#If you're going to appoint yourself as the main character of something going on half a world away you should treat it with some gravity

[wedding-shemp]

If I were going to pivot my gimmick account exclusively into talking about a very serious subject that affects real people, I would change my Silly Jokey pfp

[sebstanaddict]

The Distance

Chapter 4 - The Game

Summary : A space adventure where we follow Bucky Barnes around the universe as he struggles to reclaim the love of his life amidst the backdrop of war between humans and the Kree race.

What happens when Bucky is forced to spend time with his doppelganger, Sebastian Stan as he stayed in the Avengers Compound to learn more about Bucky for preparation to play him in an upcoming Avengers movie.

Pairings : Bucky Barnes x Adriana Weaver (OC)

Chapters: 4 / 20 (might add more as I write)

Chapter List >

Warning : violence

Word count : 7.8k

This is a sequel to my first Bucky fic, New Beginning. Check it out here.

Avengers Compound, New York - August 2024

Bucky flipped through his favourite book, The Hobbit, trying all his might to focus on the written words on the paper, but he couldn't. It was Monday afternoon, two days after he last met Sebastian. He was supposed to come to the compound that day and spend a week shadowing Bucky. Bucky didn't really know what to expect. He barely knew him. But the thought of having someone watching his every move made him nervous and uncomfortable. He was used to being the one who watches people, courtesy of his old spying skills, and not the one being watched.

He was sitting on the sofa in the living room. Sam sat on another sofa across from him, his eyes glued to his cellphone. Wanda was at the penthouse too, busy cooking something in the kitchen. She wanted to have some snacks and drinks ready to welcome their new roommates.

"Don't be nervous, Bucky. I'm sure Sebastian is going to be a really nice guy and will respect your boundaries." Wanda suddenly appeared in the living room as she put a plate of sandwiches and finger food on the coffee table in front of them.

"Wanda.. would you please cut it out." Bucky protested. He really didn't like it when Wanda abused her mind reading powers by reading on other people's minds.

"Sorry.. but your nervous vibe is so strong that I can't unread it even if I wanted to." Wanda shrugged and she turned on her heels and went back to the kitchen, leaving Bucky feeling even more annoyed.

"She's right you know. You don't need to be nervous. Sebastian and Jonathan are good guys." Sam said, looking up from his cellphone.

"Yeah. I guess. But you know how I can be socially awkward." Bucky said.

"Don't worry about it, Buck. They're here to see how we live our day to day life and to learn about our characters. Just be yourself. Even if it means you're just gonna be a bionic staring machine for most of the time." Sam chuckled and Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Ooh.. they're here!" Sam said after he glanced at his cellphone. Apparently Jonathan had texted him.

"Are you coming, Buck?" Sam asked, standing up and heading towards the front door, wanting to welcome them down at the main entrance.

"No, I'm good." Bucky said as he returned his attention back to the book in his hand. He didn't want Sebastian to think he waited all day for him to come. Even though, they all actually did. Jonathan and Sebastian were quite famous A-list Hollywood actors. Sam and Wanda were a little star struck while Bucky had his own reasons for being nervous. They cancelled all their training classes and appointments that day and had spent half the day cleaning the penthouse and cooking, in Wanda's case, hoping to impress their new roommates.

"Okay, suit yourself." Sam said and he walked out of the penthouse.

Moments later Wanda came back to the living room carrying a pitcher of pink liquid and some empty glasses. She put them down on the coffee table and started pouring the liquid into all the glasses.

"What are those?" Bucky asked curiously.

"Oh just some ordinary lemonade with a secret ingredient." Wanda winked.

"You're not gonna drug them are you?" Bucky asked.

"What?! Of course not! Why would i do that?" Wanda exclaimed in surprise.

"I just don't trust a drink looking pink like that. It looks like you've put cough syrup in it." Bucky chuckled.

"Oh stop it, Bucky!" Wanda slapped his arm playfully.

Bucky and Wanda had become closer ever since everyone else left the compound. She felt like a sister to him. And knowing that she had experienced the same things as him, losing the love of her life and her family, made him feel like she was the only one who could understand him. Sam also had lost his parents a long time ago, but he still had Leila, so Bucky figured Sam wouldn't understand fully what he was going through. Having Wanda around really helped even though they never specifically talked about what had happened to them. It felt like they had a silent understanding about what each other had gone through. And that was enough of a comfort for Bucky.

Moments later the front door of the penthouse was opened and Sam walked in followed by Jonathan and Sebastian. Bucky put his book down and stood up. He turned towards them and saw Sebastian shaking Wanda's hand.

"Oh my God. You are so much cuter in person." Wanda commented, making Sebastian blushed furiously.

"He can't take compliments. He'll just melt on the spot whenever someone compliments him." Jonathan chuckled.

"Yeah, seriously, I can't. But thank you, Wanda, that is so kind of you to say that." Sebastian smiled at Wanda and she blushed too.

"Yo, Bucky, what's up dude?" Jonathan greeted him and extended his hand to him.

"I'm good, Jonathan. Thanks." Bucky said, shaking Jonathan's hand and gave him a forced smile.

"Bucky, so nice to see you again." Sebastian smiled at him and shook his hand.

"Uh, yeah. Nice to see you too, Sebastian." Bucky said awkwardly and gave him another forced smile.

"How are you?" Sebastian asked.

"I'm good thanks." Bucky said.

"Well, that's good to hear. Don't worry Bucky. Just do the things you're used to be doing and pretend I'm not around. I want to see you in your daily life. No need to resort into doing or behaving like you're not yourself, you know. I mean.. I'm not here to judge you or anything." Sebastian said, fumbling in his words. Bucky could see that he was nervous.

"Okay. Thank you for saying that. I'll keep that in mind." Bucky nodded and Sebastian nodded as well.

"Okay, now that everyone is acquainted, let me show you where your bedrooms are. Follow me, guys." Sam said, beckoning them to come with him upstairs towards the bedrooms.

Suddenly Sebastian sneezed.

"Bless you." Wanda said.

"Thank you." Sebastian said.

Bucky looked down and saw both his cats prowling around his feet and meowing. He forgot that it was time to give them their lunch.

"Aaaww.. you have cats?!" Sebastian exclaimed in surprise.

"Uh.. yeah.. Adriana's cats." Bucky said, picking Alpine up and brought him towards Sebastian.

"Oh sorry.. " Sebastian suddenly sneezed again. "I'm allergic to cats." He said with a sad look on his face.

"Well that's unfortunate." Bucky commented.

"Yeah. Anyway they're so cute. I wish I could touch them." Sebastian said, sniffling a little.

"Hey Seb, are you coming?" Jonathan called out, he was already following Sam when Sebastian encountered the cats.

"Yeah, coming Jonathan. See you two later." Sebastian cooed towards the cats. "And you too, Bucky." Sebastian said, nodding his head at Bucky.

Bucky didn't reply and just blinked. Sebastian took that as a yes so he turned on his heel and followed Jonathan and Sam.

"It's sad that he's allergic to cats." Wanda commented as Bucky continued carrying Alpine to the kitchen with Chloe following him.

"Yeah. But that means his stay might be shorter." Bucky said with a glint in his eyes.

"Are you planning something?" Wanda asked as Bucky poured some cat food into Alpine's and Chloe's bowls.

"Oh Wanda, is there any way you could turn off that vibe reading or mind reading thing you have in your head?" Bucky protested and he put Alpine down on the floor.

"You know what, I can turn it off if I want to. But it's no fun. I like to know what other people think so I can be more prepared as I interact with them." Wanda shrugged.

"That's violating someone's privacy, Wanda. Don't you see it's evil?" Bucky protested.

"Well, you can always see it both ways. If you use it for evil purposes then yes it's evil but if you use it for something good, I think it's not evil." Wanda said.

"Well.. okay if you think so. I still think it's evil." Bucky said.

"Yeah, you might want to change your mind if you know that I know what's in Sebastian's mind." Wanda said, giving him a sly smile.

"What? What was in his mind?" Bucky asked, his curiousity peaked.

"He genuinely is in awe of you Bucky. He sees you, me and Sam as heroes. He lost his mom during the blip, it was hard for him. And he thinks he owes us all for helping to return his mom back. He's a sweet guy. You should give him a chance." Wanda said, looking up at Bucky expectantly.

"You get all that by just meeting him for several minutes?" Sebastian asked, in awe of her.

"Yeah.. well.. He's kind of like an open book. I could feel he's a genuinely really nice and sweet person."Wanda saidand she blushed a little.

Bucky had an inkling that Wanda somehow liked Sebastian. But he didn't have the time to ask her about it because Sam, Sebastian and Jonathan were back from the bedroom area. He made a mental note to ask Wanda about it later. He wasn't sure if Sebastian was a good match for Wanda, and he wanted to let Wanda know about it.

They spent that afternoon chatting in the living room while munching on sandwiches and drinking the pink lemonade, which was actually pretty good. Sebastian and Jonathan were friendly and nice and not surprisingly blended well with Sam and Wanda. Bucky spent most of that time just listening to them all chat and just watched them. He was never one that liked to talk much in a group setting.

"So, Sebastian. I saw Fresh the other day. You were amazingly creepy in that movie, dude!" Sam commented.

"Oh, thank you, Sam." Sebastian smiled and blushed again. He really couldn't take a compliment, Bucky thought in amusement.

"Did you get as far as.. you know.. for the role.. eating actual human meat?" Sam asked curiously.

"Oh God, no! Of course not!" Sebastian chuckled.

"So all the human meat in the movie were what? Beef?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, most were beef. The meatballs were beef. The pate I think was chicken and noodles or something." Sebastian replied.

"It's amazing though your performance in the movie. Made me thought of whether you used what is called.. method acting?" Sam commented, referring to an acting technique where the actors usually went as far as living and breathing as their characters outside of shooting in order to give a genuine performance.

"Oh.. yeah.. no.. I can't use method acting for that movie. It would be too dangerous and well I can't do it for obvious reasons." Sebastian winked.

"But for this movie you can, right?" Bucky suddenly chimed in.

"Uh.. yeah.. I guess. But I usually use the Meisner technique combined with other techniques for my other roles." Sebastian said.

"What's Meisner technique?" Wanda asked.

"Oh it's a technique where the actors use outside influence more to inform them on how they should act, such as their scene partners. So instead of acting out emotions and feelings from within, the actors acted out more as a result of a reaction from their scene partner or environment. It makes a scene goes more organically and more naturally." Sebastian explained.

"Well, in that case, there's actually no need for you to be here, is there?" Bucky asked.

"Bucky.." Sam gave him a warning look and Bucky realized he might have hurt Sebastian's feelings.

"Well, I still need to do research Bucky. I can just watch documentaries on you and read books about you but it won't be the same than if I can observe you directly." Sebastian said.

"Yeah, I get it. Sorry." Bucky said.

"No, it's okay. I get it if you feel uncomfortable with me being here. I'll try as much as I can to stay out of your way." Sebastian said.

"No, Sebastian. Please. Be in his way. This bionic staring machine needs some socializing in his life." Sam commented making them all except Bucky laugh.

"Very funny, Sam. Anyway, the reason you're here is to learn more about me and how I live my day to day life, right?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sebastian said.

"Well, I know just what you can do so you can understand more about me." Bucky said with a glint in his eyes.

-----

For the next three days, Bucky ordered Sebastian to take care of his cats for him. He asked Sebastian to feed them, clean their sandbox, play with them and even groom them by giving them a bath, cut their nails, clean their ears and trim and brush their furs, all the while sneezing and getting rashes on his body. But Sebastian took them all in strides. Bucky also ordered him to take over his daily cleaning duties. Bucky usually had the task to take out the trash at night and cleaned the bathrooms once a week. But he told Sebastian that he cleaned the bathroom everyday. So, Sebastian did it.

Wanda and Sam kept on complaining to Bucky on how cruel he was to Sebastian. But Bucky shrugged it off. Sebastian was a really good sport and never once complained. Even though Bucky could see he was jealous of Jonathan whenever Sam took Jonathan with him to see him train.

While Sebastian was left at the penthouse to watch over his cats or clean, Bucky was free to do his normal daily activities by himself, which made him happy. But on the third day he was forced to change it.

He came into the penthouse that evening after a long hour at the research and development lab, testing new weaponry, only to find loud shouts and whoops from the living room. Apparently Sam, Jonathan, Sebastian and Wanda were all playing Mario Kart. They were divided into two teams, Team Mario AKA actors team and Team Luigi AKA superheroes team. Sebastian was sitting on a sofa holding a controller while Wanda sat on the sofa next to him holding another controller. Sam and Jonathan stood on each of their sides, cheering them on. Sebastian was very good and he beat Wanda easily.

"Aaawww man.. Wanda, you're so bad at this." Sam complained, taking the controller from Wanda.

"For a superhero that can read minds, your ability doesn't help win Mario Kart at all." Sam commented in annoyance.

"Sam! I didn't use my mind reading skill. That would be cheating!" Wanda protested.

"Since when do you care about not reading into people's minds?" Bucky commented as he stood behind Sam who was now sitting on the sofa, ready to take another round against Jonathan.

"Since forever!" Wanda protested as she gave Bucky a warning look and Bucky just laughed.

After another round, Team Luigi AKA superheroes team finally won. Sam whooped out loud as Luigi passed the finish line first leaving Mario in his dust.

"That win means nothing. We're still winning over 50 thousand points!" Jonathan exclaimed as he gave the controller to Sebastian.

"Bucky, help us out here. I don't trust Wanda with this." Sam pleaded.

"Sam.. I can't." Bucky seriously couldn't play. He had tried but he felt he was even worse than Wanda.

"Just try it, Bucky. It's not that hard." Wanda said.

"Yeah, I can't believe an ex assassin who had killed two dozen people in five decades can't handle playing Mario Kart." Sebastian commented and everyone froze after he said it. Sebastian's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he realized what he had just said.

Everyone turned their eyes to Bucky, waiting for him to give a reaction but Bucky just gave Sebastian a murderous glare and clenched his jaw. Fine! What does this 40 year old man know about winning a game anyway. He had lived more than 100 years and almost always win a fight. Well, a fight and a nintendo game were obviously different things. But he thought the mental capacity needed to win such a game must have been the same, if not easier. So, bring it on! He thought as he grabbed the controller from Sam's hand and sat on the sofa next to Sebastian.

"Bucky, I'm sorry.. I didn't mean.. " Sebastian said as he looked at Bucky in shame but Bucky cut him off.

"It's okay. But let's add some real prize here. If I win, you're going to spend the rest of your stay here cleaning the whole penthouse every single day including the kitchen and our bedrooms, all of our bedrooms. And that's on top of taking care of my cats, taking out the trash and cleaning the bathrooms." Bucky said.

"Except mine. A woman's room is private. Don't go there, Sebastian, okay? Unless I invite you." Wanda said, blushing as she said it and Sebastian just smiled at her.

"Well, okay. But if I win, I get to spend my days shadowing you and following you everywhere you go.. except the bathroom and when you go to sleep." Sebastian retaliated.

"Deal!" Bucky said, extending his hand to Sebastian and Sebastian shook it.

Bucky turned his attention back at the large screen in front of him and started a new round. For the whole round both Mario and Luigi were racing head to head on the track. Bucky had not played the game in ages but his super soldier mind and reflexes helped him immensely. It felt just like when he rode his motorcycle, riding and weaving through crowded New York street.

They were nearing the finish line and Luigi was on the front of Mario by a split second when Bucky suddenly felt something jumped on his back and he lost all his focus, Luigi swerved to the right and went off track while Mario passed him and crossed the finish line. Apparently Alpine had jumped to his shoulder. Sebastian and Jonathan whooped in celebration while Bucky reprimanded Alpine for making him lost the game. Wanda and Sam just laughed looking at them.

"I demand a rematch!" Bucky protested after he was done scolding Alpine who had run out of the room in disappointment.

"I won fair and square. No need for a rematch." Sebastian gloated.

"Well you weren't distracted by a cat!" Bucky protested.

"Buck, give it up. He did win fair and square. It's time for you to show Sebastian around anyway. Wouldn't you want him to portray you correctly in the movie?" Sam asked calmly.

Sam's calming voice brought some sense back into Bucky's head. He shrugged and finally accepted his defeat.

"Yeah, okay. You can come with me tomorrow." Bucky said dejectedly.

"Thank you, Bucky. I promise I won't be a bother." Sebastian said, smiling at him and extending his hand as a peace offering. Bucky shook Sebastian's hand and gave him back a forced smile.

"No, please Sebastian. Bother him. We need some entertainment around here." Sam chuckled and everyone but Bucky laughed.

------

The next morning Bucky took Sebastian with him to his hand-to-hand combat class. Sebastian sat on one side of the class as Bucky demonstrated some moves in front of the class. He did some moves from the Systema fighting technique, a Russian technique he had learned while in Hydra. Systema incorporated many fighting styles like punching, grappling, knife fights and even gunplay. He used a real knife to demonstrate his moves, flipping it and twirling it in his hands as he fought against an invisible enemy. Sebastian's jaw dropped throughout the class as he saw Bucky's fast and deadly moves.

After Bucky was done, he put his knife away and instructed his students to get fake knives and practice the moves with each other. He then stood on the sidelines next to Sebastian as his students trained in front of him.

"Wow! That was amazing what you just did! Please teach me how to do it!" Sebastian pleaded as he looked at Bucky, giving him puppy dog eyes.

Bucky sighed and grabbed a fake knife and gave it to Sebastian. For the next couple of minutes he taught Sebastian how to flip the knife. The skill proved very hard for Sebastian to master, he kept dropping the knife. By the end of the class he managed not to drop it but he was still very slow. So he asked Bucky if he could bring the fake knife with him so he could learn flipping it wherever he was, Bucky agreed but warned him not to lose it, to which Sebastian promised not to.

After the morning hand-to-hand combat class was done they went to a weapons handling class. That day Bucky was supposed to teach his class how to shoot using three different guns, a revolver, an assault rifle and a shotgun. Each required a different set of skills to use. His students had already known the basics and that day Bucky tested them to shoot against targets, and using each gun alternately. He scored them by how close to the target their shots were and how fast they were.

Before the class started he demonstrated what the students were supposed to do. Bucky entered the closed shooting range while Sebastian waited outside. Ten different targets shaped like a human stood in front of them. Each target glowed blue alternately. When a target was blue, the shooter was supposed to shoot it. If the target wasn't blue, the shooter wasn't supposed to shoot it. Bucky did the shooting training with a perfect score in only 15 seconds. Earning him loud whoops from his students. Sebastian's jaw was again dropped the whole time he saw Bucky.

"Wow! That was amazing! Please teach me!" Sebastian pleaded yet again and he was met by Bucky's rolling eyes.

"I'll teach you later. I need to monitor these guys." Bucky said.

"Yeah, of course!" Sebastian said.

After weapons handling class was done it was time for lunch. They decided to eat lunch at the one and only sandwich place at the compound, meeting Sam and Jonathan there. Sebastian showed them the fake knife Bucky lent him and Jonathan demanded Sebastian to show them what he could do with it.

"Well, you obviously need more practice." Jonathan said after seeing Sebastian flipped the fake knife on his hand.

"Obviously! I just learned today, man." Sebastian commented.

"Here Bucky, show him how you do it." Sebastian gave Bucky the fake knife but Bucky rejected it and pulled out his own knife from a holster on his leg.

"Whoa.. easy there, Bucky." Jonathan said, backing away as Bucky brandished the knife in front of them. Sam just rolled his eyes at him while Sebastian looked at him with his eyes shone in awe.

Bucky showed Jonathan what he could do with his knife and earned him a loud whoop and applause from both Jonathan and Sebastian. Bucky couldn't help but feel proud at what he could do. He never gave it much thought but his skills proved to be quite awe inspiring to other people. It was something he didn't expect. He felt more often than not a feeling of guilt and remorse for having those deadly skills. If he could choose, he would rather not have those skills but a clean ledger rather than the opposite. So to see Sebastian and Jonathan had those positive reactions towards his skill was something really refreshing for him. And he started to feel glad that Sebastian and Jonathan were there.

After lunch was done Bucky had to go to research and development laboratory again to test some more new weapons. As it happened, Sam also needed to go there so they all went there together.

The research and development laboratory was big and divided into several areas. As they went towards the weapons area they passed other areas like communications and transportations. Sebastian kept on asking questions as they passed different areas, asking what the gadgets on the table they just passed was for, or asking how a certain communication device worked for them.

"How do you talk to each other during a mission?" Sebastian asked as they passed the communication area.

"We have an earpiece that we put in our ears before we go on a mission." Bucky replied.

"Yeah? How does it work?" Sebastian asked.

"They just work." Bucky replied, not knowing exactly how the device worked even though he had used it so often.

"Yeah? But like.. how? Is it like a cellphone? Is it talking to like a cellphone tower?" Sebastian continued asking, annoying Bucky even more. He was a trained assassin not a telecommunication guy. How was he supposed to know how it worked.

Bucky decided to stay silent and not answer Sebastian. He felt kind of embarrassed for not knowing. Maybe he should pay more attention when Bruce Banner or Helen Cho described all these new gadgets and how they worked to him. While he was silent Sam answered Sebastian's question. He knew more about the technical details of the gadgets they use. Bucky was glad Sam was there so he was saved from the embarassment.

They stopped in front of Bruce Banner who was busy tinkering on a new version of Bucky's vibranium arm. Bruce had been staying in the city but came to the compound everyday as he was one of the head scientist in the R&D Department. Bruce had been developing a new vibranium arm for Bucky with help from Shuri and Riri who had been communicating with him remotely. Aside from the original features like super strength, Bruce added a new feature where his arm can absorb kinetic energy and let it go if Bucky did a certain move with it. The kinetic energy shot from the arm would be amplified, turning it into another weapon Bucky could use.

"Hey Bruce, how's the arm progressing?" Bucky asked.

"Oh hey Bucky. I just need to change the setting a little bit. Wait." Bruce said and he returned his attention back to the vibranium arm in front of him.

It looked more or less similar to the current arm Bucky used. The main color was black but the vines design all over it were silver instead of gold. Bucky had also requested Bruce to add a logo of the head of a white wolf on it. He wanted people to know him more as White Wolf, so the logo would hopefully remind people of that.

"Alright, all done." Bruce said then he picked up the arm and offered it to Bucky.

Bucky pressed some points on his left shoulder and his current arm detached from his body. He picked it up with his right hand and gave it to Sebastian who was, yet again, had his jaw dropped to the floor. Sebastian received Bucky's arm and held it with both his hands. Turning it around as he studied it.

"Wow, it's not as heavy as I thought." Sebastian commented.

"No, it's not. It's much lighter than my original metal arm." Bucky commented as he attached the new arm to his shoulder.

Bucky made a circling movement with his shoulder, tightening the new arm in place. Then he walked to a testing area. A faceless doll with a mark on its chest stood in the middle of the area. He suddenly squatted and hit the floor hard with his vibranium arm. The arm glowed blue where the silver vines were as the kinetic energy from the impact he made with the floor was absorbed. He then raised his arm and opened his palm towards the doll. The doll flew backwards as amplified kinetic energy from his arm was released towards the doll.

"Whoa! That was awesome, man!" Sebastian commented. Sam, Jonathan and Bruce clapped as they saw it.

"This seems perfect." Bucky said, standing up and smiled wide at Bruce.

"Well, you can take it with you now if you want." Bruce said.

"Oh, that's cool. I need to test again though before I do." Bucky said.

He picked up a nearby chair, turned it upside down and crushed one of the metal legs with his new arm, rendering it unusable.

"Hey! That's my chair." Helen Cho suddenly showed up and scolded him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Helen. I'll replace it with a new one. Sorry." Bucky said sheepishly.

"Why don't you just ask her out on a date?" Bruce said, winking at Helen. Helen blushed furiously and elbowed Bruce as she whispered shut up under her breath.

Bucky was surprised at Bruce's comment and Helen's reaction. Did she have feelings for him? Well, he was flattered but he made a vow never to date anyone else. Adriana was his soulmate and he didn't want to dishonor her memory by dating someone else. Besides, his heart belonged to Adriana alone. No other woman compared.

"I'm sorry, Helen. I can't." Bucky said in regret.

"It's okay Bucky, Bruce was only joking anyway." Helen said and smiled at him but he could see a little disappointment in her eyes.

"Hey, maybe you and Sebastian could go out together. He's practically my twin." Bucky suggested to the surprise of both Helen and Sebastian.

"Oh no no.. please just forget this." Helen said, her face turned as red as a tomato.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Helen. I'm kind of seeing someone. So I can't." Sebastian said. So he was seeing someone, Bucky thought. Maybe that Spanish model one of Adriana's friends mentioned once.

"Yeah it's fine Sebastian. Please just forget all of this. I should just.. go.." Helen said and she quickly left them before they could say anything.

"Well.. that was awkward." Jonathan suddenly chimed in making them all laugh.

After testing some more new weapons and gadgets, Bucky went back to the penthouse with his new vibranium arm on his shoulder. Sebastian asked his permission to keep the old vibranium arm for research purposes and Bucky let him. It wasn't like he could wear it anyway.

-----

The next day, which was a Friday, Bucky was scheduled to monitor his students as they took the ultimate test in both hand-to-hand combat and weapons handling. With help from Bruce and Riri, he had designed an obstacle course combined with Tony Stark's holographic technology to provide a simulation of a real life situation where the students were being attacked by Hydra's agents. They were tested to use all the skills they have learned, not just in his class but also in their previous classes like the basic military training, in order to kill or maim all of Hydra's agents or risked getting killed themselves.

The obstacle course consisted of twelve different types of obstacles such as a high wall, stepping stones, dodging panels, hanging ropes to balancing bridge. Everytime a student was on an obstacle, the environment would change to simulate real life situation. For example when a student was climbing the wall obstacle, the environment would simulate a real wall of a building. Or when they were in the dodging panels, the environment would change to simulate urban interior like the insides of an office building.

The obstacle course had been set up on the third floor of the main building, close to where his hand-to-hand combat classes were usually held. The room was huge, about six thousand square feet in size. The walls were dark but there were bright lights flooding the room. Large glass windows covered the front of the area so that everyone can see what was going on inside the obstacle course. Right before the entrance to the obstacle course, a selection of weapons and protective gears were provided so the students could choose their preferred weapons and protection. The weapons were fake of course, they had special sensors in them that could interact with the holograms.

There were five students ready to take the test when Bucky arrived. He nodded at all his students. It was their first time to take the test, so Bucky decided to give them an example. He picked his preferred weapons, several knives, revolvers and an assault rifle. Put them all on holsters and straps on his back, front and along his legs. He also took some small grenades and a small gadget that could shock an opponent with electricity when the gadget was thrown at them. He opted not to use any protective gear. He was used to just using his vibranium arm to protect himself.

He stretched his arms and legs a little, turned his head from side to side and took a deep breath as he prepared to enter the obstacle course.

"Good luck!" Sebastian suddenly chimed making his students chuckle. Bucky turned to Sebastian and just gave him a glare to which Sebastian responded with a nervous smile.

Bucky pushed the button next to the entrance of the obstacle course and the wide glass door slid open. He walked in and the door closed automatically behind him. A large red digital timer suddenly appeared on the middle of the wall, counting his time. Next to the timer was a counter for how many opponents he would successfully kill or maim. And next to the counter was a display to show the score for each obstacle course he was going to take.

Bucky walked to the high wall obstacle and as soon as he did, the environment changed to simulate a brick wall standing at a New York neighbourhood. He raised his arms up and started to climb. He was in the middle of the wall when a hologram of a Hydra agent suddenly showed up and started shooting at him from down below. Bucky ducked his head and used his vibranium arm to Shield himself. The Hydra agent climbed up after him and Bucky kicked his head hard with his leg and the agent fell down. Another agent suddenly appeared from above him, raining bullets at him. Bucky grabbed a small circular gadget from a pocket on his suit and threw it at the agent with precision. The agent was electrified and fell down over the wall right onto the hard floor below. Bucky looked down at two of the Hydra agents he had successfully beat and glanced at the counter on the wall which was now showing the number two. He continued climbing and finally made it on top and he jumped down below to the other side. The score on the wall changed to one hundred as he made it over the first obstacle.

He quickly ran to the next obstacle which was the stepping stones. The environment changed to simulate a river bed in a forest with stepping stones in the middle. He stepped on the stones and suddenly three Hydra agents showed up in front of him right on the other side of the river, shooting at him. Bucky covered himself with his vibranium arm and the bullets bounced off it and dropped into the river. He grabbed his assault rifle and with precision shot each of the Hydra agent on their heads. The counter on the wall changed to five as he successfully killed them all. He then continued stepping quickly on the stepping stones and reached the other side of the river. The score on the wall then changed to two hundred.

He then continued to the next nine obstacles, passing them all in flying colors as he killed or maimed the Hydra agents sent his way. He used all of the weapons he had taken with him. He shot with his revolvers or assault rifle, he threw his knives or used them in close combat situations to hurt the Hydra agents. He even used the grenade at one point as suddenly more than ten Hydra agents appeared when he was trying to finish the hanging rope obstacle.

He was on the last obstacle which was a simple run up on an inclined wide platform and ended on two levels at the end where he was supposed to jump from them onto the floor down below. Suddenly five Hydra agents appeared surrounding him before he even got the chance to get on the platform. He fought with them using all of his hand-to-hand combat skills, using his knives and even his revolver at one point. Within ten seconds all of the Hydra agents were down. Bucky stood between them as they disappeared into nothingness. He then quickly ran up on the platform and at the edge of it jumped down straight onto the floor skipping one level. He landed on a squatting position with one knee on the floor and one foot on the floor. He hit his vibranium arm to the ground as he landed and his arm glowed blue signifying it had absorbed the kinetic energy from the impact. He then stood up and without even looking he opened his palm up towards a Hydra agent who had suddenly appeared at the edge of the platform above him, a rifle on his hand ready to shoot at Bucky. The Hydra agent was thrown back as the kinetic energy from his palm hit him. The counter on the wall changed to 80 as he successfully killed 80 Hydra agents. The score on the wall changed to 1200 as he managed to overcome each obstacle perfectly. And the timer on the wall stopped at 14 minutes and 35 seconds.

His students and Sebastian clapped and whooped loudly from outside the obstacle course. He smiled at them all and as he walked out from the obstacle course he heard Sebastian saying to one of his students.

"How the he** am I supposed to play someone like that?!"

Bucky let slip a small smile as he heard it. He felt a rare sense of pride again in his heart. Something he didn't think he would ever feel.

-----

Bucky looked down and was glad Adriana was alright. He cupped her face with her hands and rubbed the bruise on her forehead as if he could erase it somehow.

"Are you okay?" Adriana asked him, her hands on the sides of his face.

"I'm fine Adriana. I'm..sorry..I'm so sorry about everything." He said and he started to sob.

"Shhh.. it's okay Bucky." She said, hugging him tight.

Suddenly she turned him around so that they switched sides. Bucky heard the sound of gunshots and he realized it too late. Adriana was shot on the back multiple times.

"No!" Bucky yelled in anguish.

He held Adriana's limp form in his hands, feeling his world shattered to a million pieces and everything went black.

When he opened his eyes again Bucky saw Adriana being carried on the shoulder of the yellow eyed Kree. He was carrying her towards his ship. Adriana called out to Bucky, pleading for him to help her. He screamed Adriana's name as he quickly ran to her but suddenly the yellow eyed Kree turned around and shot him with an energy beam, making him fly back and hit a wall and everything went black.

In the darkness he felt someone's hand on his shoulder and his eyes flew open in a start. He flipped the intruder onto the floor and grabbed the knife on his night stand. He held the knife with his right hand right on the intruder's neck, ready to slit it and render him lifeless. Then he suddenly realized he was staring at himself. No.. he was staring at Sebastian, his doppelganger.

-----

Kree Mothership, Hala, Capital of Kree Civilization - July 2024

Adriana stared at the widened yellow eyes of the man in front of her. Her mind tried to recall if she knew this man but she came up blank. Yon-Rogg, was it? The man's name. She repeated it in her head as if she was writing his name on a blank piece of paper then folded it and stored it in her brain, something she hoped she wouldn't forget in the future.

"Who am I?" She asked again seeing Yon-Rogg seemed to be in shock and couldn't say anything.

"You're a Kree." Yon-Rogg finally said, his mind seemed to be working hard behind his eyes. On what, she didn't know.

"Oh.. like you?" Adriana asked, scooting her body a little closer to him. So, she was a Kree too, like him. That made sense.

"Yes, like me." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"Where are we?" Adriana asked as she looked around the room and her eyes settled outside the window where they could see the insides of a hangar.

"We're in a holding cell in the Kree Mothership. We're in Hala now, the Capital city of our civilization. We just returned from a mission on earth." Yon-Rogg said as he sat on the bed in front of Adriana.

"Holding cell? I'm a captive?" Adriana asked, her eyes widened in fear.

"Yes, you're a captive." Yon-Rogg nodded.

"What?! Why?!" Adriana asked, disbelief filled her eyes. How could she be a captive? Was she a bad person? Somehow she knew she wasn't even though she didn't remember anything about herself. But her heart told her she was not a bad person.

"It's a long story. Can you tell me what was the last thing you remember?" Yon-Rogg asked.

"I.. I'm not sure.." Adriana trailed. She scrunched her eyes shut as she tried to recall the last thing she could remember. Then she could see it, a flash of memory filled her mind.

"You.. I mean we.. we were in a small ship.. I saw a missile heading straight at us from right outside the window of the ship.. and you stood up from your seat, knelt in front of me, held me tight and I closed my eyes. And.. and.. I don't remember anything else." Adriana finally said, opening her eyes.

"You don't recall anything happening before that or after that?" Yon-Rogg asked carefully.

Adriana closed her eyes again and tried to rack her brain for any other memory, but she felt great pain instead.

"It hurts when I try to remember." She finally said as she opened her eyes and rubbed her temple with her fingers.

"Okay. Come. Let's get you out of here." Yon-Rogg said, extending his hand to her.

"Where are we going?" Adriana asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"You'll see. Just.. trust me.." he said.

But Adriana didn't budge. She stared at him full of suspicion.

"I saved you from that missile. I'm not going to hurt you." He said.

"So it was real? The missile I saw and you hugging me was.. real?" Adriana asked carefully.

"Yes, they really happened. Now come on. I'll tell you everything later. But first we need to get out of here." Yon-Rogg said, beckoning for her to take his hand.

Adriana was conflicted. What he said made sense, he did save her from that missile although she didn't yet know the how. But still, she had no idea if she could trust Yon-Rogg. His yellow eyes creeped her out somehow. But she could also feel that he wasn't lying and that somehow, he kind of, cared for her. She wondered if they had a history together. She realized she had no other option but to trust him for the time being. If she really was in captivity, Yon-Rogg was offering to get her out of captivity. So that was a start.

Adriana finally took Yon-Rogg's hand and she stood up. But suddenly she felt cold metal surrounding both her wrists. Yon-Rogg had put thick handcuffs around her wrists that seemingly came out of nowhere. They were both so heavy that she was forced to put her hands down.

"What are you doing?!" She screamed as she tried to get her hands out from the handcuffs.

"Ssshhh.. it's okay. Calm down. The others think you're a captive. You can't just get out of here without those. They'll be suspicious. Trust me." Yon-Rogg said.

Adriana fell silent. What he said made sense so she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Okay. Before we get out of here, can you tell me my name?" Adriana asked, staring at him expectantly.

Yon-Rogg stayed silent for a moment then finally said. "Una-Ver, your name is Una-Ver."

"Una-Ver.." Adriana said, her name rolled from her tongue slowly as she tried to make sense of it. Her name felt unfamiliar to her, like it wasn't hers. But then again, what did she know? She knew nothing about herself.

"Yes, now come on Una. We need to get out of here." Yon-Rogg repeated and pulled her gently by her arm. Adriana finally gave in and followed him out of the room.

Yon-Rogg held her arm tight but not so tight that it hurt, just enough to keep her from going anywhere else. She looked around the hallway right outside the holding cell. The walls were dark and made from some kind of metal. There were nothing along the hallway but barren walls and some doors marked with a language she didn't recognize. Yon-Rogg guided them to an elevator. When the elevator opened, two blue-skinned male Kree were inside it. One had short dark hair and the other had long dark hair pulled up in a pony tail. They gave Yon-Rogg a salute as they came inside the elevator. Yon-Rogg just nodded at them as they came in.

"Excuse me, Colonel. Do you mind me asking, where are you taking the captive?" One of the Kree, the short haired one, suddenly asked.

"It is none of your business, Ul-Bresh. I have orders from Supreme Intelligence regarding her. It is none of your concern." Yon-Rogg said coldly.

"Forgive me, Colonel." The Kree said, bowing his head in shame while Yon-Rogg gave him a piercing stare.

Moments later the elevator stopped and Yon-Rogg pulled Adriana out of the elevator with him. The elevator closed behind them and Adriana found herself in some sort of garage. She could see several ships parked in the garage. Yon-Rogg guided them to one of the ships and once they were in, he immediately closed the door and took her to the cockpit. He made her sit behind the pilot's seat and once she was strapped in, he took the handcuffs off her.

"Thank you." Adriana said, smiling at Yon-Rogg once the handcuffs were off and Yon-Rogg froze as he saw her. Their faces were close to each other as he was kneeling in front of her.

"You're welcome." He finally said after a while and he gave her a small smile. If her eyes didn't play tricks on her it seemed he was blushing. But she didn't have time to figure it out because he quickly stood up and went to the pilot's seat. He strapped himself on the seat then flipped some switch on top of him. Then he pressed some buttons on the display in front of him. Soon the ship was moving. A huge door slowly opened in front of the ship and the ship flew out of the garage, right out onto the sky outside.

"Can you tell me where we're going?" Adriana asked again once they were flying on top of the city of Hala.

It was apparently day time in the city. The sky was clear blue with no clouds in sight. Adriana looked around and saw other ships flying around. Ships in varying shapes, sizes and colors. Tall skyscrapers spread on the city and she could see a glistening golden building, like a temple in the distance, that stuck out between all the skyscrapers, blinding anyone who glanced at it.

"We're going far away from here." Yon-Rogg simply said.

"Just sit back and relax." Yon-Rogg suggested, turning around in his seat and smiled at her.

Adriana decided to follow his advice and leaned back in her seat, her eyes taking in all the views in the city. They continued flying higher and higher and before she knew it, they were off planet. Her eyes widened as she looked outside the window. The planet where Hala was could be seen in the distance and suddenly she was jolted back in her seat as the ship went into warp, taking her to a place where she hoped she would be save.

Chapter 5 >

[songsofloretto]

"Matthew O'Driscoll! What a delight!"

"Yes, hello. Nice to see you again. Er...bit of an issue I have to raise with you I'm afraid."

"No problem. God it's nice to feel you giving me some energy."

"Well that's the problem you see. Kate, Nicky, Deaglan, Kieran and Ginny have appointed me, as your main character, to be the spokesman to tell you that you've neglected us of late."

"I have?!"

"In favour of a couple of priests you didn't even invent yourself. I don't wish to be rude, Loretto, but c'mon. That is some half-arsed writing. No character invention, no development. You don't even have to inject your own humour. And the filth! God it makes me blush and I'm no prude."

"You had enough of your own sex scenes, Mr."

"Not ones as explicit as those! Anyway this FanFic business has got to stop. It's lazy and it's time you remembered your real characters. The ones who flow through you onto the paper. You are our only conduit and we're tired of being in the waiting room."

"I'm enjoying the FanFic, Matty. And I'm going to carry on with it until I stop enjoying it. You're just here to make me feel guilty about not doing any original work."

"No I'm just reminding you that we're here."

"I haven't forgotten you. I've tons of ideas!! I'm just waiting on some inspiration for a good opening line. And the identity of Deaglan's mother. Oh and wether Kieran decides to turn over a new leaf now that he's in prison or if he's still a complete bastard."

"What? He's...he's Kieran!! He'll always be a complete bastard! WTF, I can't believe you're wasting time pondering about that."

"I thought I'd explore his softer side."

"He hasn't got one. Next question."

"Why has Nicky suddenly decided to tell me he's a vegetarian? I love Nicky, I hate vegetarians. Why does he have to challenge me like that?"

"Because he's a lovably awkward prick. He was born a contrarian. He gets that from Kate by the way, not me."

"No Matthew, he gets it from you. Doesn't he?"

"Ayuh. Suppose so."

"While you're here you can help me with something I'm stuck on. Who is Deaglan's mother?"

"Ahh yeah, that. She's coming to you. Don't worry."

"Good because it's driving me nuts that I don't know what who she is yet."

"Don't think too hard about it. You know the golden rule of writing. The best ideas come when you're not overthinking them. So don't think about them and then we'll choose the right moment to tell you. Like when you're in the shower, for example."

"About that. Why do you all always come thick and fast with the inspiration when I'm in the shower? Or driving? Or trying to sleep? Or in fact anywhere but in front of my laptop?"

"I don't know. That's just how it works."

"Right."

"This is hard work you know."

"What?"

"Sitting around, waiting for you to turn me into a murderer. I'm a good man. Knowing I'm going to kill my best friend makes me anxious."

"Don't be nervous, Matthew. I'll make sure people understand why you did it."

"I know but still. Just hurry up and get on with it. When was the last time you wrote for us?"

"Umm...March?"

"Exactly. You've a sequel to write and we are impatient to be written!"

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry! But really, you lot write yourselves. I'm just your typist 🤷‍♀️"

@rickedsab I still can't work out how to directly reply to any of your comments! 🤣

Matthew is my main protagonist. He's an Irish policeman, tough, strong, kind, strives to be a good father and is perpetually haunted by his own internal conflicts.

He's also very demanding and forever throwing me new aspects of his character so I have to keep going back on myself to weave in his eccentricities. He drives me nuts, he inspires me, he fills me with creative excitement, he makes me laugh and he makes me mad with frustration but I do love him 😍

I need to get on with the sequel to my novel but I can't while I'm so hyptonised by our priests. Meanwhile Matthew and the other original characters are still throwing me inspiration and sulking because I'm not writing their story 🤣

I will get on with it...eventually. You just have to go with whatever is in your heart in the moment 🤷‍♀️ Xx

[s4msepiol]

Headcanon #1 | Yeux Disent Le Contraire

• Title: Yeux Disent Le Contraire  • Type: Fluff                                  • Requested by: @ramimalekrp-roleplayerpage • Request: “Can you do something with the character falling in love but using the attack method of hating you that couldn’t express his love to reader?” • Prompt: How the two of you went from enemies to lovers. • Pairing: Rami | Ahkmenrah | Josh | Finn | Reader

Whenever someone asked you about your relationship with the actor you weren’t quite sure about what to answer them.

You were his stylist that was a fact, something concrete and tangible, black on white. Unfortunately, most interviewers weren’t satisfied with such a pragmatic answer.

Was it friendship? Totally not. “Friend” was probably the last word that would have come to your mind to describe your relationship with Rami.

“Okay… Mr. Malek look over here… Perfect.” You heard the photographer say to Rami who was pretty photogenic under that light.

In fact, you could have found him handsome if your opinion of him wasn’t polluted by his extraordinary ability to make you lose your temper.

“Thank god, now I can take off that horrible shirt…” Rami said loudly enough for you to hear at the end of the photo shoot, with the exact same smirk he had every time he tried to get on your nerves.

That smirk could have sum up the whys and wherefores of every argument you had had with him.

The outcome of which was always the same, no matter what the reason.

He would fire you or you would resign then both of you would fight to prove that you were the one that had decided to put an end to that disastrous collaboration.

He would finally call you at an ungodly hour to stammer some excuses explaining that you were the only stylist he wanted to work with. After a few minutes you would put an end to those bowing and scraping with a concise yet so satisfying ‘I hate you, Malek.’ and at those words he would know that you would be back at work the following day.

At the end of the photo shoot, you packed up your things and were going to leave when you heard Rami’s agent’s voice.

“Y/N wait! I would need you to go to L.A next week with Rami for the SAGs.” And before you could answer anything you heard an all too familiar voice say:

“What about just sending the outfit to my hotel, trust me you would do me a favor by not coming with me.” Rami snapped directly at you.

“You’re sure you’re gonna be able not to put your pants on backwards without me, Malek.” He opened his mouth only to be interrupted by his agent.

“Are the two of you done? I’d like to see both of you alive by the end of the award season.”

“It wouldn’t be a great loss…” Rami sputtered ignoring his agent’s remark.

“Yeah picture that ‘Stylist kills an extra from Twilight.’” You retorted miming a newspaper cover.

“At least you would get to make the cover for once.”

“Fuck you.”

 “You wish.” And at those words, his agent handed you your plane ticket.

“We have a reservation under Malek, please.” Rami declared to the receptionist.

The latter gave Rami only one key…

“Excuse me, sir. There must be a mistake… Hum… I’m pretty sure we reserved two rooms for tonight…”

Do I need to mention that Rami’s attempts to find a solution were vain, the hotel being completely booked…

“You can have the bed, if you want, and I'll take the couch.” You heard Rami say from the bathroom.

“I’ll save you from that cliché...” You stated putting on your jacket. “I’m gonna sleep at a friend’s place, I’ll see you in the morning.”

And when you opened the door to leave, you froze at his raspy voice.

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” You said turning away from the opened door to face him.

“Take two steps backwards every time I take one forward.” He literally took a step towards you, as if to prove something. You didn’t flinch.

“Rami, look I’m really not in the mood to fight with you at the moment. I thought you’d be happy not to have to spend the night with me, but you’re even more complicated than I thought…”

“Why wouldn’t I want to spend the night with you, Y/N?” He whispered to your ear, his left-hand closing the door behind you, his right-hand pulling you to him before crushing his lips to yours…

At your arrival at the museum while everybody was greeting you, he stayed away and stared at you with a look you couldn't quite identify at first. Hatred or indifference, maybe both but before you could put your finger on it Sacagawea dragged you through the hallways meanders of the museum.

Your first argument was about his guards obeying to you whenever he wasn't around, your Arabic being better than his. This disagreement only being the first of many.

He wasn't sure about how he had figured it out, probably because of the Iris scent floating in the Egyptian exhibit hallways when he came back or because of the chuckles of his stone giants whenever he would speak to them in Arabic.

I “أتعتقد ان هذا مُضحك ؟” I (you think that's funny?) He asked you dryly, interrupting your daily attempt to reconcile Jedediah & Octavius after the latter had insulted the first one’s mother in latin.

I “أتعتقد ان هذا مُضحك ؟” I You corrected him, putting the emphasis on the right syllable. He had developed a special ability at hiding what he felt when he was around you but you could see by his clenched-jaw that his annoyance was overflowing out of him like Nile after the rainy season.

“Lady Y/N, would you join me for a walk?” Lancelot asked you politely, interrupting Larry’s daily attempt to reconcile Ahk and you, his main idea being about looking for what the two of you had in common instead of fighting about your differences.

“It would be a pleasure.” You answered, secretly thanking Lancelot for putting an end to Larry’s lecture. Standing up to follow Lancelot you felt a pair of eyes on you and for some reason the feeling of those vibrant green eyes on you felt kind of pleasant.

“So what, you’re just gonna leave us here, Y/N?” Larry deplored as you passed your arm through Lancelot’s inviting him to walk with you.

“Don’t take it personally Larry but those little sessions between the three of us are less pleasant than the ten plagues of Egypt, deaths of firstborns included.” And before you even finished your sentence, Ahkmenrah’s expression went from a gaze darker than his coal hair to a chuckle he was desperately trying to hide, in vain.

Joining back your exhibit at the end of that little walk with the knight, you noticed Ahk sitting on your sarcophagus, in the dark.

“How was it?” He asked, his tone closer to the whisper than to a question. For the first time in what felt like millenniums there wasn’t a single ounce of irony, sarcasm or bitterness in his voice.

“It was like feeling what Jews felt when they crossed the Sinai desert…” You retorted, sitting next to him.

Another half-hidden chuckle… and for some reason you realized that his laugh was one of the most melodic thing you had ever heard. Still, his eyes were avoiding yours.

I “هل حاول تقبيلك؟” I  (did he try to kiss you?)

You couldn't tell what surprised you the most, his question or the fact that he asked this in a perfect Arabic.

I “لا.” I (no.) You didn't know how many seconds, minutes, centuries had passed between his question and your answer but you were sure of one thing: his eyes never left yours during that span of time.

“Good.” And at that word he pressed his lips against yours…

You and Josh used to be very good friends.

Your friendship often earning you some dumb jokes from the band about when the two of you would take it to the next step.

You don't really know when that friendship (not to say little infatuation) turned into the taste of ashes you had in mouth every time Chris would mention Josh's name.

You had been one of the few persons he had accepted to see after his sisters’ disappearance.

The only person, in fact… and that for a while…

You used to pick him up after his sessions with Dr.Hill, and despite circumstances that tradition was your favorite moment of the week.

And something was telling you that he looked forward to this Wednesday tradition as much as you did.

He would always find an excuse not to go home right after his appointment. Excuses that went from a new horror movie you desperately needed to see, to a new pizzeria in town which pizzas were “better than almost any trip to the bone zone.”

You often caught yourself smiling at the thought of the note he had once left you on a napkin willingly forgotten in your car.

You can't tell when or why he decided to put an end to those traditional Wednesday afternoon trips but one thing was sure, you hadn't seen it coming.

“Hum… Sam offered to take me home after my session tomorrow… I’m hope you don’t mind…”

Not that you were against the idea of Josh making up with Sam, Chris and the others. You had been encouraging him to do so for months.

But he had done it so quickly almost precipitously…

And the closer he got to them, the farther you felt from his orbit…

Your exchanges soon only consisted of a nod in the morning when the two of you would join the band.

You weren’t even friends anymore, just two persons having friends in common.

Soon enough, the indifference turned to hatred.

You often thought about tearing that freaking napkin apart.

Still, you've never been able to... Because that stupid piece of paper was the only thing proving that you had been friends, if not more. The only thing proving that you hadn’t made it all up…

To your surprise, he invited you to the lodge with the band.

But you knew Josh, probably better than he knew himself, and you had noticed that the closer you got to his sisters’ disappearance anniversary the harsher and more acrimonious were the few remarks he granted you of.

You soon concluded that he didn’t want you to come, that he just didn’t want to be the kind of asshole that invites everyone besides one particular person.

So you came up with some lame excuses about not being available because of a family dinner.

And for the first time in months, you caught the glimpse of a smile on his face at your words. It was official, he hated you...

You're the first person he asked for after waking up in the hospital, the day following his prank.

At first, every cell of your body told you not to go, that he wanted you only because everyone had turned their back to him after his demonstration of humor.

Unfortunately for you and your will not to care, while you were on the phone with Josh’s mother explaining you how important you were to him and how he didn’t want to see anyone besides you, your eyes lingered on the piece of paper pinned on the wall.

“I’ll go.” You said out of the blue, interrupting whatever she was saying while your fingers brushed the words on the napkin, as if to feel the hand that had left them there.

“Y/N? You came?”

“I did it for your mother… and because that’s what…” You stopped at the thought of Beth and Hannah. “… they would have wanted me to do.”

You hated that man with every fiber of your being, still your heart bled at the sight of the scratches, bruises and stitches on his face.

You can’t tell how much time you stayed there on that chair next to his bed, your mind emanating and analyzing a thousand thoughts per second.

“What are you thinking about?” Josh asked, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“I just don’t understand you, Washington. So what, you hate me enough to destroy every shred of affection I used to have for you but not enough to pull that sick prank on me?”

He remained silent.

“You know what? That was a bad idea, I shouldn’t have come.” You declared before standing up to leave.

He grabbed your wrist before you could do so.

You looked at him, searching in his eyes to know what was happening in the battlefield that he called his mind.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” And before the sound of his voice even stopped resonating within you, his lips captured yours.

Tobey hired you after you beat him in a car race.

The guys were so excited at your arrival, their team despite being the best of the country desperately needed to be spruced up.

Finn quickly shook your hand before going back to the mustang he was working on.

You decided not to care, your attention being fully caught by Joe and Benny's questions about your favorite brand of hubcap or your opinion on this or that car model.

The first car you worked on with the team was a Swedish Koenigsegg Agera R.

After 1 month spent pampering that car, you could count on one hand the number of times you and Finn had talked to each other.

“Guys… hum and Y/N, the work you did on that beauty is breathtaking. I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I’m sure everyone here will agree with me… Y/N I would like you to drive her at the next De Leon.” Tobey solemnly declared handing you the keys of the car. Benny and Joe opened a beer and drank to you.

“To Y/N and her new steed. I hope that it won’t be the last thing you will be riding.” Benny declared raising his beer.

You hadn't been able to appreciate every sexual nuances of his joke, the latter reminding you that the De Leon, despite being the most prestigious race was also the most dangerous.

“That’s out of question.” Finn retorted suddenly, reminding you by doing so that he was there.

Joe, Benny and Tobey defended you, reminding him that you were the best and that he knew it.

“You heard me, that’s out of the question. I’ve put so much effort in that car that there’s no way I’m gonna entrust it…” He stopped as if to gather the courage to speak. “… to a girl.”

The garage remained silent for a few minutes.

“Go fuck yourself, Finn.” Tobey finally said, putting his jacket on and inviting Joe and Benny to do so.

The minute you heard their cars driving away, it took you all your will not to kill Finn right there and then.

Wrenches were thrown.

You had never noticed his skill at avoiding objects thrown in the air by a woman’s bruised ego.

“You know that I’m gonna drive it whether you like or not.”

“Nope.”

“You know I am.”

“That’s what we’ll see.” Finn taunted you before trying to break the window of the car with a wrench you had “placed” there sooner.

You stood in front of the car window before he could do so.

You were not even sure, given your relationship with him, that it would keep him from ruining 4 weeks of hard work (or incidentally from putting an end to your life).

It worked.

He dropped the wrench, the impact sound of which on the floor made you flinch.

“Don’t you ever do that again.” He ordered you, while staring at your face to be sure he hadn’t hurt you.

He had a smile drawn on his face. Finn was a handsome man; a thousand thrown wrenches wouldn't change anything to that.

“What makes you smile?”

“You’ve got a bit of…” He said low while wiping away a small stain at the corner of your mouth. “… motor oil.

You couldn't tell if it was true or not but the kiss he placed on your lips right after felt better than winning any race.

✉️ @dearmrmalek @ramimalekrp-roleplayerpage