#Vanguard is so much more. Just throwing yourself forward

[husband-steve-cortez]

I think one of the sexiest things about biotics is the way it potentially turns your very body into a tool. I just think that's a fun thing to consider with Shepard.

[ahungeringknife]

365: June 5

Shin woke up from a nightmare into a different nightmare. All at once he felt sick to his stomach from a dead sleep and nearly rolled over and threw up on the floor. The Light was gone and in its place was the corruption like the worst heart burn of his life. He didn't throw up but he did dry heave over the side of his bed. "What-- Ghost," he called.

His Ghost didn't answer and that was worrying enough. Had someone shot his Ghost and he hadn't noticed? He got out of bed and his legs felt weak. But he did look around his ship. He didn't see his Ghost and stumbled out of his ship into camp. "Ghost," he called again.

He found his Ghost floating in the air at just above eye level in his camo painted shell looking at something in the distance above the tree line. "Hey," he came around to the stupid thing. "What are you doing out here? What happened?"

"The Traveler," Ghost said.

"What about it?"

His Ghost slowly turned and looked at him. "My connection to it and the Light are gone," he said softly.

"Is that why I can't feel the Light?" His Ghost nodded. "Shit." He leaned forward on a knee. He still felt nauseous. By the Light he felt so sick. He wasn't sure it was the lack of Light, he'd lived without the Light before, so much as the corruption finally wasn't being contained inside him. The green fire had nothing to burn it away and it was making him sick.

"Are you alright?" his Ghost asked.

"Corruption," Shin coughed out. He took a few steps away to dry heave again.

"I can't heal you," his Ghost said, "don't hurt yourself."

Shin wiped his mouth. "What the fuck happened." He went over to his solar satellite uplink and turned it on before going back into his ship. His Ghost floated behind him. He thumped down in the pilot's chair swallowing down his nausea and after a few moments brought up the long range broadcast messages.

"All citizens of the Last City are to evacuate immediately-"

"Red Legion forces have been spotted in the outlying mountains. All Guardians should-

"Fireteam Vegas requesting immediate assistance-

"This is a public Vanguard broadcast that the Last City is under siege and all citizens should evacuate immediately-

"Gum Tree gang reporting that we have a thousand refugees with us but the Red Legion are closing in. If anyone can assist-

Shin stared at the blinking message beacon as he scrolled through them. Each one was worse than the last. All of them requesting aid or warning about being attacked or Vanguard broadcasts about evacuations. Shin just sat there for almost an hour listening to the messages slowly devolving and getting more desperate, his stomach an entire knot. He didn't think he could do anything and that alone filled him with so much dread and not a bit of despair. It was finally that- that feeling of helplessnes- that made him get up and throw up next to his ship.

He felt a bit better after that honestly. He wiped his mouth and went back into the cockpit. "Where was the closest distress call?" Shin asked his Ghost, voice devoid of emotion.

"A group of Guardian ships were shot down by Red Legion ships out in the Pacific," his Ghost said quietly.

"City refugees?" Shin asked turning his ship's engines on. The stairs folded back up into the ship as it lifted off the camp site.

"I'm unsure. I only found their mayday distress call. It's the closest to us."

"Okay," and Shin pulled his ship up into low orbit to easier circumnavigate to the Pacific ocean cutting down half a dozen hours of flying to just one. As he re-entered atmosphere and dived towards the ocean he could see the debris field. His Ghost sent out of narrow range broadcast.

There was no response.

Shin still kept his ship above the debris field and opened his ship so he could lean out over the ocean and look with his own eyes. The jump ships were sunk and only debris and flotsam from the crash lingered at the top of the water. He saw no bodies. Either they'd sunk or sharks had gotten them. The sea had swallowed the bodies and the ships whole.

"Where's the next one?" he snarled at his Ghost, slamming back into the pilot's seat.

"On the main land. It's fresh, only a few minutes old- eep," he squeaked when Shin pulled the ship into such an intense vertical attitude the nose was nearly straight up and his Ghost smacked into the back of the cockpit from the sudden g-force.

A Red Legion ship intercepted him before he could get too close to the coast and opened fire on him. "Take the controls," he told his Ghost and got up. He grabbed his helmet on the way to the door and pulled it on.

"Where are you- Shin- Shin I can't bring you back if you do something stupid," his Ghost called after him nervously.

"I know. Bring me over that ship," and Shin opened the door of his own. His Ghost obeyed reluctantly and Shin stepped off as soon as he trusted himself to land.

He landed hard on top of the thresher. It immediately tried to shake him off but he used a knife to dig himself into the top of the thresher. His eyes flashed green as the corrupted green fire surged through him in rage and it didn't make a familiar shining gun like Solar Light. Instead it raced up his arm like a wildfire and turned his entire arm into a claw and he peeled open the thresher like a sardine can exposing the inside.

There were a few Cabal inside and they yelled when they saw him, pointing and starting to shoot him. He dropped down onto their level and kicked the gun out of his face at the same time he drew the Thorn. These things didn't get an easy death. He'd let the Thorn feast on their putrid black blood.

He put the muzzle of the Thorn to a Cabal's head and pulled the trigger. The Thorn shivered in delight being held in his corrupted hand. He barely stopped to watch that Cabal crumple to the ground before firing on the next three. Each one went down in a shower of their own blood as the Thorn's enormous dagger bullets carved themselves into their flesh and fed off their life force. Just because the Thorn couldn't strip a Guardian of all their Light anymore didn't mean it wasn't a ravenous thing and Shin had not fed it in a long time. It was Hungry.

The last Cabal managed to shoot their gun at him. It hit him in the leg but he didn't even register the pain and shot them with the Thorn too. Thorn whispered in satisfaction to him and the flesh on his neck and scalp crawled as he felt the wound on his leg heal, forcing the bullet out. He never liked that.

He went to the cockpit and found the pilots. Two bullets, one for each of them, finished this crew off. "Transmat still work?" he asked his Ghost over comms.

"Yes. I think so."

"Get me out of here," and he looked at the corpses in contempt. His Ghost obeyed and transmatted him back to his ship.

[aminiatureworld]

Affection II

Characters: Childe, Ganyu, Kaeya, gn!reader

Word Count: 5,577

Warnings: None

Premise: Sometime we know something is impossible from the start. But still we walk towards it, even if we know it will hurt us. It’s only flirting, only a smile or a hug or some food. Even if nothing comes of it, there is nothing to regret. Even if it hurts.

In which the reader gives affection, expecting nothing in return.

Author’s Note: Evidently I’ve really missed writing these properly. I had such a great time writing, and I hope you guys enjoy these just as much as I did.

Also I’ve decided the version on Ao3 will now always be without bullet points, so if you prefer that format the link will be in the reblog.

Childe

You’d been floored by Childe pretty much since the day you two had met.

What had turned into the two of you meeting had started out a most unfavorable encounter. You’d gone to Lingju Pass, trying to survey some of the carvings of the old structure, and attempting to see the sort of methods used to construct such vast rocky complexes at the time. Unfortunately this goal had quickly turned into a goal of “don’t get caught”, as you’d found the Pass crawling with Fatui members. Though you weren’t nearly helpless, you’d also not come prepared for battle; and had spent most of the “fight” dodging around various blows while trying not to drop the expensive equipment that you’d borrowed from other Guild members.

Just as you’d come to the conclusion that the options were either drop everything and run or get thoroughly injured by a bunch of arrogant Snezhnayan soldiers there was a change in the air. The Fatui soldiers’ expression turned from one of glee to one of confusion, and then one of panic, as one by one a streak of blue began to throw them this way and that. As you regained focus of the terrain your realized that it wasn’t a streak at all but a person, a person who was wildly adept at sword play. Eventually the number of unconscious people had risen to five, and there was no one left but him and you.

“Need any help?”

The words might’ve been kind, had it not been for the smirk on the man’s face. Though you felt that the right answers would’ve probably been to scowl, you found you couldn’t, too wrapped up in the memory of this mysterious person darting this way and that, handling his water-made daggers with the grace of a ballet dancer.

“I’m Childe.” These words finally brought you back to the present.

“You’re a member of the Fatui.”

“I am.”

“Then why did you knock those guys out just now?”

“Boredom.”

You stared at Childe incredulously. Of course you’d heard his name, the man who, it was whispered, almost pulled Liyue into the sea. You’d formed a sort of mental picture of him completely divorced from the redhead now standing in front of you, bouncing slightly on his feet as he smiled cockily. He looked more like a rogue adventurer than one of the heads of a crime syndicate. Maybe that was why you found yourself infatuated, rather than afraid.

This infatuation only grew, fed by the encounters that you had with Childe. It seemed now you couldn’t avoid him, not that you wanted to. What had begun as a chance encounter multiplied into two, into four; soon enough you two had struck up a sort of friendship, one that baffled everyone else around you.

Of course you hadn’t lost all your sense, knowing quite well that the puppy love you were feeling could never be anything more. The way Childe talked about his work, about his duty to the Tsaritsa, made it very clear that he wouldn’t let a partner in his life or in his loyalties. And even if he changed his mind, why would he choose you? You were an adventurer sure, but you hadn’t even been able to properly defend yourself the first time the two of you met, and your oversight of that would’ve surely turned Childe away. Besides, Childe could probably make a partner out of anyone he wanted, if they were foolish enough. Why should that person be you?

Perhaps it was that knowledge that allowed you to be so free in your affection, spurred on by Childe’s own open nature. Hand holding, hugging, leaning one’s head on the other’s shoulder, it was the language of friendship that you two had adopted, and something that you greatly appreciated. There was something nice about a friendship in which one could be so open about caring about someone, without expecting things to go farther. Because you didn’t, you really didn’t. And though that might’ve been a bit painful, it was a small price to pay for Childe’s company.

“I’m going off to Mondstadt for a bit.”

“What?”

You drew away from Childe a bit to look into his face. The two of you were walking along the path towards Yaoguang Shoal, as Childe had taken a particular liking to the Starconches that lined its shores. Now he smiled awkwardly, squeezing your hand and shrugging his shoulders.

“I know, I know. There’s apparently this branch of the Fatui holed up there right now, and I’ve been asked to consult about something, though archons know what it is.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I’m not sure, I think about two weeks? I’m not sure what exactly is going on, but the troops really must be in disarray if they need me skulking around for the next two weeks.” He let out a awkward laugh.

“I’ll miss you.” You replied, bumping your head into his shoulder and frowning. “It’s very boring without you.”

“I’m sure you’ll be perfectly capable without me.” Childe smiled, one eyebrow raised slightly. “After all, what would you do if I left someday, permanently. You’d have to find a way without me.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” You replied hurriedly, switching the conversation towards something more pleasant. Unfortunately however the words had already been said, and the damage had already been done.

It had been two weeks since Childe had left for Mondstadt, and though normally you might’ve been waiting at the city gates for his return, you found yourself on the familiar road towards Lingju. Childe’s words had been ringing in your ears for the past two weeks, and you’d found the more time passed the more you kept thinking about them.

What would you do if I left someday, permanently. Is that what Childe truly wanted? To leave? The idea made your stomach hurt, as you began once more to run all your interactions through your head, as if trying to find a flaw in the strips of memory you had of Childe. Was that what Childe truly wanted, or was it simply that he was sick of you? When he’d said “you’d have to find a way without me” did that mean he wanted to find a way without you? Perhaps you’d been too forward, too demanding. Perhaps he’d managed to realize your feelings and felt repelled by them. Had it been too much, meeting him almost everyday for some periods of time, eating lunch together and sometimes dinner. What about that time you’d invited him over to your house to play a game? Had that been too much?

You sighed, dragging yourself over the final ridge. Sitting down to take a rest you closed you eyes. You hated that your mind wandered this way, that no matter what you couldn’t help but ask yourself again and again, what had you done. What would Childe think about this sad person laying on the ground, the sad part was you couldn’t answer that question.

The sound of footsteps brought you back to the present, and you let out a suppressed groan at the figures in your line of sight.

“Don’t you guys ever get posted anywhere else?” You rolled your eyes, reaching behind your back to summon your polearm.

“You’re trespassing.” The voice that came out of the Electro Vanguard was so deep and distorted as to be hilarious.

“Lastly I checked you were neither a citizen of Liyue, nor Rex Lapis, so if anyone’s “trespassing” on public territory it’s you.” You sighed. “Oh well. Unfortunately you caught me on a day where I’m somewhat prepared.” With that you lunged towards the Hydro Legionnaire and the fight began.

Fighting when one is already frustrated is both a blessing and a curse. The fight itself was almost invigorating, the first Fatui hit the ground and with it you felt part of your worries fade away, if only for the small window of time which this fight offered. Was this why Childe fought so much? The though crossed your mind as you whirled behind the Pyro Bracer and pressed as much Electro as you dared into the back of his head, tripping him with the staff of your polearm on his way down.

Soon enough there was only you and the Electro Vanguard left. Unfortunately you were beginning to feel the other side affect of anger, that being misfocus. Being more versed in using your polearm as a sort of lightning rod your found the Vanguard much harder to deal with, more than once barely diving out of the way of the hammer he was swinging around, surprisingly light on his feet considering what the weight must be. Your anger was quickly draining, turning into something more akin to panic, and as you found yourself stumbling more and more you realized that today was really, really not your day.

The Vanguard was becoming aware of how fast you were tiring, a gravelly sort of laugh emerging from behind his mask. As you found your with you back to the slope you wondered if it was just worth it to make an escape. The Fatui swung his hammer once more, barreling towards you. Having nothing left to do you put your polearm out in front of you, hoping that your arms were strong enough not to recoil against the inevitable blow. Closing your eyes you thought of nothing, drowning in a sea of panic. If there was any coherent part of your brain it wished that you weren’t here, that you just stayed home, or swallowed you pride and gone to the gate. But it was too late now, and you were about to get hit.

However the blow never landed, instead a loud sound pierced the air. Whipping your arms open you saw the Electro Vanguard stumble, his hammer having been dropped on the ground. He was grasping towards his ankle, in which was stuck an arrow, glowing a faint aquamarine. Swearing the Fatui member glanced around, before stumbling away, dragging his weapon and his left leg behind him like dead weight.

“Some things never change, huh?”

“Childe!” You whirled towards your once again savior, face burning from embarrassment. “I took out the rest of them this time.”

“I can see that,” said Childe, surveying the area, a telltale smirk on his face, “very impressive. Although, if I may suggest, next time try to take out the Electro Vanguard first, especially since you don’t wield a weapon made for pure damage.”

“Is this turning into a teaching moment?”

“Absolutely not.” Childe laughed.

You found the sound catching, and soon a smile spread across your face as you let your polearm disappear once more. You ran up to Childe, and were about to throw you arms around his neck in a characteristic hug, when the thoughts of before came ramming back into your brain. Taking a step back you planted your arms firmly in front of you, hoping that maybe Childe hadn’t noticed what you’d been about to do.

However Childe approached you instead.

“You weren’t at the gate today.” He said coyly, lips drifting somewhere between a smirk and a frown.

“I’m sorry.” You lowered your head. “I just thought, well maybe that would be better. Since you said you might be leaving permanently and all, and since you were right when you said I’d have to figure things out without you, I don’t know, I thought maybe it’d be for the best.”

Looking up the expression on Childe’s face could only be described as one of complete disbelief. For a moment he stayed frozen in place.

“What in Teyvat do you mean I’m leaving permanently?”

“You said that! Remember… when we were going to pick sea shells you said that you were leaving.” You stepped back, cheeks flushed. “Or maybe you were just sort of sick of me or something.”

“Why would you ever think that?” Childe walked up to you, enveloping one of the hands at your side in his own and bringing it up towards him.

“I… I don’t know,” you replied, feeling very confused and very foolish, “I thought maybe that I was being too affectionate, or too clingy. I mean I know you don’t like me or anything like that. And I thought maybe that I was crossing the boundaries of our friendship.”

“I don’t like you? I’ve liked you since almost the first day we’ve met!”

“Not like that! I mean, like like, you know? As in… well, as in I… I love you.” You let your voice peter out.

“I love you too!” Childe let out. Shaking his head he smiled widely. “That’s what I’m trying to say. I’ve liked you since almost the first time we’ve met. I wasn’t trying to shoo you away.”

“What?” Your brain was short circuiting. Something had gone terribly wrong. You’d definitely been knocked out at some point, and was now hallucinating. There was no way Childe liked you, loved you. He could love anyone, why would he love you.

Childe stepped closer, moving so that your foreheads were almost pressed together.

“May I?” He whispered, voice almost shy. You nodded, a just as small “yes” escaping your lips before Childe cut off your ability to say anything more. It was a short kiss, sweet and chaste, and yet you felt everything around you suddenly come into sharp, almost lucid clarity. You weren’t dreaming. This was happening. This was Childe and he liked you. Childe like you. He liked you, he really liked you.

“Why?” You let out, when the two of you separated. Thankfully Childe remained close to you, being without his presence now would’ve been quite lonely.

“Why what?”

“Why me? I’m not, I don’t know, I can’t even knock out an Electro Vanguard without help.”

Childe let out a laugh, lovely as music.

“I don’t know,” he replied, eyes sparkling, “because you’re you. And I like you.”

And all of a sudden you found that that was enough.

 Ganyu

The days that you accompanied Ganyu on her various errands were the ones in which you were most aware that you were on a level utterly below her.

Of course humans could never really measure up to adepti, after all they made the world and humans simply lived in it. Still in terms of humans, well you weren’t exactly pushing exceptional. If Ganyu represented all that was exceptional about the adepti, well then you represented the average human who didn’t like their job and overall went about their day as unnoticeable as an ant on the road.

Of course Ganyu never acted in a way that would betray the imbalance between the two of you. Indeed Ganyu was nothing if not kind, sweet, and utterly without a semblance of hierarchy. It was one of the things that you adored about her, the straightforward honesty she carried with her, and the way that she appeared not to judge living beings on a scale, even if that was the right of those who were higher and didn’t have to worry about said scale.

“Can you carry this for me?” Ganyu’s voice was soft and somewhat hesitant. You smiled widely, knowing that Ganyu simply had difficulty asking other people for help.

“Of course I can!” Scooping up the package that was stretched out towards you, you saw Ganyu let out a short sigh of relief.

“Thank you.”

“Of course! I’m always happy to help you. Where are we taking this?”

“Over to the funeral parlor. It seems that there are some tiles in here that are being used for a specific ritual. Hu Tao said that the family wanted it, I hope she doesn’t actually mean she pushed them towards it.” Ganyu let out a soft sigh. “She once suggested advertising for cremation. Somehow I feel that won’t exactly be welcomed by the people.”

“No one likes to be reminded of their own mortality. Ah, but Hu Tao is doing her best, and if these tiles end up being insulators, I suppose we can’t do much about it. I’ll make sure not to drop them anyways. Getting on Hu Tao’s bad side feels like asking for a prank.”

“You’re probably right.” Ganyu chuckled.

You blushed slightly, loving the way her laugh sounded, soft and open. You knew Ganyu struggled sometimes; she admitted to you herself that it was very difficult to live an existence defined by liminality. Was she an adeptus? Was she a human? She was neither, and yet both would claim her and call her other. In understanding this Ganyu had retreated into herself. Perhaps that’s why her laugh meant so much.

As you strolled down the docks an angry voice cut through the air.

“Qixing!”

Both of you turning around you saw Bolai, heaving slightly, teetering his way towards you. His face was stormy, and for a moment you wondered if someone had stolen something. His words when he caught up however revealed a very different motivation.

“I demand justice!”

“What for?” Ganyu asked, voice deadly serious once more.

“What for? For what Huixin said in regards to me! For the Liyue Qixing complying with disgusting rumors as to the ways in which I conduct my business and my finances. As to the way that you promised to help me then turned on me!”

“I see…” Ganyu sighed as you wracked your brain, trying to remember what she’d told you about the time that she and the traveler ran around trying to detangle various examples of tax fraud. “Have you considered putting up a formal complaint?” Ganyu meanwhile was still trying to keep professional, something that you admired her for.

“How am I supposed to trust the Qixing after what happened? No! I demand compensation now!”

“Sir, I’m sure you’re quite upset, but there’s no need to act in such a way. If you wish to clear your name, then we can meet in private and review the testimony and documents we received. If not, then I’m afraid there is nothing I can do for you. I’m very sorry.”

Ganyu turned back towards the direction in which you two had been previously walking. Evidently too agitated to think properly Bolai let out a strangled cry.

“We’re not finished yet!” Reaching out, he seemed to be attempting to turn Ganyu around by the shoulder. Having been standing there unthinking you now moved to block the action, knowing that Bolai didn’t really mean anything by it, but not trusting the man who looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel. Bolai’s hand instead smacked into the box in your hands, which slipped from your grip and fell to the floor in a great crash.

Time seemed to slow down somewhat after this, as Bolai stepped backwards and Ganyu turned around, face one of evident horror at the scene. You felt your face begin to burn as you looked at the unassuming box, which now looked a little bit the worse for wear.

“What…” Ganyu trailed off. Bolai waved his hands about in a panicked sort of way.

“That wasn’t me! That wasn’t my fault! It was this person they… I don’t know what they were thinking, getting in the way like that. How idiotic! This is nothing but a mess, a disgrace!”

Normally you wouldn’t pay Bolai’s words any mind, but now they seemed to pierce right through, as you realized all the trouble you’d just caused Ganyu. Glancing over towards her you found you could neither look her in the eyes nor stay where you were.

“I-I’m sorry!” You stammered. Moving to pick up the box you found your hand hesitating. Fearing that you’d just make things worse you pulled yourself and dashed in the opposite direction, speeding up the docks and towards the outskirts of the city.

Normally the view from Mount Tianheng was one that stole your breath away. Today however the mountain seemed completely uninteresting, especially when compared to the thoughts racing in your head.

How had you gotten here, how had you messed up so much? Ganyu didn’t need your posturing, your attempt to help. She was an adeptus for Morax’s sake! And who were you? Someone who couldn’t even carry a box from Point A to Point B. And now you’d just caused more trouble for Ganyu, when she already had so much to do.

“I’m such a failure.” You groaned into your palms.

“You aren’t!” You lifted your head at the soft exclamation, already knowing who the voice belonged to. Ganyu sidled up to the ledge of the mountain silently, fidgeting with her hands. “May I sit next to you?”

“Of course.” You replied, grateful that Ganyu was even talking to you. Smiling softly the Qixing Emissary let out a soft sigh.

“I love the view of the city from here.” She spoke softly, eyes on the horizon.

“I do too.”

“There’s something so lovely about watching everyone go about their day, isn’t there? To see the people work in harmony to bring prosperity and peace to the city of Liyue. To see how everyone continues on the legacy of Rex Lapis.”

“That’s a lot to see.” You joked, still feeling a little uncomfortable, as if Ganyu might in a minute get up and leave.

“But can’t you see it?” Ganyu’s voice was earnest and her eyes shined. “It’s wonderful how people do it, how they continue to make this city thrive, to keep the contracts of Morax alive and within living memory.”

“Perhaps it’s just harder for humans to judge it themselves?”

“Perhaps.” Ganyu’s expression shifted into something, almost shy, not quite melancholic. “Just like how you’re finding it difficult to forgive yourself.”

“I’m so sorry Ganyu. I don’t know what I was thinking! I just… I just, wasn’t thinking.”

“You were trying to be kind.” Ganyu replied, something almost akin to blush coating her cheeks. “And I have to thank you for that.”

“But I just caused more trouble…”

“You were trying to be kind,” Ganyu repeated, “like I said, you’re finding it difficult to forgive yourself. But you have to. You didn’t truly do anything that needs forgiveness.”

“But I was doing it for completely selfish reasons!” You blurted out, embarrassment and doubt turning into the words you never wanted to utter. “It’s because I like you, and not just because I was trying to be nice. But because, because maybe I wanted to do something for you, and then maybe I’d be good enough maybe.” Realizing how odd that just sounded you turned your head away. For a moment your words hung in the air, and the longer the silence continued the longer you thought about how utterly selfish you were.

“Thank you.” There was a smile in Ganyu’s voice, and as you turned your head once more you could see it plastered across her face.

“For what?”

“For telling me you like me.”

“But… but isn’t it just burdening you? After all I’m not good enough for you.”

“You are!” Ganyu’s voice was firm. “You’re absolutely good enough for me. And what you did, you call it selfishness, but I don’t understand that. Being kind to people you like isn’t selfish, even if you like them. Because this time you were genuinely helping me. Besides, if that’s selfish then I’ve also been terribly selfish.”

“How?”

“By asking you to accompany me everywhere. Because maybe, maybe I like you too.”

For a moment you wondered if you hadn’t accidentally slipped off the cliff, so weightless did you feel. A bit lightheaded you leaned forward.

“Really?”

“Yes.” Ganyu smiled nervously. Reaching out she took your hand in hers.

The two of you watched the sun set over the city of contracts mostly in silence. Every once in a while there would be a spurt of conversation, but mostly there was nothing but the sounds of the birds and the cicadas, and the pounding of two hearts, hearts both a bit ragged from the events of the day.

For what a day it had been. And how wonderfully it had ended.

 Kaeya

If you could use anything as justification for your crush on Kaeya, he did flirt with you. Unfortunately he also flirted with everyone else in Mondstadt.

“How’s my favorite knight of Favonius?” Kaeya’s cocky voice was clear as a bell, and for a moment your heart flipped as the handsome knight came into view, smile as lovely as it had been the day before.

“Blessed by the presence of our beloved cavalry captain.” You replied in a singsong voice.

The first time Kaeya had used that line on you it felt like your soul had left your body and your heart had run a marathon. Unfortunately you’d heard him use practically the same line on Rosaria the next day, his favorite mysterious nun, robbing you of your fantasy in which Kaeya had any interest for you.

Your banter however was not without genuine feeling. You were utterly infatuated with Kaeya, having fallen for the handsome knight about two weeks into your own training. Originally having been an adventurer you’d joined the knights relatively recently after a series of Abyss attacks on the City of Freedom. As such Kaeya had by then already occupied an exalted position among the ranks, and the hours of being trained, teased, and flirted at by the mysterious cavalry captain had been enough to throw you head over heels.

Not that you’d ever expect things to develop more than they already had. Having a crush on the flirtiest man in Mondstadt did mean that you were praised every once in a while, but it also meant that the praise meant little more than empty words, and that there was always someone else who had heard them. Not that you begrudged those people, not knowing them or not caring. It was Kaeya’s right to be as he was, flirty and irreverent; and you’d never ask him to change that part of himself, or any other.

To do so would be to change the person you’d grown to love.

You trotted up the steps of the Favonius headquarters, opening the door with a slight “oof” before stepping into the cool building. Today was going to be a quiet sort of day for the knights, and you’d been assigned to pick up a few books from Jean’s office to be recorded by Lisa before being sent off to the Church. Going to open the door you paused at the voices inside.

“– saying it’s nothing.”

“And I’m saying that it’s becoming a distraction. I don’t want to control your actions Kaeya, but this pining has been slowing down your work, and we need you as one of our most crucial members to be on top of things.”

“I’m not pining.”

“What do you mean you aren’t pining,” Jean let out a snort, “as if it’s not obvious to everyone around you. Look, I’m not saying you have to break things off –”

“Good, because they haven’t even begun.”

“Then maybe that’s part of your problem. Maybe if you told them you liked them then you’d be able to get back on track.”

“I’m doing my best.”

“You aren’t doing anything. And that’s the problem.”

You didn’t hear the rest of the conversation, having made your way over to the library as to make sure that you were get caught, and to cool your head in regards to what you’d just heard.

So Kaeya liked someone. You shouldn’t’ve really been surprised. Kaeya was a wonderful person; intelligent, good with a weapon, polite, handsome. What person wouldn’t fall in love with him? And when everyone’s in love with you, well, it was unsurprising that eventually Kaeya would find someone who he loved back just as much. Then, why did it hurt?

You fought the urge to wrack your brain for the people Kaeya spoke most about, finding the act beneath you. Still, your mind wandered. Perhaps it was Rosaria after all, or maybe it was only because you remembered her. Perhaps it was the sword smith who came twice monthly to check up on the weaponry. Or perhaps it was the tailor, who could sew anything with the utmost care. Or perhaps it was a musician, or an archivist, or another knight. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

Your head swam and you found your eyes stinging. Now wasn’t the time to cry, not when you needed to honor your appointment with Jean, not when you were somewhere where any one of your colleagues might discover you. Not where Kaeya might walk in any minute and realize what you’d done. This thought finally brought you out of the spiral of your mind. Making sure that any tears that might’ve escaped were wiped away you took a deep breath, steadying yourself before you walked out of the library and into Jean’s office.

Evidently you must’ve looked much worse than you thought, for Jean took one look at you and ordered you home, grumbling about how much trouble there had been recently. You thanked her half-heartedly before making your way out of the Headquarters, heart heavy as lead. At least work would’ve been a welcome distraction.

Arriving home you saw what Jean meant. Though you weren’t particularly teary, your face had taken on an ashen pallor that made it look like you’d either just gotten a shock, fainted, or had suddenly contracted consumption. Letting out a sigh you collapsed on the couch of your apartment. You knew you should probably do something, should eat or work on some extra work or something. But right now you didn’t want to do any of that. You just wanted to forget.

The knock that sounded at your door was extremely unwelcome, and you bit back bitter words as you made your way over to the door. Any protest however was silenced at the sight of Kaeya, hair slightly tussled, expression opaque, on your doorstep.

“Kaeya.” You meant to sound more peppy, but the action felt too tiring. “What’re you doing here?”

“Making sure that you’re alright. Jean told me that you looked unwell, and we can’t have our best knight getting sick, now can we?”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

You went to turn around, when Kaeya reached over and place his hand on your forehead. Freezing you let out a sound somewhere between a strangled cry and a shriek. Kaeya didn’t react to this however, or the red quickly spreading across the bridge of your nose. Instead he let out a sigh, before smiling, something which also caused your heart to seize up.

“Not running a fever. I’m glad. Do you know what’s wrong by any chance?”

“Yes. No! I mean, I think, I, I just need rest.”

“You can tell me if something’s wrong. I might not be able to help, but I can try. Consider it the duty of the Cavalry Captain. Have to keep up appearances, even among the ranks.”

“Really Kaeya, I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine.” Kaeya’s eye seemed to pierce through your soul. “You seem… upset, exhausted. Please, let me help.”

“I can’t…” Your voice cracked and you turned your head away, mortified by your inability to control yourself.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Kaeya’s voice was filled with sudden worry. “Is someone doing something to you?”

“No! No one is. I just can’t because, because it’d be selfish.”

“What do you mean?” Kaeya’s tone had become utterly perplexed, and for a moment you felt the crazy urge to laugh. As if it wasn’t painfully obvious why you couldn’t. This was so tiring. You were so tired.

“Because it’s not fair of me to take away your happiness just because of my own feelings.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I heard you talking to Jean,” you explain, face burning, “she said that you liked someone. Or maybe you did, I don’t remember. Anyways you like someone and it’s not fair of that to hurt me, I have no right to your feelings. But, but it hurts, it really, really hurts.”

The silence when you finished was miserable. You weren’t even looking up at Kaeya, not wanting to see the destruction of a friendship you valued so much.

“Have you considered that the person I’m so infatuated with might be you?”

When you looked up you caught a wave of emotions, similar in strength to the ones currently going through you, plastered over Kaeya’s face. Happiness, sadness, regret, relief; all these things danced in his eyes. In that moment you loved him even more for it, for knowing that he understood, and that he too couldn’t hide the affects of having someone you loved so close and yet so far.

Saying nothing you walked over and slowly stretched your hand out. Kaeya took the hand in his, and you reveled in the small intimacy, in his calloused fingers enveloping yours.

“I’m not good enough.” You pointed out, voice soft.

“You aren’t the one who decides who I love.” Kaeya replied, voice firm. “To me there is no one else worthy in the world. Only you. And I hope that I can be the same for you, that I can be worthy.”

“Yes. Oh yes.”

For Kaeya was more than simply worthy. He was the one you loved the most, as well as the one who’d now made you the happiest person you could ever dream of.

[genshin-impact-fics]

I love your fatui! reader x genshin really tugged on my heartstrings right there.

if it's alright can i ask for a continuation for keqing? 👉🏻👈🏻 like the two of them inevitably have to fight each other ft. other fatui and keqing gets overwhelmed so the reader ultimately betrays her peers and gets gravely injured (i live for the angst-hurt/comfort)

again thank you for writing this it was definitely a fun read 😊

Thank you so much, I really enjoyed writing it as hopefully I'll do more for other characters! I love continuations so I was so happy to write this. I also apologize for not getting this out sooner as I had this in the works with a few other things; however, a couple of personal things came up. But that aside I do hope you enjoy this as I hope you don't mind that I did a hybrid of scenario/fic.

Keqing was asked to go investigate the suspicious activity that was going on near the entrance of the mines with only the mention that it is possibly involving the Fatui. On her travels to get to the location of course her mind had wondered to what she’d possibly find; then the thought of you popped into her head.

It had been so long… Maybe a couple of months since she last saw you since she cut ties after finding out you were with the enemy. There couldn’t be a possibility that you were still in Liyue after the whole incident that had taken place right, she didn’t want to worry about coming to come face to face when the pain and the memories of that day was still very fresh in Keqing’s head

Whatever or whoever was seemingly up to no good, Keqing’s resolve to keep all of Liyue and Liyue Harbor safe stayed strong. Upon arrival so far there had not been a soul in her sights, but of course continued to look around to see if she could find any signs of evidence that people were there. It was after a while of searching that Keqing walked up a couple of stairs until she heard a voice talking. She only saw two figures, one kneeling before the standing figure

“Boss, the rubble that’s blocking the entryway to the Chasm is far greater than initially suspected… It may take us longer to clear it all out,” the masked agent kneeling said. Keqing’s eyes widened at the new information as holding her sword in hand she rushed over to put a stop to the Fatui’s plans. “Stop right there,” she shouted getting both the agents attention; however, the kneeling agent was the only one who jumped up and looked at her

“Leave this to me, get back to the others and get the job done,” the other figure spoke as at that moment she knew right away it was you. When it was just the two of them Keqing’s hold on her sword loosened as she watched as the hood was pulled off. “Of all the people that could have been sent it had to be you… I really wish this wasn’t how we met again,” you said with a small sigh fully turned to face her removing your mask revealing the glimmer of the eyes Keqing had fallen in love with

“What’s the meaning of all of this (Y/n),” she asked as she was mad, she should be mad yet her heart betrayed her as it raced at the sight of you. “Unfortunately that’s classified information,” was all you spoke having a soft expression on your face before you summoned your weapon. “I’d much rather not fight you but knowing you, you just won’t simply walk away… So you give me no other choice.”

The fight between you two was fast as flashes of your elements clashed together blow for blow. The sounds of metals clashing and striking one another till eventually you both skidded apart from each other heavily breathing, small nicks and tears in clothing. The brief moment of the wind passing through before Keqing sprinted forward attacking again.

“You’re a traitor! A Lair,” Keqing shouted, striking her sword at (Y/n) who was simply blocking and staying on the defensive side. “You have every right to be angry with me; I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth. I knew if I did you wouldn’t give me the chance to explain, but please believe me when I say that I dated you because I loved you; I wasn’t trying to use you,” You further said blocking the barrage of attacks. Keqing gritted her teeth as she felt the ache of her chest; how could she believe anything you said, for all she knew you were simply trying to sweet talk her. “How can I believe you when you told them everything that I told you and everything that was in the Jade Chamber,” She shouted angrily, swinging her blade.

Her words of her assumptions of what you possibly did brought a sharp pain to your chest; instead of using your weapon to stop her attack you grabbed the blade by the hand; the small pain of the blade cutting into the skin causing blood to seep out. Looking at her with a hurt expression you looked Keqing in her purple eyes as she was staring back with a shocked expression by your actions. “You-you really think I’d stoop that low to tell the Fatui all the things you’ve told me about and what was in the Jade Chamber? I never told them anything; I might be working for them, but I’ve kept all of our conversations and that of the Chamber to myself this whole time,” You said, causing Keqing to freeze at your words in complete bewilderment. Though before any more words could be exchanged during your fight, the sound of a gun being shot, the two of you jumped back to watch a bullet engulfed in flames hit the dirt of where the two of you just were.

The other members had suddenly appeared shooting attacks as one of the Vanguards charged Keqing. Panic started to slowly overtake you as you had to watch Keqing fight off the others. “What are you all doing?! I told you to get the job done didn’t I,” You shouted trying to get them to back down, but it didn’t seem to be working. “We’ll make quick work of this one,” The Bracer said, aiming his gun to fire another round. Glancing back to Keqing it was clear she was doing her best to at most keep up and dodge the enemies attacks. In this crucial moment there was a decision to be made: to either walk away and let the others continue the fight and simply pray Keqing would flee or betray the Fatui in order to save the woman you still very much loved. Finally coming to your decision you first attacked the bracer to get him out of the way before running over to handle the rest. Getting knocked down Keqing was doing her best to get right back up, but only managed to sit herself up; her attention now on the electro vanguard who’s hammer was up in the air about to come down on her. Closing her eyes she waited for the impact… However after not feeling anything she opened her eyes only for them to widen at the scene before her; there you stood your weapon blocking the hammer before managing to push the tall man back.

“Who do you all think you are?! How dare you go against my orders like a bunch of morons,” You shouted angrily as though she couldn’t see the look on your face, she could only imagine how mad you were. “For your unacceptable behavior you all will face punishment,” you now spoke in a much lower tone, your vision surprisingly enough started to change to a different color before you charged at the other members of the Fatui. It still almost felt unreal of the turn of events that have taken place yet here you were fighting your own peers to protect her, the feeling of guilt creeping in on how she treated you. The fight dragged on a while longer until the last remaining members fled while they could, leaving you to stand by yourself with the few bodies that laid on the ground. You turned around to look over to Keqing to check on her and to your relief she wasn’t hurt too much. “You okay,” you asked, feeling your body grow heavy and tired from the wounds you’ve sustained. Blinking she snapped out of her trance and nodded her head uttering a small yes. “That’s… Good,” you replied smiling before falling over.

“(Y/n),” Keqing shouted, scurrying up to get to you, carefully turning you over gasping at the sight of how grave your injuries were. “Hey! Hey,” she loudly said cupping the side of your face to make you look at her as a flurry of mixed emotions were going on. “What’s the big idea huh?! What do you think you were doing,” she asked sternly as it pained her to see you in such a horrible condition. A weak laugh came out as you reached up a hand to overlap the one holding the side of your face running a thumb over her hand in a comforting manner. “I was pro-tecting you of… Course,” you answered before a hard cough briefly stopping you from talking. “It-it’s okay if you still… Hate me, but I hope that… At least this makes up… For all the bad I’ve done,” you further spoke, wincing when trying to breathe. Tears falling, Keqing feeling the weight of your words hit her heart hard, regretting how cruel she was. The rain started to fall, Keqing couldn’t just mope around and let you die; putting her strong urge to cry aside, she carefully picked up your body and made a run back to the harbor as hopefully Dr. Baizhu would be able to help.

Who knew how long you had been out for, though much to your surprise you were actually alive but how? The sight of an unfamiliar ceiling was the first thing you saw before you tried to move to sit up to further investigate your surroundings. “Don’t you dare try to move, you’ll only reopen your wounds,” the stern voice of Keqing rang in your ears as looking over she was now right beside you causing a small strained laugh out of you. “How could you be laughing, you could have died,” She said now sitting on the edge as she had a sad expression on her face. “Hehe sorry, sorry… But really if it meant that I knew you were safe I was well prepared to die,” You answered as suddenly Keqing was now gently hugging you and the soft sound of her crying reached your ears. “You idiot, you can’t go dying on me! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for how cruel I was to you and all those harsh things I said to you. I love you so don’t try throwing your life away for me!” she spoke, carefully hugging you firmer. It brought a relief to you to hear that she still loved you so in return you put a hand on her back and rubbed it in a comforting manner. “It’s alright I never held it against you, though if it makes you feel better then I forgive you… I will always protect you, you’re the love of my life,” you responded with a soft smile. Having begun the mending of your relationship you two shared a short kiss before Keqing brought over some food and medicine for you to take; it would take time for you to get better, but at least you were still alive.

[doyumacy]

ʀɪᴅᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ - 2

ʏᴜᴛᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ x ᴍᴀʀᴋ ʟᴇᴇ

ɢᴇɴʀᴇ: ꜱᴍᴜᴛ, ᴅʀᴀᴍᴀ, ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ: ᴜꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴅʀᴜɢꜱ, ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴅʀᴜɢꜱ, ꜱᴍᴜᴛ (ᴏʀᴀʟ ꜱᴇx ᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰ. ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠɪɴɢ) ʟᴀɴɢᴜᴀɢᴇ, ᴀʟᴄᴏʜᴏʟ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍᴘᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 5,2ᴋ

3

two years ago

“起きて、女の赤ちゃん” (okite, on'na no akachan) (get up, baby girl) you hear yuta whisper.

you groan, rolling on your stomach and burying your head in the pillows. yuta chuckles. “come on, doll. it’s time to wake up.”

“how can you even ask me to wake up at...?” you turn your head and check the hour, “seven in the morning?! are you sick to your head?”

yuta grins. “i got a flight to catch, don’t you remember?”

“oh,” you sigh sadly. “is it today?”

he nods and kisses your head. “get up. i’ll make breakfast and then you can come back to sleep.”

you shake your head. “i’ll take you to the airport.”

“that’s my girl,” he smirks and gives you a peck.

you smile and stand up, unfolding your sleeping (yuta’s) shirt. he grins when you turn around entering the bathroom and seeing half of your ass.

so sexy.

once he’s finished cooking, he serves you and you eat quietly. when you’re done doing the dishes, he’s back from his bedroom carrying a small black expensive bag.

you approach him and wrap your arms around his waist. “don’t go. stay and we can have sex all day.”

yuta laughs and kisses you. “sounds very tempting but i have to go.”

you pout sadly. “i will miss you.”

“i know,” he kisses you again. “i’ll miss you, too.”

“can i ask you something?” you ask, caressing his lower back.

he nods. “anything, baby girl.”

“can i stay here while you’re gone?” you smile looking at him. “i love your place.”

yuta smirks. “of course you can. this is practically your place too.”

you smile big. “little tokyo is my favourite place in los angeles.”

“you say it because i live here,” he softly pinches your nose.

you laugh. “maybe. and because the food is good.”

“mmm yeah,” he cups your face and kisses you. “you love eating japanese.”

you bite your lip. “yeah. it’s my favourite. i always devour it.”

yuta groans. “やめて。” (yamete) (stop).

“make me,” you nip at his lip.

“okay. stop it,” he yanks himself free. “i’m gonna be late.”

you giggle. “let’s go.”

(...)

present

“just a signature here and i’ll take it from here,” you hear a woman behind you say.

you shake your head, getting rid of that memory. one of many memories you made with yuta in the place you’re about to sell.

“yes, of course,” you reply.

you sigh the paper and hand her the folder with the documents. the woman smiles at you. “i’ll call you when i have an offer.”

you nod. “thank you.”

the woman leaves the apartment and you hug yourself, rubbing your forearms. you follow the woman, leaving the place shutting the door behind you.

(...)

one of the things people should know about mark, is that his stubbornness is how he usually gets his way. in all honesty, society depicts whoever is stubborn is just a spoiled brat. it’s not generally like that for mark.

he spends his days in the warehouse and his own condo, and night in the streets. but he can’t put the pieces together.

he knows good and well the elegant beauty known as you won’t be involved in a hellhole like that. he does, he’s not stupid. and neither you are.

he sighs and sits in front of his big tv screen and rubs his chin. there’s something about you that keeps making him go back and look for you. and it’s not like he’s gonna stop seeing you since you live with johnny.

and johnny is his sponsor.

but johnny is smart and he won’t let his sister get in the middle of his business, right? for her safety?

“hey mark,” yves calls him, entering the room. “we got a meeting. narcotics deal with the vanguards squad.”

to be frank, he never wanted to make business with them because they were problematic, they are known for narcotics and gambling, but still.

mark stands up and makes his way to the vanguard squad’s warehouse.

mark, along with johnny, yves and jaehyun arrive at the warehouse. his companions sit on the black sofa, their eyes meeting the 2 familiar faces they dread to see. one of them has very pushed back dark hair and a red haired greet them.

“good evening, guys,” the dark haired smirks.

“let’s just skip this,” johnny says. “what is it that you want?”

“well, narcotics of course,” the black haired sits in front of them.

“but we don’t want the crap the yakuzas are selling,” the red haired says.

“we don’t have contact with the yakuza,” johnny admits.

“i know,” the black haired nods. “not anymore tho.”

mark frowns. “not anymore?”

“oh yeah, you’re new,” he laughs. “anyway, i know you have someone that almost conquered the market.” he looks at johnny.

johnny clears his throat. “yeah, well he’s not around anymore.”

“we heard,” the red haired replies, “and that’s what we thought.”

jaehyun knits his eyebrows. “we’re not following…”

“we want what the japanese used to sell,” the black haired one crosses one leg. “ that shit was pure methamphetamine and our suppliers haven’t figured out how he did such excellent work.”

johnny presses his lips together. “as i said, he’s not around anymore.”

the black haired squints his eyes, looking at johnny. “you’re to me, johnny. i don’t like being lied to.”

the red haired stands up and comes back holding a black folder, tossing it to johnny on the table between them. johnny opens the folder just to see a few pictures of a black haired yuta in different areas of los angeles.

he gulps.

“he is definitely around,” the red haired smiles.

johnny closes the folder, ignoring the questioning look of jaehyun. “i’ll talk to him.”

the two men smile. “please do it quickly. we don’t like waiting.”

johnny groans. “and stop fucking following us, doyoung.”

doyoung smiles. “tell yuta taeil and i are looking forward to work with him.”

“what the fuck?” jaehyun stares at johnny, once they have left the warehouse. “yuta is alive and you fucking knew?”

johnny sighs. “not right now, jaehyun.”

“fuck off,” jaehyun groans. “what the hell is wrong with you? does y/n know?”

“no, and she can’t know,” johnny warns him.

“okay, this seems like a family thing so i think we shouldn’t be here,” mark states.

“no no,” johnny shakes his head. “just, don’t tell y/n, okay? i’ll find a way to convince doyoung and taeil to get a new supplier.”

“you know they won’t change their minds,” yves says, looking at her nails. “come on, this is a business. fuck family.”

“you’re a bitch,” jaehyun glances at her.

“keep crying about it,” yves mocks him.

“shut up,” johnny groans. “if you say a word about what you found out today i’ll kill you.”

jaehyun rolls his eyes. “you’re a piece of shit, johnny.”

“i didn’t have a choice!” johnny stares at him.

“okay okay,” mark gets in the middle of them. “whatever the reason was i’m sure you have an explanation, but we need to keep in mind we can’t fuck around doyoung and taeil. they’ll eat us alive.”

“mark’s right,” yves replies. “you need to get your shit together and separate your friendship and business or you're gonna get us all killed for real.”

(...)

“hello?” mark greets after he picks up the phone.

“lee,” you say. “hi.”

“who is this?” mark jokes.

you scoff. “it’s me.”

“mmm,” he hums. “i don’t remember you. who are you again?”

you sigh, trying to keep your patience. “it’s y/n. y/n suh.”

“ah, yeah. i remember you. what’s up?”

“you can pick up your car today,” you announce.

“cool. i’ll be there in a few hours.”

“okay.”

“okay.”

there’s a silence and you clear your throat. “hang up.”

“you hang up,” mark says.

you groan. “you’re unbearable, mark.”

mark laughs. “i ain’t doing shit.”

“that’s why!” you growl. ��bye, mark.”

“bye y/n,” you can hear him smile.

you hang up and groan. “keep your shit together, y/n.”

“that was very… bad,” you hear jungwoo murmuring behind you.

“don’t even say a word,” you warn him.

jungwoo chuckles. “why would i tell people my friend sucks at flirting?”

“i wasn’t flirting!”you stare at him.

“clearly.” he hums.

you’re about to close the shop by the time mark stops by. he walks to you, fixing his hair and greets you smiling. “sorry, there was an accident on the 101.”

“yeah, i heard,” you say. “follow me, your car is behind the shop.”

mark follows you and you open the back door garage. you take his car keys and tosses at him. “you can check it out or try it.”

“nah, i trust you,” mark opens the car door. “see you tonight?”

“what’s tonight?” you frown.

“there's a race in southern cali,” he tilts his head. “i thought you knew.”

you hiss. “fucking johnny told me it was cancelled.”

“oh,” mark nods. “guess i just screwed up.”

“see you there,” you grab your jacket.

“alright, gorgeous,” he smirks, getting inside his car. “looking forward.”

you roll your eyes, hiding a smile.

you wear lilac leather pants and a white tanktop, showing your torso off. your hair is down and straightened.

you know the south of california like the palm of your hand.  every neighbourhood or street, you know it and all thanks to your father, who was a trucker and would take you and johnny to his trips most of the time.

“i see you brought a new car,” mark says, walking around the red car.

you throw him a smirk. “it’s taeyong’s.”

“he has a good taste,” mark says, checking the red toyota supra out.

“yeah.”

“but mine’s better,” mark grins.

“is that how you get a woman with you? showing her your car off?” you raise an eyebrow.

mark smiles sideways and leans against the car. “it works, most of the time.”

you nod and bite your lip. “well, it doesn’t work with me.”

“i know,” mark replies. “but still, you would let me fuck you in the backseat.”

you straighten your back up and cross your arms on your chest. “not much into sex car.”

“what are you into then?” mark stares at you.

you grin. “i have to go. see you around mark.”

and you walk away from him, swinging your hips more than you do. mark chuckles and bit at his lip.

this race is more showy, with way more people than the other street races. you’re not racing tonight, but taeyong, mark and other people are. johnny is there expecting mark to win since the bet is high.

as expected, mark ends up in first place, followed by taeyong. mark was received by a big crowd, mostly girls. you roll your eyes and taeyong pats your shoulder. “you will have to deal with his fans.”

“i don’t give a shit about this dude,” you spit out.

“aha,” taeyong nods. “get in. we’re going to a party.”

“did you bring it?” you eye him.

“yeah.”

you smile and get into his car. he drives back to your house and the street is already crowded. you enter your house and spot jaehyun giving drinks to everyone. you approach him and take two beers. you come back with taeyong and hand him one. he opens it and after looking for johnny and don’t seeing him, he takes your hand and goes to the nearest bathroom. he locks the door and takes out a small plastic bag with white powder.

you smile and taeyong pours out two generously thick lines of cocaine on the bathroom counter. “ladies first.”

“thank you.”

you focus on getting the cocaine in your system. getting as much in as you can, but it’s not a race and for the love of fuck, don’t waste the shit. you can tell it’s expensive, and good coke is hard to come by these days.

a few rounds of coke and a fair amount of talking later, taeyong and you are high as hell.

you, taeyong and yuta used to do some lines of coke just to have a bit of fun and feel more relaxed, not making it an addiction of course. you always know when to stop.

“ah,” you stand up. “i need a drink.”

“can you bring me one?” taeyong smiles at you.

you nod and walk to the kitchen. you’re sure everyone at this party is high as hell too, from weed to god knows what. you enter the kitchen and see mark making out with a random girl. you scoff passing next to them and open the fridge. “mmm where the fuck is the buzz?” you ask yourself.

“i’m pretty sure that’s not the place to look for it,” mark says, leaning against the counter next to you.

you frown and shake your head, releasing it’s not the fridge what you opened but the cupboard. you squint your eyes. “correct.”

you walk now to the real fridge and take a vodka bottle out. mark approaches you again and cups your jaw with one hand, looking straight into your eyes. “you are high.”

you shrug and yank your jaw free. “none of your business. go back to your blonde girl.”

“don’t mix drugs and alcohol. are you stupid?” he takes the bottle.

you laugh. “mind your business, mark.”

mark sighs and takes your hand taking out from the kitchen. you don’t know why but your legs won’t listen to you and follow him. you spot taeyong sleeping on the couch you were on minutes ago.

mark takes you out from the house and walks to his car. he helps you to get into the passenger seat and closes the door once you're settled in. he gets in the car as well and starts the engine driving.

you frown and turn to him. “where are you taking me?”

“you need a meal and orange juice,” he states, eyes on the road.

“i don’t want to sober up,” you pout.

“why the hell did you take that shit?” he almost groans.

“it’s a nice feeling,” you shrug, sliding a little on the seat.

“it’s bullshit,” he clenches his teeth.

“ah,” you laugh. “you have never been high, mark lee?”

“i don’t take that shit,” he turns to you. “and if you were smart you wouldn't do it.”

you roll your eyes. “you sound like johnny right now. i’m not an addict, by the way.”

mark parks at a convenient store and he gets off the car. he buys a hot dog and a bottle of orange juice. when he comes back, you have your eyes shut but you’re not sleeping.

you open them when you hear him getting into the car. he hands you the food and you take them. you eat in silence and when you finally finish your orange juice, you look at him. “happy now?”

“not happy,” he replies, resting his back on the backrest.

you stay in silence for a couple of minutes and you look around his car. the black and white interior are cool. “your car’s nice.”

“thanks.”

you press your lips together and stare at mark’s thighs. he has his hands resting on them and you eye at them. they’re pretty and seem soft. a vein popping out calls your attention and that’s when you realize he’s looking at you. you clear your throat and look straight ahead.

“you like my hands?” he asks.

“your ring is nice,” you reply.

mark cups your jaw again, making your face turn to him. “and what about my thighs?”

“n-nice jeans,” you scoff.

mark grins. “thanks.”

you hum in response. his touch against your skin on your face is warm, and you wonder how it’d feel against your p-

“a penny for your thoughts?” he tilts his head.

“i dislike you.”

mark laughs. “your body says a different thing.”

“i get chills just from the thought of me strangling you.”

“kinky,” mark stares at your lips.

“fuck you.”

the lights of the convenient store get turned off and the park is empty. mark never takes his eyes off of you, not sure if he should go for it. he’s thinking about it too much.

“fuck this,” you groan. “can you just fuck me here?”

“i thought you weren’t into car sex,” mark rubs your lower lip.

“i’m not,” you lick his finger. “but i really want to suck you off right now.”

“shit,” he hisses. “it’s all yours.”

your hand reaches for his belt and you undoit slowly, your eye darting to his. you unzip his jeans and palm his clothed dick. mark bites his lips, looking at you. you give him a peck while you take out his dick and stroke him a few times. it’s big and you can see some veins popping out. the tip is red, almost as if it’s angry. you bite your lip and look at mark. “you’re gonna ruin my mouth.”

mark smiles proudly. “just take it slowly, gorgeous.”

you lick mark’s cock to full hardness. mark takes a hand off the wheel and fists it in your hair, pushing you down onto his dick. letting out a long moan, mark throws his head back.

“fuck y/n,” mark pants out as you bob your head on his cock.

you continue to work on mark over with your mouth, tongue slipping and sliding over him, cheeks hollowed out adding the right level of pressure.

mark’s hand tightens in your hair and he starts to move your head more, clearly wanting to find his release. “fuck, you’re so good.”

you slightly bite his tip and you hear mark groan and tighten even more your hair. “shit y/n. no teeth.”

you do it again and he curses. mark shoots into your mouth and you swallow the salty load and lick him clean before putting him back in his jeans. you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand and slide in your seat. “now i’m sober.”

mark’s comes back from his high and turns to you, still panting. “want to go to my place?”

“i’m sleepy.”

“sleep at my place.”

“i just gave you head, isn’t it going to be weird?” you look at him.

“nah,” he turns his car on. “i can sleep on the couch.”

mark takes the 5 driving to his place, blasting some 2000’s hip hop. and then he notices something odd.

a car.

that is following them since they left the parking lot.

“what’s wrong?” you ask, taking note of his sudden change of behavior.

“there’s a black car that has been following us since we left the parking lot,” mark murmurs.

“take the next exit to chinatown,” you look at him.

mark nods, eyes still focused on the view mirror. he can’t pick out exactly who it is. mark leaves the freeway, passing through the cars as fast as he can until he loses the car. he makes a sharp turn and takes the 101 before taking the 5 again. no sign of the car. he finally parks his car inside his building garage and helps you to get out of the car.

mark presses the buttons and unlocks the elevator. you rest your back against the elevator wall and shut your eyes together. “do you know who was following us?”

mark shakes his head. “no idea. you?”

“nope,” you look at him. “maybe some freak?”

“hopefully,” he leans next to you.

“how many floors until we get to yours?” you yawn.

“two,” he replies and smiles looking at you. “that tired?”

“it was a long day,” you shrug.

“can i help you to sleep like a baby?” he asks as the elevator door open.

you hum in response, exiting the elevator. mark stops in front of his door and unlocks it. he lets you in first and you’re surprised by how clean and organized his place is.

“your place is cool,” you say.

“thanks,” mark takes off his jacket and places it on the couch. “my bedroom is on the right, second door. i’ll be there in a minute.”

“ah,” you squint your eyes at him. “i told you i’m sleepy. i ain’t fucking with you tonight.”

“and we’re not,” mark replies from the kitchen. “i’m just gonna help you to sleep better. by eating you out.”

you gulp. “okay.”

you go to his bedroom and spot the comfortable big bed. you get off your leather pants and fold them, placing it on the couch next to the bed. thank god you’re wearing sexy panties.

you lay on the bed and rest your head in the grey covered pillows.

mark enters his bedroom and places a glass of water on the bedside table for you and whistles and he notices your white laced panties. “white is suddenly my favourite color.”

you giggle. “get to work, lee.”

mark laughs and lays on his stomach between your legs. his fingers find the hem of your panties and take them off, tossing them across the bed.

one of his hands moves down between your thighs and spreads your legs a bit more. he plants kisses on them and you sigh. “mark.”

he hums, passing a finger through your silk. “you’re soaked, gorgeous.”

mark is not exaggerating, his finger slides inside you with no resistance at all. your hips rock to match his pace. mark uses his palm to put pressure upon your clit, while his finger strokes your g-spot, causing you to cry out with pleasure. mark then licks you slowly and lightly from the bottom of your lips to the top of your clit.

“oh,” you moan.

mark licks your clit again, pressing his tongue a little deeper this time. you moan again and with the tip of his tongue, he works the slick, sensitive skin just beneath your clit. your hips rock back and forth over him, forcing his tongue across your clit and finally down to your opening. fingers still spreading you wide, he presses his tongue inside you as deep it will go. your muscles tighten around him. he slides his tongue back and forth across your opening, teasing you, and his hands strokes the smooth skin of your thighs, skim over your hips. he pushes his tongue inside of you as quick and hard as he can, and pulls it back out again. with every stroke, he feels you grow wetter and wetter.

“mark,” you gasp. “touch my clit.”

he pulls away from you just long enough to growl, “touch it yourself. touch yourself for me.”

mark pushes your hips back down over his face, and this time he swivels his tongue slowly and he pushes it inside. he can feel your fingers circling your clit now, the tip of your fingernails brushing against his hair with every stroke.

with your free hand, you seize his wrist and drag his hand over you until it’s on one of your covered breast. he squeezes it and doesn't let go, and he feels you tighten around his tongue one more time and he call tell you’re close by the volume of your hasp and cries. the muscles inside you ripple around his tongue as you come. you arch your back as he licks you clean and you moan again due the overstimulation.

before he pulls away he kisses the inside of your thighs again and looks at you smiling. “goodnight, baby.”

he hands you your panties again and you take them, putting them on. “you can stay here. it’s your bed after all.”

“not personal, but i don’t sleep comfortably with someone next to me,” mark wipes his chin and mouth with his hand. “whatever you need just take it, okay?”

you nod and hug a pillow. “thanks. turn the lights off please.”

the next morning, after mark tried to make breakfast and ended up spilling the banana smoothie all over your top, he gives you a ride back to your house wearing one of his shirts.

you enter the kitchen and johnny and jisung are having breakfast together. you open the fridge and take an apple. “good morning, where are your manners?” johnny teases.

“right here,” you lift your middle finger.

jisung slightly chuckles and keeps eating his breakfast. johnny shakes his head. “is this what you teach your little brother?”

jisung isn’t your real brother nor johnny’s, but you met him when he was a kid living by himself in the streets. he’s a nice kid and despite everything he has been through, he still believes that there is something good waiting for him.

“aren’t you late for school, jisung?” you ignore johnny.

jisung and johnny look at each other. “oh right. you haven’t been around for a year,” jisung nods. “i dropped out last semester.”

“what?” you frown. “why?”

“i don’t like college,” jisung shrugs. “i like racing. like you guys.”

“how could i not say no to him?” johnny looks at him. “he wants to race then he gets to do what he wants.”

“but you’re a kid!” you stare at him. “he’s a kid.”

jisung rolls his eyes. “you were my age when you started racing, y/n.”

you sigh and rub your forehead. “okay. fine, just… don’t get yourself killed.”

“i’m not stupid,” jisung smiles.

“hey, where were you by the way? taeyong said he saw you leaving with someone,” johnny stands up, washing his dish.

“a ran into an old friend,” you lie, leaning against the counter.

johnny squints his eyes, looking at you. “i’ve seen that shirt before.”

“i bought it when i was in seoul,” you say, nonchalant.

“didn’t know they sell canadian merch in seoul,” jisung mutters.

(...)

“no.”

that is yuta’s final word. he doesn’t want to be involved in that same shit again.

johnny sighs. “that doyoung and taeil guy will kill us if we don’t give them what they want.”

“i had to fake my death because of the shit i was making back in the past. i lost everything, johnny.”

“just cook some for us while we find someone better,” johnny begs. “please. i’m desperate.”

yuta sighs, rubbing his forehead. “fine, but just this time. no more, johnny.”

“thank you so much,” johnny says, relieved. he then scratches his head. “uhm, did you know y/n is back?”

yuta turns to him. “when?”

“about two weeks ago?”

yuta stays still and rests his hands on his hips. “how… how is she?”

“better. she's racing again,” johnny replies.

yuta nods. “she loves racing.”

“yeah.”

“when is she racing again?” yuta looks at johnny. “i want to see her.”

“are you insane? no one can see you.” johnny glances at him.

“and no one won’t. i just want to see her again, it’s been a while.”

“there’s a race tomorrow night. everyone will meet at the santa monica pier.”

“thanks. i’ll be there.”

the next night, you show up at the santa monica pier wearing mark’s shirt again. you say it’s nothing. you like the shirt and it looks great with your black ripped jeans. that’s it.

you spot mark with his gang on the other side of the pier. the same chick is with them and you assume she’s either part of it or friends with them. you frown when you see her getting too close to mark and he doesn’t pull her away. instead, he wraps an arm around her hips.

why do you care? mark was just a hookup.

you turn around and see jaehyun walking towards you. he’s wearing a white t-shirt and a denim jacket. you decide to make a trade.

“handsome boy,” you call him.

“that’s me,” he smirks playfully.

“i need a favour,” you say.

“sure. what is it?”

“i need your shirt.”

he knits his eyebrows together. “my shirt?”

you nod. “i don’t like this one anymore.”

he laughs. “i’m not gonna strip in the middle of everyone.”

“you’re such a pussy,” you groan.

your hands reach the hem of the shirt and you pull it over your head earning the glance of a few men that are around you. you turn to them. “never seen a pair of boobs? losers.”

jaehyun whistles at your black bralette. “oh man, i’d bang you easily.”

“don’t be gross, jaehyun. give me your shirt. i’m cold,” you stare at him.

jaehyun takes his jacket off and then his shirt, handing it to you. it smells like him and you have always liked his perfume. “maybe i’d let you bang me.”

jaehyun laughs and after he’s done putting mark’s shirt on, he puts on the denim jacket. “can i race with you tonight?”

“you want to see everyone lose, huh,” you smile, fixing your hair.

“it’s nice to see their defeated faces,” jaehyun opens the car door..

“let’s go then,” you smile.

you give a look to mark and you notice he’s watching you, eyebrows slightly frowned. you smile to yourself.

as you’re about to get into your car, you look up and notice someone standing on one of the building roofs in front of the entrance of the santa monica pier looking straight in your direction. you can’t see much, but the way the person stands up reminds you of yuta.

you shake your head and finally get into your car.

when you finally arrive at the secret destination, your car and mark’s are one of the few lined up. his car is next to yours and you refuse to make eye contact with him. jaehyun laughs softly. “what is the canadian boy staring at you?”

“because i am hot?” you shrug, still looking straight ahead.

“you are yes, but he seems mad,” jaehyun slyly looks at him. “what did you do to him?”

“nothing.”

jaehyun hums. he’s not stupid.

a flag girl places in front of the cars, the engines are rumbling. all eyes are focused on tonight’s racers. you are placed in a secretive parking lot. the flag girl points at mark, who starts his engines. she then points at you, who replicate that. your hands go up, and then down.

immediately a guy called jinyoung is ahead, but mark and you know that would happen sooner or later. see, a common mistake in drifters is that they are so focused on getting to the finish line they don't even spare a notice at their technique. the point of drifting isn’t just how fast you can go, but instead it’s precision, and making sure your form is on point.

you make flawless turn after flawless turn, but with mark in the lead. you reach for your NOS, but flinch your hand back. no. you are not using NOS for drifting tonight. you see mark make a mistake and his car loses control, earning a low growl from his throat. and past him is your nissan gtr, shining in the dark of night, and out of your window, your smug look is on your face. a smirk with your eyes low. the finish line is less than 20 feet away from your car, and you precisely turn your car, showing it off, having a sharp right.

you won.

and you have won that money. jaehyun is cheering with a wide grin on his face, clapping. “no fucking shit. you’re the best.”

you open the door of your car and mark sees you getting off with a seductive, and intimidating smirk on your face. god, he never wanted to fuck someone that bad until tonight.

[bakubabes-tatakae]

Part Two

Summary: When, Y/n, the daughter of one of the biggest stock traders in town runs into someone from her past, the last thing she expects is to be pulled into the shadows. With a quirk that makes her blood heal anything she’s wanted by many, but the only one she truly wanted disappeared years ago. So when she’s taken by a man that looks exactly like him her whole world gets turned upside down.

Warnings: language, choking, abduction, violence, smut, 18+ content, language, dirty talk

Word Count: 2.2k

Part One

You had regretted the words the second they had left your mouth. “Fuck off. Just leave me alone.”

That laugh. The one that melted your heart every time you heard it. You had expected him to get angry. You had expected him to scream at you, but instead, he only laughed. “I don’t like being told what to do unless I’m naked Y/n.”

Dabi wrapped his hands around your neck and pushed you into the wall behind you once again, his hips pushing into your own as you felt his lips touch your cheek. “You’ll learn that soon enough.”

His words were cold, but damn had they lit a fire underneath you. “Well why don’t you teach me a lesson then?”

Dabi’s entire demeanor changed. His anger changed to lust and admiration as he realized what you were doing. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to talk to me like that?”

You reached forward for him and wrapped your arms around his neck. His hand moved from your neck and wound into your hair, pulling you back into the wall as his lips roughly pressed to yours. 

You had forgotten how much you had loved to be this close to him. He still had the same scent, still had the same movements as he did back then. 

Dabi’s hands slid down your back and cupped your ass, squeezing your cheeks harshly before moving to your thighs. 

His hands roughly pushed your thighs apart, his fingers winding into your shorts, pushing your panties to the side. Just the small touch from him had you dropping your head back against the wall. 

Your longing for the familiarity, for the person that you had always thought you’d spend your life with, the ideas that flooded back into your head. 

His fingers were quick, each plunge into your core sending you into heaven, the sensation taking over your entire body. 

Your knees weakened and Dabi placed a knee between your legs for leverage. “What’s the matter, Y/n? Can’t handle it?” 

“Fuck.” You placed your hands on his hair and coaxed him on. “Be rough with me.” 

His deep voice in your ear sent shivers down your spine. “I don’t think you can handle my kind of rough, dollface.” 

You whined as his fingers slowed, your high looming over you as his warm breath touched your ear. You tugged on his hair and watched as he growled at you. “Do your worst. Blindfold me. Throw me against a wall.” You bit your lips and watched his eyes go wild. “I can handle it.” 

“Baby girl, if you can barely stand now, then I know you won’t be able to handle my kind of crazy.” Dabi’s devilish grin stretched across his face as he felt your walls close around his fingers, your slick coating them. His name left your lips as you cried out and he smirked, holding his fingers up to you. “Suck. Now.”

You hesitantly moved forward, taking his fingers into your mouth, licking them clean before watching him turn away from you. “We’ll continue this another time. For now, get used to the hideout.” 

You could barely hold yourself up as you kept yourself against the wall. If you moved you were afraid your legs would give out underneath you. 

Before getting through the doorway you saw him turn, an almost terrifying side of him showing as he uttered his next words. “Don’t even think about trying to get away. I’ll just find you again. We aren’t done whatever this is.” 

It almost took the breath from your lungs as you listened to the man that had just been so intimate with you. Toya really had changed. 

* * * * * * 

Getting used to the hideout was proving to be harder than you had thought it would be. Was anyone in your life even looking for you? Did your father even know that you were missing? Why had your abduction not even been on the news?

Your nervousness around the League was nothing that you were able to hide, but the fact that the only one that you weren’t nervous around was Dabi wasn’t able to hidden. They saw it and they couldn’t hide their curiosity. 

But every time one of them questioned him about it all you’d hear Dabi say was something simple. “Don’t worry about it.” “It’s none of your concern.”

They had no idea that every night since the first night they had brought you home you had spent it in Dabi’s room. They had no idea that when they were gone the two of you spent every waking minute together. It had felt like home being back with him, and you couldn’t help but feel happy about it. 

But that just made the League even more suspicious of you and what was going on. 

So after a week of the same thing Shigaraki stopped Dabi in the hallway and told him to follow him. 

They entered the room and the rest of the League looked over at them, your eyes following and noticing the anger that was raging in Dabi’s features. He was close to losing it and it made you nervous. 

“What’s up, you two?” Toga smiled as she looked at her comrades. 

Shigaraki’s voice had venom in it as he looked to the raven-haired man beside him. “Dabi here is going to tell us why he doesn’t seem to have the same problem around Y/n as we all do. I’m tired of the same excuse. Don’t you dare tell me it’s Stockholm syndrome.”

Dabi growled his words as he spat at him. “I’ve told you before, it doesn’t concern you. Just buzz off, dusty.”

Shigaraki’s hand reached for him as quickly as you had ever seen him move in the time you’d been there. You couldn’t help yourself as your anxiety grew, you leapt from the couch and sprang for him, only to be caught by the arms of Twice as you did. “TOYA!” 

A burst of blue flames filled the area in front of everyone and Shigaraki jumped backward quickly. Mr. Compress grabbed onto Dabi and dragged him backward. Kurogiri warped behind Shigaraki and dragged him into it, following him through the portal. 

Dabi lunged in Compress’s grip and tried to break free. “That crust bag is crossing a line!”

You swallowed hard as the rest of the League all stared at you. Toga was the first one to speak up as she saw your eyes welling up. “Who’s Toya, Y/n. I’ve heard you say that name before.”

Compress now had a hard time as he fought against Dabi’s strength again. “Toga! Keep your nose out of it you little psycho!”

Toga’s eyes narrowed as she looked over at him. “Don’t call me that.” She stepped forward and got close to him, pulling out one of her knives, holding it up to him. “You know that I don’t take kindly to that name when it’s said in distaste.”

Dabi spat in her direction and she threw her knife toward him, Compress pulled him back even more to keep her away from him. “Enough Toga.” Compress tried to snap her out of it as she kept swinging. 

Your heart was racing, your fear that something would happen to him coming back once again. Your words came out before you could stop them. “STOP IT!” 

Toga stopped in her tracks and turned to you. “The prisoner is going to holler at me?” Her attention pulled from Dabi and she approached you slowly, her knife moving around your face as Twice held you in place. “I don’t think so. That’s not how this works. I don’t care how important you are. You’re just a hostage.”

As you felt the cool edge of a blade on your throat, another burst of blue flames filled the small room. You closed your eyes as the chill from the flames turned the area cold. When your eyes opened again you saw a hand closing around Toga’s throat. The familiar staples and burns told you exactly who it was. 

Toga made a soft noise as she dropped her knife onto the ground and the pure rage in Dabi’s voice almost scared you. “When I let you go I suggest you leave the knife where it is and leave the room. I’ll tell people about how I know Y/n when I’m damn well ready to. The next one to push that is going to end up as kindling for my flames.”

Toga nodded as much as she could and the hand around her neck left and Twice let you go, slowly backing away from you. They both left the room without another glance. 

Dabi looked at the other members of the League and glared, not having to say another word to get them to clear out of the room. 

Once the room was clear you nearly collapsed against him. Dabi’s arms wrapped around you and he pulled you close to his chest. “Are you okay?”

You couldn’t hold back the tears anymore as you finally let yourself go. All the worry that something would take him away from you again flooded back into the forefront of your mind. Dabi tightened his grip on you and let you cry against him, trying to keep you as calm as he could. 

Dabi tried to lighten the mood a little and nervously chuckled. “You really need to start calling me Dabi, babe.”

* * * * * *

Every day that went by after that last fight was almost unbearable. Not only was the League hating Dabi, they were hating you as well. They blamed you for everything that had been happening to their group and you didn’t blame them. 

So when Dabi came to you and said that the Vanguard would be leaving for a mission you were beyond terrified. You were terrified of him going on there with them all being at odds and you were terrified of being left alone with Shigaraki when he already seemed to hate you. 

Dabi didn’t like telling you anymore than you liked hearing it. “I’m sorry.” He looked over at the others, keeping his voice low as he spoke to you. “I don’t want to go out right now either, but we don’t have a choice. We have to handle this before things get even worse.”

You wanted to grab onto him, you wanted to pull him to you and never let go, but you knew that he wasn’t ready for them to know what was going on between the two of you yet. 

That’s when Dabi’s actions shocked you. 

Dabi’s arms wrapped around you and he pulled you into a hug. A knot formed in your throat as you felt the piercing eyes of the people on the other side of the bar. He held you back out at arm’s length and placed his hand under your chin, tilting your face up to look at him. 

His lips touched yours, but with the passion that he usually held for the bedroom. When you had shown him that you weren’t afraid of him after your reunion he had softened. You had been the same woman that you had been when he left. The eyes that were on you seemed to soften some, the aura not as venomous as he had been only moments before, but you knew it probably wouldn’t last. 

Your lips danced together and you couldn't control the tears that now trailed down your cheeks, leaving stains in their wake. 

Dabi broke away and wiped the tears away with his thumb, but his words this time weren’t quiet so the rest couldn’t hear him. It was like he wasn’t afraid of them knowing anymore. “I love you, Y/n. I’ve loved you since we were sixteen years old and that’s never going to change.”

You couldn’t find words, your thoughts were too jumbled between everything that was going on, so instead you cupped his face in your hands and pressed your lips to his again. The answer that he had been looking for. 

The team stared at you both and the sound of someone clearing their throat broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

Shigaraki’s rasp made you both look over at him. “You have a mission to handle. You’re my vanguard leader, I need you at your best. Handle this later.”

Dabi glared at him some, but listened, knowing it was what was best. “I’ll be back soon.” He placed his hand on your cheek. “I promise.”

You watched as he walked toward the portal that had been opened and felt your heart threatening to jump up your throat. What had you gotten yourself into? 

Shigaraki waited for the portal to close before he spoke to you, his normal hatred toward you not present as he apologized in his own way. “Don’t worry too much about them. I have an amazing Vanguard Squad. And there’s no one better in the League to lead it than Dabi.”

Taglist: @monic00l​ @strangeinternetwasteland​ @rowley-with-ackerman​ @kyu-pine​ @ellechanwrites​ @bonnisimpparker​ @impinthecloset​ @nikiniki743​ @taliyahvermillion​ @maat-the-prescriptive​

©bakubabes-hatake’s original content, please do not repost/modify without my permission

[angelanimedesaray]

Wings in the Dark Chapter 4: Limelight

AN:  Ah...next chapter.  I keep finding myself thinking about/writing Wings in the Dark even though I’ve got so many other stories to keep up with, some of which are only one piece away from being done or oneshots XD

Also I apologize I keep forgetting to put Fem!Vampire!Reader, I keep getting lazy there...tagging error.

Characters:  Levi, Fem!Vampire!Reader, Erwin, Oluo, Petra, Gunther, Eld, Various BG Characters

Pairing:  (Eventual) Levi x Fem!Vampire!Reader

Warnings:  Language, Blood, Peril, Mentions of Death

Word Count:  6101

<----Previous Chapter    Masterlist    Next Chapter---->

*Reader’s POV*

Beneath you, Zephyr shifted from foot to foot, the crowding of Scouts in the street just before the gate looking disorganized, but each squad in specific places meant to make the transition once outside the walls much easier.  You knew where you were in the formation, right with the vanguard--not quite at the front though, since you were still a rookie.  Instead, you were in a message position.

Just a few horses in front of you, you could see Captain Levi and his squad, their gazes fixed forward like most of the Scouts.  Your hand fluttered briefly to your neck as you gazed up at the giant wall that was casting its shade upon most of the gathered Scouts, your heartbeat quickening as the reality of what was happening settled over you.

Decades without open air and sunlight before you managed to find the key that would allow you to walk on the surface in the sun once more.  Never before venturing outside the walls.  Now here you were, about to ride out beyond its boundaries into open, fresh air and sunlight where there was no edge where a wall or some other boundary of mankind kept you in.

As if sensing your restlessness, Zephyr pawed at the ground, antsy and ready to move forward.  The horse standing behind you at the end of a lead had been jumpy since being handed off to you, but its nerves were only getting worse between the aura you and Zephyr were radiating.  Your grip tightened on the reins, gaze fixated on that gate that you were begging to just raise already and let you shoot out into the world.

This was what you were here for.  You’d finally made it.  Now was the time to throw yourself all in for the cause.  Messenger or not, you were going to do everything you could to help.

The brick gate up ahead finally finished rumbling, and a pure white horse holding Commander Erwin Smith reared up.

“Forward!”

Your heart leapt into your throat, and it took everything inside you to wait until the people in front of you started to move forward before your heels pressed lightly into Zephyr’s hindquarters, urging the speckled grey mare forward.  Your breaths came rapidly as the brick gate approached, head tilting up on instinct as you went through the tunnel, momentarily plunged into darkness with light piercing through the end before Zephyr burst through, one set of many thundering hooves as you broke past the wall.

Green grass rolled out before you with towering trees dotting along the horizon, stretching as far as you could see, further.  The wind whipped at your hair, sun beating down on you harmlessly as you soaked in the unbridled rays, lips parted as you took a deep breath of truly free air.

This was a feeling you would never forget.  It was as if the wings upon your cape would emerge and spread wide, carrying you up into the blue sky far above and off to a land where there were no stifling walls real, social, or in your mind, no secrets and constant hiding of who you were.

Feeling eyes on you at your reaction to crossing beyond the walls for the first time, you closed your eyes briefly, the self-imposed darkness grounding you back to reality as you reminded yourself what the goal was here, what you were supposed to be doing.  You had a purpose out here, and the others couldn’t afford your distraction.

Your head lowered from its tilted back position, and your eyes opened with focus burning in your gaze, fixed forward as you leaned slightly over Zephyr’s neck.  Within a few minutes of running straight forward, the formation began to take shape, Scouts spreading out to the left and right while most of the cargo stayed in the middle.  You were one of the ones who went out to the right, falling into place at a relay point with your skittish extra horse trailing just behind Zephyr.  Off to your left, you could see Levi Squad, within eyesight but still quite a distance away and placed closer to command than you.

While everyone here had to depend upon smoke signals and their own limited sight to tell them if a Titan was approaching, you were at a unique advantage when it came to the task of spotting Titans.  You could hear them long before you could see them, but your sight was much better than the other’s here, as well.  You would be able to tell if there was a Titan approaching long before anyone else, which could drastically help the mortality rates of the Scouts if you could use your abilities.

Of course, the matter was complicated by the fact that you would have to wait until there was visual confirmation of a Titan if you didn’t want to look like you were firing flares into the sky for the hell of it, which you were certain would piss many people off very quickly.  So, you were restrained to detecting where the Titans were, and keeping track of them until they got close enough.

If it was a big enough threat, though, you would take the risk.  You would still have to wait if you wanted people to believe you, but you weren’t going to wait as long if it was something like a horde of Titans or a clustering of abnormals.

That part you had decided ahead of time.  The rest you would play by ear and see what happened, or simply play the role you had been assigned for this expedition.

*Levi’s POV*

While Levi and his squad had their duties that went with their position in the long range formation, Levi had his secondary objective to observe L/N from a distance, keeping an eye on her at least partially at all times while his squad handled much of the spotting and message relaying, Levi only giving curt orders when necessary.  They certainly wondered what was causing his distraction, but no one questioned it, especially from the serious look on his face.

He’d been watching L/N from the moment they rushed out of the gate beyond the walls, her reaction reminding him strongly of himself, Isabel, and Furlan when they’d first gone beyond the walls.

Before he could have someone snap her out of it so she was paying attention, she’d brought herself back around, snapping back to full focus on the task at hand impressively fast despite how swept away she’d been moments before.

With the more central position Levi’s squad held, they were better positioned to be sent whichever direction they might be needed if shit hit the fan, and the more protected position than the vanguard and the relay lines allowed Levi to put more of his focus on L/N without causing unnecessary risk.  No doubt that was part of the reason Erwin had arranged them the way they were for this expedition.

At first, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.  She kept her head on a swivel, fired the signal flares at the appropriate time to pass along the message to shift the direction of the formation.  However, Levi eventually began to catch the anomaly he might have overlooked if she’d been a little further away, or he’d been a little more distracted by what was going on in his position.

Her head stopped swiveling, her gaze fixing in certain directions for long stretches of time before she would fire off her flares.  At the most, her head might twitch in one direction or another, but nothing more.  The big give away, however, was the fact that he occasionally caught sight of her loading a flare into her flare gun long before the signals went off.  As if she knew it was coming.

Either she had insane intuition, or she was able to see something they couldn’t.

It was a good thing he'd noticed her focus and how she seemed to be picking up on approaching Titans before the vanguard, because it greatly effected how he reacted when she fired a shot before even the vanguard.  She went perfectly still, head turned forward right towards an outcropping of trees in the distance.  She stayed gazing in that direction for several long moments before she suddenly reached into her pack, loaded her flare gun, and fired a black smoke signal into the air.

Everyone reacted with surprise from the display, Levi included, considering no Titan could be seen, and she was not relaying a signal from the vanguard.  Immediately, the others began to grumble and complain at rookie audacity, what she thought she was doing, the usual complaints.  Levi, however, was staring hard at her back, noting how she was still staring in the same direction, thinking of how she'd been aware of every flare coming so far…

"Gunther, relay that signal."

The complaints about L/N stopped, the others looking at Levi in surprise.  "Sir…" Petra ventured to say in a cautious tone, clearly not wanting to question him but doubtful of the black flare's accuracy.  Still, Levi could hear Gunther preparing to fire the shot behind him, even as Petra continued.  "That signal is coming from nowhere, the rest of the vanguard haven't even fired anything."

"Because she's spotted something they haven't," Levi said bluntly, as behind him Gunther relayed the signal, which went down the rest of the line to Command.  Erwin’s green shot fired into the air shortly after what must have been a confusingly sudden short burst of signals.

Levi kept his gaze on L/N the entire time, except the direction change, looking for the payoff or justification for her sudden signal.  At first, he didn't think he would see it.

In the distance, within that outcropping of trees that had held her attention before and was now further away from them thanks to the direction shift she’d prompted, Levi saw something clear the treetops.  It was hard to catch at this distance, but the scattering of birds from those trees helped confirm what he was seeing.  Within a few moments, two fleshy figures of Titans burst through the treeline, one running sporadically forward and the other leaping around, both headed in the direction of the formation.

There was more distance between the formation and the abnormals, thanks to their shift, which gave them more time to respond, but they were still going to collide with the ranks.  He could see L/N coiling atop her horse, ready to leap into action if they broke past the vanguard and reached her position, eyes no doubt fixed on the incoming threats.

“Captain, should we go assist?” Petra asked from behind him.

“If they break through the vanguard ranks, yes,” Levi said, gaze sweeping over the other positions in the formation that held less skilled rookies.  He didn’t want to risk abnormal Titans colliding with the newbies, so he’d make sure they were stopped there, if the vanguard couldn’t handle them.  Instinctively, Levi tensed as the abnormals reached the front lines...and then burst right past towards L/N’s position.

Abnormal, indeed.

Oluo swore as they saw both abnormals barreling towards L/N, who was already kneeling on the saddle of her horse and waited a few seconds for the abnormals to draw a little closer.  Levi and his squad were already heading towards them before L/N leapt off her horse, one of her cables firing into the rushing Titan since it was at least keeping stably on the ground, swinging around and away from the front of the attacking Titans, firing the other higher up to try and get a quick shot in at the Titan’s nape.

The second Titan shot over the first in a leap towards L/N, forcing L/N to change direction and release her cable from the first Titan.  With a nimbleness that surprised Levi, she pushed off of the arm of the second Titan as it went by to add momentum in the direction she wanted to go, cables releasing again so she could swing between the legs of the first Titan and still avoid it’s reaching arms.

With her cables detached again, she rolled to a stop and got back onto her feet, taking a second to register her position before one of her cables sank into that first Titan's shoulder and she shot towards it again.

At that point Levi and the others were close enough to do something and had a good grasp on the situation.  At Levi's orders, Eld, Oluo, and Gunther broke off to deal with the jumping one while Levi and Petra rushed to intercept the one L/N was handling.  Levi had a pretty good idea of what she was trying to do, but expecting it to go terribly wrong, he was trying to reach her before she lost a limb. Or her head.

The Titan snapped at her as she came within biting distance, but she let loose a burst of gas at the last second to sail over its shoulder, twisting in midair as the men handling the other Titan let out an alarmed shout.

Both cables sank into the shoulder blades of the first Titan and brought her in close with her feet landed just below its nape, and she sliced neatly through, killing it in one stroke.  As she turned with the strike, the second Titan came into her view, ignoring Eld, Gunther, and Oluo entirely as it launched for her, still anchored onto the falling Titan.

The cables disengaged so she could fall back and drop out of range of its maw, feet barely missing the teeth as she dropped vertically and headfirst towards the ground.

Eld went in for a quick kill while it was fixated on L/N.

"No!"

"Wait!"

"Eld!"

At angles they could see where the Titan's attention was trained, L/N, Levi, and Perra, respectively, all shouted out for him not to go for the obvious kill. Its eyes had shifted in the direction the cable came from, towards Eld, and it swung out an arm that caught the wire.  Eld was sent careening to the ground, the jumping Titan punching toward him with jaw agape again as the now-injured man got up to right himself, cables still sliding back into place and unable to deploy yet.

Two blurs in opposite directions cut through the air at the front and back of the Titan.  Levi was at the back, slicing cleanly through the nape to kill it before it could kill Eld.  At the front and coming from the opposite direction, was L/N, slicing through arms and bottom jaw in a wide arc to render it unable to eat Eld.

As they passed each other in the air, they momentarily locked eyes, and instead of fear or anger which commonly filled the eyes of the recruits, Levi saw...exhilaration.

Considering one of his men almost got killed, she better be taking this fucking seriously.

As they both landed on the ground at opposite ends of the Titan body, Levi turned to see her already sheathing her blades and approaching Eld to make sure he was okay and help him to his feet.  Gunther and Oluo were close behind, pulling beside them as Eld was brought to his feet and Levi stalked towards them from behind.

"Are you both alright?" Gunther asked.

"That was a hell of a risky move you pulled there, rookie--your leg got cut open when you decided to jump right through its mouth!" Oluo chastised.

Levi’s gaze dropped to her leg, the large tear diagonally across her leg now clear, with bloodstains along the frayed edges of the fabric.  But the skin of her calf was unblemished save for a slightly angry red mark running parallel to the rip.

"Hm?" She asked in confusion, turning back to glance down at the offended leg before she twisted so the others could see.  "It was risky, and close, but it didn't draw blood.  Just a graze," she remarked, eyes lifting to see Levi approaching.

He was caught between angry and indifferent, with a bit of reluctantly impressed.  He couldn't exactly chastise her for endangering the others with that out in the open now, could he?  She'd been handling them alone off circumstance before they intervened, and when one of his men was in danger of dying, she'd apparently risked a leg to intervene.

It was still reckless, even if in the moment she'd deemed it necessary.  She was a rookie out here, she didn't know the full extent of her capabilities against the Titans yet.

Levi’s gaze slid momentarily to the two rapidly dissipating Titan bodies.

Or perhaps she did…

"Petra, help Eld.  Everyone, get a move on, before we're left behind," he said instead, turning back to his horse as L/N let out a sharp whistle to call her horse.  The dappled grey appeared with the spare horse in tow and still tied to the saddlehorn via the lead so it wouldn't run off.

Once he was certain everyone was mobile and Eld was being taken care of, Levi led the way for his group to rejoin the formation, L/N racing off to retake her position.

Levi’s gaze wandered back towards the pillars of steam that billowed into the air from the dead Titans.

Why had they both been so set on /her/ that they blew past everyone else?

*Reader’s POV*

"All right, we need people for the night watch, so if--"

"I'll do it," you said before he could even finish, standing up from your spot around the fire as you spoke.

All he had to say was night watch.  It was another one of the things you felt that you were the most suited for, considering you were a creature of the night.  You would do far better in darkness than anyone else around you.

After volunteering to be one of the people on night watch, you were sent up into the nearby trees to give you a better vantage point, able to gracefully find your way up onto a tree branch without issue.  Once where you were supposed to be, you took a seat, resting your head against the trunk as your gaze wandered across your surroundings, allowing your hearing to focus so it was listening for things in the distance or abnormal sounds within the vicinity of the camp.  As such, the cacophony of people speaking to one another before heading to bed faded away into a faint buzz in the back of your mind, allowing you to focus on your watch.

This also gave you a moment to reflect on your first day out in the field, and the unexpected consequence of your presence that you had discovered.  So intent on contributing to the Scouts and using your abilities to assist them, you'd forgotten some basic predatory instincts.

Out here, the Titans were at the top of the food chain.  Within the walls, it was vampires.  The Titans were mainly active in the day but quiet at night, and vampires normally thrived in the dark and could not go out in the sun--you were an exception, thanks to something you had taken from a vampire far older and more experienced than you.  There was a clear division between the two preventing them from coming into contact with each other, mostly the night and day difference and the literal wall dividing their environments.  But you had just entered their habitat, and you were well aware that a vampire could still be killed by a Titan if they got careless, or if the Titan got one lucky bite in.  As such, you didn't consider vampires at the top of the food chain when placed in the same space as Titans, but adjacent to them.

The Titans had focused on you, likely because you were an invasive, competitive predator in their lands.  You were a threat to them and their food supply, and they could not safely feed if there was a vampire in the area.

As such, if the opportunity presented itself, they were going to target you first.

Lovely.

This was new, dangerous information, and you were still deciding how to react to it.  Maybe not every Titan would completely ignore a meal in front of them if there was a vampire nearby, but today two abnormals had barged right through the vanguard to get to you.  It wasn't something you could ignore.

For a while, your watch went undisturbed, allowing you to quietly stew in your thoughts high up in the trees, before a sound broke through your filtered hearing, and your attention snapped into full focus.

Down below, hidden by the tall grass, darkness, and trees, you could make out the spread out shapes of a wolf pack stalking closer to camp, towards where some of the horses were hitched for the night.

Bold wolves.  Or perhaps they were desperate, or had yet to learn to be afraid of mankind.  Either way, you couldn't let the wolves get to the horses, the lifeline out here for the Scouts.

Quietly, since the way you wanted to handle this couldn't be seen by the other Scouts, you dropped down from the trees, crouching low to the ground and blending into darkness as you moved to intercept the wolves while they were still shrouded in darkness and the environment.  When you put yourself firmly in their path, the tension in the air shifted.

For the wolves, while they were in a pack, you were a more dangerous predator, one that they would normally avoid.  As such, the pack's attention shifted, and you let out a low snarl, red eyes flashing in the night and fangs barred as the wolves cautiously stalked closer to you.  They loosely encircled you, and you quickly tried to assess each one, looking for the alpha, the one who acted first that the rest followed.  The wolves got dangerously close before you managed to pick it out, and you spun around to face the alpha head on, making yourself look big and keeping that snarl.

It hesitated, stared at you for a few moments, and then the grey wolf leapt forward to attack. Anticipating the motion, you plucked it out of the air, arms wrapping around its furry upper body and slamming it into the ground, causing it to yelp and yip as you held it down, pinned, its throat exposed.

You held it there for several moments, making sure the rest of the pack could see the alpha had been bested before you let the wolf up, the large creature immediately taking the opportunity to run and letting out a high-pitched howl for the rest of the pack to follow as it raced away.

Composing yourself once again, you turned back to the camp, heading in the direction of the horses to make sure they were alright, several Scouts intercepting you just before you reached camp.

"We heard wolves."

"What were you doing out there?"

"I chased them off.  They were thinking about going after the horses," you assured them calmly.  "All it took was a well aimed rock and the sounds of quite a few humans from behind to chase them off," you said, explaining the yips and their sudden absence with ease.

"Right.  Back to your posts, or back to bed, whichever it is for you.  Go on," one of the senior officers commanded to get everyone to disperse again.  You didn't say anything more, feeling no need to as you instead used the ODM gear to return to your perch in the trees.

*Levi's POV*

While Levi was checking his gear to make sure it was still in peak shape for the rest of the expedition, his squad had their fireside discussion about the day's events, the topics free ranging since Levi seemed to not be paying any attention to them and was a fair distance away.

Mainly, they were talking about the display with the two abnormals.

"Did you see how they charged right through the line towards that rookie?"

"They were abnormals.  You have to stop questioning abnormals so much or you'll drive yourself mad."

"I'm more interested in that rookie.  Did you see how she handled those Titans?"

"No shitting herself or anything--perfectly calm, like she wasn't even bothered."

"It was almost like she was dancing around it for a few moments there--you could even call it graceful."

"And did you see how in sync she was with Captain Levi when they took it down? Even if it was brief?"

"It was still a risky move--she went right through its mouth!"

"That either takes a hefty set of balls, annoying levels of confidence, or sheer insanity."

"I still swear I saw her leg get cut open on those teeth."

"Clearly not. She showed us her leg, it came close and she was damn lucky or pulled it off that well. It was just the rip, the red mark, and some Titan blood."

"Still...she has to be that rookie all those rumors are about, right?"

"The ones about Captain Levi possibly letting a rookie join the squad?  Those are bullshit and you know it."

"I'm not so sure anymore, after seeing her in action.  It's not impossible.  They might wait until she's a little less green, but…"

"Captain Levi did seem a little distracted today.  And our position was right where he could see her at all times."

"So it is possible...it would be weird...and I still think they should wait until she's not so green...but I wouldn't complain."

"It'd be nice to have another girl on the squad…"

Levi stood up at that point, the group's conversation halting as Levi moved, then resuming when they realized he was walking away from the fire, not towards it.

Don't get attached, you idiots. If she's as dangerous as I think she is, she won't be around for long.

Moving further away from where his squad was chatting amongst themselves, Levi headed towards the trees where Erwin was taking at least one night shift, using his ODM gear to bring himself up to the tree branch beside the towering blond.

"I heard those abnormals caused a bit of a stir," Erwin said as Levi settled onto the branch beside him, hardly able to see one another with only faint firelight a ways behind them and moonlight mostly blocked from the trees around them.

"They barreled straight out of a treeline and through the vanguard.  Didn't give them a second thought and went right for L/N."

Erwin looked at Levi with the way he phrased that last line, like there was more to it.  "They were abnormals."

"Yeah...but even abnormals don't usually fixate on just one person.  Not to mention two abnormals at once."

Erwin turned slightly towards Levi.  "They didn't pay attention to anyone other than L/N?"

Levi shook his head.  "Not until Eld went in for a killshot on the last one.  They seemed...drawn to her."

"Interesting…" Erwin murmured, both of their attention drawn by the sound of wolves yipping and then howling, the sound getting further away.  There was a slight commotion at the edge of the camp, with L/N appearing from the darkness in the direction the howling had been and saying a few words before everyone settled back down.  She must have chased them off, then.

"There's more," Levi added, eyes following her figure as she disappeared up into the trees with ODM, apparently one of the few taking a night shift.  "This entire time, she's been picking up on Titans before anyone else sees them, even the vanguard.  She knew those abnormals were coming long before we had visual confirmation."

"That would explain the odd, lone black flare before the others started being fired," Erwin murmured, his gaze fixated in the same direction as Levi.  "Keep watching her.  We won't be out here too much longer, since we'll reach our destination tomorrow.  You can give me the rest of your observations in an official report when we get back."

"Right…" Levi muttered, turning away and heading back to the ground to admonish his squad about still being up and get them to get some rest before they talked the whole night away with their conspiracy theories.

*Reader’s POV*

When you returned from the expedition, you were surprisingly exhausted.  The Scouts had returned a few hours ago, and as soon as you were free of your duties, you headed up to the barracks so you could crawl into your bed and pass out.

While the first day had gone relatively well besides the obvious for all the horror stories about the Scouts and their expeditions, the second day had not gone so smoothly.  Even worse, when the Titans collided with the left vanguard, you couldn't do anything about it but watch Levi Squad break away as they were dispatched to go help.  You were, after all, just a messenger for the right side of the formation for this expedition.

Because of the attack on the left, the Scouts had accumulated a body count and ended up with quite a few injured.  It wasn't bad enough to cause the mission to fail, thankfully, as the Scouts still managed to reach the destination and set up supplies for future expeditions, but after a couple more incidents on the way back, a few more injured and dead were accumulated, and the Scouts were looking rough upon the return to the walls.

On the bright side, if it could be considered a bright side, you were already sitting on two solo Titan kills at the end of the expedition despite being a messenger, you made it through your first expedition, and you knew more about how you would fare against Titans and your usefulness to the cause.

Right now, that was all food for thought at a later point, as you quickly fell asleep once your head hit the pillow and you were finally given the chance to relax.

Unfortunately, it didn't feel like it lasted for very long.  You were woken up by one of your fellow new recruits attempting to get you out of bed, though a quick glance towards the windows told you it was now night--you’d been able to sleep the whole day away.  Yet you still felt groggy and tired.

"Hey, L/N.  L/N!  Get up, already.  Captain Levi wants to see you.  So get to it--last I saw him he was in the library."

*Levi's POV*

"Extraordinary reflexes, stronger than she looks, quick on her feet, calm under pressure, skilled and resourceful with the ODM gear, capable, patient, able to pick up on approaching Titans long before anyone else…" Erwin's fingers tapped lightly on top of Levi's official report of his observations about L/N, the papers sitting in front of him on his desk.  "All this time and all I can see so far are more reasons to make sure she's advantageously placed in the Scouts and used to her full potential."

Levi turned to give Erwin a disbelieving look before it fell into a scowl that was becoming quite common at these meetings between the two to discuss Y/N L/N.

"You can't tell me you're not curious about the how, that nothing about her raises questions?" Levi scoffed.  Erwin leaned forwards, fingers laced together in front of his face.

"Oh, it does.  It seems trying to find out more about L/N only raises more questions instead of providing answers, and I'm determined to start finding answers.  But I'm not talking about wanting to know how.  This started because you said you had a bad feeling about her, that her motives might be malicious.  So far, all you've given me is more material to believe her intentions are at least aligned with our own if not good, and more reasons to make sure she stays part of the Scouts, not anything to prove she's of ill intent."

Levi looked away, teeth grit.  He'd almost fallen into the same trap. Until…

"The night before the expedition, we ran into each other in the mess hall.  She'd just come back from the Underground, which I know because she still had that smell on her...as well as the smell of blood."  Levi turned to look at Erwin, gaze sharp.  "I doubt she was down there healing sick kids considering, as far as we know, the extent of her medical knowledge is the first aid she learned as part of her training."

Erwin frowned, his eyes probing as he studied Levi’s expression.  "That would have been nice to know, sooner."

"It hadn't come up, yet.  And it's not exactly something I can put in an official report."

"It's still not enough to go on, Levi."

"You don't think I know that? It's driving me mad catching these little pieces that suggest something's off about her, and then failing to get anything else.  It doesn't help that she knows I'm watching her."

Erwin sighed, leaning back in his seat with a thoughtful look, gazing down at the report on the desk.

"Go ahead and recruit her for your squad."

Surely he heard him wrong.

"I'm sorry?" Levi asked in surprise.

"Not as a fill member, not yet, anyway.  She's still too green to justify moving her to the special ops team even with how well she did on her first expedition.  Have her start as an aid for you and your squad, that way she's still in a learning and assisting position until she's more seasoned."

"And your reasoning for this is…?  What if she wants this?  Not knowing her motivations--"

"Gives us all the more reason to make this move.  As part of your squad, even as an aid, she'll be directly under your command.  You'll be able to keep a much closer eye on her, find out more about her--I'm sure your squad members will be able to find out things about her naturally on their own time.  Keeping her close is the best play right now."

Levi sighed in frustration.  Sure, he'd considered picking her for his squad already, but his suspicions had killed that desire, at least for now.  Plus, usually he got to choose if and when he added someone to his squad.  He wasn't too keen on being ordered to add her, even if Erwin had a good reason for doing it.

However, it wasn't like he was going to tell Erwin no.  He'd just have to deal with it.

Shaking his head and biting back the complaints he knew didn't mean a damn, Levi changed the subject.  Even though he didn't confirm that he would do as Erwin asked, they both knew he would.

"What about you?  Did your contacts manage to find anything?"

A frown returned to Erwin’s face.  "Like I said, more questions with very few answers."  He took a moment to open one of his desk drawers, pulling out a report and laying it next to Levi’s expedition report.  "I couldn't find a trace of her anywhere inside Wall Rose besides the last few years after she suddenly surfaced.  Even in the town she has listed as where she was born, the closest I came was a girl who shared a first name with her that died tragically over forty years ago.  Maybe it's where she got the name, considering it was a big deal in the town's history, but beyond that, nothing.  Before she appeared on the surface a few years back, she didn’t exist."

Erwkn held out the report for Levi to take.  "Her absence does, however, lend itself to your Underground theory.  Especially if you say she was in the Underground the night before the expedition.  I suggest you pursue that lead--you know the Underground better than anyone else here."

Levi hated the thought of going back down there, even if it was to find some answers.  However, he finally felt like he had something solid to pursue, and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.  He was cornering her, and he was going to pull back the façade and find out what was really happening with her no matter how hard she tried to keep it concealed.

She couldn't hide whatever it was forever.  Especially with Erwin and Levi bearing down on her as hard as they were.

Enough questions.  It was time they started getting answers. 

Next Chapter--->

Levi Tags:  @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier @whalerus @sunny-flo @thirstyforsometea​

Wings in the Dark Tags:  @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs @sociallyanxiousmouse

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

Am I Too Late?

[I post either once a week or 4 times in one day 🙃]

The prompt from @xentari94​ was this:

Hi! Omg I love your writing! ❤️ ^^ Could I request #1 on the first list with Cayde x Exo Female Gunslinger? One where she goes with Cayde to the prison and everything happens the same except this time she manages to get to him, and saves him from being shot.

Cayde-6 x (Exo) Female!Reader

Warnings: cursing, violence, angst/comfort

1,718 words

“Any second now, my partner is gonna roll in here and kill… every… Last… One of you.”

It wasn’t a prison riot. It was a prison break.

Petra Venj had called Cayde-6 earlier asking for help with an ongoing riot in the Prison of Elders, and he had roped you into it on the promise that it’d be a ton of fun. Like date night, but with more gunfire. 

And you had agreed with a smile because you enjoyed any time you spent with Cayde whether it be a night of drinks and ramyun or a mission on the Shore. You didn’t care. As long as the two of you were together.

It wasn’t a prison riot.

It wasn’t a prison riot.

It was a prison break, and as you watched Cayde plunge into the depths of the prison, riding the top of the control center, all you could think was that this wasn’t a very good date night either. The control center hit the ground floor with an explosion. You went to call out to Cayde, but before you could the metal beneath you gave out and your head slammed into the floor before falling.

.

It took a moment to gather your bearings.

.

You shuttered your eyes and involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath. Your body didn’t need the air but doing so brought comfort to you. A familiar voice brought you back to reality, “Hey, welcome back.” Shakily, you rose to your feet and your Ghost danced around your helmet once before fading away. The sharp pain in your side disappeared. “We fell at least 20 stories down, and I can’t reach Cayde or Petra.”

You opened the comm link yourself and flinched when the only sound that greeted you was loud static, “Keep trying to reach them, ok?”

Your Ghost hummed a confirmation and you jogged forward to try and figure out where you were. It looked like you were in the bowels of the prison now, and if you went down a few more stories you’d end up where Cayde had landed. That was the goal. Find Cayde-6.

As you walked, a chill went down your back and it made every plate on your body stiffen and freeze. Your hand tightened around the grip of your hand cannon as you took a few more steps forward. There was a purplish-blue fog that created a trail through the door into the next room.

“Something is loose.” Your Ghost commented and you agreed wholeheartedly. Something felt very, very wrong. You picked up your pace. “It’s close, [Name].”

Your quick pace turned into a run as you tried to catch the end of the smoke trail, but it led into a room of creatures you hadn’t seen before. You came to a screeching stop and pulled your gun up to begin firing. They looked like Fallen in shape, but they were paler, covered in unusual armor, and they wielded weapons that the Fallen typically didn’t. Their entire beings had a freakish smoky glow that reeked of ether.

“These… things… used to be fallen.” You shot the last one and then just stood there for a moment letting your mind catch up to the scene. “The fallen didn’t just become this. Someone did this to them.”

Despite being an Exo, the feeling of bile rising in your throat overcame you. This was all wrong. Something terrible was happening. You pushed forward, stumbling slightly, before breaking into a full-on sprint, “Keep trying to reach Cayde.”

Room after room, the creatures came. The lower you went the more corrupted ether filled the air around you. The stench of it mingled with the smoke coming from the burning prison walls. With every step you took, the feeling of dread grew, and you couldn’t put your finger on what it was. Your ghost still couldn’t reach anyone on comms. There was only you, your Ghost, and static.

You dug your knife into the face of a screeching monster that got too close, and then spun to throw the blade into the next one coming. With one more shot the room was clear and you pushed onward. You jumped down a broken portion of the walkway to land on the lower floor.

You barely got a few steps forward before a blast of energy hit you in the chest knocking you onto your back. Instinct had you rolling back onto your feet quickly looking for the enemy that had thrown the grenade, but no one was there.

“No.” Your ghost sounded devastated. For the first time since you met him, his voice sounded shaky. “That was Cayde’s… Sundance. That was Sundance. She’s dead.”

You were moving. Before your ghost could even stop speaking, you were moving. With every step, with every pulse of your being, the name of your hunter flashed through your mind. Cayde. Cayde. Cayde. You had to get to Cayde. You needed to find Cayde. You couldn’t even properly mourn the loss of Sundance because you were so focused on finding the Exo Vanguard. Your Ghost was making a noise, like a low-pitched whine, and it was one you had never heard before. Ghosts couldn’t cry, but you wondered if this was the equivalent. With as much time as you spent with Cayde, your Ghost and spent and equal amount of time with his.

“The… The blast came from up ahead. Two more rooms.” Your Ghost focused back on the task. There was a forced steeliness to his voice.

You whipped through the door and up ahead at the other end of the room a large deformed monster stood in your way. It turned to charge at you, but you brought your gun up while simultaneously reaching for the Light. Warmth filled your entire body as you fired round after round at it. It fell to its knees dead and your Light began to fade, but you didn’t let it.

You kept the fire burning in your chest and the warmth turned to burning. It felt like you were burning from inside out, like you had swallowed the sun itself, but you wouldn’t let go. You couldn’t. Your Ghost cried out in worry, pleading for you to release the energy, but you burst through the next door letting the Light singe you from inside out.

An awoken wearing a hood stood in front of Cayde holding the Ace of Spades over him. Behind him, waiting in the door were more of the twisted, large ether soaked Fallen, and though you vaguely recognized them it was getting hard to see through the flames that engulfed you. The awoken’s head snapped to you, eyes glowing gold as they narrowed into a glare, and then they moved back to Cayde who could barely hold himself up.

“Told you so.” Cayde chuckled in a broken voice.

He went to fire, you saw his hand tighten, but you finally released your energy in a cry of pain. Like a rubber band that had been pulled too taunt, it snapped and blew out in a blast of fire. The awoken fired a round but went flying back at the same time toward the crew of monsters waiting for him. One of the creatures grabbed him and they went scurrying off, the door closing and locking in place behind them.

You clawed at your helmet. It was too hot. Too hot and you needed that unnecessary air to fill your body. Your ghost dismissed your helmet and you sucked in the ether tanged air. You could hear Cayde groaning still and stumbled toward him only to fall to your knees halfway there. You crawled the rest of the way until you were hovering over the battered Cayde.

“Partner, you’re smoking.” Cayde coughed out. He lifted a hand to your face but burned his fingers against the metal of your face, “Both figuratively and literally.”

Cayde’s face was busted. One eye flickering and his cheek dented in. He looked bad, and as you traced his figure with your eyes you realized the Awoken had shot him. The bullet had hit him just above the hip.

“Cayde.” You breathed out.

He followed your gaze and set a hand over the spot, “Damn. That could’ve been worse, huh?”

“I thought I lost you.” You cried out. Your voice breaking on the words. “Cayde, we felt… Sundance.”

Cayde’s face fell and you watched as he reached out to grab a red and white shard that laid not too far from him. He hissed in pain at the movement, but still brought the piece to his chest. “I fucked up. I fucked up, and she paid the price. Fuck.”

You couldn’t imagine how that would feel. The thought of losing your Ghost made you sick. Your Ghost, as if knowing your thought, curled up in the crook of your neck. Still mourning his friend. Loss wasn’t something guardians dealt with often. Not since the Red War. The thought of losing your Ghost, losing any of your friends, losing Cayde…

“Please…” The word fell from your mouth in desperation. “Please don’t leave me.” Cayde forced himself to sit up with a grunt and you reached out to hold him, so he didn’t fall over. You shook your head afraid to touch one of his wounds and hurt him worse. Sundance wasn’t here to heal him. What if these wounds were worse than they looked? “Cayde-”

He leaned his head against yours, “I ain’t goin’ nowhere, partner.”

You gripped his armor with your hands. Just having him here in your arms comforted you to some degree. He was moving and talking and whispering comforting words to you. You had made it in time.

“So”, Cayde cleared his throat and you pulled back to look him in the eyes. He gave you a smile, but with the damage done to his face it looked like an strange grimace, “I will admit, this was not the best date we’ve ever had. My bad.”

The last thing you expected to do in this moment was laugh, but you couldn’t stop the sound from coming out as you laid your head against his shoulder. He leaned the side of his head against yours with a tired sigh as the two of you waited for Petra to get down here and take you home.

[chelsfic]

Part 3 - You Shouldn’t Love a Man Like Me - Horacio Carrillo x Reader - Narcos fanfic

Part One | Part Two

A/N: I’ve been in a wave of creativity the last few days so I’m just rollin’ with it. Part three of Reader and Carrillo’s story. Angst, ahoy!! Enjoy! Thank you so much to everyone who has read, commented and reblogged!

Warning: Violence (reader gets hurt)

***

You hold your hand up to shade your eyes from the glare of the midday sun. Steve stands next to you, leaning casually against the cafe’s sidewalk bar and sipping coffee from a ceramic cup. He’s different lately, since the visit from Connie. More grounded. You hope it lasts. You’re watching Carrillo as he packs up his SUV. His broad shoulders strain against the material of his uniform shirt, his tan, muscular arms flex as he loads equipment into the back. On another day you might be able to enjoy the view. But today all you see is the way he carries himself like a spring wound too tight, ready to burst. His mouth is set in a grim frown and his brows are pinched together with stress. God--he needed this to be a win so badly. 

Honestly, you did too. Not because you have a vendetta against Escobar that transcends into an almost spiritual mission, like Carrillo does. But because you need this damn war to be over. You need Escobar dead so that Horacio--your love--can finally be safe. You pushed yourself today, shadowing Carillo and Murphy as they moved through the building, refusing to let your lover out of your sight. You can’t...you can’t bear the thought of watching him march into a firefight while you hang back and coordinate another damn barricade. And it’s not because you’ve got anything to prove. As much as you bluster and try to keep up with the guys you know as well as everyone else does that your strength is in intelligence work and managing informants. That’s okay with you. You like that part of the job. Riding off, guns blazing on raids? That was all Steve and Javi...and Horacio. 

But ever since the night of the ambush--when you’d stayed back and monitored the mission on the radio while your lover and his men were surrounded--you haven’t been able to let go. You know he’s angry with you for inserting yourself into danger today, but you can’t bring yourself to care too much. You just need him to be safe.

You walk up behind him as he finishes loading the last of the gear. You’re reaching out a hand to rub his back when the call comes in. They found him. They really found him this time. 

Everyone is moving, jumping into vehicles and screeching out onto the road. Carrillo turns to look at you over his shoulder for a moment and his eyes are lit up with excitement even as he sets his face into the fierce mask of command.

“Y/N, you’re staying here!” he barks before jumping in the driver’s seat and taking off, leaving you standing there, red-faced and furious.

You feel a tap on your shoulder and Murphy leans his face in next to yours whispering conspiratorially, “Let’s go, girl!”

Your mouth splits into a wide grin and you both jump into the nearest truck as it pulls out onto the road.

***

By the time Carrillo realizes you’ve once again disobeyed his orders and inserted yourself into the vanguard assault team along with him, it’s too late. He glares at you from the other side of the front door as the men smash the battering ram against it. Immediately the sound of gunshots from inside erupts and bullets whiz through the air around you. Jesus, you and Murphy haven’t even had time to put on your bullet-proof vests. You duck, clutching your pistol in one hand and raising the other to cover your ears. Carrillo crouches across from you and tries one more time to wave you away before the door comes down and everyone is rushing inside. 

It’s chaos. Bodies press together to squeeze through the doorway and then you’re scrambling for cover as gunfire rains down. You find yourself kneeling behind an overturned dresser in between Murphy and Carrillo. Both tall men are just barely able to fit behind it with you squished in the middle. You feel Horacio’s firm hand pressing into your back and holding you down as he pops up to return fire. You should want to struggle away from him and join in the exchange of bullets. You should want to assert yourself against his authority. But in truth you’re thankful to him for watching out for you. This isn’t your specialty and you don’t want to cause problems for the team. You just need to be near him. To see him safely through this nightmare.

The warm reassurance of his hand leaves your back and you look up in time to watch he and Murphy spring up to chase the two fugitives up the stairs. Another police officer falls in a spray of bullets and your heart leaps into your throat. They’re already halfway up the stairs. You jump up and trail after them, taking the steps two at a time to make up for your short legs. At the top of the stairs, you sprint down the hallway and hop out the open window onto the rooftop. 

You’re completely exposed out here. It’s just you, Horacio, Murphy and a couple of cops. Escobar is jogging away and throwing shots at you every few steps. You slow your pace, ducking and dodging as bullets ping off the metal and clay roof tiles. Murphy and Carrillo are leading the chase. They’re going to get him. There’s no way out for Escobar this time. You stop, hanging back and watching your lover as he finally nears the end of this years long quest. You’re sweating, bent over and breathing heavily with exertion, but you smile to see your man finally--finally completing his life’s work.

You don’t even feel it when the bullet hits you. One second you’re on your feet, eyes locked on Horacio as he sprints after his quarry, the next you’re flat on your back, head snapping backwards and cracking against a roof tile. For a second you think you’ve just had the wind knocked out of you, forgetting that you aren’t wearing your vest. You lay there staring up into the crystal blue sky and wait for your lungs to expand. They don’t. When you finally get your breath back it’s rapid and shallow. And there’s a sharp pain blossoming in your chest. You taste bile and something coppery as panic starts to set in. No, please. You’re so close.

Clouds drift overhead and a bird crosses your field of vision. It’s strange--how can the world keep going when such monumental events are playing out on the ground?

You hear your name being called. It sounds choked, desperate, and terribly far away.

***

The bullet flies wide of Carrillo and he doesn’t give it another thought, leaping forward to lengthen his strides as he closes in. Murphy is right behind him. This is it. This is finally it. The people of Columbia will rest easy knowing this madman has been brought to justice. He feels a swell of pride at the thought that it will be his hands putting this bastard in cuffs. 

Carrillo’s senses are laser focused on his prey. So, why does he suddenly jolt to a stop when he hears the sound of a body hitting the tiles behind him? He turns his head, glancing over his shoulder to check who’s gone down. 

It feels like a cold hand reaches into his chest and closes around his heart. No, mi amor! You’re lying prone on the rooftop, unmoving...alone. Murphy and the other men continue their pursuit, speeding past him and after the goal he’s fought for. Carrillo curses under his breath, casting his eyes back towards the chase and watching Murphy take the lead. It’s no choice at all, really.

He turns from them, from Escobar, from the crusade he’s waged for the last three years. His gun falls from his grip as he collapses to his knees at your side. He looks down at you, hands hovering over your blood soaked t-shirt. Your breath stutters in your chest and specks of blood splash onto your lips as you try to speak, “Hh...racio.”

You try to take one of his hands but miss. He leans over you and his face fills your vision, tears falling freely from his beautiful eyes. Yes, you think, let this be the last thing I see.

“Don’t--don’t speak, mi amor. You’re gonna be okay. Just save your strength, okay?”

He’s lifting your shirt and running his fingers over your torso searching for the wound, his hands quickly become soaked in your blood. When he finds the entry wound on the right side of your chest he presses down with all his strength and you let out a cough that sprays blood all over his arms. 

Tell me again, you think as your vision starts to go dark around the edges, tell me you love me.

***

The first thing you see when you wake up is a giant, cheerful teddy bear perched on your bedside with a note pinned to it reading, “Love, Javi and Steve.” The idea of one of them picking this out, buying it and carrying it in here is so hilarious that you start to laugh before the monstrous ache in your chest brings you up short and the laugh turns into a pained moan. 

Carrillo is at your side in an instant, “Shhh, my love. Thank God, how do you feel?”

He takes both of your hands in his and brings them to his lips, pressing urgent kisses into your fingers. You’ve never seen him look so tired. And you’ve seen him after a 24 hour stake out. His eyes are puffy, his hair is uncombed and sticking up on one side as if he fell asleep leaning against a wall or something. He’s looking at you like you might break apart at any moment.

“I feel…” you start and then pause trying to figure out how you feel. “I hurt. A lot.”

Horacio laughs at that. He leans forward and presses his lips to your cheek in the lightest of kisses.

“Yeah, well...you got shot, mi amor,” he says and you imagine you hear the edge of disappointment in his voice. You just wanted to keep him safe and instead you’ve messed everything up. Why can’t you ever just do as he tells you?

You lips tremble and your voice comes out thick with tears, “I’m sorry, Horacio. I’m sorry, I--I--”

You start to cry and immediately you feel the wound in your chest ignite with pain. You yelp in pain and gingerly clutch your hand over the bandage that wraps your chest.

Horacio looks aghast. He’s wiping your tears away and begging you, “Don’t cry, my love, please! I’m not angry. I was so, so scared I’d lost you. Please, be still, Y/N, you’re wounded.”

You cling to the gentleness and truth in his words, wrapping your hands around his wrists to keep his hands cupping your cheeks. You love the feel of his palms on your skin. Nothing in this world makes you feel safer than Horacio’s touch. When you’ve had a moment to steady your breathing and you feel more solid, you finally ask the question.

“Horacio, did we get him?”

His face is relaxed, calm, serious as he regards you. He nods, “Yeah...we got him.”

Tears slip free once more and you’re overwhelmed with relief. Your smile feels like it might split your face in two, but you don’t care. It’s over. It’s finally over. You can finally be with Horacio and not have to worry if he’ll be kidnapped or shot or tortured the next time he leaves your side. Finally.

He’s looking back at you with that same serious look on his face and you feel your happiness waver as doubt shadows your heart. 

“My love,” you whisper, reaching out to cup his cheek. He nuzzles his face against your hand and you feel a little more certain. “Are you happy?”

He turns his head and brushes a kiss against your palm, wrapping his fingers around your wrist and holding it lightly in his grip as if he fears you might float away if he doesn’t keep a hold of you.

He hates the doubt in your voice and attempts a smile to reassure you as he responds, “I am the happiest man alive because of you, mi amor. Pablo Escobar...catching him, stopping him...that man has no control over my happiness. Only you do, Y/N. Only you.”

You let out a sob of happiness, content to withstand the stab of pain in your chest as you reach out both arms and force him to bend over the bed and wrap you in a tender, loose hug. You bury your face into the crook of his neck and inhale his clean, masculine scent. Your fingers dig into the muscles of his back and you decide, then and there, that you’re never going to let go of this man again.

“I love you, Horacio,” you whisper into his ear. 

He turns his face a little so that his stubble scratches deliciously against your cheek, “I love you, my disobedient little girl.”

He pulls back a little so he can look into your eyes. His lips curve in a smile and he looks, for the first time since you’ve known him, happy and carefree.

“Marry me, Y/N.”

The words fall from his lips in the playful, dominant tone he reserves for you alone. And the way he says them, a command rather than a question, sends a shiver down your spine.

This is one order you intend to obey.

Tags:

@sparrows-books @1zashreena1 @squidlywiddly87​

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Eight

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

I accidentally messed up the numbering on part Seven’s link to post six, so if you missed post six (or yesterday’s part seven), the numbering up there is correct.

Wherein we get back out into the galaxy, explore, help some people, and kill some others!

So now that we have Liara, it’s time to really dig into the galaxy.  We have a few people we talked to on the CItadel who need help, and maybe we’ll stumble into a few more things along the way.

First of all, let’s check out the galaxy map...

Hey wait a sec, what’s this?

Petra Nebula!?  Oh hey, another new addition by the ME1 Recalibrated mod.

Gorgeous map, only one system available.

Heeeey we recognize this place, we’ll get to go there in.... two games!

Can’t land there (or anywhere in the system) but it’s cool that it exists! There are a couple of other neat little things in the system I didn’t screenshot so that you can have a cool new experience yourself if you decide to use the mod on your next playthrough.

What I really miss from ME3, by the way, is the % markers which note when you’ve fully explored a system or if there’s more stuff to find there.

Anyway, my PLAN had been to take a screenshot of each planet or spacecraft before I entered it to help orient the playthrough better, and then the non-screenshotting couple of hours happened, so we lost some of that along the way, sorry.  

Still, let’s see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.

I love this planet.  The lava juuuuust below the surface, peeking out.  Just some of the coolest terrain in the game.

What a great view, let’s get a little clo--

OOPS.

I meant to do that.

Wide open spaces with no fears of a thresher maw living in the lava! ...I hope?

Ah, here’s our objective, a distress signal being sent from this location, let’s see if we can help...

FUCKING GETH AMBUSH.

Aw yeah, jumping over those explosives like a pro!

...most of the time.

Well this planet was a bust.  Let’s see if we can actually help someone.

Another planet, scanned a few things, not sure what we’re doing here but hey, I found a lone building!

Ah yes, a prefab which is totally different from all the prefabs we’ll enter because the creates are stacked in a different configuration.

Honestly they should have put one of these prefabs in ME3 for Old Times Sake. (The ones that actually look like homes/labs/whatever make so much more sense.)

Annnd we’re being attacked.  Not sure why, but here we go!

Awww yeah, Throw!  And Ash and Kaidan managing to be useful I think?

Except they let a guy slip by us, but luckily there’s a convenient explosive nearby.  That got ‘em.

OK back to facing forward OH FUCK A KROGAN.

Kaidan’s biotics and my shotgun, a favorite combination.  Now stay down!

Sweet, level up!

And that fight’s over, time to explore this pla...

Whew, thanks Kaidan.

This guy thought he could sneak past me.  Well me, my shotgun and my 20 shield strength sure showed him.

ME1 combat is so... messy though.  I mean, I honestly still enjoy it, but I’m in the camp that agrees combat gets better every game, Andromeda included.  Of course, I just REALLY LOVE Vanguarding in ME3... charging into a group of enemies, hitting Nova, spamming charge again praying that I’ll find a good target to charge to in time.  ME1 combat is basically all just... spam abilities from cover and hope your companions are doing something useful.  Being a Vanguard is more about style over substance in ME here.  I mean you do get some really useful abilities, but your shotgun isn’t that much use unless things get too close.

Which, you know, they do pretty often.

Anyway, remember... I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!

FUCK I hadn’t been back to the Citadel to pick up Nassana Dantius’ quest yet.  Let’s just reload the quicksave from outside and we’ll... come back and do this the right way later and see the entire quest.

I do this more often than I care to admit.

Also no screenshot for this but... I also found Wrex’s personal quest planet and recognized it only when I saw the building, since it’s in a pretty memorable location.  Still, grabbed everything else off the planet so it’ll be quick when it’s time to go back and do that quest.

Well let’s go back to poking around the galaxy.

Message coming in.  Patching it through.

Ah, yeah, hey Hackett.  What’s that?  You’ve got some dirty work you need me to do for you?  Cool, be right there.

Before the ME2 DLC Arrival came out, Hackett was one of Mass Effect’s biggest mysteries.  Who is this guy?  Why is he telling us to do things?  Does he have some secret agenda?  Why is he so sketchy?  Our Shepards seemed to trust him but WOW he sure did send us on some touchy missions.  Speculation was all over the place on what he looked like and what he was really doing.

Turns out, he’s just a pretty cool guy who wants you to take on all the secret spy missions the Alliance doesn’t want to take credit for.

I wish I’d saved it, but just a week or two ago I saw a pretty great post circulating about Hackett.  He IS the guy that’s going to make sure a job gets done, even if he’s not going to do it himself.  He’s the back-room Admiral with the squeaky clean image up front.  He’s the Gus Fring of the Alliance.

Also getting Lance Riddick to voice him was great.  Just a real authoritative, steady guy who you actually want to trust.  

And it turns out he looks basically exactly like most people thought, but maybe with a few more scars. (I mean, he really looks a lot like Lance Riddick, tbh)  But we don’t know that yet.  For now, let the mystery be.

Time to actually go help someone.

Ah yeah, Chairman Burns, we do negotiate with terrorists, in this case.  But they needed negotiating with.

Maxing out the Paragon-meter is worth it for moments like this.  These guys have probably suffered and it’s no surprise that no one has really listened.  Sounds like a lot about the galaxy hasn’t changed since we got out there.

This is also an excellent moment for Kaidan.

Being able to let Kaidan reason with them is fantastic.  Although he probably ultimately doesn’t make a difference mechanics wise, it’d be nice if maybe the check is easier if he’s here.  I don’t know.  But Kaidan knows, even if he’s one of the “lucky” ones who “only” gets migraines.  

One of the grossest posts I’ve seen about Kaidan are people who argue she shouldn’t be on the team because of his implants and since he has a “disability”.  Or that it’s “kinder” to sacrifice him on Virmire.  That’s some real gross ablism you’ve got there.  

Anyway, I love being able to keep this situation under control. Burns actually comes through if you do, even if those guys probably go to prison for awhile for terrorism.  Better than being dead.

Time for... another planet!

Again, didn’t take a screencap of this one but... there’s a missing survey team? I must have picked this quest up in the elevators, because normally you get it on Noveria.  Anyway,  Let’s go find them on Trebin, I’m sure they just can’t broadcast anymore or something.  It’s cool

FUCK. SHIT SHIT SHIT.  FUCK!!!

I probably could have actually used Warp or Throw or even Barrier there but... too late now!  We lived!

I was all ready to blame this on Cerberus, but creepily, there’s no explanation for who huskified them or why.   I’m still going to blame Cerberus, seems like something they’d do.

Well, time to move on.

Honestly, I can’t believe anyone who says ME1 isn’t beautiful.

And driving the Mako is FUN in places like this!

Oh there’s a camp up ahead, we’re here to find the remaining crew of a crashed ship for our new friend in the Citadel Tower.  

Again, no footage/screenshot but eventually you find where the mercenaries tracked down Willem (the brother) and killed them.  Shit.  We were too late.  I actually tear up sometimes telling Garoth that his brother died.  They held out for awhile, too, but we were too late.

It would have been nice if, say, if the very first thing we did after leaving the Citadel was to come here, we could have saved him, but I guess this quest is another way of Bioware telling us that sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do to change things.

One more quest this update, then we’re stopping back off at the Citadel next.

Presrop, one of the most well-known of the sidequest planets. (OKok, technically it’s a moon.)

One of my favorite landing sequences, just because the stars make it so... dramatic.

I mean DAMN.

Klendagon's most striking feature is, of course, the Great Rift valley that stretches across the southern hemisphere. What is most fascinating about the Rift is that it does not appear to be natural. The geological record suggests it is the result of a "glancing blow" by a mass accelerator round of unimaginable destructive power. This occurred some thirty-seven million years ago.

It took a solid three minutes of Flycam flying to get that closeup shot, btw.  I actually flew all the way in the first time I came here, and didn’t take screenshots.  Took about six minutes.  The updated texture is impressive.

Well, Hackett sent us here, let’s deal with Major Kyle.

Being nice and non-threatening gets you into places.

I’ll admit, before I came in here, I decided to cheat in enough paragon points to max out Paragon already.  For me personally, I’m trying to make sure this is an “ultimate” playthrough, a save file I can just use over and over from here on out.  I want everything to import into ME3 the first time around with all the plot flags set how I want them without messing with Gibbed’s Savegame Editor, so making sure I can convince everyone how I want them to is important.  So hey, Major Kyle, stand down.

I don’t think I’ve ever played as a Ruthless Shepard in ME1, or if I have, it’s been so long I’ve forgotten how it goes.  But he was the commanding officer at the battle of Torfan, and your CO if you’re Ruthless.  He’s also a reminder of how serious PTSD can be, and what it can do to a person.  

I also love this tidbit from the Wiki, which I didn’t know since I’d never done these particular choices before:

(In Mass Effect 2)  If Martin Burns was not saved in 2183, a news report on the Citadel will announce that Kyle is trying to form an all-biotic community as the reparations were not given to L2 biotics and they have become even more alienated from galactic society.

I really liked that if you reason with him, he doesn’t give you any trouble and turns himself in like he says.

Hey, this negotiation thing is easy when you’re the best person in the galaxy at it!!

[xtolovers]

The Anvil

Pairing: Aloy x Erend Rating: M ( albeit in later chapters) Warnings: Graphic Mentions of Violence, slight mentions of alcoholism

AO3 / Fanfiction.net

Chapter 2: Fire And Fury

The sun perches in the middle of the sky, burning the red clay beneath his heavy boots. There are no shadows to hide in, but that matters little to him.

Usually.

In the two years he had been living in Meridian, Erend had grown accustomed, even fond of the heat. Today however, was a particular bad day to sit in the desert, waiting for a clever girl that could see the unseen.

She will come. She will find them. I will kill them.

He repeats the words in his head, like a mantra, trying to block out everything, because otherwise, he will go insane.

Two days ago he had thought that the closest he would ever come to avenging his sister would be by smashing the head of every Shadow Carja he’d ever meet. He’d been stranded with a sister-shaped hole in his heart, his body, his whole being, and a legacy he was not at all prepared to handle. The only thing to fill the hole had been alcohol, and with it, promised equilibrium, even if only for a few hours.

Of course, that hadn’t worked. On the bottom of every tankart had been her face, sometimes looking the way it had when she was alive, sometimes smashed in and cold, the way she was lying in a chamber somewhere beneath the palace right now. Somehow, she’d managed to look disappointed even then, and his nausea had had only so much to do with the alcohol ravaging in his system.

But there had been nothing he could do.

Nothing, until he’d heard his name at the gates through his drunken stupor, and suddenly she was there, miraculously alive, still brazen, still striking, and not at all impressed with his drunken appearance.

I need you to pull yourself together.

Back in the Embrace he had told her that she reminded him of his sister, and now her words felt like they came straight from Ersas cold, dead lips. Pull yourself together. Shame had rushed over him, and he had fumbled to pull Aloy aside and himself together.

The shame still lingers now, because while he can’t remember every detail of what they’d talked about at first, his head distracted with the daze of his drunkenness, with her questions, with the redness of her hair, he can remember the way he’d made a bung out of himself.

Aloy was all questions and business, and he’d tried to pull it together, but most of this conversation had been lost to him. What he does remember is the way her face changed from fierce and demanding to an almost shy compassion, as she offered her condolences. She’d told him she’d lost someone too, and in his grief, because he’d just heard it too fucking often in the last days, he’d snapped at her.

He wondered if that was the reason why she’d refused to come here at first. If so, he’d deserve nothing less for being an idiot, but he couldn’t imagine Aloy being that hard-hearted. No, if she didn’t show, it was because she couldn’t. The part of him that wasn’t a grief-stricken, selfish bastard recognized that she had as much avenging to do as he did.

But it was hard being reasonable when it took her all of fifteen minutes to find enough evidence in Olin’s basement to confirm her theories. He hadn’t understood all the details, but he had understood that Olin had betrayed them, even if he did so to save his family. What else he had understood though, was that Aloy is the key he needed to find the people who had taken Ersa.

Red Ridge Pass?… I’ll see what I can do.

He hopes she’d meant it.

When they departed in the street, each of them busy with preparations and eager to get on the road- the same road, hopefully- she’d turned around to him, her jaw firm as always, her eyes apprehensive, but not unkind.

If we do this, I need you to be there. Fully.

The shame was back then, and burned enough through him to give space to reason. So he had pulled himself together. He’d packed his things and had forgone the ale, but steel to his bones, it had been hard.

So here he is, two days later, smoldering in the forge-like heat of Red Ridge Pass, wondering what is drier: the sparse patches of grass or his tongue. The hangover had passed yesterday, literally sweated out of his system as he’d made his way north, but now the withdrawal is creeping through his veins, giving him a different kind of headache. His whole body’s hot, sweaty, tingling from inaction. His head throbbing from the heat, from the non-existing alcohol his body craved, from all the thoughts and  pictures he desperately tries not to let into his mind.

Erend looks up, but the sun hasn’t moved.

A day. I’ll give her one more day to show up.

That is all he could give before he’ll  collapse, sleep had been steadily evading or meeting him with nightmares.

A fly lands on his head and he brushes it away with poorly suppressed frustration. He feels like a bow drawn taunt, ready to spring.

Ready to break.

His mouth has never been this dry, he’s sure. Before his head can start imagining the taste of cool ale, he grabs his canteen, swallowing the last bits of water. It doesn’t worry him, there’s a stream just down the ridge, but it’s crawling with Snapmaws. It’s a testimony to his condition that suddenly the thought of six Snapmaws seems like a blessing to him. They’re something to hit, they’re filled with ice, it is something to do.

Without further thought, his hammer is in his hands and his feet are moving down the ridge. Stealth has never been Erend’s strenght- he doesn’t have the build for it- but now, he isn’t even trying. Which is promptly proven by a loud, resounding screech that makes his right ear go numb.

It’s a matter of seconds, but he dives to the side just as the Longleg jumps to where he stood a moment ago, the vents in its body releasing a blast of fire into the air. Erend staggers and draws himself up just in time to see the red lenses of two Watchers appear out of the underbrush. Next to him, the Longleg fills its air sac for  another attack, and Erend decides to go for the Watchers first. He sprints forward just as the first runs towards him, dodging out of its way in the last moment, towards the second one that is just gathering energy in its eye to shoot at him. Three fast steps, and he throws himself forward, the weight of his hammer dragging him, and the sharp end of it digs itself into the Watchers lens. The energy dissipates with a sputtering sound as the machine falls over. A twist and a short pull, and he’s turning around. The second Watcher is aiming towards him while the Longleg is throwing its head back, ready to daze. He knows he’s too close, but-

Something whizzes past him, and then there’s sparks and metal screeching, and the watcher falls limp. Another whiz, impossibly fast, a loud burst and then something knocks him in the chest and sends him staggering back like he took a hammer to the chest. With a cough he looks up, and the Longleg has no air sac any longer. It turns to the left, screeching and flaring red, and Erend sees his opening. Breathless he raises his hammer and brings it down with all the force he can muster. A loud crash resounds through the canyon as he breaks the blaze canister and several metal plates, and the Longleg goes down with sparks.

He turns to the right and feels hope for the first time in the last two days as he sees Aloy dismount a Broadhead, stowing her bow on her back. A quick look over his shoulder reassures him that while the snapmaws are spooked, they haven’t started their pursuit.

“Glad that’s over with. Thanks for the help,” he coughs out, still not fully recovered from the blast. She saunters over to him, hair a ruddy gold halo in the setting sun, and by the forge, he isn’t too sure that hope is the only thing swelling in his chest. He pushes it down as he sees her look.

Aloy frowns as she takes him in. “What are you doing out here all alone? Where are your men?”

A part of him wants to respond that she’s out here alone as well, but she probably just saved his ass, so he won’t be one.

“I’m not gonna risk their lives. I don’t mind putting my worthless ass on the line. But not theirs.” He swallows against his dry throat, and a little against is pride. “ Sorry… I had to drag you into it.”

Her scowl is replaced by a small smile, and she shrugs good-naturedly. “Don’t worry. This is just an average day for me. You know, take down some machines, track down some killers…” she ends with a small grin.

He plays it serious, but his lip twitches the slightest amount. “ Right. I’d hate to see a busy morning for you.” The adrenaline from the battle is wearing off, but now that she’s here, he feels venegance close.  “Ready to get started?”

She nods, but looks him over.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

He can’t see judgment in her face, but the question pinches nonetheless.

“Well, I’m sober, so…no.” It’s the truth, accompanied with a shrug and a laugh, and Aloy’s eyebrows are drawn together again.

“ Well, at least you’re thinking straight,” she replies, not the slightest smile in sight.

“Don’t get used to it.” He quips, trying to make the guilt sting less.

The effort is fruitless however, when Aloy asks him to tell her about Ersa’s disappearance and why he wasn’t with her. It’s a worse blow to his chest than the exploding air sac, but Erend knows it’s a blows he deserves. She didn’t take him because he was a useless drunk. He can’t bring himself to watch Aloy’s face as he admits it, studying the ground. Because he is a coward, he follows it up with a recounting of what they did to his sisters body. Because he is broken, his voice hitches on the word face.

He hears her breathe deeply, her voice soft and full of understanding. “ I’m so sorry, Erend.”

It helps, and it makes it worse. It hurts, worse than talking to anyone else about it, maybe because she demands the truth but doesn’t shy away from it.

It’s not the first time he has to tell this story. He was the one who had to tell the rest of the Vanguard- his legacy- and none of them had asked aloud why Ersa had left him behind. Nobody needed to ask, because Erend was so drunk he could barely get the words out. Nobody had judged him for it either, and maybe that was the worst of it.

Aloy ends her interrogation and they make their way over to the ambush site. Bile collects in his mouth and he breathes through his nose as Aloy sinks into her trance. He hears her mutter under her breath.

“Arrows scattered…. Drag marks…. Never fired…”

She jumps up, eyebrows raised with excitement.

“What did you find?”

Aloy moves across the battlefield, pointing out bloodlines and groves in the dirt.

“I think somebody moved the bodies here and scattered them,” she concludes.

“Why would the Shadow Carja do that?”

“At this point, I don’t think the Shadow Carja are responsible.”

“Of course they are!” Erend bellows. He saw them in his nightmares. It has to be them.

Aloy looks doubtfull and leads them up a trail towards the Dimmed Bones, huge metal ruins resting on top of the nearest cliff.

They step over the edge, no one in sight, when Aloy suddenly freezes, her head faced towards one of the higher beams. Erend can see silhouettes up there- three, five, ten, shadows against the setting sun. But their armor doesn’t look like it should, and as he squeezes his eyes, his heart drops to his stomach and his body freezes.

“These aren’t Shadow Carja- they’re my people, they’re Oseram,” he tells her, and Aloy looks between him and them, drawing her bow a second later.

“Do you always greet each other this way?” she asks as the Oseram on the walls start shouting commands to kill them.

They dodge apart as a fire arrow lands between them, and then there’s chaos. Erend has a bow, but he’s not a great shot, not nearly as good as Aloy, so he rips his hammer from its strap and sprints over to her.

“You take the ones on top, I’ll keep them from you on the ground!” He bellows, and a second later the first Oseram screams and falls from the beams.

“On it!” Aloy shouts back, and then he does his best to shield her. Three Oseram run towards them and there is a fire and a fury in his blood that drives him onward. It’s a red rush, and the next thing he sees are three bodies in front of his feet, their faces caved in like they had done with Ersa. There’s a rightful fire blazing in his chest, but he feels like it’s eating him up more than it is cauterizing the wound.

The fight his over as quick as it started, but there’s a strange sound ebbing through the air, and he turns to Aloy who is already ducking back into the tall grass.

“They’re calling in machines!”

In that instant he can feel the thunder on the ground as something big approaches fast, and a second later two Ravagers and two Scrappers round the corner. They see him and start charging, and he knows that he can’t roll away from two fucking Ravagers. But Aloy’s arrows are faster, again, and he watches as both Ravagers are thrown down mid-air by two of Aloy’s tearblast arrows.

Erend sees his opening and rushes through, hammer lifted and a furious scream on his lips. Behind him he can hear metal clanging as he makes quick work of the two Scrappers.

As he turns he sees a flash of red hair in the distance and hears his name, and then a giant shadow and a force that feels like someone threw him of a cliff as the Ravanger lunges and jumps on him. It rears it’s claw to strike, and Erend knows it’s over. He was so close, and now it’s over.

That’s when a blue blast explodes behind the machine and it roars, lunging away from him. By sheer dumb look Erend rolls to the side just before he gets trampled to death. Another blue explosion and the Ravanger is staggering next to him. He tries to sit up as a third explosion hits the beast in the head, taking it down.

The dust takes a moment to settle, and there he can see her, red hair furiously whipping in the wind, the canon of a Ravanger hoisted on her hip, a determined look on her face, and something else drops in his stomach.

Behind her, the second Ravanger is tied to the ground, a ropecaster lying next to her feet. She turns and fires two more blasts out of the canon, her body shaking with each shot. Then she throws the canon away, and takes her spear. Without any hesitation she runs forward and rams it into the machine’s torso. The blue light fades as sparks erupt from its body.

With a grunt, Aloy stands up from the machine’s corpse, and quickly surveys their surroundings. She looks feral and deadly, ready to spring into action, but the battlefield has grown quiet.

The fight leaves her as soon as she senses it’s over. The feral look on her face is replaced with worry as she jogs over to him.

“Are you alright?”

Erend is still on the ground, unsure of what he just witnessed there, but nods and pushes himself up.

There’s a body lying next to him, and the fury is back in an instant. With a kick he turns the corpse over, but- thankfully- it’s nobody he recognizes.

“Oseram, not Shadow Carja. Looks like I was wrong about everything. As usual.”

The only reaction she shows is tapping her focus and setting to work.

She darts from here to there, kneeling, investigating, mumbling. After a few steps his foot hits something. A stab shoots through him as he recognizes what it is, and he kneels down, fingers trembling. All Erend can focus on his the blood rushing in his ears, his heart racing, his blood pumping.

“Erend!” Aloy calls and he sees her jumping from a nearby building, jogging over to where he’s crouched.

“This is Ersa’s helmet,” he chokes out kneeling on the ground.” I thought she died in the field below, but it must’ve been here.” He rises to his feet, and looks about the battlefield. “ All this trickery. For what? Feels like it’s just to torture me.”

“I have a theory. But it takes a little imagination,” Aloy says.

“So far your theories are better than other people’s facts.”

With a nod she turns around and starts talking, the first sentences only slowly making their way through the haze in his brain. Aloy points to a tripod, to shattered stones,tells him that she thinks they managed to paralyze his friends with a new weapon.

“No blood on their weapons, no fight,” she points to the clean Vanguard weapons on the ground.

“Then why paralize them if you’re only going to move them and gut them?”

“They were trying to hide something,” she replies and hurries over to a bloodied boulder resting in a puddle of dried and cracked blood.

“The boulder they used to bash Ersa’s face in.”

“Or someone elses,” Aloy replies, careful excitement on her face. Erend’s stomach drops, and he’s unable to reply. She staggers a few feet back and points to leather straps lying a few feet behind the bloodied rock.

“These leather straps have been cut, as if they took the armor of someone…”

Erend knows what she’s trying to say, but his brain barricades itself against the idea.

“That can’t be. Her body is lying in state in Meridian. I saw it!”

“You said that she was unrecognizable. Maybe they switched another body into her armor, someone around the same size… and mutilated it enough, so it could be anyone, even Ersa.”

He stares at her, throat choked, and Aloy’s eyebrows rise in silent conviction as she steps closer to him.

“Go back to Meridian. Take another look at that body. If it’s really Ersa… of course, I’m wrong. But if I’m right…” she trails off, and the hope in her face is enough to stop his brain. She was right about Olin. She was right about the Shadow Carja not being responsible. Somehow, she can see the unseen and connect the dots, and he can see in her face that she believes what she says. His stomach sinks, his heart hammers.

“Then my sister could be alive! I’m going. Meet me back there when you can!”

Aloy nods. “I’m going to look around some more, I’ll see you there.”

There’s a another fire burning in his chest now and it’s a wild hope.

[nitewrighter]

Gency Week Day 7

Camellia--My Destiny Is In Your Hands

Destiny AU!!!

-----

Genji-3 adjusted his hood as it rippled in the winds of Mars. The landscape was beautiful and lonely, all rusty red rock formations veined with white snow and coarse grasses. 

“When was the last time you went back to the Tower?” Zenyatta, his ghost floated up next to him as he looked out over the landscape. 

“Aren’t you supposed to keep track of that?” said Genji, glancing over at the semi-spherical ghost shell etched with sky chart-like designs.

“I am not asking because I do not know, I am asking because you should know,” said Zenyatta, “It would do you well to be near the Traveler again... touch base with the Vanguard... Not just bounce between here and the Tangled Shore.”

“I’ve been...” Genji-3 gestured, “Busy.”

“It’s not good to be alone for so long,” said Zenyatta.

“I’m not alone--I have you!” said Genji.

“...Your Ghost,” said Zenyatta.

“Ghosts count!” said Genji.

“But you understand what I am saying,” said Zenyatta, “The more you fight and die out here, the less it means to you. You need to remind yourself of what you are fighting for... I know it’s difficult with Cayde’s loss--”

“I’m fine,” Genji-3 insisted.

“You will be fine once you go back to the Last City, get some ramen and a few days off,” said Zenyatta, “The Cabal will still be here when you get back.”

Genji-3 snorted and then sighed. “One last patrol,” he said, summoning his sparrow.

“’One last patrol’ always turns into, ‘Oh look, a lost sector’ or ‘We need to clear out this Hive nest,’ or ‘Well do you expect me to just let the Fallen transmat this glimmer?’” said Zenyatta, fading into the interior of Genji’s cloak.

“That’s what patrol means,” said Genji, mounting the sparrow and zipping forward, his cloak rippling behind him. Mars streamed past, all streaks of red and white with a dawn-pinkened sky. It didn’t take too long to reach the icy mountains where they could get a better vantage point on the area. They had to continue on foot (well, Zen was floating, as always) from there. They ran into a handful of Cabal in the ice caves, but nothing Ryū Ichimonji couldn’t handle.

“...and how long has it been since we’ve checked in with a Postmaster? Poor Kadi’s probably drowning in packages for us at this point. Oh! And Banshee-44---You always liked him--” Zenyatta was still on the ‘Let’s go back to the tower’ page. Genji-3 was beginning to wonder if his ghost was the lonely one.

“Wait--” Genji held up a hand and drew his sword from his back. 

“More cabal?” said Zenyatta.

“I thought I heard--” Genji cut himself off as a small polyhedron hovered past. “A ghost?”

The ghost was hovering about the ice caves, scanning the walls, humming a little. 

“Excuse me--” Genji called and the ghost swiveled to face them.

“Where is your Guardian?” asked Zenyatta.

“Oh they’re around!” the Ghost chirped, and resumed scanning the ice in the wall, “I am very sure this is the right planet.”

“You... have not found your Guardian yet,” said Zenyatta.

“They’re around!” the Ghost insisted and then resumed scanning and humming.

Genji gave a doubtful glance to Zenyatta. His expression was unreadable under his Mask of the Great Hunt, but the angle he was holding it at universally communicated ‘This is depressing.’

“Uh... best of luck finding them,” said Genji, continuing past the ghost.

“Oh, I hope they’re nice,” the Ghost said, more to itself than them.

“Poor thing,” said Genji as they continued on through the ice caves. 

“It is not so bad,” said Zenyatta, “Finding one’s Guardian is an adventure in and of itself.”

“You scan corpses,” said Genji, “And piles of rubble when you can’t find corpses.”

“But one of those corpses or piles of rubble could be a Guardian! It is very exciting,” said Zenyatta.

“When you found me--”

“Oh you were ripped in two,” said Zenyatta, “Your legs were on the other side of the shelled-out warehouse.”

“There’s a pleasant thought,” said Genji.

“I revived you from the top half, if it helps,” said Zenyatta.

They heard some distorted grunting from down the tunnel behind them.

“Cabal must have found the cave mouth,” said Genji, his hand going to Ryū Ichimonji, “The first group we ran into must have just been a scouting team.”

Zenyatta let out a sigh, “Of course...” and Genji remembered what they had been discussing earlier.

“Well, we don’t have to fight them,” he said, taking his hand off of the sword handle, “Once we reach the exit at the summit, we’ll just transmat up into the ship and head back to the Tower. Like you wanted.”

“I have missed the Traveler,” Zenyatta spoke a little wistfully.

“And ramen,” Genji admitted.

“I do like those little white things with the pink swirls,” said Zenyatta.

“You don’t have a mouth,” said Genji.

“I mean aesthetically,” said Zenyatta, “Ghosts can appreciate--” Zenyatta suddenly caught himself and both of them perked up with realization.

“The ghost!” They said at the same time and Genji was already drawing his sword and running back through the tunnels. Zenyatta faded into the interior of Genji’s cloak as they made visual contact with the small platoon of Red Legion soldiers. Genji didn’t even confirm a visual on the Ghost when he sliced through his first legionnaire. 

It was a dizzying fight, and paranoid in close corners. Bullets spattered and shattered against the icy walls and ceiling as Genji leapt and rolled to avoid hails of gunfire. He darted past phalanx shields and backstabbed, alternating between his knife, his sword, and the solar blades of the Way of a Thousand Cuts. One Legionnaire managed to slam him hard into a wall and was met with solar knife to the head before Genji scrambled out of the legionnaire’s death-loosened grip and vaulted off of his shoulders with his sword swinging. Genji was yanking his sword out of the sparking mass of a dead legionnaire when he had to roll out of the way of the fire of a Incendior. Genji eyed the massive tanks on the Incendior’s back and grinned (if you could really call it grinning for an Exo).

“Genji--” Zenyatta started but Genji was already leaping in. He twisted in the air and a barrage of blades flew off of him in a dazzling display of fiery solar power.

The tank of the Incendior exploded and Genji was thrown back by the blast. He bounced painfully along the hard ice floor and... water? Genji sat up and then winced hard.

“Honestly...” Zenyatta admonished as, with a swell of light, Genji felt his wounds patch up. Large drops of water were plopping down from the ceiling as Genji was wringing out his cloak among the charred remains of the Legion’s bodies.

“Ghost?” Genji called.

The ghost from earlier phased into existence. “Are you all right?” the ghost asked.

“I’m fine,” said Genji.

“Thanks for taking care of them. I can’t get much scanning done when I’m hiding,” said the Ghost, resuming its scan of the walls. 

“...you’re just going to keep scanning?” said Genji.

“Well of course!” said the ghost, “Why wouldn’t I?”

A large crunching sound that seemed to have an odd high-pitched reverberation to it. Genji looked up to see a fissure zig-zagging across the ceiling.

“Cave-in!” he shouted as Zenyatta disappeared into his cloak. Water sloshed around his boots as he ran, grabbed the still-scanning, now-protesting ghost, and sprinted out of the mouth of the cave as massive shards of ice came tumbling down after him.

Genji panted as he watched the mouth of the cave collapse and send out puffs of diamond dust and snow as icy debris rolled out from a wall of ice blocks where there once was an entrance.

“In hindsight, it probably isn’t good to throw out exploding fire knives in an ice cave,” said Zenyatta, rematerializing out of Genji’s cloak.

“Oh no!” the Ghost zipped out of Genji’s grip and anxiously floated over the pile of ice blocking the cave entrance. “I’ll never finish scanning, now!”

“Sorry...” Genji rubbed the back of his head. 

“I’m sure your Guardian is somewhere else--” Zenyatta started.

“No! I have to be sure! I have to---” the ghost paused and started scanning over the debris at the mouth of the cave. It suddenly perked up, its panels whirring. “They’re here!” the ghost exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down, “They’re definitely here!”

“Are you sure--?” Genji started but the ghost’s panels suddenly expanded, exposing a core of light at its center. The ice and rocks in the pile rumbled and suddenly a human skull, brown with age and missing both its lower jaw and a chunk of its cranium emerged, floating out from the debris.

“Ew,” said Genji.

“Oh...” Zenyatta said softly.

Light burst out from the exposed ghost’s core and the skull was encased in light as well, all but disappearing behind a misty glow that was not unlike the recently awakened Traveler. The silhouette of a body formed out from the light and as the ghost’s shell closed back around it, details of the figure became visible. She was an awoken, tall and graceful but strongly built. Her skin was pale bluish and her hair was platinum blonde, tying itself up in a feathery ponytail as her eyes blearily opened. Her eyes were harvest moon yellow, and soul-piercing like any other Awoken. She was wrapped in almost labcoat-like warlock robes--or maybe they were just a tactical labcoat? Definitely Braytech. 

Her feet touched down on the ground and her lids twitched for a few seconds before she suddenly drew a horrible, drawn out, groaning, rasping breath. The first breath of a woman who had been dead for, judging by the level of ice, centuries. She staggered and Genji instinctively stepped forward and caught her, helping her stay on her feet.

“Whuzz--Guh!” She flinched hard in his arms and Genji loosened his grip on her but kept supporting her.

“It’s okay,” said Genji, “It’s okay. We’re friendly.”

“It’s you!” her Ghost was zipping around her joyfully, “It’s you! It’s you! It’s you! My Guardian!!”

“Guh--Guardian?” the woman was swaying in Genji’s arms, “Whuzzaguardian?”

“You’re a guardian!” the ghost declared gleefully, “You’re my guardian! The Traveler made me and I searched for you for years and I found you and you’re my guardian!! You’re the most powerful weapon of the Light! You’re bound to protect the Traveler against the forces of Darkness! You can’t die because I’ll keep bringing you back until I die! We’re friends!”

“...What?” said the woman.

Genji looked at Zenyatta, then at the ghost, all but exploding out of its shell with excitement, and then back at the woman.

“You’re uh... probably going to need some help acclimating,” said Genji, still supporting her, “The Vanguard can probably help you out. We should get back to the Tower.”

The panels of Zenyatta’s ghost shell whirred with what Genji could only assume was smugness.

“What tower?” the woman repeated.

“It’s back on Earth--It’s actually really beautiful. You’re going to love it,” said Genji. He glanced down at a name stitched into her lab coat-like robes, “...Mercy.”

“Mercy?” The woman followed his line of sight down to her own name, “Oh--So it is--So... so I am.”

“You’re my Guardian, Mercy! We’re going to go on adventures!” Mercy’s ghost was bobbing around her.

“Vanguard, then adventures,” said Genji, letting Mercy lean on him as Zenyatta signaled their ship.

“What’s the Vanguard?” said Mercy.

“I’ll uh, get you up to speed,” said Genji, “I’m Genji-3, by the way.”

“3... An Exo?” Mercy tilted her head at him.

Genji waved a hand and his helmet dematerialized, revealing his silver face and glowing green eyes. “All friendly,” said Genji.

“...cat ears...” Mercy said quietly, staring at him.

“What? Oh--no. Horns,” said Genji, pointing at one of the 45 degree angle metal nubs at the sides of his head. 

“I have a cat--” Mercy’s voice was hollow, she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead.

You had a cat at least 300 years ago, thought Genji, but he didn’t say anything. Patchy, dreamlike memories were well known to Exos, but as Guardians investigating one’s past wasn’t generally encouraged. Plenty did it, but it was morbid work and fighting off the Vex, Hive, Cabal, and Fallen (And the odd Taken here and there) tended to overshadow most introspection. Still, something stung in Genji’s stomach. She remembered she had a cat easier than she could remember her own name. It must have meant a lot to her. She was still muttering, trying to make sense of things  “I named him--he was--” she looked up and out over the landscape, “I don’t remember this--It--it’s not supposed to look like this---”

“You were a corpse from the Golden Age!” her Ghost stated excitedly.

“I was a corpse?” Mercy’s voice creaked. 

“Yeah! But you’re better now!” said the Ghost.

“I know you’re excited but we should probably break things to her a bit more slowly,” said Zenyatta.

“Oh right, right,” Mercy’s ghost bobbed in a nodding motion.

“I--I don’t understand--” Mercy was shaking her head, “What happened--?” she looked at her ghost, “What are you?”

“I’m your ghost!” said the Ghost, “The Traveler made me when it died-but-not-really! But it’s better now, too!”

“It died!? What are you talki--” Solar light suddenly flared off of Mercy’s forearms and she shrieked and flinched back, looking at her hands, “What was that?!”

“...That’s your light,” said Genji. He materialized a solar knife out of the air and then let it wink out of existence, “I have it too. It’s okay. You’re not alone here.”

“Mm,” Mercy just nodded, still looking at her forearms, clearly overwhelmed by everything.

“You don’t have to understand everything all at once,” said Zenyatta.

“I’ve been a Guardian for two decades now and I still don’t understand it,” said Genji. 

Mercy chuckled a little but her smile faded as she looked back over the landscape. “I was... gone a long time, wasn’t I?” she said quietly.

“Centuries, probably!” said her ghost.

“You uh... probably don’t have to worry about your cat, at this point,” said Genji.

“Oh...” Mercy’s shoulders slumped a little.

“We probably should get you to the Last City,” said Genji.

“Why is it called the Last City?” said Mercy, nervously running her thumb over her palm.

Genji and Zenyatta exchanged glances. The plates on Mercy’s Ghost whirred and for once seemed to be at a loss for words. How does one gently break the news there had been a continuous stream of shit hitting the fan ever since the Darkness reached their solar system. Genji rubbed his forehead, quietly muttering ‘Kuso,’ under his breath. “You like ramen?” asked Genji.

“I like ramen,” said Mercy.

“Let’s get ramen,” said Genji, as the four of them transmatted up into his ship.

[thedistantstorm]

Keep On Rising (Until The Sky Knows Your Name) 10

Found Family | Zavala is Tower Dad | Father-Daughter Relationship | Childhood Trauma and Recovery | Canon-Typical Violence | Amputation

A story about how an orphaned Amanda Holliday comes to belong in the Last Safe City and the family she finds along the way.

(Or, the story of how Commander Zavala finds himself responsible for one Amanda Holliday.)

Chapters: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09

This time: Zavala calls in a favor, Amanda meets Eva.

-/

There are obstacles, road blocks… challenges, to any objective.

He is not a man who allows himself to stray from the task at hand, except when necessary. This isn’t technically necessary - not to him - but he knows that the consequences of not following through will outweigh the repercussions of missing three minutes of faction banter.

Really, no matter how long the three heads argue, the outcome will still be the same. Lakshimi has the funding for her project and will proceed with her objective, paying Hideo to produce the weapons she requires, leaving Arach Jalal licking his wounds because if he wants new ships, he’ll only have the meager support of the Vanguard’s budget - and only if he plays nicely. 

For a man who consistently says whatever thought crosses his mind without any situational awareness, it’s a rather unpleasant deal. To Zavala, he’d rather they skip that part, and forego the carrying on leading up to it.

He’d made a promise this morning. Foolishly. He presumed nothing large would come up, Ikora was on duty tonight, she could handle anything short of a large-scale attack on the City, and this meeting was supposed to adjourn at least three hours earlier. He knew better than to assume.

What were you going to do? Shiori asks silently between them while Jalal throws his tantrum in the direction of Lakshimi-2. She knows you come when you’re able. 

Maintaining his look of inscrutable stoicism, he answers in kind. She was looking forward to this. I never speak so specifically on purpose, and now…

It was going to happen eventually, She replies through their link. And honestly, you’re going to have to get used to it, if this is ever going to work. There’s a pause. And I think that’s the part you’re more worried about, if you ask me.

Shiori. Though it’s not particularly audible, the Ghost understands his tone immediately. It’s the tired one he uses with Cayde-6, most of the time.

So, if you’re not going to make it, you’re going to have to think of an alternative. Someone else who might not be in this meeting and would be free. Someone who’s good with kids, easy to get along with, won’t pepper Amanda with questions…

Shiori.

What?

Zavala’s only physical reaction is a small part of his lips, a practiced glance at the ceiling. Around him, the room carries on, oblivious to their conversation. See if Eva is free. Please.

-/

The nurses try to get her to eat. They bring her both dinner choices from the hospital’s cafeteria, make offers of ice cream and sweet treats. She doesn’t want any of it. Zavala promised he’d bring them both dinner. He never makes promises, but he always follows through. Maybe something happened.

She asks the nurses, but they simply sigh and tell her that he’d likely gotten busy. He was very important, didn’t she know?

Of course she did. Anytime she asked him for something it was always in that way that suggested maybe he could, that he didn’t have to. She knew eventually it would all run out, everything did. She’d have to go back to the orphanage and it would be back to one day every few months. If she was lucky, she might see him for an hour or two. 

But she could enjoy it while it lasted, she thought. He was the one who asked her this time, not the other way around. She knew he would come through. He always did.

So, when the door to her room slides open very tentatively, she freezes. That isn't Zavala, she knows it instantly. Her eyes darken, narrowing in distrust on the newcomer and the bag in her arms.

"Hello, dear," The woman says in a heavily accented voice. She lingers in the doorway, holding up the bag. A look of momentary confusion twists her lips into something concerned, but it's there and gone. "Zavala sent me. He was worried you might be getting hungry. He's been stuck in a meeting all evening and isn't sure when it will end." She looks at Amanda's face, not her stump. And she seems pretty nice, Amanda supposes, but she still doesn't trust her.

The woman steps into the room, her brown hair glinting with a hint of gray under the fluorescent lighting. "May I?"

She nods. "Will he come after?" And then, nose scrunching, she asks, "And, uh, who are you, anyway?"

A laugh comes in reply. The woman sets aside the tray of untouched hospital good, pulling out rice and beans in a clear container and a few opaque containers that look like meats. The girl stares in rapt surprise.

"My name is Eva. Eva Levante." She sets to arranging the contents of the containers onto a plate - a real one, not the plastic ones the hospital uses. "I know he promised you something from one of his favorite restaurants, but between you and me, I think he likes my cooking better."

Amanda swallows hard. "Smells real good," She concedes in a whisper. "Do," She looks to Eva, "Do ya think he'll come after his meetin'?"

That makes Eva pause. "Oh, don't you worry, my dear. He'll come see you as soon as he's done. He seemed very upset that he hadn't been able to make it on time." She hands the child a fork. "I brought him some dinner as well," She smiles, winking, "He works too hard. Someone has to keep an eye on him." 

When Zavala arrives hours later, Eva is reading. It's nearly eleven, and it's apparent that he is bone tired, but he slips in quietly and offers her a grateful nod.

"She just drifted off about half an hour ago. Tried to hold out as long as she could, but the pain started to get to her. She didn't want them to knock her out before you got here."

"She's stubborn," He answers gently. "Thank you. Truly, I-"

"Yer here," Amanda calls, woozy, blinking her eyes to fight off the effects of the narcotics. Her hands reach toward him and he smiles, taking the few steps to her bedside, leaning down, and letting her hug him. Returning it, even, with a very gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry I'm late," He whispers, but she's shaking her head into his chest.

"'S ok," She drawls. "Jus' wanted ta see you."

He hears Eva rise sharply behind him and it strikes him immediately. This is - he detangles himself from Amanda, who blinks in hazy confusion - how this must be a difficult thing for her to walk into blindly.

"M's Eva?"

The well-dressed woman pauses, halfway to letting herself out. Zavala looks at her back, sees her fists clenched and his heart feels like it's breaking. Of course. He should have thought this through. He knew what she'd been through, this was asking so much of her.

"Thanks fer sittin' with me," Amanda slurs sleepily. "An' dinner, too. Wus' nice."

Eva nods, tilting her head so that only the side of her face is visible, shadowed in the yellow lights. "I'll come visit again, my dear," She says. "Get some rest."

"Eva."

"Don't worry about me, Zavala. It's alright." She turns all the way back, giving him a watery smile. Her voice is thick with emotion, and it guilts him terribly. "You call me any time she needs."

"Thank you," He answers, hoarsely.

"She lost people, too," Amanda murmurs a little later, her breaths so slow and even it's as though she's already asleep. He hums in agreement, knowing she'll be out like a light soon enough. She probably won’t even remember it. "She's still nice though."

"She is," Zavala agrees. “Would you mind if she came back?”

“Nah,” She hums, breathing heavier. Zavala pulls up the blankets she’s mussed in her attempt to sit up and greet him, tucking her in before taking up his usual spot beside her bed for the night. “Like yer friend.”

-/

Eva is waiting for him in the Plaza the following afternoon.

“You didn’t have to send me flowers,” She chides, hands on her hips. “It was was not a big deal.”

“You helped me, yet it upset you,” He answers. They fall into step rather easily, their destination determined by time of day. “That was not my intent.”

“There is not a mean bone in your body, Zavala. It was just surprising.” She gives him a knowing smile. “I would not have taken you to be so… indulgent.”

The Commander coughs politely, almost bashful. “Neither would I,” He admits.

“She’s a special girl.” Eva presses, and Zavala nods in agreement, almost too subtle to notice. 

Eva chances another glance his way, a wistful smile on her face. “Something tells me this isn’t just a random act of kindness. You look conflicted. Tell Eva what you are thinking.”

“It’s all right,” Zavala answers. “I don’t-”

“Amanda told me you’ve been sitting with her every evening since she was injured. And those bags under your eyes confirm it. You are not sleeping, Commander. You’re going to drive your Ghost crazy not taking care of yourself.” She wags a finger at him. Eva might be the only person in the City who has the gall.

“I’m fine.”

His Ghost flickers into the cradle made by their shoulders as they walk side by side. Eva might be shorter than Zavala, but Shiori finds a happy medium between the two of them. “I told him he needs to get used to this. It’s an adjustment phase.”

The Tower vendor stops moving. “Really,” She sounds rather elated, the opposite of what Zavala is expecting. He’d been preparing for bittersweet. He turns and evaluates her to make sure the conversation isn’t upsetting her, as the situation had last night. “You wish to take the child in? She did not seem to think-”

“I’m considering it,” Zavala admits, quietly. “I have not made any definitive plans as of yet.”

Eva hums, continuing on, passing him by. She catches his elbow, squeezing the unarmored part above it. “I think that would be wonderful,” She gushes.

Zavala blows out a controlled breath, sighing, “I have no idea where to begin.”

“No one ever does, Zavala.” Eva smiles at him proudly. Her endorsement is nearly tangible. “You learn from them as much as they learn from you.”

[jhsbrat]

titan descending | myg

genre: star trek/space au, fwb au?

word count: 8.7k 

warnings: major character death, violence, scientific inaccuracies

a/n: I did absolutely zero research while writing this, so don’t come for me lmao

Pants and groans filled your dimly lit room. Through the small porthole, the two moons outside cast silvery light on your moving bodies. There was the sound of people walking by in the hallway right outside your door, so the two of you spoke in hushed tones.   

“Raise your hips up a little bit more.”

“I’m trying! Move to the left.” 

“I can’t really will my dick to move in any direction,” Yoongi replied drily, nevertheless shifting the way you asked. He starts slamming into you right at the spot you needed the most and your eyes squeeze tight in pleasure. Trying to will yourself closer to the edge, you focus on the impending heat in your belly and-

“Are you going to come any time soon? I’m getting a cramp.” 

You huff in frustration and look back at the man. “It would happen sooner if someone stopped talking.”

He rolls his eyes and leans over you, fingers slithering to rub insistently over your clit. You gasp and the heat returns, building up faster than before. The man quickens his pace, your tightness pushing him along to his own end. Only a few more minutes of frantic thrusting passed before you both found your pleasure. 

Pulling off of Yoongi, you collapse on the bed out of breath. He remains kneeling for a moment, panting, before tugging off and tying up the condom, tossing it in the general direction of the wastebasket. Then he flops down next to you, propping his arm behind his head, chest still moving up and down. “You’re so high maintenance, I can’t believe it takes you this long to get off.”

You turn to look at him, his auburn hair turned dark with sweat and falling in strands over his face. A stark difference from the buttoned-up, slicked back man everyone on board knows. 

“I could always just go to Aj’es or Nozos for my needs. I know Klingons wouldn’t talk as much as you.”      

“Yeah, but then you wouldn’t be fucking a red-blooded, human male.” He says, wagging his eyebrows. 

You roll your eyes. “Ugh, you’re such a speciest, Min Yoongi.”

“Hey, I’m sorry I prefer my sexual partners to have the number of limbs that I’m accustomed to.” 

“If I’m really that much of a problem in bed, then why don’t you just go holler at Seokjin?”

“Fortunately for you, I don’t swing that way. Although now I’m starting to wish that I did.”

“More like fortunately for him,” you mutter under your breath. 

“What was that, Officer?”

You gather his uniform discarded on the floor beside you and toss it at him. “Goodnight, Commander.”

You push your tray down the line, scrunching your nose up at the smell in the mess hall. The ship has been going on a couple months without stopping at nearby planets to reload materials, so the food for the past few weeks has been…subpar. The red shirt officer in front of you recoiled at the brown sludge the Cardassian dining staff plopped onto his plate, moving onward in line reluctantly. You grimace and step forward to receive your own helping when you feel yourself being pulled out of line.

“Taehyung! I’m hungry!” You exclaim, trying to tug back your hand.

“Don’t be so loud, Officer.” He shoots a boxy smile back over his shoulder, leading you to a table towards the rear of the mess hall. He sits down and you mimic him, keeping your tongue in check. Mouth still stretched in a grin, he sets down a sandwich and an apple in front of you on the table.

Your eyes flit between the food and the man, widened in shock. “Is this-is this real food?”

“Yes,” Taehyung beams at you, ripping the sandwich in half, “And you’re the lucky one who gets to split it with me.”

You reach out to grab your portion and stuff it in your mouth, as if it would disappear if you didn’t consume it as quickly as possible. Through a mouthful of ham and cheese, you ask him where he managed to find it. Before the engineer could respond, however, a pale hand snatches up the apple between the two of you.

Looking up, you see Yoongi, face impassive as he regards you and Taehyung.

“I was just wondering the same thing,” he said, bouncing the apple in his hand, “Where did a Research Officer and a Propulsion Engineer get their hands on contraband like this?”

“Commander!” Taehyung stutters, standing up to salute him. You move to do the same after remembering that you were in public.

“At ease.” Yoongi replies, waving his hand. You and Taehyung relax, but remain standing. “I know that we’ve been off planet for a while now, so I’m willing to overlook this indiscretion. But understand I won’t be so kind in the future.”

“Yes, sir,” both of you say back. He tips his head in recognition and walks off, taking a bite of the apple as he exits the mess hall.

“Asshole,” Taehyung mutters, sitting back down. You nod in agreement, but chuckle nonetheless.

You’re walking back to your own quarters when Yoongi steps out from the bridge to stand in front of you.

“Officer, can I speak to you for a moment.” He states, rather than asks, not waiting for your reply as he leads you into a turbolift entrance. You follow him wordlessly, hands back your back and eyes straight ahead, the spitting image of an attentive subordinate. Once you’re both inside and the doors close, he reaches behind you to hit the emergency stop button on the control panel.

“You’re going to get in trouble one of these days if you continue to hang around that engineer,” he drawled, slipping into his native accent.

You scrutinize him for a moment, ignoring the flashing red lights of the lift. Yoongi always interested you, in the same way a mathematician is fascinated with an equation she just can’t solve. Over the years you shared on the U.S.S. Vanguard with him, there were bits and pieces he slowly revealed of himself. Like the way his gums showed when he smiled, really smiled. Or how his interest in space exploration was an inheritance from his father, who disappeared while serving in Starfleet himself when Yoongi was still a kid. Everyone knows he can speak more languages than any person on board, but only you were privy to the fact that he became the Federation’s foremost Communications Commander because, in some small part of his heart, he still held onto hope of finding his dad.

Nevertheless, the man still managed to surprise you. Just when you think you’ve understood every aspect of his stoic, punctilious nature, he begins to treat your relationship a little differently and you’re thrown for a loop. You suppose you’re lucky for it, however, since any other man would have bored you these many years into being stuck together on a metal vessel hurtling through space.

“Taehyung is just my friend,” you finally reply, folding your arms over your chest.

He snorts. “When did I imply differently? He’s still going to get you in trouble. You don’t know how often I find him doing anything but his job. It’s a miracle the ship moves at all.”

“So, what? I can’t have friends now? Jealously isn’t a good look on you, Yoongi.”

His eyes flash. “Contrary to what you may think, I’m not some caveman who wants to throw you over my shoulder and beat on the walls with a stick. And it’s Commander, to you.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. Since the beginning of whatever the two of you had together, he had never insisted on using public formalities in private. In fact, it was just the opposite, admitting after one of your nights together that he didn’t want to play his authoritative role all the time. So him pulling rank now was just that, a ploy to end this conversation because you were approaching sensitive territory.

“Yes, Commander.” You respond acidly, unfolding your arms and turning to open the doors of the lift again.

He sighs and follows you out. “Wait, I—“

“Commander Min, please report to the bridge.” A disembodied voice relays over the ship’s speaker. He catches up to you before you can round the corner, moving to block your way.

“We’re not finished with this conversation,” he asserts, pointing behind you, “Come on. We’re both going to the bridge.”

Once you cross the threshold of the bridge, you part from Yoongi’s side and move to sit next to the ship’s First Pilot, Seokjin. The man nods at you in greeting and turns back to face front.

Namjoon turns in his chair to welcome the two of you. “Commander, thanks for returning to us. I see you brought us a Research Officer. Excellent, we actually might need her for this.”

Yoongi glances at you for a quick second before returning his gaze forward. “Captain. Is something the matter?”

“Indeed. Officer Kumari, would you care to fill them in?”

The Andorian nodded, still adjusting dials with her blue fingers. “While you were out, Commander, I was moved to man the comms and we received a distress signal from a nearby minor planet. B-612. I will replay it for you now.”

Black envelops the view screen of the bridge. Then there was a flash of light and noise, a male face filling the screen. With a short, flat nose and oval jaw, you would have called his features close to cherubic in any other situation. But his eyes were wide with fear and there was a streak of red smudged on his cheek. You lean forward, intrigued.

“If anyone can hear me, I need help! There are people here, I don’t know who they are or where they’re from, but-“ he chokes up, pausing for a moment to look away. When he turns back to the screen, tears have filled his eyes. “They’ve killed everyone. And I’m afraid they’re going to kill me next. I’m afraid-“

The video cuts out abruptly and view screen returns to show the environment in front of the ship. The bridge is quiet.

“What do you think, Commander?” Namjoon breaks the silence, swiveling in his command chair to look at Yoongi. The man in question stands still, rigidly facing ahead, lost in thought.

“Captain, with all due respect,” Seokjin interjects after a moment, “We’re wasting time. For all we know, whoever sent that signal could be dead or dying, and we’re just sitting here.”

“Duly noted, Seokjin. However, I would still like to hear what my First Officer has to say.” Namjoon responds without turning to the pilot.

Suddenly, Yoongi pivots to face you. “What do you know about B-612?”

You blink in surprise at the question. “Not much. It’s one in many strings of minor planets near us. It’s so small it might as well be considered an asteroid. There’s no record of contact between Starfleet and any living being around here.”    

He nods, still thinking. “I wonder how he was able to send that distress signal.”

Seokjin huffs in frustration. “Never mind that, we need to save him!”

“Technically, he’s right,” Namjoon stands up and starts moving towards the door, “If you have no further objections or thoughts on the matter, I think we should start heading to the transporter room.”

Yoongi’s mouth is set in a straight line but he nods anyway.

Namjoon is almost out the exit before he stops and looks to you. “Officer, I think you should come too. If this is officially Starfleet’s first contact with someone from this area, it needs to be recorded.”

“Of course, Captain.” You stand up and follow him, brushing past the still surly Commander.    

An hour later, the three of you are huddled in the medical bay. Sitting next to you on one of the examination tables, shivering under a shock blanket, is the boy from the video. You regard him carefully, curious about the stranger from the untouched planet.

“Taeyeon,” Namjoon murmurs, catching the ship’s Chief Medical Officer as she walked past, “Can you tell me about what happened to him?”

“Dr. Kim, Captain,” the woman corrected him firmly. His cheeks heat up in embarrassment as she continues speaking. “Physically, he’s fine. No injuries, not even a cut or scratch. He’s just exhibiting signs of shock post-trauma.”

“What about the blood on his face?” Yoongi asks, stepping forward.    

“All I can tell you is that it isn’t his, Commander,” she responds, “I’ll leave you alone with him for questioning now. Afterward, I’d like to do a psych eval, with your permission.”

The pair nod and the doctor exits, leaving you alone with the stranger from B-612.

“Hello,” Namjoon spoke gently, treading closer to the boy, “My name is Namjoon. I am the captain of this starship. What is your name?”

“Jimin,” he enunciates clearly, voice soft and sweet.

“Nice to meet you Jimin. Can you tell us what happened to you?”

Jimin’s eyes dart over to where you and Yoongi were standing silently in the back. “Who are they?”

Namjoon waves both of you over to introduce yourselves. The two of you stride closer to where Jimin sat and state your name and position on the ship.

“I don’t know what any of that means,” the boy admitted, eyes only getting wider. His smaller frame was still quivering under the blanket and your fingers twitched to get him another one. He reminded you of a baby blue jay you had once nursed when you were a child, frail and in need of protection. It took everything in you to stop yourself from cradling Jimin in your arms like the bird all those years ago.

“That’s okay,” Namjoon continued, “It’s a lot to learn. Why don’t you tell us why you sent that distress signal to our ship.”

Jimin took a breath, and then rushed out his next words, as though he had been keeping them inside for too long. “Some people came. I don’t know from where, but they came and they weren’t from my planet. They came and they killed everything that takes breath. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life, I’ve never-“

He falters and looks down at his lap. You finally take a step forward to grip his shoulder, a small sign of comfort. He looks up and smiles weakly at you, proving definitively that in the right situation, his features were angelic.

“Jimin, there has been no record of Federation contact with your planet. Where did you learn to speak our language?” Yoongi inquires. You shoot him a disapproving look.

“A man taught it to me. He came to live with us years ago.” The boy replies, taking another shaky breath.

Namjoon raises his brows at that. “A man? Jimin, could this man have been part of the attack?”

Confusion colored the boy’s face. “No, of course not. He is-he was my father. He was also killed.”

You glance at the two other men, hesitant to ask the next question. “Jimin. Is your father human?”  

A few days had passed and you found yourself sitting in the back of the mess hall with Taehyung again. Only this time, Jimin was beside you. Your friend couldn’t take his eyes off the stranger, engrossed in watching him try to figure out the utensils on the table. When the boy attempted to spear the orange slop on his plate with a knife, Taehyung cooed and handed him a spoon instead. It was safe to say that everyone on board had become equally infatuated with the visitor and it was easy to see why. His delicate features and bright smiles made him easy to love. And the story of how he came to board the ship made him just as easy to pity.

The boy had lived on planet B-612 all his life, known only to him as his home. Years ago, a human man had crash-landed there and was the first to make contact with the indigenous species. The stranded man had tried and failed to repair his ship, but he ultimately accepted his new life on the planet. Eventually, he fathered a child with a native female and from that union came Jimin. The community there lived together in peace, never again coming into contact with another species. Until the day the invaders struck.

Jimin still hesitates to explain what happened, growing anxious every time he’s questioned about it. All anyone’s been able to put together is that some shadowy figures came and killed just about everyone that lived there, their motive unknown.  Dr. Kim suggested that he’s just afraid of reliving the trauma of the attack, insisting he’ll reveal the details on his own time. Yoongi, however, remained wary.

“I don’t trust him.”

“Trust who?” You asked, sitting up on your bed and tying up your unruly hair.

“Jimin,” Yoongi explained, reaching up to release your curls from their knot again, then trailing his hand down your naked back. Frustrated, you snatch the clip from him and start the process over again.

“What do you not trust him about?”

“Just…his story. It doesn’t make sense. There are holes.” He leaned back on your pillows, watching you walk to the closet to begin dressing. Although there was only dark space outside, your sunlight clock glowed bright to let you know it was 0700 hours. The beams illuminated Yoongi’s lithe body as he got up to follow you, circling his arms around your middle.

“Don’t go,” he murmured softly, placing his chin on your shoulder, “Stay.”

“Not all of us are commanders of a starship and can afford to show up whenever they like,” you counter, twisting around in his hold to face him.

He smiled and tugged one of your curls loose. “Just give it a few years, Officer. Soon enough, you’ll be moving on to command a ship of your own.”

You knew his confidence in you should have boosted your pride, but all you felt was your heart-wrenching at the idea of leaving behind the U.S.S. Vanguard. Leaving behind him.

“It’s normal for trauma victims to not remember some of what happened to them,” you stated logically, returning to the topic of your ship’s visitor, and turned back around to find a clean uniform for the day.

Yoongi hummed noncommittally and moved to do the same.

“Hello, blue shirt? You in there?” A voice calls out to you. Startled out of your thoughts, you focus your attention back on the two boys in front of you. Taehyung was waving his hand in front of your face, apparently trying to get you to respond.

“Yes, Tae, what is it?” You sigh, resting your cheek on your hand.

“I’m trying to explain to Jimin what the Prime Directive is, but you were always better at memorizing that stuff.”

Your forehead creased and you look at the other boy. “Where did you hear about that?”

“I’m trying to learn more about Starfleet. Someone mentioned it the other day, but I didn’t know what it was.” He shrugs.

“Well, it’s pretty simple, really. The first principle of our organization is that we are not to interfere with the progress of alien civilizations. So if a planet is not fully developed yet, then we are not allowed to interact with them as to avoid accidentally imposing our own values on them.” You explain, trying to cut out as much jargon as possible. As excellent as his language skills were, he still got confused by complex sentences and unfamiliar words.  

He nods slowly, taking in your words. “So, is that why you weren’t allowed to visit us?”

“Partially. You also just weren’t a mission priority.” Taehyung adds, cutting his spoon through the goop on his plate to draw figures.

A security agent stopped beside you and taps on your shoulder. “Officer, I’ve been told by Captain to tell you to report to the transporter room, with the visitor.” The gruff red shirt clad Klingon relayed, looking down at the two of you.

“Oh, shit. Thanks, Aj’es.” You rush to stand up, straightening your skirt. “C’mon, Jimin, follow me.”

In the transporter room, you’re met with Yoongi and Namjoon. They were speaking to Nozos, the officer manning the controls. They pause at the sight of you two, Namjoon waving you forward.

“Officer. Jimin,” he said by way of a greeting, “Commander Min and I have decided it’s time to visit B-612 for ourselves and investigate what has happened. If there are groups of people murdering others, we need to report it to Starfleet.”

“Jimin, what are your mother’s species called?” Yoongi inquired.

“Uh, I don’t know,” the boy stuttered, looking to you, “She’s always just been my mother.”

“Fair enough,” Yoongi responds, although his eyes are narrowed, “As the Federation’s representatives on the first visit to your planet, the Captain will lead this mission. I will accompany to provide my communication skills, in case I speak the same language as the invaders. Our Research Officer here will join us in order to record as much information about B-612 as possible. And you, Jimin, will escort us as our guide.”    

“But I’m not ready to go back!” He stammers, eyes widening.

Yoongi just nods. “That’s understandable. Since you are not a member of our ship, you are not expected to follow my orders. Please feel free to return to your quarters. The rest of us will beam down without you.”

At that, Jimin pauses, eyes beginning to dart again between the three of you. “It’s not-it’s not safe down there.”

“We’re aware of the dangers,” Namjoon intones, stepping into the transport chamber, “It’s part of our job.”

Yoongi follows him up and after a moment’s hesitation when you look back at the trembling boy, so do you.

“Captain, we only have one working communicator right now,” Nozos informed him, walking forward to hand off the device, “The others are in need of parts for when we make our next reload stop.”

“Thank you, officer. Please beam us down to the same coordinates from where we picked up Jimin.”

Nozos grunted an affirmative and began hitting buttons on the control console. The boy watched, biting his lip nervously.

“Wait, hold on,” he called, walking uncertainly forward to also step into the transport chamber, “I can’t let you go alone.”    

Namjoon smiled and nodded, clapping Jimin on the back. “I’m glad to hear you say so.”

And with that, the four of you disappears in a whirl of light and particles.

B-612 was hot. Not like the dry, scorching heat of Vulcan or the bright sunlight of your hometown in the summer. No, B-612 was damp, humid, wet. Although there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight, the air felt filled with water, turning you sluggish and slowing down your group’s pace through the thick jungle considerably.

“Jimin,” Yoongi wheezes, not one for physical exertion, “Please tell me we’re near where we need to be.”

The boy looks back over his shoulder, yards ahead of you all, lungs accustomed to the unusual atmosphere. “Yes, we’re nearly there.”

Jimin had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the journey, though you almost don’t mind since talking would require extra effort in this heat. Namjoon has already taken off his shirt, choosing to use it as a rag to mop up his sweat. You have removed the utility belt hung around your hips, preferring to hold the items it contained in your hands rather than weighing down your legs with its weight. Only Yoongi has remained stubbornly unchanged, save for the rings of sweat around his underarms.

A few miles more and your group finally breaks through the thicket of trees to arrive in a clearing. From your vantage point, you can see signs of a community below you. Scattered collections of makeshift homes and well-worn walking paths scatter the landscape. In the far distance, you swear you can almost see the curve of the planet.

“It really is essentially an asteroid,” Namjoon mutters to you, following Jimin down the hill. You nod, only half listening as you start snapping photos of everything you see. Walking up to the homes and fire pits left by the people that lived there, you scribble down as many notes as you can. Yoongi stays by your side, cautiously taking in the environment around you, while Namjoon and Jimin head off in a different direction.

“Jimin’s father must have been miserable here,” Yoongi says under his breath, almost to himself.

“Why do you say that,” you ask, walking forward to investigate a plant you’ve never seen before growing from the ground.

He shrugs and kicks up some loose red dirt. “To be so far from home, surrounded by a people and a language you don’t know. He must have been lonely.”

You turn to face him. “He had Jimin and Jimin’s mother. He must have loved them.”

Yoongi looks up to meet your eyes. “Maybe.”

There’s a crash and you startle awake. You reach under your pillow and grab your phaser, a habit pounded into you from the Academy. Pointing it steadily at the intruder, you slowly stand up.

“Who are you?”

The figure steps out of the shadows into the light streaming through the window from the flashing neon lights outside. Raising his hands up, he grins crookedly at you.

“Just me,” Yoongi says, words slurring a bit, “Put your weapon down, Officer.”

You let out a shaky breath, collapsing back onto the bed. “Fuck, Yoongi, you scared me.”

“I told you not to get a room in this district,” the man says, moving forward to flop down next you. “It’s full of bars and brothels.”

“Yeah, and you smell like both, Commander.” You complain, snatching your pillow from him and settling back into the bed.

He frowns. “Don’t call me that.”

“Yeah? Then what would you like me to call you?” Smiling in amusement, you watch him rest his head on your chest.

“Mm. Baby.”

You’re almost sure he can hear your heart stutter through all the bones and sinew of your body, it pounds that hard. Taking a deep breath to settle your nerves, you open your mouth to say the next part.    

“I have…I have something to tell you.”  

“Sounds serious,” he grumbles, drawing his arms tighter around you, “Let’s save serious for tomorrow, yeah?”

You blink, unsure of what to do. “Yeah, okay. Goodnight, Yoongi.”

“Goodnight. Love you.”

In shock at his words, your heartbeat picks up again, but you look down at him sadly nonetheless. Because in the morning he would remember none of his drunken words and what the two of you had would always remain a secret for the night.

You and Yoongi are still staring at each other in silence when Namjoon calls you both in the distance. Shaking yourself out of your reprieve, you step around the man in front of you. Following the sound of his voice, you find your captain and Jimin standing before a gruesome sight.

Bodies upon bodies are piled on top of each other, emanating a rotten stench that’s only exacerbated by the heat. Through your shock, you pick out the aliens almost humanoid features, save for their pale orange skin and magenta hair. Though you can’t immediately recognize the sex of any particular one, you notice there are smaller bodies littered among the group. Bile rises up your throat and you slap a hand over your mouth.

“They didn’t even bury them,” Yoongi whispers softly.

Jimin moves to stand in front of you all, spreading his arms as if he was trying to block your view. His eyes are inhumanly wider than ever before and you wonder if it’s a characteristic inherited from his mother’s species. “There, you’ve seen it. You have proof. Can we leave now?”

“No, Jimin, we can’t,” Namjoon responds calmly, though you can tell he’s shaken up by the way his hands tremble behind his back.

“This…this was a massacre,” you finally breath out, “Jimin, we have to find who did this.”

The boy is biting his lips, clearly worried about the prospect of staying on the planet for any longer.

“What is that?”

The three of you look over in the direction of where Yoongi is pointing. Though you can’t make it out clearly, there is a visible glint coming off of something large and metal in the distance. He takes off towards it, Namjoon quickly following in his stead. You move to do the same when Jimin grabs onto your hand.

“Please,” he choked, “Please don’t.”

Your brows furrow. “Jimin, just stay here if you’re afraid.”

He shakes his head and opens his mouth to continue pleading, but you’ve already started running after your leaders.

The closer you get to the metal structure, the more you can make out what it is. An escape pod. Albeit an old one, from decades ago, with rust corroding its outside. Stepping into the small space, you find Namjoon tapping away at its computer.

“This is what Jimin must have used to send his distress signal,” he reasons, struggling with its outdated interface.

You nod and turn slowly, looking around. On the interior wall opposite the computer, you can make out the words U.S.S. Icarus stamped there. Papers and photos are taped alongside it, many detailing engineering and mechanical notes.

“He must have tried to repair it a million times,” you wonder quietly. Your eyes slide over a photo of a group of people, most likely the crew of the starship Jimin’s father ejected from. Moving closer to look at their faces, your breath hitches when you recognize a familiar gummy smile.

Ripping it down from the wall, you shove the photo in Namjoon’s face. He focuses on it for a moment, and then looks back at you in shock.

“Do you think it’s-“

“Captain, I’m almost certain. Where is he?”

Namjoon gets up and heads back outside into the sweltering heat. Spinning around, he yells out his second-in-command’s name.

“Over here.” You hear Jimin call and the two of you follow the voice to the other side of the escape pod. There, Yoongi and Jimin are standing over another body. However, this one looks different from the rest.

Coming closer, you see the man lying lifeless on the ground; throat cut and caked blood dried in a puddle around him. What makes you choke out a breath, however, is the man’s face, the spitting image of the one currently standing next to you.

Namjoon steps forward slowly. “Commander. Is this your father?”

Yoongi gives a brusque nod, still not speaking.

You glance over at the other boy, standing a ways apart from the three of you. “Did you know the two of you…shared a parent?”

He shrugs casually. “I find that’s such a human thing to care about.”

A few moments pass while you try to connect everything that’s occurred so far. Finding the piles of slaughtered bodies, discovering the fate of Yoongi’s lost father, Jimin’s sudden cavalier attitude. It’s almost as if-  

“Jimin,” Yoongi exhales slowly, face paler than you’ve ever seen, “There were never really any invaders, were there?”

The boy’s features are blank, giving nothing away. Namjoon stiffens and your heart pounds. All three of you turn to face the alien in question.

He smiles slowly, mouth splitting open like a wound. It’s different, unnatural, making your hairs stand up on end.  

“I knew of all the people to figure me out, it would be you, brother.”

Time begins to race faster than your brain is able to process, seconds melting into each other.

“Explain yourself.” Namjoon demands, voice still even though his hands shake harder behind his back.

“I killed them, Captain,” Jimin smirks, “I killed them all.”

You stare at the boy in front of you, innocent features still twisted in an ugly sneer. Trying to imagine this Jimin, the one that reminded you of that baby blue jay from your childhood, as a killer makes your knees want to buckle. Although your training prevents you from collapsing in shock, you still struggle to breathe.

“Why?” You croak out.

He shrugged again, as if you had asked him about his choice of shirt color. “They were in my way.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Yoongi finally speaks, words dripping with fury.    

“You wouldn’t understand!” Jimin roars back, “None of you would! You weren’t left to rot on a rock like me!”

He stops, turning around to run his hands through his hair, back heaving with heavy breaths. When he faces you all again, his voice is steady and clear once more.

“My father was the first outsider to ever step foot on our planet. My people were fascinated by him, thought he and his odd ship were an interesting oddity. They learned that they were not the only ones to exist in this world, but did nothing about it. They accepted him and continued with their lives, as if they hadn’t discovered a life-changing fact.

But imagine what I felt when I learned the same fact for the first time. I don’t think any of you could, aren’t capable of it. I was in shock. Suddenly, my world had expanded and I wanted to explore it. Wanted to see for myself what life elsewhere looks like.

But my people were against it. Scolded and yelled at me for it, called me the strange half-breed. They thought I would bring calamity upon them by messing with the cosmos and shunned me. My mother died from the shame. Even my father was content with staying here, discouraged by his failed attempts at fixing his ship.

I worked on it anyways, read every manual and tried everything I could to get the damn thing to work. Eventually, I got the comms control to turn on. I told my father, thinking that out of everyone here, he would understand me. But he was angry, insistent that I drop it. I think the coward was afraid of having hope again, couldn’t bear if it failed.”

His eyes slide over to Yoongi, who was staring at the alien with a hard gaze.

“So I killed him. I killed our father. I always knew we shared blood, you know. As soon as I saw your face. The two of you look so alike, any other explanation was impossible.”

“Why did you kill the rest?” Namjoon asks, making Jimin turn his attention to him.

“I had to make the story believable, of course.”

“Jimin, what was the purpose in all this?” You implore, desperate to find some reason to explain away the murderous rage the boy in front of you held.

“I was abandoned by the rest of the galaxy,” he spits out, venomous, “I was passed over and told I wasn’t a mission priority. I wasn’t civilized or developed enough to know of more than the heat and dirt of the rock on which we stand. And I refuse to accept that fate.”

There’s a flash of inhumanly fast movement, a glint of silver, and a yell. Then the boy is running back in the direction you came from, nimble body moving quicker than you’ve ever seen someone go. Confused at the speed with which it all happened, you spin around to look at your leaders behind you.

Kneeling below you on the ground, Yoongi is cradling Namjoon. Red streams from your captain’s side and his eyes flutter shut. Panicking, you fall to the dirt and put pressure on the gash, trying to stem the flow. You look to Yoongi, struggling to understand what just occurred.

“He stabbed Namjoon.” the Commander grits, “Stabbed him and snatched the communicator.”

Seokjin leans back in the command chair, toggling the buttons on the side. Pressing each one at random, he marvels at their functions.

“You shouldn’t play around with the controls,” Officer Kumari states, coming to his side.

Seokjin flinches, spooked at the silence with which the Andorian crept up next to him. He grins sheepishly at her and she rolls her bright yellow eyes, moving away.

“Can someone inform me why I’m on the comms?” Taehyung calls out from his seat.

Seokjin swivels to face the engineer. “Because I’ve been left in charge of this spacecraft and I say that you’re on the comms. Don’t make me write you up for insubordination.”

Before Taehyung has the chance to retort that the pilot doesn’t even have the authority to censure him, his communicator beeps urgently. He flashes Seokjin a look to say that this argument wasn’t over and flips open the device.

“Vanguard here, go ahead Captain.”

“Hello? Can you hear me?” A shaky voice calls out.

Standing up in surprise, Seokjin comes closer to listen. “Jimin? Is that you?”

“Yes! I need help, beam me up now!”

Confused, Taehyung looks up at Seokjin. “Jimin, where are the others? Where’s the Captain?”

“The others betrayed us!” The disembodied voice rushes out, sounding strained, “They decided to join with the invaders and when the Captain objected, they stabbed him! I barely got away!”

At that, everyone on the bridge stands up in alarm. There’s an exchange of shocked whispers and murmurs as they look to the pair speaking into the communicator.

Brow furrowed, Seokjin straightens up and begins walking to the transporter room. The others follow him, intent on seeing firsthand what was happening. Only Taehyung remains behind, still speaking into the device.

“Jimin, are you-are you absolutely sure that’s what happened?”

“Yes!” The boy cries out, sounding close to tears, “And I need you to save me before-“  

His voice cuts off as he’s beamed up. Taehyung drops the communicator to his lap, head shaking in disbelief.

“I don’t believe it,” he mutters to himself quietly.

“Keep pressing down here. I’ll tie it off.” You direct Yoongi, reaching to loop together the sleeves of Namjoon’s shirt into a knot. You’re using it as a makeshift bandage, trying to prevent him from losing any more blood. The injured man winces in pain as Yoongi leans against him.

“I’m sorry, Captain, I just-“

“I know, Commander.” Namjoon shuddered, resting his head back into the other man’s lap.

A moment passes and then Yoongi continues. “I’ll kill him for this, I swear.”

Namjoon shakes his head and smiles faintly. “You know, in a way, I kind of admire him.”

Both of you look at him in shock, prompting him to further explain.

“I mean, he’s really no different from us. Each officer up there on our ship has dedicated their lives to boldly go. Much like them, he just wants to be a part of that mission. He might be a psychopath, but he has the determination to see it through.”

“You’re delirious.” You mutter, finishing up the knot and looking to Yoongi. “What are we going to do? Jimin took the communicator.”

“He used the escape pod’s comms panel once,” he gestures towards the vessel a few yards away, “I bet we can do it again.”

You nod and stand up, leaning down to grab Namjoon’s legs. Yoongi gets your idea and clutches the man’s arms. Together, you try lifting him, but he yowls in agony.

“Leave me here,” he pants out, squinting his eyes shut from the pain, “I won’t be going anywhere.”

Reluctantly, you and the other man hurry to the escape pod and step in. Letting Yoongi experiment with the dials, you rummage through the piles of notes, trying to see if anything useful was left behind. Both of you are sweating heavily, beads of perspiration sliding down your neck. It’s not so much from the sweltering heat, but from the urgency of your situation.

“Did you fix it?” You spin to look at Yoongi, unable to find any documents relevant to the communications system.    

“If this took Jimin years to work, I doubt I’m going to figure it out in a minute.” He snaps, fiddling with the controls.

Your shoulders fall and you squat next to the man sitting in the seat, gently placing your hand on his thigh.

“Yoongi. Are you okay?”

“You can’t keep doing this to me, Yoongi.” You sigh, blocking the door to your room with your body.

“C’mon,” the man drawls, voice dripping with tequila, “I just wanna sleep next to you.”

You shake your head, intent on turning him away. He wasn’t going to slither into your bed tonight.

“I have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Then we should hurry and go to sleep,” he sidles closer to you, smirking.

You squeeze your eyes shut and look up, taking a breath.

“Yoongi, I know you drink because you have your own demons to deal with. But I can’t let you come here every time when you’re boozed up and use me as some way to forget it all. I’m not a container for your pain.”

“Ooh, how you wound me,” he grins at you, though the spark has gone from his eyes. “What if I order you to let me in?”

“Goodnight, Commander.” You reply, slamming the door in his face.

Yoongi stares at you, taking in the current moment. “No. But I will be.”

You nod and let him return to the controls. The air in the pod has shifted and his breath evens out, moving to adjust the dials more methodically. In a few minutes, he gets the archaic machine to give a weak beep. Quickly, he punches in the requisite channel code and waits.

“Can it record video?” You ask, referring to how Jimin sent his own distress signal.

He shakes his head in response, pointing to the webcam that had been smashed in. “He must have tried destroying it to prevent anyone else from using it.”

There’s a tinge of static, then the crackling sound of a connection.

“Vanguard here, with who am I speaking?”

“Taehyung?” You exclaim in surprise, grabbing the microphone from Yoongi, “Beam us up!”  

“Wait-what? What are you guys doing?”

“Officer, beam us up right the fuck now.” The man next to you barks.

“Jesus, okay! Hold on!” The line goes dead.

You look at Yoongi, nervous. “Do you think he’ll be able to locate us without our coordinates?”

He shrugs, unsure. “He can probably track-“

Then the two of you disappear in a whirl of light and particles.

With a thud, you land on your ass in the transport chamber back aboard the ship. There’s a grunt of pain beside you and you turn to see Yoongi, rubbing his back.

“Oh my god.”

Taehyung is sitting at the control panel, staring at both of you in shock. Leaping up, you race over to him and he gathers you in his arms.

“I thought you joined the invaders,” he hums into your hair. Your forehead creases in confusion and you lean back to peer at him.  

“What are you talking about?”

“Jimin.” he states by way of explaining, “He came back and said you betrayed us and stabbed Namjoon.”

Yoongi joins the two of you, still massaging his back. “He’s full of shit. And speaking of our captain, where is he?”

“What do you mean?” The engineer questions, looking between both you. “I located you guys using your heat signals. Yours were the only two I found.”

“Incompetent,” Yoongi mutters.

You hurry to the controls and set about on the task of finding Namjoon. However, try as you might, the sensors don’t pick anything up. You hit the buttons again and again, afraid to accept the only possible explanation.

“Do you think he already got back somehow?” Taehyung asks, unaware.

“Maybe-maybe it’s the temperature of the environment, maybe it’s blocking the sensors from recognizing him,” Yoongi stammers out, truly shaken for the first time the whole day.  

You sit back in defeat, shaking your head. “No.”

The commander falls to his knees, hands covering his face. “We were too late.”

The silence in the room is broken by a gruff voice from behind you.

“What’s happening here?”

All of you spin to see the transport officer standing at the entrance, eyes widened in surprise at the sight of you and Yoongi.

“Nozos, buddy, wait-“ Taehyung tries to plead. But it’s too late.

“Sir,” the Klingon hits the speaker button beside the door and barks into it, “The traitors are here.”

Yoongi is pacing back and forth; restless from the hours the three of you have been locked in the holding bay. You’re standing at one of the portholes, gazing down at the planet where you knew your captain’s body lay.

“Commander, how do we know if this is going to work? What if he doesn’t even-“

“It’s going to work, Taehyung!” Yoongi snaps at the boy. “We have no other options.”

You lean against the window and look at the man. “How are you so sure he’ll come?”

He snorts. “Call it a sibling’s intuition.”

Taehyung glances at you, confusion coloring his face. You shake your head and begin pacing yourself, anxious for what’s to come.

A few minutes pass, then the doors to the bay slide open. A red shirt security agent marches through. And accompanying him is Jimin. It takes everything in you not to dive at the boy, anger crawling over you at the nervous look plastered across his face.

“The visitor wanted to see you all.” The agent explains standing off to the side. Jimin nods, then turns to him to ask if they could be alone, just for a moment. The agent hesitates for a moment, then acquiesces, clearly taken in by the boy’s innocent demeanor.      

Jimin’s mouth stretches into a smirk as soon as the man exits. “I really didn’t think you would make it back.”

“Lucky we’re smarter than you.” Yoongi retorts.

“What do you want from us, Jimin?” You inquire, eager to get this over with, “Why did you come here?”

He gazes at you, an almost melancholy look crossing his face. “You know I tried warning you. Really, you were the last person I wanted to be tied up in this.”

“I don’t believe you’re capable of emotions.” Yoongi spits, stepping in front of you to block the alien’s stare.

The boy chuckles and shakes his head. “I just came to say goodbye. I know I did this to you, but I’ll still miss you all the same, brother.”

“Don’t call me that. You’re no blood of mine.” The man accused.

Jimin’s eyes glowered. “Do you still think you’re better than me, Yoongi? Being daddy’s full human son won’t save you now. I won and soon, you’ll be as dead as your precious father and captain.”

Yoongi twitches forward and you grab at his arm, holding him back. Silence falls over the space for a second. Then Taehyung lifts the communicator from behind his back up to his mouth.

“Did you get that, Seokjin?”

The doors to the bay slide open and the pilot steps through, followed by a horde of security agents. “Oh, I got it.” He announces.    

Jimin whips around to look at the entrance, then turns back to the three of you, realization slowly dawning on his face.

“Who won now?” You smirk at him. His features are blank for a moment, then twist into a look of rage. Suddenly, he lunges and you see a glint of sharpened silver. Yoongi leaps in front of you and tackles the boy, both thumping hard on the ground, locked in a scuffle. There’s a spurt of red and then a scream.

The sunlight is blinding, making you squint to see through its beams. Beside you is Taehyung, both of you dressed in the standard red uniform of Starfleet Academy. The director stands in front of a crowd of you and your fellow classmates, reading off the names of the graduates and their new starship assignments.

“Yar, Tasha. U.S.S. Atlas.”

Polite applause and cheers follow. Taehyung looks at you and pouts, despite the momentous occasion.

“Tae, what could you possibly be upset about?” You whisper at him, clapping at the next name announced.

“What if we’re not on the same ship together?”

You smile fondly and hold his hand. “I’ll beam over to wherever you are every chance I get.”

His pout lessens. “Promise?”

You open your mouth to respond right as your name is called. Straightening up quickly, you walk over to accept your diploma and assignment from your director. Then you move to the side, opening one of the documents to run your eyes over the name of the starship you’ll be stationed on. The U.S.S. Vanguard.

Looking back up to avoid appearing rude, you watch as the rest of the names are called in succession.

“Laren, Ro. U.S.S. Falcon.”

“Celes, Toi. U.S.S. Navigator.”

“Kim, Taehyung. U.S.S. Vanguard.”

You jump in shock, clapping louder than anyone in the audience. Your friend bounds up the stage to shake the director’s hand, then races down to envelop you in a hug. You grip him tightly, astonished at your luck in receiving the same post. Although you played it off earlier, you knew you would have been miserable without him around.

Holding onto each other, you watch as the ceremony concludes with the usual pomp and circumstance. Then there’s the sound of someone politely clearing their throat behind you. The pair of you rotates to see a tall, lanky man dressed in the ceremonial garb of a Starfleet captain.    

“I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Namjoon and I am the captain of the ship to which you are both assigned.” He sticks out his hand to shake.

Both of you introduce yourselves, smiling nervously at your new commanding officer. He looks around, as if searching for someone.

“My second-in-command is somewhere around here-“

“Right here, captain.” A shorter man replies, walking up to Namjoon’s side. “Commander Yoongi, reporting for duty.”

Taehyung shakes his hand first and then the Commander turns to face you, hand outstretched. You smile softly, reaching out towards him. He blinks, then smiles in return, lips drawing up to reveal his gums.

“Good to meet you.”

“We are gathered here today to commemorate a fallen officer.”

You reflect on that memory, sunlight shining just as bright today as it was then. Around you is a crowd of people, all dressed in black.

“Though we may feel a sense of loss, of despair, it is all a testament to the powerful impact he’s had on all our lives.”

A sniffle is heard in the audience. You close your eyes, irritated. No one here knew him, no one here watched him take his last few shuddering breaths like you did.

“Today, our comrade has returned to the stars from which he came. We gather to honor him.”  

A lump rises in your throat, but you don’t shed a tear, eyes having been dried out days ago from sobbing. Instead, you open them and look to the man officiating the funeral service.

“He was a brother, a son, a friend.” Yoongi recites, meeting your eyes, “But most of all, Kim Namjoon was our captain.”

You let out a shaky breath and turn your head to the sky, allowing yourself to be blinded by the sunlight.

Eventually, the service ends. You remain in your seat, ignoring the people getting up and walking by you. A body fills the seat to your right.

“How was it?” Yoongi asks, voice gentle.

“Beautiful,” you reply sincerely, gazing ahead at the casket in front.

He nods, taking your hand in his. “Do you want to know how I plan to honor Namjoon?”

You keep your eyes forward. “How’s that?”

“He always said what was on his mind. Even if he got mocked for it, even if he got called delirious for it.”

You feel your heart squeeze in its rib cage.

“He was determined never to leave this earth without saying what his heart felt, no matter the consequences. I think it’s something I should start doing myself.”

You finally turn to face Yoongi, a mix of emotions welling up within you. “Yeah?”

He smiles softly and leans in to kiss you, his most tender one yet. Against your lips, he murmurs.

“Yeah.”

end note: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

[wesker20]

Fallen Hero 1.5 Episode 6 Parasites

Hideout - Morning

The blood on your puppet terrifies you right now for some reason. It looks so… unnatural, so out of place. You trained her body to make sure she could defend herself, but the fight at the parking lot was something else. It wasn’t just self-defense, you enjoyed it. You are no stranger to enjoying a fight, but it was always born out of pride, a sense of knowing you won against odds that were too much for you. Here it felt the odds were not stacked against you but against them.

You shake your head away and head towards the one sided mirror on your office. You watch your crew training, Pelayo relaying orders and the rest executing them to the best of their abilities. They take a familiar position to you. Zaza remains behind, taking advantage of his incredible eye, Pelayo stays in front of him acting as a wall between him and anybody else who wants to get to Zaza, and Nehal and Ward take point, acting as the Vanguard of the group.

It takes you back watching them like this, work in unison.

You and Kappa always stepped into the fray, Zeta stood away and acted as the sniper, and Alpha was always an immoveable wall. With the Rangers your position changed to back up and tactician, but you were fine with that too. Anathema would be the one to stay behind and cover you while Ortega and Steel took point.

But it doesn’t matter, none of that mattered. In the end everything you touched, you destroyed. No team was ever safe with you. Sooner or later they were destined to be destroyed. But if that’s the case then what does that say about you? About your crew? Will they also fall eventually? All because of you? Just like the others? They say that doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Are you insane then? For always falling back on having a team knowing what has happened in the past?

Would it be safer to fire them and go solo? Maybe… they would be safer. None of them deserve to be brought down with you. But they are yours. You keep what is yours, no matter what.

You put on your mask and step outside. You make sure to take each step slowly, letting the hard sound of your boots echo throughout the hideout. They all know what that means and everyone lines up as your silhouette forms in front of them, hands locked behind your back, cape covering all of your body, and cloak hiding the reflecting mask. You are sure in their position you would be disturbed, if not terrified. But then again, they have seen you and spoken with you enough times that you doubt they feel that anymore.

You let the silence hang in the air as you walk in front of them eyeing them up carefully. You notice a bit of shake from Rosie although her face remains emotionless. Good, she has learned to hide her fear better. Pelayo and Ward both stand upright and frozen like statues. They have military discipline and obviously see you as their commanding officer. Zaza is more relaxed albeit still somewhat scared, still not enough to not screw up from time to time but you have faith you can get there. Nehal is different; her posture is focused and stiff, but not as disciplined as Pelayo and Ward. Her face lights up and she looks at you with the same eyes of someone else. Herald. She admires and looks up to you and wants nothing else than to prove herself. That much you can discern from just looking at her, but even if that wasn’t enough her thoughts are just as ridiculously open as Herald’s, meaning that you receive them just as clearly.

You finally step back and stare at all of them. “We all know what’s going on. The so called Army has been causing trouble and smearing my name. We tried once and we failed. That one was on me and I apologize.” You see Zaza brows shoot up in surprise, Nehal stiffens as if she wanted to say something but chose not to, and Rosie’s stance relaxes. Pelayo and Ward remain motionless but their thoughts shot up enough for you to notice that they feel the same way as the rest. “I failed to predict that something like this might happen. And let me be clear,” you take a step forward and finish with “I won’t let that happen again.”

“We will do our best boss,” Pelayo responds. You nod to him and continue.

“Jane has brought me some interesting information,” more like Hollow Ground gave you some but you don’t mention that to them. You pull out an envelope and hand it over to Pelayo so he passes it to the rest. “That’s a list of individuals who may have something to do with what is going on. We are going to get each and every single one of them.”

Nehal steps up and says “We won’t let you down boss. These guys are fucked.”

You make a sudden turn with your head to her, which causes her to step back. “Don’t get cocky Nehal. I appreciate your confidence, but don’t let it control you.” She nods. “Not all of them will resist, but some will. You can hurt them. But remember; I want them alive.” You proceed to dismiss them but you call Nehal to speak to her in private; you have another assignment for her since she wants to prove herself so badly. Time to give her that chance.

Gym – Morning

Truth is, however you don’t really care. You doubt any of them know more than what Hollow Ground already gave you. That said the possibility is still there. And of course there are the other two reasons. You want to see how the voice will react. They must be watching your every move or at least paying enough attention to know what move you’ll do next so you decided to put them between the sword and a hard place. If they react then you know the suspects know more. Not only that but you will also push them to panic, and panicked people make mistakes. If they don’t do anything that means the suspects either know nothing or very little, the voice is so arrogant they don’t care, or they are not paying enough attention to you. But what you really want is for people to start talking, spreading the rumor that you are investigating, and not happy with the Army. Effectively disconnecting you from them and taking a swing at the voice. Either way, it’s a win-win for you. It’s so surprising how the simplest of plans can net you the best results no matter the outcomes.

You can’t help but smirk at the thought as Emily takes another swing at you and you evade it with ease. That’s right, while your crew takes care of the kidnappings, you decided to shoot down another bird by meeting with Emily as Jane so as to keep an eye on her and confirm your suspicions. Either she is a huge fan or she’s really bad at hiding herself. You guide the conversation masterfully back at Red Doll and Emily does not shut up about it. You have known heroes who had major egos before, Thunder, Silver Cat, Mayor Ultimate, even Ortega when you first met her, you thought she had a huge ego before you knew her more. And, of course, most recently good old Lady Argent.

But you don’t sense the same from Emily. It’s more like pride. Still, it means she may not take failure well, and of course you killed her boyfriend. She throws another punch, you catch it and turn it into an armbar which she has no choice of escaping, at least not unless she was Red Doll and used her powers.

“Seriously? This is what, your fifth win?” she says as you let her go.

“You need to think a bit more. You are just throwing punches with no objective.”

“I do have an objective: Beat you,” she says oh so innocently. You can’t help but chuckle.

“Besides that. How are you planning to beat me?” you ask her and she stays there, only managing an “Uuuuuuuhhhhhh.”

You shake your head and sigh.

“Try attacking from the left. She has a hard time blocking that side,” you hear a very familiar voice say and you turn to see her. Of course, it’s Ortega. Anything else world? Because I don’t think you have done enough.

“You know I was trying to teach her. She doesn’t learn her lesson if you just tell her.”

“I think we have established I’m the better fighter here,” she shoots back in her teasing tone.

“Being a great fighter a great teacher does not make.”

“True, but it’s a start.”

You laugh as you decide to just let her have this one. You turn towards Emily only to find a girl who looks more like a stick than a person. Kudos to her, she could probably win that one challenge people were so obsessed about years ago. Mannequin challenge you think it was called.

“eh, well, Julia this is Emily, Emily Julia.” Ortega extends her hand and it takes Emily a whole second before she responds in kind. And even then it’s a very stiff shake.

“I’m guessing you know who I am already then,” Ortega says trying to ease the tension. You watch Emily gulp. Gosh she is bad at this.

“I, uh, I do,” she finally manages.

Ortega brings out that classic smile that melts any tension on the air. You simply feel the need to facepalm but you settle for rolling your eyes. “I’ll go change and then I can help you. Both of you.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” you say as she leaves. You wonder if she did not plan to come here until the last moment.

“You are friends with her?” you hear Emily’s voice, more quizzical than anything else.

“Yeah we met,” you stop for a second to make sure you don’t slip up and say years instead of months. “about four, almost five months ago,” you finish. You turn to her to find a worried look on her face.

“Doesn’t she work with that other woman, what’s her name?”

You feel the need to almost slap her in the face. And then facepalm yourself so hard you’ll leave a permanent mark. Seriously, could she be any more obvious? How has she survived this long? “Lady Argent?” you say just to play along but deep down you just want to knock some sense into her.

“That one.”

“Yes.” She doesn’t respond but her face changes from worried to neutral. You decide to try a more direct approach, if she’s going to be this obvious you might as well poke harder. “Are you ok?

“What? Yes. I am,” she says obviously lying.

“Are you sure? Because that look on your face says otherwise.”

“Nah, I’m just tired,” she responds. Gosh, it’s like she read the cliché book for excuses.

“Has anyone ever told you you are a terrible liar?” you say.

She turns to you with a sad smile. “Yeah, once. My boyfriend. He said I had to get better at it.”

“Cool. Maybe you can present us some day,” you say, deciding to grab the bull by the horns.

“He… He’s gone now.”

You want to be angry with her right now. Maybe you are being too harsh on her, she is a novice after all and you have been running and hiding most of your free life but still. If she had caught the attention of any other top villain, she would be dead. Which begs the question why do you even care? You’ve only known her in her civilian life for a couple of weeks and in her hero life, if she is, she wants to cut your head off. So then why do you just want to hug her and say you are sorry?

“I’m sorry.”

She turns to you, her eyes watery. “It’s ok. I’m fine.”

You decide not to call out her obvious lie and simply put a hand on her shoulder. Even though it was you who did it, you still know what it feels like to have someone taken from you.

Gym – Afternoon

You finish for the day. Ortega left after a couple of hours, having to head for Rangers HQ, and left you to continue practicing with Emily, who did learned a couple of things. Better watch out when she and Mastermind next meet. Just as you step out, however, you see a crowd heading for you. A crowd with a very distinct black attire and mark: The Army of Mastermind. Shit.

“Oh you gotta be shitting me,” you say as you watch them approach.

“Crap,” Emily says right after you. They don’t head straight for you but block yours and everyone else’s path. One of them steps up, clearly the leader of this particular group.

“People listen up. From here on out this part of town is ours. If no one wants to get their asses kicked out you gotta pay. If you pay, we’ll make sure no one bothers you ever again”

Oh hell no. Racketeering? Really? You hear a “psst” and turn to see Emily.

“Jane there’s an alley beside the gym. C’mon.” You follow her without question. As much as you want to beat these idiots up even after what you did with the other gang members, there’s no way you can handle a crowd as big as this. But just as you step in the alley you hear Emily say “keep running.” You don’t obey and instead turn to see that she is no longer there. Well, suspicion confirmed. At least ninety five percent.

You decide to sneak up and see what happens and just as you suspected, Red Doll arrives just in time. The Army wastes no time to try and swarm her, but she easily slips out of the group holding her. Crap about Polymorphs, they are slippery as hell. She begins knocking them out, one, two, three at a time. She uses her limbs as projectiles, and any punch that lands she simply lets it go through her. You even manage to recognize some of the moves as moves you have taught her yourself. Well, if you wanted to make her more dangerous, congratulations. You shake your head out, wondering where did that thought came from. Not that it matters, it’s correct. Why the hell did you just gave her more tools to beat you is beyond your comprehension.

It really does not last more than a couple of minutes. None of these idiots were boosted or mods, and they were clearly low level goons. You see Red Doll stand there with a smile, a very proud smile which you have already seen before. “Hey,” you yell.

“Jane? I- I mean miss, this place is dangerous, get to safety.”

You raise an eyebrow letting her know that she is still a terrible liar and putting on a mask does not make her any better. She catches the message pretty quickly. “I’m that bad huh?” she says with a look of embarrassment. You simply nod while smiling from ear to ear. At least she’s not stupid.

Later – diner

“Can you keep the secret?” Emily asks sheepishly.

“Better than you, that’s for sure,” you say as you take a sip of soda.

“You already suspected?”

“Well, let’s be real. The way you speak of… Red Doll either makes you look like an obsessed fangirl or that you are her. One of those was doomed to be the answer.”

She moans like a puppy and hides her face on her hands. “Relax. You’ll be fine with me. My lips are sealed.”

She finally raises her face, relieve painted all over. “Thanks. Not many know.” Not many, huh? That means there are others. Maybe family members, and probably her boyfriend too.

“So what now?” you ask her half curious.

“Now I’ll go take a shower and try to think how to hide my secret better.”

“Yes please. You’re painful to see when lying,” you say sarcastically.

“You know how?” she asks with genuine curiosity. Oh crap, you know where this is going.

“I think we established I may or may not be a very good teacher.”

“But you are the only one who can. All the other people who know-“ you stop her right before she spills something else.

“First of all, think before you speak. You talk too fast for your own good. Second, I’ll think about it.” She smiles at your response.

“Thanks Jane.”

Apartment – Dusk

The pieces are beginning to fall into place. You are now certain who Red Doll is. Now, all you need to do is wait for a call. From whom, remains to be seen. The phone rings; both of them. One untraceable number for your crew and your personal one. The untraceable one displays Pelayo, your private only says private. You smile and answer Pelayo first.

“Yes.”

“We got the first one boss.”

“Good. Wait for me, I’ll be there,” you hang and take the other one. “Good to hear from you again. I was starting to miss you.”

“Ah, I feel so bad for making you wait. But really I’m sure it’s nothing. After all, you have been busy.”

“That I have.”

“I take it you know those idiots are not going to say much that you do not already know, right?” You simply chuckle at them.

“You can’t blame me for trying.”

“Maybe. But still, I think I should teach you a lesson.” So panicking it is. You can imagine Nehal celebrating now.

“Oh, you mean the bomb you set on my hideout to kill my crew?”

“What?”

“Yeah, about that. See, I thought that someone who wants to hurt me might want to go after those closest to me. But killing a Ranger is too much, you’ll get chased down no matter what. Killing Mortum would also get you too much attention, more than what you already have. And of course, Red Doll is too new. No way you think she’s anything important to me. So my crew was the easiest target. So I told my youngest underling to check out for a bomb.”

“Ha, you send a brat to disarm a bomb. I thought you were smarter than that,” they say with mockery.

“Let me finish. I gave her a device I made. Now, I’m no tech genius, but if there is one positive I can take out of my time as a Re-gene, is that I learned a lot about weapons, including bombs. And here’s the kicker, we may all be different, but Re-genes rarely, ever, create their own signature for bombs. Even cuckoos. I admit, that last one was huge gamble but you don’t succeed if you don’t take a couple of risks. So basically what I’m saying is that I made a devise that directly disarmed a bomb made by a Re-gene.”

“How are you so certain it did?”

“Because if I was in your place, I would have detonated it along with the suspect.” At that moment your phone rings again. “Give me a second,” you say and take it. “Yes?”

“Boss, Nehal wants to talk to you.”

“Pass her through,” you only smile and make sure to put the earphone on the speaker so the caller listens to Nehal’s report. She found it, just where you thought it would be and she disarmed without even trying. You congratulate her and hang. “Anything to say?” and nothing comes. “I’ll give you a hint, I know you are from the farm. More than that, I now know you are not just any person from the farm, you are Re-gene, just like me. Actually let me correct that, you are nothing like me.”

You still hear nothing except a distorted growl that must be their breathing. “Just so you know,” you begin as you stand up, your tone turning dark, almost resembling that of Mastermind when you have the mask on. “If you had succeeded and killed my crew, there is no place on this planet I wouldn’t go to hunt you down and tear you to pieces. Not even the Catastrofiend could come up with what I would do to you.”

“Heh, if only you were that overprotective with your old team, maybe they would still be… alive? I mean I’m sure Alpha is but I doubt she even remembers her own name let alone you.”

“We grow. Or rather learn.”

“If so you would have stopped after the facility fell. But instead you went on to join the Rangers, only to also lead them to their destruction during Heartbreak.” You twitch at the mention of that and your cold anger grows. “Face it, you are destined to always take everyone down with you. Because you don’t really care about others, you only care about yourself, about how you feel. You can’t tolerate being alone in your misery, so you bring others down with you. Just like you did with the Rangers, just like you did with your squad, you will do to your crew. You will take them down and leave them as shells of who they were. In the end you are just a parasite that feeds and feeds until its food is gone and moves on to the next. Maybe that should be your new villain name, Jeremy.” they finish, saying your name with a mixture of disgust and mockery, as if you don’t deserve that name and hang.

Anger, self hatred, doubt. All swim around your mind but you crush them all down. Now’s not the time to dwell on how you feel but rather in what you have won. Their little outburst just gave you all the information you needed. You know who they are, now you just need to learn where they are, how they are using the Army and take them down. But how? How can you take down one of your own? One of your teammates?

[bakubabes-tatakae]

Could I request some Dabi angst? Dabi and the reader had known each other for a long time and they had feelings for each other, but they were always insecure about dating. Skip a couple of years and they're now in a serious relationship and Dabi is finally allowing himself to love and be loved, but reader dies unexpectadly during a mission? Thank you in advance. Your blog is my absolute favorite :)

Blue Flames Extinguished || Dabi x Reader

Word Count: 1241

Warnings: angst, curings, character death, blood, depression

*Three Years Earlier*

The raven-haired man couldn’t help but watch you as you danced around the hideout. You had your headphones in and hadn’t even realized he was there. As you spun around the bar, cleaning the top you felt eyes on yourself. Your body stopped moving as you looked toward the doorway to see the tall, lanky man leaning against the door frame with a smirk tugging on his lip. You dropped the rag and your cheeks turned pink. “Dabi! How long have you been there?”

He chuckled. “Long enough doll.”

“Oh god.” You covered your face with your arm. “That’s so embarrassing.” 

Dabi approached the bar and sat in the stool in front of you. “Don’t be embarrassed, darling. It was adorable.” 

You lowered your arm just enough that you could see him. “You really mean that Dabi?”

He put his hand on your arm and started pushing down. “Yes, I really mean it. Now stop hiding and let me see that beautiful face.” You had never heard Dabi like this before. Usually, he was always picking on you. Always happy to embarrass you. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

You finally let your arm hit the counter and leaned forward some, still embarrassed by his comment, but trying to ignore it. “What’s that?”

Dabi took a deep breath before grabbing your hand and pulling it toward him. “I like you Y/n. I have for a long time, but I haven’t had the courage to tell you until now. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

You swallowed hard and felt yourself growing flustered. “I-” You could barely make out your words as you listened to him. “I’ve been wanting to tell you that for the longest time as well.” You almost couldn’t believe that you had let those words finally fall from your lips. 

Dabi’s face perked a little at your words. He pinched your chin between his hand and pulled your face to his. His lips met yours, the staples on the side of his face just barely grazing over your cheek. 

“Then let me call you mine.” His words against your lips made you smile. 

“Of course I’ll let you call me yours.”

*Present Day*

Dabi was getting impatient. It had been a week since the group had left. If only he hadn’t been too sick to go. You were supposed to lead the Vanguard Squad together, he felt guilty just for being sick. He had left you in charge by yourself.  

His anxiety had been so high for the last week that it had been almost impossible for them to keep him at the hideout. The amount of time that Kurogiri had had to throw a portal in front of Dabi in the last week was exhausting them both. 

But that’s when he heard the doors opening. As he looked over the familiar faces of the Vanguard came in. Not a single one of them wore a smile on their faces, they all had their heads hung. Dabi began to walk forward and that’s when Kurogiri appeared before him, putting a hand on his chest to stop him from walking. “Please stay here Dabi.” That’s when he looked behind Kurogiri to someone being carried in on one of their makeshift stretchers. 

Shigaraki walked toward the stretcher and removed the blanket from the face of the person upon it, hanging his head and shaking it. Dabi’s anger was growing. “What’s going on?!” He tried to push past the daunting man before him but was shoved back. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!”

Toga appeared beside Kurogiri as she walked to her room. Dabi grabbed her arm and when the young woman turned to face him he saw the tears that stained her cheeks. Something was very wrong. “Toga. Where’s Y/n?” She said nothing to him, just ripped her arm from his grasp and walked away.

Twice walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Dabi…” He sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry about what!?” Dabi could feel himself about to lose control of his anger. “Where is she?!”

“She didn’t make it. We did everything we could.” Twice swallowed hard. “We got attacked by heroes after we got to the final destination. They had figured out our plan. She thought that she could stop him… we tried to stop her Dabi.” Twice’s voice cracked as he spoke. “He was too much for her.”

All Dabi saw was red. “Who was it?” His rage was keeping him from letting tears fall.

Twice looked terrified. He had never seen his best friend like this before. “Endeavor.”

At the sound of the name Dabi said nothing, he just turned around and walked away as Twice hollered to him, too afraid to follow. 

The rage that was flowing through him on the short walk to his bedroom was threatening to let go. All he wanted to do was scream. Burn something. Burn anything. But he knew what his quirk did to his body and he knew that he would have a hard time controlling it. 

When he got into his room he couldn’t control himself anymore. He walked to the bureau and swept his arm across it, everything on it flying to the floor. A shriek left his lips as all he could do was picture your face in his mind. Just the fact that your body was downstairs was too much for him. With a firm grasp, he took the alarm clock from the nightstand and chucked it as hard as he could at the wall. It shattered as it hit the wall and there was  small knock on the door. “Leave me the fuck alone!”

The small voice of Toga was heard through the door. “Dabi, please let me in. She was important to me too. She was my best friend. Let me help you.”

Dabi ignored her and grabbed one of the beer bottles from the nightstand, chucking it at the door, but Toga never left. With the sound of shattering glass Dabi’s fist hit the TV screen that hung on the wall. 

Toga didn’t want to wait anymore. The destruction that was going on in his room was too much for her. She kicked in the door and walked in to see Dabi holding his fist in his other hand, watching the blood drip from it and hit the carpet below. Toga raised her voice a little. “Dabi!” She ran to him and grabbed his hand, looking it over to see the damage. Some of the staples that held his skin onto his hand were broken, more blood coming from those as well. “Do you think this is what she would want for you!?” The tears were falling from her again. “She wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Dabi said nothing, but without warning, he fell to his knees on the carpet and into Toga’s arms as she made an attempt to catch him. He let himself go. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. Toga wrapped her arms around him as he shook in them. But with his burnt tear ducts nothing came out which just angered him more. All he wanted to do was cry, but that would never happen. The love of his life was gone, taken from him too soon, and that man that had done it… 

His own father. Endeavor would pay for this.

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