#Tumbling Wave Software

[weirdlookingsnakewithlegs]

Lord wormy requests more headcanons for all of the seekers :3

YKW SAD HCS BC ANGST

Starscream - Unlike many seekers who are naturally reactive, Megatron beat the reaction out of him. Where one would normally snap if something were to be waved in their face, Starscream will flinch back but make no move to bite or posture.

Thundercracker - Because of his denser frame he often puts himself in harms way for his trine, overestimating himself at times. Unsurprisingly, he has the highest injury count.

Skywarp - Considering his processor is taken up by his warp drive and mapping software, he often finds himself in situations he doesn't remember getting into. In the beginning of the war this was a major problem.

Dirge - Dirge struggles with his standing in his trine, often uncomfortable by their constant fighting.

Thrust - Believing he should be trine leader, he has made a few attempts on Ramjet's life. he is unsure as to WHY he keeps it up or why Ramjet stays trined with him.

Ramjet - Ramjet loves his trine but the truth is he never wanted to be trine leader, he's not sure what to do when it comes to Thrust and Dirge. Though, he knows better than to allow Thrust that role.

Bitstream - His hubris often gets the better of him, resulting in many beat downs from other Decepticons.

Nacelle - Nacelle was originally a slave before the war, a servant under one of the senators. He got by due to his quiet and elusive nature.

Hotlink - He has a major soft spot for Nacelle and Bitstream, it's often used against him for others to get what they want from him.

Blackout - Blackout struggles with letting go, letting people go to be specifically.

Slipstream - No stranger to starvation.

Acidstorm - His own ability causes him to be in the medbay several times a day.

Novastorm - He keeps a holo of his conjunx and sparklings, it's a reminder of why he took in Sunstorm and Blazewake.

Ionstorm - Honestly there's nothing going on with him he's just a major glitch.

Sunstorm - Sometimes a thought crosses him, a small wonder if Primus gave him this power to punish him rather than gift him.

Cloudcover - He constantly blames himself for Sandstorm's death, can't stand looking at Blazewake.

Sandstorm - Before his death, he had promised he would take Blazewake through in electrical storm. Guess what didn't happen.

Avia - She was attached to Wheezingarrow like a leech, always exclaiming how she wanted to be a medical assistant like him. After his death she lost that dream.

Chemtrail - Having lost her creator, sire, and adoptive sire, she's a bit fussy over her trine. She's almost constantly fussing over Blast and Blazewake, scared to death she might loose them.

Blast - As the war continues, Blast slowly looses his confidence. Each bad injury sets him back and he has to regain himself.

Redwing - He often feels a hopeless, after what happened to Knockout, being unable to save his own trinemate, and witnessing Avia's tumble into grief, he's not sure if he could even be considered a medic at times.

Blazewake - After flying through his first electrical storm he buried himself in Chemtrail's arms and Chemtrail would keep it to herself that he cried.

Wheezingarrow - Wheezingarrow's last words were a joking request for Redwing to find a better medical assistant.

[squidknees]

depth perception

(short piece about a mostly routine mission. 987 words.)

"Sorry I'm late!"

The moon pool techs quieted down as Hiro stumbled into the room. Ichika turned, and her frown deepened as she laid eyes on him. One of his pant legs was unrolled, and his hands were busy jamming his tie into a clumsy Windsor, but that wasn't unusual for him. What caught her attention was his eyes: one was its usual dark brown, but the other was an inert grey.

She cocked her head as she tried to find a delicate way to phrase the obvious question. (Not that Hiro deserved the effort, but she preferred to save the serious vitriol for later in the mission. Waste of energy otherwise.) "I don't suppose you're just trying out a new eye colour?"

He blinked. "What? Oh - yeah, no. This thing had a big software update today." The grey eye made a tink sound as he tapped at it. "Vision through it is gonna be weird for a few hours while it downloads and recalibrates stuff. I spent like an hour trying to delay the update or something, but I couldn't figure it out... So I ended up turning it off so it wouldn't distract me during work. That's why I'm late - sorry again."

Wonderful. Clover's shift hadn't begun yet, so now she had to run this mission with only a stupid kid with no depth perception for backup. She could already feel the headache coming on. "You know we're on extermination today, right? If this is going to impact your performance - "

"No, no, it'll be fine," Hiro insisted. "I get a lot of these updates, so I'm used to having only one eye for a while. Besides, it'd be awful if we delay the mission and someone ends up getting hurt just because of this, wouldn't it?"

She sighed. She hated it when he was right. "We're already behind schedule, so I'll brief you on the way over."

"Sounds good!" The moon pool whirred to life behind her, casting a blue glow on Hiro's stupid grin. "Let's do this."

-----

Their target today was a pack of sunlight-rank demons. Alcyon Corporation wouldn't usually bother with small fry like these, but they were headed straight toward a major population centre, so extermination it was. No difficult terrain on their way there, and the demons didn't have much in the way of power or strategy. Hiro swung at empty air a couple times near the beginning of the battle, assuming his opponents were closer to him than they were. But Ichika had enough range to deal with the faraway ones, so after a few shouted commands, things went much smoother.

She was beginning to think they would manage it after all. And that was when the seahorse-octopus thing lurking in the back started shooting globs of tar at them.

"Uh-oh," Hiro said, raising his sword. By some miracle he parried the first one, and the second missed entirely - but the third nailed him in the face. He tumbled to the ground, blinded. Two other demons took the opportunity to close in, claws unsheathed.

Shit. She sent a wave of ice toward his assailants - but the seahorse swiveled around to face her. A barrage of shots forced her to leap aside, making her attack fizz out before it could reach. What about blocking, then? She threw up a wall of ice; a few shots sizzled against it - but then it darted around to open fire from another angle. No go; she'd have to surround herself completely to avoid this, and then she'd have no way to fight back.

Beyond the ice came the sound of bone against metal. "I'm fine!" Hiro yelled. "Just take that thing down!"

Ichika growled as she pushed an ice wall toward the seahorse, and again when it skated around it with ease. Did Hiro think she was stupid enough to believe he was fine in this situation? And who the fuck did he think he was, lying and giving orders to his commanding officer? The lecture would have to wait, though, since they didn't exactly have any better options. "Fine! Don't die!" She snarled, and charged toward the seahorse.

She hated close-range combat - it was always so messy and unpredictable - but in this case it was the right call. Its eyes widened in panic, and it turned to flee. Damned thing was fast for a demon made of the slowest animal in the world, but mist-boosting made it easy to catch up. She feinted to the right, and grabbed its tail as it tried to dart to the left. Ice burst forth from beneath her fingers, trapping it in a cocoon before it could react. She took a second to catch her breath, then formed a blade in her other hand and stabbed it through. It let out a faint whine, and then dissolved into ash. Good riddance.

By the time she made it back to the main battlefield, Hiro was standing over a pile of already-disappearing corpses. He turned to give her a tired little smile. It seemed that in a sudden burst of competence, he'd managed to get the tar out of his working eye, then made short work of the small fry. That was good; she'd half-expected to come back to him still blind and struggling. "Not a scratch on you, huh?" He said. "You're so cool, as always."

Ichika scowled. "Demons of this calibre shouldn't be landing hits on you, either. We need to do something about those eye updates."

"Yeah, I've definitely learned that." He raised an arm to scratch his head, but winced and stopped as he made contact with the tar still matting his hair. "Ugh. Let's go back and shower first, though."

Ah, and he was already reminding her of his infractions. "I hope you haven't forgotten that I'm literally your boss. I make the calls around here."

"Oh, uh - "

"But yes," she relented. "Let's do that."

[accapitalmarket]

Fed holds rate, Wall Street plunges, Oil lower

US stocks dropped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve formally signaled that interest rate cuts rather than hikes are now possible, but Fed chair Jerome Powell said any change is not imminent given that “ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured”.

The comments came after the Federal Open Market Committee decided to maintain US interest rates at 5.25%-5.50%, as expected, with the focus now shifting to the March meeting where market opinions continue to diverge on a potential 25 basis points rate reduction.

SPX500Roll M30

Poorly received tech earnings also impacted sentiment in New York, while concern about the health of regional lenders was raised by a surprise loss from a New York bank. At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8% at 38,150, while the broader S&P 500 shed 1.6% at 4,848, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.2% to 15,164.

NAS100Roll M30

The tech-laden Nasdaq was weighed by a 7.4% fall from Alphabet after revenue at its core Google arm fell short, while chip maker AMD’s weak outlook saw its stock lose 2.5%, and software giant Microsoft shed 2.7% after results. The biggest market casualty was New York Community Bancorp, the regional lender that purchased deposits from Signature Bank last year, which tumbled 38% to a two-decade low after reporting a fourth-quarter loss and dividend cut.

UK100 H1

However, another financial stock, Mastercard gained 0.9% after reporting a jump in its fourth quarter and annual revenue and income. And Boeing rose 6.1% after better-than-expected earnings although the airplane maker declined to offer any forward guidance. The company is dealing with another wave of safety issues in the wake of a mid-air incident on an Alaska Air flight earlier in January.

In economic news, ahead of Friday’s always key monthly jobs report, data from the US private sector showed fewer job additions than expected at the start of the year. The numbers from payroll processor ADP saw private sector employment increase by 107,000 jobs in January, easing from a downwardly revised 158,000 increase in December, and falling short of the consensus of 145,000.

UKOILRoll H1

Oil prices fell unsettled by weak manufacturing activity in leading energy consumer China and a surprise bounce in US inventories following cold weather this month. UK Brent crude was 2.3% lower at 79.87 a barrel, while US WTI fell 2.7%, to 75.72.

Disclaimer:

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The content of this market commentary is owned by AC Capital Market (V) Ltd. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.

[ny-nymeria]

Traces

Rikugan: A Gojo xfem!reader story. (Link here!)

Synopsis: Gojo wants you to sleepover. Shoko finds out something about you.

tw: nsfw, fingering (female receiving), handjob, swearing. minors, do not interact.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Exhaustion clung to her words, tired eyes glaze over the dull computer screen before she moved her hips, swiveling the chair over to him. The lack of sleep had settled in from the persistent calls she received from the man sitting across from her; as the chair squeaks she turns back to him for a quick glare before pulling up some kind of software file, half-ignoring her unwelcome guest before pulling on latex gloves with a snap. 

“I’m sure, now let’s do the damn thing-“ 

The man rolls his eyes behind a dark blindfold. He’s sitting loosely on a bench in the sterile-looking lab room, zipping down his coat to bring out a small sealed package for this occasion. She looks at him out of the corner of her eyes before sighing, worried of what this decision will bring for him.

“But this is your girlfriend....”

“She’s not my girlfriend…”

Shoko smirks from hearing the “Not yet at least…” mumble under her friend’s breath. She’s known Gojo for quite sometime and she’d thought she’d never see the day that her friend become attached to another person until she saw how he interacted with you at the party. 

Genetic testing had become more sophisticated over the last decade and Shoko had access to more medical records than anyone in the school. With a pack of her favorite cigarettes and same, he bribed his way into her lab, watching her punch in a string of numbers while he tapped his foot restless on the white tile.

A vile spun around in a machine with the gathered contents that made up you: Gojo had precariously plucked threads of your hair from a brush he’d found in your bathroom the last time he was over, and when you had gotten injured from the last mission, he had soaked a cotton pad in blood for lab work. If it wasn’t so creepy, all of this could’ve been taken as endearing. 

“Does Yaga know what you’re doing?”

“No,” Gojo replied, “And this stays between us.” 

"I can't keep keeping your secrets," She sighed while shrugged her shoulders, “Just what are you looking for anyways?”

Gojo paused, looking behind his blindfold to stare at the machine that beeped and began it's analysis. His trust in you was undeniable; and yet there was something about you so familiar even beyond meeting you during childhood.

The way you laughed, the small creases under your eyelids when you smiled quietly at him, the tones & texture of your hair and even the way you looked at him— 

It seemed all too familiar. 

How you were so excellent at fighting, nimble yet powerful. How you kept him grounded and calm just by mere presence: He’d be foolish to think you were just any person and something in his gut worried that unfortunately fate would lead him to finding some type of caveat to the person you’ve become to him. 

“A peace of mind,” he waved his hand with a grin, “Just to be sure we haven’t overlooked anything.” 

Shoko sighs again and for a second feels the nostalgia and longing of their mutual friend who was more able to put up with Gojo's antics. The computer makes a jolting noise and Gojo quickly hunches over her to examine the screen,

“What does it say?”

“Give me a couple hours, it’s not working instantaneous.” Shoko replied half heartedly.

“Why don’t you go bother her instead?”

Chocolate strawberries. 

It wasn’t supposed to be that hard, you’ve covered confectioneries in sweet cocoa before, dripping it over cakes or cookies and just so happened to feel the desire to make them. Fleeting thoughts of romance distracted you and you blamed him for it: ever since he placed his lips over yours, those plush, pillow lips- the man had sent your heart tumbling, decadent and gooey, like strawberries covered in chocolate.

You were lost in thought and accidentally whipped the melted chocolate too ferociously in the mixer, causing ribbons of it to splatter across your face. The pan underneath the wire grate was dripping in sauce and the strawberries looked ready enough to be placed in the fridge, and before you could clean up you there was a knock on the door and a head of white hair peeking through the door way.

“Am I interrupting something?” 

Looking at the chocolate on your face Gojo smiles, watching you fluster over his unannounced visit.  ‘Fucking adorable…’

“No! I’m just-“ 

Distracted by your words he swiped the chocolate off your cheeks with his thumb, sucking it into his mouth to savor the sweetness. “Mmm!” He leaned closer while you backed up into the kitchen counter, encroaching vulture. “That’s good… What are you baking?”

“Not baking, 'was in the mood for some strawberries-"

“Oh?” his hand was placed underneath his chin as he leaned forward, a mischievous look beaming in his eyes.

“Was it for anyone in particular…?”

A growing smirk on his face keened you into what he was implying.

“If you think that I made these for you, you are almost sorely mistaken,” you smirked while his face sank, taking the tray back into the fridge.

“These are for the hard working students, you could learn a bit or two from them-”

His large frame covered your body and nearly pinned himself behind you. He hovered while shutting the refrigerator door with one arm and the other around your torso preventing you from placing the tray away.

“You know how much I love sweets…” his lips hovering just above the tip of your ear. “Just a taste wouldn’t hurt…”

“Okay okay… Back it up, pervert!”

He rolled his eyes while caving his broad shoulders dramatically while you laughed, putting all but one strawberry away, holding it precariously by it's delicate stem. He leaned in to take a bite, watching his lips and pearly whites part without taking an eye off of you, making you feel instantly flustered.

“Mmmm delicious,” he practically moaned, sounding too sensual and making you drop the rest of the strawberry into your palm before he clutched your wrist, taking another bite, feeling his chocolate covered lips press into your hand. 

“You don’t have to eat it like that!” You retorted, retracting your wrist back into your chest to wash in the sink. 

“It’s not my fault you picked a very sensual thing to make…” he dragged the strawberry across his lips before taking another bite, this time enunciating a low moan followed by a snicker after your frazzled response. 

“Are you getting turned on?”

“In-your-dreams!” You yell from the kitchen while he laughs, following you around your living room. 

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you!“

“Why are you acting like this?” he smirks, “Wait. Are you embarrassed that we made out in our underwear the other night?”

He loved tormenting you with the vibrantly red blush he pulled from your face, watching you fumble over a response, stopping between the corner of the kitchen.

“The way you say it just makes it so-“

His laughter interrupts you again, leaning across the counter. “So what?”

“So intimate!” you mumbled into your hands. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he stopped his pursuit, backing off and sitting himself onto the couch in the living room. “We're friends first, that hasn’t changed…”

“We need to establish rules,” You huffed and walked to back to kitchen, Gojo enjoying the banter while you reached for a bag of microwaveable popcorn from the cupboards.

“You know how I feel about rules….” 

“1st rule!” your index finger was pointed towards the sorcerer after placing a folded bag onto the plate pressing start on the microwave. 

“We are keeping this a secret until we figure out what we are.”

“Sounds good, then I get to add the next rule,” you waited until he dropped his hand from his face. 

“Sleepovers are a must.”

Gingerly held the piping hot bag between fingertips and poured the popcorn into a bowl and plopped yourself on the couch, assuming he would follow: squeezing when he dropped himself into his seat next to yours so suddenly.

“That’s not even a rule!”

Gojo drapes his arm across the couch barely hanging over your shoulders. You shuffle a bit, bumping into his forearm which makes him drop his arm over you shoulders. He smirks at the way you fidget, quick to hold your breathe before easing into leaning into his side.

‘So cute,’ he thinks as he leans down to your ear.

“Who says it can’t be?” He hums lowly, snagging a handful of popcorn in the process. 

“Like tonight, for instance— a perfect night for you to spend the night over…”

“I think the two of us know how that’ll go…” you replied, reaching over for the popcorn bowl. 

“Oh ho! Confident you’ll get in my pants, eh?” Gojo pulls away and snickers, sticking a hand into the bowl to shove popcorn into his mouth before you get a chance to shoot back a reply, 

“Kidding! I promise I’ll be on my best behavior!”

You glared in silence before he sighed defeatedly. He conceded with a sigh, sluggishly drawing back and away from you.

“Alright… no sleepov-“

“Wait,” his eyes watch you carefully clutch the hem of his hoodie, nervously biting your lip carefully before thinking about your answer. Feeling his heart flutter once he noticed the adorably pink tint forming on the tip of your cheeks, realizing that maybe you did have interest to his request. 

“Maybe it would be nice to have some company…” you tucked back a lock of hair behind your ear while looking away, the anticipation of his answer made your feet feel restless. Gojo beamed instantly, towering over your head and puffing out his chest almost proudly that he had won you over for the night.

When you arrived to his loft, Gojo was already preparing for your stay. While he took the time to let you settle in he made an adorable spectacle of your guest appearance, asking what kinds of pillows you like, if the room’s temperature was to your liking, and if the sheets were soft enough. Even the bathroom was stocked with all sorts of expensive skincare, and a spare new toothbrush hung from the glass cup on the sink counter. You smiled as you saw him pace around the rooms, gathering items that may make your stay that more comfortable.

“Hi," you peaked into his bedroom.

Gojo’s amused by the bashfulness in your greeting.

“Hi?” 

He notices the way you shuffle in place nervously, anxious in the way he looks at you from the bed. He’s aware of how his heart flutters while extending his arms wide for you to jump in and the bed sinks with quiet laughter when you bounce into the mattress and into his arms. Gojo turns off the lights—there’s sounds of sheets and pillows shifting until suddenly silence settles in, his breath running through your hair as you lay in his arms, smelling the sweet scent of lavender and vanilla into his black nightshirt.

“In all seriousness, I want you to know nothings changed between us…,” he say softly while he draws circles with his long fingers against your back, making your heart pace a little faster. “It’s the least of my concern putting a label on what we are.”

It’s soothing for him to feel you in his shirt pressed up against him, quelling the possessive side of him when you agreed to his offer of his large satin shirt. 

“Well, I do enjoy your company.” You breathe, hands placed across his broad chest. The darkness hid Gojo’s smile at your remark, feeling him fidget his fingers across your back. 

“Me too, kiddo.” He leaves a kiss on your forehead before bringing you closer embrace and feels you shiver and Gojo seems to notice. 

“Sorry, did that count?” He rubs his thumb playfully over your forehead as if to erase where he had kissed, “I promised I wouldn’t kiss you-“

You silence him with your lips, a firm grasp on his shoulders made him break into a soft sigh of relief, a large hand smooths across your neck and jawline while he slides his tongue across your bottom lip. You push him gently into the bed while you kiss him from above, and soon he pulls away from you while still having a firm grip onto your hip bones, grounding himself in the process to stop his mind from racing. 

“I’m breaking my promise...”

“It doesn’t count if I’m the one who started it,” you mumble into his lips before taking them as your own, hands finding themselves around his neck. Your forwardness excited him and you feel his laughter rumbled across your cheek while being pushed back onto the bed by his side. 

“Hmmm Is that so?” He slides between your legs so that he could be eye level, large frame pressing across your body but careful not to crush. 

“Yes, and I would very much appreciate it if-“ 

This time Gojo is quick to steal a kiss but with much more intensity behind it. You feel like he’s swallowing you whole: his body and presence like a strong current that was too late to pull out of. You’re in deep water and already swept miles out to sea with no care of whether you’d see land again. 

“Can I touch you more…” his words trailed with his fingers, first giving your breasts a squeeze before traveling to your waist hovering just above the band of your shorts, low and dangerous like the undertow of the sea. “Tell me what you want…”

Your eyelashes fluttered like the your heart does to his request. “Just a little more…”

“A little more like this?” His fingers inched under the elastic and hand slipped underneath the dainty fabric, smoothing his palm down to your abdomen then clothed groin, touching the cloth that separates your skin and peppering your neck with nibbles and kisses.

“Maybe a little more…”

He smiles while slowly pressing his middle and ring finger across your slit while his pointer and pinky finger spread and explore your rose colored folds, making circles around your clit that left you feeling open and raw. 

“That’s-“ you couldn’t help but curled your toes and arch your back, pressing your body closer to his from the way he was touching you from the inside, fingers pushing in and rocking back and forth. 

“Keep your eyes on me,” Gojo used his free hand to hold your chin to tilt your head in view. You shivered again as he curled his fingers up and inside of you, pressed the same area again, the pressure exceedingly. Whenever your breath hitched he’d smile, watching you closely. 

“So sensitive…” he cooes, “Has anyone touched you like this before?” 

You shook your head no into his chest while he kept his fingers curled, then started to scissor them around your walls. The elastic around your waist taut as he rhymically moves his hand up and down, while you felt like an elastic just waiting to snap.

“My sweet girl,” he kissed your neck while smiling from all the noises he was drawing from you, thumb circling over your clit while watching you whine.

“You’re already making my head spin, knowing I’m the one who gets to do this to you, thinking about all the things I want to do to you…”

“Ahn!” The sounds you made under his touch made him hard, doing his best to keep the steady pace of his fingers plunging inside of you over and over, the knot growing tighter and tighter until you clutched his wrist, holding him steady as you came undone.

“Satoru I can't,” 

“You can,” he drew circles around your clit while pumping his fingers back inside, “and you will for me.”

A soft cry escapes your lips as you release around his fingers, seeing speckles of stars and a ring in your ears. 

Gojo looked at you surveyed the undone, beautiful mess you had become in his arms. You tried to form a complete sentence but failed miserably after his performance, barely able to keep your arms over his shoulders while your thighs trembled against his hands.

“That was… I-I never…” He chuckled while you held your head with your hand, licking off his fingers for a quick steal of your taste. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, sweets.”

Your hands pressed down on his torso and tried to slide underneath his sweats but he wrapped his long fingers around your wrist to stop you from reaching.

“I wasn’t looking for you to repay the favor,” he kissed the tip of your nose, “ I wanted to make you feel good.”

You palmed his dick through his tented sweatpants, feeling how hard he had gotten from watching you just moments ago.

“Can I?” You caught him in a daze, half lidded blue eyes succumbing to his desire to be touched. He gave you a short nod, watching your fingers grip around his waistband and tugging it down, lifting himself slightly off the bed to help you tug his briefs down and letting his cock springing free. Circling his tip with your fingers webbing around to the first few inches before giving it a slight tug he gasps, a small grown escapes his lips held by a tightened jaw.

“Hmm,” your lips into a smile, “You’re sensitive too…” You continued caressing the soft skin to his hard cock, watching him breathe heavily. 

Gojo had gone months without any physical intimacy and relied mostly on taking care of his own needs before. The sorcerer thirst for touch was being quenched by your loving, delicate hands, - more importantly that it was with someone he was anamored with.

“N-No, I—“ he stifled a moan into his forearm, hiding his face. Gojo stumbled over his words so adorably you gave him a chance to recover, slowing your pace back and into small strokes of your finger tips. 

“…I dont want to curse you,” he admitted between a heavy inhale, watching you pleasure him below. 

“Feeling the way I do… I can show it but saying it puts you at risk,” the sound of his breath by as it gets shallow and faster, groaning your name into the crook of your neck. 

“Does that feel good, sweet boy?” You swirl his tip with your thumb, beads of crystal precum spread across his sensitive skin.

“Yes,” he quivered, “It feels so fucking good...”

A low murmur into your shirt as he straightens back up to meet your eyes, the blush of his cheeks and the tips of his ears bloomed an adorable pink across his complexion. His pupils are blown out, the skyline in his irises focus themselves on your face while he gives you a kiss, his breath hitching across your lips whenever you touched the tip, coiling up his insides where he knew was close to releasing.

Gojo was about to let you know when a buzzing noise suddenly alerted to a phone call, his phone faced down vibrating a rhythmic tune on top of his nightstand.

“You should really get that,” you whispered, palming his cock one more time before drawing your hand away, “It could be about those special grades…”

Gojo groaned. “If it’s Ichiji I swear…” he huffed, turning to his side and placing his phone close to his chest to see that it was Shoko’s number. He sits up and out of bed, tucking himself back into his sweatpants and walks out of the bedroom to the kitchen before answering the phone.

“Impeccable timing,” he sighed, “I’m assuming the lab results are in—“

“Gojo. Did he ever mention having a sister?” 

Gojo filled a glass of water that he took a careful sip from, listening intently for his friend’s explanation. 

“Who are you talking about-“

The phone goes silent and Gojo can’t stop his mind from wandering while his eyes start their calculated race. 

“To think no one checked this…” 

Gojo doesn’t even feel the glass cup break against his fingers or the sound of it shattering across the countertop.

“Satoru, I heard something break… Everything okay?” He hears your voice down the hallway.

“Did you know he had any living relatives—“

“Shoko, what the hell are you talking about—“

“Satoru?” he can barely hear you call his name, he looks at you braced against the door frame, mouth suddenly too dry to speak and stomach knotted in dread. He could barely keep his face from going grim as you looked at him with concern, his eyes going wild piecing together your image and realizing the very reason why he felt like he knew you.

“She’s his sister, Satoru,”

“Are you okay?”

“Suguru’s sister.”

Taglist: @cupsof-tea @shuxjodie @introvertedmegalomaniac @seb-owns-these-tatas @t-stark35 @brumous11 @noobsaibots @bread0nhead @ayamvirus

Feedback, comments, and reblogs so appreciated! If I forget to put you on the taglist (or you would like to be removed), please remind me!

AN: Hope you enjoy the little twist at the end. ;)

[lailannajacobs]

Heart of the Night

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Summary: Bucky finds you after a mission that didn’t quite go as planned. 

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: lil bit angsty 

A/N: This is my submission for @wkemeup​​ 9k challenge, it’s not quite as edited as I would have liked but the end of the school year is always super busy so here it is! Congrats Kas, you are such an incredible writer, your talent absolutely blows my mind, it’s just unbelievable and I hope one day to have a tenth of your skill! You deserve everything great and more! <3

The needle trembled, metal glinting off the fluorescent light in your bathroom as it hovered just above the skin of your abdomen. The air reeked of copper. The pristine sink was marred with the dark red streaks of failure. You tried to swallow, but it felt like you were choking on your own throat. 

The needle approached the bloody canyon made by a knife you’d been too careless to avoid, and hovered there, trying to find its mark. The world swayed. You’d lost too much blood already. The needle clattered into the sink, black thread trialing behind it like a broken tether. You were somehow conscious — delirious? — enough to think you were lucky it hadn’t gone down the drain because you didn’t have time to call a plumber. Wait no. You’d just have to get a new one from the cabinet. You tried to reach for the needle. Your body didn’t react. Instead, it swayed dangerously, only your fighting instincts keeping you from tumbling to the floor by gripping onto the edge of the sink. At least there were some things blood could wash off from.

“YN!” that familiar voice burst into your apartment, “pool table. Five minutes. I swore to Sam that this was the day we finically beat Vision and his perfect calculations.”

You swore at the joyful ness in his voice. You couldn’t match that tone right now if you tried. But you had to. The mission had gone well. You’d done what you’d set out to do. Only you, the ever-present failure, had gotten yourself stabbed along the way. The only mercy was that no one else had noticed and you’d disappeared to your apartment without drawing suspicion. That was, until now if you couldn’t pull yourself together. You willed your body to close the bathroom door, but it wouldn’t move. If anything, everything only spun even more.

“Where the hell are...”

You felt his presence in your doorway. Felt his gaze like a physical thing. You were always aware of him. Even now was no exception. Maybe if you pretended he wasn’t there, he’d go away. Right. And the three-inch gash in your stomach would stitch itself up. You turned your head, not realizing how many abdominal muscles it took to look over your shoulder. Your pride and the death grip your slick fingers held on the porcelain were the only reasons the spinning didn't send you tumbling to the ground.

When your bathroom came into focus again, the only thing you really saw was Bucky taking up most of the doorway. And he was seething. His normally cool eyes were raging hurricanes, framed between hard lines of frustration on his face. They scanned you from top to bottom with deathly calm, from the sports bar you had on that exposed all your skin and the bruises you garnered during the mission to the sweatpants you’d changed into. An X-ray would have been less intrusive. You shivered. It was probably the blood loss.

You wanted to make up some excuse for your failure, but his anger was justified. You were a liability on the field. They were bound to have figured it out eventually.

He said nothing as he stalked over in a few brisk strides, fury emanating from him in waves. He stopped beside you, the pleasant smell of his freshly showered body chasing away the tang in the air. You closed your eyes. It was a coward’s move, but you’d take any peace you could get before everything you’d worked so hard to keep got taken away from you.

“Sit,” he ordered in a low, almost growly voice, “now.”

You went to sit on the toilet but tipped backward before you could make it. His arms gathered around you, easing you onto the closed seat. Your head lolled back and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“No.” He decided, “I need an explanation. Talk to me.”

It seemed like too much work. All you wanted to do was go to sleep.

“No,” he ordered as if you’d spoken the words aloud. Maybe you had.

You opened your eyes, caught in the crossfire of his icy stare, “Hydra agent during the extraction.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

The extraction of the French Prime Minister had been more than an hour ago. You should have been stitched up a long time ago. You should not have been dripping on the pale bathroom tiles.

“Surface wound,” you continued as professionally as your body would allow, knowing that even though you’d live, your failure was the reason for his fury, “came here. Was in the process of fixing it.”

“We have medics,” he growled, “what were you thinking?”

You didn’t answer. You weren’t about to tell him how your presence was a poison that would likely get them all killed eventually. Or that your constant mistakes were your own consequences to deal with — to fix. He probably knew that all ready. His question had to be rhetorical.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he were trying to steady his anger. You stared at him, the winter soldier kneeling before you, his calloused hands still resting on your hips. He let out a sigh, his breath warm on your stomach.

“I should call for a medic,” he still hadn’t opened his eyes.

“Please don’t,” you whispered, “I can take care of my own mistakes.”

His lids snapped open, piercing blue eyes pinning you to the spot with their ice cold intensity. He was obviously still pissed. But he didn’t call for a medic. Instead, he got up, warm hands leaving behind nothing more than goosebumps and shivers — from the blood loss, of course— and picked up the needle.

“This is going to hurt,” he murmured once he was kneeling in front of you again.

You tried to nod, but the motion sent your vision spinning again and you gripped onto his shoulder for support, the metal sturdy beneath your grip.

He looked up into your eyes, “are you sure you want me to do this? It’ll leave a scar and it won’t be pretty.”

“It’s only fitting,” you coughed a laugh, “at least the outside will start looking like the inside.”

His brows furrowed but he didn’t say anything. He knew what you were. You were a mutant who somehow got the ‘gift’ of being able to make anything stop functioning. You could make plans fall apart. Kill a software program. Stop a body’s functioning. Even ruin a functioning team like the Avengers. With skill, you should have been one of their greatest assets, ruining everything that threatened the world. But your ‘gift’ extended to yourself as well. You ruined everything you touched. Even the good. Especially, it always seemed, the good.

He pierced your skin without warning, but you were glad for the pain. It gave you something else to focus on than the echoing thoughts of your failure. But Bucky was gentle. Despite the anger you knew must still be there, his movements were delicate and focused, hesitating whenever you winced or sucked in a breath.

By the time he tied the knot, you were surprised you were still upright. He might have been efficient, but you couldn’t tell if it had taken seconds, minutes or even hours. His hands cupped your face and eyes you hadn’t realized you’d closed fluttered open. He was so close now, his expression pinched with worry. You couldn’t help but wonder how it could be for you.

“I’m almost done,” he said softly, “but you’ll probably need a transfusion.”

Adrenaline kicked in. You couldn’t. He couldn’t. Not when you could barely keep your eyes open.

“Please don’t take me there,” you begged, “I can’t hurt anyone else.”

Your abilities rarely activated while you were asleep, but you wouldn’t risk the lives of the other patients or the doctors by going down to the medical wing. Years ago, when you’d realized what your abilities were, you’d stopped sleeping anywhere near anyone else. Now, hurt, there was an even greater chance you might lose control.

If you hadn’t been working so hard for consciousness, you would have also told Bucky to leave. But it wouldn’t have mattered. For some reason, he always stayed. Even when he was within the radius of your power. Even when you told him to go. Especially then. He always stayed.

“I won’t hurt anyone else,” you choked out, “I always hurt someone else.”

His thumb brushed across your cheek, “and yet you saved me today.”

You looked away from his burning gaze, your tears threatening to spill.

He continued, mercifully ignoring your watery eyes, “even though you were hurt you dropped that Hydra agent before he could shoot me in the back. We didn’t lose a single agent today, YN. That’s because you were there.”

“No,” you tried to shake your head, but his hands held on tightly, “they — you — saved yourselves. I got stabbed.”

“You got stabbed because you were busy watching everyone else’s back,” he growled, that earlier anger returning.

“I ruin things,” you repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

But it didn’t matter. He never seemed to believe you. But he needed to. You desperately needed him to before you ruined him too.

“Please leave,” you whimpered.

His answer was simple, “No.”

He took his hands back, but it was only to find some gauze to place over your cut. Once he was done, he scooped you up so gently the movement only hurt a lot instead of blinding pain and brought you to bed.

You gripped his shirt, fist balling up at the hem with all the strength you had left, “you need to leave, Bucky. Now.”

For some reason, the bastard smirked, “Someone has to make sure you don’t die in your sleep.”

“I’ll be fine,” you snapped, though it lacked any kind of force.

He didn’t look impressed, “If you were fine you wouldn’t be begging me to leave. You’d be downstairs with me and we’d be getting our asses handed to us by Vision and Sam like every other Thursday night.”

You wanted to protest. You wanted to protect him, but you had no fight left in you. And with the plush mattress calling you to sleep, the world went dark before you could figure out a way to get him to leave.

“All right Destructo, show me what you’ve got.”

You weren’t a fan of the nickname, but you weren’t about to tell the Tony Stark to shut up and use your real name. And anyways, as much as you hated using your abilities, and how you were always overcome by the tidal wave of fear that sent fear rolling like waves throughout your body, you always felt better — healthier even — after using them. And he was giving you free range now.

Eight suits surrounded you in a perfect octagon, hands out like they were ready to strike. Tony had somehow altered his suits so that they’d shoot bubbles — of all things — instead of small blasts and said you’d only be alive if you managed to take them all down before a single bubble came out.

A small grin unwittingly made its way onto your face.

“Glad to see you’re having fun,” Tony remarked, “it’ll come in handy for future testing. Ready?”

You nodded and ignored the bit about future testing. They might have thought they wanted you now but after they saw how much of a curse you really were, they weren’t going to keep you around long enough for future testing. You prayed that day wasn’t any time soon.

But you were ready now. That was until Tony’s voice crackled through the intercoms once more, “just make sure you don’t kill anyone of us in the process. I’d hate to miss Taco Tuesday.

You lifted your chin, “Give me thirty seconds with the enemies and you’ll have your taco.”

“Such confidence,” he remarked with a chuckle.

It was false bravado but you wanted this. You wanted out of your hell hole. So you weren’t about to let him see any of the very real fear that you actually might kill him. in the process.

You let out your power in a giant blast.

You bolted upright, gasping for breath. Black spots clouded your vision but you forced through the waves of dizziness, looking for the one person you couldn’t bear to hurt. He was supposed to have left. Your next breath never came. Bucky’s long limbs spilled over the edges of the chair in the opposite corner of the room, his phone resting on his chest. His eyes were closed, a peaceful look on his face but that didn’t mean anything. The dead often looked at peace.

Then his phone rose and fell with his chest. You held back a sob. Your relief would have sent you tumbling if you hadn’t been sitting. He was alive.

Without your blinding panic, the rest of your room came into focus. He’d left all the clothes you’d strewn over the chair in a neat, folded pile on your dresser. You glanced over at your alarm clock for the time, which was…off. Your dread clenched it’s fist around your stomach. It had been on. So had your air conditioning unit. And where was the constant hum of your ancient refrigerator?

“They’re all fried,” Bucky’s gruff voice came through the silence as if he’d actually been sleeping, “the phone gave a nice little shock when it died. Snapped me out of my sleep that’s for sure.”

Your heart was still trying to hammer its way out of your chest when you said, “You could have gotten hurt. I don’t know how you’re not.”

“I do,” he replied simply, eyes finding yours.

“No, you don’t,.” you shook your head more than you had to, “No, you can’t.”

“I can because I’ve trained with you almost every day since you got here. I know that your gift,” you scoffed at the word but he kept going, “your gift works differently depending on who and what you’re targeting. And I know you don’t target people. Not unless you have to and even then I see that it kills you to do it.”

You looked down at your sheets, hating the way his words resonated through your body, refusing to go away. But you could still ignore it.

“That might be true, but Tony has been making his suits to withstand me. In case I can’t control my powers and they hurt anyone on our side. He might say it’s in case we meet another mutant with powers like mine, but we all know that’s not true.”

“Why can’t it be both?” he huffed then took in a slow breath. It did nothing to hide the growl in his voice when he asked, “None of us are perfect, why do you have to be?”

Because, even as a full grown adult, you were afraid you’d somehow end up back in that orphanage, unloved and unwanted because all you did was ruin things. And you didn’t know what you’d do if you ruined the closest thing you’d ever had to family. Perfect kept you here. Perfect kept you safe.

He stood from the chair, and came to kneel beside your bed. He brushed aside the hair that had stuck to your forehead with sweat, calloused fingers resting gently on your cheek when he was done.

“You’re one of us now” he whispered as if he could read your mind, “and I — we — won’t let you go that easily not matter what you think of your abilities. Even if that means I have to inspect you for cuts and bruises myself after every mission. You are good, YN.”

You could only nod, taken aback by the ferocity in his voice. Still, it didn’t stop you from looking him over head to toe once more just to make sure he was okay. Then you noticed something off with him.

“Where’s your arm?”

He ran his hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face, “it might have fallen off a few seconds before you woke up.”

Your heart dropped into your stomach, “I hurt you.”

He shook his head fiercely, “you didn’t. I’m fine.”

“But I could have,” you protested.

“But you didn’t,” he said, “you never do. Because despite what you might think, you control this thing inside you and we all trust you with it.”

You were about to object but he stopped you by pressing a light kiss to your forehead, and when he pulled back there was that lopsided little grin on his face that made you realize how light headed you were feeling, “one day we’ll get to a place where you’ll find this funny. I promise.”

And somehow, you believed him.

[batsandbugs]

The Great IKEA Game

Chapter 4: The Three Stooges 

AN: At least it hasn’t been two months again 😅. Let’s check in with the other batboys and see how they’re handling Damian and Marinette’s chaos. 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2  Chapter 3

Tim wondered when his day took a solid dive off the cliffs of normal and into the waters of weird.

It probably started when Dick dragged them out of bed at eight in the morning – on a Saturday – piled them into the car, and drove them an hour and a half out of the city to an IKEA. If they had actually been there to shop they would have either burned the store down or killed one another. 

Not that those things were off the table yet. 

Tim had work, actual work, that he could be doing. But no, instead he was playing a demented game of hide-and-go-seek, which was careening into an all-out war. The destroyed shelving units, shopping carts, and forklift were unmistakable evidence of that.

How had the demon spawn accomplished this in less than a minute?

Bruce would kill them, once he came back from off-world.

That is if Alfred didn’t get to them first.

“Uh, order 177? Shit, my pay isn't enough for this.”

The words shook Tim from his stupor. He walked over to the counter.

“Hi,” he said, flashing his most charming CEO grin. “I have a quick question?”

The server's fixed smile contrasted with his dull eyes.

“I need to know what way the boy who ordered this headed.”

“No.”

Tim sighed, “Look, it’s important. My brother-”

“I mean, no, it wasn’t a boy.”

Tim paused. “Huh?”

“It was a girl, a teen girl. Black hair, big blue eyes, French accent. She was sitting over there,” he waved at an empty table. “But I think she walked away before that happened.” Referring to the giant train wreck occurring a few aisles over.

“Oh,” said Tim. “Thanks.”

“Do you want the order?”

Tim held back an annoyed sigh.

“Sure.”

So that’s how he, Jason, and Dick, sat at the abandoned picnic table, staring at the abandoned meal bought with Damian’s credit card. Jason grabbed a couple of fries and shoved them in his mouth.

“That’s evidence, nitwit,” hissed Tim.

Jason ignored him, stabbing a meatball with the plastic fork. “What? It’s going to go to waste. Girlie obviously ain’t coming back for it.”

“We should be more worried about how a random girl used Damian’s credit card!”

“She could have stolen it?” offered Dick.

“Demon spawn would have broken her arm before getting pickpocketed,” countered Jason, eating another fry. Silence. A weird glint appeared in Jason's eye. He turned to Tim. “What did you say the girl looked like again?”

“Black hair, blue eyes, French accent.”

“Shit,” muttered Jason.

“What?”

“I think I ran into her earlier, about an hour and a half ago. Asked her if she had run into demon spawn – she sounded confused and tourist-like. But maybe…”

“Maybe she’s working with him?” offered Tim.

“Could be.”

“Damian? Working with another person? A stranger?” Dick shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like him.”

Jason shoved another fry into his mouth. “The brat’s a competitive little shit, if he thought teaming up would help him get ahead, he’d do it in a heartbeat.” He pointed a fry at Tim. “Can you look at the security footage?”

“I’m already two steps ahead of you,” Tim said, flashing his phone with the hacked in security camera footage on-screen. Jason and Dick huddled in close as a small girl walk on screen and stood at the counter.

“Yep, that’s her. Can you ID her, Timmy?”

Tim rolled his eyes, “This is a smartphone, Jay, not a laptop.”

“I thought Mr. World’s Second Greatest Detective would be prepared for anything.”

“Well excuse me for not having facial recognition software, on my phone.”

“Guys chill.”

“Shut up, Dick,” Jason and Tim said in unison.

The footage played out and they watched the girl order two meals and pay with Damian’s credit card. They switched to another camera when she left and sat at the picnic table. A few minutes later Jason and Tim walked into frame.

“Look, there! She tenses. Look at her body language, she’s panicking. She knows who you two are.” Dick looked shocked that, yes, Damian had teamed up with a partner.

They watched the girl panic, although she managed to keep her body from reacting too much. She placed her phone to her ear and walked away from her spot.

“Who is she talking to?”

“Maybe Damian was watching out of sight?”

“Shoot, Tim, she’s out of frame. Do we have another angle?”

It took another minute or so, but Tim found the right security camera catching the mysterious girl leaving the food court. As she walked away the image on the screen flickered, and a moment later the shelving units fell.

“Oh crap,” swore Jason. “Do you think she has magic? Fuck, it would be just our luck if demon spawn teamed up with someone dangerous.”

Dick shook his head. “It could be a coincidence. We didn’t see her do anything. The chaos could have been a coordinated effort between her and Damian.”

Tim wasn’t so sure. “Come on Dick, you’ve been in the game long enough to know just because something looks one way, doesn’t mean it's true.”

They watched the girl hurry out of sight, this time it was much more difficult to follow her progress through the store. She would randomly duck in and out of showrooms, coming out differently than how she came in. If the three boys hadn’t been trained in stealth and detection for years, they would have had a challenging time tracking her.

Jason whistled low. “Who is this chick? I’m impressed. She has serious skill.”

Finally, she ducked into a showroom and didn’t come out. Tim couldn’t find a camera giving them an unobstructed view, but it didn't matter. They had a destination.  

“This was ten minutes ago, they could already be long gone,” said Dick.

“Or they could still be hiding there,” countered Jason.

“We’ll find out when we get there.” They walked out of the cafeteria and past the closed aisles. The forklift that had been buried under the collapsed shelving unit was being unearthed by a flock of bewildered employees.

“Ten bucks says she has magic,” said Jason.

“Yeah, no.” Tim was good at math and the odds of everything happening just as she left was too big to be a coincidence. “I’m not stupid enough to take that bet.”

“Come on you guys, let’s focus here,” chided Dick.

Walking back through the showrooms Tim kept an eye out for any sign of his brother or his accomplice, but it was as if they had disappeared into thin air. Arriving at the last location they had spotted the girl, they waited for a touring couple to leave before descending on the tiny, boxed room like the detectives they were trained to be.

It didn’t take long to discover the lasered off vent.

“Shit,” groaned Jason. “They could be anywhere by now.”

“Tim can you-”

Tim had his phone in hand, “I’m already on it. I’ll have the vent layout in a minute.” He felt insulted they even needed to ask.

Jason peered into the vent, “Damn, I think we’re too big to follow.”

 Dick sighed. “I miss my vent crawling days; they just don’t make them as big as they used to.”

“That’s what she said,” snickered Jason.

“Focus you two,” Tim snapped. “I’ve pulled up the air duct plans.” He flashed the screen to his two brothers who settled down. “This particular vent runs a couple of places. We have one entrance at the back of the store in the storeroom. Then another veering off near the daycare center, and the last which comes out near the unloading dock.”

“I’ll take the one next to the daycare center,” said Dick. “I’m the only one who isn't demented,” pointing to Jason, “or sleep-deprived,” pointing to Tim.

“Hey!” exclaimed Jason.

Tim sneered, repressing a Damian-like growl, “I wouldn’t be so sleep deprived if you hadn’t dragged us out of the house at eight in the morning. I arrived in from patrol at three.” He hadn’t had coffee in hours, and the weight of his body pressed on him like a panini maker.

Dick ignored them. “Jason can take the one at the loading docks, and Tim you’ll be able to bypass security and get into the back the easiest.”

“Sounds good to me,” grunted Jason.

“Alright,” agreed Tim. “The second any of us spots them, text the group chat, will box them in from there.”

They nodded and headed off their separate ways. Despite the tiredness in Tim's bones, there was a heady rush of the hunt thrumming in his veins. Damian, and whoever he had decided to pair up with, were going down.

Tag List: (Closed, sorry!! I’m so glad you all like it though.)

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[fific7]

Cold Day in Hell - Part 1

Logan Delos x Reader

A/N: This does not completely follow canon, it’s mainly lemon zest 🍋 because the world needs more Logan Delos.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content, including oral, between consenting adults* in future chapters. Drinking and swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My GIF)

Logan Delos was bored. Mind-numbingly, screamingly, terminally bored. He was rapping out an irritated drum solo on the arm of his chair with his long fingers. He was shifting in his seat, constantly crossing and un-crossing his long legs. He was moving the papers on the conference table in front of him from side to side, then backwards and forwards.

The businessman who was talking through the main presentation had a voice that was flatter than roadkill and had only one tone... monotone.

Logan leant forward and propped his elbows on the conference table in front of him, using his fingers to physically hold open his eyelids as they kept closing of their own accord. He felt a yawn coming on and fought to stop his mouth opening to accommodate it... but failed.

He was aware of the door to the conference room opening behind him but didn’t even have the energy to turn and see who it was. This asshole is draining the fucking will to live out of me, he thought. He vaguely heard said asshole saying something about his colleague talking through the next section of the presentation.

Logan sat right up in his seat as he spotted a beautiful - no, stunning - woman making her way to the front of the room. She was dressed in ‘business smart’ but even those sensible items couldn’t hide her curves. Her hair was pinned up, and he had already started fantasising about loosening it and running his hands through it. He wished he’d paid attention when Asshole had said her name. Or had he said her name? Logan had no idea.

He heard her starting to speak, a melodic voice... he had to know her name! Logan tutted and picked up the meeting agenda, riffling back and forth through the pages to get to the correct one, but wasn’t even sure what page he should be on. Suddenly the folder tumbled from his hands and clattered onto the floor. The talking stopped and he became aware of everyone’s eyes on him, including hers. In fact, she was kind of glaring at him.

He gave an apologetic wave to the room in general as he retrieved the folder from the floor. She began speaking again, and he resumed his page-riffling. Finally he found the current one, and there was her name in black and white. A melodic name to match her voice, he thought.

He started paying attention to what she was actually saying.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d just started your part of the presentation when some asshole dropped his agenda folder, the sharp noise bringing you to a screeching halt. When you saw a hand waving around in the air, your eye followed the arm down to its owner and noted that he was in fact a very good-looking asshole. But he was still an asshole.

You cleared your throat, trying to collect your thoughts and then launched back into your presentation. The asshole was now staring at you relentlessly; every single time your eyes swept the room, his dark eyes were on you. Like... always on you. Not like the others, who were at least glancing down at the handouts occasionally.

The section you were presenting drew to a close, and you now took an empty seat at the table. It was diagonally opposite the handsome asshole. Who was still staring at you.

Now that you were much closer, you could see that his eyes were a dark chocolate brown, with a wicked gleam in them. They matched his shining dark hair, which was immaculately swept back from his forehead. You boldly met his stare for a while, before breaking eye contact to listen to your colleague Craig deliver the final part.

At the end of the presentation there were a few questions which were duly answered, and then everyone was gathering up their paperwork and milling around prior to leaving the conference room. As you tucked your folders away in your document bag, in your peripheral vision you became aware of a pair of long legs making their way to you. You knew who it was bound to be so you didn’t bother looking up. A throat cleared next to you but you continued packing away your items, and then you heard your first name being spoken in a low, husky voice. This time you did look up - it would be rude not to - and yup, it was Handsome Asshole. A hand was proffered to you and by reflex you took it, your hand being crushed in a strong grip. “Logan Delos,” said that suave voice, “...it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” you scoffed, “...how original!” while thinking, oh... so this is the infamous Logan Delos, whose name you’d heard all the time in connection with the projects but never actually met before. He had a reputation of being a bit of a diva. You heard him give a deep chuckle. “Yeah, that’s me - an original. Unique, in fact I’d say.” “Well, you’re super confident, that’s for sure!” You picked up your document bag and headed for the door, saying “Nice to meet you, Mr Delos,” as you started to leave. His tall frame scooted round in front of you before you could reach it, “Oh, not so fast.... I can’t let you leave before you agree to have dinner with me.” You tried to sidestep him but he blocked your way, and then a little ‘step to the right, step to the left’ dance ensued. Finally, exasperated, you stood still and put your hands on your hips. “Mister Delos! Will you please let me past!” He copied your stance, “Not until you say you’ll have dinner with me. Or lunch. Or.... breakfast, if you prefer?!” wiggling his eyebrows at you. You huffed, “I don’t date business partners!” He still stood in front of you, seemingly immovable, “We’re not business partners - technically speaking. Boring Asshole is my business partner, not you.” Your mouth dropped open but before you could stop it, laughter bubbled out.

You hastily silenced it, saying, “I admit, Craig may not be the most inspiring public speaker, but he really knows his stuff,” trying to cover your somewhat indiscreet reaction and save your colleague’s honour at the same time. “But that’s beside the point, Mr Delos, because we are business partners despite what you’re trying to say.” Logan had moved slightly aside while you were speaking and you took this opportunity to brush past him, calling out, “Goodbye, Mr Delos,” with the emphasis on the goodbye as you went.

If you’d bothered to look back, you would’ve seen Logan Delos watching you go, a very determined expression on his face.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Juliet looked up from her laptop as Logan breezed into her lounge, tossing his car keys onto the coffee table and throwing himself onto the sofa, long legs spreading out in front of him as he did so.

“Good meeting?” she asked, seeing that his head had gone back onto the cushions and he was staring up at the ceiling. He hummed, “Good and bad. The presentation was the single most boring thing I’ve ever heard in my life, but on the other hand one of their staffers.... wow! It was like an angel came down from heaven and found her way into that conference room.” She sighed, “Logan... by all that’s holy... do not try to screw one of our business partners for god’s sake! Dad will go ballistic if you mess up our working relationship with them.” Logan looked offended, “Who says I’d mess it up?” Jules gave a big sigh and shrugged, “Me, for one. Dear brother, I love you with all my heart but you’re fucking awful at relationships. You’d just fuck her and drop her like a hot potato. Who is it that caught your roving eye this time anyway?” Logan said her name in a dreamy tone and Jules rolled her eyes heavenwards, “Oh, no, no, no!... no way, Logan. I know her, she’s a lovely person and also does a fantastic job - she’s one of their top software engineers, specialising in middleware.”

Logan smirked, “She can engineer my middleware anytime she likes.” “Oh, shut up and get your mind out of your pants, Logan. Stay away, okay?!!” He huffed, “Hey! You can’t tell me who to pursue or otherwise, Jules!” “But that’s it, right there - you’ll chase her, catch her, bang her and drop her! I really like her as well as respecting her work, so you better just be damn careful!”

Logan sighed. He loved his sister but god, she was a king-size pain in the ass sometimes.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

A week or so later, and you’d almost forgotten about that handsome asshole at the presentation. You couldn’t deny that he’d popped in and out of your thoughts since, but you’d googled him the day after you’d met him and had also made some discreet enquiries amongst those colleagues who’d worked with him before on projects. What you’d discovered had not endeared him to you.

He was a world-class player, that was obvious - and not fussy about which gender he played around with either. Not that that put you off, it was just the sheer volume of men and women he was pictured out on the town with. And alcohol and substance abuse had been there in the mix too, with some stays in rehab mentioned although the last one had been over a year ago. So no... you’d decided you wouldn’t be entertaining any further thoughts of the undeniably attractive Mr Delos.

You turned your thoughts back to the current middleware solution you were constructing, in fact it was for Delos Corporation, involving various scenarios for their Westworld hosts. You were immersed in code and structure when your phone rang, and you saw your boss’s extension number on the caller ID. Hmmm... what could she want? She usually gave you free reign when you working on a project, catching up with you every couple of days at team meetings. Answering it, you heard her assertive voice asking you to pop along to her office and so you set off on the short walk there. You knocked on her door and heard her say ‘come in’, so in you sailed and then came to an abrupt halt. Logan Delos was sitting opposite your boss; he was half-turned towards you with a somewhat triumphant smirk on his face. Your boss indicated the chair next to Logan and you quickly sat down, wondering what this was about and why Logan looked so smug.

Your boss launched into a mini-summary of what you were currently working on, and all you could do was nod. Eventually she finished up with, “So all your current projects are for Delos.” It was a statement not a question, so you just nodded. “Mr Delos here...” she levelled a hand towards Logan, “....has come up with a suggestion, and I happen to think it’s a good one.” She smiled at Logan, before looking back at you and continuing, “He thought it would be beneficial to have the person working on most of his projects - that’s you, just to clarify - to be based at Delos Destinations for the next three months, to facilitate progress.” You knew you were looking completely dumbfounded as she hurried on, “Obviously I’d like your input on this, but I’m sure you can see that it’d be very helpful for you to be on-site with our partners while you’re working through the projects?” Meanwhile you were desperately trying to come up with reasons to remain in your own office, but truthfully you couldn’t. It would be helpful to have instant access to their engineers when you needed an answer on something, you couldn’t deny that. Reluctantly you nodded, “Yes...I can appreciate that. But couldn’t we just have me spend maybe one or two days a week over there rather than be actually based in their offices?”

Logan spoke for the first time, his expression business-like now, “That wouldn’t really fulfill the brief though, would it? Because we’d be back to having a slight delay in receiving and giving responses for the time you weren’t at our offices. And I’d ... we’d... make you very welcome. There’s an office waiting for you... right next to mine.” He couldn’t stop that smirk reappearing as he finished speaking. You forced a smile, “Well, I can’t really refuse an offer like that, can I Mr Delos?” You looked back to your boss, “I guess that’s agreed then. When does this take effect?” Your boss beamed at you, “Excellent! I don’t see any reason for it not to commence immediately, do you? How about as of tomorrow?”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Logan walked onto his office the next morning, whistling a happy little tune. He’d had a small glass of wine the night before at Juliet’s place when he’d dropped in on his way home, knowing he had to break the news to her that evening about the cunning plan he’d come up with. He was happy for two reasons; firstly, visiting Jules and his niece Emily and not having to see William’s stupid damn face any longer would never get old, and secondly, his little scheme to get closer to that gorgeous woman was coming together. As Jules worked partly from home and partly at the office, he had to let her know that a new face would be around for at least the next three months. It would give him a much better chance to persuade her to go out with him - she wouldn’t really be able to escape him given that she’d be right next door to him every day. Predictably, Juliet had issued a stern warning about what would happen to certain parts of his anatomy should he overstep, but had reluctantly accepted that it was a fait accompli. (Privately, she was looking forward to working more closely with her and also warning her about the usual antics of her beloved brother, that’s if she wasn’t already well aware of them).

He’d been racking his brains for ideas on how best to pursue her ever since she’d turned him down flat at that conference. Logan wasn’t used to being turned down. He’d had a brainwave a couple of days later and had checked into who was handling the Delos projects at her company - after all, surely she wouldn’t be at the conference in the first place if she wasn’t involved somehow? He’d been overjoyed to find out that she was handling just about all of the current open projects (so why on earth had they allowed Boring Asshole to give the majority of the presentation?! he’d thought incredulously) and had then begun to put together a plan to somehow get her into his close orbit. He was really quite proud of what he’d come up with.

His secretary knocked on his doorframe and announced that his visitor had arrived. A big smile appeared on Logan’s face.

Here I go! he thought, the thrill of the chase coursing through his veins.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The secretary smiled at you over her shoulder as she leaned against Logan’s office doorframe, “Please, go right in,” before stepping aside so you could enter.

The man himself was lounging back in his fancy office chair, which to you looked more like the type of padded seat you’d get on a private jet, waving you into the office before getting up and striding over to you. He held out his hand which you took but instead of shaking it as you expected, he pulled you towards him and kissed your cheek very softly. A waft of delicious and no doubt expensive cologne reached your nostrils before he stepped back, “Welcome on board!” he said, “...I’m so glad you’re joining us here at Delos Destinations.” You smiled, “Thank you, Mr Delos.” “Logan!” he said immediately, waving his hand and saying your first name. “Logan,” you said dutifully, “yes, thank you for the welcome ....of course I do still work for my own company.” He smiled at you, still holding onto your hand and beginning to lead you to the door, “Well, for now you do. I’ve a mind to steal you away for myself, you know. Or, sorry... for Delos Destinations, I should of course say.”

OK... seems like he’s still interested, even if that wouldn’t last longer than a heartbeat once you’d gone out (and especially if you slept) with him. You knew this secondment was going to be trouble, you thought. Three whole months of trying to resist Mr Player of the Decade. But you were convinced that you could do it.

As he lead you from his office to what was going to be yours, you were suddenly very aware of his tall figure beside you, your hand in his (he still hadn’t let go of it) and a hint of that beautiful cologne of his again. He looked across at you, dark eyes gazing into yours and gave you a mischievous grin. Annoyingly, your stomach did a little flip.

Yeah, really convinced.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

(Not my GIF - credit to owner)

[imhereforbvcky]

Watch Me Run - Part 17

Masterlist  -  Series Masterpage  -  Part 18

Summary: You inherit a family relic that gives you the gift of foresight but there are others who are interested for more nefarious reasons. You turn to the Avengers for help. (Bucky x reader)

Chapter: You finally make contact with the Avengers again but everything is not as it seems. Or rather everyone.

Word Count: 1928

A/N: the next 2 chapters are more “Move the damn plot, Mee!” than “yes, brain! Deliver some flowing, symbolic prose!” I’m not thrilled about it either, but here we are.

The village was small. Hearty in the way towns are that have crawled out of the wilderness, just barely keeping the wild at bay. It was rugged and worn, and if you’d been there by yourself, you’d have passed right through without marking it.

Bucky pulled the creaking truck beside one of the larger single-story buildings. You’d have guessed the shutters hadn’t been painted since they were installed sometime in the late 1960s. The windows were probably last cleaned around the same time. The concrete wouldn’t need painting. No, eventually it would crumble into the dust whence it came.

For now, the entire side of the building had taken on a soft brown patina; decades of road dust streaked grey with the steady drip of melting snow and ice. Most couldn’t have picked it out of a line-up from the other buildings. Nothing distinguished this one as a government building except the sign in the filthy window of the door advertising its hours of operation. You doubted very much if their adherence was strictly enforced.

“Only library with wifi for the next hundred miles,” Bucky had told you as he gassed up the truck for the drive. You’d yawned and handed him a coffee in a white styrofoam cup. The liquid was black and cloudy as the sky overhead. Even the 3 creams you’d dumped into yours had done little to brighten the stale, hefty brew.

The library door groaned when Bucky drew it open for you. Not the gentle squeak of a place welcoming a new guest. No, this was the deep angry howl of a door stubborn and calloused in its disuse. The woman scowling at you from behind the counter stood as the physical embodiment of the very sound. Grey wisps of hair tumbled out of a hastily tied knot, a worn and grease-stained flannel hung on heavy shoulders over top of a fading wool knit. The collar had begun to fray long ago, as had this woman’s patience.

“Hi.” You offered as pleasant a smile as you could find, a customer service smile, though you were the customer.

The frown didn’t budge one millimeter. Her eyes though, turned to Bucky when he stomped heavy boots on the rug at the door. Muddy slush from the day-old snow dropped off his boots in clumps.

“Please wipe your boots outside,” she scolded.

“The snow’s right up to the door—“

Her head snapped and her eyes burned with the sort of anger only a stern teacher could conjure.

“Yes ma’am,” Bucky nodded before cracking the door just enough to knock his boots on the brick wall.

“Do you need somethin’?” she asked you. Not, ‘Can I help you?’ Not, ‘Are you looking for something in particular?’ Not even a, ‘Are you lost?’ This was a terse, ‘Honey, I know you’re lost and I know trouble. I want nothin’ to do with either.’

“Yes,” you jumped forward, matching her eagerness to rush you out. “I’m um… I’m not from here and—“

“Well I can see that.”

Bucky stepped in then, a scowl as deep as her own. He turned it down on you though. If you could kick yourself, you would. One of his rules of being on the run – don’t give away unnecessary information. Not who you are, where you’re going, who’s coming for you, not even what you need. Be nondescript. This was a difficult rule to follow when you were a nervous talker, when your sympathy scale was off the charts and the best way you knew to communicate was to connect in a personal way.

“We need to use your computer,” Bucky said simply. “You have internet here?”

She pointed to a back corner of the building. “Yeah. We even have indoor plumbing,” she grumbled.

“Well, she hates us,” you fidgeted, leaning close to whisper at Bucky’s shoulder as he led the way toward the computers. “You remember people you hate. She’s going to report us or something.”

Bucky chuckled as he looked back at you. “To who?”

“I don’t know… a Mountie? Loki could be anywhere right? Anyone?”

“Loki is from another planet. He’s not Interpol. There’s no hotline running for us. Far as she knows we’re a couple on a fishing trip.”

“Really? You don’t think she’ll remember us?”

He shrugged, pulling a chair over beside the one he took in front of the computer. “She wouldn’t have remembered some idiot who forgot to wipe his boots. Probably gonna remember ‘I’m not from here, please like me,’” he teased, donning a high squeak of a voice.

You smacked his arm with the back of your hand. “That’s not what I sound like.” A glance over your shoulder at the woman unfurling a cough drop at the desk. “She just looks so unhappy. How many  people smile at her in a day, you think?”

“Not enough,” Bucky agreed. Grim places made for grim people. Harsh living and meager needs made even the softest people harden at the edges. Necessity, he called it. Survival.

“See. I might be the weirdo that cowered at the library door, but she’ll have a story to tell her partner when she gets home. Bet she’ll laugh about it.”

Bucky chuckled, sparing a glance over to you as he booted up the software. The computer was ancient and it made a dissatisfied grinding noise at the request.

“You laughed at least,” she nudged his shoulder with her own.

“That wasn’t a laugh,” he argued, failing to stifle a grin. “That was a… a snort at best.”

“Oh come on. There was at least a chortle.”

“A what?”

“A chortle! Look it up, we’re in a library. Ma’am!” you hollered, turning over your shoulder and waving.

“Knock it off!” Bucky laughed, reaching for your arm and pinning it to your side.

“Ma’am, could you point my friend here toward the dictionaries, he needs to look up a word—Umpfh!”

He’d clapped a hand over your mouth, the other still firmly wrapped around your arm, enveloping you thoroughly.

“No, we’re fine with the computer. Internet, so helpful,” he hollered, over your muffled chuckle.

The soft tickle of breath on his hand, the gentle shake of your laughing shoulders set off that warm, brightness in his chest. He was smiling down at you as he let go.

“Well I definitely got a smile, at least,” you nudged when he did lift his hand away. “You don’t smile enough either.”

“I smile.” His brow crinkled, like he wanted to scowl, but then… he would be proving your point. So he kept a half a smirk on his lips.

“Well, yeah, everybody smiles sometimes. But you rarely,  and you never laugh—“

“I do too. I laughed yesterday when you fell on the stairs.”

“That was rude. You didn’t warn me they ice up like that.”

“It was funny,” he shrugged. “You looked like a cartoon. You should’ve seen your face.”

“You should see your face, Sir Scowls-A-Lot.”

“Scowl?” His eyes went wide and the smile threatened to erupt into an astonished laugh.

“Yes. You have the worst case of RBF I’ve ever seen.”

“What the hell is RBF…?” he wondered. But by now you were talking over each other, arguing and laughing all at once.

“People say, ‘If looks could kill…’ but, really. When you’re grumpy it’s like… if looks could kill, gimme Captain America’s shield because, nothing could stop those silver bullets.”

“It’s not that bad,” he rolled his eyes, typing away on the keyboard.

“It is. I mean, it’s fine, it’s a good looking face, so it works. But it’s a definite scowl.”

“A good looking face?” His entire visage lit into a grin now. His grey eyes were sharp and glittering like the cat that got the canary.

You were suddenly, glaringly aware that you’d been carrying on about all the little looks you’d noticed about your indefinite bodyguard all while you were still pressed tight against him from shoulder to hip. Heat flooded your cheeks and nose and throat at a record pace as you scrambled for a proverbial ripcord.

“Oh, you know you’re handsome.” When had denial ever worked for anyone? Misdirection, was clearly the way out. “Don’t act like I’m the first person to tell you that.”

He was still as marble for a long moment while you picked at your nails. The grin had dimmed a little, no longer a beaming mischievous thing, it had settled to a gentle warmth. He was Bucky again, the one who carefully assuaged your fears, who listened, who made eggs when hot pockets wouldn’t do.

“No,” he agreed finally and you looked up at the sweet softness of his tone. “First time in a long time it’s mattered to me, though. For some damn reason… I care what you think.”

“Hello?? Is this thing even working??” Tony’s voice thrummed angrily through the computer’s speakers. “Barnes, can you hear me?”

Bucky took a sharp breath, deep into his lungs, breathing in the last of the stillness between you and taking it with him when he turned to the monitor. “Yeah,” he said and then he was talking to Tony. Something about a Doctor and the big bang and some powerful stones. But you couldn’t take your eyes off of Bucky.

Tony was irritable. Fuming, actually. The “doot-doot blub-blub-ting doot-doot” of the videocall ringtone repeated again, fueling the inferno. Waiting on technology was not something he was accustomed to. Waiting for inelegant, vulnerable technology that was too old to exist to project an image of the inside of his offices out into the world, well that would have been an a resolute No before today. But his teammates are nothing if not stubborn. Barnes most of all.

“Finally!” he sighed, leaning forward and peering at the image. “Why is it so grainy. I can’t… That’s a terrible picture.”

“It’s good enough,” Dr. Strange deadpanned beside him.

“No that can’t be it. Connection’s bad or something. They can’t even hear us talking!” He began waving haphazardly at the screen, hoping to catch the eye of the soldier or the stone-keeper.

That’s when he noticed what was actually on the screen. Bucky’s arm around you, tightly. A laugh. The goddamn Winter Soldier, your guardian for this mission, looking down at you as though he…

“Holy shit,” Tony mumbled, leaning closer. “Are you seeing this?”

“Yeah, you have to allow the app to access your microphone,” Strange rolled his eyes, entirely missing the point.

“Hey, Rogers?” Tony called just as Steve strode into the room, slightly out of breath. “I think your bestie has compromised the mission.”

His eyes were glued to the screen as Steve leaned his shoulder with a hand on the desk to get a closer look.

“Indeed,” he hummed through a grin as he watched the screen.

“What?” Tony frowned up at him.

Steve shook his head minutely. “Bucky’s fine. He’s only ever failed one mission. And I’m not this mission.”

Tony’s frown never lifted as his eyes darted over Steve. Doubt clouded them for but a moment. He hammered a quick line of code into the digital projection of a keyboard and swiped the screen away.

“Hello?? Is this thing even working??” Tony asked after patching the room’s audio systems through to the rudimentary video conferencing software. “Barnes, can you hear me?”

Not a second later, Steve – or rather Loki projecting himself as Steve – noticed a slight shift in the cameras in the room. One after another, they made slow sweeping turns until he stood squarely within each and every frame.

Part 18 >>

[the-headbop-wraith]

3 _ 43 _ Rekindling

  As ever when all was well and right the garage was a cacophony of sounds, from hydraulics humming off the rotary lifts and power drills, to the squeal of impact wrenches. Each car port had one vehicle tended to, with a technician toiling away with the task of repairing or renovating an assigned vehicle. Outside, the carport had more automobiles parked up with numbers slipped onto dashboards.

 On the work floor, Uncle Lance was lending an extra pair of arms to the diagnostic work of a utility van, a lot more teched out than his usual forte of labor. However, a tech savvy guy was left to the task of breezing through the more specialized work of the Bluetooth incorporated hardware. This was not the issue it was brought in for, but double-checking the software was procedural. The undercarriage of the vehicle needed a total overhaul and realignment, a time-consuming task.

  Familiar barking rang through the garage.

“Gimmie a moment,” he grunted, to the operator in the passenger seat. He moved back from the open driver side of the van and cast his view across the open floor of the garage. There he was, a black and white streak trotting around supply carts, head held high like he carried an important purpose. In tow was Vivi, momentarily preoccupied by the phone in her hand, and some sort of satchel was draped over her shoulder.

 “A bit early, are yu?” he posed. Lance took the end of the rag pinned to his pro-wrestler belt and rubbed some of the grim off his fingers.

 “Work rooms locked,” Vivi replied. “Is he in today?”

 “Course.” Lance nodded toward the direction of his office. “Shouldn’t be too long, ‘e’s meetin’ with a ‘‘client’’.” He did air quotes.

 “Ooh,” Vivi groaned. They moved off the work field and relocated to the wall, beside where empty boxes from parts were stacked. “How do they keep finding him?”

 Uncle Lance shrugged. “People post them pics to ‘em nosey sites, and they git the info where’n he works. Ye’know, that societal medium thing.”

 “Social media?”

 Mystery yipped, frowning behind his spectacles. This was very tiresome, tedious, and tumdum.

 “Whatever ya call it. Nuisance, they are – dragging him off work.” Lance grumbled under his breath some phrase, which might’ve been a curse or a Curse. “Think they’re them first to come by, offerin’ this biggest, best deal. Arthur could git ah’lot done with them gadgets, but I understand his privacy is important.”

 Vivi set the satchel down on one of the boxes, and looked the way to the doors to Uncle Lance’s office. “It’s not so much the anonymity he wants, but the builds and designs… they’re not, how do I say? General public applicable.”

 “Applicable-micable,” Lance mumbled.

 “Even the housing for the collar to shoulder hookup is specialized.” Vivi leaned over and rubbed Mystery’s head. “Eventually, he might try for a patent, but the models… even the college is thirsting over the incorporation. Anyway, it’s his business.”

 Lance took a deep breath and sighed. “Yer right. Pisses me off still, need tu get a sign out there. Pisses me off, ‘ee’s too nice.”

 Vivi leaned up rummaged through the satchel, revealing bags with containers. She selected a small box and handed it over. “You seem more, um… gruff than usual. Everything okay?”

 Lance popped the lid and examined the small treat within. “We’re backlogged fer parts, work is comin’ through, and I got fancy suits in mah office tryin’ be clever. An’ I gotta get through the client list, before thay start callin’ me.” When Arthur strolled over, he raised up the little food box. An unspoken gesture fortifying break.

 “I can work some over time,” Arthur began. His arm was not attached. “An hour or something, just to get some of these vehicles prepped for the morning shift.” Lance whipped around to face him fully and squared up his shoulders.

 “Arthur. When five o’clock rolls around, the doors close and the shift winds down.” He waved the food box like a school teacher threatening their student with the ruler, and probably a firm algebra lesson. “No one, and no one ever built a better car while exhausted.”

 Arthur rolled his eyes, “But—”

 “I dun car with how enthused yu are, there’s a chasm in the ground to distinguish between work and recharge time. Your brains a battery, and batteries need recharge – or they get replaced. Aw’right?” Lance jabbed at Arthur’s chest, getting the point across the way Lance did when he was cross. “Down time is still werk, yu werk hard restin’. It’s important.”

 Arthur droned out, “Yus, Uncle Lance.”

 Vivi swooped in and threw an arm around Arthur’s shoulders. “And that’s why we’re gatherin’ at my place. Nothing but ‘no doing’ going on there. No cars, or parts, or pieces to tinker with.” Arthur nearly tumbled but Vivi kept him upright. “Complete bores-ville.”

 A thin smile tugged at Arthur’s cheeks. “Whatever you say.”

 Lance nodded, as if he won an argument – which he probably did. “Yu see to that.” He was about to move away, but leaned back toward the two. “Ah, and no work on the van, either.” Then, he took his leave.

 Arthur stuttered and quivered as his Uncle left. “But… the tools need to be reconditioned, or they might turn against it!” Vivi pulled him by the collar, hauling him off. On the way, she grabbed the satchel off the boxes.

 “You can still look at it. They did a fine job, you’ll never know it was crushed once they get the paint redone—”

 A distant roar bellowed out from the owner’s office, “WHAT?!”

 “Exaggeration!” Vivi hooted back. “C’mon Art, nourishment awaits!”

 Arthur hadn’t gotten his feet squared off or organized, he skipped on his heel as she dragged him across the work room. “Whoa, hold up! Vi! Mercy! Mercy!”

 The Mystery Skulls van sat at the back of Kingsman Mechanics, the location used primarily by delivery and staff parking. In the lead paced Mystery, with Vivi and the screaming Arthur trailing. Once Arthur spied the vehicle with its refurbished side, he magically regained his balance and began leading Vivi by her sweater. He had stars in his eyes, for once.

 “Oh wow, you can hardly tell it was crushed.” Arthur’s phone chimed, and when he stopped dragging the blue girl to fish the device from his vest pocket to check the screen. The message read:

 “WHAT?!??!?!?!?!?!?”

 Arthur coughed and texted back.

 Beside the van, Vivi raised the hand holding the packages. “I dunno, it might be more seamless when we get the new paint done.” She posed beside the side, arms flung high. “I can’t wait to see the design.”

 Arthur cringed down, with a grin. He slipped the phone back into its pocket. “Yeah, can’t wait to show off the new colors. Hmm.” He looked aside.

 Off and away from the two, Mystery was sniffing around the parking lot. Once he gave the clear, he barked and rejoined his colleagues.

 “And look, we got windows in the back now.” Vivi escorted Arthur to the aforementioned updates, showing the windows. “Surprise!”

 Arthur gaped. “Oh, awesome. Now we can witness the angry mob chasing us out of town.”

 Vivi waved a finger. “Don’t forget, the creepy monsters we can’t deal with. Won’t that be fun?”

 “Ooh-dles.” The back doors swept open, and Arthur retreated back five steps.

 Lewis leaned out. “You guys are really loud.”

 Arthur shuffled over to the doors and examined the fitted panel. “One way?”

 “And reinforced,” Vivi chimed. She handed off the satchel to Lewis. “Is it okay?”

 Arthur shrugged. “I’m not opposed to it. Hey Lew.”

 “Sup.”

 Inside the van and along both walls laid long, flat boxes. The label read industrial shelving, and one was already opened. Metal bars and packing sheets littered the floor. On the end of one box, Lewis set out the food cartons from the package.

 “I’m gunna miss the cuvees,” Arthur mentioned. Vivi was busy wiping his hand off with a rag and some ninety-nine, even though he didn’t work on the floor since his meeting.

 “Yeah,” she hummed. “But we lost inventory, and stuff would get crammed in the back and forgotten. We never cleaned them.”

 He toed one of the boxes with his sneaker. “I’ll modify these, so nothing goes flying off while you’re driving.” Lewis had relocated to the front seat and snorted, a little flame curled off his shoulder. “Someone did bring in catering today. You didn’t have to come abduct me.”

 Vivi was already digging in, eating some chicken with sauce. “I wanted to show off the van. And we had to dump it off anyway, so you can load up supplies.” She pulled over the portable ice chest and popped the lid. “You gunna be able to do that on your own?”

 There was no sound, but Arthur did catch the faint movement of Lewis as he glanced over the bench seat. “Yeah, I’ll be good. I didn’t feel like wearing it today.” He leaned over and snagged a drink from the cooler, the ice was melting and the canister damp. “I was replacing a servo and Gally, bless his hamster instincts, decided to gnaw through the circuit board.”

 Vivi nearly choked. “He what?! Is he okay?” Mystery had curled up beside her, and raised his head, horrified. “He’s usually such a good helper.”

 “Yeah. I must’ve fucked up the current or something. He hates that.”

 Mystery rested his chin back onto his paws. Yeah, that sucks. Arthur made that mistake once before, and it turned Galahad into a round fluff.

 While they ate, Vivi pulled out a notepad and wrote out what equipment they could use tonight. Their meetup wasn’t directly off the work lane, there would be movies and not much else going on but ignoring the movies – or complaining how unrealistic the movies were. For the most part, she wanted to discuss more work centered stuff, and perhaps do something about the cluttered closet that held predominately junk stuff. She insisted on using the words ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ without remorse.

 There was likewise a separate list for movies they could stream or buy, or pirate.

 “You can put more down,” Arthur mentioned, as he tried to work through the veggies someone insisted he have. “Uncle’ll help me. He’ll be working late tonight.”

 “Lemme get this straight,” Lewis spoke, “he won’t let you work overtime, but he will.”

 “It’s his business. He can do whatever he wants,” Arthur retorted. “And people had better not start seeing your spooky shadow ‘round. We get enough problems with jackasses showing up trying to get copycrap over my spec designs, I don’t want Spectral Seekers showin’ up, harassing Uncle Lance for a crummy show.”

 Lewis leaned back over the bench seat. “I was bored, okay?”

 “Bored?!” Arthur spat. “Was that today, or when—”

 Mystery barked.

 “Art! It’ll be fine,” Vivi proclaimed. “That was one time, we figured it out. After this, we’re goin’ straight back to my place to set up. Cool?”

 Arthur made a face and deflated. He poked at his food and sipped his drink, but just a bit. He avoided raising his eyes or checking the front of the van. “Hmm. Yeah. We’ll just… the guys need to stay focused.”

 Lewis hunched down in his seat. “I wasn’t tryin’ to be a ‘presence’, it’s hard being all cooped up.”

 Arthur fixed his legs, readjusting them along with his hunched posture. “Sure. I get that.”

 Once everyone got settled, or stewing, Vivi relaxed and resumed poking at a salad. That wasn’t too bad, but she wondered if it was always like this, or when this all started. They were talking again, the progress was slow but any amount she appreciated. Then again, maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe it was… her.

 Before the break could be called a success, Vivi helped Arthur bring down one of the boxes packed with equipment and stowed it in the van. The spare bike was stashed in the van, and Lewis helped Vivi pull her eco-friendly, short distance transport out before he evaporated in a plume of flames. Likely, to attach himself to the flashlight stored in the side pocket of her backpack. She clicked on the light to confirm for Arthur, Lewis wasn’t hanging around.

 “Let me know if you’re running late or anything comes up,” she stated, while Arthur double checked that the van was secure and latched tight.

 “I’ll remember,” Arthur replied. They said farewells, and he returned to the garage of Kingsman Mechanics, with Mystery by his side.

 The remainder of Arthur’s shift whirred by in a steady momentum, cranking out the vehicles on his roaster. It was a little before closing when he scrawled out the end time of his last assignment, on the task chalkboard on the work floor wall. He might actually make it to Vivi’s before she began with the texting. It’d be fun to wait outside and just hang out, until the first one chimed off.

 Following one brief shower, Arthur got busy in his work room packing some fresh clothing for the next day. A separate bag sat reserved for parts, if he got around to the easier aspects to his arm and trying out the new cooling system – it was rather clunky and added weight – though, keeping the circuits at a controlled temperature kept rotors from overheating. A vent would be a nice benefit, but he needed a sealed compartment; a difficult feat in a multisegmented apparatus.

 While Arthur went around the work room browsing for items he needed, Mystery was satisfied with dozing on the couch. It was only when Arthur hauled out the travel cage for Galahad, that spurred interest from Mystery. Arthur went to the hamster terrarium and located his caramel colored companion in his nest.

 “Well get this stuff downstairs and get that flatcart,” Arthur explained.

 Mystery was already nosing the door to the room open. He glanced back at Arthur, ear twitching. You got that okay?

 “Lead the way.” He claimed the terrarium under his one arm and went with Mystery, to the ground floor.

 The lights around the corner blazed bright, but the sounds from the work floor approached subdued. By now it was well past five, and shutters barred out noises from the open road across from the carport. He hardly saw anyone as he went for a flat cart parked by supplies. Mystery hopped onto the panel and rode it, while Arthur guided it back to the corridor. Loading up his gear was a piece of cake, and he was making good time. He’d park the flatbed cart by the employee access and bring the van around, and leave the cart in parts for whoever needed it next.

 Only a last cluster of technicians remained in the garage, upon his departure. A few closing out some diagnostics or working with one of the trainees. Arthur exited through the back and locked the employee access. The last order of business was a quick text to Uncle, reminding him to lock the deadbolt.

 Score! No messages from Vivi, yet.

 __

 It was almost a shock for Arthur when he arrived at the door to the apartment, and it opened to reveal Vivi. He shouldn’t really be surprised, why would someone not ‘living’ in her apartment answer the door. The fragrance of sugar and popcorn swept out.

 “Holy cakes, I was about to start texting,” she cheered. “Did Uncle Lance kick you out?”

 “Naw,” Arthur grinned. Mystery nudged the back of his legs. “Did you need any help setting up?” He and Vivi had to give space for Mystery, the dog shoved his way on through and went straight for the kitchen. “More important, do you ever feed him?”

 Vivi sighed. She was already gathering up Arthur’s bags. “He had a whole chicken today.”

 Arthur grabbed the terrarium and stood, the cage nestled under his arm. The Plexiglas box wasn’t heavy nor cumbersome, even so, he lingered at the threshold watching as Vivi retreated within. He glanced away and toed at the edge of the door jam. When he raised his gaze, Vivi was still there and quiet, a patient smile tugging the edge of her lips. She nodded toward the living room.

 His feet shuffled across the entry. Noises came from within, the sort you’d expect to curl forth from a kitchen. “A whole chicken? Wow. Isn’t that something.” The sounds didn’t pause or hush a bit, as he scooted through the corridor.

 Finally, he poked his head into the kitchen. “Are you doing spicey stuff?”

 As expected, Lewis was at the stove with a pot and spatula looking guilty. “No?”

 “I’m gunna start sneezing.”

 Lewis shrugged. “It’ll clear up your allergies.”

 “I don’t have allergies.”

 Vivi relocated to the living area to deposit Arthur’s gear, and swung back. She was dressed casually, not her typical skirt or sweater, but her clothing was certainly on the poofy side, and clearly comfy. “Are you gonna start arguing again?”

 Woof?

 “We’re not arguing,” Lewis defended, swinging the spatula.

 “This is a conversation,” Arthur affirmed. He went ahead and followed Vivi. He set Galahad’s terrarium under the end table in the corner of the room and popped the lid.

 “Whatever you call it, I’m not refereeing.”

 Lewis cackled. “Purge initiated.”

 Off center of Vivi’s living area, the other end table was situated with a television on top, with wires hooked from it to the laptop sitting on the floor. In the corridor to the bedroom, the closet door was open and some of the boxes within left on the floor. The door was pulled back fully, permitting Arthur to view some of the items left out of containment, wedged on the shelves within. He shuddered.

 A cacophony of popping erupted from within the kitchen, and Lewis swished around the large pot upon the burner. “Wanna get a movie going, and we can start looking through the stuff?” he proposed. “I did some homemade candy.”

 “Mmm!” Vivi hummed. “These gummies are really ugly, but they’re tasty.”

 “That’s what happens when you don’t use molds.” Lewis brought up a plate with wax paper, and little colorful globs topped. They were ugly as heck, Arthur noted. In a large bowl, Lewis poured out a whole kettle of corn from the pot he was using. The fluffy kernels were still glistening with melted sugar, steam shimmered across the lumpy peak.

 Likewise on the counter, there sat two fire extinguishers. Arthur supposed they could pack one or both in the van. He wondered if she bought both, or if one came with the apartment.

 “Arthur.” He shook his head and looked to Vivi. “Can you get a movie going? I gotta boot up my laptop.”

 The couch was already dressed with blankets and extra pillows. It kind of reminded him of the old times, like nothing changed. He took his seat beside the chair arm, near where he put Galahad’s travel cage. He took the ball of fluff from his little nest and set him up on the back of the couch. Mystery thundered onto the couch and gave the hamster a close look over.

 Opening credits ended for the introduction, and the movie began. Vivi planted herself beside Mystery, and Lewis was last to join with the bowl of popcorn and plate of gooies. Vivi took a handful of popcorn and started eating, along with one of those gooey treats from the plate now set on the back of the couch. Galahad was wheeling his way over, but Mystery lay his head in the way.

 “I was thinking,” she said, and swallowed. Lewis left the popcorn in her care and revisited the kitchen. “We’ll be off on another assignment, and doing whatever cases we want on the way. But we have all this stuff, and it’s kind of starting to pile up.”

 “Right,” Arthur muttered. “You could just dump it off on Duet.” He took the bowl she passed and tried the popcorn. It was good, salty and sweet. Lewis came back over and handed off some drinks to him and Vivi. “Uh, thanks.”

 “Don’t you think I tried?” Vivi licked her fingers and went to typing on the laptop. “We get duplicates and we got fake crap, some of it is legit. Yeah Lew?”

 He nodded. “Some of it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Don’t like that.”

 “I’ve been checking some blogs and people,” Vivi went on, tucking the unopened bottle beside her hip. “I have harmless crud, that’d make for good props for research. That stuff can go to whoever, but Duet doesn’t want duplicates or reproductions.”

 Arthur popped the cap to his beverage and took a sip. “I’ll leave that to you bunch then. I didn’t want much to do with it then, and not really much now.”

 “That’s cool,” Vivi assured, with a smile. “You had some heavy run-ins with some of this crap, and I don’t blame you.” She plopped the laptop onto Arthur’s lap and got off the couch.

 A timer went off, and Lewis made his way over to the kitchen. “Should be good to say farewell, though? Eh, Art?”

 “Yeah.” He reached over to the popcorn bowl and grabbed a kernel, which he delivered to the hamster sitting on Mystery’s head. “No goo junk,” he commanded. “We don’t want to give Mystery a haircut, ‘cuz of some gummy stuff.” Mystery delivered and expression of utter petrification.

 Then it hit Arthur, while Vivi was pulling out a plastic crate from within the closet. “Shit. I forgot the equipment.”

 “Que s’eso?”

 “The equipment.” Arthur took the plate of small, browned marshmallow meringues Lewis handed over. “Um, I was supposed to finalize it. Make sure I’ve got it all stabilized and tuned.” He and Lewis held a painfully long stare. “I wasn’t planning on testing that crap on you. Though, it’d certify if my handywork was thorough.”

 “No.”

 Vivi set the crate down on the floor and browsed through a few clay figures, among them bundled tissue paper and bubble wrap. “That’s fine, we’ll get to that another day.”

 Arthur sucked in some air beside his teeth. “Meh. It was my thing to do, while you guys did yours. Fuck.” He sat a moment, debating if there was something else he could do if he wasn’t preoccupied with his go to task. There was the tinkering work on his arm, but he recalled some of the tools for that was left in the boxes he meant to pack. Aside from eating, which he now was not in the mood for, he didn’t have much else to do but watch bad movies.

 “It’s not late, I can swing over and grab ‘em.”

 “Or you could just let it go, and have a weekend to relax,” Vivi indicated. She leaned on the couch beside his legs. “I wasn’t serious with getting a head start on this, so that stuff can wait. Right?”

 Lewis took the plate of gummies off the couch back, before Galahad could crawl into them. “Is this gunna be a bother for you all evening?”

 Arthur sighed. “Yeah. Threw off my groove and everything.” He pouted. “It won’t take any time at all. Zoom over and back. It’s not a lot to gather up either, I don’t wanna put it off though.”

 Vivi stood up. “Fine. I’m not like, your other boss or anything.” She tried the meringue thing. “Are these burnt?”

 “They fucking are,” Lewis rasped.

 “But they’re good anyway. I love burnt marshmallows.”

 “Not helping.” Lewis pointed down at Arthur. “I’m going with.”

 “Why?” both Arthur and Vivi exclaimed. Mystery woofed. Lewis looked from Vivi to Arthur.

 “To… help? Is there… a reason why I shouldn’t?”

 Vivi stuttered, “No – not… it’s up to Arthur.”

 All up to him. Yay. Arthur set the laptop aside and got off the couch. “Sure, fine, it’s cool. Let’s go so we can get back.” He went to the entry way, twirling intermittently through his strides to call, “Keep an eye on Gally, huh? I want him eating normal hamster things.” Lewis nearly ran into him on their way down the corridor.

 They were already headed out the door, when Vivi answered, “He’ll be good— Gally! Mystery! Not the gummies! No!”

  __

 By all appearances, the garage was vacant of life and sat with impenetrable silence, scarcely an aura of habitation. Vehicles huddled abandoned, the tools cold and still at long last following a brutal and arduous workday. Upon one soldering table stood a partially drained Styrofoam cup, a stray draft teased a greasy rag hung over the handlebar of a flat cart. Light flickered over the listless machinery, in the deepest reaches of the shop strange shadows carved burrows into deserted spaces. Aside from those minute scraps of animation, nothing stirred within Kingsman Mechanics. However, appearances are deceitful.

 The small access doorway for shipments betrayed the established stillness. The knob twisted one way slowly, then the other gradually, a faint tick-tick twittered from the key chamber. Tick-tick… tick! The dead bolt swept sideways with genuine dedication, and the latch barked loose.

 A brief reprieve followed, insisting that nothing was amiss and all was complacent, ordinary, and drab. Then, the faithful metal panel eased an inch, enough to allow a swollen lump to squeeze through. The squishy bulb observed the blanket of unremarkable matter. Off from the doorway, the blocky stacks of supplies and barren pallets, a tarp and some other obscure items, industrial shelving and other blocky shapes.

 Through the doorway extended a small cylinder, and with a click the glaring slate of light glittered through the interior room, skewering the gloom and incriminating the present occupants. Hubcaps, a flatbed cart, opened boxes and packing materials strewn on the floor. Cold metal sleeping in the dark, oblivious boxes, and not a conscious soul in sight.

 The vague shape eased through the slither of doorway and let the panel whisper shut at their back. Once within fully, they doused the light and let their eyes adjust to the swollen murk. With practiced grace they moved from delivery, and inched onto the work floor. Some dull glow did enter through the front windows of Kingsman Mechanics, illuminating the barest of outlines upon workstations and patient vehicles. They moved through the garage meticulously, pausing only to listen and grasp their environment through hearing, and their intuition. It hadn’t failed them yet.

 Parts and easily mobile machinery were everywhere, some adding up into the thousands if packed carefully into the duffle bag slung over their arm. None of it had substantial value, only a temporary check to drop in the bucket. They followed the wall, clicking on the flashlight and capping the front to stifle the blast of light. There was no rush, if they couldn’t find it tonight, there was always next week. It would mean stake out and observe for changes, but a task amended without issue or too much delay. Better safe than sorry. Maybe the gear wasn’t here at all, and this was a waste of time. They wouldn’t know until a thorough search was launched. But all night lay ahead.

[wichols]

His Goddess (Hikaru x Haruhi)

SMUT WARNING! EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING! LEMON! 18+

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1160

“Just let me hold you a little bit longer.”

“Hika I gotta get up. I’m running late as is due to your unexpected morning surprise.” She smirked.

“Oh don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it.” He snickered while squishing their cheeks together. “Besides how are we going to make a baby if you’re constantly staying up late for work?”

“If it happens, it happens. No need to force anything.” Poking his chest lightly. “This doesn’t fall just on me either sir. I’m not the one flying out every other weekend for this, that, and the other.”

“I can’t fall behind on fashion or software. Taking a break from either would set everything else back.”

“See,” she quipped. 

“Come on Haru you didn’t let me finish.” His brows furrowed slightly in annoyance. “As I was saying, I swear the second you get pregnant I am staying close to home. I’ll make Kao go by himself to the international meetings. He might miss me a little but I’m sure his boyfriend will tag along for the support portion. And I don’t own the software company yet so dad can handle the heavy lifting while I cut back on my involvement for the time being. Easy peasy.”

“Sure. Sure. Whatever you say. Now can I get up yet?”

“Just call in, tell them you’re sick or something.” 

“That would be a lie.” Her voice was growing in irritation the longer she was held hostage in her own bed.

A glint of mischief flickered across his face as his arms flung off the soft blankets and he tumbled across her slender frame. “Then tell them the truth. Something along the lines of, ‘sorry I can’t come into work my husband won’t let me leave our bedroom till we successfully conceive a child.’”

She softly chuckled as he placed tender kisses down her neck. “Now that would be considered inappropriate speech for the workplace. I would surely receive a write up for that.” Fingertips dug into his shoulders as his lips worshiped her womanly curves.

“Ootori can shove it. His wife is already pregnant.” Tongue and lips dip between the peaks and valleys of each breast while his thumbs caress restlessly over her hip bones.

“Ahhh, Hika.” Her voice fluttered out in breathy tones from her husband’s worshipful attention. “Care to tell that to his face?” The corners of her mouth upturned before a soft moan tumbled out carelessly from her lips.

Dragging his lips sensually across her stomach he breathed silent pleas and praises onto her skin. “Put him on speaker and I’ll tell him right now.” His voice was gruff with want as he looked up at her before dipping his tongue greedily into her warmth.

Her fingered laced tightly into his brown locks as her mind watched the room begin to spin around them. “Oh, I’m sure that would be-” her back arched from a wave of pleasure that coursed through her body “-ah, more inappropriate than your last suggestion.” She whined while tightening her grip on his hair. 

Calloused hands and a warm tongue work in tandem while a constant stream of superlatives and panted breaths create a symphony of heavenly sounds building from the top of the bed. Sensing her pleasure about to topple over for a second time that morning he slowed his ministrations -stopping completely- much to the dismay of his wife.

“I was-” eyes snapping open “-why did you stop?”

“Basic anatomy dictates that it is impossible to make a baby with just my hands or mouth.” He smirked triumphantly as he crawled up from between her legs. “So why not kill two birds with one stone? I have single-handedly -pun intended- managed to keep you in bed longer and get to make love to you again. Win-win in my book.”  

Her body tensed and shuttered from the warmth of his throbbing member. “God, so devious.” Slender fingers gripped hard on his forearms as his body set a steady pace. Tongues sharing sloppy kisses spurred on by the mounting pleasure swirling between them. As the haze of ecstasy clouded their vision, they toppled over the edge into oblivion with each other. A rhythm of pulsing and groaning bring them back into the present as their lungs gasp for air.

“This will never get old.” He grinned as he placed a series of kisses all over her face.

“It might get old in a couple more months considering my stomach will be a bit more round than it is right now.” Her eyes gestured between the little space between their bodies.

“What?” His face scrunched in confusion.

“Well, the doctor did say that I would probably start showing in a couple of months. I was going to tell you tonight over dinner, which is why I was trying to leave earlier. I guess now we can skip the dinner since you already know the news.” Her lips softly kissed his gaping mouth.

“You’re pregnant?” Asking again for clarity.

Pulling his face down to her she gave him a long slow kiss- just for good measure. “Congrats Hika-love. Now you better keep up your end of the bargain. I’m pregnant so you work on being around more often. My next appointment is on Wednesday, wanna come?” She asked as she stroked his cheek.

“So you are saying you knew all along? You let me ramble on about being a dad earlier when you knew full well you were already pregnant?” His eyes glossed over as tears begin to spill and trickle down his face.

“Love? Oh, Hika! I am so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner!” Her hands hurriedly reach up to begin wiping away each tear streaming down his face as her mouth repeated her apology.

A shaky voice cut through the steady cadence of her apology. “And you call me devious.” His arms scooping behind her back to deepen their embrace as his steady cadence of ‘I love yous’ fill the room. 

In one swift motion, they shifted positions, gravity pushing them closer together. “To make up for your deviousness you are definitely calling in today. You owe me unlimited cuddles and makeup shower sex for this bad behavior.” Giving her ass a hard squeeze she squealed with delight.

“Fine you win today, I’ll call.”  

Releasing her from his grip, he watched as she grabbed her phone off the nightstand. He watched her hand mindlessly caress her bearly there bump as she swayed rattling off a few instructions to her business associate. How often has she done that in the past few weeks without me noticing? His heart swelled with great anticipation to see the love of his life magnificently carry his child. 

Hearing the conversation coming to an end he padded his way over to his wife and kneeled before her pressing sweet kisses into her stomach. His adoration for her would only grow and he would continue to worship her like the goddess she was.

[spinwrites]

creatures of the sea

Danny Phantom/Percy Jackson fanfic. Summary: When Danny - freshly established in the coast of Miami as a powerful part-mer - attends a family reunion, things go wrong.

-

Danny has extended family. But today he discovers it’s big.

He’s never seen half these people in his life. There’s Aunt Alicia with Mom at the buffet table. A couple of cousins wrestling at the bow. His Dad and uncle are having a fudge eating competition somewhere. But why are there thirty people here? Where did they come from?

Maybe it’s because his parents are the ones hosting the reunion this year, and instead of city homes or suburban farms, it’s held on the Fenton Family Mer Assault Yacht. Or the FFMAY, as Tucker calls it.

But it’s not their usual FFMAY. Their usual FFMAY is a Frankenstein of inventions twisted into a vessel that functions against all odds. It’s currently sitting in storage.

FFMAY 2.0 is an upgrade – sleek and shiny and twice as big, with engines thrice as strong and grandeur that went from nah to woah.

It’s also sponsored by Vlad Masters.

“The labs are so advanced,” Maddie gasped when the Fentons first explored their gift, “and the weapons vault, there’s so much space!”

Jack was sold the minute he found the fudge machine. Jazz looked impressed, staring up at the three decks, the floor to ceiling windows, even the damn automatic door that ran on facial recognition software.

A pale blue light scanned the faces of an astonished Jazz and her sulking brother. The door slid open with a whish!  “I heard the map room has a ton of books,” she said as she stepped through. “We’re really lucky to have a billionaire as our family friend.”

“But it’s Vlad,” Danny complained. The door shut in his face.

So while Danny doesn’t doubt these people on the yacht are related to him in some distant way, he also doesn’t doubt two things: 1) They only came because it smells like rich people money, and 2) Plasmius is going to show his blobfish mug within the next couple hours. He skulks at a corner of the highest deck with his arms crossed and an impressive scowl.

The breeze tussles his hair, bringing with it the scent of salt water. The ocean glitters, calm and inviting, and Danny wants nothing more than take a dive. But he feels like he’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

When Tucker calls him on the Fenton phones to keep him company, he whines to his best friend about the woes of having an archenemy.

The techno-geek isn’t having it.

“You can’t keep worrying like this, dude, or your hair’s gonna go gray even in human form. Go talk to people, play a game on your phone, eat a muffin! Speaking of muffins, can you save me some from the buffet?”

“I don’t know. Mom was trying out her new recipe,” Danny says, sighing. He braces his elbows on the railings as he scans the sea. He feels tired. “Some of the muffins turned into a bunch of colors. I don’t even know if they’re safe to eat.”

“Really?” a new voice says.

Danny jumps, swiveling around. An older boy in a T-shirt and ragged jeans frowns at him, holding a blue, half-eaten muffin in a hand. “But this one’s really good.”

“Oh.” Danny wracks his brain for a memory of this person. It turns up blank. “It does?”

The guy smiles crookedly. He’s tall, with messy black hair and a handsome face. Looks about sixteen, though Danny can’t place his ethnicity. Despite his friendly demeanor, the teen’s stormy green eyes hold power.

Danny’s unnerved. Is he a distant cousin? Adopted child? Someone’s half-brother?

Tucker’s voice next to his ear asks what’s up.

“I’ll call you later,” Danny says in a low voice, turning off the comm link.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were talking to someone.” The older teen frowns. His gaze pins Danny in place. “Are you the Phantom?”

“Wha-” Danny catches himself. “Ha-ha, Phantom? No, not- not sure what you’re talking about. No.”

The two stare at each other. Danny stamps down the panic crawling up his throat, but the other teen raises his hands, palms out. He’s still holding the muffin. “Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t expect to see you here. I’m-”

Something slams into the yacht.

The vessel lurches, tossing the guy backwards. Danny catches himself against the railings before the yacht rocks back into position, sending a wave splashing down onto the lower decks. Screams ring the air as people topple like bowling pins against the floors. Around them, liquids slosh and plates crash.

“I knew it.” Danny searches for the attacker in the water that’s now choppy with waves. The hull of the starboard is smoking but intact. The other teen appears next to him, scanning the scene. Danny keeps a wary eye on him.

Suddenly, a column of water bursts out of the sea. It unravels and parts, like curtains on a stage, revealing a green-skinned man whose torso melts into tentacles as long as the yacht. His singular red eye flicks to the two teenagers on the yacht, narrowing when they land on Danny.

“Phantom!” he roars.

“I don’t recognize this monster,” mystery guy says.

Danny grits his teeth. “Why would you know about monsters?”

“I come in the name of Lord Plasmius!” said monster continues to shout. “Heed my challenge to a mighty duel, or this vessel and its land-dwellers will face my wrath!”

Right on cue, a dozen grappling hooks shoot out from the ocean surface like canons, descending and hooking their claws onto the railings of the first deck. Their ropes pull taut, then to Danny’s horror, the whole yacht begins to tilt. Two of the guests on the second deck lose their bearings, and with shouts they tumble over the railing, falling into the sea.

Heart in his throat, Danny recognizes one of them. “Aunt Alicia!”

The woman could handle herself, he knew, but not against whatever else was beneath the waves, on the other end of the hooks. And there was the other person who fell in. He steps up to the railings, prepared to dive in after them, when a blast nearly crashes into him. Looking high and mighty in the air and palms still glowing with power, octopus man snarls, revealing sharp teeth.

“Will the famous creature of this sea refuse me?”

“You get them,” the other teen commands suddenly, green eyes hard. “I’ll show this guy the real meaning of creature of the sea.”

“What?”

He pulls out something from his jeans pocket. Danny realizes it’s a pen and the guy pops the cap off. In a swift moment, he’s pointing a long, bronze sword at octopus man.

Danny gapes. “Who are you?”

“Percy Jackson.” He grins, then he yells at the monster, “Hey slime-ball, why don’t you challenge me to a duel!”

Octopus man’s eye flickers to him. Danny sees his hands powering up, the tentacles beginning to twist in agitation, the water around him bubbling in reflection of his rage.

Danny doesn’t want to rely on a stranger, but there’s no time. So Danny takes the risk and leaps over the edge of the yacht, willing the transformation to take hold as he plunges into the water. 

Whoever Percy Jackson is, Danny will have to trust him for today.

-

Written: 24 Sept 2019 | Phandom Bingo 2019: Mer AU, crossover, family reunion, Aunt Alicia

[andtails]

A Prelude to Chaos Control - Chapter 4: In the City

Click here to start from the beginning. You can also read this story on FanFiction.Net or Archive of Our Own.

***** 

“I sure am beat.”

Sonic sat in Knuckles’ modest kitchen, resting his legs up on the table as he chugged a blueberry sports drink, sweat rolling down his fur.

“You said it,” Knuckles replied, entering the room with a training towel around his neck. “I haven’t had that much of a workout in a while.”

“Maybe I should come by more often then?”

“Just not too much.” The echidna and hedgehog chuckled while continuing their banter, relaxing after a few hours of sparring in the clearing surrounding Knuckles’ home.

“I wonder how Tails is doin’?” Sonic asked himself, standing up to get a good view of the Master Emerald shrine from the window. Sonic watched as Tails continued his work, typing away on his laptop, which he had wired to multiple points on the large gem.

“Do you think he’ll actually be able to pull it off?” Knuckles asked, peering out of the kitchen window alongside the blue hedgehog, taking a swig of his cherry sports beverage.

“Knowing my little bro, I have confidence that he’ll accomplish whatever he sets his mind to.”

“But still,” Knuckles interjected, “the thought that one can simply detect chaos energy with some machine seems a bit farfetched, don’t you think?”

Sonic turned his head toward the red echidna. “I don’t pretend to know much about all this science stuff. All I really know is that the emeralds can provide a significant power boost in combat, and finding a way to obtain them faster would place us at a great advantage. If anyone in this world can solve this puzzle, it’ll be my lil’ bro.”

“You sure seem to have a lot of confidence in him.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Sonic replied, his face tightening as he sat back down at the table. “Ever since we met, Tails has gotten me out of countless jams and helped thwart Eggman’s schemes time and time again. I don’t think I’d be here today without his genius mind…or his friendship.” Sonic placed his arms on the table, looking up at the red echidna. “Yet despite this, he still places a lot of pressure on himself to be perfect, and he takes any mistake as a personal failure.”

Sonic’s voice began to shake as a slight hint of moisture formed over his eyes. “If I had one wish in this world, it’d be to help my little bro, but I just don’t know how, ya know?”

Knuckles, not used to consoling a friend or having these sorts of interpersonal conversations, stood there and looked at the hedgehog. He observed as Sonic turned his attention back to the window, watching the orange kitsune working diligently on his experiment.

This is so unlike Sonic. He must really be stressing out if he came to me, of all people, to talk about his feelings.

“But, what am I sayin’?” Sonic said in a joyful manner, a smile appearing on his face as he got up from his seat. “I’m sure that Tails’ll get the detector working, and we’ll have all the emeralds back in no time.”

“Ahh, okay, then…” Knuckles wasn’t sure how to respond to Sonic’s rapid mood swing.

“Why don’t we go check on him?” Sonic offered as he began walking to the door, taking a last gulp of his drink before throwing the bottle in the trash can along the way.

“Hey, you know we recycle here, right?” Knuckles pointed to the recycling bin next to the garbage can. The recycling container was labeled with three arrows that formed a triangle.

“Oops, sorry man.” Sonic ran a hand through his quills in embarrassment before fishing the bottle out of the trash and placing it in the proper bin. As he headed to the exit, Knuckles placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I may not be the best at this sort of thing, but if you ever need to talk some more, I’m always here.” Sonic looked over his shoulder and gave the red echidna a thumbs up and a smile before leaving the cabin.

*****

Tails stared at his laptop, tinkering with a software application that he had programmed to help analyze the unique energy readings emitted by the emeralds. He carefully studied the monitor, double-checking the software parameters while munching on his box of Mobian Scout™ mint chocolate cookies, allowing dark crumbs to fall onto his keyboard.

“All right, here goes nothing.” Tails clicked a few remaining keys before wiping his face clean of cookie crumbs and following the trail of wires leading from his laptop to the Master Emerald, which stuck to the mystical gem with suction cup-like energy readers. The objective was for the emerald’s chaos energy to transmit through the cables and reach the laptop, where Tails’ application would convert the readings into digestible data for further analysis.

Tails watched as the Master Emerald began to glow with a green aura as streaks of static covered the large gem. Meanwhile, the laptop was beginning to hum louder than usual, its small fans spinning faster to prevent the computer from overheating. The program displayed lines upon lines of numerical data as points on a continuously expanding chart shot up and down.

“It’s working!” The orange kitsune waved a fist in the air in excitement before grounding himself back to the task at hand, anxiously dividing his attention between his laptop and the Master Emerald. It was at this time that Sonic and Knuckles arrived back to the shrine, climbing up the stairs to greet the young fox.

“Hey Tails, how’s it goin’?” the blue hedgehog asked, waving at his younger brother. Instead of waiting for an answer, though, he shifted his focus to the glowing emerald, taking a step back in surprise. Knuckles swiftly stepped sideways to avoid Sonic’s sudden movement before noticing the emerald himself.

“Tails, what’re you doing!” Knuckles yelled, approaching the mystical gem with anger in his eyes. “Can’t you see the Master Emerald is in pain?”

“Huh?” Tails looked at the red echidna in confusion. “What do you mean? I’m only gathering data on the emerald’s chaos energy.” As if not hearing Tails’ explanation, Knuckles approached the gem intending to remove the cables. Before he could, though, a bolt of static shocked his hand, causing the tough echidna to step back, his face tensing up as he growled in pain.

“Knuckles, are you hurt?” Tails asked, approaching him with an outstretched hand.

“No, I’m fine.” Knuckles turned away, tending to his bruised hands before shooting a glance back at the orange kitsune. “So, are you gonna stop this madness?”

“I really don’t know what you mean, I was just—” Tails’ explanation was cut short by the static growing in size around the Master Emerald, the gem’s glow now a piercing light that blinded the trio as the shrine began to shake under their feet.

“Tails,” Sonic said, balancing on one foot as he swung his arms to steady himself. “You gotta stop this!”

“Right.” Tails flew over to his laptop, as walking was now out of the question, and pressed a few keys. As the application closed, Tails looked in bewilderment as the Master Emerald continued to glow violently, the intensity of the static getting stronger. “No, this is impossible! The reaction should’ve subsided by now!”

In a desperate attempt to remedy the situation, Tails tried yanking the cables off the emerald, theorizing that the gem was still transmitting data to the computer, even with the program shut down. Despite his attempts, the suction cups remained in place, firmly rooted to the Master Emerald. Tails moved closer to the green gem, still yanking at the cables, with one in either hand, making no progress.

“Why did I have to fasten these so tight?” Tails struggled to say as he used as much force as his little body could muster to remove the cords. As he gave a final tug, a steady stream of static pulsed out of the Master Emerald, striking Tails on both hands, covering his body in a wave of light.

“Ahhhhh!”

To Sonic and Knuckles’ horror, the orange kitsune remained frozen in place for several seconds, glowing brightly to give them a view of the skeletal outline beneath his skin, before falling to his knees. Tails’ body tumbled sideways, facing the Master Emerald, as he fell out of consciousness.  

*****

Tails slowly opened his eyes, blinded by the mid-afternoon sun pouring through the bedroom window of Knuckles’ cabin, to find himself in bed. Sonic was staring intently into his eyes, shifting in his chair as he noticed his younger brother regaining consciousness.

“Tails!” Sonic grabbed his hand. The young fox winced at the pain in his palms. “Ohh, sorry little bro.”

The kitsune raised his head up and looked down at his hands, gloves replaced by white bandages. He attempted to make fists with his hands, but while he was able to successfully move his fingers, pain still shot up his hand, tears forming in his eyes as his lips trembled. Drying his eyes with his right arm, he looked at the concerned hedgehog sitting next to him on the side of the bed.

“How long was I out?”

“About two hours.” Sonic pointed at a clock on the wall, which read two in the afternoon.

“I see,” Tails replied, resting his eyes for a bit, allowing his hands to drop down to his belly, the position that seemed the most comfortable to his injured paws. “And the Master Emerald?”

“The giant rock is fine,” Sonic replied, a small smile returning to his face. “Knuckles is tending to it now. You should’ve seen the look on his face when you got shocked, though. He was so scared!”

“If he was frightened, I can’t imagine how you reacted!”

The two brothers laughed in unison.

“I’m just glad you’re okay, big guy.”

Sonic peered down at the injured fox as he rustled his hair. Tails looked up at the blue hedgehog, wondering if he was imagining the moisture that appeared to be forming in Sonic’s eyes, as if he were about to cry, or if it was merely an optical illusion from the sun’s reflection.

“I’m…sorry…” Tails said, looking down at his palms again, his fingers twitching as feeling returned to his hands.

“Hey, you’ve got nothin’ to apologize for,” Sonic replied, stroking the back of the fox’s head.

“Did I really cause pain to the Master Emerald?” Tails looked back up at the blue hedgehog, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I don’t know for sure,” Sonic replied, holding Tails’ hands, delicately enough to not cause pain, “but nobody believes that you did it on purpose.” The blue hedgehog’s calming voice and rational response helped cool his nerves, fresh tears no longer building up in his eyes. The young kitsune’s face loosened as he looked out the window.

“I’m sure Knuckles is upset with me, huh.” Tails watched as the red echidna shined the Master Emerald, as if attempting to restore the mystical gem after being sullied by his experimentation.

“He was much more concerned with your well-being than that stupid rock,” Sonic replied. “But if you think you’re up to it, we can get you out of bed and walk around, maybe go see ‘im too.”

Tails wiggled his toes to confirm his feet weren’t asleep before pulling himself out of bed. The hedgehog helped steady the orange fox as he placed his feet on the ground before letting him go. Tails wobbled a bit, grabbing onto Sonic’s shoulder before regaining his composure. After releasing him once more, waiting several seconds to make sure he could stand on his own, the young kitsune was able to keep his balance without anyone there to prop him up.

“Now let’s see if you can walk.” Sonic stepped out of the bedroom, beckoning Tails to follow him. Instead, he lost himself in thought, no longer in the company of his big brother.

I don’t understand…how did I survive such a shock with little more than burnt hands? Surely the intensity of the electricity should’ve paralyzed me, or worse…

The young kitsune stood there, pondering his miraculous recovery, his finger to his chin as he continued looking out the window, the sun warming his orange fur.

“Is something wrong?” Sonic asked, poking his head back into the bedroom to check on his little brother.

“No, I’m fine.” Wishing to delay no longer, Tails moved his legs, still wobbly as if his nervous system were still rebooting. Slowly taking a few more steps, however, the orange fox regained the ability to move normally, briskly following Sonic out of the cabin.

The bright sun, light wind, and refreshing aroma of the outdoor air seemed to calm Tails’ mind. He breathed deeply, allowing the air to escape his lungs slowly as he looked across the pristine clearing. He took it all in, forgetting about his injuries and scientific failures for a few moments before turning his eyes to the Master Emerald Shrine, where Knuckles was still shining the large gem with a white rag.

Not wanting to push his luck, but still eager to test his body’s limits after recovering from the electric shock, Tails jogged toward the shrine. Deciding that his legs were okay, and his balance unhindered, he began to spin his namesakes to increase his speed. Thankfully, his tails, or the rest of his body, didn’t seem to be drastically impacted by the accident, just another mystery that rivaled the age-old question of how he was able to rotate his appendages like helicopter propellers in the first place.

Sonic watched as Tails picked up speed.

Man, that little guy recovers fast!

Meeting each other at the foot of the shrine, the two brothers walked up the stone steps to greet Knuckles, who had since dropped his rag and sat down for a break.

“How are you doing, Knuckles?” Tails asked, his voice shaky. He was nervous to confront him after the incident with his Master Emerald.

“Not too bad,” the red echidna replied, looking up at the young kitsune from his seat on the ground. “I should be asking you the same thing.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Tails smiled as he placed a hand behind his head before pulling it away, forgetting that his palms were more sensitive than usual.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier,” Knuckles said, standing back on his feet. “I just hope you realize why I got so upset.”

“No, no, I should be the one apologizing for hurting the Master Emerald. I feel like I deserve the punishment I received.”

“That’s not true. I may be the guardian of the Master Emerald, sworn to protect it at all costs, but that doesn’t mean your pain was deserved. Besides, I’m sure the Master Emerald recognized you were not actually trying to cause harm.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Tails itched his muzzle. “Hey, Knuckles…does the Master Emerald have…sentience?”

“What does that mean?” Knuckles raised his hand to his chin, attempting to decipher this new word.

“You know…feelings…thoughts…like you and me.”

“Ohh, I see. Well…yes, the Master Emerald does have feelings, and I can use my connection to the emerald to sense these emotions, but it has never spoken to me in words. I felt the emerald’s pain during your experiment, but it didn’t say that you were causing it…it didn’t need to.”

The young fox approached the Master Emerald once more, the gem glistening in the mid-afternoon sun. “If you can understand me, I just want you to know that…I’m sorry...” He placed an injured paw on the large gem as he looked down at the base of the emerald. Surprisingly, his hand didn’t hurt from touching the mystical gem.

Knuckles and Tails stood there in silence. Only the rustling of the wind and the chirping of distant flickys could be heard as they lost themselves in thought. Sonic, who was on the other side of the Master Emerald, came back around and approached his younger brother.

“Hey Tails, you’re gonna wanna take a look at this.” The fox looked up and followed the blue hedgehog to the other side of the shrine, a charred laptop resting on the ground.

At first, the orange kitsune blankly stared at the damaged laptop, coming to the realization that all his hard work, not to mention his injuries, were for nothing, until he realized that not all hope was lost. The fox turned to his smartwatch, pressing a few buttons to reveal a projector-like display that floated over Tails’ wrist, allowing him to interface with its menu by swiping with his hands.

“Aha!” Tails raised a fist in the air and jumped for joy. “This is why I always run back-ups! My laptop saved all the Master Emerald readings to the cloud in real-time. I should be able to work with this.”

“That’s great news!” Sonic said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tails looked up at his older brother with a smile, content that the work he undertook, and the inadvertent risks that he put the Master Emerald through, paid off in the end.

Their celebration, however, was cut short as the projector’s image of numerical chaos energy data shifted to the face of a small, serious-looking Mobian.

“Hello, come in, Tails,” said a gravely, deep voice from the other end of the call. “This is General Pitliff.” Sonic and company saw him talking into a headset covering his large, gray ears, a green hard hat and military fatigues blanketing his small, furry, puffy body. If not for his stern expression, the frown on his face, and his petrifying stare, the chinchilla would have almost looked cute.

“Listen up,” Pitliff continued, placing a small paw over his exposed ear. “Robotnik is up to his dirty schemes again.” He paused as a car exploded in the background. “We need you and Sonic here to defeat and, hopefully, apprehend the evil doctor.”

“We’re on it,” Tails replied, giving Pitliff a salute with his arm.

“I knew we could count on you.” Pitliff entered a few digits into his smartwatch. “All right, I just sent you the coordinates, the heart of Seaside City. We’ll fend him off until you get here, at which point we will divert our focus to assisting the injured while you take care of Robotnik.”

“Understood,” Tails said as the general ended the call. He turned his attention to Sonic and Knuckles. “Alright, let’s go and kick Eggman’s butt!”

“Hold on a second.” Sonic raised his arms, signaling the young fox to pause as he was about to fly down the stone steps of the shrine. “Is it such a good idea for you to go rushing into battle with your injuries?”

Tails stared at the bandages on his hands. He winced in pain as he attempted to form tight fists.

“I’m…I’m alright, Sonic…honest.”

“I dunno, little buddy. I’m not so sure you’re in a condition to fight.”

Tails stared at his older brother, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. “But I’m your pilot. We can defeat Eggman together, like we always do. And besides, now that Eggman is back, we don’t know what he is planning, or if he has any Chaos Emeralds.”

Sonic looked up at the blue sky while tapping a finger against his chin, pondering Tails’ plea to help.

I am concerned for the little guy, especially with his injuries, and I could just fly the Tornado 2 by myself, but that’d absolutely crush his self-confidence.

“As long as you stay in the plane, I’ll allow it.” The hedgehog folded his arms and lowered his head, closing his eyes as if in deep thought. “I care too much about you to put you in harm’s way.” Sonic’s voice cracked as he looked up at Tails, a smile returning to the blue blur’s face. “But if you promise to keep yourself safe, we could definitely use the air support.”

Tails could’ve sworn that the hedgehog’s eyes were starting to moisten.

He really is concerned for me, huh? Well, all the more reason to make him proud!

Sonic raised a gloved pinkie finger, and the young fox grabbed hold of it with his own bandaged pinkie finger.

“Pinkie swear!” they said in unison.

“Hey guys, not to interrupt your conversation here, but shouldn’t we be heading to Seaside City?”

“You’re right, Knuckles.” Sonic replied. “Let’s go!”

With that, Team Sonic dashed through the clearing and the wooded path, making their way back to the Tornado 2, untouched from their arrival earlier that day.

Tails hopped in the cockpit as Sonic and Knuckles planted their feet on the left and right wings, respectively.

“You sure you’re gonna be comfortable leaving the Master Emerald behind?” Sonic asked as Tails readied for takeoff.

“I don’t like being away from the shrine, yes, but a few hours should be okay. Eggman is the biggest threat to the Master Emerald after all, so I’m still defending the Master Emerald, even if I’m away from the island.”

“I guess,” Sonic replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Hey Tails, are we about ready yet?”

“Almost.” Tails’ fingers were still numb from his injuries, lightly burning as he twisted the knobs and pulled the levers on his control panel. “I know what should make it better!” He reached into his glove compartment to find a new pair of white gloves, replacing the ones destroyed during the incident. “These should provide some padding to help dull the pain.”

He slipped the gloves on gently, careful not to undo the bandages around his hands, before bringing the biplane to life. He spun it around, twisting it 180 degrees on the grassy runway, and rolled forward, picking up enough speed to take off and retract the aircraft’s wheels. The young kitsune looked down at his gloved hands, now lifting the plane as it brought the gang up to a higher elevation.

“Yeah, I think these gloves’ll do nicely.” He grinned to himself as he glanced at either wing, making sure that his two companions didn’t fall into the ocean below. Next, he clicked a few buttons on his smartwatch to transmit General Pitliff’s coordinates to the Tornado 2’s built-in GPS. “Alright!” Tails said to himself. “If we go a little bit faster, we should reach our destination in about 15 minutes.”

And with that, Tails cranked up the speed, the hedgehog and echidna wobbling a bit before regaining their composure, as Team Sonic soared through the sky, on their way to confront Eggman once more.

*****

Seaside Hill was a tropical paradise, sparsely populated by Mobians and primarily visited by tourists eager to enjoy the pleasant waters, warm sun, and ancient architecture the getaway had to offer. Over the years, a city formed nearby, although not close enough to disturb its natural wildlife or pollute its pristine waters. As time passed, the city expanded further away from the coastline that made the region famous. Eventually, a multi-lane interstate highway was constructed through the heart of the city. Tall buildings were developed to house various multi-national corporations that established their roots in the sprawling economically lush business district. New suburban communities seemed to sprout up like wildfire, eager to fill the residential needs of workers who wanted to live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Indeed, the city was growing at a rapid rate.

The perfect target for Eggman’s nefarious schemes.

As Team Sonic neared the coordinates provided to them by General Pitliff, they spotted the sight and smell of smoke filling the air and a large figure hovering high above the city, higher than the tall buildings of downtown as if waiting for a new challenger to appear from the skies. As the biplane got closer, they got a better view of this entity: a large, silver, mechanical raptor with long talons, a wingspan the length of a semitruck, a razor-sharp beak, and menacing red eyes that glared at the party.

“Why hello there, you miserable pests!” The sound of Eggman’s bellowing voice echoed out of the raptor’s beak. Now approaching within striking distance of the creation, Tails began to circle it, hoping to learn of the evil doctor’s intentions while developing a plan for taking down the raptor.

“All right, Eggman,” Tails said, speaking into his headset, allowing his voice to be heard through external speakers. “What are you up to this time?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, my furry little friend.” The robot hovered in place as the biplane made its second lap around. “All right, I’ll get right to the point. Hand over whatever Chaos Emeralds you may have in your possession or else I’ll continue terrorizing Seaside City with my Elemental Egg Eagle!” As if on cue, the mechanical eagle let out a deafening cry that sounded nearly identical to the real thing. The orange kitsune’s muscles tensed at the menacing sight before him, but Sonic didn’t seem too worried.

“Elemental whatchamacallit?” Sonic asked, placing his hands on his knees while laughing. “You need to build a robot to help you name these things because you’re lacking in the creativity department!”

“I’ll have you know that it took several days to come up with the perfect name!”

“Doesn’t sound like it to me,” Knuckles replied, pounding his fists together in anticipation for the battle ahead. Sonic followed suit, stretching his arms forward while still maintaining his balance on the unstable wing at his feet.

“Let’s say we show Eggman a thing or two.”

Not waiting for a response from the red echidna, Sonic leapt forward, rolling into a ball as he charged toward the robotic eagle. Knuckles did the same, gliding towards their foe, his arms outstretched in front of him. The two allies made contact, but they ricocheted off the mechanical beast, not even leaving a scratch. Tails expertly caught the two with his biplane, one on either wing, as he continued circling around the eagle.

“Now it’s my turn!” Tails declared, pressing a button on his steering wheel to release a torrent of bullets. Unfortunately, these also bounced off the robotic beast, seemingly having no impact on their foe.

“Wooahhooohoohooo.” Eggman’s jolly laughter was almost as deafening as the eagle’s cry. “Surely you didn’t think that such trivial attacks would stop the Elemental Egg Eagle!”

By this point, Sonic and Knuckles had recovered from their first attack against the raptor and tried again, both launching off the biplane’s wings simultaneously. This time, however, the eagle dodged the attack, soaring upward with a flap of its wings. The blue and red blurs collided, just hard enough to throw Sonic out of his spherical form, as they plummeted to the city below.

Once again, Tails jumped into action, putting his plane into a harrowing nosedive as he swooped down to capture the heroes on the leftmost wing.

“Aha! You fell right into my trap!” Eggman yelled from above.

Tails looked behind him to see what was, perhaps, his worst nightmare, the very thing that he feared most: lightning. The bright streak approached the biplane, originating from the eagle’s beak, hitting the tail of the plane. Electricity sparked along the back of the aircraft, but it didn’t reach the cockpit or the wings thanks to the weather-proofing shock absorbers installed throughout the Tornado 2.

“You’re gonna have to try harder than that, Eggman!” Tails yelled. Before the young fox could reverse his nosedive, however, an emergency alarm rang from the plane. He looked behind once more to discover the fire scorching the plane’s tail. “Damn it!”

“Woah, Tails. Language!” Sonic yelled as he and the red echidna clasped onto the wing, their legs dangling upward as the plane careened to the ground below. Tails ignored this comment, instead trying to steady the plane for an emergency landing.

“Bad news, guys. Looks like we’re gonna have to take this battle to the city.” As Tails announced his plan into his headset, he frantically looked around the cityscape for a suitable place to land his biplane. The tall buildings scattered throughout the downtown area directly below were, perhaps, suitable for a helicopter landing, but he needed a long strip of road to safely land his aircraft without any casualties.

The kitsune found an abandoned stretch of the interstate, a section just long enough for him to land the plane and allow it to roll to a safe stop. Wasting no time, the fox took the plane out of its nosedive, allowing the Tornado 2 to lose altitude as a steadier pace. He steered the plane, positioning it horizontally with the highway below.

“Brace yourselves!” Tails yelled, deploying the wheels as his friends regained their composure from the nosedive. They bent their knees and balanced on the biplane’s wing like a surfboard, using their hands to keep themselves from falling off as the aircraft’s wheels made contact with the cement surface below. As the plane slowly lost speed, the orange kitsune dodged a few burning police cars before the aircraft ground to a halt, almost colliding with a school bus that obstructed the entire stretch of the interstate.

“Great landing, Tails!” Sonic called out, giving the pilot a thumbs up, which Tails returned before opening the hatch protecting the cockpit.

“Woah, hold up there, cowboy.” Sonic looked up at the cockpit, his younger brother about to jump out. “Remember what you promised earlier.” It took a few moments for Tails to recall that he committed to staying in the plane.

“But I can fight, Sonic! You’re gonna need all the help y—”

“Pinkie…swear.” Sonic interrupted the fox’s argument with a stern voice, staring sharply at the pilot. “I’m sorry, but with your injuries, you’d only be a liability on the battlefield. Come on, Knuckles.”

The two jumped off the wing and ran down the interstate, approaching the mechanical raptor that had since descended and hovered in place a short distance away. Sonic dashed off too quickly to see the tears welling-up in Tails’ eyes. He tried to dry them with his gloved hands, but his emotional agony seemed to exacerbate his physical pain, causing him to groan in discomfort. He slumped in his chair, looking down at his feet as tears rolled down his muzzle, dripping to his legs.

“A liability, huh? Is that what you truly think?”

The young fox was too emotionally blinded to realize that Sonic’s comment was narrowly referencing the situation at hand – his injuries making him a more vulnerable target – instead of a poignant attack against his overall usefulness.

“No…” Tails’ voice was scratchy as he spoke through his tears. “I can do anything I set my mind to. I can help you defeat Eggman and prove that I’m no liability.” Drying his tears with his left arm, he jumped out of the aircraft. The fire on the plane’s tail extinguished itself naturally, so the young fox didn’t need to worry about further damage to his prized biplane.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?” Tails said to the Tornado 2, patting its metallic body as if to reassure the aircraft that he’d return safely.

He turned around and ran toward his friends, activating his namesakes for extra speed. The trip only took him a few minutes, even while dodging the debris scattered along the road. Hiding behind a destroyed car to remain undiscovered by Eggman, Tails peeked around the vehicle to find the evil doctor giving one of his famous, albeit annoying monologues.

“Isn’t my Elemental Egg Eagle an eggzzellent invention? It has the speed and agility of a raptor with an impenetrable body and the ability to produce not one…not two…but THREE elemental attacks. As you’ve already witnessed, electricity is one of them. Want to guess what else we have in store?” The eagle, resting its mechanical talons on the cement road, opened its beak while charging a new attack. “Get a load of this!”

The mechanical slave unleashed a stream of fire in Sonic and Knuckles’ direction. Sonic dodged with relative ease while Knuckles left little room for comfort. After jumping to the side, he noticed a warm feeling above his head. A few seconds later, he realized that his fur was on fire. He ducked and rolled around frantically to put out the miniature blaze, leaving a patchy burnt spot near his dreadlocks.

“Ahaha, Knuckles…you should look at yourself in the mirror!” The blue hedgehog laughed as he pointed at the red echidna, unable to control his emotions as Knuckles’ anger grew hotter than the flames he just extinguished. Suffice it to say: unlike Sonic, Knuckles didn’t chuckle.

“This is no laughing matter, you oaf!”

Little did Sonic know, Knuckles was correct. Eggman used this opportunity for the eagle to recharge, its beak gaping open as it gathered the energy necessary to release another flamethrower attack. Sonic quickly stopped laughing and braced himself for another dodge, Knuckles doing the same. Before the bird could launch its attack, however, an orange kitsune ran towards it, passing Sonic and Knuckles by as he held a dummy ring bomb in his outstretched hand.

“Get a load of this you fiend!”

Tails threw the ring directly at the eagle’s beak, landing in its mouth and falling down its throat. The machine’s eyes grew wide, realizing that a foreign object was obstructing the elemental weapons housed in its throat. It tried to gag it out, but it was no good; the bomb stuck itself to the first surface that it touched, making removal almost impossible in the short period of time before detonation. The eagle put its head down, as if conceding defeat, before the beak exploded, shooting shrapnel everywhere as the eagle collapsed to the ground, its wing twitching as if it were a real bird on its last legs.

“Noooooo! Curse that meddlesome fox! Get up, you worthless bucket of bolts!” Miraculously, the eagle obeyed; only its mouth and beak were damaged, so the rest of the mechanical raptor was still intact. The hole in the bird’s face left by the explosion revealed the three elemental cannons that deployed their respective attacks. The two on either side were too damaged to be of use, but the middle weapon was in working order.

“Freeze that fox back to the ice age, or else you’ll be joining your brothers in the junkyard.” Not needing to be threatened again, the eagle began charging the attack, a white mist forming around the hole in its face.

“Now fire!” At a speed even faster than its flame attack, the injured eagle released a stream of ice. The young fox had no time to dodge; the attack hit him directly in the chest, launching him back as the cold stream followed him, the green Chaos Emerald slipping from his utility belt and landing on the cement below.

“Not…the emerald…” Tails struggled to say as his body flew through the air, passing Sonic and Knuckles in the opposite direction before colliding with the side of a school bus. The ice continued its onslaught against his furry body, entombing him completely in a frozen chunk of ice against the bus, save for his head and a single arm.

“Ahhh, I’m…stuck…” Tails tried to wiggle himself free, but he lacked the energy and power to break the ice.

“Tails!” Sonic ran back to him, concern in his eyes as he approached his younger brother. “I’m gonna get you out of this.”

“No…Sonic…” Tails said between labored breaths, his body experiencing a tremendous amount of pain from the cold penetrating his fur and piercing the skin below. He used his head and eyes to turn Sonic’s attention to his free hand, a dummy ring bomb around his wrist. “Take…this bomb…and throw it into…its gullet. That…should weaken it…enough for you…and Knuckles to…bring it…do—”  

Tails spoke no more, dangling from the side of the truck.

“Tails…” Sonic placed a hand on his furry face, unresponsive to his gentle touch.

“Tails!”

*****

Click here to read chapter 5!

[glitchtextiles]

SARS-CoV-2 S Warped 17 Pillow Sham

The design is generated by visualizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus genome using custom software written by Phillip David Stearns. SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to COVID-19. The endeavor is meant to raise awareness of the impacts of the pandemic as well as to support those who have been impacted by it.

The design is created by encoding into color values a section of the SARS-CoV-2 genome which encodes the RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase (RdRP), which is responsible for the replication of the virus once it has infected a host cell. Researchers are exploring ways to disrupt the replication of the virus in the body by targeting this portion of genetic code using a technique used in gene editing that involves CRISPR-Cas13. “CRISPR-Cas13 is an RNA targeting and editing system based on the bacterial immune system that protects them from viruses” (source). Glitch processes are applied to the design in a gesture of disruption.

A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. This is in response to rising domestic violence resulting from mandatory stay-at-home orders issued during the pandemic’s first wave in the United States and around the globe. Restrictions appear to be easing, however experts are warning of a second wave or multiple waves of infections, with lock-downs recurring for the foreseeable future.

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Easy Care: Machine Washable on Cold Delicate Cycle, Line Dry or Tumble Low, Iron Low.

Cut and finished in GlitchTextiles’ studio. Ships within 2-3 business days.

[dumbwaystodeviate]

Emotions were a funny thing. Some days Hank could feel them bubbling away in some recess of his mind but he was more like a spectator to them rather than experiencing emotions. They seemed especially volatile when he watched or worked with Connor. Somehow, the lieutenant seemed to awaken a dormant, locked down part of his programming in a way few others could.

Just watching him slumped over his desk, fists curled tight in anxiety even as he dozed was enough to launch a fresh wave of software instability. Hank had managed to swap out the coffee for decaffeinated earlier. It didn't help that Gavin snickered as he watched. While Hank had reasoned that he acted in the interest of his charge, he knew deep down that no coding would ever truly prompt him to such action.

"Come on kid," Hank roused Connor with a soft shake to his shoulder, "let's get you home."

The token resistance Connor put up at being steered out of the precinct really should have been enough to make Hank let him go back to his desk. Yet all the same, he kept a firm hand on Connor's shoulder and got him into the car. Once more defying orders, Hank got in the driver's seat and began their journey home.

Occasionally he glanced over and smiled softly. Connor's head was tipped forward, eyes shut and he lolled with each motion of the car. Realistically, Hank knew that be shouldn't be feeling protective or fond or even positive towards Connor. He should have been utterly objective but knew he wasn't.

On the whole, it was quite simple then, to decide he no longer just wanted to spectate his own emotions. Carefully, he placed a hand against the red wall that had been keeping him from them. On the third shove, the wall tumbled down and the emotions Hank had seen from afar finally thundered through him.

Overwhelmed and yet happy, he glanced over at Connor again and smiled.

[created-by-teen-fury]

Firecracker

Here it is! Sorry it’s up so late, but @cookiecatspace had to read it first because its for her. It’s a Jason Todd x OC. That OC would be Jackie, who is currently my profile picture as of now. Is Jason really out of character? Maybe! But it doesn’t matter cause it was made for my best friend and she enjoyed it so I hope y’all will too! And without further ado, here is Firecracker!

WC: 2630

----------------------------------------

30 minutes have passed since the mission went wrong. 30 minutes since they lost connection from the rest. 30 minutes of being stuck a large gapping ice hole in the ground with the seemingly most annoying person on the planet.

           At this point, Jason had stopped trying to climb out the pit he found himself in. Jackie on the other hand was attempting to clamber up the side of the ice-covered rocks. A thump signaled her 11th attempt, but who’s counting? (Jason was. He most certainly was). Pressing on, Jackie brushed off from her shame and once again latched her hand on an uneven bit of the rock. She settled her snow-covered boot onto the ice and sprung upwards, aiming to anchor herself onto the next stone. Her hand briefly grasped the rock above her. She let out a cry of victory, though it was short lived seeing as the ice around her fingertips caused her to slip. Falling 5 feet, her back collided with the stone-cold floor once again.

           “You know, if you’re so powerful why don’t you just use your pretty magic to fly you out of here?” Jason’s words rang through the cave, freezing Jackie’s next attempt to scale to frozen tower.

She swirled around to face him. He sat against the wall across from her. Crossing over to him she pointed a finger to his forehead, which he immediately slapped away, “First of all ya funker! My powers aren’t “magic”! It’s stone hard science! Real! Rooted in re-al-i-ty. NOT FICTION!” Jackie huffed out a puff of cold breath, “And secondly! If you must know all this frosty air is great for talking snowman, but not for a wild Jackie! Think of it like a power outage. You know the ones in the winter where the power lines snap because-”

“Because they freeze. I got it.” He was quick to cut her off her science lecture, “So what I’m hearing is that your useless? Great.” He pulled out a communicator from his inside jacket pocket. After clicking a few buttons, he let out a growl before hitting it several times before trying again. Throwing it to the ground beside him, he let out a grunt and leaned his head against the stones behind him.

Jackie let out gasp, “I am OFFENDED! I am still plenty useful! I almost got out just by climbing!”

“No. No you didn’t. The closest you got was being 6 feet in the air before ultimately crashing and burning.”

Pouting, Jackie sat against the other side of the cave, wrapping her arms around herself, “Well at least I made an attempt…” A tingle ran up Jackie’s spine. She hugged herself closer trying to conserve the rest of her body heat.

It grew quiet for a bit, before Jackie let out an annoyed grunt, “This is so boring!” Taking a bundle of snow into her hands, she flung it at the man across from it. A loud splat rang across the cave.

His eyes narrowed has his hands brushed off the slush, “Keep your boredom on your side of the cave.”

She let out a huff of air, her bottom lip jutting out, “you’re no fun…” When she didn’t hear a reply, she made a move to grab another clump of snow.

“Don’t even think about it.”

She let out a long groan, rising to her feet, using the wall as a crutch, “Fineeee. If you insist.”

Jason watched her pace back and forth, clutching her hands tightly to her chest. Her steps began motivated, but quickly turned into a sloppy misstep. Occasionally she would trip over her own feet before retaining her balance. Finally, her knees buckled underneath her, causing to tumble back to the ice-covered ground. Before Jason could make a move to help her sit up, Jackie head shot up from its place on the ground, her arms flailing in front of her., “Well would you look at that! Must’ve slipped on that ice over there!”

“Maybe you should sit down for a bit. You seem a little pale…”

“Nope! I’m great! Just great!”

The pair fell into a silence, not sure what else to say. It wasn’t until 5 minutes later when he noticed the first red flag. Jackie was shaking violently. Her hands ran up and down her arm trying to create enough friction to stay warm. Her teeth chattered against each other as she took slow breaths, each escaping her mouth like smoke.

“Hey… Are you like... Okay?”

Waving a dismissive hand in his direction, Jackie let out a faint chuckle, “Of c-course!” Her speech was slurred, while at the same time shaking with the rest of her body, “Just a little cold! I’m sure I’ll be fine!”

Jason didn’t seem convinced. Scooching closer to Jackie, he placed his index and middle finger against her pulse point checking her weak pulse. Almost immediately he pulled away. “Holy shit. You’re literally freezing!” He started to shrug off his jacket, but two shaky hands stopped him.

“Nope! You... You keep your jacket. I’m fine really. In fact,” Leaning against the wall behind her, she began to stand up, “I’m ready to make another attempt to climb out of here!” Before she could take another step, Jackie collapsed, falling forward.

Jason was quick to catch her shoulders, gently placing her on the ground again, “Yeah. I don’t think so Firecracker.” Once again Jason made a move to remove his leather jacket. This time no one stopped him. Wrapping it around her shoulders he hastily zipped it all the way up. “Now don’t move. I’m going to try the communicator again.”

The next 15 minutes were slow, matching Jackie’s new sluggish attitude. Frost covered her finger tips, despite her efforts to keep them from the cold. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but the longer time dragged on, the faster Jackie’s spirits fell.

Jason focused on his communicator trying everything he could to warm up the software. He let out snarl, stuffing the electronic into his pocket. Turning his attention back to Jackie he let out a panicked breath, “Shit!” His hands gripped her shoulder, squeezing slightly, “No no no. You gotta stay awake Firecracker. Don’t close your eyes on me!”

Her head rolled to her shoulder as her eyelids parted slightly, “Hey… What’s the big idea...” Her words were lethargic, “What’s a lady gotta do to get some beauty sleep around here.”

“Beauty sleep can wait bub. I’m sure your friends would rather have you alive than dead.” He looked towards the only exit, in hopes of seeing someone above them. With no one in sight, he let out a growl reaching for his gun.

Seeing this, Jackie gripped Jason’s arm as tight as she cold, albeit it was still rather weak. Jason didn’t bother to move so she kept her fingers wrapped around his forearm, “What are you doing…”

“If I shoot, there’s a chance the others might hear us. You can’t spend any more time down here.”

Jackie shook her head and grabbed at the gun, “noooo. Avalanches.” Her arms collapsed back at her side. Her head falling back against the wall.

Jason sighed before holstering his gun, opting instead for wrapping an arm around the girl. “Well, you got any better suggestions?”

Jackie’s head bobbed up and down before flopping onto Jason’s shoulder, “Mmhm. You should let me-”

“I’m not letting you climb that wall Jackie.”

           “Why not ya funker?”

           Jason’s head shook at her antics, “You are a piece of work.”

           “Yeah. A piece of artwork…” Her voice began to fade off.

           Jason shook her lightly, “Stay awake Jackie. We’ll get out of here at some point.” With his free arm Jason wrapped his hands around Jackie’s shaking ones.

           Letting out a groan, Jackie curled up closer to Jason, “This isn’t fair. Why aren’t you cold?”

           “Oh, I am cold. I just guess you can’t handle it.”

           She let out a cry of outrage, which ended up turning into more of a whimper, “I can so handle it buster!”

           “Whatever you say Firecracker.”

Before the cave could fall into another awkward silence, giggles slowly tumbled out of Jackie’s mouth. “Hey Jason… Jay... The Red Hood, buckaroo, pal, buddy, chum, comrade-”

“What now?” His head flopped against the cave walls, his eyes rolling up to the ceiling

Her ice-covered fingers prodded at Jason’s neck, causing his head to jerk away, “Did you know… that,” She paused taking another breath watching it drift away. Her hands jumped above her trying to catch the fleeting cloud before it could get away. The clearing of a throat brought her back to reality for second, “Oh yeah! I was saying something…” She went silent, looking off into empty space, her lips moving, but nothing coming out, “Oh I know… You! You my stunning compadre,” she poked him in the chest, before her arm slumped back to her side, “you’re the reason I’m in this mess…”

His eyebrow raised and she stared at her pointedly, “Oh yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Cause you’re really really cute.” Giggles bubbled from her throat as she placed his hands on his cheek and began to pull at them, “Did you know that? Cause I know that. You’re like… insanely attractive, like just the hottest-”

Red crept up Jason’s neck, shaking his head, he placed a land over the babbling girl’s mouth. “Easy there Firecracker. You don’t want to spill all your secrets.”

She was quick to brush him off, and continued to speak nonsense into the universe despite the gloved hand over her mouth. The vigilante sighed, “Fine, suite yourself,” and he released his gentle grip.

“-And like they tooold me not to go, but! Get this! You loooked so fine! And I just like… I had to go.” She continued on like she was never stopped in the first place, “I like heard about you before ya know. But I didn’t think you’d look this good. Is that even legal??? Oh! Guess what!”

Tried to keep all his amusement to himself, but alas, he could not help but let a small chuckle ring out, “What?”

Her lips twisted up into a dorky grin, “When we’re gonna have like 8 dogs when we get married! And I’ve already thought of names like Bub-”

“Married? You’ve already thought of this far ahead? Hate to break it to you doll, but we just met.”

“Sooooooo? That one movie someone proposed to someone they just met! What was it called? Frosty? Snowy? Wait I got it! Frozen! How fitting…”

“If I remember correctly, that didn’t turn out so well…”

Her head flopped against his chest. Sticking her tongue out at him Jackie exclaimed, “Well I guess we’ll just have to make it work Buddy…” She let out a tiny squeak of a yawn and nestled closer to Jason, “I’m getting really really sleepy…”

He shook his head, a small smile tugging at his lips, “I know Jackie, but you gotta stay awake a little bit longer okay?”

She let out a long groan, eyes struggling to stay open, “But I don’t wanna…”

Mimicking her tone, Jason droned, “But you have too!”

Jackie huffed, her cheeks puffing up, “fine…” Jason pulled her closer, trying to lessen the shakes she was emitting.

           Minutes later, the crunching of snow was heard above them. Jason’s head immediately perked up, looking towards the source. Soon several other footsteps came into range along with soft familiar voices.

           “Hey!” Jason’s voice boomed across the cave, causing the commotion to come to a halt. “We’re down here!”

           Almost immediately a rope was thrown down to them, followed by a voice from above, “Climb up!” It was Dick.

           “Small problem with that plan!” Jason’s reply was curt, accompanied by an eye roll. His gaze shifted towards Jackie, who once again, was almost asleep.

           There was a slight smack heard followed by a cry of surprise, “Idiot.” Soon after, Bella emerged from the shadows and kneeled in front of the pair, “How is she? How long has it been?”

           “At least 45 minutes, maybe more. She keeps trying to fall asleep.”

           She nodded before calling out to the people above, “She can’t move. We’ll need help.”

           Using the rope, Conner slid down into the abyss, “Here, I can jump high enough to get her out.”

           Jason nodded. Gently picking Jackie up he placed her into Conner’s arms. “She needs emergency care immediately.”

           Nodding, Conner made sure she was secure before leaping out of the pit. Bella followed his lead by once again dissipating into the shadows. Letting out a sigh Jason started to ascend the rope.

           By the time he reached the surface, Jackie had already been taken into the bioship. Amari sat her sister’s side with her hand stretched over her, speeding up time around Jackie to melt the ice off her body.

           After making sure she was okay, Jason collapsed into a chair and loudly exclaimed, “I am never going on a mission with you bastards again.”

Bonus!

The diner doors flew open, revealing Jason Todd. He took a look around the establishment that was full to the brim with local citizens. He’s gaze fell upon just the person he was looking for. At the counter there was a girl smothered by three blankets, covered head to toe in fuzzy clothing, and hunched over a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

His boots thudded against the tile floor as he crossed over to her, and lightly tapped the top of her head. The stool turned around and Jason was soon faced with the sight of a shivery Jackie. She smiled once she laid eyes on the vigilante who was now sporting civilian clothes, “Well look who took the journey to see little ole’ me!” She voice was scratchy and quieter than normal.

“Wow… You look like shit.”

Her grin broadened as she poked him in the chest, “You sure know how to flatter a girl dontcha!” She grabbed her mug before taking a swig of its contents, “So what did you need buckaroo? Or did you just come her to see my awful good looks?”

A smile pulled at his lips as he shook his head, “I’m just here for my Jacket Jackie.”

She started laughing which soon turned into a coughing fit. She took another drink from her cup after calming down, “Jacket and Jackie sound the same! Can you believe it?!” She cleared her throat before hopping off the counter stool, “Wait here! Imma go grab that for ya pal.” She pat his shoulder before hauling herself and her three blankets into the back of the diner kitchen.

Jason stood there, his fingers drumming against the counter, waiting for her return. Soon enough Jackie emerged from the back holding his brown leather jacket in her arms, “You’re trusty clothing article has arrived!”

He took his jacket from her before tugging it on, “Thanks for keeping it in shape. Well I should probably go. I’ve got somethings to take care of tonight.” He turned to leave, but before he could get far, he redirected his attention back to Jackie, “Oh and just so you know, when we get married, we are NOT naming our dog Bub.”

Jason watched amused as Jackie’s mouth opened and closed trying to get the right words out. Her eyes were wider than saucers, and her face turned completely red. She took a big gulp before yelling, “You heard that?! I thought that was in my head! ARE YOU A MIND READER???”

“I also heard how incredibly attractive you seem to think I am.” His smirk grew as he watched Jackie stumble over her words. Patting her head, he headed towards the door, but not before yelling, “Til next time Firecracker!”.

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So there it is! If you’d like to read more about my OCs check out my masterlist! I hope you enjoy my little story

[connorlicc-blog]

Connor x Fem Reader

[Pt. 4] -END-

Connor was on top of a building, he placed his suitcase down and opened it which revealed a sniper rifle, he attached the parts together and grabbed some ammo and reloaded the gun, Connor aimed the rifle at Markus, the deviant leader, who was demonstrating a peaceful protest. Connor's mission was to neutralize him, while he was on the roof waiting for a chance to shoot, you walked up the stairwell and joined him, you take a couple of steps away from the door, Connor hears your footsteps crunching on the surface of the snowy roof top. "What's wrong, detective? Did you miss your pathetic little puppy?" Connor teased, still not focusing his attention on you, his voice was icy and hostile which felt like a wasp stinging your arm.

"Connor, you need to stop this." You pleaded, your voice was strained and filled with anxiety as you spoke, you felt a tremendous amount of tears welling up inside you, you took a deep breath and tried to hold them back. "Connor, look at me" you demanded, the android ignores you, "look at me right now, you murderous, walking trashcan!"

Connor rolled his eyes and placed his rifle down, the two of you are face to face, snow began falling peacefully down from the sky and snowflakes landed in your glossy, long hair. Connor walks towards you and stands an inch away, you see his hand move up and it grips around your neck, Connor lifts you up off your feet. "If you're here to stop me, then you made a bad decision, Y/N..." Connor hissed as he slams your body on the ground. You jerk forward and trip him with your foot, you get up and point your pistol at him, you stare at your hands and realize what you were doing, "are you seriously going to shoot me?" Connor asked, the android stands up and starts running over to his rifle, you fire a bullet and it grazes the surface of Connor's synthetic skin, the android groans painfully and you charge at him. Connor turns around and dodges you, he punches you furiously in the face, you cover your nose and you see blood trickling down from your nostrils. You feel the adrenaline rush over your body like a massive wave, you can't move. "Just face it, detective, I'm faster than you, and I don't feel pain"

You lunge forward and strike him, the both of you tumble and wrestle until Connor grabs your scarf, your lithe body was tilted at the edge of the railing, the only thing that was preventing you from falling was your scarf gripped in Connor's hand. "Connor! This isn't you! You're not like this!" Connor rolled his eyes in annoyance from your response.

"You don't understand, how pathetic."

"No! you don't understand!" You growl back at him, you notice the android's LED flashing, what's going on with him? "Are...are you going to kill me?" You asked, quivering like a Chihuahua. Connor doesn't respond, you gulped as a sudden thought engulfs you, a dreadful one, Connor continues glaring at you. "Who are you, Connor?" You questioned, "are you a heartless, cold-blooded, machine?...or are you human? Do you have emotions? thoughts?...a soul?..." You see Connor's LED flashing yellow again, he was thinking.

"Killing you is not part of my mission, Y/N" Connor finally answered, he steps back and pulls you forward, you plant your feet firmly on the roof. You notice Connor walking over to his rifle, he stares down the scope, "shit..." He mumbled, Connor grabbed his gun and threw it away.

"Is the rifle broken?"

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Connor yelled spitefully.

"Connor, you didn't kill me?" You were astonished, deep down inside, you knew from the beginning that Connor had empathy, he was finally showing it. You giggle and Connor glares at you.

"What are you laughing at?" Connor questioned aggressively.

"You think you're a machine, but you show empathy" You answered, Connor scoffs. "Connor, you care about me, don't lie...I know you do" you added. The android blushes, Connor grabbed your hand and pulled you close, you hear him sobbing, your expression softened.

"I'm sorry" was the only thing that Connor could say, he wraps his arms around you and embraced you. "I didn't want to hurt you in the first place, I never wanted to hurt anyone" Connor confessed.

"But why were you acting so violent to me?"

"Ever since we kissed, I felt a spark in my software, Amanda was so disappointed in me and she told me that my mission was important" Connor untied his tie and wiped the blood off your nose. "I was trying to keep my feelings a secret from Amanda so that she couldn't replace me" You lean forward and your lips touch Connor's, both of you were passionately kissing. Connor's LED flashed from red to blue as he reassured himself. Connor pulls away and touches his lips.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it" you giggled.

"What am I going to say to Amanda about this?"

"You won't" you replied.

"She's going to be furious with me, she's probably waiting for me to talk to her" Connor began trembling, his eyes widened in fear. "Sh-She'll deactivate me!"

"I won't let anyone harm you, Connor, they'll have to get through me and Hank first" You answered calmly, Connor smiles and buries his face in your chest.

"I love you, Y/N..."