a real effort to get along and not drive me mad.

G: Great. I was hoping they’d both grow up.

(John smiles at his friend and notices that his salt and pepper hair seems a little more salty.)

J: Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to have you back.

S: John! (Sherlock’s voice calls from the kitchen, startling Greg.)

G: (mumbling quietly) God, I thought you were here alone.

S: John, if you’re going to talk to Lestrade, come get me out of this.

J: (eyes widening) Shit. I forgot. (He hurries for the kitchen. Greg follows slower, putting his hands in his pockets.)

G: What’s he on about?

J: (turning to look at him as he hurries) He’s cuffed to the table.

(A grin spreads over Greg’s face and he picks up the pace to follow right behind John.)

J: (snickering) I think he’d rather you waited here.

G: I’m sure he would.

(John grins and they both enter the kitchen. Sherlock is leaning back in his chair, the bowl of peas no longer on his lap. He casts his eyes of deduction over Greg.)

S: Welcome back.

G: Thanks, mate.

S: You look physically well.

G: (with a nod) Yeah…physically.

S & J: (nearly together) Please, have a seat.

G: Thanks. (He pulls up the other chair in the room.)

J: I’ll make some tea.

S: John. (looking steadily at the doctor and lifting his manacled wrist into view) If you please?

(John nods, trying not to chuckle, as he leans over Sherlock with the key and releases the cuff. The detective rubs at his wrist lightly and looks to Greg. John turns his back, has a silent giggle to himself, and starts on the tea. Sherlock rolls his eyes, knowing full well about the giggle, and then rolls them again at Greg’s wide smile and knowing look.)

G: (shrugging and teasing) To each his own.

S: This was your first day back at the Yard.

(Greg nods at his assertion, more of a statement than a question.)

G: Got in last night. Been so busy, Donovan hasn’t much time to fill me in on the last two months.

S: You have a case for us.

G: Yeah, but the body’s already in the morgue. Molly is probably looking him over now. There’s no rush.

(John gives both men a cuppa and then leans against the counter holding his own.)

J: What’s on your mind, Greg?

(The DI takes a sip of tea and sighs. He runs a hand through his hair. Sherlock steeples his fingers, knowing what’s coming, but waiting for Greg to come to terms with verbalizing it.)

G: Templeton Morris. I had him in my sights. Right in front of me.

(John’s mouth is wide open in surprise.)

J: How did you find him?

G: Mycroft. (meeting John’s eyes) That was the whole point of my sabbatical. I wanted to kill him. For what he did to my…

S: (quietly) You didn’t.

(The other two men look at him - John with apprehension and Greg with frustration.)

G: I couldn’t. (then louder) I couldn’t. The man who killed the woman I loved AND my child, and I couldn’t do it.

(John puts down his tea and nears the DI to put a hand on his shoulder.)

J: You aren’t a murderer, Greg.

G: (looking up at him) You’ve killed men before without blinking. We both have.

(John cringes at first and then his faces eases.)

J: In the line of duty. To save a friend. Self-defense. Not murder. Never murder.

S: His past will catch up to him, Greg.

G: (turning his head to look at Sherlock) Like Mary?

S: (pausing) Yes. He will get what he deserves. But not at your hands. Mary would not want that.

(Greg laughs humorlessly and runs his hand through his hair again.)

G: She’d do it herself to save me the torture. God knows it wouldn’t have bothered her. (He looks from one to the other.) How can you love a woman like that?

J: (tightening his grip on the man’s shoulder) Greg, don’t. You had no idea.

S: But you still care for her.

J: Sherlock…

S: And you feel guilty.

(Greg shifts in his chair uncomfortably, not taking his eyes off Sherlock. John looks at the detective intensely as if to say shut the fuck up, but the man continues.)

S: Because she shot and could have killed both of us.

J: Sherlock! (Both men look at him.) Shut. Up.

G: It’s okay, John. It’s all true. It isn’t going to help to not talk about it. (sighing) I can’t explain why, but I do still care for her. I don’t even know why. I’m so pissed off for so many reasons. Donovan told me I should’ve stayed away longer.

J: What do you think about that?

G: (exhaling deeply and smiling) I’ve been away long enough. There’s no better place for me now.

J: (with an assuring nod) We’re here. Always ready to help.

S: Agreed. Don’t feel guilty for your feelings. I’ve spent a good many years doing just that and it isn’t worth it. (He looks at John meaningfully.)

G: Thanks. Both of you. (He puts his hands down flat on the table and stands.) Let’s go to the morgue, shall we?

***

(The three walk into the morgue to see Molly, wearing protective glasses and surgical scrubs, bent over a body on the slab. She has a small handsaw, spinning and poised to cut off its skull cap. The blade is mere millimeters from the skin when her eyes shift up and see her visitors. She quickly switches off the saw and straightens up.)

MH: Hi.

G: Hey, Molly. (Sherlock and John greet her as well.) We’re here to see Fox, Braeden.

MH: Right. The poisoning.

(She takes off her gloves as she leads them to another table. She pulls the cover down so they can see the upper body of a reasonably young man with dark hair. She pushes up her glasses so they rest on the top of her head, the earpieces still behind her ears. All three men cringe and pull their heads back at the smell as soon as the body is exposed.)

G: Jesus. I thought the lab smelled strange, but Jesus.

J: Almonds. Arsenic?

S: So much arsenic. (bending to look closely at the body and then up at Molly) More than it would take to kill a man of this stature and body type.

MH: More than it would take to kill ten men. His tissues are completely saturated and there’s still a lot in his bloodstream.

S: And he ingested it of his own accord?

MH: (nodding) No signs of violence. There is nothing in his stomach other than wine, which must have been heavily poisoned. He drank nearly the entire bottle himself by my estimation.

J: Suicide?

MH: It’s hard to tell. He either really wanted to kill himself or someone really wanted him dead. I can’t tell from examination alone.

S: (to Greg, as he continues to look over the body, now wearing gloves) Where was he found?

G: Name’s Braeden Fox, mid-thirties. He was an up and coming stockbroker. Found dead this morning…

(Sherlock’s eyes snap up to meet Greg’s, his brow furrowed.)

S: This morning??

G: (defensive and exhausted) By his partner in their flat. And, yes, this morning. I’ve had a lot of catch-up today. Donovan only had the chance to brief me an hour before I went to your flat.

J: So you haven’t actually been to the crime scene?

G: It’s our next stop.

***

(After 40 minutes of Sherlock examining the body and bouncing ideas off both John and Molly, John notes how much more the detective seems to value their opinions. Perhaps he is having a positive influence on his flatmate. Even for all of his petulant behavior and still with a tendency to toss out insults before thinking. He believes Greg shares this opinion as the silver fox watches Sherlock with the corners of his mouth turned up.

Not long after Sherlock has completed his examination, the three men are riding in a cab to Braeden Fox’s flat.)

S: What has Donovan told you thus far?

G: (with a puff of breath) Not a lot. The file has been started, so there’s some information there. Fox’s partner was working late. Ended up falling asleep at his desk and didn’t get home until 6am. He found Fox dead on the sofa. Donovan and her team were there by 7.

S: She was there? Why did she fail to get the ALL of the proper information?

G: She got the basics, Sherlock. She did her job and left the details for later. AND no one will ever think of everything you do on the fly.

(Sherlock straightens his spine haughtily and looks out the cab window.)

J: What else can you tell us?

G: No forced entry. All the partner’s clothes are missing. Some other items too - toiletries, some books, CDs - that sorta thing. His mobile is missing too.

J: That doesn’t seem right. He would’ve had it with him.

G: Said he must’ve misplaced it. Fox’s mobile is in evidence. He phoned him twelve times and, most likely, left messages. (shaking his head slowly) I’d love to get my hands on Travers’ mobile.

J: Travers?

G: Finn Travers. Fox’s partner.

S: Mmm. (steepling his fingers before his lips and deep in thought) He is at the flat?

G: He can be.

S: Please see that he is.

***

(Finn Travers is a slender man with short, light brown hair and a tan. He is in his mid-30s like Fox and his eyes are red and puffed. He stands straight and tense, looking at Sherlock with attentive eyes as he answers the man’s questions.)

FT: Uh, we’ve been together for five years. Living together for four.

S: Forgive my curiosity, but was there ever any…trouble between the two of you?

(John and Greg’s jaws nearly drop at the detective’s tact. In the past, he would have asked that question point blank and indelicately. Travers still bristles and crosses his arms tightly.)

FT: We argued on occasion, but did either of us ever cheat? No. I wanted to marry him.

S: He didn’t?

FT: He didn’t know. I never screwed up the courage to ask.

J: Did someone not approve of his choice of partner?

FT: What? No. His parents died years ago, before I even met him. It was an auto accident. He didn’t have brothers or sisters.

S: He was a stockbroker and gaining clients, wealthy clients. Quite an asset to the company. Would one of the partners have considered him a liability?

FT: Because of me? No. He didn’t go out of his way to tell all his coworkers about us, but he certainly didn’t hide it. We went to company parties together.

S: And your family?

FT: My parents live in the States. They love Braeden. (He pauses when his voice catches.) We were so happy.

S: And siblings?

FT: (clearing his throat) My older brother, Ben lives in Cornwall. He owns a farm out there. It’s big business and this is a busy time. He won’t be able to leave to come to the funeral. (lowering his eyes to look at his own hands) He’s beside himself. Braeden and I love going to the farm. Some of the greatest times of my life.

J: And he’s married? Kids?

FT: No. The farm is his life.

S: Tell me about your mobile and your belongings.

FT: I honestly don’t know why anyone would take my things and, as for my mobile, I must have left it somewhere. In a cab or at the restaurant.

J: Restaurant?

FT: Yes, I had lunch with a friend yesterday at Cafe Tilda.

S: Mr. Travers, have you any idea why Fox would consume an entire bottle of wine on his own? Did he do it often?

FT: No. He had a glass every evening to relax. But a whole bottle? No.

S: Was he prone to depression?

FT: (face hardening, jaw set) You mean would he kill himself? Is that what they’re saying?

(Travers looks from Sherlock to Greg furiously. John steps forward to defuse the situation.)

J: Fox’s mobile is in evidence. Do you have any idea why he would phone you a dozen times all within two hours of his death?

FT: (eyes wide and struggling with words) He must have been worried about me. He’d want to know when I’d be home.

J: (shaking his head) He was dead within three hours of getting home.

S: He knew you were working late. Why would he be worried at that point?

FT: (hands going to his face and then scrubbing through his hair) Oh, god. Are you saying… Are you saying he may have been calling for help? That I could’ve…

(John steps forward again and looks directly at the shaken man.)

J: We don’t know anything yet, Finn. We are just gathering information, yeah? (The man focuses on the floor. His body shakes slightly.) Look, it won’t help, but if Braeden was murdered, I’m sure there’s nothing you could’ve done to change it.

(After looking over the flat and the crime scene, Greg, John, and Sherlock are nearly out the door when Sherlock stops in the entry way.)

S: This friend you met for lunch…

FT: Justin? What about him?

S: Justin? How long have you known him?

FT: Justin Giles. Since University. He, Ben, and I have been friends for (puffing out a breath) more than ten years now.

S: And he knew Braeden?

(Travers hesitates, looking a little uncomfortable. His eyes drop to the floor, glance at John, and then turn back to Sherlock.)

FT: No. (The detective’s brows raise and he studies Travers with interest.) I wasn’t exactly forthcoming with the other side of my sexuality at school. (He glances at John again.) You know how it is. Kids at University are stupid and prejudiced. Justin is my best friend, but it’s always been pretty clear that he would never accept that part of my life. He only saw me with girls back then.

S: And your brother? He kept your secret?

FT: Yes. We were all such good friends before any of this came into play. Ben knew why I wanted to keep it quiet then and now.

J: And how did Braeden feel?

FT: (looking at John) He didn’t like it, but he respected my decision. It was one I made before I even knew him. (sighing) I was going to tell Justin. I couldn’t very well keep it from him if Braeden said yes.

J: You don’t think that had an effect on your hesitation to ask him?

(Travers meets John’s eyes thoughtfully. A few seconds pass and then his eyes drop to the floor.)

FT: Yeah. Yeah, I guess it did.

*                      *                               *                                   *                            *

(The trio’s final stop is New Scotland Yard to look at crime scene photos and other evidence. They have been in Greg’s office for hours. John let himself out after offering to get coffee from the canteen. Greg had accepted with a ta. Sherlock waved him off.

Cups in hand, John walks in the office door where his fiance and his friend are deep in conversation.)

S: It makes perfect sense, Lestrade. The killer knew Fox drank wine every evening, but he is a novice with poison. Not only does he put too much in the wine, he wants to make sure Fox drinks as much of it as possible.

(John puts the coffee on the paper and file-covered conference table next to Greg, who nods.)

G: Ta. (back to Sherlock) And he gets him to drink all of the wine how?

S: By upsetting him. Making Fox think his longtime partner has left him.

G: (swallowing a gulp and giving the detective a look of satisfaction) So he steals all of Travers’ clothing and some of his other things.

S: Things that he knew for certain belonged to Travers and, for the sake of appearances, Travers has left Fox.

(John opens his mouth to speak, but Greg suddenly snaps his fingers. Placing his coffee on the table and begins rifling through the pages in one folder.)

G: That text message.

J: Text message? (He looks at Sherlock and then back to Greg.) What text message?

G: (skimming over one of the pages) The last text on Fox’s mobile that came from Travers said ‘You must be home by now. I’m sorry.’ We didn’t think much of it when we saw the transcript. Figured he was apologizing for working late.

J: (looking over Greg’s shoulder) He got the message long after Travers said he misplaced his mobile.

S: The killer stole his mobile at the lunch they shared and sent the message after he watched Fox enter the flat. Also to keep Travers from answering one of Fox’s many calls.

J: And the illusion is complete. Fox thinks Travers has left him, so he drinks. The wine is right there anyway. He keeps calling and gets no answer. (John and Greg smile at a job well done. John looks to Sherlock and his smile fades.) Wait. Lunch? Travers’ friend is the killer?

S: Yes. The other items that were taken were all dated. Albums that were popular when Travers was at University, (raising up the list of items that were taken) textbooks he decided to keep - things Giles would remember. He planned the lunch because it was the easiest way to get the mobile.

J: But how did he know anything about Fox? Travers wouldn’t have told him.

S: Fox’s secretary. Giles has been dating her for some time now and he slowly learned everything he needed to know from her. (They look at him incredulously and he shrugs.) I asked Dimmock to interview her after we examined the body. It was obvious that someone had given the killer information. We were going to see Travers. The next logical source was Fox’s secretary. They know everything about their employers.

J: (with a little grin) Oh, really? I know everything about you and I’m not your secretary.

S: (smiling back) But you’re also my fiance.

J: (coyly) Details.

G: HIS WHAT?!

(They both look at Greg with wide eyes, but John’s eyes are quickly drawn to an object on the table that was only just revealed as Greg replaced the mobile transcript in its file folder and closed it.

A bright red, shiny apple sits near the center of the table. John feels white, hot panic course through his veins.)

J: (loudly) Where did that come from? (He grabs Sherlock by his lapels and pulls him close.) Did you bring it in here?!

M: Sherlock. (All heads turn to see Mycroft Holmes standing in the doorway.)

M: Irene Adler is dead.

(All three men are frozen in shock. John releases his detective’s lapels and turns toward the elder Holmes.)

M: We found her remains two days ago. I wanted to be certain it was her. She was murdered at the same time John was captive on the island.

[nightwingswing]

The family’s girl: Interlude [Jason’s Date] (chapter 7)

Hello my lil’ wings!!

This chapeter is an interlude about the readers and Jasons date in chatper 7. 

For some reason this part of the chapter was erased, so i re-wrote it and published it as an interlude.

Im very sorry for this mistake! But in compensation, their date is described in detail!

Part1 Part2  Part3 Part4   Part5 Part6 Part7 [INTERLUDE] (we are here) Part8 Part9 Part10

Tags: @hamsterforlive @plethora-of-things @wonderlace19 @totallovelesson @crazyfreckledginger   @algentforthewin  @lastbeliever @redbird-97  @superawesomegeek  @blackcat995  @cutiedaij @electra-writes33 @conspiracy-teen @redbird-97

If you want to be tagged in this or any of my fics, feel free to message me anytime! ❤ ❤

And dont forget to vote who will the reader go to the Wayne gala with in the Part 9

¡Now enjoy!

You were officially screwed.

Who knew the youngest Wayne was capable of falling for someone? In a couple of days?

Worst thing?

He was possessive.

To make the scene worse.

Tim had decided to come every. day.

Super great.

“Seriously Drake, (y/n) has a better taste than you regarding clothes, so let her choose what she wants.” Damian glared at Tim, who had been holding a rather ugly dress.

“Excuse me? This is all the rage!” Tim exclaimed.

“Sure, makes designers rage, that’s for sure.” Dami scoffed

You looked at them an amused/done expression on her face.

“Boys, please…”

“But! Have you seen his taste in clothes?! You deserve so much better!” Damian exclaimed.

“Im going to try this one I choose. “ You changed quickly, the red dress hugging your form nicely. You smiled at your reflexion and went to see the boys.

When the two saw you they stopped fighting, they blushed and Tim smiled at you.

“You look beautiful, (y/n).” Tim praised you. Damian blushing scoffed.

“She looks beautiful every day.”

“Awwww” you coed and hugged Damian. “ I knew you liked me!” Damian plushed you away, blushing.

“Of course I do. If not, I won’t put up with Drake and you.” Dami looked away.

“Anyway, why are you buying a fancy dress?” Tim asked.

“..I got a date, remember? With Jason? He invited me to have dinner.” Tim eyes widened and Damian broke one of the mannequins.

“Dami?” You asked looking at him.”Why-“

“I didn’t like the outfit it wore”

“Oh.”

Tim mentally raged on Jason and his stupid bad boy charm, and his stupid leather jacket.

“It’s the hair and the jacket, right?!” Tim shake you. “I thought our kiss mean something!”

“What’ Timmy of course it meant something! But our date isn’t like that! Im sure someone like Jason has a lot of girls on his feet!”

“You sure?” Tim pouted.

“I am” You got out of Tim’s hold and started walking to the changing room. “And anyway, I’m not your girlfriend” Tim bite his lip and Damian smirked at him.

“Such a coward, Drake”

“Shut up, demon”

Jason was gonna get it tonight.

///*\\\

“HEY HEY HEY! TIMBO WHAT YOUR DEAL?!” Jason tried to block all of Tim’s punches.

“YOU ASKED (Y/N) ON A DATE!”

“WELL, I LIKE HER SO WHAT?” Jay blocked a fierce punch from Tim .

“SHE’S MINE!” Tim kicked Jason.

“SHE HAS NO OWNER, SHES A PERSON!”

“ROBIN SHUT UP WHEN THE OLDERS ARE TALKING!”

“WHAT GOING ON OVER HERE!?” Batman growled.

“SHIT!”

“LANGUAGE!” Batman growled at his sons. “now what the hell is going on?!”

“…”

“shit, who was talking to him?”

“Talk.”

“Oh look, Scarecrow is on the loose!” Tim yelled. “lets go!” They turned their communicators off so Batman couldn’t hear and the robins disappeared.

“…” Batman batglared at his computer.

///*\\\

You were getting dressed for your date when Damian knocked on you door.

“Come in!” You smiled at Damian who stiffened when he saw you “Ah, Dami, could you help me with the zipper?” He zipped it up and you turned around. “You need something?”

“Why are you going out with Todd?” Damian asked.

“Well, he asked me out so we could know each other’s better.” You smiled and the boy frowned. When he opened his mouth to say something a bike’s Clackson was heard.

“Oh that must be Jay! I called Tim to look out for you, I’ll be back in 2 hours. Please don’t break anything!” You hugged a blushing angry Damian and opened the door.” Tim come in! I’ll be back in 2 hour! Please try to not break anything” You kissed Tim’s cheek and ran outside.

Jason whistled at you as you walked to him, he gave you a spare helmet and you sat behind him on his bike.

“Where to?” You asked.

“To my favorite (f/f) restaurant” Jason said.

“Oh, I love (f/f)! “

Jason speed up while Tim and Damian observed by the windows, they glared at his brothers back until it wasn’t visible anymore.

“We are following him, right?” Tim smirked

“Dam right” Damian smirked.

///*\\\

You and Jason were eating (f/f) peacefully, laughing and meeting yourselves better.

Jason liked what he saw.

He liked it a lot.

“Why did you decide you we’re coming to Bludhaven?”

“oh, well…”You bite you lip, shyly “ I wanted to get as far as possible from home”

“Why?” Jason held your hand and you blushed.

“….” You sighed “I wanted to show my parents than I can live on my own. That I’m older”

“…”

“You think that’s childish?” You sighed.

“No…I can relate somehow. There was a time I wanted to overcome the shadow of another” Jay looked away.

“Did you did it?”

“…” for a moment, he looked pained.

“No need to tell me, really” You smiled and Jason smiled back.

“Thanks” Jason moved his chair so he could be closer to you.

Jason and you talked and laughed for an hour, ignoring the two jealous birds stalking you two.

///*\\\

“Do you want me to show you something?” Jason smirked.

“What?” You asked curious.

“My favorite place when I was a kid.” You nodded and followed him.

Jason and you entered a dirty barely illuminated alley.  He held your hand the whole time in as he pointed at a fire escape.

“Follow me, (n/n)” he smiled as he let go of your hand, you felt his warm hand leaving yours as he jumped on a fire escape.

“Come on, (n/n)! i know you can do it!” he smiled at you as he held his hands out for you.

 You ran to the fire escape and grabbed his hands, he smiled at you wide and pulled you up, without leting your hand go, the two of you run up to the stairs to the rooftop, giggling the whole time. 

The two of you laughed harder as an old lady opened her window to yell at both of you.

“KEEP QUIET, VANDALS!!!!!OR IM GOING TO CALL THE POLICE!!” She screamed. “this younglings!!!” she huffed as she closed her window.

 Once you two where up, Jason and you sat on the groud laughing softly, He was looking mesmerized at your cute soft laugh and happy smile.

“Now” he said as you looked at him. “Close your eyes, i want to show you the best part.” he smiled

“Okay!” you smiled, closing your eyes. He covered your eyes to assure you wouldnt peek.You blushed as you feelt his big, calloused warm hands covering your eyes.

He felt your eyelashes tickle his hand as his heart beated faster.His hands become sweaty as his cheeks burned red. He pulled his hands away of your face, not wanting you to notice how nervous he was.

“Keep your eyes closed” He whispered in your ear, making the hairs in your back stand in pleasure. 

“O-okay” you smiled shyly as he helped you up. 

He let go of your hands and set his jacket on the ground.

“Still,no peeking (n/n)” He smiled as you pouted

“fiiiine!” he held your hands again and guided you to the jacket.

“Sit and lay on your back” he said with a soft voice as with his help, you did as he said. Without opening your eyes, you laid on your back on the leather jacket, you felt a warm body lay next to yours. Jason laid in the cold unforgiving ground as you layed secured in his jacket, he smiled at your profile and his pinky rubbed against yours. 

“Open your eyes now” Jason whispered, still looking at you with warm cheeks and a sweet smile.  you uncovered them:

Your mouth hanged open in awe as you smiled, looking up at the sky of Gotham, illuminated by the multicolored lights of the neon bars. The colors fly around, like the artic sky, the most powerful starts shine betwen the magenta, blues and greens. In the far distance the yellow light of the batsignal shined brightly.  The loud sound of traffic blocked by the height as you gasped as the bright meteor shower started.

“It’s beautiful…” You awed. 

“I know...” Jason blushed as he still looked mesmerized at the lights dancing on your beautiful skin. He coughed, tearing his gaze of your beauty so he wont be caugh.  “Its where I hided and came to relax when I was younger. here...I felt safe, felt free, felt like the stars and the lights sang me Gotham’s lullaby….* he sighs, remebering his childhood. the night he spends crying on the same spot, hugging his legs and letting Gotham’s light ease his fears. “You are the only one who knows about it.” Jason blushed looking at you, your face illuminated by the lights.

“I’ll keep as a secret!” You smiled, looking at his blushing face. “I promise” Jason smiled back at your closed eyed smile.  You grabbed his hand and he blushed even harder. “This will be our safe haven” your (e/c) eyes twinkled, as the light reflected on jason’s icy blue eyes. His smile became warmer as his heart beated almost like it was goign to explode.

“Yeah…ours” Jason smiled, looking up at the sky, his hold on your hand tighten.

He swallowed the butterflies in his stomach, he was afraid...

he had just fell in love with (y/n) (l/n).

///*\\\

Jason gave you a ride back to your home, you two decided to meet again next week to go to the movies. And that you could anytime go to his secret haven as it was yours too.

You gave him a kiss on the cheek as goodbye and entered your building. Once inside you let the blush and the silly smile free. Jason had make you all tingly.

You opened your door to find Damian sitting in the dark, he turned on the light as you entered the apartment.

“Where were you?”

“umm, out?” You closed to door and turned the lights on, then walked towards your room. Damian followed you.

“You said 2 hours!”

“And??”

“You were out for 3!”

“oh Damian, I’m so sorry! Did Tim leaved an hour ago? Have you eaten!?”

“He leaved half an hour ago and yes. I cooked as Drake can’t even do an omelet.”

“Can I do something to make it up to you?” You hugged him.

“…Take me to the zoo”

“Okay”

“AND you take me to eat on the new vegetarian place.”

“Okay!”

“Now, go to sleep, (y/n).”

“Okay…good night, dami” You kissed his forehead and he quickly kissed your cheek.

“Night, (y/n).” He opened his door and closed it behind him.

You smiled at his cuteness and closed your door, you changed into your pajamas and fell face first on the bed, you hugged your pillow.

Now you had even MORE conflicting feelings.

You felt your eyes closing from the tiredness of the day, your muscles relaxing and you fell asleep.

The last thing you saw was a mop of black hair setting next to you on the bed and hugging you, their head buried in your neck.

///*\\\

Oh snap.

It was Damian.

…

If you wake him up he’ll be all ashamed you found out and he will be angry.

On the other hand

If you pretended you were sleeping until he wakes up you’ll be late for your classes.

Dammit.

To be, or not to be: that is the question

OH

Maybe you could wake him up AND preted you are asleep!

Brilliant!

Thank you!

Softly you kissed his cheek and kicked him, when he started moving you turn your back to him and pretend you were asleep.

He woke up, looked as if you were asleep and leaved your room sneakily.

You smiled when he closed the door and high fived the air.

Your plan has worked!

You quickly got up, showered and brushed your teeth.

You prepared a quick breakfast for Dami and when you saw him enter the kitchen you bid him goodbye.

Damian started eating and contemplating how to ask you to come to his father’s gala next week.

He was cleaning his dishes when someone come in thought the windows. Damian glared and grabbed the broomstick, ready to kick the ass of whoever dared to enter HIS house-I mean (Y/N) house!

He sneacked up to the living room, and prepared to attack when the figured turned around.

“Grandfather?!”

[Continue reading in Chapter 7]

[practicingmedicine]

Practicing Medicine: Chapter Three

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“Oh, that’s terrible! I mean, I had known that Penny was sick, but I didn’t know that she had cancer !” said Mrs. McBain. She gave my hand a tight squeeze, and then released it. “If there’s anything we can do…”

“There’s one thing,” I said. Both Mrs. McBain and her recovering husband looked up at me. “Look after my momma. Make her nice meals, give her hugs, and send a letter to the followers if anything happens. I hope I won’t be gone for long, but if I don’t come back…” I thought for a moment. “Look for help. If you can’t find any, at least make her comfortable.”

Mr. and Mrs. McBain shared a look that suggested they were worried about me. “Of course, I’m sure that ain’t gonna happen. I just like to plan for the worst!” Mr. McBain smiled at me from his bed.

“I appreciate that kind of thinking, son. Things can go to hell in a handbasket pretty quick,” said the Sheriff. His wife glared at him.

“He’s not going to die, Kurt! Don’t you suggest that kind of thing!”

“I wasn’t suggesting nothin! Just saying that it’s good to have a plan- it’s a staple of being a good doctor, or so I hear,” said Mr. McBain, looking at me again. I forced a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess it is! Now, you two, can you do that? Can you look after my mom for a few weeks?” Immediately, Mrs. McBain nodded. Mr. McBain gave a thumbs up.

“Of course, Isaac! It’s the least we can do, really,” said Mrs. McBain. I smiled.

“Thank you,” I replied, and headed for the door. Mom might come looking for me soon, and this’d be one of the first places she’d check.

“Wait, Isaac- do you want to call your mom before you leave?” suggested Mrs. McBain, putting a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head.

“No. Well, yes, but I’m afraid that she’ll change my mind.” I hung my head. I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity, but I needed to do this. I suspected that I was going to have to make a lot of these kinds of choices in the near future. “Thank you though. I’ll try to repay you somehow when I get back.”

“Isaac, dear, you already have.”

I smiled at that. “If you say so.” A cloud of dust blew in around my legs as I opened the door. “See you folks soon- tell Mom I said goodbye, and that I love her!”

And just like that, I left behind everything I knew, and strode into unknown territory.

-Break-

Well, not really, “ Unknown territor y,” not yet. The next place I went was the town square, which was quiet and empty today. I was thankful for that. I strode past mom’s Casino, which was my next destination, and crouched down next to a little patch of brown grass and concrete between the sidewalk and Bison Steve’s. That was where Father had been shot. After that, he backpedaled for a while, and then ran into the side of the Casino, where he fell down and bled out.

I walked over to the wall. Me and mom had painted it together, before he died and after. I usually left him something; The first time it had been the snow globe he was going to give me, then it had been cactus flowers, and it kept changing after that. Whenever it stormed, the items got swept away, which I was okay with. He wasn’t even buried there, and it wasn’t like he was in any state to need the stuff. I would just start over, leaving something new every time.

But not this time. Not only was that in the past that I was trying to leave behind, but it was also kind of stupid, as I was starting to realize. Instead, I just crouched down next to the spot, put down my bag, and tried to make myself look presentable.

“Howdy, Father- I’m going on a little adventure, out in the wastes. I’d be real grateful if you could watch over Momma til I get back.” I didn’t know much about communing with spirits- still don’t, but it felt like a nice thing to do. After all, I was going to be gone for a while.

And after that, I stood up, wiped away the tears that had been gathering in my eyes, and walked into mom’s bustling Casino. The mysterious new city of New Vegas had taken a toll on business, but Primm still had the most convenient Casino on this side of the Mojave.

“Good evening, Mr. Saller! How you doing- I heard you saved the Sheriff’s life today!” said Johnson Nash, an old, wrinkly-skinned man and the overseer of the Mojave Express mail delivery here in Primm. I smiled as I approached him.

“Howdy Mr. Nash. My mom is dying of cancer. Are there any caravans passing through here?”

Mr. Nash looked surprised. His gaze shifted to the window. “Well, I… Really, Penny? I’m so sorry, boy, she’s always seemed so strong to me! I never would have guessed that she…” he turned his head to look at me again. “Sorry. I’m reminiscing. You just missed an NCR caravan heading up to Nipton. If the schedule keeps going like it has been, another caravan should show up next month…”

“Crud,” I muttered. I thought about saying something less polite, but Mr. Nash didn’t like me swearing.

“Sorry,” said Mr. Nash. Then, his expression changed. He glanced over his shoulder.

“Oh, I almost forgot! There’s an unsponsored one preparing to leave right now, bound straight for New Vegas. It’s a little caravan, three people, a couple of brahmin and a wagon. They’ve run the route a few times, but they don’t usually pass through here. The leader- Gram, I think it was, says he’s with the NCR. He’s got a ranger with him, so normally, I’d be inclined to believe him. But, the NCR never told me about them like they do with the rest of their caravans, and only the ranger wears a uniform.”

I started to walk away. “Thanks, Mr. Nash--where can I find them?”

“They’re out back behind the Casino, sort of over by the hitching posts, but I wouldn’t mess with them. They seem kind of shady to me,” he said. I turned my head to grin at him.

“Oh, I’ll be fine, Mr. Nash. I’m sure they’ll jump at the opportunity to get a doctor on board!”

-Break-

“Hands behind your head! That’s right, don’t move an inch!”

I shouted out in pain and surprise as the great-big person with the ranger uniform pushed their boot even harder against the small of my back, no doubt leaving a bruise. Without even registering it, I had moved both of my hands behind my head.

“Good. Hoplite, search him!”

A stout, bespectacled ghoul wearing a plaid three-piece suit with a tan cowboy-hat sauntered into my field of view. I hadn’t met many ghouls before, but I could tell by his demeanor that he was no spring chicken. Maybe pre war, maybe not, but definitely vintage. Maybe even antique. He stared at me for a while, then took off his hat, and tilted his head in my direction.

“He’s got nothin, Tandi. If he had a gat, he would have tried to reach for it when you spotted him,” said the ghoul. My ribcage felt like it was going to crack open as the ranger put even more weight onto their one foot.

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I bet he’s a legion slave, check his collar, look for brands on his skin!”  

“I ain’t a slave,” I said, and instantly regretted speaking. The ranger laughed, a strange, hollow sound once it got passed through the helmet.

“Well, the kid ain’t a slave! What a goddamn relief!” The cheery Texan twang didn’t mesh with the deep, slavic voice. Every word that the ranger spoke sent chills down my spine.

“Look!” I shouted. I reached for my coat collar, and the ranger raised their foot and jammed their heel into my back again, harder than before. I screamed out something incomprehensible.

“Try it again, slave-boy-“ I could hear the ranger pull the bolt back on their submachine-gun, and I’m pretty sure I pissed my pants a little. “…And I put a round in your kidney! Maybe death don’t scare you, but pain like that’ll make a tough man cry. Ain’t that right Hoplite?”

The ghoul let out a tired sigh. “I’m not about to play good-cop bad-cop with you, Tandi. Let the poor kid go.” The Ranger kept their foot on my back for a few more seconds, pressing just hard enough to give me a sharp pain in my ribcage. Finally, they released me, leaving me aching in the sand.

As soon as I had recovered enough to breath, I flipped myself onto my back and started coughing. My whole goddamn chest was aching, which was an unfamiliar and unpleasant feeling. Of course, that wasn’t what I was thinking about. I was instead thinking about how I almost got shot, how I almost died less than an hour into my journey, how I almost failed my momma…

I started crying. I knew immediately that it was a bad idea, so I kept it silent, but I couldn’t help but let a few tears leak down my face. No one seemed to notice it, probably because they were still talking amongst themselves.

“…we do with him? Like, I’d feel kind of bad leaving him here…”

“Whoa, big friggin’ idea right here: why don’t we ask him what he was doing? He don’t look like a bad guy to me…”

“Leave him here. He’s a runt and a coward, and the only thing I-“

“Buzz off, Tandi! No one invited you to this conversation!”

“Yeah, shut up, the adults are talking!”

“What? I am thirty years your senior, Savvy! ”

“… Ladies, please. If we don’t make a decision soon, I think the suspense might kill him.”

“Still time for me to kill him.”

“Hush! I think he’s listening to us!”

All eyes turned to me. After a few seconds of feeling like a bug in a magnifying glass, I threw my arms into the air and craned my neck in what I can only describe as a full-body shrug. The ghoul laughed as my arms and legs thumped against the sand.

“Did that hurt? That looked like it hurt,” said the person who I hadn’t seen yet. I could hear her walking closer to me. I didn’t look up.

“Little bit,” I admitted. She was standing behind my head now, and, not wanting to lift my neck, I strained my eyes to look up at her. I couldn’t see her so well against the glare of the sun, but I could make out the general look; she was a young, heavy-ish woman with a bob of black hair and what I recognized to be some-kind-of-Asian features, wearing a faded floral sundress and a floppy hat. I smiled up at her, and she smiled back.

“Howdy there!” I said, and then regretted speaking so loud. My chest still ached.

“Hi! I’m sorry about our ranger. She’s kind of aggressive,” said the girl. I snorted. “Anyways, what’s your name? And, uh, would you like to stand?”

“Isaac, and no, not really,” I replied. Still smiling, she withdrew her hand.

“That’s okay. What were you doing back here? Was this just bad luck, or were you trying to find us?” I nodded absently.

“Both, I think.” I saw the ghoul cast a sidelong glance at the ranger.

“A wise guy? Oh, this’ll be fun. Maybe we should kill him after all,” said the ghoul, and I laughed a laugh that was really just a thinly veiled prayer to God that he was joking. The girl gave him a look.

“Gram, hush. Why were you looking for us? And don’t beat around the bush anymore, I hate it when people do that.”

Normally I would agree with her on that, but I felt like I had a little bit of a right to be insufferable. Given the circumstances.

Don’t push your luck, I thought to myself, you want to join up with these folks. You can still spin this to your advantage! Except, I didn’t really know how I was gonna do that. None of them were taking any sort of pity on me, so I doubted I could play the poor, innocent boy card, and I wouldn’t press the dying momma thing. Past that… well, I wasn’t really sure what to say.

First though, I decided to stand up. I couldn’t have looked very impressive, lying in the dirt like I was. Trying to appear as though I weren’t in incredible pain, I stood and dusted myself off. I turned to face the girl in the dress, who was looking awful unimpressed with me.

“Well, since you asked me so nice, I’ll keep it simple- I need to get to New Vegas as soon as possible. Someone at the casino told me about y’all, so I came to see if you might take me on.” I turned my head to look at the ghoul. “You’re Gram, right? Nash told me about you. Said you were kinda shady, but I trusted that I’d be alright.”

The Ghoul nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, but we ain’t taking any new members. We run a taut ship here, and to be honest, I don’t think we need anyone else gumming up the works.” I started to talk, but the ghoul raised a hand to silence me. “And, forget about paying to come along, because this job here is paying enough for my retirement! Don’t think I didn’t see that look in your eyes, kid.”

There went that avenue. I tried not to look defeated.

“That’s alright! I don’t got much money anyways,” I said, which was technically true- I wasn’t very liquid right now. “I was thinking about offering my services. I’m a doctor, see!”

“Nah, see, I already told you, we don’t- wait!” I could see the look on his face change as he registered what I said. “Wait, a doctor? Ah, I should’ve guessed by the coat! You roll with the Followers?”

“No. I’m looking to see them, actually. My aunt Julie leads this here chapter, and my father was a big shot there. Taught me a thing or two, before he died.” I said. I showed him the badge on my coat, which was a little metal circle with a stenciled-on cross with forked ends and a circle at the point where the two lines crossed. He examined it for a moment, then nodded.

“Badge seems genuine, so I don’t think you’re lying about your pops. But, how do I know you’re any good as a doctor? We can’t exactly have you perform a demonstration.”

I had a solution to this one!

“That’s easy! I saved a man’s life this morning, and I can prove it! Name’s Kurt McBain- he’s the Sheriff of this town. Ask anyone in that Casino, and they’ll tell you that I’m not lying. Mrs. McBain shared the news with everyone , so there’s no shortage of people who know,” I said, grumbling the last part like I was disappointed. I was secretly thrilled that she’d told so many people, but I was pretending to be disappointed because it seemed more in-character.

“Cook, why don’t you go check up on that story? Tandi, go check the perimeter, make sure this isn’t some sort of distraction. I think I’d like to talk to the kid alone.”

The other two members of the group departed wordlessly, leaving me alone behind the Casino with Gram, the weird ghoul who spoke like a gangster from one of the pre-war crime novels that my father would read me sometimes. He scared me less than the ranger, but more than the other person- Cook, he had called her. I couldn’t really put a finger on why.

“So, Isaac, let’s assume you’re telling me the truth, for a moment. Just how good of a doctor are you?” asked Gram, walking past me to lean against the peeling Casino wall. I thought for a moment. That was a hard question.

“Well I’m more of a medic, really- general physician in a pinch, but I studied for trauma. Given enough supplies, I can patch up most folks who haven’t got irreversible organ damage,” I replied, thinking back to how I’d repaired the Sheriff’s leaky artery with a stimpack. I might’ve been able to fix it without one, too, if I knew going in what exactly I’d be doing, but I wasn’t sure if I trusted my emergency sutures to hold on their own just yet...

We talked for some time about what I’d done, and what I could do if I absolutely had to. I explained to him that if I set up a pip-boy profile for everyone in advance, I’d be able to get all sorts of information that I’d otherwise have to find out the old-fashioned way. All the while, Gram was scratching the back of his neck, looking over at the back door to the Casino like a deathclaw might come bursting out at any moment. He always kept one hand in his coat.

“Well, Cook’ll be getting back pretty soon, and I’ll call Tandi over the radio once Cook gets back. Assuming you ain’t lying or holding anything back, then you’re on. I’ll give you ten minutes to pack up, and then we’re leaving.”

Despite everything, I smiled- I just couldn’t help it! The sun hadn’t even set, and I was already starting my journey to save my mom. No one could tell me it was just an idea now, because I was taking actions- taking risks, I realized, and it was already paying off. I was elated!

Suddenly, the back door to the Casino opened up. Cook stepped out, her expression unreadable.

“Hey, Gram? So, I asked around, and I’m pretty sure that he’s for real. There were some people who hadn’t heard about the incident, but most of the people who I talked to confirmed that the story was true,” she said. Gram raised one of his bushy eyebrows.

“Hm. How many is, “most?” How was your sample size?”

“Eight out of the Ten people who I asked answered in the affirmative. No one actually denied the story, they just denied knowledge of it. The details didn’t deviate much between accounts, either.”

Gram turned his whole upper body to look at me. He whistled. “Damn, Isaac! Either you’re the fifth best conman I’ve ever met, or you ain’t kidding about the whole doctor thing. I’m gonna go with the latter, because I’ve usually got a pretty good eye for cons.”

“Are you sure, Gram? Not knowing about it is what makes a good con. What if you’ve been getting tricked all the time, and you’re so bad at spotting cons that  you didn’t see most of them- even in retrospect!” suggested Cook. Gram scoffed.

“Please- when you’re alive for as long as me, you learn a thing or two about people and their tricks.” He sounded cross, but I could tell that he was smiling. Cook made a dramatic gesture.

“That’s what they want you to think! It’s how they’ve tricked you for so long!”

“Who’s tricked who?” asked the ranger, emerging around the corner with their barking-iron drawn. Every muscle in my body tensed as I tried not to jump out of my skin.

“Cook was telling me about all the cons I’ve apparently missed. I got a pretty good eye for cons, right, Tandi?”

“How do you know you can trust my answer?”

Cook grinned from ear to ear, and I found myself smiling too- her grin was infectious. “I told you! You’ve been blind this whole time, Gram! I guess living so long has given you some sort of complex…”

Could I wedge my way into this conversation? Did I even want to? The group seemed to run on an awful lot of unspoken rules and agreements, and I definitely didn’t get the impression that I had been invited to this particular conversation just yet.

“Et Tu, Isaac? Has this all been some sort of set up?” Gram asked, throwing his arms out and contriving to look betrayed. I took my invitation and tried real hard to look menacing.

“I’m sorry brother, but you shouldn’t have crossed the mob. You saw what happened to Sunny, didn’t you?” I said, making a little finger gun and calling desperately on my vague knowledge of “The Godfather.” Gram raised an eyebrow.

“First off, that’s not what Pacino sounds like and Michael didn’t kill Sonny. Second, you’ve seen The Godfather?” He sounded more intrigued than surprised. I shook my head.

“Read it, actually. My father read me a lot of books when I was younger. Are you from New York?” I stopped. That was a weird place to end the sentence, since they couldn’t understand the train of thought that led there. “Sorry. It’s just, we were talking about The Godfather, and you sound a lot like the voice my father would put on when he was playing New York mobsters.” Gram looked at me strangely, or at least I imagined he did, then nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I lived in Brooklyn before the war. I’ve been a lot of places since then…” He seemed to think for a moment. “Have you seen what New York looks like nowadays? It’s worse than the Capital Waste. If I hadn’t gotten outta there, I’m sure I would’ve gotten killed by now.”

“Well, I haven’t been, but-“ I started, getting ready to recount one of my many stories about father’s adventures with the Followers. Before I could finish, the ranger stepped between us.

“Beggin’ your pardon, Hoplite, but the sun’s setting, and I don’t want to spend another night in this shithole. Are we taking him or not?”

Gram shrugged. “Depends. Are you sure you wanna come…”

“Isaac,” I said. Gram nodded.

“Right. Now, Isaac, before you agree to anything, I feel like I’m obligated to warn you about the dangers of this run. There are raiders out there, there are legion assassins, mutants, and because of these things there will probably be death. We haven’t had a casualty in years, but you’re still probably going to watch someone die.” That last one hit me like a punch in the gut, but I think I managed to keep my reaction under wraps. I just nodded. “You ever seen someone die, Isaac? Are you gonna shut down on us as soon as someone gets shot?”

“Yes, I have,” I replied, and left it that. Gram looked satisfied.

“Good. Let’s get going. Isaac- as of this moment, you’re hired. I’ll give you ten minutes to pack. Be quick,” he said, shooing me away. I shook my head.

“Actually, I’m already packed.” In retrospect, I probably should have taken a few choice magazines with me, but those weren’t particularly vital. I had my jump bag with me, and I had the clothes on my back.

It was kind of sad, actually, to think that I didn’t own a single item worth taking with me that I wasn’t already carrying. Maybe I just wasn’t thinking hard enough.

“Well, in that case, we’ve got no time to waste- let’s hit the road!”

Under normal circumstances, I’d have felt awful sad, leaving home like this, not knowing if I was ever gonna return. But today, I was satisfied. I’d made a decision, and I was finding a way to carry it out!

“Cya soon, momma,” I mumbled, and loaded my bag onto the back of the wagon. I was leaving all-standing, and the journey ahead of me would surely be long, dangerous, and full of unpleasant surprises. I might even die a horrible death, end up face down in a pool of radioactive waste...

I’d never been more thrilled in my entire life!

[+]

[mimemindmine]

Emiya-san Chi no kyou Gohan Chapter 9 Script

97

Panel 1:

Shirou: Toshaka~

Rin: Could you put that down somewhere nearby?

Panel 2-3:

Rin: Let's see...Can you put it over there?

Shirou: Sure

Panel 4:

Rin 1:Be sure to handle those things with care, alright?

Rin 2: I don't know what'll happen if they break.

Shirou: So messy

Panel 5:

Shirou: ...Amazing. Everything seems so valuable here.

Shirou's written: This one's also seems like an antique.

Panel 6

Shirou: It's a bit late to ask, but are you should let me in here?

written: Although this is more like room service.

Rin: I've already decided that it's fine.

Rin 2: You are my student after all.

Panel 7:

Knock Knock

pg 98

Panel 1:

Sakura: How's the cleaning going?

Panel 2:

Rin: *Sighs* It looks like we still have a lot to do.

Panel 3:

Rin: It seems we're going to be busy for a while.

Rin 2: There's just too many things to move around.

Shirou: Isn’t that right?

Panel 4-5

Booong!

Booong!

Rin: Ah. It's already noon

Panel 6

Sakura: Yeah,

Sakura: I was wondering what should we do for lunch and came down to ask.

Shirou: If you'll let me use your kitchen, I could make something.

Panel 7

Rin: You've already come over to help me. I'm not going to ask you for more.

Rin: So, I'll make something.

Panel 8:

Sakura: Ah!

Sakura: Ummm..

Panel 9:

Sakura: I'll help too!

Rin: Oh? Okay?

99

Title: Toshaka's Mixed Fried rice

written: Cat prints, huh?

100

panel 2:

Rin: So, let’s see what I have…

panel 3:

Rin 1: Eggs,

Rin 2: carrots,

Rin 3: Green onion, bell pepper,

Rin 4: some Kamaboko and chashu.

Rin 5: Well, that's everything

panel 4:

Writen: Got it!

Rin: Today, we're having fried rice!

Panel 7

Sakura: hee hee

Rin: W-What?

Panel 8

Sakura written: Pardon me

Sakura: When I imagine you cooking, I just wondered: "Would she be making Chinese?"

Panel 9

Sakura 1: And you know...right?

Sakura 2: I don't usually cook Chinese, so

Sakura: I was hoping that you would teach me...

Panel 10:

Rin: So that's what you were thinking?

101

Panel 1:

Rin: Well, I do wonder if I would be able to teach you anything.

Panel 2:

Rin: Let's get started right away. Could you help cut the ingredients!

Sakura: Sure!

Panel 3:

Instructions box: Dice the Chashu, carrots, kamaboko, and green onions until they are all about the same size of a grain of rice.

Rin: The meal doesn't take too long to cook and its more important to make sure the dish has a uniform texture.

Sakura written: Got it, Sensei!

Panel 4:

Typed lined: When you are cutting green onion, remember the following:

The green onion will be cut diagonally and then diced further.

1. (underneath)

Do not cut until the end

Arrow: Instead rotate the vegetable 180 degrees and swap the cutting position

2. Continue cutting diagonally (until you reach the end)

3. Separate and discard the ends of the green onions

Panel six

chop

Chop

102:

Panel 2:

Sakura written 1: Finished!

Sakura 2: ?

Sakura: Did I mess up somehow?

Rin 1: No. There's nothing wrong.

Rin 2: Umm...let's go to the next step.

Panel 4:

Shiriou 1: I thought I would be able to help...

Shirou 2: But, it seems that I would be bad if I interrupted.

Panel 5:

Shirou: I should just wait quietly...

Panel 6

Shirou:

*fidget*

Panel 7:

Shirou: Well!

Panel 8

Shirou: I'll just keep cleaning!

Comment box: Someone who can't settle down!

103:

Instructions 1:

First gather and place both your ingredients and seasoning within an arm's reach.

Instruction 2:

Then heat the frying pan up and use a bit of oil.

Panel 2:

Instruction: Using medium heat, pan fry the carrots.

Instruction 2: Staying on this heat setting and then add the chashu, kamabako, and bell pepper.

Panel 3:

Instruction:

Temporarily transfer the stir-fry into another plate and then sprinkle the salt and pepper

Panel 4

Instruction:

Crack open and beat the eggs,

Instruction 2:

Clean and reheat the frying pan.

Panel 5:

Instruction 1:

Sprinkle plenty of oil and then turn the heat up towards a higher heat.

Instruction 2:

If you can, separate the egg and create the impression that you are frying small droplets of egg on the frying pan.  

Instruction 3:

Before the egg hardens and while it is half cooked, add the rice

Instruction 4:

And with a wooden spatula, break apart and mix the ingredients together.

written: The rice is still warm

panel 6:

Instruction 1: Take the previous stir-fry and the green onion, add it to the rice, and then mix everything together.

Instruction 2:

Season the rice with salt, pepper, and sake.

Panel 7:

Sakura 1:When you mention Chinese cuisine, you think of specialty restaurants where you watch the chief flip the food.

Sakura 2: But, when you try that yourself, the ingredients just seem to fly all over the place.

Rin: Ah. That thing, huh?

Written: Here we go

104

Panel 1:

Rin: Generally most household stoves won't hit the proper heat for that.

Rin 2:Also if you overheat the food, the ingredients will stick to the pan.

sound effect: Sizzle

panel 2:

Rin: To prevent anything from flying away, just shaking the pan is generally enough to mix the dish together.

Written: At a high enough temperature, you can mix the rice in one go!

Panel 3:

Rin: But, doing something like this does fire you up.

Sakura: So that's how it is.

Panel 4:

Instructions:

Finally, add a bit of soy sauce to the surface of the frying pan and mix the contents around for a nice aroma.

Instruction 2:

Once everything is mixed together, the food would be ready!

panel 5

Sakura: Haaa! The aroma is so enticing!

Sakura 2: I'll make sure to practice, Nee-san!

Rin's written: The side dishes are also finished.

Panel 6:

Sakura: Ah! Senpai

Sakura 2: Sorry to keep you waiting!

105

Panel 1:

Shirou: How's my timing?

Shirou written: It smells pretty good.

Sakura! Perfect! We've just finished

Panel 2:

Rin: I thought you were obediently waiting for us, but

Rin: where did you go?

Panel 3:

Shirou: For some reason, I couldn't stay still. So, I ended up cleaning up the place.

Panel 4:

Archer: Rin. Dust has been piling up.

Rin: ...Again? It's fine…Really.

Panel 5:

Rin: ... ... Heh.

Shirou:W-what?

Panel 6:

Rin: Nothing.

Panel 7

Rin 1: Anywaaaays,

Rin 2: Let's have lunch.

Panel 8:

Shirou: It looks delicious.

Rin: Of course, it does. I made it.

Rin 2: And Sakura helped.

106:

Panel 1

Rin: Here you go.

Rin: Please don't over eat now.

Sound effects in panels 2-3

Munch

munch

Panel 4

Shirou: Yup. It's simple, but delicious.

Shirou: The rice isn't sticky, but it still clumps together

Shriou 2: I wonder if it’s difficult to replicate this.

panel 5

*nod* *nod*

107

Panel 1

Rin: That is certainly the case

panel 2:

Sakura 1: This time it came out well. But, I'm not confident that I could do this again.

Sakura 2: Next time I'll try making this on my own, so will you be my taste tester?

Shirou written: Got it

Shirou: So, Sakura's finally expanding to Chinese food...

Panel 4-5

Sakura 1: Besides...Nee-san still

Sakura 2: has a lot to teach me.

panel 6:

Rin 1:R-

Rin 2: really?

Panel 7:

Sakura: Really

Panel 8:

Shirou: Hey, you're getting red, Toshaka

Rin: Just...shut up already.

108

Left side:

Miss Toshaka's mixed fried rice

Ingredients for four people (If you are making 3~4 servings, the cooking time is about 4 minutes )

800Gs of Rice (Or four servings of rice)

4 Eggs

100 Gs of Chashu

1/2 of a roll of Kamaboko

1/2 a Carrot

1~2 Green Pepper(s)

1 bulb of Green Onion

A little bit of Salt and Pepper

1 Table spoon of Oil

2/3 Table Spoon of Soy Sauce

2-3 Table spoons of Salad Oil

Ingredients for one serving (For one serving, the cooking time is about 2-3 minutes)

200 G of rice (This will be enough for one bowel)

1 Egg

20-25G of Chashu

1/8 of a roll of Kamaboko (50Gs)

1/8 of a carrot

1/2 a Green Pepper

1/4 of a shoot of Green Onion

a little bit of Salt and Pepper

a little bit of oil

1/2 a teaspoon of Soy Sauce

1 Table spoon of salad oil

Arrow: Even a beginner will have an easy time making 1~2 servings of fried rice.

(note) For beginners, controlling the moisture of the ingredients (the egg, the chashu, green onion, etc) is a challenge! It's easy to unevenly season the dish!

Right side

1. Small dice the chashu, carrots, kamaboko, green onion, and green pepper until it is about the size of a rice grain.

(note) Depending on your heat setting, the dish might not take too long to cook. However, the food's texture and uniformity will be impacted. Regarding the frying order, the carrots and green onions should be added individually. The chashu, kamaboko, and green pepper should remain ready on a tray or plate and fried together.  

2. Prep the warm rice. (Day-old or cold rice can work, but they will need to be heated first.) Crack open the eggs and make sure to whisk it well.

3. Make sure to have the ingredients and seasoning within arm's reach. and then heat and coat the frying pan with a little bit of oil. Using medium heat, panfry the carrots. At half heat, add and cook the chashu, kamaboko, and green pepper in the frying pan. Lightly season the stir-fry with salt and pepper and then set the food on a separate plate

Bubble: To avoid burning the ingredients, stay between medium to high heat.

4. After rinsing the frying pan, heat it back up and spread a large layer of oil (2~3 table spoons) onto its surface. Using medium to high heat, deposit the beaten eggs. If you can, separate the egg and create the impression that you are frying small droplets of egg on the frying pan.  Before the egg hardens and while it is half-cooked, add the rice in, and something like a wooden spatula to break up the rice and mix the ingredients together.

5. Mix the stir-fries from steps 3 and 4 with the green onion and then mix it again. Add salt and pepper, and garnish it with oil. (Add chicken broth for add flavor). Finally, pouring a bit of soy sauce onto to the surface of the frying pan will release a nice fragrance. Mixing everything together one last time and then you are finished. You can replace the soy sauce at the end for sesame oil for another delicious flavor.

Points:

1. All the cut ingredients should be about the side of rice grains.

2. The rice that you would want to use for this recipe should be steaming hot. (Cold rice is no good) (note) Cold rice has a harder texture and while it can still  be pan-fried, cold rice reacts differently to heat:  because it does not heat up evenly, the rice would then crack and would be reduced to a starchy mess.

3. Cooking at a high temperatures (medium to high heat) will shorten the cooking process!! Even if you over shake the frying pan, its temperature will not go down.  

Last boxed comments:

A small dice refers to cuts about 7~8 mm in size/ a dice cut refers are about 1 cm in size/ shredding implies that the ingredients less that 5mm in size

109

Rin: Sakura, you can use that apron.

Sakura: She must really like cats, huh?

--

Translator’s note: I have submitted this script to the team. They’ll typeset the work when they can. 

[theunexpectedhappened]

chapter 97

So first of all, isn't it great news we had last week. I wish them all the best. but I still hope it won't make you love this story any less.

Harry’s POV.

“Olivia, please.” I begged, taking her face in my hands. I’d tried to calm her down. But nothing seemed to work as she tried to catch her breath. I should have been there tonight during that dinner.

I’d called Tim, the doctor of the family and he’d heard the state she was in over the phone and would be here in less than ten minutes. I’d tried to get her to breath in a plastic bag we kept in our night stand, both of us having nightmares at times and needing it sometimes.

When the door to our room finally opened and the doc came in I breathed a sigh of relief. “how long has she been like this?” He asked, pulling his bag open. “15 minutes.” I shrugged my shoulders, holding her in my lap, rubbing her back and holding her hand in my other.  “I’m going to give her something to relax.” He said, getting a syringe out of his bag and pulling something up.

“Can you lift her shirt a bit?” he asked, nodding to her arm. Lifting the sleeve of the shirt I’d pulled over her only minutes ago, he put the syringe in her shoulder, she’d calmed down a little since the beginning but I didn’t want her to keep going like this, barely catching her breath.

“it should work in about a minute or two.” He said with a compassionate smile. “what brought this on?” he asked, sitting on the edge of our bed, feeling her pulse of her free hand.

“she met up with the team she was with in Africa, apparently one is writing a book and will publish it. she was fine when she came home, but then she started crying and.” I rambled, looking down at her as she started to calm down and rested her head in the crook of my neck.  

“I understand.” He nodded his head, still holding her wrist between his fingers. “Does she have any engagements in the following two days?” he asked. “tomorrow afternoon we’re supposed to meet with the invictus participants.” I replied, looking at the doctor.

“I really advice for her to rest in the next two days.” He said. “the drug I gave her will make her woozy for a day and she’ll be exhausted after a panic attack this severe, even her muscles are cramped.” He said, holding up her fingers which were still in a claw like form. She’d really had one of the worst panic attacks I’d ever seen. She’d had a couple, but this one was going on the first place.

I’d never seen her like this. “she won’t” I said full of conviction. She’d be resting tomorrow. You could be a bit tired after a panic attack, I knew from experience, but this one had been extreme and she’d been drugged to top it off.

“I’d recommend a friend or Kate or William watch her tomorrow while you’re gone. I wouldn’t be surprised she’ll have a couple of bad days after this, but I don’t have to explain how PTSD works.” He smiled sadly at me. “I know.” I nodded my head. “I’ll make sure she isn’t alone.” I told him.  

“I’m sorry.” Liv said, the first thing since the panic attack, as she started repeating it. “no, Merida. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I tried to assure her, rubbing her back. “I didn’t protect them; I didn’t do my job.” She said, shaking her head no as she started staring out in front of her.

“You want me to give her something to sleep?” Tim asked. “could you?” I asked, hoping she’d have a good night sleep, but I doubted that would be the case, I knew nightmare would keep us both awake, not that I minded, she’d sat up with me multiple times as well after a nightmare, but after such a panic attack I didn’t want her to have another one after a nightmare.

He gave her something in the other shoulder this time. “I’ll leave something here if she should wake up and have another panic attack.” The doctor said, placing something on my nightstand. “thanks.” I smiled when I felt she started relaxing in my arms.

“your welcome Harry.” He smiled. When he left I laid her down, pulling her against my chest, holding her through the night and every time she started getting restless, needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night.

When the morning arrived, I got up and pulled out my phone, calling Will. I wouldn’t leave her until someone was here with her and I need to get Miguel and our team informed of what happened last night, and Jason would have to announce that Liv wasn’t joining me today.

“We’ll be there in a sec.” Will said, ending the call. A couple of minutes later Will and Kate came in our room. “how is she?” Kate asked, sitting down on the bed beside Liv, stroking her hair in a sisterly manner. Those two were really like sisters, it still surprised me how close they were.

“I think the medication the doctor gave her is still working.” I told her with a sad smile, before looking back at my wife. “what happened?” will asked, looking worriedly at Liv as I started explained what had happened.

“are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Will said. “That’s their choice Will. Liv said she won’t read it. that she can’t read it. I get it that they all need to process this differently and all, so I won’t stop Steven. And she won’t read it anyway” I explained, siding with my wife, if she wanted this for that team she’d been with I’d support her, but I didn’t know if I could see her go through that again.

The doctor arrived just before Will and I were heading to the office and after making sure she was alright he left something to help her sleep in the coming days and to help with possible further panic attacks.

***

“and she really isn’t able to join today’s activities?” Miguel asked, turning to tim, thank god we’d asked him to come along. “no Miguel she’s in no state to do any engagement. The chance at getting another panic attack is very big. She’ll be beyond exhausted. I’m giving her two days of prescribed rest.” Tim told Miguel.

“I’ll join Harry.” Will said, looking at Miguel. “you sure?” Miguel asked. “yea, I can’t join him in Los Angeles as far as I know, let me join him now.” Will smiled at me.

“alright.” He started, looking around our team. “Jason, make an announcement that Liv will not be doing any engagement and that William will join Harry today.” He started directing people as we started dealing with last night’s event.

Minutes after the announcement the Phone’s started ringing insanely crazy. The media with the question if the Duchess was pregnant with our first child and if that was the reason for her falling out.

“what did the announcement say?” I asked, looking at Jason. “The Duchess of Sussex won’t be joining The Duke of Sussex due to personal reasons.” Jason quoted. “you want me to announce the reason?” he asked. “no, she doesn’t have to deal with that, it’s fine as it is.” I told him. “I’m going to check up on my wife.” I announced, getting up.

when the calls on my phone started: “Is Liv pregnant?” Liliane, Liv’s gran asked. “No, Lilian. She’s not. Last night she had a horrible panic attack and she isn’t able to join me today.” I told her, when I saw a angry Liz approaching, I motioned for Will to explain as I started explaining over the phone. I assured her that I’d let her call when she woke up.

just as the call ended it was Mia’s turn. ‘this is going to be a great day.’ I thought to myself.

“Mia?” I answered with a smile. “don’t play dumb with me. Is my best friend pregnant and you didn’t tell me?” she asked in a tone I better not screw with, what was it with this bunch. They were incredible protective of each other. That was it.

“No she’s not.” I replied with a tired sigh. Having been awake almost all night, having to deal with it in the office and now the calls and I haven’t even gone to the engagement. With another sigh I started explaining what had happened. When liv woke up she’d kill me for not letting her join me today and for telling everyone.

She hated the fuss and she was definitely getting that. “We’re on our way.” She said, ending the call. “We?” I asked, looking at my phone. ‘thanks for letting me ask further questions.’ I thought to myself.  

if she wasn’t going to kill me before, she sure was about to kill me now.

***

Liv POV

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was how sore I felt all over. Like I’d run a marathon, but all my muscles were in agony. The second thing I noticed was that Harry wasn’t with me in bed, I couldn’t feel his body heat next to mine.

And the third I noticed was a person breathing in the room, fluttering my eyes open, the light filtering through the window making me squeeze my eyes shut again. “Liv?” I heard a female voice say, opening my eyes again this times less of an annoyance, I noticed Kate sitting in the arm chair in the corner of our bedroom.  

“Kate?” I asked, surprised to see her sitting there, her legs pulled up, cup of tea in her hand as she looked at me. “hey, you’re awake?” she stated, like it was the best news of the day and then last night’s events came flooding back, my breathing increasing as I thought about it.

“hey, it’s okay.” Kate said, getting up and sitting down on the edge of the bed. “you remember what happened?” Kate asked. “yea.” I admitted in a sadly enough tone. “Where’s Harry?” I asked, pushing myself up and pulling my knees to my chest as if it could protect me from the state I found myself in, it had been so long since I had a panic attack, I was doing so well. And now this.

The memories of what happened in both Africa and back in Belgium for all those years as clear as if it happened yesterday.  

“he’s with Miguel and the team,” Kate said, placing her hand on my arm resting on my knees. “the doc has given you 2 days of mandatory rest for now. They are discussing what is supposed to happen this afternoon.” Kate explained. “I’m not joining him?” I said, more a statement, then a question.

And for once I was happy that the choice had been made in my place. I didn’t feel like meeting people like this, not in the way I felt, tormented by memories of the past, sore as hell from the panic attack and I was still on edge as the slightest sound made me jump.

“no, I’m guessing they will have made an announcement by now, they shouldn’t be long now.” Kate told me, squeezing my arm. I sat looking around the room, and I didn’t feel very comfortable, like the walls were closing in on me, Kate’s present on one hand comforting me, like it was the only anchor keeping me from another panic attack, but on the other hand I wanted her gone, cause I didn’t know how much longer I could keep up the façade.

The façade of being fine and not being on the verge of another freak out. I nearly jumped out of my skin as the door to our room opened. “shhh.” Kate shushed, her hand squeezing my arm. Harry appeared through the door. “merida.” He said in the same tone Kate had taken earlier.

“Harry.” I whispered, glad to have him here with me, his presence soothing my fears more then I though was possible. Kate stood up, Harry replacing her, his hand carefully reaching for my arm. “how are you feeling?” he asked, as I nearly jumped out of my skin as the door closed, Kate leaving the room.

“horrible.” I admitted, sadly enough as I felt the tears sting at the back of my eyes. Looking down in shame at how weak I was being. “hey, come here.” He said, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me in his lap. “it’s okay. I’m here.” He said, his hand running up and down my back.

He started explaining what had been announced and the changed plans for the day. “great, now everyone is thinking I’m pregnant.” I muttered, hating that nothing in my life could stay private, I quite enjoyed being a Duchess, meeting people and bringing attention to causes close to my heart. But this, nothing could stay private, maybe if we hadn’t planned an engagement today this could have stayed under wraps.

But sadly enough, no. and no the rumours were going through the roof, my breathing quickening when I started panicking again at the thought of how this ‘day off’ would end, what the outfall would mean in rumours.

And then he told me my best friend was on the way and then did me in, I didn’t want to see anyone, not in the state I was. It had already been enough that our entire team and the Queen probably knew about my panic attack at how pathetic I was for just thinking about the past.  

“Merida, shh. It’s okay. I can tell them that, I won’t let anyone up here if you don’t want to.” He shushed, his head running over my back. When I didn’t calm down he reached for something on my nightstand and handed me a tablet. “here it’ll help you calm down.” He whispered, kissing the side of my head.

Normally I wouldn’t take medication, but it did seem very inviting as to avoid today and to avoid the worriedness of everyone. “why can’t I just forget everything?” I asked, after having swallowed the tablet. “it’s a process Merida, we both know that.” Harry said, both my hands in his free hand.  

“I doesn’t make me love you any less, Merida, you know that. I’ll always be here when it happens, just like you are always here for me. We’re in this together.” He assured me, his hand on my back circling in a soothing motion.

“I just want to forget.” I admitted a tear slipping down my cheek. “I know, I wish I could take it all away merida. I really do.” He whispered against the side of my head. His breath against the side of my face, the warmth of being cradled in his arms and his smoothening caress of my back on top of the tablet I’d just taken, making me feel sleepy.

My eyes dropping. “go to sleep, Merida. Kate will stay with you when we go away this afternoon, you won’t be alone.” He whispered, kissing the side of my head.

***

Harry’s pov.

Finally,. I thought to myself, liv’s breathing having evened out her one hand fisting my shirt as if she didn’t want me to go anywhere, her other hand intertwined with mine in her lap. “I love you.” I whispered against her head, kissing the top of her head as I got up and laid her down, pulling the sheets over her.

Giving her one final kiss I slipped out of the room, I knew Mia was on her way and I was still questioning the ‘we’ part. But liv had said that she didn’t want to see anyone and I’d send them back. Liv was the most important part of my life and it killed me to see her this hurt, having gone through the torment once wasn’t good enough.

I hated PTSD, both of us having that horrible diagnose, it was like our minds wanted to punish us even further and for what, having protected people, shouldn’t the opposite be done, our memories swiped away as thank you.

“her friends are here.” Will said as he brought me out of my train of thought as I rested against the wall outside of our bedroom. “great.” I muttered. “you want me to tell them to leave?” he asked, coming to stand next to me.

“I’ll do it. she’s asleep, I have her a tablet.” I whispered. “God I hate this; it hurts me to see her like that.” I admitted, turning my face towards Will. “I know.” He accepted, squeezing my shoulder. “but only you can relate to what she’s going through, you think it didn’t hurt me half the time to hear you screaming in the middle of the night when you came back from Afghanistan.” Will said, looking at me.

“she’ll be fine. It’s liv we’re talking about.” Will said a sympathetic smile on his face. “I know.” I whispered. “this is just a setback,” Will explained. “I know, but that doesn’t make it any better.” I argued. “No, it doesn’t.” he agreed. “Come, let’s go down.” Will said, squeezing my shoulder as I followed him, dragging my feet down, my ear tuned to anything that would be happening upstairs.

‘for crying out loud.’ I thought to myself when I entered my living room, seeing Mia, Glen, Daphne, Jens and Danny sitting on the couch. “how is she?” Mia asked, getting up. “she’s asleep again.” I told them, walking through to the kitchen. “Is she jumpy?” Kate whispered, handing me a cup of tea. “yea, I was hallway to calling Evans again.” I told her.

“can we see her?” Mia asked as everyone had followed me in the kitchen. “she doesn’t want to see anyone.” I told them, doing my duty as her husband, she’d asked me to keep everyone away, she didn’t want to see anyone, and I would protect her.

“come on.” Mia said, starting to object. “We’re worried; we just want to make sure she’s okay.” She added, not having slept very well and the stress of last night, having seen her panic attack, the worst one I had seen so far made me feel on edge, that together with the helplessness of seeing her in such a state, made me a bit less friendly.

“you think I can’t take care of my wife?” I asked her, an angry tone to my voice, I knew she didn’t mean it like that, but I couldn’t help it, I was angry at seeing her like that, angry at what had happened in Africa and Belgium, not having been able to help her.

And the fact that they were questioning my ability to take care of them, my own wife, the woman I loved more then life itself. “she didn’t mean it like that;” Jens defended. “we’re just worried about her.” He added. “yes, so am I, I can’t do anything to help her. You know how helpless I felt last night, not being able to calm her down. Having to call the family’s doctor to calm her down with medication. But with this I can help. She asked me not to see anyone and I’ll make sure I can do that for her.” I told them in a tone that didn’t leave any room for discussion.

“but.” Daphne said. “let’s just get herself together. I’m sure you want the best for your friend, just honour her wish” Will said in a directing tone. “Fine, but we’re not leaving,” Mia crossed her arms, stubbornly, her other friends soon following her.

“you’ll be going away, so.” Mia started, but Kate beat her to it, the four of us really were a team, we had to for what gran had in mind for us. and if liv was here in any of our places she’d be doing the exact same thing.

We had to be a team, the four of us alone were in the same boat, could only relate to what it was to live this life.  “I’ll be staying here taking care of her. I already did this morning when they were in a meeting.” She said, nodding her head at me and Will.

“so you’re going to kick us out?” Mia said in defiance, what was it with these women. “I’m just doing what Liv asked me to do.” I told them, looking each and every one in the eye, that’s when Ed came in. “Sir, I’m here to debrief you one our event of this afternoon.” He said, looking at me, acting very formal when he saw we were having company.

“Thanks Ed,” I smiled at him. “May I ask how her Royal Highness is feeling?” he asked, I raised my eyebrow at him, why he was acting so formal all of a sudden, but then again, he always did when they’re were strangers around.

“She’s sleeping at the moment. She just needs some time.” I told him with a smile, before turning to the Five musketeers and adding: “and space.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, Sir. It’s the Duchess we’re talking about.” He smiled, he knew her well enough now as well, having seen our dynamic from close by from the moment we got engaged, nearly a year ago.

In the end I couldn’t get them to leave but I did manage to keep them downstairs, only Kate was allowed to go upstairs, for that I was happy, I wasn’t happy with the fact that I had to leave her behind, I’d rather have stayed by her side while she was this fragile, ‘if she heard me say that, I would definitely be a dead man’ I thought to myself.

But when I finally crawled into bed that night, pulling her close to me, apparently she’d taken another tablet this afternoon, wanting to avoid having to face anyone. I knew she was hiding with it. hiding in the fact that it could put her to sleep and avoid facing anyone.

This afternoon had been trying to say the least. ‘Are you expecting a baby?’ ‘is the Duchess pregnant?’ were the two questions on everybody’s mind and being directed at me. I hoped that tomorrow would be better, the two of us didn’t have any engagement for a week, her birthday was coming up in a week and I was planning on taking us to Honiley. Gran had called tonight as well, wanting to check up on Liv and suggested taking a ride as well, saying it might help her and the stables in Sandringham had horses anyway so.

***

the next morning after the doc had come in to check on Liv we’d left in the direction of Honiley, the fact that she wasn’t interested in driving the car, told me she was definitely not back to where she should be. Even Jim and Kenneth gave me a worrying look when she just shook her head as I had wanted to hand her the keys, on our way over to Honiley all she had done was stare out the window, it was like she had just come back from Africa.

But I could see her changing when the day started passing by. Her face wasn’t as pale, her cheeks getting their rosy colour back, her eyes had a bit more life in them, but she still kept quiet, settling herself in the library.

But my idea had worked day by day she was getting back to the Liv I knew, Tim had been right, a couple of bad days had he’d been right. But I was happy to see my wife returning to me and prove again that she wasn’t about to be knocked down by it all.

Her friends had stayed away on our request, just needing a bit of time to ourselves, but that didn’t mean that they stayed in touch, trying to cheer her up in their own way in making her crazy with her birthday surprise party of Friday.

***

Liv’s POV

the days leading up to my birthday had me nearly wringing someone’s neck, my best friends knew how to wind me up and they did exactly that, by sending strange text and so called tips. I had a couple of bad days, but the last two one’s had been great and I was estatic to be myself again. Spending time in the countryside really had helped me and had been exactly what I needed.

It was prove again that my husband did know me better than anyone else, prove that I had made the right decision in marrying him, marrying the man I loved more than life itself.

But Harry also knew how rile me up and enjoyed the fact that I hated being in for a surprise again,  enjoyed it even more, last year he’d shipped me to Africa and I’d come back engaged, he start to where I was now, I couldn’t believe that was a year ago that we’d gotten engaged. It seemed so much longer.

“really?” I asked, my head tilted to the side as Harry pulled out a blindfold as I descended the stairs. But I had to smirk a little, last time we’d used a blindfold he’d been tied to our bed. “no, don’t even go there.” He laughed, holding up his hands. “but, maybe I’ll have to tie you up when we get back, depends on how well you behave.” He threatened, swinging the blindfold in his hands.

“Who do I have to kill after today?” I asked, sarcastically. “Your four best friends.” He replied with a snort. “although the lads and Kate and Pip had something to do with it as well.” He added, holding out his hand for me to take.

“and where are we going?” I asked, really curious for it all. “we’re driving up north and then were coming back here.” Harry said, opening the front door of  Honiley. “all of them?” I asked, surprised to hear all of them were coming back here, although I didn’t really know who all of them were, but I could guess it were all of our close friends, around 30 people.

“yep. Those from the family will be staying at Sandringham. They’re coming back with a bus, we figured it would be safer to have non to be expecting to stay sober.” Harry snorted as he held out his hands for the keys. “What about us?” I asked, getting the keys from my purse. Handing them over reluctantly.

“Jim will drive us back here.” He said, looking at jim, climbing in the backseat along with Liam. “fine.” I muttered, getting in the passenger’s seat. “she’s letting me drive for once.” Harry laughed, earning him a soft slap on his thigh.

“like I have any choice.” I muttered under my breath. “come on they assured us you’d like this.” Harry pointed out, driving down the driveway. “so I do have to kill the four of them?” I concluded. “something like that, they are the initiators” Harry commented.

“I should have known.” I stated, looking out the window. An hour later Harry stopped by the side of the road and pulled the blindfold out. “come on, like I know where were going.” I objected. “do you trust me?” he asked, the same question I’d asked on his birthday surprise party. “you, yes. Them no.” I chuckled.

“I won’t let anything happen to you and I know you’ll enjoy it. please?” he asked, with a smile on his lips. “fine.” I said, leaning forward so he could tie the blindfold. “I love you;” he whispered against my lips.

What felt like a lifetime later he parked, I heard him get out of the car, talk to our RPO’s. before opening my side of the car. “you trust me?” he asked again, cupping my face. “yes.” I breathed out, I didn’t have to think about that. I loved him more than I could explain. And I trusted him with my life.

I took a hold of his hand as he started walking with me. “don’t let me fall.” I said. “I would never.” He stated, full of certainty. I heard a door being opened and I felt that we were inside. “I’m going to kill those four.” I stated when Harry announced and then I heard muffled laughter and I knew they were here and heard it.

“don’t let me stop you.” harry whispered in my ear as I felt him come and stand behind me. “Happy birthday Merida.” He whispered, before the blindfold was pushed from my eyes.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!” was yelled at me a second later. Spotting the four guiltiest one’s I stated with amusement in my voice. “Who wants to be killed first?”

the four of them threw their head back in laughter. “told you, she’d say that.” Mia pointed out, walking up to me. “So you’re volunteering.” I chuckled, giving her a hug. “Yea.” She replied in my ear.

I went around the room, greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, they led me to the next room, which was a bowling room where I saw wrapped gifts on the tables and drinks already waiting.

Taco’s and Pizzas were brought in as dinner while all of us laughed and started bowling, some of us waiting until the food ran out the other taking a bite between throwing a ball.

"How are you?” Mia asked, sitting on the chairs, eating our taco’s. “better, spending time in Honiley is exactly what I needed.” I smiled at her, knowing how Harry had respected my wish and kept them away, but that didn’t mean that Harry was in their good books apparently.

“Don’t be angry at Harry, he only did what I asked him to do.” I told her, tilting my head at her wish a begging look. “but.” She started. “I know what he said, Kate and he told me. But the fact is he hadn’t slept watching over me and worrying over me. I asked him to keep everyone away from me and you were doing the opposite, he’s sorry you know of how he handled things, but I think there were things said on both ends that wasn’t the very best.” I told her, leaving no room for discussion. I knew exactly what had been said.

Harry had told me he was feeling bad at how he’d handled things and he didn’t want them to be angry at them. but I also heard that they had questioned the fact if he could care about me and I wasn’t very happy with that. My husband could take care of me very well, when I gave him the chance.

Last week being proof of that, how he’d helped me through my bad days. “so Livvy, you joining us in the laser game?” Jens approached me, doing a little dance, I had done it several times, laser games. I had always enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun, but I hadn’t done it since Africa, fearing the sounds of gun shots would be a trigger.

Definitely after this week, one week of recovering of a massive panic attack was enough. “no you guys go, I’m good here.” I told him as I saw nearly all of our friends standing on the incline waiting for me.

“Ooh come on spoilsport.” Autumn yelled from the bunch, locking eyes with Harry in the bunch, I saw him realise what the problem was and he smiled at me sadly but nodded in sympathy as he took a step towards me, but I shook my head, he should go have fun without me. Kate was apparently staying here waiting for the next round.

“go on, I’ll be fine here.” I repeated again, looking at them and I saw that realisation covered all there faces as they saw Liz still sitting as well. “we’re sorry, we didn’t think.” Thomas started. “it’s fine. I just don’t need another trigger in two weeks’ time.” I told them, smiling sadly. “Go on, have fun.” I told them, not wanting them to feel guilty. The mood having turned around from the previous festivities.

They turned around leaving us three behind. “you both alright?” Kate asked in a motherly manner. “yea, we’re fine.” I smiled, Liz following as well.

Half an hour later they came back laughing and teasing one another. “you okay?” Harry asked, leaning on the backrest of our seats, his arm wrapped around me. “Yes,” I smiled, looking up at him, my head sneaking to the back of his neck. “I love you.” I whispered, pulling him closer to close the gap between our lips as we kissed upside down. “thank god.” He teased a smirk crossing his face.

“I love you to Merida.” He whispered, kissing my lips again. “spend an entire week in the countryside and still they can’t keep their hands of each other.” Skip teased, his girlfriend at his side, the first time we met her.

“haha.” Harry and I quipped in unison. “maybe a good thing you’re staying at Anmer then, who knows where it all happened at Honiley.” Harry teased, looking down at me with a wink “eew. Didn’t need to know that” skip said, covering his ears. “maybe you should chase one another naked again.” Thomas pointed out with a teasing smirk, raising laughter from those who were there that day.

"ooh come, we’re never living that down are we?” Skip said, throwing his hands up. “and by the way I wasn’t the one naked.” Skip said, crossing his arms.

“no that was ginger over there.” Thomas teased, nodding his head at Harry still standing behind me. “What happened?” Amanda, Skip’s girlfriend asked and there were several volunteers waiting to tell the story again, much to Harry’s dismay and the others amusement.

An hour later we were sitting in the Karaoke bar of the centre. “Will someone get of those cat’s tails” I smirked, looking at Autumn, Daphne, Mia and Jens who were singing piano man, motioning with their hand for me to join them.

“No way.” I yelled at them, laughing shaking my head no. “spoilsport.” Autumn yelled. “Come on.” Daphne said, leaving her place and pulling my arm. “no way.” I repeated, shaking my head in laughter, everyone clapped their hands when I finally gave up and joined them.  

“I so hate you guys.” I muttered, byt the mic was on and everyone started laughing as they heard my statement.

we were laughing and teasing all the way as everyone sang several songs, it was hilarious before we made our way to the roller-skates, thank god I didn’t go flat on my ass. Being able to ice skate definitely was a positive thing.

***

“god I feel horrible.” Daphne whined as she came down to the kitchen in her hangover look. “good morning to you to.” I muttered, making sure nothing burned on the fire. “here drink this” I said, pulling a green juice from the fridge and handing it to her as she sat down at the kitchen island.

“anyone else up yet?” she asked me, dripping her head to the counter of the kitchen island. “nope, not that I know off. I suspected you would be the last one to get up.” I admitted, looking at her.

“yea me too, I just needed to get up, the ceiling was turning.” She admitted, making me snort. “why aren’t your hangover?” she asked. Raising an eyebrow at her she added: “Like never.”

“I don’t know, I guess I’m just good with alcohol and it’s not like I drank the amount you did.” I explained shrugging my shoulders. Sipping my own green juice, I heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

“Love;” I smiled, seeing a hangover Harry walk in, at least he wasn’t as bad as Daphne, what was it with these guys, you would think that Harry being nearly 35 would know how to hold his liquor or his boundaries.

“Merida.” He whispered, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around me, his nose on the crook of my neck. “How are you feeling?” he whispered, running his nose in a circle in the crook of his neck, his lips leaving a kiss.

“better day by day.”  Whispered, kissing the top of his head. “I love you.” he whispered, nipping the side of my neck. “Harry.” I warned, looking at Daphne still lying down with her head. “What?” he asked, innocently, his hand running up my legs.

“stop it.” I warned, stopping his hand at the rim of my jeans. “come on.” He objected. “we have company.” I told him, trying to step away from him. “Please I don’t need to see you making out in front of me.” Daphne stated, Harry jumping at my side. “Sorry, I didn’t notice you.” he admitted sheepishly, his cheeks reddening.

“what are you doing up anyway?” Harry asked, shaking his head, his arm wrapping around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder. “the ceiling was apparently spinning.” I told him with a chuckle.

“maybe we should ask someone to look at it, that can’t be right.” He teased. “haha.” Daphne quipped, pulling a face at us.

“you want eggs or not?” I threatened, holding my spoon in her direction. “I don’t think I can eat anything.” She shook her head, her skin getting a bit greenish. “If you’re going to pull a Jens on me, please go to the bathroom.” I warned her. “do you have anything against nausea?” she asked, sipping the juice, apparently she could keep that in.

“let me have a look.” I said, unwrapping Harry’s arms and walking to the cabinet. “here” I handed her a leaf of tablets. “I’m going to try and get some more sleep.” She said, getting up and disappearing in the hallway. “Finally alone.” Harry growled, nipping my collar bone. “You’re insatiable.” I slapped his arm softly as he held me against the kitchen island, his chest to my back. “You do realise we have a house full of guests, right?” I asked, my body betraying as I tilted my head, giving him more access.

“we can’t.” I tried to stop him, him pulling my hips into his, making me feel exactly what he had in mind. “come on Merida, everyone’s still asleep.” He tried, his one hand leaving my waist and going to the rim of my jeans.

“Love, we can’t as much as I want it, we can’t.” I told him, stopping his hand, just as he was about to slip his hand in my jeans.

“tonight.” I said, turning in his arms. “I promise.” I promised, wrapping my arms around his neck. “but we’re going back to London this afternoon.” He whined, leaving butterfly kisses in between as he made a trail from, my neck up to my ear where he nipped my ear lobe.

“so.” I chuckled. “does that mean we can’t have sex in London?” I teased, leaning my head to the side. “no.” he chuckled, still on his mission to drive me crazy with his kisses. “and I don’t have sex with you, I make love to you.” he objected, squeezing my hip.

“ooh, really.” I chuckled, knowing that he did most times, but still sometimes he had this wild side, then there wasn’t love making in view.

“Good morning.” I heard Mia say behind us, both of us jumping up. “we need to get back alone.” Harry groaned, picking a piece of bacon up.

not long after the kitchen filled with the rest of the bunch staying at Honiley. And just after noon we left towards London, where a busy week of engagements waited on us, I was visiting another three organisations, the one’s becoming under my name. and then on Thursday evening we’d be welcoming the Royals of Sweden, Denmark and Norway and on Friday we left on our climate expedition, but first we were going to London.

Liz joined us as we drove towards Effingham, first going to visit my grandparents, they hadn’t seen me since I’d fled to the countryside dealing with the outfall of my ‘bad days.’ And I wanted to show them that I was doing alright and check in on them myself.

Nathan was already with them, knowing we’d be partying last night, sure my birthday had been two days ago, but had waited until Friday evening to celebrate.

So that was the chapter, I hope you liked it, please let me know what you think of the chapter. Those leaving behind a small comment can expect a small preview of the next chapter.

[jeonjagia]

Till Death Do Us Part- Chapter 1 An Unexpected Encounter

It was a normal day. Or rather that's what people would start their stories, however, it was not so at all for me. It was supposed to be a normal day. First off, I spilled my milk pouring my cereal, I was late for my three hour college class, missed a quiz, and now as I get home, my mother is asking me to go to the store for her. Of course, I have to go to help her out. My parents having children later in life, need more help from us kids. My brothers moving out, leaves me with all the other responsibilities. Lovely. Sighing, I grab my keys and wallet, and head out. "Thank you!" My mom yells as I shut the door. Opening it again, I reply, "you're welcome." Closing it, I open the door of my car and sit down. Starting my car, i back out of the garage. This will be fun. I think eyeing my mother's long list sitting on the passengers side of the car. The only close store is a Walmart. Which is nice cause it's really close to our house. Convenient. I pull into the lot, trying not to hit the pedestrians. A lady walking terribly slow irritates me, "10 points," I mutter. God I'm terrible. Pulling into a space I gather my belongings and head inside. It's a little brisk out, making me pull my arms closer to my body. My hair blows in the light breeze, ungracefully getting caught in my mouth. "Pft," I spit it out making a disgusted face pulling strings out of my mouth. Yuck. Shaking it off, I enter the Walmart and head to the cart corral. I wish there were small carts, but theyve been taken earlier. Rats. Big cart it is. I yank the cart from its cluster, but it's putting up a fight. "It's mine, give it to me," I mutter as I give it one more good yank. It comes free. Finally. Heading into the store with my prize I browse my list and see lettuce is first on the list. I head in the vegetables department to start off my shopping trip. I meander around other shoppers as I try to get to the vegetables. Why is this area so crowded? I didn't know people love vegetables so much. Pulling down one of the plastic bags I select my choice head of lettuce, shake the water off, and shove it into the bag. Placing it into the cart, I travel over to the next item on the list: milk.

I successfully complete my item checklist, and now I have time, decide to look at some things for me. I head to the clothing department. I like to visit certain areas each time I come, if I have time. The clothes is in section. The other are the bags. Walmart surprisingly has good fancy bags. Browsing through the selection, I eye a bag, but alas, with my poor job and bills to pay, I am broke. One day I'll be able to get it. Shoving my cart, I head to the clothes section. There are some cute shirts there I saw earlier. Walmart's stepped up its fashion. I pause by a display with tank tops on it. Working in clothing retail, I don't mess up the display, I replace my selection folded. Unlike some people here. I say eying the other shoppers. As I browse the section I come to realize that these shirts are all folded inside out. Again, working in retail- this bothers me so much because customers can be terribly lazy and rude. "Really? You can't put it back right side out people," I rant to the air, "it's really not that hard to right side out a tank top you idiots," I say probably a little too loudly. I hear a short laugh. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I don't try to look at who laughed at me. Pursuing my lips, I refold the wrong shirts. Loosing my interest in these shirts, I sigh and look around at the other clothes. Exhausted from the trip, I lean against my cart, chin in hand as I gather strength to check out. I hear murmuring behind me from probably a group of delinquents. It comes closer. I don't want to deal with them if they pick a fight. "Do you like BTS?" A deep voice asks in my ear. I jump, moving away from it. "Yeah, so what?" I ask bristling as I turn to the voice. People have teased and made fun of me for liking them, so defense is my resource each time someone asks me. And then I see who asked me. My eyes widen. Face flushing, too much probably. Dumb thyroid. I'm speechless. It's him, i-it's them. The delinquents turn out to be BTS themselves. Shopping in Walmart? "I," is the only word I can say. "How did you know?" I question eyeing each of them. Jungkook, who asked me, gestures towards my body. I look down, forgetting in wearing my 'Jungkook 97' hoodie. I redden even more. I hide my face in my arms as I lean on my cart. God they're actually here. I hear laughing. Great. I'm a show. "What are you guys doing here?" I ask lifting my head. Rm comes forward and says, "we're on break." "But why in the Midwest? You guys don't come here," I say. "We're doing a major cities tour in America," Tae says. I look between each of them. It freaks me out that they're here, in my Walmart of all places. Rubbing my face I ask, "so what are you guys going to do now?" Not sure why they're still sticking around if they're on break. I don't see any cameras so they must really be on break break. "I don't know, what would you suggest?" Suga asks picking at pills on a sweater near him. Thinking for a minute I say, "the zoo, that's always a good place to go. The one we have here is really cool," "Really?" Jimin says excitedly. He loves animals. "Yeah," I reply. I wish I could spend the day with them, but I don't want to bother them on their break. A break is to get away from people. "Um, if you don't mind, I don't want to be a bother anymore, so I'm going to go check out," "Why would you be a bother?" RM asks. "Well, you're on break, so you don't want to be bothered by fans or reporters or media," "But we met an ARMY. " Rm states. "Yes, but I'm not like the others where they stick to you and touch you and grab you." "I noticed," "So I love and enjoy finally getting to meet you, and probably won't see you in person again ever-," "So then why would you want to leave?" "Because I respect your privacy," Rm silences as he nods. "Well at least let me pay for you groceries," he says pointing to my cart. Looking at it I reply, "oh no, sorry, I can't let you do that, my mom is going to pay anyway," I don't want him to pay for my groceries. "Well, too bad cause I am anyway," I grimace. "Do you have to?" I ask cringing. I really don't want to remember my only meeting of BTS is RM paying for my groceries. He grabs my cart and pushes it towards the check out counter. The rest follow. I stand there arms hanging as my groceries get further. "잠깐만 기다려주세요!" I yell at them. RM turns surprised, actually they all do. I freeze. I was just a moment my random korean spurts out. "You speak korean?" Tae asks how eyes wide. "The tiniest bit," I reply catching up to them. Rm continues toward the counter. "Do you have to?" I ask whining as I grab the side of the cart. He pulls it away from me. "Yes," We have come to the check out. God I really don't want RM to pay for my measly groceries. I yell at myself. But alas, there is nothing to be done. They are nice, too nice sometimes. I groan as I see the total. I guess it's nothing for him, cause he makes millions in one paycheck. Jimin pats my shoulder smiling. "Stop shoving it in Chim," I pout, not sure why I'm so comfortable with them already. Maybe it's because I always imagined meeting them a thousand times in my head. "Alright!" RM says loading the last bag into the cart. "Where to next?" Jimin asks coming up behind me. "I don't know maybe you guys continue doing your stuff and I go about my stuff?" I say thinking that's the obvious answer. "We just met you though," "Yeah kind of how it happens," I say sadly to myself with slight hint of sarcasm. "No, we are going to help you with them at home," "What?" I reply in genuine shock. "Yeah!" "No!" "Yeah!" "No!" I argue back like a child. "Just let us do this boo," v complains "Boo?"I ask stepping back. "You didn't introduce yourself," "Oh," I realize. "My name is Amber," "Pretty," v says smiling. "Thank you," I reply face heating up. "So where now?" Jungkook asks in English. Smiling I take the cart from Rm. "I guess my home," I reply grimacing to myself.

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 39)

Summary: Y/N Reyes lands on Earth with the rest of the 99 prisoners. Being one of the first people to come back “home” after 97 years of living in space, she learns what it’s like to finally live in this planet.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 2961 words

Warning: injury, torture, swearing, violence

Note: SORRY I DIDN’T EDIT. I wanted to post it as soon as I was done. I’ll take my time and retouch it whenever I have the chance. 

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Slowly, I opened my eyes; we were back on the beach where Floukru took us. Although I was highly suspicious on how they managed to carry us all the way back without waking us up while we were sleeping, I didn’t really care much. We were back to square one.

‘We need to go back and convince Luna.’ Clarke stated as she sat up.

Octavia shook her head, 'She literally kicked us out. Do you really think she wants to cooperate with us after we got some of her people killed including her boyfriend?’

'We need to get back to Arkadia and see if our friends are okay.’ Bellamy suggested. 'Then we can plan from there.’

'Sounds good to me.’ Jasper agreed.

Clarke huffed, 'Guys, this is our only choice. We need Luna to side with us.’

'It’s over, Clarke. We ruined our chances with her. We’re lucky she didn’t kill us.’ I implied.

With a straight face, she turned and walked into the woods. A sigh escaped from Bellamy’s mouth as he tailed Clarke. As I watched them get further into the woods, I rolled my eyes.

'Jealous, much?’ Jasper chuckled as he saw my facial expression.

My first instinct was to pick up a pebble and throw it at his stomach. I had slight jealousy that Bellamy cared to check up on Clarke but I was more annoyed at her disagreeing with everyone.

Jasper stared at the pebble that bounced off his stomach. 'I guess that’s a yes.’

'Shut up. Let’s just charge the rover while we wait for them.’

In the corner of my eye, I saw Octavia laugh lightly. Perhaps my reaction was intense than I intended.

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Couple minutes have passed and I heard footsteps coming this way. Clarke and Bellamy came back from the woods but they weren’t alone; They had Roan as hostage.

'Woah, is th-’ Jasper gasped but Clarke cut him off.

‘The man that bounty hunted me to take back to Azgeda when I left Camp Jaha? Yep.’ Clarke approached us while holding onto Roan’s arm.  ‘Luckily, he wants what we want. Ontari, the other nightblood to take the flame.’

'After Luna declining the offer, she’s our only shot. We first need a plan to remove the A.L.I.E chip out of her first.’ Bellamy added.

Being skeptical about this situation, I slowly stepped forward. ‘How can we trust him?’

'Y/N’s right.’ Octavia agreed as she pulled out her sword and stabbed Roan in his thigh.

Roan groaned in pain, kneeling down on the ground. ‘Are you serious?’

‘We had to make sure you weren’t chipped.’ Octavia smirked. ‘Let’s get moving, shall we?’

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As I parked the rover into the garage of Arkadia, everyone hopped off. Raven walked by and greeted me with open arms. ‘Glad you’re back safely.’

‘Well, the harder part starts now. We’re going to Polis.’

‘Are you guys out of your mind? You guys are going to get yourselves killed or worse.’

‘It’s a risk I’m willing to take.’ I looked into Raven’s eyes. Before walking away from my sister, she yelled my name. 'Raven, you can’t change my mind.’

‘I know you won’t, so stubborn.’ She lightly chuckled. ‘But I’m doing everything on my end to shut A.L.I.E down. Be careful out there sis.’

Smiling back at her, Jasper wrapped his arm my shoulder. ‘Would you guys mind if I stay here with you guys?’

‘Nope, Bryan and Miller are headed to Polis so we’ll need all the help we can get.’ Raven replied. ‘Also Y/N, don’t forget the EMP device that destroys the chip. It’s only one use so use it wisely.’

Jasper turned his face to me and grinned, 'Make sure you guys come back in one piece.’

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

On our way to Polis in the Rover, Miller questioned. ‘So what’s the plan to get into Polis?’

‘We can have Roan pretend to take me as prisoner to go talk to Ontari. I have the passphrase for the flame so she would want to talk to me.’ Clarke suggested.

‘Maybe I should go instead and not you, Clarke.’ I considered.

Quickly, Bellamy denied harshly as he drove the Rover. ‘No. You don’t even know the passphrase.’

‘Actually, I do. I sometimes hear Clarke talking to Lexa on the flame and I overheard the passphrase several times. Besides, she knows how to get around Polis. That can benefit you guys if she comes along.’

Bellamy stopped the Rover and turned around. ‘Why do you keep doing this?’

‘Doing what?’ I can tell that Bellamy was highly opposed to this idea, he seemed really angry yet worried.

‘Always trying to play the hero?’

‘Bell, as much as I agree that Y/N does a lot for us, you know this idea is probably the best solution that we have right now?’ Octavia jumped in.

Clarke slowly nodded, ‘I agree. I know some passage ways that a lot of people in Polis doesn’t know about that Lexa used.’

Sighing out of frustration, he got out of the Rover and slammed the door as he walked straight into the woods. Rolling my eyes, I got out of the Rover and followed him. ‘Where are you going?’

Bellamy stopped and turned around. ‘I-I don’t know. I’m just mad.’

‘Do you think that I like it when you put yourself in danger too?’ I said as I held onto his hand. ‘I’m always scared that someone’s going to hurt you.’

‘Reyes, you don’t have to worry about me.’

‘And you don’t have to worry about me either but we do it anyway.’ I laughed lightly as I gripped his hand for comfort.

He sighed, ‘I just hate this. Us always risking ourselves to save people. I hate the feeling I get when I think I’m going to lose you.’

‘This is our life now and we have to do what it takes to protect our people.’ I smiled lightly as I grabbed onto his cheek. 'But I promise you, I’ll be sticking around for a very long time.’

Bellamy chuckled, 'That’s very fortunate for me then.’

A cough distracted us; We quickly turned around and saw that everyone was starring awkwardly. Bellamy scratched the back of his head, 'Damn, can we have a little privacy?’

'Yeah, maybe after we save everyone.’ Octavia joked.

Clarke approaches me, sticking her hand out. 'This is probably a good distance to walk to Polis. Also, here’s the flame. I trust you to keep it safe.’

'Of course I will.’ I smiled at her as she handed it to me. 'I’ll see you guys on the other side.’

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With a rope tied around my hand, Roan held onto the end of the rope as he guided me into Polis. Trying to get Ontari’s attention, Roan screamed, 'I have the flame!’

Jaha popped out of nowhere with a huge grin on his face. 'Do you honestly think we’re stupid?’

'Y/N has the passphrase and I have the flame. All you need to do is take us to Ontari.’ Roan implied.

'She’s not coming.’ Jaha crossed his arms, 'Our friend, Jasper told us about your little plan.’

Everything made perfect sense now; People from Floukru were getting chipped because of Jasper. My heart started racing as I thought about the danger my sister and my friends were in. I was also terrified for Bellamy and the others; I hoped that they didn’t get caught.

'It’s over.’ Jaha chuckled devilishly as he saw my facial expression. 'Kane, finish him.’

Marcus approached us from behind while he gripped his gun. After pulling the trigger and shooting Roan, he grabbed onto my arm tightly.

'Don’t do this, I know you’re in there somewhere.’ I figured that Marcus was chipped and it scared me that now he was capable of hurting me.

He ignored and pulled me, leading me up to the building. On the top of the building, Abby waited for me with a cheeky grin on her face.

Marcus tied me up to a chair and handed Abby the flame. She then looked down at me, 'Y/N, what’s the passphrase?’

'You really think I’m going to tell you?’ I chuckled.

'Alright. I can bring Clarke up here and ask her myself.’

A smile formed on my face, 'Nice try, I changed the passphrase before I got here. No one knows it but me.’

Abby huffed, showing frustration then pulled a knife out and stabbed me on my arm. A loud scream escaped my mouth; I didn’t see it coming.

'Tell me now. I’ll stab you again.’

'No.’ She showed no mercy and stabbed me once again on my other arm. I cried in pain but I wasn’t going to give up that easily.

'I’ve got a better idea.’ She looked over at Marcus and smiled. 'Marcus, go hang yourself. This should make her talk.’

Panic flushed all over my body as I saw Marcus grab a rope. 'Don’t do this, please.’

He continued to ignore me shouting his name as if he didn’t hear anything. Marcus set up the rope and then wrapped it around his neck.

'Marcus!’ I yelled, seeing Abby’s smirk on her face from the corner of my eye made me angrier.

Kicking the stool from under him, he started choking as grabbed onto his neck.

Tears fell from my eyes as I continued to call out his name. There were so many tears to a point where I couldn’t see anything in front of me.

My mind knew that I was doing the right thing; telling Abby the passphrase would lead to the end of the world. I also didn’t want Marcus dying in front of me and the only person to blame was me.

Suddenly, a huge bang came from the door. From the other side, I heard Bellamy scream my name as they continued to bang on the door.

Before Abby was able to take action, the door barged open. Making eye contact with Bellamy, I screamed at him. 'Save Marcus, please.’

He had a worried look on his face but he immediately helped Marcus and untied him. Seeing someone approach me from the other side, I turned to that direction; it was John.

'Hey Y/N. Long time, no see.’ John smiled lightly as he untied the rope off of my wrist.

'It’s good to see you again.’ I hugged him tightly, 'I was afraid something bad happened to you.’

He grinned, 'Nothing bad will ever happen to me.’

'Jaha!’ Clarke yelled as she sprinted towards him. John followed her to see what had happened. Ontari laid lifelessly on the ground.

'Now you can’t use her anymore.’ Jaha chuckled just as John knocked him out, unconscious.

'Clarke, help me take him to the other room.’ John said nonchalantly.

She looked over at her mother, who she had to take care of. 'What about my mom?’

'We’ll figure it out but we have to tie Jaha up first. Now help.’ John commanded.

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

'She has brain damage.’ Abby diagnosed Ontari as she checked on her. Clarke successfully got her back by destroying the chip using Raven’s EMP system.

Pike, John and Bellamy rushed into the room after coming back from tying Jaha and Marcus up. My eyes meet with Pike as he walked in; all I can do was glare at him.

‘I’m sorry, Reyes.’ Pike felt the stern look from my expression.

Ignoring him, I got back to the important details. ‘Is the floor secure for us to stay here?’

John looked over at us and nodded, ‘There’s no way the others have access to the stairs but the problem is we can’t go back down.’

‘No need to go back down. We have everything we need right here.’ Clarke said.

‘What do you mean?’ Abby asked.

‘I’m taking the flame. We need a nightblood host so we can transport Ontari’s blood into me. We have all the tools and I know it will work.’

Abby shook her head, ‘Clarke, it’s too dange-’

Octavia ran towards us as she interrupted Abby. ‘Guys, we need to be quick. They’re all climbing the building.’

My eyes widened as I dashed to the balcony to peeked outside; hundreds of the chipped victims were on their way to terminate us.

‘We’ll slow them down as much as we can. Clarke, do your thing.’ Octavia pulled her sword out. ‘Y/N, come with me.’

I nodded and followed Octavia to a different room and headed straight to the balcony. We stood by the ledge as we watched our people slowly climbing up towards us. ‘Do you think Clarke can reach the City of Lights and find what she needs to stop A.L.I.E?’

‘Damn, I hope so or we’re screwed.’ I replied back. Looking over at Octavia, I could tell that she was bothered and I knew exactly what it was about. ‘For now, you need let go of that pain. We have to focus on this, not Pike.’

‘It’s so hard watching him and hiding my urge to kill him.’ Octavia blurted. ‘I don’t know how you do it.’

‘Just turn your anger into motivation. You taught me that, O.’

She sighed, I can tell that she wasn’t satisfied with my answer and I didn’t blame her. I wanted Pike gone just as much as she did.

Octavia gripped on her sword tightly. ‘Let’s get ready, they’re climbing fast.’

As I pulled out my pistol, I backed up and held onto the gun grip. Couple of the people I recognized from Arkadia climbed over the balcony. I took a deep breath and mouthed, “Sorry.”

Pulling the trigger, I shot one right in it’s knee as it collapsed to the ground. Then I shot the other one right afterwards and making him fall as well. After a few hits to the others who climbed over, my ammo was gone.

‘I’m out.’ I yelled as I drew my knife out and stabbed one of the chipped guards on his thigh.

‘We need to barricade this room.’ Octavia said as she pulled out the sword from the woman’s body.

Quickly, we sprinted out of the room and slammed the door shut. Carrying the closest and heaviest furniture we can find, we stacked them up against the door. Bellamy, Pike and Miller soon approached us and started helping us pile up chairs.

There was a sudden bang from the door; The others were pushing through to break the barricade. All five of us put out backs against the furniture, trying to hold the door down to give Clarke more time to find the switch to shut down A.L.I.E.

‘Do you think this is going to hold?’ Miller growled.

‘I guess we will find out.’ Pike said.

The banging became harder and harder since all the people who were climbing worked their way to the top already. My thighs and arms were starting to get painful the longer we tried to keep the door closed.

‘We need to move somewhere else.’ Octavia shouted over the loud banging.

‘Octavia’s right. They’re going to burst through.’ Bellamy agreed. ‘Let’s head back to Clarke, Abby and Murphy.’

All of us bolted back to the original room and noticed Clarke was still unconscious. Bellamy took a deep breath as he got on the ground with the gun on his hand. ‘Guys, this is it.’

‘Good luck guys.’ Abby said as she continued to work on Clarke with John.

I stood between Bellamy and Pike, gripping onto my knife tightly. The door busted open and revealed many chipped, angry people coming to get us.

Blood and sweat flew around the room, where we were fighting our own people. It pained me to hurt the people we once lived with but we had to do what was right in the long run.

As I finished off couple of people, I saw Marcus stomping towards me. He was the last person I ever wanted to see in this battlefield, especially right in front of me.

The knife was with me but it seemed that I couldn’t use it on him. Before I reacted to anything, he grabbed onto my neck tightly and shoved me to the ground.

I slowly started to lose air and my head started feeling very light. My grip weakened as my knife fell of my hand. I tried to whisper but I was running out of breath, ‘Marcus…’

‘Y/N!’ Bellamy screamed, pinned down by three people. He tried to move around but the others refused to let him go.

Hearing Bellamy, Octavia and the rest of us scream in pain, I lost hope. I knew that it was about time but suddenly, Marcus let go of me. His eyes then widened as he saw what he had done to me. ‘I-I’m so sorry.’

Breathing hard, I sat up and tried to catch my breath. Marcus kneeled close to me as tears streamed from his eyes. He apologized over and over again, even when his voice was cracked from crying. I hugged him tightly and told him that everything was fine and it wasn’t his fault.

Abby came between us and rubbed Marcus’ back, reassuring him. I stood up and left them give some time to talk. Seeing Clarke finally awake and well, I approached her. ‘You did it.’

‘No, we did it.’ Clarke smiled.

A touch on my arm made me turn around and I noticed that it was Bellamy standing behind me. Without a word, he pulled me in and kissed me. Not caring about anybody else in the room, I kissed him back.

‘I’m so glad you’re okay.’ he smiled as he pulled away.

‘I’ll always be fine, I told you.’ I giggled as I wiped blood off of his face. ‘We can face anything, together.’

[pretend-writer]

Down Below (Chapter 34)

Summary: Y/N Reyes lands on Earth with the rest of the 99 prisoners. Being one of the first people to come back “home” after 97 years of living in space, she learns what it’s like to finally live in this planet.

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x reader, Raven Reyes x sister!reader

Word Count: 1777 words

Warning: swearing, injuries, mention of death

Down Below Masterlist

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

‘All I need is a confession from you, Reyes. Just tell me that Kane was behind it.’ Pike paced back and forth; The intimidation tactic that he was trying to do was not working.

'But I told you, he had nothing to do with it.’ I stared at him walking around the room. 'I did everything myself, starting from planting the bug to messing with the rover.’

Pike slammed on the table in front of me, 'Why are you covering for him, huh? How does this benefit you in any way?’

Everyone knew Marcus was behind all of this and I wasn’t dumb enough to think that they didn’t know. But without the evidence that led to Marcus being guilty, Pike couldn’t do anything about it. I wasn’t going to let them get to him because Marcus was our only hope to restoring peace with ourselves and the grounders.

'Do you listen to anything that’s coming out of my mouth? How many times do I have to tell you? I did it all on my own.’

Bellamy sighed, 'Just answer his question honestly, Reyes.’

Hannah agreed with Bellamy. 'He’s right. It’ll be much easier if you just tell us the truth.’

'We all know Kane wants me gone from this position.’ Pike huffed.

'You think that Marcus would let me do this by myself when there’s a chance of me being arrested?’ I tried really hard to convince him but I knew it wasn’t working. 'Or maybe you think I’m too dumb to do this on my own. Is that what it is?’

Pike chuckled, 'No. Matter of fact, I know you’re really smart. You were one of my best students I had in class.’

The Earth-Skills class he taught back at the Ark was one of the most interesting classes they offered. It felt real and intriguing; which always made me dream about being on a planet. He was a great teacher as well, which made me wonder why he turned out this way.

'If I was still sitting on that desk, I would of never thought that things would turn out this way.’ I looked into Pike’s eyes. 'You know, if I never got arrested from sky walking, I wanted to be in your position and become a teacher.’

Pike took a deep breath, trying to sink everything in. It wasn’t a lie that he inspired me to wanting to be an educator. 'But now that I know how much of an asshole you are, I gladly change my mind.’

'Give me a gun.’ Pike took his hand out in front of Bellamy. 'Now.’

Bellamy looked at me, then back at Pike as he hesitated to follow his order. 'Let’s rethink this th-’

'The gun, Bellamy. I’m not fucking around.’

Nervously, he looked at me as he slowly took out his gun and handed it over to Pike. Snatching the gun aggressively, Pike grabbed it and aimed it at me.

'Aw, I’m sorry I made you mad because you’re not my favorite teacher anymore.’ I stared right into Pike’s eyes with a slight grin.

'Reyes, just shut up before he kills you.’ Bellamy shouted.

Hannah took a step in towards Pike, 'Shoot her. If we’re in the Ark, you know treason results to execution.’

'Yeah, c'mon just float me now. What’s the wait?’

'We’re not in the Ark anymore. Shooting Reyes can freak everyone out and could cause a riot. We can’t have that, time is too important to waste right now.’ Bellamy tried to reason with him.

Pike lowered his gun, 'Bellamy’s right. We need more people to side with us.’

'So you’re just going to let her live?’ Hannah sighed, 'She committed a crime.’

'For now, she lives.’ Pike tucked his gun away under his belt. 'Bellamy, take her to the cell.’

He approached me as he grabbed onto my hands that were cuffed behind my back. Bellamy then led me outside to the hallways, 'Are you that stupid, Reyes? I saved your ass. You’re welcome by the way.’

'Saved my ass? My tactic totally worked. You didn’t do shit so don’t flatter yourself.’

Bellamy then stopped, turning my body to face him. 'He was going to blow your head right there across from me. Why would you do that?’

His face seemed as if he was really upset. I didn’t think that this would affect him this way and it made me sad as well. 'I did it to scare him okay? I knew he wouldn’t shoot if I made him nervous.’

'What if he did shoot you?’ He kept his grip on my arm, as if he was trying to stop me from running away.

'Then he would’ve made the biggest mistake of his life because Arkadia would’ve gone mad if he did.’

Bellamy pulled his head back as he sighed deeply, 'Why the hell would you risk your life like that?’

'Survival, Blake. I’d do anything for my people and it was worth the risk if it’s to protect them.’

'That’s probably the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.’

I laughed out of frustration, 'The dumbest thing I’ve ever did was loving you.’

His grip loosened as the words escaped my mouth. Bellamy stared right into my eyes, wishing that he haven’t heard any of the things I said. His eyes seemed watery but he quickly hid it as he turned my body back around, grabbing on my cuffs.

We walked in silence until we reached the cell. Bellamy took off my cuffs then placed me inside, where Lincoln was sitting on the floor as he watched me come in. 'Y/N, what happened?’

As I watched Bellamy leave the room, I quickly turned to Lincoln. 'Marcus has a plan to fix all of this. Are you with us?’

He nodded, 'Of course.’

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'I was told you’re finally confessing?’ Bellamy walked towards me as I watched him from the other side of the cell.

'Yeah, I’ll tell you everything.’

He crossed his arm in front of his chest, 'I’m listening.’

'Traitor.’ Lincoln blabbed from behind me. I turned around and saw him glare straight at me. 'Is this how you’re going to treat your people, Y/N? Become one of them?’

'Hey, quiet down Lincoln.’ Bellamy shouted.

Without turning around to look at Lincoln, I shouted at him, 'Mind your own business.’

'This is my business now.’ Lincoln shouted back. 'I thought you were better than this. Guess what everyone was saying is true.’

'Quiet!’ Bellamy yelled as Lincoln walked towards us.

Turning around to face Lincoln, I gave him a smug. ‘Don’t act all tough. If it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t even be alive in the first place.’

‘Don’t test my patience, I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘Why not? You fight like a girl anyway.’ Without any hesitation, I threw a punch right into Lincoln’s stomach which caused him to groan and fall onto the floor.

As I walked over to Lincoln, he kicked me to the ground. ‘Didn’t see that coming, did you?’

Before he got up, I tackled him and started punching him in the face. Bellamy screamed from the other side of the cell, ‘Reyes, stop!’

As Lincoln grabbed my arm, the guards opened the cell and got in between us. We then started fighting the guards instead.

Fighting off a bunch of guards one by one, I felt my muscles getting sore. Breathing heavily, I grabbed a stun stick from one of the guards that collapsed earlier.

Kneeling next to the guard, I lifted my head up as I felt someone grab my arm. Bellamy looked at me with a serious look in his eyes. 'What’s gotten into you?’

'Are you kidding me? You’ve become my enemy the day you switched sides. Why are you surprised?’ I gripped on the stun gun tightly. 'Let me go Blake.’

'Not until you let go of the stun stick.’

The whole plan was for Lincoln and I to cause a distraction while Marcus kidnapped Pike to hand him over to the grounders. This plan was far too important for me to let go. 'Please, just take your hand away from me.’

Bellamy shook his head, 'I can’t do that.’

'Don’t let me use it on you.’ I said softly, trying to convince him to let me go. My eyes became watery with tears, thinking that I might have to hurt Bellamy. Even the thought of possibly hurting him made me disgusted in myself. But I knew that deep down even if I had no choice, I wouldn’t be able to use the stun stick on him.

'I know you won’t use it on me.’

'Try me.’ The only way to force him to let me go was to make him think that I was going to use it.

Then Bellamy slowly reached his other hand towards me, trying to get the stun stick. As I was about to give up, I felt a painful sting on my body. Screaming as loud as ever, I grabbed onto my ribs where it hurt.

'What the fuck, Hannah?’ Bellamy quickly stood up as he watched her tase me.

'You’re making your emotions get the best of you.’ She said as she pulled my hand back to cuff my arms. I groaned in pain, my ribs were still stinging from the stun stick.

'Really? She was about to hand her weapon to me. There was no reason to harm her.’

Hannah shrugged, 'Better safe than sorry.’

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

Several hours have passed since the riot and I still didn’t know if Marcus have successfully taken Pike outside the gates of Arkadia. The soldiers who were guarding the cell never said a word about anything.

Just as I was wondering his whereabouts, voices rang through the hallways as Marcus showed up with Bellamy. 'Hi monkey.’

I lightly smiled at him as Bellamy let himself and Marcus in the cell. Marcus smiled back, 'Y/N, I’m sorry the plan failed.’

'No, I’m just glad you’re safe.’ I said as I watched Bellamy uncuff him.

'I-I…’ Marcus stuttered his words before he finally said what he had to say. 'I’m getting executed.’

Biting my lips, I closed my eyes to keep the tears from falling. There were too many tears to stop and they just streamed down my face. 'So am I.’

Bellamy’s head shot up, hearing this news for the first time. Marcus became teary eyed; the only time I seen him cry was when my mother got floated. Ignoring Bellamy’s stare, I reached for Marcus and hugged him tightly.

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