#Ollie certainly has more found family

[thedocs-in]

Cecil's Family

So let's start at the beginning, I should also disclaim, that I'm absolutely bullshitting this timeline. As I see Cecil in his late 50's or early 60's so I'm using that as the basis for all of this. In my personal fic I have it that he's 58, so I'm sorta using that as my base line. But feel free to put him at whatever age you want.

And buckle up, this is rather long. I can't condense things to save my fucking life.

Oh, I do also have another young Cecil fic planned that has his dad in it. Sorta basing it off a story my grandpa told me involving his own dad when he was younger. I will also get more headcannons out about Cecil's dad, and other family members if people want them.

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Cecil was actually named after his grandfather who died in 1944 during WWII.

Now widowed, Susanna ‘Sue’ Stedman was left to look after their two kids, Cecil’s aunt Sarah, and his father Lyle.

Now, Sarah and Lyle are only a few years apart, with Sarah being the older of the two as she was born in ’35, while Lyle was born in ’37. Making them 10 and 7 at the time of their dad’s death.

A year following the death of her husband, Susanna would marry another man in 1945 by the name of Peter Briggs. And he… was not the best father/husband.

And he wasn’t a fan of raising another man’s kids

But a year after being married Susanna and Peter would have a kid together, this being Sarah and Lyle’s half-brother Ollie Briggs

Unfortunately, there were complications when Ollie was born which led to Susanna’s death. Leaving all three siblings in the care of Peter. Who was certainly not thrilled to be taking care of three kids by himself, especially if two of them weren’t his own.

Because of that, the three ended up in an orphanage. And thankfully, they were never separated, due to the help of a pastor who ran the orphanage. But as soon as Sarah turned 18 she had already been working for awhile and found a way to help her brothers and be there for them.

And as soon as Lyle was able to, he quickly got a job to help take care of his younger brother. Landing a job at a mechanic shop in the town they lived in.

(I kinda like to think that Cecil was born in Alabama, mostly cause that’s where his VA is from and I swear, if you listen carefully when Cecil talks you can hear a slight southern accent.)

Now, Lyle had built a bit of a reputation in town. While he was a good man, he certainly didn’t take bullshit from anyone and would kick someone’s ass in a heartbeat if they were doing something wrong.

Cough cough, this is where Cecil learned it from cough cough

This man had an extremely strong moral compass. If you were being a jackass, harassing anyone, being a bigot, you best hope you don’t do it in front of this man.

Because of this there were a few times he wound up in jail, with the pastor who helped him growing up or his sister having to bail him out.

Eventually when he turned 20, so in 1957, Lyle would be drafted and have to serve in the Vietnam war, getting discharged in ’65 when he was injured and lost a lung.

Ironically this man chain smoked like there was no tomorrow, while serving and after he was discharged. Resulting in Cecil picking it up sometime in his late 20’s.

A month after getting back, Lyle did go back to his job. And would meet Cecil’s mother, Bonnie Lynch.

Bonnie is a little bit of a bitch, and you’ll understand why in a moment.

Now, she was born in 1940. I don’t exactly have anything in terms of her family or her own history. I think the only thing I had was that she came from a well off family.

Those two got busy and a couple months later, surprise, she’s pregnant.

Now, Lyle is a good and honest man. And he tries to do the right thing and proposes to her.

However, she turns him down. And straight up tells him, “I’m not interested. I’ll have your kid, but as soon as they’re born. They’re all yours.”

She is the deadbeat mom.

(I have this little headcannon that Lyle kept that ring he proposed with and eventually gave it to Cecil for when he finally settles down.)

cut to cecil saying he’s married to his job

But regardless, Cecil is born sometime in late ‘65 and his mom just straight up leaves after like a month or two.

Now Lyle isn't alone in taking care of Cecil. As his sister is willing to help. Considering by this point she's married and has at least two kids with a third on the way.

Ollie on the other hand was off at college, thanks to the help of Lyle and Sarah putting money towards his education.

But Lyle is still a single father raising a child and it wasn't easy.

Bonnie would go on to be an even bigger dick, because 10 years later, she would end up having two more kids who she would actually raise. Well, "raise". She let those kids do whatever they wanted.

So somewhere out there Cecil has two half-brothers he’s met once and then never talk to again.

The one time they met with him was when their mother died, in like 2012, and he just didn’t want to get to know them. He thanked them for telling him and sent them on their way.

By this time, he was already director of the GDA, so, it’s not like he has a lot of time for family stuff anyway.

But he tries. Especially to see his aunt Sarah who is getting up there in age, and suffering from Alzheimer’s.

Though, by time we see Cecil in the show his dad has long since passed, having died from lung cancer in '96.

Cecil's family isn't overly large. And it's certainly not the happiest story. But his family is a loving one, and looks out for one another.

He does have a lot of cousins though.

[roobylavender]

Hi! i once saw a post (that I cannot find atm) comparing how Bruce and Ollie reacted to Jason/Mia killing a man, or in Jason‘s case possibly killing a man and the differences in their reactions. I have yet to read arrowfam material so I was hoping you’d talk more about it! :)

oh i found it! (i’m the jason/mia & bruce/ollie anon) https://www.tumblr.com/redhoodinternaldialectical/735180956729835520/you-are-entirely-correct-i-cut-a-whole-ass truthfully i didn’t really the whole thread only the jason/mia part but i’m v curious on ur thoughts on this :)

luckily for you i read the whole thread (which i do think is relevant to the question) and this is a great reminder of why taking editorial context into account when analyzing comics is so important! the unfortunate problem with the visibility attributed to a death in the family is that it obscures not only that starlin was only the fourth writer responsible (after barr, collins, and duffy) for characterizing post-crisis jason and his relationship with bruce, but also that starlin specifically wrote his batman run with a disdain for the robin character in mind. when you read dc #573–74, 79–82 / batman #408–13 versus batman #416–28 there's a really stark distinction in tone and atmosphere. although bruce has always tended towards discipline and principle he's also someone primarily driven by empathy. that shows in the barr / collins / duffy stretch because they're fans of the batman-robin dynamic to begin with. so you get scenes like this in batman #411

or dc #581

where bruce certainly expressed disappointment and reprimand initially but eventually mellowed out because he sympathized with and values jason's grief over losing his father. dc #581 strikes me in particular because bruce didn't have to offer harvey to jason after what the latter said earlier about leaving him for dead. but he knew the closure was important and decided to offer harvey to him anyway. there was always an emphasis on reciprocated dialogue taking place between bruce and jason in these issues whereas i think many people would agree the starlin run was comparatively characterized by bruce talking at jason or for jason but not necessarily with him. here's dc #425 for example

although starlin stopped short of painting jason to be outright evil he generally didn't offer him much sympathy as a character either. there was this constant undercurrent throughout the run of jason being talked down to and his personal emotions and experiences being diminished in the face of the mask when that is precisely what the barr / collins / duffy run didn't do. these writers were invested in and enamored with jason's personal life and they wanted to see him grow not only as robin but as his own person contending with complex trauma and grief. and way we ended up at a death in the family was comparatively ironic because starlin specifically refused to address jason's trauma until it was absolutely necessary and convenient to shaping an ultimate exit for the character. i think having that context in mind is critically important to analyzing any interaction between jason and bruce with respect to the former's purported leniency towards killing. would the bruce of the barr / collins / duffy run have reacted in the same way as he did above? would he have walked away from jason and refused to even broach the topic of why he may have killed garzonas? would he have displayed so little faith and trust? would he have abruptly cut jason off from the job without pretense or conversation? to me it's highly debatable. i would even go so far as to confidently say no

as for the ollie comparison, that points to another loosely related issue. character comparisons should not only be contextualized by editorial intent but also time period of publication. bruce in the late 80s immediately prior to one of the most climactic events in his publication was at a very different place with respect to editorial versus ollie in the 00s nearly a decade after one of the most climactic events in his publication. he basically operated off of a somewhat clean slate following his resurrection whereas bruce operated from the vantage point of accumulating some of the worst editorial baggage that would follow him for the rest of his tenure as a character. it's not to say that i think ollie would react negatively were we using his 80s characterization for comparison instead. in fact i still think he would be way more understanding of it than bruce ever could be given his own inclination to kill people where he believes it's necessary (see the longbow hunters and a significant portion of ga vol. 2). but i do think there's an irony in attempting to juxtapose these issues of ga vol. 2 against jason-era bruce without taking the entirety of the latter era, its writers, and its editorial context into account. if anything, ollie's contemplation in ga vol. 2 #40 is precisely what would go through bruce's mind were the scenario written by barr / collins / duffy instead. the fact that we're stuck with the legacy of the bruce written by starlin is unfortunate and to me something that should factor far more heavily into any purportedly good faith analysis of the bruce-jason (or even bruce-dick) relationship at the time

[ollie-olliebaby]

OLLIE’S FAMILY TREE: pt. 2

Found family can be just as important, if not more important than a biological family. Describe your character’s found family, and what their found family means to them.

Morgan: @mxmorganmorph

Morgan and Ollie, go together like peanut butter and jelly. Peanut butter and chocolate. Ollie has never once felt so comfortable around someone. Ollie has found that they can truly be who they want and need to be when with them. If Morgan wasn’t in OIlie’s life, frankly they don’t know what they would do without them. 

Elsa: @magicalelsaarendelle

Elsa was part of the first family to accept Ollie in Redwood. They wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for her kindness and generosity. Ollie knows they can go to Elsa for anything, and she would do what she could to help them. The support system they have with their rink family, is one that they will cherish until the end of days. 

Thomas: @omalleyy

Thomas is exactly what OIlie believes an older brother is like. They know they can go to them in the middle of the night when they are having a bad day. Or when they just want someone to be goofy with and eat cookies. Ollie has a hard time sometimes expressing how they feel when the bad days come around, but with the help of Thomas, they have found another way to express it through music. It’s a skill that they have yet to master, but they know Thomas would never leave them or let them down. 

Paulo: @paulo-pup

Paulo and PJ are what Ollie believes to be their forever family. Even if they don’t ‘join’ it legally. Ollie treats PJ like their own nephew, always there to take care of him when his father needs a break, ready to teach him all the fun things in life. Paulo, much like Thomas, is what Ollie considers to be an older brother type. Even being around Paulo’s family, they feel like they are at home. Though it sometimes isn’t the same as what they want, Paulo and PJ are sort of their forever home.

Maximillion and Billy: 

Max and Billy are the last set of foster parents that Ollie had. They are the couple that helped Ollie realize their gender identity and become who they are today. They helped in getting Ollie’s name legally changed, and are the one set of foster parents that still keep in contact with them. If it wasn’t for their support and love, Ollie is sure they wouldn’t be standing where they are today in Redwood. Though the two never adopted Ollie, they wished the two men had. Ollie dreamed that their forever home could have been with them, but fate had different plans in store.

[prof-peach]

I’d love to hear about professor Greys team! you mention them on occasion, would like to know more about them. Does Grey have something he specializes in?

For sure! Professor Grey is my partner, both in life and work, and he specialises in high energy species, such as fighting types, and held items! He’s a guy with a lot of energy, and runs many sports events for the pokemon on the island, to keep everyone social, happy and fit. He will crack ALL the dad jokes. 

Greys work led him to initially creating prosthetics for pokemon who have lost parts during battle or due to genetics. He had caught a docile Gyarados at the start of his journey who had no tail, and was forces on land, unable to swim correctly with its own kind. The missing tail spurred his first creation, and now that same water pokemon lives in the largest lake on our island, and is very sweet, able to swim, battle, and live her life to the fullest! Grey uses her often when visitors come by with preconceived notions about the species, as she’s very happy with strangers, comfortable with other pokemon, and not at all hostile like the dex likes to mention.

After the build of the new tail, he focused on items in general, he can forge blades, 3D print parts and limbs, and form new and unregistered held items for his team mates and those who come to him with a need for specialised equipment. His study has made him capable of creating held items that a pokeball will recognise and take in, as a lot of things aren't able to be ‘returned’ to the capture units. 

Currently he’s been tinkering with the pokeballs themselevs, unsatisfied with the state of stasis the pokemon within are held in, he’s been generating dream like states with code, so the pokemon has enrichment while within their pokeballs. It’s still a work in progress, but theres a lot of headway being made in the topic, and he’s slowly building more diverse and immersive worlds for pokemon within the balls. 

When he’s not working, its either high energy sports, or he’ll take to the water. He loves it out there, and being on an island, he has a lot of chances to ride waves with one of the many water pokemon. since meeting him, he’s become fond of Bonsai keeping, his one truly calm activity, and tends to them in a quiet corner on slow days.

His main team mix with mine a lot, we've been together so long now, they're kind of all one big team/family, but those registered to him as his main party include:

Garchomp - Ginseng ( A friendly, loving dude, with a lot of personlaity)

Lucario - Gai (A energetic and perhaps over enthusiastic, hyper-positive Pokemon)

Houndoom - Saxon (docile in his old age, but certainly not complacent)

Cubone - Harley (his oldest pokemon, a grouch, but quite adaptive!)

Aside from those three, he’s got a handful of Charizard, used for forging and Rocket defence around the island in the skies, and his years of travel have led him to keeping a lot of Gyarados aside from the one without the tail, that travel in a pod along our coastline, keeping the waters safe from invading boats and subs. He loves Relicanth, and so weve ended up taking in quite a few of those, seeing as we have the waters for them, its a good fit for him. 

In the above image, technically Pam, Andy and Olly, Zeke, Jo, Harley and Vladimir are all his pokemon, and they do have respective blurb about them on the blog.

Theres an old Scyther that hangs about in his bonsai area, a Carracosta that chills in the pond out behind our house, and a Nidoking that is very sweet and handles a lot of the baby water pokemon who come to us with no parents. Grey’s recently found a Sawsbuck that came in with a dodgy spine, a few surgeries and its on the mend but the two bonded, and i doubt it’ll leave after its recovery, we have a few of them around, it could easily enjoy a life with its own kind, with Grey, and in a safe environment. Oh, theres a very young Dieno thats imprinted to him quite recently, no name as of yet, and he’s got a messenger Talonflame that comes and goes with notes if the phone signals dodgy, which is pretty often, our island hasn't got the best connection.

Most individuals he’s worked with in the lab will end up adoring the guy, he’s a ray of sunshine, especially next to me, and often a pokemon who he’s aided will return to him many times, for company and to offer help should he need it. He’s like a bright light, things just kind of flock to him, they get his good intentions.

He’s a bit like me, we’ve released a lot of partners over the years to allow them to go off and have a life of their own, and so whats left behind is usually for work, or bonded for life. 

He’s very much the opposite to me, but together we make a complete picture, and the labs work smoothly when we’re both around.

[poodlejoonas]

Inspired by my BC Fan Week dad!Joonas short: the rest of the guys as uncles

@the-killer-queenie​ just sent me a darling DM with her own ideas of it and now I want to add more: the other members as uncles (and Joonas as a dad). And if you’re cool with it, I included your original DM that inspired it at the end.

Also, perfect timing because there was a discussion of BC dad/uncle headcanons in the Violent Pop server while I was cleaning, so this one’s also for you guys 🥂

Under the read-more for length:

Joonas:

His first reaction when he found out he was going to be a dad was pure fear. He doubted that he would ever be a good one and that he would end up ruining his daughter’s life. While the anxieties lingered (and still do, even with her here), he learned to grow into the idea. He became super protective of his girlfriend, calling every chance he got while he was either in the Netherlands or on tour to make sure that she was comfortable. She got annoyed super fast by how fussy he was, but she understood that he was excited and anxious and only wanted the best for them. He was the one to suggest the name Sohvi and started calling her by it long before she was even born.

Despite finding out about the pregnancy in April, they waited until almost the end of June to make the news public. It was a big all-in-one announcement: a small gender reveal at home with a cake and a letterboard with her birthday and initials (name was kept secret until she arrived). This all conveniently happened before the tour so the crowd went into the show knowing about her. As much as he would have loved to invite his girlfriend to more summer tour shows, he wanted to make sure she wasn’t overexposed to the heat and stress of being in a large crowd. When she does come to one of the shows in Helsinki, he sets her up with an air conditioned room backstage. Every time they were sitting next to each other, he would instinctively hold her belly. Whenever he was at home, he would sing to them so Sohvi could hear his voice. Eventually, she would kick when he started singing, almost like she knew he was there.

Joonas would be a fantastic girl dad! The night before every tour, he lets her paint his nails any color she wants, and he refuses to take it off no matter how messy it is or how chipped it gets. It becomes like a tradition for them, mostly so she can get used to the idea of him being gone for long periods of time. When she can come to local shows, she does the make-up for him and the rest of the guys (the ones who wear it, at least). They play an acoustic version of one of their songs (something like My Heart is a Hurricane) for whenever she can join them on stage; it’s a small break for the ones who aren’t playing and a chance for her to see them perform without noise-cancelling headphones.

He takes super adorable pictures of and with her, and whenever he posts something of her and her mom together, he calls them “his girls.” He would also certainly have her name and her birthday (November 15) in Roman numerals tattooed over his heart. Every year around Christmas time, they take a family weekend vacation to Rovaniemi to visit Santa’s village. In all, he would surprise a lot of people - and himself - by fitting into the role so well and so quickly. He’s not a perfect dad, but he tries his best.

The “responsible” uncles:

Tommi:

Tommi would almost certainly be her favorite uncle. He’s just such a massive teddy bear in general that she loves whenever she can get a hug from him. When they go out as a group, especially to festivals, he carries her around on his shoulders so she can feel tall and see the other bands perform better. I get vibes from him that he’s the best cook out of the group, so whenever he’s on babysitting duty, he makes her the best meals. He likes to wrestle and playfully rough house with her to make her laugh. It’s not uncommon for her to fall asleep while he’s holding her because he’s that comfy to rest on. After the Bass Incident, he became the top candidate for being her godfather.

Olli:

You know, until last week, I thought that Olli would be the best choice for being her godfather, but after the lost bass fiasco I don’t think he can be trusted with a child lol. But he’s still one of the responsible uncles regardless! When she’s super young, sometimes she gets him and her dad confused with each other because their hair and instruments look so similar (see also: this vine). He’s the one who likes to take her out to the park and then get ice cream with her afterwards. He also has zero shame about letting her put a tiara on him and invite him to her tea party, and he plays along with it too. When he’s on babysitting duty, he reads her stories and sometimes narrates them with different voices.

Aleksi:

He’s the chill responsible uncle. He works so often that he rarely ever gets time to hang out with her outside of the studio like the others do, but they spend the most time together while he works. He holds her while he works at his laptop and lets her watch the cool colors and coding scroll across the screen. He’s the first one to volunteer to hold her if Joonas has to go in the other room to record his parts, and typically the first one to volunteer to take care of her last-minute. When she gets a little older, between song editing sessions, he’ll open a fresh file and let her “record” her own songs. Of course, they almost never leave his laptop, but it’s the thought that counts.

The “irresponsible” uncles:

Niko:

Okay, so Niko is one of the “irresponsible” ones but almost certainly a little better than Joel at the job. What puts him in this category is that he swears like a sailor even when she’s in the room because he forgets that kids are sponges and absorb everything they see and hear. He also has no problem throwing some chicken nuggets in the oven and calling it a day, so he needs to be reminded that she has to eat more than that. But he’s still a loving uncle, he just needs someone to help him babysit lol. He lets her play with his hair when they’re hanging out together, and when she gets older, he teaches her how to play the piano. She loves when he sings to her and she’ll request certain songs from him. He’s also the uncle who encourages her to just talk and talk (building up her communication skills) by pretending that they’re gossiping together (“oh really? what did he do next? tell me more!”)

This post is totally Niko, by the way:

Joel:

Joel... love this boy, but he’s without a doubt the least responsible of the uncles. It’s mostly because he can spend maybe an hour and a half maximum with her before he hits a wall of exhaustion and is ready to send her back to her parents. When he’s with others who can help him take care of her, he can hang out with her a little bit longer. He also has no idea how to actually hang out with a child in a kid-friend context. Admittedly, he was the least excited to find out that she was coming because he thought that meant Joonas was going to leave the band. He needed tons of confirmation before he warmed up to the idea of becoming an uncle. But that doesn’t make him a totally bad uncle. He treats her like a member of his own family as well and he’s great at making her laugh. He’s also the first to jump to her or Joonas’ defense on Instagram if tabloids (or someone like That Bitch Archie Cruz) make defamatory comments about them.

The original HC:

[emerald-echeveria-plant]

All hail

Sophie, humming while brushing her hair: hmmm..

Jim, walks up behind her and covers her eyes: guess who..?

Sophie, playfully: oh gee I don't know, Lukas maybe?

Jim: oh please you already know who it is babe. *Uncovers her eyes*

Sophie: I know, I was only teasing *gives him a peck on the cheek*

Jim: I wanted to give you something that I bought.

Sophie: hm, what is it..?

Jim, pulls out a shell small jewels necklace with small jewels: tada!

Sophie: Jim it's lovely! Thank you..

Jim: I was in the market today and was thinking about a certain someone when I saw this beauty. I thought to myself, huh, who do I know is as beautiful as this necklace that I found.. and you know who said it was..?

Sophie, playfully: I can't seem to put my finger on it.. 🤔

Jim: It was you.

Sophie: oh Jim, you're so sweet.. *hugs him*

Jim, hugs her back: I know.

//The two lean in for a kiss until Lukas pops his head in, sharing a hug with the two.//

Lukas: YAY! Group hug!! What are you guys talking about??

Jim, displeased: oh, hey Lu, were just having an intimate moment.. but it's fine, its whatever.

Lukas: whoops! Sorry about that, didn't mean to ruin the moment. *Rubs the back of his neck*

Sophie, giggles: it's okay, maybe next time Jim *kisses his cheek softly*

Jim, blushes softly: thanks babe.

Lukas: anyway, came to tell you all, Silver and Elinor made breakfast.

Sophie: we'll be there in a while, just gotta finish up getting ready.

Lukas, nods: aight, see y'all later! *Leaves the room*

Jim: now that we're alone.. mind if I can get that kiss?

Sophie: okay you can.. *Gives him a peck on the cheek* now get out because I'm going to change.

Jim, shrugs: whatever you say babe! *Leaves the room*

//Jim walks into the dining area where everyone was sitting at the table. He sits next to Ollie. Ollie notices the lovey dovey look on Jim's face.//

Ollie: Something on your mind Jim?

Jim: huh? Oh it's nothing.. just thinking about how I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

Ollie: what did you win the lottery or somethin'?

Emma: more like the lottery of l o v e

Jim, playfully: pfft yeah right.. Just because I'm with the most beautiful, intelligent, kindest girl in the world doesn't mean- wait.. yeah you're definitely right.

Emma, giggles: remember to have me as a bridesmaid at your and Sophie's wedding ;) *goes to sit down next to Jim*

Jim: that won't be for a while..

Elinor, places a bowl of porridge in front of Jim: aw young love, a precious thing to cherish. Reminds me of when me and Silver were younger. Butterflies in our stomachs and completely all over each other.

Silver: you act as if we still don't do that now.

Elinor: oh I know.. were just not young anymore. *Kisses Silver on the cheek*

Silver: like that makes a difference *hugs her from behind*

Fisch, jokingly: you two love birds gonna join us to eat or make out in the middle of breakfast?

Elinor: heh, you're right. Let's sit down Silver.

//Just as they were about to seat themselves, a comet had scrapped by the chip. Creating a large hole on the side of the ship.//

Silver: oh you've got to be kidding me!

Cetus: huh.. maybe I shouldn't have parked here.. sorry Silver.

Silver, sighs: I don't blame ya lad. No one could've predicted this happenin..

Andrew: we should go to Montressor to get that fixed up. It isn't too far from here.

Silver: I just hope we'll be able to make it.

//Sophie had finally finished up changing. She heard the commotion and worried something bad happened. Sophie rushed towards Jim.//

Sophie: what's going on? Is everything ok?? Jim, are you okay???

Jim: Babe, I'm fine! We just had a "little" accident on the ship.

Sophie: Little??! It felt like we crashed into something!

Jim: ummm.. more like something crashed into us.

Sophie, sighs: okay, this is fine.. We're going to be okay right..?

Jim: of course we are! They're just going to stir the ship towards Montressor, they'll get it fixed then bata bing, bata boom! It'll be fixed up and it'll be like the damaged never happened.

Sophie: I sure hope they do.

//A few minutes went by and Cetus managed to stir the ship towards a docking area. After having a conversation with a repairman, a majority of the crew left the ship. Deciding to explore or purchase since they were on Montressor.

Sophie and Jim decided to take a walk. They held hands as the two looked around the many shops and stands.//

Jim: Do you want to get something to eat Sophie? You kinda missed breakfast back there.

Sophie: oh, um, sure!

Jim: what should we get?

Sophie: hmm, how about.. a smoothie! I just want something light and easy to carry around for now.

Jim: Okay! Let's go!

//The two got into a line at a smoothie stand. As they waited, something caught the eye of Sophie. A few feet from the couple was a group of people reading newspapers. They seemed panicked as they chatted about what was in the news. Interested, Sophie walked over to the newspapers.//

Sophie, picks up a newspaper: huh?

//On the front cover showed a cryptic image of a woman with black hair in a red and black dress. They were holding to what appeared to be a staff. Next to them was a green woman with pink hair. The image couldn't make out what she was supposed to be. Maybe like a plant?//

Sophie: says here that the proclaimed dead Queen Hatred and her henchman Veronica have been spotted inside of Amoretia.. huh? Never heard about this lady before.

???: HEY!

//Sophie turned around to see a guard standing a few inches away from her.//

Guard #1: You! You're coming with me!

Sophie: uh.. no..?

Guard #1: you have to. They've been looking for you.

Sophie:

Sophie: who?

Guard #1: The high counsel of Terra. Now come with me! *Grabs Sophie by her shoulder*

Sophie, tries to jerk herself out of his grip: get your hands off me!

//Jim, who was about to purchase the smoothies, quickly turned his head when hearing Sophie yell. He ran over to her and the guard.//

Jim: you heard what she said! Let go of her!

Guard #1: can't. The high counsel told me not to.

Jim: high counsel??

Cetus: what is going on around here?

//The others had arrived when seeing Sophie and Jim in danger.//

Guard #1: don't I recognize you..?

Cetus: No, I don't believe we've met.

Guard: Wait, I do know you! You're that cursed cephalopid that stole from Terra's merchant ships!

Cetus:

Cetus: it was someone else.

Guard: I'm not letting you go this time! You and your entire entourage are coming with me!

Silver, smugly: oh really? You and what ar-

//A bunch of other soldiers pop out of nowhere.//

Silver:

Silver: I didn't even get to finish my sentence and you already knew what I was going to say.

//In the next scene, everyone except for Sophie were in the dungeon of the Terran castle.//

Valentino: why am I here?? I'm not a criminal like the rest of you!

Andrew: I'm pretty sure coercing with theives and pirates still counts as a crime.

Valentino: what?! I don't know that!

Elinor, sighs: hopefully our trials are fair and they actually give us, I don't know, maybe a few months behind bars? Then again chances of that are very low.

Valentino: you mean we'll be sent to the gallows??? But I still have some unfinished designs to do! Oh this is horrible!

Silver: oh shut it for once Val!

//In private meeting room of the castle, the counselmen were standing in front of Sophie.//

Sophie; who are you people? Why'd you put my family and boyfriend in jail???

Counselman #1: they were wanted criminals that deserved to be locked up.

Sophie: let them go! I demand it!

Counselman #1: you are so much better than them, why do you affiliate yourself with such hooligans?

Sophie: because I love them!

Counselman #2: Miss Sophie, do you know about your royal heritage?

Sophie: royal.. heritage..?

Counselman#2: hm, well you're father was the brother of Queen Illysa. Making him a-

Sophie: prince..?

Counselman #1: correct

Sophie: So technically I'm a.. princess..?

Counselman #2: also correct.

Sophie: I- I-.. why..?

Counselman #1: we need your help Miss Sophie.

Sophie: I don't understand.

Counselman #1: Queen Illysa has been turned to stone and we need your help guidance!

Counselman #2: yes certainly! We need your guidance on how to defeat Hatred!

Counselman #3: what?? I thought we agreed that we'd make peace with her??

Sophie: I-

Counselman #2: no, we need her to wage against Hatred! Why would we make peace treaty with that lunatic??

Sophie: um-

Counselman #3: because Hatred is going to kill us all once she gets her army back! Listening to her demands is the way to go!

Sophie: can I-

Counselman #1: enough out of the both of you! We need her guidance!

Counselman #2: yes with war!

Counselman #3: no, peace!

Counselman #2: war!

Counselman #3: peace!

Counselman #2: WAR!

Counselman #3: PEACE!

Counselman #2: WAR!

Counselman #3: PEACE!

Sophie: F*CKING SHUT UP!!!

//All counselman look at her with a shocked looks on their faces.//

Sophie: please... As your queen.. princess.. whatever.. can you let my family go?

Counselman #1: but they're-

Sophie: I KNOW WHAT I SAID!

Counselman #1: of course your majesty.

//Down in the dungeon, everyone seemed to accept the fact that they were going to get hanged. Except for Valentino.//

Valentino: I can't, I can't! This isn't happening!

Silver: Just say you're prayers. You'll feel less scared.

Valentino: there's so many things I haven't done! Like making a gown for a princess or skydiving or um, uh- I CAN'T DIE THIS SOON!

Guard, unlocks the door and opens it: congratulations, you've all been let go by the queen.

Cetus: the queen? Huh.., she most be feeling extra generous today.

Valentino: YES! FREEDOM!

Guard: not so fast horn head, she wants to see you all.

Cetus: nevermind. We're doomed.

Valentino: ಥ_ಥ

//All of them went to a private meeting room. They opened the doors to see Sophie and the other counselmen.//

Jim: Sophie! *Tries to run towards her*

Counselman #2, stops Jim: now what do you think you're doing???

Jim: huh?

Counselman #2: what? You're not going to bow to your queen? Show some respect!

Jim, looks at Sophie; Sophie..?

Sophie, bows her head: it's true.

//Jim looked very shocked. He tried to take in this new information but he had so many questions. Did she now she was a queen? Why couldn't she tell him?? Or why did they need her now??//

Counselman #2: didn't you here me boy? Bow before-

Sophie: that is unnecessary. Now, please leave us.

Counselman #1: what about Hatred? What will we do and prepare for?

Sophie: I'll figure that out later. I want to talk with my family first.

//The counselman #1 nodded as he and the other counselmen left the room. As soon as they left, Jim went up to Sophie.//

Jim: what the heck is going on??

Sophie: I don't know! They want me to handle a situation with a lady named Hatred?? I don't even know who that is! I don't know if I should go to war or peace but either one seems like a bad option!

Jim: babe calm down! You can think about it later...

Sophie, whimpering: then all of a sudden I'm made a queen and I found out my dad was the brother to the queen and I- I- *falls to her knees* all of this info is too much for me right now..

Jim, gets on his knees: It's gonna be okay, I promise. We'll figure this out together!

Emma: Jim's right! We've got your back Sophie!

Victor: absolutely! If you need some advice just tell us!

Elinor: you know this Hatred lady kinda sounds familiar..

Cetus: you know something about her Elli?

Elinor: From what I learned, she was just a myth at the time. A queen that lived five hundred years ago and almost had full control of the etherium. She was hell-bent on getting rid of all love in the etherium which is why she wanted to take over the etherium in the first place-

Jeremiah: wait, wait.. you're telling me this queen wanted to get rid of all love? What kinda lunatic would do that!?

Emma: almost like it's similar to trying to achieve class equality by killing rich people.

Jeremiah: yeah, I know right?

Emma, looks at him confused: oookkaay..

Elinor: but anyway, this Hatred is a big deal. Legend says she never lost a battle or war, created her own henchman, and was able to conquer multiple planets.

Cetus: Well, Hatred has clearly never met us before. We'll take her down! She'll be so easy to defeat because I mean come on, there's a ton of us and one of her. It's not like she has an army.

Elinor: She has an army.

Cetus:

Cetus: as long as we believe in ourselves we'll win!

Silver: yeah, that believing we'll take us right to the graveyard..

Valentino: I think we should let Terra's army handle it and maybe come up with a battle strategy?

Elinor: Probably. Even if we make peace with that looney bin, she'll ask for the keys to the Terran empire. Then she'll try to conquer the rest of the etherium.

Sophie: wait.. we have to fight her.

Everyone: WHAT?!

Sophie: Using an army won't be enough to take her down. If they couldn't do it in the past, then we can't make the same mistake. We have to make a plan to get rid of her by any means!

Jim: Sophie, are you sure about this?

Sophie: positive.

Elinor: Hm, maybe if we try ambushing her we can take her by surprise and get the job done! That's how they "killed" her in the past! But I'm sure we'll manage to get the job done.

Cetus: sounds like a plan! I'm in!

Andrew: me too!

Jeremiah: let's kill this tyrant!

Emma: heck yeah!

Fisch: I'll die trying if it means getting the job done!

Ollie: Hatred won't even know what hit her!

Lukas: She's going down!

Nomura: Destroying Hatred will be a walk in the park.

Lyka: Question, after we kill her can I take her jewels?

Elinor: Yes Lyka.

Lyka: LETS GO!!!!

Jim: I'll do it if Sophie's up for it!

Sophie: Honey I'm always down to kick some ass.

Valentino: um, I'll just stay here...

Silver, sighs: Alright let's go!

Elinor: I can't wait to beat someone up! It's been so long!

Silver: um.. yer not going lass.

Elinor:

Elinor: what?

Silver: I can't risk you getting hurt. We have cubs for goodness sake. You need to stay here and watch over them while we're gone. You understand lass?

Elinor: okay.. I understand.

Silver: I'm only doing this because I love you and our cubs..

Elinor:

Elinor, smiles softly: then go get em' you big softie! *Kisses Silver*

//Silver kisses her back. They others waited around awkwardly waiting for them to finish.//

Cetus, coughs fakely: kinda running on a schedule here guys.

Elinor, pulls back and awkwardly rubs the back of her neck; oh yeah right, sorry.

Silver: be safe darlin'

Elinor: and you be careful.

//And with that, the heros set off on another ship that the Terran empire owned. They sailed off.//

Silver: where exactly are we going Sophie?

Sophie: a planet called Amoretia. Its gonna be a while so we should plan our strategy on how to take down Hatred.

Silver: aye your highness!

//They sailed for the planet Amoretia. With Sophie contemplating if this was a good idea or not. Well it was too late to back out now. Time to go take down this fool...

Yet as they sailed, in an office on another planet, was a mysterious person sitting at their desk.//

???, Reading a newspaper: huh, says here old Queenie finally found a way to come back. At last, I was starting to think she'd never show up.

//Another person walked into the room, standing at the doorway.//

???: You wished to see me sir..?

???: I did. I want you too set sail for our ship. We're going to Amoretia.

???: Um, can I ask why sir?

???: Hatred is back and I taste an opportunity.

???: If you don't mind me asking, of what kind sir?

???: An opportunity to finally get all the riches I desire. As well as boost my position of power. And that hot-headed queen is going to help me get there. Wether she likes it or not.

???: Right. I'll go prepare the ship sir.

//the unknown person walks out of the room. The first unknown person placed the newspaper down on their desk.//

???: This etherium is going to become mine..

//Their snake like tongue sizzled out as their slit eyes lit up the room.//

To be continued...

((Hatred, Elinor, Valentino, and Jeremiah belong to me

Cetus and Andrew belong to @aalbliii

Sophie belongs to @sleeplessdreamer14

Emma belongs to @the-weirdos-mind

Lukas belongs to @wallymcflubberfins

Lyka belongs to @princssealexis165

Fisch belongs to @komatheterrible

Ollie belongs to @sailingthespiral

Nomura belongs to @authorchanlove))

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

Richard, man of contradictions..

In the past i did some rammblings on

Olli the balanced

My take on Till

Paul - the chameleon - Landers

(and for some reason i think i did Flake as well, but i can't seem to find it) (i blame tumblr.. 😁)..and i always wanted to do one on Richard, but for some reason that appeared a lot more difficult.. i think it's because he seems to be a man of contradictions..

'the only rockstar in the band' 《》 not nearly as much in the public eye as other musicians (or some bandmates)

needs 'drama' (even sometimes creates it) 《》 would like it best if the others just went along with him

very much into sex and drugs and rock&roll 《》 seemingly quite happy to just hang out at home and work

very fickle in relationships (work, but i think also privatly) 《》 absolutely devoted to his family and (very close) friends

very much aware of appearance&looks 《》 happy to go out (and publish photos of himself on IG) in the same casual outfit he has been wearing for ages (and even a reasonbly priced one at that)

confident in defending his work against the others' criticism 《》 a worrier, always thinking it isn't good enough, wanting to do more..to do better..

wanting his privacy 《》 oversharing in many an interview about what he thinks and how he feels at that moment (and having several indiscreet girlfriends and relatives sharing bits of his private bubble on social media)

not being a teamplayer 《》 wanting to work in a team (otherwise he'd have quit Rammstein a long time ago)

..and i think these contradictions also echo in his relationships with his bandmates..

Till

imo Richard simultanously looks out for and looks up to Till, getting him with the band as a singer, seeing his potential, and also very much wanting Till's input and opinion on his work, playing it for him before he shares it with the other 4. There have been many years where in every random Richard interview you can find, he gushes about Till in some way or other.

But also: Till imo is not a fan of the drama and Richard not necessarily understands and/or agrees with Till's work (imo Till's 'love of pain' is not Richard's cup of tea) and while he very much likes for Till to pursue his own music too (like Richard does), he would also like to just hang out with him more, just the two of them..

Flake

In a way seemingly two polar opposites; two people you'd never expect in one band together (not even in one musical genre), imagewise: Richard the 'slick diva/rockstar', Flake the 'mock-grumpy local pubdweller/storyteller', you can't get more down to earth than Flake (or you'd be underground), while 'down to earth' is probably the one thing you'd never associate with Richard.

In reality though, and certainly in more recent years, they do appreciate eachother, Flake saying nice things about Richard in his podcast (that he's such a prolific creator, touching on one of the things that are actually important to Richard), Richard (and his family) actually listening to Flake's podcast (no not just that one 😊) and imo liking the fact that with Flake you always know what you can expect.

Olli

I have a feeling that Olli's quiet confidence works very well with Richard, it balances things out, steadies him a bit, and though Olli likes his privacy a lot as well (but different from Richard actually manages to achieve that) and we know very little about their actual relationship, when they interact it always seems 'real' and never forced or played-for-the-fans.

But Olli is not a pushover, and will speak his mind if he doesn't agree with Richard, and if Richard gets too muddled in his own importance, imo he'd just ignore him until Richard tones things down again.

Schneider

Schneider filled in many roles in the band-to-Richard dealings: joining in wanting to do new stuff, putting Richard in his place when he takes it too far, mediator between the others (and sometimes plain 'parenting' if needed), being one of the most adamant in putting the blame in the Mutter-era-drama, goofing around as one of the boys...

But also.. they do see eachother privately on occassion (maybe Richard sees the others too, but from Richard/Schneider there's actually evidence of it 😉). They do yoga together before a show (and have for some years), and on stage they clearly have the drummer-guitarist relationship that you have in a rockband and which (imo) with the rest of the strings-section keeps Rammstein to still be a rockband (aside from the show, the theater, the performance).

Paul

(as you might already have guessed from some other posts on this blog, for me the most inspiring of the inter-Rammstein-relationships 🍀)

Often a difficult relationship, explosive, aggravating, in a way it wasn't always obvious they would manage to remain bandmates for over 25 years, I'm sure both have on occassion wondered if it was still worth it. Paul's skill in spotting a weak spot in another person probably often triggered Richard's fighting spirit and the feeling to defend his work. And just like in his wrestlingmatches, Richard was never one to sit back and let a fight develop, calculating his next move, but quickly chose the attack; often resulting in leaving his defense open for his opponent to counterattack... thus creating a weak spot, for Paul to dig in to, and so it continued..

At the very beginning though Richard mentioned Paul as (paraphrasing) 'he completes me', their work in the early days (before and at the start of Rammstein) was very much an addition to the other's, and they have the same hunger for new stuff, creating something and performing.. and after many years of quarrelling learned (with some therapy i think) to listen to eachother again and even have new found appreciation. And while on stage i'm sure Paul often thinks Richard is too serious, and Richard is annoyed when Paul misses cues when he goofs around too much, imo Richard loosening up a bit is actually under the influence of Paul's interactions.

That, and that they are both the more natural huggers of the band, which the others i'm sure don't mind, they take out on eachother rather than on them 🤗

[tomhardygf]

an equine mistake 2.7k tommy/alfie

“Peaky Blinders AU where giving someone a horse counts as a courtship tradition amongst the Romanies and not knowing about it, Alfie presents Tommy with a rather beautiful stallion. The next day he has both Arthur AND Polly at his throat. Tommy enjoys the chaos.”

this is silly and dumb and i didn’t wanna bother posting on ao3! has a lot less tommy enjoying chaos and more him being absolutely bewildered. set in a world where homophobia doesn’t exist, maybe. ft: john shelby being a little asshole, alfie being a belligerent asshole, and me dunking on ollie even when there is absolutely no need for it 💖

original prompt: (x) (ty @ohmykaspbrak ✨ ur brain is powerful and huge) ohmykaspbrak’s fill: (x) read it she’s beautiful

Tommy stood on the Garrison doorstop, blinking down at the man before him. “What’s this?” He asks, fingers itching for a cigarette, but too surprised to actually reach for one. 

“What’s it fucking look like, mate?” Answers Alfie, rope twined around his hand at least 5 times, as if afraid his charge were to bolt at any moment. “Recently acquired the bloody beast in a deal, and thought to myself, ‘right, who do I know who’ll take this thing off my hands’?”

“And you thought of me?”

Alfie waves his free hand in the air. “Yeah. It was either that, or put a bullet between its eyes.”

Tommy is still skeptical, but he takes a step forward. The horse that Alfie’s brought him is beautiful— fur black as night, with strong, powerful muscles shifting underneath. He moves closer, carefully considering the state of it’s health, but the eyes are bright and clear, the nose and mouth free of any signs of sick, its hooves well maintained, when he picks one up for inspection. It’s young, and it’s clearly been very well taken care of. Whoever Alfie had taken this horse off of had likely poured a great deal of money into its acquisition and it’s upkeep. 

“A thoroughbred,” Alfie adds, when Tommy doesn’t respond any further. “Least, think that’s what he said. He wasn’t exactly speaking straight, had something blocking his mouth.”

Tommy makes a considering noise in reply. Alfie turning up in Birmingham tugging a horse along, no car or any of his men in sight was certainly the strangest thing to happen to him that week. He’s half expecting an ambush, for the sounds of gunfire to start hailing down on them, but nothing happens. It’s just Alfie, standing in front of him, looking as out of place on the street in front of the Garrison as Tommy ever could have imagined. The man looks more and more uncomfortable the longer Tommy doesn’t respond, so he eventually takes pity on him. “Do you want to give him a name?”

“Nah,” Alfie snorts, “I trust you can come up with something suitable for the creature.” At that, he begins to unwind the rope from his wrist, holding it out vaguely in Tommy’s direction. Tommy resists the urge to crack a smile at the discomfort still evident in the man’s posture. He’s still a bit bewildered by Alfie thinking to give him what was undeniably a gift— a stallion, of all things— but he’s sure that the man hadn’t meant anything by it. 

Tommy lifts his hand to take the rope. Just as it is passing between them, the door to the Garrison swings open, John bustling his way through. He’d been in the back of the bar when Tommy’d been informed about Solomons marching down the road, and Tommy had quietly slipped out before he would be any the wiser. He stumbles to an abrupt stop at the view before him. “What’s this?” He slurs, not drunk, just confused. His eyes dart between the two men and the horse standing behind them, the look on John’s face becoming rapidly accusatory as he takes in the scene before him.

Tommy opens his mouth to speak, to give an explanation that wouldn’t make things worse for himself, but Alfie beats him to it. “Was passing through your pisshole of a city, and thought I’d stop by and drop your brother off a gift I’ve been meaning to give him.” 

John’s mouth falls open, face twisting up in a mixture of confusion and outrage. He tears his eyes away from Solomons, staring directly now at Tommy. “He brought you a fucking horse?”

Tommy moves forward, the horse following along after him, docile. Tommy switches to Romani, aware of Alfie’s presence behind him. “Relax, brother. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“He’d better fucking not,” John spits, partially soothed, but shoots a glare over Tommy’s shoulder at Alfie.

“How would he know?” Tommy asks, resting a hand on John’s shoulder, face purposefully clear, despite how much he’s holding in the strange urge to laugh at the situation. “He’s Jewish. Different traditions.”

“Oi,” Alfie interrupts, stepping forward now as well. When Tommy looks over to him, he’s got his chest puffed out, looking harsh and burly. “Don’t know whatever the fuck you two are saying, but I know who you’re talkjng about, alright? Enough whispering.”

John scowls at him, unimpressed with the man. But after a moment, a new expression crosses his face, something significantly more mischievous— his anger having faded, he’s fallen back into just being his little brother. “I’m going to tell Polly about this.”

“You’ll do no such thing!”

John grins, slaps Tommy on the back. He slips back into English. “Yeah, I’m going to tell her.

“John!” Tommy hisses, but John’s already ducked out and away from him, practically skipping down the street in his excitement to cause problems. Tommy sighs as he stares after him. That’ll be something to deal with.

Alfie follows his gaze, deflating a bit now that John’s gone. “What was all that about, then?”

Tommy snorts, and he lifts a hand to pat against the horse’s flank. “It’s… one of the traditions of my people,” he murmurs, his cheeks suddenly feeling a bit warm. “The gift of a stallion represents certain… expectations.”

“Expectations?”

Tommy looks up at Alfie, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice, especially at the look of bewilderment on the man. “You’ve asked me to marry you.”

*

Alfie follows him home. Or, more accurately, Alfie follows him back to Charlie’s Yard, to board the horse, and then he follows him home. He tells Alfie, as they walk, that there’s no need for him to follow— that it wasn’t as if he needed to explain to his family his intentions (or his lack of them), that him showing up will likely only make things worse. But Alfie is apparently determined to make a vaguely uncomfortable conversation into something much more excruciating. So Alfie’s there, at his back as he opens the front door, a dull feeling of dread filling Tommy as he hears John’s gleeful snickering from somewhere deeper in the house.

It was too much to hope that John wouldn’t find Polly before him. Far too much to hope that when John found her, that she wouldn’t already be accompanied by every single member of his immediate family. He turns the corner to the kitchen, five sets of eyes locking in on the two men as they enter. 

“See?” John laughs, absolutely delighted, gesturing wildly towards Tommy and Alfie standing in the doorway.

“No,” Arthur grunts, going a bit pale.

Ada and Finn snicker behind their hands, eyes wide. 

Polly just purses her lips, eyeing the two of them, considering. 

“Alright, look.” Tommy steps forward into the room, shooting his younger brother a quick glare. John, unrepentant, grins back at him. “I’m sure John’s told you—.”

“That congratulations are in order?” Polly interrupts, arching a brow.

“It’s been good weather,” Ada jumps in, still giggling a bit. “Good for an outdoor ceremony.”

“Alright,” Tommy holds both his hands up, trying to quiet them down, to stifle the laughter. “No one’s proposing to anyone, you hear me?”

Arthur lets out a sigh of relief. The rest of them keep looking amused. Polly turns her gaze on Alfie, still standing behind Tommy. “So I suppose I don’t need to ask you for your intentions with my nephew, then?”

Alfie makes one of those noises he does, that deep rumbling in the back of his throat. “Well, you could ask me, right, and maybe I’d tell you, out of respect for our dear Thomas standing over there, but I’d not be sure you’d like my answer.”

Tommy looks up, frowning. He’s always overly cautious around the man, always looking for double meaning behind his words. Is what he’s said… a threat? “What do you mean by that?”

“Well,” Alfie moves in closer, tilting his head to the side. He lifts a hand, gesturing towards Tommy standing there. “I mean, if given the opportunity, mate, I’d love to take a run at it, but if that would mean volunteering to join in on this family of yours, I’ll have to decline, right.”

The room is silent for a moment. Just for a minute, though.

“What?” Arthur growls. Ada releases a nervous bark of laughter, eyes still wide and shining with her glee. John and Finn, sitting on either side of her, have matching expressions. Tommy just… stands there.

“Jesus Christ,” Polly murmurs, and with that, she rises to her feet. There’s a sly look to her. “Tommy, perhaps you should have a chat in private with your suitor. Best of luck to you, Mr. Solomons. Heaven knows, you’ll need it.”

The Shelby’s slowly leave the room, Arthur and John seeming particularly reluctant to leave them, for very different reasons. Arthur, on his way out, gets directly into Alfie’s face, glaring, but Alfie is as unphased by threat of direct violence as he always is. 

Soon (much too soon), it’s just Tommy and Alfie stood in the room.

“What?” Tommy asks, weakly, because he still thinks there’s been some sort of misunderstanding, that he’d not interpreted what the man had said correctly, because there’s no way that Alfie actually meant it, right? Not in that way.

All Shelby’s gone, save Tommy, Alfie has the sense to look a bit more bashful than his previous bravado in the face of Arthur and Polly. “Well, wasn’t gonna just fucking… say it, alright?” He runs a large hand down his face, stroking through his beard. “Was going to be proper nice, was going to be romantic.” 

Tommy coughs out a laugh, something far more nervous than he’s normally capable of. “Romantic?”

Alfie nods, twitchy and unpredictable. “Yeah. First was the horse, right? Had to give you a gift, a signal of my esteemed interest. You’re very pretty, is the thing. Makes me want to give you gifts, daft as it is. Couldn’t decide what you’d want, was between that and a razor to sew into those silly little caps of yours. Thought that might come across the wrong way, that you’d think I was threatening to cut ya.” He sighs, eyes darting up towards the ceiling. “Should’ve just gotten you the razor. How was I to know that the horse would be as good as dropping to bended knee?”

Tommy almost blushes at the turn of phrase. Alfie, with his eagle eyes, still notices. His lips quirk up into a smirk.

“That a nice thought, Tom? I’m not as young as I used to be, sweetie, knees don’t cooperate as much as I’d like them to. For someone with a mouth like yours, though, I might be persuaded to try.”

“Alright,” Tommy holds up a hand, putting a stop to that train of thought before it can go any further. He weighs his own words over in his mind, still trying to puzzle through this unprecedented situation. “So… what exactly are you saying? You…” he clears his throat, hating it before he even says it. “You want me?”

Alfie just nods, as if he sees absolutely nothing strange about the concept, as if Tommy’s just asked him if he’d like to stay for a cup of tea. “Yeah. That’s what I’m saying.”

“Oh.” Tommy nods back at him. He bites at the inside of his lip. “Okay. You. Alright.”

Alfie studies him, something shifting in his expression that Tommy instantly picks up on. Disappointment, maybe. “You don’t need to reciprocate, lad. Just say, ‘thanks, but no thanks’, and I’ll be right on my way back to Camdentown, won’t I? Daresay I won’t even do something dastardly, like charge you an extra percentage on your goods. No charge for rejection, alright?”

Tommy snorts. “No cost for hurt feelings?”

Alfie, curiously, laughs. “Different sort of cost, perhaps. Nothing I’d hold you to, though.”

It gives him pause. He’d been well on his way to formulating his rejection, on how to say it without causing any damage to their professional relationship. It’s not that he dislikes Alfie, per say. On the contrary, Tommy finds himself thinking frequently of the man, drawn to him like he’s never been drawn to anyone else, be they friend of foe. He’s strong, and broad, and interesting, and exactly the sort of man that Tommy thinks that people would be attracted to. In fact, if Tommy thinks about it for too long, he’d say that he likes Alfie very much. It’s just his first instinct is to draw away in the face of violence and uncertainty, two things of which Alfie had to offer him in spades. Especially if Alfie weren’t all that serious about this, if he’d just like to “take a run” at him, like he’d said, that was too much mystery for too little payoff. Though it’d probably be spectacular.

But… Despite his words, Alfie doesn’t seem all that interested in something quick, a one-off. The way he’s looking at him now, as if Tommy held the fate of the world in his hands certainly seems invested. 

“Can I… Can I think about it?” Tommy finally decides on. There’s a tension between them, tension that is not unpleasant. 

Alfie nods, expression brightening significantly. He steps forward. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll let you do that.” He looks so large up close, despite not being all that much bigger than Tommy, in reality. “Suppose I’ll go now, then. Give you your time to think on it. On us.”

“Alright.” Tommy manages, the words threatening to get caught in his throat as Alfie continues to approach him. It doesn’t feel menacing. It feels playful, somehow. “Best get back to Camden.”

“Oh, you’ve no idea, treacle. Left the bakery in Ollie’s incompetent hands, you see. I’d be surprised if half of London hasn’t erupted in flames left under his supervision.”

“Ollie’s not that bad,” Tommy offers, lips twisted up a small smile. Alfie takes yet another step closer. He can feel the heat radiating off of his body, the scent of rum and smoke billowing off of him.

“He has his moments.” Alfie nods, face serious, but Tommy can see the amusement in his expression. “Think he just likes to show off, whenever you’re around. Pretty eyes like that will make a man do stranger things.”

Tommy’s smile grows. “The door is behind you, Mr. Solomons.”

“Yeah, yeah it is, isn’t it?” Alfie’s eyes flicker over Tommy’s face, as if trying to memorize what he sees. “I said I’d leave you to think about it, didn’t I?”

“You did,” Tommy nods, “was very courteous of you.”

Alfie’s beard twitches with his concealed grin. “It was very courteous of me, wasn’t it? And I’ve got to check on Ollie now. So I’m leaving.”

“You’re doing a poor job of it.”

“Alright! Alright, I’m going.” Alfie rubs a hand through his whiskers. “Just want to leave you with one more thing to think about, if that’s alright with you.”

“If what’s alright with me—”

Tommy is quickly cut off by Alfie leaning in the final few inches between them, capturing his mouth in a kiss. Alfie’s lips are warm against his, firm and insistent. There’s a hand holding onto his chin, tilting Tommy’s face in exactly the right position to be kissed properly. Tommy’s surprised by it, and surprised by how he melts, how he allows himself to be held onto, his eyes fluttering closed against his volition. 

All too quickly, Alfie darts away, ending the kiss far too soon for Tommy’s liking. He opens his eyes again just in time to see Alfie licking his own lips, as if tasting for anything Tommy might have left behind. The man’s fingers, still holding onto his chin, run soothingly up the length of his jaw before he drops the hand once again to his side.

“Alright.” Alfie grins. “I’ll be off then. You give that a bit of thought, Tom.” 

“Oh,” Tommy chokes out, body flustered and reeling from the kiss, and from Alfie’s quick withdrawal. By the time he’s managed to pull himself together a bit, Alfie’s already at the door.

The man glances back over his shoulder. He’s still smiling, looking insufferably pleased with himself. “See you soon, sweetie.” With that, he’s out the door.

Tommy stands there, listening to the door swing shut behind Alfie. He lifts a hand up to his own face, traces over the place where Alfie’s hand had touched him, then over where his lips are still tingling with the memory of the kiss. His blood pumps hot through his veins, heart racing.

He stumbles over his own feet in his haste to get to the door.

[ijustwant2write]

A Little Secret-Alfie Solomons x Reader (Part 3/?)

(GIF credit to @fockingshelby​)

Masterlist

Part 1 / Part 2

Tags: @haphazardhufflepuff​ @mollybegger-blog​ @broitsriah​ @maryan028​ @peakascum​ @captivatedbycillianmurphy​ @jenepleurepasbaby​ @amirahiddleston​ @bloodorangemoonlight​ @mzcrazy2​ @br0ck-eddie​

Summary: After Alfie’s outburst, he has been avoiding Izzy, not wanting to face up to his disappointment. However, Izzy thinks the exact opposite, but of course, she doesn’t do anything to amend the situation. She too keeps out of his way, thinking she’ll only make him more angry, until they both receive a letter.

Characters: Alfie Solomons x OC!Reader, Ollie x OC!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, mention of death, arguing, shouting, crying, trauma, low self esteem issues

                                   *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Izzy heard something be pushed through the letterbox as she buttered her toast, wiping her buttery hand on a tea towel before going to retrieve it. She hardly got post, all of the time it would be bills, but today was different. It was in a crisp, white envelope with fancy handwriting, it even had a seal on the back. She inspected the wax, trying to figure out who it was from. Izzy had no friends, no family, which meant that this made her heart race in fear rather than anticipation. It opened without ripping and she took out the neatly folded letter. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she read it.

Dear Isabelle,

You are cordially invited to the opening of ‘The Blue Note’.

We have recently taken ownership before refurbishing, giving the club a completely new look and fresh feel. The evening will commence at 7.00PM where music and beverages will be provided. 

Please RSVP to the return address labelled on the envelope. We await for your reply with anticipation.

Kind regards,

Thomas Shelby

Shelby Company Limited

Izzy had no clue who Thomas Shelby was, or why he had invited her to a club opening. If her name hadn’t been addressed at the top, she would think it was just a businessman’s idea to bring in customers. This couldn’t be a coincidence, not after everything that was happening that week. She read it again as she finished her toast, noticing that it was almost time for her to go once she finished eating.

The morning at work went by as usual, time moving swiftly as Izzy completed her tasks alongside everybody else. It had been three days since the incident of her being locked up, and Alfie had avoided her like the plague. Although Izzy had wanted to speak with him, explain that she wasn’t upset with his actions, she knew she would never have the confidence to do so. Like always, she let life pass her by and decide her fate, rather than take control of it herself.

“Izzy,” Ollie got her attention, shoving a pile of letters into her hands,“need you to take these to Alfie, now.”

“I can’t!” Izzy protested, hating that Ollie was already walking away.“He doesn’t want to speak to me.”

“Then don’t speak, just drop off the letters.”

Ollie disappeared around the corner, causing Izzy to tense up, clutching onto the letters. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to look at Alfie’s office door, seeming more daunting than usual. Wanting to get it over with, she picked up the pace, finding herself in front of the door quicker than she expected. Knocking swiftly, Izzy could feel her heart rate increase as she was called in.

Of course Alfie knew it was her by the sound of the knock. He still wanted to keep away from Izzy, not wanting to risk upsetting her more than he already had. When she had cried out his name and ran after him after he punched that fucker, he had hated how that chipped away at him. She was his weakness, and no one else could see that. Noticing how she kept her head down, quickly placing the letters on his desk before turning around.

“Izzy.” he grumbled. 

She froze, glancing over her shoulder.

“I don’t have enough fucking time to sort through this. Do you mind reading them for me?”

She fully turned around, nodding before taking a seat. The first two letters weren’t of any importance to Alfie, he dismissed them after the starting sentence. But the next letter Izzy picked up was familiar to her, and Alfie noticed this.

“You like the look of that one?” he asked in a monotone voice.

“It’s just...” she mumbled.“I’m sure this is the same as the one I received this morning.”

That perked Alfie up.“What?”

She began opening it, recognising the wax seal.“Yeah, it is. It’s an invitation.”

Alfie held out his hand to take it, holding his glasses with his other hand as he read it. He looked confused at first, until he saw the signed name at the bottom, fury filling his body at the thought of Thomas Shelby knowing everything about Izzy.

“You’re not going.” he stated, carelessly throwing the paper on the desk.

“You know I’m not a big fan of clubs anyway.”

“You don’t reply to him, you don’t open anymore letters from him, and you go no where near that club!”

“Mr Solomons, I wasn’t going to-”

“He shouldn’t know about you.”

“Who? Who is Thomas Shelby?”

“He’s the business associate that visited, when that man got shot.”

“How does he know where I live?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you...do you think he wants to hurt me?”

Alfie said nothing, abruptly standing from his chair and storming to his office door. Leaning out of it, he yelled out Ollie’s name, harshly slamming the door again which caused Izzy to flinch. She shouldn’t have mentioned the letter, she was in trouble now, it wasn’t like she was going to go to the club anyway. 

Ollie knocked before entering, sensing the tension in the room as he glanced between his boss and friend. Alfie shoved the letter into Ollie’s hands, his eyes widening as he read it. What was Thomas Shelby’s plan here? He knew Alfie’s temper was short, and he knew that Izzy meant a lot more to than man than he wanted to let on. This wasn’t good, Izzy shouldn’t even be near this place, she never should have been in the first place. Alfie whispered in Ollie’s ear, it was so quiet to ensure that Izzy wouldn’t catch one word of it. 

“Mr Solomons?” Izzy piped up as Ollie left. She tried to make eye contact, but he left swiftly.

“You’re going home now, collecting as many of your things as possible, and letting the lads take you somewhere to stay.” he demanded.

“I’m sorry?”

“Ollie and a few lads are going to drive you home. If you need extra cases, I can get ya’ some-”

“Why am I packing my belongings?”

“Cause you’re staying in an old place of mine, somewhere where no one will find you.”

“W-why? Mr Solomons, what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain once you’re safe.”

“Please Mr Solomons,” Izzy stood, catching his attention and stopping him from pacing,“I need to understand what’s happening. You can’t just cart me about and kick me out of my home!”

She was scared, it was evident all over her face. Alfie didn’t want to tell her. He wanted to hide her away from it all until it was all over, keep her safe until he had shot all those bastards dead. 

Ollie popped his head through the door.“Cars ready Alfie.”

“Please Alfie.” Izzy hardly used his first name.

“Go.”

Izzy’s mind was screaming at her to defend herself, keep begging for an answer. Something dangerous was going on here, and she was near, if not in, the centre of it all. Why couldn’t she just be like any other normal person? They would at least have the decency to raise their voice. But she was weak. She always had been, it would never change. Quickly turning away from Alfie, she hunched up as she brushed past Ollie. There wasn’t anything she could do to go against him.

Staying silent in the car, Izzy had her hands clasped together, squished between two burly men Alfie had entrusted her safety in. Ollie was driving with another man in the passenger seat. No one was in the mood for conversation, not that Izzy would ever be able to hold one with any of them; Ollie was the only one she had ever spoken to for more than two minutes. 

“Be quick as you can Izzy, we need to get you to the safe house.” Ollie advised as they entered her home, two men staying beside the car as the other two checked around the back of her house.“You need me to grab anything for you down here?”

“Um...” it was incredibly hard to think of all your possessions off the top of your head.“No, thank you, Ollie. I...I think everything I need is upstairs.”

Izzy had emptied all of her drawers and wardrobe into the cases she had, though she didn’t own that many clothes anyway. There weren’t any valuable items laying about, though there was one thing she had to save. Kneeling on the floor, Izzy reached underneath her bed, feeling around for the chipped floorboard. Once found, she silently lifted it, reaching inside for the last letters her mother wrote her, as well as the necklace she’d had since she moved there...it had been gifted by a certain someone. 

“Where are we going Ollie? Where’s this safe house? I don’t mind walking to work, I just want to know how far away it is.” Izzy asked as she struggled to carry her cases downstairs.

He quickly took them off her, though hid how heavy they were.“Um, Alfie will explain once we’re there.”

“Mr Solomons will be there?”

“Please Izzy, just do what he’s told you so neither of us get in trouble.”

He didn’t mean to snap, but Izzy knew by now not to question everything. Sometimes her staying silent was the best option. Ollie handed over her cases to the men to load into the car, waiting for her to lock up. She took out her keys, looking up at the tiny, terraced house she had lived in for so many years. It seemed dramatic, but being away from the only place she felt comfort, the only place she could control the look of, it made her uneasy, especially because she didn’t know how long she would be away from it.

The car ride indicated that this safe house was certainly further away than Izzy would have liked. Ollie was secretly glad that the other men were here, it stopped her from asking questions. He didn’t actually know the full story, he didn’t know why Alfie was taking such big precautions; and he was being made to drive through the slums into the countryside, the city slowly being left behind. Firstly the houses started to get bigger and further away from each other, they went from blocks of flats, terraced, before becoming semi-detached. The streets started to look cleaner, as did the people walking them. Instead of homeless men and prostitutes lining the streets, women out for afternoon strolls with their babies in prams chatted away to each other, and old couples enjoyed their retirement together. Izzy held back a smile as she peeked out of the window, having only imagined places like this when she read her books.

Unfortunately, the awkwardness remained in the car for another twenty minutes, all of them secretly relieved when they pulled up at another house. It wasn’t a place that homed people full of riches, though they certainly weren’t poor. Driving down a back alley, they parked outside a small, semi-detached house. The other house beside it had a boarded up door and windows, with overgrown ivy all over it.

“This belongs to Mr Solomons?” Izzy asked as they all exited the car.

“Apparently so. I was as shocked as you are.” Ollie said before instructing the others to take her cases inside.

As they stepped inside, they saw that it was minimally decorated, though that didn’t surprise them. There were a few cobwebs about the place, as well a dust that had settled on top of surfaces. But with a quick clean up, it could look homely. It hadn’t been lived in for a while, the floorboards creaked from the new weight (that was something Izzy was both thankful and upset about, she could hear if anyone was in the house, but then again, that would mean someone was in the house). 

“Izzy?” Ollie called to her as she explored the kitchen. Her head showed up in the doorway.“They’ve put your things upstairs.”

“Thank you.” she meekly said, going back into the kitchen until she saw Ollie leaving.“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, the men will stay though, to guard you.”

She scurried down the hallway to him, standing in the doorway as he continued walking.“What am I meant to do?”

“Settle in. Alfie will be here soon, maybe you could clean up the house?” he was joking, but that didn’t resonate with Izzy.

“Do you know what’s going on? With any of this?”

He sighed, approaching her so the others wouldn’t hear.“I’m sorry Izzy, I don’t know anything. If I did, I promise I would tell you. Alfie has instructed me to bring you here, and said he’ll be coming to see you today.”

“Oh...right.”

“Izzy, you’ll be absolutely safe here, we’re prepared for anything...I didn’t mean...not that anything will happen. I’m going to go before I say anything else.”

After Ollie left, she locked the door with the keys left for her, wishing there were more locks. She was in a small state of shock. Her life was being controlled, all because of something that she had no idea about. The only thing she could do now was as Ollie said, settle in. She was disturbed by the dust everywhere, heading into the kitchen to find a duster and other cleaning supplies. Her own belongings could wait. Covering her mouth with a handkerchief, Izzy still coughed and sneezed, her eyes watering. The house was modest for what rooms it held. It had a front room, a kitchen, a bathroom, two bedrooms and a small garden. It was more than what Izzy had ever had, and it was properly furnished. But you knew no one had been living here.

“Izzy?” Alfie’s voice made her jump. She had just finished dusting in the bedroom her cases were.“Izzy, where are you?”

Removing the handkerchief from her mouth, she brushed off the dust that had fallen onto her dress as she made her way down the stairs. Alfie was stood at the bottom, watching her. In that moment, he couldn’t help but think...no, he shouldn’t be thinking things like that, they would never come true.

“What you think then?” Alfie sniffed.

“It’s a lovely house, Mr Solomons.”

“Won it in a bet didn’t I? Didn’t know it would come in handy one day. Tea?”

She followed him into the kitchen, starting to boil the water as he sat down at the table big enough for four people. He glanced around the place, trying to distract himself from how Izzy looked like the perfect housewife in that moment. No one spoke as the tea brewed. Izzy wanted to ask questions, but she knew she had to be grateful for whatever Mr Solomons was protecting her from. And Alfie didn’t want to say anything stupid, he thought she was still angry with him. Once the tea was ready, Izzy focused on keeping a steady hand as poured it into two cups. The tension was building more and more by the second, she didn’t want to make matters worse by pouring boiling water onto your boss’ crotch.

“You’re probably confused.” Alfie said, taking a sip of the drink.

Izzy sat beside him, leaving her cup.“Yes, I am.”

“I’m just being over cautious Iz, can’t risk anything.” 

“About what?”

He rubbed his eyes with one hand, sighing loudly.“That letter you received, it’s from Thomas Shelby.Do you know who he is?”

Izzy shook her head.

“I hoped you wouldn’t. But I’ve got to tell you in order for all of this to make sense. He’s the leader of this gang, right, this gang from Birmingham. They call themselves the Peaky Blinders, due to the razors they sew into their caps. It’s, it’s barbaric if you ask me.”

“And, this gang, they want to hurt me?”

“Nah, nah, not that I know of. But he’s becoming a powerful man. He’s proven that by finding out who you are and where you live.”

“You don’t think they had anything to do with the man who harassed me in the street?”

“Nah, but he’s up to something.”

“So...so what do we do now?”

“You’re going to stay here, until that’s figured out.”

“But how am I supposed to get to work? I mean, it’s no problem for me to walk, I just know it’s further away-”

“You’re not going to walk to work, because you’re not going to work Izzy.”

“But, how am I supposed to earn money? What am I going to do here?”

“I’ll still pay you. Think of it as holiday pay. A holiday where you can’t leave the house.”

“What?”

“No one knows you round here Izzy, but you can’t let anyone see you here. That’s why it’s good that the house is tucked away with no neighbours.”

“But I could be stuck here for ages.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you, you like being alone.”

Izzy raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, you keep to yourself, you don’t have any friends, what’s wrong with staying in here?”

“Because I’m trapped!”

Alfie hadn’t expected her to protest.“You’re not fucking trapped! You’re safe!”

“Safe from what? You won’t tell me!”

“What’s got into you? You’re never like this.”

“Because...because maybe I’m scared! You’re not telling me anything Mr Solomons-”

Alfie stood from his chair, coming off more demeaning as he towered over her.“Why do you always call me that? We’ve known each other since we were children! You never say my name!”

Izzy shrunk into her seat, hands gripping the side of the chair in fear.“I-I...You’re my boss, I-”

“That makes no difference! Oh for fucks sake, Izzy, we’re practically the same age!”

Izzy ducked her head, too scared to look at him.“I’m sorry, Mr Sol-Al-Alfie!”

Alfie realised how he looked to her, but his stubbornness got in the way. Instead of apologising like she should have, and wanted to, he kept going, somehow thinking that scaring her more would make her want to stay.

“Just do as you’re told. It’s not like anyone is going to notice you’re gone. I’m doing this for you, some fucking gratitude would be nice.”

But as soon as he saw the tears in her eyes, he hated himself. How was he supposed to know how to talk to women? Let alone comfort them! Izzy meant a dear amount to him, which is why he hated himself right now. He knew this woman for most of his life, why couldn’t he read her? Not knowing what else to say, Alfie left the shocked woman behind, heading out and past the men he put in place. They pretended they hadn’t heard any of their shouting.

Izzy didn’t move for another few minutes, scared that something else might happen. Alfie slamming the door didn’t help, causing her to flinch, a small yelp escaping her mouth. Once she was certain he was gone, the tears fell freely and silently, not wanting to make any noise, with only one thought circling her mind.

Why am I so weak?

[innocent-chris-evans-slut]

Nowhere without You

My Masterlist ✨

Requests are open.

soft/sad!Ransom x Reader 

Word Count: 2.5k

Type: fluff, smut

Summary: Ransom runs into one of his one-night stands at work. She doesn’t remember him, only that she had great sex with him, and then tells him that probably none of the girls he had been with remembers his name. He wasn’t important to them. When he comes back home, you get something had happened.

Warning(s): small smut

Author’s Note: if you like this, there’s a bonus scene waiting for you. Do you want it?

“Do you really have to go?” you asked your boyfriend as he looked at himself in the wall-long mirror. You acknowledged his focus changing and a moment later he was in front of the bed, fixing his side as he looked at you. “I can keep you warm”, you said in a lustful tone.

“You’re such a whore”, he came closer and placed his palms at both sides of your face, completely turned to him, “My whore”, he left a soft kiss on your forehead and went down, until his lips met with yours, “And I love you”.

You knew that morning’s meeting was very important for Ransom and his career. If there was only a chance to bring to life his books, he had to take it.

After Harlan’s threat to keep him out from his will, Ransom was destroyed. He couldn’t find anything to fulfill his desire to prove to his grandfather and his family that he was better than them. Then he met you and you brought something he would never expect to feel in his life: love.

With you, by his side, he felt so powerful that with the money left from Harlan’s last deposit on Ransom’s account, your now-boyfriend decided to start his own publishing company. And that was the job he was waiting for for a lifetime.

You certainly helped him running it, giving some advice when needed, but he did most of the job. “Kick they asses, babe”, you turned around to give him a kiss, which he totally took.

“Will be done”, he covered your necked chest and said: “Keep that pussy warm and wet for me. I have a plan for when I’ll be back” he smirked and then got back erected, “I love you, sweetheart”.

“I love you too, babe!” you shouted as you heard his steps becoming more and more distant from you.

You grabbed his pillow, which still had his scent on, and hugged him while closing your eyes again and falling asleep.

Once the morning meeting had ended, Ransom was the first one to leave the conference room –as usual-, though he had to shake somebody’s hand before actually getting out of it. He leaned against the doorframe as he sent a message to you:

Heading home with a win, sweetheart. And I hope you’ve done what I had asked for 😏

He had to contain himself when he opened your message and saw nothing but an image of you with your fingers in your mouth. Then another image popped up, and it was way more alluding that the other one. It portrayed you on your bed, bare-chest and your hand wandering on your flat belly.

When Ransom was about to reply to your message, he literally ran into someone, and now that someone was swearing at him, really much. He looked up at the person he had hit and gasped when he recognized her as one of his past one-night girls.

“Madison, is that you?”

The woman raised her eyes from the papers spread on the floor and furrowed her eyes at him. If he was someone, she had spent a night with, she didn’t remember at first; then she focused on him and a flash came into her mind when she glanced at his hands.

Those hands.

Madison clearly remembered those hands and those fingers…they had done only good things on his body, though she couldn’t remember his name, “Huh…hi, how are you…?” she smiled at him and stretched out her hands to shake Ransom.

There was something strange in her attitude as if she was struggling to remember his name, so he did it for her, “Ransom”, he said and shook her hand, “I’m fine. How are you doing?”

Until a couple of years ago he would have never imagined greeting and talking to one of his one-night stands; that was one of the many things you had taught him during your relationship. Being gentler with people.

The girl giggled and brought his hand to cover her laugh, “I’m sorry-“ she started, trying to catch her breath, “That’s just so…funny. You greet me and I don’t even remember your name”, she left Ransom speechless, he didn’t know what to say or what to do because he didn’t understand what was going on, “Oh, don’t put on that puppy face. You’re none special. Actually, you should be happy that actually none of your girls remembers you”, she kept laughing, as if the situation was slightly funny from her point of view.

Ransom, on the other hand, was a mix of angry and embarrassment. Little did he know that Madison hadn’t ended yet.

“I’ve heard that this place is yours. Congrats then”, she gave him a challenging look as she crossed her arms over her chest, “Tell me, are you up for a drink tonight?” Madison approached Ransom as she had always done: a hand slowly making its way to his bicep and then to his shoulder, stopping on his cheek, “C’mon, I know you feel it too”.

“I’m sorry, Madison”, the built man took her hand into his and firmly, yet gently, pushed her away, “I don’t do these things anymore”.

“What?!” she was more than surprised when hearing it, mainly because she could have never imagined Ransom Drysdale would have refused her, “Are you gay?”

“Wh- No, I’m not. I have a girlfriend.”

The girl in front of him started laughing uncontrollably again, this time she let everybody on the same level as her ear her thunderous laughs, “Ransom Drysdale…has a…girlfriend”, she managed to say in-between giggles, “Please, tell me that you’re not serious”, it was enough a gaze to understand that he was way more than serious, “Oh, God. Somebody tells that woman to get away while she can”, her laughing had calmed down and she kept talking, “Ransom, you will never be enough for anybody. That girl, whoever she is, will walk away as soon as she will see who you truly are. Don’t forget it, Ransom, you’re not cut out for settling down, because you need to change”.

Having said that, she walked away as she saw her boss calling for her. Madison left Ransom with a billion thoughts in his mind. Thoughts that would never leave him.

When you saw Ransom pulling over in your walkway, you could easily say that there was something wrong with him. His anger came out by the way he’d slammed the door of his beloved BMW and the way he walked towards the front door of your house.

You were in the living room, sat on the couch, and currently cuddling Ollie, your dog.

It took you months, and an endless list of indecent promises to Ransom, to finally convince him to adopt a dog. Though he didn’t want to show it, he was thrilled at the idea of having someone to take with him on his morning runs and, occasionally, to wander for hours in the huge backyard of your house, while you were at work, or cooking dinner.

You gave Ollie his favorite stuffed animal and ran to the front door, right when Ransom entered the house. “What happened?” you asked worriedly. You were about to caress his cheek with your hand when he grabbed you by your wrist and pushed you away.

He tossed his coat on the first armchair he’d found and walked upstairs, slamming the door of your bedroom behind his back. On the couch, Ollie jumped and hid behind your legs as he heard the violent noise.

“Bubba, stay here. I’ll check on daddy”, you petted him where you knew he liked it and brought his toy back to him; then you made your way to your bedroom. You quietly opened the door and saw your boyfriend drinking whiskey, directly from the bottle, “Ransom, babe, what happened?” you sat down between his legs and took the glass-made bottle from his hands, closing it and placing it back to where it belonged. Then you slowly stretched your hand out to brush your fingers on his cheek, “Talk to me”.

Ransom closed his eyes as soon as he felt your fingers gently caressing his cheek.

You’re not cut for settling down.

Madison’s words echoed in his head while he wrapped his arms around your hips and made you sit on his lap. In that position, his favorite position, he hid his face in the crook of your neck and breathed in your scent -as if he wanted to remember it forever.

Then he got up and held his firm grip on your hips, drawing you on the bed with him. He positioned himself on the top of you and crushed his lips on yours.

There wasn’t time for words, all that Ransom did was touching you, gently rubbing his hands on your body. He took off your shirt and shorts and tossed them to the side of the room -soon followed by his own. In a matter of seconds, both of you were wearing only your underwear.

Ransom put all his weight on his knees and stayed straight, staring down at you, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen”, he went down, kissing the invisible line at the center of your chest up to your navel, “I’ll never have enough of you”. His fingers interlaced with yours over your head, and tightened when Ransom went kissing your collarbone, “I love you, sweetheart”.

You two had sex like never before; you skipped the foreplays, going straight to the point in which Ransom was thrusting into you extremely slowly, yet deeply, just to the point that you could feel him hitting your cervix and sending shivers down to your spine. You tried to open your mouth, asking him what the matter was, but he was quicker than you and kissed you before you could throw him away. Then he went down, leaving a trail of wet kisses on your jaw, neck, and collarbone. Eventually, he stopped and grabbed in his mouth your left nipple; you felt his cold teeth coming in contact with your hot skin, causing the growing knot in your stomach to become bigger and bigger. His other hand went taking care of your right tit, his fingers gently played with your sensitive nipple. You gasped in search of air and squeezed his hand when you reached your climax, you arched your back and his marble-like chest came in contact with your torso.

Ransom thrust inside you another couple of times before you could feel a warm flow covering your inner walls. He bent over you and brought your arms wrapping his shoulders, again he hid his face in the crook of your neck and lifted you just enough to slip his arms around your waist. When his body hovered yours, your heavy breaths calmed down immediately, as if one recognized the other.

You definitely melted when Ransom whispered to your ear how beautiful you were, how lucky he was to have you, and how perfect for him you were.

“I love you-“

As you heard his voice cracking, you gently took his head between your hands and forced him to make eye contact with you. “What happened?” you saw his eyes becoming watery the more he looked at you, yet your boyfriend couldn’t avoid your gaze.

“You’ll leave me”, he saw the questioning look you sent him and explained himself better: “Everyone did it in the past and will do in the future. As much as I love you, I can’t keep you from your life and I promise, I’ll let you go when you will do it. You are the only person that I love more than my life and, fuck, I can’t even imagine a life without you”, a tear ran down his cheek and you instantly swiped it away with your thumb.

You were hardly trying to hold back your tears, yet you could feel the corners of your eyes slowly releasing them, and your throat was sore, “Then don’t do it. I’m here and I’m not planning on going anywhere without you. Once I promised you, I’ll be by your side, and there’s where you’ll find me. Always. Do never think I’ll leave you”, you kissed him, sealing the promise -once more- you’d made him. “I love you, Hugh Ransom Drysdale”.

“I love you, too”, he pulled himself out of you and kissed you once more, before disappearing into the bathroom. He came out less than a minute after, a towel in his left hand and a comb in the other one, “Time to clean you up”, he gently brought the warm towel to your core and cleaned the overspill of juices on your thighs. After, he left a kiss on both of them and put on your panties. Then he sat, his back against the headboard, and made a room for you to sit between his legs.

You felt his thick fingers extricate the several knots in your hair, subsequently, he brushed and braided it, “Will you ever tell me how you can make a perfect braid?” you turned on your left side, facing him, after switching off the lamp on your bedside table.

Ransom did the same and accepted your invitation to put his head on your chest, between your breasts, “Maybe one day”, he closed his eyes and, as if he was a child, he fell asleep by listening to your heart pace. He mumbled an ‘I love you’ and then his legs interlaced with yours.

You felt his grasp tightening around you and you smiled, leaving a soft kiss on his forehead and closed your eyes, wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

Author’s Note: if you like this, there’s a bonus scene waiting for you. Do you want it?

Tag List: 

@thummbelina

@stargazingfangirl18

@rororo06

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Alrighty, so as a few of you know I have plans to write a sci-fi book series sometime in the nebulous future. This series centers around a former slave boy named Oliver and the crew of the spaceship Catacrome and their adventures/how they become found family.

And, uh, I wrote a few whumptober stories for it.

This first one takes place while Oliver is still a slave. He’s 8-10 in all of these stories (I haven’t settled on a concrete age for him yet). This is my least-developed story/world (it basically just has characters with varying amounts of backstory) and this is the most I’ve ever written for it at one time. That being said, I hope you enjoy!

All of these are rated PG, I think. warnings for implied/mentioned child abuse

(story under the cut)

Prompt No. 1 Barbed Wire Ft. Oliver

             There was barbed wire around the top of the wall of the slave compound.

           It was electric. Oliver had seen a bird land there once. Its death had given him nightmares for weeks.

           One did not lightly decide to climb the wall of the slave compound, but Oliver knew it was the only way to escape. The doors were alarmed and you needed a badge to open them. Not to mention the guards that patrolled constantly.

           But at night the slaves were locked in lean-tos out in the yard. They were old and drafty, and the metal that made them up was rusted, and if you were very small and very desperate, there were holes you could get out of.

           Oliver was very, very desperate. Winter was coming, and even if he survived another [friend’s name] would not. He was sick too often, and weak from the mine work they had to do. Stormy’s mother said he would most certainly die this winter, and Stormy’s mother knew such things.

           So, Oliver had to escape and bring back help. To do this he had to get out of the lean-tos and get over the wall. But the wall was high and made of stone, and Oliver did not have much practice climbing. So every night he snuck out through a little gap in the metal of the lean-to wall and taught himself to climb the wall. It was hard, and he had more than a few falls, but slowly he learned where to put his hands and feet, and which stones would hold his weight and which would crumble.

           The air was cold the night he finally made it to the top of the wall, chest heaving, arms and legs like jelly, eyes watering in the wind. He lay atop the wall, trying to summon some strength to go back down.

           crrraaaackle

           Oliver jumped and looked over at the barbed wire fence as it sparked blue. His heart beat faster, and he sat up, slowly edging away from the curved spikes. How would he ever get over those? They were half as tall as him, and even if the electricity was off the spikes would still catch him.

           CRRRRRAAAAAACK!

           Oliver jerked back from the surge, forgetting he was sitting on top of a wall, and tumbled backward. His mouth opened in a silent squeak of terror and he grabbed for the wall.

           His fingers caught in a small cleft of rock and his arm wrenched, tearing a tiny cry from him. He dangled there, heart pounding, fingers throbbing. He had fallen almost halfway down. If he let go now-

           The wall crumbled in his grasp. Oliver crashed to the ground.

           His vision went black.

           He couldn’t breathe.

           Terror welled up in him, and he willed himself to gasp for air. A painful, terrifying moment later, his body complied, and he pulled in a breath. A second later a muffled sob escaped him.

           His head was pounding, and every time he took a breath it hurt. Tears welled up in his eyes, and on instinct he tried to curl up on his side, only to stop as jagged pain wrenched through him. His arm hurt, his chest hurt, his head hurt and he was tired, he didn’t want this, he didn’t want this-

           Oliver lay there until his tears had run out. The pain had not, however, and as he slowly sat up his head throbbed and the pain in his side felt like knives being shoved through his ribs. His arm ached.

           He limped back to the lean-tos and woke Stormy’s mother. She was annoyed, but tended to him.

           “You’re lucky you didn’t split your skull,” she groused as she inspected the bump on the back of his head. “Or your sides. How you didn’t break yourself in two is beyond me. As it is your ribs are only a little cracked. You’ll be fine, just hurt for a while. Serves you right for pulling such a stunt. You’ll never get out of here, boy.”            “I have to,” sniffled Oliver. “If I don’t [friend’s name] will die, and-”            “Yes, yes, and you’ll be terribly bereaved about it, wander around crying and sobbing like a baby. The sooner you youngsters learn that death is just a part of things here the better. I had five children before Stormy and all were dead before their twelfth birthdays. You might make it another year, if you’re unlucky, then you’ll join your friend.”            “I’m going to get us help,” said Oliver, but his voice small and not very hopeful. It was hard to be determined when it felt like you had been cracked into pieces.            Stormy’s mother snorted. “There’s no help for us here boy. Now here,” she pressed a pill into his hand. “Take that for the pain and go to sleep. Dream those wild notions out of your head. They’ll only get you killed in more painful ways.”

           Oliver took the pill and stumbled back to his sleeping spot next to [friend’s name]. He had just curled into the least-painful position possible when his friend’s eyes opened.

           “How was it?” he asked, his voice soft.            Oliver winced. “I fell.”            “Off the wall?!”            “Uh-huh. I was only halfway up. Or down, I was coming down.”            “Are you okay?”            Oliver rubbed his eyes. “I hurt.”

           His friend looked sad and scooted closer, wrapping his thin arms around Oliver. “I wish you weren’t so brave.”            Oliver shut his eyes and sighed. “Me too.”

           They were silent for a few moments, then-

           “I made it to the top of the wall.”            His friend pulled back and looked at him with wide eyes. “Really? Oliver that’s amazing!”            “I don’t know how to get over the wire,” said Oliver. “It was sparking a lot.”            “Hmm, maybe we could get into a power box and cut the wires.”            “And then cut the wire on the wall?”            “Yeah!”            “But they’d notice.”            “Not if we cut a little section of the wire off then stuck it back so it looked normal,” said his friend. “You could use a stick or something to push it back when you went to escape.”            Oliver nodded, hope trickling back into him. “That could work.” He smiled a little. “You have the best ideas.”            His friend chuckled and pressed his face into Oliver’s hair. “And you’re the bravest of us all, Ollie.”

           Oliver smiled wider and nestled against his friend. Stormy’s mother might know all about death, but she didn’t know anything about escaping. Oliver would get out.

           He would.

           He had to.

[sparkleofpizza]

The archer - Tim Drake x reader 1/?

Hey guys, how are you doing? I have been working on this story for a while now and decided to finally post it, I am currently still writing the next parts because I decided to change a few ideas I had previously, but this is mainly just me giving Tim Drake some love and incorporating a bit of my love for Arrow too. Hope you guys like it and feel free to request me anything if you'd like, I write for the batboys, Wally and Conner. 

Requested: no

Warnings: some swearing

Summary: Y/n Queen will be living in the Wayne Manor for a while, and Dick Grayson decided to be the Cupid between her and his little brother Tim Drake.

Word count: 2.228

Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

The Wayne manor was silent that day, Bruce had everyone prepared for the arrival of a guest. The four boys were pissed off as why they had to make sure their rooms were organized, it was not like the guest would sleep in there. Dick and Jason didn't even live there anymore, but they gave up on arguing after one pointed look from Alfred.

When the doorbell finally rung, the boys were all too busy playing around in the cave - somewhere they found out they would have privacy, after all there was no way the guest would get there. So they weren’t there to greet you as you found your way around the house, after being greeted by Bruce and Alfred, letting them take your bags to the room you’d be staying at and showing you around.

You ended up standing in front of the clock, you knew pretty well what that clock meant, your brother had told you about that. You had a vague idea that the boys would be there - you really wanted to meet all of them - but didn’t want to intrude, this wasn’t your house after all and Bruce was already being nice enough to let you stay over while your brother was away in some business. So you went back to your room, deciding to meet them when was the right time.

And it actually didn’t take long for you to run into one of them. You collided with a huge body, making you land in your butt as you looked up to see none other than Jason Todd. He started down at you.

“Who are you?” He asked, frowning "Are you the guest Bruce told us about?"

“Hello to you too, Jason.” You rolled your eyes at the boys antics, pushing yourself up “It’s nice to see you again.”

He started at you for a few seconds before realization drowned on him. You are Y/N Queen, Oliver’s young sister and Roy’s ‘sister’ as well. He hasn’t seen you such a long time he almost didn’t recognize you.

“Y/N?!” He questioned, too surprised, patting your shoulder “Oh, it’s good to see you again. You look so different from the last time I saw you.”

“That’s because the last time you saw me I was sixteen.” You smirked up at him “Which means you’re getting a bit old.”

He narrowed his eyes at you “You’re like eighteen now or something?”

“Nineteen, actually.”

He nodded, leading you downstairs to the kitchen “Well, you’re still underage so you still have to respect me and do what I say.”

“When have I ever done something people tell me to do? I literally went after a serial killer on my own when I was fifteen just because Ollie told me to stay out of it.”

Jason nodded his head, remembering Roy complaining about something like that. He didn’t pay much attention at the story at the time because he thought it was boring and he had better things to think of, such as his revenge on Bruce, but now it seemed amusing a small girl like you trying something like that. He made a mental note to ask you more details about it later.

“I hope none of you are doing anything imprudent, we have a visitor and that would be really bad looking for you all.” Jason exclaimed, entering the kitchen with you by his side 

His three brothers were sitting on the counter, fighting over the last cookie Alfred had made earlier. Their heads shot up in curiosity trying to find out who was there with their brother. Hoping it wouldn't be the mysterious guest.

You stood still, pushing some hair from your face and offering them a friendly smile. Oliver has told you about them, even Roy filled you in on who they were, you’ve seen pictures of them, after all they were Bruce’s Wayne kids, but damn, you didn’t expect them to be this good looking in person. 

“Todd, who’s this?” A small boy questioned, holding up a knife to point at you

You chuckled at that “I’m y/n, it’s really nice to meet you. Maybe you should let go of that knife, kids shouldn’t hold things that can hurt them.”

“I’m not a kid!” He yelled 

His brothers laughed at his face, Tim already taking a liking into you. If you got to bother Damian in less than five minutes into conversation than you were cool. Dick though you were funny and Jason smiled proudly just because he knew you before everyone else.

“This are my brothers, Dick, Tim and Damian.” Jason introduced them to you 

You smiled once again, taking a sit across from where they were. 

“So...” Dick started “Y/n, when did you and Jason get together?”

“What? You think we’re dating?” You almost gagged, taking a look at the boy beside you. From all the stories you heard about him from Roy, you were 110% sure that you’d never be able to feel something more for him “We’re not together.” You chuckled at the end

Jason narrowed his eyes “Y/n is the guest Bruce told us about, but hold on a second... Why did you sound so disgusted?”

“Because anyone would be disgusted if someone thought they were dating you, Todd.” Damian rolled his eyes, earning a few laughs from his brother and you, and a death glare from Jason

“Roy just tells me so much shit about you, and you guys are glued. It would be like dating Roy, totally weird.”

“Oh, you’re friends with Roy?” Tim asked, leaning in a bit, curious about how much you knew about them all

You smiled directly at him, flipping some hair from your face. He stared at you for a while, mouth slightly open before quickly shutting it close. You were so pretty and what a perfect smile you have. 

“Yeah, I’ve known him almost my whole life.” You replied, frowning a bit, thinking back into old memories of when things went down hill, but quickly smiled again at boy in front of you “So I know plenty about all of you.” 

That gave him the answer he needed. You knew about their nightly activities, which was better than having to lie all the time. Not like he was expecting to have you around all the time, you were just staying for a while. But he wouldn’t mind staring at your gorgeous e/c eyes, and pretty conquer smile. 

Dick’s eyes went wide, looking at his brother and than at you. An idea already popping on his mind, if you weren’t dating Jason, maybe that meant you weren’t dating anyone, since you stated you also weren’t dating Roy. Big chances of you being single. Watching you and Tim interact made him want to play match maker, oh he was desperate to play match maker.

“How old are you, y/n?” He blurted out loudly 

“I’m nineteen, why?”

“Oh! Nothing! Just curiosity. Did you know Tim is twenty-one? Only two years older than you! Funny, right?”

You nodded, biting your lower lip to prevent yourself from laughing. Dick didn’t know how to be discreet.

It had been a couple of days since you’ve been at the manor and you noticed a couple of things:

1. Damian was a very hard person to socialize with, he was very judging and didn’t seem to enjoy your presence at all.

2. Jason was everything Roy told you about him, and that was kind of creepy.

3. Dick was definitely trying to play cupid, asking you random questions out of the blue and then stating facts about Tim.

4. Tim had a very weird sleeping pattern, was coffee addicted and the nicest to talk out of the four of them. 

You tried to live your days as normally as possible, but nothing normal is really normal in this family. You thought it was ok their vigilant routine, your brother was one as well, but weren’t they extreme sometimes?! No wonder Oliver said Bruce was uptight. They show zero emotions. 

You tried not to get in their way, not really bothering them when they were busy with patrol and cases. You figured your time of the day should be during the night, when the would be out of the manor and on the streets fighting crime. 

Going down to the kitchen to get some coffee, maybe something to eat and then you could silently laugh while watching Brooklyn 99. What you didn’t expect was to run into Tim during that.

He was pouring down coffee on his mug when you appeared on the doorway. He glanced up, smiling once he saw you.

“Did I wake you up?” He questioned, leaning down on the counter 

“No.” You shook your head, smiling back at him “I came to get some coffee. Shouldn't you be on patrol?" 

"It is my day off." Tim replied, watching you as he took a sip of his coffee

"So then... Can't sleep?"

“I normally don’t sleep. What about you?”

You arched your brows at that, pouring some hot coffee in a mug for you. Who normally doesn’t sleep?

“Just wanted to watch some Netflix in the quite of the night.” You shrugged “What do you normally do since you don’t sleep?”

"I just work on some cases."

That seemed unlikely. How could someone stay up all night just working on some cases? He certainly did other things, maybe he had a secret girlfriend and he would sneak her into his room at night and that's just what he told everyone he was doing? Working on some cases.

"But you do that all night? I doubt it's healthy. Don't you like have a secret girlfriend you're sneaking in and you just don't want anyone to find out about?"

Tim laughed at your statement, shaking his head. 

"I don't have any secret girlfriend or a real girlfriend for the matter. I like working at night. You could help me sometime, if you'd like?" A dust pink took over his cheeks, maybe he crossed the line by asking you join him in his room in the middle of the night, but you smiled at him 

"I'd love to help you on some cases. Shall we start now?"

He nodded, grabbing your hand and pulling you in towards his room. You smiled at the touch of your palms, his hand was way bigger than yours, but you liked how it felt against your skin. His fingers were cold. You could get used to holding hands with him, it felt nice.

You entered his room, looking at the place around you and seeing how it had so much of him in it. It smelled like coffee and his cologne, a nice combination. He closed the door behind you, leading you to his desk.

"So, what do you want me to help you with?" You questioned, leaning on the desk and staring at him 

He took a moment to admire you. Your face free of makeup, some natural redness on the skin that made you look cute, your hair down on your shoulders, and your comfy pijamas. 

"Have you ever worked on a case before?" You nodded, making him look at you with surprise. You smirked before he kept on talking "I'm trying to track down some of these weapon buyers, there's supposed to be a sale soon, but I can't point out the location yet."

"What are our leads?"

Tim smiled, showing you all the evidence he got before splitting up the job and the both of you starting to work. You sat on his bed with a laptop and he sat beside you with his own. Both clicking at the keyboard, trying to find new clues to find out the place of the weapon sale before it's too late. 

At some point of the night, you had decided to take a small break. Laying on your side, looking at Tim while he worked and holding a small conversation with him. But then you were too quiet and when he looked at you again, you had fallen asleep, holding on his shirt sleeve. 

He closed his laptop, carefully placing it on his night stand, trying not to disrupt you, and lied down himself. He tried to put some distance between your bodies, but you shifted only getting closer to him once you missed his body warmth, and he found himself trapped when you plopped a leg over his thighs. His cheeks turned red and he was really glad you were asleep so you wouldn't be able to see how flustered he was right now. 

Eventually, during the night, Tim wrapped his arms around you as your head was placed on top of his chest. And that's how Alfred found the both of you in the morning, having checked your room to wake you up for breakfast and being frighted to find an empty bed. 

"What you're staring at, Alfred?" Dick asked, waking past him on the hallway only to squeaky like a little kid once he saw you two asleep holding each other "I knew it! I knew they'd end up together!"

He grabbed his phone, snapping a couple of pictures before being rushed out of there by Alfred. Tim deserved some sleep, and the both of you looked too adorable together to be disturbed like that. 

[smkkbert]

Time for a story - So it begins

To read before:  Present tense & Missing

Thea and Roy were the last to arrive to the bunker. Roy was holding the sleeping Robbie cradled against his chest. Thea, who was seven months pregnant now, was holding a hand to her baby bump. The slow movements of her fingers told Oliver that she could feel her baby, his nephew, kicking at the excitement of this nightly trip.

As soon as Thea had taken the few steps up onto the platform where Felicity’s work space usually was, she crossed the distance towards Oliver. Straightening up on the tip of her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and put a hand to the back of his head.

“We will find her, Ollie,” she promised with whispered voice, soothing him, “of course we will find her.”

Oliver put his arms around Thea’s waist and tried to believe in her words. He wanted to believe that she was right. He wanted to believe in that spark of hope that she offered, but he just couldn’t do it.

While they were still hugging, he looked at the team that he had to help him find Felicity. Thea and Roy were his legal family. John and Lyla were his family by heart. John had been the first person to join his team. He was his best friend, and the person he trusted more. He was the one who would have to lead this operation because he was calmer and more focused than Oliver could be, especially given the situation at hand. Nick was Felicity’s – and through that – his family too. He wasn’t exactly stable yet, but he was skilled, and he’d do everything necessary to save Felicity. When it all went down, Oliver trusted Nick to follow him in the most dangerous darkness to save Felicity.

Fact was that the entire team was family. People who went through the shit that they had been put through and continued to go through it again and again every single night they went out into the field for years either became enemies or family. Oliver was lucky enough to call the people around him family.

They’d be complete if Tommy and Laurel were there too, but they had gone on vacation three days ago. Tommy had wanted to escape his day of death. It was still so traumatizing for him that it was hard for him to live through it. Taking his wife to some lonely place where they could be all alone and he could let himself fall and be caught by her was what he needed. Oliver got that. He often felt the same way about his trauma.

Oliver tightened his arms around Thea’s waist once more before he let go of her. He took a step back and flashed her a sad smile. It was meant to soothe her the way that she had tried to soothe him and tell her that he was doing okay – as okay as possible given the circumstances – but he guessed that it looked so pathetic that it wasn’t believable at all.

While Thea stepped back towards Roy, who put his free hand to the small of her back and rubbed it over the probably aching part of her muscles, Oliver looked around the faces of the people around him. His fingers tightened around the banister around him.

“Thank you all for coming here. I know that-“

“Spare yourself the breath, Oliver,” John interrupted him softly and shook his head, “because, as far as I got it, we don’t have a lot of time. What about Felicity?”

Oliver sucked in a deep breath, grateful that he got to skip the general rules of politeness. After the island, he had felt like he had forgotten all about those rules the same way he had felt unable to participate in small talk or anything like that. Felicity had taught him to adapt to more normal standards, but sometimes it was still hard to remember it.

“William Tockman got her.”

“Tockman?” Roy frowned. “Should I know who that is?”

“He calls himself the Clock King. Sara, John, Felicity and I know him. He hired two criminals to steal something from Kord Enterprise and killed one of them for killing a guard. Later, he hired others to steal money from the Starling National Bank. We set him up, so he broke into another agency of Starling National. That is where we took her down, well, Felicity did.”

“So he wants revenge,” Dominic concluded and crossed her arms in front of her chest, “and he wants to wreak revenge on Felicity the most which is not good news.”

Oliver nodded his head though he felt every muscle in his body tensing once more. He knew what Lyla meant. There was no good reason why Tockman would want Oliver to find Felicity alive. Her death would certainly suit him much more, at least unless he was going to kill him in front of her eyes.

“Tockman is playing a game.” Oliver gestured to the traces that he had found already. “He sent me the countdown. That’s the time I have to find Felicity. It started at forty-eight hours and went down since I opened the gift box it was wrapped in.”

Forty-one hours and thirty-four minutes were left, and it continued to run out right in front of his eyes. There was nothing he could to to stop it, and it already felt like it was too little time to succeed.

“He said we will start where we finished the last time, so I drove to the bank and found that tablet in my private box. It allows me to see Felicity, but I can’t contact her.”

“May I check?”

Oliver grabbed the tablet and put it onto Lyla’s hand willingly. He knew that through her job at A.R.G.U.S. she had a lot of hidden talents and a lot of resources. From the computers here, Felicity had given herself access to these abilities, and Lyla knew that too. She linked the tablet with Felicity’s system and started working her way through the almost child-proof system. Still, she’d probably be more successful than Oliver would have been.

“He said that there are rewards to be unlock if I follow the right traces, but they will be taken away if I take the wrong traces.” He sucked in a deep breath. “And I am not allowed to get myself any help to do this. It was meant to be a one-on-one. Calling you and telling you everything about this wasn’t a light choice to make because it might cost me the person I love and need most in this world. I just know that Felicity ”

Saying that made his chest felt heavy because it reminded him once more what risk he had taking by calling John. Given what was on the line for him, he shouldn’t have been able to contact him. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he knew how much Felicity had always said that they needed to trust in their friends and needed to trust in the joint effort of the team, she wouldn’t have contacted them.

Oliver could see his family and friends sharing meaningful looks. They knew how much it must have taken from him to call them. He had always done things alone and, even though he had gotten offers for help from people he had felt he could trust a lot of times, he hadn’t been able to take those offers. He had just been too used to doing things alone, and deep in his bones he had still believed that the only person he could trust was himself. That was how it always had been after all.

“We need to find Felicity,” Oliver said, “and, to do so, we need to find the next clues. The tablet was the last thing that I got from Tockman, so it has to lead to some new traces. The tablet has to be the key to the next trace.”

Dominic nodded and stepped right behind Lyla. Looking over her shoulder, he tried to follow the codes she went through. The way he narrowed his eyes at what he was seeing at the screen told Oliver that he had no idea what he was seeing there. Felicity had often joked that Roy really didn’t get the way tech worked at all although he did very well at trying to cover it by sounding smart and like he knew his way around a computer.

“A.R.G.U.S. would be a great help with this.” Lyla sighed while her fingers moved on the keyboard. Others would probably say they were moving quickly, but since Oliver had memorized the clattering sound of Felicity’s fingers dancing over the keyboard, he knew it was rather slow compared to her. The comparison wasn’t exactly fair though as Felicity had been behind computers for years, and it had been exactly where she had wanted to be. “My experts in IT know their way around a computer much better than I do and-“

“I don’t trust A.R.G.U.S.”

“I basically am A.R.G.U.S.,” Lyla replied almost a little sharply, turning around in Felicity’s chair and looking at Oliver urgently, “because I ran background checks on them. They all came back okay. I also interviewed them to test their psych. I made sure that everyone working for A.R.G.U.S. is fit and trustworthy of the job. I was very thorough in choosing what agents had to go and what could stay. I trust everyone working for A.R.G.U.S. because they have been chosen thoroughly.”

Oliver knew that Lyla was saying the truth. She was a good friend of Felicity and him. She knew how much they meant to John. She wouldn’t keep it a secret if she had even the slightest doubt about this. If there was a mole within her team, she would say it because

“You are a part of that agency which is not the same as being A.R.G.U.S.,” Oliver countered, “which is why I trust you, but I don’t trust your agents. I don’t trust them with anything that affects my missions, and I definitely don’t trust them with my wife’s life. It’s Felicity.”

He knew that he could trust Lyla because she had become part of this family a long time ago. She had supported Felicity when she had needed it the most, and she offered her services to the team a lot of times too. Still, given the history that he shared with A.R.G.U.S., Oliver couldn’t trust that institution. He knew how it worked, and he knew that he wanted no part in it if it was avoidable.

“There are too many people involved in this as it is.” Oliver sighed. He knew that a fight was the last thing he needed right now. “I don’t want to risk even more by asking for more people to help.”

Lyla knew that he was just soothing her. Oliver could see in her eyes that she knew. Instead of saying anything, she just nodded her head and turned back to the computers though. After all, she knew as well as he did that this wasn’t the right time to pick up a discussion about whether or not A.R.G.U.S. was trustworthy.

Oliver’s eyes found the countdown once more, and he felt his heart aching in his chest. He was looking on life a lot more positively now than he had a couple of years ago, but he was still a realist. Chasing criminals on the street was much easier than playing the games of some psycho. He wasn’t the one in charge here.

In the latter half of his life so far, Oliver had experienced a lot of loss. Every single one had taken a part of his soul. For years, he had been walking around like a ghost, really being a shell of a body more than anything else. That was what happened when the people you cared about were ripped from your life, and it was completely out of your control.

With how helpless and out of control he had felt with every time someone he loved had died, Oliver guessed it was no surprise that he had turned into a control freak. Like so many of his symptoms, it had become better with time, but he still had trouble sometimes. During family walks, he always needed his kids to stay somewhere close. He always needed to know where they were. It made him nervous when he couldn’t see them.

Losing the people that you loved the way he had lost them did that to people.

“I need a phone.”

His words seemed to surprise the people around him. He didn’t care to explain to them that he didn’t want to use his phone in case Tockman would call him. With a single look he told everyone that he was serious and held out his hand. Immediately, everyone reached into the pocket of their pants and held their phones out for him. Thea was the first to put her phone into his hand, so Oliver took it.

“What are you doing?” John asked.

“There is someone that I have to call.”

“Curtis?” Thea asked. “That’s probably a good idea. Felicity was the one who invited him in on the team in the first place to replace her and-“

“It’s not Curtis.”

Oliver wondered if he should call Curtis. While he had indeed jumped in a couple of times when Felicity had been unavailable and he had actually been a regular part of the team since they had divided it into two shifts, for some reason Oliver just didn’t consider him a close part of this family. Maybe it was because, other than Arrow operations and QI occasions, there were barely any touch points between them. Maybe it wasn’t fair not to call Curtis, but he really was Oliver’s last priority right now, and he actually wasn’t sure enough if he could trust the bubbly man to keep a secret like this.

John frowned when Oliver stated dialing the number. Oliver only saw it from the corner of his eye, but he lifted his gaze to his friend nonetheless. His thumb was already hovering over the green receiver.

“I need to call Bruce.”

A couple of years ago, these words would have surprised Oliver himself, but not anymore. He had grown a lot through the years and he had learned to understand people as well as people’s feelings a lot better. Understanding a person that was in love with Felicity was the easiest.

“If the situation was the other way around, and he was the one married to Felicity, while I was hopelessly in love with her, I would want to know.” Oliver pressed the green receiver. “Bruce deserves to know.”

It didn’t take long for Bruce to take the call. He didn’t say a word though, probably suspicious as he wasn’t sure who war calling. Oliver doubted that he had saved Thea’s number. Just like Oliver himself, Bruce knew that an unknown caller usually meant that there was trouble as only a handful of people had access to their phone numbers.

“Bruce, it’s me. Oliver.”

There was only a beat of silence, barely longer than the beat of a heart. As short as the moment of silence was, it still weighed heavy. Bruce had experienced as much pain as Oliver had in his life. Maybe his pain and his experience had been different, but it had taken him to the same point it had taken Oliver eventually.

“What happened?”

“William Tockman aka the Clock King took Felicity. He gave me two days to find her and, although I know it’s against the rules, I think a group effort is our best chance.”

“I will be in Starling before sunrise.”

Oliver nodded his head when Bruce had already hung up. He was glad that Bruce was coming here. They could need the help, and he offered the right expertise for this battle with Tockman. If someone aside from Felicity could fight him, it was Bruce.

“I might have found something.”

Quickly, Oliver handed his phone back to Thea and stepped behind Lyla, who was skimming through a folder full of music files.

“What did you find?”

“Well, to be completely true here, Felicity’s security check found it. The folder has been hidden and was secured, but the system basically found and unlocked it all by itself thanks to Felicity’s preinstalled routine mechanisms.”

So Felicity was probably going to find herself at the end and lead them right towards her, so they could get them out of wherever she was held captive. Felicity had learned early to save herself.

“What files are there?”

“They are all music files. Apparently, they belong to different albums of a band that’s called Mortician.”

“How is that going to help us?” Thea asked and stepped next to Oliver. “It has to be a new trace, but where is it supposed to take us?”

“I looked at the files a little bit more thoroughly.” Lyla shot a brief look back over her shoulder before she turned back to the monitors. “The song that was most listened to is called Zombie Apocalypse. I looked for any connections between that and Tockman or the song and Starling City. Apparently, a horror movie with the same title has filmed some scenes around here. On the property of a local mortician.”

“That’s where I will start my search for the next trace.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Roy already turned to follow Oliver, but he shot a look back over his shoulder and shook his head. It might have looked weak, but it made Roy stop nonetheless.

“No,” he said, “I will go alone in case Tockman observes me.”

He had risked enough as it was. He couldn’t go a step further. If Tockman saw him with anyone of the team, he would know that Oliver had broken the rules. Maybe he knew already. Oliver hoped that wasn’t true, but it was possible. He just couldn’t allow himself to think about that.

 → → → → →

Since it took him more than an hour to get to his destination, less than forty hours were left to find Felicity by the time that Oliver arrived at the morticians. Although it was still the middle of the night – something he had only realized once he had arrived at the building – there was light behind one of the windows. Apparently, someone was working a nightshift or something.

Oliver went to the door and knocked at it firmly. Maybe the light had only been left switched on by accident, but Oliver really couldn’t care less right now. He had an excuse to say why he had knocked at the door so late, but he wouldn’t care if he woke up anyone.

It didn’t take too long before the door was opened. An elder man with glassy eyes and tousled hair was looking at Oliver over the rim of his glasses. Before Oliver could say anything though, he nodded his head with a long sigh and beckoned him to come in.

With a quick, suspicious look around Oliver tried to find out if there was anyone watching him. Since he got the impression that he had been expected, he wondered if Tockman was somewhere around here. Even if he wasn’t, he certainly had been here or had sent someone to come here and announce that he was going to come here.

This was the right trace. Oliver could feel it.

Oliver stepped into the house carefully, already taking a thorough look around. This might be a trap, one of those wrong traces after all. His feeling might betray him. It had happened before after all.

“Come on,” the man that had opened the door for him said, “I will show you the coffins.”

“Thanks,” Oliver said after a brief moment of hesitation, “that’s exactly what I intended to see.”

He had no idea what game exactly was being played here, but he guessed that playing along was his best choice for now. At least that was he wasn’t dismissed just yet.

“I know.”

The man sighed, looking at Oliver for a long moment. He looked him up and down thoroughly, taking him in and judging him for sure. He looked at him like he thought very little of him. As the mayor, Oliver was used to that. He was used to people thinking little of him because of the political decisions he had made. There was something else here though. Oliver could feel it.

“I am sorry for the late visit.”

He had to feel a way into this conversation. He had to find out what exactly was being placed here without losing his chance of finding the next trace. It was close. He could feel it. He couldn’t risk losing it.

“I knew what I was getting myself into when I agreed to do this.” The man sighed once more. “Luckily, I wasn’t paid that badly, so I guess it’s okay.”

Oliver nodded his head, unsure wat he could say to that. He still wasn’t sure if all of this was right or a trap or whatever.

“I voted for you by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“I have to admit that I am not sure I would have done it if I had known that you were taking part in scavenger hunts.” He stepped into what looked like a showroom for coffins and turned around to Oliver. With his arms crossed in front of his chest, he looked at Oliver almost a little dismissively. “I thought your days of being a spoilt bachelor were over.”

A scavenger hunt. That was what he believed was happening here.

“They actually are over. I was persuaded into joining.”

The mortician just nodded his head, looking Oliver up and down once more. If Oliver had to bet, he’d say that he wasn’t going to vote him next time. He didn’t care, at least not right now.

Oliver shot a look at his watch. He didn’t have time for long conversations. He needed to get onto Tockman’s track.

“I guess your time is precious since you want to find your friend.”

Again, the mortician sighed. Turning away, he opened one of the coffins and reached inside. When he turned back around, he held out a USB drive for Oliver. Taking it, Oliver turned the little device between his fingers.

“Your friend asked me to tell you something.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows and felt his heart skipping a beat. Maybe the message in combination with whatever was on the USB drive would take him a step closer to Felicity.

“What did he say?”

“He said The dead are always trying to convince me how comfortable their coffins are.” He made a brief pause. “He also asked me to offer you to test the comfortability of one of my coffins. He said you might have a thing for playing with death.”

Oliver looked at the coffins intently, wondering what exactly this was supposed to mean. Was it just a little joke Tockman was making or was there some deeper meaning to it? Was it maybe a wrong trace to follow?

Pressing his lips together tightly, Oliver sucked in a deep breath. He would need to know what was on the USB drive and also have the whole effort of the team to help him put the pieces together.

“Not tonight,” he said and tightened his fingers around the USB drive, “but thank you for your offer and for everything.”

With that, he turned around and left the house, hoping that these next clues were helping him to find out more.

 → → → → →

 Thirty-eight hours and less than fifty minutes were left by the time that Oliver arrived back in the bunker. The moment he stepped into the dark, he lifted the USB drive.

“I have something.”

Everyone, including Bruce who was sitting in Felicity’s chair, his fingers dancing over the keyboard as quickly as Felicity’s usually did, turned around to him. Oliver wondered briefly if he should be surprised that Bruce was here already. A flight from Gotham took a lot longer than two hours. With how crazy the world they were living in could be, Oliver was sure that he had found a way to make this work though.

“I will check that,” Bruce said and lifted a hand to catch the USB drive when Oliver threw it in his direction, “and meanwhile you will tell me the entire story from the beginning. I need to know everything. Every little detail. Maybe there is something you missed or something you- I don’t know. Maybe there is just something.”

Oliver nodded his head. He grabbed the tablet he had found in his private box and pushed the button to see Felicity. She threw her head to the side, a sob falling from her lips. Oliver couldn’t hear it, but the sound echoed through his head nonetheless. And it broke his heart.

“Oliver.”

Bruce’s harsh voice made Oliver hug the tablet to his chest before he looked at the one man who loved Felicity as much as he himself did. He wasn’t looking back at him though. Instead, his eyes were glued to the monitor as he was already trying to find out what exactly was saved on the USB-drive.

“Felicity took Tockman down a couple of years ago, using his own tech against him,” Oliver explained, his voice almost sounding numb as he lowered his eyes back to the tablet and the footage of Felicity he was receiving, “and he has been in prison for the last years. He broke out during the latest earthquake. Now he is holding Felicity captive and wants me to find her. He gave me forty-eight hours and even sent me a countdown, to make sure I know the exact time I have left. He said it was like some kind of game, and he set up some rules. The most important one is that I should find her alone. He says there will be consequences if I break any of the rules.”

“Then why did you call your team?”

From the corner of his eye, he could see Thea already taking in a breath to tell Bruce that Oliver had made the right call, but Oliver shook his head quickly. Bruce was still where Oliver had been a couple of years ago. He doubted people more than he trusted them, and when it came down to it, he would always decide to trust only himself over anyone else.

“Because I know it’s what Felicity would have wanted me to do,” Oliver explained, pushing the button to see Felicity once more, “because she knows that doing things alone never leads to the same success as trusting your friends. She was the one who convinced me that a team was what this city and what I would need for my wellbeing. She would want the team to be involved in here.”

“You should have called me and only me.”

Bruce’s voice was low, but Oliver could still hear the anger in it. There was nothing Oliver could possibly say to convince Bruce otherwise. He wasn’t ready to trust people in situations of crisis, and this was certainly one of the worst situations for Bruce given how much Felicity meant to him.

Who knew. Maybe Bruce was right, and Oliver should have just contacted Bruce. He could have easily erased all traces of their contact. Bruce had the skills necessary for that. It might have been the safer option, but they would certainly need a bumper between them eventually.

Tapping onto the little button of the tablet, Oliver lowered his eyes. For the first time, Felicity hadn’t slapped her hands in front of her face protectively. Still, she looked anything but happy or content with the way things were. Felicity looked exhausted. There were dark rings under her eyes that she had squeezed shut to protect them from the light. Her lips were dry, her skin pale.

Who knew what she was going through right now? She didn’t have much room which scared her as Oliver knew although it had become better. Did she have something to drink? Something to eat? Was she comfortable?

The dead are always trying to convince me how comfortable their coffins are.

As soon as the display went black, Oliver pushed the button once more. He needed to see Felicity alive. Who knew what was done to her when he couldn’t see her?

“Stop pushing that damn button. It hurts Felicity.”

Bruce’s harsh voice made Oliver lift his gaze and frown at him. Still, Bruce wasn’t looking back at him. He continued working on the computers, trying to figure out what clues the USB-drive were holding.

Oliver wanted to ask him how he knew that Felicity was being hurt, but deep down he already knew that Bruce was right. The glaring light was shining right into her face, probably blinding her as much as the reports’ flashlights always hurt Oliver. Given how close the light seemed to be to her face, it had to be even worse.

Sucking in a deep breath to breathe against the pain, Oliver put the tablet again and stepped behind Bruce.

“How is it going?”

“Give me a couple more minutes, and we will know what’s on the USB-drive. It’s encrypted well, but certainly not well enough. He encrypted this for you, not for me.”

Oliver didn’t doubt that.

“I have something to work on for the rest of you,” Oliver said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and turning around to the rest of the team, “because the mortician I have been to has delivered a message from Tockman. He said The dead are always trying to convince me how comfortable their coffins are. We need to find out what that means.”

While the others left the platform to discuss exactly that, Oliver stayed back with Bruce. He glanced towards the tablet again and again. His fingers were twitching with the urge to reach out for it, but Oliver didn’t dare to. He knew Bruce was right with his estimation. Felicity was only getting hurt through it.

Oliver just didn’t know what else he should do, and he hated not doing anything. It drove him crazy and-

“Got it.”

Immediately, Oliver was back behind Bruce. He looked over his shoulder at the monitor, trying to understand anything of the many numbers there.

��What is it?” he asked urgently. “Any new clue?”

“It’s a program for audio transmitting.”

Oliver frowned. “He sent me another message?”

“No, I think it’s the missing audio for the video footage of Felicity. The line is safe, so even if Tockman has access to the line, he can’t hear you know. It’s blocked.”

Oliver felt his heart skipping a beat before it started racing in his chest. He needed to talk to Felicity. He needed to assure her that he was going to find her. She probably knew that already because she had so much faith in him, but he wanted to tell her nonetheless.

Bruce pulled the USB-drive from the slot in the computer and held it out to Oliver. The expression in his eyes was so intense that Oliver barely dared to take the USB-drive from him. He could just see in Bruce’s eyes that he would love to keep it to himself. He needed to talk to Felicity as much as Oliver did, but he knew that this was a privilege that was all Oliver’s. At least for now.

“Tell Felicity that I am here and that we will find her.”

Nodding his head, Oliver took the USB-drive from him and whispered, “I will. And we will.”

While Oliver put the USB-drive to the tablet, Bruce left Felicity work station. Oliver sat back on the edge of the table and sucked in another deep breath. Closing his eyes, he cradled the tablet to his chest for a moment.

He knew that he had to get a hold on himself. Only if he had a hold on himself, he could be calm enough and assuring enough to make sure that Felicity believed him. He needed to be calm if he wanted to calm her down, and he wanted to calm her down. He wanted her to spend the next hours of her life, afraid that she was going to die in that cold hole she was captured in. He was going to find her, and he was going to hold her for hours until she was going to be okay eventually. Until they both were.

Breathing out slowly, Oliver brushed his thumb against the small button on the display.

“Felicity?”

 → → → → →

 “You’re still the one I run to / The one that I belong to.”

Felicity hadn’t been surprised when that song had come to her mind. It was kind of her and Oliver’s song although they had only chosen it rather lately. Oliver had woken up after a nightmare, and they had danced to that song in their bedroom. Listening to the lyrics, they had decided that it was their song.

“You’re still the one I want for life / You’re still the one that I love / The only one I dream of / You’re still the one I kiss goodnight / Ain’t nothing better.”

After everything they had been through together and despite the uncertainty of what else they would have to go through in the future, they had known that they would always be the one for each other. There would never be anyone else because nobody could possibly understand them as well as they understood each other.

“You’re still the one I want for life / You’re still the one that I love / The only one I dream of / You’re still the one I kiss goodnight.”

Although she had told Oliver that she was going to take care of everything, she was sure that he had set up everything romantically, so they could fully enjoy the evening together. This song had probably been played on repeat for hours already, and he would have still insisted on continuing to listen to it.

Oliver was a giant sap, no matter how much he tried to hide it from anyone but her. He was her giant sap, and she wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Ain’t nothing better / We beat the odds together / I’m glad we didn’t listen / Look at that we would be missin’.”

God, they would both miss so much if they hadn’t given into their feelings. They were both happier than they had ever been in their lives. Without each other, everything in their lives would be different. Maybe they’d still be happy, but their lives wouldn’t be full.

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a single tear running down her cheek.

She might not see or speak to Oliver again. She could never tell him how much he had enriched her life and how much happiness and stability he had brought into it. She could never tell him how much she really loved him.

Maybe he knew it already, he probably did, but she needed to tell him again. She needed it to be the last thing she told him. Otherwise, she would never be sure.

There were always so much things more that she needed to tell him. There were things that he needed to tell their kids. She needed them to know some things, things she had thought she could tell them later on. Since there wasn’t necessarily a later on, she might have to tell Oliver to tell them one day and-

The glaring light was switched on once more. The heat seemed to drill itself into her skin. It hurt everywhere, feeling like a fire being held close to her face.

“Felicity?”

A sob that had been sticking in her throat the entire time since she had woken up in this little cage or whatever she was in.

“Oliver.”

She didn’t have to ask. She’d recognize his voice in a pool of a thousand voices. Even through his voice modulator she’d be able to recognize him by now. She just knew him so well, and she’d recognize him through every costume he could possibly put on.

“Hey.”

His voice was soft, but Felicity could hear the tears in his voice, and it made tears streaming down her face now too. Although she had been and still was so sure that Oliver would find her eventually, she was scared about being locked into this tiny thing in the dark. All of this was so very scary, and that made her weak.

“Hey, hey, hey,” he said quickly, his voice still lowered to a whisper, “don’t cry. I will find you, okay? I don’t know where you are yet, but I will find you and-“

“Oliver.”

His name fell from her lips in a sob. For the break of a second, she felt all those words she had been thinking about for the past minute threatening to fall from her lips. She knew that those words would be a goodbye and a sign that she didn’t believe Oliver would find her eventually, and that wouldn’t be fair. Oliver would try everything he could to find her. No matter how much it took.

“I will find you,” Oliver repeated, his voice more convincing now, “we will find you.”

“You called the team.”

A sigh of relief fell from her lips, not because she doubted that he couldn’t find her on his own, but because she knew that it must have taken a lot from him to trust anyone with what had happened. What exactly had happened though?

“Yes, I called them,” Oliver told her, “although Tockman told me not to.”

“It was the right choice.”

“I know you’d say this.” Oliver sighed. “Which is why I called them and Bruce. Together, we are a good team. We will find you. I promise you.”

“I know,” Felicity whispered closing her eyes once more, “I know you will find me.”

She really knew. Whatever thoughts she had had before had just been symptoms of how bad she felt locked up in this dark. Now that she could hear Oliver’s voice, those thoughts felt completely irrelevant because Oliver was going to find her, no matter what her dark thoughts were trying to tell her.

Everything was going to be okay. She knew that now more than ever. She was going to be back with Oliver and her kids soon because he would save her. She knew he would.

“Are you okay?” Oliver added eventually. “Did Tockman hurt you?”

“No.” Felicity shook her head and took in a sniffling breath. She quickly wiped away the tears from her cheeks. “He just took me and took me out. When I woke up, I was caged into a small, dark thing. I have no idea where I am.”

“I know,” Oliver whispered soothingly, “I can see you.”

Felicity frowned. “How?”

“There has to be a camera in there. Tockman sent me a tablet with the video footage, and we managed to unlock the audio just now. We can talk now.”

“Good.” Felicity nodded slowly. “So, it’s you who can switch on the light in here?”

“Yes, but I am trying to avoid it. I know it’s not pleasant and-“

“No, I- It’s a lot easier to bear it now that I know you are the one looking at me and not him.”

She imagined Tockman to sit behind his computers and watch her. He wanted her to suffer, but Felicity was sure that knowing she suffered alone wasn’t enough. He needed to see her. He needed to see how much she was suffering.

Although the light still prickled on her skin unpleasantly, at least now Felicity knew that it was Oliver thinking about her. She could imagine looking into his deep blue eyes and seeing his soft smile on his lips. It would comfort her in this cold and lonely darkness.

Closing her eyes, Felicity took some deep breaths and imagined right that. She felt her heartbeat slowing down immediately. Some of the panic that had spread in her veins in the last minutes or hours or days since she had been locked in here – there was no way she could keep a track of time here – faded. Oliver and the team would find her. Easily.

“Are you okay?”

“I am going to be,” Felicity promised, “how long have I been away yet?”

“Almost eleven hours since Tockman called me.”

Was that long or short? Felicity wasn’t sure.

“I have thirty-seven hours left to find you, but don’t worry. We have traces. We will-“

“I know,” Felicity whispered, “I know you will find me. I trust you, and I love you.”

“I love you too. So much.”

Felicity smiled softly, feeling his words wrap her into some gentle warmth that seemed to fill her from the inside as much as it covered her from the outside.

Everything was going to be okay. She just had to hold on for some hours more.

* * *

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[endlich-allein]

It makes so happy when Ollie gets recognition for his work and contributions to the band. I’m sure he does not mind that he is a bit in the shadows compared to the others. Me thinks that he found that this way he can enjoy the perks of being a Rock God and still be able to enjoy a private life. To me he is the most interesting member of Rammstein. Mostly because we know so little about him.

Yes we owe a lot to Ollie, especially the famous sausage in Till's pants during a performance of Buck Dich. I would really like to learn more about him, to express himself more. But on the other hand, I respect his desire for discretion. Ollie is certainly in the shadows compared to the others, but on stage he has a real presence, a special charisma and above all he is a very talented bass player. However, I find that the guys, all of them, have managed to maintain a private life, especially for their children and families who are not or very rarely seen. We can say that we know them but in reality we don't know much about them, we only know what they want to tell us.

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Dawn in Your Eyes Part 22

Summary: Alfie has little to no idea why Caroline ever gave him the time of day. The blind woman seemed far too sensible to even speak to him. But soon he finds himself falling helplessly in love.

Part 22: Alfie and Caroline find that there’s something more harrowing than a brief marital disagreement. 

TW: antisemitism 

            “Mr. Solomons.” Candace hesitated to approach the man’s office. She had heard the shouting back and forth between him and Caroline as she put a plaster on Chava’s hand. It was nothing she wanted to get involved in. But Caroline had called for her and insisted that Candace bring Alfie back to the bedroom.

            But Alfie didn’t look to be in the mood for any conversation. “What is it?” He asked gruffly.

            The young woman wrung her hands together. “Well, Mrs. Solomons was asking if you would return to speak with her further.” She explained.

            “Does she? Well, tell her that I ain’t talking about anything else with her today. She’s being reckless, frankly, and I won’t have anything to do with it.” He replied curtly.

            Candace had a fondness for the Solomons family, ever since she had been brought in to care for Caroline during her pregnancy. She thought they were lovely people, having seen them in a vulnerable state of domesticity. But that still didn’t erase Alfie’s temper.        

            So, she tried another approach. “Perhaps, you could talk to me about it?”

            He lifted his head to look at her with scrutiny.

            “I often find that if you tell someone else your side of the story, you can see things a bit clearer.” She explained with a shaky voice. She was just waiting for Alfie to throw her out of the house for being so nosy and prying into his personal business.

            But instead, he sighed. “She wants more children.” He waved a hand to the chair that was sat across from his desk.

            Candace took the invitation and sat down.

            “I just don’t think it’s a good idea ‘cause of what happened with Chava. I ain’t gonna lose her to something that could be avoidable. If we don’t have any more children then we don’t run the risk of-well whatever could happen.”

            Candace nodded. “I understand you want to be cautious. But I suppose you could understand Mrs. Solomons too. She told me it was customary to have a big family.”

            “Yeah, s’pose it is.” He grumbled. “But tradition be damned, her life comes first.”

            “Right, I understand.” Candace nodded. “I think…you’re both right and unfortunately there’s no way of knowing how things will go if you do have more children. But I guess that’s what life is all about. We don’t know how many days we have left.” She shrugged. “It’s about making the best of what you have right now.”

            Alfie scratched his beard as he looked at her. “That’s very Jewish.” He said. “Creating heaven in this life, now.”

            “Oh, I didn’t realize…”

            “No, it’s good. Makes sense. Rational, innit? Life should be celebrated.”

            She smiled. “Right.”

            “Very profound, Candy.” He praised. “I thought Chava was a fast learner because of me but it might be because of you.” He chuckled and stood up. “If you’ll excuse me, I should go talk to Caroline.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

            It took a few conversations between Alfie and Caroline before they reached an agreement. They would go ahead with having more children as long as there was both a midwife and a doctor at hand during the birth. And if possible, she would give birth in a hospital instead of the home.

            But the rest was up to fate.

            Meanwhile, Chava celebrated her second birthday. As she grew and learned, Alfie and Caroline were testing the waters to see if she could recognize Caroline’s blindness. Or at least understand it. It proved difficult as she seemed too young to comprehend but old enough to know something was different.

            As her temper started to develop a little more, it became very clear that she was her father’s daughter. She could throw a fit like no other and when she wanted to be loud, she could be ear piercing.

            Much to Alfie’s chagrin, Chava was a little sponge and would pick up on anything he did or said. She stomped her feet to imitate the heavy sound of his boots in the home. She swore like a sailor and there wasn’t anything Caroline or Alfie could do to change that. Alfie tried to change his vocabulary in front of the toddler but it was too late.

            Alfie was in hot water for a bit with Caroline and Julia but it was something they had to live with.

            Aside from her mouth and occasional temper, Chava was a lovely little girl. She adored her parents and loved nothing more than just spending time with them.

            When Alfie came home in the evening, Chava would run to him with a big grin on her face. And every single time, the stress rolled right off his shoulders. He picked her up and held her close, greeting her warmly.

 ~~~~~~~~~~

            One night, however, her smile wouldn’t be able to cure his stress. As he came home, Caroline met him at the door instead of their daughter.

            There was worry creased into her face and Alfie was terrified that something had happened to Chava.

            “Carrie, what’s wrong?”

            “My aunt just called. Her office building was just set on fire. Or-or bombed, they don’t know yet.” Tears were slipping down her cheeks.

            “What?” It certainly wasn’t the news he was expecting. “Just now?”

            She nodded, clearly just as confused as he was.

            “Right, wait here.” He instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

            “No, you need to stay!” She reached out to him. “It isn’t safe. Not until we know what really happened.”

            “This might be…” Well, Alfie could come up with a few different potential causes. Sure, it might have been an accident, but he wasn’t counting on it. In fact, he was already lining up a list of suspects in his head. However, that meant that the attack was ultimately his fault. Whoever it was, if they were his enemy, they were trying to get back at him for something. Now Caroline’s family and their business were in the line of fire.

            “It’ll be alright.” He assured her. He took her hand in his and kissed her forehead. “Call Ollie. Have him bring Shayna and the kids over. I want everyone to be together until we figure this out. I’ll send Julia here when I get there.”

            Caroline nodded but still looked worried. “Just hurry, please.”

            “I will.”

~~~~~~~~~ 

            Alfie rushed across town. There was a plume of smoke leading the way to the scene. People had gathered at a far enough distance to see what had happened. There were quiet whispers as he pushed his way through. A police car had already pulled up as the fire was starting to be put out.

            Judging by a quick glance at the smoldering remains of the building, there was little chance it was a small accident.

            Alfie found Julia talking with a police officer. Her hand was clutched to her chest. The usually iron-tough woman was shaken by the near-death experience.

            “Julia.” He approached.

            “Oh, Alfie.” She touched his arm, her hand trembling. “Thank God, you’re alright. Caroline thought maybe something had happened to you.”

            “I’m alright. What happened?”

            The cop didn’t look too pleased to see the notorious gangster intruding. “Move along, Alfie, this has nothing to do with you.”

            His eyes darkened. “This is me family, mate. Has more to do with me than it does you. So why don’t you fuck off and find out who did this?” Though, he didn’t really put that much trust in the police to figure out the truth.

            Yet, he could be wrong. “We know who did it.” The officer responded sharply.

            “Yeah? Who was it then?” Alfie demanded, ready to put his hands around the neck of whatever lowlife committed the crime.

            “It’s not any of your business. Scotland Yard will take care of it. Stay away from the matter, lest you want to be locked up for interfering.”

            “That a fucking threat?” He snarled. “You better fucking tell me who it was or I’m going to-”

            “Alfie, enough.” Julia interrupted sternly. She knew her niece would be a wreck if he was locked up for threatening an officer. “I’d like to see Caroline, let’s go now.”

            He glared at the cop. “You’re lucky. I’m gonna find out, you can put money on that, mate.” He jabbed a finger at him before ushering Julia away from the building that was crumbling.

 ~~~~~~~~~

            Before they entered the flat, Alfie stopped Julia. “Did he tell you?”

            “Not who they were. But he said they’re fascists.” She answered quietly. “Blackshirts.”

            Suddenly, it went beyond Alfie. This was no petty retaliation from the Titanic or Sabini. It had nothing to do with who Julia was associated with. It had to do with their identities.

            Alfie could handle people not liking him. Whether they disliked his occupation, his sinful behavior, his kill count, or his distasteful personality. That was all well and good. But once people started targeting his religion, he felt like he could black out from rage. The heart of his people being aimed at like they weren’t even humans. It was sickening. And it was getting closer and closer to home. There was no ignoring it, no chalking it up to a bunch of radical morons with twisted ideology. No, it was serious and far beyond Alfie’s scope of power. Still, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do anything about it.

~~~~~~~                       

            Caroline hugged her aunt close, relieved she had made it out alive. But she was still confused. “Did you speak with the police?”

            “Let’s not concern ourselves with that.” Julia shared a look of discomfort with Alfie. Neither of them was really in the mood to discuss the root of the crime. It felt horrendous saying out loud. “Let’s just be thankful no one was killed.”

            Caroline nodded somberly. “Alfie, Chava is upstairs asking for you.”

            “Alright, I’ll tuck her in. Just want to talk to Ollie first.” He gave his wife a quick peck before going to find Ollie.

            He and Shayna were sitting in the parlor. Their three children were there as well. The two eldest seemed frightened by what was going on, but the youngest was asleep, unaware.

            “Ollie.” Alfie jerked his head to the kitchen.

            His assistant understood and stood up to follow. “Did they say anything?”

            “Fascists.” He replied quietly.

            The young man looked confused. The Blackshirts had been in the news but it seemed like a distant worry. Surely something so insane would be written off by the general public before anything would really happen. “Here?”

            Alfie nodded. “Scotland Yard’s looking into it, guess they know who did it. Be honest, I doubt they’ll be put in prison. If they do, won’t be for long.”

            Ollie looked wary. “Sir…I don’t think whatever you’re thinking of doing is a good idea.”

            His boss narrowed his eyes. “So, we’re just supposed to let those fuckers do whatever they want? Next time there’ll be people in the building, Ollie.” He snapped. “And we’re gonna be wondering why we didn’t do anything sooner.”

            “But, sir, this is something bigger.” He reminded Alfie. “It’s a political party. They aren’t just a small gang.”

            “A group of violent men with a set of beliefs is a gang. Don’t care if they have a political party. Fuck it, I could have a political party if I wanted. All I care is that they come to realize that they ain’t coming back into Camden ‘less they want consequences.”

            “Well,” Ollie knew there was little chance of talking him out of anything. “Tomorrow I can see what we might be able to find out about what the Yard knows. Though, we don’t have any informants on the inside.”

            “I know someone who does.” Alfie nodded. “I’m going to bring Caroline and Chava to Margate tomorrow. If you’d like Shayna to go as well, that can be arranged.” If he could just pick Camden up and out of London and move all the people to safety, he would. But at the same time, Alfie was afraid of budging. He would not be chased out of his own territory. His family was forced out of Russia because of being Jewish. Alfie was not being forced out anymore. He was staying put.

 //Holy moly I’m so sorry for the delay in this. I kept going back to the document but was in such a block that I just had to put it aside for a bit. It’s been so long since I uploaded that 90% of my tag list deactivated 😂 

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii @enrapturedbythemoon @vampgirl1997 @tarafaithe @evelynshelby

Tag list:  @thinkingsofamadwoman 

Masterpost

PB Masterlist

[georgiaswarr]

georgia warr

never been in love - gatlin

a song about wanting to be in love but not being able to be in love, which is very fitting for georgia’s initial situation. i’ve put this at the beginning of this playlist because - spoiler alert - the last song on here is also called never been in love and i think these two songs symbolise georgia’s journey in a very mint way. also, the first line of this song is “that boy from georgia was so sweet” which i think is pretty funny

somebody to love - queen

the title says it all. georgia wants to find somebody to love. i mean, she’s already found them, but we’ll get to that later.

paradise - coldplay

georgia is a big dreamer and yearner and i think this song really encapsulates that on so many levels. i mean “when she was just a girl / she expected the world / but it flew away from her reach / so she ran away in her sleep” that’s georgia !

tous les garçons et les filles - françoise hardy

french song because i’m ~quirky~ but this song is basically about seeing everyone else be in relationships and feeling lonely/wanting one for yourself

waiting for love - avicii

georgia is a hopeless romantic, but she’s still waiting for her own grand romance (she still hasn’t realised that the “love” she’s “waiting for” has already “come around”)

dear no one - tori kelly

georgia “i want someone to be in love with but there is no one” warr, at least at the beginning of the book

chaos - miki fiki

this song can be interpreted with various themes of the book in mind such as yearning for something you don’t have, feeling lonely, emotional turmoil, etc, it’s a banger

i walk a little faster - fiona apple

highjacked from @kindaorangey’s loveless playlist (they’ve done a great rundown here). this song has similar themes to dear no one, anticipating that romance will come to you, but it hasn’t, despite how hard you chase it, how fast you walk

when - dodie

shoutout to @drarrystar for recommending this song to me because so many of the lines reflect georgia to the core. just look up the lyrics and you’ll agree

deeper - ella eyre

“cause i’m scared, i can’t lie / i don’t feel the same inside / i can’t decide if i have the heart to confess” georgia thinks she can learn to love jason romantically if she just digs a little deeper

loneliness for love - lovelytheband

“anything at all not to feel alone / anything at all just to feel whole / ‘cause i keep mistaking loneliness for love”

a little more - alessia cara

“there you are with your college friends / you played in a marching band / i can't help but wish i knew you then / but i guess i know you now // it looks as if i've stumbled right into the palm of your hand // hey, you / hey, mr. knock on my door / i'm sorry that I've been emotions galore / am i crazy for wanting a little bit more? / a little more of you” georgia about sunil. she needs their guidance and wishes he’d been there for her earlier.

stuck in california - rightfield

a song about feeling alone and alienated by everyone and everything around you, and waiting for your “stars to align”, which fits georgia if you ask me

seven - taylor swift

georgiapip song !!!!!! it’s also about how alienating it can be to grow up and lose your childhood innocence, and i have a lot of thoughts about a very specific brand of growing pains that come with being aspec, but that’s a topic for another day

te amo - rihanna

this is a song about having someone be romantically in love with you and the heartbreak that comes from not being able to reciprocate those feelings --> georgia about jason

love love love - of monsters and men

same as te amo. it hits especially hard when you do love the other person so fucking much

ceiling won’t break - finish ticket

this song gives me georgia’s emotional turmoil vibes, also the line “i see no lights ‘cause the lights weren’t aimed at me” can be interpreted in a “cupid’s arrows didn’t hit georgia” way if you get what i mean

lack of emotion - skott

once again we are dealing with themes of not being able to feel the emotions that you “““““should”““““ feel for someone

let me go - hailee steinfeld

another song about georgia and jason’s (romantic) relationship and how it was doomed to fail from the beginning so she hopes he can let her go

i’m so tired - lauv, troye sivan

i’m just thinking about that line in loveless where georgia resentfully realises how many songs are about romantic love. she’s just so tired

crush culture - conan gray

and another song about being resentful of our romance-obsessed society, which georgia certainly is plenty of times throughout the book

home - ella eyre

christmas break time babey !!!! georgia has reached her low point and she’s going home

i love my car - belle & sebastain

“I pressed a cold hand against my car, which was as far up the drive of our house as it could get. I’d missed my car.” - loveless by alice oseman, celebrating all kinds of love since 2020

i’ve never written a song about a boy - eva westphal

this was actually recommended to me by @michaelholdenn for this playlist ! a song about the liberation that comes with not having to force attraction anymore

this is home - cavetown

i think months ago some ask told alice that this is a loveless song and i agree

why can’t we be friends - jordy searcy

this is about georgia’s strained relationship with pip and jason after the bailey ball and how she wishes they could just be friends again, the way they were all throughout their childhood

chiquitita - abba

okay fuckers THIS is literally the LOVELIEST song about friendship and wanting to be there for your loved ones and i’m sure georgia relates

open up - matt simons

“you’re hard to talk to with that wall around you” vs. “rooney had a solid brick wall round some part of her that nobody was allowed to know.” basically, georgia wants rooney to open up to her

just fucking let me love you - lowen

okay, yes, this song is very gay, but i think it can be applied to georgiarooney too ! the frustration this song expresses of wanting to shake someone and scream at them to just fucking let you love them is definitely shown in loveless when it comes to those two

less than i do - the band camino

georgia about pip. she hopes that pip will forgive her eventually. i mean look at the line “i still have your denim jacket” in the song - georgia still has pip’s jacket too, it’s perfect !!!

friends will be friends - queen

if loveless taught us anything it’s that friends sure fuckin will be friends

stick with me - olly murs

“we all get lonely / trying to find a place where we should be / trying to find someone to set us free / there are times a friend is all you need” you know when alice said that every character in the book feels “loveless” in some way at one point or another, but they all learn the value and importance of platonic love? yeah.

your song - moulin rouge

“and then, with three accompanists, i stood on a boat on the river wear and sang ‘your song’ - the version specifically from moulin rouge - to pip quintana, who didn’t yet know me as well as i wished she did, but despite that, was one of my favourite people i had ever met.”

wherever i live - alessia cara

you know the scene after georgia leaves pip and rooney to their first kiss? yeah, this song really reflects that mindset of half loneliness, half acceptance to me. listen to it.

take time - honest men

accepting your identity takes time ! even by the end of loveless there’s still days when georgia wishes she wasn’t aroace and the book presents this in an amazing and properly nuanced way !

die alone - finneas

"you asked me, ‘do you wanna die alone / or watch it all burn down together?’ / i said i’d rather try to hold on to you forever” this song is very much georgiarooney - finding each other in their darkest of days and watching everything they thought they knew (amatonormativity) burn down. together.

no lover - jetty bones

the next few songs are basically just one aro anthem after the next. this is another recommendation from @michaelholdenn - “maybe i don’t need a lover, i just need the friend”

solo - carly rae jepsen

highjacked from @kindaorangey’s loveless playlist. amazing anthem about how it’s okay to be single and how romantic love isn’t as fulfilling as society makes it out to be anyway

trust my lonely - alessia cara

i think in georgia’s case this song can be interpreted as her learning to finally let go of her pre-conceived notions of what love is and what she should want, her learning to “trust her lonely”, though lonely here just means romance-less

love is a town - josh gilligan

“if [romantic] love is a town then i’m passing through" yeah, romance is not for georgia and she’s starting to accept that.

new romantics - taylor swift

the loveless gang is the new romantics !!! they’re redefining love and romance !!!

team - lorde

“and everyone's competing for a love they won't receive / 'cause what this palace wants is release” anyway, let’s go found family song

wild things - alessia cara

now, i don’t know if alessia cara is queer but I DARE YOU to look at the lyrics of wild things and not tell me that this is the ULTIMATE queer anthem about found family and saying fuck you to respectability politics. i DARE you. anyway, loveless is also about found family and saying fuck you to respectability politics so it’s very fitting

never been in love - will jay

full circle babey !!!!! this is THE aro anthem so obviously i had to add it and comparing the “never been in love / and it’s all good” to the “never been in love / and i fucking hate that i couldn’t make it past a crush” message from the first song we can really reflect georgia’s journey of self-acceptance in loveless which i love a lot