#They've already faced The WORST things possible because of him

[completeoveranalysis]

[5]

I WISH I HAD THE CONFIDENCE TO BELIEVE HIM BUT STILL

DO YOUR BEST LAVA LAMP!

WE'RE MOSTLY ROOTING FOR YOU!

And OH the framing of Lava Lamp against Sakura in the background, frozen in the EXACT moment of his greatest doubt, framed by two falling pillars of water.

AND THE SQUINTING GLARE FROM SYAORAN TO HAMMER HOME THE MOMENT.

Oh fascinating! Syaoran turns away from the fight and Lava Lamp pursues, ready to finish the fight between them. Syaoran vs Syaoran etc etc the big showdown to tie it all together for the third and final time.

BUT FAI AND KUROGANE FACE DOWN EVIL WOLVERINE WITH INSULTS, READY TO FIGHT THE PRICK AT THE CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE

And we know Evil Wolverine won’t play fair but OH I love the symmetry of it all. That Lava Lamp’s big arc has been seeing himself as the cause for all the problems in the world, and so he has to fight Himself as the final conflict. So Fai and Kurogane get the confrontation with Evil Wolverine here, as they’re in a Much More Direct View of How He Has Hurt Them Specifically and want to make things even. C:

As they deserve!

AND JUST THE. The sheer joy? That Evil Wolverine set them up as enemies, set Fai up specifcally to KILL Kurogane, and planning for him to die as well, and yet here they are? Facing him together? Alive and IN LOVE? Flirting to rub it all in?

Flirting as a sign of defiance?

To show that actually he's not that great, and his plans resulted in THIS? In these easy enemies choosing EACH OTHER and saving themselves from him?

That all his plans only proved how little he could understand them, or what they would do, or what they would CHOOSE? That he didn't accurately predict ANYONE well enough to have the plan work out how he wanted?

That his greatest plan of all time failed and ended up with them in love and standing here, at the centre of it all, and insulting him to his face?

And like Kurogane says, that HE'S the prey now? That Evil Wolverine always thinks he's in control but now they've turned the dynamic around on him instead?

That they're quite specifically here to kill him? TOGETHER?

I just can't get enough of it.

[possibly-not-a-ghost]

Fake Cryptids, Real Ghosts

Ok, so dp x dc/batfam because this AU has me by the throat but what if it's the fake cryptid batfamily AU who never joined the JL.

Just...imagine it. The Batfamily has been protecting Gotham quietly but fiercely by scaring the daylights out of criminals as creatures that go bump in the night. A bit of stage magic, frightening method acting, contortion, a whole language comprised of chirps, growls, and body language, and the best tech possible and you've got a recipe for striking fear into the hearts of everyone.

They've got shrines on the rooftops, vaguely on the JL radar (Cause really, who's gonna believe that Gotham, one of the worst cities has a demon problem? Constantine? Homeboy took one look at Gotham and went Nope.) and they're protected cause any self respecting Gothamite wouldn't go spilling the beans to Outsiders. The Bats keep them safe. Who would believe them anyways?

Enter half dead, half alive Danny Fenton.

Danny Fenton who has a best friend's named Tucker and Sam who find out about the Gotham Cryptids, and go absolutely ham on research because here lies something,a bunch of someone's who are Other. Maybe they're creepy but they're cool and they're Heroes and they help people.

Sure, at first it was an attempt from Sam and Tucker to help their best friend feel less alone in the face of other, more 'normal' heroes and people out there in the world. Maybe they try to further bury the Bats online cause if anyone understands keeping on the down low, it would be Amity Parker's. For awhile, Danny Fenton, sometimes Phantom is simply happy to know he's not alone.

Then he's outed and his sister who's long since been ecto-contaiminated is put at risk there's nowhere that seems safer. Gotham is a chaotic city, even without the Bats factoring in. After all Gotham has (Demons-Spirits-Creatures?) The Bats already. Who would care if a halfa and his sister hide out there? As long as they're respectful of their territory, it'll be fine right? Besides, they've got to warn the Bats anyways about the GIW and government. They're coming after ghosts, who knows if they'll be next? Spooky things have to look out for each other after all.

Cue shenanigans as Phantom who stops hiding all of his creepier traits as a ghost walks up to the Totally Human but Faking it Batman with really thoughtful gifts for all of their shrines (And one fruitcake), no heartbeat and an earnest plea for a safe haven in their Haunt because the Ancients taught him manners and the importance of respecting another entities territory.

[oldfashioned-lovergirl]

Can I suggest a lewis hamilton fic where the reader is their teammate they've basically been through through thic and thin and they have an argument abt lewis not tell you abt going too ferrari and they confess their feelings and let their frustrations through sex??? (( THIS IS LITERALLY SOO MUCH TOO ASK FOR SO UF YOU CAN WRITE IT ITS FINEEE)) - anon 🌺

lost in the fire — LH44 x reader

cw: switching control, sexual tension, angry sex, dirty talk, age gap

note: first ff I write in a while, please y’all be kind with my english :3 hope you like it, I thirst way too much for this man

masterlist

The way the evening is ending is making you nervous and you’re not very good at hiding it. Well, you didn’t expect to discover the worst news possible in the middle of the after party of a fashion show in Paris and above all you didn’t expect to hear that from a stranger and not from the person concerned. Such person concerned is now driving you back to your Paris hotel because according to him you are “too upset” to take your own car.

Now, while you’re looking outside the window without saying a word, you hope he told someone to take your car to the hotel, or you swear to God you’re gonna scream to his face. You want to scream to his face so bad.

The city night lights are magical but you can’t think about anything that isn’t what you had just discovered. The atmosphere is awkwardly silent. Lewis is keeping his sight straight on the road, hands on the wheel. His profile is a picture you know way too well. It’s obvious he wants to say something. Anything.

“You know we’re still gonna see each other every week, right?”

“That’s not the point.”

He lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not.”

“I am.”

“I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

“Then what do you wanna talk about?”

“Nothing.” You miss the awkward silence.

You already had arguments during your friendship/coworking/whatever that is, but never like that. That’s different. You feel hurt.

He finally reaches the hotel. He can’t stop right in front, so he parks in the next street. You open the door.

“I’ll walk you.”

“You don’t have to.”

He gets out of the car anyway. You’re not surprised he’s acting like a gentleman even when you’re so angry you could punch him. “It’s 2 AM and I won’t leave you alone.”

You walk alongside him, trying not to look at his open jacket. The fact that he’s wearing absolutely nothing under it isn’t helping. Damn this man and his impeccable fashion sense. “You weren’t so kind when you lied to me about your new contract.” At this point you don’t even care if people hear you argue.

“I didn’t lie.”

“Oh right, you just forgot to tell me.”

“I was going to.”

“When? When you’re already driving a Ferrari car? Don’t worry I’m not colourblind.” Great, now you reached the point where you can’t keep your mouth closed. And he’s following you to your room because he’s just like you, he has to have the last word.

“Soon. And stop using that sarcastic tone with me, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Of course, my bad, you’re always right about everything. You’re so selfish and childish, running away from the things you love just because you’re scared.” You ask yourself if you’re provoking him too much. No, he deserves that. You’re about to open the door with the electronic key when he takes you wrist and pulls you away. He stands right between you and the door, preventing you from getting in. “Leave me alone.”

“I’m not scared, I don’t like to be ignored. You are the selfish one here, not trying to see things from my point of view. You think it’s so easy for me?” He’s raising his tone. He never did it with you and now you find yourself holding back the tears. “You can’t even imagine what does it mean to leave my team, to leave my friends, to leave… you. But I can’t stay anymore, it’s dragging me down and you know it.”

Those words touch your heart. You feel sorry for him but you just can’t forgive him. You simply can’t stand the thought of racing without him as your teammate. “Then why didn’t you tell me? We can fix this, we can make changes and…”

“I don’t want change, I want to be myself and I want to be listened to. I would have told you sooner but I didn’t want to hurt you. See, now you’re hurt and I don’t know what to do because…” You’re eyes are on him but he’s looking down. He’s still holding your wrist and you bet he feels your heartbeat going faster than him in a Mercedes. “Because I care about you and I don’t want to lose you.”

You try to release from his grasp but he pulls you close. “Well done, now you lost me.”

“You sure?”

“I hate you.”

He kisses you, immediately moving his other hand to your neck to pull you even closer. His dreads brush your shoulder. You try not to shake for the emotions filling you. You lose yourself in the kiss. You can’t think about anything else than your tongues tangled, so you completely forgot you’re still in the hallway. Lewis takes the electronic key from your hand and unlocks the door. He brings you in and closes it behind your back, pushing you on the door. It frustrates you that he always has you under his thumb, no matter how much effort you put into escaping it.

He wouldn’t force you to do anything, ever. You know that he will keep away his hands if you won’t make a move in that direction. However the moan you let slip makes him inevitably smile. You lick the gap between is teeth and proceed to kissing him more passionately.

He shouldn’t dare to laugh at you right now, not even if you’re probably about to explore each other bodies. You put your hands on his chest and push him on the wall of the bedroom so violently that you worry you’ve hurt him. Bold of you to even think you can hurt a F1 driver’s back. A seven times world champion F1 driver’s back.

Your hands travel under his jacket, brushing his nipples and causing him to hold his breath. His naked chest feels smooth. There’s no better feeling than having him finally in your hands. It’s a dream coming to reality.

“Oh you hate me so much.”

Can he read your thoughts? Or did he just say that because you’re mapping his upper body with your fingers? His kisses continue on your chin, then on your jaw and then on your neck. They’re soft yet so hot. You want to reply but you’re too worried to make another sound. His strong hands are now on your hips, they slide up to your waist, stroking it up and down, his mouth now reaching your naked shoulder and leaving marks on it.

He’s definitely now in control of the situation, as always. You want to regain it, but he’s good at making you melt under his palms. You want him in you so bad and you’ll have him. You take him by his jacket and drag him in front of the bed, quickly getting rid of his jacket. You push him on the white bed sheets, climb and sit on top of him. You can feel him hard.

He has the body and the face of a young god, he’s so flawless that makes your almost 20 years age difference look 0.

“Take off your clothes.” He commands.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

You pin his hands on his sides and begin slightly moving your hips. His eyes turn to the ceiling for a moment and his breath becomes louder. “You can’t torture me like this.”

“I think you deserve that.”

You stop and sit back in his lap. He looks up at you with his dark bambi eyes. They’re the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen in your life. You take a moment to appreciate the sculpted inked chest he likes posting on instagram so much, thinking about all the times you spent trying to hide how jealous those fuckboy pictures make you feel. Maybe the jokes you always make on the topic betray you.

“Does this mean you forgive me?”

You’re unsure about that, but what you’re definitely sure of is that you’re falling deeply in love with this man. Those puppy eyes are making you regret all the bad things you said to him.

That doesn’t change that you’re still mad. “We’ll see.”

He helps you unzip your dress, moving his hands across your back and slowly down on your ass, and you let him. The straps of your dress fall down on your arms and he stands in order to press his mouth on your collarbone. He takes your dress off, it falls down on the moquette. “I want you.” He gets rid of your bra and begins kissing your breasts like they’re the sweetest fruit on Earth. “I want you so bad.”

Years of friendship colliding into that moment. You want to shout, insult him, hurt him because it hurts you so much watching him leave, but the only words that escape from your mouth are: “L-Lewis I–“. You bite your bottom lip.

You can see through his pleased smirk that he couldn’t wait to make you eat that “I hate you”.

He takes advantage of your moment of weakness to take back control. He flips your positions and frees you both from the last clothes. God, his arms are perfect. “Open wide for me, darling.” His hands on your thighs are making you unable to speak. “Good, just like that.” He licks his lips at the sight of your wetness.

You can’t take it anymore. “Stop playing Lewis, just… just do it.”

He bends over you, a few centimetres from your mouth. “Pretty please?”

“Shut up and fuck me.”

And so he does.

[torturedpoetemotions]

Like. I have fifteen years of trust issues when it comes to this stuff so I'm in no way saying anything to defend anything or stating a belief or even truly theorizing here but. Rewatching seasons 1-5 really has me feeling like that. Those comments from That Interview HAVE to be sarcasm/trolling, right? Right????

Because the level of out of touch you'd have to be to think anyone invested in this show actually cares that Nandor is (barely) Guillermo's boss, or to think that they're not in gross, mushy, big, forever, life-changing, unhinged, kill and die for each other love...truly is breathtaking to me. To the point I kind of want to refuse to believe it's possible for someone directly involved in the show to BE that out of touch?

Especially after all the heavy lifting done in seasons 2-4 to eliminate any perceived power imbalance between them? Showing that Guillermo is immune to hypnosis and can best Nandor in a fight. The lengths gone to in order to illustrate how important they are to each other, how well they know each other.

Nandor's arc for two whole seasons of the show LITERALLY being looking for love in all the wrong places while Guillermo stands faithfully by his side, giving him the comfort and companionship he's so desperately seeking the whole time. MARWA AND ALL THE KISSING AND CUDDLING OF GUILLERMO AT THEIR LITERAL WEDDING RECEPTION AFTER NANDOR WISHES FOR HER TO LIKE WHAT HE LIKES. Nandor's immediate and obvious jealousy when Guillermo introduces Freddie. Nandor's grief when he thinks Guillermo is dead. The way Nandor can't handle it when Guillermo leaves in general. Guillermo visiting the worst humiliation a vampire can experience upon Nandor and Nandor just...getting over it? Helping complete his transformation? Helping give him his humanity back when Guillermo realizes this isn't what he wants? Breaking one of the greatest vampire taboos in the process like it's nothing? The frankly stunning revelation that he's always known Guillermo wasn't ready, and that his holding off has always been FOR GUILLERMO?

And Guillermo's sadness whenever Nandor pushes him away. The first time we see him cry is because Nandor told him to take that other offer. Guillermo being willing to die to save Nandor (and Nandor actually almost dying to save Guillermo). Guillermo's obvious jealousy and protectiveness when it came to Nandor's thing with Gail. Guillermo rescuing Nandor from himself with the cult. Nandor being the first one he reveals his secret vampire killer heritage to. Nandor being the last one Guillermo tells about his turning, because he doesn't want to hurt him. Nandor's indifference at the end of season 4 being the thing that actually pushes Guillermo to go to Derek, despite every other setback and loss they've suffered that year. Guillermo literally saying the words with his mouth "I love Nandor the most."

Also just. The two of them LITERALLY being the embodiment of what the other one wants most AND being the one to pull the other back from their most self-destructive attempts to get it? I mean COME ONNNNNNN.

I know TV writers have a long and fucking stupid history of doing this shit. I do. I know it. But like...this show is already so fucking queer? And it's so in-your-face INTENTIONAL about Guillermo and Nandor's relationship? To the point it's almost been the A plot of an entire fucking season? Between my trust issues and my media literacy and my queer little heart's stupid insistence on hoping...I'm struggling, fam.

[gffa]

SO I'M READING OMNISCIENT READER'S VIEWPOINT AND APPARENTLY I HAVE NOT LEARNED MY LESSON YET because let me recreate a moment for you. They've finally made it through the dinosaur level of the latest Scenario and Kim Dokja has spent quite a bit of time worrying about where Yoo Joonghyuk is and the "worst case scenario" that might be playing out. So my thoughts are basically: "Oh, boy, they're finally going to catch up to Yoo Joonghyuk and the tension in the panels right beforehand are INTENSE, Kim Dokja has been hyper, hyper focused on how important this is, how much danger they're in, and it's been chapters and chapters since they've seen each other and it's going to be SUCH an epic moment--"

"Please, please just let that guy be safe--!" he says, AS IF I WASN'T ALREADY WOUND UP ABOUT KDJ'S FEELINGS ABOUT YJH??? LIKE, ARE WE SURE SHING-SHONG AREN'T IMPLYING WHAT THAT REALLY SEEMS TO BE IMPLYING?? Just. The focus on how fast he's going, the way every step brings him closer to Yoo Joonghyuk, the sheer desperation in his thoughts, it has me legitimately wound up!

AND THEN THERE HE IS! And I have no idea if he's just standing there to be an asshole (totally possible), if he just legitimately does not care about any of this because he's too strong for it to matter (also totally possible), if there's going to be a major confrontation (the lead-up certainly has me prepared for it), or if something is wrong (you never know what this series is going to throw at you!) or what.

KDJ's face is BIG FUCKING MAD at YJH standing with his back to him. "YOU IGNORE KIM DOKJA???" this asshole cat seems to be saying to Yoo Joonghyuk's back. "YOU IGNORE KIM DOKJA LIKE A BUG?? OHHHHH JAIL FOR YOO JOONGHYUK!!! JAIL FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS!!!!" I AM SO READY FOR THIS EPIC CONFRONTATION. SO. READY--

AND THEN THE MOMENT OF TRUTH--

...........................LOL YEAH OF COURSE THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT GOES. THIS GUY COULD ABSOLUTELY WIPE THE FLOOR WITH KDJ, HE IS TERRIFYINGLY STRONG AND HE HAS NO REASON TO BE NICE TO HIM, BUT KDJ CAN'T HELP BEING EMOTIONALLY INVESTED BECAUSE HE READ THE ENTIRE WEBNOVEL STARRING YJH, HE LIVED FOR THAT STORY, AND WENT ON THE EMOTIONAL JOURNEY WITH THE PROTAGONIST. SO HOW DOES KDJ EXPRESS ALL OF THIS? STORMS RIGHT UP TO HIM WHEN HE'S IN A TRANCE AND IS BEING MIND-CONTROLLED AND HITS HIM ON THE BACK OF THE HEAD. He is a horrible, horrible little gremlin man and Yoo Joonghyuk has the galaxy's biggest storm coming in the form of YOU'RE GOING TO LIKE THIS GUY ONE DAY AND IT'S GOING TO BE HELL BECAUSE HE'S AN AWFUL, AWFUL LITTLE SHIT OF A HUMAN BEING. Also, you can never trust this series! N E V E R TRUST OMNISCIENT READER'S VIEWPOINT. AS SOON AS YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE SCENE TONE FIGURED OUT, NOPE, IT YANKS THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER YOU AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE LEARNED A SINGLE THING.

[total-drama-brainrot]

i just posted a silly impulsive headcanon in the discord off the top of my head, but now that i'm thinking about it...

let's say, during their stay in jamaica (or maybe in a later season/different show altogether?) the contestants are staying in hotel rooms for simplicities' sake. and due to the number of them, they're paired up. not an issue, right?

noah goes to join owen in his room, but he's already partnered up with tyler (or whomever), so noah's left with only alejandro as an option. great. again, it's whatever, it's only temporary. at least they'll be able to sleep in proper beds, so things are still looking up!

oh, they've been given the last available room? it's got the queen bed? oh sweet! so they've got bigger beds than the others? no?

wait. what do you mean "only one bed?"

oh shit oh fuck he's totally doomed.

well, they'll just have to make do. noah isn't about to cause a fuss about his sleeping arrangements, he's already tired enough from the plane crash itself and the challenges they competed in. what's the worst that could happen?

(he steadfastly ignores the Very Possible Outcome of his unfortunate sleeping habit, even when various headlines pertaining to a certain awake-a-thon incident race across his vision like spectres. because it's NOT going to happen again.)

alejandro also takes the news with his usual levels of grace and poise- all of that social training as the son of a diplomat has done him well- though noah can just tell by the tenseness in his shoulders and the stiffness of his posture that he's not as calm about the situation as he'd like the others to believe.

whatever. it's just a bed, who cares?

when they're getting ready to sleep- in an actual bed, what a luxury!- noah and alejandro gingerly climb into their respective sleep wears, both facing the opposite direction. this is the first time the whole season that they've been allowed the opportunity to sleep in their actual pyjamas. you know, since they haven't exactly had beds.

alejandro, dressed in his tank top and sleep shorts (he'd usually sleep in just the shorts, but the thought of doing so whilst sharing a sleep space seemed inappropriate), turns to climb into their queen bed only to see noah, who is already dressed in his own loose t-shirt and shorts, stepping into a pair of sweatpants and pulling a thick looking sweater over his sleepwear. what the fuck?

the room they're in isn't even cold, they're in jamaica?

even worse, noah's actively putting on a pair of fluffy socks. who wears socks to bed?

and then, then, the absolute mad lad reaches into his luggage and pulls out an equally fluffy dressing gown (or bathrobe/housecoat, same thing tbf), wrapping it around himself like a winter coat as if he's somehow cold in his two- now three- layers. it's almost 26°c out there! (80°f)

and the psycho smiles to himself, breathing out a sigh of contented air (and, alejandro notices, uncurling from his slightly hunched over posture, as if he'd been trying to conserve heat), as if he's not sweating his ass off under his three weather inappropriate layers!

so, as a concerned team leader, alejandro points out the obvious; he shouldn't be wearing so many layers to bed, he's going to get heat stroke.

but noah argues back; he naturally runs cold, especially when he's asleep.

and alejandro briefly recalls the amount of times he's noticed a napping noah shivering in his sleep despite wearing his usual three layers of clothing and the jet itself being kept a consistent room temperature for all it's faults, but his logic reasons that even so noah still doesn't need to wear socks to bed (it's immoral).

eventually noah gives up defending his (objectively wrong) decision to wear thick layered clothing and socks to bed and just climbs under the covers (discarding the dressing gown on the way, he's not completely insane), huffing in annoyance as he curls up at the edge of the mattress and makes a point of ignoring his company.

alejandro also sighs to himself, though whether it's in defeat or exasperation he isn't entirely sure, and carefully slots himself onto the opposite edge of the bed.

the two fall asleep in a tense silence with almost a meter of space between them.

which is why it's surprising when alejandro wakes up a few hours later, absolutely boiling under the heated weight practically glued to his side.

noah's iconic hair, softer in texture that it's usually neat waves would imply, tickles at his neck whilst the cynic's face is pressed firmly into his chest. his sweater-clad arms and wrapped almost possessively around his shoulders and his legs and tangled between the latino's own. whilst the added pressure is nice bearable, alejandro is sweating his life out beneath the warmth of another body.

when he tries to unpeel his clingy companion from his side, a sleeping noah seems to take that as a challenge and digs his hands into the taller's shoulders, which is when alejandro realises that despite everything noah's hands are freezing to the touch. how?! the two of them end up even further entwined than before, as his escape efforts only lead to noah wrapping his body even tighter around alejandro like a particularly stubborn boa constrictor until he had the shorter practically sleeping on top of him- as if alejandro himself was the mattress, or some oversized teddy bear.

it's... not an ideal situation.

alejandro kicks the duvet off of the pair, prompting a shiver from the wannabe koala attached to him, but the freedom from the oppressive heat outweighs any remorse he would've felt for depriving his companion from potential heat stroke. without the oven-like heat of the duvet, having the warmth of another curled up against him is actually pretty nice, and alejandro soon finds unconsciousness washing over him like the (comparatively) cool air of their room.

noah wakes up as sunlight filters into their suite, his face tucked firmly into alejandro's neck as the taller cradles him between his arms, deep slumbering breaths making his chest periodically rise and fall against noah's own. his arms are wrapped around the spaniard's waist, cold hands gripping loosely at the fabric of his tank top, and their legs are to tangled together that it takes the bookworm a few moments to figure out which ones are his.

he's warm, for once, and it's wonderful. he barely spares a thought at how awkward the situation is going to be when they're both awake and just presses himself further into alejandro's inviting warmth, mouth twitching into a smile, as he drifts back to sleep.

[theamityelf]

What about normal Makoto in a room full of his kamakurized friends? 👀

Lol, immediately this brought to mind a kind of inversion of the Undead AU, where the lucksters instead have to take care of super genius versions of their classmates.

But let's put that aside for now.

(I'm making this one a new AU, so the Kamukura 78th class get the same characterization as before, but the backstories from the Kamukuras AU are changed so that instead they were just all entered into the Kamukura Project at the same time. Presumably Izuru Kamukura still exists as the first success and they took that success as a green light to do the same thing with fifteen more kids. None of them have met Izuru, though; he's in the basement of Hope's Peak, and they're at some secondary location where the many people who would be looking for them can't find them.)

So, the scientists Kamukurify the whole 78th class, except Makoto. (Presumably they tricked them into signing off on it, but since some of them are definitely the type to thoroughly read a contract, I'm thinking it was just casually tossed in as a condition to attending.) This does raise the question of "When did they go through with the procedure, and where was Makoto while it was happening?" I'm going to say it happened over some kind of holiday or break, so when Makoto gets pulled in, he has no idea of how serious the danger is until after he's tossed into a room with all of them.

But yeah, the scientists just toss Makoto into a room with the Kamukuras and lock the door.

All of the Kamukuras would immediately reach the conclusion, "The scientists have given us a human plaything, and we're expected to share it, and I know someone is going to break it."

So everyone has one of four reactions:

Someone's going to break him, so it might as well be me.

Someone's going to break him unless I protect him, so I will.

Someone's going to break him, so no point taking an interest.

Someone's going to break him, so I'd better do something interesting with him before they do.

And because they're all Ultimate Analysts, they all know the exact mental journeys the others are on. The best of them are able to circumvent the worst possible outcome (which is, him dying immediately and no one gets to do anything with him and they don't get another one).

As soon as Makoto (again, super not knowing what he's in for) walks into the room, Sakura restrains Junko just to make sure she doesn't do anything to sabotage this chance at stimulation for the rest of them.

Hina runs up to Makoto like, "Interesting. They've never given us something like this before."

("The likeness is incredible," Chihiro's voice floats from somewhere near Hifumi, because Hifumi drew Makoto's face the previous day. "Your clairvoyance has improved, since you spoke with Hagakure." For his part, Hiro is just standing in the corner, looking like he's seen all of this before and doesn't mind an encore.)

"Hina?" Makoto looks around at all of them, confused. They all have shoulder-length hair, uncombed. It's a weird look, especially for those of them who used to have really long or really short hair. (Their hair hasn't grown Kamukura-length yet, since it was shaved for the procedure.) Their eyes are all bright red. "You look...different. Why are you talking like that?"

"He knows us," Celeste observes, having immediately decided to earn his loyalty on the assumption that he can be useful in getting her out. She keeps her hair tidier than any of the others, but Makoto is more focused on how even her eyes are different. They were already red, but before it was a simmering scarlet, like red wine, not a glaring crimson. "Poor thing; you must be so confused."

"Celeste?"

She's unfamiliar with that name, because it isn't the one on record for this body, but she takes it in stride because she doesn't care what he means by it. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Why did you call her Celeste?" Hina asks.

"You guys- Whoa!" Makoto yelps in fright, as he is lifted off of his feet.

Mondo holds Makoto over his head, like keeping a toy out of reach of children. It's not beyond any of them, physically, to access Makoto anyway, but the idea is that getting to him now would require them to cross a line that would lead to a skirmish, so they won't.

"We should negotiate the use of this resource," Mukuro says.

"He is not a resource for our use," Taka says. "He is a human as humans were meant to be. He shouldn't be touched."

"Guys?!" Makoto calls from his weird position, being held in the air by his shirt and pant leg. "Is everyone okay? You're all being really weird."

"Slow on the uptake," Leon drones. "Might as well let Enoshima cut him open."

"You insult my imagination," Junko replies, casually, from her restrained position.

They're talking like they don't know me, Makoto thinks. And...a little like they don't know each other. At least, not the way they did before. "What happened to you? Did you guys get amnesia or something?"

"Owada, could you put him in the other room while we negotiate?" Sayaka suggests. She has already taken those few seconds to imagine a few outcomes in which everyone would be satisfied. It's the kind of thing she really enjoys doing.

They lock Makoto in an adjacent room and very clinically discuss the best ways to avoid killing him. Or at least to avoid killing him too quickly.

Meanwhile, Makoto is adjusting to all this information he just gathered from that short interaction and preparing for how he's going to interact with them, moving forward.

[dianawinchester03]

Season 1, Episode 22 - Devils Trap

Series Masterlist

Y/N’s POV

My heart dropped when I saw the fearful expression on Deans face. My mind running to the worst that could possibly happen. Dean hung up the phone, a stoic look on his face. "They've got dad" He tells us, panic taking us all over. "Meg?" Sam asks stunned, anger building in him. "What'd she say?" I ask, taking a deep breath as I try to calm myself down.

"I just told you guys" Dean says firmly, his face growing red with panic. "Okay.....okay" He takes a deep breath, running a hand over his face. Dean then goes over to the nightstand, picking up the Colt. He then shoves it in the back of his pants. "What are you doing, Dean?" Sam asks him confused as Dean picks up his bag. "We gotta go" Dean says urgently, packing up all our stuff.

"Why?" I further question as Dean throws on his jacket, "Because the demon knows we're in Salvation. Alright? It knows we've got the Colt. It's got Dad and it's probably coming for us next" Dean says, trying to control his breathing. "Good. We've still got three bullets left. Let it come!" Sam says. "Listen, tough guy, we're not ready!" Dean snaps at his brother.

"Okay?! We don't know how many of them are out there. Now, we're no good to anybody dead!" He further exclaims, buttoning up his shirt. I sigh, nodding in agreement. He takes my jacket and hands it to me, I quickly take it and throw it on. "We're leaving. Now!" Dean bellows, his tone filled with authority.

Third Person POV

The Impala and Harley rush down the stretch. Y/N has her headphones jacked in her ears, on a call with the boys who're in the car as they drive. "I'm telling you guys, we could've taken them" Sam says a bit irritated. "What we need is a plan." Dean responds firmly. "Now they're probably keeping John alive. We just gotta figure out where. They'll wanna trade him for the gun" Y/N blurs from over the speaker phone.

Sam shakes his head, huffing. "What?" Dean groans at Sam's expressions. "Guys, if that were true...why didn't Meg mention a trade?" Sam points out, his mind swirling with images at his possibly dead father. Dean couldn't think of an answer, "Dad...he might be-" Sam goes to state the obvious but Dean and Y/N cut him off. "Don't!" They growl in unison.

"Look, I don't wanna believe it anymore than either of you...but if he is, all the more reason to kill this damn thing. We still have the Colt. We can still finish the job." Sam states firmly. "Screw the job, Sam!" Dean snaps angrily. "Dean, I'm just trying to do what he'd want. He would want us to keep going!" Sam argues.

"Jesus, would you quit talking about him like he's dead already, Sam!?" Y/N pipes up irritated from over the phone. "Thank you!" Dean yells in agreement. "Listen to me, everything stops until we get him back. Do you understand me? Everything!" Dean orders in a tone of authority. Sam just sighs, bowing his head. He nods sadly, "So how do we find him?" Sam asks softly.

"Maybe we go to Lincoln. Start at the warehouse where he was taken" Dean suggests. "Come on, Dean. You really think these demons are gonna leave a trail?" Sam scoffs. It dawns on him, "You're right. We need help" Dean agrees. Sam is surprised but goes with it.

________________________________

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Impala and Harley drive into the familiar yard, a broken sign overhead stating, 'Singer Auto Self Service'.

Bobby takes up two flasks, "Here you go" He hands Dean one. Dean takes it and examines it, "What is this, holy water?" He asks Bobby, "That one is. This is whiskey" Bobby smirks, taking a sip from his flask. Dean cocks his eyebrow in amusement. "You still got a liver, Bobby?" Y/N jokes. "Partially, still waiting on my transplant" He retorts jokingly, handing it to her.

She takes it smiling, taking a swig from it. "Bobby, thanks. Thanks for everything" Y/N says gratefully. Looking over at Sam, who's by Bobby's desk doing research, "To tell you the truth, we weren't sure if we should come" Dean says honestly sighing. "Nonsense, your daddy needs help" Bobby reassures him. "Yeah, but last time we saw you. I mean, you did threaten to blast him full of buckshot." Y/N points out.

"Cocked the shotgun and everything" Dean snorts as Y/N shakes her head smiling at the memory. Bobby sighs, "Yeah, well, what can I say? John and F/N got that effect on people" Bobby says. "Yeah, I guess they do" Y/N sighs her heart panging at the mention of her father. Bobby looks over at her sympathetically. "None of that matters now, sweetheart." Resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about your father, y/n/n" Bobby says sincerely. Tears well up in her eyes again but she fights it off. Giving him a tearful smile, "Yeah. Me too." She sighs. Bobby gives her a small smile, then taking his hand off her shoulder. "All that matters now is that you boys get your father back." Bobby says firmly.

"So did you really shatter does car windows with your mind, kid?" Bobby asks her curiously, cocking his eyebrow. Dean looks over at her concerned but she shrugs. "I think so. All I know is, when I saw-" She begins but stops, her heart begins to pain. She clear her throat. Dean and Bobby's faces gloss over with sympathy at this, "Its okay, you don't gotta-" Dean goes to assure her but she cuts him off.

"It's fine, we gotta talk about it at some point" She says firmly. Dean nods and she turns back to Bobby. "When I saw wh-...what happened, I felt a power literally surge through me. I imagined Kate being away from Dad. I can't put it into words, but next thing I knew. She was flying through the air into a car. And after....after dad was gone. I wanted to punch everything in sight and it happened again" She explains sadly. Looking down, she tries to not allow the tears to flow.

Dean and Bobby share a look of pity at this, "Maybe it's gotta do with your mom. F/N always said your momma was a powerful woman, she could do those things and more" Bobby suggests gently. "I don't know" Y/N sighs, looking down. She chuckles dryly, "It's funny. He always wished I was like mom, he even admitted to hating the fact that I was so much like him." She huffs, shaking her head.

"But then him dying is what somehow brought out whatever powers mom gave me. It's a fucked up circle" She looks down, sniffling back tears. "Your father didn't hate you, Princess" Dean assures her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I know" She sighs. "We'll figure it out kiddo, I promise." Bobby assures her with a small smile, patting her on her shoulder. She nods, offering feigning a small smile.

"Bobby, this book...I've never seen anything like it" Sam says amazed. Bobby walks over, taking a seat on the table. "Key of Solomon? It's the real deal alright" Bobby responds. "And these—uh. These protective circles, they really work?" Sam asks him, pointing to the printing of a protective circle symbol in the book. Y/N peers over the table to take a look at the book. "Hell, yeah. You get a demon in one, they're trapped. Powerless. It's like a satanic roach motel" Bobby explains, making Sam and Y/N chuckle at the simile.

"Man knows his stuff" Dean says proudly, walking over to them. "I'll tell you something else too. This is some serious crap you kids stepped in" Bobby states. "Oh yeah? How's that?" Y/N asks curiously, crossing her arms over her chest. "Normal year. I hear of...say, three demonic possessions. Maybe four, tops" He ballparks. "Yeah?" Dean urges him to further explain.

"This year. I heard of 27 so far." Their eyebrows raise at the skyrocketing number. "You get what I'm saying? More and more demons are walking among us. A lot more" Bobby points out lowly. "Do you know why?" Sam asks. "No, but I know it's something big. Storms coming" Bobby shakes his head. "And you kids and your daddies...you are smack in the middle of it" He finishes. The three young hunters share a look of terror.

Y/N began to feel that heat rising in her body, now creeping up to the back of her neck. Her breath hitches as the pain grows. Suddenly, Bobby's dog begins barking loudly out of nowhere. "Rumsfeld" Bobby mutters in concern, getting up from the table quickly to go check by the window. "Ow!" Y/N yelps in pain, clutching her neck. Sam jumps up from his chair at this.

"You okay, Princess?" Dean asks her concerned, placing a hand on her lower back. Bobby opens the peepers to see Rumsfeld chain was broken, "What is it?" Sam asks Bobby. "Something's wrong" Bobby says urgently. That's when his door was kicked in, broken down by Meg. She strolls in, a angry look on her face as the four hunters look at her in shock. Dean clutching his flask of holy water.

"No more crap, okay?" Meg says angrily, Dean narrows his eyes at her. Undoing the cork on the flask to throw the water at her but she waves her hand in the air. Sending Dean flying into a stack of books, "You bitch!" Y/N growls as she and Sam shield Bobby, keeping him behind them protectively. "I want the Colt, Sam. The real colt. Right now" Meg orders in a low tone, moving slowly towards them.

"We don't have it on us. We buried it" Sam lies quickly, both him and Y/N shielding Bobby closely, moving back as Meg moves closer. "Didn't I say. No more crap?" Meg says irritated. "I swear, after everything I heard about you Winchesters and L/Ns. I gotta tell you, I'm a little underwhelmed" She chuckles ironically, still moving closer as they move backwards.

"First Johnny tired to pawn off a fake gun and then he leaves the real gun with you three chuckleheads" She mocks them. "Lackluster, man" She scoffs. "I mean, did you really think I wouldn't find you?" She smirks cockily. Dean then emerges from the behind her. "Actually, we were counting on it" He says smugly.

Meg turns around, cocking her eyebrow. Dean then looks up to the ceiling, Megs eyes follow his gaze to see a Devils Trap engraved into the ceiling. Megs cocky grin drops, "Gotcha bitch" Y/N snaps back, a smirk on her face. They then got a chair and bounded Meg to it, tying her hands and her feet. Sam, Dean and Y/N sat across from her on the table, outside of the trap.

"You know, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask" Meg says in a coy tone. They glare at her, not responding. Bobby emerges from the living room with a canister of salt in his hands. "I salted the doors and windows. If there are any demons out there, they ain't getting" He informs them. Dean nods, getting up to stand infront of Meg.

"Where's our father, Meg?" He asks her firmly. "You didn't ask very nice" She smirks. "Where's our father, bitch" Dean smirks back. "Jeez, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" She retorts in a snide tone, feigning a fake gasp. "Oh I forgot, you don't" She smirks. Deans nostrils flare at this, "Hey, you think this is a fucking game?! Where is he?! What did you do to him?!" He shouts fueled with rage, getting in her face, pressing his hands on the chair handles.

"He died screaming. I killed him myself" She says proudly. A dark look on her face. Tears well up in Sam and Y/N's eyes at this, pure fury in Deans. He backhands her harshly at the side of her face. Her head snapping to the side, She gasps, looking up at him with a smile. "That's kind of a turn on, you hitting a girl" She smirks. "You're no girl" Dean grits his teeth at her but she just smiles widely.

Bobby's realizes something and gets up, "Dean" He calls out to him, ushering the three young hunters into the living room. Dean gives her one last glare before going into the living room. "You okay?" Y/N asks him concerned. "She's lying. He's not dead" Dean says firmly. Y/N sighs, understanding how this could all he stressful for the boys. "Dean, you gotta be careful with her. Don't hurt her" Bobby warns him.

They look at him confused. "Why?" He asks Bobby. "Because she really is a girl, that's why" Bobby says. "What're you talking about?" Sam asks confused. "She's possessed. That's a human possessed by a demon. Can't you tell?" Bobby states lowly as if it's obvious. They look back at Meg stunned. A dark smirk on her face. "You're trying to tell us there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there?" Y/N asks, pointing to Meg.

Bobby nods as Dean looks back at Meg, "That's actually good news" He breaths out relieved. Bobby then gave Sam a book with a exorcism incantation. The three younger hunters step closer to Meg, Sam with the book in his hands. "You gonna read me a story?" Meg says smugly. Dean glares at her with hatred along with Y/N. "Something like that. Hit it, Sam" Dean orders Sam, a smug smile on his face.

Sam then begins to recite the incantation in Latin. Meg huffs, "An exorcism? Are you serious?" She shakes her head cockily. "We're going for it, baby. Head spinning, projectile vomiting. The whole nine yards" Y/N retorts in a snide tone, referencing the movie. Meg then grunts in pain, shaking slightly. Sam stops the recital as she breathes heavily, looking over at Dean and Y/N.

"I'm gonna kill you" Meg grits her teeth at Sam. Then turning back to Dean and Y/N. "I'm gonna rip the bones from you body" She threatens menacingly. "No, you're gonna burn in hell. Unless you tell us where are dad it" Dean shakes with anger, but Meg smirks. "Well, at least you'll get a nice tan" He snaps back, looking back up at Sam. Indicating for him to continue. Sam then begins to recite the incantation again, Meg shaking with pain.

Huffing and grunting, "He begged for his life with tears in his eyes" She taunts the boys, grunting in pain. "He begged to see his sons and y/n one last time. That's when I slit his throat" Meg continues to taunt them, gritting her teeth in pain. They all look at each other nervously. Flames of fury in Deans eyes and he leans down towards Megs face, "For your sake, I hope you're lying. Because is it's true, I swear to God. I will March into hell and slaughter every single one of you. So help me god" Dean growls at her, shaking with anger.

And by the sounds of it. That was a promise he was gonna keep. She just smirks at them as Sam continues to chant the incantation. Wind builds in the room, pages from open books flipping on their own. Meg grips onto the chair, shaking and grunting. "Where is he?" Y/N asks her angrily, getting down to her level.

"You just won't take dead for an answer, can't you?" Meg grunts painfully. "Where is he?!" Dean yells. "Dead!" Meg yells back. "No he's not!! He's not dead, he can't be!!" Dean screams back, tears building up in his eyes. Sam looks on at the interaction, looking at his brother and y/n in concern. "What're you looking at? Keep reading" Y/N snaps at him.

Sam shakily starts reciting the incantation again. Meg shakes again in pain, the chair begins to move around on its own in the circle as she screams. "He will be!!" Meg yells. This catches their attention. "Wait! What?!" Dean puts his hand out, stopping Sam from reciting the exorcism. "He's not dead" Meg breathes heavily. "But he will be after what we do to him" She snaps back snidely.

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" Y/N asks. "You don't" Meg smirks. "Sam!" Dean and Y/N yell, indicating for Sam to continue. "A building, okay?! A building in Jefferson City" Meg blurts out. "Missouri?! Where?! Give me an address!" Dean demands. "I don't know!" Meg cries. "And the demon. The one we're looking for. Where is it?" Sam asks. "I don't know, I swear!" Meg pleads.

"That's everything. That's all I know" She breathes heavily. Dean and Y/N clench their jaws angrily as they look at her. "Finish it" Dean orders Sam firmly. Him and Y/N pacing menacingly around Megs chair. "What? I told you the truth!" Meg yells betrayed. "I don't care!" Dean shouts back. "You bitch, you promised" She narrows her eyes at Y/N. "I lied!" Y/N shouts in her face, leaning down. A look of hatred being exchanged between the two.

"Sam" Y/N looks back up at Sam. Sam hesitates. He doesn't move or say anything, "Sam!" Dean nudges his brother. "Read" He orders. "Maybe we could still use her. Find out where the demon is" Sam suggests. "She doesn't know" Dean says. "She lied!" Sam argues. "Sam, there's an innocent girl trapped somewhere in there and we've gotta help her" Y/N argues back.

Bobby emerges from behind them. "You're gonna kill her" Bobby tells them. "What?" Dean and Y/N ask in confusion. "You said she fell from a building." Bobby points out, looking back at Meg with pity. "That girls body is broken. The only thing keeping her alive is that demon inside" He tells them lowly. "You exorcise it, the girl is gonna die" Bobby explains.

"Listen to me, both of you. We are not gonna leave her like that!" Dean insists. "She is a human being" Bobby defends. "And we're gonna out her out of her misery" Y/N retorts. Bobby's face drops, Dean then turns to his brother. "Sam, finish it" He orders Sam. Sam looks over at Bobby and then back to Meg, who's still in pain.

He then looks back to his brother and y/n. "Please. Finish it, Sam" Y/N pleads. Sam sighs, looking back down at the book. He begins chanting in Latin again. Meg begins to shake, her eyes turning black as she groans. When Sam finishes the recital, Meg screams, throwing her head upwards, a large black cloud of smoke escaping from her mouth as she screams.

They look on in horror as this happens, her head falling back down when it's over. Blood then begins to leak out of her nose, dripping into the ground. She raises her head slowly as she bleeds from her mouth. Groaning in pain, "She still alive" Y/N gasps. Bobby runs out of the room. "Call 911. Get some waters and blankets" Dean tells him. Y/N leans down and begins to untie her hands gently.

Along with Sam and Dean. "Thank you" Meg says gratefully, straining herself to speak. "Shh. Shhh. Just take it easy, alright hun" Y/N says gently. "Come on, let's get her down" Y/N says to Dean. On three, the two lift Meg up gently. Meg crying and grunting in pain. When she touches Meg, something surges through her body. It's almost as if she could feel the pain Meg was feeling, but not physically, she could feel it in her soul. Tears begin to well at her eyes when this happens.

They rest her gently on the ground, Y/N lays her head on her lap. "I gotcha. I gotcha. It's okay. It's okay.." Y/N says gently as Meg gasps, more blood dripping through her nose and mouth. "A year" Meg says weakly. "What?" Sam asks gently. "It's been a year" Meg responds again, her voice straining. "Shhh, shhh" Y/N shushes her gently, pushing Meg's hair away from her face. "Take it easy" Sam gives her a gentle smile.

"I've been awake for some of it" Meg says weakly, taking a deep breath. When she says this, a thought crosses Deans mind. "I couldn't move my own body" She admits, the three hunters look at each other in terror. "And things looked- It- it's a nightmare" She groans. "Was it telling us the truth about our dad?" Dean asks her. Sam and Y/N look at Dean in disbelief.

"Dean" Y/N says in a warning tone. "We need to know" Dean defends. "Yes." Meg croaks weakly. "But it wants you to know....they want you to come for him" Meg tells him. Dean nods slightly, relief washing through his body. "If Dad's still alive, none of that matters" He responds. Bobby comes walking back into the room with water and some blankets.

He hands Dean the water, they slowly raise Meg up a bit, holding the glass to give her a sip. She chokes slightly, coughing. "Where is the demon we're looking for?" Sam asks Meg. "Not there. Other ones. Awful ones" She responds, breathing heavily. "Where are they keeping John?" Y/N asks her. "B-by the riv- River" Meg stutters, blood spluttering out of her mouth. "S-sunrise" She stutters again. "Sunrise? What does that mean?" Dean asks her.

But she doesn't answer, Y/N's feels her pulse. Her heart dropping, "What does that mean?" Dean asks her again, more urgently this time. "Dean..." Y/N whispers, looking back up at Dean. "She's gone" She tells him, Deans face dropping as they hold the dead girl in their hands.

Still at Bobbys house, "You better hurry to and beat it before the paramedics get here" Bobby tells them. "What're you gonna tell them?" Y/N asks him concerned. "You think you guys invented lying to the cops? I'll figure something out" Bobby scoffs sarcastically. "Here, take this" He hands Sam the Key of Solomon book. "Thanks" Sam says gratefully, taking the book.

"Thanks for everything" Dean thanks Bobby gratefully. "Be care, alright?" Y/N pats Bobby on his shoulder. "You kids just go find John. And when you do, you bring him around, would you?" He tells them genuinely. "I won't even try to shoot him this time" He chuckles, they crack a small smile before nodding.

They make their way to the door, opening it to make their way out. Dean turns back and gives Bobby one last grateful look before locking the door behind him.

________________________________

The Impala and Harley are parked by some train tracks. Dean and Y/N by the truck, cocking up weapons as Sam is leaning over the roof of the car, reading the book Bobby gave him. "You two been quiet" Sam points out, breaking the silence. Y/N and Dean look up at him, "Just getting ready" Dean responds dryly.

"He's gonna be fine, guys" Sam assures them but they don't answer. "He will be" Y/N says softly to Dean. He looks down at Y/N with a stoic expression, his face softening when he sees the genuine gentle smile on her face. "Let's hope so" Dean sighs, shaking his head. Sam sighs, turning a page in the book. He finds a symbol that could help them, taking out a pen he wipes the dust off of the Impala trunk lid and begins drawing.

Deans gaze snaps over to him, "Dude, what are you drawing on my car?" Dean asks him irritated. "It's called a devil's trap. Demons can't get through it or inside it." Sam responds calmly. "So?" Dean scoffs as Sam goes over to the other side of the trunk to draw one. "Basically turns the trunk into a lockbox." Sam responds again.

Dean wipes the symbol a bit, looking up at Sam annoyed. "So?" He scoffs again, irritated. "So we have a place to hide the Colt while we go get Dad" Sam states as if it's obvious. "What're you talking about? We're bringing the Colt with us" Dean says. "Can't. Dean. We only got three bullets left. We can't just use them on any demons. We gotta use them on the demon" Sam points out.

Dean looks like he's about to punch something. "No, we have to save your dad, Sam" Y/N pipes in. "We gonna need all the help we can't get" Dean spits angrily going over to Sam. Y/N notices the look on Deans face and puts her body between the two, just incase Dean tries to get aggressive. Sam sighs, closing the book. "Guys, you know how pissed Dad would be if we used all the bullets? He wouldn't want us to bring the gun" Sam puts it plainly.

"I don't care, Sam! I don't care what Dad wants! Since when do you care what Dad wants?!" Dean yells angrily. Y/N jumps slightly as his raise of voice, looking between the two boys nervously. "We wanna kill this demon! You used to want that too!" Sam retorts loudly, gesturing between him and Y/N. "Hell, I mean you're the one who came and got me at school!" Sam further argues, this makes Dean chuckle dryly as he continues.

"You're the one who dragged me back into this, Dean! I'm just trying to finish it!" Sam yells getting closer to Dean. "You're a selfish bastard you know that!?" Dean bellows getting closer to Sam, Y/N's had enough at this point. "Okay! That's enough!" Y/N snaps, placing her hands on their chests, she pushes them apart roughly. The two men's gazes snap down at her surprised.

"You're brothers, man! Your father is missing. So instead of turning on each other, keep your heads in the damn game and let's go find John and kill that son of a bitch demon who ruined our lives, god dammit!" She lectures angrily, her voice cracking. They both sigh, their heads dropped in shame. Both nodding. "She's right" Sam sighs. Y/N turns to Dean, "Sam's also right, they're expecting up to bring this gun. They get the gun, they will kill us all" Y/N explains.

"That Colt is our only leverage and you know it, Dean. We cannot bring that gun. We can't." Sam further stresses. "Fine" Dean says plainly. "We're serious, Dean!" Y/N snaps seriously. "I said fine, Y/N!" He snaps back. Taking the gun out from his jacket, he takes it and rests it inside the trunk. Sam goes over and locks the trunk, not before mouthing a quiet "Thank you" to Y/N. She nods back, mouthing "You're welcome" to him as they hop in the Impala and Y/N hops on the Harley.

________________________________

They walk along side the river bank, Dean has his bag sling against his shoulder as they walk. Dean notices something and stops Sam and Y/N, "Hey, hey. I think I know what Meg meant by 'sunrise' ". He tells them, nodding to the buildings across the road. A sign in-front with some kids and adults playing in the yard, 'Sunrise Apartments'.

"Jesus. That's pretty smart" Y/N mutters kinda impressed. "I mean, if these demons can possess people, they can possess almost anyone inside" She points out. The boys nod in agreement, "Yeah, and make anybody attack us" Sam adds sighing in defeat. "Yeah, so we can't kill them. A building full of human shields." Dean says. "They probably know exactly what we look like too. They could look like anybody" Sam says.

"Man, this sucks out loud" Y/N groans. "Yeah, tell me about it" Sam sighs. "Alright, so how the hell are we gonna get in?" Sam asks, an idea flashes across Deans mine. "Pull the fire alarm. Get out all the civilians" He suggests. "Okay, but then the city responds in what, seven minutes?" Y/N points out. "Seven minutes exactly" Dean confirms. "It's the best we got" Sam says shrugging.

The three share a look, discuss a foolproof plan and Sam crosses the street.

Sam opens the gate leading to the building, making sure there's no one around. He inches to the fire alarm but moves quickly when he sees someone coming. He walks up, waiting for the person to leave and then walks back, quickly pulling the fire alarm. The bell rings throughout the entire building,

Approximately seven minutes after, the apartment is swarming with firefighters. People rushing out of the building. Dean and Y/N approach a firefighter, pretending to be concerned civilians. "Hey, what—? What's happening? Is it a fire?" Y/N feigns a panicked tone whilst talking to the firefighter. "We're figuring that out now, ma'am. You and your boyfriend just stay back" The firefighter says calmly, ushering them out of the way.

"Well, we've got a Yorkie upstairs. And he pees when he's nervous" Dean tries to explain, lying in a panicked tone as the firefighter ushers them back. "Sir, ma'am. You have to stay back" The firefighter says calmly, ushering them away from the truck while Sam, who's behind them, sneaks behind the fire truck. He makes sure no one's around and begins picking the lock.

Sam, Dean and Y/N are upstairs now. Dressed in firefighter gear. Their helmets and masks over their heads to conceal their identity. Dean scans each apartment door with the EMF as they walk through the halls. "I always wanted to be a fireman when I grew up" Dean admits as he scans door. "You never told me that" Sam says shocked.

"I knew. He only told me because I told him I wanted to be a musici- Ughh!" Y/N begins to say but she whimpers in pain when the burning feeling in her body returns when they approach apartment 33. The boys look over at her in concern, "What wrong, princess?" Dean asks her gently. Placing a hand on her lower back. "It's definitely in there" She says gritting her teeth in pain.

The EMF meter then starts going off red like crazy at the same time. They all look at each other in concern. Dean then knocks the door harshly, "This is the fire department. We need you to evacuate the premises!" He shouts loudly through the door. They give each other a nod when they hear the lock from the door being undone.

Y/N kicks it in harshly as soon as it's opened, a woman screams when she's knocked off her feet. They instantly begin to spray her and the man inside of the room with the holy water they had in their spray guns they stole from the truck. Both the woman and man screaming in pain from the water. Dean grabs the woman who's tossing trying to fight Dean off but screaming from the holy water.

As Sam punches the man. Incapacitating him, Y/N opens the closet door and Sam tosses the man in. Knocking over a clothes rack. She locks it back so he can't escape, "DEAN!" She yells for him to toss the woman in also. She opens the door quickly and Dean tosses the woman in. Him and Y/N bar the door with their bodies as Sam rushes over to his duffle he tossed on the floor.

"Hurry up!! Hurry up!!" They yell for Sam to do quickly as the two demons bang relentlessly at the door. Sam pulls out the salt, he the. runs to them and makes a half salt circle around them in-front of the door. The banging then stops, they all pant for breath as they pull off their helmets, stripping off their gear.

Sam picks up his duffle after they strip their gear off, "Come on" Y/N says quickly, creeping over softly to the room. They follow behind and open the door slowly to see John Winchester sprawled across a bed, unconscious, looking beaten to hell. Tied to the frame. "Dad" Dean says quietly, his heart hurting from the sight.

They rush over to John as Sam looks on. Y/N puts her ear to John's nose to check on his breathing and checks him pulse. The burning feeling returns when she does this but she assumes it's from the demons from earlier. Dean and Sam look at her fearfully but she nods. "He's still breathing. But his pulse is weak" She informs them.

"Dad, wake up!" Dean shakes his father's body. "Dad!" He yells. Dean takes out his knife boots quickly to cut off the ties but a thought runs across Y/N and Sam's minds and they stop him. "Wait. Wait!" They say urgently. "What?!" They ask them confused. "He could possessed for all we know" Sam says. "Are you two nuts?!" Dean stresses, Y/N stops him. "Dean" She says gently. "We gotta be sure" She adds.

"Are you getting that pain you get when demons are around?" Sam asks her. "Yeah, a bit. But it could just but the other demons from the closet." She tells him nodding. Sam then pulls out the holy water from his bag, unscrewing the cork. Dean looks pained as Sam throws the holy water on John's unconscious body. John has no reaction to this but he moans softly from pain.

"Sam?" John whispers lightly, looking up at the kids in shock. The light from the window shining on his bloody face. "Why are you splashing water on me?" John asks confused. Sam looks over at Dean and Y/N, they all smile lightly from relief, "Dad, you know?" Dean asks John concerned. "They been drugging me" John croaks. "Where's the Colt?" He asks them.

"Don't worry, Mr. Winchester. It's safe" Y/N assured him. "Good kids" John says softly in pain. "And how many times have I told you, sweetheart. It's John" John says firmly with a chuckle. Y/N smiles a bit, "Sorry, John" She chuckles lightly, as Dean cuts John out of the ties. Y/N helps Dean lift John up but he's too heavy, "Goddammit, what have you been eating" She groans, John weighing her down.

John laughs a bit painfully, "That good stuff from the diner" He chuckles as Sam comes over to help. "Here, take this. Let me" Sam says, handing her his duffel to help Dean lift John to his feet. She takes at, switching positions with Sam. "Fuck!" Y/N groans, the pain increasing in her body. Sam and Dean go to walk out of the room with John. "Don't!" Y/N stops them but it's too late.

A firefighter and man knock the door in. Their eyes black. "Come on. Get back back!!" She yells at them, fearful looks on their faces. They rush in with John on their shoulders as Y/N quickly locks the door, as soon as she does this. An axe comes knocking through the top of the door in the middle. She takes the salt out of Sam's bag as the boys open the window to go down the fire escape.

She makes a salt line quickly on the floor infront of the door, "Y/N, let's go!" Dean shouts for her, she tosses him the bag and jumps through the window. Not before making a salt line at the door. They all make their way down the ladder, Y/N last. Dean helps John down down as the drop is steep, gripping him at his waist.

John grunts when he jumps down, Sam following behind and Y/N last. Y/N walks ahead, making sure no one is around as Sam and Dean hold John up. When she looks to her right, she's tackled to the ground by a demon. Stunned by the attack, the demon hands a right hook in her face. "No!" Sam and Dean yell fearfully.

They quickly place John on the ground, rushing over to pull the demon off of Y/N. Dean lands a harsh kick across his face but one look and the demon sends Sam flying back over to John, into the wall. A nasty cracking sound in Sams right side break as he lands on the floor with a hard thump. The demon then sends Dean flying into a car windshield, similar to what Y/N did with Kate.

Y/N is still dazzled by the attack, Y/N spits some blood out onto the ground, so the demon takes his time, landing multiple punches across her face. Bleeding through her nose and mouth, she tries to fight back by the demon is too strong. The burning feeling in her body increasing. "Get off of her you bastard!" Sam yells, nursing his bruised rib, ready to charge at the demon again but he's cut short.

That's when a bullet goes flying straight through the demons left temple and out his right. It falls to the ground besides Y/N, a black smoke oozing out of the bullet wound. Sam watches on in shock to see Dean wielding the Colt, Dean rushes over to Y/N "Y/N? Princess?? Come on" He says gently, helping her to her feet. She gasps for air, winded from the attack as they look down at the dead demon.

Sam looks at his brother with disbelief. "Come on. Come on. We gotta get out of here. Sam, get dad!" Dean orders Sam. Holding up Y/N, he hoists her up and lifts her up bridal style. She looks back the dead demon, on the floor with blood oozing out of his temples, stunned at what just happened.

________________________________

Later that night, they're all now at a cabin hiding out. Sam and Y/N are lining up the windows with salt. Dean comes out of the bedroom after putting John to bed. "How is he?" Sam asks his brother. "He just needed a little rest, that's all" Dean replies dryly, wiping his hands. "How're you, sweetheart?" He asks Y/N concerned, taking a seat at the table. She looks over at him, her eye bruised with a busted lip.

"I'll survive" She sighs deeply. Deans heart drops painfully at her beautifully bruised face. "Hey, you guys don't think we were followed here, do you?" Sam asks them. "I don't know. I don't think so" Y/N responds shrugging. "I mean, we couldn't have found a more out-of-the-way place to hole up" Dean adds. "Yeah" Sam and Y/N sighs in agreement.

Y/N gives Sam a look that says, 'Beat it' but he looks at her confused. Looking back between her and Dean, he now realizes the tension. Nodding understandably, "I'm uh- I'm gonna go check the back door. See if we salted it" Sam clears his throat, looking between Y/N and Dean before excusing himself awkwardly to check the back doors which he has already salted.

After Sam walks off, Y/N nervously walks over to Dean who's sat at a chair by the dining table. "Hey, uh...Dean. You um-" She begins, scoffing a bit painfully. Dean looks over at her with a concerned expression when she settles next to him. "You saved my life back there" She says softly. "So I guess you're glad I brought the gun, huh?" He retorts jokingly but she rolls her eyes.

"Charming, I'm trying to thank you here" She turns her head away, huffing a little irritated. Dean smirks slightly. He then places his hand gently on the side of her face to turn it back to him. Her (e/c) eyes pierce his emerald orbs, her once agonized face contorting to pained one when he brushes his thumb gently on her swollen eye. "You're welcome" He whispers back, mesmerized by her beauty.

She allows her eyes to flutter shut, slightly rubbing her cheek against his hand. Feeling comforted by his touch. Her heart is pumping out of her chest. She then rests her hand against his. "Y/N?" He says quietly, "Yeah?" She responds, opening his eyes. "You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there" Dean says, his tone filled with shame and guilt.

"You didn't have a choice, Dean" She assures him softly. He sighs, removing his hand gently from her face. She winces from the loss of contact, "Yeah I know. That's not what bothers me." He admits. She's a bit confused by this, "Then what does?" She asks curiously. "Killing that guy, killing Meg...I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch." He says shaking his head.

She gives him an encouraging look for him to continue, "I mean, for you, Sam or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill, it's just...uh..It scares me sometimes" Dean admits, his voice dropping, his eyes glued to the floor. "Dean..." She says gently, placing a hand on his thigh comfortingly. His eyes flicker back to her with a pained expression, his eyes glancing down to her lips.

Her breath hitches when she notices this, her eyes glancing down to his. The tension is so thick, a knife might break if you try to cut it. Dean licks his lips and Y/N does the same, the two begin to inch their lips towards each other but, "It shouldn't. You did good" John says encouragingly as he emerges through the room door. Dean and Y/N pull back quickly from each other, startled as John look at them with raised eyebrows.

They clear their throats awkwardly as Y/N is trying not to turn beet red in the face. "You're not mad?" Dean asks his father. "For what?" John asks him. "Using a bullet" Dean states as if it's obvious. "Mad?" John scoffs. "I'm proud of you" He says smiling.. "You know. Sam, Y/N and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you— You...you watch out for our families. You always have." John says genuinely.

Dean and Y/N share a look at this. A bit surprised by Johns calm demeanor. "Thanks" Dean says gratefully. Still a bit uneasy. Y/N cocks her eyebrow suspiciously at John but then the lights then begin to flicker in the cabin and they all look at each other nervously. John moves to the window as Sam emerges from the back. "What's going on?" He asks fearfully.

"It found us. It's here" John tells them quickly. "The demon" Sam mutters fearfully. "Sam, Y/N. Lines of salt. Infront of every window, every door" John orders them. "We already did it" Y/N tells him. "Well, check it. Okay?" He says firmly. "Okay" Sam and Y/N responds. Doing exactly as John says. Leaving Dean with his father in the room. "Dean, you got the gun?" He asks his son. "Yeah" Dean responds, still unease.

"Give it to me" John orders. "Dad, Y/N tried to shoot the demon at Salvation and it vanished" Dean informs him. "This is me, I won't miss" John further presses. "Now, the gun. Hurry!" John insists, his hand out for Dean to give him the gun. Deans face drops, looking down at the Colt in his hand and back up at John. He notices the hesitation on Deans face, "Son, please" John pleads as Dean glares at him.

Dean backs away from John, realization finally dawning on him. "Give me the gun, what are you doing Dean?" John huffs irritated. "He'd be furious" Dean states. "What?" John spits annoyed. "That I wasted a bullet. He wouldn't be proud of me. He'd tear me a new one" Deans voice cracks painfully when he says that. He then raises the gun and cocks in John's direction.

"You're not my dad" Dean grits his teeth angrily, clenching his jaw. 'John' stares into the barrel of the Colt in horror. "Dean, it's me". 'John' pleads. "I know my dad better than anyone. You ain't him" Dean snaps. "What the hell has gotten into you?" His father says angrily. "I could say the same thing. Stay back" Dean orders. Y/N and Sam emerge from the back, horror etched on their faces when they stumble upon Dean aiming the Colt at 'John'.

"Dean. What the hell's going on?" Sam asks stunned as they look between the father and son nervously. "Your brother's lost his mind". 'John' scoffs. "He's not dad" Dean states roughly. "What?" Y/N asks in disbelief at the fact that her suspicions might have been right from the start. "I think he's possessed. I think he's been possessed since we rescued him" Dean growls. "Don't listen to him, Sammy and y/n/n". 'John' cuts in, raising his voice.

"Dean, how do you know?" Y/N asks Dean in a low tone. "He's- he's different" Dean stutters. "You know, we don't have time for this. Sam, Y/N. You wanna kill this demon, you gotta trust me". 'John' says angrily. Sam and Y/N look between him and Dean. "Sam. Y/N. Please" He pleads. Without hesitation, Sam and Y/N step behind Dean, taking his side. "No...no" Sam says, shaking his head.

Y/N narrows her eyes at 'John', who huff shaking his head. "Fine, if you three are so sure. Go ahead. Kill me" He whispers painfully, tears welling up in his eyes. His head drops to the ground as Dean looks at his father with tears in his eyes. "I thought so" John says in a deep voice, now looking back up at the three hunters with yellow glowing eyes, a dark smirk on his face.

Their eyes widen in horror, Sam and Y/N go to attack but a force throws them against the wall harshly in a flash, then doing the same to Dean. Which results in the gun falling out of his grip and onto the floor in-front of the demon. They all grunt in pain, gasping for air as the demon possessing John Winchester, takes up the Colt. "What a pain in the ass this thing's been" The demon wearing John chuckles as he examines the gun in his hand.

He then looks over at Sam and Y/N. "It's you, isn't it?" Sam groans painfully as his father looks back at him, a smirk on his face. Eyes still glowing yellow. "We've been looking for you a long time" Y/N grits her teeth angrily, groaning from the force crushing her. "Well, you found me" John responds cockily. "But the holy water..." Sam points out, groaning in pain.

"You think something like that works on something like me?" John scoffs. He then moves close to Y/N, a curious look on his face. "Though I gotta say, I'm surprised Little Miss Jennifer Love Hewitt here felt me possessing John" He smirks, leaning in closer to her. She grimaces as he moves slowly, pressing his lips to her ear. She whimpers in disgust at this.

"Get off of her you son of a bitch!!" Dean bellows angrily, groaning in pain. "You're more powerful than I thought, sweetheart" He whispers lowly as she squirms in repulsion. "I'm gonna kill you!" Y/N growls angrily as the force thuds her against the wall. The demon pulls away with a amused expression, "Oh, that would be a neat trick." He chuckles arrogantly.

"In fact. Here" He smirks, putting the gun down infront of them on a table. "Make the gun float to you, psychic hottie" The demon mocks her. She glares at him as he turns to Sam. Her eyes attached to the gun. "What about you, psychic boy? Got any juice in ya?". 'John' smirks at Sam darkly. Sam groans as the force presses him more into the wall.

Y/N's eyes are still focused on the gun as 'John' chuckles, walking over to Dean. "You know, this is fun. I could've killed you a hundred times today, but this-  This was worth the wait" He lets out a breath, staring out the window next to Dean as Dean grimaces from the pain. He turns to Dean with yellow eyes, "Your dad, he's in here with me. Trapped inside of his own meat suit" The demon says proudly.

"He says hi, by the way. Oh and he is pissed about you using that bullet to save your little girlfriend" The demon smirks. He then leans in with a nasty smirk on his face, his eyes flicker to Y/N and back to Dean, "I gotta admit. I would too. She's a hot little thing" He wolf whistles lowly, chuckling darkly. Dean tries to rip out of the grip to maul him, grunting. Y/N's stomach churns, "Please don't say that with John's mouth!" She groans in absolute disgust.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SICK FUCK!" Dean growls enraged. "John's gonna tear you apart. He's gonna taste the iron in your blood" The demon adds menacingly. Deans face contorts to a pained expression, "Let him go. Or I swear to God-" Dean growls. "What? What are you and God gonna do?" The demon cuts him off snarkily. "You see, as far as I'm concerned, this is justic." He walks closer to Dean as he glares at him.

"You know that little exorcism of yours? That was my daughter." The demons grits his teeth at him. "Who, Meg?" Dean questions. "The one in the alley....that was my boy. You understand?" He says lowly. "You gotta be kidding me" Dean scoffs, grimacing in pain. "What? You're the only one that can have a family? You destroyed my children. How would you feel if I killed your family?" The demon asks rhetorically.

Sam, Dean and Y/N's eyes twitch angrily at this but Y/N still has her eyes trained on that gun. Trying anyhow to move it, focusing for that power she felt that night to come back. It moves a bit on the table and she gasps lightly, Sam notices this too, his mouth slightly agape. "Oh, that's right. I forgot, I did" The demon says humorously with a smirk. Dean glares deadly daggers at him. "Still, two wrongs don't make a right" The demon says with a smile.

"You son of a bitch" Dean mutters enraged. "I wanna know why. Why did you do it?" Sam grunts. The demon turns to him, "You mean, why did I kill Mommy, Auntie M/N and pretty little Jess?" The demon retorts. "Yeah" Sam grunts in response. He then turns back to Dean, "You know, I never told you this, but Dam was gonna ask her to marry him. Been shopping for rings and everything" He continues to taunt them as he walks back towards Sam.

"You wanna know why?" He gets in Sams face. "Because they got in the way" He puts it simple in a dark tone. "In the way of what?" Sam growls. "My plans for you and y/n/n, Sammy.  And all the children like you two" The demon smirks and Sam glares at him. Y/N's jaw clenches angrily at this, her eyes still trained on the gun. "Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? Because I really can't stand the monologuing" Dean groans, his tone sarcastic.

The demon laughs and turns back to him, "Funny. But that's all plan of your m.o. isn't it? Masks all that nasty pain. Masks the truth" The demon taunts Dean further, getting face to face with Dean. He clenched his jaw and narrows his eyes at the demon wearing his fathers meatsuit. "Oh, yeah. What's that?" He asks sarcastically. "You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is...they don't need you. Not like you need them" The demon spits.

"Sam, he's clearly Johns favorite." He tells Dean who glares at him angrily. "And y/n..." John scoffs a laugh, his hands on his hips as he shakes his head. "That piss-poor of an excuse kiss you were about to lay on her, come on man. She'll never see you the way you see her. It's pathetic. Her father would've never accepted you and neither would she" He laughs even louder, his shoulders shakily.

"Fuck you!" Dean retorts enraged, his nostrils flaring. Y/N's gaze breaks from the gun at this, her eyes wide with anger and shock. She grits her teeth at John. "That girl could flatten you like a pancake if she wanted to, son." The demon laughs maniacally. "Even when Sam and John fought. Or when Y/N and F/N butted heads, it's more concern than they've ever shown you." The demon pesters him further.

Dean smirks lightly, "I'll bet you're real proud of your kids too, huh?" He asks ironically. "Oh, wait, I forgot. I wasted em" His tone is low, a dark look in Deans eyes as he smiles smugly. The demon backs up, his demeanor still calm. His yellow eyes light up a bit and Dean screams loudly in pain. "DEAN!" Sam and Y/N scream. "No! Stop!" Y/N pleads, her heart aching as Dean screams.

Blood begins to ooze from his chest as wounds form. "Dad! Dad! Don't you let it kill me!" Dean pleads for his father to fight through the possession. He begins to fade, bleeding from his mouth. "Dean!!" Sam and Y/N scream painfully. "Please! If you let the three of them go! I'll do whatever you want!" Y/N offers pleadingly. The demon stops his attack on Deans chest and turns to Y/N with an amused grin. Deans head drops, falling in and out of consciousness.

"And what can you give me?" He asks curiously. "Loyalty. Respect. The works. Oh, and it'll hurt them a lot more than just killing them" Y/N says in an enticing tone, gritting her teeth. "Y/N are you fucking stupid?!" Sam bellows. "Shut up!" The demon snaps at him, then turning back to her. "You said I'm more powerful then you thought right? Imagine what I'd be if I train under you" She whispers enticingly.

The boys are terrified at her offer. Refusing to believe she'd betray them like that, just to save them. "Is that a promise?" The demon smirks. Y/N smirks back when she sees the gun move again on the table. "Not a chance in hell, bitch" She snarks angrily. Using her mind, the gun flies into her hand and she breaks out of the demons hold, swiftly pistol whipping John's face. His eyes flicker back to John's regular eyes for a bit. Y/N cocks the gun at the demon.

"You kill me, you kill Johnny. And Dean would never forgive you for that" His eyes are now yellow again. A dark smirk on his face. "I know" She growls, aiming for his knee. She shoots him in his kneecap. John falls to the ground as the bullet would looks as if lightening and black smoke is coming out of it. Similar to the way it killed that demon Dean shot earlier.

The hold the demon had on Sam and Dean breaks, their backs sliding off of the walls. Dean falls to the floor, gasping for air as he chokes on his blood as Sam falls to his knees. They rush over to Dean. "Dean. Dean!" Sam runs over to his brother. "Oh god, charming. You lost a lot of blood" Y/N gasps, handing the Colt to Sam.

She places her hands on his face, her heart breaking at the sight of Dean in pain. "Where's dad?" He asks her weakly, grunting in pain. "He's right here, sweetie. He's right here" She assured him, nodding through the tears in her eyes. "Go check on him. Go check on him" Dean breathes out. Sam does so, getting up from besides Dean.

He walks over to his unconscious father. "Dad? Dad?" He calls out to him. John eyes open in a flash, "Sammy! It's still alive. It's inside me. I can feel it" John grunts, Sam's eyes widen in horror. Y/N's head snaps in the direction of Sam and John, her eyes wide as she cradles Dean in her arms. "Just shoot me. You shoot me. You shoot me in the heart, son!" John orders him. Sam cocks the hun tearfully.

"Do it now!" John screams. "Sam, don't do you it. Don't you do it!" Dean yells. "Sam, you gotta hurry. I can't hold onto it much longer!" John pleads grunting, Sam is hesitant to shoot. "Just shoot me, son. Shoot me!" John yells, Sams nostrils flare, choking back his tears as he shakes anxiously. Not able to make that choice, "Son, I'm begging you, we can end this, here and now. Sammy!!" John bellows.

"Sam, no!" Y/N pleads shaking her head. Knowing that if Sam did this, it'll haunt both boys forever. "You do this! Sammy!!!" John grits his teeth, pleading with his son to listen to him for once. But Sam lowers the gun, John screams as the black smoke rushes out of his mouth. Sam looking on in horror as the black smoke drifts into the floorboards of the cabin.

Dean and Y/N sigh in relief as John falls to the floor unconscious. Alive but unconscious.

________________________________

Sam is driving the Impala down the road, Dean in the back and John in shotgun as Y/N drives her Harley side by side the Imapla. Dean groans in pain, the blood still on his mouth. "Look, just hold on, all right? The hospitals only 10 minutes away" Sam assures them. "I'm surprised at you, Sammy. Why didn't you kill it?" John asks him angrily.

"Had it been, y/n/n. She probably would've followed orders" John adds. "No she wouldn't have" Dean pipes up from the back seat, grunting. John sighs, "I thought we all saw eye to eye on this. Killing this demon comes first. Before me, before everything," John says firmly. Sam looks at his brother pained in the rearview mirror. "No, sir. Not before everything" Sam responds firmly.

"Look, we still got the Colt. We still have the one bullet left. We should start over, alright? I mean we already found the demon once-" Sam goes to say but is cut off when a truck comes barreling into the passenger side of the Impala head first. Y/N's eyes widen in terror when she hears the crash, her head turns but her reflexes weren't quick enough to speed up and dodge the car.

It came barreling right into her as the car is pushed away by the truck. The truck controlled by the possessed driver. Her body rolls, bones breaking with snarly sounds. Luckily she had her helmet on, “Dean..” Is the last thing she croaks as she falls unconscious at the last thud to her helmet she received from the bike itself. The car was completely trashed along with her bike. Sam, Dean and John, in bleeding messes. Along with Y/N, unconscious, battered and broken.

________________________________

Authors Note: And with that, Season 1 has come to an end🥹Bitter sweet moment for me I must say. I am so excited for season 2!!! I am apart of the John Winchester hate club so I don't feel too bad about this😂But boy are we in for a ride for the next few episodes, much love and appreciation to everyone reading. I hope everyone enjoyed and is having an amazing weekend🫶This chapter is edited by the way, safe safe sweeties MWAH 💋

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[hiemaldesirae]

Arrax here: image Vox is doing another broadcast about Alastor or the hotel or something, when another Overlord breaks in and just out and out attacks him--because the other Overlord is in love with Alastor. All the Cannibals in Cannibal town and Rosie immediately shake their heads because they know this other overlord is a dead demon walking--Vox usually let's his challengers live after they've signed their souls over to him, no matter how badly they've wounded him....but Alastor definitely would have seen this. And attacking Al's muse, his everything because you think you love Al? Yeah, even if Vox owns you...it doesn't mean shit. You're a threat to his muse and you must be dealt with. Alastor can easily find Vox a better soul to have as an underling.

you know another anon was worried about you giving me painful ideas? yeah they were right

i think, honestly in theory, this sort of situation could be very comedic if in the hands of the right person. i however am the completely wrong person if you were searching for anything other than the worst possible writing ever. (putting a readmore because i cant fucking control myself when i get rambling LMAO)

picture this: vox is on tv for one of his usual broadcast segments, taking an interview about his involvement with the radio demon/dissolvement of their rivalry and the hazbin hotel or something. alastor is "begrudgingly" sitting with the rest because admit it or not, he does still have a lingering fondness for the "noisy picture box" demon and, well, that *is* the hotel he's running being promoted, so might as well... (he's mostly just here to stare at the other's face, and husk knows this but he's sworn to silence and niffty is. Niffty. so. whatever)

anyway, blah blah blah they cut to a segment and go off for intermission, but things start to drag on longer than they should. the ad theyre running for intermission stops, but the screen still stays black until it eventually flashes to an error. at this point, the hotel cast is like 'uhhh did something fuck up on set' but theyre not worried about anything until the lights start to flicker, and one by one, every streetlight begins to shut down and fizz out before the electricity cuts off completely, the constant white noise of tv static cutting out alongside it and the buzz of vox's own frequency in alastor's chest going flat with the rest of his power.

before anyone even realizes al is to his feet and out the door, shadows wrapping around his form and carrying him halfway across pentagram city to the vee's tower. when he enters the studio, it's already been trashed to hell and back, with black and red bloodstains from both the hellborn employees and whatever sinners were present at the time of the altercation staining the walls. there are bodies, of course, but none of them are important to him because none of them are *vox*. and he doesn't know where the hell the other is except the fact that he might be hurt. and that's- well, that's unacceptable. if anyone was going to kill vox, it would be him, with the other's blood on his claws and flesh in his mouth and the beating, pumping heart in his chest in his hands-

anyway. he needs to find him. so in classic radio demon fashion, alastor sweeps in and out of shadows and terrorizes those employees not already dead or dying, until he finally reaches-

"vox."

the overlord is standing in the middle of an empty room, completely devoid of any furniture or lighting. it's dark, and there are no windows. at the sound of alastor's voice, he turns to face him slowly. when he finally looks over, alastor almost wants to retch at the sight before him. the others screen is so cracked he looks like a stained glass window, and a seemingly endless stream of blood pours out from the giant gaping hole in the middle of his tv head. what looks like it could be mistaken for a human eye peers out at him before it softens, and a humming static fills the room as vox approaches him slowly, like *alastor* was the wounded prey and not the predator.

when vox reaches him- well, alastor isn't quite sure what the other was going to do anyway, but he pulls the other overlord forward and holds him up by his shoulders, gently tilting the other's screen up to look at him.

"who did this to you?"

it doesnt matter if vox cant reply right now. alastor will find out soon enough, and he'll make sure that whatever fool decided to lay a hand on his muse would suffer for it hundredfold.

(when he finds out that it was because of the other's foolish love for him, alastor not only proceeds to mock the other overlord on a live broadcast but literally proposes to vox on the spot just out of sheer pettiness)

[crepes-suzette-373]

Shipping tinted glasses: It almost seems like Nami thought she'd they'd lost Sanji to Pudding

One of the reasons why I'm curious about Nami taking Sanji's "evil" rant at face value is because they literally had just been run around a forest full of very very well-made copies.

Luffy not being suspicious of funny business at all, I get, because he was fooled again and again by the fakes. Nami, though, had been highly suspicious of fakes. They've also been bamboozled by the fake Luffy that turned out to be Brulee's doing, so one would have thought they'd be extra vigilant of possible fakes.

It ended up reading like "Nami thought Sanji had somehow changed his mind and decided he really wants to marry Pudding after all (and is jealous/heartbroken)".

All the way back in 822, the idea of that being a possibility had already been offered by Zoro and Usopp:

We weren't shown Nami's reaction specifically, but she had to have heard. Then later when they meet Pudding:

Even if Pudding said he refused and she's going to help them get him back, if Pudding can like Sanji, this still left the possibility that maybe he likes her back.

Then, Sanji himself said this:

Right after he said that, Nami makes this face, looking like she's already trying to hold back tears even before Sanji started to beat up Luffy seriously.

It gives me the impression that Nami, who is already starting to have doubts in her heart, saw this as a confirmation of her worst fears and didn't even consider that they're being tricked. We know it's really Sanji. For them, though, the possibility of this being a fake is not zero.

Sanji at that point was behaving, well, basically like Yonji. However, back on the ship, Nami's comment was that other than his face and heart eyes, Yonji was nothing like Sanji at all because he was being horrible. So how do you know this isn't Ichiji/Niji/Goji/number however many are there? What if Sanji also had a massive family like Big Mom and there's actually 8 or 9 or 10 identical siblings and this is fake?

As always, I'm not saying it's what this was intended to be, but it's what it can be read as.

I was thinking that I don't remember if Nami has ever personally witnessed Sanji ditch other girls in order to save her, so she doesn't necessarily know that she's always his first priority. Like the time in Dressrosa, he completely ditched Viola while calling for Nami. The people on the ship didn't know that. All they knew is that he just showed up out of nowhere.

In the plot it's also weird that neither Luffy or Nami asked him point blank "I thought Pudding said you refused the wedding". I can only think it went down this way to make drama (for us the reader to be sad about).

I've seen manga authors openly admit in the "free talk" comments corner that there were times when they said "Uh, I think that last chapter went weird/doesn't make sense" and the editor just said "It's ok, as long as the story is interesting". So all of this could be me just reading too deep into things, and it's all a big nothing in the end.

[sickficideas]

🍎 for ryūnosuke?

Sick or Treat!

of course i skip to him right away cause he's my favorite hehe...

(Warnings: emeto/vomiting, a little angsty, vague references to his terminal illness)

🍎 (Food Poisoning) - Akutagawa + Gin and Higuchi

“I’m the worst person ever,” Ichiyo laments, totally meaning for that thought to stay inside her head.

“You are not the worst person ever,” Gin assures her, sounding almost like a kindergarten teacher consoling a child. She’s busy clipping Akutagawa’s hair back with barrettes in wake of Ichiyo’s failed attempt to use a hairband. She's already had to wash some vomit out of his hair.

“You couldn’t…couldn’t possibly have known,” Akutagawa barely manages, leaning against the side of the shower door, beside the toilet, where he’s spent the last forty-five minutes, at least. He looks a little more comfortable now with the comforter Ichiyo brought to him, but he’s still downright miserable. He has enough stomach issues as it is, he really didn’t need food poisoning on top of all of that. Ichiyo will certainly cross off the restaurant they went to for lunch as a possibility for the future ever again.

She feels awful, seeing Akutagawa so sick, completely able to do anything to truly help him feel better. It was only an hour or two ago when he first told her over the phone that he was feeling sick to his stomach, simply asking Ichiyo if she could pick something up for him. She should have known it was this bad. He wouldn't ask for help otherwise. He had even managed to avoid involving Gin, but Ichiyo has undone that attempt.

“I'll be right back,” Gin says.

Akutagawa seems to doze off for a few moments, and Ichiyo is glad that he has a second to, but it doesn't last for long. A quiet, half-asleep cough turns into a gag, and without much warning at all, he's haphazardly brought his hand up to his mouth, too late to catch any of the vomit that falls down the front of the comforter.

Ichiyo squeaks and scurries to get next to him to lead him back to the toilet. For a second, she thinks he might be done, but it sounds like his body is still so nauseous from it all that it's still forcing gags, and bringing up more of his evidently undercooked lunch splashing into the toilet water. He can't even get a few seconds of sleep with how awfully nauseous he is. His poor tummy.

He's almost distraught, this time, he didn't have any chance of making it to the toilet in time but Ichiyo does what she can to comfort him, keeping a hand on his back that's starting to feel much too warm to be normal. He groans from the pain. His breathing starts to get irregular again.

“I'll take it to get washed right away,” Ichiyo promises, since he's clearly more concerned with the vomit on the comforter than how he's feeling. She can't help but pout when he lays his cheek on the lid of the toilet seat, his eyes feverish and face red, still visibly nauseous. She carefully reaches for the comforter, still halfway over his lap, and folds it up, tucking it away in the corner. “I'm so sorry, Akutagawa…”

“You didn't…you didn't do anything wrong, Higuchi,” he says with a few unsteady, nauseous sounding breaths in between. He coughs, too, because of course his lungs won't give him a break. “You…shouldn't have gone out of your way to…to help me…”

Ichiyo’s always thrown off when he talks like that, it's not like him to say things like that at all - to anyone, but especially not her. He's always so docile when he's sick like this.

“I'll always try to help you. However I can,” she says quietly.

Gin is back in the doorway with a glass of water that she sets on the sink counter just in time for Akutagawa to weakly lift up his head and choke up a mouthful of vomit. She kneels down beside him and rubs his back, gently and methodically like she's done it a million times. He's sick so often, Ichiyo doesn't even want to think about how many times they've been in this situation. And it's only been getting worse, in the last few months.

She sneaks out with the folded blanket and wanders into their laundry room to dump it into the washer right away. There's a sweater down at the bottom too that's got vomit stains on it too. That's what he was wearing when she found him, curled up on the kitchen floor, his stomach causing him so much pain that he couldn't move. Her eyes flood with tears. It is her fault. She took him to that restaurant. He wouldn't be so sick if she had picked somewhere else for them to eat after their shift ended, even though she was just trying to get him to eat at all. She was glad he even agreed to it.

She rubs at her eyes, knowing Gin will pick up on any sign of her crying if she starts now, but she's too late. She jumps. There's a hand on her shoulder.

Gin doesn't ever turn the stealth off.

“Higuchi,” she says with a frown full of pity. “It's okay. He'll be okay, he always is.”

The tears stream down her face when she says that and Gin doesn't waste any time wrapping her arms around her, tight, and Ichiyo does it right back. Gin is so used to seeing her brother vulnerable that it doesn't hurt her nearly as much as it does for Ichiyo, but she feels her grip shake. She's worried too.

“Thank you for coming to take care of him. And calling me,” Gin says gently. “I'm really grateful that you're so kind.”

“Gin…” Ichiyo murmurs, her tears clouding her vision now, as she buries her face in Gin's shoulder.

[ingravinoveritas]

MY GOODNESS THAT TV INSIDER SNIPPET WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM MOVE PHYSICALLY CLOSER TO EACH OTHER IN ABOUT 20 SECONDS. UGHHH. DAVID WAS LITERALLY HALF OFF HIS SEAT TO BE CLOSER TO MICHAEL

Hi, Anons! Oh, gosh, I love both of these so much. Putting them together because I think there's a definite connection worth discussing.

So first, Anon #2 I know you must be referring to the new interviews with Michael and David that have come out the past few days (on Screen Rant Plus, Movieweb, etc.). Anon #1 is referring to another clip that just came out today, so I'll put the video up here for anyone who hasn't seen it and then discuss it further down this post:

Anon #2, how beautifully you have phrased your observation, and I could not possibly agree with you more. I've noticed a lot of people saying that Michael and David look sad or miserable, but I don't think that is the case at all. Well, a couple of things: 1) We have no idea when these interviews were recorded, though if I had to guess I'd say within the last month or two, and if that is the case, Michael was still directing/working nonstop on The Way, so that would explain him looking tired (along with running around after two little kids all the time). 2) I'm fairly certain that a large part of them not looking at each other is because they are trying not to give anything away about the second season, and Michael and David both know they won't be able to keep quiet if they make even the tiniest bit of eye contact.

3) I fully agree with your assertion that the lack of staring shows how close Michael and David have become, because to me, it also means that they no longer feel a need to be "on" around each other. They've both spoken in the past about how much they hate doing interviews/photo shoots, and that it became far more bearable when they had each other. That was the case four years ago, and now we've all gone through a global pandemic and some of the darkest times in our lives. That naturally strips away any sense of pretense--seeing someone at their worst, or when they're sick or afraid. I get the feeling that Michael and David have been through all of that and where so many other relationships/marriages fell apart, their relationship is even stronger now as a result. They love and accept each other exactly as they are, and it shows.

Finally, 4) What you said about Michael not staring at David makes my heart ache and seems so true. On the season 1 press tour, he was already in love, but didn't know when they would see each other again. I'm reminded of that one interview where they both suddenly seem to realize the press tour is coming to an end, and they don't know when they'll see each other next:

"Can we just...see each other? For no reason?"

He doesn't even have to ask that question now. Michael doesn't have to keep his eyes on David every moment because he has already memorized his whole face, the stubble on his skin, the softness of his lips. And he knows with perfect certainty that he will never be without David in his life again.

And this all fits in beautifully with the video you've mentioned, Anon #1, because they absolutely do move closer to each other in that video, and not only does it look like they did it completely unconsciously, but David seems to actually mirror Michael:

Michael is the first one to move closer, as we see above, and then right after he does, David moves closer. And again, they're not staring at each other the whole time. nor do they seem to be playing up their "personas"--Michael and David are just being themselves, and their natural inclination is to be close to each other. (Also, Michael's fucking wiggle right after he moves is killing me, because I think he only does that when he's very, very happy...)

Absolutely beautiful. I so appreciate you both sharing your thoughts with me, Anons. Thanks for writing in! xx

[nerdby]

It was never about a throne.

Like I completely reject the notion that Loki took over Asgard at the end of The Dark World because he "wanted a throne."

Because he said in the very first movie that he never wanted a throne. All he ever wanted was to be seen as Thor's equal. He wanted to stop living in Thor's shadow. Why would that have changed?

It didn't. Loki took over Asgard at the end of TDW as his own of getting revenge on his family for taking him for granted.

Like what is the first thing that happens when Thor brings Loki back to Asgard?

What is the very first thing Odin says to Loki?

"Why did you do that?"

"Are you okay?"

Nope, none of that. Let's review--

So the conversation between Loki and Frigga establishes a few things--

Loki has given up hope. He's assumed that Odin is going to have him killed. That's why he says, "Define worse."

He knows that he can never live up to his parents' expectations of him, so why would they believe anything he has to say about the situation regarding Thanos? Why would they believe that Loki never actually planned on ruling Midgard but was sent there because he was being manipulated and blackmailed?

They wouldn't. That's what he's thinking anyway, so he decides to play along cause they've already assumed the worst of him.

Loki wants to hear what Odin really thinks of him -- his precious baby boy that he rescued from Jotunheim.

And one of the first things Odin says to him is,

"All this because Loki desires a throne?"

You can tell from the opening scene that Loki is dreading his conversation with his father. He just wants to get it over with as soon as possible. And the entire conversation is him basically saying,

But it was okay when you did it?

Except he knows it wasn't. He's just throwing Odin's hypocrisy in his own face because now the truth is out there, and everything Loki learned in the first Thor movie has been reconfirmed: Odin does not care about Loki, and deep down he knows he should have just left Loki on Jotunheim to die. Because regardless of whatever plans he had for Loki -- to use him as a pawn in some political scheme:

"By the way, Laufey, you remember that son of yours that went missing eons ago when I was here slaughtering your people--?"

Regardless of those meticulously thought out, painstakingly laid plans Loki is a bad egg. Irredeemable. Undeserving of any sort of sympathy or second chance.

Loki just wanted to hear him say it because he was expecting to die. He wanted to die. He doesn't want to live knowing that he's ruined his mother's life, disappointed her, and completely destroyed whatever chance he had at repairing his relationship with Thor. He doesn't want to live with the memories of Thanos's torture in his head or knowing that the only father he'd ever had only ever saw him as a gambling chip. That's why he spent the entire scene snarking off and calling his dad out on his shit.

So, yes, by the end of the movie he's furious and resentful.

Because his family is still unwilling to say, "We're sorry we fucked up. We're sorry we hurt you."

Throughout the entire film Thor never comes to see Loki or ask if he's okay. The only time Thor goes to Loki throughout the entire movie is when he needs his help to save Jane. He doesn't care about the pain Loki feels -- no, he's just worried about some mortal that threw herself at him during the seventy-two hours he spent banished on Midgard.

Odin and Thor just assume the worst of Loki without even bothering to ask if he's okay. They completely disregard all of the abuse, the favoritism, and the fact that he said flat out that he never wanted a throne. But, yeah, at the end of the day that must be what its really about cause Loki is nothing more than a spoiled brat of a prince, nothing more or less, right?

And that is why Loki took over Asgard and sent his father to a nursing home on Midgard. He is a child, lashing out and furious at the fact that he is being held responsible for his parents' and brother's sins. Now, what was it that Rocket said in the first GtoG movie?

"I didn't ask to get made."

Well, Loki never asked for Odin to rescue him from Jotunheim.

And since the Loki fandom has so far portrayed the emotional depth of a teaspoon, let's just throw this is here to see if we can make the parallels a bit less subtle--

So all of the healing and growth that Loki accomplished in the TV series is not because he's suddenly focused on something other than a throne. Because it was never about that. Ever.

[echantedtoon]

Twilight Sparkle x Discord

****************

Silent. That was the way she liked it. After a long week of dealing with problems, it was nice just relaxing with a good book. She groaned just thinking about the last couple days. First she had a talk with the school fillies about the importance of friendship, then a MAJOR Spring clean up of her castle. Polishing every inch of the inside and out. Over seeing that year's Winter Wrap Up. A family dinner, and agreeing to watch her niece for a bit. Two friendship problems, a sleep over, and FINALLY a diplomatic meeting in Canterlot with Princess Celestia and Luna. It seemed she could finally relax without being interrupted as Spike agreed to help Rarity and Fluttershy with a pet fashion line, Rainbow was doing Wonderbolt training, and Pinkie was helping A.J. plain Big Mac's birthday. And she wasn't expecting any visitors. Yes. It was a quiet night. Too bad she didn't suspect a chaotic interruption. "Why....Hello there my dear little Starbutt! How are you tonight?" She groaned before face-hooving herself. Of course. Of course! He would show up after a long week of stressful events and planning. "What do you want, Discord?" She turned around and came face to face with the smiling chesire grin of the chaotic being. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony himself was floating leisurely above her. He twisted around much like a serpent until he was in the position that resembled somepony laying on their stomach.....except he was in the air. The mismatched creature smiled wider. "I got bored and seeing as everypony else is busy at the moment except you, I figured.....Why not drop by and see how....glad you'd be to see a friend?" ".......*sigh* It's nice to see you too, Discord. But, did you really have to show up now. I wasn't prepared for any visits right now." "Well......you might as well get used to this sort of thing. Considering both of us suffer from immortal-itise. Or did you forget about your meeting with the ambassador?" "........How could you have possibly known about that?!" How could he, indeed. Yesterday's diplomatic meeting......hadn't been the worst. But it most certainly wasn't the best.

It turns out a King from a kingdom from the lands up north had come all the way to the land of Equestria to discuss a possible trading partnership or alliance. They settled on an alliance, but then the suggestion of a marriage between his son and one of the princesses to unite their kingdoms came up. It turned out that where he was from, it was quite common to seal important deals with a marriage. Both Princess Celestia and Luna could use the argument of being too old and explained that they had already been married at least four times each, and since Cadence was already married.....She had to very politely and forcefully turn down his.....nine suggestions to her. But, on his tenth try, she nearly made an outburst. "But, you will probably never know what marriage would be like anyway. Why not experience it ounce before your immortality and stubbornness makes you into an old maid mare?" She wanted to scream, 'What the hay is wrong with you?! I am perfectly capable of finding a colt friend by myself!! In MY own time!!' Celestia had placed a wing around her and sternly told him it was rude to force others into something and that no meant no. And that was that. He waved his lion paw. "I'm the spirit of chaos and disharmony. Time is no problem for me." "......*sigh* What's even the point of this talk?" "To let you know that you're not the only immortal to be faced with the problem of a spouse." She raised an eyebrow at this."......YOU have been pressured by a king to marry his son?" "No. What I meant was that we all have different versions of that problem. With a spouse and immortality." ".......I don't follow you." "Take Sun and Moonbutt for example. They've already been married.....Oh, I don't know....three or four times each and have stopped because of their age and they can't take it anymore. And your niece is going to have to learn to learn to live without Shining Armor one day like Cadence.......We all have that problem, Twilight. Even if it's different versions of it." "........And you?" "Me? Well.......I had one crush when I was really young.....but it didn't last long. But, I am currently infatuated with another mare." "........" She stood up to place a hoof on his shoulder. "Discord......I'm sorry to tell you this.....but Fluttershy is already with somepony else." "....." He stared at her.".......Pffft. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! *gasp* Hahahaha!!'' She was quite taken aback from his sudden outburst. "My dear.....I'm afraid you have the wrong mare." ".....But.....I thought..." "Fluttershy would be anyone's first guess....but she will never be more than a dear friend to me. But, I am going to keep a VERY close eye on that Iron Will fellow she's with." "......Then who? Pinkie Pie?"

"Goodness. No. That mare is too hyper. Even for me." "......Trixie?," she asked trying to think of any mares that could be that close to him. "Friend zone." "Rarity?" "Already with Fancy Overalls." "You mean Fancy Pants." "Yes. Him." "......Rainbow?" Already with Soarin, and A.J. isn't interested in a relationship. And as I've stated before, Tia and Moony are done with any hubbies." "Then that doesn't leave anyone left." He put both hands under his chin and gave her a half lidded look. "Really, Ms. Sparkle? Everyone?" "Well, of course. It's non of our friends or the Princesses-" "Who said it wasn't a princess?" He raised an eyebrow. "But, you said-" "I know what I said. I said I wasn't interested in the sisters, and obviously your niece and Cadence aren't an option. Too young and already married." "Then who could you possibly.....be...talking....about?" She slowly met his gaze....and he smiled wider if that was even possible. She raised a hoof to point at herself. "Me?" "Ding, ding, ding! Congratulation!! You won the 'I take too long to realize things' award!" She decided to ignore his obnoxious shout. "Why?" "You challenge me. Surprise me. You have magical abilities that rival the other princesses and even Star Swirl himself. You surprise me everytime I try to be......playful." She rolled her eyes. "You even saved my life ounce. Despite the awful things I did. Fluttershy is my friend, but even she would've never gave up all that magic just to save me or her friends. She would've most likely ran and went into hiding to save the Princesses' magic." ".......And what makes you think I would even consider being with you? Not that I'm trying to be rude." "Oh, come now. You can't tell me that you aren't even the bit curious about me. A chaotic being that's lived for centuries and the only surviving member of my kind. Not to mention all those lessons you would've never learnt without me." "......." She hated to admit it, but he did have a point. She had thought about those things a couple of times, but never really thought he'd actually tell her. "Besides....having a spouse that would keep me entertained, be my friend, and most of all......would be with me to the end of time. Literally.....That's a lucky find immortals rarely run into." ".......Discord.....I..." "One chance." "What?" "One chance. That's all I ask for. If it doesn't work out, no harm done. We'll still be friends and I'll never bother you with it again." "When?" "Tomorrow is Hearts and Hooves Day. Seems like a decent time. Plus, it might keep Blue Blood and the rest of those young nobles away." "Uh.....Don't remind me." "Then it's a date, I presume." ".......Ok. A date. It beats being stuck without anything to do. And who knows? It could be interesting." "Oh, good. I'm going to fly all over Canterlot and Ponyville and shout that you'll be dating an old goat more than twice your age tomorrow before retiring tonight. That way, everypony knows you'll be busy tomorrow. Chao." With a snap of his eagle claw, he vanished. "Wait! WHAT!?" But he was already gone. "DISCORD!!!"

Author's Note: Submission and regular posting wouldn't accept it so I had to post it through the ask box.

[ihaveatheoryonthat]

This one's... kind of fun. Honestly, I might come back to it, I just haven't gotten anywhere for some time, now, and it's bugging me. Let me know if this is one you'd be interested in seeing play out in full, because it could be nice to throw a sillier project in there after AGAS wraps up.

(This is another one that deals with trans characters before they've officially come out, though it's not the main focus, just part of the story. The approach is different from other pieces I've shared in the past, and I don't expect that it will be a problem, but please just approach it in good faith. I never mean to offend, I just like to explore things in different ways.)

-

Emmet had fucked up.

He realized it immediately after the fact, already entire seconds too late. For all that he’d done his research, for all that he knew the where and the when, it had done nothing to warn him for how his plan might backfire. Celebi was reclusive, but not an unknown, and its fleeting form hadn’t given him any reason to fear reaching out for its help.

Instead, it was the wind it blew about on-- the breeze that carried it to and fro in time-- that chilled him down to his core. He couldn’t possibly forget the sensation of it, because it had signaled the start to the worst week of his life-- up until the previous year, that was. In a way, that wind was the reason he’d reacted so harshly when Ingo had failed to check in after [whatever], and what had driven him here in the first place. It had set a precedent.

When they had been young children, playing in the wooded outskirts of Anville Town, Emmet had felt that same wind rush past him, and just like that, his brother had vanished.

If he’d known, he wouldn’t have sought Celebi out. He would have explored any and every other option before resorting to this one, but he’d already made his choice. In the immediate aftermath, he was dismayed to realize that their family’s suffering had come at his own unwitting hand as he tried to right an injustice for the second time.

A small, achingly familiar form darted away, taking shelter around the corner of the shrine. From where he knelt, Emmet could plainly see a pair of dark shoes under the elevated base; they were pointed away, the child’s back pressed to the only cover he had as he tried to figure out where he was and what had happened to him. Emmet braced a hand against the shrine’s edge, helping to lever himself up from the ground, and in the process, noticed that his offering was nowhere to be found, accepted as payment for this… favor.

He suspected the historical society wouldn’t appreciate the disrespect it showed, but he knocked lightly against the shrine’s nearest face and took a step to round the corner. There was a sharp intake of breath, then the sound of running on soft grass, and he found that he couldn’t blame the child; to be torn away from home so abruptly had to be terrifying, no matter a person’s age. He’d been trying not to let himself dwell on that exact point for some time now.

“It’s okay.” He said in the gentlest voice he could muster, and [floundered] for how to follow up. He remembered the week of the disappearance with an agonizing clarity, but it was an unrelated detail he found himself grasping for-- had they started using their real names before, or after? If he called out right now, would his twin know who he was talking to?

...it was probably close enough that Ingo had already decided on what he wanted to be called. Even if they hadn’t progressed to the point where they were actively testing it out between them, he would recognize the name as his.

“I’m sorry.” Emmet said, staying put at the shrine’s edge, one hand resting on its corner, “I made a verrrry big mistake. Please forgive me, Ingo.”

The child stayed still for another couple of seconds, and then-- seemingly ignorant of the fact that his every move could be and was being tracked-- began to inch around the shrine in the opposite direction. Emmet was relatively sure he could catch him if he tried to run, but for now, he waited to see how this would pan out. His currently-much-younger brother paused as he reached the edge where the eastern and southern corners met, and from the [edge] of his vision, Emmet caught a hint of movement. He didn’t look right away, making a dedicated effort not to scare him-- any more than he already had-- but, gradually, he turned his head.

There was a single silver eye peering at him from the other side of the [shrine], fingers curled around the wood just below it. He offered a shallow, apologetic smile and half turned, repeating, “I’m verrrry sorry, Ingo. This was never my intention.”

The boy disappeared back around the corner, but didn’t actually go anywhere. He probably needed time to think, to process. After a moment, Emmet heard his old name echo down the old village, warbling and fearful.

He turned in full and lowered himself onto one knee before answering in kind; it felt wrong to call that name again after so long, but it made the building anxiety opposite him pause, at least for a few seconds.

“I’m right here.” He added, listening for any change, “I am Emmet. I look different now, but I’m still your brother. Can you trust that?”

Around the corner, he heard a [steeling] breath and, finally, Ingo emerged. He looked exactly how Emmet remembered from back then, a perfect match to the missing child posters, down to the black jumper and cardigan he’d been reported ‘last seen wearing’. It would have been sweet to see his older twin so much smaller than him, were it not for the look on his face and the stubborn fold of his arms.

“I only have one brother.” He lied, somehow leaning forward in accusation while also keeping one foot poised to dart away if need be. “You’re not Drayden. Who who are you really?”

“I am Emmet,” Emmet said again, patient, “We’ve talked about this. I know we have. I have two brothers, and so do you.”

[…]

“Ingo,” He said flatly, patience waning, but only for the circumstance, and not the child before him, “You have not corrected me on the matter of your own name. Not once. How many people know what you like to be called?”

The boy muttered under his breath, but it was audibly, “Just Emmet…”

Emmet himself hummed in agreement. “And how would you intend to proceed from here? Do you even know where you are?”

It sounded unfairly judgmental-- of course he didn’t know. He couldn’t know. He’d just been ripped through time and space and was helpless to do anything about it. Emmet wasn’t sure what the worst part was: that he’d been the one responsible, or that it wouldn’t be an isolated incident.

If anything, the question seemed to rile his brother up; the shallower pout pulled into a proper frown and, as unhelpful as the observation was at the moment, it was kind of adorable.

“Obviously not! What kind of a question is that?” Ingo demanded, arms folding tighter in a self-soothing gesture that he wouldn’t even process in the moment. He looked off to the side, as if to gauge his surroundings, but at this age, he’d never set foot in eastern Unova-- hadn’t even seen it outside of travel documentaries-- and didn’t stand any chance of figuring it out on his own. It wasn’t meant as any slight to him, he just didn’t have the body of knowledge he needed.

His expression pinched in distress as he looked down the hill-- no doubt processing the fact that he was surrounded on all sides by an unfamiliar evergreen forest-- and he took a couple of steps down the incline. Emmet made no move to stop him; he could tell from the body language that his brother wasn’t about to bolt, he was just overwhelmed and trying to make himself understand.

Emmet sighed and closed the gap between them, recognizing the way Ingo’s breathing started to shudder. He didn’t know what he could do to help, but he had to do something; he almost reached out to touch his shoulder, but belatedly remembered that he fell under the umbrella of ‘stranger’ at the moment, and it wouldn’t be welcomed. He ended up sitting down next to his twin, legs hanging over the small ledge, shoes grazing the slightly-dewy grass. Hopefully it would make him seem more approachable, less of a looming unknown.

What he absolutely didn’t expect was for his brother to grab his face in both petite hands and force them to look one another in the eye. He still felt minor tremors travel through the boy’s arms, but Ingo’s expression was stern and searching.

“If you’re Emmet, why do you look like that?” He asked, after a moment of serious contemplation.

Unable to stop himself, Emmet snorted. “Like what? I look like you. That should prove it by itself.”

Ingo’s nose wrinkled at the comment, but it seemed he had more important matters to focus on. “No, you told me you want to look like Drayden when you grow up.”

“Ah.” Emmet said, [?], “It’s tragic. Drayden has a propensity for facial hair that we lack. Verrrrry disappointing.”

He raised one of his hands to graze the smaller one holding onto his face, and when that didn’t net a negative reaction, he picked his brother’s hand up and held it in both of his. “I understand that it does not make up for what I’ve done, but I want to help you. Would seeing Drayden make you feel better?”

Ingo thought about it for a few seconds-- maintaining intense eye contact all the while-- and then pulled his hand back. At first, it seemed like a no, but then he sat down on the ledge next to Emmet; he still maintained a safe gap between them, but put them back on the same general level. Immediately after, he looked to Emmet’s far hand-- his right-- gaze raking over the Xtransceiver that peeked out from beneath a sleeve. It would have been awkward and uncomfortable letting someone watch him navigate his Xtransceiver, but today he didn’t try to shield his contact list, and he saw Ingo squint at it before navigating to the next screen-- likely noticing his own name at the very top.

The boy leaned away again while the phone rang, abruptly reminded that he was feeling skittish, which left Emmet as the only one in the field of view when their brother answered. Drayden looked him up and down, reading his expression the very same way Emmet had read Ingo’s a minute before, and, in lieu of a formal greeting, asked:

“What did you do?”

“I am Emmet. I have erred.” He said bluntly.

“Elaborate.” Drayden demanded in kind.

He glanced to his left, at where Ingo was scrutinizing the screen and nibbling on his bottom lip; he still looked on-edge, but some of the tension was dissipating as he watched their older brother and heard him speak. As much as he wanted to convince Ingo that he was who he claimed, he understood that it would be orders more difficult when he had to contend with such a large age gap and the matter of a full transition. By comparison, Drayden had changed very little about himself, and was much more recognizable; he looked older and dressed differently, but the basics stayed the same.

Emmet decided to facilitate this track; maybe if they talked in greater depth, Ingo would warm up to the fact that they really were the family he knew.

“My research on Celebi indicated that it has been seen here in Unova. It likes Zorua and hides in forests to play with them. I decided I would try to get its favor.” He admitted, watching Drayden steel himself the longer he spoke.

“You claimed that you would keep me abreast of any developments; why didn’t you follow through?” Drayden asked, but he wasn’t really looking for an answer-- not yet, at least. His eyes moved to the backdrop of trees behind Emmet, and connecting the dots was child’s play.

The only child present seemed to have picked up on that, too, and wasn’t paying attention at the moment; instead, he was half-turned to look at the shrine again, as if he expected to find a Pokemon lingering there. Emmet gave his hand a brief tap, trying to corral him for the moment, and he reluctantly turned back around.

Drayden’s gaze moved back down to his younger brother. “It rejected your appeal, then? It’s clearly not good news.”

Emmet opened his mouth to reply and left it that way for a moment, trying to figure out how to handle this.

“It… accepted my offering.” He said, eventually.

Drayden didn’t [allow] him even that inch of [?]. “But?”

“There was a miscommunication.” Emmet said. He looked back over to Ingo, who had his head tilted to see the screen better, and was only barely out of frame. Instead of talking to the eldest, he directed his next question to the youngest-by-technicality. “Can you say hi? It would help explain.”

Ingo didn’t respond verbally, but he inched closer so the forward-facing camera would be able to capture them at the same time. Emmet murmured a thank you and adjusted his Xtransceiver accordingly. Drayden’s brow furrowed, becoming a ridge worthy of one of his dragons, and, in disbelief, he quietly called an old name.

“Ingo.” Both of them said, simultaneously, correcting him without any heat. Since the boy in question didn’t have anything else to say at the moment, Emmet added, “We were testing our names out a long time before we told you.”

“Emmet.” Drayden [?], his usually [thunderous/?] voice a mere croak, and he didn’t have to say anything else to get his point across. Emmet knew. Emmet had known how royally he’d screwed up only three seconds into this mess. He nodded, eyes turned down, ashamed of his actions and making no effort to defend himself.

“Where are you right now?” Their brother asked, strength seeping back in and demanding an answer.

Clipped, Emmet [?], “Abundant Shrine.”

Drayden echoed it back at him, already moving and deep in thought. Ingo echoed it, too, but he was more focused on putting a name to the place; he turned back around to look at the eponymous shrine once again.

“Stay where you are. I can be there in 30 minutes.” Drayden said. His attention strayed to something in his immediate vicinity, but once he’d dealt with it, his eyes turned to the smaller of the two figures. “Ingo, stay with Emmet. I understand that this has to be frightening, but we’re going to make sure you’re taken care of, alright?”

At the sound of his name, Ingo had turned around. He scanned the image on the Xtransceiver’s screen again and hummed in affirmation, giving his head the tiniest forward tilt.

“Alright,” Drayden breathed out, relieved, “I’ll see you soon; 30 minutes.”

Emmet nodded back, and Ingo held up a half-curled hand to say goodbye; shortly thereafter, the video cut, leaving them staring at their reflections-- and then each other’s. Neither of them said anything, and Emmet dropped his hand into his lap. Ingo drew his legs up onto their level and wrapped his arms around them, still incredibly [scared] and uncomfortable, but he stayed put, right where he was.

If their arms brushed against each other, neither of them mentioned it.

-------

Ingo had always been very active when they were children, so it felt weird that he stayed in place the entire 30 minute wait, only moving enough to straighten his legs out for a few minutes, avoiding a cramp. When he felt a little better, he pulled them back up and tucked them under his dress, scuffed flats poking out from beneath. His fingers worked into his sweater’s cuffs on either side, and he rested his chin on his folded arms, staring down into the [?] that led to Undella.

Decades prior, when he’d finally [resurfaced], he hadn’t had any memory of where he’d been, the entire week of his disappearance rendered blank. Their parents had taken him to doctors and then a therapist, trying to understand what had happened and-- just maybe-- help recover the [memory], but nothing had ever worked. Back then, Emmet had stuck with his brother like they’d been glued together, unwilling to take his eyes off of him for the duration of an appointment. Most of what he could remember was Ingo’s building frustration-- both at the adults’ insistence and his own inability to provide answers.

Now, it seemed self evident that his memory of that week--this week-- had been a casualty of time travel. Emmet tried not to delve too deep into the implications that held and, instead, used it to his advantage: he could show or tell Ingo anything he wanted without fear that it might change something in their distant past. Chandelure would be far too much too soon, but halfway through their wait, he released Galvantula to keep them company and help break the tension. It had looked between them, completely lost, until Emmet gave a very, very brief explanation, consisting entirely of “Ingo is having a verrrry hard time right now. Will you sit with him?”

So, when Drayden arrived from the north-- riding in on his Salamence’s back-- it was to the sight of a child being flanked by his much-older twin and an incredibly confused spider. When they both stood up straight, allowing him to look them over properly, his expression screamed that he was dismayed, but not surprised.

He drew a deep breath, eyes flicking to Emmet like he had some very pointed comments to make, but he held his tongue, ever the composed politician. Instead, he focused on Ingo, who subconsciously inched forward; his hat must have fallen off as he got up, because he held it in both hands, kneading it anxiously.

There was a [recognition/trust] in his expression that Emmet told himself not to be jealous of; the two of them were incredibly close, of course, but they had different relationships with Drayden. Emmet was the youngest, and he’d grown up with an older sibling right there to lean on, so their distant older brother didn’t seem so [significant]; Ingo, meanwhile, only had Drayden to look up to in that regard. By the time they were old enough to understand their family’s dynamic, the eldest had long since moved on to his life in Opelucid, making his presence the exception rather than the rule-- and all the more valuable to Ingo in particular.

No one would deny that the two of them were each other’s comfort people-- typical of twins, and utterly proven by Ingo’s reticent behavior without his same-age sibling-- but Emmet knew that, to his brother, Drayden meant ‘safe’ in a very unique way.

He was glad, actually-- [envious], but glad. It meant there was someone who could help put his twin’s mind at ease. Emmet was still being mindful not to touch too much or too suddenly, but he tapped the backs of his fingers on Ingo’s arm, urging him to go greet their older brother. The child stepped forward, and when that proved safe enough, repeated the process once more, then again and again until he’d crossed the distance.

For a moment, he stared up, taking in the details and then-- undoubtedly much louder than he’d intended-- said, “You changed your hair.”

“I have a new job, now; I’m afraid I had to adopt a new hairstyle to accommodate.” Drayden said. Unlike many, he didn’t alter his tone to talk to children-- he spoke to them on exactly the same level he would talk to teenage challengers and other adults; he moderated his words and made sure he explained things more carefully, but he wouldn’t patronize someone based on their age. This straightforward approach was the correct one, and Ingo finally stopped working wrinkles into his hat from sheer nerves.

Emmet could tell that Drayden hardly even thought about it as he picked it up and settled it on their brother’s head, tugging the edges down and then tucking it so it sat properly. The same could be said for Ingo, who immediately straightened and then went still, allowing him to fix it without a word of complaint. It was actually quite sweet.

Drayden looked at him for a moment longer before cutting to the point. “Can you tell me what happened to you?”

“We were playing by the greenbelt,” Ingo started, watching Drayden’s expression intently, already seeing what he could read into it, “It rained last night, so there were Tympole in the puddles, and we watched them for a long time. After that, we went to find a good branch to hang Emmet’s sweater on, ‘cause someone got wet and we didn’t want mom to find out.”

Drayden snorted, which startled Ingo at first, but quickly proved helpful; his eyes lit up at having made their brother laugh, and he continued on more readily. “We were arguing about which tree was better when the wind started. I don’t know what happened, then.” The admission took a substantial amount of steam out of him. He looked at Emmet, then returned his attention to the eldest, “We talked some after that, and then you told us to wait for you.”

“Alright. Thank you, Ingo.” Drayden rumbled; it was a very deliberate tone-- not a ‘kid voice’ but comforting, the way he would try to help any family member. He looked up and raised a brow, plainly asking for Emmet’s version of events-- as if he was one of their parents, arbitrating a disagreement.

“I sought out Celebi’s help. You already know why.” Emmet said shortly; even if Ingo wouldn’t remember this week, there was no sense in saddling him with the knowledge that would disappear for a second time. “I thought I made my intentions clear, but I guess not. Instead of what I asked, it brought Ingo here. We talked. I apologized. We called you. Now you’re caught up.”

Drayden maintained eye contact the entire time, but after he’d finished speaking, looked away to the shrine. “Is there any way to call Celebi back?”

“Yup. It would need a new offering, though. I only had one.” Acquiring a new one would be a pain, but doable. The offering itself was a glorified dumpling, but the ingredients weren’t the most common, and he’d had to track down the gourmet who frequented Route 5 in order to have it made correctly. Emmet wasn’t looking forward to dealing with her again, but he would do it to put this right.

“Alright, then that’s the end we’re working toward.” He looked back to each of them in turn-- Emmet first, then Ingo. “Would it be presumptuous to assume we’re headed to my house?”

“No.” / “The apartment would be too much right now.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Ingo dragging the heel of his shoe through the grass, insulted. “I’m not a baby, you’re just old.”

Though it didn’t show on his face, Drayden choked back laughter; Emmet slowly looked at his younger-older brother and let out a sharp breath. He knew for a fact that it had been retaliation, but not solely for his comment regarding their apartment; he used to say something very similar to their eldest sibling whenever he put his foot down on their childish plans. Dragons, was this what it felt like from the outside, whenever they’d wound each other up?

“Be that as it may. I think a familiar environment is best.” […]

After a few extra seconds to let him stew in it, Drayden took pity on him; he plucked a pokeball from his belt and held it out to their youngest brother, “Would you like to see Swablu again? I’m sure you could bribe him into taking you to Opelucid; you know how he is.”

The look on Ingo’s face would have been laughable-- trying to work out how a creature the size and density of a wadded-up pillow could take anyone anywhere-- but it was cut short as he accepted the pokeball and released Altaria.

There was a short, excited gasp, followed by a hushed, “You evolved!”

Altaria stared unabashedly for a handful of seconds, then looked to its trainer, as if asking if this was some kind of joke.

-------

[this would be a closer]

“[…] can scarcely express how much I’ve missed you, but right now, I need to tell you something of the utmost importance.” [either state that his tone clearly means he remembers now, or have Emmet realize that this is the child’s voice he’s been hearing for the past week] “You’re living on borrowed time. As soon as I set foot in Unova, you’re a dead man.”

[shainachantake2]

I'm going to vent about our ongoing infertility situation.

S is now 16 months old, so it's still early in the game, but I've had my cycle back for 7 months now. It's sometimes weird and unpredictable, but so far I've ovulated every cycle.

I still ovulate around day 16 or 17, my luteal phase just varies based on if S has nursed extra. For example, 2 cycles ago I ovulated on day 16 and my LP was 12 days. Last cycle was a crazy one with ovulation on day 17 and an LP of 9 days. Tbh I need to wean her soon... It's driving me crazy to not be able to calm her because she always wants the breast.

Anyway. A charity is working with us and they've changed their operations completely. Previously they partnered with a Jewish doctor at the fertility clinic, and took his advice on things while we worked with him face to face. After 4 years of trying for S, and all blood work and all that coming back great, the charity said it was time to do IVF. We did and it resulted in 7 frozen embryos and baby S, BH.

Now, they've got their own medical team who we cannot see face to face. For whatever reason even though they asked for medical records and history twice and we gave it twice, they still don't know anything about us. They want us to do everything all over again because they want us to get pregnant naturally. Uh yeah so do I, obviously, but we've done all this already??? They are not considering a FET right now and want to tweak me first to see if natural is possible and maybe go for IUI...

Worst thing is that now that I did my blood work again, my FSH came back slightly high at 10.1, and my thyroid is at 3.4, while they normally want 2.5 or lower. These are problems I didn't have previously, so seeing them as some sort of solution to our problem would be wrong. Of course I do need to check the thyroid thing because my mum has Hashimotos, but it's not the cause of our fertility issues.

Honestly, I think if we want to have another child in a reasonable time frame (I'm not again going to try for 4 years ugh, I'm 36!), we may have to do this on our own. 😐