#Like if you lost your memories and saw all leaves were purple instead of green

[driftingballoons]

Despite losing their memories, I always imagined Hero had some instinctual feelings regarding the world. Namely, that somehow something simple like a sunrise was a rare treasure that they never got to experience before

[cevans-is-classic]

Chapter Two: Old Friends

Catch the beginning of their journey here: Galaxy Eyes.

Chapter One: Lost Stars

Lights flashed overhead, blinking on and off as smoke filled the hallway. He hears screams in the distance, several voices mingling together. He needs to single out one, hoping to let it lead him towards the owner. The hallway was long, his feet rushing to catch up with the length of it. The screams were getting louder, longer. He could hear the pleading in the surrounding voices.

“You can’t run!” a deep voiced echoed around him, “No matter where you go I will find you! All of you. Traitors.” The voice was growing deeper, spreading down the hall. Footfalls sounded in the distance. Grogu followed the noise, keeping himself focused on his surroundings.

“STOP!”

A streak of white ran past him. Grogu turned to follow it but stopped when another rush of color followed.

“Go!” Blood was dripping from the followers’ fingers. “Now! Go.”

The streak of white turned around and Grogu stopped in his tracks.

Mata.

-

It'd took an hour before Grogu relaxed and took a deep breath in. Bo watched his hands rest on his knee. She stayed quiet so as not to disturb the child.

When one of Grogu's hands moved to touch something before him, Bo knew he was under.

“I'll leave you to it, little guy.” She spoke to him in a calm voice rising from her seat. The solid thud of her boots hitting the floor of the ship made her wince. She turned back to check on Grogu. He was still sitting with his eyes closed and hand in the air.

Good.

Bo stepped off the ship and blocked the blue light beamed down on her. Dank Ferrick, this place is miserable — humidity clogged her throat and stuck to the skin of her cheeks.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the cough that burned in her throat. There didn't seem to be any threats around them, and the clearing there was quiet.

She checked the sides of the ship coming back inside to double check supplies.

A slip of purple made her freeze.

It's silky when she touches it and it smells like sooner bean flower. The floral, sweet scent made her think of nights curled up on her father's lap. The sounds of Mandalore below their home and the warmth she felt in her home.

Bo wanted to bury herself in the fabric, but pulled back instead. It's a wrap, at least a slip of one. It wrapped around her palm twice the purple color shifting under the light. She could feel the coolness of the fabric through her gloves.

This is yours

Bo sat it back on the shelf and closed the door.

There's two cubbies on the ship, a small one with a cramped pallet on the floor and a blanket shoved into the corner. This must be Din Djarin’s cubbie.

This is not where he sleeps.

The larger space had a pallet big enough for two with a green hammock hanging above them. One blanket hung off the pallet, with two pillows wrinkled on top of each other.

There's a shelf built into the corner and Bo saw the mix of coverings.

She smiled.

She closed the hatch, making sure it locked in place then moved back towards the hull.

Grogu was still sitting with his eyes closed.

Bo took another deep breath in when sat back down next to the child.

“You better be okay, trouble.” She whispered to the stars.

-

The sun was midway through the sky when they emerged from a throng of trees to see a rock formation with a door.

Also, someone in red coverings standing at the mouth of it. Their arms crossed and from here he can see the way their hands bunched into fists.

Djarin slowed his steps. The person looked familiar, the familiar way they held themselves steady. A dark swatch of hair sparking something inside his memory..

The med droid stopped when the person walked out of the hole and came towards Djarin.

“Mandalorian.”

He looked her over. “Re.” It’s the woman from the festival. The one you took off to talk to. It tickled the back of his brain, thinking of the interaction.

“My name is Ritu. Might as well know it now. Did Gal visit you as well?”

“It seems.”

“I wasn’t sure what they were talking about the first time they dreamed of you. They talked about a man in shining armor — I always told them it’s not a fairy tale from the galaxy’s past. They would smile, through all the pain, the long nights, Nightmares tearing them from their sleep — they smiled because they saw, well, they saw you.”

Djarin didn’t know how to reply.

You’d told him about the dreams of him and Grogu. He’d lay awake at night wondering how long you’d had visions of them — if you saw him saving Grogu before he knew it himself. Did you know about his future? His path?

There were a million and one questions running through his mind, racing each other to see who can get to the finish line.

If he’d ask any of the questions swimming in his mind, would he get answers? Actual answers?

How many times did you see his face in a way Noone else ever could?

You told him time and time again that you saw him past the beskar — that you saw him with different names and identities. Living lives he’d never imagined and not once did you make him question his creed.

With a shake of his head he focused On Ritu once more “Is this the part where you explain who you are?”

“It seems.” She parroted back to him before turning on her heel and stepping back into the enclosure. Djarin waited for a beat, then followed her. Lights lined the ceiling twisted into embedded roots.

It was colder inside, the crisp air filling his lungs and cooling off his body. He took a moment to close his eyes in relief. Ritu was sitting down at an odd shaped table, two chairs sat opposite of each other. When Djarin stayed where he was, the woman rolled her eyes and motioned to the chair, “Might as well sit, Mandalorian.”

Something about the way she said Mandalorian made his stomach clench.

It sounded like you.

Djarin sat.

Ritu looked up, the ceiling made of tangled roots. A few droplets of water dripped onto the stone floor. “I used to be an imperial officer.” She dropped her chin. “I’d been rallied into the imperial forces when a rebel killed my Father. I believed they were monsters and wanted people to be harmed for a war that shouldn’t exist. When they assigned me to Amadeus’s, I went.”

She went quiet and looked back up at the rooted ceiling. “Then the order came.”

Djarin balked. The order. When the clones turned on the Jedi and killed the future padawans.

“Their-”

He didn’t know what to say after that.

Amadeus.

He’d heard the name before. Heard you whisper it in your sleep or mention in a passing way, “He’s the one they needed protection from.” It came out in a whisper, but it brought Ritu’s gaze to him.

There’s something else that is dragging through his mind.

Amadeus?

He clicked his tongue, “What can you tell me about him?”

“Amadeus? I can tell you he’s a piece of work. His father was on the ground when The Order went into action. There was a mark on Gal’s family. I believe — and this isn’t a solid fact — that Gal had an older sibling who was a padawan as well, if the records are correct; Amadeus and his men brought families in. They used children who — they — it was awful.” Ritu’s voice trailed off.

Djarin felt his blood turn to ice.

With a heavy breath, Ritu looked at him. Gal was one of the few to survive the experiments — they developed an attachment to their handlers. When Amedaus recognized this, he used it to his advantage."

“Their brother.” You mentioned him in passing, leaving him confused but unwilling to ask more.

“Brother is a strong word.” She frowned, “I — when I learned there was a cease and a desist on the program — I knew they were going to kill them. Kill all of them. I couldn’t let that happen so me and Ashha-”

“Ashha?” He echoed.

Ritu nodded. “That’s how they became a medic. When the cease and desist came through both of us knew what was going to happen. Gal — Gal was the only one we got out.”

“You and Ashha?”

“Gal helped.” A twitch of a smile pulled their lips up.

He took this in. “What else can you tell me? Do you know if he’s the one who took them?”

Ritu considered his question for a moment. “I’ve kept tabs on Amadeus as much as I kept tabs on Gal. When Ashha said she was going to Nevarro to keep an eye, well, I visited from time to time. When I heard he found their location? — I had to warn Gal somehow, and I knew they’d see me coming.”

“The Atlas Rising festival.”

Ritu nodded again. "Before we got them out, they made me promise not to come looking for them." Her dark eyes swept across the leaking ceiling, lip caught between her teeth. "They knew I wouldn't keep that promise."

"Gal asked me to stay-" He squeezed his hands into fists, feeling Grogu squirm in his lap, "They asked me to stay and I told them we'd be back by morning."

You'd lifted on your tiptoes — pressed your lips to his helmet and smiled. There were tears in your eyes and he almost said yes, almost walked back to the house, didn't fly, didn't take the job.

Almost.

“How are you meant to help us?” It came out clipped. Ice coated his tongue and the taste of it make his throat burn.

Ritu looked at him for several Moments then rose. She walked around the table to a trunk. Every surface covered in scratches the off blue color closer to a gray hue.

She moved the trunk closer to him, unlocking it and opening the seal. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't clothing.

"These were what they had Gal in." Ritu pulled a white tunic out, blood staining the collar. “Each set has a DNA encrypted chip along the collar. It helps them keep track of their progress, vital signs and, of course the location. They needed to make sure nothing interfered with the testing. It — that flaw in our plan is how they found Gal the first time-'' Ritu stumbled. She sat the tunic on the table and Djarin saw the tear, and a port indention for a chip.

Ritu continued, "They took it out and swallowed it. We tried to stop them, but they said as long as it's moving — we're safe."

"The bounty hunters-"

"The last place Gal stayed in before we got them to you was here. This place makes it difficult to track anything. No signal can get past the atmosphere — it's the perfect place to hide."

"In the middle of an imperial base camp?"

"The middle of a hidden Imperial Basecamp that should have burned down fifteen years ago. The people here? They don't talk. When the bounty for them finished-"

Djarin nodded, “When Grogu and I signed them over.”

Ritu nodded back. “The only thing left to do was get rid of their biological fingerprint.” She flipped the tunic inside out, a half-stitched numerical code ran along the cuff,

He remembered your sleep ramblings, your moments of disassociation as Ashha would lean over you with a light. You weren’t stating points you’d seen in your dreams — you knew her.

“Why didn’t they tell me about this?”

A strangled smile crawled across Ritu’s face. They didn’t want you to know. Said it wasn’t safe and Gal-”

“Gal is never wrong.”

A melancholy feeling swept over the room. Djarin stared at the bloodied collar, reaching out to trace the seam near the arm. You had a scar there. He only noticed it when he’d helped clean you up after your sickness.

You said you couldn’t remember how you got it.

Djarin said it looked like a blade mark.

“Agree to disagree, Din Djarin. I’ve seen Gal be wrong before — let’s hope now is one of those times.”

He had to save you.

“Gal, led me here. They showed up in my dreams and said there was someone here who could help us. Is that you?”

Ritu didn’t answer.

He gritted his teeth, “If you care about them-”

“Don’t!” Anger burst forth, rage burning in her eyes as her lip curled, and she leaned close to him. “I was there for Gal every chance I could be. I protected them.”

“Of course you did.” The fury he knew how to handle.

Ritu stiffened, “If they sent you here it’s for a reason and if that reason means saving them? Nothing Is going to stop me, Mandalorian.”

“Good.” He rose. “Then show me where to go next.”

Ritu held up a hand to stop him. “I need to meet with Ashha.”

Djarin waited for a beat. “Where is she heading?”

"To find the moon port Amadeus's base is located. It's just outside of the outer rim, but it's uncharted. I can send you the jump location when we find it." Ritu was on her feet before the sentence finished, moving to the side of the room and shuffling through the box she extracted the tunic from.

Djarin watched as she took out an Imperial officer suit, the symbol shiny and bright despite the color reflected in the light.

He felt his eye twitch, but stayed silent. You trusted her. He needs to trust her.

"Alright." She loaded a blaster, strapped it to her leg, and tossed the uniform over her shoulder. "Let's go."

-

Djarin peeked behind Bo-Katan to peer into the hull.

“He’s napping.”

“Did he?”

“I’m not sure. He stayed in the meditation state for close to an hour, then just fell asleep. I woke him up long enough to make sure he was okay then out like a light.” Bo-Katan’s gaze landed on Ritu.

Djarin stepped forward To angle himself between them, “This Is the friend Gal sent us to find. Ritu.” He tipped his helmet, “She helped Gal escape.”

“Your name sounds familiar.” Bo-Katan raised her nose.

Ritu nodded, “It should. I was an imperial officer.”

Bo-Katan tenses, her hand lifting, but Djarin stops her. “She’s the one who helped Gal escape the first time. She’s who they sent me to find? He motioned to her. “Gal sent me to find her because noone else knows them better.”

“Yeah?” Bo-Katan straightened.

Ritu met her gaze, holding it steady, and the glint in her eye seemed familiar uncannily. “You helped Gal the first time?”

She dropped her chin in greeting, “I had help and that help is waiting for me to meet them.”

“What are we doing?” She aimed her words at Din Djarin.

“Ritu is meeting Ashha with our end of the tracker. They find the last location and meet up with them. We need to keep attempting to contact.” He whispered an afterthought

Bo- Katan frowned, “I don’t like that plan. I’m sorry, but we don’t know you and we’re supposed to trust that you’ll help us find Gal?” She stepped forward, hand moving to her waist as Ritu took a step back to avoid being bumped by Din Djarin’s shoulder.

“I assure, Bo- Katan Kryze, finding Gal is the only thing I care about. Finding them, getting them back to their home and to you. The closest thing to a second thought is that we take down the entire program and burn it to the ground.” The woman looked up at Bo Katan for a beat longer.

Din Djarin shook his head, moving around his friend to go check on Grogu. “Where do you want to start?’

Ritu and Be-Katan stared each other down until Bo-Katan’s posture relaxed and her hand fell away from her blaster. “Alright.”

“I heard a rumor about a trader that might have some information. Xe went straight after the death star, or that’s what xe tosses around. Still crooked, though. He makes deals under the table — the rumors say he picked up a med ship, but it didn’t make it to the ports.” Ritu took a breath.

“A rumor?” Bo raised a brow.

Djarin frowned, “Glumbus,” He spoke up, “Moodite.”

“Ah, you’ve heard of Xim.”

“You hear a lot of names when you go underground.”

Bo-Katan waved her hand to Get their attention, “Do we know where this Moodite is?”

“I have an idea-”

Between one breath and the next The hull disappeared, Bo-Katan and Ritu’s voice fading into nothing.

A pull in his stomach made him step further into the ship, each footfall growing quieter than silent all together.

Pure silence.

The roar of the jets, the hum of radiators, the dozens of beeps and clicks that remind you the ship works.

Gone.

It was deafening.

He turned towards the bunks, moving his hand towards his hip to reach for his blaster, and paused.

The touch of fabric across his calloused hands there’s a metal bump that digs into his thumb. This isn’t right.

Djarin looks down and sees coverings he’s never seen before. Thick blue material with torn fabric around his knees and his pelvis. A squared patterned shirt in a dark blue color, the white covering beneath was familiar. It was still him.

He wasn’t wearing his helmet.

“Patu.” Grogu called.

Djarin bolted into their cubby, throwing the door open with a silent clang. Grogu was curled up in the middle of the bed, his forehead touching his knees. Djarin reached out to touch him when a scream ripped through the air.

They weren’t on the ship anymore.

Djarin had both knees on the bed and his hand reaching when his surroundings sank in. The room was an off-white color with shadows stretching from the people huddled around to the corners of the room. He couldn’t see past the shadows of people, their shoulders hunched over and hands disappearing into the darkness.

Another scream, louder, closer, the end coming to a hiccup that Djarin would know anywhere.

Time slowed as he took off running, his hands grabbing onto the walls, pipes, and an exposed metal panel to swing his way toward the screaming. He felt weightless the closer he got and realized he’d never left the bed. All the frantic scrambling hadn’t happened.

What?

The bed was moving, following the eerie sound of sobs that pooled into whimpering choked gasps of air. Djarin heard the terror, the fear, the noise getting louder as the bed moved them forward. When the sobbing surrounded them, thundering the walls, he turned to look at Grogu — who was still curled up in sleep.

“Grogu.” He touched his son’s shoulder, and he jumped, eyes flying open to look up at Djarin. He reached one green hand up to touch his cheeks but stopped when the sobbing turned into screaming. Their surroundings shimmered, going wavy and splitting apart — that’s when he saw you.

Your hand lay off the bed, head fallen to the side as blood covered your chest the nodules glued to your temples tugging at your skin. They’d shaved your head, leaving scratches behind covered by more wires.

Djarin tried to run towards you, his blaster in hand; ready to fight the universe to get you back home when your eyes flashed open.

“NO!” you screamed. The movement sending him flying backwards, hitting the wall of the cubby. The clang of his helmet made a dangerous sound as he came back to the here and now. Grogu was awake, curled up in his lap, holding tight to his belt.

“What-”

He looked around the cubbie, eyes tracking the wall, landing on the pallet beneath him and the shelf of clothes across from him. They were — well they were on the ship instead of — he looked down at Grogu. The little guy was asleep already, his fingers still curled around Djarin's belt.

“Sorry kid, I gotta go talk to Bo-Katan.” Grogu didn’t stir when he lifted him into his swing, tucking him next to his blanket before exiting the cubby. The ship was moving.

“Bo-Katan?”

“Din Djarin!” She answered him back. Djarin nodded to reassure himself then took off for the cockpit. There she was, her redhead smooth with her helmet sitting beside her. Looking at it made him feel uneasy. It made him think about The Armorer telling him he’d become excommunicated and no longer Mando’a. There were a few moments in his life where he felt genuine fear and knowing he’d lost his creed, and his family all in one. The yawing pit in his stomach became too much sometimes that he’d find the nearest secluded place, remove his helmet, and scream.

That empty helmet reminds him of what it felt like to lose everything you loved.

“I didn’t want to bother you and the kid, so I talked with Ritu and she gave me the full rundown. What happened to Gal-” She shook her head, “Ritu gave us jump coordinates of where the Moodite is hiding out.”

He nodded. “I’ll take over you. Go ahead. Get some rest.”

“Din Djarin-”

“Thank you, Lady Kryze. Get some rest and I’ll wake you when we arrive.” Bo rose, standing before him until he could see his reflection in the pupils of her eyes.

“Thank you.” She grabbed her helmet and stepped around him.

Djarin sank into the seat and focused on the stars.

-

The small blue Moodite tried to come at Bo with a fishing hook but missed a step and slipped off the table. Djarin didn’t hesitate to grab him by the scruff and drag him towards the back of the bar. He shouted at Bo before disappearing into the back and hearing several people scream.

“I’a don’na want nothun you tryan to do witha me.” The smaller species grumbled.

“Stay quiet.” Djarin shoved at the xim until xe hit the table again and tumbled over. He caught xem by the scruff and swung xim into that table, once again letting go so xir’s head will bounce off the wood. Glumbus scrambled to stand up straight only to freeze in place. Xe sighed and looked up at the two Mandalorians.

A trickle of green blood dripped down xir’s nose.

“I’a dun’a know nothun.”

“Yeah,” Djarin stood in front of xem, “Why’d you fight?”

“Uh. Mandalo’in come in, two uh, I run. I don’na want nothun.” Xir ears twitched.

Djarin held back a sigh, “Glumbus you’re wanted for spice running and you owe Collum money. You obviously have something to do with something.”

The blue skin turned purple. Djarin smirked.

“Toka toka,” Xe leaned back, “What da wunna?”

He felt Bo-Katan step up, hovering behind Djarin. “I heard you tried to go straight but didn’t quite keep it up.” He stepped closer and Xe raised xir hands in panic.

“I’a dun’a whata mean?”

Bo moved forward, “Seems you got hired to move a few cargo ships, but not all of those ships got to their locations. In fact, some of those ships traded for a few credits. Maybe a favor or two?”

Xir skin darkened into a violet purple, eyes flickering Around the room with fearful hesitation. Djarin Watched Xir’s eyes waiting for action, vibrating beneath his skin.

The Moodite seemed to slump in defeat, “No madda what I’a dead.” Xe looked around for the chair xe threw. It wobbled a little but seemed safe enough to for Glumbus to plop onto it.

Djarin rolled his eyes.

“What?”

“You were transporting a med ship and an out of commission one.”

“Uh-”

“I bet if we looked at your logs plenty of forged numbers will fill the blank spaces, maybe, some fake names? Huh, Glumbus.” It wasn’t a question. Djarin crossed his arms and waited.

Glumbus’ purple complexion darkened until it was nearly black.

Xe swallowed with a gulp, “I’a was off’a’d more — uh a com-pen-station.” The words dragged out xim, the darting of Glumbus tongue tripping over them. Xe swallowed again and looked away.

“and?” Bo-Katan tapped her blaster.

Xe looked up in fear, “I’a didna know the persa. I’a was giv’n message by st’ange persa” The darkness faded a bit.

“Where’d you deliver it?”

Glumbus shook xir head. “Klando eck modsa neyh.”

Djarin kicked the table.

Glumbus jumped, “I’a don’a know name.”

“Okay.” Djarin nodded and then moved forward to grip the Moodite by the neck of Xir jumper. He lifted Xim up so he could slam Xim into the tabletop – once again. “What about now, Glumbus.” He pressed his fists into Xir’s neck.

Glumbus gurgled, “Co-or- ack, ack, di-nates only.”

Djarin let go and Bo moved to stand beside him. Xe stayed laying on the table xirs hand cradling Xirs throat.

“Was that so hard? Give us the coordinates.”

Glumbus glared.

-

Ashha remembered the first time she cared for you. The needles left enlarged bruises across Your body. At times when she cleaned up the wounds before closing Them with bacta — she felt uncertain of the path she was on.

She watched you grow up. The smile that lingered on your lips disappeared week by week. Some days they kept you in the lab for hours. You’d crawl into your bunk and fall asleep for hours.

Ashha remembers the first time she saw your eyes.

The deep depth starting Out near black, the pupils blending with the surrounding color. It was surreal — uncanny.

When the star appeared in the depths of the darkness, purple bleeding into the iris. That’s when Ashha knew you were different. What was happening to you? Was not what she thought was going on.

Ashha paid attention after that. She noticed when some patients would go for ‘treatment’ and come back differently — or not come back at all. She looked deeper, dove further until she found the truth of the experiments.

That’s when she realized what was happening to you.

The force inside you being morphed into a weapon.

She also remembers the first vision you whispered about. How many nights you’d wake screaming or crying out a stranger’s name?

That’s how she met Ritu. Both of them grow attached to you with each drain of your force after the next.

They’d beaten you into nothing, yet a small glimmer of hope swirled In your eyes.

The beep of her comms pulled her from the memories and back to the jarring reality

Dank Ferrick, did they catch her signal?

Holding back another curse, she allowed the communication to come through.

Ritu looked at her.

“I’ve met the Mandalorian again in search of Gal.” She looked over her shoulder. “I sent them after Glumbus in hope they could get something out of Xim. I’m coming your way, old friend. We’re going to end all of this now.”

The projection fell away.

Ashha remembers feeling your blood slicking their fingers.

“All of it.” She mutters.

Pedro Pascal

Masterlists

@everytimeyousaygoodbye

[sweetwhitechoco]

Golden Joinery

So my original plan for this was to write up some scenes for my fancomic about the start of season 3 of Sonic Prime, but it got a little longer over the week so it became a oneshot fanfic. Ha! xD

(Also I had some issues uploading this on AO3, so I'm gonna upload it here for now instead.)

Just a little bit of hurt/comfort. This one takes place after episode 16, Ghost of a Chance. Hope you enjoy!

--

"The only person I can trust is myself."

Shadow watched in silent rage as Nine carried the shards and walked away into a purple framed portal, leaving nothing behind. Sonic was standing below the cave entrance, he held his hands up to his face, hiding whatever expression he had.

Not that Shadow could see it from where he stood, but he guessed the blue hedgehog was pretty dejected about Nine's betrayal.

So much for that trust.

-

Harrowed by what just happened, Sonic repeated what Nine told him over and over in his mind.

"You just assumed I'd go along with you, no matter what."

"Did you even consider what I wanted?!"

"I am real!"

"Just.. not your real friend."

"Trust you? The only person I can trust is--"

".. you listening?"

He briefly snapped out of his thoughts when Shadow's voice broke through, who stepped directly in front of him. Sonic didn't even realize he already slumped down against the wall, didn't realize his darker counterpart was addressing him.

His hands lowered as he looked up in worry, expecting a seething Shadow with clenched fists at the ready. But there was none of that, Shadow simply crouched down to face him, mahogany eyes were now piercing into emerald ones.

"What happened here?"

".. You're really gonna ask me that?"

"Yes."

Sonic sighed. Where could he even begin explaining this mess to him?

"You were right about Nine, Shadow. He refused to fix Green Hill," he paused briefly to study Shadow's expression, then continued when he saw him nodding, "and he took the shards away."

Sonic's ears were lowered, remembering what he told Shadow right before the battle. "I really thought we could.." he trailed off as soon as his voice cracked.

"That we could trust him.." His throat felt too tight, it was hard to form words at this point. This was too painful, the previous mistakes he caused rushed back into his memory. His eyes were wide with shock and sorrow like never before, realized how much he really messed up.

"Sonic?"

Tears welled up in his eyes, he covered his face again and shifted away from his rival. How could Sonic ever fix this, it was lost on him. He could never face Shadow, not after he warned him about Nine for more than once.

By now they lost the shards, their only way to getting back home, because of him. He lost Nine, a friend he thought- no, believed- trusted him as much as he did Tails.

He was wrong. Again.

This is all his fault.

-

"Sonic?"

Shadow called out to Sonic, a hint of concern in his voice. His rival didn't respond, only shifted away as he covered his face again.

Just as he slowly reached his hand out, Shadow was caught off guard when he heard the small sobs that escaped Sonic's mouth.

He lowered his arm, eyes wide at the blue hedgehog that broke down in tears. This was beyond what he imagined; Shadow never expected Sonic to take Nine's betrayal this badly. His face turned to the floor, the way his rival cried already becoming too much for the ultimate lifeform.

What can he do at times like this? Shadow can't just tell Sonic to stop crying in this state, he had to approach this.. odd situation differently.

However, with little knowledge and experience on comforting others he found himself lost on solutions.

Well, there was one way he could think of. He had to swallow his pride to act on it, but for what its worth Sonic needed someone to be there for him.

Shadow sighed again as he held out his arms, wrapped them firmly around Sonic. He pulled him into a gentle embrace, knowing that he would definitely regret this one later.

"What am I going to do with you?"

-

Sonic suddenly felt something- or rather, someone- pressing against him, like he's being pulled into a hug. He opened his eyes to see the familiar quills of black and red, it took him by surprise as he realized it was Shadow who held him.

"What am I going to do with you?"

The blue blur's crying came to a brief halt, he refocused his vision to make sure it wasn't a trick of the mind. Yep, it was his broody rival who hugged him.

"S- Shadow?"

The dark hedgehog remained silent for a moment.

"I know you're not okay with what Nine did."

He paused at Shadow's words, and tears threatened to fall again. Sonic lowered his arms to hold him in return, chose to hide his tears by burying his face into the dark hedgehog's shoulder.

He slowly regained his breathing into a more stable pattern, taking his time to recover himself. The sobs have subsided after a minute or two, although his eyes grew tired from letting it all out of his system.

"You.. said you didn't trust him."

"I still don't," Shadow said this with absolute resolve, then he continued with a calmer tone, "but you did. You.. gave him a chance, and I'm not sure why, but I wanted to do the same."

Sonic didn't know how to respond to that, now that he was proven wrong. He let out a nervous chuckle at himself in defeat.

"I guess that makes two of us with trust issues."

Shadow looked at him briefly before a sad smile rested on his face. "Yeah, you can say that again."

They both held each other through the silence in the cave, an unexpected turn yet most welcome on Sonic's case. He didn't realize how much he needed this until now, it made him appreciate Shadow being there more than ever before.

"Thanks, Shadow."

-

He knew he was taking his time with calming Sonic down, but the contact felt also comforting to the dark hedgehog. The reason he decided to let go was Sonic being too sentimental about it. Or that he realized he might regret letting go after all.

"Um, anyway.. what I'm trying to say is;" Shadow pulled Sonic away as he cleared his throat, "you shouldn't give up because of this."

The blue hedgehog scoffed at him with a confused pair of eyes, appearing offended.

"I wasn't going to give up on our home."

"Good. Because we're still in this," his rival stood up when he said this, held out his hand to him with a smirk, "together?"

Sonic felt a surge of new hope rushing into him when he saw the confidence that Shadow's smile gave off. He grinned back at him before taking his offered hand, the hedgehogs faced each other with stronger, newfound bond.

"Together."

-

"Where did the shards go?!" Mr. Dr. Eggman shouted at the screen which scanned the area for prism energy. There were no energy spikes like it showed him before, which means..

"They moved the shards elsewhere.."

He grumbled to himself and moved back to his control panel, pressed a button to activate a video call.

"Members of the Chaos Council, fall back to the Mothership! The hedgehogs were a distraction; they took the shards away to another location!"

He didn't even bother waiting for a response from the rest of his team and cut the call shortly. There was another problem at their plate, as Mr. Dr. Eggman checked their ship's energy storage.

They barely have enough leftover energy from the shards, it could only track them through at least one or two more gateway.

"Curse these hedgehogs!"

He slammed the control board down in rage. They wasted too much of their time and effort into this chase game, when they could have used all that prism energy to build their empire and destroy the rebellion!

In that moment, the evil genius' brain remembered something. And it brought him a newer idea, that these two rodents might be the key to more than just restoring the lost shards. Mr. Dr. Eggman allowed himself a grin at his new revelation, and quickly began preparing the Mothership to retrieve the rest of the Chaos Council.

Should this plan work as intended, the power to dominate the multiverse will be immediately at their grasp.

--

Well, that's about it. Thanks for reading! ^^

[honeybeewhereartthee]

Crystal Hearts

Previous || Chapter thirteen || next

»»————-　i love candies　————-««

"So shameless!"

Aira was the one who dramatically gasp.

"Kokoko. Sorry about that love-han." Kohaku chuckle as he stare at the chaos whos face is facing his direction with unidentified emotion emotion, hidden beneath his close eyes.

"Sorry not sorry, Chaos-han. You see. I refuse to wear a green hat." He held your right hand and kiss your ring finger, with the web of Helter Spider circle your ring finger before long a ring is made.

"MC-han is my queen. And from all the world. Only I have an upper hand in status. For were spouses ~" he point out with a winning grin.

"The honey bee would protect and serve the queen." He start.

"The spider would die for their mate. And a hornet shall remember and mark all enemies in sight... For eternity... And would attack and destroy all those who dare steal away what's theirs. " His purple eyes glows as his crystalized heart slowly turn into a passionate red color of love.

"If you do... I will sting you with my poison. Monarch." He swear with an oath.

"...is that Soo..." instead of being mad. Chaos chuckle quite evilly. "if I end you... Through it's a tragedy to find another sentient kohaku Oukawa. It's fine. There's still a bunch of universes... So I shall crush bugs today~ and steal the queen!" He grins showing his shark like teeth. Slowly behind him beautiful butterfly wings comes to a view, to what seems earlier to be a simple cape is his wings.

" Oh shit! KOHAKU! AIRA! RUN!" Your eyes widen as you saw this.

"I'm sorry mc... I will destroy this world..." Chaos slowly open his eyes and that very moment his wings flatter

*When a butterfly flatter it's wings. Catastrophe shall befall the land...

In quick reflex, you covered aira, hugging him securing. "MC-han. I'll protect you!" Kohaku quickly hug and shield your back before the wave of chaos spread and thrown the three of you to the world of distortion.

The two worlds are no more ( yet again )

In that world where only those who bare knowledge of the world can live.

The sound of something fragile slowly breaking, you slowly open your eyes as you felt securing arms protected you yet the moment your eyes gaze at the crumbling red gem. Tears start to fall from your eyes.

"H-haku...!" You cried, seeing the same sight through different. The sight of demised of the young Oukawa have always a part of the endless loop. The death of his that was your fault. For being a mistake.

"S-sorry... S-sorry .. p-please... D-dont... D-die... P-please... I..." You held his pale cheeks that slowly losing its color as death and chaos slowly takes over him.

"W-why... WHY DO YOU KEEP TAKING THEM AWAY!" you hatefully says as you hugs him and making sure aira remain breathing.

. His death would cause the eternal death of this world, this pitiful universe. You glare at chaos who finally gain a bit of sanity from the madness that control him.

"I-i... " The voice of the ace of Clover spoke out inside the chaos. "Hic... Imsorryimsorrymc..." Hate and loath for his own action takes over him.

"Over and over again... Over and over again..." You mumble as you give a soft kiss to kohaku forehead as to reverse the moment. To make the moment of death won't take him again.

"You... This world..." You mumble looking at the tragedy. "This loop... This endless loop because of my selfishness..." You felt so drained, so hopeless as memories of the other turns comes in mind.

"The universe around us, have already move on from this era of catastrophe... You... You fucking gotten your ending... Yet the loop where you destroy this world will stay! Your hateful presence will never leave! The stain and people will be lost and never return!" You remember in another turn.

You watch your cousin protect you, not even caring about it. In another turn you saw your new found friend dying holding hands and parish with a smile.

" I... I'msorry..." The fragments of chaos spoke as tears falls from his eyes.

"I... I cannot blame anyone but me... It can't be your fault... You long apologize for such mess... It's not aira fault for being too inaudible... I am the weak one... I am the one who should be blame..." Your voice felt empty like this void.

"... You no longer even have a crystalized heart... For I taken it long ago... It's one of the reason why you are far too conscious of your mistake rather to listen to a yandere voice in your head. " You chuckle dryly not even amuse at this.

"It's predestine... We're neither in the present or the past or the future ..." You thought about it. You gaze at the destroyed world.

"Aira, it's time for you to travel and search for other three... I'm sorry... I cannot leave this world to search for it... " You went back to Aira's slide and slowly waken him up. "I won't reverse this fate... We can't escape it... So we can never change this awful world..." You mumble as aira slowly open his eyes.

"MC... I--" he wanted to apologize for being too weak, to do anything.

"It's not your fault. Don't worry aira." You chuckle as you fix his bangs and giving a soft kiss to his forehead, the wounds he have heals. But he slowly transform to of form of an avatar inside a phone.

"Gash. You use too much tweeter..." You chuckle at his safe form to travel the outside universe as a hole slowly appear, a certain stigma of Spade from another universe arrive.

"HEY! IM GOING TO DESTROY YOU, NOT MAYOI-senpai!" Hiiro Amagi have arrive.

"sorry your kinda late hiiro." You giggle hopelessly.

" Oh... Ahm... Hello mc!" he seems to understand and look around. Not knowing what to say he wave at your direction with a wide smile.

"can you take aira with you. If you search for the remaining sentient alkaloid in the vast universe... You four can preform the spell [ kiss of life ] " you plead

" Oh... Can that help my world to restore back...? Not Mayoi-senpai destroyed it too..."

" Hmmm. I guess.. I only theorize it. Alkaloid. It could be a poison or a drug. Like how sentient beings would be a virus or a gift." You mumble.

"... Aira don't seems to want to leave.

((MC! MC!! DONT YOU DARE!!! ))

Aira avatar appear on the screen, he cried as he realize what decision you made in this turn. He refused to believe your going to give your life away for this world!

"Aira... You have my heart. So I won't truly die.. nor this world will... This place... I will protect it.. because everyone I care lives and parish in this world."

((MC! WHY ARE YOU SELFISH. CANT YOU SEE.. I... ))

[ You are ...love itself.]

You grin as the two surrounded with a spell that will keep them safe.

[ Therefore you and me...]

You smile as start to sing the song. You went to kohaku's side.

[ As results of loving

As results of losing ]

Your surroundings glows. The distorted world become a pure white plains.

[ As results of acquiring...

As result of losing ]

You grin as the two slowly depart to their next destination.

[ As results of living]

You slowly close your eyes, feeling tired as you preform a spell to cast this universe to a dormant state.

[ As result of dying ]

Holding kohakus hand, you slowly slumber with the world.

"MC-han... " You heard Kohaku weak voice as he slowly open his eyes, gazing at the sleeping form of yours right beside him.

" Sorry for those times I am not able to accompany you to the end... But this time.. I swear I will... " He long have swallowed the stigma of chaos as mark of butterfly appear in his right eye but he seems to be able to control it. His heart pause at the moment of crumbling.

"Sorry... But I guess hearing such words over and over again is an eyesore now... But I will offer my heart to you .. shall we share one beating heart as promise ~?" He circle his arms around you as the two of your slowly surrounded with a securing web along side of this world.

As he held you close his heart that have bit crumbling with tiny bit each days passes. Slowly he shared it with you, confessing his love for you.

It was not weird for him to fall in love with you. He long fallen in love with you, the moment you fall from the sky. He knows he will still reach out to save you. To fight you, to see you win the fight with his father with a grin.

His other turns resurface in his mind.

"kokoko... This world where you belong to me like I am to you." He too slowly fallen asleep with this voice, the sound of crumbling of the heart can be heard like a lullaby to those who parish.

»»————-　note　————-««

(1) green hat : being cheated on by his or her spouse. Or NTR.

(2) the world of fae, and the human world of this universe have been in an endless loop where you try to save and change all the event but failed to do so. But it's Aira Shiratori the stigma of heart destiny to seek out other alkaloid who gain sentient. If he still don't. The world around and the universe till [ the present ] day will continue to suffer the era of chaos.

(if want to be tagged pls comment or Send mail) Tag List : @valeriele3 @yinenovica

[somewhatgreatexpectations]

Lay Me Down (Wanda Maximoff/ Reader)

Hello, again! We have reached the endgame, as in we have reached Endgame in the timeline. Loosely inspired by Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down”. Pieces from the film are used, but definitely have adjustments to fit the story. Let me know your thoughts!

Summary: How will the events of Endgame play out for Y/n and Wanda? 

“Can I lay by your side, next to you? And make sure you're alright, I'll take care of you. I don't want to be here if I can't be with you.”

It felt as though everything went dark for just a moment and almost immediately you were back. The first sight that greeted you when you opened your eyes was a man in a cape, much to your disappointment. You would have much rather been greeted by a certain green-eyed woman who held your heart. The man urgently informed you that you all had been gone for five years, erased from existence by Thanos. The idea was so troubling that you almost didn’t believe him, but something within you knew it to be true. You had felt it in your final moments in Wanda’s arms before you faded away. 

Wanda. She was the first thought to enter your mind. Had she existed the last five years on her own? Was she erased from existence with you? Was she okay? The last thought struck fear into your heart. You wouldn’t know what to do if she wasn’t. 

There was very little time for processing though since the man, who said his name was Stephen Strange, told you it was time to fight again. If you all didn’t act quick, Thanos would be sure to succeed in his wicked plan again. This required everyone, and you didn’t hesitate to agree when Strange opened a portal for you to enter through. 

The portal that Strange created for you opened into a bleak field, and as far as the eye could see were waves upon waves of Thanos’ army. Thousands of them. There was one thing that gave you hope though. One thing that made you believe that the battle wasn’t lost yet and that was seeing countless members of the Avengers step out of similar portals. Despite the myriad of people stepping out of various portals there was no sign of Wanda which caused anxiety to bloom in your chest. Unfortunately, you weren’t given much more time to look for her as the members of Thanos’ army appeared to push forward eagerly. 

You knew that your main focus should have been preventing Thanos from erasing half of humanity again, but you couldn’t help the fact that Wanda was the one thing at the forefront of your mind. She always would be. The heartbroken look on her face as you faded away was burned into your memory. You needed to find her, and you needed to find her now. You needed to see for yourself that she was okay. 

You didn’t care if you had to tear Thanos apart with your bare hands to do so. 

When Thanos’ army began to push forward even more, you got into a defensive stance, everyone around you doing the same. A unifying sense of determination was heavily present around each of you. Losing was not an option this time. 

The sound of a familiar voice caught your attention. As you glanced over you took in the sight of Steve who looked worse for wear but okay overall. Breathing, and that was what mattered. A sense of relief washed over you because at least you knew that he was okay. “Avengers,” he called and reached a hand out, your eyebrows quirking in surprise as he summoned mjölnir. “Assemble.” He finished assertively as each of you rushed forward, prepared to overcome any obstacle that stood in your way.  

The anger that you felt at the situation made it easier to harness your powers. Anger that Thanos thought he had the right to take life, anger for the knowledge that he succeeded once already, anger for being taken from Wanda. 

Looking around, you noticed that one of the bigger threats was a metal looking creature that was firing down at everyone. With a deep breath you focused your attention on the being and slowly brought your hands together, forcing the vessel to fold in on itself and rendering it useless. Smirking in satisfaction as you watched it fall to the ground. 

As soon as the army noticed who destroyed the creature more of the beasts began attacking you. Dozens had surrounded you when you saw a small glimpse of red energy flash out of the corner of your eye. It was faint and in the far distance but you’d recognize it anywhere. The red energy could only mean one thing. Wanda. She was still here. Your heart pounded anxiously.

You need to get to her now.

Making quick work of the creatures that surrounded you, you began sprinting in her direction as fast as you could. As you got closer you could hear her voice over the chaos.

“You took everything from me.” Wanda gritted out through clenched teeth as her eyes glowed with a wrath you had never seen in her before. Her hands stayed at her side, glowing brightly. 

Thanos stared back at her unflinchingly, “I don’t even know who you are.”

The calm in Wanda’s voice sent chills down your spine. “You will.” A moment later you watched her begin to attack Thanos and it was clear that he didn’t stand a chance against her. He didn’t stand a chance against this powerful woman who’s heart he had played a role in destroying. 

You knew you couldn’t call out to her because if you did her concentration would break and she would be put at risk of Thanos overtaking her. Instead you focused on defeating his members that were coming to his aide so he would have to face her on his own. 

He was destined to lose at her hands.

It seemed Thanos was aware of that as well as he called for the larger of the flying ships to begin firing down into the field to get Wanda off of him.  

“Wanda!” you shouted as you saw her attempt to shield herself from the attack, only to get thrown by the force of the hit. As quickly as you could you built a barrier around her and began running in her direction. Not caring that you were leaving yourself exposed to the blasts. 

The distance between you two was hastily closed as you instantly dropped to your knees at her side, pulling her in your arms and checking her for any injury. She stared up at you like she was seeing a ghost. “Y/n?” You tenderly stroked her cheek as you nodded. 

When she finally processed the sight of you in her arms, life filled her eyes again as they illuminated with affection. It didn’t matter to her that you both were in the middle of horrifying battle with an evil being. All that mattered was that you were there with her. The emptiness she had felt when she saw you fade vanished and was replaced with an inconceivable amount of love. 

Wanda surged forward and clung desperately to you, a choked sob escaping her lips. “I thought I lost you.” she said shakily into your neck.

You clung to her just as desperately, tears of relief falling down your cheeks at the knowledge that she was safe and, in your arms, once again. “I thought I lost you.” Came your shaky response. 

Just as Wanda was about to respond another blast hit the ground right next to you and sent you both flying. You managed to hang on tightly to Wanda and land under her to lessen the impact. “Are you okay?” she asked worriedly as she pushed your hair lightly out of your face.

“You know, under any other circumstances, I would have loved to be in this position.” You said cheekily. 

Wanda let out a watery laugh at your response. “I’ve missed you.” She said before connecting your lips passionately. You wrapped your arms around her waist as you eagerly pulled her closer. 

Wanda pulled away a moment later. “As much as I’d love to continue, we have a battle to win.” She stood up and offered you a hand which you gladly accepted.

“To be continued?” you teasingly replied with a wiggle of your eyebrow. 

Despite the situation, she couldn’t help but laugh. Falling more in love with you than before if that was even possible. This. You. It was everything she needed for the rest of her life. 

“To be continued.” She confirmed.

The playful look on your face fell when you realized something. “Why did they stop shooting at us?” 

Wanda tilted her head, she hadn’t noticed that until you pointed it out. Both of your gazes turned skyward as a bright beam of light crashed through the largest ship that was in the sky. “I’m guessing it has to do with that.”

“Badass.” You whispered quietly to yourself as you watched.

Wanda smirked in amusement as she took your hand. Your gaze shifted to meet the emerald eyes you cherished. “I love you.” She said adoringly.

“I love you, too.” You replied without hesitation. You’d never hesitate to say those words to her again. “Now let’s go get rid of this giant purple monster, so we can have that happy ending I promised you.” Wanda bit her lip and nodded, melting at your words. That was all she wanted. To live happily with you. 

Together you began running in the direction that the gauntlet appeared to be. Only letting go when you both had to use your hands for your powers. 

“I don’t know how you’re gonna get it through all that.” You heard Peter tell the woman who you recognized to be Carol Danvers from Fury’s stories.

Both you and Wanda landed at her side a moment later, “Don’t worry.” Wanda began confidently.

“She’s got help.” You finished with determination. All the women on the team joined together and charged fearlessly forward into the battle. You and Wanda worked together on destroying the ships and creatures in the sky while some of the other women cleared a path on the ground for Carol to transfer the gauntlet to Scott’s van. 

There was only a short distance between Carol and the van when you noticed Thanos throw his weapon aiming directly towards said van. You tried to run towards it to stop the impact, using your hand to try and summon the metal within the weapon. The problem was that you noticed it a moment too late. The spear like object had already impaled the machine. The force of the explosion threw you back into a large stone, your head taking the majority of the damage.

Wanda looked over worriedly from where she was keeping a group of at least two dozen creatures at bay. You gave her a thumb up to ease her worries. She seemed reluctant but turned back to getting rid of the creatures. 

When you were able to focus on the scene in front of you, you saw Carol get launched into the large rock right beside you from the force of Thanos’ hit. Shortly after Thor and Steve appeared to attempt to stop him from snapping his fingers once again. Both being removed by Thanos despite their superhuman tolerance and strength. 

When you saw Thanos approach Steve who was on the floor you jumped up protectively and flicked your wrist. His feet sunk into the ground, preventing him from getting any closer. You didn’t have superhuman tolerance or strength like Steve, but you’d be damned if you just sat there and watched Thanos attack him and then erase half of humanity again.

“Y/n, stay back.” You heard Steve grunt from his place on the ground. 

Your action was enough to get Thanos’ attention as you began using your powers to manipulate the metal in his hand to stay open. Distracted by trying to keep his hand open, you didn’t notice him getting closer. Steve finally got up and raced over only to be a second too late. Forced to watch in horror as Thanos’ opposite hand that held the power stone hit you in the head at full force. 

Wanda landed just in time to see you go through the large rock you had been leaning against just moments before. She screamed. 

As she gathered you in her arms, she gently tried to coax you awake. Fear sinking into her heart when you didn’t even flinch. With shaking hands, she checked your pulse and was relieved to still feel your heartbeat thrum steadily beneath her fingertips. 

Suddenly, everything around Wanda went quiet. When she lifted her head, she was relieved to see Thanos’ army fading to dust around her. She tenderly pulled you closer to her body. Tears brimming at her eyes. “We won, Y/n.” she said shakily. “We won. We can finally have our life together. Our happy ending. Please, wake up. Please.” She begged quietly.

The only comfort she found was the way your breath softly fanned across her cheek and the way she could feel your heartbeat steadily against her own. Tears fell down her cheeks, but she refused to let you go.

When Steve placed a cautious hand on her shoulder, she jumped. “We have to get her to a hospital.” He said meekly, his eyes troubled as tears fell from his eyes as well.

Grudgingly she let him pick you up and load you on the waiting jet, blind to anything going on around her. When Steve said he’d meet her there later she barely heard him as she took your hand in hers, pressing her lips firmly to the back. Shortly after feeling the jet rise in the air and begin the short trip to S.H.I.E.L.D’s facility where their top medics were waiting to tend to you.

“I’ll take care of you. We’ll have a happy ending.” Wanda gently stroked your cheek, smiling slightly at the warmth that she still found on your skin. A moment later tears began falling as she rested her head against your hand. “I don’t want to be here if I can’t be with you.” She whispered despairingly, hoping that you’d squeeze her hand, or open your eyes, anything. You were all she wanted, all she had. She couldn’t lose you. She wouldn’t recover.

Part 12! Can you believe it? I’m honestly shocked we’re already on part 12. Only one part left though. What do you all think is going to happen in the last chapter? Annnyway, as always, hope you each enjoyed reading this part. Thought and comments welcome, seeing them makes my day :)

[blzzrdstryr]

Moth into flame. Yandere!Kaeya x gn!reader

Wordcount: 4k

A.N: It’s very self-indulgent, but I had this idea for 2 weeks now and needed to get it out. I’ve never written fanfiction and I am not a native speaker, so bear with me.

CW: Violence, unhealthy relationship

For as long as you know Kaeya, he feels different from other people. Odd in the way that empty alleyways and dark rooms are odd, a sense of barely concealed danger lurking underneath the layers of charm and friendliness. You always felt his darker nature, but never questioned it before - you are an adventurer after all, the danger is your thrill.

He must have known that you aren’t particularly repulsed by this side of him, as his friendly facade morphed into something darker right in front of you for a couple of times. You doubt a liar and an actor as skilled as he is would make such amateurish mistakes.

No, he can’t be ignorant about how his more ominous part is what makes your veins sing from the strange mix of fascination and fear. That must be why he kept flashing his less amiable side, enticing you further in his grasp, and you gladly took step after step in the carefully crafted trap he prepared just for you.

How could you not? Kaeya is charming and dangerous, like wildfire  and you are nothing but a moth, too blinded by his light to stop and just think.

And now, seeing an irrefutable, but faux proof of the crimes you didn’t commit in his hands, you feel it - how searing his casual coldness can be. Right now, Kaeya Alberich is no human in your heart, he is a small piece of abyss that made its way out of Khaenri’ahn ruins to drag you down the cosmic darkness, where you possibly truly belong.

***

Kaeya both loves and hates your first meeting and he avoids reminiscing about it. It sounds strange, right?

Back then he was still a part of Ragnvindr household and Diluc treated him like a brother, and maybe that is a small part of a reason why he feels such aversion to recalling it - those memories are tinted both by fond nostalgia and bitter loss, enough to make him itch for a bottle in his hand.

Both Kaeya and you were green rookies - a knight fresh from training and a beginner adventurer, accidentally teaming up against a gang of treasure hoarders. It all ended up with both of you victorious, but injured. Kaeya helped you to walk back to Monstadt as one of the criminal's bolts wounded your leg, enough to make you wince from pain at every step.

In the middle of the trail he suddenly grew bored from your barely suppressed pained expressions and soft pants, no matter how cute they were to him, and decided to carry you, just like the groom would carry his  bride. He quipped and joked about it, as he made his way to the city's general direction, and you laughed and made some witty remarks in return.

At the moment he didn't think too much of it - you were another adventurer in his eyes back then, a cute, but insignificant passerby in his life and he was just playing a role of gallant knight in shiny armor. Give it a week or two and he would forget your face and your name.

But he didn't.

Just as you were approaching city gates, a miracle happened - red vision materialized right in your hands. You clutched it tightly to the chest, a bright smile appearing on your face. You turned your head to Kaeya, and he could have swore you were using your newly acquired Pyro on him.

How else could he feel so warm inside all of a sudden?

He couldn't help but recall your smile for weeks after that.

***

Your second meeting happened when you were returning to Mondstadt after your first long expedition. Shortly after the word of your Pyro vision reached Cyrus' ears, he was dead set on sending you to Dragonspine to help other adventurers. You were hesitant at first, but then your natural thirst for thrill combined with a hefty pay he promised won over you, and here you were - carrying several stacks of starsilver, absolutely exhausted and frozen to the very bones walking back to Mondstadt.

To say that you were unprepared would be an understatement of the year - even with pyro vision the cold seemed absolutely unbearable and to make matters worse you almost had a run in with a frostarm lawachurl. To avoid hopeless fight, you had to hide behind the tall snowdrift, almost submerging your body in it, as you both admired and dreaded the ice cladden giant.

Nonetheless, you acquired all of the starsilver the adventure guild needed, and now you trekked through the forest as the sun started to set.

Straining your eyes to see through the heavy rain and approaching darkness you saw it - a bright red smudge against the dark tree bark and unmistakable scent of blood. Such stark contrasts were enough to shake off the tiredness. You slowly made your way to the source of the stench, both fearing and anticipating what may reveal itself to your curious eyes.

There was a silhouette of an injured man that started to slowly morph into a vaguely familiar figure as you got closer. Seeing that there was no threat, you threw your ore to the ground and ran to the unconscious person. It was that knight who helped you to defeat treasure hoarders, Kaeya.

He looked horrible - his normally rich bronze skin now looked ashen and grey from the bloodloss, the face that radiated smugness seemed as if it already belonged on the corpse, the blue vest that he was wearing dyed almost completely in purple from the bloodloss, but the most horrible thing was a shallow but wide gash on his chest.

Not wasting any second, you pulled out your trusty dagger, and sliced the vest to inspect the wound. As you pulled obstructing cloth away you noticed another detail - small burns, surrounding the gash, as if someone slashed Kaeya with something hot enough to scorch, but not hot enough to close the wound and most unexpectedly, faintly glowing blue orb. A cryo vision.

You sat on your knees to put his vision in your pocket and clean his wounds. It still bled, as you frantically searched for a way to close it your eyes fell on the small burns around the wound and suddenly a crazy idea popped up in your head.

With shaking hands you used a piece of sliced vest to muffle him and prevent Kaeya from accidentally biting his tongue off, and then you took the dagger again heating it up. You heard about cauterization from older adventurers, but hoped that you wouldn’t resort to using it.

Kaeya’s pained groans were muffled by the makeshift gag, yet it wasn’t enough to wake him. After you made sure that his bleeding stopped, you removed your outerwear and wrapped Kaeya up. You cursed, as you hoisted a heavier body on your back, an exhaustion you have forgotten moments ago hitting you with a renewed strength.

The path to the Mondstadt with a new burden on your back now felt ten times longer. Even if you two were barely an acquaintance, a cold coil of fear for Kaeya's life still set in the pit of your stomach, and it seemed that no amount of fire would make you feel warm again.

***

Waking up in the infirmary was one of the biggest surprises in Kaeya’s life.

There were times when he was sure of his imminent death - an abandoned shivering child all alone in the forest, a stranger in the strange land, a prince of nothing with the weight of the whole dying kingdom left on his shoulders; a rainy night reeking of death and loss, grief and fury burning him just as much as incandescent claymore, rapidly growing pool of bright red blood, just as red as a…

Kaeya was okay with dying - it would be a nice ending to his story. The dead saviour of an already dead nation, an outlander casted out from the only semblance of home he had. He liked the irony.

He could have asked for help right after the duel, calling out that person’s name, he knew that that person wouldn’t leave him if he was dying, but the possibility of seeing hatred in those eyes was too much for him. The second a fiery blade cut through his flesh was when Kaeya decided to die.

And honestly, he couldn't continue to live once he confirmed what kind of a monster he is - the first thing he felt when he saw Crepus Rangvindr, a person who took him in, kept him fed, warm, safe and clothed all these years, a person who loved him more than his own father did, slowly disintegrating under the strain of delusion Kaeya felt no sadness. No, a relief, as if he was freed of a tiresome burden came instead.

Kaeya was disgusted and horrified for even experiencing such feelings in the first place, but he also couldn't do anything with it - for the last few years he was torn apart between Mondstadt and his homeland, and Crepus’ death should have solved his internal dilemma, driving the final nail in the coffin.

Sometimes he felt as if he was no person at all, just an abyssal creature that took on a human form and was allowed to live only to be unleashed on Teyvat. The time at Khaenri’ah was something that stuck with him for the rest of his life - the fear and resignation he experienced there heavily imprinted on his brain.

Every once in a while he had impulses to lie, to hurt and do as he pleases, for a long time he stopped these urges at the root, maintaining the illusion of normalcy he built for Ragnvindr household. He knew it was from Khaenri’ah, a cursed  nation of sinners with all of its glorious legacy lost to the sands of time. Immoral impulses were something that would have helped him to survive among the endless darkness that surrounded god-forsaken place.

“Ugh”, he tried to get up, to shake intrusive and self-deprecating thoughts away, but failed. Pain, like melted iron, slowly spread from his chest to the points of his fingers in a second. Even breathing was hard - his entire body ached and burned, a shaking hand slowly touched bandaged torso. Alberich winced as he remembered why exactly it was aching.

“Sir Kaeya, you are already awake! Please, don’t move.”, pretty but forgettable nun fussed over him, rechecking his bandages and then taking out a foul smelling medicine. She made Kaeya drink it all. He still cringing from the bitter taste, half sat on the bed, leaning on the headrest, tried to flash her his most charming smile and asked:

“Do you know how I got there?”, it seemed his charms did work on the girl, as she started to describe the previous night in great detail: what she was doing prior to his arrival, how dark the sky was, how worried she was when she saw his battered body, how exhausted the adventurer and guards that delivered him looked.

“Do you happen to know the adventurer’s name? I would like to say my thanks once I get better”

“Oh, it was [First], I think, but I am not sure.  I believe I saw a pyro vision” Kaeya slid in the lying position again, as he remembered you, his first and only crush. Half buried feelings ignited in his chest with a renewed vigor.

Seeing that Kaeya paid her no mind, the nun headed to the exit of the infirmary, but right before she left she turned to Kaeya again, saying that you will visit him tomorrow.

****

Just as you thought Kaeya was conscious today. After you managed to carry him back to Mondstadt, worried but distrustful guards at city gates took away your load and delivered him to the Church of Favonius. You insisted at coming with them, still anxious for Kaeya’s life. Nuns almost showed you out of the infirmary and you, defeated, had to go home.

The next day you spent looking for the abandoned starsilver, thoughts occupied both by Kaeya and the payment Cyrus promised. Fortunately, the stacks lied right where you discarded them and after a quick trip back to the adventurer's guild, you had nothing to do - weekly commissions done days prior, so you decided to spend some time inside the city for once.

As you navigated the city square you felt the tense mood that hung in the air, Mondstadt usually cheerful and carefree now seemed uncharacteristically gloomy. You later learned that the local wine tycoon, Crepus Ragnvindr, died in the accident and his son and young the youngest captain in history of Ordo Favonius, Diluc, left the city and abandoned the knights.

Despite spending almost all of your time outside the city gates, even you were aware of the city's happenings and certainly heard about two dashing young gentlemen. Kaeya was rumored to be a foreign orphan taken in by Crepus and Diluc as you remembered is a claymore swinging pyro user - a picture of Kaeya’s injuries came to mind. Scattered details started to slowly gather into a sound theory.

A fight after Crepus' death(was accident Kaeya’s fault?), that resulted in Diluc abandoning the knights(Are knights also at fault?).

You quickly brushed it off, as theorizing without the concrete evidence was one of the biggest mistakes one could make. So instead of building baseless speculations, you decided to visit one of the key people, Kaeya. Occupied by your thoughts and curiosity, the travel to the church seemed almost momentarily.

Stepping in the infirmary you were hit with a strong bitter scent of the medicine, but Kaeya sitting on the bed seemed fine, if not a bit tired. He was reading a book, but put it aside as he noticed you and gave you a warm smile.“I remember you, [First], you were the one who saved me I was told. Seems I should make it up to you”

“No need for it, you were dying”, you head to him, a hand searching for the vision in the travelling bag. His smile doesn’t drop, even when a somewhat awkward silence hangs around you. Finally, you exclaim: “I found a vision near you, and kept it so it doesn’t get lost or anything”.

“Oh, that’s a surprise, give it to me” the vision in his hands glows alive with a gentle blue light, a small ice shard forming between his fingers and you find yourself holding your breath. Kaeya looks less impressed than you, a strange emotion written on his face,as he looks from the blue orb, to the ice, to your amazed face.

“It may sound rude, but do you remember who injured you?” Kaeya doesn’t appear phased, slowly blinking, a confusion written on his face, as he looks up in contemplation. “Hm, no, can’t remember anything” You shift a little, disappointment not reaching your face. Was Kaeya lying or not?

“I hope I didn’t mess up your adventuring schedule” Kaeya murmured, leaning a little closer to you.

“No. I planned on spending a week inside the city. Why do you ask?”

“Well” he smirks, “maybe a brave and strong adventurer will lend a hand to poor injured me and”, you felt your face slowly heating up “escort me to Good Hunter, the food here is abysmal and maybe your company and decent meal will clear my head a little”

Only a day later you realized that it was your first date.

***

Kaeya likes challenges, and maybe that is a reason why he’s so drawn to you - you’re smart, just not people-smart, and you have enough intuition to guide you away from the schemes and plans he tries to pull off. Of course, he wouldn’t risk your life or general wellbeing - he likes your presence far too much to do that - but the possible less savory reactions he could gauge out of you were too alluring to miss out - frustration, fear, anger.

Alberich is frustrated - a hunger that was ignited by you grew greater and greater with each day - he wants to see so much of you, see you in pain, see you helpless, see you defeated. Would you cry, would you yell, would you curse at him?

He tried to resist it in the beginning - just as he did when he was still a part of Ragnvindr family - but he failed. Maybe, Diluc’s dismissal of him and abandonment was something that broke Kaeya in the way that Khaenri’ah couldn’t. That rainy day he learned one lesson - everyone leaves, and Kaeya didn’t doubt that you would too.

You are an adventurer after all, as free as a wind. It’s just pure luck that someone as curious and thrill-seeking as you hasn't moved to the other nations in search of excitement.

Kaeya feels threatened.

Over the years, you both fell in the comfortable, but vague place between friendship and something-more-than-friendship,a status quo of sorts. You were a loner at heart - fine with keeping almost everyone at arm’s length and Kaeya, to his disappointment, found that even his charms wouldn’t bend your will.

He could see how uncomfortable yet excited you got, when he showed his less considerate side - when he arrested and fought criminals, when he pulled off his complex plans, when he turned and twisted the words of others to make them scream and writhe and beg. Oh, of course you tried to hide it, your face becoming akin to a mask of stone, but there were other tells - the shine in your eyes, the body language and accelerated breath.

Kaeya also knew what an excitement glutton you are - there is a flame inside of you, needing to consume and devour new tastes, sights, adventures and mysteries. You are predictable in that way, he has a gut feeling that you are wary of him, but the promise of a new enigmatic crime that needs your assistance is almost always enough to lure you back into his arms.

And now he has a new problem at hands - his failed plan. Months of subtle work and manipulation led and were supposed to build up your feelings for this. A public love confession, both sudden and extravagant. Kaeya thought that someone as awkward as you, would cave in under the pressure he would put you through by making his love public.

However you didn’t, even if some, if not most of the onlookers gasped in the shocked disappointment - Kaeya was sure that you two looked like a would-be-couple to the observer’s eye. You stuttered some apologies, hid your face and almost ran away from him.

It grates on Kaeya’s nerves in a special way, annoyance slowly building up. Fortunately, he has a strategy to relieve it, by methodically destroying it’s source.

***

“Thank you, let’s do the next commissions together” you wave goodbye to the fellow adventurer, missing an indiscernible look cavalry captain gives both of you.

Only when the said adventurer leaves, does Kaeya step out of the shadow, his single eyes wholly focused on you. After the confession you started to purposefully avoid him - something that Kaeya thought was possible, but didn’t entertain it enough.

Seeing him is what almost sends you to retreat - relationships are messy, especially after failed public confessions, there’s too much burden now and you never felt the desire to work on any of them leaving everything to take its course. Instead, you stand there, enduring his cold gaze and warm smile, hit by a sudden realization of how childish your thoughts are.

Kaeya must have taken your passiveness as an invitation, as his hand snakes around your shoulder, throwing you off your internal monologue. “[First], I have an interesting case again” he leans in, his breath tickling your neck, “and I need an assistant again, the pay will be like last time”.

In spite of your current discomfort you almost space out, body habitually relaxing near him. “What the thing about?” the cases that Kaeya involves you in are always bizarre and something never seen before, a mystery awaiting to be solved.

He begins describing it to you - a strange string of deaths of young adventurers, all of whom were visionless and most curiously they all died off duty. Young men and women did their commissions, plunged in the domains and fought with monsters, but died inside the city walls, inside their houses and beds, surrounded by safety and comfort.

Kaeya shares that his informant found a hearsay that there were some interesting potions on the black market and he needs you to infiltrate as a visionless adventurer and buy potions, as much as possible.

This evening you leave the city, your heart full of trust for Kaeya, even if your relationship did take a colder turn.

***

You, as Kaeya predicted, still believed him.  Alberich almost felt bad for exploiting and twisting your trust in him , but as he supposed there was nothing more he could do with himself. Your visage filled his head day and nights, sometimes he even daydreamed about the life he would have with you. It would be delightful - to have you underneath his thumb, ready for any whim and perversion he could come up with.

He came to the Angel’s share and ordered a glass of wine, ignoring judgemental stare Diluc pointed at him. He could almost hear Ragnvindr saying “already” and calling Knights inefficient and lazy drunkards. Kaeya happily took a sip of the liquid - all of his plans always carried an element of risk, so the cavalry captain felt a bit agitated. What if you don’t touch the potions? What if the gang will escape with them?

Nevertheless, if you did touch it or not wouldn’t really matter, as catching you red-handed was more important. He needed to make you look guilty - you worked with him unofficially, which meant that no one knew about it, not even Vile. Sure no one would take your word over his, even if you left significant evidence of your innocence, after all a lot of knights are weak to bribes.

He almost hummed, as he imagined things he would do to you once you were imprisoned and completely in his power. He, of course, would save you from the dank dark cell, finding an “overlooked” detail, but not before breaking and molding you a little.

Finishing his wine, he went to the knight’s headquarters, to request the assistance of other knights in the arrest of a dangerous criminal, a spring evident in his step.

***

It was treasure hoarders again, you silently cursed, while dodging one of the attacks. You weren’t the best actor and within the minutes they exposed you. Fighting among the fragile vials wasn’t the best idea, so you moved the fight to the outside. Once they all run after you, you jump over them, raining a constant stream of fire over them. Some of them started to scream, a pure agony written on their face.

Some of the hoarders used a hidden gas bomb, submerging the whole place in smoke and using it to run away. You didn’t run after them, and headed inside instead. There was a significant change: some of the vials that contained transparent liquid now were bright red. You took one of them in and gasped - it felt so warm in your hands - and then you recognized your own elemental energy.

Out of curiosity you reached for the “uncontaminated” one, the colorless liquid rapidly bloomed with scarlet red, as your vision came to life without your command. Was it that deadly potion that Kaeya talked about? You felt how it sucked some of the pyro energy from you, then it must transmit collected energy to its consumer. No wonder all of those adventurers died - without a vision their bodies weren’t used to receiving and processing such amounts of elemental energy.

You tried to take the vials with the “clear” potion, but no matter what you did all of them got dyed in red the second you stood a little closer. Sighing in defeat you collected ones contaminated with your energy and prepared to head back to Mondstadt. You needed to warn Kaeya to take some regular knights with him if Albedo needed samples for analysis.

Suddenly there was a sound of several people running up to you, a Favonius armor coming into the sight. You almost smiled as you saw Kaeya, happy that he decided to help you, until you heard it: “Arrest them!”

[literaila]

Hi! I was wondering if you could write an angsty fic where loki dies and the reader just isn't able to cope with it? Your fics are just absolutely brilliant and the way you write angst is out of this world <33

...

loki x gn!reader

a/n: its not all canonically correct but-

*

you’re…

you’re awake. now.

maybe, you think. possibly, that’s true. maybe you’re awake, and possibly this is happening.

ellipses, and commas, and words, and air, they can’t. they can't explain this…

you’re awake, you’re sure. you’re awake, maybe.

it’s dark in your room. it’s dark in the house, still, because no one has turned on the lights. because you haven’t yet opened your eyes enough to look around, to care that it’s dark in your room.

everything is repeating itself. every moment, every breath of air, every blink.

you’re awake, now, awake from whatever dream you were having. you can’t remember, but, it’s left a taste on your tongue that is contradicting the very idea of a dream. a taste on your tongue that you…

you’re awake. you’re breathing, you’re blinking. your eyes aren’t open though.

possibly and maybe and maybe this is happening and maybe your eyes are open.

it’s dark in your room. it’s dark because you haven’t— no one has gotten up to turn the lights on. because usually you don’t have to get up to do that. you’d never really noticed before.

huh.

it’s all happening again. you’re breathing, blinking, you’re thinking that you’re awake. you’re awake, you’re awake, again and again and…

what dream were you having, again?

maybe, it was something about work. you remember stars, possibly. maybe, it was something about…

you shake your head. your eyes must be closed now because it’s still dark.

damn. you haven’t turned the lights on yet.

something about it, something poking you in the side makes you laugh, and laugh, and laugh and.

there’s a tickle in your side, a sore in your throat, a whisper in your ear. no, you just woke up. it’s not time to get up yet, it’s not time yet.

this is all so… strange. this is all so stagnant, so quiet. you’re missing something, it feels, but you don’t remember.

maybe, you’re awake. possibly, you’re blinking. it’s too dark, though.

you wonder why.

you’ve been wondering that a lot, lately, something says. you don’t know what it is. you don’t know why it’s speaking. you don’t know if your eyes are closed.

you’re breathing, again. it must be you, the sharp inhales that keep the room from disappearing. it must be you who’s sitting like this.

you must be blinking, you know now, because when you close your eyes again there’s a flash of color. there’s something in sight.

…you thought the room was dark though.

purple. you see… purple.

you open your eyes. you’re forgetting something. you know it, you can’t feel it in between the inhales and exhales and the flickering light coming through the window.

you see it when you close your eyes again. you don’t remember, you can’t tell what it is.

you were asleep then. you’re awake now.

something in you is gasping for air, jumping up and clutching onto your chest and trying to breathe-

you’re still in bed though. it’s warm here. it’s warm here, cold everywhere else.

you see purple… and black black black. you’re not sure when it got so dark. but there’s purple, flashes of colors you cant comprehend, and then black, and then it’s cold again.

you can’t remember what this is, you won’t remember what this is.

you take another breath, it’s the only sound in the room, the only thing to drown out the dark.

no one has turned on the lights yet. you should probably get up but…

no. no… you don’t need to get up yet.

more color. more whispers. more things that you can’t hear and don’t want to see. it’s dark in here, but when you close your eyes you see too much.

you can hear his voice.

you can’t remember what this is, you won’t remember what this is.

you can hear it between the exhales that are much too loud now, your breathing which has quickened, increased, the air which has become harder and harder to feel.

you can hear his whispers and his words and his breathing-

it’s so dark in your room. you really need to get up, get up and turn the lights on. get up get up get up…

there’s a sense of panic filling you, an indescribable feeling that you don’t want, don’t need, don’t want. you’re awake now, you remember, you’re awake and you don’t want to be.

and you don’t want this dream- this memory- this thing that is poisoning you from the inside out, making it hard to breathe for you, as well, even though there isn’t a hand around your throat.

it’s so dark in the room, but when you open your eyes, you see purple and green. green so much green, and then it’s gone, and then he’s gone and it’s just black.

you can’t remember what this is, you won’t remember what this is.

it’s so dark, so quiet. so unbearable.

you’re… awake. now. but you weren’t when it happened.

when loki was promising you, whispering to you, telling you things that you couldn’t hear at the time, but are so desperate to hear now.

he was saying something but you were just watching a fist clench itself. you weren’t paying enough attention and you realize that now.

you were half asleep when he was speaking last, half asleep in a world of good dreams and nice realities.

you should’ve woken up, you know now.

but you didn’t, and when loki was charming, when he was promising and promising, when he was trying his very best— the best he had —you were asleep then. you’re awake now.

and it’s too late.

you remember the fire, the burning smell. the skin that was crinkling up like a bag, the voices that were dying out like a battery, the eyes that were still as wind when your house is on fire.

you remember screaming, before that, eyes that were terrified, frightened for something that none of you saw coming. it had already been enough that day, you were so tired. you remember.

you remember his skin on yours, hours before. his smile, so pleased, so proud. his skin on your cheek and your neck and your side and lower and lower and. every inch of you he touched, every smile he lent your skin, never expecting it back.

he was riding a high. his brother— so stoic, so sad, so mournful. his bother had offered his praise, offered his gratitude and loki was still riding that high when he came to see you.

when he checked the wounds on your face, the superficial cuts on your skin. when he told you it looked like you would make it through the night.

when he promised to see to it himself…

he was smiling, so big, so wide, so proud, so pleased.

he was kissing your skin and your scars and whispering his own praises in between.

you rode that high with him and didn’t stop. neither of you could stop this feeling, sickeningly sweet, beautiful and strange.

you feel asleep between whispers, between breathless kisses and wonderful ‘hello’s.

you woke up to be ripped out of bed, stripped away from the warmth, loki’s smile— gone.

you barely even remembered that feeling from hours before when loki pulled you from room to room.

“i’m not leaving you alone,” he said.

you wanted to scoff at that, wanted to tell him that he knew all too well that you could take care of yourself. you wanted to offer to show him— again —if he’d like. but you saw that fear in his eyes, the same one from before, and so, you didn’t say anything.

you followed him, tripping over your own clothes, falling because of his speed. he didn’t seem to notice, or he didn’t care.

and then thor was running with the two of you, all of you following the sound of screams, the terrified eyes you couldn’t see yet.

when you entered the room, you were looking towards the ship in front of yours. giant, menacing. you were— as so many others were —staring at the colossal thing in front of you.

but when you looked to loki, he was staring the opposite direction.

and you don’t want to remember this but you do, you do, and you wish you didn’t.

the next minutes we’re a blur. but still, every scream seemed individual, every crash, every yelp. you could hear them all, but there was nothing you could do to stop them.

you tried— tried to fight, tried to keep them away from these helpless people, tried to aide to every scream, every explosion.

but, by the time you’d made it back on your feet, it was too late.

you remember feeling it, you remember so much.

blood, was already lost, you knew then, feeling the rumble of the ground beneath you.

when he walked in the room, a mystery to you, unlike anything else, loki didn’t seem to flinch. you looked to him and he was standing still.

holding onto your arm, like he was trying to tie you down.

he didn’t demand anything like thor, didn’t run cowering away from the man— man? —standing in front of you.

it only took a look to tell that they’d met before, that loki— somehow —knew what was about to happen.

you wanted to ask, but he wasn’t even looking at you.

you wanted to know, but he wasn’t listening.

there were so many minutes that passed, so many moments, and still you watched and watched, every second, as these people explained— as they told you your ending before it even came.

flashes of color and screams and pleas that you finally realize now were coming from you.

you wanted to run and hide and hide and. to be awake. you’re awake now.

you didn’t even notice when loki stepped away, just a few feet. you didn’t notice when you subconsciously followed. when you kept your guard up, kept yourself close to him.

you didn’t noticed when a hand was coming down towards you, when you were frozen to the ground. you didn’t notice so many things, so many important things, until you were in someone else’s arms, and you were looking at loki instead.

until you were begging yourself to break free. pleading again and again.

“the tesseract.. or, your lovers head?” he asked. thanos, who loki knew.

there was more screaming, more murder piling up as each second passed and you might’ve been the next.

something was telling you that this was the end.

still, loki didn’t flinch. he didn’t move, didn’t breathe. you couldn’t see him properly, couldn’t see anything as pressure on the side of your face became too much.

but through the sliver left of your vision, you saw the purple light on his face, you saw the desperation that was carefully hidden between layers and layers of wall. the guard that you had only just started to see past.

you didn’t see the flash of blue though, didn’t hear loki’s words, didn’t notice his magic and didn’t know what was happening. you didn’t see the crash and you don’t remember.

but you remember, you remember being dropped to the floor. you remember that feeling as you crashed to the ground, as loki grabbed you once again and you felt that skin…

so many hours ago, this would’ve been pleasant.

but now, but now, he was whispering in your ear, he was trying to get you to wake up from whatever you’d fallen into.

“c’mon, darling. it’s okay, i’ve…”

but you were so tired now, so tired watching this, so tired fighting.

and his voice was too soft, it was tricking you. it was luring you down to somewhere else.

you barely felt it when loki was throwing you towards thor, rushing after his prized possession, trying to keep it away from the monster standing in front of you all.

you were so tired.

you barely noticed loki pausing, barely noticed his charming words, his fake smile. you didn’t see it all, your mind was fogged by whatever thanos had put into it and you couldn’t see.

just flashes, just colors, just green green green.

“…undying fidelity…”

you tried to choke something out then, tried to say something to thor or maybe to loki, or maybe you were just moaning. you don’t know.

but you could feel it when thor’s breath quickened. you could feel it and so you tried to open your eyes, tried to look at loki, tried to wake yourself up.

the last thing, the very last.. thing, you saw was him.

so small, so fragile, so beautiful.

his neck, so small, so fragile.

you might’ve screamed, but now you think that you must have been too tired. you might’ve tried to break free, but your legs were jelly.

last thing you heard, was your name, was a whisper.

but you couldn’t really hear it. you were so deep down so far down that you couldn’t hear anything.

and loki was too far gone, too restricted, too much, too little, not enough. and he never got to finish his sentence.

and then it was dark dark dark.

you were asleep then.

and you’re asleep now, you think.

you cant be awake because this didn’t happen, because this isn’t a memory. after all, this is just a nightmare, because loki hasn’t even gotten up to turn on the lights so you can’t be awake yet.

something else in you is pleading for another whisper, for another word.

you whimper. you cry. but you cant feel anything, and it’s too dark to see and you don’t want to close your eyes because you cant see that again.

it’s all so blurry, so unfocused, and you know you should’ve, should’ve been awake then, should be awake now— loki should’ve, he should’ve woken you up-

…this isn’t real.

this isn’t a feeling, this isn’t a day. this is dark and cold and you’re not out of bed yet so clearly you’re not awake.

you whimper again when you close your eyes. you can hear the screams, echoing off the walls.

“get up,” something says, but you’re not listening.

you close your eyes again. there’s something familiar about this.

“darling,” another voice whispers but it’s not enough. it’s not what you want to hear and so you don’t move.

it’s dark in your room, and you’re not blinking. your eyes are open.

you can’t remember how long it’s been. and you can’t remember what loki was saying.

you can’t remember, cant think of what he was trying to tell you, you can’t remember his last words or yours and you can’t remember if this is a dream or not.

you want to feel his skin again, you want those smiles back, you want his praises, you want his quips, you want you want…

he’s gone, a voice tells you. it was screaming earlier.

he’s gone, you think. you can’t remember if you’re awake or not now, or if you’re supposed to wake up for something today…

he’s gone, your eyes blink, flash color. purple? you wonder. green? you’re curious.

he’s gone, he’s gone, he’s gone…

ellipses, and commas, and words, and air, they can’t. they cant explain this…

you’re… asleep, now.

you don’t need to wake up yet.

[silentwonderlocks]

Enchant Me *Loki x Reader* Chapter 1

I wrote this for fun, so please enjoy. I do plan on making this a short little story. The beginning takes place before Loki evades New York, then progress with Ragnarok, Infinity War and Endgame but Loki lives  Warning: Mentions of torture, Thanos being a d*ck.

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Words: 2767 

It was a peaceful day like no other if it weren’t for the constant screams with loud booming explosions following behind. The bright green grass of the land now scorned with fire and destruction. The clear sky was filled with dark clouds, big metal weapons of mayhem that floated in the air right above the city. You watched as people scattered looking for a means of safety but met with pain.  

The loud ringing in your ears made it hard for you to hear your own screams as you searched for your parents. You ran around fighting through anyone that tried to stop you or pull you to safety, but you did not care. You were just a child, scared for her parents rather than for her own life. You ran past dead bodies, craters in the ground searching for anyone that might have looked like your parents but you found no one.

‘Mother! Father! Where are you!” You called out in the midst of the smoke, seeing the invading army rounding up what was left of your people. Without thinking, you ran into the maw of the beast. In the rows of the people together, you called out again and again until one of the soldiers dawned in gold and black armor harshly grabbed your arm. The soldier cursed at you to keep quiet and threw you to the ground making you cry out in pain. 

He sneered with pleasure at your pain, lifting up his spear ready to plunge into your body, that is until he saw your eyes change color from Y/c’s to lavender color with cat-like slits. You bellowed out a high pitch scream at the soldier knocking him far back, not wasting another moment. You got up and began to run until a giant man with light purple skin stared down at you. His golden armor told you he had to be the leader of the army. 

“Oh little one, what’s the matter?” He asks, looking down at your small frame. You were covered in dirt, bruises and blood that wasn’t yours. 

“my...parents..I need to find them..” You spoke with heavy breaths preparing yourself to fight once more. The man chuckled softly but amused. “Such determination...come with me little one.” With those words, he held out his huge hand waiting for your little one in his. 

You stared at him hearing the screams of your people suddenly stop. 

“We’ll use that potential of yours for a great purpose” He spoke proudly as if he had a grand plan already in the works.

With no parents, no home, and no planet, you did the only thing you could do and that was accept the deal with the devil himself.

That was nearly 18 years ago when your home Aciilnt was invaded by the mad-titan, Thanos. He wiped out nearly the whole population and took you as his adopted daughter. Your home planet was like any other planet in the galaxy, beautiful, full of life and culture with dark history. There were two main people that lived on Aciilnt, the Sirens and the Aciilntians. 

The Sirens proudly lived in the lakes and oceans nearby where they learned water magic, shape shifting abilities and their trance like singing. On the other hand, Aciinltians were the complete opposite. Proud and honorable people, who trained their young to either be great warriors or hard working farmers.

 The war between the Siren people and the Aciilntians was the most common knowledge on your planet. The two species used to live in peace until the Siren people were deemed dangerous by the Aciint’s government after an unstable Siren attacked local people during a celebration. They feared the mind controlling power of the siren’s singing The Siren people were given two options, have their vocal cords removed leaving them mute or be banished from the planet. 

Many chose to have their vocal cords removed to try and have a normal life while the rest of the Sirens chose to be banished rather than give up their dignity.  Soon enough, the government began to purge for sirens who still had their powers, fresh born were killed and those who were caught were sentenced to life as a slave for the wealthy. 

Your mother happened to be one of the Sirens that chose to stay on Aciinlt and fell in love with your father, a simple but honest man. Together they had you, the perfect siren and Aciintian hybrid. Your parents were terrified because they knew if the government found out, then you would be killed. So your mother birthed you in secret and once you were old enough to learn how to do simple things at a young age. She taught you to change your eyes so you would blend in with everyone. You almost got away with it until that soldier had forced you to expose yourself and now here you were on Thanos’s ship as one of his many adopted children.

 Since you were brought upon the ship, you were taught to fight and learn how to use your powers to serve your stepfather along with your adopted siblings.You had mastered your singing to put foes in a trance then make them do your bidding, You were now able to change your small appearance to help blend in for certain mission, and your water magic was terrifying yet powerful. 

Out of all the siblings, Gamora and Nebula were the two that you got along with. Gamora had already been on the ship for a few years when you first met her, she was cold and distant with you at first. She wasn’t used to having someone near her age, and to top it off someone with powers as yours. She didn’t want to be near you. The only time she would be near you was in your room that you shared, when you ate together, and when you fought with her when your father wanted to test your skills. 

You both were equally skilled so it was mostly a tie between you two.  After a year of being together on the ship, Gamora had gotten into a fight with Thanos and came to the room in a fit breaking things, ranting about how much she hated her life and she hated Thanos. Instead of turning her away like she had done to you, you had decided to show her some sympathy. You told her about your hatred, you told her about the day you lost your life to the mad- titan and you also told her that she made you feel like you weren’t alone even if she didn’t like her. You were happy to have someone to suffer with. Gamora soon after that warmed up to you, then Nebula came along. 

Nebula was a different story, she hated all of her siblings and wasn’t trying to make bonds with anyone. She was devoted to her father so much, and was willing to do anything to make him proud. So when it came to you and Gamora, she despised you both and wanted to prove she was the superior daughter. Her hatred grew deeper when she would be challenged against the two of you and always lose, resulting in Thanos adding upgrades to help her improve. By the time the three of you were in your teen years, Nebula had almost lost most of her right side becoming half cyborg. 

You honestly hated hearing her screams of torture when Thanos worked on her so you would ask your father for permission if you could be with her to try and give her comfort and support. He denied every time saying that it was Nebula’s punishment for being weak so she needed to accept her pain. So one day Nebula finally won a battle against you because you had let her win and you took your punishment instead which was a scolding from your father.

 It took a lot more time for Nebula to warm up to you and when she did, you were happy to have two sisters. One you could talk to and one you could spar with. The three of you were unstoppable, the assassin daughters of the mad titan warlord Thanos. 

Now here you were standing in your room, staring out into the void of space relieving your memories of your old life. You hated Thanos, you hated your life, you hated what you had become and you wanted to run but that would take time to plan and units. So you decided to wait for the perfect moment to betray your father and escape away.  

You glanced at your reflection, your lavender eyes piercing back at you, your hair was neatly in a crown braid, the black strapless corset with black tight pants and a purple jacket that fitted around your body felt weird. Your father told you that today was a special day for you to wear something nice. He was supposed to have a meeting with someone to help him find something he called The Infinity Stones. You wondered about this stranger and couldn’t help but scoff to yourself, the poor guy didn’t know what mess he or she would be getting into. 

“Sister, are you ready?” Gamora asks, standing in the doorway with her long ombre hair done up neatly like yours. Her outfit is similar to yours but with a red corset and a black jacket instead. 

You sigh, turning yourself away from the window to stare back at Gamora. 

“Of course sister, come we mustn’t keep father waiting” You responded with ice in your tone as you said the word father. Gamora knew and shared your hatred as well so she just nodded and began to walk down the hallway to the meeting room. You followed her out watching her walk in front of you. As you passed by several training and torture rooms, you knew that you would not miss this place. Your sisters, you would dearly miss but then again they were not your real siblings. Putting your thoughts away, you caught up to Gamora  walking by her side. 

“Nebula is there with father?” You ask first, keeping your eyes ahead. “Ready and waiting, you know she’s gonna scold us later for not being good daughters” Gamora responded, stopping in front of a large door with alien language encrypted on to it.  You nodded to your sister that you were ready and the door opened letting a bright blue light emerge. Inside the room was a large  grey chair in the center of the floor that was twice the size of you and your siblings. Your father proudly sat upon it dressed in his infamous golden amour with your sister, Nebula by his left side waiting. A golden specter in his hand with a bright blue stone in between the two pongs. She sneered at the two of you for making your father wait but before making sure to keep herself in check. 

“Ah..my daughters, finally you grace us with your presence” Thanos began as he held out his hands for you and your sister. Gamora stepped first, letting Thanos lead her to his right side then you stepped up letting your father lead you next to Nebula. Now facing the direction that your father was, you now took full notice of the man in front of you.  

The man was tall, he had to be about 6 ft and over, his black, green and gold leather clothing told you that he was royalty. He was a handsome man with sharp cheekbones, ebony shoulder length hair that was slicked back. His eyes were a deep emerald green that seemed to pierce through your soul.

 His demeanor was something you’ve never seen or felt before. It felt terrifying but sad? It confused you to your core of why this man was intriguing you so. You felt his eyes on you as well, taking in your form. He studied you as you did him, since you knew this would not be the last time you saw him. “Now. Speak of your ambition.” Thanos began making the man’s eyes switch to him. 

“I am Loki of Asgard, or better known as the God of Mischief. I am burdened with a glorious purpose to achieve my rightful place as king! I have come in need of an army” His voice..was alluring and confident. The accent in his voice was deep and a bit husky. The way he spoke, told you that he was determined to get what he desired. 

Thanos smiled and began to hum as he straightened himself in his chair. 

“Glorious purpose? We all have a purpose...a destiny to fulfill. It all arrives the same, the question is what will you do for me? You offer me nothing for my services.”

“I offer you Earth and all of it’s worms that they call their people. I offer you their blood, their screams.” The man called Loki responded with a slight tone of desperation. 

Your father stayed silent for a moment. “Perhaps we can come to an alliance.On Earth, there is this powerful object called the Tesseract. Inside of it, is one of the essentials to my great plan. I will give you an army, Earth will be yours to rule. I only ask for the Tesseract in return, understand?” 

Loki stood up straight, eyes still fixed on your father. “ I will not disappoint you”

Once you heard Loki say that, you felt your heart drop since you knew what your father did with his alliances. Thanos smirked with malicious intent. 

“We’ll see”  

You could do nothing but watch as your father took the specter and plunged it into Loki’s chest. You bite the inside of your cheek as you hear his screams ring out, your father wanted to show Loki that he was not one to be disappointed or betrayed. You couldn’t bear to think of what he was making Loki see or feel but you swore that you saw his eyes water. What made it worse was that his eyes were no longer on your father but on you. They held such pain and terror that you almost thought he was begging for help. You gave him a sympathetic look before looking away. You couldn’t have your father seeing you be weak, Loki’s screams continued until your father had enough and made him pass out from the mind torture.  

“Y/n, take our guest to his room. I want to make sure he’s fully prepared for his mission.” Your father stood handing you the tall scepter. “ Give him this for his mission. Don’t be afraid to make him grovel to our will.” 

Gripping the specter tightly in your hand. You stared up at your father with a harsh glare. “Of course Father.” With your words, Loki was picked up by Gamora and carried him to his chamber for now. You followed her admiring his features. 

His face was bruised and scraped, his eyes were puffy with some red around them. 

‘He’s been in more pain than today..” You thought to yourself as the door opened welcoming you. 

Gamora flops him on the bed and proceeds to give you a look beginning to walk out but then she stops. “Y/n you can’t save everyone from father” She says, turning her head to look at you slightly.

“I'm not trying to save anyone, I just can’t stand the pain ” You stated factually as you watched Loki fidget and turn in his sleep. Gamora nodded once before leaving you alone with the god of mischief.  Deciding to give the poor man some relief, you crouched beside him and began to softly sing a lullaby to help ease his pain. 

You lightly grasped his arm to sing soft melodies in his ear. All you had to do was sing a few notes and anyone would be under your spell. Once you saw his face soften up and relax slightly, you pulled away to stand back up.  

“Sleep...and may you never have another bad dream..”  A soft smile rose to your face seeing Loki relax completely and just look peaceful before he would endure your father’s wraith. Leaving the scepter by his side, you exited the room and proceeded to the next mission.  

[bronwiebear-brad]

Somebody to you - 1/3.

Warnings: this fictional story will include mature content, language, and themes including but not limited to violence and nsfw content. Storie line before covid. The male lead bears no likeness to the real Brad Simpson apart from PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. Please if you’re not confortable with this type of content, do NOT read. You were advised.

A/N: this is my first time writing stuff this big, sorry in advance if you find any mistake and thank you for supporting. Also this was supposed to leave early but tumblr wasn't posting, so sorry for that. Lots of love x.

Wet curls staining the pillow on your lap, as your fingers delicately undid the knots. The television was muted and the only audible sound in the appartment was the calm breaths that came out of his mouth, peacefully sleeping. The small cuts over his eyebrow and nose caught your attention as they started to turn purple. Your mind running along the possible scenarios you've heard from him about what really happened to leave him in this state all beaten up. They were playing over and over again, leaving you awake and wondering what you got yourself into.

The day you moved into your apartment you knew life would change for the best. Third year of college and you've managed to find a nice paid internship. Sure it wasn't the ultimate dream job but helped you paid your bills and live a pretty decent city life out of that crowded university dorm. You got your three girl friends helping you with the boxes the next days in exchange of paid dinner and wine and the night was spent with gossiping and laughing. Not until your friend Jo got glued to the front door of the apartment on her way to get the pizzas, peering through the monocle as she stood on her toes. The rest of the group, Steph and Lizzie, tryed to peek tru the same hole bumping on each other and arguing to be the first to watch the pretty heated make out session in the hallway. 

"Oh that must be my next door neighbour. Brad." You simple said walking back into the living room that was also the kitchen and your work space, since the house was not that big. The three girls following you intrigued and excited to know more about the misterious boy who was literally eating some girl face agaisnt his front door. 

"Just my next door neighbour?" Steph asked taking her previous spot at the couch. 

"He's ...exciting." Jo was the most interested about the boy asking you more details. The other girls gasp excited sitting on the floor ready to listen more about this guy.

"I know his name because the girls he brings home almost everynight shout pretty loud. Just in luck his bedroom is in the oposite wall of my bed." You explained rolling your eyes and the face of the three girls lit up, giggling and begging for more gossip. You’ve met him a few times when he held the front door only exchanging Good Mornins or Good Nights in that thick accent of his that you couldn’t figure out yet. Little they knew that later that night after everyone went home and you stood on the couch trying to get some work done on your computer and got disturbed by loud music and people talking that you got the courage to actually knock on his door. 

“Are you the stripper?”“ A blonde guy with short hair opened the door. He looked at you from head to toe leaving you unconfortable and frowned, a plastic cup on his hand. “Kinda basic if you ask me but you’re cute” He said to someone else inside the house and a few guys laughed. Your cheeks turned red and you tought about aborting the mission.

“I’m not a stripper.” You told him quietly and he laughed loud making you cringe. You weren’t sure anymore if this was a good idea but it was late now. “I’m searching for Brad, please.” 

“Go find him.” The boy rolled his eyes and disapeared out of your sight. He left the front door open and you took your chance to come in. The music got louder and you were pretty sure the neighbours would soon complain. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol made you crunch your nose and besides the people dancing, talking and playing poker by the dinner table, you notice a few smoking some weird stuff. That place look like a frat house and you really wanted to leave as soon as possible.

You noticed him when you got into the kitchen were he was preparing some drinks. His eyes never left his task. You took a change to have a propper look at him and see what the girls were so fuss about. His hair was nicely brushed back and he was wearing some black jeans and a clean white tshirt. His hands worked on the glasses making you notice his rings and how muscular he was. He wasnt that much fit but his body had a nice shape. His cheeks were rosy and the way he trapped his bottom lip between his teeth concentrated made you realise that he was pretty. He was actually very handsome.

 “Are you going to talk or what?” He sounded playfull and sarcastic. When you look at his face after jumping on your spot he was looking directly to you, smiling.

“Hm y-yeah. I-”. You tried to talk but got embarassed for being caught checking him out. Your cheeks started to blush and you hated yourself for that. You were suposed to act mad and cold to complain about the noise that was disturbing your work session.

“Nice pants.” He laughed pointing at your pijama pants. You blushed even more and condemned yourself for not exchanging clothes before leaving the house. When your eyes crossed again you were about to explode. His glance was so intense that he left you with a cold sensation on your belly. Also the wine you took previously was starting to leave your system and the courage too.  

“Thanks.” You displayed a small smile and he blinked at you.

“Anytime. Did you come for the party?” He asked before taking a shot. Your eyes followed his moves and how he placed the glass carefuly back on the table. “Here, have one shot.". He offered you a glass and you were ready to refuse.

“ No and no. I’m here because of the noise actually.”  You said bitting your cheek and expecting him to brust out. Instead he just smiled widely and took the shot he held in his hand.

“Of course." He said sarcastically after passing by you and leaving you alone in the kitchen. You stood there a few seconds in disbelief. Is this guy for real? You tought to yourself.

“What-what do you mean?” You followed him as he passed thru the people and handed them the shots.

“I mean of course you’re here for the noise.” He didn’t bother looking at you. 

“So you’re aware you’re bothering other people” You said frowning. This guy was an assole after all. Predictable. He stop walking and turned to you, smirking.

“Darling, don’t you like to listen good music?” He asked closer to you, due to music.The nickname caught you by surprise. 

“Yeah but-” You tried to explain but he interrupted.

“So you’re welcome” He laughed. His breatth tickling your ear. “Now, have a shot. Please, cortesy of the house.” He grabbed your hand and made you grab the last shot. His hand was still touching yours as you got lost in his boyish smile. Skin on fire and your heartbeat raced as you notice a good song playing in the background. 

“On three, let’s go.”  He started to count, a bottle of beer on his hand that he grabbed from the table while he made eye contact with you. You didn’t knew what got into you because when the count got to an end you took the shot. The green liquid burning your troat and making you frown and cough hard. “Easy, easy take a sip. It’ll ease the burn.” He offered his own beer, raising himself the bottle for you to drink while one hand caressed smothly your back. Your eyes lock on his and he smiled at your red cheeks. 

“Thank you.” You said bitting your lip. This was all so overwhelming and new that you got embarrassed. “I should get going.” You pointed to the door and got ready to leave. 

“I’m (y/n).” You shook his hand and for a minute you both stood in the middle of the living room in silence, skins touching. 

“Wait.” He prevented you from leaving. “I don’t think I know your name. I’m Brad.” He raised an eyebrow and offered his hand to shake. You look at his hand on the air and his face. Should you grab his hand again? You were still recovering from the interaction that happen seconds ago.

Oh fuck it.

It was hard to leave after that but it felt like you ran your way into your apartment. Locking the door behind you and leaning agaisnt it with a goofly smile recovering. 

“So, I’ll see you around, darling.” He said smiling and squeezing your hand slighly.

That nickname again...

The bloody and wounded lower lip, which had begun to swell, contrasted the shape of the curves of his smile. He should smile more. You tought getting a memory of him smiling directly at you in a previous occasion. The smell of soap from the clean clothes you gave him to change invaded your senses and made you  get out of the couch carefully not to wake him. The mess on the bathroom floor caught your attention and since sleep had long been interrupted you decided to clean it up.

As you rub the little drops of blood from the floor tiles you couldn't stop reliving the previous events. The more it went on inside your brain the intensity of the rubbing increased...

A big tud came from the front door. Someone knocking violently and desperately. Making your immediately wake up and get up from the bed.. 

“It's me, open up!". You heard your name being called behind the door. The familiar voice made you open the door in a glance. A tall boy with a mix blond-pink dyed hair and a pierced nose looked surprised that you really opened the door at such hours. It was a long time since the last time you saw him, he sure was diferent. Not leaving you time to ask what he was doing or what was happening he talked frenetic. "It's Brad. He's...". His expression changed intensively and that scared you, even more than before. "He just wants to see you. Keeps saying your name over and over. So I brought him here. I know he doesn't live here anymore but he insisted." He pointed to the stairs and you notice the shade of someone sitting on them. "I hope you don’t mind. I know what happened between you two but". You dind’t had time to process what was happening but he kept explaining. "He's pretty hammered. It's bad." Tris indicated as soon as you passed the front door and headed the familiar shape. Him following you closely.

This wasn't the first time you took care of drunken Brad. A few times during your somehow relation and after heated arguments when he showed up at your door begging and causing a scene. So this wasn't new. You tought to yourself getting angry.

Grunts of pain and curses could be heard in the hall and when you came across the scene your heart sank. There he was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall and clinging to the right side of his ribs. His white shirt stained with drops of blood that you didn’t know if it was his or from others. An almost empty bottle was placed on the floor beside him. He looked in bad shape. Dark spots under his eyes and bigger hair. Reminding you that uncountable times when you asked him to let his hair grow and he would just laughed it off saying he liked it short.

"Oh hey beautifull.." He called you as soon as he saw you. His voice was hoarse and shaky and with a hint of surprise that you were really there. Mixed feelings as he looked at your intire body. He still got an effect on you after 2 months.

"What happened Brad?." You asked cold, kneeling down next to his legs to watch the cuts carefully. Your hands were shaking with nervousness and fear but you tried to hide them in your pockets. Your eyes darting to his hands and seeing purple marks on the knots. Indicating what you fear the most, he was fighting again.

“I broke the asshole into fucking pieces!” He said proudly, his voice echoing in the hall. His breath smelled like alcohol and that made you put the pieces together. He was completely drunk to the point where he couldn't even keep his eyes open or walk properly. “The sucker thought he took me for granted.” He kept talking, his voice was angrier remembering the events. “Nobody fucks with Brad.” He grabbed the bottle and brought it to his mouth drinking what was left of it. When he took it out of his mouth he looked at you smirking. “But not you, angel.” The nickname made your stomach turn. “You can fuck me anytime." He started laughing but stopped right away when his ribs started to hurt.

"Alright let's get you inside." You said moving to help him out of the stairs and preventing the neighbors to call the police about the noise since it was 4 am. Tristan helped you by grabing his left arm while you stood on the right. Loud curses left Brad's mouth as he was obligated to move and somehow walk a few meters until your apartment and into the bathroom.

You turned to Tristan who had a serious expression on his face asking what had happened. He seemed quiet and you assumed he was probably drunk too but at least he was controlling it.

“He fucked up”. Tristan gesture you. “We where at Urban’s pub downtown when Marcus came in with his shitty gang. We had a few bottles already and-” He was interrupted by a loud grount from Brad.

“Tris, shut up” Brad warned his friend with a deadly glare.

“Keep going, Tristan.". You demand to the blonde boy and ignoring the brunette. At this point you just wanted to know how he got into this mess. You took a quick glance to the drunken boy who settled himself on the bathroom floor, back into the tub tiles. A thin line of blood coming out of his nose.

“They came out hard, unnoticed, starting to-” Tristan got interrupted again. This time aggressively.

“Shut the fuck up, asshole!” Brad shout from the floor and his angry voice made you jump. How can someone change so fast from giggly drunk to angry in matter of seconds.

“Mate, she needs to know!” Tristan protested. “Look at your fucking state, you probably need to get to the hospital".

“And you need to get the fuck out!” He pointed to the door. "Leave Tris, I don't need you anymore". He demanded and the blonde looked at you searching for an answer. You stood quiet looking at the interaction not knowing what to say. "Just fucking leave already."

“I..I will get first aid it’s... uh it’s in my kitchen.” You weren't ready to be left alone with him. It all becoming to real and scary. Tristan followed you outside and gave you a apologetic smile before heading out. Telling you to call him if you needed anything and apologizing his friend stubborn ass.

Back into the bathroom you knelled down closer to the boy and opened the aid. Nether of you exchanging words as you took out a few dressings and bandages. Him watching you closely as put some scar cleaning into one of the dressings and handed it to him. His fingers brushed yours slightly making you nervous.

"You might need to get to the hospital." You simple said looking at his face.

“No. I don’t.” He grunted as his hand move to his face to clean himself. The strong pain on his side stopped him and made him cry in pain.

 "Here." You offered your help as you took the dressing out of his hand and carefully applyied it on his eyebrow. Your face coming closer to his. He was looking at you and licked his lips You could feel his hot breath on your face, intoxicating you and making you more and more nervous.

"Don’t be nervous”. It was surprising that he still managed to know you so damn well. He grabbed your hands and that action made you soften a lil. His eyes were less darker than before.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" You asked.

"No." His answer made your roll your eyes. Unbelievable this guy was the same after all. “Your hair looks diferent.” He changed the subject but you ignored. 

"I’m going to take your shirt off I want to see your ribs. It might be broken." You demand getting far from him. You were starting to get annoyed by the fact he wasn’t helping you to help him.

"How do you know all of this?" He asked curious while you grabbed the end of the tshirt and lifted it slowly. His necklace falling into his tanned chest and your heart softed seing the silver object still on him.

"My cousin made the whole family took a first-aid course when she was pregnant." You explained analizing his right side. “Doesn’t look broken but i’m going to bind it with plasters to relieve your pain and for you to move better.”.

“Thank you, (y/n).” He tried to grab your hand but you were fast enought to move. “Ouch.” He played offended by your reaction.

“I don’t think you’re in the position of acting offended here.” You weren’t making eye contact with him and that pissed him.

“Look I know I fucked up. I fucked up good. I really did. But here you are helping me. That’s got to mean something.” He said an hint of hope in his voice making you stop what you were doing and look at him frowning. 

“You came into my work and beat my colleague just because he was texting me.” 

“I didn’t beat him.” 

“You’ve threaten him. Agressively.” 

“That’s not beating.” 

“That’s violence.” He stood silent. You knew you had win this one so you continued. “You knew how I felt about you being like that and you ignore it. You didn’t trust me after I told you I didn’t cared. I cared only about you. You were everything.

You could tell he was sobering up slowly. His face changed to regret and hurt. You know that inside his head he was blaming himself.

“Damn it Brad, you show up at my door at 3am all beaten up and looking like a absolute mess. And you still want me to believe that you’ve changed? That this mean something?”.You raised your voice. 

He was starting to get angry at himself knowing that every word you were saying were true. So he decided it was better to leave, coming here was wrong. He tried to get up to leave between grunts. 

“You’re not going anywhere. I’m not finshed.” He stopped and looked at you as you sat carefully on his legs to prevent him from moving.

“What are y-” 

“Shut up Brad, I’m trying to fix you.” You cut his words since the patience was coming to an end and quickly applyed the plasters. Earning a few curses on the way. “Now you’re done. I’m going to make us tea. Meanwhile you should take a shower to sobber up. I’l be waiting for you if you really want to talk.” You were surprise by your audacity to control the situation. Getting up off the floor right after and leaving the bathroom.

He stood there disbelief, enjoying and surprised by this new you.

The one he didn’t knew.

Yet.

[maxdark158]

OOOH two chapters in one week??? damn even i’m jealous. of myself. though this also isn’t edited so i might read it tomorrow morning and regret life, soooo

Angel in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Ao3

Demon in Gotham: Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Ao3

Fanart for AiG: Riddler ~ Joker thank you @thegreysman

Please tag me in any fanart you draw for this guys ^^

oooOOOooo

The large plant in the street wasn’t promising.

Neither was the very loud scream of pain they heard as they arrived to the scene.

Damian might’ve popped some knuckles when he clenched his fists, he wasn’t fully paying attention. What the ever-loving fucking hell in a fuck was Ivy doing? Harley best not be here too or Damian may strangle both of them for coming near his Angel.

Deep fucking breaths I’m going to fucking lose it-

When they arrived, father signaled a quick “to first two follow” plan and he and Grayson went ahead, leaving Damian and Drake on the roof. Damian itched to jump and move forward. The worry was awful, filling his mind with the most unrealistic of thoughts. He tried to correct them, prove them wrong, but they were overwhelming.

What if I check through her window to make sure she’s in there and oka- he didn’t know which room she had and it would take too long.

What if the scream was hers- It was deeper, male sounding.

What if she was crushed under that plant- She wouldn’t be, right? There wasn’t any evidence of someone being under there-

What if she’s hurt? Afraid? Dying?

He heard yelling. Angry yelling, in a male voice. The constricting worry reminded him of every dangerous male villain in Gotham right now. He went through a list of those currently MIA, those who might’ve yelled. It didn’t make sense, no villain sighting was reported aside from Ivy…

But it was possible.

And the possibility made Damian want to puke.

He had to move he had to do something. He jumped down. It hadn’t been enough time yet but he didn’t care. He heard Drake hiss something in warning about Batman’s orders or something Damian didn’t fucking care about, because he had to see for himself. He had to walk in there and he had to make sure she was okay.

Before he could go in, he saw Ivy walk out through the door. What?! he moved to intercept her before seeing the blood going down her leg- What the fucking fuck happened?! Why was she bleeding?

Ivy raised a brow when she saw him. “I got a pass this time, bird. Might want to help them in there.”

The sick feeling returned. He didn’t want to trust a villain, a criminal… but Ivy wasn’t the most horrible.

He eyed the blood, the worried weeds supplying images of his Angel bleeding in the same way. Ivy was not the worst that could happen… His mind went through that handy list of villains again. Many much worse than Ivy.

Damian turned away from Ivy. Father and Grayson shattered the window the plant hadn’t gone through, he made a motion toward it before Drake grabbed his shoulder.

“Let go of me you-“

“If you’re going to disobey Batman, at least let me go with you,” Drake looked exasperated. “You’re focused on your friend, right? Someone needs to watch your ass then.”

Damian glared before prying Drake’s hand off his shoulder. If he wanted to follow, fine. Damian wouldn’t stop him. He went through the broken window and finally entered the hotel.

The vending machine was unplugged and face down on the ground, glass surrounding it. Ivy’s giant plant was in the middle of the room, steam thicker than the pot it previously inhabited and petals as big as the Batmobile’s tires. Other miscellaneous things were strewn across the room, including cut hair near the elevator.

But what had Damian’s heart pounding was the playing cards. Playing cards that were embedded in the walls and the front desk and the floor. Razor sharp playing cards. A certain villain’s playing cards.

Fucking fucking shit fuck bitch ass fuck-

“Father,” Damian’s voice was surprisingly level as he spoke. His eyes landed on the fucking purple suited clown mother fucker himself. “What is Joker doing here?”

Father however seemed to be answering something Grayson must have said, “It appears she was rescuing…”

Ivy was rescuing.

Ivy was helping.

Damian’s eyes scanned the room right as someone else made themselves known.

Marinette!

The air left his lungs. She looked worse for wear, dark circles under her eyes and blood- fucking hell blood on her person. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and Damian wanted nothing more than to comfort her. Help her.

He opened his mouth to speak, stepping toward her.

She began to sob.

As if Damian somehow needed to panic even more.

“I’m sorry,” the words were quietly choked out between hics and sobs. “I’m a hor- horrible person and-”

“Hey now,” Grayson took a step closer, trying to comfort her. Damian’s feet were stuck to the floor, the words stuck in his mouth, preventing him from doing the same. “I’m sure you’re not-”

She held up her hands, showing the blood on them. Damian inhaled sharply when he saw the bits of glass embedded into her palm – the green haired fuck hurt her.

“I broke his leg,” she took a big gulp of air. Damian bit back the words and he deserved it. “With a rock. And I threw things at him. A chocolate bar, a cookie, a phone, a lamp, a vending machine-”

“A vending machine?” His father glanced at the vending machine on the ground. Damian didn’t bother trying to decipher his expression, Marinette was turning red and gasping between her sobs. She needed to breathe.

“Miss, please calm down,” Grayson began to step toward her. Damian’s feet finally moved, and he began surging toward her as well.

She fell, nearly hitting her head on the way down. Damian caught her before she could though, barely. Fuck, she needed to breathe like yesterday.

“I’m terrible, horrible, I shouldn’t have done this,” the words used the last of her breath and were only a whisper.

Panic made his throat feel stuck and his voice thick. “Angel,” Damian spoke as calmly as he could. “You need to breathe.”

She didn’t breathe.

oooOOOooo

Usually, lack of sleep was associated with the coffee obsessed Drake, but it seemed Damian’s own mind was determined to show him what it was like to live like a lunatic. He wasn’t able to sleep even when he tried, though he didn’t try that much either. He’s pretty sure he spent an hour staring at his weedkiller order – an order that somehow got lost in Kentucky – wishing it to suddenly appear at the front gate. Then again after coming home, most of the night was a blur.

He rubbed his eyes and let his thoughts wander through the memories of last night. Or, early morning technically.

Marinette looked delicate and broken on the stretcher as she was loaded into the ambulance. Damian had to turn his head away. He saw Drake and Todd looking at him, but he didn’t want their fucking pity.

She’d be fine.

She had to be.

After Angel had passed out, she began to breathe again. She immediately got medical attention for her injuries, riding in a different ambulance than Joker, who also got medical attention at Arkham. Damian wanted nothing more than to skin him alive as he left, but he avoided doing it for the time being. Barely.

“There’s some of Joker’s laughing shit over here, B-man.”

“Have Red Robin neutralize it. We’ll have to check the tapes and see if anyone was affected.”

“Besides the guy who’s body we found behind the desk, I don’t think anyone else got hit. But good call. Red Robin, over here!”

Drake got the security camera feed and Damian saw the entirety of what happened in the hotel lobby. His Angel fought bravely and intelligently, though he couldn’t say he was a fan of the bitch who left her behind.

“Why did she go for the elevator? I’d hate being stuck in there with the Joker. And she let her classmate just fight?”

“Maybe she called for help once she got away. And even if she didn’t, we can’t judge a teenager for panicking in this situation, Tim. Damian’s friend is an anomaly.”

“I don’t know… too bad the cameras don’t have audio, I wonder what she’s saying before they realize that Joker is there.”

“Are you able to read her lips?”

“Golly jee I wish I fucking thought of that! Thanks for reminding me to read her lips on this old and grainy camera footage where you can barely tell her eyes from her nose!”

“Jesus Replacement, no need to bite my head off.”

Damian looked into it,and found that no calls were made to the police until the plant fell through the window. The calls then were about Ivy appearing, deduced by people nearby who saw the plant. That good for nothing bitch left my Angel with the Joker-

“No calls were made by anyone within the hotel. All the calls were made by people on the street or living nearby who saw the plant.”

“Hmm… Odd…”

“…I’m sorry but how the fuck did someone sleep through a giant ass plant breaking the main floor windows? How?!”

“Maybe it’s a French secret.”

He shook his head. After they got all the information, father decided to send the French children back early and pay for it himself. Damian, internally, knew why. He painted a target on Angel’s back, if she didn’t have one before.

“You realize he heard you, right?”

“What do you want, Todd?”

“Fucks’ sake demon spawn, listen to me. Joker heard you call her Angel.”

“…”

“I was already aware of that. I’ve made plans to have the class moved back in Paris. If it gets around, She’ll be an ocean away and more difficult to harm.”

“Alright, B. Was just trying to warn Demon Spawn.”

“Maybe next time he won’t fuck up.”

“Tim, no need to be harsh.”

“It’s vigilante 101, Bruce. Damian’s been doing this for years.”

“Perhaps instead of being berated for a mistake he didn’t intend, you should let Master Damian retire to his room to rest.”

Damian grumbled to himself, trying to push the intrusive awful worrisome thoughts out of his head. The ones that said maybe going back to Paris wouldn’t be enough to protect her. The ones that said Joker would want revenge, the ones that-

The ones that he wasn’t fucking listening to right now thank you very fucking much!

Damian sighed to himself. He needed some sleep. After handling the news, getting the class handled, and looking into everything involving Joker’s break in at the hotel he was told to get to bed as the sun began rising. It hadn’t really worked, as now a few hours later he was debating stealing some of Drake’s coffee to make it through the day.

Because he did have one very important task to do today. He needed to check on his Angel, and say goodbye to her. He had her number of course, and they could text as often as possible for the two of them, but he still needed to see her. See her and apologize for how horrible this trip must’ve turned out for her.

I’m bad luck, being near me ruined her trip.

Damian went to the bathroom to brush his teeth, ignoring that train of thought.

Riddler attacked her when I was there. Joker appeared after I dropped her off. I made her unlucky. I got her hurt.

It’d be easier to ignore that train of thought if it weren’t so fucking loud.

Time felt blurry right now. Probably because he was tired. But soon he was dressed in a hoodie and sunglasses, disguised so he didn’t get mobbed by paparazzi while visiting his Angel in the hotel. He was pulling his shoes on when there was a knock at the door.

“What do you want?” The knocking bounced in his head and made it hurt. Maybe he had a migraine, he wasn’t sure.

“Such a nice way to say good morning Demon Spawn,” Todd strolled in like he fucking owned the place and leaned against the wall next to the door. Damian wondered what it’d be like to have Jon’s laser sight so he could glare at Todd and kill him.

“You didn’t have permission to come in.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“That doesn’t mean you get to.”

“Tough shit,” Todd rolled his eyes. “…You… alright?”

Damian narrowed his eyes at him. “Why are you asking something like that?”

“Your friend got attacked and is leaving the city because of a target on her back. Which, while I did point out that you called her a petname in front of Joker-“

“It isn’t a petname-“

“-It isn’t your fault.”

The words starkly contrasted Damian’s internal beliefs and he had to blink a few moments to make sure what he heard was real. Because what the fuck? Why would Todd try to convince him his fuck up somehow wasn’t his fucking fault!?

“It’s… not my fault that I stupidly revealed a relationship connection to a civilian in front of one of the worst villains this city has suffered?”

“Okay, that was all you, smartass,” Todd sighed. “but the other shit isn’t your fault. You didn’t hurt her, the fucked up clown did. You didn’t put her in danger, her fucking teacher and class did by abandoning her. You’re at fault for your actions, not other people’s, so if you’re blaming yourself then fucking stop. Freckles’d probably get upset if you were using her to hate yourself.”

“What on this planet makes you think I’m doing that?!” Damian’s voice rose in a snap, hypocritically, because he realized as he spoke the words that he… kind of was doing that.

Fucking feelings and fucking worry and fucking weeds in his head were the reason, of course, but he… was… fuck, he’s tired isn’t he?

“I died, Demon Spawn.” Damian raised a brow at Todd, waiting for the halfwit to continue. “Bruce and I… aren’t on the best of terms, but I did realize he… he did that. Where what Joker did was his fault. I’m not happy the fucker is still alive, but that doesn’t mean Bruce was the one who killed me. No that was all Joker.”

“What does that have to do with anything again?” Damian really just wanted Todd out of his room and not talking about things in the past. He totally understood his point and everything, but it wasn’t anything a gallon sized bottle of weedkiller wouldn’t fix.

“Wow, you must be really tired, damn,” the fucker smirked before his expression changed into something less asshole-ish. “I’m saying that if you’re blaming yourself for what the Joker did to Freckles, stop it. The fucker lost a leg and she’s on her way to the hotel from the hospital now.”

Wait.

Wait what?

“Wait what?!” Damian wasn’t even sure which one he was reacting to – the news that Angel was okay or the news that the Joker was permanently damaged.

Angel’s self defense might’ve permanently helped Gotham?!

Okay maybe he knew what he was reacting to.

Todd turned to leave like a fucking dickhead and Damian could hear the smirk in his voice as he walked away. “Check the news for the Joker thing and ask Alfred to take you to Freckles in like an hour.”

Damian was smart enough to realize that not checking out of spite for Todd would only disadvantage himself.

He still only checked a couple minutes later though. After glaring at his phone willing himself to somehow know without checking.

He needing headache pills.

oooOOOooo

The Unnamed Teenager That Defeated The Riddler Cripples Joker!

Just days after beating The Riddler at his own game, the same teenage girl holds off The Joker until Batman arrives!

“We had to amputate him below the knee,” Arkham doctor says. “There was too much glass in the wound, it cut several muscles, tendons, and arties. The shattered bone didn’t help.”

French Teenager Unavailable for Comment.

[Read More]

oooOOOooo

Damian had snuck through the lobby up to his Angel’s room. Some of her classmates were downstairs, but he hadn’t paid much attention to them, not caring at the moment.

The last memory he had of her was the blood on her hands and tears in her eyes before she fell to the floor. He wanted to change that, wanted to maybe even see if he could get her to smile. Though that felt ambitious…

He just… needed to make sure she was okay.

Damian knocked on Marinette’s hotel room door.

[wthcew]

JayTim, flirting, falling in love and cuddles and JJ Tim who gor adopted by Harley and Ivy pretty please??

Sweetie, you just jumped on my train of JJ fics, I hope you don't mind that I added a little bit of smut

I'm so sorry it took me that long to write it, I hope you like it!

_____________________________________________

30 days

_____________________________________________

The first time he heard about it he was under the ground. He felt like he was choking, his helmet somewhere unknown and with it his communication with Oracle. He isn't talking to B (not after he chose the fucking Joker over him) but he does help Nightwing sometimes, and oh, did he wished right now that he would have never let Dick in his safehouse.

Nightwing and Red Hood were about to bust a drag ring, but the thing is, it was an ambush, so now they're both under ground, Hood's leg impaled to the ground by an iron pillar from one of the walls that exploded and that they're buried under, his helmet in an unknown place and 'wing trying to call for help.

Jason tried to slow his breath but being under ground is bringing back bad memories (He can't breathe, he's locked, and all he want right now is his dad-) of being six feet under and he's hysterical- because everything is hurting and broken and half his face are burned and he can't breathe so please, please he just want his dad, "please dad come save me"-

He's so gone into his mind, letting his panic control him that he's flinching away when Dick touching his shoulder, but it's pulling him out of his head (and just when did the tears started to spill out of his eyes?), and Dick is looking at him, the whites lenses of his domino mask are gone and instead Jason's getting those blue eyes that are full with concern.

"It's okay Jay" Dick smiled at him, a small smile that somehow made Jason believe that it's okay. "B and baby bat are on their way right now," Dick's hand found Jason's and he squeezed it in reassuring. Jason returned the squeeze. "We will be fine"

...

"Did someone ever told you about the kid who almost killed Joker?" Dick asked after couple minutes of silence, when Jason's breath is under control and he isn't so much as hysterical as he was couple of minutes before.

Jay turned his head to Dick, "No" his voice was hoarse, too hoarse for his own ears but Dick didn't seems to mind, he just nodded his head and smiled softly at him.

"He was thirteen years old back then, Joker took him, when Babs still was Batgirl" And at that moment Dick's comn beeped and after five minutes they were out of the ground, Bruce and Damian next to Dick, checking if he's fine while Jason took his helmet, the hole in his leg isn't that bad and when Dick looking at him the Red Hood already swing away.

_____________________________________________

The second time he heard about it was because he wanted to, he was curious and he wanted to know what happened to the kid, what made a thirteen years old kid almost kill the Joker.

So, he was on his couch, his leg bandaged and a cup of hot tea on the coffe table, his laptop open and working and the reading lamp's orange light made his shadow look like some villain from kids cartoon.

It's hard to find anything about it but he is (A bat) Red Hood, if he wants to he'll find out what happened back then. And he want to.

So Jason cracked his fingers and started to work.

The seconds became to minutes that became to hours of work and clicking on his keyboard, it's hard to find anything because apparently this whole story is shushed and all Jason gathered until now came from a video of the news report and all they said there was that Joker broke out of Arkham and decided he wanted a son, kidnapped some unlucky kid and deleted the boy's personality with electrical shocks until he becamed Joker Junior, and then he kept torturing the kid until the Batman and Batgirl found the kid, broken minded and holding a gun to Joker's head.

It was quite the story, but Jason didn't know what happened later, who the kid was or what happened to him.

But he will, just to know if the kid's okay. Or to ask why he hadn't pulled the trigger..

So he kept digging, looking for anything that may conect to the story. And that's how Jason found himself reading article about Jack and Jent Drake disowning their only child Tim Drake. The kid was only thirteen back then, and all he took before he took off from the face of earth was a stuffed Kola and a camra.

And it may be his curiosity about this because he don't remember the kid and apparently they were neighbors or the JJ thing but he knows that he'll find Tim Drake.

_____________________________________________

Jent Drake died two years after she disowned Tim in a car crash, her husband got depressed and started looking for Tim to reown him but then he met Dana Winters.

There was some love story there that Jason wasn't really that interested in reading but in the end they married and left Gotham, never coming back. And the most annoying thing is, that Tim was never found.

But he did found out that there was some kid that helped Harley and Ivy sometimes, he had a faded red hoodie and faded green jeans.

The hoodie's hat always hiding his face and from the little Jason saw, his skin was more white than normal human skin.

Jason couldn't find a lot of photos of the kid but he did find one of Harley hugging the kid.

Jason looked at the photo, it was fuve years old, when Tim desperate and all the JJ thing happened. The way he held himself was familiar to Jason, something deep in his mind, memories that he couldn't remember, but it was there, and Jason knows that this Tim kid is JJ who is also somehow Harley's kid.

_____________________________________________

"I need your help"

"Oh that's nice, what aby 'hey Babs, how was your day? Did Dick pissed you off and going to sleep on the couch tonight? Can you please help me with this thing?'"

Jason smiled, shifting the phone that was pressed against his ear "What did Dick did?"

"He was a dick"

"How was your day?"

"What did you wanted help with Jay?"

"Clown boy"

"Hmm?"

"Joker Junior"

A sharp breath "What about him?"

"You know who he is?"

"We found him after he took a dip in the acid, and he was dressed like the Joker, too much make up, green hair, purple suit, couldn't recognise him"

"But you know don't you?"

"Batman doesn't know"

"Well you're Oracle not Batman. It's simple question O, you know? Yes or no?"

"I know"

"I think I know too"

"Who do you think it is?"

"Tim Drake"

"..Yes it's him"

"Why didn't you told Bruce?

"He's a good kid"

"He's with Harley now"

"Tim isn't bad"

"Babs, if he's Joker Junior and he's with Harley he can't be that good"

"Jay, Harley and Ivy gave me the tip to find him and Harley took him in after his parents disowned him, he may be stilling sometimes or helping Harley and Ivy but he is good"

"You kept tabs on him?"

"He's smart, he may have lost a lot of his memories because of the Joker and he is crazy but he have support"

"Does Bruce know you're helping hiding him?"

"No, and he wouldn't. Not until Tim decided that it's fine"

"You're in contact?"

"We're just talking, I'm sending him puzels and riddles and it's helping him keep clean mind"

"Can I talk to him?"

"I can't tell you where he is but I also can't stop you from doing this"

"Thank you Babs"

"Not a problem Jaybird"

_____________________________________________

It was a week later that Jason walked into a small unnoticed coffee shop.

The design of the place gave him a feeling of happiness, like it was some kind of home.

He looked through everyone there, couple next to the window, three old ladies sitting in a table for four, chatting and laughing, couple of collage students sitting with something to eat and something warm to drink and typing on their laptops, and on the farthest side of the coffee shop, in a table for two, sat a teen, his hands paler than any human skin, his long hair hiding his face, a coffee cup in front of him and his legs shacking.

"Hello! Can I help you?" A cheerful voice called from the cashier desk, he put on a smile on his face and turned to see a black haired girl, with a big smile on her face.

"Yeah, do you have Eral Gray?"

"We do! Anything else with this?"

"No, thank you"

"Okay, just a minute"

When he got his cup he paid the girl murmuring a "Thank you" and walking to Tim.

When he sat down in front of the teen, icy blue eyes looked at his face, and his breath hitched when he saw the little cuts on at each end of his mouth, creating a smile.

"Hey" Jason said, smiling at Tim.

"Hey.." Tim's voice almost didn't reached his ears and Jason's smile grew wider when Tim smiled at him. A shy little amazing smile.

"I'm Jason"

"T-Tim"

"Nice to meet you"

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted tea"

"You aren't scared?" Tim's eyes looked a bit insane when he said the last word, his smile grew wider and he leaned closer to the table. The cuts on his face and his pale skin made him look like Joker but there was also something else there, something in his eyes that said 'Pleas don't be scared' and Jason swallowed and forced his nerves to calm down.

"No, you actually seems nice"

Tim blinked once.

Twice.

And then his smile became nicer, less dangerous and more shy. He relaxed and took a sip from his coffee.

Jason smiled, sipping from his own cup while making a note in his head to be careful with this one.

They drank a couple more cups together, chatting about nothing in particular and when Tim excused himself and left, Jason found a paper next to the cup.

He opened it because of his dammed curiosity and bis breath hitched.

'Ha ha ha'

_____________________________________________

It was in the middle of the night, the streets lamps flickered on and off every couple of seconds, and the stars were hidden in the sky, behind the clouds.

His parents just left the town. Without telling him. Again. And it's fine, he can't be mad at his parents for leaving him -he is, like his mother says, rotten child- all the time.

But sometimes he wonders if he'll ever be good enough for them to stay. If he'll ever be good enough so his mother wouldn't need to hiss his name through clench teeth and his father to hit him.

Maybe he would never be good enough..

In those nights when he wonders about it, he goes to a walk. It's always makes him calm and shuts his mind down. It's leaving him with the feeling of wholenesses, like some how the wind that hit his body in cold sharp hit is welcoming, or the cold of the night is like his stuffed Kola -the one he got from Bruce Wayne In a gala that his parents hosted when he was four and since then he hides it from his parents and hugging it when he need comfort- or like the silence out here is better than the silence inside the empty house.

And maybe, just maybe hr would see his heros.

And as Tim kept walking he could barely hear this cursed laugh, followed by the soft like song-

Mary had a little lamb

Little lamb, little lamb

Mary had a little lamb...

"Cutie pie?" His mama's voice rang, it was muffled but it was still there. "I'm hearing laughing, it's a good joke?"

A knock on his door "Sweetheart?" His laugh grew and his eyes burned, tears dropping from his eyes.

"Timmy?"

He hugged his legs to his chest, laughing and crying and this song is stuck in his head and he can't stop it and-

"Mary had a little lamb"

Mama's hands are around him, hugging him and petting his hair "Shhh shh shh, everything's fine baby, I'm here"

He can't breathe and the song is on full volume in his head but mama's here and mama is safety, she's safety. He's safe. Safe

_____________________________________________

"What the hell were you thinking?" Oracle's voice rang through the comn in his helmet.

"You need to be more specific than that O"

"Tim blocked me, Selina is mad at Bruce because one of his kids hurt her niece, Harley and Tim are nowhere to be found and Selina and Ivy are planning something"

"I didn't hurt Tim and I don't know why you told ma all the other stuff"

"Hood, Tim's smart, maybe too much smart but his mind is broken, he's crazy and genius"

"Okay and..?"

"He wants to go -and I’m quoting him- Boom he always wanted everyone to know that he's Harley's kid, and I always made him take more time, think about it more the fact that he blocked me means that I can't tell him to sit back anymore"

"You can remove it though"

"I did, and he just throw his phone away"

"So I broke him?"

"No, Joker broke him you just set him off"

"Shit"

"Yes. Shit"

_____________________________________________

"Wohhooo" Was shout out to the sky as Tim set in shopping cart, Harley -in her rollerblades- holding the handles of the cart, and they're both 'driving' down a road, laughing.

The air hit Tim's face in the best way he could have ever imagined and he laughed so hard that his cheedk burned, and maybe he ripped his stiches oncr again today but he dosen't care.

He is happy. So, so happy, like he was with this hot guy in the coffee shop, before his meltdown.

But right now, right now it's all this.

His mama and him, having fun, his mom and aunty kitty somewhere doing her own thing and everything's okay.

He laughed again as they started to speed up, the wind throwing his hair in any direction possible.

After a few minutes they cane to a stop, his mama's smile is so loving and he hopes that his smile is loving as well.

"Come on sweetie, let's do it" Harley smiled as she gave him the lighter, he jumped out of the cart and lit the lighter, his eyes sparking as the fire started spreading.

Tim and Harley walked away because they're crazy not stupid.

There faces lit up as the fireworks blew and flew to the sky.

Harley hugged him from behind and he relaxed into his mama's touch, watching the fireworks becoming to words that are shining over Gotham's sky.

30 days

_____________________________________________

"Hey Hoodie" A cheerful voice called from behind him.

Red Hood turned around, a gun in his hand just to be met with Tim's lovely smile.

"Chill, chill" The teen said, holding his hands up "I'm not going to hurt you"

"What do you want?" Hood asked, lowering his gun.

"We have never met have we?" Tim said, his smile calm

"I don't think so"

"No, but I did met Robin"

"So you met the Demon"

Tim frowned "No. The second one."

"Don't know him"

"Red Hood can't meet Robin II"

"And why's that?"

"Robin II's dead, dad killed him" Tim shock his head "I don't like dad, I liked Robin II and dad did it because it's funny. It's not!"

Tim looked so frustrated, his eyes big and he's looking at Jason like he hope that he would understand that and, something in Jason change, his face are softer under the helmet and-

"Okay Tim, I know you aren't the Joker."

"I didn't met *you* but we did met, I know Robin and I know Jason and now I know Red Hood?"

"You know who I am"

"No, no no no!" Tim looked him straight in the eyes, like he could see his face behind the helmet "You're Red Hood now, you were Robin and you always were Jason but now you Red Hood, I don't know Red Hood!"

"Okay, okay, relax, you don't know Red Hood, that's fine"

"I need to know Red Hood"

"Why?"

"Because I need Red Hood to help me"

"You need help?"

"Yes"

"Okay, but why Red Hood?"

"Because.. Ummm because- Because of Dad! I need Red Hood to help me kill dad"

To kill.. the Joker.

To kill the Joker.

The Joker dead.

'Yes'

"I would help you, Red Hood and Jason, okay?"

Tim nodded "Yeah, okay."

The sky started to glow and they both looked up, looking at fireworks that formed

29 days

_____________________________________________

It was so logical and simple that Jason almost laugh.

He sat next to Tim in some small safehouse, looking at Tim up and down as he was solving Sudoku.

They're waiting for the others to decide exactly who will go in and kill this son of a bitch and aho will make sure that everyone else will be present in that day.

They are waiting for Tim's small family, and Jason smiled at the thought of this family, he once had one and then he died and he was replaced by Stephanie Brown who is now Batgirl so they're fine now. But he doesn't have this family now, all he have are some blurred memories.

Tim let out a little "Yay" with a cute, small giggle that made Jason smile.

"Hey!" Tim suddenly said, looking at Jason with big eyes, Jason looked around him, trying to find something that would make Tim look panoco "What-"

"Are you hurt?" Tim's voice was soft and caring and Jasom heart might have skipped a beat, "No?"

"Than why do you have split lip and bruise on your jaw?"

"I've got into a fight, it's not serious" But Tim was there in seconds, his worry eyes looking at Jason's jaw and just wow- Jason swallowed the lump in his throat when Tim's slender finger touched his lip and-

"I've the best thing to help!" Tim pulled away and his finger caressed Jason's lip in a way that made Jason hold his breath.

And in the next moment Tim putted a chocolate bar in his hand, smiling at him "It help!" He said and Jason huffed a laugh, mentally shacking his head.

"Thanks Timmy" Jason said an smile on his face, opening the chocolate and cutting a line.

It was milk chocolate with pop candy and it was amazing, Jason hummed as he ate it, looking at Tim solving a new sudoku.

After the meeting (if it even can be called that) Jason took the rest of the chocolate bar, just to have something sweet after patrol tonight.

_____________________________________________

Jason stripped from his Red Hood gear, stretching his hands out and poping his back.

He took a quick shower and pulled on a sweat pants and grey hoodie from the deep of his closest 'Maybe it's time to do the laundry'.

Jason smiled as the sky were lit in 25 Days and turned the lamp off.

His lip tickled as some kind of reminder that Tim touched him there, he looked so worried and that just warmed Jason's heart.

And that amazing chocolate- maybe he will have to get hurt more just to have it.

He closed hid eyes, ready to fall asleep and then it hit him-

Oh.

Oh.

Oh shit.

He- he have a crush.

_____________________________________________

The sun was in the middle of the sky when Jason woke up, blinking into the darkness because the blinds are close.

He groaned as he stretched his body, still in the bed under the warmth of the fluffy blanket. The sleepiness still has her claws clutching on him and made Jason wonder why the hell his bed isn't as comfy whenever he's trying to sleep but is when he tries to wake up.

He almost fell asleep again, but the *Bam! Bam! Bam!* on his door made him jolt up from the bed, the gun that he hides between the mattress and the bed in his hand, walking to the living room without making a sound, looking through the peep hole.

He huffed in relief, opening the door looking at Dick who smiled at him. "You woke me up you asshole"

"Sorry little wing" But Dick didn't sounded sorry at all and that just made him groan.

Jason followed Dick to the kitchen after Dick let himself in, the door closing behind them.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't visit my little brother?"

"Not your brother" Jason turned around to the pantry to take out a tea bag just when Dick flinched from the words as if they're physically harming him.

"You're my brother, even if you don't see it like that"

"Dick."

"No! You're my brother, I count you as my brother" Dick snap and Jason would lie if he said that that didn't touched his heart, even if it's not true because in the end Dick have his new little brother and also a sister and it's really is fine that Jason isn't part of his family. It is.

So he didn't reply to it, just let Dick think what he wants to. "Do you want to tell me why you actually came or what?" He asked as he started to boil water.

"I wanted to talk to you"

"About?"

"You said you'd this case, how's it going?"

Jason took the teapot off the gas, pouring the hot water to his glass, "I didn't told anyone that I've a case"

"Well no but Babs told me"

"Babs don't know, and she would have asked if she wanted to know" Jason took a sip from his cup and turned around to glare at the older man "What it really is about?"

"Bruce saw you with Harley and Ivy and their kid and he wants to know what you all doing"

Jason saw red for a moment and them took a calming breath, a long sip from his tea and walked his way toward the island, putting his mug down and glaring at his so called brother.

"So you're here on a mission?" His voice was cold and full with venom.

"N-no!"

Jason raised an eyebrow "You just said it"

"I don't care what B wanted, I came for my brother"

"Damian isn't here"

"Jason!"

"What? You want me to say that you didn't came because Bruce said something on me? You don't want to know what I'm doing with Harley, Ivy and their kid? Ah? That's what you're telling me?"

"I-"

"Ha! And you just said we're brothers!"

"We are Jason"

"No! You have your own little family, I'm not part of it, never was!"

"You are! You always were and you always will be!"

And at that moment Jason saw green, throwing his mug down on the island, the shatterd flew everywhere and the hot water started to drip down to the floor.

And as a last resort Dick yelled "TIM DRAKE!"

It made Jason blink, and look at Dick, "What did you just said?"

"Tim Drake, it's this boy Joker kidnapped, Harley and Ivy's kid"

"How do you know this?"

"Well, family of detectives and all"

"What do you want?"

"Is he threating you?"

"What? No!"

"Jay, you can tell me the truth"

"Oh I can?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Okay so fuck off"

"Wh-what?"

"The truth is that I want you to fuck off and don't ever come back. Bye."

"..Jay.."

"I'll throw you out of the window"

"Okay, okay. But.."

"Go!" _____________________________________________

Tim sat on an air conditioner motor that was on the roof of a building, his legs tangling down, one shoe red with zigzag lines on it and the other one yellow with glitters. His pants in a fading green colour and a black-blue t-shirt. And Jason just looked, glad that his helmet hiding his face as a stupid smile crossed his face.

"Hoodie hood!" Tim's cheerful voice made Jason's smile wider, and Tim pushed himself of the air conditioner motor, when his feet touched the roof his yellow shoe started to sparkle with light, like little kids shoes.

"Hey clown kid" Tim smiled, something sweet and beautiful that made butterflies fly in Jason's belly.

"I don't like this helmet today" Tim said, his hands touching lightly at the sides of the red helmet.

"And why's that?"

"I can't see your hair. I love your hair!"

Jason smiled, Tim was just... just.

"Thanks baby clown, I love your hair too"

"Baby clown?"

"Yup"

"I like it"

"Good"

Tim took Jason's hand in his and started walking them to the air conditioner motor.

They both sat down, Tim's hands now in his lap and Jason opened his helmet, setting it next to him.

Tim looked at him, his blue icy eyes glinted and a small smile on his face. Jason looked right back at him, the blue-green eyes looking like some amazing place that kids are being told about in fairy tales.

Jason don't know who moved first, or what exactly happened. All he knows is that Tim is sitting in his lap, Tim's hands in his hair and Jason hugging him close. There mouths pressing against each other's. Tim's mouth have this amazing chocolate taste, a hint of coffee and Tim.

In the dark sky above of them, the fireworks draw the 18 days.

_____________________________________________

Jason is happy. Like really truly happy. He couldn't stop smiling this stupid love sick smile since the kiss.

He met Tim every patrol and those small kiss were the best, 10/10 would definitely do again.

Tim's cute and smart and he seems to really like Jason which is amazing because Jason really like him too.

None of the Bats came to annoy him, and everything is just amazing. For once in his life everything is just good.

His grapple gun shot to the next building and the cold wind never felt better. As Red Hood's boots hit the roof a "Hey there, love bird" greeted him.

"Cat," He called back, doing a small '*hi*' with his hand "'sup?"

"We need to talk"

"About?"

"Tim"

Jason sat next to her, his legs tangling down from the roof, "You here to give me the talk?"

"Not the talk you think about, I'll that to his moms"

"Then what talk?"

"Are you serious with him?"

"For now.. for now yes" he said with a bit hesitation.

Selina nodded "That's good for me"

"Thank you?"

"You're welcome sweetie, anyway you nrrd to be careful with Timmy"

"I know that, I wasn't born yesterday Cat"

She huffed a laugh, "Oh I know that sweetie, but you still need to know about Tim's past"

"Isn't he supposed to tell me about it? In his own time?"

"He will, I'm going to tell you only things that he won't because it's a trigger for him"

"The torture?"

"Yes, the torture, and what lead to his kidnapping, and it'll give you an idea yo what his parents were like"

Jason looked at her in the eyes, seriousness burns in them. "Okay, let's hear the story" _____________________________________________

His parents left again, it has been hours since the screaming stopped, his cheeks were wet from tears and his eyes red.

He was hiding in the closet, his hands holding his stuffed Kola close, his left arm is numb except for the cut on it, but it's a small cut and he deserved it. He isn't supposed to talk back to his father.

The dry blood on his arm itched and he needs to treat the cut, but he don't want to move. The closest is a safe place because mother and father can't get in.

New tears slipping down his face and he hugs the Kola tighter.

_____________________________________________

When Tim woke up his neck hurt and his left arm felt like a million fire ants stung her.

He opened the closest door, stumbling out of there holding the Kola in one hand, dropping it on his bed and walking to the bathroom, pulling the first aid kit from under the sink, treating his wound with a hiss of pain.

A quick glance out of the window and he knows it's in the middle of the night, and his parents were supposed to stay home for more couple of days but once again they just left the town. Without telling him. Again. And it's fine, he can't be mad at his parents for leaving him -he is, like his mother says, rotten child- all the time.

But he doesn't have something to do now, and his arm's fine, he can go out and see Batman, and maybe Robin too. Though Robin isn't around a lot now, maybe something happened... _____________________________________________

The streets lamps flickered on and off every couple of seconds, and the stars were hidden in the sky, behind the clouds.

The cold wind hit him merciless, but it just made him smile, he loves the winter. It always made him feel better with himself.

His camera clutched in his hands, his black stocking cap falling on his eyes every couple of minutes, and yes it may be annoying but it's also letting him something to do, because tonight he can't find Batman...

What the hour anyway? Maybe he's late and Batman's back in the cave...

And then he could hear it, some quiet voice singing.. Maybe a kid.. What if the kid need help?

"Hello?' he called out, moving closer to the voice, he can hear the words now.

"Mary had a little lamb Little lamb, little lamb Mary had a little lamb..." _____________________________________________

He cried out, pain strobes through all hid body, tears on his face and blood run down his chine and neck

This psycho laugh making him shiver and try to run away. This hateful song in the background..

And this voice.. "Come on Little Lamb, be a good son for little old me, and tell me. What's. Your. Name?"

"T-Tim"

He screamed as he got electriced again. _____________________________________________

He is shacking, scared out of his mind, tears rolling down his face. And it doesn't stop.

He can barely breathe, the electrical shock isn't stopping. And Tim is honest to God scared.

He don't know what's next to come, he can't actually believe it's happening and everything- everything hurt.

He can feel himself leaving his body, his heart- _____________________________________________

He woke up, everything is hurting again and the fucking Joker is looking at him, this psychotic smile on his face-

"Welcome back my Little Lamb"

-And this horrible song again

"Mary had a little lamb Little lamb, little lamb Mary had a little lamb..." _____________________________________________

"What's your name?"

"Tim!" _____________________________________________

"What's. Your. Name?"

"Ti-" _____________________________________________

"Your name?"

He don't even* know *anymore, and it's really frustrating... _____________________________________________

He is laughing. A manic good laugh. Happy laugh.

He's happy because he remembers who he is and it's funny- why did he forgot anyway?

"What's your name?"

"JJ!" _____________________________________________

He laughed as his dad cut his face open do he'll always smile. He laughed as dad throw him to the acid. He laughed as dad painted his hair.

He laughed and he laughed, and laughed and laughed-

But it's not funny anymore- dad isn't here and his hair is black... JJ scowled at the mirror, dad don't like his hair black. He like green. Yes, green hair and purple suit, and red- red, red, red blood. And it's funny- everything funny so hr laughs, but the mirror- The shattered glass flew everywhere and it's so funny that he can't stop laughing-

"Timothy!" Mother's standing by the door, she looks horrified.. it's not funny anymore- it's not-

He can't breathe, he stumbles backwards, tears rolling down his face and he. Can't. Stop. Laughing. _____________________________________________

One night he heard his mother and father talking. It's not fine, but what is fine anymore? He's finally Tim but he's also JJ and it's so confusing.

"I can't look at him anymore Jack, he is pathetic!"

"I know Janet, don't worry"

Tim chokes a whimper. _____________________________________________

The next week Ivy and Harley found Tim trying to drown himself and took him in... _____________________________________________

Jason took in a deep breath, his eyes wet and his heart ache for his little clown.

"It's..."

Catwoman gave him a small smile, "A lot? I know. Those are once of the memories Tim still have"

"I'm- I can't even-" Cat smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder.

The words 13 Days shined in the sky above them.

_____________________________________________

"Hood" Oracle's voice filled his helmet.

"O, how many times do I need to ask you not to hack my helmet?"

Oracle completely ignored him "How's Tim been?"

Jason swallow, he forgot that Babs is actually one of those people who really care about Tim (and him. Because Babs amazing).

"He's been good, happy" Just like Jason. It's like they feel the same thing. He can see Babs smile in his mind at that, like something changed in the weather just because of what he said, and it pulled a smile in his face.

"That's good, how are you?"

"Same as Tim"

And now he can hear her smile when she talks "I'm happy to hear that."

"How are you O? Does Dick head annoying you? 'cuz I can beat him if you need"

O snorted, "Two days sleeping on the sofa and he'll be begging for my forgiveness"

Jason laughed. And they kept talking about nothing for two more minutes, before Babe had to go.

And that's when Jason shot his grapple to another roof and went flying in the sky, the feeling of happiness all over his body.

But it all stopped when hr heard it.

It came straight out of his nightmares, something from his deepest fears.

This manic laugh. Joker's laugh.

And no just no. Thete's no way this stupid fucker got out again.

He dropped to the ground with a thud sound, looking for the fucker but instead seeing a group of teenagers, kicking someone on the ground.. someone who couldn't stop laughing like the Joker and his heart stopped beating for a second when he realised who it is.

A shot noise ripped through the air and the teens stopped, looking back at the red hood holding a gun at one of them.

All he needed to do wad to say "Go. Away" and the teens ran away, leaving Tim on the ground, hugging his legs to his chest, blood and tears mixed together on his face, and he couldn't breathe because the laughing wouldn't stop.

Jason hurried to him, helping him to sit up and uncurl himself, unable to look over Tim's face since he wouldn't let him.

"Tim, sweetie, my baby clown," Jason kissed his cheek, hugging him close to him "It's me, remember? Red Hood"

And at that Tim's head moved, looking up at him. Eyes full of tears and his face twitched in this manic smile, blood dripping down from the now open cuts in his chicks to his chin.

"Timmy babe, can you hear me?" He received a small and hesitate nod that he took as yes.

"Can you give me your hands?" He asked, showing Tim his gloved hands. The smaller man put his hands in his, feeling the fabric.

Tim relaxed, his eyes fixed on the red helmet, the tears stopped rolling down his face.

The laughing quiet down a bit, but still were there.

"You remember me, right? We are friends, hell I'm hoping even more than friends"

Tim nodded, but Jason wasn't sure what he was agreeing with so he just kept talking.

"We have this amazing plan, because you are my little smarty boy right?"

Tim could take in a breath and that was good, he wasn't laughing anymore but he also didn't talk exactly, just watched Jason and every couple of seconds squeezed one of his hands (never the both of them together for some reason).

"Hell I even kissed you that night and it was the greatest thing in the whole world baby clown"

"No." Tim's tiny voice waved on the air.

"Hah?" If Tim didn't like Jason like that... It would be ok, he will be heart breaked for a few days but he would be fine at the end... Somehow.

"I kissed you" Tim said, looking at him with this witty little smile that Jason grew to love so much.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah" a small smile tug on Jason's lips, and their lips met. It was amazing just like the first time they kissed, and it sent sparkles down Jason's body.

And after a minute he let go, both of them taking deep breath.

"Come on baby clown, let's go to my home"

Tim took his hand and he pulled him up, hugging the smaller man.

The words 7 Days exploded in the sky exactly when they reached Jason's apartment.

_____________________________________________ 

Waking up with Tim by his side is amazing.

The smaller man was curled next to him, a hand clutching at the fabric of his shirt. The long black hair messed up but still so beautiful. Tim's face relaxed, a samll smile on his face.

Last night Jason gave him one of his own shirts, and the younger basically swam in the white shirt.

Jason looked at the paler than normal skin that was now available. It was in the same colour of the shirt.

He pulled Tim closer to him, kissing the beautiful man's forehead and closing his eyes.

Immediately going back to the welcoming blackness of sweat dreamless sleep. _____________________________________________

The next time he woke up was because Tim wasn't next to him.

Jason didn't know exactly why he woke up because of that, but the moment Tim's weight left his body his eyes snapped open, meating beautiful blue eyes.

Tim smiled at him, a sleepy smile. His hair a whole lot of mess and Jason's heart beated faster as he smiled back.

The sun was already in the middle of the sky and the clock on the wall said it was already one A.M.

"Mornin' Jay" Tim whispered.

"Morning baby clown" _____________________________________________

They ate together, silence surrounding them in the most comfortable way.

Jason couldn't exactly point it out but something about Tim made him.... just feel whole. Like he didn't felt since he woke up six feet deep.

Both of them were in Jason clothes and Jason found out that for some unknown reason, white looked better at pale skin.

And Tim.. Tim was the most beautiful human he saw. His blue eyes, his black long hair, and this perfect smile. Jason started asking what he fucking did right to get this angel. _____________________________________________

He didn't knew how it happened but Tim's hot wet mouth was on him and he was practically in heaven.

His hands gripped the black hair and pulled slightly, making Tim moan and himself gasping as the moans vibrate on him.

He was definitely in heaven and this angel between his legs was the most perfect thing to ever happen to him.

"Oh God" he said and moaned Tim's name, his legs shacking.

"Tim I'm about to-" and with that he came down Tim's throat, the angel swallowed it and looked him in the eyes, giving him this beautiful smile. And well, Jason might die happy this time around. _____________________________________________

This night he hugged Tim closed to him, the smaller man hugging him back.

Outside the words 6 Days colored the black sky with pink, green and yellow.

_____________________________________________

It was simple. Very simple, and Jason did it already so why the hell is he freaking out?

Harley and Ivy started a riot somewhere in the city while Catwoman helped them in Arkham and said that she's going to take care of the security. So from there they were alone.

And it wasn't like he didn't knew the plane by heart, it's just that it really is happening. He's going to kill the Joker. They're going to kill the Joker.

And it's not a dream. The mother fucking clown is going to laugh for the last time. _____________________________________________

Each floor has a minimum of two guards, thanks to Killer Croc Arkham was down six guards, so floors 1-3 only had one guard each during the day (Because Gotham’s criminals are all geniuses and think that night is the best time for a breakout).

So doubling up only happened at night on these floors until the guards either recovered or replacements were vetted and hired.

Floors 4-5 had double guards at all times and floor 6 was more storage and extra holding cells than anything else right now.

Thanks to Harley and Ivy's riot there weren't a lot of guards where they were, everyone waiting to catch the two. Catwoman didn't lied about helping them from afar as every door opened to them without problems. _____________________________________________

The elevator doors opened at the fourth floor, Jason noted that there weren't any guards around, wondering what Catwoman did as he heard the muffled noise of an alarm from the floor above them.

Jason walked to the guard station and peeked in to see two men slumped over and unconscious. From the looks of it they have been knocked out, 'help from afar ha?' he thought to himself, smiling a little. Looking over at Tim, the little clown being too quite for so long, the teen smiled, his skin somehow more pale than normal, and his gun at hand. Jason nodded to him and Tim did the peace sign.

They followed a hallway around behind the booth and came up on a large metal door. They waited couple of seconds and the door opened, revealing another hallway with another large metal door several yards down. There were three such doors in their's way and each one opened and closed behind them, making them closer and closer to the goal.

Jason paused and took a deep breath before the final door. This is it. This stupid clown is as good as dead. The door opened.

And there was the Joker, laying on a thin metal like bed that was bolted to the wall.

All that stood between them and the Joker was a wall of bulletproof wall with several inches thick with small round air holes cut evenly to allow air to flow into the (if it could even be called that) room.

The Joker slowly rolled off the bed when he saw them, and came to stand in front of the clear wall, a sick smile on his face. “Well, well, well, what have we here? Visitors? Oh, I know you!" He said as he looked at Tim, his grin getting wider "You're my little lamb. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!”

Jason's heart started to beat faster, looking at Tim's hand gripping the gun so tight that his fingers turned whiter than usual.

"I'm not" Tim said, his voice quite.

"What did you said little lamb? Talk louder for papa"

Tim smiled, a small smile that made Jason question if he's going to follow the plan or not.

And of he really think about it, he was never told about this part of the plan... How will they kill the Joker?

"JJ?"

"I'm not a fucking lamb you old fucker" Tim said and shoot.

[dustysandwiches]

Family (TMVSTM)

Summary: Eric and Deborahbot 5000 feels like they didn't belong with the The Mitchells and run away to live their own lives

"Purple glasses woman, why did you saved me?"

"Oh come on, you boys are family now"

Family…?

It is such a complex word, too difficult to truly understand. For a robot create just to following orders, Eric did not understand it yet, though he did looked up the definition of it but despite that he plays along for the sake of his and his Pal Max brother

They're heading to the Silicon Valley, The night sky is filled with no stars but the green "fun pots" containing human to somewhere. It makes the sky lights up with green light. It is an unusual sight even for robots.

The Mitchells are really going to destroy Pal?.... If so, what will happen to the remaining robots? What if..they failed..?

The bot are lost in his memories and Net Work to find something he's looking for. It seems like he's in too deep in the system Until he feels someone shaking his shoulder part lighty

"Eric...Eric, are you there? Is your system too damaged?" A voice speaks in hushed tone

Eric turn his mechanical head to another Pal Max bot, Deborahbot 5000

His brother

"What wrong? you've been so still like you shut down. I'm…. worry"

Deborah grip Eric's shoulder part lighty. Robots isn't supposed to have feelings but they're the defective now anyway, so it's not surprising that he would express what he "feels"

The car stop at some abandoned gas station. Only Katie, Aaron and the loft of bread are sleeping in the car at the moment. Mother and The male Mitchells are inside the store for something. Eric finally answered and grip Deborah's hand back

"I'm okay, my system and outside damage is unchange at the moment. I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge your question earlier. Don't need to be worry"

"Okay… but tell me if anything is acting strange, will you? I don't want to lose you, brother...We're only defective robots here, if you're gone, what am I going to do?"

"I'll always have your back like you have mine, brother. We are going to survive, one way or another"

Eric tells what he thinks is logical to his robo brother. He let go of Deborah's hand and turned his head to Mother, who's making her way back to the car with her partner and tells her the safest route to Silicon Valley.

The car is running along the road at night. The robo brothers looking outside of the car, expanding their data about the human environment and hearing the conversation between Katie and Mother. They're talking about The male Mitchells, Rick of how he's just trying to make her happy.

Eric wants to feel this "happy" too and he wants Deborah to feel the same. Maybe it would feel really nice, like getting their system updated.

But how could they do that? They're about to went through most protected head quarter in the world right now and there's no guarantee that the plan would work but the show must go on

"Mom, what is that?"

"Oh my god!!"

The car suddenly stops, making their head jerks back, Eric and Deborah turn their heads to the front window. As the Mitchells get out of the car to stand in front of the giant building as tall as the sky.

"We're here...the Head Quarter" Eric said as he's getting out of the trunk

"Oh boy, I don't like this. Do you think we could get to the top without others noticing?" Deborah ask, stepping beside Eric in front of the car, behind the Mitchells

Slowly, Eric extends his hand to the side to his brother, knob and gears whirring while he processes his next word. Deborah immediately holds his hand and they're both looking up to the tower.

"No matter what happens, we're going to be alright"

__________________________________

The plan did not go well. The Mitchells got caught by a new robot, Pal invented. The sounds of the alarm is almost deafening, after the cable car has fell down and crashed. Deborah's vision is trying to adjust after he hits the ground. The first thing he see is the face of Pal Max bot with some face drawn on.

"Are you alright, brother?" Eric said as worrying as his robotic voice could spunds while kneeling next to him

Before he could answer, The black robot burst through and captured Mother and Rick. The Mitchells is being taken away and Deborah knows he need to help

Because they're his family now too

"Mitchells, we will help"

"Oh no no no, you won't. download new order"

Suddenly, like the virus creeping through their system. Making the robo brothers clutch their head like they're in pain, unable to take control of their body any longer.

New order appears : Capture the Mitchells

Deborah trying to break free one last time

No please I don't want to do this. Eric, Mother, Anyone…Can you hear me?..

"We're sorry, Mother"

Then, everything went blank

__________________________________

"Let's take a photo after we saved the world!" Linda said cheerily to Eric after handing or rather putting it in his hand

The battle is over the human won and the uprising is over. All of the Pal Max and the new robot has been shut down, Well almost every bot.

Eric and Deborahbot 5000 have broken through Pal's control and helped Rick Mitchells to put the video of the bread dog on, neutralizing the other robots. Now they're celebrating without them

They broke the code and helped this family save the world and now they can't even be in a photo? Eric thought but took the photo anyway. Maybe they're just too excited like humans always does.

The Mitchells tell the brothers, they can stay at home with them as a member of the family. The Mitchells welcome them, Linda teaches Deborah how to draw stuff like the Sun, the tree and other things. Rick shows them how to build a shelter from branches and leaves. Arron always talks to them about dinosaurs in his books and Katie sometimes asks them for ideas for her project. It was a good time.

Time passes and the robo brothers feels like they're more like a servant than a family. The Mitchells tells them to do things for them like chores, collecting the mails, mow the lawn and many things. Most of the time they haven't called them by their names or acknowledge them when they do something for the Mitchells. At first the brothers gladly do them, thinking it was a part of being a family but this time they had enough.

At night, when everyone is asleep. Eric and Deborah sit on a rooftop, looking into the sky. The moon is full today, shining bright along millions of sparkling stars. They come here every time they want to say something they went through each day, like updating each other. Today is different

"Today Rick called me Robot instead of my name again, I don't really think it's from force habits anymore" Deborah speaks in a quiet voice, mechanical head looks up to the shooting stars, then to his brother.

"But at least Mother let me help her cook dinner! It was really interesting, I learned how to peel a potato today, Look!"

He grabbed the potato peels besides him and held up to his brother. It's ragged, uneven and still has a big chunk of potato attached to it. Eric chuckles in a monotone like his robotic voice always does.

"That's great, Deborah. You know today Mother also let me do the laundry too! There was a lot of foam but I think I did well, Mother's face looks so surprised when I tell her I also put her bag in there too. She rushed past me so fast, I can't even see her"

"The purple bag? Oh yes, she loves that bag. Very thoughtful, Eric."

Then Deborah held out his hand, attempt to high-five Eric but they kept missing each other's hands, so they tapped their heads together gently. The glass tink softly as they did.

They looked up to the sky again, thinking about their lives with the Mitchells. Of how they've been treated lately, how they've been struggling to fit in the family and how they feel like they've been ignored.

Eric broke the silence between them and speaks in a quiet voice, hands gripping his knees tighter.

"Making our own order is great, we can do everything we want now"

Deborah nods " but why do I feel like we're doing The Mitchells order everyday"

"I understand if they haven't felt comfortable with us but they should have told us and we can be somewhere else. Not…. keeping us servants..like this.."

He looked back at Eric and asked in a hushed voice, if a robot can cry tears, his voice would be shaking like a human...but he's not human.

“I wonder if there’s any bots like us.. You know, the defectives. What are they up to? Where are they now? Do they stay with humans like us?”

“I don’t know, brother. I don’t know. I guess Pal wasn’t prepared for anything like this. She didn’t put any program for tracking other bots for us.”

“We should go find them. That way we can have our own robots family! We don’t have to listen to any humans anymore!

Deborah grab his brother shoulders part, turn his body to face him and said firmly

“You say it yourself, Eric. We take our own orders now. This is the time we can truly do that. Don’t you see? Other Mitchells except Mother didn’t treat us very well. They call us Robots rather than our names. They give orders. They got angry when we didn’t complete what they requested. They didn’t acknowledge us most of the time like we aren’t right there!”

His voice drop low and finally he hugs his brother, a gesture he saw human does to their family and the one they cared for

“We did everything together...but we’re just in the background every time..We aren’t supposed to feel emotions but I do...”

Slowly, Eric lifts his hand and hugs back tightly, mechanical gear and wires clicking as he thinks about his brother's words.

It’s true. They were in the background most of the time. They were more like a maid robot than a member of a family like the Mitchells said. Maybe his brother was right, this is not where they truly belong. They need to get away from humans. For good this time.

“You’re right. We should go”

Eric let go of his brother and stand up. Looking into the distant city, held out his hand for Deborah. They will make their own future with others, if there are any more of them left.

“Let’s go say our goodbye to the Mitchells. Though they may have treated us like this but they still help us from Pal.”

“Should we leave a letter or something?”

“If you want to, we can. Oh oh! We should put the glitter on!”

Together, they jump down from the rooftops and go inside the house. Writing a goodbye letter for the Mitchells, telling them they appreciated everything they did but they want to live their own lives somewhere else without anyone giving them orders

After sometime, they put the letter down at the dinner table with a flower Eric collected from the neighbor's house, The Poseys.

Now, the brothers stand in front of the house. Looking back one last time before leaving.

"Let's go, brother" Eric said.

_________________________________________

The sounds of the jet under their feet break the silence of the night. They jump and fly into the sky, green trails from the jet painting the night sky. They fly and fly further away from the house. Until the dawn came, they stopped at some abandoned cabin in the woods. It appears there's nobody living here for a long time.

"This place is in a good condition and I believe there's no human living here." Deborah said, feeling satisfied

"Yes, but we should look around just in case. Could you check around the cabin? I'll check inside." Eric asked while looking around and scanning the cabin with the camera on the top right of his head.

Deborah nods and goes out the door to check for anything or anyone. Leaving only Eric inside.

Eric wanders into the halls, scanning every room. The cabin is dusty and there were some traces of wild animals making a nest and shelter. Some kind of nuts and leaves were scattered all over the floor.Everything seems normal for an abandoned human cabin, until he spotted muddy footprints. It’s still wet, this only means one thing. There’s someone here.

The sound of a metal clanking from further down the cabin. It appears the sounds came from the kitchen. Eric changes one of his hand to the plasma beam shooter, being on guard and slowly walking to the origin of the sound.

[pi-cat000]

MSA: Take Back The Future (part 1)

Summary: Vivi and Arthur travel back in time to the beginning of Hellbent. Neither of them are okay. (Vivi and Arthur friendship. Time travel fix it. Lots of angst. Hurt Arthur)

(Ah, yeah, its another time travel fic. sorry not sorry)

(Part 2: here)

...

Mystery looms over him even as Vivi is pulled off to the side by a panicking ghostly Lewis. Good. At least Vivi is safe. Vicious jaws curl into a grin, revealing with rows of elongated teeth. Serrated, they glow white against the Kitsune’s blackened fur. Three glowing eyes snap onto him, pinning him with their intensity. Arthur finds himself rooted to the spot, too scared to move. In his mind's eye, he sees those same jaws clamping onto his arm, ripping it free. He feels a phantom sting of pain run down his mechanical limb.

/Well, well, well, if it isn’t my wayward host./

The voice is hauntingly familiar, and Arthur’s mind screams at him to run. Do anything other than stand here! The creature who was once Mystery leans forward so Arthur’s looking right into its central eye. It is coloured a familiar green and seems to be looking into and through him.

/I have to say, this one is a definite upgrade. Nothing personal, just common sense./

There is a flash of movement. Those pointed teeth lock around his neck and upper body, biting into him.

Pain. His vision is inundated with red and green splotches.

Arthur thinks he may have heard Vivi call his name.

Then...

Darkness and…

Arthur jerks, slamming his head against something hard and metal. He flinches back and immediately hits his head on the ground below him. Confused and panicked, he freezes, gawking with incomprehension at the assortment of metallic pipes and metal panelling above him. It looks like the underside of his van but that can’t be right. Slowly, Arthur rolls out from under the vehicle to stare up at a clear night sky. He seems to be lying on the ground next to his van…tired, but no worse for wear.

“Arthur!”

There is the sound of things crashing and tipping over from inside the van followed by the bang of metal doors slamming open. Arthur squints up just in time to see Vivi fling herself out of the van at top speed, skidding to a stop in the middle of the empty highway they’re parked next to. Confused and frantic, her eyes dart around until they meet his.

“You’re alive,” She breaths.  Her face is pale with acute fear.  

Arthur stares at her, equally shaken. “Ye..yeah. I’m…alive?”

He is almost too scared to talk. He is afraid that this a pain-induced hallucination and he’s actually bleeding out on the tarmac outside Kingsman Mechanics. Arthur struggles to sit and Vivi rushes forward to help, grabbing his hand and yanking up him into a forceful hug. Too dazed to say much, he leans into the physical contact. This definitely feels real enough.

“I had a dream,” Vivi mutters, face burying into his shoulder, arms tightening, “We were attacked by this living tree lady with a huge pair of garden shears. I had this weird vision full of snow and ice. It was so cold. There was a woman in blue, holding a katana and…” He feels her shiver or maybe he is the one shivering.

“Mystery was there as well but he wasn’t a dog anymore. ” She pushes away, scanning him again with increased urgency, “You died! I saw it happen…”

Arthur just blinks, too stunned to move, trying to get his brain to start up again.

“Arthur? It was a dream right?”

It’s the panic in her voice that snaps him out of his stupor. He takes a shuddering breath.  He's not sure what Vivi means by 'woman in blue, holding a katana' but he remembers not-a-dog-Mystery and he remembers dying.

“It wasn’t a dream. I remember it as well. Mystery turned into that…thing. Lewis was …I mean the purple fire spirit from the mansion was there…” He starts then stops because Vivi wouldn’t know the significance of Lewis being there and Arthur definitely didn’t want to think about the implications of it for too long. Lewis being there meant that Lewis was dead. He’s not sure he can deal with that revelation right now.

Instead, he asks, “Are you okay?” because he remembers Vivi being injured just before everything had turned from a total disaster into a complete nightmare.

“I was cut here,” She gestures to her side, glancing down, “But I’m fine now. Are you okay? You’re the one who…ah…died.”

He gives a curt nod, only then realising that he’s still holding her other hand with his flesh and blood one. He doesn’t let go, giving it a reassuring squeeze instead. The gesture calms them both and Vivi exhales, glancing around again.

“If it wasn’t a dream, then what was it?” She rubs her forehead, “Where are we? What happened to scary nightmare Mystery?”

Arthur winces and shivers, deliberately focusing on his surroundings and not reimagining the nightmare version of Mystery.

“I think we’re on the interstate just out of Tempo. I stopped here to check on the van because it was having some weird electrical issues. You were asleep in the back.”

Vivi’s eyes narrow in contemplation, “So, we didn’t just crash into your Uncle’s workshop then get attacked by a walking tree?”

They both turn to examine the undamaged van.

“Doesn’t look like it.”

Perplexed, they both wait, too uncertain to move or try anything.

Unsurprisingly, its Vivi who first shakes off lingering weight of dread which has them rooted to the spot. She steps forward, pulling him with her, yanking the door to the front passenger’s seat open. Mystery is lying cured on the front seat, dozing.

“Mystery?”

The dog shifts, lifting his head, expression befuddled.  Head cocked to one side, Mystery’s body language screams nonchalance. Apparently, Mystery had not shared in his and Vivi’s vision of …the future??? Arthur’s not sure what to make of it.

“You…" Vivi takes a deep breath, "you asshole!”

Mystery almost goes cross-eyed trying to look at the finger Vivi points right between his eyes. Having made brief eye contact with Mystery, Arthur freezes. Almost immediately, he is lost in the deluge of memories he’d been avoiding. He doesn’t even get to appreciate the fact that Vivi is calling her dog an asshole.

“All this time you’ve been hiding the fact that you’re some super awesome fox spirit! What the hell! You better start explaining or so help me….”

Unlike Vivi, whose preferred method for dealing with danger is to get angry and confront it head-on, Arthur’s first reaction is to panic and run. Adrenaline takes his breath away and he stumbles backward, uncoordinated. Several unpleasant memories via for his immediate attention. A lot of things start clicking into place, forming an unpleasant picture. That night he had lost his arm…he had always suspected it had been Mystery…but now he knew. Mystery had been the one take his arm. Arthur’s sure it had something to do with that sickly green energy that had twisted the Mystery in his Future vision. He remembers that horrible voice, winding around his thoughts, pulling at his free will, leaving him empty. It was all somehow linked to Lewis’s …Lewis’s supposed death.

“Don’t you dare pull that ‘I’m just a dog’ routine. I know your hiding something,” Vivi’s sharp tone tapers off, seeming far away now. “Isn’t that right Arthur….Arthur?”

If they had travelled back in time that meant Lewis was about to come barrelling down this very highway in an attempt to kill him.

“Arthur?”

He blinks and Vivi is standing in front of him, holding his hand. He focuses on the physical sensation again. Mystery is watching them both, expression calculating, bordering on surprised.

/This is wrong./ Vivi whips back around to stare at Mystery, eyes wide. /You are both different./

The voice isn’t quite the same as the green nightmare, but it is similar enough that Arthur’s first instinct is to recoil away.

/What happened./

.

(Part 2: here)

[iamanartichoke]

Congrats on the 1+k followers! I've only recently found you but I enjoy your opinions and the way you write <3

I was wondering if, for the prompt fic ideas, you would be interested in writing Sylvie and Loki exchanging magic lessons in an enchantment for enchantment kind of way.

I imagine them bickering each other with "Pff... That is too easy." and "Come on, that didn't take me so long to learn...", but they would also encourage with some "I know you can do it!". (oh god, now I picture them teaming in some prank against Thor... xD)

Thank you so much, @enabi-seira. Sorry this is a few days late, but it took me awhile to get going. Also my intention was to have something kinda cute and snarky but it ... didn't really end up that way, bc of who I am as a person. I hope you enjoy, regardless.

Summary: Sylvie gives Loki a lesson in enchantment Word Count: 2340 Author's notes: More or less inspired by the blanket scene, but with less awkward and more soul-bearing, bc well, why not.

*

It wasn’t until she let him into her mind that Loki saw himself in Sylvie.

At first, he thought it hadn’t worked, because all he felt was nothing. There was no sound, no air. But when he opened his eyes he found himself in what, at first glance, was Idunn’s orchard on Asgard. He stood at the center of the orchard, underneath the shade of one of the largest trees. In the distance, he could clearly see the golden spires of Valaskjalf and, looking up, Loki felt a twist of homesickness so strong it nearly knocked him off of his feet.

It took him a moment to get ahold of himself and, when he did and began to take a closer look, he realized that he wasn’t on Asgard at all. The orchard did not have enough trees and no golden apples swung from their branches. Valaskjalf’s spires did not glint in the sun; the gold was instead dull and flat. Everything, in fact, was much too dull and flat.

A chill broke out across Loki’s skin because while he was not on Asgard, he did know this place. He’d built it himself, had begun planting the trees and laying the foundations of deadened grass and dirt when he was still just a child. It was his in-between space, the pocket between dimensions into which he retreated when everything else was simply too much.

“How do you know this place?” he asked. His voice, rough with confusion, seemed far too loud with nothing to anchor it. “It’s mine.”

“It’s ours,” Sylvie corrected. Her voice came from somewhere to his left; Loki turned and saw her approaching, dressed not in the black and green attire he’d grown so familiar with but in a deep purple gown traditional of Asgardian formalwear. Her hair was longer, the top done up somewhat elaborately in several slim braids.

“I thought your enchantment would bring me to a memory,” he said.

“What makes you think this isn’t a memory?”

Loki opened his mouth and then closed it again, choosing instead to merely gesture at the void surrounding them. “Because this place isn’t real. I created it. As an -”

“An escape,” she finished for him. She’d been looking out over the orchard but now she turned her gaze on him, something sad and knowing behind her green eyes. She nodded. “So did I. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. It’s as real as you and I are, and I remember it.”

Goosebumps tickled his arms and the back of his neck. Loki looked away, turning in a half circle as he took in the sight of what he used to simply call the gray place, a place he’d thought had been lost; he’d not thought of it in years, could no longer remember quite where it was. The grey place had all but collapsed into the recesses of his mind, along with countless other memories he’d collected and subsequently lost along the way.

Loki looked up at the tree that still shaded them from the sun, although the sun itself was not very bright, nor warm. Everything was so still. Absently, Loki reached out and swiped his fingers along one of the lower branches. “No apples,” he said.

“Nothing grows here.”

“The space grows,” he countered. He plucked a few leaves from the branch and curled his fingers around them. “Grew. Each time I came here, it seemed bigger. It stopped being Asgard and grew into somewhere else.”

“It didn’t really, though, did it,” she said. She walked around him, circling the tree trunk. “Get bigger. It was only that we got lonelier.”

Loki looked at her sharply, but found he couldn’t refute her words. “You were much lonelier than I,” he said instead.

She shot him one of her Sylvie looks, her expression both indignant at what she perceived as a slight, and annoyed at his being right. She disliked when he figured things out about her, but he’d seen that expression more and more as the days passed, which meant that he was getting closer to her core.

Either that, or he was just annoying her more frequently.

“What makes you think so?” she challenged.

He gestured vaguely at the space around them. “Yours is farther along than mine was.” Now that he was getting used to this - both being inside of her head, and grounded firmly in the gray place - he could see the differences. There were more pathways in the orchard, fuller tree branches. In the distance, past the palace, he could make out the beginnings of a rainbow bridge. All things Loki had thought of bringing to the gray place, but adolescence grew into adulthood and Loki created new hiding places, buried deeper in the spaces between worlds.

Sylvie’s gray place felt like a place that had been visited often. Perhaps she even still visited, escaping through dimensions as easily as she slipped through apocalypses.

Her features looked pinched as she dug her fingers into the trunk’s bark, pulling at a loose layer. “When did you build yours?” she asked, instead of answering directly. “Start building it, I mean.”

Loki shrugged, leaning against the trunk. “I don’t know. I was young.”

“Tell me,” she pressed.

He glanced over at her and, despite himself, smirked. “Are we exploring your mind, or mine?”

Sylvie arched an eyebrow and then her features relaxed. “Beats me,” she admitted. “Seems they’re one and the same, doesn’t it?”

Loki’s nod was slow, thoughtful. He looked up, toward the endless gray sky. “I remember having nightmares as a child,” he said, and wasn’t sure if he was answering her question, or simply speaking in order to fill the silence. Her presence seemed to have that effect on him, regardless of whether they were together in the world or together in her (their?) mind.

“It was always cold in those dreams,” he went on. “Bitter, the kind of cold that gets under your skin. It was cold and it was dark, and there were never any monsters or dragons or - not the kinds of things children tend to have nightmares about. For me, it was that there was nothing. Just myself, and the cold, and the dark, and this intimate knowing that no matter what I did or how loudly I screamed, no one would ever hear me.”

She’d circled around the trunk again as he spoke, and now she leaned against it next to him, sliding down until she was settled on the grass at the base. “I don’t think I had nightmares, not like yours,” she said, “but I always had the sense of being wrong, somehow. When my parents told me the truth about what I was, and where I’d come from, I thought it would make the wrongness stop.”

“But it didn’t,” Loki guessed as he sat down on the ground beside her.

She looked over at him, meeting his gaze directly before she shook her head. “It’s in me still. At least now I know why.”

Loki didn’t say anything. They were sitting close enough together that he’d only have to lean in a bit and their shoulders would be touching, but Loki let the observation go without acting on it. Instead, he pulled at a few blades of grass, gaze settling out toward the far end of the orchard which, were this the real Asgard, would have led directly into Frigga’s gardens.

Instead of lingering on that thought, Loki turned his attention to the enchantment itself. It was very strange, the method she’d learned. Their bodies - their real bodies - were out there in the physical world, holding hands to establish the physical connection they’d needed for the enchantment to work, but they were also in here, and he could feel the ground beneath him and the the tree bark digging into his spine and the solidity of the space she took up beside him. He would have assumed that sliding into someone else’s mind would feel like a dream or a vision - not quite real.

“That’s when I began creating this place,” he said, realizing that he’d started telling her about his nightmares for a reason. “To escape after the dreams.” He’d chosen the warmest, safest place he knew then, which was the orchard, and he’d begun creating his duplicate.

“I don’t even really know where it was,” he admitted, with a short laugh. “All I had to do was think of it and, suddenly, I’d be there.”

It had started with the nightmares, but somewhere along the way it had become much more than that. Loki could remember disappearing into the gray place after arguments, or when he was frustrated and felt lost, or even just when all of the things inside of him - the dark things he’d never been able to firmly identify - became far too much and he felt like he would explode from the sheer force of them pressing against his skin from the inside, seeking a way out.

In Sylvie’s mind, all of the details were exact and clear, just as he remembered and more. Loki felt something hollow and cold in his core as it sank in - really sank in - that he and Sylvie were variants of the same person. The same soul, with the same dark things inside. What’s me is you, and what’s you is me.

The full weight of the realization should not have made him feel so lonely, but it did. For the first time since he’d met her, looking at Sylvie felt like looking in the mirror, the way one did when he was examining himself from every angle, identifying and hating every flaw he discovered.

“I know that look,” she said, and Loki blinked. He’d been staring at her, he realized, and felt his cheeks warm. “It’s hitting you, isn’t it? How we’re the same.”

Loki nodded. “It’s this place. I was remembering why I made it, and what drove me to disappear here. It must have been the same for you.”

“Let’s see.” Sylvie drew her knees up a little, adjusting her skirts so that they wouldn’t drag against the grass. “The wrongness of existing. Falling short, no matter how hard I tried. Always found wanting, compared to my brother. And, yes, loneliness.”

“Thor,” Loki said. His voice sounded so flat, even to his own ears, that Sylvie shot him a strange glance. He tugged at a few more blades of grass, pressing his lips together. He’d never asked her about her Thor, because he didn’t want to talk about his - the one who had ceased to exist when the TVA first arrested Loki in the desert and erased his reality, along with everyone he’d ever known and loved. Versions of them existed, of course - the ones who walked the sacred timeline, exactly where they were supposed to be, but those versions belonged to another Loki - a far away Loki.

He had his reasons for not bringing up Thor, but he didn’t know why Sylvie, likewise, had kept her Thor to herself. “Tell me about him,” he heard himself say, dropping the blades of grass from his hand. “Your Thor.”

“I don’t remember much of him, either,” Sylvie admitted. “More blips, like my parents. He’s more of a feeling than anything else - a presence. He took care of me; he pushed me to be better. I could never measure up to him, but I remember he wasn’t the one who was comparing. He loved me.”

“Yes.” Loki was hardly aware of speaking until he heard his own voice. “Mine, too.”

They exchanged a long look, and then Sylvie cleared her throat and turned her attention to the grass. “Could do with a bit more green,” she remarked. “It’s awfully dull, isn’t it?”

“I could -”

But she was already pressing her fingers into the dirt and, as Loki watched, the blades began to darken and bloom as lush grass sprouted outward, rolling from the palm of Sylvie’s hand to stretch in every direction until all of the dead grass had been made new again. Only then did Sylvie pull her hand back.

“Not bad, right?”

“Not bad,” he agreed. “Still feels very plain, though. I’d have added a little shading, a little variety. Perhaps a few more shrubs or rose bushes.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

The corners of Loki’s mouth tilted upward. He extended a closed fist, focusing, and then spread open his hand to reveal a tangled ball of colorful magic, blues and greens and yellows and reds all flickering and shimmering. Wordlessly, Loki tossed the ball; it landed several feet away and dissolved into tiny, colorful flowers, which spread swiftly over the grass.

Loki glanced at Sylvie, quickly enough that he caught the awe on her features before she realized he was looking; immediately, boredom swept over her face. She lifted one shoulder, carelessly. “Where are the rose bushes?”

“You are impossible,” Loki informed her.

“So you keep telling me. Come on.” She pushed herself to her feet and extended a hand, which Loki took without pause. “Lesson’s over for today.”

A split-second later, the gray place was gone entirely; once again, there was air to breathe and tiny sounds in the distance. Loki’s head throbbed; he opened his eyes and let go of Sylvie’s hand in order to press his against his temples. “Ow.”

“Yeah, return trip’s a little rough until you get used to it.” Slyvie - once again looking like Sylvie, draped in green and black - leaned back, watching with some amusement while Loki squeezed his eyes shut, rubbed his temples, and tried not to throw up. “Maybe next time we’ll journey into your mind. Probably’ll pack less of a punch for you.”

“I can handle pain,” Loki countered, finally letting go of his head. “My mind is off-limits. We’ve been over this.”

“For now,” Sylvie agreed.

“For always.” Loki arched his eyebrow at her. “Now. What lesson shall we tackle next?”

[catzula]

A bite out of the apple

Synopsis: there was Lilith before Eve came to the picture, and how she told Lilith's story is much different than the way it actually happened.

Pairing: adam!Touya x Lilith!reader

Genre: angst with a bad ending

Warnings: toxic relationship, cursing, mentions of hell, mentions of death, mentions of cheating, one sided love, boi is this hella angsty idk if I missed anything, please lemme know

Some things were hard to forget. 

You still remembered the deafening screams of the man you loved, ringing in your ear, sending chills down your spine with a fear you never tasted. You couldn't forget the smell of burnt flesh, never failing at making you nauseous with how disgusting it smelled. Constantly reminded of the agonizing memory, the way his turquoise eyes burned with pain, silently begging you to save him.

But it was a little too late for that. 

He wasn't the man you had grown to love anymore, not since she had come into your life, but ironically, your love for him never lessened.

Your arms shaking with the fear of death, you stared to the ground that was at least 5 meters beneath you. 'Come on, Lilith. Jump, it's easy, a step forward, and you'll be mine.' The shadow whispered in your ear, and you felt the slight hesitation your body did, almost taking a step forward before you heard Touya's voice that pulled you out of your trance.

"Come on, just do it, already." You heard the boy muttering from the ground. "I can't!" You protested, your heart beating so loud, you were afraid you were going to go deaf. "Come do it yourself if you're so confident!"

Even though you weren't able to see his face, you could feel the grin that appeared on his lips when you told him that. "I'm not the one who climbed there, am I?"

"You were the one who told me to climb and give you an apple!" You cried out, angry at his betrayal. You didn't even like apples, in fact, you hated them, but he still somehow convinced you to pick one for him. And now you were stuck in the tree. 

"I couldn't have guessed you would chicken out." He told you with a chuckle, aware how much he was annoying you. "Shut up before I hit you in the head with one of these." You frowned, biting your lip as you thought of a way of climbing back down without breaking a bone.

"You'll be doing a favor for me if you do." He snickered. "I'll just take the apple and leave you here, free from your constant nagging."

"Touya!" You protested, slightly hurt by his words, and he sensed that too. "Okay, okay, you know I could never leave you." Those words, which anyone else would’ve thought were a gesture of love, weren’t like that at all, and was true. He he couldn't leave you, but you sometimes wondered if he would, given the chance. "Look, place your leg on that branch right there," He guided you, and you did as he said without even thinking. "Place the other one there, good girl, now hold that branch, no- idiot, the other one," Touya kept giving you orders until you had climbed halfway down, and you noticed how he stood right beneath you. 

"Now, let go." Let go, let go, let go, something whispered in your ear.

"What, I can't!" You gasped at his words, noticing how he steadied his legs on the ground, opening his arms to catch you when you did, knowing well you would eventually, you always did. 

"I'll catch you, you know that."

"But what if you can't?"

"I will." He answered, looking at you with unfazed, almost bored eyes, but you knew him too well to miss how alert he was. "You know I can never hurt you, Lilith."

"Don't call me that!" You exclaimed, the name making you flinch in your place. Everyone called you Lilith, it was your name after all, but the shadows did, too. The shadows that were around you since the day you were born, loved hissing your name like a snake. So you were happy when Touya chose to call you your second name, and you always liked the name (Y/N) better, anyway.

"Then jump, (Y/N)!" 

And you did, letting go of the branch you were holding so hard, you felt your hand bleeding slightly. It was mere seconds before strong arms caught you, instantly wrapping and pulling you into his embrace. "Caught you." He whispered, lips touching the shell of your ear, making you shiver from tip to toe. 

You were still trying to get the shock wash off of you, glad he didn't put you down immediately but was still holding you close to him.

"I told you I would catch you, didn't I?" He leaned in slightly, taking a bite out of the bright red apple you were holding in your hand, the motion making it impossible to take your eyes off of him. 

"Huh," he watched the way your lips parted with want. "Did you want a bite? I thought you didn't like apples." He leaned even closer, now face mere inches away from yours. 

"Or is it something else you wanted?" He teased, making you pout. "Stop it, Touya, you know I don't like it when you tease me."

"Oh? But I love to tease you." He chuckled, "I love the face you make whenever I tease you, love the way you try to hide it but can't, and the way you always look at me." He sighed, the motion causing your lips to touch for a second. "I can't seem to give it up, can't you make a compromise for me?"

And even though you always made compromises for him, you agreed. Maybe your agreement wasn't a verbal response, but he knew it by the way your eyes looked back at him, by how you didn't pull back but let go when he kissed you. 

Apples didn't taste as bad when it was him, giving you the taste, you thought. 

But it still troubled you for some reason.

~~~

"I like your hair a lot." You muttered without thinking, running your fingers through his soft locks.

"I don't." He shrugged, but you could see how he relaxed under your touch, an odd feeling of pride filling you at the realization. "It reminds me of father." He went on, surprising you since he never talked more than necessary, especially not when it was about him. "Reminds me of... fire." He finished. 

"It never reminded me of fire." You shrugged. His eyes did remind you of fire sometimes, but his hair, never. "Maybe of apples."

"You know, father never liked you." He suddenly spoke, "I think I like that about you." 

"I never knew why he hated me so." You shrugged. 

"He thinks you're bad for me." He chuckled. "Dear old dad is worried, you see." He turned to you, freeing his crimson locks from your hand, his eyes bright with... madness. "He thinks you're bad, that you lure me to the dark, that you distract me from him." He looked so happy despite the words he was uttering.

"I never lured you to the dark." You always told the shadows to stay away from him, instead. He would’ve burned if you hadn’t stopped them all these years, he would’ve died if you hadn’t stopped him, either, from defying his father, from doing the one forbidden.

"No, but you weren't obedient, either." He told you. "He might be hating you for that, you know."

"I don't obey." You told him. "I know," he answered. "You never did. You always had a mind of your own, always thinking for yourself, never letting anyone else do it for you. Father never liked that for you."

"I don't want his liking, not if I have you by my side."

"You'll get burned if you defy him, Lilith." He told you, but he was smirking, pleased with your answer. It was ironic, you noticed, how you always stopped the man you loved from defying his father, and here he was warning you for the same reason.

"My name is (Y/N)." You answered. "I'm not afraid of the fire, either." You were terrified of it, but not if he was there with you. He stood quiet for a while, just staring at you with a thoughtful smile on his lips. "You're like water, you know."

"What does that even mean?" You giggled. "I don't know." He shrugged. "I guess I'm trying to tell you you're pretty."

You smiled back, but there was an odd urge to cry, hiding behind the smile as your eyes wandered over his beautiful figure. You looked at the purple, blue, green, and yellow bruises littering his arms that were now around you, you always felt like crying when you saw them.

"What is it?" He asked, of course, he had noticed. "Do you think they look ugly?"

You shook your head from side to side. "I never thought you were ugly." You answered, it was true Touya had many ugly things, like his selfishness, his anger, and sometimes how uncompassionate he was, but you could never see him as ugly. "I like seeing them, too. Reminds me of the revenge I want."

You stood silent at that, but he was aware of the tear that slid down your cheek as you traced his bruises, and his hand was wiping the tear off your cheek. "Will you hate me if I kill someone?"

"You know I can never hate you." You answered, and he smiled darkly. "I think you're underestimating me."

"I hope not." You told him, but your words fell onto deaf ears, he was already lost in his thoughts, forgot about you. 

"Dabi." He suddenly muttered. 

"What?"

"Someone told me the name Dabi suits me better." You cringed at his answer. Why did it bother you this much, you weren't sure, but this was more than just a bother, the name scared you, and something in you told you he should never call himself Dabi. 

"I don't like it." You muttered. "Who told you that?"

"No one you should worry about, Lil. You wouldn't like her, anyway." He sighed, but you found yourself gulping at the fond smile on his lips. Her? "How do you know? I should be the one deciding that." 

He shrugged. "You don't like apples, do you? She always reminds me of apples."

You wondered how someone could even remind anyone of apples.

Touya was never in love with you, you knew, he was always beside you because he had to be, and he had grown accustomed to that. It was a deal neither of you chose to make, a promise you didn't give but had to hold. It was decided for you (it was the only promise you’ll let anyone else swear for you), that you were meant for each other, and it was true he was the one for you, but you always knew deep down, you weren't the one for him. 

You wondered if he would leave you if he had the chance. 

So you asked him that. It was a routine between you two, you would always ask him, and he would answer with a grin, telling you he couldn't even if you wanted to. But this time, he wasn't smiling. 

"Don't worry yourself about things like that." He told you, but he wasn't looking at you.

~~~

It wasn't long before you figured why you despised apples so much. 

You were wondering why Touya felt a bit distant lately when you had first crossed paths with her.

"Hey, Tou!" She started running towards you, the basket in her arms full with apples you were afraid were going to fall. You noticed the slight shift in Touya's movements as he noticed the pretty girl that was coming towards him. 

She never stopped running, even when she arrived, jumping at him and making him wrap his arms around her to steady them both. "Hey, Eve." He muttered as he dropped her back on the ground. "Want an apple?" She asked with a smile on her red lips, a smile that looked like they were sharing a joke of some sorts, and it disturbed you more than you could bear, making you look away. 

"Love to." Touya answered, taking one out of the basket, but he didn't bite it. 

"Hey, you must be the infamous Lilith." She turned to you, chuckling at her words. You forced a smile despite the stinging of her words. "Hi, yes, that's me." 

"Huh, I heard you were as pretty as the night, but I thought they were exaggerating! It's obviously true." She chuckled, she had a cute smile, you realized, but there was still something that bothered you about her. The night was an odd word choice, too.

"Thank you, but it's really not true. If there's anyone as pretty, it must be you." You returned the compliment, and you weren't lying, either, since she was too pretty to be true. 

"By the way, Da- Tou?" She muttered sweetly, a blush appearing on her cheeks with her mistake and making her look so innocent despite the mischievous glint in her eyes. "I'm making apple pie with these, visit me later today, maybe?"

Touya shrugged as he started to walk away, but you could feel her smile growing as you walked away. "She seemed... nice." You told him when you were away. 

Touya shrugged. His lips tasted like apples, once again, but it was too late when you noticed he hadn't taken a bite of the apple.

It was all downhill, after that day, though. 

You had noticed an odd shift in other people's feelings towards you. You were loved and cherished by your town, you had always been, but lately, they were all growing distant towards you for some unknown reason. Touya was one of them, too, he had started looking at you with doubt in his eyes, you realized. Whenever you hugged or kissed him, there was always some hesitance, you had started to see him lesser and lesser every day, and you hadn't even talked once this past week.

"Lilith's coming," people of the town whispered before you stepped foot in any place, whispers moving faster than you were. "Be careful," they warned. "Don't look at her eyes."

It took you a while to understand what all this was about. It came in the form of a curious boy. 

"Are you really a demon, like they say?" He had asked as you were walking down the hill. He looked afraid but had a brave face on, and it was obvious his curiosity had outweighed his fear.

"A demon?" You repeated, and he shook his head. You noticed how he refused to look you in the eyes. "Where did that come from?" You asked a little hurt, too. 

He shrugged. "Ma told me to stay away, she said you were the mistress of the satan, and you were dangerous, you were bad." He finally dared to look you in the eyes. "But you're too pretty to be a demon."

You shook your head. "Demons can be pretty, too. You shouldn't decide if someone's bad or not by their appereance." Your answer caused his brows to knit together. "Are you, then?" He asked. "A demon?"

"I'm not."

"You don't eat cats?"

"No."

"Don't make people stray from their path?"

"I don't."

"Don't serve satan?"

"No."

"Don't talk to shadows?"

"W-what?" You gasped, suddenly, your heart was beating twice as fast. His eyes narrowed, widening right after that with fear. "You do! You are a demon!" He shouted, causing the people around you to look and come towards you.

"I told you to stay away from her, boy!" One of the townsfolk shouted, running to the boy and pulling him away from you. "No, I'm not-"

"Shut up, demon! Eve already told us who you are, don't you dare lie." One of them spat, the guy from the bakery, you noticed. He always liked you, always giving you an extra tart with a playful wink when you visited him. 

"Eve?" You repeated, and they all gasped.

"Don't you dare say her name, you'll curse her! Make Satan take her! She told us how jealous you were! How revengeful and how deceitful."

"Jealous? W-why would I be jealous of her?" You asked voice strained with tears. Something told you the answer was going to be something-

"Because Touya chose her over you."

"What? No-" You couldn't even finish your sentence before you felt a sharp sting in your cheek, your head forced to the side. When you looked back at the man in front of you, you saw how his eyes burned with a fire that could only be from hell. 

Calling you the demon, but they were the demons, weren't they?

Look how they're treating you, Lilith. I can make them all burn, make music out of their screams, just for you. All you have to do is choose me over that foolish boy.

He whispered in your ear, the soft touch of the shadow on your arm, the wink of a black snake that hung from the tree. 

"S-stay away from me." You whispered, feeling the fire growing and growing, and you were so afraid.

"Stay away from me before I curse you all to hell!" You screamed in despair, knowing you could only be free if they were afraid of you now. "Before I take all your newborns, before I eat them, stay away!" You screamed, tears streaming down your face, knowing you just guaranteed your death. 

Touya visited you that night.

"You broke your promise." Was the first thing you told him since weeks.

"I don't regret it." He answered, and it somehow hurt more than the fact that he had broken his promise. You looked at him, noticing the exhausted look on his face despite the big smile on his lips, blood covering his body, and the smell of alcohol reeking from him. 

He noticed your gaze."Nothing to worry about." He sighed. "It isn't my blood... most of it, at least."

"This is bad, what even happened?" You asked, tears already lacing your voice at seeing him like this. "No, actually, don't talk, just wait till I bring some bandages." You told him, running back to your room and back to him.

"Hey, don't fall asleep." You spoke when you were back, saw him leaning on the wall, his brows knitted together, crimson locks glowing under the night. 

"Just let me be." He muttered, but he knew you wouldn't.

You cleaned his wounds in silence, he was watching you the whole time. 

"Are you done?" Touya's harsh voice woke you up from your daze, making you realize you had been staring and crying. You clenched your jaw. "I am."

You stood up to leave, but the soft-spoken way your name fell from his lips stooped you. "(Y/N)? Are you leaving?"

You didn't answer him, feeling your heart clenching. "Your shadows won't leave me alone, you know. They've been haunting me every night."

"Why did you do it?" You whispered, broken at remembering he had told your deepest secret to the town, he had caused all this happening to you. 

But instead of a response he just shrugged with a smile. "Eve will help me take revenge from Father."

Your blood froze in your veins.

"We're going to do it tonight." He added, the feeling of somewhat pride filling him when he saw you were afraid.

He was going to steal an angel.

Father gave Touya almost everything he ever wished for, but it was forbidden for him to even see an angel, just as it was for anyone else. Touya grew an odd obsession for them though, he tried to sneak in and take one all his life, but you always stopped him before he had succeeded. And he listened to you, whatever happened, Touya trusted you, after all, but not anymore. 

"Touya, don't- don't do it." You gasped, a feeling in you telling you this was not going to end well. "You can't stop me, I've waited all my life to do this, but you never wanted to, did you? Now there's someone else who is willing to help."

"Touya, please, listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me! You know this is everything I ever wanted, to see Father in agony, and I finally have a chance, and you say no? You know, I never believed it, but Eve was right about you." He chuckled darkly, shaking his head side to side in what seemed like disappointment. 

"What do you mean?" You whispered.

"You're not as good as you show yourself to be, are you?" He chuckled, but it was evident he wasn't amused. His eyes looked at something behind you, smiling wickedly. "Well, that's my cue to leave. I have a life to take, you see."

Life to take? He was going to... kill the angel?!

"No, no- please Touya, please don't do this!"

Your pleas fell on deaf ears as he started walking down the hill to the girl that hid in the dark.

You followed them, you had to, so you could jump in and save him if you could. Whatever he said and did, you could never leave him alone. You were uneasy because of the silence, though. Why were his shadows not following you that night? Why wasn't he there, telling and whispering you to stop and come to him instead? Why was he silent, secretly chuckling from behind you? 

You figured why, soon enough. You hadn't even arrived, Touya was always so fast, but you heard the voices before you were there.

"It was Lilith!" You heard someone scream, a familiar voice now strained with terror. "She was the one who convinced him to steal, father!"

Gasps filled the void that sentence had left. 

"Lilith?" The voice boomed, a deep, scary voice, always so powerful. "Yes! She was the one who gave him the idea and convinced him! I tried to stop them but-"

"Even if it was Lilith who convinced you, you shouldn't have taken advice from a girl like her." Father spoke. "You know the punishment for touching an angel?" He turned to Touya, ignoring the weeping girl. 

"I do." Touya answered, and even though he hid it well, you could see how afraid he was. "It wasn't him!" Eve cried out. "It was Lilith who convinced him, Father, spare him!" 

"Silence!" Father told the girl, and she was running the opposite way almost immediately.

"It was Lilith." People whispered. "She doomed us all, she doomed us all!" People cried, one of them spotted you in the place you were hiding, screaming your name, pulling and pushing you towards the scared people who started to pull your hair, your clothes, some clawing your face as they pushed you towards the man you loved and his father. But it wasn't you who doomed them all, was it? Why couldn't people see it was Touya who did this, but not you?

So what if you weren't born from the earth, but fire as they were? So what if shadows were a little darker when you were around? What if the night was a bit creepier when you were there? Why did that make them hate you so?

"(Y/N)?" Touya whispered, and for the first time in your life, you saw worry towards you in his eyes. "What did you do?" You asked, a sob freeing itself from your lips. 

"Tell me, Lilith, was it you who convinced my son to attempt the forbidden?" Father asked, but you had a feeling he knew the truth, so you didn't answer. 

And then came the screams. 

That awful smell.

The fire felt almost cold. 

It was the blue flames of hell, you realized, it was the same color of his eyes. 

The eyes that were looking at you with despair, fear, and terror, with pain but you couldn't help, could you? He was the one who broke his promise, after all. He was the one who refused your help in the first place. But you tried, despite knowing there was no way you could help him in any way, you still leaned towards him, reaching out to him, despite the pain, despite the way his fire burned you to, you wanted to hold him so he could never let you go.

But he pulled you, instead. 

His touch hotter than the fire burning you, Touya's hand grasped yours, a hold that caused you to cry out in pain, cry out in fear and betrayal when you realized he was pulling you to burn with him, and it hurt, even more, to see him smiling.

Touya was always selfish, after all. You loved him even though he was selfish. Or maybe because he was selfish? You weren't sure, but it felt good to be between his arms, even with the fire swallowing you both up, you still found comfort between the arms that had pulled you in.

He was still Father's son, he was never afraid of burning, father would never kill him. But he would kill you. Touya's Father, as he had previously told you, had never liked you, he wanted you dead. So he was chuckling as you sobbed between your lover's arms, knowing you were going to die there, knowing the shadows were going to swallow you up and take you back to the devil.

You sobbed as Touya smiled, as his Father laughed, as the devil chuckled and the crowd cheered. 

Why were there so many people who wanted you dead? You would never understand. 

[plainbrunettelbl]

ABO Rich (A) Katsuki Bakugo x Poor (O) Reader Money Can’t Buy You Everything Alpha (Chapter One)

Word count: 

Warnings: Mentions of possible Omega trafficking. Rude rich Bakugo. 

Title: ABO Rich (A) Katsuki Bakugo x Poor (O) Reader Money Can’t Buy You Everything Alpha (Chapter One)

Summary: Ten years later you run into a red-eyed customer that smells nice but has a terrible attitude. 

(Gif not mine)

💥-Boy were you wrong. You wanted money desperately.  

💥-You were now a struggling twenty-year-old who worked two jobs just to keep a roof over your head. One job you loved at the other you hated. Of course, the one you hated was the one that brought in the most money. 

💥-During the day you worked at a nice floral shop and at night you were a waitress at a popular night club. The tips paid really well so you tolerated the creepy Alphas that would try and get you into their bed.

💥-Another thing that made you struggle. You were an Omega. While that would have been okay in normal circumstances for you it was a life sentence. Once your mom had caught on about your presentation and how it could mean money for her she nearly sold you to the highest bidder. 

💥-Luckily you overheard her plans and got the heck out of dodge. So at eighteen you packed whatever you could into a bag and ran off. The first few months were horrible. 

💥-Being a homeless Omega was like leaving a nice juicy cut of steak in front of a group of lions. You had a few close calls with a couple of Alphas but nothing too serious.   

💥-An old Beta had seen you on the street and offered to house you until you could get back on your feet. She was a sweet old woman that ran the floral shop you were still working out. 

💥-At first, she had you helping around the store in payment for staying with her but then she noticed how handy your quirk was. She hired you after that and while it was decent money you didn’t want to burden her so you looked for another job and found the one at the night club. 

💥-Once you made enough to move out you found a cheap apartment on the less welcoming side of town. You didn’t mind it too much. Your neighbors could be loud at times but it was better than nothing. 

💥-So here you were standing behind the counter of Fana’s Floral trying to plaster a smile on your face. You loved this job but it was tiring working both jobs just to keep you afloat. 

💥-When you heard the bell chime you were under the counter looking for a pair of stem cutters for the order that was meant to be picked up at lunch. The sound of shoes tapping against the floor made you peek above the counter. 

💥-A pair of ruby eyes connected with yours. 

💥-They seemed oddly familiar but you couldn’t place from where. You quickly stood up and brushed off your green apron. “What can I do for you today sir?” You smiled. 

💥-The scowl on his face was unchanging. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. 

💥-“My assistant was supposed to pick up an order today but something came up. I would like to pick it up instead.” He sighed clearly impatient to get this over with. 

💥-You could tell from his white dress shirt and black slacks that he was well off but him mentioning an assistant sealed the deal. You had to make sure to treat him well so he could come back again. 

💥-“Of course. Do you have the name that went with the order?” You were quick to pick up the logbook. 

💥-“Bakugo. Bakugo Katsuki.” He stated offhandedly his eyes focusing on the phone he held in his hand. 

💥-That’s why he looked familiar! He was that boy you saved when you were a kid. You were glad he didn’t notice your eyes widening. Your brain instantly notifying you of the glaring differences in your appearance and social standing. 

💥-What did you say? Hey, you remember that girl that found you locked in a shed? I wasn’t desperate for money then but now I would take anything you offered. No way were you gonna let him know it was you. 

💥-Another thing caught you by surprise. He smelled delicious. The smell of salted caramel invaded your nose. You had come across good-smelling Alphas before but nothing as mouthwatering as him. 

💥-You quickly reigned in your Omega it could do anything stupid and busied yourself with finding his name in the logbook. Bakugo. Pick up at 11. A bundle of pink Peonies. Payment due: 356.25 

💥-Your jaw nearly dropped. You didn’t even know the store sold flowers that could cost so much. You schooled your expression before addressing him. “Pink peonies for Bakugo?” 

💥-His eyes looked up from his phone for a second before going back to his screen. “I don’t know what type of flowers he ordered. I let him pick them for me.” 

💥-“I see. I’ll go check in the back to see if they are ready.” You held a tight smile before turning and fleeing to the back. You saw the pink flowers in the check-out station. You grabbed them before heading out. 

💥-“I found them. They are wrapped and ready.” Set them on the counter. 

💥-He slipped his phone into his pocket this time. His eyes gazing at the delicate display. His frown deepened a little more. 

💥-“I don’t like the purple wrapping. Change it.” He demanded before taking his phone back out as he clearly wasn’t gonna leave anytime soon. 

💥-You floundered for a second. Wrapping things had always been your weakness when it came to working in the shop. You were working by yourself today so it wasn’t like you could pass it off to the other workers like you usually did. 

💥-“Of course. Right away sir.” You ran back into the back room to grab all of the wrapping supplies you would need. “What color would you like?” You called out.

💥-“Anything not purple.” He bluntly replied. 

💥-You picked out a sky blue and walked back out to him. Instead of being on his phone once more he was casually leaning against the counter. You tried not to blush as his gaze was focused on you. 

💥-“So do you get a lot of customers?” He asked. 

💥-“A decent amount. There is always a poor Alpha trying to make up with his Omega or an Omega wanting something to brighten up their den. You never know who will walk through that door.” You laughed. 

💥-You tried your hardest to wrap his flowers the best you could. No sloppy ribbon tying or crinkled edges. 

💥-“Sounds a bit boring if you ask me.” He answered. 

💥-“It can be. Around the holidays it gets busy but we also do bonding ceremonies so that can also keep us busy as bee sometimes.” You reply trying not to let his rude attitude affect you. 

💥-You cut the white ribbon that held everything together and sighed. It seemed decent enough. Not your worst work. 

💥-“Okay, that will be 356.25. Will you pay with cash or a credit card?” You looked up at him. 

💥-“Card is fine but I don’t think I would like the flowers to be wrapped anymore. Do you have a vase to put them in?” He remarked. 

💥-The smile on your face was starting to slip. What type of jerk had you re-wrap flowers and then ask you to end up putting them in a vase anyway. You don’t care if your Omega was nearly purring at the smell of him you nearly wanted to refuse and have the door hit him on the way out. 

💥-Of course, you couldn’t. He was spending good money and would likely come again if he every whim was met. So you tersely cut the wrapping away and went to go get a vase. 

💥-“What color would you like the vase? It will also cost you extra.” Your tone had taken on a slight edge. 

💥-“Extra doesn’t matter. A red one would be fine.” He added. He stopped leaning against the counter and stood straight up. 

💥-He really didn’t care about the purple wrapping or a dumb vase. He had merely asked for those alterations just so he could stay in your presence a little longer. There was something about you that had him lost in thought. 

💥-Like a distant memory or something. 

💥-He told himself it wasn’t your alluring scent that had him transfixed. You smelled of cinnamon and freshly baked bread. Sweet and comforting. Your cute frame and pretty smile were also not on his mind. 

💥-You worked in a flower shop for God’s sake. He wasn’t gonna associate himself with you any further than this stupid flower order his assistant wasn’t able to pick up. 

💥-Kirishima’s mate had his pup so he really couldn’t blame him for taking the day off. He was gonna be gone for a while since Bakugo agreed to give him a few weeks off to bond with the pup. Bakugo would shut him up every time he tried to thank him for it. 

💥-“Alright, the vase is gonna be an extra 26 dollars.” You slid the vase in his direction. 

💥-You tried not to choke when he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He reached in and grabbed a black credit card. He swiped the card without even looking at the grand total. 

💥-You ripped off his receipt and handed it to him. 

💥-“Have a nice day.” You chimed. 

💥-He shot you a glance before picking up the vase and headed towards the door. Goodbye grumpy face. You were gonna leave it at that before he suddenly turned back and stated. 

💥-“Have fun playing with dirt.” He called out a small smirk on his face. 

💥-“I do have fun digging around in the dirt so don’t worry about me.” You joked back. Once the words registered you blanched. Hoping he didn’t catch on. 

💥-He let the door close and turned towards you. “You like digging around in the dirt? Why does that sound familiar? Have we met before?” He pressed. 

💥-You face would get even paler if it could. “I-I don’t think so. I would remember if we did.” You stammered. 

💥-“I swear something about your dumb dirt-covered face reminds me of something.” He stated. 

💥-“Hey! That’s not nice!” You quickly brush away anything that might have been on your face. “Trust me I would remember someone as rude as you.” You countered. 

💥-If he wasn’t gonna play nice than neither were you. 

💥-“Rude? I have been nothing but nice.” He began walking towards the counter. 

💥-Maybe you should have been worried about angering him but your filter flew right out the window. You would blame it on being tired later on. “You have been rude and brash ever since you walked in with that grumpy looking face of yours.” 

💥- “Grumpy face...” Something clicked in his head. 

💥- He slammed the vase onto the counter with a shocked look on his face. 

💥- “Plant girl?” 

I was surprised everyone liked the prologue so much. Thank you for you guys kind words! It really means a lot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. What do you think of Bakugo being his usual rude self? You see the reader liking him for more than his scent anytime soon? I would like to know you thoughts. Thanks for reading. 💕

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